He Married the Stripper.

'A kiss to wake up the sleeping prince'.

---LUNA---

"Kung hindi ka na makakapunta, uuwi na lang din ako. Bye." I heard Alex say on the phone as I followed him outside.

"You're not staying for the wedding? Siguradong hindi ka papayagang umalis ng resort ni Willa." I said as he turned to look at me.

"Not if she doesn't know." He said as he sat down on the beach chair overlooking the ocean.

"Well, I can be persuaded not to tell." I teased him but he didn't bite and just kept quiet, I sat down as well.

"Is something wrong? Hindi na ba dadating si Emily?" I asked.

"I don't know, she hasn't responded to me yet so I don't know what's going on."

"Is she mad at you or something?" He laughed.

"I wish. She never gets mad, we never fight and I guess that's why she's not here." I wonder what he meant but I didn't want to ask, I didn't follow him out here to ask about Emily. I want to talk to him about us, about our past, and what happens next. 

"We didn't fight and we never fight because there's never any reason to. She never does anything that'll result in a fight and even if she did she'd always apologize. Arguing with Emily is very different from when I'm arguing with other people. She doesn't like it when I yell, she hates confrontation so when I get mad she would give me space and never say anything else, she'd sit down and stare at me, let me finish whatever I need to say and then she'd excuse herself and tell me to come find her when I'm ready to listen to her side. So I would calm myself down and realize that there's nothing to be mad about, that she had a point and I just need to hear her out first..." He's rambling so I took a closer look at him, his eyes are a little red and so is his nose. Has he been drinking a lot? He never gets drunk, he takes pride in knowing how to pace himself but apparently right now he is.

"Alex, I think you're drunk. I'm gonna get you some water."

"No, I'm okay! You know I never get drunk, I'm just tired. Your little project's been giving me a lot of headaches and there's so much work involved and that's why I haven't even seen her in so long, we live in the same house but I've barely seen her this week. Why the hell did you go through my stupid cousins to get us to sign anyway? They're being such assholes we can't even make a dent in planning!" 

His walls are down and I missed seeing this side of him, he looked so cute and animated as he rambled on about whatever was running around in his mind. I just wish he'd stop talking about Emily though. He loosened his tie and laid down on the beach chair his eyes staring at the sky. 

"Do you remember the last time we were here?" I asked him.

"Yea, the graduation party. That was years ago but I can still remember bits and pieces of it. We spent half of the trip fighting that by day two our friends were convinced we were going to be broken up by the end of the trip. They were so sick of us that they did their best to avoid us and just be on our own. Well we did break up eventually so I guess they were right." I looked at him. What? We were here for three days we couldn't possibly be fighting for the majority of it.

"No we didn't. Why would you say that?" 

"Yeah we were. Gusto mong pumunta sa museums on the first day but I wanted to hit the beach with the others to get surfing lessons together pero syempre hindi ka pumayag na hindi ako sumama sayo so I did and of course I was sulking the whole day which you got mad about. I remember because I got you this heavy ass book from the gift shop just so we'd go back to the resort and I can join the lessons." I remember the book, if my parents didn't throw my things away it's probably somewhere in my room in Davao. I didn't bring it to Australia because it was too heavy and I didn't even remember where I got it until he brought it up. 

"We were both so pissed at each other that whenever we were together we'd always be fighting so our friends decided to spend the day as two separate groups instead. I remember because you wouldn't shut up about it after we made up on the last night, you kept bringing it up just to get under my skin and syempre naman lagi din akong naiinis so panibagong away na naman. It's a cycle with the two of us, it's like we can't be together peacefully unless we have something to fight about."

"You're making it seem like we were never happy." He looked at me then and gave me a sad smile.

"Honestly ever since you left I can't remember if we ever were. I hated you so much that I held on to all the bad times because that was the only way I could move on. Hating you meant it would be easier for me to forget but I ended up forgetting the good memories and just hated you. So I guess I just wasted my time especially since the reason you left was because..."

"Then I'll remind you!" I blurted out.

"What?"

"I'll remind you about the happy times because I remember all of it. All the moments we shared, I treasured all of them because I thought that's all I can ever have from you after I left. Iku-kwento ko sayo lahat ng pinag-samahan natin."

"Why?" Because I want you to remember, I want you to remember how much you used to love me. That way you'd remember how to love me again. 

"B-because I don't want you to hate me... Please?" I lied again. He stared at me for the longest time the he sighed and laid down the beach chair, his arms folded and his eyes to the sky.

"Okay. Tell me. I'll listen." I smiled and settled down on the beach chair as well as I recounted all the times we shared. 

I don't know how long he's been asleep because I only noticed he wasn't responding to me anymore when I saw the fishing boats gathering at the distance, I sat up to point it out to him, to remind him of the last time we were here and staring out at the same scene. He looked so peaceful that I didn't want to wake him up. I brushed his hair out of his face. How long has it been since I was this close to him? His eyelashes are as long as ever and the mole on his eyelid is still there. He looks the same, he seems like the same guy I fell in love with. Except his feelings already changed. 

"I want you back, Alex. I want you to love me again. Please." I said as I placed a kiss on his lips, I smiled as I felt the softness of his lips on mine again. 

RRRIIINGGG!

I looked up in surprise as I heard a phone ring and saw Emily standing a few feet away from us, she answered her phone and walked towards where we are her eyes boring right through me.

I know she saw me kiss him, I know she was near enough to hear what I said to her husband. I wonder if she's going to yell or slap me, if she's going to make a scene and if I'm going to fight back. Should I even fight back? She finished her conversation on the phone and stopped right beside Alex who was still sleeping, I can hear my heart pounding a mile a minute.

"I'm not going to apologize. It wasn't a mistake and I stand by what I said and did." I told her as I stood my ground. I guess we really are different because she said and did the opposite of what I would have done if I was her.

"I don't need your apology but you should really tell him when he's awake." Did she just insult me? I wanted to say something back but I couldn't because what was I supposed to say? Is she that confident that he'd choose her no matter what, is that why she said that? I guess she's not as sweet or angelic as she looks because those words carried venom.

"Alex." She called him softly as she placed a hand on his cheek and like a spell he opened his eyes immediately. 

"Hey, you're finally here." He said his voice low as he smiled at her.

He's only got eyes for her now, gone was the chatty guy who gave me his full attention as we reminisced about our past a few moments ago and once again I was an outsider in their own little world. 

Snow white and Aurora were woken up by a kiss from their prince but Alex woke up by a touch of her hand.