MaiChard AU: Never The Strangers [Completed]

Epilogue

RJ woke up  next to Maine as the first rays of the morning sun came flooding into his room. Skin on skin, their limbs tangled together with their sheets, her head rested on his shoulder, her hand on his chest. He pulled her close to him, holding her tighter. “Happy anniversary, Love. I love you.” He said as he tipped her chin up and peppered her face with kisses on her forehead, nose, cheeks then finally a firm peck on her lips.

“Happy 3rd, my love.” she replied with a lazy smile, opening her eyes and looking into his, rewarding him with a kiss on his chest. She closed her eyes once again and fell slowly back to slumber, a smile lingering on her lips.

RJ watched her as she slept peacefully and it was these precious minutes at the beginning of the day that he wished he could bottle up and keep in his pocket before they have to go and face the real world again. In these moments he felt at peace, he felt happiness, he knew happiness. And that for certain is Maine.

He realized he was a fool for waiting for weeks to do what he was about to do. He’d been racking his brains how to make this special but all his ideas didn’t seem to fit. Something was always missing. At the heart of it all, both of them only wanted one thing and the simple equation of him plus her and nothing else could be an epitome of it than having his world encaged inside his arms,  He wanted this for the rest of their lives together and now, now is as good a time as any for what he had been planning in mind.

He gingerly moved her head back to her pillow and retrieved his arm ever so carefully, trying his best not to wake her. On his way, he picked up his shirt on the floor and donned it together with his boxer shorts that Maine threw haphazardly by the foot of the bed last night as the celebrated their third year anniversary. He retrieved something from his dresser drawer and examined it before taking deep breaths and walking back towards Maine. He thumped a fist to his chest when she stirred.

“Eto na. This is it.” He muttered under his breath as he watched her put her hands under her cheek as she laid on her side, her hair fanned on her pillow and sheets, lips pink and swollen, sleeping peacefully. When she stilled, he quietly walked over to the side of the bed and sat crossed legged on the floor and faced her. He kissed her cheek to wake her up.

"Love? Gising na, Love. May sasabihin ako sayo." Maine stirred and groaned in response. "Love? Gising na, please."

"Baby, 5 minutes pa please. Antok pa ko. Pinagod mo ko kagabi e." She moaned sleepily.

"Eh sabi mo, let's welcome our 3rd anniversary with a bang. So we banged. Alam mo namang malakas ka saken e." He reasoned out then chuckled.

Maine smiled at this, a giggle escaping from her lips. With her eyes still closed, memories of what transpired last night came flooding her, effectively waking her up.

"Love seryoso ako, please. Gising ka na."

"Gising na gising na po. Eto na, oh. Game. Ano bang sasabihin mo?" She said, propping her elbow on the bed then resting her head on her hand, the duvet barely covering her bosom.

He cleared his throat. "Love, naalala mo yung tulang sinulat ko nung 16th monthsary natin?"

"Uhm-hmm." Maine felt her heart skip a beat. She knew the poem he was referring to and RJ knew her favorite line from that poem: Iisa lang ang sinisigaw ng puso ko, pangalan mo kadugtong ang aking apelyido.

"Love, you’ve always know how I feel about forever. Ikaw na lang ang hinihintay ko. I know we've been together for 3 years but I want to make sure, gusto ko ng sigurado. Kasi ako, wala na kong ibang taong naiisip pag tinatanong ako kung nahanap ko na ang destiny ko. In a heartbeat, sasagot ako ng oo. Ikaw kasi yun, Maine. Ikaw lang. Tayong dalawa lang. At gusto kong ipagsigawan yun sa buong mundo, how lucky I am that I found the one thing that everyone wishes for but so rarely ever find. I’m even luckier that God gave you to me served on a silver platter."