Always And Forever

You're not having her

Michael's drunkenness caused his failure to recognise the man who just knocked him off,

"Puta 'wag kang maki alam!", he rubbed his jaw as he stood up and brushing the pieces of glass off his back,

"Pare, pag ayaw ng babae, 'wag mong ipilit", Ferdinand replied to him in a calm manner.

Miko just looked at him furious, feeling the stings that were brought by the shattered pieces of glass drove him to so much anger.He looked at Leonor, and then to Ferdinand,

"Baket, sino kabang gago ka?", Miko asked while pointing and approaching him.

"Dito ka sa likod ko", Ferdinand took Leonor's hand and ushered her to stand behind him, which she willingly followed.

"Lasing kana doc", he continued, shifting his attention to Miko,

"Lasing o hindi 'wag kang maki alam", Michael said while putting his hand on Ferdinand's shoulder, "Now, let me have her", he continued while putting a serious face, starring directly into Ferdinand's eyes.

Ferdinand countered his stares, showing no signs of backing down. He took few steps forward, making Miko recede.

"You're not having her tonight, tomorrow, or even after", he leaned in just beside his ear. "Over my dead body".

Michael looked down and bit his lip, scoffing in annoyance. "Ah ganon", he replied while taking few steps back, "Let's see whose body drops on the ground first".

Before Bongbong could reply, a fist was already flying towards him. Reflexes made him immediately dodge the fast punch. Michael was about to throw another, but before he did, Ferdinand whacked his jaw, making his lip bleed,

"That should bring you to your senses", he said while gently chafing his fist. He thought Michael would stop, boy was he wrong.

"What Michael wants, Michael gets"

Hearing Michael's words, a wave of angst traveled through Ferdinand's body. He tried to control it at first but failed miserably. He grabbed Michael by his collar and delivered another punch, leaving a wound on his cheek bone. The punch was hard enough for Miko to fall on the floor again.

Bongbong wasn't finished, he furiously lunges forward, grabbed Miko's collar again yanked him against the wall. His fist hit Miko's jaws again.

"Speak to her like that again-", another punch followed. "I'll make sure you won't see daylight"

Bongbong extended his fist again, ready to put another blow. Before he can, he felt a hand on his wrist.

"Tama na", she tightened her grip. "Tama na yan", she repeated, her voice trembled.

He looked at her, her tears were flowing and her eyes were red-ish, his heart softened, he realised that he hate seeing her like that, his rage faded, and his fist slowly unclasped,

"Okay kalang?", he let go of Michael's collar. Michael hit the ground with a grunt.

Bongbong's expression turned soft upon asking, she just nodded, looking at him with eyes filled with tears ready to race at any moment. He took few steps closer Leonor, slowly wiping her tears with his thumb, "This is my first time seeing you cry", he stated softly,looking directly into her eyes "And I hate it", he continued and hugged her.

=

"Here", he handed her a bottle of chocolate milk while she sat on the car trunk, looking at the distant city lights. Leni looked at him questionably upon accepting the bottle.

"May duty ka bukas", he chuckled, "Bawal beer".

She didn't utter any word, she just gazed blankly at the far twinkling lights, trying to process everything that just happened.

"You can cry", he said to her while slowly shortening their distance from each other, "Nandito lang ako".

Leonor looked at him and leaned her head on his shoulder, silence followed. Moments later, he heard a soft sob.Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around her, making her head rest on his chest.

The night was deep and the cold winds brushed against them. Silence was the rhythm of the atmosphere, his arms were still wrapped around her and her head still rested on his chest,

"Feeling better?", he glanced down.

"Hmm", she simply nodded and looked up to him meeting his gaze, "Thank you".

Gratitude filled her eyes. The little light from the street pole shined and highlighted her face. It was then when he realized how close they were. Their lips were inches away from each other. For one reckless moment, he almost closed the distance between them. But she already had enough that night. So he stayed where he was. Close enough to protect her, far enough to respect her being that close created an urge to easily kiss her.