like real people do

xi

He woke up the following day as he felt her shift from his embrace, moving his arms away. It was too early; he would not allow it. He held onto her tighter, burying his face on the crook of her neck.

It was weird; even in his half-awake state, he never thought that last night was only a dream. It wasn't the fairytale, magical, happily ever after scenario that would have you pinching yourself every now and again.

They fought to be here. It was only fitting that they enjoy this moment.

"Ags," she whined.

He kissed her bare shoulder with only one eye open, "good morning." She curled up, tickled by the gesture, and because he loved her reaction, he kissed her skin again and again and again...

... until she turned herself around, so she was facing him. Lea kissed the tip of his nose. "Good morning. Can you please let me go now?"

He shook his head, lazily leaning down to claim her lips in a kiss. "Nope, you're staying here with me forever." And then he was kissing her again, moving to top her this time and encasing them in the duvet, shielding them from the rest of the world.

She giggled, "you're crazy." Leanna knew that this was far from happily ever after, but it was hard to think otherwise when he quite literally blocked out the rest of the world.

Aga didn't respond in words, instead, he'd done it through actions. Kissed her cheek, then the other, the bridge of her nose, and down to her lips. "Just a little while longer. Please?" he asked her. She nodded, feeling too comfortable to even think of leaving.

She could bask in this. She could stop the world for a little while longer.

It wasn't a little while longer.

When they got out of bed, it was already quarter to noon, and she all but dragged him out because she was hungry.

"You barely ate your pizza last night, kasi," he chided.

She rolled her eyes at him, "if you're complaining, I can take it back, naman. I mean... We never have to do it again. I can choose my pizza every time," she shrugged.

His hands fell to her waist, gripping it tightly as if he were afraid that she would actually take it back. "Not taking it back.

It caused a laugh to erupt from deep within her. "Goodness, it was just a joke. Sineryoso mo naman. I enjoyed it as much as you did. But right now, I'm hungry. So come on, can we go down, please? Let's reheat the pizza nalang because I don't think I'll last if we have to order pa or go to the grocery pa." She grumbled, a small pout on her face.

And he could never deny her anything, so it wasn't long before they ended up on his couch, sharing the leftover pizza from last night. "Feels like we're students in University after a night out," she said casually.

Though, for him, it was a different case altogether. What if they were? What if they'd met in college, known each other earlier?

He quickly realized that those thoughts were dangerous. They were together during University, and that same 'feeling' she had that brought her back to those days may well have been the same one she felt when she was with him. He could only infer because he knew little of their story in reality. All he had were the few fragments she let slip up (they weren't that many) along with public knowledge that (seems like) the rest of town knew. He knew, though, that once upon a time, she was happy in his arms because they were in love (if they were still, he had yet to find out) and managed to raise two beautiful children.

It didn't help that she's never talked about him. He didn't know the extent of their love and their breaking. And he wanted to know... he wanted to... just... what if the answers led to their eventual demise?