âWell⌠it looks great. It had always been my favorite color on youâ he shared a bit timidly. But friends compliment each other, donât they? Nothing wrong with that. âI mean, not that I didnât like the other colors⌠I mean, you can rock anything, you know?â, he stuttered a little and chuckled quite nervously. He did feel like that teen outside that venue that night when he first talked to her. Major throwback. It did hurt him a lot when she decided to end what he thought could last for way longer than it did. Then he met Lee and fell deeply in love with him. But Moonie was convinced if Hazel had given them the chance: it would have been her instead. But you canât change the past, can you? When she wanted to be âjust friendsâ, thankfully for Moonie: he had that upcoming trip to Asia, then college started right after as soon as he was back. So he didnât really see her around anymore. That way it was easier: getting over her, focusing on his new college life, meeting new friends, falling in love with someone new. He didnât really have time to properly face all those feelings with her around. And this was the first time he saw her since. Did it hurt to try to be just friends like she so wanted? A little, but he was willing to actually try this time. He had time to heal, didnât he? She had been too important to him for him to just completely ignore her presence now that life had brought them back together face to face. âWell, thank you lovely senoritaâ, he playfully added, sitting right next to her and offering her a smile. Being there⌠it felt like time hadnât passed. He still remembered the first time he took her there. He probably just stared at her for a few seconds in silence, still keeping that silly smile on his face damn he truly was a high schooler again till he realized the ice cream in his hand was⌠melting. He spooned it, finally. Hoping she hadnât notice he had forgotten about why he was even there in the first place as soon as he caught glimpse of her. âYeah⌠college kept me a little busy, sorry for not asking about you soonerâ, he lied, trying to justify the fact that he disappeared from her life because he was too hurt. âLast time I saw you, I was still a teen so⌠what have you been up to this whole time?ââ
After all this time, Moonie still had the manage to make her feel that âbutterfly-in-stomachâ feeling, with such little words. Curving at each corner of her lips, she managed to allow another smile peek through. Hazel didnât deserve to be as happy as she was to see him again; she hurt him all those years ago. Giving up before it went any further; might as well call that the story of her life. She didnât deserve his compliments, but she knew better than to argue with him too. âYeah, Yeah I do --,â she nodded. âThank you,â she added. âWhenâs the last time you even seen a woman pull off such blue hair as mine, right?â she laughed, pushing through what was small talk? Come on, Hazel -- the two of you are better than that. Why was she nervous? Perhaps it was the nerves that were clearly radiating off of Moonie. She paid no mind to it, of course; not letting him know just how evident was while they spoke. It was sweet, truly. She always adored the way he wore his heart on his sleeve. Hazel was picturing herself in that moment, where she knew that those dreaded, powerful words would come to life; eight letters. The woman knew that she had stopped it before he even had the chance, and now she wondered who gotten the chance to hear that for the first time. While it seemd that Moonieâs life soared to the heights it deserved, Hazel remained stagnant in the same place, the same feelings -- hardly anything had changed. Man, does he deserve someone special she thought as she continued to play both past and future scenarios in her head. She rolled eyes playfully, pretending to be annoyed when he called her the nickname she hadnât heard in a long time. Truthfully, it made the woman who hardly was ever nervous, actually nervous. What was he doing? Did he ever know what that meant to me? Probably not, she hardly ever said anything. Her own orbs were resting on him, outlining every feature from the way his hair hung out his face, to the crinkle in his nose when he laughed, to the point that even she wasnât paying any attention to the maleâs ice cream or her own until it was just as much as a mess as the relationship the two shared. Hazel scooped the remainder of her ice cream from her cup, popping the spoon into her mouth. âDonât be sorry for living your life -- You needed to do that,â she offered. âThings certainly have changed. Not for me, of course,â her nose finding its own crinkle as she grinned. âEverything I was doing. Working, working -- and more working. Oh, I got a dog, name her Pretzel and, hmm,â she tapped her chin. âStarted singing my originals at karaoke night, that happened -- I know, right? Long time coming...,â she sighed, shaking her head. âYou look real good, Moonsy. Real good,â she confessed.Â