𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 ✓

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚅

NOAH CROSSED THE ROAD IN QUICK, rapid footsteps, Jacobi trailing behind him as he tried to catch up. The little boy called Noah's name once as he could finally match his pace, looking up to meet the cold, solemn expression Noah had on.

"Can you please tell me where we're going?" he asked in a soft voice.

"We're almost there. Just don't bother me,"

Jacobi rolled his eyes. He knew his brother turned to a whole different person when he was nervous, however, so he was used to it.

"See? We're here already! That wasn't so hard."
The blonde boy looked up to see a pretty familiar place, where the words Cozy Corner was written on a neon-green sign.

"You could've told me we were going to that restaurant!"

Noah rolled his eyes in annoyance, clearly fed up with being followed around. Despite it being his job as an older brother.

"Shh,"

The dark-haired boy reached up to push the door open, hearing a small ring of the bell to announce their entrance. Jacobi quietly followed, and soon enough, they were sitting on one of Mal's favorite tables.

It was her favorite because it had a view of the street.

"So, are we going to eat?" Jacobi asked with a tone of enthusiasm. Noah shook his head in denial as he let out his phone.

The little boy sighed, then got up from his chair, trying to search for something to do.

His eyes caught the sight of a familiar girl that he knew very well, and out of boredom, he ran up to her.

"Hey, Mal!"

"Hey, Jacobi, I missed you!" Mal greeted warmly, kneeling to his level to give him a hug. Noah frantically turned around at the voice of his girlfriend's, clearly relieved to see her.

"Hey..." he began as he stood up to meet her gaze.
"Hey, Noah." she replied coldly. Noah gulped while taking a short glance at the floor.

"I, um, can we talk?"

Mal only shrugged as response. The pair walked to a nearby table, then sat down across from each other.

"Listen, um, I'm sorry about what I said... I was just scared, okay? I know you wouldn't do something like that to me," Noah began, staring into her brown eyes to try to make her stop avoiding his gaze.

"Then why did you say that, Noah?" she asked, her voice slow and clear. "Why would you accuse me of something you know for well I wouldn't do, huh?"

Noah didn't answer. He gulped and stared at the table, not knowing how to answer her question.

"Most importantly, why did you think you could hide something like that from me? If you think Shia did that, why didn't you talk to me about it? Do you not trust me enough?"

His eyes widened as he shook his head. Mal blinked the tears away from her eyes as she realized the terrible truth.

He couldn't talk to her about something like that. He couldn't trust her.

She felt guilty, as if it was all her fault. She didn't want to be the ignorant type that people were scared to share their feelings with. She wanted to be the loving girlfriend that could be trusted with everything.

And god knew what other secrets he was hiding from her.

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