after dinner, the four men decided to play monopoly while drinking some alcoholic beverages and some chips on the side. when they got tired, they just sat there asking questions about one another and sharing little stories.
it was half past eleven in the evening when kylle decided it was time for him to sleep. as usual, gabby will spend the night in their condo unit. in kylle's room, to be exact.
rave and ian volunteered to clean the mess so that the younger ones can rest already. and it didn't take too long before the both of them were already in deep slumber with kylle sleeping soundly on his bed and gabby sleeping comfortably on a mattress laid on the floor of kylle's room.
"bakit hindi nalang matulog si gabby dito sa sofa sa sala niyo? malambot naman ah?" ian asked while wiping the dishes that rave just washed.
"nakasanayan na nila 'yan eh." rave replied and shrugged but ian took a glance at him and their eyes met, knowing well enough that they both have the same thought in mind.
they chuckled.
"they'll figure it out."
"sure thing."
after fixing the plates, ian excused himself for a bathroom break while rave proceeded to his room to fix his stuff.
ian went out of the bathroom and went back to the kitchen but rave wasn't there anymore. he thought it would be rude to wander off inside their unit so he texted rave instead.
----------
"hello– aguy, ang lamig!" rave chuckled at ian who just stepped out of the glass doors in his room. ian stuck his hands inside the pockets of his hoodie and went to stand beside rave.
"uy, suot mo si venus!" he cheerfully said, noticing that the other was now wearing a hoodie. and he gave him that hoodie.
"ganda 'no?"
"oo naman, ikaw may gawa eh."
"tss, galing ko talaga." ian said, as joke, but rave's eyes were far too lost in the gaze of the other that he didn't notice the words that fell out of his mouth.
"yeah, you're amazing..."
they both locked in stares, just getting completely lost in each other eyes. a cold sweep of the wind brought them back to their senses and they both looked away.
"ang cute niyo ni kylle 'no? you live in the same unit." ian suddenly blurted out, making rave chuckle.
"yeah, i guess? kylle's my everything. ayoko rin mahiwalay sa kanya kaya we lived together nalang."
"bakit? where's your mom ba? kung... kung okay lang naman malaman."
rave sighed and smiled a bit, his eyes fixed at the skies.
"alam mo, magulo kasi yung pamilya namin. nung bata ako, masaya naman kami ng family ko. my mom was a housewife and my dad was a data analyst. masipag siya kaya he got promotions, after promotions, after promotions, until he got to where he is now. greed and arrogance ate him up and as he met different people in a business, he also met different women. in no time, my dad became a womanizer. unfortunately, he got one of his women pregnant. at ayun, si kylle yung naging bunga. two years lang age gap namin ni kylle but seven years old na 'ko nung nalaman namin na may anak sa iba si dad. and kylle was five back then. kaya pala nag-iba yung pakikitungo ng dad ko sa mom ko. he started hurting him and wala akong nagawa. pero nung nakilala ko si kylle, hindi ako nagalit sa kanya. i learned to love and take care of him kasi kapatid ko pa rin 'yun eh. turns out, dad also hurts his mom physically. ibig sabihin, si dad talaga yung problema."
rave paused, taking a deep breath. he's never told this story to other people aside from gabby and his ex, kevin.
"when i was ten, my mom met someone tapos ayun, she left my dad. unfortunately, she left me with my dad. sobrang nagalit si dad noon, masyado kasing mataas yung tingin niya sa sarili niya and knowing na iniwan siya ni mom made him so mad. para sa kanya, my mom wouldn't survive without him."
"hindi ka ba nagalit sa mom mo? iniwan ka niya sa papa mo eh."
"yeah, i did. nagalit ako kasi i badly wished she took me with her pero ngayon, she's in spain, i think, with her own family. i mean, how could she leave her own child? paano niya 'ko nakayanang iwan? that's so messed up. but anyways, wala naman na 'kong magagawa so i just learned to accept everything until it stopped hurting. then i realized, nawalan lang pala ako ng pakialam. i just let people live their lives while i thrive on my own. when kylle and i were old enough, making our own money, and can handle our shits, we decided to live together. and that's where we are now." rave finished and he immediately looked at ian who reached out his hand and started patting his head in the most gentle way possible.
oh damn, the butterflies.
"what are you doing?"
ian smiled, "i'm proud of you."
it was just four words but it was everything to rave. hearing those words from the man that he likes just makes him feel as if he's on cloud nine. his heart could burst at any moment now.
"thank you." rave breathed. "uhm, w-what about you? wala ka bang kapatid or..?"
"wala eh. i never got the chance to meet my dad tapos yung nakwento ko sa'yo last time, my mom died nung twenty-one ako. that was five years ago. although, i have this cousin na naging sobrang close ko. we were really like the best of friends. we went to the same school since pre-school until high school. kaso, we wanted different universities in college kaya hindi na kami magkasama doon. sobrang close ko sa family nila kaya when my mom died, his dad looked after me. they wanted me pa nga to get involved in their business kaso sabi ko sa kanila gusto ko magtayo ng cafe. tapos ayun, my cousin had to go to baguio for a while kasi may business sila doon kaya medyo matagal ko na siyang hindi nakikita."
"wait– baguio?" rave asked, his eyebrows suddenly furrowing in confusion.
"yeah, why?"
"ahh... wala wala, nevermind." he shook his head, disregarding what he thought.
