A Lover of Rain

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER FIVE:

I'm sorry.

Such simple words, but so many feelings. I used to imagine what it would be like to hear Kylo's apology when I spent a year harboring a deep resentment towards him for leaving me hanging. I'd tell myself that it was just a dream at that point and no matter how much I wish for it to come true, it will never come to fruition any longer. My mind was still processing his apology when Kylo continued to share his side of the coin that I refused to see.

"I never thought my dad would ask me to stay when I arrived in Los Angeles. It was always supposed to be a temporary situation until he gets better because this is where I belong, Aryn. I belong here with you..." Kylo took a deep breath for a second, "And with the people I care about. But I couldn't reject my dad's requests at that time, so I had to leave." I nodded my head as I closed my eyes, wiping the tears away from my cheeks when some of them escaped. "I tried to have a life there but for some reason I couldn't. Even after a year had passed, I still couldn't see myself living there–until Claud came into my life. For the first time in a while, I felt genuinely happy... like I finally had a reason."

The way he described Claud put some perspective in my head that I refused to think about when I first laid my eyes on her. I let my prejudices hinder me from realizing how important her role had been in his life, especially since she appeared when Kylo needed someone the most. I took a deep breath to put some calmness in my system that I desperately needed. I kept my head low since the moment Kylo started talking about her when he suddenly started calling out my name that made me gaze into his eyes.

"Aryn," I watched Kylo walk from the other side of the table to my direction so he could stand in front of me, "I never meant to make you feel abandoned. I just didn't have the strength to tell you I wasn't coming back home that I didn't realize I'm hurting you either way. I'm sorry..."

My tears escaped my eyes as I nodded my head, finally acknowledging his apology that I waited for a year to hear. "I'm sorry, too... I'm sorry that I made you feel like you're not welcome here from the way I acted when you came back. I never meant to hurt you as well." He stood up fast to wrap me in a warm embrace. Kylo caressed my back as he hushed me while I apologized to him. The disappointment and anger I felt all this time felt like it was pulled out of me and a huge relief suddenly took over. I never wanted to lose him. Never. But the anger just enveloped my whole mind that it blinded me over things that as a friend I should have understood.

We stayed in that moment for what felt like forever, just enveloping each other in an embrace long overdue. I was sitting on the stool while Kylo was just standing in front of me, holding me tight in his arms. "I should probably cook that chicken curry properly, para makakain ka na." He said out of the blue to make the air around us lighter.

After we fixed the disaster that is the chicken curry, Kylo and I went out to get some ice creams from the ice cream parlor that we loved when we were in high school. There was this owner that's in his 60's that really adored Kylo like he was his own grandson. The moment we stepped inside the parlor, he instantly recognized him even though he doesn't have his permed hair anymore. Seeing them together made me go back to the time when our life was just simple and the only problem that we had was Math.

"All I'm saying, kung pumayag ka maging kayo nung apo nya during high school, libre sana yung ice cream natin tuwing tumatambay tayo don." I said to him as we walked on the sidewalk back to the house. Kylo scoffed at me before biting the ice cream cone, "Ganon ba yung tingin mo sakin, manliligaw ako para sa free ice cream?"

I stopped walking to look him in the eyes with my eyebrows raised. Kylo's face lit up as he remembered the time during high school when he flirted with our smart class president so he could join her for a group project in science which isn't his forte. She was so whipped for him that she continued helping Kylo pass our subject even though he only flirts to get her help. "Yeah..." I said as I watched him think about all the stupid things he did when we were younger. "You're that kind of person, honestly."