Unperfect

Mia

“What’s up Ted?”

I blinked in confusion at the kettle when I heard Yaz’s voice coming from the front door.

“It’s complicated,” Teddy mumbled. I heard the front door shut and footsteps coming down the corridor. Then Yaz appeared in the kitchen.

“Hey, Mia,” she said, rushing forwards to envelop me in a big hug. “How are you, hun? Your energy’s all wonky. Do we need to do some emergency meditation? How about a sea swim?”

“You could try not squeezing her to death,” Teddy said in a dry tone, and Yaz scowled at him then gave him a sharp punch in his bicep. “And she’s had pneumonia Auntie Yaz – the last thing she needs is a sea swim.”

“Shut your face, squirt,” she snapped, and I almost smiled at her referring to a human almost twice her size as squirt. “You and your dad need to get on board with the healing powers of the sea. Anyway, what’s going on?”

“I’m sorry, Mia,” Teddy said, turning to me and rubbing his arm. “But I don’t know anything about women’s refuges or … well, any of that stuff. Yaz is the only old woman I knew to ask to come.”

“Thanks, Teds,” Yaz said in a dry voice. “I am only twenty-five you know. But nothing like an ego boost from my favourite nephew.”

“Your only nephew.” He then shook his head and frowned. “And I’m not really your nephew either.”

“Semantics, little man. And you can cut that crap out with me. It might work with your dad–”

“He’s not my-”

“But it won’t work with your Auntie Yaz.”

Teddy sighed, but Yaz turned back to me.

“So, what’s all this about a women’s refuge? And why aren’t you answering your texts? Getting info from Max is like getting blood out of a stone. I’ve been worried. And the bossy bastard told me to let you rest.”

I bit my lip as I dropped Yaz’s hand. “Sorry. I just haven’t really got around to engaging with my phone,” I lied. The truth was that I was embarrassed. Embarrassed that they knew I’d slept on the floor of the office. Embarrassed that they now knew my limited wardrobe and my backpack weren’t just little quirks but necessities. One of the times Yaz had come to see me in the hospital and I’d pretended to be asleep. I’d heard her talking to Max in hushed tones by my bedside about my situation and I’d died a little inside at the pity in her voice.

“So what’s got Teddy’s knickers in a twist?” she asked her gaze flicking between her pseudo-nephew and me. I sighed.

“Really it’s nothing. I–”

“It’s not nothing,” Teddy said, he sounded shaken and upset now. In the background I could here the front door opening again and I suppressed an eye roll. The last thing we needed was Max arriving home. But Teddy was too caught up in his recount of events to notice. “I thought I was taking her to her home, but when I dropped her off it was at this weird building with no house number or anything. She didn’t know the way in, and I … it didn’t feel right.”

“You did what?” Max’s large frame filled the doorway to the kitchen. His hands were on his hips as looked at all of us in turn.

“I thought I was taking her home, Da– I mean, Max,” Teddy said in the smallest voice I’d ever heard from him. “But it was–”

“It was a women’s refuge and it was fine,” I said, giving Teddy what I hoped was a reassuring smile. Max opened his mouth but Teddy cut him off before he could speak

“It was not fine,” Teddy said, his face going a little red and his demeanour not reassured in the slightest. He was starting to look very young indeed now. “The room was like, tiny and there was mould on the wall. You couldn’t even open the window.” He looked at me. Guilt flooded his expression. “I didn’t mean to make you feel you had to leave. I just … I’m sorry for being a dick when you arrived. I-I didn’t know that–”

“Teddy,” I cut him off in a firm tone. “This is your home. You should have a say in who says here and invades your space.”

He huffed. “This house is massive. I have all this and you …” He sniffed and then swallowed before blinking rapidly.

“Hey, hey,” Yaz said softly, moving to him and putting her arm around his waist – she was too short for it to go over his shoulder. He opened his arm and she tucked under it into his side. “You always were a sensitive little chap, just like your … Max.”

Teddy snorted. “I’m not sensitive,” he said, but the slight wobble in his voice gave him away. What surprised me was that Yaz would put Max in the sensitive category as well.

“Both of you are bloody idiots,” Max snapped at us. “You,” he pointed at me, “are not well enough to stay anywhere on your own, leave alone a women’s refuge for Christ’s sake. If you didn’t want to stay here you should have chuffing told me and we could discuss it like rational adults instead of you going behind my back.”

“It’s not like I didn’t want to stay,” I said, my long-dormant temper rising at his highhanded approach. “But I was imposing Max. It’s not fair on Teddy or you. I don’t want to take advantage of–”

“Maybe you should try taking advantage for once!” he said, his voice rising. “Maybe if you had asked for help just once over the last two months you wouldn’t have been living on the streets and you wouldn’t have almost bloody well died.”

Silence fell in the kitchen. I glanced at Teddy and watched a tear slide down his cheek. Yaz was staring at Max, open-mouthed in shock.

“And you,” Max said, pointing at Teddy, too lost in his anger to realise how shaken Ted was. “You should never have agreed to drive her anywhere. You know she’s in no fit state. I thought I taught you better than–”

“He didn’t do anything wrong,” I said, slamming my hand down on the kitchen counter and surprising myself as much as anyone else. “I was going to call a taxi, Max. He offered to drive me because that’s the kind of man he is. I don’t blame him for not being over keen on having a random woman invade his space. You should have asked him if it was okay that I stay here before you brought me back.”

There was a long minute of silence, broken only by the occasional sniff from Teddy.

“He didn’t have to ask me,” Teddy said in a wobbly voice. “Max doesn’t owe me anything. I’m lucky he even lets me stay here. He could have kicked me out when Mum-”

“Teddy stop,” Max was frowning at Teddy, but his expression softened as another tear slid down Teddy’s cheek. He moved to Teddy and gave him an awkward pat on the back before cautiously putting an arm around his shoulders, as if he was bracing to be shrugged off at any moment. “This is your home, son. You’ve lived here since you were nine years old. You mean the world to me, mate. You know that. Don’t you?”

Teddy just sniffed in response, giving a small shrug.

“She’s right. I should have asked you. I’m sorry.”

“S’okay,” Teddy choked out as he scrubbed the tears away in fast movements, his face flooding with colour.

“Teddy, please don’t upset yourself,” I said softly. “I’m sorry I put you in that position. I should have insisted I took a taxi.”

“You shouldn’t have been going to stay there in the first place,” Max told me and I sighed.

“I can’t stay here. I-I’ll sort something else.” I didn’t quite have a deposit for a flat sorted yet but I could stay at B&Bs until I did.

“Mia, you’re either staying here or with me in my flat.” Yaz’s voice was firmer than I’d ever heard it before. Her tone clipped.

“She’s staying here,” Max bit out. “Your flat is tiny, Yaz.”

“Hey!”

“And it’s not as secure as this house. Mia stays.”

“Yes,” Teddy put in. Two sets of eyes were turned on me now, both lit with equal amounts of determination. I sighed and self-preservation kicked in. Max was right – if I wasn’t going to stay at the refuge then this was the safest option.

“Thank you,” I whispered, leaning towards them to emphasise how grateful I was – how much this meant to me. Teddy’s cheeks pinked up as another guilty expression took over his face.

Max for some reason almost looked angry.

“Christ,” he said under his breath as he turned and marched over to the other side of the kitchen to put the kettle on.