If Kalyeserye Was A Drama

Where Is Alden?

A/N: What happened after Divina's phonecall with Alden?

#DramaPaMore

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"Babalik ako, pangako yan," he told Divina over the phone. She was crying on the other end and it pained him to know that all he could do was tell her that it was going to be alright. "Hintayin mo lang ako. Promise. Babalik ako."

It took him awhile to settle her down but she eventually did. "I miss you too," he said before hanging up the phone and finally taking in what was in front of him.

Everything looked so familiar that it felt like he was 15 again. For a moment he couldn't help but smile at all the things he remembered - all the kids that played with him on what once was a vacant lot right at the corner, the sari-sari store down the street he used to run to to buy plastic balloons and pogs from, even the big Nara tree above him that he used to lay down under every afternoon when things became a little too much.

Laying back against the tree, Alden closed his eyes and basked in the breeze that swept past him, heard the rustle of the trees and the distant sounds of cars as they sped through the highway. The phone in his pocket started vibrating and he couldn't care less; he needed this.

He needed to be alone.

These past couple of days have been nothing but annoying. Ayun na eh, ginawa ko naman ang lahat, okay na, tapos biglang may susulpot na iba. He thought to himself as he groaned and pushed himself off the ground.

His phone vibrated in his pocket once again and without a second thought, Alden pulled it out of his pocket, looked at it and threw it off to the side. He wanted to hit something, wanted to let his hands do whatever just so that they could stop shaking. He paced around the small patch of lot around his mother's grave, his eyes darting all over the place as he felt his heart tighten to the point that he couldn't breathe.

It was hard to think; hard to see past the inevitable unless he figured something out real quick. But what?! What on earth could he do to make everyone happy?! He always thought that he had a solution for everything until this mess came and he was pissed - because he realized that no matter how much he tried to make everyone happy, someone (whether it'd be him, Divina, Cindy, or lola Babah) at some point will get hurt.

"Ma!" He yelled, stopping short of her tombstone before dropping down on his knees. "Ma, ano pong gagawin ko?" he whimpered, his shoulders slumping in defeat as he leaned his head against the cold marble. "Magparamdam ka naman po, Ma, oh. Please. Kahit ngayon lang."

Through the quiet, all Alden could think of was how great everything was before his lola threw him under the bus. He wanted to stay in that moment and not move, wanted to play it over and over again until every problem he's facing right now disappeared. He wanted things to be simple again. To get better. To finally clear up.

It may have been minutes, hours even, before Alden felt the tremors that shook him finally come down to a quiet hum. Letting out a sigh, he pushed himself off his mom's tombstone and moved to lean on his side against it.

"Feeling ko po, Ma, magugustuhan mo siya,"he said as he looked up to see the clouds tinged with pink and orange since the sun was beginning to set. "Mabait, maganda. Sobrang sweet. Minsan nga lang po tinotopak," he chuckled, tears welling up in his eyes before he wiped them away bitterly with the back of his hand. "Siya lang po talaga ang nagpapasaya sakin ng ganito. At ang sakit po isipin na baka kailangan ko siyang iwanan para mapasaya lang si lola," he said, his voice cracking in the end. "Hindi ko po kaya, Ma. Hindi ko po kayang iwanan si Divina."