The Long Fall

eight

I smiled as I looked to my left, seeing a sleeping Kai holding me closely. It'd been a year since our first kiss, and he loved to spend the night at my house the most. I finally got my contract to be changed to a solo artist and my debut will happen shortly.

"Stop staring, I might have to kiss you again." I blushed as he opened his eyes, smiling at me and pulling me closer, and leaning over me a little bit. "I've missed you a lot."

"I know, but your tour was amazing. I looked forward to watching it when I could." I replied, making him smile happily.

I smiled when he leaned down, kissing me softly. Holding his head gently, I kept him there and kissed him back. We both groaned in disappointment as my phone began to ring, ruining the moment because I needed to answer it.

"Hello? Aunty, is everything okay?" I asked, worried about her sudden call. I heard a small whimper through the phone. "What's wrong?"

"He, he's gone." She muttered before crying. I sat up, worried and confused.

"Aunty, who's gone? What happened?" I asked again, not receiving an answer as she just kept crying.

"My dad, he died." I froze up when I heard his voice. It'd been nearly two years since we last spoke. "Ma wants you to come home, at least for the funeral."

"Okay. When is it? I'll make sure my schedule will be clear for it." I replied, getting up to find paper to write down the information.

Once finished, I let out a sigh while I hung up. I put the phone down and held my head, trying to be strong when everything in me was telling me to break down.

"Who was it?" Kai asked, coming over to hold me. I melted into his embrace, silently letting my tears fall.

"It was Aunty. Uncle, Uncle has passed away." I spoke it out loud, and it made it feel even worse.

The flight there was painful, as I could only sit with my thoughts and memories of him. Seeing the streets I grew up on, I could only remember Uncle as he taught me everything he taught Tao.

Sitting there and watching Aunty cry made it worse. She was so strong, that I rarely saw her cry. To see her like this pained me so much. And Tao, the strongest one I knew, was crying. It made me hurt to see him in pain. He was so close to his father, that it made sense it would hurt him the most.

"Stay." I looked up and saw Tao looking down at me, the two of us being the last ones in the mourning hall.

"I, I need to go back. I have a job to return to." I replied, getting up and starting to walk away. He grabbed my arm, pulling me back and holding me against the wall. "Ge, leave me alone. I know you're hurting, but that doesn't give you the right to do this."

"I, I want you to stay." He repeated, locking eyes with me. I shoved him off of me, but he was still stronger than me, and quickly had me back in his grasp. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want you to listen."

"Fine. What do you want? Because I have a flight to catch and a house to care for." I spat, folding my arms and looking at him with an expressionless face.

"I'm sorry for leaving you behind, for not calling you all this time. I, I wanted to figure myself out. I know it wasn't fair to you, and I'm sorry, but I want to tell you this." He spoke, pausing only to make sure I was looking at him. "I, I love you too."

My jaw dropped, and my defenses broke for a moment. I didn't know what to say, I hadn't thought about his reply for such a long time. I could only just stand there, staring in shock.

I looked at my phone, hearing it ring. He looked at it as well, tensing up when he saw what it said.

Handsomest is calling...

"Who is that?" He asked, but I couldn't answer. I shoved him again, and this time he let me.

"Ge? I'm sorry I didn't call earlier. It's just been a rough day." I answered the phone, ignoring Tao's dominating presence.

"It's okay, I know you're having a rough time. I just wanted to ask how it went. Are you feeling alright?" Kai asked, making me sniffle a bit. "Has he done anything to you?"

"It's nothing I can't handle. I'll be home soon. I miss you." I replied, soon after hanging it up. I turned back to Tao, who was now looking at me with pain. "You took too long."

"Who was it?" He asked, grabbing my hand and stopping me from leaving.

"You don't need to know. It doesn't matter to you anymore who I am seeing." I spat, pulling my hand from his grip. "You owned my heart for so long, but you never wanted it. And now that I took it back and gave it to someone who actually cares about it? Now you want it back? No."

"Yes." He argued back, grabbing me again and pulling me closer to him. "I know I hurt you because I'm slow. But I don't think you should be so rude to me because of it."

Before I could register what was happening, his lips were on mine. A younger me would've been ecstatic, but the current me was furious. I pushed him away, slapping him when I was able to.

"You don't get to kiss me. I'm not yours anymore." I told him, turning and walking away. "I'm only here for Aunty. Don't talk to me again if this is how you're going to react."

I shut my hotel room door and broke down. I started crying and I couldn't stop. Why did he have to do this now?