retrospect

alternate ending

STELL'S P.O.V

"𝗮𝘀𝗮𝗻 𝗻𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝘆𝗼, 𝗷𝗼𝘀𝗵?" i asked as soon as josh stopped the car. we reached the carpark of this building but i still don't know where we are.

𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘬𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 '𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘢𝘺𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪 𝘢𝘬𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳?

"𝘂𝗵𝗺, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲. 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗮𝘆𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗮 𝗸𝗮𝘀𝗶 𝗮𝗸𝗼, 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹. 𝗶 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗴𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂."

"𝗵𝘂𝗵? 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻'𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄, 𝗷𝗼𝘀𝗵. 𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝘂𝘀. 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗮 𝗽𝗮 𝗯𝗮 𝗸𝗲𝘀𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼 𝗻𝗴𝗮𝘆𝗼𝗻?"

josh clicked his tongue and looked out of the care. he looks anxious.

"𝗯𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗮. 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗮𝘆 𝗸𝗮 𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝟳𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗿. 𝗶'𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀."

i wanted to protest more but josh already got out of the car before i could even speak.

------

annoyed, stell huffed into the air and stared into the empty hall in disbelief. is this really a hospital? why is there a grand hall inside a hospital? do they celebrate people's deaths in here? or is josh playing with me right now? he thought.

now is not the time to joke around especially that stell's feeling very anxious and worried about justin. he could literally cry right now without knowing what exactly happened to his fiancé.

he was about to turn around and just go ask the receptionist about justin's whereabouts when suddenly, all the lights turned off. the hall was pitch dark and stell couldn't see nor hear anything. he immediately lit up his phone to open his flashlight but before that, a sweet sound coming from a guitar suddenly echoed through the hall, distracting him. stell turned around but everything was still pitch black and he couldn't see who was playing the guitar.

dim lights started to light up, creating a path for stell to walk through. he rolled his eyes when he saw paulo by the end of the path. he was standing there playing the guitar, with ken who was playing the piano, and josh who was holding a bouquet of sunflowers and a small black box.

stell felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and when he turned around, he grinned widely and thought it was justin but it wasn't. it was apollo. stell still smiled though. he really missed apollo as well. they shared a quick hug and apollo offered his arm to stell.

"seriously?" the older chuckled.

"do i look like i'm joking, stell? ihahatid nga kita sa dulo eh. dali na, ang arte mo."

stell rolled his eyes and linked his arm with apollo's before they started walking towards where the other three were. he felt uneasy though since justin is still nowhere to be seen.

"where's justin?" stell whispered and as if on cue, he heard justin's voice singing.

hey, have you ever tried,
really reaching out for the other side?
i may be climbing on rainbows
but baby, here goes..

stell looked around, searching for where that voice is coming from and apollo suddenly chuckled at him.

"just be patient, you'll see him too." they stopped at the middle and apollo suddenly left stell but moments later, he saw justin walking towards him.

dreams, they're for those who sleep...

stell smiled, almost teary-eyed as he stares at his greatest love.

life is for us to keep....

when justin stood before him, the younger took his hand gently and gave his knuckles a quick kiss.

and if you're wondering what this song is leading to....

"i want to make it with you." stell sang along with justin and both of them smiled before sharing a warm embrace.

"don't you dare scare me like that again, coffee. hindi nakakatuwa." stell said and justin laughed, tightening his hold on stell's waist.

"i'm sorry, tulips. gusto lang kitang i-suprise. tignan mo tinulungan pa 'ko ng ratbits."

stell looked back and their friends were suddenly standing behind them with paulo still playing the guitar. josh handed stell the bouquet and the black box to justin.

"anong laman nyan?" stell asked.

"basta. you'll see later." and justin replied.

"paano, iwan na namin kayo ah? kaya niyo na 'yan." ken said with a wink before walking away while holding josh by his waist. apollo and paulo bid them goodbye before walking away as well.

"so... any plans for today?" justin asked and placed his arms around stell's neck, pulling the older closer and letting their foreheads touch.

"what would you like to do, coffee?" stell asked as a sly smirk crosses his lips.

in just one look, they already knew what was bound to happen so they drove to stell's condo to share the night together.