"Now you look better!" My father enthusiastically said with a bright smile while he looked at my fresh new haircut.

The hairdresser held up a square sized mirror behind my head and I followed the reflection of my new haircut with my eyes as she moved from side to side to show me.

My hair was naturally blonde but I've been doing some highlights since I was fourteen. I smiled at the result and got out of the chair where I had been sitting for the past couple of hours.

"Honestly, you look so beautiful and healthy. It's so good to see you like this." Gavin said while he battled some tears that threatened to appear.

"Thanks dad." I took a pause. "I do feel better."

The antibiotics worked. Thankfully. After completing the cycle of antibiotherapy, I got some blood drawn again and it showed that my body had officially beaten the ongoing infection. Which meant that I was free to go and as soon as Doctor King gave me the release papers, I got out of that hospital room faster than he could say his latest joke. Which was something Doctor King often did.

My parents picked me up and brought me home yesterday. The first thing I did once I got home was take a long shower, put on my favorite pajamas and eat dinner with my dads.

It's the simple things that make all the difference and that truly mean the world. Getting to eat dinner with them again was so special to me. It was so normal. And I hadn't had that in a while.

Today though, was another story. Jack had already booked a slot at the hairdresser for me as soon as he knew I was getting out of the hospital.

"Do you want to go out? Coffee maybe?"

"I would love to, but I already made plans with Kyle."

"She is growing up so fast." Gavin said to Jack, referring to me in the third person, as if I wasn't right in front of them. "Remember when you used to beg us to go out to lunch and then ride the bike at the park?"

I definitely remembered. I nodded in agreement and showed them my best smile. "I do."

"But we're just acting silly. Go, have fun." Jack said with a smile that could only be a disguise for the frown I knew he had.

"I'm sorry. But we could do something fun tomorrow."

I knew my dads were sad that after all the time I spent at the hospital, the first thing I did on a Saturday afternoon was hang out with Kyle instead of them, but I also knew that deep down they were happy that I had a best friend and someone I could count on, apart from them.

"Of course." Gavin rushed to say with a genuine smile. "Send Kyle our love."

"Will do!"

* * *

I met Kyle at Frozen Amore, an old fashioned ice cream parlor in our hometown, that we usually go to whenever we hang out. We've been coming to this place since we were kids and the owners already knew our go-to orders by heart.

"Look at that hottie!" I chuckled at his comment and despite not saying anything in return, I wrapped my arms around Kyle tightly when he got up from his seat to hug me.

It feels amazing to be able to hug someone and especially without all those plastic scrubs between us.

"Your hair looks amazing!" He said as he brushed his fingers through my blonde and golden waves.

"I didn't even cut it that short." I took a seat across from him and took off my denim jacket.

Kyle made his way back to his seat as well, not bothering to remove any piece of clothing, the black leather jacket contrasting with the red and white stripes that decorated the chairs. "It's the highlights for me. They make all the difference."

"I have to agree with you on that one."

A loud but thick voice interrupted our conversation. "Zoey! Sweetheart, how are you?" Mr. Ricci, the owner of this parlor, sneaked up from behind me with a wide smile on his face.

"I'm better." I flashed him a smile as well. "Thank you for asking."

"I got a raspberry ice cream coming right up for ya." He winked at me before whispering in my ear. "With an extra scoop and sprinkles."

Kyle overheard the whispers and protested. "Hey, Mr. Ricci, what about my chocolate special?"

"You weren't in the hospital, pretty boy."

I laughed at the little game they had going on and decided to stick by my best friend's side. "Just give him the chocolate special. In my honor."

Mr. Ricci, who could never say no to us, smiled at Kyle before going behind the counter to work on our orders, while he mumbled something in Italian that I couldn't quite decipher.

"What would you do without me?" I questioned, jokingly.

"I have no clue." Kyle shrugged and leaned back in his chair.

I giggled and followed his eyes, that so intensely traveled to the entrance of the parlor and with a questioning look and his mouth slightly agape.

When I realized who he was looking at I couldn't help but open my mouth just a little.

"What are they doing here?" Kyle asked in a whisper.

"I have no idea."

Noah's support group walked inside the parlor and took their seats at one of the larger booths in the corner. They were too busy talking to each other and laughing at some joke one of them told, to even notice anyone else at the parlor, and I remained unknown to them.

Mr. Ricci walked back to our table shortly, with my raspberry ice cream with sprinkles and Kyle's chocolate special. He put them down on the metallic round table that separated me and Kyle and after we thanked him, we grabbed our spoons and started to dig in.

I wasn't even done tasting and taking my time to appreciate the flavor of my dessert when another interruption made itself known.

"Um, excuse me, aren't you-?" At the sound of a thick, low and raspy voice, I looked up from my ice cream and met this guy's blue eyes. "You are." He said in realization. "You're that girl."

I tried not to roll my eyes but my face didn't hide the unpleasant feeling.

"Wow, your friend didn't even bother to introduce himself to me when he came to my room and he didn't even tell you guys his roommate's name?" I shared a sarcastic laugh. "You should teach him some manners. At least you seem to have some."

I looked away from him as I shoved another spoonful of ice cream in my mouth.

"You've got to excuse him, he's been going through a lot with the surgery and the-"

I stared at him intently, until he got the hint. "Right you've been going through a lot too, I suppose." He hesitated before flashing me a smile and opening his arms. "But hey, you're out, that's good!"

"Yeah."

"Well, I won't bother you anymore." He turned around to go back to his friends, but not without waving at my best friend. "Nice to see you, Kyle."

I glared at my best friend, who kept eating his chocolate special and looking everywhere but me, until I coughed out loud.

"Nice to see you, Kyle?" I quoted in an angry whisper. "Since when do you know each other?"

"I-I don't know him that well." He looked down to his ice cream, avoiding eye contact with me. "We just ran into each other in the waiting room a couple of times, that's all."

I stayed still for a moment, while my brain was trying hard to process this foreign information.

"Well, did you talk?"

"Well, yeah of course! I'm not antisocial." He blurted out. "Are you done with the interrogation now?"

"What's with you? I'm just asking you a ques-"

"-And, for your information, Harper and I were right and Noah is actually a part of the swimming team, just like you."

The wheels in my brain started turning. They were indeed right and that explained a lot of things I noticed back at the hospital. Why Doctor King referred to him as Champ. Probably also why I overheard him speak on the phone with someone - who, I now think it might be his coach - about practices.

I looked down to my ice cream and focused on eating, spoon after spoon, while my brain started connecting all the dots.

"Now you're just gonna stay silent?" Kyle's voice interrupted my thoughts.

"No, I was just..." I shrugged my shoulders. "Thinking."

After a spoonful of his chocolate special, he shared his opinion with me. "Yeah, I think it's kinda weird that you never met him once but... I can't say I'm surprised either."

That conversation died there. I didn't say anything else about Noah or his group and neither did Kyle. We finished our ice creams, stayed in and hung out for a little while, talking about everything and nothing, just like we always do.

"Bye, then."

I turned around and found the three stooges staring at me and Kyle. Two boys and one girl. They looked pretty much the same as they did on that day I saw them inside my hospital room.

The taller guy, who gave off some latino vibes, checked out Kyle (very discreetly, I must say, but didn't go by unnoticed), but remained silent. The other guy, who came to say hi earlier gave us a smile and nodded. The girl with black hair took a couple of steps forward and kindly asked me how I was doing.

"Uh... I'm good, yeah. Thanks for asking."

Out of the blue, and just because I am a nice and polite person, I blurted out a question. "How's Noah doing?"

"He's still in the hospital. Should be getting out next week, at least that was what the doctor told him." The guy told me, before introducing himself.

"I'm Ben, I'm sorry." He stood on my side with his arm stretched out to me and his hand out, waiting for mine. "I don't think I've formally introduced myself."

I shook his hand and gave him a quick smile. "I'm Zoey. Zoey Moore."

"Nice to meet you, Zoey. I'm Chloé." The girl shook my hand as well and after smiling at me, she took a couple of steps back, allowing the other guy to step in.

"Hello Zoey, I'm Carter." He said with a smile as well. "I like motorcycles, adventure and boys."

I couldn't help but chuckle at his introduction of himself, and neither could his friends. They sounded like a fun group.

"Good for you, Carter." Was all I managed to say between laughs.

His name might not be very latin but he definitely had a latino accent, which made me think his parents were probably latino and he was already born in America.

"Actually, we're on our way to visit Noah right now." The girl added. "You could come with us if you like."

Oh hell no.

"Oh, um... Thanks but I've got plans."

I've never regretted asking a question this much.

"Okay then. Bye."

They waved goodbye again and left the ice cream parlor.

"Okay..." Kyle said between chuckles and a confused look. "What was all of this?"

"What do you mean? I was just being nice."

"Right." Kyle chuckled before offering me a sly smile. "You're missing your roommate, aren't you?"

"Kyle, that person shared a hospital room with me and didn't bother to talk to me, at all." My best friend remained amused by all of this. "He didn't even introduce himself to me. I couldn't care less if he drops dead tomorrow."

Boy, oh boy... Little did I know I was going to regret my own words. 

 * * *

author's note: chapter number four!!! and i must say, dear readers, that now this story is reallyyyy starting to take off, if you've been here since the start - thank you 💖 -, if you're just starting now, well what a great time to start! and also thank you <3

also, please vote and comment (you know i love reading your opinions!) and add the story to your reading list so you won't miss out on any updates! and of course follow me on ig (missmarswrites) for more TBOTE related content!

xoxo, mars