Where The Love Light Gleams

December 12th

She's bored. Everyone's busy except for her. Yes, the whole point of a vacation is rest. But she can't. She cannot spend an entire day doing nothing. It's going to drive her insane. And right now, she's reminded why she'd never taken these vacation days while she'd been in England.

Sarah is out of town and won't be back until tonight, Erik just told her to relax and enjoy it, Yeng has rehearsals, and so is Mark. So she calls Ian, her knight in shining armor, in the hopes of saving her from this boredom.

It takes a while for him to answer. But when he finally does, "Spring me out of this boredom!" she exclaims without even greeting the man on the other end of the line.

"Why, hello to you, too."

"Ian!" She's whining, the adorable kind, and Ian knows it's serious when she does this.

"What do you need, my love?" Oh, how she loves it when he uses those endearments.

"I cannot have another day of DVDs and cable TV or I am going to lose my mind." He holds it together and tries not to laugh.

"My group at church is having a little dinner party tonight. Come with me?"

Tonight will take a bloody long time and she knows it. She needs something to do now. But maybe she can also spend it on deciding what to wear. She'll take it.

"Sure. Just take me out of here," and this time, she hears him laugh.

"So, 6pm is okay?"

"6pm is great."

And he does it again. Its simple things like these that she appreciates so much.

===

It's not a surprise that she knows everyone from his group. She used to go to the same church. Her family still does. Though Erik is a surprise. She doesn't even know he and Ian are in the same group now.

The group talks and shares before the party started. She missed this. It's not the same in London. So she sits down quietly and listens. The topic was letting go and moving forward.

Letting go is not the only way to move forward. To move forward also means to take a step back. And sometimes, all it requires is to  jump.

These are the words engraved in her mind.

He likes watching her. Ian likes to see her smiling, socializing, and just happy. It makes him smile, sometimes

"You're a sucker for her."

When Ian looks up to see Erik walking towards him, it takes only a split second for him to catch on to what his good friend is referring to.

"Really, I'm saving you," he answers, his eyes still on her.

"Saving me?"

"If I didn't get her out of that house, I'd bet my own that she'll call each one of us, on rotation, for the entire day."

"The whole point of a vacation is rest."

Ian merely arches his eyebrow at his friend, "You want to tell her that?"

Erik quickly shakes his head and laughs, "No. Her mood swings are technically your problem now. As is her stubborn streak."

And Ian doesn't mind at all.

Erik's right. He's entirely gone over Rachelle Ann Go. The funny thing is, he can remember the feeling of the fall like it was the first time. He thought it never left his system. Maybe this is something much stronger.

But they're not even in a relationship yet. A quasi, testing-the-waters kind of relationship, yes, but love does not come out of those. At least not the kind they need in order to make it work.

It feels so complicated.

Really, it's simple.

He wants her, she wants him. They want each other, they balance each other, and they're good together. But he's learned there's always going to be complications.

So the only thing they can do is to freaking jump.

But he's not jumping without her.