Fixing You

14. Home

"Just make yourself comfortable for a moment. I'll get the bathroom ready for you," Grace said as soon as they entered her house.

It had been a while since the last time Mia stepped into a place that smells so much like home. She was always around either crashing into parties or in the dorm, never really in a place where a family would gather.

"Do you live alone?" Mia asked as she and followed Grace, her eyes checking out the space. It was cozy and no signs of children around although there were a few boxes of baby furnitures yet to be built. Grace did tell her that she's expecting, although she didn't look pregnant at the time.

"My husband and I bought the place just recently, he's currently in London for business purposes so I have the place for myself for at least another two or three days," Grace explained. She looked into a shelf inside the bathroom and pulled out a fresh new towel to give to Mia.

"Wow, that's a lot amount of trust to let him go around without you," Mia said.

"Let's just say marriage is a tough thing but it's so beautiful just thinking about staying and growing old with one person for the rest of your life." Grace chuckled, "We've been through so much that I don't think I can trust another person as much as I do him."

"That sounds... scary," Mia nodded slowly, "But maybe it's because I'm not ready for anything like that. Staying with the same person forever - maybe not. Possibly never."

"I won't judge, but someday you will find the right person who'll make you feel like you want to stay with him forever. That person would make everywhere feel like home," Grace told her. "I'm going to shower upstairs and maybe get to bed right away. Just make yourself comfortable downstairs and let me know if you need anything at all."

"Sure," Mia nodded. She watched as Grace walked out of the bathroom before closing the door.

She took her phone out and switched it on, placing it on the sink as she waited for the texts to come in. As she scrolled through random texts, even party invitations, Mia found Carter's name among them all. He asked her to call him once she read the text. There was only one missed call from him. "Can't you at least try harder...?" Mia sighed. She secretly wished that maybe Carter would be so worried and tried to blow up her phone because she had been away for at least 24 hours.

But for now, all she needed is a warm bath and nothing else. As she was filling the tub with water, Mia decided to give him a call. Surprisingly, he picked the phone up before the third ring. "That's all you've got?" Mia asked.

"Hey..." he sounds weird for a second and there were rustling sounds around him as he cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry, were you asleep?" Mia gasped apologetically, peeling away from the phone to check the time. "Oh, damn... I didn't realize it's midnight. I'm sorry to wake you up--"

"It's okay, it's okay. Just wait a second..." Carter said. He put her on hold for quite a while. Mia stepped into the bathtub as she turned the water off while waiting for him to get back to her. After a moment, his voice came in again, "I'm sorry. Aiden's asleep so... Anyway, I'm outside now. Are you okay?" He huffed. It seems like he rushed outside for some privacy to talk to her.

"Not really," Mia replied. "But I will be. At least I feel like it's going to be okay."

Carter was silent for a moment as if he was in deep thought. "So are you back in the dorm right now?"

"No, it was a long drive and I decided to stay for the night. But I'll be back there by--"

"Let's switch to video call. I wanna see if you're okay." Carter blurted out, "Where are you right now? Is it a he or a she, whoever you're staying the night with?"

Mia laughed, "Why, are you jealous? Isn't it normal for me, Damian Faye, to spend the night out with some guy?"

"Tell that bullshit to anyone else. I told you to stop doing that."

"Technically, you only told me to not give up college. You didn't say anything about hooking up." Mia waited for a moment, thinking that maybe he's trying to say something else but the only thing he did was breathing at the other end of the phone call. "Are you still there?"

"It's a she?"

"Does it matter?"

"Hazel told me you rushed out with some woman, is it the same person?"

"That's cool," Mia sighed, "Just knowing that someone cares about me, finally."

"I'm hanging up."

"Wait--" Mia didn't even get to explain herself when he decided to hang up on her, "Dick!" Mia was about to put her phone away when his name popped up on her screen again but this time it was a video call.

Mia spent the next few minutes continuously declining his attempts for a video call while trying to text him explaining that she was currently taking a bath. He ignored her text, insisting that she answers the call. "Oh, god... please don't let him see too much," Mia muttered to herself as she accepted the video call. She tipped the phone back to make sure only her head was in frame.

A few seconds later, his frowning face popped on the screen and Mia couldn't help but laugh at it. He was genuinely worried for her. "What are you doing?" She frowned in disbelief, "I'm in the bath, Carter. You can't just do this!"

"You're okay," he murmured, the frown on his forehead flattened. He had a full view of her tired face and somehow seemed to be enjoying it. Carter was outside as she expected, standing under a lamp post as usual, a if it's his second home.

"Hey, don't be weird," Mia said as she tilted the phone, allowing him to see only her eyes and the white wall behind her.

"Is everything okay? Haze told me about your family," he said out of concern.

"Not really." Mia shook her head, "My parents are dead at least a year ago and I just found out about it. It's... I'm just in a mess right now. Can't even think straight."

"I wish I'm there for you." Carter muttered, "Just come back soon and text me once you're home."

"Funny," Mia forced out a soft laughter, "I can't recall ever having a place to call home."

"That's good news for me. I'll be your home. In fact, I can get you a home."

Mia stared at him. He can be sweet and gentle at times but everytime they see each other face to face, he was always mean and cold. "What are you going to give me once I'm home?"

Carter looks around, "I don't know. Perhaps a hug. Or you can ask and I'll consider it. What do you want?"

Mia smiled softly, "You're just going to give me a hug?"

"On the bed, if you want," he blurted out jokingly. He chuckled when he noticed the smile on her eyes.

"You jerk," Mia rolled her eyes. "It's nice knowing that you care. At least I won't feel alone."

"I'll treat you out for new books and maybe ice cream. Will that make you feel better?" Carter suggested. He just stared at the screen as Mia nodded and let the time pass by with silence. "I'll call you later. Get some rest."

"You too," Mia replied. It took them a minute just silently waiting for one another to hang up until Carter gave in and ended the call.

Mia sighed as she put her phone aside and spent another five minutes in the bathtub until the water turned cold. Mia then got ready for bed and as soon as her head hit the pillow, Mia was reminded of the last thing Dan told her.

God, he was all she had now, too. She wanted to be in his life, perhaps much more than he does.

But she would feel like a burden if Dan took her in. She's no longer a child, she's more than capable of taking care of herself. The only thing she had been good at, as far as she's concerned, was messing up her own life. She was afraid that she's gonna be the death of her brother next. Why would she destroy Dan's life next? What happened to her parents was her fault. Her mother wanted nothing else but for her to be safe and sound, and happy. Mia wondered if there is even any happiness left for a cursed being like herself.