Aesthetic by prettyimbecile . Check out her graphic shop, called "Aesthetically."

Dedicated to Sunflowerr09

Question of the day: "Would You Rather Have Endless Money Or Endless Love?"

"To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness."

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When all the ingredients and tools and immaculately kept on the kitchen countertop, I hear the doorbell ring. I take a deep breath and prepare myself to rid the rude me out of the chat. I don't want Nan to be sad by my words. She has enough on her plate already. When the process is completed, I open the door.

But the smile I had mustered just vanishes when I see a certain Ian behind Nan. I know he is Naomi's brother and a nice guy and all, but I can't forget the fact that he's the reason me and Nate almost had a fight at Paste's house that day. And now I can do nothing but stare at him.

"Zara, are you there? You're gonna be eating Ian's nose by the way you're looking at him." Ian smirks and that makes me look at Nan since his smirk is darn cute.

"Come in, I guess." I say and completely disregarding Naomi's comment. She doesn't seem to notice and gets inside the house, but her picture perfect brother lingers in the doorway.

"You have a nice house."

"I know. And you have been here before so quit the formality.": OK rude Zara has not left the chat. Gotta take a rain check on that. Thankfully, he efficiently ignores me and walks inside the house.

Nan already has a measuring cup in her hand and is putting flour on a bowl. "Cupcakes, right?" I nod. I grew up baking. I learned it from Mom and sometimes Lav when I used to go over Paste's house. But today I want Nan to have all control. She's the boss today. She needs it with all the stuff going with Kai and her being pregnant on top of that.

"Won't you help her?" Ian asks, sitting on a chair in the dining table and grabbing an apple from the fruit basket.

"Nope. I'll help when I want to." He bites the apple with his white teeth. I want to cringe because he didn't wash the apple. I let it slide though. "Why are you here? Don't you have any badass shift at the hospital to wade through?"

He lips curl into a lazy smile when he says, "Nope." I look away. "Glad you think I'm a badass."

I narrow my eyes at him. "I didn't call you a badass."

"Yes, you did. You said, "don't you have a badass shift to wade through?""

"I called the shift badass, not you."

"Since the shift is of a hospital, I think that makes the hospital badass. And since I work in that hospital, it makes me badass." I want to sigh in frustration him (because winning a debate with him seems impossible) and smirks again. Damn that smirk. I go to the kitchen to help Nan. Damn Ian for all I care about. My heart is beating so fast, I need a stress reliever. And baking is just what the doctor ordered.

Hey, isn't Ian a doctor? I hate my inner voice sometimes.

As Nan and me mix all the ingredients, I feel Ian lingering in the hallway. I ignore him and put all my focus on baking.

Nate comes home today, and I still didn't find a way to apologize to him. I know you might be wondering what does it take to say, "I am sorry" and you're probably right. Because it doesn't take much. But I also want to show him I care that shits hard to express.

"Hey, remember how we used to have a baking fiasco at Pastel's house?"

I smile. "Yeah, I do. It was hilarious because Paste herself never learned baking. Lav had to do all the work."

"Yeah and then she would make Paste clean all that up." Nan laughs. "Oh and remember how you made Nate peanut butter and chocolate cupcakes on his birthday?"

I didn't tell her about my fight with Nate. I sigh. "Yeah, I remember. How did you remember the flavor though?"

"Because he came to school the next day and said peanut butter and chocolate cupcakes were his favorite? You didn't even know that? So he was so glad, you guys made out for like 10 minutes straight before the school bell rang. That's something I wouldn't have forgotten in my lifetime."

"Yeah, right." I say. Then I nod. "Yeah, right." An idea starts forming in my head. "Yeah, right!" My exclamation startles Naomi. I smile at her and she shakes her head as if I am crazy. She doesn't even know what a big help she did to me.

"Are you okay, Zars?"

"Yup, fine. Completely and utterly fine." I can't get the goofy smile off my face. "You don't know what a big help you just did me. I'll be right back." I dash inside my room where the teal dress I wore to work the other day is. It was in the laundry, but I don't care right now. Naomi's words made me remember about my mom's "I-am-sorry" cupcakes. And they are Nate's favourites! How could I forget? Mom's mention puts a bittersweet smile on my face, but I don't dwell on it because I don't have the time right now. I look at the clock and see that I have a solid 3 hours left till his plane arrives.

When I get out, I run back to the kitchen and start making the peanut butter and chocolate cupcake batter.  I do everything so fast even Ian comes to watch.

"Whatcha doin' there?"

"Making cupcakes, Ian. Don't you have eyes?" I say and as I pour the batter into the crate.

"Yeah but why?" Naomi asks.

"Nate's coming today. I want to make him something. Hey, Nan, can you do me a favor and make some frosting?" She looks at me quizzically but nods. I look at the clock again. I have to rush if I want to go to Nate's favorite restaurant. Then I remember I have an honest to God assistant.

"Can you please pass me the phone Ian?" He obliges I call up Blyton. "Hey Zar-"

"Don't call me Zara. I am your boss. Anyways, you said you wanted some weird work. Let me give you one. Go to Tortilla's and bring me their special to the airport in two hours. Got it?" He doesn't answer. "Okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, sorry. I was nodding. Didn't realize you couldn't-"

"You had two hours. Now you have one hour and fifty nine minutes. Go!"

"Right! Sorry!" Blyton hangs up and I press the phone on the counter. I look up an both Nan and Ian are looking at me like I am a puzzle with several missing pieces.

"What?" I say and they both look away. I wonder what they were thinking.

Ian leaves the kitchen soon after. When cupcake mixture is in the oven, I turn to Nan. We talk about her pregnancy and possible baby names. At the brink of an hour, when the cupcakes are all cooled off and frosted, Nan goes to the living room to rest. I stay behind and put the cupcakes in a container.

"Remind me why you are doing all this fuss again?"

I turn to face him. "I didn't tell you the reason, Ian."

"Well, I want to know."

I look at him for some time. "Okay, Nathan and I had a fight. I want to apologize."

"Like this? With all this... grandeur?"

Is he purposely put here by God to irritate me? "I want to show him I care."

He's looking at me with such intensity, I can't look away. "You know," he says, toying with the frosting tools. "You shouldn't have to show others that you care. If the people care back, they accept apologies easily. They don't need to additionally know you care." His words are so true, I am rendered speechless. I open my mouth a few times to answer but fail. I slowly look down and when my eyes catch sight of my wristwatch, I realize I might get late.

"I have to go," I say and take the container full of cupcakes in my hand. "I may be late so-"

"Me and Naomi were leaving anyway. Nan, let's go!" I now at his terseness and get out of the house. They follow suit and I hug her goodbye before getting inside my car. I feel Ian's eyes on me as I drive to the airport. I think what reaction this might have from Nate when he sees me with all this. I had also thought of buying some teal balloons but as Ian said, it made me feel that it may seem too... grand. At least the cupcakes have a teal colored frosting.

When I arrive I am 10 minutes late. I find Blyton and he hands me the takeout box. My hands are full, and I feel like I look like a fool. But I don't have time to spare as I notice Nate coming out. Our eyes meet after a short while and he looks at me. He's expression changes from bland to astonished in a few seconds. He starts to approach me and with every step he takes my heart beats faster. At last when he is right in front of me I open my mouth to speak, but it only serves as a way of breathing because the words fail to come out. I close my mouth and stare at him, the real sight of him finally satisfying my soul.

He's looking tired and there is a week's worth of stubble on his jaw. He seems genuinely pleased to see me but there's a little bit of surprise tugging at the corner of his lips. He's about to speak before I interrupt him. "Look, before you ask what all of this is, I have to tell you something. Things between me and you seems new to me, even if we had dated before. And that day and I certainly things I regret a lot. But I did them for reasons I'll tell you over time when I'm comfortable. But yes, that's only possible if you forgive me. And if you don't, I don't know what I will do." His expression changes from surprise to horrified and realized I said something wrong. "No, I meant.... I'll not do something suicidal! What I meant was..." I take a deep breath. "I felt like Leo in Titanic this whole time. Helpless and freezing to death but with nothing to do to be with Kate Winslet. But then I realized I'm not Leo. I'm me and I'm not freezing to death or something like that. He had his own weird way of showing her he cared and that was by dying. So I decided to," I move my hands to prove my point, "do these to show you that I cared. And that I'm really sorry for-"

"Do you ever shut up?" he says. I'm furrowing my eyebrows because his response is confusing. I felt like I would have a lot of convincing to do but... he already seems convinced. "I get it, Zara. If there's anything Pastel has done all these 10 days was continuously tell me about your remorse. I am tired of hearing it, honestly." He comes closer and puts his hands on my shoulders. "I know that one day you will tell me all about your problems and such. But that will only be possible if I can earn your trust. So give me some time and we will work on it together?" Okay?" I would have said "okay", but his words left me with no vocabulary. So I nod. "Alright. Now can you please call your stupid assistant to get these containers so I can finally kiss you?"

"I am not stupid." I hear Blyton protest, but I don't care as Nate leans in to kiss me the moment Blyton takes the boxes from my hands. And I feel so much from his kiss that I want to soon. I thank God at that time for giving me such a great life and such great friends. Even if Paste doesn't tell me what goes on in her life, she sure brightened mine.

I must have been Gandhi in my last life. Thanks, Mom.

A/N: Hi, guys! So, I just gave mu pure maths exam. (My preparation was so bad, lord save me.) I gave the answer script the moment the portal closed, so let the adrenaline get down.

Anyways, this chapter was nice! What did you guys think? Did anyone notice that Zara made the cupcakes she used to make for her mother? That warmed my heart!

Also, by popular demand, Zara and Nate are back together! How does that feel?

Ok, so imma gonna go. i hv 2 exms tomorrow. Physics and literature. (IK, 2 of the biggest syllabuses of the world.)

So lemme go study and plz vote and comment, it motivates me guys!

Happy reading! Stay safe!