Happy New Year! Thank you for being here with me in my 2022 writing journey.
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SPECIAL CHAPTER #1
MY HANDS WERE clammy as I stood in Apple's living room, her siblings staring at me with wide eyes. Even with the knowledge that she was living with other people that weren't her biological family, it still surprises me how different her siblings looked. They were both maybe a few years younger than her, their eyes wide and skin two shades fairer than Apple's.
I cleared my throat and offered a smile that I hope wasn't crooked. "Hi, I'm Monty. Apple's, uh, friend."
"Hello, Kuya Monty! Wait lang po kasi nagbibihis pa si Ate." The youngest, Asha, prompted me to sit on the couch.
Their place was very homey, most of the house's foundations were made of strong wood and glass doors, so a lot of the light came from outside. And since it was the holiday season, a huge Christmas tree was propped up in their living area.
I'm glad that it seems like she found the right family for her. And I hope that in the future, I can become a part of it. Someone she can lean on and someone who can make her happy beyond words. I'm working on it though. Baby steps.
"Asha, saan 'yong heels ko? Hiniram mo nung nakaraan 'yon. Binalik mo ba sa lalagyan?" Apple shouted on top of the stairs. Even though I haven't seen her, I smiled at the familiarity of her voice.
Asha ran upstairs, probably to get her shoes, while I made myself comfortable. It was our annual Christmas dinner—me, Jass, Rafa, and the girls. But now, they invited Apple because they knew she's my plus one. Not that we made anything official yet—not even to my friends—but it's still out there and very obvious.
After a few minutes, I heard a loud thumping of footsteps like someone was running down the stairs, and it turned out that it was Apple.
"Nandito ka na? Akala ko mamaya pa!" Apple pinched my arm as soon as she was within my reach.
I paid no attention to the sudden sharp pain on my arm, but instead, I was focused on her. Only her. She wore her hair down in long gorgeous waves and her white off-shoulder dress that flowed just past mid-thigh complimented her tan skin well. I knew I was staring too much but I didn't care.
Her gentle beauty is beyond anything that, for a moment, I lost my breath.
"Monty?" she called and waved a hand in front of my face.
That shook me out of my daydreaming. "What? Uh, yeah. They had other plans so we moved the dinner an hour earlier. Sorry, I wasn't able to inform you."
She must've heard the embarrassment in my voice because I saw her sly smirk. She knew her power over me and didn't hesitate to use it. I'm fine with that, after all, I'm in love with her. There's no denying how much I want her.
"So maaga tayong aalis? Dapat mag-aayos pa akong nails, but whatever. Hindi naman siguro nila titignan 'no?"
I took a step towards her and let my arm settle on her waist, my thumb running over her dress and desperately wanting to touch her skin. "They already know you, love. You've met them. This is just a formality and well, our holiday tradition."
She eyed me. "Still, I want them to like me. Kaibigan mo sila and outsider ako."
I frowned at the thought of my friends being that snob. They're not. If someone was a snob among the three of us, that would be me, if I'm being honest.
"You're not an outsider. You're my. . . uh, friend," I hesitated and then looked down at my hands that were still resting on her waist.
Apple smirked and snaked her arms around my torso. "May friends bang ganyan kung makayakap?"
We were standing so close to each other now, not even a space between us. As it should be. It took me a while before I could hug or touch her because I didn't want to unearth any trauma if there ever was from her ex-boyfriend, and Apple also understood that she needed time to get used to me—to us.
"Hmmm, no."
She grabbed my hand and gently moved it upwards, just below her bra line. "Kailangan mo bang refresher sa anatomy?"
I froze on the spot and my breathing stopped for a quick second. As if really messing with me, she then laughed and pulled my hand. "Tara na nga, naghihintay na sila."
It wasn't a big deal that she's my plus one, my friends weren't fussing, in fact, Gwen even got her a gift. It's really just Apple being Apple. Although I understood her worries, I just hope I'm giving her enough assurance.
The annual dinner was being held at my house for a change. I didn't want to cook so I ordered everything from appetisers to desserts. The last thing we all want is having to cook a lot of food for just a few people.
By the time we arrived at my house, everyone was already there and the place was already set up for us, all thanks to the amazing caterers and staff in general who are still working this holiday season.
"Ang tagal mo, muntik ko na balatan 'yong lechon sa gutom," Rafa was already jumping on his toes while he held a plate. Jesus. He and his food. I'm glad Maggie is a great cook because he wouldn't survive without her.
"Tanghali ka na kasi gumising kaya hindi ka na nakapag-lunch nang maayos," Maggie glared at him, but still placed food on his plate.
"Sino ba kasing pinagod ak—"
"'Wag na 'wag mong itutuloy 'yang sinasabi mo, Rafa."
I rolled my eyes at both of them. Even after a long time of being together as a couple, they never lost their friendship. It was always friendship first for them.
Apple was immediately crowded by Gwen and handed her two gifts and a medium size paper bag which I assumed had a pot of plant inside just based on how Gwen got me a plant too last year. Good luck with that because she doesn't have the slightest bit of patience to take care of plants.
I mouthed go on to her when I saw her hesitate to follow Gwen somewhere. I'm pretty sure she's just going to tell her about her plants.
Meanwhile, Jass slung an arm around me. "Are you happy?"
I was about to hide my smile when I realized that it's Jass I'm talking to. He's my friend. I don't need to hide anything.
"Yeah, I am. Even though we're not yet official. We'll get there."
Rafa sneaked in the convo with food pile up on his plate already. "Hindi official pero natutulog ka na sa kwarto niya? Sounds like you're also making o—" I cut him off by picking a piece of bread from his plate and shoving it in his mouth.
"Nothing like that, Servania. Gawain mo 'yon."
Jass snickered. "Pretty sure he was too chicken to even look at Maggie that way back when they were still just friends," he quoted friends in the air.
"Hey, that's not fair."
"But it's true. I'm done with the bullshit excuse of losing your friendship because you liked her."
I left the two to bicker about their past because I wasn't interested. I'm more interested in finding out where Apple was. And turns out, she was having a pretty good time with the girls, Maggie included. They were all seated on the huge couch in our living room and exchanging gifts like they were friends for a long time already.
Her smile made my heart melt in a puddle of biological essence.
Even without officially being together, I feel like my whole being just fits perfectly and in sync with hers. We've been sort-of together for a few months now, but I still learn a lot of things about her. Whenever she's tired, she just wants someone to take care of her, and I do. Whenever I'm studying and can't give her the attention, she'd compromise and visit me here at home to hug me or lounge on my room. Whenever I can't pick her up, she picks me up and we ride the public transportation together.
The more I spend my time with her, the more I fall in love. And there's not a thing that I'd do to change that.
After we ate and gave each other the gifts, the group decided to call it a night to go to their respective families. It is, after all, almost Christmas Eve.
Apple, on the other hand, stayed after they left to help me tidy up the house. She wrapped the leftover food and stored it inside my fridge.
"Ulam mo na 'to for one week," she laughed.
"I'm going to cook it in different ways. Or just give it to our household staff. You can also grab some for your siblings."
She picked the food that she wanted and grabbed an insulated bag to put it inside. "Ayoko pang umuwi, though. Can I stay here for another hour? You said ipapakita mo 'yong makeshift lab ng Dad mo."
I grabbed the back of my neck. "Uh, okay. I mean, it's nothing special. Just a bunch of science stuff. And then family stuff there."
"I still want to see it," she grabbed my hand again and entwined our fingers.
So I led her to the spare room on the second floor that my Dad made for himself—and later on, for me. He loves chemistry and often told me about acing all his chemistry exams back in high school. My Mom never understood our love for science so she insisted on business as my course, but seeing that my Dad and I had a lot in common, she eventually let me shift.
As soon as I opened the door, memories of my Dad and I hovered on the black granite table and peeking through the cylinders with our safety goggles came back to me.
"Oh, wow. Parang science lab lang sa uni. Your Dad really made this?" Apple said with wide eyes.
I nodded and turned on the lights on the far end of the room. "And funded the equipment and stuff here. This is kind of my little heaven especially when studying."
"May magagawa ka bang experiment or like. . . something simple? Nakita ko gimmick n'yo nung club day, so I know that you can do your science stuff even without a lab."
I tilted my head and tried to think of what I could do. "I can extract our DNA, if you really want to. But I'd have to process it at school."
"Really? How? Sa dugo?" Apple took a seat on the stool beside the table like she was going to have the time of her life watching me do my thing.
"Nope, saliva. Wait, I'll get my stuff."
I grabbed my lab coat and some nitrile gloves for safety. I also placed the solution on the table, all the while aware how Apple's eyes are following my movement. When I stopped in front of her to wear my gloves, she zeroed in on my hands and bit her lip.
"Are you amazed?" I asked as I carefully placed the glass on the table.
She propped her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her palms. "More like turned on."
I chuckled. "I thought you hated my science stuff? Galit ka sa 'kin nung una."
"That was before! Bago ko pa malaman na crush mo na pala ako nung una tayong magkita."
"Now?"
"Ngayon ang gwapo mo na tignan. You look clean and professional whenever you're at school kaya minsan nakakaconscious kasi lagi akong haggard."
I was about to pour in the saline solution when Apple reached out to stop me. She jumped from her seat to stand in front of me, never once letting go of my hand. And when she looked up, our lips were mere inches apart that if any of us move, our lips would touch.
Our bodies were so close, and for the first time, I hope she hears that my heart beats the same rhythm as hers.
"Before you start and work your magic, I just want to take this moment and thank you for all you've done for me, sa lahat ng pagsundo at hatid, sa pagkain, sa pasensya mo. . . I can't believe you did that for me," Apple sighed and looked down, and the urge to lift her chin so her eyes could focus on me became stronger. "I want to say that I don't deserve that. . . but I do, and I know that that's what you want me to learn to accept."
When she looked up to meet my eyes, hers now glistened with unshed tears, and before I could think twice, I let my lips fall on her eyelids, kissing her tears away one at a time.
"You said before that I get to decide when I'm ready and I think—I think I'm finally ready. We've waited long enough. You've waited long enough para sa akin."
I shook my head. "And I can still wait, love. Don't feel like you need to be ready now."
"But I am," she whispered and then gently threaded her hand from my waist to my chest, just above where my heart is. "Because I feel safe here."
I smiled at her confession, something I haven't seen her do, and it's the best thing. I love her. God, I love her.
Without hesitation, I leaned down to kiss her forehead. "I love you."
Then, as if her confession wasn't enough to make my heart ache in a good way, she grasped my nape to pull me down until our lips met. And right then and there, everything just felt right, like she was the piece of puzzle to complete me, the solution to a difficult equation, and possibly, the home to my tired physical body.
She took the lead by gripping the inner folds of my lab coat to pull me impossibly closer to her, the heat of her body intensifying what I felt while our lips took turns engulfing one another softly. In return, I pulled her hair down a little to tilt her head and angle my lips better.
It's our first kiss, and I intend to make her feel like this is just the beginning.
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