Anthology

Parting Words

From Tumblr:

Anonymous asked: Another Kev and Max ficlet please? Setting: Germany, before umuwi si Kev in time for Jerro and Sath's wedding. Thank you! :)

**

Note: May ilan ding nagrequest ng prompt na ‘to so iisang post na lang :)

—

She was against it ever since the wedding invitation arrived in Kevin’s apartment two months ago. Muntik na nga niyang itapon ang invitation para hindi na malaman ni Kevin ‘yon. But her conscience got her (always always) and she let her best friend decide.

Ayaw ni Kevin pumunta noong una, and she was very relieved. He was still recovering from the (horrible) things he experienced for the past years, and going home would only make his condition worse (worst, if Jersey’s around). It was never mentioned, up until a week ago, nang makita niya ang plane ticket pauwi ng Manila.

Ilang araw na nilang pinag-aawayan ang desisyon ni Kevin na bumalik ng Pilipinas. She even reached the point of begging him to stay here with them (with her). Isipin pa lang na magkikita sina Kevin at Jersey eh nasasaktan na siya, paano pa kaya kung totohanan na? The begging was immediately followed by curse words, shallow threats and tons of tears. Kevin pretended he didn’t hear anything. Hindi kaya ng mga salita niya na baguhin pa ang isip ng best friend.

He wanted to go home. She couldn’t do anything but to accept it.

Siya ang nagvolunteer na ihatid si Kevin sa airport. Hindi pa rin sila magkaayos pero pumayag si Kevin. After all, she was one of the reasons why he went to Germany in the first place. Dapat lang siya ang maghatid sa kanya pauwi.

“Sigurado ka na ba, Kevin?” she finally said those words after almost 30 minutes of silence. Kung kelan malapit na sila sa airport. Kung kelan malapit nang umalis ang best friend niya. (She would treat Kevin’s decision as an exile, but she’s never gonna tell him that.)

Kevin let out a deep sigh. “Yeah. Mas mahirap kung papatagalin ko pa ‘to, Max.”

“I’m scared. For you. What if.. saktan ka niya ulit? What if may ga—“

“Max, come on,” the faint smile on his lips made the tears stream down her eyes. “May mas sasakit pa ba sa nangyari sa’kin?” Using the back of his hand, Kevin wiped the tears off her cheeks. Ayaw ni Kevin na nakikita siyang umiiyak kahit noong high school pa sila. “Hindi ako magiging okay kapag ‘di ko sila nakita. Kapag hindi ko siya nakita. I’m just delaying the inevitable.”

“C-can you really do it?”

He nodded. “I have to do this, Max. I need to do this to heal completely. She could hurt me again, I know that. But at least this time, malalaman niya na nasasaktan niya ako.”

“You’re such a masochist.”

“I know. And I’m your best friend. So what does say about you?”

They laughed, a first time in weeks.  Finally, gumaan na ang pakiramdam niya. Her best friend will be okay at kailangan niyang maniwala don.

Ilang beses nang pinatunayan ni Kevin na kaya niya ang sarili niya, ngayon pa ba siya bibiguin nito?