90210 (BINI Series #3)

Chapter 41: Hide and Seek

Maloi's POV

"Guys, she left! Just when I was free to be with her." I cried while lying down on Mikha and Aiah's couch. I have been wailing for the last hour and my friends might be getting frustrated with me now. They are all here except Stacey. She's been missing in action ever since Aiah dropped her off at her parent's house.

"Well Maloi, let's break this one down shall we?  Stacey hurt you years ago when she left you. But then she told you that she had clearly valid reasons for doing that so. Correct?" Gwen asked, I nodded my head as I grabbed a pillow to hug and silence my cries.

"And then she comes back, telling you that she still loves you and begs for you to take her back. Tells you that she will correct every mistakes she did in the past. Right?" Jhoanna asked.

"Yes." I whispered in between my sobs.

"So, your one great love comes back in your life and what did you do?" Mikha asked, looking at me with frustrations in her eyes.

"I pushed her away because I was scared to get hurt again."

"Right! So, in your attempt to protect yourself..."  Sheena started, waiting for me to continue her statement.

"I said yes to Mikki." I finally said and wailed again, clutching the pillow like a teddy bear.

"There you go! Sometimes we wonder if you are really a doctor when you couldn't figure that one on your own!" Colet shook her head in frustration, but had to dodge when I threw the pillow at her.

"Col, you're not helping!" I stomped my feet on the couch.

"What do you want us to do? We can't bring her back." Colet replied and shook her head once again.

"She ... She left ... because she thought I have finally closed the door on us. When the truth was I was just confused. And maybe there's a small part of me that was hoping that she'll tell me I made a mistake and ask me to choose her." I explained.

"Seriously Maloi? Haven't you noticed all her efforts for the last months of trying to win you back? How she's been showing you how much she loves you? But apparently, you were blind to her efforts. You were so caught up with the fear of loving her that you chose to run away with Mikki." Aiah, the one who witnessed Stacey broke down the night I said yes too Mikki said. This is the first time she said something ever since we all got in their place.

"I wanted her to fight for me!"

"And she did! Every single day that she had to stand there and watch you to be with Mikki while she was secretly dying inside. She stayed even as you pushed her away because she couldn't stand being away from you." Jhoanna reasoned out. "Ewan ko sa'yo!" She added.

"Why are you only telling me this now?" I asked them.

"Because you had to figure this out on your own, Maloi." Mikha calmly replied.

"I need her back, guys." I cried again.

"Then maybe it's your turn. Win her back, Maloi." Gwen told me.

"Ewan ko talaga sa inyo! Si Colet torpe. Si Mikha manhid. Ikaw naman, pakipot. Ikaw Shee, ano ka?" Jhoanna butted in.

"Kulang sa pansin." Gwen simply replied and smirks.

"Ang sakit mo na bebe! Hinanap mo naman ako when I stopped making papansin eh." Sheena sulked.

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Stacey's POV

I stepped out into the balcony and felt the breeze of the ocean on my face.

The person who's here with me was right, having a change of scenery can help me escape from the troubles. Well, that is until I start thinking of her again and i feel my heart breaking all over again.

"Stacey, we've been here for 2 weeks. Pabalik-balik ako from Manila to here just to check up on you. When are you planning to go back?" She asked as she took a seat beside me.

"You can go ahead, I think I might stay here for a while." I smiled at her.

"Until? Our best friends might get suspicious. I don't want them to think that I am cheating or something."

"Until I have gotten over her." I said.

"Then you might be here forever." She joked and i slapped her shoulders as we laughed together.

When we stopped laughing, she looked at me. "It's nice to see you smiling again, Stacey."

I settle again in silence, I know I can't hide here forever, in the same manner that I can't hold on to our lost love forever. Someday, I would have to slowly start moving on and accept the facet that we could never be together in the end.

I wiped a tear that involuntarily fell from my eyes.

"You're crying again ..."

"I'll stop ... Soon." I smiled bitterly.

"Why couldn't you just give it one more try? Especially now that you already have your mom's blessing? Aiah told us that last night." She asked.

"I don't want to bother her anymore. She's already starting her happily ever after. Too bad it's not with me though." I stared out into the horizon as. I try to stop my tears.

She started laughing hysterically. "Why don't you go back to Manila and figure it out yourself?" She asked, still laughing. "It's fun seeing the two of you talaga!"

Instead of focusing on her words, I decided to let out the emotions I've been keeping. "While we truly loved each other, unfortunately, I guess, this is where the train ends."

"And you'll just accept that? That everything you've gone through and fought for in the past was all for nothing?"

"It wasn't for nothing. I loved her and she loved me, and the memories we have will last me for a lifetime. While we may not have ended up together, at least I felt how it was to be loved."

"You really love her don't you?"

"So much." I replied as my lips quivered with the tears I was hiding. I pulled up my knees towards my chest as I hugged it, cradling myself.

"Pakipot pala kayong dalawa." She whispered but I didn't hear anything.