The Gentle Truth

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 5 | Aftermath

My head was throbbing hard when i woke up. I slowly opened my eyes and my forehead creased upon realizing that I'm not in the same room with Teresa. My blood ran cold when i felt myself naked underneath the sheets.

I am naked?!

My body eventually stiffened when i felt someone moved beside me. He groaned softly before shifting his position on the bed. I froze. As nervous as i can be, i turned my head to my other side. My face turned pale upon seeing who it was.

"Waki..." I whispered through thin air. My breathing hitched upon seeing him sleeping beside me—also naked!

I sat down on the bed gently, feeling the pang of pain all over my body especially my core. I'm so sore! Waves of memories from last night flashed through my mind. We get drunk. We're on the beach. We kissed. And we ended up here on the bed!

I shook my head. I feel like crying. What did i do? I feel so guilty upon seeing Joaquin sleeping peacefully beside me. He has red marks on his neck, even bite marks. I closed my eyes intently as i looked away again.

We're screwed up! I'm doomed! I shouldn't have drank that much. We shouldn't have done this! I may have feelings for him but i don't want us to end up like this. This is too much.

I bit my lips. What should i do? He'll probably hate me now. He'll probably blame me for everything. I know it's my fault too, i should've stopped him but I didn't. It's already done. We did it. And we can't undo such things. But I'm scared for his reactions. I don't think i could see that in his eyes. I don't think i can be fine when i see how upset he is. It's unsettling me.

As quietly as i did, i picked up my clothes and dressed up. I was careful enough not to wake him up. After i got dressed, i looked back at him. He's still sleeping soundly. I swallowed the lump on my throat and looked up, fighting back my tears. I stared at him for a moment before i whispered through the air.

"I'm s-sorry, Waki." And then i left him.

I walked carefully back into the room that I'm supposed to share with Teresa. My knees wobble when i finally entered the room. My breathing heaved. Reality washing upon me over again.

I looked around and heaven knows how much thankful I am to see Teresa's sleeping form. Without creating any more unnecessary noises, I walked inside the bathroom. Only to see my reflection through the mirror infront of me. I stiffened.

I have so many kiss marks! Even bite marks!

The water did soothe me physically but it didn't eased the heaviness I'm feeling. I feel so guilty. Like I took advantage of the situation we're in last night. Am i regretting? Yes, because of our friendship. But there's this voice in the back of my head that kept on screaming that I'm not regretting a thing. That I'm just solely focused on our friendship and not into the things that goes beyond that.

But of course, I stopped myself from going that far. I shouldn't. I'm in no place to explore that aspects. Last night is special, I'm being completely hypocrite if I'll keep on denying what happened.

Grabbing a towel and wrapping it around my body, I went outside and changed into a pair of fresh clothes. Then i went to pack our things back before shaking Teresa's shoulder to wake her up.

"Gising na, Tere!"

"Ano ba yan, Lai? Inaantok pa ako—"

"Dalian mo! May emergency ako. Kailangan ko nang umuwi!" Palusot ko. At wala pang ilang segundo bumangon na sya agad bago nagmartsa papasok sa banyo.

Itinuloy ko ang pagaayos ko at napansin na ang daming markang iniwan ni Joaquin noong napatingin ako sa salamin. Agad kong kinuha ang natitira kong foundation sa pouch at sinubukang takpan iyon. Mabuti nalang kahit papaano'y natakpan nga.