A/N: Hi guys, back with a one shot — I had to get this one out of my system.
ANGST AHEAD
/
Mikha bolted up the subway station steps two at a time, her breath hitching as the humid Manila air wrapped around her. The city buzzed around her—the honking cars, the muffled conversations, the occasional vendor calling out—but all she could focus on was the street sign up ahead.
This was the intersection.
She slowed her pace, heart hammering against her ribs. Aiah was already there, standing near the pedestrian lane, scrolling through her phone. She looked almost the same—long, dark hair tied back in a loose ponytail, sharp features still effortlessly pretty, though there was something different about her stance. More composed, maybe. More restrained.
Mikha swallowed hard. Two years. Two years since Aiah ghosted her. Two years of updates from a distance—wedding photos on Facebook, random tagged posts about motherhood, the occasional like on each other's Instagram stories but never a real conversation. They had spent their whole lives tangled up in each other, growing from childhood best friends to something more, something undefined, something messy. And then Aiah just... left.
And yet, somehow, Mikha still ended up as ninang to Aiah's daughter.
Aiah looked up, spotted her, and a small smile formed on her lips. "Uy," she said, tucking her phone into her pocket.
Mikha forced a grin. "Uy."
They hovered in front of each other for a second too long before pulling into a brief, awkward hug. Mikha felt the stiffness in Aiah's shoulders, the way she barely leaned in. It was strange. Once upon a time, Aiah would have slung an arm around her waist, squeezed her too tightly, whispered something teasing in her ear.
But that was a different time. A different version of them.
"Kumusta?" Mikha asked, stepping back.
Aiah exhaled. "Okay lang. Same old, same old. Ikaw?"
Mikha tilted her head side to side. "Eto, buhay pa naman."
Aiah chuckled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Dapat lang. Kasal ka na sa December, 'di ba?"
Mikha nodded, adjusting the strap of her bag. "Oo. Ikaw? Kumusta si Ellie?"
"She's good," Aiah said quickly, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jeans. "Four na siya next week."
Mikha smiled, warmth blooming in her chest. "Namimiss ko na 'yon, ah. Lagi ba siyang makulit?"
"As always." Aiah let out a soft laugh, but there was something distant about it. Like she was holding something back.
Mikha noticed the shift immediately. The way Aiah wasn't meeting her eyes as much. The way she kept shifting her weight from one foot to the other. She had expected things to be awkward, but this was different. Aiah felt... guarded.
"Tara," Aiah said, jerking her chin toward the coffee shop across the street. "Usap tayo nang maayos."
Mikha hesitated for a split second, but then she nodded, falling into step beside her.
Maybe she'd finally get the answers she never had.
/
The sidewalk was crowded, the city alive with its usual chaos—street vendors calling out, tricycles weaving between cars, the smell of grilled isaw and exhaust thick in the air. Mikha stuffed her hands into her pockets, glancing at Aiah, who walked beside her with that same careful distance.
She wasn't hungry.
That was what Aiah had said, and it shouldn't have meant anything, but it did.
Aiah was always hungry. She was the type to say, Di ako gutom, only to steal fries off Mikha's plate five minutes later. The type to get extra rice without thinking twice. And yet now, when they were supposed to be having dinner, she wasn't hungry.
