A Lover of Rain

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE:

The things that happened after the tournament ended felt like a bad dream. Yohan was determined to apologize for hurting Maya during his party, but after witnessing her kiss with Jae it definitely changed his mind. I tried to chase him out of the arena when the gates opened after the game but I lost Yohan in the middle of the crowd. My eyes lingered around the gate when I felt a hand holding onto my arms and found Eric.

He grabbed me closer when he noticed the sadness flowing through my face from what happened. I closed my eyes shut when he enveloped me in his arms that gave an immediate comfort to my heart. "I will talk to Yohan later, okay. That's a promise." I heard Eric swear like a whisper next to my ears.

"I don't think he'll recover from that anytime soon." I uttered. I saw the pain and anger in Yohan's eyes before he left the arena. I've never seen that level of intensity from him before which I would admit, scared me through my core. I didn't know how to help my friend anymore since I already realized that the love Jae had for Maya was real. I want to give my support to Yohan, but I refuse to get in between two people who have genuine feelings for each other. Some of our friends followed us to the gate after I chased him down but they were too late as well. Yohan was already gone.

I shook my head while looking at Shay and Jacob to relay them the bad news. They walked closer and she immediately enveloped me in a hug. Eric and Jacob started coming up with a plan to talk to Yohan later when they gathered for their after-game party that I have little knowledge about except that Julian was invited too. More people started to come out of the arena since the tournament had ended. They were celebrating the win of our university but all I could think about was the pain I felt from Yohan's eyes that I have never seen before. It bothered me and I wish I could have had the chance to comfort Yohan, but he wanted to be alone instead.

We were standing in the corner talking about what happened when I witnessed Clare wandering around the place like she was looking for someone. She was with some other people, probably her circle of friends, before her eyes spotted Eric with us having serious conversation. Eric was quick to spot her in the crowd as well as they waved their hands towards each other. Clare shyly graced her way closer to us which made the four of us quit talking about Yohan since she was affiliated with him at some point.

"Hey, guys! Sorry to interrupt but, uhm... Eric, we're about to leave and if you still want to come with us to eat, it's still–" She was stuttering when she reminded Eric about their plans after the games that I didn't even know they had. Eric's demeanor changed as he became hesitant; his eyes kept looking at me and her, his hands couldn't stop themselves from moving since he was probably contemplating in his head whether to keep his promise to go to lunch with Clare or stay with me. The fact that he was contemplating let me know that she was already important enough in his life for him to be confused.

I saw the struggle within Eric's eyes that made my heart ache even more. I heaved out a sigh before grabbing his arms to stop him from panicking, "Just talk to Yohan later and tell me what happens, okay. I'm feeling tired anyway, I think I'm just gonna go home." I showed Eric a faint smile to assure him that it was fine even though I could hear my heart slowly breaking apart.

He stared into my eyes after I let his arms go. "But I want to take you home." Eric said that made my feelings even more confused.

I didn't know what to do next–if I wanted to be selfish and say yes to what he was offering, or to just refuse and let things be. I didn't even realize we were gazing into each other's eyes for quite a while until I heard Shay taking things into her control. "We can drive her home if you're struggling to choose, Eric." She offered.

His eyes shifted towards Clare that was patiently waiting for him, there was hesitation within Eric that made me upset. If we were on the same page and he was starting to feel the things that's slowly creeping inside my heart, there wouldn't be any struggle within his part to choose between the two of us. My eyes closed shut so I could get my heart ready for what I was about to do.