Mia's POV......
"Okay, here we're." I say as we reach the front of Jace's apartment.
I had to walk him home since he said Idris isn't available to do so. I planned to call him a taxi. I didn't want him to walk to his place on his own with whatever happened to him earlier.
I feel like what happened earlier had something to do with what happened yesterday. I remember Idris telling me that Jace could barely breathe and he was basically gasping for breathe earlier.
"Yeah" says Jace.
"Okay then. Go in rest. I'll get going now." I say.
"Wait....are you not gonna come in?" Jace asks.
"No. Why would I?" I ask.
" 'Cause I want you to. You should at least have a glass of water before leaving. You must be thirsty." Jace says.
"Well....I'm not really thirsty so......"
Jace interrupts me.
"Mia, please. I insist."
"Fine. A glass of water wouldn't hurt after all." I say.
Jace smiles at me. We move to the door and Jace unlocks it.
Inside the apartment.......
"Welcome to a part of my world." Jace says.
The place looks nice though. The walls are painted in gray. I follow Jace to the living room.
"Make yourself at home. I'll get you a glass of water." Jace says.
"No. It's alright. I'll get it myself, just show me where." I say.
"Mia, whatever that happened to me can't prevent me from getting a glass of water. Just sit down lemme go get it. You're my guest after all." Jace says.
"Fine, I'll leave you to it." I say.
Jace gives me a little smile and starts walking towards the refrigerator in the kitchen.
I sit on the gray couch nearest to me.
"Here you go" Jace says, handing me a glass of cool water.
"Thanks" I say. I gulp down like half of the water.
"You're welcome." Jace says as he sits beside me.
"Your apartment looks nice." I say as I lean forward to the glass table to keep my glass of water.
"Yeah. Idris chose it." Jace says.
"He seem to have good eyes." I say.
"He does have good eyes." Jace says.
"Can I ask you something?" I ask.
"Yeah....sure. What is it?" Jace asks.
"Whatever that happened to you at the campus, is it connected to what happened to you yesterday?" I ask.
"Uh.....kinda. I think it's the same panic attack from yesterday." Jace says.
"Why's it happening to you?" I ask.
"I don't know." Jace says.
"Does it have anything to do with your condition?" I ask.
"Mia....I...I don't know. I don't really wanna talk about the tragic moment I had earlier today." Jace says.
"Okay, I won't talk about it." I say.
I guess he's still trying to hide whatever is wrong with him 'cause I know he's definitely hiding something.
"Thanks. Uh....do you wanna see my room?" Jace asks.
"No. Why'd I wanna see your room? I'm a guest after all. I don't think guests should wanna see any room except for the ones reserved for them." I say.
"What if I told you that you're a special guest that could see anywhere, would you wanna see my room?" Jace asks. He adjusts closer to me and glances into my eyes.
"Am I though?" I ask rhetorically, trying my best not to feel nervous.
"I don't know.....do you wanna be?" Jace asks in a lower voice. His eyes goes to my lips and back to my eyes.
His glance becomes as strong as the silence in this living room. It's as if there's a message he's trying to send to me.
What message could it be?
Jace starts leaning forward to me and I'm getting that kinda feeling I mentioned earlier. The feeling that I can't explain.
Something I've never felt before.
He keeps leaning forward, slowly, just like when one is about to kiss another in some of the movies I've seen.
No, it can't be...
He can't wanna do that to me..
How do you know?
I just know....
I thought.
Before I knew it, Jace's face is already an inch apart from mine. His eyes resting on my lips once again.
What's happening??!!
"Uh.....Jace....I....I...have to....." I stutter as I struggle not to gaze at his lips that is unbelievably and uncomfortably close to mine.
I've lots of things going on in my mind right now.
"Yo Jace! You hom....."
I hear Idris' voice causing my heart to skip a beat and Jace also to lean back to normal.
"Oh...I'm sorry. I didn't know there was something I was gonna interrupt." Idris says.
"I....I...gotta go." I say, standing up from the couch.
"Thanks for bringing me home, Mia." Jace appreciates.
"You're welcome. I'll text you later. Nice to see you, Idris." I say as I hasten towards the door and leave.
Outside the apartment......
As soon as I close the door behind me, I lean on the wall to catch my breath.
Whatever that just happened in there was something pretty intense, just like that night, in front of my apartment but it's different this time. Unlike that night in front of my apartment, I felt something different. My body was literally heating up, my heart beating faster than usual.
You know how your heart beats really fast when you're scared or maybe you just ran long distance, that's how mine was beating earlier and I don't know why.
What is this????
I lean off the wall and start moving away from the place.
***************
Jace's POV..........
"Ooo.....someone was about to get it." Idris says seconds after Mia left.
Idris moves towards the couch and sits beside me.....where Mia was sitting.
It happened again. My temptation to kiss Mia happened again. It always happens whenever I'm with her, especially when we're alone and it was different this time. This time, she didn't move. It was as if she wanted it too.
God, I'm so confused!!
I'm getting frustrated.
"Shut up, I wasn't about to get anything." I say.
"Jace, you guys were kissing." Idris says.
"About to....we might've if you didn't interrupt the whole thing." I say.
"You were the one who interrupted yourself. You could've ignored my presence and grabbed those lips into yours."
"How would I have done that if I don't even know if I'm allowed to do so?" I ask.
"What do you mean? It seemed like no one was preventing. The chick was clearly up for it. The tension was on another level." Idris says.
"That's why I'm so confused and it only leaves me in deeper frustration." I say.
"What're you so confused and frustrated about?" Idris asks.
"The last time this happened, Mia didn't really hesitate to move away from me but this time was totally different. She didn't even move. She seemed nervous too." I say.
"Maybe she has fallen for you. Maybe she already feels about you the way you feel about her." Idris says.
"That's another thing. I don't know if she feels that way. I don't think she feels that way and even if she does, this is definitely not the right time to do so." I say.
"Why? Because of your condition?" Idris asks.
"Yeah, exactly." I say.
"Did she tell you that you can't be with her if you're in your condition?" Idris asks.
"I'm scared that it may happen like that. I didn't tell her about my condition." I say.
"Why?" Idris asks.
"I don't know....I don't think she has to know but at the same time, I feel like she knows." I say.
"What does that even mean?" Idris asks.
"I got it today during our session. I tried running away to where she wouldn't see me but I couldn't so she caught up with me. She started rubbing my shoulders to arms and arms back to shoulders. I felt better in less than two minutes. I've no idea how she did it." I say.
"That may just be what she thought of doing at the moment. It doesn't really mean that she knows. Even if she does, what's the worse that could happen?" Idris asks.
"Idris, I can't let her know about this. I may lose my chance with her if she knows about it. It's as if I'm insane or something." I say.
"Jace, you're not insane and you're not so sure if she's really gonna throw you under the bus if she knows about your condition." Idris says.
"Mia deserves a lot better. I'm not close to that." I say.
"You know what.....I'm not gonna say anything further but I'll tell you that her deserving a lot better includes her knowing the truth. That being said, are you ready to talk about how this started again after years?" Idris asks.
"I think I am." I say.
"Okay then, I'm all ears. What's going on?" Idris asks.
"Well....like ten days ago, I tried to reach my mom to talk to her like I always do but she wasn't picking up. I thought maybe she had gone to bed since it was already night over there so I stopped calling with the intention to wait till it's morning or afternoon there. I also thought that she'd call me back if she saw my missed calls. The next day, I didn't get any call from her. Like I planned, I called her again when I was sure it was morning over there but she didn't answer. That was when I first got worried. Few minutes later, my phone rang and it was her so I felt relieved at the moment. I picked up only to hear my dad's voice." I pause.
"Your dad? Why'd he pick the call? What did he say?" Idris asks.
"He said that....that mom wouldn't be able to talk to me for sometime." I say.
"What? Why? Did it start with her again?" Idris asks.
"Yeah, it did. He said that she suddenly started showing the usual symptoms. He also said he just came back from the hospital before he heard my mom's phone ring the last time I called before he called back. That's how my condition started yesterday. I guess I've pushed myself off the no danger limit." I say.
"Damn dude.....this really sucks. I'm really sorry." Idris says.
"Idris, I don't want anything worse to happen to my mom. I don't think I'm ever gonna live with myself if that happens." I say.
"Jace, nothing worse is gonna happen to your mom. She'll be fine." Idris says. He holds my shoulder in consolation.
"I told my dad to lemme know when she gets better. I haven't gotten a call from him, not even a text." I say.
"That you haven't gotten a call doesn't mean she won't be fine. If you keep on acting like this, you're gonna hurt yourself....you're already hurting yourself. Please Jace, don't hurt yourself any further. How do you think they'll feel if something bad happens to you?" Idris asks rhetorically.
"They don't know. They don't have to know." I say.
"You never told them?" Idris asks.
"No" I reply.
"Dude! Why'd you choose to still keep something like that from them?" Idris asks.
"Because it's my business and I should take care of it myself." I say.
"Jace, are you kidding? You think this is yours to take care of alone? Dude, I'm sorry to say this but if you're gonna continue this, you're gonna get yourself killed one day." Idris says.
"Wouldn't it be better that way?" I ask rhetorically.
"You're starting your stupid drama again and I don't think I'll be able to stand it this time so I'm gonna leave you to it." Idris says, standing from the couch.
"I'm not starting any stupid drama." I say in defense.
"You're but all I can tell you now is that if you really want Mia, you should quit that drama and also tell her the truth about your condition 'cause I'm pretty sure she asked you about it and of course you would've lied about it." Idris says.
"What else would I do?" I say.
"Tell her the fucking truth, Jace! Gosh!!" Idris yells a little.
He starts walking away, probably to his room.
I think my condition is something I should handle on my own. It'd only be pathetic of me to look up to others for help, I put myself in the condition after all. I already feel pathetic about Mia calming me down earlier today. I really don't want her to know and she's always gonna ask questions. I feel bad that I had to lie to her both yesterday and today.
I shouldn't be lying to a girl that I'm trying to get to be my girlfriend. It's not impressive.
Shit!!
This is far from being a good timing. I still feel bad that the girl I love isn't interested in what I want, then my dad tells me that my mom's condition came back just like my own did yesterday.
I'm literally at risk of losing what matters a lot to me.
My mom and Mia......
-------------
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