Thanking everyone.

Some days after all the drama had been completely forgotten, I decided I had waited long enough. It was time to make good on my promise. I… hadn’t actually promised anything to anyone, actually. It was simply something I felt I had to do.

I talked to my boss beforehand, explained my situation to her to see if my idea would be okay with her, and she ended up giving me a nice discount for it. After that was settled, I went up to different people at my school and talked to them.

I talked to Lena, Amanda, Kevin, Ben and hell, even Mark. They were all taken by surprise, especially the latter one, but it was something I had to do. All of them stood up for me and fought against the stupid rumors. They had nothing to gain, but they still did. I had said to myself I would pay them back, and I would. So, I invited them over to the coffee shop I worked at to treat them. Of course, Thomas, Isabelle and my girlfriends were invited as well.

The thing is… I told them they could go to the shop anytime and I would treat them to something. I didn’t expect them to agree to go together at the same time.

Maybe I should’ve seen it coming. Before they arrived, Maria told me to push two tables together along with six chairs over by the back of the shop. She seemed ready to receive a group, something that hadn’t happened while I was on shift before.

Then the group of six came in, led by Thomas. Ben and Kevin were with him along with Lena, Amanda and Mark. I mean, Thomas was close friends with Ben and Kevin, Lena was Kevin’s girlfriend and friends with Amanda and Mark. It made a lot more sense once I saw them all together.

“Waiter, a table for six,” Thomas said, smirking.

“Your idea, wasn’t it?” I asked him, smiling and sighing while gesturing to their readied table.

“It was Kevin’s, actually,” Thomas said, pointing to the tallest guy in the group with his thumb as they all sat down. “

“Well, you know, since you invited us, Lena and I were thinking of coming together,” Kevin explained.

“But then Amanda butted in,” Lena said, giggling.

“And I didn’t want to be a third wheel, so I pulled in Mark,” Amanda said, nodding.

Mark was sitting down, looking my way but not meeting my eyes. Honestly, I could totally understand why he’d be uncomfortable.

“By that point, I figured we might as well tell Thomas and Ben to tag along,” Kevin continued. “We invited your girls, too, but they said they’d come another day.”

“And Isabelle said she’d come with them,” Thomas added. “Besides, a group of twelve may have been too much.” He looked at Maria, who was coming over with the menus.

“I’ve been considering expanding the shop,” she said. “If things continue going well this year, I might just be able to.”

“Just give Oliver more shifts,” Thomas told her.

Maria laughed. “I would, but I’m sure that would get the other group angry at me for taking away his free time.”

Ben turned to me and smiled. “Thanks for inviting us, Oliver. You didn’t have to.”

I shook my head. “I couldn’t think of any other way to thank you.”

“He won’t remind you, but I will,” Maria said. “He’s treating you to a beverage and a pastry. Anything more is on you, okay?”

“Yes ma’am,” Amanda said cheerfully then began to read the menu. “I don’t think I did anything too special, but I won’t say no to free food.”

“Ugh, why did you have to treat me when I’m trying to cut down on sugar?” Lena lamented.

“We have sandwiches, too, if you want that,” I offered.

“No, I want a slice of chocolate cake.”

“Honey…” Kevin sighed in disappointment.

“I’ll burn the calories later!”

Amanda smirked teasingly. “I bet you Kevin will help you out with that.”

“Of course he will,” Lena admitted.

Thomas, Ben and Amanda laughed while Lena’s eyes widened in realization of the implications and her face went red. Kevin shook his head with a chuckle and Mark chortled softly.

I took everyone’s orders and went to get them ready. As I did, I noticed Ben and Thomas talking to Mark. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but soon after, the blonde man stood up and came up to me, standing across the bar.

“H-Hey, Oliver…” He still couldn’t look me in the eyes. Every time he tried, he ended up turning away and looking somewhere else. "You don’t need to treat me to anything. I… I didn’t…” He looked uncomfortable and was awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck

Yeah. I had to really think it over. Did I really want to treat Mark? The guy who screamed at me and called me a ‘creepy fuck’? It was still a very vivid and painful memory. It was literally one of my biggest fears turned into reality. To be hated for speaking, to be hated for being quiet… That day, Mark screamed at me everything I always feared hearing from someone else. If Sarah hadn’t been there, if she hadn’t chased me after I ran away… I think I would’ve fallen even deeper.

Regardless, Mark did stand up for me. He helped convince our classmates that I wasn’t the type of guy to go behind a girl’s back. But honestly, more than that… Mark was there when I played the bass in the classroom. He encouraged me to go on and that made it so other people joined in. That small moment meant a lot more to me than his help with the rumors.

“I owe you,” I told him. “The invitation is there if you want to accept it. If not, that’s okay too.”

Mark groaned, looked at me, opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. He ran his hand through his hair and let out another groan. “L-Look, about that time I… yelled at you. I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have reacted like that. I didn’t mean any of it. I just…” He sighed and looked back, glancing at Amanda for a second before he turned his eyes away. Instead, he looked down at the floor. “I didn’t want her to see you that way.”

I sighed. “And how did that turn out for you?”

Mark flinched. “She’s seeing another guy now. I fucked everything up.” I’d heard that from Sarah before. I asked that question on purpose. Grudges are hard to let go.

I continued getting the orders ready. I prepared the cups of coffee, served the cakes and pies on plates and set them all on a tray. “I won’t say it’s okay, because it wasn’t, but the last thing I want to be is the kind of person you described back then. I think I was well on my way there, at least on the ‘creepy’ front. Thanks to Sarah, I’ve been able to think of it as a wake-up call. So… I’m willing to let it go.”

Not forget. Not forgive, either. Not yet, anyway. I wish I was the type to let bygones be bygones, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t going to suddenly be best friends with Mark, but if he was being genuine in his apology…

Mark grimaced. “You know, I think I’ve also been on my way to be the kind of person I didn’t want to be. It might be too late to get the girl, but I’d rather not make the same mistakes again next time.”

I nodded. I could relate to that, at least.

Mark went back to the table and carried the full order to the group. After that, I had to leave them be and continue working. They weren’t our only customers, after all.

And speaking of other customers…

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