When it Rains (Completed)

CHAPTER 34

We've been traveling for hours. Nag-stop over naman kami to take our breakfast. We also bought some snacks. There, I felt freedom. Since no one could ever recognize us, he held my hand as we went through the food stores. I know, their eyes were on us, but at that moment, I didn't care about them. He made me feel I was safe with him, reminding me the necessary to ignore everything around us.

It was already half past eight when we arrived at his house that he'd been telling me about. A man greeted us at the gate and opened it for us to enter the premises. There, I saw what lay behind the gates—a beautiful classic Victorian-style mansion. The car went down the driveway roundabout with a fountain at the center, surrounded by bright red roses and rich green bushes, and with water coming out from the mouths of dolphin statues. It was a pretty rare sight—this type of home is unusual and uncommon, especially in the city.

The car stopped in front of the house. I got out of the car and took my bag with me, and as usual, he wanted to carry my things, but I insisted.

He led me to the doors, "Welcome to our house."

As he pushed the doors, what lay inside of the mansion took my breath away. A grand staircase, a sparkling crystal chandelier suspended above us, and a wide floor enough for one to dance around. There I saw paintings of various subjects installed on the walls until I stopped by a painting that seemed to be their family, dressed just like the people in the Victorian era.

"That's us," he said, pointing to the child at the center. "And that's me."

There I saw the younger version of him, along with his parents and Ate Trisha. "Ang cute mo naman dito," sabi ko.

"Eh ngayon, di na ba ako cute?"

"Ewan ko."

I was quite amazed at how rich his family is. I thought they were just a typical rich family in the city, but they were more than that. I wonder what made them go to the small city I lived in.

We went upstairs to his room, where we would be staying together. His room had its own living area with detail-rich carpets we were stepping on, and as soon as I reached his couch, I heaved a deep sigh after the four-hour-long travel.

"If you need something, just tell me. May aayusin lang ako sandali sa bedroom," sabi nya saka iniwan ako sa living.

Dinadalaw pa rin ako ng antok, kaya umidlip muna ako sa saglit.

What woke me up all of a sudden was the sound of the phone camera. There, I caught him taking pictures of me. "The hell are you doin'?"

"Well, look at the pillow you're sleeping on."

Tinignan ko ang unan na hinigaan ko at pansin kong may basang part. Hindi naman ako pinagpawisan. But, the moment I touched my lips, I realized what must've happened.

"Tulog-mantika ka pala."

"Delete that."

"It's too late," he said and showed me his phone screen. Mukha ko nasa wallpaper niya na nakanganga at natutulog-mantika pa.

"Seriously? 'Pag 'di mo 'yan binago, mamalasin ka buong taon."

"Well, I'm lucky to have you, that's what matters the most to me."

I tried to grab his phone, but he quickly took it away from me and ran to the bedroom. I chased him down, but as I entered the room, a big pillow suddenly landed on my face. Muntik pa ako matumba.

"Beat me and I'll grant your wish."

Ako pa talaga hinahamon nito.

I took the pillow that fell on the floor and ran towards him, trying to hit him in the face. The room was big enough to run around in, until we stepped on the bed and took turns, hoping I could beat him.

"I'm undefeated in pillow fights, mister," I said in confidence.

"Not today," he said to me, and I was about to fight back instead of dodging his pillow, but instead, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled us to fall on the foamy mattress.

"I'm tired," he said, catching his breath.

"Signs of aging, I think."

"At least, I have someone now to grow old with."

His face was just a few inches away from mine, so close that I could run through every detail from his eyes down to his lips.

"Don't look at me like that," he said.

"Why? Does it make you feel an urge to make out with me right now?"

"Well, quite true, especially now we're in a perfect place. What do you think?"

"It's already lunch. Wala ka bang planong kumain?"

"Ikaw na lang lunch ko."

"Stop it, Patrick. Gusto ko pang makalakad ng maayos dahil gusto kong maglibot dito."

That made his grin even wider. But, at least, he moved out of the bed right after that and decided to prepare for our lunch, which gave me a relief. I just don't have the mood to handle everything again, knowing how wild he becomes every time we do it.

After we had lunch, we roamed around and he showed me each corner of the mansion, leaving me struck and taken aback by the history that lies behind the doors. It was an ancestral mansion, built by their great grandparents after World War II, and it was a smaller house back then. As soon as they acquired hectares of land, their mansion was built and became a home for their family, passed down to the next generation.

While we were hanging out in their library, I was about to stumble upon a piece of paper that fell on the floor, and I quickly grabbed it. It was a photo of two young men, and I could say it was taken a long time ago by the way they dressed—white sandos over blue jeans, a fashion trend among men back then.

Patrick caught me looking at the picture I was holding. "What are you looking at?"

I showed it to him, and he seemed to recognize the men in the photo. "Oh, the one on the right was my Uncle Dan, while the other one was his friend, or should I say his boyfriend?"

"So they were a couple?"

"Yeah, according to Dad. Actually, it was a secret they kept from their parents. You know, boyfriends weren't a thing back then. Dad was the only one who figured out about their secret until but they were caught later on, so they moved out of this place. Unfortunately, some claimed they jumped off of the bridge and their bodies were never found."

That's unfortunate of them. Sadly, people like them weren't accepted by the society they lived in at that time. The unnecessary judgment from society, for sure, led to their deaths.

"Hey, you're spacing out."

"Oh, sorry."

"Are you thinking it might happen to us?" he asked.

"Maybe."

He held my hand and looked into my eyes. "It will never happen, I promise. Everything has changed. They will accept us. They will accept me. They will accept you. I promise."

If you say so, Patrick, I'll trust you.