Well it's midnight here and I thought I would upload this one tonight. Thanks to those who have reviewed so far. I will attempt to make chapters longer from now on, they do tend to flow better now I'm getting into this story. This chapter was so much fun to write but a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. I hope you like it.

FRANKY POV

Mini hadn't said anything since we left the hospital. It made me a little bit nervous even though I'm sure she thought it was what I wanted, considering I hadn't exactly been forthcoming with information before. I don't know what I really want, that's the truth.

It wasn't just the fact that the painkillers the hospital had given me were starting to work. I hadn't known what I wanted for a very long time. Before today, before Matty, even before Oxford. Confusion was almost like a friend now, riding shotgun to my life.

As we stood at her front door, waiting for Mini to find her key, I tried to think what I could say. She had been so nice to me, so caring, and yet I couldn't even look her in the eye. I followed her down the dark hallway, taking in all the things that made her life so different to mine. I wasn't quite sure where to fit myself, so I just hovered awkwardly in the doorway to the kitchen. Truth be told, all I really wanted to do was sleep for a thousand years. My head was absolutely killing me despite the painkillers, and it had felt like centuries since I had left my bed that morning.

"Do you want anything to drink, or to eat?" Mini's voice was soft and calm but it still startled me. I shook my head slightly, forgetting for a second that it would make it hurt worse. I winced as a wave of nausea hit me and looked around for somewhere to sit down. Mini was beside me in a second, gently guiding me into an armchair, but without making me feel like a baby. I sat with my head lightly in my hands, whilst she busied herself making tea for two. Clearly I did want a drink after all.

When the cups had brewed she added sugar to each, without asking me how I took it (she got it exactly right though) and walked towards me.

"Do you want to lie down or something?" she asked, handing me a mug. "There's a second bed set up on the floor of my room.

"Uh, yeah. That would be great. Thanks." I wished I could sound more appreciative. She gave me a tight smile, it didn't quite reach her eyes, and turned back to the kitchen. As I sipped my tea I watched her move about the kitchen. She moved like a gazelle. I know that's a strange animal to compare someone to, but there was just something about the way she moved that was so elegant and graceful and...fragile. For all her flashy big smiles, low cut dresses and big talk I could still so easily see the frightened little child inside. I had mentioned it to Liv once, in a brief moment of alcohol fuelled intimacy. She had laughed.

"Who? What? Our Mini?" she had cackled. I didn't mention it again. Maybe it was only me, maybe I was the only one seeing the softer vulnerable side of Mini. The side that so badly wanted approval. The side that just wanted someone to hold her and tell her it was all going to be alright. How much my first impressions of her had changed. I didn't know whether that was because she had actually changed or because maybe, for the first time in so long, I had let someone in. I trusted her. She could share my island I thought, remembering my dad's advice on my first day in Bristol.

"No person is an island." He was right of course.

Later, in Mini's room, as I changed into the track pants and top she had lent me I felt her eyes on my back. I knew there was a lot more to be said. I hadn't explained events in the woods very well at all. Mini and Liv had been so kind to me, I knew they deserved better. Building my courage I turned to face Mini, words of explanation on my tongue. I didn't even get to open my mouth though. Mini walked up in front of me, so close I could feel her breath. I looked up into her blue eyes, waiting for her to say something. But she reached out, and gently touched the cut on my head.

"Does it still hurt?" she asked quietly.

I lowered my eyes. "No. No it's fine" I lied.

'What about here?" she asked, moving her hand down to hover over my side.

"No" I said simply.

"Liar".

She said it so softly. It wasn't an accusation, just a statement. I looked back up, startled. She looked straight into my eyes, "Remember to take your painkillers" she said before turning abruptly away.

I was too surprised to speak for a moment. Now I was the one standing there with my eyes on her back.

"You talked to the doctor?" I demanded. 'You went behind my back Mini." I don't think I was angry with her, not really, but it seemed like the appropriate emotion to display. She didn't say anything, didn't even turn around so I walked past her onto the landing. I locked myself in the bathroom and leaned back against the door. Closing my eyes I took a calming breath.

"Not an island, not an island, not an island" I chanted at myself. Timidly I sat down against the door, bumping into the door handle against my sore ribs. God, it really hurt. Involuntarily I cried out and then clamped a hand over my mouth, hoping Mini wouldn't hear. I felt tears running down my cheeks, I hadn't even realised I was crying. It must have been a pathetic sight, me, sitting alone on the bathroom floor crying like a child. I don't remember the last time I cried. There had reached a stage where there was just no point, things weren't going to change.

There was a knock on the bathroom door. "Franky? Are you alright?" Mini sounded concerned.

Quickly I whiped away my tears. "Yeah," I sniffed. "Yeah I'm fine."

"Can I come in?" she asked. I waited a moment before I moved aside slightly and unlocked the door. She squeezed through the gap and sat down on the floor opposite me.

Carefully she evaluated me. "Liar" she repeated, leaning forward to wipe a tear off my cheek. Her hand hovered a moment too long, brushing softly down my face. Our eyes were locked, the tension pressing down upon us. I couldn't pull away. For once there weren't a million thoughts zipping through my head, a million little voices telling me what to think, how to feel. Her eyes were wide and there was a look of hesitation in them. Finally something broke the spell and Mini pulled away.

"Ah...did you...um, did you want a glass of water?" she asked, looking down, around her, anywhere but at me. Her calmness and intensity had disappeared in an instant. Suddenly she was flustered and anxious, her hands twisting in her lap. I reached out and tenderly placed my hands over hers. They stopped moving under my touch but she didn't look at me. We sat for a moment, my eyes on her face and her eyes on our hands in her lap.

"Franky, I..." she trailed off into silence. I waited for her to continue. I didn't really know what was going on here. There had been so many confusing moments that day and Mini's mind remained a mystery to me. But she only shook her head, as if to send a thought skittering off into the corner and looked back at me with an expression that told me this conversation was not going to continue tonight. She pulled herself up on the sink and grabbed a glass from a cupboard, filling it with water. She handed it to me.

'Here. You might need this for your pills" she said, reminding me. I took it from her, reaching into my pocket for the packet the doctor had given me. I took two, tossing my head back to swallow them down. Mini watched me, smiling like a mother overseeing her child. I reached for the rim of the bath and began to pull myself up. I gasped as pain shot down my side. Mini reached forward to help me. Putting her arm around my waist she pulled me up standing, next to her. But as soon as I was on my feet she pulled her arm back, as if she had been burned. Without even looking at me she walked out of the room.

By the time I had followed her into the bedroom she was already in bed, facing the wall, the covers pulled up to her head. I walked between the beds and I was about to get into mine when I turned back to her. Leaning over I placed a soft kiss on the top of her head.

"Night Mini," I said. It wasn't until I was in my own bed, the covers snug around me that I heard her reply.

"Night Franky. Sleep well."