SHE COULDN'T BELIEVE HER OWN EARS.

"W-What are you talking about, Noah? You have to tell me the truth." she spoke in a soft tone, her eyes shining under the sunlight, indicating that she still had tears in her eyes.

It made Noah feel guilty.

"Sorry I yelled at you, okay? I..." he began, staring at a distance to avoid her gaze. She shook her head as something sparked anger inside her.

"Spit it out, Noah. I don't have all day." She snapped, making Noah swallow in fear. He knew he had upset her.

"W-We were filming Honey Boy, and one day we had this late night filming," he closed his eyes as the painful memory crossed his mind. "Everyone began to leave, and there were only a few people left. Shia then asked me to have supper with him. I agreed, because I didn't think much of it."

A tear found its way down his soft cheek.

"The next thing I remember was waking up in my own bed, with no memory of what happened the night before. I couldn't walk properly for three days. I... I confronted Shia about it, and he swore on his life that he didn't touch me."

He then let out a few muffled sobs, the memory of the terrible pain flooding his mind. Mal gave him a sympathetic look, feeling guilty by the minute for snapping at him before.

"Noah, I really had no idea..." She started, "I didn't know anything about that. I made it all up."

"What do you mean you made it all up?! You can't make something like that up!" he exclaimed, his voice cracking.

"Guess what? Yes, I can! I. Made. It. All up!" She gritted her teeth in between each word, clearly fed up.

Noah stared off at a distance, not daring to look into her eyes.
"I-I... I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry I called you stupid."

Her expression went cold almost as soon as he said it. She turned her head away to glance at the walls from across the rooms.

"I'm sorry about what happened to you," she informed in a robot-like tone, "but you had no right to talk to me like that. You could've confronted me about it instead of yelling. You need to leave."

Noah stared at her with a guilty, pleading look. He knew that she was mad, but he felt terrible. It never happened with them before, so all he wanted to do was to hug her and apologize.

But it seemed like she was a monster who was going to eat him if he said any other word.

"Please, Mal, can we talk-"

"No, we can't. Noah, please leave."
Her voice came out cold and somehow painful. Another tear streamed down his face as he stared at her.

"Please, Mal..."

She shook her head, clearly hurt.

"You called me stupid. I told you to never call me that, like ever," her voice came out bitter than she expected. "please leave, Noah."

A few moments passed by with him staring at her, trying to see if he could change her mind.

He couldn't.

At the end, he muttered a small apology as he began to walk away, ready to break down once he was completely out of sight.

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