Ana and I are left in peace for about fifteen minutes before Mia bounds in to the room and starts grilling her about anything she can think of. I try not to get over-exasperated with her, Ana seems very patient and willing to answer her. When Ana goes to get herself a drink Mia grins at me and gives me a thumbs up, which I pretend not to notice.
Apparently Ana is very skilled when it comes to charming family members. I doubt that if I met hers they would react in the same way.
She seems very happy that her father is on her side, but I can't bring myself to feel the same way. I am protective of her already, which perhaps is a little pre-emptive, but anyone who claims to be on her side but will not fight her corner constantly and without question is not someone to inherently trust. She needs more people to be vocal in their support of her; she is, despite trying very hard not to be, quite an insecure person at her core. She needs constant reassurance that she obviously rarely gets.
"It's sweet she cares about you so much." Ana says of Mia when she goes upstairs. I wonder how she managed to get that out of her quizzing her so much, and ask her this. "Well, it's obvious. She wants to make sure you're spending time with someone who isn't going to hurt you, that's why she's so interested in me." I was pretty sure it's just because she's nosy, but I suppose she could be right about it. "I understand that it must be hard for you to live with her though and you probably get irritated with each other, but I wish I had someone like her."
"Living with her isn't too bad. She needs my help and actually she keeps to herself most of the time, just not this evening apparently." Her smile grows a little wider and she shakes her head somewhat fondly. I like that she's already growing fond of Mia. Hopefully it means that she'll come over more frequently and I can spend more time with her. I think she feels more comfortable in my house than I feel in hers. "Besides, when I was here on my own it got really lonely. I hated coming home and not having anyone to talk to. At least now I don't have to deal with it being so quiet all the time." She nods in understanding.
"I hate it. I wouldn't if I didn't have to, but a roommate would probably irritate me and as of yesterday I am happily single and probably won't be moving in with a boyfriend any time soon." She's not the kind of person who can thrive well on her own, she needs to be social and around people all the time.
Her expression suddenly turns solemn as she speaks, the light-hearted tone of a moment ago gone. I feel bad for making her feel sad; I know she doesn't like thinking about how alone she is most of the time.
The thought of her alone in her huge apartment is actually a very sad one. I can picture her alone, curled up on her bed, maybe at her desk writing, sat alone in the kitchen as she eats dinner, and she looks happy, and then I imagine she remembers how alone she is. She might check her phone to see if someone has tried to get in touch with her and they haven't. She might call a friend only to have them ignore it or pick it up just to say 'I'll call you back later!" and she looks around and tries not to think about how horribly silent things are. Maybe she puts on music to drown it out, maybe she just embraces it for a while. Either way it's an image that makes me feel uncomfortable and want to protect her, although I don't know why I want to or even how to go about that.
"Trust me, I plan to be around a lot from this point on. You'll be missing the day when you could come home to silence." She looks quite happy about this.
"I wouldn't ever really miss that. I like having you around. I'm looking forward to having you around all the time. I think I'll annoy you more than you'll ever annoy me." I just stare at her. I wonder how she could think that I would ever be annoyed by her. I suppose she's used to people only putting up with her out of necessity. I hope she starts to realise soon that I'm spending so much time with her because I genuinely like her, and not just because I feel like I should.
"That couldn't ever happen."
The smile that spreads over her face is blindingly beautiful.
"You're too nice to me." She's smiling in a way that tells me not to tone it down. She obviously likes having someone around her who actually appreciates her, and what's more, she deserves someone like that. I suppose I'll have to do to fill that vacancy until she can find someone worth her time. I don't reply to her comment, I simply shake my head and she giggles and rolls her eyes.
Mia decides to burst back in to the room at this point, so I don't have to decide what to say to her next.
"Ana, I found a quiz to see what animal you are, I think you should take it so I can find out more about your personality. Ana laughs and humours her by letting Mia sit beside her as she asks her the questions. She likes making people take these crappy teen magazine personality tests, but Ana seems moderately amused and not at all annoyed that Mia's insisting that she takes part. Mia might be a college student memorising some of the most complicated equations possible, but Ana, who is probably around the same age as her, is clearly the more mature of the two.
Ana comes out as a swan which she seems pleased with and Mia apparently agrees with. She announces proudly that she got a lion. I refuse to take it.
"You're no fun." Mia complains pouting, but Ana manages to divert her attention by agreeing to take something else in my place, one to find out her Hogwarts house although she says she's never seen or read Harry Potter. Mia takes a moment to be horrified by this, recalling the time that she made me watch them and saying she's going to have to do the same to Ana next time she comes over, before deciding that she needs to know anyway. I mouth a thank you to her and Ana just grins and continues answering the questions. She's delighted when she gets the 'blue house' because it looks like the best colour. Mia rolls her eyes at this comment but decides to say nothing. My little sister is a huge nerd when it comes to things like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings and is disgusted by anyone who feels differently. I manage to be a little more mediocre in my love for things.
"Leave her alone, Mia." I tell her firmly when she tries to get Ana to take a 'what is your dream house' quiz. Ana, who has been incredibly patient with her so far, looks very relieved by this although Mia pouts again.
"Sorry, I should probably go home anyway, it's getting late and I don't want to keep you both up." It's past midnight now. I didn't even realise the time was passing. Apparently I don't notice a lot when she's around. I should probably work on that.
"You don't have to." Mia says. "Neither of us need to be up early tomorrow."
"Actually, I do, Mia, I was going to go visit Mom." I got a day off last minute and was planning on going to my parents and surprising them. Mia smiles at me.
"That's sweet." she says before her face falls with realisation. "I can't come along though, I have college tomorrow afternoon… I mean, I could come for an hour if we leave super early." She seems to realise then that Ana's in the room, smiling patiently, not bothered by the conversation we're having that she can't actively partake in. She has no idea why we're so invested in going to see out parents, though she says nothing about this, just takes it in her stride as she does so much of the information that's thrown at her. I haven't explained about Mom being ill. Already after such a short time I feel incredibly close to Ana, so it's not at all because I don't trust her because I do, implicitly and I will tell her, it's just something that I don't feel I need to spring on her without context. It's been going on for a long time and it seems a horrible thing to just announce randomly for no reason. If there's a change, if Mom needs to go in to hospital or on the flip side if she starts vastly improving, then I'll tell her, of course. She's got enough to deal with when it comes to her own family without worrying about mine, and she is definitely the kind of person who would take it upon herself to come visiting with me.
"It's so good you're both so close to your mother." she says with a smile.
"We're just making the most of the time we have left with her." Mia answers, oddly solemnly but still managing to put her foot in her mouth as she so often does. I cringe as Ana looks worriedly at me.
"Is she… Is she sick?" she asks immediately. I don't answer, deciding to leave that to Mia since it's her fault we're telling her at all. Mia nods in response.
"She has terminal lung cancer. We try and visit as often as we can, but with work and college it's getting pretty hard." Ana doesn't say sorry for this like most people do, the irritating ones in my opinion, simply gives me a sad, sympathetic smile and takes my hand covertly, giving it a squeeze. If Mia sees she correctly chooses not to comment. I keep a grip on her hand so she doesn't let go, though she shows no signs of doing so anyway. "Look, I have the day after tomorrow off, if you let me borrow the car then I'll drive myself up then instead of causing a fuss tomorrow when I have other things I need to schedule it around." I nod, although the idea of going alone is rather depressing. I always have Mia there with me.
"If you want someone to go then I'm free." Ana offers in exactly the way I knew she would, not assuming I want her there but also offering. I know she wants to be as supportive for me as she thinks I am for her.
"Ana, you don't have to do that."
"I know. I want to. You shouldn't have to go and do something difficult like visiting a very sick parent without someone there with you if you want them to be. You've been so good to me, I'd love to be able to do this for you if you want me there." I know Ana will be delightful around my parents; my mother especially will love her immediately. She could probably do with a change of scenery from just Mia and I visiting by meeting someone new, and I like the idea of them meeting her. After what feels like a long while of mulling it over, I nod and she smiles, delighted clearly by my decision to let her come along.
"I'd love you to come. Thank you for offering."
"Please, it's my pleasure. I'm looking forward to meeting your parents and telling them how lovely you are and what a good job they did." I realise I'd like to meet hers as well, if only so I could scream at her mother for being so pointlessly cruel to her over the years.
"Don't. They'll break out the baby photos if you do." We're talking in such a casual and uninterrupted way that I forget for a moment that Mia is still in the room. She waves at me when I turn towards her as if to reaffirm her continuing existence before rolling her eyes.
"Text me a time and you can come and pick me up from my place. I really should get some sleep if I'm actually doing something tomorrow, so I really am saying goodbye now." Mia smiles and gives her a hug as she stands to leave before heading to the kitchen, looking for one last snack before bed. I see her out to the door and wait for her to put her coat on before leaving. I open the door for her and she smirks.
"Do I not get a hug from you too? I'm hurt." I roll my eyes but put my arms around her anyway. She's such a small little thing, petite and slim. She smells like pomegranates. She pulls away after a moment and gives me one last smile.
"See you tomorrow!" she says brightly as she leaves and walks off to her car. I'm still standing in the doorway as she leaves, to be greeted by Mia holding the giant box of Count Chocula that she made me by, stuffing handfuls in to her mouth every so often., seemingly amused by the turn that events have taken, mostly due to her.
"You can thank me for that later."
"For what, exactly, being a nosy little shit who sticks her nose in where it's not wanted." She grins and nods, knowing that I'm saying it affectionately rather than cruelly.
"I know, but you'd never get anything done if I wasn't. I told her Mom was ill and now you have a date with her tomorrow and she's meeting your parents! That could not have gone any better if I had tried."
"Using Mom to my own advantage like that is hardly fair, and anyway it's not a date."
"Sure. You have it bad for her, that much is obvious. I tell you what though, you're wrong, Mom would be please that at least something good might come of her ordeal." I know she's right.