~~~~~~~~~Noah's POV~~~~~~~~~

Life at home hasn't been the same since my dad disappeared. Things have been a lot quieter, a lot emptier. My dad has always been a very cheery person, and always did his best to make sure the rest of us were happy no matter the situation.

My mother has tried to distract herself from it with work, but I can tell it's affected her gravely. She tries to comfort us as much as she can, but I think she's just trying to convince herself instead.

Sage wouldn't leave her room for the first two months, and the only one who was able to talk to her was her boyfriend Aiden, but now that he's gone too, she's been feeling even worse. She's even been feeling physically sick these past two months.

As for our little brother Will, he still hasn't given up hope. He's only seven years old right now, but he's probably the smartest one, after my father.

Me? I haven't been in the greatest mood either, especially now that all my old friends are back.

And it's another dagger to me when I know they hate me, and for good reason..

It's not that I wanted to leave them, I didn't have a choice at the matter. My girlfriend at the time was.. well, she wasn't the nicest person, and pretty much forced me to stop hanging out with them. It took a lot of work for me to break up with her, and if my dad wasn't home at the moment, things would've probably ended much worse than they did..

Even so, I couldn't gather the courage I needed to tell my friends what really happened, and to this day they still think I betrayed them, distancing myself for no reason.

Especially Iv..

She and I basically grew up together, and I can only imagine just how much I hurt her by avoiding her..

...

I just hope I can fix it..

Someday..

Right now, we were in Victor's car driving to Lidia's house. However, we had to take a detour to the gas station, and once parked, he stepped out of the car. "We should probably stay in groups."

I noticed Gia peek over at Iv, then at me, before exiting the car and dragged Lola out. "Good idea, Lola and I will go with you!"

Gia could never be trusted!

Lola tried to argue against it, but Gia dragged her away before she had the chance, Victor following the two and leaving me alone with Iv.

Great.

She was sitting in the front passenger seat, scrolling through her phone as she leaned back, and I was in the left back seat. I bit my lip, unsure of what to do. Should I try to talk to her? Should I just let the silence be silent?

...

Well, it had been two years since that situation happened..

I've waited long enough.

"So... how have you been..?"

Amazing question, Noah. We've all been feeling super shitty for six months now!

"Horrible, thanks for asking." Her voice was dry, and she just kept staring at her phone. I mentally smacked my head, out of all the things I could've asked!

"R-Right.. sorry.. um.."

"Don't try to start smalltalk, I'm not in the mood."

I nervously grabbed my shoulder sleeve. "I wasn't trying to start smalltalk, I just.. I wanted to apologize.."

"Mm." She finally turned around to face me, a sharp glare on her face. "Apologize for what exactly?"

"For- ... for- ..."

I wanted to speak, I really did, yet something stopped me. I couldn't get the words out, even as I tried.

She rolled her eyes and faced forward once again. "Look, Noah, if you wanted to stop hanging out with us, you could've at least said so instead of ignoring us."

"That's not it!"

"Then what is?"

"It's-! ... I-it's complicated..!"

"So complicated that you haven't talked to us in over two years?" She let out a heavy sigh, turning to the window to avoid seeing me. "Don't bother explaining yourself."

That was my biggest mistake, wasn't it..?

Maybe if I had let them know back then, things would be different now..

Another minute went by, Gia and Lola sitting back in the car. Gia's expression fell when she noticed both of our expression, then bit the tip of her thumb in thought. A little later, we continued our way to the Northstar house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hadn't been here before, nor had I ever spoken with Lidia or her brother since they had only moved to the US about a year ago. Their house was pretty big, with pastel colors and water around it.

It was definitely a strange looking house, but nice.

We all walked to the door, but instead of ringing the doorbell, Lola got her phone and sent a message. Not long after, a boy around our age opened the door.

She gave a half smile, and to my surprise, raised her hands to speak in sign language.

"Sorry we took so long."

Thanks for reading!!! 'Till next time!!!

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