Day 10: Feelings of love and apology

'Oh, my goodness, Morrow. Stop worrying so much! You're bringing negative energy to my house!' Stephanie is annoying as usual. Morrow, Stephanie, and Nathalie are all in Stephanie's house. School has started but they all decided to skip today. Neither of them felt like going to school and decided to just have a relaxing day, as far as Morrow can relax.

Yesterday, they didn't get a chance to talk at school, resulting in a video call that lasted until 1 AM. Of course, by that time they were all tired and decided to meet up tomorrow, which is today, to hear all the juicy details.

'As I said, Steph' Morrow starts. 'I'm not super worried. I just think it's weird how Oliver wanted to get him alone. What if it was a chance to, I don't know, do something worse to him? He already got beaten up and after the conversation, we had with those three yesterday, the chances of Felix getting smashed in the face again have only gone up. And also,' she added. 'Because I'm not at school today who knows what those three horrible people will do? Seriously, they creep me out…'

'Yeah, so you're worried.' Steph concludes.

Morrow is quiet for a second but then has to admit. 'Ugh, fine. I might be a little worried.'

'Of course, you are.' Nathalie adds to the conversation. 'This is your man we're talking about.' Morrow shoots her a glare. 'What? All I heard from you yesterday, was how cool he was and how good he handled the situation. Sounds to me you're already halfway into marriage.'

'Nath!' Morrow leaps over the couch, over Stephanie to slap Nathalie.

'What? I'm not stupid Morrow.' She laughs as she dodges Morrow's hands. 'Do invite us to the wedding!' Nathalie bursts into laughter at Morrow's reaction and Stephanie also snickers. When Morrow starts to get really violent, or as "violent" as she can be, Nathalie surrenders. 'Alright, alright! I'll stop!'

Luckily, she actually stops, and Morrow starts worrying again, but before things can start getting out of hand, Stephanie interrupts her thoughts. 'How about we start a movie? Before Morrow starts making the weirdest assumptions, which we all know won't happen anyways.'

Morrow shoots her a glare but is thankful for the distraction. They end up watching two movies before they hear someone starting dinner in the kitchen behind them.

'Don't mind me, miss Stephanie. I'm going to cook your dinner.' His voice sounded so static that Morrow thinks for a second that he's an actual robot.

'Sure thing.' Comes an equally static response from Stephanie. 'Please make enough for the three of us.'

'Will do, miss.'

Morrow couldn't help but worry about Felix. After yesterday, she really was curious to know why Oliver wanted to talk to Felix. Alone at that. Felix had promised her to call her when he had stopped by, but what if things took a turn for the worse? Maybe he wasn't even able to call. She chewed on her fingernail and endured her friend's teasing until Felix would call.

----

This day has been hell. A literal excruciating hell. Morrow told him that she wasn't coming to school today (which she had been feeling guilty about, which in Felix's eyes is totally not needed), and lucky for him, neither did Ben, T, or Oliver.

He didn't sleep well last night and got barely through the school day before it was time for his shift in the café. The way going there was easy and took him about ten minutes. Usually, he's happy that it's a short commute, however today he had wished it would've been a little bit longer. And by a little bit, he means about an hour or so longer. That way, he could somehow prepare for what was to come, because he was completely in the dark here.

Was Oliver going to be violent? Was he just going to sit in the café to just watch him and torment him mentally? Is he going to spill coffee over Felix again? Felix knew that it was just his anxious brain trying to cope with the situation, trying to make sense of everything. As usual, his overthinking didn't help at all and he ended up, not with a solution, but with a sense of him going to be sick.

He arrived at his work, way too soon, and just did what he always did: take over the shift, dress in his uniform, serve the coffee, manage the customers. Vincent, his manager, was helping him, but since it was a slow night, he retreated to the back to do some leftover paperwork.

Felix finally relaxed a little and even had a little bit of hope that Oliver didn't show up. He was just restocking the cups when he heard the bell of the door of someone coming into the café. He turned around and saw two girls, his age, coming up to the counter.

'Hello and welcome. What can I get you guys?' His professional smile was on, and his voice was light.

A series of giggling and hair-flipping followed. 'Hi! Uh, I really want to have something sweet, but I don't know what to get… Do you have any recommendations?' The one girl stated, her blonde hair swirling around her finger.

'Sure thing. How about a caramel macchiato? It's really sweet and a personal favorite of mine. I think you'll like it.'

Some more giggles followed, and in the end, they both got the same thing. The whole giggle thing was quite annoying since he really didn't know what was so funny. He felt like he was missing something. He started making the two coffees for the girls and was so engulfed in it that he missed another customer walking in.

When he served the two girls, who were seated in the café section with all the tables, he then noticed a looming figure near the counter. The nerves came shooting back when he recognized the man.

'Oliver.'

'Evening, Felix.'

An awkwardness surrounded them and for a moment they were quiet. 'Uh, can we have a quick talk?' Oliver broke the silence. The awkwardness was gone, and he was all business-like.

Vincent happened to come out from the back and seemed to recognize Oliver as well. Feeling the tension in the air and the rigid way Felix's body was, he quickly slipped behind the counter and ushered Felix away. 'I got this. Don't worry.'

To say that he was grateful, was an understatement and he guided Oliver to one of the corners of the café so they could talk in a quieter place.

'So, what did you want to talk about?' Felix started. Oliver has been twiddling his thumbs ever since he sat down, and it annoyed Felix to the point where he was the first one to speak up.

As if woken up from a daze, Oliver looked up and met Felix's gaze. 'Right. I'm sorry for interrupting your work. I wanted to talk to you about yesterday.' He swallowed, his hands clenching into fists. 'I really wanted to apologize for our behavior…'

Oliver kept on talking or apologizing as he said, but Felix just heard a constant ringing in his ears. Apologize? After yesterday? He wondered what he missed about yesterday. In his mind, they didn't treat him any different than they usually do. And apologizing? That must be a joke. He scoffed, interrupting Oliver. 'Really? You're saying sorry? Please, don't embarrass yourself any further and just leave. I'm not falling for this and I'm quite busy. So just leave.' He started to stand up, but Oliver stood up as well.

'Wait, please. I know how this looks; the bully says sorry to the one he bullied for years, but please hear me out.' Oliver had a weird look on his face, one of genuine concern. It made him less scary-looking and more like a normal person. 'Please sit down. You don't have to accept my apologies but at least listen…'

Contemplating what to do, Felix felt the gaze of the two girls he first served on Oliver and him, and reluctantly he sat down again. 'Fine. Tell me. But I'm not accepting your apology, just so you know.'

'That's fine. I shouldn't expect that of you after all. The real reason I'm actually here is to warn you. Look, what happened in the bathroom the other day shouldn't have happened. I hate violence, and honestly, I never would've thought it would come to that. But after you started to hang out with Morrow, Ben and T are more restless. You probably noticed it yourself that they've become more and more present.'

Felix nodded. Ben, T, and Oliver too had tormented him ever since he met them in middle school. But they never really hurt him. Mentally for sure, but they never beat him up or threatened to. 'So, you've come to warn me?'

'After yesterday, things started to take a different turn. I've heard them talking about "punishing" you or something. Whatever that means.'

Felix observed Oliver for a while when he talked. He seemed actually worried as he tried to make Felix understand that he was in danger from Ben and T. 'Well, this is all great, but I don't get why are you warning me? Like of all people, why you? You are friends with Ben and T, and you've also bullied me for years. Isn't it easier to just walk away? To let them "punish" me or whatever?'

Oliver hung his head in shame. 'I know. I'm sorry, I really am. I should've drawn a line sooner, but at least I draw a line now, right?' He looked at Felix, hoping for an ounce of sympathy. When that didn't come, he sighed. 'Sorry. I really am. You don't have to accept my apology, but at least believe me. Ben and T are out for blood, I swear. Please watch your back.'

Felix simply nodded. 'Alright, will do. Thank you for telling me.'

'Yeah… Again, I'm really sorry about all those years. I really am.'

'I'm sure you are, but I don't want your apologies right now. I'm just a bit confused now. So, thank you for coming, but I need you to leave.'

Oliver looked surprised hearing Felix speak to him like that, but he said sorry again and then simply left.

That night Felix called Morrow right after he got off work. When they were discussing the things Oliver had said to Felix, Felix couldn't help but wonder where this was all going to end, and if it was, how. This couldn't just end like this, he was sure of it. He had to watch his back as Oliver had said.