When it Rains (Completed)

CHAPTER 15

My mind is still going haywire. All I know, someone's taking me away from the place, with my baggage beside me. Passing by the places I'm not familiar with, the car drove down the street. Feels like I have lost the ability to speak again.

When the car stopped, a voice called my name, but my body didn't flinch until he went out and opened the door I was leaning on. "Flynn."

I took my baggage and went outside the car. The wind was too cold when it gushed, and I took it as a warning—a storm is surely coming. I could already hear the sky starting to grumble over the city. With his arm wrapped around my back, he brought me into the building where his car was pulled over.

My sight was on my feet and on the floor. I was getting more anxious, but after he settled everything at the front desk, he brought me to our room.

"Take a rest. I'll let you sleep alone this time," he said after taking me to the bedroom and going outside.

My mind started to run again, as I immediately realized that I just ruined their vacation.

But this is not my fault. Alam ni Kuya na ganito mangyayari pero pinilit pa talaga ako. I shouldn't feel this way when it was never my decision to join them.

Ngayon, inaabala na naman ako ng kanyang brother-in-law.

I have a feeling that he already figured out something about me. A memory was replaying in my head—the moment he stopped me from drowning myself. That's why he took me away from that place. Kung alam niya talaga, hindi ko rin alam kung kanino niya nalaman ang tungkol rito. Maybe Kuya Alrey? Ate Reina? Tita Alice? Tito Renzo?

Then something came to my mind.

"Hindi kita pababayaan dito. May ibinilin sina Tita Alice sa akin kaya hindi kita iiwan."

That's what he said when we were still in our cottage hours ago. This means, may alam talaga siya.

One thing I could do to figure out—I have to confront him.

I went outside the bedroom and saw him calling someone on his phone. When he mentioned Tita Alice, I already had an idea of what they were talking about until he ended the call and saw me standing at the door. "Do you need somethin—"

"What did Tita tell you?"

"What do you mean—"

"I'm asking you. What did Tita tell you?"

He stared at me and went silent for a few seconds. I knew he knew something. He was hesitating to answer my question.

"Look, concern lang ako kaya nagtanong ako kay Tita."

"Hinihingi ko ba ang concern mo in the first place? Tell me what you know!" I raised my voice.

"You're antlophobic."

And the rain poured down. All of a sudden, the electricity went off. The chill from the outside crept up my spine, and the flashes of lightning illuminated the room for only a few seconds. Yet, I didn't take my eyes off of him, glaring like I was about to judge a criminal right in front of me.

"Hindi ako naniniwalang yan lang nalalaman mo tungkol sa 'kin—"

"Fine. Do you really want me to tell you everything I knew about you?"

"That's what I kept asking in the first place."

He took another step towards me, and I kept my eyes on him, even he's taller than me that I had to raise my head just to level with his. But, to my shock, his arms wrapped around me and drew me in. The moment my ears landed on his chest, I started to hear a loud beating beneath his shirt.

"It's not my intention to dig into your past in the first place, but when I started to notice your panic attacks, I got curious about you. Hindi rin naman sana sasabihin ni Tita sa akin pero dahil sa akin ka niya pinagkatiwala, sinabi niya, not totally everything."

His warmth started to take over the chill I was feeling from the cold weather. I have no idea why I was feeling this way when my temper hasn't gotten off since we started to talk.

"She told me that you got a trauma from beaches that is something related to your phobia of floods. Hindi ka raw pwede mauulanan—that'll cause a trigger for your panic attacks. It was too complicated to understand everything, but I don't want to dig deeper into it. I will wait for you to gain enough courage to tell me about it."

He was never the Patrick I knew from the start. As he caressed my hair, something was building up inside me that I wanted to explode, but I was able to shake myself out of the trance and flee his arms.

"Kailanman hindi ko hinihingi ang pang-unawa mo sa akin. We're not even close. I don't need your concerns," sabi ko at tatalikuran na sana siya nang hinawakan niya ang kamay na nagpatigil sa akin.

"Why do you act like this? Ba't parati mo na lang ako tinataboy? May malaking kasalanan ba akong nagawa sa'yo? I'm doing my best para makabawi sa'yo pero lagi na lang ganito ang nangyayari."

"And that's because I don't want someone like you in my life!"

"I'm now part of your life dahil ikakasal na ang Kuya mo at Ate ko."

"Still not a valid reason for you to be part of my life."

"WHY?!"

"Because—"

I held back my words. I wish I could tell him that Kuya Alrey warned me about this, but things might get worse if I did. Ayaw kong makagawa ako ng iskandalo sa araw ng kasal nila at sa mismong pamilya niya.

"Forget about it. I'm going to take a rest."

I went into the bedroom and laid on the empty white bed. This day has taken so much energy from me, physically and mentally. I'm still holding back my emotions just so I can't explode at any moment right now. I feel like I have become much more vulnerable now that someone knows my secrets.

All I ever wanted in my life was to get better, but I couldn't understand why I had to suffer like this and get through all of this alone.