Te Quiero (hiatus)

23 - That One Friend

When I woke up the next day, the others were nowhere to be seen. Noah sent me a text message saying they already went to Tangadan Falls. He was asking if I wanted to follow them, but I'd already made up my mind about this since the start of the trip.

There would be no extraneous activities for me, so I wished them luck and idled by the kitchen until my coffee could completely chase away my sleepiness.

An hour later, Zylo was coming out of his room, his hair tousled in a messy way, his right hand still rubbing his eyes.

I laughed at how cute he looked. "Hey. You just woke up?" When he nodded, I lifted my mug to his view. "Coffee?"

"Yes, please."

Still laughing, I stood up and moved around the kitchen to prepare his coffee while he took a seat at the table.

"Where are the others?" he asked sleepily.

"They're not here when I woke up din. But Noah left a text that they went out to Tangadan already. They couldn't wake you up, he said."

His eyes widened a bit. "They left you?"

"I asked not to be disturbed and yeah, Noah knows I don't wanna go there anyway."

There was an amazed look on his face. "Noah got scared? That's not on brand of him." I laughed at his consistent use of my own words. "You wanna have lunch then? Or have you eaten already?"

"Not yet. I just woke up too."

We burst into grins. We both know why we woke up so late today. Kanina, after eating mami in San Fernando, Zylo got his way and finally had me watch his favorite cartoon. We ended up watching two movies.

"Shrek kept us up," he said lightly. "I'll take a quick shower and let's grab a bite."

"Sounds good. I'll be here." After making his coffee, I handed over the hot mug to him, went to the living room, and turned on Netflix. Like last night, I nestled myself between the fluffy pillows.

Zylo followed me to the living room, the mug of coffee cushioned between his hands, as he stole a glance at the TV. "Watching World War again?"

"Yup."

"What a history buff," he joked. "Okay. I'll be quick."

Then he was back into his room and I resumed my documentary show. When he emerged a short while later, he was in a plain white tee and casual shorts. How he managed to still look very attractive even in the simplest clothes was beyond me. No wonder he's a renowned model.

Zylo surveyed the room. "Have you seen my phone? I think I left it here this morning."

I raised my brow and pointed at the phone sitting on the low rectangular table. "Is that yours?"

Zylo walked closer to it and placed it into his pocket after. So it was. "Let's go? Where are we eating?"

I finished the last of my coffee and rose to my feet. Kinuha ko yung mug na hawak niya at sabay ko nang nilagay sa lababo. "I was thinking of Tagpuan. You think there are many people there right now?"

"Are you that hungry? I don't mind waiting in line."

"No naman, but mainit, e."

"What's that?"

"Mainit? Hot. Sunny kind of hot."

"Oh. You don't like the sun?"

"When it's this ferocious, would anyone?"

Zylo grinned at me. "I love it."

"That doesn't even surprise me anymore," I said with a roll of my eyes. "Does it not give you sunburn?"