The weather is really bad. My teeth are chattering, and as much as Isaiah is trying to keep me warm, I'm still cold. We've been stranded for 3 hours, and Isaiah's phone has finally died down. With no way to reach us, we're left to fend for ourselves. Isaiah's lips are trembling, but he's taking the cold really well. Perhaps it's because he's been living in Maine since he was a child, and he got used to the weather.
Isaiah tightens his hold around me, making sure to keep me warm with his bare chest. He removed his shirt earlier, and I removed mine as well so we can use the heat of our body. If we were in a different scenario, I would have liked it, loved it even, but we're basically catching hypothermia here and now is not the time to be horny.
Additionally, I feel that my mom and Bill are super worried about me and Isaiah right now. Isaiah would have probably received a lot of calls and texts either from my mom or Bill, but of course, Isaiah can't respond because his phone is out of battery.
"I'm sorry for this. It's my fault." Isaiah murmurs in my ear.
"Hey, don't be ridiculous." I chuckle, turning around to face him. I give a chaste kiss on the lips, gripping his shoulder. He runs his hands across my arms, and I sigh at how warm his hands are. "I wanted to be dragged by you. We were scared because they were pissed at us, and I admit, it's pretty stupid for us to run away, but I wouldn't have it the other way."
"You really love me, don't you?"
"I do,"
We share a kiss again, his hands gripping my waist. Despite the fact that we're nearly dying, I can't seem to get enough of his lips. What can I say? I'm addicted to this man I'm sitting on. Isaiah smiles through the kiss, our chest touching. I grip his hair, feeling the soft strands of his hair against my fingers. He hums in response as I bite his bottom lip. He looks at me with such intensity that has me quivering, but I hold myself together.
Pulling away, Isaiah sighs in contentment as he smiles up at me. My heart somersaults at the sight. I let my fingers trail across his chest, feeling how firm and strong his chest is. My eyes trail at his abs as my hands touch him. Isaiah keeps humming, liking my fingers against his skin. Our eyes meet, and he leans in closer to brush his lips against mine. I smile, leaning down and planting a gentle kiss.
"Hmm," he hums again, burying his face in the crook of my neck. "I love kissing you. You're just so addicting that I can't resist the urge to not kiss you, you know."
"Same,"
We spend a few more hours waiting for help. I'm shaking now due to coldness, and so is Isaiah. Isaiah grips my waist, pulling me closer to him, and I rest on his chest. It's night time now, and the weather is still bad. I think of the first time Isaiah and I kissed; that moment is really magical for me. He kissed me out of jealousy, and from there, our feelings grew and grew until we couldn't contain it anymore.
Soon enough, there are people knocking on the door of the car, and Isaiah and I jolt in surprise. There are police surrounding the car, wearing thick jackets. I sigh in relief. We wear our shirts and I blush, suddenly realizing the fact that they just saw us snuggling. I hide my embarrassment and open the door.
As soon as I open the door, a gush of strong wind enters the car and I yelp, trembling. The officer near me immediately wrap us into a thick towel they're carrying, and I thank the officer.
"Are you Isaiah Parlin and Chad de Guzman?" The officer asks us. Isaiah and I share a look and tell him yes. The officer nods his head. "Good, there's a winter storm coming. Haven't you kids heard the news? The weather's getting bad, and your parents had to call us so we can look for you. Took us a couple of hours." The office has to yell as the wind is getting stronger. He leads us to a police car, and my boyfriend and I climb in. "What happened to the car?"
"It won't start," Isaiah scratches his cheek, looking at his car. "I was supposed to change the fuel filter, but it slipped off my mind and now, I think it's really clogged. My phone's dead too, so I couldn't contact dad. He didn't bring his phone."
"Kids nowadays..." the officer clicks his tongue.
I notice the snow on the road has been paved, but it's starting to get filled with more snow as each second passes by. The officer yells at his other workmates before climbing back into the driver seat, starting the engine.
"We may have to leave your car here for a while," the office tells Isaiah. "Tow trucks can't operate now, and there's nothing much we can do at the moment. But once the winter storm has passed, we'll get your car first thing and we'll make sure it's not going to be stolen or anything like that, all right?"
"Yes, sir," Isaiah agrees.
"Come on, then. Your parents are worried sick about the both of you." The officer turns the car around, and drives to the direction of our house. "Why were you out here? When I talked to your parents, they seemed guilty. Arguments?"
"Um, it's quite complicated, sir." Isaiah responds.
I let my boyfriend do the talking since he most likely has the answer to the officer's question. I tune them out and stare outside. I look at the clock and it reads 10PM. We've been gone for several hours, and I bet my mom is super worried right now.
The sky is pitch black; I can't see the stars but the dark clouds hovering over us. When I breathe, smoke comes out of my mouth, fogging up the window. I write I <3 C, and it fades a few seconds later. The house comes into view and nervousness washes over me. My whole body begins to tremble as I stare at the house, and before I know it, we're climbing down and the office is leading us to the house.
The door opens, revealing Bill and mom, who have worried expression plastered on their face. Mom comes to hug me, and I let out a breath I didn't realize I've been holding. I hug her back. Bill thanks the officers who rescued us, and mom leads us to the living room.
Once Isaiah and I are seated on the couch, Bill takes a seat on one of the bean bag and sighs, and mom goes to the kitchen to heat up some drink for us. A few minutes later, mom is back and hands us a mug of hot chocolate. I remember the night Isaiah joined me when it started snowing. It's quite romantic. I honestly thought he was going to sleep back because it was very early in the morning, but he joined me watch the snow. I didn't know he had that in him.
Awkward silence fills the room. Nobody speaks, and we're just staring at each other. Bill bounces his leg as he switches his gaze to me, then to Isaiah, then back to me. Mom does the same thing. Each second that passes by with them is enough to make me crazy. I hate situations like this. I hate uncomfortable silence.
"Okay, first, Isaiah... you shouldn't have run off like that," Bill ends our little staring competition. He runs a hand across his face, frustration evident on his face. Isaiah hangs his head low, and I look at the ground, suddenly finding it interesting. "It's so dangerous out there knowing there's a winter storm coming, and you had to bring Chad along!"
"I'm sorry," Isaiah says defeatedly.
"Second, you have to tell us what's going on between you two," I blush at that. Now I refuse to look up. "Sarah and I have been talking while you two were out there, and honestly, we really don't know what to say. We have to understand what's going on between you two. Honey, want to say something?"
"I overacted." I tip my head a bit to watch mom. Mom sighs, rubbing her palms on her clothes, and looks at us. She tucks a strand of her hair behind her air, and she looks awkward. "I shouldn't have said what I said earlier. It just got too confusing on my part because I raised Chad, and I know what usually goes in his head, but this one I didn't expect. I'm sorry. But Isaiah, you have to understand that as a mother, I should have known these things in the first place. And you, Chad, you didn't tell me you switched preferences."
"I wouldn't say I switched preferences," I mutter, scratching the back of my neck. This type of talk with my mom is embarrassing, and it's killing me. "I think I'm bisexual, and so is Isaiah. I just... we just connected and I really didn't know how... it's hard to explain. All I know is that I fell for him, okay?"
"We've tried to fight it off, trust me," Isaiah laments, shaking his head. "But it was so hard. I told myself that he's supposed to be my step-brother, but the more I spent time with him, the more I wanted him. God, I can't believe I'm saying these words to both of you. Can we not do this?"
"No," Bill shakes his head. "If you want to be together, we want to know everything, and I mean everything. I want to understand all of this, otherwise, I'd make stupid decisions. And you do know that I'm not homophobic, right? Your uncle Emmanuel is gay."
"I know," Isaiah mumbles.
"Then why didn't you tell me about this?"
"Look, dad, easy for you to say." Isaiah drinks his hot chocolate. I wrap my fingers around the warm mug. "But it was a nightmare for me when I was trying to figure out why I was having these feelings for Chad. I had no one to tell this to because, in the first place, I couldn't imagine that I'd end up this way. I was denying it in the first place, so how could I tell you that? Coming out is hard. That's why there are people who are still in the closet, like how uncle Emmanuel used to be in the closet."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know why I assumed that."
"Dad, Sarah, I love Chad. I really do." Isaiah looks at me and holds my hand. I fluster at the action and try to hide my face. Isaiah laughs at me and gives my hand a light squeeze. "And he feels the same thing towards me. I want you both to understand that what we've gone through to explore these feelings was hard. Saying out loud that we had feelings for each other was hard. Admitting it to ourselves was hard. And saying this to other people is hard. I don't want Chad to be sent back to the Philippines just because he's in a relationship with me. I fought for my feelings, and I sure as hell won't let him be separated with me. I'm going to fight for that, too. Even if it's you, Sarah."
"Oh wow," Mom puts a hand over her chest.
"I'm sorry," Isaiah chuckles.
"Honey? Decisions?" Bill stands up and hugs my mom. Watching them is awkward.
"All right," Mom takes a deep breathing before kissing Bill and I internally make a face at their PDA in front of us. "Chad and I are not going to go back to the Philippines. That's a mistake on my part. Plus, the tickets are expensive. I'm letting you guys be in a relationship, but please, please, tone it down. And by tone it down, don't go kissing in front of us always. We still have to adjust."
"I would like to add something as well," Bill coughs. "Since you two are in a relationship, when you two are in a room, always keep the door open. Good Lord, has anything already happened –" I'm pretty sure my face is a tomato right now.
"Dad, we're not going to talk about that!"
"Damn it, we're too late." Bill says to mom. I just want to die right now. "Based on that reaction, I'm pretty sure they've done it already. Jesus Christ, just please tell me you've used condom, whoever is the –"
"DAD!"
"All right, all right," Bill throws his hands up in surrender.
---
It's actually a long night for us. I ended up talking more with my mom, and I told her that I really loved Isaiah and that it'd hurt me if we returned back to the Philippines just so I could be away with him. On that night, mom asked me a lot of things about how it happened, what I felt, and how long Isaiah and I's relationship has been going on. I became transparent on her, telling her everything that she wanted to know.
At the end of the day, she ended up telling me to be more careful when it comes to the sex part because Americans are huge. I had to stop my mom from saying anything more embarrassing, and she commented about me having seen Isaiah's dick. It was really an awkward night for us. In the end, she gave us her blessing for me to date Isaiah, but we have to follow rules while we're living in the same house.
When Monday comes, Isaiah and I get to rest. By then, the winter storm has already passed and it's back to good weather. Still a bit cold, but nothing that I can't handle.
By Tuesday, we start going back to school. Dylan is excited to see me and tells me stuff about his little sister. Dylan and I are at the back of the school, talking about what happened with our weekend, when Isaiah finds us. Isaiah is jealous and ends up telling Dylan that I'm his boyfriend. Dylan is quite shocked to know that, and chortles that he didn't expect Isaiah to swing for the same team, which Isaiah completely ignores.
Isaiah tells Dylan that he should stay away from him, and I have to smack the back of my boyfriend's head to stop him from spewing shits. Dylan clarifies that he's not into men and that he's only interested in women. I give Dylan the look that says I'm correct, and he just rolls his eyes at me. Dylan says he only treats me as a friend and nothing more, assuring Isaiah that he doesn't need to be jealous of him.
When school ends, I immediately send a message to Max that I'm in an official relationship with Isaiah, and that Bill and mom accepted it. I also tell Sophie, who has been in the dark side for so long, that I'm in a relationship with a guy. At first, she doesn't believe me, but when I videophone her and kiss Isaiah in front of her, she squeals and jumps in excitement, and she ends up telling us that she's been watching and reading BL stories online. Max is happy to know that everything is okay now and that there's nothing to worry about.
We decide to go home by walking since Isaiah's car is in the mechanic shop. Isaiah holds my hand as we walk, not caring if anyone sees us. I look at our interlocked hands and a smile tugs on my lips.
"Crazy yeah, huh," Isaiah chuckles.
"Yeah," I agree with him, tiptoeing so I can give him a kiss on the cheeks.
For a moment, we dance on the streets, him twirling me, and it feels like we're a couple on a movie who do dumb things together in the middle of the road. Isaiah laughs when I nearly trip over, and I only pout at him. He leans down and presses his lips to mine, which I always can't get enough of. He wraps his arms around my torso, smiling over the kiss. I pull away and grin at him.
"I love you, Isaiah. My American boyfriend." I tell him.
Isaiah laughs. "Mahal kita, Chad. My cute Filipino boyfriend."
"Say it in Tagalog!"
"I can't!"
"It's like this: Ang guwapo kong nobyo na Pinoy."
"It's too long!" And then he runs, and I run after him, laughing as we race each other to the house. Isaiah looks at me with a huge grin as he attempts to run backwards, and I laugh when he topples over. I help him get up and tease him, then he pecks me on the lips. "Mahal ko ang aking nobyo na Pinoy. Mahal na mahal." And I swear my heart nearly explodes. We hold hands again and this time, we run at the same pace.
Isaiah is definitely a sweetheart.
And I'm glad he's my boyfriend. My American boyfriend.
- T H E E N D -