Next To Me

24. Balcony

As they capped the night, Maine found it hard to sleep. It was already 1am and her eyes were still fully awake. She felt a bit irritated as she can't toss and turn without her Nanay or Dean waking up beside her. She couldn't find a comfortable position for her to sleep to. It added to her irritation that Dean was snoring too loud and his face was just beside her ear. She couldn't believe though that her mother was sleeping peacefully on her other side. Since she couldn't contain her irritation anymore, she decided to get up and then she made a bee line to her balcony to get some fresh air.

She pulled a chair to take outside and relaxed on it. The sky was clear and it was spread with twinkling bright stars above. The moon hasn't risen yet so the darkness magnified the beautiful display. It immediately reminded her of a particular Coldplay song 'A Sky Full of Stars' which she hummed as she looked around. She noticed that the lights from RJ's room were still on. Curious, she got up to look at his closed door from her balcony.

Gising pa kaya siya? Ano kayang ginagawa niya? Tawagin ko kaya? Pero baka tulog na. Baka nakalimutan lang niya yung ilaw? O takot ba siya sa dilim at natutulog na may ilaw? She thought for a while.

Then as if the heavens read her mind, he emerged from the door.

"O, Maine, gising ka pa?" he was in his usual v-neck white shirt and track pants that surely emphasizes his toned body, along with a cup on his right hand.

"Di ako makatulog. Lakas maghilik ni Dean e. Ikaw? Bakit gising ka pa?"

"Di rin makatulog. Gusto mo ng tea?" he offered his cup with a smile on his face, his dimple showing. He didn't expect Maine would also be out at this time of the night. He was just thinking about her and the events that unfold during that day, especially his confession to her. He didn't got a reply from her as her family suddenly showed up. His nervousness elevated instantly thinking that he wanted Maine to like him too then suddenly it included her family. He wasn't prepared for it. He hoped that he got good impressions from them. Now that Maine is in front of him again, he wanted to ask her again.

"Okay lang ba?" She asked.

"Tara dito." His smile widened. He offered his hands to help her get up to the ledge and step over to his balcony. Just as she was going over and RJ got her arms, a poking nail on the wall caught her shirt and was on the verge of totally tearing it. They both heard the small ripping sound of the cloth.

"Homaygad, wait lang, yung damit ko!" She said with eyes widened to him. They're both staring surprised at each other. If she continued to move, her shirt would get caught with the nail and leave her half naked in front of RJ. That sent her blood rushing to her cheeks. Good thing it's a bit dark so RJ can't really see her blushing cheeks even though their faces are a mere inches apart each other.

RJ immediately held her body to keep her in place.

"Kapit ka sa'kin." He said with a smirk.

He wrapped his arm around her waist while she put hers around his neck even though she felt shivers all over her body. She blushed even more with the close proximity of their bodies. She could feel his heartbeat and she bet RJ could feel hers too. She also couldn't help not to get a whiff of his scent from his neck and God, he smelled so good! She caught herself and with her embarassment, she decided to look away. RJ saw that and he couldn't help but grin. Meanwhile, he removed the caught cloth on the nail and freed it then shifted her weight to his body. He was now fully carrying her.