a.n. Hi non who asked about my Daisy ships! Sad to say I don't really ship her with anyone at the moment :( I'd be totally on board for her getting a girlfriend (come on writers. Do it), but in terms of the characters we have on offer right now I don't really ship her with anyone.

Daisy tried to sleep. She really did. Hell, sleeping was the only thing Phil wanted her to do right now. She wanted to be good. She wanted to be a good kid for him and Melinda.

They wanted her. Like, really wanted her, for whatever reason. They deserved a better kid than her, but they wanted her. So Daisy had to be better for them.

But even though she wanted to do what she was told and just go to sleep, she couldn't stop thinking about May. Even though she hadn't asked for Daisy to be in her life, she had still tried to help her. And Daisy had broken her things, done everything she could to goad the both of them into anger.

Let them think that she hated them, because it hurt less to try to convince herself that she did.

Daisy had already said sorry to Phil. She couldn't sleep until she apologised to May too.

She'd hurt her. Even if May didn't show it, Daisy knew that she had.

Melinda was sitting in bed reading a book, listening to the sounds of the water run down the shower drain when there was a tentative knock at the door.

She looked up. Daisy, of course. It couldn't be anyone else since Phil was still in the shower.

The kid didn't look very good. Her eyes were red and swollen, her hair messed up, her pyjamas hanging from her frame. There was a vulnerability there that May didn't usually see so clearly. She cocked her head. "You should be asleep." She murmured.

Daisy shuffled her feet nervously. "I-I know- I just... I'm really sorry for how I acted." She said to the floor. May was different to Phil. She didn't want to impress Phil like she wanted to impress May. "I- I wanted this to end- cos..." She trailed off. Couldn't say it.

"I know." Melinda said softly, which made Daisy look up sharply. She couldn't help the tiny smile at how much more interested Daisy suddenly looked. "I did the same. Almost divorced Phil, ignored calls from my parents, tried to push everyone away."

Daisy swallowed. "Wh-why?"

"You first."

She bit her lip and clenched her fists. "Cos- everyone always sends me back." She confessed, but no tears came. Daisy wasn't sure she had any left right now. "So I wanted you to get it over with- cos it'd hurt less."

"We're not going to send you away."

Daisy nodded quietly. "Okay." She said softly, but waited. Needed to know why May had done what she'd done.

Melinda crossed her arms around her waist, feeling oddly vulnerable. She'd never talked about it before. "Because I'm a monster." She said softly. "And I didn't want anyone else to know. Every second they spent with me was another second that they might see, and... I couldn't take them looking at me and knowing what I am."

Daisy swallowed the lump in her throat. "You're not a monster."

May shrugged. "Maybe one day you'll think differently."

"Maybe one day you'll change your mind about keeping me around." Daisy challenged.

"We won't." May said firmly, and when Daisy shrugged, she sighed. "But I see your point."

Daisy wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand. "I'm sorry I'm not- good."

God, of all the times for Phil to take a shower. "You're fine." May said, wishing she knew what to say to make this better. "You're not bad, you're just..." She thought, trying to find the word. "Angry. You're allowed to be angry at what's happened to you."

Daisy was quiet for so long that Melinda was certain she'd messed up and upset her. Just as she was about to apologise for it, Daisy said. "I am?" Her face was painted with confusion. Like no one had ever told her that before.

Something inside of Melinda stilled. Oh. The poor kid. "Yes." She said, "You just need to learn how to use it, not let the anger use you."

"I don't know how to do that." Daisy muttered apologetically.

A hint of a smile touched Melinda's lips. "Well maybe I can show you some time."

Daisy looked up, disbelieving. There it was again. She'd done something wrong, something bad, and they were giving her things. A home, forgiveness, a teacher. She smiled. "I'd like that."

"Then it's a deal." May said, "But for now you should sleep. Okay?"

"Okay." Daisy murmured, the fatigue suddenly wracking her body. "Thank you."

"No problem."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Phil could tell by the way that Melinda cuddled up to him that something had happened. Not that he minded. He loved it when she was close. When she sought him out. "Daisy talked to you?"

She nodded against his shoulder. "She couldn't sleep, wanted to apologise."

Phil smiled into her hair. "I'm glad that we got to the bottom of it."

"By letting her destroy things until she snapped."

"Don't knock it, it worked." Melinda only smiled and Phil kissed her gently. "You know, she leaned against me?" He said, trying to bottle his excitement. "She wasn't scared, she even let me hold her hand when she was upset."

May rolled her eyes. "I'm happy for you." She said, only half sarcastically.

Phil chuckled. "You're just jealous." He said, poking her in the ribs.

"I'm going to teach her tai chi."

Phil froze, staring. "You are?" Melinda rolled her eyes and he scolded himself, "I mean, that's great!"

"Don't." She said firmly, noting the artificiality in his voice.

Phil sighed. "I'm sorry... I- I haven't seen you do your tai chi since..."

"I know." May murmured. "It just feels right. Daisy- she needs us. She needs someone to show her how to handle her emotions."

"I'm proud of you." Phil said softly.

Melinda shook her head. "Don't be." She said. "I'm not better. I don't feel any different than I did yesterday or last week. I'm not doing it for me."

"So what?" Phil asked, letting his fingers comb through her hair. "You're doing it. Just cos you're doing it for her doesn't take away from that."

May sighed. "She deserves better." Better than her. Better than some useless parent who could only help her feel better with things, because emotions were so foreign to her as to be another language.

Phil smiled. "She thinks the same thing about us." He murmured. "Maybe we just all deserve each other."

"Maybe." That was a comforting thought. They were all their own mix of messed up, but they had each other. They deserved each other, and none of them were going anywhere soon.