Adventures

Lanterns

Author's Note: Hey YOU! Yes, you :) I just wanted to say thank you for spending some time to read this little short story of mine. I'm not sure if you've read the ones before this, but nevertheless, I'm glad you're here. You may be a good friend of mine, a fellow AlDub/MaiDen fan, or a complete stranger, but thank you thank you thank you! I am overjoyed. I hope you enjoy this new AlDub/MaiDen story of mine and don't forget to leave a comment below. AlDub you all!

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It's been a while since I've been on the beach. I missed the heat of the sun hit my skin, the feel of the sand on my toes. I may be a self-proclaimed pluviophile, but there's no denying that I, too, am a child of the sun. 

When Alden asked if we could go to a nearby beach for the weekend, I said yes immediately. Though I didn't know what beach we were going to or how long it'd take for us to get there, for as long as I was with him, nothing else seemed to matter as much. 

I liked the beach we were in. It wasn't close to the ones in Palawan, but it was clean, the water was so blue and the staff were friendly and respected our privacy so much that ever since we got here not one of them asked for an autograph or picture with Alden and I. For a moment there, I forgot I was a celebrity, woah wait, did I just say I was a celebrity? Nako, Nicomaine. Feel na feel mo na rin ha. 

Anyway, I forgot what the name of the beach was, but it was somewhere in Laguna. I assumed that not a lot of people knew that this place existed because I could count the guests that were here with both my hands. But I wasn't complaining at all. Though I enjoyed the limelight, I also secretly craved for this. Yung hindi ako na-coconscious sa mga ginagawa ko o sa mga taong kasama ko. Lalong lalo na tong Alden. 

"O, ngumingiti ka na namang mag-isa." Alden broke my train of thought as he sat beside me. It was 4:30 in the afternoon and I was sitting on a log by the beach, waiting for yet another sunset. 

"Bakit? Masama ba?" I laughed gently, nudging my shoulder to his. He shook his head in return and smiled back at me. 

We fell into a moment of silence for quite some time as we both looked at the sun that was slowly disappearing among the clouds. It was a comfortable kind of silence. It was the kind of silence that was therapeutic, the kind of the silence that helped you appreciate the little things, just like this beautiful sunset in front of us. 

"Ang ganda no?" I heard him say. I was still busy looking at the sunset, but I felt that his eyes were on me. When I looked right back at him, I wasn't mistaken. He was looking right at me, with those warm, brown eyes. 

"Oo nga. Ang gwapo din." I knew I just had to joke around. That was typical Maine Mendoza. Kahit maganda na yung moment, gagawa at gagawa pa rin ng paraan para mag-joke. 

"Pero seryoso, thank you ha." I smiled. "Alam kong ikailang thank you ko na to sa'yo, pero 'di ko talaga mapigilan ang sarili ko eh." I added. 

"Wala 'yun." Alden replied. "Kailangan din naman natin 'to eh. Masyado ng hectic ang schedules natin. Pagkatapos ng Eat Bulaga, may mga mall shows, photoshoots, endorsements. Baka mabaliw tayo sa pagka-hectic ng lahat."

"Kaya nga nagpapasalamat ako na dinala mo 'ko dito." I held his hand. "In the next few weeks, alam kong di tayo masyadong magkikita. Sinabi na rin kasi ni Nate sa akin na marami ka raw pupuntahan. Baka hindi ka ulit magka-Kalyeserye." I pouted cutely. I always missed him whenever he wasn't on that screen, writing to me, doing Dubsmashes with me. But I understood that it was a part of his work.. to, sometimes, be away from me. 

"Halika nga dito." He said, putting his arm over my shoulder and pulling me closer. "Kailangan mo rin naman akong ma-miss." He added, playfully. "Baka kasi, sa sobra nating pagkikita, maumay ka sa 'kin."