"Laura."

Laura's body instantly froze when she heard the voice calling her name. She looked up and the person she had in mind was indeed there. She immediately turned her face away as she walked away. But her hand was caught and she had to stop walking and look back.

"Let go of my hand!" she hissed.

"Laura, when are you going to hear our explanation?" Gabriel asked.

Laura's eyes stared at Gabriel's bulging belly. Still, she had a heart. There was no way she could let an expectant mother grieve like that, who had problems with her pregnancy. And somehow Laura didn't feel sorry for Samuel either, she just felt disappointed in both of them. Was her heart moved? I don't know, Laura herself didn't know.

Suddenly a hand pulled on Laura's arm and Samuel's grip on her hand slipped. Laura looked to the side and saw Justin who had appeared with an angry look on his face.

"Justin." muttered Laura.

"Don't go near her again." hissed Justin with his eyes sharpened. "Haven't you guys hurt her enough?" he continued with words that pierced Gabriel and Samuel's hearts.

Samuel didn't seem to want to be outdone. "We didn't hurt her on purpose. And we want to explain everything to her!"

"Oh? Then dream on, because I won't let you get one centimeter closer to her!"

Laura tugged on Justin's coat sleeve. "Justin, never mind."

"Laura..." Gabriel whispered.

Laura turned to Gabriel and saw him looking at her with a pleading gaze. Now this was worrying. What should she do? She didn't care about Gabriel even though he cared about her. Laura sighed for a moment. She brought her face close to Justin's ear.

"Can I hear it?" Laura whispered.

Justin looked at her with distaste. "I don't want you to get hurt again Ra."

"5 minutes, okay?"

Forcibly, Justin nodded slowly. But before that he whispered. "But, promise me, I don't want to see you cry again after this. Okay?"

"I promise."

After their brief conversation, Laura approached Samuel and Gabriel.

"5 minutes."

Gabriel glanced around. "Laura, I can't possibly explain it here."

In her heart, Laura agreed with Gabriel. She thought for a moment. "Meet me tomorrow at the usual cafe." she said briefly and left the two of them.

Justin frowned. "Not even a minute Laura."

"Tomorrow we will meet. You'll let me, won't you?"

"Of course." Laura smiled at Justin's answer.

"No," he suddenly continued. Laura's smile quickly faded and was replaced with an annoyed look on her face. "If you don't want to give permission, tell me from the beginning. No need to give people false hope! It hurts, you know!"

"I'm not giving you false hope Ra. You want to marry me? Right now I do." Justin laughed softly.

Laura touched Justin's forehead with the back of her hand. "Not hot, you must be crazy!" Laura lifted her dress and left Justin laughing.

Justin chased after Laura still laughing. When he saw her stop walking, Justin hugged her from behind and rested his chin on her head. "I let you. But not for long, and I'm coming." he whispered.

Laura lowered Justin's hand and turned her body around. "You're coming? Fine, but not when I'm talking alone with Gabriel or Samuel, or both."

"Agreed, but I'll wait around you." Justin said and kissed Laura's lips.

Laura pinched Justin's arm around her waist. "Don't look for opportunities!"

Justin laughed amusedly at Laura's fierce look. He pulled Laura's hand and led her to where his friends were gathered.

.....

"Are you here?" Laura asked Justin for the umpteenth time.

Justin pinched Laura's cheek excitedly. "Yes, Laura."

Laura still looked doubtful. She asked Justin again. "Don't you want to go home?"

Justin frowned at Laura's question which was no different from before. "What's wrong with you Ra? You kicked me out?"

Laura guiltlessly nodded. "I don't want you to get into trouble later Justin."

"I won't, take it easy." Justin smiled.

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Laura nodded slowly. She trusted Justin. Hopefully he would keep his word. Laura finally left Justin and walked towards Gabriel and Samuel who were waiting for her.

Before reaching the table, Laura stopped her footsteps. She took a breath for a moment. After that, she resumed her walk.

"Laura." called Gabriel when he saw Laura in front of him.

Laura sat in front of Gabriel and Samuel with a calm and even face. She looked at Gabriel and Samuel's faces in turn.

"Explain what you want to explain. I only have five minutes." she said flatly.

Gabriel looked at Samuel sadly. Samuel nodded slowly and muttered under his breath. "It's okay, at least he's still willing to listen to our explanation."

"A few years ago, before we met you Laura, I liked Gabriel, I felt in love with him but he never reciprocated my feelings back then. We were just friends. Until we met you. When I first saw you cooking and all that, I felt like I fell in love with you instantly. And by then, I thought I had moved on from Gabriel and loved you," said Samuel.

"Do you remember when Samuel approached you? I was so happy that he finally stopped loving me. But, it was only temporary. It turned out that I loved him, I just didn't realize it. So I chose to keep quiet and keep my jealousy or pain to myself. I didn't want to ruin your relationship." Gabriel pulled Laura's hand and held it. Laura just stared at the hand and then looked back at Gabriel and Samuel.

Samuel took a breath and let it out. "When you accepted to be my lover I was so happy. I felt comfortable with you. But after a while I felt something was wrong. I felt more comfortable with Gabriel. As if he was my lover. Not long after, I realized that I really only loved Gabriel and admired you. I didn't tell you this because I was thinking about your feelings."

"Then there was the time when I suddenly met Gabriel on the street. He was drunk. I helped him and took him to his apartment. He said he loved me then, and I did too. Until we lost control and did it. I wanted to tell you about this, but Gabriel told me not to. He didn't want to see you hurt. You've suffered enough."

"Then one day, I wasn't feeling well. So I chose to see a doctor. Then the doctor said I was pregnant. I don't know how Samuel knew. Because I didn't tell him about my pregnancy."

Laura held her breath for a moment. She glanced at Samuel who was also looking at her. So their eyes met. "Then you forced him to tell me?" she asked.