Written In The Stars ☑️

CHAPTER 5

"Gulf was transferred from orphanage to orphanage after that...

They didn't know what to do with him. They didn't know who he was. He wasn't talking to anybody. He would just cry and would go feral at times. When I brought him home, he wasn't even talking to me still. It took a while to finally earn his trust. I understood it. He's been through a lot. For a young boy like him, he was physically and mentally hurting. Thinking about those days always makes me cry, too." Mama Azon had tears in her eyes. "He has overcome a lot of hardships but that painful past always haunts him. My poor boy."

Amanda and Owen were intently listening with sympathetic eyes. They both got shocked and startled when Gulf suddenly collapsed earlier so Mama Azon had no other choice but to share Gulf's traumatic experience and pyrophobia.

"If I may ask, what happened to his brother? Was he never found?" Owen asked.

Mama Azon sighed. "Both of them came from a town where at that time, rampant bombings and war crimes took place. We tried. God knows I really tried to find him, but I never did. I could only think that he probably became one of the hundreds of civilian casualties at that terminal bombing. God bless his poor soul."

Amanda and Owen both sighed in sadness.

🌞
I sat at the edge of Gulf's bed, staring at his sleeping face, letting the tears in my eyes fall down nervously. I was so scared when he lost his consciousness earlier. It was all my fault. It was my fault for not telling Amanda and Owen about his condition. It was my fault that I wasn't fast enough to handle the situation. If I could only take all his pain away, I will. Gulf will never forget that horrifying and painful night when he lost his brother. It will always hunt him for the rest of his life. And I feel useless. I can do nothing for him.

I just let my tears fall. I just let myself become vulnerable.

This way, no one will judge me. No one will know the pain that I also go through. They don't need to know.

"D-don't leave me... Don't leave me... Please..."

I heard him whimper in his sleep. My heart crushed. Seeing him like this will always break me. I reached for his hand and squeezed it gently. "Shhhh... I'm here. Don't cry anymore."

I felt him squeezing my hand as well. He didn't let go. He was still in deep sleep but he kept mumbling. With my other hand, I caressed the top of his head.

"Don't leave me, Kuya..."

I stopped.

My heart crushed. Again.

My silent tears came streaming down my face once again. When I spoke, my voice quavered. My heart was breaking into a million pieces. "Y-yes, Gulf. I will never leave."

I always knew Gulf only sees me as a brother.

He is emotionally attached to me simply because he sees me as the brother he lost, the brother that he'll always miss and long for. It's nothing more than that. And after this day's turn of events, I'm certain that I'll always just be just that. And if I keep this up, I might not be able to mend my heart.

🌻
Amanda and Owen already left and went back to the city. I wasn't sure how much of my life story did mom share to them but when I woke up the next morning, they became so soft and gentle towards me. I just ignored the sudden cringe. They weren't coming back so soon anyway. Mew started talking to me. I found out he solely took care of me and that made my insides jump for joy. It always gives me warmth when he takes good care of me.

"I probably won't be able to fetch you later," Mew said when he dropped me to school that morning.

"Why? Are you going somewhere?" I asked.