Ethereal Love

Chapter 8

I woke up the next day and I had Mia lay next to me, I was in my apartment though - why didn't she just go back to hers? I tried to get out of bed without waking Mia but she was a light sleeper so my little movement had already awoken her. I still felt faint and moving felt like a lot of effort - I felt heavy. Mia grabs me and says, "Hey, try not to move too quickly - you were in a state last night." I turn to her and roll my eyes to say ghee wow thanks. I lifted my arm and smelt my armpit, god I smell. I tried to get out of bed and head to my shower but I collapsed. Mia shot out of bed and helped me up, gaining some stability I managed to stay on my feet, my body was weak. I walked into the bathroom with Mia's guidance so I could shower. "I'll wait for you, if you need me then shout me." I laugh and nod my head at her as she leaves the room, I close the door behind her and try walking over to the mirror but I fall. Mia knocked on the door and checked on me, "Hey, dipshit, did you just fall over AHAHAHA?" I started laughing but I was in agony.  You could hear the pain in my laugh.

Mia opened the door and walked in to help me. I look at her and say, "Could you help me... I mean, I can't really stand or hold my weight so could you help me erm, shower?" I tried not to make it weird but it's difficult asking a friend you've only known for less than a week to help you undress, shower and dress you again. Mia nodded sympathetically and helped take my clothes off. I caught Mia looking at my back, she touched my back, near my ribs and I shrieked, "Ouch Mia." accidentally snapping at her. Mia looked at me with teary eyes and asked who gave me those bruises but honestly, I cannot remember. I felt so bad for snapping, she wasn't even rough, it was a gentle touch but it really hurt. Mia picks me up and takes me over to the shower, she sits me down in the bath and turns the shower on. I sat there feeling vulnerable but safe that I had Mia sat beside me.

Mia held the shower head behind me and soaked my body. As I felt the warm water hit my body I felt relaxed. I let my head fall back slowly and let Mia run her shampoo covered fingers through my hair. I closed my eyes and took in every moment. This felt so right but so wrong. Mia rinsed out the shampoo from my hair and then put the conditioner in. We waited a while for the conditioner to do its thing and I sat there while Mia put soap on my shoulders and back, she has such a fragile touch. Mia washed out the conditioner and rinsed the soap off my body. I turned to Mia to thank her for not making it weird and she laughed at me. She pulled me close and she hugged my head. Carefully wrapping a towel around me and lifting me out of the shower, she places me on the counter, "You know you can tell me anything" she says, trying to be there for me, she wanted to know how I got these bruises but I'm 98% sure I got them from banging into people's body's when dancing and from falling to the floor. I grinned at her and tried not to make it look fake but I was in so much pain, I have a pounding head and my body hurts. Mia dried me off and put me in a baggy jumper and some Nike Pro shorts. Riding Mia's back she walked me over to my bed and she hops in next to me. I managed to turn the TV on and we watched some anime and relaxed.

Some time passed and I caught Mia getting sleepy, I wanted to ask her what happened to me but I feared that I'd hear something I didn't want to hear. Nudging Mia her body re-energised and she asked me if I needed anything, I shook my head but she knew I was lying, "What's up?" she asked, so sincere and so curious. I looked into her eyes and finally plucked up the courage to ask, "What happened to me last night? I don't remember anything. I only remember you kissing that girl..." My face dropped as I said that, Mia stared into my eyes and said, "Well, we were partying and drinking, then you and Iago went upstairs as you two were making out. Then you came back downstairs like ten minutes later and you looked upset, then you drank a drink someone gave you..." Mia explained but she looked really hesitant to tell me the next bit, "... then you were dancing and you fell to the ground." I started laughing, Mia looked at me concerned, I continued laughing and expressed how stupid I must've looked and how embarrassing that is. Mia continued to stare at me, "You were drugged, Maddy. Why are you laughing?" I stopped laughing, I went really quiet. I thought I got wasted but clearly not - I mean whatever I was drugged with is hella strong, especially as it's what? 11:30 AM... "OMG I'M LATE FOR CLASS!" I exclaimed.

Mia smiled and said, "Don't panic, Iago has already explained to Professor Gilbert why you aren't attending a class today."

Even though Iago and I haven't spoken since last night it was nice that he informed sir why I'm not attending class. I guess this gives me a reason to message him, to thank him?

'Iago, we need to talk but first of all - thank you for telling sir what happened. I know we were getting intimate yesterday but I felt embarrassed after Dan barged in and it completely ruined the moment. The fact you told him to 'Get out' with not much meaning shows me that you don't care who does and doesn't see who you're 'hooking up with' - it's quite disgusting.'

I received a message from Iago instantly, 'Mads, I know, it was wrong and I'm sorry. I got stuck in the moment and I realised that I don't wanna be just friends. I really like you.'

I was in shock at this but I was too tired to respond so I went back to sleep again. The next time I woke up it was 4 pm - Mia was lying on my chest sleeping. I decided to text Iago back and say, 'Iago, I don't know what to say. I think I really like you too. You're not anything I said when we first met, you're quite sweet, caring and a hopeless romantic oh and such a cliche of course.'

We continued speaking for a while, Mia woke up and she had to leave. I thanked her for her kindness and hugged her goodbye.

Iago and I continued speaking for a couple of days after that. A couple of days eventually turned to weeks and after weeks it turned to months. We ended up going on many more dates and he eventually asked me out. I said yes and it was going really well, we've been together for three months now. We went to fancy places to eat once a week and continued doing our sunset picnics. Dating Iago Stevens was quite the dream I have to say. I hadn't spoken to Mia for a while, I miss her, I miss her touch, her voice - our friendship. We tried meeting up a few times but she always had plans and I ended up spending most of my time with Iago.

I decided to drop Mia a message and ask her, 'Hi M, I know we've distanced a fair amount over the past few months. I just wanna know if everything's okay between us - if so, would you like to come to mine tonight, we can order pizza, watch anime and have a sleepover? x'

No longer than ten minutes later I received a text back from her,

'Hey Maddy, sorry, yeah everything is okay between us. You've been busy with Iago all the time and I'm always catching up on Uni work so there's obviously some drifting being done. I'll come over at eight? xx'