𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 ✓

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚅𝙸

"IT DOESN'T MATTER ANYWAY," Mal spoke, clamping her hands together, "I'm so sorry this has happened to you. It's just... Not telling me about something like that made me feel guilty. Was I, by any chance, good when it came to talking to you? I mean, I know I can be awkward sometimes but-"

Noah shook his head, feeling guilty as well. He shouldn't have made her feel like that. He should've told her, especially when the incident happened while it was the beginning of their relationship. He should've made her feel like she could trust him, by trusting her himself.

"Mal, you were everything I could ask for," he interrupted her, reaching across the table to hold her hand, "I'm grateful that you were with me during that time. I know what I did was wrong, both by hiding something like this from you and yelling at you. I'm really sorry."

Mal gave him a small smile, looking away from his brown eyes as she could feel her cheeks reddening.

"It's okay. I forgive you." 

Mal squeezed his hand tightly, reassuring him. Noah gave her a smile, then sighed in relief.

"Now we can go on a proper da-"

But the boy was interrupted by a serial of violent coughs. Mal squeezed his hand tighter in worry as he continued to cough for a few more seconds, holding his throat.

"Baby, are you okay?" she questioned. He calmed down after that, then glanced at her in reassurance.

"Don't worry, babe, I'm fine. I guess I'm just catching a cold or something."

Mal nodded, then looked at another direction, towards Jacobi, who approached the couple with an unreadable expression on his face.

"My dad ate my cookie."

Noah rolled his eyes. "Jacobi, just get over it already."

"Noah! Don't be mean. Now, Jacobi, if you would like, maybe we can buy you a new one."

Jacobi stared at the ground in disappointment, nodding and muttering a small 'okay' as reply. Noah messaged his forehead as if to tell he was fed up.

"Mal, no, he's been saying that for weeks now. Just forget about it."

Mal stared at Jacobi's disappointed expression in confusion. "Noah, he's just a kid," she whispered, "don't be mean."

Noah nodded, biting his lips, still slightly upset at the interruption. "Fine. If I buy you another cookie, would you promise to just stop talking about that?"

Jacobi didn't answer. Instead, he stared into Noah's eyes with a blank, doe-eyed expression.

"Alright then, do you guys sell cookies here?" Mal nodded, then turned around to see if there was anyone to take their small order. She spotted her (rather handsome) brother, Adam, passing by.

"Adam, can we get a cookie? Jacobi, what flavour do you want it?"

Jacobi stared at the ground, then looked up at Mal, who gave him a reassuring smile. "Chocolate chip, I guess."

"One chocolate chip cookie coming right up!" Adam said cheerfully, then hurried towards the kitchen to get the order. Mal smiled at his enthusiasm, then turned to Noah again. Noah sighed, relaxing his muscles.

"Thanks, Mal."

"You're welcome, babe. Anything for our cutie pie."

That made Jacobi smile a little, despite the disappointment still pooling in his stomach.

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