Katie didn't follow Y/n this time.
She stood there in the corridor long after Y/n disappeared around the corner. Contemplating her actions, Y/n's words ringing through her mind. Katie felt sick. How could she do that to her?
For the first time since it happened, Katie stopped thinking about how this looked on her. Stopped thinking about the rumours, the glares, the embarrassment. All she could picture was Y/n sitting alone at that restaurant, checking her phone, eating alone.
Katie knew she deserved every ounce of anger thrown at her, both by Y/n and all her friends.
---
The next few days were quiet.
Y/n didn't acknowledge Katie in class. Not with anger or contempt, but worse as far as Katie was concerned. With absolutely nothing, as if Katie didn't exist, as if she were an inanimate object. Something unworthy of notice.
As much as Katie wanted to, she didn't chase her. Didn't wait outside classrooms or corner her in hallways. She didn't send messages that would never be acknowledged or answered.
She swallowed down the urge to explain herself every time she passed Y/n in the halls because she finally realised something important.
An explanation is not an apology. She was going to have to do a lot more than explain herself.
---
By Thursday, the rumours had taken over the school. No matter where Katie went, she heard the gossip spreading like wildfire.
Katie heard them all. How she stood Y/n up. How people claimed she thought it was funny. And how could she do that to someone like Y/n. It was all she heard. the hot topic of the week.
Katie didn't stay silent this time, overhearing a group of girls behind her just before their English class.
"No, it wasn't a joke. I just messed up." Katie said quietly as she turned to the girls.
The group of them looked at her, blinking at the interruption, before a surprised expression crossed their face. They hadn't even noticed when Katie came in. "Thats it?" One of them asked, mistrustfully.
"That's it." Katie said. She didn't defend herself further. She didn't mention her fear or her past experiences or what her friends had said. She just let her actions sit on her own shoulders.
Y/n wasn't there to hear about it, but Tyler was listening in.
---
When Friday rolled around, Katie finally decided to do something that scared her more than asking Y/n out ever had.
At lunch, when the canteen was loud and crowded, the very same place where Y/n had yelled at and humiliated her days earlier, Katie stood up.
Her legs shook so badly that she thought she might collapse, but she needed to do this.
"I- uhm," Katie started, clearing her throat as her voice barely came out. "I need to say something." She tried again.
The noise around her slowly faded as more and more people noticed her as she stood on top of a chair to catch attention.
All eyes turned to her, the whispered conversations fading to complete silence.
Katie didn't look for Y/n in the crowd. She didn't want forgiveness. She just wanted the truth to be spoken aloud. She needed to say her part.
"I'm sure you have all heard by now. I stood someone up because I didn't believe they could actually like me," Katie said, voice cracking despite her effort not to let it. "That was cruel. And it hurt her. And I'm sorry."
Having said what she needed, she quickly sat back down before anyone had a chance to react. Her hands were shaking and her heart hammered too quickly, but it was a necessary action.
Across the room, Y/n sat staring at her tray, jaw clenched. She didn't look up. She couldn't. But She heard Katie's words and wasn't sure what she thought this was going to achieve.
For someone who stood her up, she sure seemed to go out of her way to try fix it when she could have just not done it.
---
That evening, Y/n got a notification. An unsaved number, but one she already knew.
The message read: 'I'm going to the restaurant tomorrow. Same time, same table. No expectations. I just don't want you to be the only one who showed up.'
Y/n stared at the message for a long time. It was direct, straight to the point and received no reply from Y/n. She honestly didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to think.
That led to Saturday night, Katie sat alone at the table.
Same place. Same restaurant. Same chair Y/n had previously sat in. Just like she promised.
She arrived early and ordered water, patiently waiting for someone she didn't expect would show up.
Strangers came and went around her. Couples laughed, friends joked around. A waiter stopped to ask if she wanted to order twice, but she brushed them off, saying she was waiting for someone.
At exactly thirty minutes past their meet-up time, she ordered dinner for herself and ate it slowly, forcing herself not to check the door every five seconds.
She finally paid her bill as the chairs around her began to be stacked, the restaurant starting their closing tasks.
Y/n never showed up.
Across the street, Y/n sat in her car. She had been there almost the entire time, hands clenched together, watching through the window.
She hated that Katie showed up. She hated that she stayed. And she hated that a part of her wished she had gone inside.
Y/n was conflicted. She got hurt by Katie, who now seemed to try her best to undo that, but Y/n wasn't sure if she could get over that. The mistrust. The humiliation. Could she ever see Katie as the sweet, shy girl again?
---
On Monday, Katie didn't approach Y/n.
Instead Y/n found something neatly folded inside her locker. A letter. No name on the front.
Y/n chose not to read it. At least not right now.
She waited all day, considering if it's worth reading at all. That night, lying in her bed staring at the ceiling, she finally decided and opened up the letter.
I'm sorry I didn't believe you were genuine.
I'm sorry I embarrassed you.
And I'm sorry I made you feel like you weren't worth showing up for.
You were. You are.
Y/n folded it back up carefully and tucked it into her drawer. She didn't text Katie. But the next day in class, when Katie hesitated before taking the seat next to her, Y/n didn't move away.
It wasn't really forgiveness, not quite yet. But it was something.
---
A/n: Part 3 (final part) should be out some time later in the evening as I've classes until 4 pm.
xx
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Random Imagines (GxG)
Fanfic*No longer going to be updated* For new chapters go to the new imagines books. Start from the part that's titled "---" to start reading new chapter that weren't already published in this book GxG oneshots/imagines Characters/Celebrities Mix of sec...
