When I woke up the next day, I was still in my bed at our rest house.
"So, it wasn't just a dream... Oh no! I need to call Damien..." I panicked as I realized that my friends might be worrying about me. And when I realized that I didn't have my phone or wallet with me, I knew I was in a deep trouble.
Realizing that we have a smart TV on the living room, I rushed downstairs only to be surprised to see my Kuya Martin watching Netflix on the TV.
"Teo?!" My Kuya sounded as surprised as I was. "What are you doing here? When did you get here?" He sounded really confused.
Seeing my Kuya there suddenly made me very emotional. I remembered what happened last night and how scared I was. I ran to him and embraced him tightly. I was really thankful that he was there. I mean, even though I was far away from the stalker, being all alone was still scary.
"Hey... are you alright? Did you miss me that much?" He asked as he embraced me back. I nodded. "So, what are you doing here?"
"Ummm..." I hesitated. How could I explain everything to him? "Can you call Axel? I came here without telling anyone. I left my phone and wallet at the condo... They must be worried..." I said guiltily.
"Did you have a fight with Axel?" I shook my head. "Is it because of Damien? Again? That's it, isn't it? You had a fight with Damien so you ran here? Did he make you cry? Did he cheat on you?"
"No! Damien would never do that..." I replied defensively. "It's all my fault... I made him angry..." I told my Kuya everything and he looked at me with a confused expression.
"You're kidding right?" I shook my head. "You mean, you're serious? How can that be possible? So this guy doesn't only look like Peter, he also acts like Peter, his your neighbor, he would be teaching at your department, and his name is also Peter." Kuya Martin sighed. "No wonder Damien is going crazy."
Kuya Martin called Axel via Skype, using our TV and when Axel saw me his eyes widened. "Teo, you freaking idiot! Why didn't you tell me you were going there? You promised me you wouldn't go out!" Axel scolded me.
"I'm sorry..." That was the only thing I could say, after all, I didn't know how to explain what really happened.
"He's sulking." Kuya Martin said. "He said he had a fight with Damien, so ran away."
"Hey... why did you tell him that...?" I complained.
"Oh, Teo... If you were feeling that bad you should've talked to Damien, you didn't have to run away."
"How can I talk to him...? He wouldn't even respond to my messages..." I replied.
"That bastard, is he ignoring you?" Kuya Martin asked. "I get that he's being insecure and jealous, but still, how can neglect you? That's unacceptable." He scoffed angrily.
"We already went to the police, they said it hasn't been 24 hours yet, so they can't consider it as a missing person's case yet." I heard Clark's voice on the monitor. "James and Damien are at the security office, they are checking the CCTV footage of the...
"Hey!" Axel shouted. "I found Teo..." He said nervously.
"Really? Where is he? How did you find him? Where was he taken by...?"
"He's at Tagaytay." Axel cut Clark off. "He's with Kuya Martin."
"Tagaytay?! Why is he there?!" I saw Clark's face on the screen and waved guiltily at him. "Teo! Thank goodness..." He sighed.
"I'm sorry, for worrying you..."
"Why do you always have to be extreme when you're getting depressed?" Axel asked me. "He ran away because Damien wouldn't talk to him." He told Clark.
Clark sighed. "What should we do with the two of you?"
When our video call with Axel ended, I finally able to take in the sight of the rest house. It was filled with Christmas decorations. "I wanted to surprise you for Christmas, but you end up surprising me instead." Kuya said.
"I thought you're busy during Christmas." I told him.
"Well, I cleared my schedule, when I heard Mom and Dad couldn't leave New York and you kept on insisting on spending Christmas here." He replied.
"Damien invited me to spend it with his family... that's before we had the fight, though..." I sighed.
Kuya Martin put me in a headlock. "Stop sulking... You have me here, don't you? Or am I not enough?" He suddenly started tickling me.
"Hey..." I complained as I laughed.
After taking me out for lunch, I asked Kuya to bring me to Peter's grave. With roses in my hands, I walked towards Peter's grave as my heart pounded. It had been too long since the last time I visited his grave, and after everything that happened, being there made me emotional.
Somehow it reminded me of the days I spent with him, the days we were together. I wondered how things might've turned out if he was still alive. Would he be happy for me and Damien?
That's the only thing I was sure of, that even Peter was still alive, I would still somehow find my way to Damien. I know I would still fall in love with Damien, no matter when or how we meet.
After all, Fate brought us together.
I walked towards Peter's grave alone as Kuya stayed in the car.
"Hey, I'm here..." I said as I placed the roses on his gravestone. "I know, it's been a while, and I'm sorry if it took me this long to visit you again. A lot of things changed after you were gone... Damien and I are together now, I hope you're okay with that. Look, Peter, I know I shouldn't be troubling you anymore, but, there's this doppelganger that's making me confused, and causing trouble for my relationship with Damien. I don't know if you can hear me, but if you are... if your soul is really trapped in that person, give me a sign... I want to help you, but I just don't know how... you don't deserve to be involved in all of these, you should be resting and at peace now... I'm sorry Peter, but please, for one last time, I need your help..."
It felt good to visit Peter for a long time. Somehow, I felt a lot more positive.
"Do you feel better?" Kuya Martin asked when I went back to the car.
"Yeah..." I replied.
"Good. I don't like you being sad, Teo." He said as he held the back of my head tenderly.
I fell asleep on our way back to the house, and Kuya Martin woke me up gently. I was still a bit groggy when I walked out of the car, I was about to open the gate when I heard someone call my name.
"Teo!" I turned around and saw Damien walking out of the Cruz's front gate.
I froze on my feet as Damien approached me. Seeing the worried expression on his face, hearing his voice call my name again, it made my eyes well up. Without saying anything, Damien pulled me closer for a tight.
His touch made my heart race, but it also made tears fell from my eyes. I just missed Damien so much that having him embraced me again made my emotions suddenly pour out. It also made me realize how much I need Damien in my life.
After being so anxious about him being angry at me, after that scary episode last night, I needed Damien's touch more than ever. It made me feel safe, it made me feel calm.
"Don't ever do that again... don't ever disappear on me ever again..." Damien's voice was shaky. "I thought... I thought something happened to you. We couldn't find you anywhere, you left your wallet and phone..." Damien was choking up. "I thought I lost you... damn it... I'm sorry, Teo, I was jealous and insecure, but I'm not angry with you..." Damien embraced me tighter.
"I'm sorry... I'm really sorry..." I said as I choked up as well. I clung onto the back of Damien's shirt, never wanting to let him go.
Our moment was broken off by Kuya Martin's insistent honking. "I'm happy you two made up, I really am.." He said as he opened the window. "But can you please open the gate first, so I can park the car."
"You did that on purpose..." I complained to him as I walked back to the gate.
"Well, it's still hard to get used to the idea that my baby brother is already in a relationship. Why do you have to grow up so fast?" He complained back.
Damien and I sat on our garden as we talked. "It's not my intention to ignore you, Teo, I just needed some time to clear my head. I was so jealous and insecure of that guy, that I lost sight of what's more important; you. Making you happy, protecting you..."
"I'm sorry, for making you feel that way, but I want you to know that you have nothing to be jealous of, nothing to worry about." I told him. "Our Peter is gone, and no matter how much they are alike, I wouldn't waver." I bit my lips. "I know I don't say this all the time, but I love you Damien, and falling in love with you was one of the greatest things that ever happened to me."
"I don't want us to ever fight again, Teo." Damien said. "I hate that I drove you away, I hate that I made you upset. I couldn't stop thinking about how you were doing to the point that I couldn't sleep, hell I might've even messed up my finals..."
"I'm sorry..."
"I'm not blaming you. What I'm trying to say, is that I'll go crazy without you." Damien told me.
I smiled at him. It made me feel really happy to hear him say that. "Well, to be fair, I think I messed up my finals too..."
Damien took my hand and intertwined our fingers. He leaned his head on my shoulder. "Do you think Kuya Martin would allow us to have a sleepover?"
My face blushed instantly at the thought of sleeping on the same bed as Damien. "That..." I hesitated.
"Come on, Teo..." He whispered in my ears. "I missed you so much..." My ears felt hot when Damien whispered to my ears. He must have seen how red my face was because he suddenly chuckled. "You're too cute..." He said and suddenly kissed my cheek.
Kuya Martin cleared his throat as he approached the two of us. "It's getting cold, you two get inside." He told us as he gave Damien a very sharp look.
"Is he angry at me?" Damien asked me lowly.
"A bit, yeah." Kuya Martin replied. "On his birthday, you promised us that you wouldn't make Teo cry. And what did you do?" Damien sat straight and looked at Kuya Martin apologetically.
"I'm sorry... I really didn't mean to..." That was one of the rare moments that I've ever seen Damien scared of someone.
I mean, who isn't afraid of Kuya Martin. He's really scary when he's angry.
"Well..." Kuya Martin sighed. "I heard the whole thing, and I can't blame you for everything. Damn it! You two should just be honest with each other..." Kuya Martin glared at me. "Teo, stop giving Damien reason to be jealous, and you..." He glared at Damien. "...have a little faith, for goodness sake!" Kuya Martin said before he went back inside.
"Is he scolding us or giving us advice...?" Damien sounded perplexed.
I chuckled. "That's just how he shows his affection to other people."
"Are you having a sleepover tonight?" Kuya Martin asked when we got inside. He was sitting in front of the TV watching the news.
"If you would allow..." Damien replied carefully.
"Fine by me, just one condition, though."
"What is it?" Damien asked enthusiastically.
"You can't lock the door." Kuya said as he looked at us meaningfully.
"Why...?" I asked obliviously.
"Really, Teo, you're asking why?" Kuya replied. "Who knows what Damien might try to do to you, after all, it seems that he couldn't get his hands off of you."
I looked at Damien, still quite confused. "I won't do anything, I promise." Damien replied as he pulled me towards the stairs. "You're Kuya is really scary." He said as he closed the door of my room behind us, leaving it unlocked. "Teo, there's something I need to ask you." Damien sounded serious.
"What is it? Why do you sound so serious?" I asked him as we sat on the edge of the bed.
"Teo..." Damien hesitated for a bit. "How exactly did you get here?"
I froze for a second. "What do you mean? I commuted..." I replied hesitantly.
"You don't know how to commute, Teo." Damien replied.
"I took a cab." I replied hastily.
"No cab would agree to drive all the way here from Manila." Damien countered. "Besides, you left these in Manila." Damien said as he took out my phone and wallet from his pocket.
I totally forgot about those. "I was in a hurry... I had enough money in my pockets..."
"We checked the CCTV footage, Teo." Damien finally said. "We only saw that stalker knocking insistently on your door. You were never seen going out before or after that. So, tell, how did you get here?"
"That's..." I stood up. I was lost for words. I couldn't find any excuse at all. What should I tell him?
"Teo, please, just be honest with me..." Damien pleaded.
I felt guilty for hiding things from him, but I was not sure if I'm allowed to even tell him about Fate, or if he would even believe me.
"Damien... If I tell you how, you would believe me right? You wouldn't think I'm making things up, right?" I asked him carefully.
"Of course I'll believe you." Damien told me. "I'll believe anything you say, so, trust me. You can tell me anything."
What should I do? I hate lying to him, but would he believe me?
I turned around and looked at Damien nervously. "Damien... do you believe in...?"
I was about to ask Damien if he believes in the supernatural and the sorts when I heard Kuya Martin's voice. "Teo! Come down here quickly!" He sounded a bit tense. "Someone is here looking for you!"