Between Your Lips and Mine (Cervantes Series)

5

i am so sorry for the long chapters and my typo blindness, hahaha.

122022 #BYLAMwp Chapter 5

I force my mind into a cooldown. Being aware of Chio's presence is like a switch. Feeling—knowing that there's something off with him pushes everything off the table. Ganun kalakas ang hatak ng presence niya sa lahat. I barely remember wanting to break Jass' side mirror and chucking it into Jass' face. I know I wanted to do it, but now I just . . . don't.

A question pushes itself in front of everything I was thinking of earlier, dismissing all my other thoughts as unimportant: Did Chio hear?

Does he now know? Did he understand anything?

Mukhang hindi lang naman ako ang natauhan. Even Jass freezes on his spot, as if the person he's looking at is a raging Sabrina ready to punch everyone on her way instead of a quiet Chio who's just standing with my car keys dangling from his fingers. Jass even flinches when Chio's chest moves when he takes a deep breath.

"Chio—" He shuts me up simply by transferring his gaze to me.

Oh, hell.

Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined being scared of Chio.

Hindi ko alam kung ano ba ang ine-expect ko, but what I did not expect is him walking up to Jass, picking up my bag from the ground, then my coin purse. Pinagpag niya ang bag ko bago ipasok doon ang coin purse ko. He stares at me after and I prepare myself to answer all the questions he may have.

I sigh. Wala na, e. Heto na. At least after a year of hiding I can finally tell someone about it. This is not the most ideal situation but—

He smiles.

It made me want to melt in the spot. How can a smile feel like a fucking hug?

Or vulnerable lang ba ako? Too fragile this morning?

He doesn't speak. He only gestures me to go to the front seat. I merely glance at Jass before following Chio's orders. I watch Chio brush Jass of when Jass tries to speak with him. Dumeretso siya sa driver's seat, places my bag on my lap, then wears his seatbelt.

I wait for him to say something, anything—questions, engine noises, whatever. Wala. He starts the engine, waits for a while for it to heat up, then backs up in the parking lot. He ignores Jass' knocking on his window, and forces him to get his hands off my car by suddenly blowing the horn. Hanggang sa nasa daan kami ay hindi nagsasalita si Chio. He doesn't even look my way.

After a few minutes, the silence eventually quiets my mind. I sink into my seat, hug myself, and bury my face on the fabric of his jacket. I am tired. I listen to my heart and shut my eyes close. The universe has a way of exposing all your vulnerabilities when you finally feel like you're strong enough.

"AJ." My eyes flutter open. His right hand reaches for my arm and gives it a light squeeze as he pulls the car over to the side. "Hinga."

My breath comes out shaky when I do what I was told. Chio's hand moves to the back of my head as I even out my breathing. I thought he was going to ask questions, but he just busied himself by silently patting the back of my head.

"Let's just go," utos ko. Habang hindi pa traffic.

I turn my head to him when he doesn't do anything. His palm brushes the side of my face when he tucks my hair back.

"Tara na." Puwede na kaming umuwi. What are we even doing by stopping here?

I glance at the meter at may gas pa naman ang sasakyan. Hindi ko alam kung bakit kami tumigil. I don't see a reason why he pulled over aside from gusto niya akong interview-hin. Or pagalitan dahil nag-walk out na naman ako habang kasama namin si Gracey. Whatever, actually. Basta I am expecting him to talk.