[Event] I'm Sorry Every Songs About you [Paradox]

"Soft pretzels..?"

The smell of bread was in the air and Adelene sniffed it in for a moment, wondering where it was coming from. Lochlann had flinched when she did, but she tried not to make things awkward again. Well, tried. "That sounds nice. Let's look for it."

She held his arm and tried to lead the way, and of course she listened to Lochlann at the same time. A few thoughts swirled in her head, just like how it wasn't so shocking anymore to hear that Lochlann's expelled from school before. And then her thoughts went to the barbecue, and she'd start to imagine how it would be like once Lochlann makes them and they would enjoy having lunch together in his new place and then... And then a horrible feeling went to her guts, because she remembered Lochlann might not be alone in his unit anymore and if that's the case, she didn't really want to visit. She was only going to feel bad if she tries.

She doesn't know she's jealous. She never does.

"Uh..." an awkward laugh escaped her. She looked away. How was she going to answer that? "I think... it's a better idea if you tell me when I can drop by. I mean... Well... I don't want to inconvenience you and your roommate. I don't really like her... I'd rather not see her ever."

"Is it that bad that I haven't tried it yet?"

Adelene did her best not to mind how Lochlann said it. He didn't seem to notice it either anyway. When he spoke about Vlad, she nodded, not saying anything either because well, she might say something that wasn't so good to hear.

When the man with the giant pretzel, Adelene felt some sort of hesitation. The stall was just a few feet away from them, and she was all of a side unsure if she could eat this. "Is it good..? We can share if it's good... Uh... yeah, I'm foreign to pretzels..."

Adelene rolled her eyes away for the second time tonight. But she was grinning at Lochlann's joke before he bumped their shoulders. It was pretty awkward though, in a different way, because of their height difference that Addy's already learned to acknowledge.

She eyed the pretzel when Lochlann bought it. She didn't notice immediately that he pulled her closer. She felt the squeeze, and for some reason, it spread some kind of warmth towards her whole chest. She looked at him and gave a faint smile before taking the bread. "Cinnamon, right? I don't eat cinnamon breads often but I tried them once in Leon's place."

She wasn't done with her potato chips so she held on to it while she was finishing them.

"You think we'll get to eat lots tonight? Because I think I want that brisket sandwich and I think my stomach is too small to have more than that and these."

She kept close, hoping it would get through to Lochlann that she wanted him, too; she wanted him close to her.

"Ohoho, that's a good one." Adelene snickered. She found this one amusing, the way Lochlann described the soft pretzel, and the way she eased up because it seemed to have kicked the awkwardness away. She even reached up and pinched Lochlann's cheek jokingly.

Although at the back of her mind, it made her feel guilty.

"I'm not very sweet myself, you know. I mean... what kind of sweet person would... uh..."

Would leave her best friend alone in the hospital?

She cleared her throat. The image of Lochlann being intubated, the way his eyes shut close in fear as she tied his hands and held them, it all went back to her easily. She swallowed, letting the bad memories and feelings sit in the pit of her stomach.

She was silent again for a moment, looking straight in front of her as they walked. A small, less happy smile on her face. "I'm sorry, Loch. I know you probably don't want to remember that moment but... I'm sorry I left you in the hospital. I visited the next day, you know. But they won't let me see you. I was so worried..." A sheepish laugh. "And then Dr. Hart tried to distract me for a bit... But I kept thinking about you."

She cleared her throat again.

"A-Anyway... Uh, yeah, brisket... Brisket brisket brisket brisket brisket..."

Absentmindedly, she looked around and took a small piece for the soft pretzel, eating it carefully. It did taste good. It was sweeter than the cinnamon rolls in Leon's bake shop, but it was appealing that way.

Addy didn't dare push the sad topic further. Thinking about it was already stressful for her, pretty surely Lochlann had it worse. She just hoped he won't have to go back to the hospital again, unlike what Dr. Hart predicted.

Instead, she focused on looking for the brisket. There were so many people and most of them are taller than her, so it was pretty difficult to see the stalls more than 5 meters away from her. She grunted in frustration. It was almost too tempting for her to say yes at Lochlann's offer but...

"You're already pretty tall on your own, Loch. You don't need me on your shoulders," she said, glancing at him. Honestly though, her only issue was her being embarrassed about the thought. "Or do you? Can't you see the other stalls from there?"