||NOAH||

Heaving a sigh as I disappear into a corner, I went into the bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror. Blinking, I hope to myself and for them that they manage to talk about their problems. Taking a breather, a exited the room but still peeked over from the corners to check on them. Just then, I was startled when I barely noticed some standing next to me, "Hey," I hear them whisper.

My heart jumped when I turned, only to realize that it was Liam, "I thought it was gonna be just you and Brad for now?" He tilts his head.

Calming down, I look at him, "there was... a bit of shifting in our plans, but now, I'm just wishing hard that they can recover," I pursed my lips and looked down.

"Well, let's observe," Liam said, doing the same thing as he leaned forward from the corner. We both watched quietly at the two who were still appearing to be a bit apprehensive. I frowned, but still remained where I stood.

"Annabel..." I hear Brad. My head perked up with attention and listened.

"I... I'm sorry," he mumbles sadly. It was a bit hard to distinguish what they were saying from this distance, but I could hear bits of their conversation.

"Why are you apologizing?" Annabel said in shock.

"I was so pissed at you... I left you alone at the party. I yelled at you, I ignored you..." Brad shook his head in disappointment.

"I deserved it. I should be the one saying sorry," Annabel responded.

Brad's brows furrowed sadly.

"This was all my fault. Out of foolishness and greed, it caused so much pain and anger for all of us. My heart fell to the pit of my stomach, and I've never felt so guilty in my life. I'm sorry... I never meant for any of this to happen, yet it did." Her tone was cracking.

"...I'm not asking for forgiveness, but... I'm sorry..."

Annabel's voice was broke and her head lowered once more. Brad's expression deepened into a sorrowful look. As he stood up from his seat to stand beside her, I could see that Annabel was on the edge of releasing tears as she looked up at him. Brad extended his arms towards her. Annabel's cheeks wetted as she got up and sunk into his embrace. The two hug each other, having an emotional moment. It sounded like they were having a few exchanges of words but were whispering them to each other quietly. I couldn't exactly hear clearly, but I did catch on to something from Brad murmuring to Anna,

"ça va, ne sois pas triste, je suis là pour toi..."

I was actually quite astonished that he spoke French to her. I didn't even know he spoke French, or that could be the fact that he learned it from her. "What did he say?" Liam looked down at me.

"I don't know actually, I barely understood it," I shook my head. Brad's hands patted her on the back in attempts to comfort her as she laid her head on his chest. They remained still for a moment, the tranquil ambiance of the restaurant soothing away their tension. After letting go Annabel wiped away her tears with a sniff as Brad tenderly patted her shoulders. He bends his knees a little to get to her level, the two staring at each other deeply, "I'm thankful for your apology, and that it wasn't you're intention. Even though it did hurt, I don't want it to happen to both of us again," he mumbles.

Annabel nods understandably.

"I don't want to see you sad anymore either," he gives her a small weak grin, "let's put this behind us, yeah?" He says.

Annabel blinks before nodding as well, "yes," she murmurs before they give each other one last hug, "Merci..." she says softly under her breath.

"Woohoo!" Liam jumps out to the side, giving quite the surprising applause. Wow, this dude has quite the enthusiasm. Annabel and Brad looked at us as I gave them a smile. Walking up to them, I asked, "so, both of you are okay now?" I reassured questioningly.

They gave each other a glance before turning back to me, "yeah, we're cool,"  Brad grinned.

-

As the three of us sat back down again, I could see that the mood has lightened up. If there were to be a talk happening, the three of us would be involved. Liam came over with our dishes, placing our food down. Soon, we began eating whilst having a good time. Occasionally, he would come by to check on us and even join in for a moment. Seeing that the too are being happy around each other, I'm grateful to see them like this. I nearly forgot to ask Annabel to update me on what happened after she asked to be a part of the performance for prom.

"Well, Mr. Gil was pleased that I applied, but I do need to get ready and practice," she said.

"You're gonna sing?" Brad raised a brow with a tilt of his head.

"Zack is too," she nodded.

"What are you gonna sing?"

"Mr. Gil requests that it would be appropriate for slow dancing," she smiled, "so I wanna practice hard during this week."

I look at her with pride, "we'd love to hear you sing," I say and gave an encouraging nod to Brad who approved as well with a grin.