Outside Work We... •[TNN One-shots]•

What About Me? •|| YOUNG MIA + AUTUMN ||•

Prompt: Autumn comes to the realization that Mia doesn't care about her like she does.

Autumn sat cross-legged on the old wooden bench outside their high school, her hair falling over her shoulder as she pulled at a loose thread on her sweater. She could hear the muffled laughter of students still lingering in the halls, the distant sound of a football being kicked across the field, and the steady hum of cars on the road nearby. But most of all, she could hear Mia talking.

It had been like this for nearly half an hour.

“…And I swear, Reece just doesn’t get it sometimes. I love him, but he’s always acting like he’s my dad, like I can’t take care of myself.” Mia sighed dramatically, tilting her head back against the bench.

Autumn hummed in response, nodding slightly. “Yeah, I get it.”

“I mean, do I sound crazy? I don’t think I sound crazy.”

“You don’t.”

Mia groaned. “Ugh. And my mom? Don’t even get me started. She was all ‘Mia, you need to be more responsible’ when I literally do everything in that house. I swear, she has no idea what she’s talking about.”

Autumn listened, just like she always did. She was good at that. She never interrupted, never dismissed Mia’s frustrations, and never told her that she was being too dramatic— even when she thought maybe she was.

Instead, she nodded, offered small reassurances, and waited for the moment Mia needed her to actually say something.

“That sounds exhausting,” Autumn finally said, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Maybe you should take a day for yourself, do something that makes you feel better.”

Mia waved a hand. “Oh, yeah, I was thinking about that, but then I remembered I have, like, three assignments due, and Reece is going to lecture me again, and my mom’s going to be on my ass all week, so…” She sighed. “It’s whatever.”

Autumn pressed her lips together, watching as Mia leaned back against the bench, staring up at the overcast sky. There was a heaviness to her that she was all too familiar with.

A part of her wanted to tell Mia that she understood. That she had her own things weighing her down. That maybe, just maybe, she needed someone to listen too.

“…I had a weird day too,” Autumn said hesitantly.

Mia blinked, turning her head slightly. “Oh?”

Autumn hesitated, her fingers curling into the sleeve of her sweater. “Yeah. My dad was…” She trailed off, unsure how to phrase it.

Mia straightened slightly, her expression shifting just a little. “Oh, right, yeah… he’s being a jerk again?”

Autumn swallowed. “Yeah.”

Mia clicked her tongue. “That sucks. I mean, he’s always been awful, though. It’s not new, right?”

Autumn’s stomach twisted. It wasn’t that Mia didn’t care. She did. But it was always in this way— acknowledging Autumn’s problems without really engaging with them. Like Autumn’s pain was something to be noted, but not something to sit with.