informed consent | short story + one shots

let me hold you

Psychology had been a fluke. After hearing the encouraging words from Harry, Hazel, Hazel's friends, Harry's parents and brother... Mia had been more than convinced that anthropology was the right choice. She hadn't even opened the – what Mia assumed was a very sweet and motivating – text from Harry to wish her luck on her first day.

But Mia wasn't in luck.

She had been thirty minutes into the first lecture of her new course when she realized she couldn't understand a word they were saying. Her cheeks flamed and her breaths shortened when she focussed on the words the professor was saying, but it was so foreign to her. Glancing around, everyone just nodded in understanding, hardly taking any notes.

Mia had subtly grabbed her phone to double check that she was in the right room, and her heart sank three feet when it turned out that she was. This was what she had chosen. This was what she had enrolled in. This was what she had convinced her parents for to pay for her year in anthropology. She gave them a whole speech – doing it via text because she still hadn't seen them since moving out – where she plead her case and begged for them to trust her on this and give her another chance.

And they cracked and did as she asked. Mia had been over the moon, her smile so wide. And now she was... completely defeated. This is what she had begged her parents for, this is what all the hassle was about, and she couldn't help but feel like she'd completely fail this one too.

Tears sprung to her eyes as she tried again to focus. She read the words on the slides with much effort but the slides changed before she could read everything. And Mia knew this would be another case of going to the lecture and having to redo it all at home because she couldn't follow along in class. She tried to take notes, shoving away her embarrassment of knowing they'd be full of writing and grammar mistakes and just prayed to god that the professor didn't pick her for an out-loud answer.

The worst thing was that everyone around her seemed to know what was happening and Mia was the only one falling behind. Mia knew she'd have a bit of a falling behind since she had missed the first semester. She was a 'February-starter' as they called it. So this was her first semester but she just took it in the second semester. It meant she'd study for longer since she had catching up to do, but it also meant she couldn't take any more introductory classes.

She had been careful in puzzling together her curriculum, making sure she didn't pick any subjects now that followed on lectures that were given from September until December, because she wasn't there. And she felt like she did good. Yet her first thirty minutes in this new thing she had chosen, were spent holding down her vomit until the professor announced a little break and Mia sprinted to the toilet.

She wore blue flared jeans with her heeled boots and a cream-coloured cosy jumper on top of it. Her hair was in her signature braid and she had felt cute this morning, full of hope for this fresh start.

Her phone buzzed in a message.

Message from: Hazel

How's it going??

Mia sighed and scrolled back to see Harry's message, deciding to text him back.

Message to: H. <3

Morning, H. Thank you, you too. Love you so much, xxx

She decided not to respond to Hazel's yet, sort of really not even knowing what to say right now. She had a full day of classes ahead of her and wasn't off to a good start. All she really wanted was to skip the rest of the day and go back home to climb in her bed, preferably with Harry spooning her to sleep.

But she couldn't. She needed to give this a fair shot and see what happened. She needed to prove to her parents that she made the right decision. So Mia wiped her mouth and reached for a piece of gum. Since being with Harry, she always had pieces of gum everywhere. In all of her bags, in every pocket of every coat. He always chewed on the spearmint gum and Mia always made sure she had some on hand for him.