In Between Takes

take 19

Everyone noticed his mood.

Lagi namang nakangiti si Alden. Laging may baong good morning sa lahat, maging staff o co-host. But he was happier than the usual. Iyon bang kahit walang bumabati o dahilan, nakangiti sya. Sam even threw a playful glance at him.

"Iyang mga tingin mo na naman, ha," he warned his friend, but couldn't stop himself nonetheless.

"Wala akong sinasabi, Papi," Sam teased. "But how does a tweet sound? Alden Richards, bigla-bigla na lang ngumingiti?"

"Ewan ko sayo, ang dami mong alam," and he went on with playing with Baste, his favorite teddy bear. Para naman kasi talagang naglalakad na stuffed toy ang bata, and he was everyone's favorite. Malaki na kasi si Ryzza and though the young girl was still charming as she had been, she's on her way to teen life. Baste was the new baby.

"Baste, sinong love mo?" Baste just stared at him, probably finding him weird, if the kid could just probably voice out his thoughts properly. Baka nga sabihan pa sya nito na para syang baliw.

Well, he might as well be one.

"Si Yaya Dub!" 

After telling her what he really felt instead of  that stupid BFF answer, he could feel himself calming down. Iyon bang parang ang sarap sa pakiramdam because you said what you really wanted to say.

Hindi naman kasi nya akalain na gising pa ang dalaga. And answering the call - it was a reflex. Nagsisi na nga lang din sya noong humingi ng tawad ang dalaga. Maine shouldn't be apologizing for something she did that wasn't wrong in the first place.

And he felt ashamed, letting her feel that way.

But when he saw her today, wearing the same shade of blue, (it was their sixth month together as a team), he was rendered speechless. Why does she seem like an angel who had her wings hidden today?

He didn't know.

Nautal pa nga sya nu'ng binati sya nito. She was obviously glowing. "Morning," she said, and noticed his face. "Bakit literal kang mukhang shokoy ngayon?"

"Grabe sya," he finally gained his tongue back, despite her rendering him speechless every time - and she calls him Shokoy again. He gave her a big smile. "Natulog ka pa ba?"

"Mga thirty minutes lang. Si Dean kasi."

"Anong meron sa kanya?"

"Nevermind," she shook her head, and stared at him again, but not like last night. Her stare looked like of someone who was contented, someone who was undeniably happy. Not complete, but still, happy. "Kasalanan mo talaga 'to, eh."

"Bakit ako?" He asked dumbly, pero sa totoo lang, he was happy with the fact he can make her stay awake when she should be sleeping. Another selfish thought. "Wala akong ginagawa dito."

"Wala pala, kaya may pahabol ka pa sa tawag kagabi," she hit his arm. "Akala ko ba hindi ka 'yung unang nagpapatay ng tawag? Ni hindi man lang ako nakapag-goodbye kagabi!"

He hung his head low, and couldn't meet her gaze. "Nakakatakot kasi," he admitted. "Natatakot ako sa magiging sagot mo."

Of course he was scared. Who wouldn't be? He wouldn't get tired of repeating this - Maine Mendoza was reckless (but in a cute way, of course) and talkative (she'll say anything she could think of) and unpredictable (she could ask you to play bato-bato pick out of nowhere).

But she's his one in six billion, and that screams a lot of things about what he feels about her.

"My answer, Alden," she spoke softly, and he slowly lifted his face towards hers. "Would not be any different."

Tatlo lang talaga sila sa kwartong 'yon. Siya, si Maine, at si Baste na naglalaro sa isang tabi - but it seems like she only stayed. His heartbeats were twice as the usual, and everything else disappeared, and he had a million things running through his mind.

She wasn't his thoughts at two in the morning, because both of their body clocks are messed up. She was his thoughts at almost every hour possible. She wasn't the sunrise, or the sunset, because she was the sun herself and shone brighter than anyone else in the room.

It wasn't her eyes, or her lips, not even her nose - but at that moment, he swore he found  someone more beautiful than his mom.

He apologized, though, because he had always told his mother she was the prettiest. But this girl - this woman in front - had probably surpassed every standard he had (if there are any) and changed his way of life.

He wasn't the same Alden half a year ago, and it was everything - terrifying, alarming, but also reasonably amazing.

The things she does to him.

So he pulled her slowly into his arms and hugged her tight and whispered, "Happy six month, Meng."

He felt her smile. "Happy six month din, Shokoy," she wrapped her arms around his torso. "Special?"

Alden nodded. "Special."

Maybe special would be their always.

Maine would probably roll her eyes if she heard his thoughts aloud, but he could only care less. He leaned forward, and kissed her forehead. Matagal-tagal na rin nyang hindi nagagawa 'yon, because things happened.

But they also happened, and that's what matters.

Both of their eyes made promises no lips would ever dare to say.

Baste, sinong love mo?

He smiled against her head, which was still tucked under his chin.

Baka ako rin.