Mini slowly drifted into consciousness. She'd had a horrible night's sleep, full of tossing and turning and nightmares and shit. But eventually it'd subsided and she'd slept for a couple of hours. Upon waking, she realised that she must've fallen asleep properly when Nick fucked off. Leaving her to deal with the blood stain on her legs, the twisting of her stomach, and the pain in her chest.

She wasn't a virgin anymore. She'd fucked Nick, had the worst few minutes of her life... all because she'd seen him come out of a room with Liv. There was some other explanation, she was sure. But still. He was supposed to be spending time with her, and maybe if they were having sex, he'd do that.

Obviously it hadn't worked out like that.

He'd fucked her around.

Again.

Mini wasn't really sure why she had a sudden flashback to that morning. Maybe because the way she was feeling was similar to the way she felt then. Like the wool had been removed from her eyes and now she had to face the real stuff.

Of course Alo had got with someone else. Of course he had, it was Alo and he wanted sex and it had been two years and whatever... but she just felt heartbroken that he didn't tell her that he was currently in a relationship with someone.

"Mini, look. You fucked off and Poppy-"

"Oh my god." Mini couldn't bear to explain why hearing that name was the last straw. She just pushed Alo away from the door and then walked down the stairs as fast as she could. He'd got with the girl that nearly got him put in jail? That was not normal. None of this was normal, and not normal was not good for Grace to get herself into. And Mini, as her mother, had a duty to protect her from this.

"Mini!" Alo followed her, making various attempts to grab her and force her to stop, all of which were shrugged off. "Mini, let me explain!" Tears were already beginning to burn her eyes, making vision impossible. So she ignored the sensible suggestion of putting her shoes on and instead just slammed the door in his face, heading down the street barefoot.

"If you care, then why did you fuck my best friend?" Mini's voice hardly sounded human as the words slipped out of her mouth. Suddenly it had all got too much, and she couldn't hide any longer. She'd hated Liv for it, and Liv knew that. But Nick... she was so scared of being alone that she'd just pretended like it had never happened.

But at the club it was like everything was just pushed into her face. She'd danced with Rider to get a reaction out of Nick. Proof that maybe he actually gave two shits about her. If he got jealous, maybe he'd realise that he loved Mini and that they were supposed to be together.

But it hadn't turned out like that. It started off well enough, but then he'd punched Rider because Rider had said something about Liv. And it was just all fucking ridiculous. When would he ever defend her honour like that? Never. Because he didn't care.

Nobody cared.

"Mini!" He was still running after her. In his boxers. Fucking Farmboy had no regard for etiquette, did he? Fuck's sake.

"Last night was a mistake, Alo. I was right to leave you 2 years ago because let's face it. I still don't want you!" She screeched the words at him, tears blinding her as she tried to get as far away from him as possible.

"You don't mean that, you're just scared. Poppy means nothing to me-"

"So that makes it all okay, does it? She's your fucking girlfriend, Alo. And you just cheated on her without a care in the world." She paused for a moment, trying to put this in ways that the dunce would understand. "You judged Nick when he cheated on me. You've probably judged everybody. But he felt about me the way you felt about Poppy. So you're just as bad as him. Leave me alone. I don't want to ever see you again."

"Alo, talk to me." Mumgabe was trying to coerce him out of the barn with food. It was the morning after Mini had gone to Australia, and he was still curled up in a ball, the position he had got into the moment he came back. Mini was gone. He'd done the most romantic thing he could've done... and she still left.

Maybe she didn't love him. Maybe he was a deluded loser and she'd been right all along. He was going to be working at this stupid farm all his life, never getting anywhere, and everyone would be ashamed of him.

R – she left. She went to Australia. Where are you? I need my best friend. – A

It sounded pathetic even as he was typing it, but Alo was desperate. The image of Mini walking away from him wouldn't leave his head. And the only way to get rid of it was a good smoke and a lot of alcohol. And to get completely fucked on his own was really the most pathetic thing to do.

A – it's 10 o'clock, mate. I'm in the library. – R

Then Alo had a sudden realisation. Maybe if he focused on his school work Mini would come back. Maybe if she knew how hard he was trying to not be a loser, he'd get her back. She wouldn't be ashamed to be with him...

It was decided, then.

A – why aren't you at work? You had a meeting this morning and he's here now, wondering where you are. I knew you moving out was a bad idea. You should be here, with the farm. – Ma

Ma – I can't come to work today. I'm sorry. – A x

"You okay? Not going to be sick or anything?" Mini stared out the window as the plane rose into the sky. Her dad was sat beside her, looking awkward and as if he'd rather be doing anything else rather than be with his pregnant teenage daughter.

"It's okay, Gregory. You don't have to pretend to care." Her voice came out harsher than expected, but she didn't want him to think that she was delicate and easily broken. She was, but sometimes you had to pretend. "Let's be honest here. You were going to fuck off and leave, because you couldn't deal with the fact that I'm pregnant and you might actually have to have some responsibility."

"Mini..."

"Tell me that's not true." There was still a part of her that hoped he would. But he just looked away. Her coward of a dad. "And I'm only here because I need to get the fuck out of Bristol. If you hadn't been in my life I would've run away. Okay? So you're going to find me an apartment and pay my rent, and then I'm going to do all this on my own."

She plugged in her headphones and blocked him out for the rest of the flight.

"Mini, Grace isn't here. I dropped her round your- shit." Liv opened the door confusedly, but then understood when she saw the tears streaming down her best friend's cheeks. "What happened?"

"He's with Poppy!" She wailed in response. "The fucking bitch nearly put him in jail and he's with her! He cheated on her and..." The tears were coming too fast and thick for her speech to be coherent, so Mini just gave up and fell into her best friend's arms.

As he stood in that prison cell, it dawned on Alo. He thought he was doing better... he thought he was going to become a better person and then when Mini came back (because the thought that she'd left for good was just too much to bear) she'd fall into his arms. But no. He was still the deluded loser that she'd refused to be with. He was still the deluded loser that had been deserted. Hell, even Rich was probably going to refuse to associate with him.

Meeting Poppy at that Peter Pan party had seemed like fate. He'd been muttering on about Mini and how great everything used to be, and Rich had told him to move on... and there was this girl. Dressed as fucking Tinkerbell, giving him 'come fuck me' eyes. It just seemed too perfect.

And their day together in the woods had seemed too perfect. She'd laughed at all his jokes, made him feel wanted, and didn't seem like she was going to fuck him around.

But she did. She was 13 years old. He'd fucked a 13 year old. Fuckity fuck fuck. Yet, even when it had all happened and he'd broken her heart at her party, he still never realised how badly this could all go.

But now he was in an empty cell, with nothing but time to think about how stupid he'd been. Of course Poppy had some flaw. Every girl was just screwed up. Maybe he should just become a monk... that is, if he ever got out of here.

"What are you doing here, Alo?" The hatred radiated from Liv as she opened the door to the ginger who had broken Mini's heart. She'd managed to get her best friend to stop crying enough to go to sleep, and that's where she had stayed for hours. She'd spoken to Frankie about it, who had come round with magazines and chocolate to help her feel better, but eventually Mini had to face the inevitable. She had to return home, where Alo probably would be, and she had to tell him to fuck off. In case he hadn't got the hint the first time.

It turned out that wasn't needed, as Alo was apparently giving Mini space. And had been for the past week. It was the day of Mini's mum's wedding, and Liv was just about to head over there with Franks. It was going to be like a girls reunion, and they were planning to go a bit wild. Well, Mini had to go early cause of Gracie, but apart from that, it was going to be like the old times. The best times.

"She won't answer my calls."

"Can you blame her? You didn't tell us you were still with Poppy." Frankie suddenly appeared behind Alo, practically shoving him out of the way to stand with Liv. "She put you in jail, Alo. Why the fuck are you with her?"

"Because Mini wasn't here. And I was lonely." Alo paused for a moment, and seemed to understand that this was not the route he wanted the conversation to go. "Look, Liv. I need to be at this wedding. I love Mini. I dumped Poppy, and I want to be with Mini. Properly this time."

"Did you dump her or did you get dumped because you're a cheating bastard?" Frankie wasn't budging on this, but Liv might.

"You have to understand, Liv. I didn't want her to get hurt... I never wanted that. I didn't know she knew about the Poppy shit and I didn't know what I wanted. But I want her. I love her. You know how that feels, to have this connection with someone and every person is telling you to stop. Everything is against you: time, distance, the situation... But you don't care. You have to be with them or you'll fucking die." Alo felt like he was rambling and Frankie was sticking her chin out at him defiantly, but he had things to say. "I shouldn't have done it, and just... tell her I'm sorry. And that I'll see her later, whether she likes it or not."

"The thing about Peter Pan... he's a coward." The speech from earlier rattled through Alo's brain as he dialled those numbers. "He had the chance of a lifetime and he bottled it. Fucked off back to Neverland. All alone, for forever he was, by his own hand. Poor Wendy, she had to grow old without him."

"Mini, it's me. I don't know where the fuck you are or whether this is even your number anymore. But it's been months and I'm still waiting. I will always be waiting. Things here are... well, they're shit, if I'm honest. I fucked up and you're not here to take the piss out of me. I miss you. I love you. Come back, please?"

And then he'd been brave and he'd stood up for himself. It'd ended up with his face being battered and bruised, but... as he stared out at the stars... with his name cleared... all alone... he thought that maybe, just maybe... Mini would be proud of him.

"Gracie, you're going to have to be a good girl today, you promise?" Mini swung her daughter around the room, giggling as she did. Liv had filled her in on what Alo had said, with Frankie chipping in with 'he's a dick' comments every few sentences, and Mini knew that she couldn't hide from this any longer.

"Liv, go get Alo. He can be your plus one for the wedding." She yelled down the stairs.

The truth had to come out eventually.

"What do you mean, Alo's in prison?" Liv had called an emergency Skype chat, demanding that Mini get online, even though it was 2 o'clock in the morning where she was.

"He fucked a 13 year old. I don't know what's going to happen to him but I thought you should know."

"When did this happen?" Tears filled Mini's eyes as terror gripped her. The father of her unborn child was a paedophile. She was going to have a child and the dad was a child molester! Fuck.

"The other day. Frankie told me not to tell you, but..."

"And since when did you listen to Frankie? Fuck, Liv. I'm coming home." Mini needed to hear Alo's side of the story. She needed to look him in the eyes as he explained that it was all some big misunderstanding and that he still loved her and everything was going to be alright, he wasn't going to be in jail for much longer and-

"Babe, I'd love for you to be here, but you're not what Alo needs. He needs to sort this out on his own."

Perfect. That's the only word that filled Alo's mind as he looked at her. Mini looked... perfect. She looked elegant, and beautiful, and mature, and just... perfect. And she was staring at him too, as if they weren't at her mother's wedding, as if it was just the two of them. Her expression said things that words couldn't.

Rich was sitting right beside him, and it had been great to see his best friend, but whatever things he was saying went straight over Alo's head because Mini was here, and Mini was looking at him, and he still had a chance, and Mini Mini Mini Miniminimini.

It was decided, therefore, that the second the ceremony was over Alo was going to storm over to her and kiss her and demand that she be his forever and ever.

Of course it didn't work out that way. Gracie was playing up, yelling and crying and just being a toddler in general. She didn't like her shoes, so they were off. She didn't like the flowers in her hair; they were thrown at Liv's face (who had been given responsibility of the ginger). She wanted her sweets, but they were the wrong ones, so they found their way to the floor. Liv was giving panic eyes to Mini, especially when Gracie started yelling for her mum.

Her mum was still looking at Alo, and her eyes didn't leave his, not even when the toddler they had made, with one final screech, flung herself at Mini's legs. "Shh, baby." Mini picked up her daughter and she immediately quietened.

"I was gonna tell you, mate..." Rich muttered, as Alo finally connected the dots. The reason Mini had left. The reason Mini freaked out so much about the Poppy thing. The reason Mini had brought her dad back. The reason why Mini disappeared for two years.

She had been pregnant.