𝗚𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻

𝗚𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻:
Forgiveness

❅𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻❅

"I don't know, Nelli," I whispered, standing from my couch.

"Tonight is going to be good—no Dani, and then Ronan said he's Mazin's partner since Dove isn't competing," she explained, following me into the kitchen, "Me and you can finally partner on something and have fun," she added, trying to convince me to do the Christmas cocktail competition with her.

Nelli had stayed over last night after my minor panic attack, while my dad dropped off food as an excuse to check on me.

Then we spent our Saturday rotting away in bed together as we scrolled on TikTok—watching a movie when we ate breakfast.

Now that the evening is approaching she's trying to convince me to have a little Christmas fun with her.

Without Dani accompanying me.

"I just don't seem to have the best track record with these events," I admitted, sighing as I walked over to the fridge and filled up my water.

"That's because I haven't accompanied you," Nelli emphasized, walking over to me, "I swear I'll make sure we have fun."

I raised a skeptical brow, "You just want to win this competition," I pointed out.

Nelli smiled slightly, "And I can only win with you," she said, clearly trying to poke my ego.

Which earned a fake eye roll from me, "You're too much," I mumbled, shaking my head at her.

"Am I too much with a partner though?" she asked, raising a brow at me.

I shook my head with a smile, "I guess," I sighed, immediately causing Nelli's face to light up with excitement, "But I get to choose the name of our cocktails."

Nelli's smile grew, "You're going to be petty aren't you?" she asked, knowing me entirely too well.

"I am," I said, feeling my lips twitch up as I opened the fridge to see what we already had.

And given it was already four and we still had to make the drinks and get ready for the event, I knew we would have to rush.

First, we decided to split up to get ready.

And once Nelli finished getting ready at her place, she would stop and pick up all the ingredients for the cocktails.

Given the time crunch, I settled on a basic white long-sleeve shirt with a plaid and white skirt—deciding on a black trench coat to wear over it and a matching red Chanel bag to carry on my arm.

I kept my dark hair down, pulling some of it out of my face—which I covered in light makeup.

I only filled in my brows, added some tinted blush to my cheeks, and covered my lips in a rosy lip gloss.

It really only took me around forty-five minutes to get ready, and then I focused on getting the cocktail glasses out of my cabinet.

I only had six of the same cocktail glasses so it's going to have to work.

"Okay so I picked up some red ribbon to tie cute bows around the handle," Nelli explained, setting the bag of groceries down.

Along with a bakery box?

"I figured since we're doing a cherry-themed drink—I would get chocolate cupcakes with cherries on top to compliment the drink," she briefly explained, opening the white box to reveal the perfectly made cupcakes.

Which naturally amused me.

Nelli really takes these things seriously.

"Then I got vodka, cherry juice, Grenadine syrup, fresh pitted cherries, and club soda," she explained taking everything out of the grocery bag one by one.

I nodded, grabbing the ribbon, "I'll cut and tie the bows if you want to start mixing everything together," I said, walking over to grab the scissors.

Nelli immediately nodded, "Sounds perfect to me," she said, grabbing the metal shaker to begin mixing everything.

And luckily she wore a black dress with her hair tied back into a half up half down, making it easier to make these drinks and not worry about spilling it or her hair in her face.

It really only took us around thirty minutes to have the drinks ready to go.

Which still made us ten minutes late.

And the worst part was that Nelli couldn't speed there unless we wanted to spill the drinks and ruin the cupcakes.

Entries into the competition managed to still be open by the time we arrived—but we barely had five minutes to get them to the judge counters for drop off.

I swear, once we successfully dropped them off, it was like the biggest weight off my chest.

It also gave me time to actually acknowledge my surroundings.

The venue was centered at a boutique hotel, which had different decorations set up around it to look at—specifically a fifty-foot Christmas tree decorated with ornaments of all sizes.

There was also an open bar nearby and soft Christmas music playing among the light chatter.

"It's cute right?" Nelli asked me.

I nodded a few times, "Yes, I just need a drink," I said, especially after rushing here in the slowest way possible.

"To the bar!" Nelli jokingly called out as she grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the slightly crowded bar.

Where Tahir, Alena, and Omara stood.

Although, given Omara's age she was more or less at the bar to hang out, not to drink.

"Vee you made it," Tahir said, immediately pulling me in for a side hug.

"Nelli convinced me to come," I said as I briefly hugged him back.

"And I assume she has you entering the competition too?" Tahir asked, smiling in amusement when Nelli flicked him off.

"It's all fun and games until we win," Nelli pointed out as she turned back to the bartender to order our drinks.

"I bet you guys will win," Omara laughed, knowing how seriously Nelli takes this, "Ronan and Maz don't stand a chance."

Tahir nodded, "At all," he agreed, subtly guiding Alena closer to his side.

"And Nelli always goes above and beyond," Alena added, smiling in amusement as she rested her hand on Tahir's stomach.

"I don't even want to see how many trophies she has at this point," Omara said, glancing over to Nelli who now held two cocktails in her hands.

"I have a shelf dedicated to them in my closet," Nelli proudly said, handing me one of the cocktails.

Which I didn't hesitate to take from her, murmuring a brief thank you.

"Of course you do," Tahir mumbled with an amused smile, taking a brief sip of his drink.

Nelli jokingly rolled her eyes, "Someone sounds jealous," she said, glancing past him to where I could now spot Marie and Vic.

Who stood with Lena, Tazmin, Ronan—

And then, of course, Mazin.

Who wore a black pantsuit with her hair slicked up into a high bun and her face covered with a natural amount of makeup.

Minus the dark eyeshadow perfectly outlining her eyes.

She wore gold earrings with a thin gold rope chain, and a matching Rolex on her wrist—listening intently to whatever Tazmin was currently saying.

"You can go over there," I told Nelli, noticing her line of sight to where her mom and dad were.

Nelli quickly shook her head, "I'm good," she assured me, knowing Mazin was currently over there.

Which meant I wouldn't be willingly going over there.

And Nelli definitely wouldn't try to make me.

"You should really go," I told her, hating that I was holding her back from being over with her parents, "I think I'm going to try and find Nadia," I suggested to help make her feel better.

"Oh yeah, she just went to the bathroom before you guys came over," Alena suddenly said, motioning over to one of the hallways.

"Yeah, she went with Dove," Tahir said, and I couldn't help but raise a skeptical brow when Omara subtly took a long sip of her mocktail.

What are they up to?

"I'll go find Nadia and we'll find each other when the winners are announced," I said, not giving Nelli a choice in the matter.

Especially since I began backing away from her toward the bathrooms.

"Fine," Nelli mumbled, dramatically sighing, "But I'll text you so we can meet back up in time."

I immediately nodded, "Okay, I'll see you all later," I said, briefly waving to them which earned a happy wave from Omara while Tahir and Alena both nodded in confirmation.

Then I was off to the nearby hallway, heading toward the vintage wooden door that was labeled as the women's bathroom.

Which turned out to be just as nice as the rest of the hotel.

There were marble sinks and floors, lit-up mirrors, and stalls with floor-to-ceiling doors.

I paused slightly at her presence, noticing her standing in front of the sink.

And I halfway expected her to be in here given Tahir mentioned Nadia came with her.

But where's Nadia?

"Oh, Vee... hey," Dove awkwardly said, correcting her posture.

And I was going to try and find a quick excuse to leave this bathroom.

But something seemed off with Dove?

And I don't even know her well enough to say that.

Which meant it was really obvious.

"Is everything okay?" I unconsciously asked, furrowing my brows at my own genuineness.

Because Dove definitely doesn't deserve my kindness.

"Yeah-yeah," Dove breathed out, tucking her brown hair behind her ears, "Nadia is just a little scary," she joked, waving her current dilemma off.

I tilted my head, "What do you mean?" I asked almost curiously, now understanding why Omara looked suspicious when Nadia and Dove were brought up.

"She just..." Dove trailed off, pursing her lips together as I walked into the bathroom fully and let the door fall closed behind me, "She thought me and Maz were more than friends and so I just had to explain you know."

I raised a brow, "I don't know actually," I said, still wondering why Nadia was worried about Mazin being with Dove.

"Well I think Nadia just doesn't want me with her it seems," she briefly explained, leaning back against the bathroom counter, "And I'm not with her to clarify—we're only friends," she added with emphasis, her tone nothing but truthful.

"Okay?" I said, almost in confusion.

Because why is she advocating this so hard to me?

"I just mean... I only see Maz as a friend so I didn't want there to be any assumptions made," Dove tried to explain, straightening her posture as she leaned away from the sink, "The last thing I want to do is get in the middle of whatever you guys have going on."

I blinked a few times, feeling my brows furrow deeper at what she just said.

"There's nothing to get in the middle of honestly," I said, shutting down her assumptions.

Dove gave me a look, "Be for real right now," she said, not believing one word I just said, "Anyone with eyes can see the way you both look at each other."

I remained silent, unsure of what to say back to her statement.

Because she sounded so certain.

So bent on her determination.

Meanwhile, I could only pick apart what could possibly be between me and Mazin.

Which has always felt one-sided.

"But I'll uh leave you alone now," Dove suddenly said, breaking through the brief silence between us, "You clearly aren't okay with forgiving me and I respect that, so I'll continue to keep my distance."

I still remained silent, even as she walked past me toward the door.

Until I felt the most annoying amount of empathy.

It was enough to make me turn around and follow her out of the bathroom and down the hallway.

Fuck this.

"Dove," I said, quickly catching up to her, which slowly made her walking halt, "I um..." I trailed off, really in disbelief of what I was about to say, "I think I can forgive you."

Dove's lips immediately twitched up, "Really?" she whispered, clearly as shocked as I was by my words, "Because that means a lot to me," she said, her voice softened with gratitude, "I just don't want to be the person I was in high school—I've worked so hard to move past that."

I nodded, "I see," I said, unsure of how to navigate this conversation with her.

"Every cruel thing I ever said to you was due to my own insecurities, I swear," Dove said, explaining more of her side of things, "I just never had anyone to help me understand that."

I forced a soft smile, suddenly feeling even more empathy for her.

Bullies aren't as strong as you think they are.

There's always something deeper at hand.

"But look, we don't have to be best friends or anything," Dove said when I unconsciously remained silent, "It's really all on your terms—if you ever want to hang out or need someone to talk to, I'm around."

I nodded, "That sounds good to me," I said, smiling slightly at her understanding.

She didn't expect this to all just go away, and that felt nice.

"Good," Dove said, reciprocating my smile as we slowly began walking down the hallway again.

And as we made it back toward the main area, Dove and I naturally parted ways.

Especially with the winners now being announced.

I accidentally had my phone on Do Not Disturb so I didn't even know Nelli texted me.

But there she was front row, smiling wide as she waved me over.

Meanwhile, Lena was at the podium, holding a microphone as Tazmin stood by her side.

She made a brief overview regarding the competition—like what they judged on and the prizes for each place.

Then she went on to list the winning drinks.

"In second place we have Snow Goodbye," Lena announced, and I couldn't help but raise a brow at the name.

Especially when Mazin and Ronan walked up to stand with the third-place winners.

It seems we both had the same idea of being petty.

It's clear that Snow Goodbye was a twist on words for no goodbye.

Something Mazin is still bent over.

I couldn't help but briefly meet her dark eyes as she stood beside Ronan who held their trophy.

And as expected she already seemed to be looking directly at me, her lips twitching up slightly as she analyzed my face.

She's so fucking annoying.

"In first place we have..." Lena purposely trailed off for dramatic purposes, "Sleigh My Heart by Nelli and Vee!"

I smiled proudly, especially at the name announced to the applauding crowd.

It was a play on words for break my heart, but I had to make it somewhat festive.

I felt my smile widen as I approached the podium with Nelli—feeling Mazin's stare burning into me.

I think I won this one.

Quite literally.

"Congratulations," Mazin had the nerve to say as we stopped beside them with our trophy—while the third-place winners stood off at the end.

"Thank you," Nelli spoke before I could, "But I can't take all the credit—Vee came up with the winning name," she said, smiling over at me.

I pursed my lips to hold back my amusement, especially at Nelli's purposeful words.

"It just resonated a lot with me," I murmured, briefly glancing over to her dark eyes.

That were already trailing my face.

Which irritatingly made my body burn up against my own wishes.

"Hopefully not anymore," Mazin said, her voice lowered between us.

And suddenly my smile felt forced.

Especially at her genuine tone.

"Not anymore," I whispered, eyeing her face for a moment.

A very long moment actually. 

Until I leaned into her slightly—clearly catching her off guard with my sudden actions. 

"I'll just never forget it," I whispered to her before I pulled away—resuming my original stance as I now faced the audience.

Meanwhile, Mazin's attention still seemed to be on me—clearly aware of the meaning behind my words.

But even if I couldn't forget it... maybe I could forgive it.

Maybe I could move past it?

My conversation with Dove is weighing a little heavier than I expected.

Along with Nelli, who previously pointed out my forgiveness for Dani but not Mazin.

It's just...

Dani might've done worse to me, but I never expected that from Mazin.

It's a different level of hurt.

But maybe I could find a way to let it go.

I think?