Deteriorating Hearts

17 || Unplanned Apologies

A laugh erupted from Dimitri's mouth and it wasn't until he laughed out loud did she realise that she missed his laugh. "Come on," he said and slipped his hand into hers before pulling her out the school doors.

Juniper didn't understand how one minute they were fighting and the next moment conversation flowed easily between them. Maybe it was because they were once best friends and that gave them all the more reason to converse with the other but maybe it was also a longing for the relationship they shared; a friendship so unique and beautiful.

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"Oh my, this chocolate fudge ice-cream is amazing!" she moaned as she closed her eyes and let the milky, soft ice-cream dissolve and do wonders in her mouth.

"Vanilla tastes so much better," Dimitri argued.

Before Dimitri could do anything, Juniper leaned over their table and nipped at his ice-cream, letting the flavour dissolve on her tongue. This was something she and Dimitri had always done but it had become a lost tradition. A milky moustache had formed on her upper lip as she beamed at Dimitri, victory written clear across her face.

"Nah, I beg to differ," she smiled. "This chocolate fudge tastes much better than plain vanilla."

Juniper thought Dimitri looked rather weird as she took a look at his reaction. He had his lips pressed tightly together, his face growing a little red. Then it hit her. He was trying not to laugh.

"Oh no," she said as she removed the tissue from around her wafer cone and wiped her lips with it. "Why does this happen to me so often?"

Dimitri burst into fits of laughter, his face more red that it almost matched the colour of the jagged scar that ran down his cheek to the tip of his lips. "Oh God, that was priceless," he chuckled, his shoulders bouncing up and down in the process.

"Shut up," she blushed.

"I got to say," Dimitri smirked, "you look handsome with that moustache."

"Oh my, will you just shut up!"

Soon they finished eating their ice-creams, Juniper's embarrassment slowly dying down as they both ate their ice-creams in peaceful silence. The silence had allowed both Dimitri and Juniper to think of a way to approach the subject that had driven a huge rift in one of the most beautiful friendships in Sereneigo.

They both paid for their ice-creams and headed out of the shop. the door giving out a light jingle as the bell sounded off as the door opened and closed. The summer days were drawing to an end, the heat had simmered down and this made Juniper excited. She had always preferred winter to summer. Autumn was her favourite season.

"I had a lovely time," she smiled as she faced Dimitri, pulling her cardigan tighter around her body. "You could come over for dinner tonight if you like! Mum has somehow got it into her head that you're deviously handsome and a ridiculously funny guy. Where she got that idea is beyond me."

Dimitri tucked his hands into his pockets, the heavy air weighed down on them as he stood over Juniper, his lanky body casting a shadow over her figure. "Am I not?" he asked, feigning a hurt expression.

"Yes, mister, you certainly are not," she smirked, amused as raised a teasing brow at her friend trying to fake this as long as she could before the storm was to hit. Enjoy the calm. Face the aftermath later.

"Really? That's not what you thought of me before we got arrested."

His tone was light and humorous and Juniper knew he was only enjoying the calm like she was and avoiding the storm like she was. She knew he didn't mean it anyway that would offend her. But those words. They reminded her that no matter what she tried she could not erase the past; one futile mistake that managed to twist her life.