"Ate Bei, can I talk to you?" Dani asked. They just finished their training. She and Bea were left in the shower room.
"Sure, Dans. What are we going to talk about?" Bea asked back.
"Ate, I know you're dating my brother. But only for a show to my mom."
"Dani, please don't tell tita Mozzy, she'll kill me and your brother! She'll hate me... and I don't want that. Your mother is a kind person, although it breaks my heart, pretending to be in a relationship with your brother just for him not to marry a random woman." Bea explained to Dani.
"Chill, ate. I completely understand. I just want you to protect yourself, we all know na you have feelings for kuya..."
"You told him?!"
"No, Ate! I wouldn't... And if he knows about it, I'll make sure na it was you who told him." Dani said.
"Thanks, Dans... I just wished that it was that easy to admit to your brother..." Bea sighed.
"Admit what?" Bei stood up immediately.
"Hi, Kuya!" Dani greeted.
"Hey. Anong pinaguusapan nyo?" It was Thirdy who asked.
"Ahmm... We were talking about how hard it is to admit that... that I failed my exams yesterday..."
"Really? Ikaw? Mababagsak sa isang exam? Sino prof mo? Let me talk to him baka may misunderstanding lan—"
"No, Thirds. Hayaan mo na yun. I didn't focus on that naman e. I deserved it." Bea lied.
"Fine. Are you done na ba? Mom wants you back, right?" He reminded. Bea nodded in response.
"L-lets go na po?" Dani broke the awkwardness between the two. After fixing their stuff, they left the gym and then they headed towards Thirdy's car.
"Dans, Ate Bei! Let's have dinner! My treat." It was Jules. She was with Ponggay and the other rookies.
"I have other plans tonight, Julesy. Sorry, but Dani can come." Bea replied.
"Oh, okay. Let's go, Dans?" Dani gave her gym bag to Thirdy and then she joined the other Lady eagles.
•••
"Bea! I missed you!" Mozzy greeted.
"Mom, I was only gone for a few hours. Miss nyo na agad ako?" Bea joked. Making Mozzy and Bong laugh.
"Bei!" Bei then heard a familiar voice. It was her former teammate, Alyssa Valdez.
"Ate Ly!" She rushed towards Alyssa and she gave her a big hug.
"How are you and the lady eagles?" Alyssa asked right away after pulling from the hug.
"We're really focusing on training, Ate."
"That's good. Ramdam kong maibabalik nyo ang corona sa katipunan. Now that they have you and Maddie as their captains." She encouraged Bea.
"Hopefully. How bout' you, te Ly?"
"I have a surprise later. Kami ni Kief." She whispered to Bei.
"Can we start eating?" Kiefer asked, and everyone nodded.
•••
"Kiefer, Ly, ano ba yung sasabihin nyo at kanina pang di mapakali ang mommy nyo." Bong asked during meals.
"Dad, Mom, we went here to tell you that... My wife here, is pregnant with our first baby!" He happily announced the pregnancy of Alyssa to their first child. Mozzy and Bong rejoiced. So did Thirdy and Bea.
"Congrats to the both of you! You don't know how big of a blessing you just gave to this family, Alyssa. Thank you." Mozzy sincerely said as she hugged her daughter-in-law.
"Thank you too, mom." They all sat down again and continued to eat.
•••
A week later...
"Sir Diaz, can I talk to you?" He gasped for air after trying to catch up to their professor.
"Sure, Thirdy. What about?"
"It's about Bea. Umm... I have asked the whole teaching staff and asked if they're the teacher whom failed her on one of her exams last week. She did not tell me which class though."
"I'm listening..." Prof Diaz replied.
"Yeah, I asked them and they said no. And I'm guessing it's you, ikaw na lang po kasi ang di ko pa natatanong. Is it you, sir Diaz?" He asked, straight to the point.
"No, Mr. Ravena. Ms. De Leon has been a wonderful student in my class. And no teacher would fail her at any of their class."
Thirdy was confused. So he decided to talk to Bea again.
"Hey, Thirds!" She greeted.
"Bee... are you lying to me?" He asked.
"W-what do you mean?"
"I asked every professor in the campus, Bei. If they failed you on the exams, and all of them said no. Which made a lot of sense kasi—"
"Wait. You asked each and every one of them?! Why would you do that, Thirdy Ravena?!" Bei started to get mad.
"Because I just got curious, Bee. Now tell me, are you lying?" Bea sighed. There was no point in lying anymore.
"Yes. I did."
"Why, Bee?" He asked worriedly.
"You don't have to know, Thirds. Just drive, please?" Thirdy nodded to her request and they headed to his home.
•••
"Bei, do you have something with Thirdy?" Kiefer couldn't help but ask. He was curious earlier on why Bea was here and Dani's not. He told his mother that he wanted to tell something to the whole family. But the sight of Bea, made him wonder.
"Ahmm—"
"She's my girlfriend now, manong." Thirdy told him. Saving Bea from slipping away.
"Really? Oh my gosh! You'll be a 'Ravena' too, Bei! I'm so happy!" Alyssa said.
"Thanks, Ate Ly."
"Welcome to the family, Bea." Kiefer said as well.
"Thank you too, Manong." There she gave up. Her tears came down. She then drank from her glass of water and Thirdy noticed that her eyes were getting redder.
"Excuse us po. I'll take Bei upstairs." He assisted Bea upstairs and then he let her sat on his bed.
"Are you alright? Why are you crying, Bee?" He asked worriedly.
"Thirdy, I can't do this anymore. I can't continue lying to your family... They're too good to—" Thirdy hugged her to make her stop crying.
"Shh... It's okay, Bee. If you don't want to continue this deal anymore, I can tell my parents. Don't worry, I'll still help you with Isa—" Bea pulled away from the hug and she looked him in the eye.
"Thirds... I lied, okay? I don't want Isaac. The truth is... I agreed to this deal because..." she started to sob again. Thirdy wiped her tears with his thumbs and he began to cry as well.
"Because what, Beatriz? What?" He asked.
"Because... I like you, Thirdy. It's you that I like, and not Isaac..." She finally let out those words that has been stuck in her mind ever since.
"Y-you like me? H-how? Why did you not tell m—"
"Does it matter? Alam ko naman na di mo ko gusto." Bea took a deep breath before continuing.
"Look, forget what I said. I'll tell Tita Mozzy on my own na lan—"
"No, Bei. There's no telling my parents." That made Bea confused. She already told him that she doesn't want to continue playing games, but instead, he doesn't want to tell the truth.
"What now?
"I actually like you too, Bee." He said. That made Bea's heart explode. He likes her back too!
"Thirdy, stop pranking me..."
"It's not a prank, Bee. I actually like you!" He exclaimed.
"H-how? Did you just said that to not make me feel bad?"
"No, Bei. I really like you. I just don't have the guts to tell you because... I thought you liked Isaac." Thirdy ignored looking at her. And they both found themselves laughing.
"Para talaga tayong mga baliw." Bea joked.
"Yeah." He agreed. They just found out that both of their crushes like them back.
"Can we make it like... official?" He asked.
"Do you want to?" Bei asked back.
"I do, Bea. I do."
"Then, yes." She answered. Thirdy stood up and gave her a kiss. Their very first kiss as an official couple.
"Let's announce this to my parents. I'm sure they'll be very happy." He whispered after pulling away.
"At the same time, they'll be mad, Ferdinand."
"Stop calling me that." He raised an eyebrow at her, making Bea laugh.
"I can't promise."
•••
"Tita, I'm really sorry for lyin—"
"It's fine, Bea. I'm just happy na you both admitted it. And I'm also happy that you made your relationship official." Mozzy gave Bea a hug.
"Thank you, Tita." She could only whisper.
A few hours later, the couple decided to announce their relationship to the public, with Thirdy posting this:
3rd_e: The start of something beautiful ♥️
And Bea posting that:
_beadel: Finally, I can call him mine officially ❤️
AN: Pahirapan magedit! Thank u for reading 🥰