DANICA's POV
"Hey, wake up! Wake up!" I tried to wiggle his hand placed on my waist.
Kanina pa ako gising since I'm really really excited for today! Lilibutin namin ang buong Palawan ngayong araw.
"Hmm.." Kael stirred. "So early, babe."
"We should be early kaya bumangon ka na diyan." tumayo na ako at nagtungo sa mga maleta namin para ihanda ang mga dadalhin namin. Nang matapos ko maghanda ay tulog pa rin si Kael, "Bangon na nga kasi."
He didn't budged. I rolled my eyes and went to go on a shower. Nang matapos ako maligo at makapagbihis ay hindi pa rin siya bumabangon. Ang tigas talaga ng ulo nito. I was starting to get annoyed already.
I get my bag and ready to go. Pinuntahan ko muna si Kael.
"Hindi ka ba talaga babangon?" I asked him but he didn't answered me. "Fine! Edi ako nalang magto-tour sa sarili ko sa Palawan!"
Lumabas na ako sa villa at nagtungo sa isa pang malaking villa na nagse-serve ng mga pagkain dito sa island. Bahala na talaga 'yung lalaking 'yun doon. He even promised me to tour me around here but okay, fine. If he won't go, it will be fine.
Habang naghihintay ako sa in-order ko na breakfast, I grabbed my phone and browsed on my social medias.
"Hey, I'm sorry." Kael sat beside me. Nilingon ko siya at nakabihis na siya with an aviator on.
"You can just sleep there." I rambled while not looking at him.
Dumating na iyong order ko kaya agad ko rin itong kinain. Kailangan ko maging maaga para marami pa akong lugar ma-tour dito. Its my first time to be here so you can't blame me.
"Pansinin mo naman ako," Kael
continued talking beside me. "I'm sorry okay? I just got tired from last night. Hindi ka ba napagod kagabi?"
If I could, gusto ko na talaga siya batuhin nitong kinakain kong clubhouse sandwich. Hindi ko nalang siya pinansin kahit na kanina pa siya sorry ng sorry sa akin. He ordered a coffee for himself. I was thinking that he can have caffeine overdose. Kahapon pa siya nagkakape eh. Siguro, pagod lang talaga.
Guilt attacked me. My, ghod. He was really busy since the day before we came here. Dapat hindi ko nalang pala siya inaway pero nahihiya na tuloy ako ngayon sa kanya.
"Are you done?" he asked as I finished sipping my orange juice. Tumayo na ako at naunang naglakad na. Naramdaman ko nalang na sinusundan niya ako, "Wait, Danica!"
I faced him. "Bakit?"
"I'm sorry again." sabi niya.
"And I'm sorry too for being tempered like this. I'm going through a PMS maybe pero sana hindi mo naman ako pagsawaan kahit ganito ako." I explained and sighed deeply.
"Hindi ako magsasawa sa'yo," he held my hand. "Let's go."
Pero nanatili pa rin akong nakatayo. "Wait. Diba pagod ka pa?" he nodded. "We can go back to our villa, it will be fine with me. Bukas nalang tayo mamasyal."
"No. Why tomorrow if we do it today?"
"But you're tired.."
He chuckled lazily. "Yes. I'm tired but not of you."
_
"Smile," I told Kael and took a shot of him. I smiled when I saw a beautiful shot of him. I jumped and went on him to take a look of it. "Look, babe."
Biglang gumalaw iyong bangka na sinasakyan namin nang medyo tumalon ako. We're having an island hopping at doon sa isla na pupuntan namin ay pwede na kaming maligo sa dagat.
"Careful. Sabi ng huwag kang tumalon." he held my waist.
"We'll not sink if I would jump here. Gagalaw lang ang bangka hindi lulubog, duh." I rolled my eyes.
He chuckled again at my ears. "How brat."
"I'm not a brat!" I snorted.
Nakarating kami sa island na sinasabi nila. Kakaunti lang ang tao at mostly foreigners. Inalalayan ako ni Kael hanggang sa pagbaba sa bangka.
"Gusto mo ng mag-swimming?" tanong niya nang nilapag niya ang mga gamit namin sa isang sun lounger.
"Of course." I smiled and took of my bag, camera and my crochet top. Hinubad ko rin iyong suot kong black ripped shorts leaving me with my white two-piece bikini.
Nang napalingon sa akin si Kael ay umawang ang labi niya. "What the hell are you wearing, Danica?!" he hysterically asked.
"Bikini."
"I know but.." he trailed. "Fuck. Don't go on a swimming without me."
Hindi ko na siya pinansin at umupo nalang. Hinanap ko iyong sunblock ko at naglagay sa both arms and legs. Tumayo na ako at nagsimulang maglakad. Naramdaman ko nalang ang mga kamay ni Kael na nakapalibot sa waist ko. I turned around to face him and my jaw dropped when I saw him topless with only his board shorts. I can say that he has a body to drool for.
"Why are you topless?!" its my time to be furious.
"Because those damn guys are looking at you." he reasoned. Tinignan ko iyong mga lalaki na nakatingin nga sa akin at iyong iba ay pinag-uusapan ako.
"Tapos?"
"You're mine, get it?" he whispered and dipped his head on my neck. Nanlaki naman ang mga mata ko. Mas lalo pang nanlaki nang kagatin niya ito. I froze from my spot while he continued kissing the part he bit. "There."
Kinapa ko iyong kinagat niya at mas lalo akong namula nang nagmarka ito. Its a freaking hickey!
"What did you do?"
He smirked. "Marking what's mine."
Dahil sa kahihiyan ko ay nauna na akong naglakad habang siya ay tawang-tawa pa rin sa ginawa niya. Yeah, kinikilig ako ng konti pero dapat hindi niya pa rin ginawa. Kita tuloy iyong hickey ko sa leeg dahil nakatali iyong buhok ko. Ano nalang kaya iisipin ng mga tao?!
"Hey.." I felt him on my back. Nakalusong na kami ngayon sa tubig.
Hinampas ko siya sa dibdib. "Kainis ka talaga!"
"What?"
"Huwag mo nga akong ma-what what diyan. I hate you!"
Tumawa pa ang loko. Panay lang siya pangungulit sa'kin hanggang sa mapagod kami kakaligo sa dagat. Ang itim ko na tuloy dahil dito. Umahon na kami at nagpahinga sa malapit na duyan.
"You know what? I really reallly hate you. Iyong mga babae kanina pa tinitignan ako, or shall I say on my neck part." I told him.
He snickered. Nakahiga ako sa dibdib niya habang nasa duyan kami. We're watching the sea's calmness. This kind of scenery reminds me that we're happy right now. Walang problema, walang hadlang. Iyong kami lang dalawa.
I fished out my phone and took a picture of our feet tangled together. I smiled and post it on IG.
"Atleast they know that you're someone's." he spoke again.
"Your idea is not really absurd."
He laughed. "That hickey will just last for 2 days, babe."
Puro lang kami bangayan tungkol sa pesteng hickey na ito. I looked at our sandy feet intertwined together as we lay down. What will happen if we'll go back to reality now? What problems are we gonna face?
Siguro.. maraming problema. If it means to me, yeah, I do have many issues in life that's why I don't want Kael to be involved to these fucked up issues of mine. I just want to be happy. That's all I ever wanted.
"What's wrong?" he gently traced something on my bare back. "You've been spaced out for a moment."
Umiling ako. "Nothing."
"Tell me what are you thinking. Mind sharing it to me." pagpupumilit niya pa.
I closed my eyes and smiled. "I'm just happy."
"Me too. I'm happy."
_
"The heck. What is this, Danica Natalie Dizon?"
Natawa ako. Nandito kami sa parang tiangge sa may upper part ng Palawan. Kumakain kami ng lunch and I asked him to eat this balot.
"Balot nga," I showed him my balot too. "Eto oh. Ganito kainin."
Isinubo ko iyong laman ng balot. Masarap kaya. I've eaten this before sa America dahil nga mas madalas akong kumain sa mga Filipino restaus and fast foods, I tried eating this balot.
"Digusting." he muttered and looked at me with disgust also. Grabe 'to!
"Disgusting ka diyan. Kainin mo 'yan. That's safe and that's just a boiled chick."
"Can I eat you instead? You're a chic too."
My eyes widened. "Kael! Kainin mo na nga 'yan!"
Kinain niya nga pero uminom siya ng madaming soda pagkatapos. Arte talaga nito. Halos matawa ako sa reaksyon niya na parang nandidiri na hindi.
"Screw that boiled chick," I heard him blabbering. "At pasalamat ka mahal kita."
"I love you too." I smiled.
We continued eating together tapos namili rin kami sa tiangge. This is the kind of happiness I want. With the one I really love the most.
Almost an hour of travelling back ay nakarating kami sa island kung nasaan ang villa namin. I want to lay to the bed and sleep. My feet hurts so bad. Kanina pa kasi kami naglilibot eh.
"Let's watch the sunset first." hinila ako pabalik ni Kael nang akma akong papasok sa villa.
He held my hand and went to the shore. He made me sat beside him in these sands. I watched him falling for the sunset he wants to see. Is it possible that someone will fall for a thing?
"Hindi ka pa ba pagod?" I asked him, hugging my knees together.
Umiling siya. "I want you to see the sunset with me. I love sunsets."
"I see." I yawned. Pagod na talaga ako eh. Gusto ko ng bumalik sa villa at matulog na. Pero mahal ko si Kael, pagbibigyan ko siya sa favor niya.
I'm not really fond of watching sunsets. It somewhat.. scares me. I don't know basta kapag nanonood ako ay parang nagiging anxious o di kaya ay sumasakit ang ulo ko.
"Why do you love sunsets? Does it have any sentiments with you?" I interrogated.
He gave me a small smile. "Yeah. You don't have to know. Magsasawa ka lang sa mga kwento ko."
I frowned. "I have all the time in this world, Kael."
"Kathy and I used to watch sunsets ever since we were kids. Until we became adults. Hanggang sa mamatay siya, I still enjoy myself watching this moment because it reminds me of her."
Napatingin ako sa kalangitan nang naging kahel ang kulay nito at ang araw sa dagat ay unti-unting lumulubog. The view is breathtaking indeed. I didn't had my anxious right now seeing this. Hindi ko rin alam kung bakit.
This feels like a nostalgia..
I looked at Kael. "So she's your sunset?"
"My sunset. The sunset's beautiful just like her. She's more than that. The sunset looks serene like how angel she is." he replied with a loving yet painful smile on his face.
I kinda felt a bit pang of jealousy but I shooed it away. No time for being jealous about her. I already had enough of her, patay na siya kaya dapat hindi na siya binubuhay.
I sighed. "If Kathy's your sunset, what am I to you?" I managed to say even though its almost unadible.
Matagal siyang hindi sumagot. Ito na naman.. is my questions hard to answer for him? Bakit ba kapag ako ang nagtatanong ay parang iniisip niya pa ang isasagot niya?
Am I hard to answer? Will I always be an unanswered question for him?
"You are my sunrise."
I looked at Kael intently as he looked at me with the same intensity. The rays of the sun reflected through his eyes.
"You are my sunrise. My another hope. My another beginning."
And the sun set and fell.