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Slowly, she started to recover.

(Of course she did, she wasn't a lifeless slop like him.)

Days turned into weeks. She began to smile and laugh again, and although the guilt still wrecked him, he was glad to see her being a bit more like herself. He found himself quietly listening what she had to say, feeling her soft warmth over him like a veil of early winter sunshine. Perhaps he was desperately craving for her to move on to act as if nothing had happened.

Her friends still hated his guts, and he couldn't blame them. He'd written her a letter, but he suspected it was somehow intercepted and destroyed. He had a complete apology speech built up inside him, but he hadn't gotten a chance to use it yet.

It had been almost a month and there he was, still passively waiting for a chance that wouldn't come unless he did something.

He was awkwardly trailing around at a corridor when he rounded a bend, and quite nearly bumped into her and her friends. They immediately stepped into a defensive stance around her, icy eyes stabbing through him.

"Get lost," one of them said curtly.

"We'll never forgive you," another seethed.

For the first time in what felt like ages, he dared to raise his head and meet her eyes. She didn't look sad, or angry, or happy. She was just regarding him with slight interest. Somersaults twisted in his stomach, and his hands shook as he raised them in a feeble effort to pacify her angry friends. "I-I just want to-"

"Let him speak."

All eyes turned to the sun, smiling placidly, casting a mellow light over them.

Her friends exchanged confused and surprised looks, but she was staring straight at him, and nodded slightly.

His heart stuttered. "O-okay."

They went to a quiet corridor, with just the two of them. With every step he took, he became even more nervous and weirdly enough, afraid.

"I'm sorry," he finally burst out. Whatever script he had prepared came out in choppy, staccato words. "I really am. I'm sorry; I shouldn't have overreacted. I was being selfish and close-minded and dumb-"

"No!" she cut through, and he could sense a hint of wildness in her voice. "It's my fault. I- I thought you didn't mind. I thought I was helping you, even if I was forcing you. What you said was absolutely right, and no one had ever struck me this deep, so I got dramatic. I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"No, my wording was wrong, I should've put in a nicer way, I'm sorry I'd hurt you."

"I'm sorry-" she continued passionately, then slapped a hand to her forehead. "Oh God, we're just two dumbasses, let's shake hands and make it up."

She turned to face him squarely, big eyes unusually serious.

"I've realized I was being really obnoxious, so I tried to tone it down. I hope I'm okay now."

His eyes widened. "W-what, no, don't change yourself just because some idiot insulted you like one time! I mean, you were annoying sometimes but you were also nice, like you were annoying in a nice way."

She waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, it's okay, it's water under the bridge now."

(He was pretty amazed by her ability to forgive rapidly. Well after all, she was an easy-going person.)

For the first time in what felt like forever, he stretched out a friendly hand towards her.

"Begin again?"

Rays of sunshine emitted from her smile. Her warm hand held his firmly, and they shook hands.

"Begin again."

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A/N: Yeeeeee they're fine now. Thanks for reading and voting! There's going to be one more chapter at the end :D