A/N: Again, I'm really, really sorry for the delay. But nonetheless, I hope you'll enjoy this part. :)

And oh, reviews absolutely make my day!

Last Winter – Part 9

“No way!” My eyes flew wide open at what Cedric had just told me. “Are you pulling my leg again?” I eyed him suspiciously.

Since I agreed to be his girlfriend yesterday, we made an agreement to tell each other about our lives prior to being confined to the four walls of the hospital wards. Well, let’s just say that I don’t feel comfortable with knowing nothing about him. So here we were, sitting on my bed with me in his arms, talking about stuff. And we were just talking about our schools when I found out that we were from the same junior high all along. How’s that for coincidence?

“Believe it, babe. I’m a senior in St. Christensen’s,” he grinned.

“B… but why haven’t I seen you around before?”

“I’m a low-profile sort of person,” he shrugged.

“Low-profile? With your looks, how on earth did you remain low-profile?” I looked at him incredulously.

“My looks? What do you mean?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know you’re seriously good looking.” I pouted, and then one of my hands flew up to my mouth to cover it up once I realized what had just came out of it. Please tell me I didn’t just slap a great compliment on him.

But much to my annoyance, he started laughing. “Oh, that. It’s easy to avoid girls from swarming all over me, really. I just have to put on a pair of very thick-rimmed glasses. I mean, people would avoid ‘nerds’ at all costs, no?” He air-quoted the word ‘nerds’.

I nodded thoughtfully, but something still didn’t quite click to me. “I don’t understand though. With your looks, you could’ve easily had the entire female population on their knees for you instead of the other way round. Why would you choose to do otherwise?”

“I’m not interested. Somehow the idea of having swarms of squealing girls on my heels is not my cup of tea,” he shrugged. “It’s the same for you though, isn’t it?”

I raised an eyebrow at his question. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t quite get you.”

“I know you’re always hanging around in the library, for instance. You’re always poring over your textbooks with your copper hair tied in a bun, and you would always frown the most when you’re facing your Math homework,” he chuckled. “And oh, you would always hide in a corner to avoid the eyes of others.”

“What are you? A stalker?” I laughed. It’s amazing how he seemed to notice all my small habits and my tendencies to stay away from public eye. And gosh, my hair seems to be such an old chapter in the history of my existence… Wait, what?

“Wait, you knew who I was back in St. Christensen?!”

“Took you long enough to realize what I was implying,” he laughed, and his eyes crinkled with amusement.

“But how?”

“Hmm… Wouldn’t you like to know?” Cedric replied noncommittally, a smile still playing on his lips. God, he can be so infuriating sometimes.

I pushed myself away from his chest and glared at him. “As a matter of fact, I would very much love to find out, Mr. Ced…” Before I could finish my sentence, the door of my ward suddenly flung open, making Cedric and I jump in shock.

“Tessa! Are you okay?!” The person who barged in shouted, and I cringed. Once my brain finished processing the voice, I recognized it as Mia’s.

“Mia?! What the hell?!” I yelled back, rather irritated at the sudden intrusion. Best friend or not, it was simply rude to not knock on the door before entering some other people’s room.

However, Mia seems to have completely missed my question, as she practically went ballistic once again. She could easily be going over a hundred syllables per second, and she was pacing around the room in such quick steps that I swear I was going to strain my neck if my eyes were to follow her every movement. She was also using an incredible amount of hand gestures while she was shooting off like a machine gun.

“Oh my God Tessa! I- I don’t know where to start b-but when I called your parents up to ask about your condition since I knew that they would be visiting you yesterday and she said you fainted in the hospital and you looked really bad and could hardly talk at all and she said you want to tell me something very important and…” Mia suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and looked at my direction instead of the ceiling, tilting her head to the side with her eyes wide open.

“Um, am I disturbing something here…?” her voice turned meek as her eyes darted between me and Cedric, who was still seated on my bed, staring at Mia just as I did. It took us quite a while to get back to reality after straining our ears to try and catch what Mia was previously saying.

“Uh… no, I don’t think so?” Cedric said with an unsure edge to his voice. He then turned to look at me and whispered, “Do you want me to leave you guys to talk?”

“No, it’s fine,” I whispered back.

“Tessa, who is this?” Mia asked, a cheeky smile plastered on her face.

Darn, I should’ve expected her to ask that question, especially when some guy that she doesn’t know is sitting with me on my bed. I half-wanted to answer her nicely, but another idea cropped up in my head instead. Taking a deep breath, I let my answer out.

“It’s none of your business,” I said silently. That earned me a soft elbowing in my ribs from Cedric, which I unduly ignored.

Mia’s smile faltered slightly, but she decided to act as though I hadn’t said anything at all. “Stop fooling around, Tessa. C’mon, don’t be shy!” she laughed nervously.

“Like I said, it’s none of your business,” I pressed on, ignoring the stabbing pain I feel in my chest.

“B- but I thought we were best friends?” This time, I could hear the strain on Mia’s voice. It was very obviously trembling.

I looked away from her. “Things change, Mia.”

My best friend laughed nervously once again, though I’m not sure whether it’s out of amusement or whether she’s still having a hard time trying to understand what’s actually coming out from my mouth. “D… did you finally get kidnapped by an a- alien this time…? O… or are you having a fever, Tessa…? I… I mean, y-you’re d- different from the day before wh- when I last saw you…”

It was rather hard for me to try not to laugh at her silliness, so I decided to remain silent.

“Tess… seriously, please tell me what’s wrong…” Mia’s voice started to crack from the pressure. I’m pretty sure that she was trying real hard not to let the dam break.

I sighed. “There’s nothing wrong, Mia. Can’t you see that I’m trying to subtly tell you that I don’t want to be friends with you anymore? Guess you can’t really take a hint.” Another stabbing pain.

“I… I don’t understand… D- did I do something wrong…?”

“I would love to tell you, but the list is probably too long that I don’t even know where to start,” I glared at her, voice void of all emotions. Ignored yet another stabbing pain.

That was probably the last straw for Mia, because big fat drops of tears started rolling down her cheeks. I willed myself to look into her eyes – it was filled with disappointment, sadness, and betrayal, all mixed together. She slowly backed towards the door, shaking her head in denial at my words that no doubt left a deep wound in her heart. I would’ve felt the same if I had my best friend of nine years throw all those merciless words at me. A few steps later, she turned around abruptly and ran out of the door, slamming the door behind her. Her head was bowed down low, and her hands were wiping furiously at the tears that continued to form in her eyes.

The moment the door closed up, I broke down as well, angrily pushing the metal tray on table down to the floor. It met the floor with a loud clang, which earned me a visit from Sister Camille who came barging into the room several moments later.

“Dearie! What’s wrong?!” The panic in her voice was crystal clear. I chose to seal my mouth shut.

“I’m sorry, Sister Camille. I accidentally dropped the tray,” Cedric said, flashing his most convincing grin at the motherly nurse, though I don’t think she really bought his reason.

“Okay… I’ll be going back to my work then,” she said, and the door closed softly once again.

Cedric suddenly hugged me from behind, resting his chin on my shoulder. To my surprise and curiosity, he didn’t reprimand me for the way I talked to my best friend just moments ago, which made her leave the room in tears. The silence was maddening, so I chose to spoke up instead. “Aren’t you going to tell me off for treating Mia the way I did?”

“I figured that you would tell me if you wanted to. I don’t think that you’d do that to anyone dear to you unless you have a good reason to do so,” he whispered in my ear. Damn, are my motives that transparent to him?

“You must think that I’m horrible, don’t you?”

“Nope, I don’t. Like I said, I’m sure you have your reasons.”

The soft treatment I’m getting from Cedric was making me feel guiltier by the second, and I was reduced to tears, sobbing uncontrollably moments later. He turned me around to face him, and started wiping the tears off my cheeks for me, only to have more rolling down my face. He smiled at me wistfully, then suddenly pressed his lips against mine. My eyes widened in shock, but I found myself replying his kiss anyway. His lips slowly massaged mine, and I found myself moaning against his mouth. I turned scarlet at the realization. It seems that Cedric noticed it as well, because he smiled against my mouth, then broke off the kiss and rested his forehead against mine.

“That’s about enough, Tessa. We shouldn’t go any further. Do you feel all better now?” he whispered.

“No, I still feel horrible for doing what I did to Mia. You’re not making things any better either,” I pouted.

“And just why not? I made you stop crying, didn’t I?” Cedric chuckled softly, just the way I loved it.

“That’s beside the point,” I sighed. “I wouldn’t feel as bad if only you’d give me a little scolding for being such a terrible person who would hurt her own friend without even flinching.”

Hearing that, Cedric distanced himself from me, and stared me down with a stern expression. “So, why on earth did you say those things to Mia?” he growled. I knew he was faking it though.

“I- I decided that I should break off our friendship s- so that she d- doesn’t have to see me die…” I mumbled, as the emotions started to take over my system once again. Cedric was right, never in my life would I say those hurtful words to Mia unless something was up. As the moments replayed themselves over and over again in my head, I found myself sobbing once again.

“I figured out as much,” he said, before embracing me once again and massaged my back lovingly. “Just go ahead and cry your heart out if you want to.”

I did just as he told me to. In the end, I probably cried so much that I drenched his shirt. But nonetheless, the way he showed me kindness even though I clearly didn’t deserve it was really too much for me to bear. Silently, I thanked God for allowing me to meet such a wonderful person.