Hiraeth (on hold)

Birds of Paradise

"Guess your silence means yes?" Theo asked in assurance, and to this he got a gentle nod.

-

"You guys looked a little tense yesterday," Rico quizzed at his son, which only earned him a shrug from Alden. "You know, you should take her out. She is your fiancé after all."

Fiancé, he thought to himself. He almost cringed at the thought of it.

"Dad, do I really have to do this? Puwede bang, itakwil niyo na lang ako?"

"Son," Rico replied in a scolding tone.

"Dad, I don't think I can do this. Our friendship ended badly, we still haven't even talked about what happened."

"Then go and talk about it."

"Dad, it's not that simple."

"It is if you make it to be, son. Go and try to get to know her again. Like I said, take her out or something. Do the both of you a favor, because my mind's not going to change anytime soon."

He sighed and proceeded to making his way out, through the front door. He closes the door behind him, and sits in front of it. He jiggles his car keys in his hands, as he tries to make a decision, on whether or not he should follow his father's advice.

With this, he looks back at the time when he didn't hesitate on taking Maine out.

"Tantararan," he sings as he pulls out a stick of freshly fried banana cue, out of the plastic bag that he was holding.

Though they came from rich families, they still made it a point to liberate themselves with street food, any time that they felt like it. It was kind of their way to feel normal, amongst all the chaos of their lavish world.

She takes the stick from him but his surprises seem to not be finished, just yet.

"Wait. Eto pa."

"Wow, lumelevel-up ka na ngayon ah. Dati isang stick lang ng fish ball ang libre mo sa'kin, pero ngayon, may pa-lala chocolate na si mayor," she irks.

"Syempre, malakas ka sa'kin eh," he reasons.

"Pero, Alden, tingnan mo o. Natunaw na 'yong chocolate. Bakit mo kasi isinuksok sa bag na may mainit na banana cue?"

"Sure ka bang dahil sa banana cue at hindi dahil sa hotness ko?" he asked as he wiggled his brows.

"Ew Alden, please lang. Maupo at kumain ka na nga lang, hindi bagay sa'yo."

"Eh bakit? Ano, or better yet, sino ba ang bagay sa akin?"

They looked straight into each other's eyes, both their lips in a straight line. Until they both blurted out their answer.

"Ako!"

"Ikaw!"

They proclaimed at the same time, ending it with a burst of laughter. He places his arm over her shoulder, ever so comfortably.

"Bakit tawang-tawa ka? Totoo naman ah. Ako lang ang bagay sa'yo, kasi ako lang ang kaya kang pagtiyagaan," she declared as she took a big bite off of her snack.

All he could do was look at her as she continued her ministrations. He swore that he never felt the same way about her, since that day.

"But seriously, posible kayang magkatuluyan tayo?" she asked out of the blue, to which his heart suddenly started to race. He was about to reply but she was quick to cut him off. "Nah, scrap that thought. That's just disgusting," she claimed as she started to laugh.