The Last Rule

Chapter 45 - Glimpse of Us

"It's already midnight and you haven't eaten anything yet." I heard another knock on my door with Astro's voice.  Every thirty minutes, like clockwork. Offering food. Asking if I want water. Even invited me to watch a movie earlier, like that would magically fix everything. I didn't answer.

After hours of crying, my eyes finally stopped, parang napagod na rin. As if naubos na lang bigla ang luha ko. My head hurt, my chest felt sore, and my body was exhausted, pero sleep wouldn't come. Hindi talaga. Every time I closed my eyes, bumabalik yung mga eksena kanina. Her face. Her voice. The table. The chair between her and the ex. The way Dos looked torn. The way he didn't follow me.

And the worst part?
Dos never texted.

Not once. Which makes me worried even more because this is not my Dos.

Hindi man lang niya tinanong kung bakit ako umalis nang walang paalam. Like I didn't matter enough to be worried about. Like my disappearance was... acceptable.

I stared at my phone for so long my screen dimmed. I was about to lock it, finally accepting that maybe I shouldn't wait anymore. Maybe I didn't even have the energy to hope tonight.

Then my phone buzzed.

My heart jumped. Instinctively, I grabbed it, already expecting Dos' name to flash on the screen.

But it wasn't him.

It was Teby.

Too late. I already opened it.

I was about to exit the chat, to ignore it completely, when I saw what she sent.

A screenshot.

My chest tightened.

It was a post from Dos' sister.

The first photo was a group picture. All of them smiling around the dining table, the same table I couldn't even sit at. The same table I was silently pushed away from. Some guests were standing behind them, laughing, holding drinks. So... nakuha pa nilang magpicture nung umalis ako.

I don't know what has gotten into me but I decided to stalk the post and hindi naman ako nahirapan dahil naka-tag si Dos.

Posted 5 minutes ago.

Of course. Ang bilis talaga ng kaibigan ko.

I scrolled. One photo after another. Food. Drinks. Laughter. Then videos. They were clearly drinking already. Everyone looked happy. Comfortable. Like nothing bad happened tonight.

And then I saw him.

Dos.

Already sitting at a different chair in a different table but still sitting beside her.

The ex.

They looked relaxed now. He was smiling. Not the forced kind. The easy one. The kind he gives when he's enjoying himself.

My fingers hovered over the screen. I should've stopped. I should've closed the app. But apparently, kulang pa pala yung sakit na naramdaman ko today.

So I pressed play.

The video focused on them. Dos was holding a microphone. People were cheering in the background, laughing, shouting his name. He looked confident. At ease.

And then he started singing.

My heart sank

'Cause sometimes I look in her eyes,
and that's where I find a glimpse of us

My chest felt like it caved in.

And I try to fall for her touch,
but I'm thinking of the way it was