"A sweet friendship refreshes the soul." ~Proverbs 27:9

• • •

The next day, Rolo barges into my room unannounced without so much as a hello.

"Get up Keziah. You've had enough time wallowing." I give him a questioning and pouty glance. "And before you ask how I know what happened, Marcel told Tenaya and Tenaya told me."

"Go away Rolo." I say bluntly.

"No I will not go away, I'm here to help you. And as your best friend, I'm actually quite offended that you didn't even come to me." Rolo gives me a slightly hurt look.

"I didn't tell anyone Rolo. I wasn't in the mood to speak so don't act like that." I roll my eyes at him.

Rolo raises his eyebrows at me and crosses his arms, "I'm going to overlook your catty comment just this once Kez."

I sigh loudly and drop the attitude, "I didn't tell you or anyone because it's embarrassing."

"How is this embarrassing? It's not your fault any of this happened but-"

Rolo hesitates to continue his sentence and starts spinning around on my chair.

"But what Rolo?" I ask.

"Nothing Keziah, never mind."

I drop the subject immediately, not feeling too bothered or concerned about what he was going to say.

Rolo climbs onto my bed and puts his arm around my shoulder, "You know I'm always here for you right? We've been friends since the day we were born Kez, there's nothing I wouldn't do for you." He pulls me close to him and places his chin on my head, "We're family."

"I know that Rolo. I suppose I shouldn't have avoided you guys so much like this." I stare.

Rolo pulls away from me and grabs his phone out of his hand and taps against it before replying, "I'm glad you said that because Rani, Evelyn and Ana are on their way here."

I throw myself back onto my bed and groan loudly.

"Stop complaining I'm doing you a favour. There's only so much of this girly crap that I can discuss before I vomit."

I roll my eyes at him and scoff, "Dramatic much. And you literally just said you're here for me so that kind of contradicts that."

"I was being nice, don't push me." He says playfully.

I simply shake my head at him.

Half an hour later, Rani, Ana and Evelyn show up with a bag of snacks and drinks with them.

"You've been hold up in your room for way too long Keziah." States Rani as she walks in.

"Yeah, we haven't seen in you ages." Adds Ana.

"It's been a few days Anastasia, relax." Rolo rolls his eyes.

"Well, you weren't even responding to our texts." Evelyn crosses her arms at me.

"Do you know how many times I called you?" Asks Rani. "Have you even checked your phone at all?"

"No, not really." I shrug at them.

They all pick a space either on my bed or my floor and take up at me.

"How you doing with this whole Abel situation then?" Rani asks bluntly.

"Can you tell us what happened first though?" Questions Ana.

I briefly recount the story to them which leads to more consoling and words of comfort.

We all decide to watch a few movies to take my mind off it but halfway through, Anas phone starts beeping constantly causing her to bite her lip.

Evelyn pauses the movie and stares at her, "Alright Anastasia, spit it out."

Ana exhales loudly before starting, "Now don't shoot me for this, but have you maybe considered that Abel didn't actually kiss her?"

Evelyn and Rani give each other shocked looks while I frown at her.

"What?" I ask in surprise.

"I mean, was it him that was kissing her or was she kissing him?"

"What's the difference Ana? I know what I saw."

"No, she's right." Rolo adds, "If Eliza was the one who kissed Abel, it makes a big difference. Raphael mentioned something to me earlier about it actually."

"He's been talking to me too Kez and from what I'm hearing, it all happened differently to what you believe." Said Ana.

"Are you kidding me? His hands were on her waist guys, I definitely didn't imagine that so just drop it."

"But I think you need to talk to Abel Keziah. Here him out." Rolo continues.

"I said drop it, but if you're so set on taking Abel's side, then go to him instead then."

I storm out of my room and head outside to go on a walk.

I know I shouldn't have freaked out like that on them, but I couldn't help it. I'm still feeling betrayed, sad and angry because of Abel and then add the confusion and irritation brought on by my friends comments basically means I'm just a human sized ball of intense emotions.

Despite it all, I can't help but think about what they said; did I really see all of that or was it just my imagination? But there's no way it could have been because I watched it all.

I groan loudly which earns me a few concerned glances from my fellow strangers. I smile sheepishly at them and continue on my way.

While my mind is focused on the same thoughts circling inside my head, I've unknowingly ended up at Bittersweet- my favourite café/diner.

I sit down at the table by the window and order a large mug of hot chocolate with extra whipped cream. Since I'm on my own, I decide to do some people watching to take my mind off things. Obviously in the non creepy kind of way.

I focus on a slightly plump middle aged woman dragging her young daughter-who looks to be about 4-away from the glass case of pastries.

"No Valerie! You've already had 4!" She yells.

The child who I'm guessing is called Valerie digs her feet into the ground before wailing loudly, "But mummy please! I'm a child, I'm allowed to stuff myself with sugar!"

The woman huffs out loud and pulls a desperately pained look, "For once Valerie, could you please not make my life harder than it already is."

From my observation, it's very clear that this woman is incredibly stressed and hanging onto her sanity by an extremely thin thread. But the child does have a point, sugar is what kids dreams are made of; I would know because of Nolan.

It was really entertaining for me to watch if I'm being honest. And that is why I direct my gaze to another unsuspecting pair of individuals.

"Freddie, I've told you a million times to stop dousing your tea with several teaspoons of sugar. At this point, it's more sugar than tea! I will not stand by and watch you get diabetes." The dark skinned elderly woman kisses her teeth at her husband while shaking her head.

"And I've told you a million times that I've lived over 60 years without diabetes and I will continue to do so till my dying breath Elise." The husband responds with equal fervour while adding even more sugar.

"You're ridiculous. How I ended up with you is beyond me." She says.

The man reaches over and places his wrinkled hand on top of hers, "You know I love you."

She smiles softly at this, "I love you too."

I look away from them and feel salty tears rolling down my cheeks. I swallow deeply, thinking about my relationship with Abel and how he used to look at me similar to how they're looking at each other. I'm such an emotional wreck.

If I'm being honest, I want him back. I miss Abel so much it physically hurts me. I miss his touch, his sweet words and the cheeky smile that constantly adorns his face lighting up those captivatingly blue eyes.

The tears drop into my hot chocolate making little sounds as they enter. I wipe them away and look up just as two familiar figures walk through the door.

Raphael enters first, followed by a tired looking Abel. They scan the room for an empty space and whilst I try to duck subtly, I know the moment that Abel's eyes lock with mine.

I gulp loudly and swallow down the sobs threatening to climb out of my throat. It's been a while since I've been in such close quarters with him, unless you count the times when he appeared at my house.

"Keziah?" His voice sound strained as he takes tentative steps towards me.

Behind him, I see Raphael narrowing his eyes at me with a look of frustration on his face, although I have no idea why he's looking at me like that. Last time I checked, I wasn't the one in the wrong.

Not feeling ready to talk things out with Abel, I speed right past him and head outside to begin the walk back home.

All of a sudden, an arm grabs me and spins me around bringing me face to face with an irritated looking Raphael.

"Raph? What are you doing?" I ask in confusion.

"Do you have any idea how torn up Abel has been lately? Did you even bother to talk to him about what actually happened that night? Because from what I've heard, it's not what you think." He spits out.

I wrap my arms tightly around my body as if protecting myself from his obvious anger, "You weren't there Raphael, I know what I saw." I whisper softly.

"Did you though? Or did you instantly jump to a conclusion about it all?"

"His hands were wrapped around her waist!" I yell at him while struggling to keep the tears at bay.

"No they weren't Keziah! He was pushing her away for goodness sake! Instead of rushing out the house, you could have at least spoken to him to hear his point of view! Now he's miserable over something that wasn't even his fault! Anyone with eyes can clearly see how much that boy adores you so why would he cheat? Think about that Keziah. You better be the one apologising to him next time because my boy is done trying to make things up to you when he's done nothing wrong. If you truly like Abel as much as I think you do, then you'd give him a chance. Trust him."

With that, Raphael turns around and heads back into the café.

Considering he doesn't say too much with such an extensive amount of emotion like that, it's definitely a surprise for me to be on the receiving end of it all.

Now that I have three peoples opinions on what could have actually happened, it definitely gives me a lot to think about on my walk home.

Maybe I did jump to conclusions, but it's hard not too. What normal person wouldn't automatically assume that?

Sighing loudly, my thoughts drift to the sight of Abel standing in the middle of the café looking as awful as I felt. Granted, he's still hot but he just looked...drained. I feel guilty for causing it but that couldn't be helped. I'm just as equally as upset if not more.

I didn't really appreciate the way Raphael spoke to me back then though. Like I know he's Abel's best friend, but I'm his friend too. Do my feelings not count for anything?

Sadness has become my closest companion lately and it's not a nice feeling. Maybe I really should talk to Abel.

• • •
A/N:
So, do you think Keziah acted appropriately or should she have listened to what Abel had to say? If it were you in that situation, what would you have done?
I'd like to believe if it was me that I wouldn't run and I'd speak to him but logically, I would have broken down and left too. In the moment, I think it's hard to believe anything else except what you can see. Thoughts?

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