Chasing Hope [HIATUS]

CHAPTER 23

"Acting weird today, babe. Do we have a problem?" nagulat ako nang lumapit siya sa akin. Hinila niya 'yung upuan sa tabi ko at umupo roon para magkalapit kami. I didn't answer him. "Nadeleine." He called my name after I didn't answer for a minute.

"Yeah?"

"I said, is there a problem? You were fine earlier, why are you suddenly like that? Tell me, aayusin ko,"

That.

That's what he always says.

With the amount of time he spent fixing me, I lost time to fix myself. Hah. I stood up and took the knife and chopping board, tinalikuran siya. "Let's cook pasta na. Boil the spaghetti noodles, I will cut the bacon." I said instead. Nagugutom na ako pero naguguluhan din ako.

Maybe I'm just drowning right now but I can't rest. I can rest right now, actually, I'm with Kiel. Pero I just need to study.

I was about to start cutting but I felt a hand wrap around my waist from behind. I also felt Kiel's breath on my neck because he was so close to it. "I'm okay, baby. Don't worry, there's no problem," kahit naman iniwasan ko 'yung tanong niya kanina, he will still find a key to know the answer.

I heard him moan before he pulled me around to face me and lifted me up with one hand to sit on the countertop. What did he just do? Oh my! Wait, I can't process! He locked his eyes with mine and I just looked at his ears, avoiding our eyes to match. Every time I take a breath, my heart beats faster and faster.

I swallowed deeply and mustered up the courage to speak. What do we do in this position? Will he just look at me? May kailangan pa kaming lutuin! Hello? I counted to three before I looked into his eyes and that's when I didn't expect him to do it.

Hey!

I felt his lips land on mine.

What the hell!

He released it immediately and I saw the tip of his lips rise. He turned his back and followed what I told him to boil the noodles.

Is that it? He won't even leave a word? I went down and took my tumbler from the table, I immediately drained the water in the tumbler before realizing what just happened. Did he just kissed me? Oh my goodness! I mean, we just kissed earlier pero kinikilig pa rin ako kapag siya 'yung unang humahalik.

Ugh, nevermind! Get a grip, Nadeleine!

I went back to what I was doing and just kept doing it like I got out of jail after what Kiel did. After the parts I had to do, I went back to sitting and just looked at our group chat to see the rumors that Andrei was talking about. Chismoso talaga siya for life!

Kinuwento ko rin kay Kiel 'yung mga kinuwento ni Andrei sa group chat. Unexpected nga na kilala rin ni Kiel 'yung ibang tao na nabanggit ko. It didn't take long for Kiel and I to cook it and we ate immediately after it was cooked, we also had a glass of wine.

Hanggang doon lang naman kami at dumiretso na kami sa sala pagkatapos namin linisin 'yung mga things we used. I turned on the light in the living room and sat on the floor. Kinuha ko 'yung remote sa gilid at nilagay iyon sa YouTube to play some music while studying. Nothing changed, You'll Be Safe Here was the first song I chose.

Binuksan ko na ang iPad ko at nilabas 'yung ibang notes ko na kakailanganin ko for tomorrow. Umupo na si Kiel sa tabi ko at nilabas niya rin 'yung iPad niya na binili namin last month? Ah, I forgot. But as far as I remember, we bought it last month as my advance birthday gift to him. I told him kasi na mas maganda ang mag-organize ng notes kapag sa iPad, p'wede pa rin naman siyang gumamit ng laptop if hindi pa siya makapag-adjust sa iPad!