Somebody (A BoybandPH Series)

Support

Someone who'll stand by my side
And give me support
And in return
She'll get my support

Maintaining a relationship while studying is a hard task. Especially for your part, the first year of medical school has had you staying up late with your head buried in mountains of books that talked about the anatomy of the human body and how to deal with it. You faced your books more than you faced your friends and you attended more lectures than family events. You never went home during the weekends anymore as staying back at home meant less time for your studying. It was hard. Keeping up with the tide of medical school was hard.

Only one thing kept you grounded these days anymore, whenever you got lost in the whirlwind of academics, there was always this one person that would remind me to pause for a minute and take a deep breath. He would remind you that you were human too and you needed a break.

It was a fine day, you were studying at a cafe a few blocks away from your dormitory when you heard the bells on the door chime. Usually, this didn't distract you but a certain aura and scent that was ever so familiar to your nose made you lift your head and avert your eyes from the texts on your books.

What your sight landed on made you smile, drop your favorite highlighter and shoot up to your feet to welcome the man with a big hug. You couldn't remember when was the last time you saw him face to face, you were busy, he was busier. Was it a week? Two weeks? You didn't know anymore.

"Hala, bakit ka andito?" You asked as you pulled away, unable to hide the smile from your lips as he looked at you and pressed a small kiss on the top of your head. You were thankful that there was very little people in the cafe that you didn't mind the public display of affection. You were also thankful that not a lot of people could recognize him in this setting.

"Bakit ayaw mo ba?" He joked and you landed a playful punch to his stomach as you led him to your table. Your relationship had always been playful, it was founded on this deep understanding of your dreams that you didn't have to hide anything from each other anymore. There was mutual understanding between the two of you.

You rolled your eyes at him as you sat across him. "Hindi naman sa ganun. Akala ko nasa La Union kayo today?" You were good at remembering facts. You were good at remembering his schedule so that you know when was a good time to call him up. But these days, you rarely called him due to the obligations your schedule needed from you. But it was alright, he never forgot to send motivational messages every morning as last night you sent him a photo of you looking glum from all the studying.

He shrugged his shoulders as he took a sip from your drink. "Na-move sa susunod na araw eh. So ayun, dalawang araw akong walang ganap." Ford explained briefly before he took a bite out of your cake. He was always travelling, from north to south, sometimes he'd go out of the country and he'd send you photos wishing you were there with him. With the little time you had, you always made sure to support him. Sometimes you'd send him photos of you holding banners that said his name as a way to cheer him on. Such simple but silly gesture would made him smile until the end of the day.

"Paano mo nalamang andito ako, crush mo 'ko, ano?" You teased with a smile as you took back your drink and closed your book to set it on the side of the table. Him coming over so suddenly made you think back to the days when you were still pursuing your undergraduate, you had more time then to visit him during work but now, medical school has eaten up all your time. Back then, you always used to come to ABS-CBN when he was there for a shoot, but now, all you could send was uplifting messages before he stepped on stage.

He laughed, throwing his head back and shaking it as he regained his composure. "De, alam ko kasi talaga mas crush mo ako." He raised his brow at you suggestively and you made a face at him in response. It was true, you admired him first. You were his biggest fan. You didn't know how this happened but it happened and this was real, he was your dream and now the both of you were off to chase each other's dreams.

"Pero seryoso, nagpunta ako sa dorm mo pero umalis ka raw sabi ng ka-dorm mo. Tapos alam ko ito favorite place mo, so dito ako nagpunta." He told you the story of how he came to find you and you couldn't help but smile at his gesture. He wanted to surprise you and indeed you were surprised. Even if you and your boyfriend don't talk 24/7 anymore, you knew that you still loved each other and the mutual support was what kept the both of you together.

"Order lang ako, ha?" He excused himself and you watched as he walked to the counter to order his drink. You couldn't help but smile, knowing that you had your shortcomings as a girlfriend this year but he understood you. He supported your passion as much as you have been supporting his. He knew that this was your life long dream and you couldn't be more thankful to know that he was the most supportive person next to your parents. You were grateful to have him in your life.

But there were times when you couldn't help but wonder if you were being a good girlfriend. You were excelling in school but you weren't sure anymore if you satisfied Ford as a girlfriend enough. You know he had needs but you couldn't provide him that for now. You were just getting the hang of medical school and you never had spare time anymore.

You shook your head, wondering why you were thinking of this when Ford went out of his way to get to you, to meet you. Just as you cleared your thoughts, Ford returned to his seat with a huge smile in his face. "Nagpapicture yung cashier." He chuckled and his news made you look back at the cashier with an alarmed expression.

"Hala, nakilala ka niya?" You asked cautiously as you bowed your head as to hide your face. Your reaction made Ford raise his brows before he laughed aloud.

"Oo? Huy, grabe ka naman magtago akala mo hindi pa alam ng lahat na akin ka." His words made your stomach flip and your face burn in embarrassment. He was right, the entire Philippine population knew that you were dating Ford. You were revealed to the public a year ago just before you graduated. That was the most terrifying for you, graduation had its blues and your revelation as Ford's girlfriend didn't help at all.

You remembered all the hurtful things thrown at you, saying you didn't deserve him and Ford deserved someone better. You knew his fans were just hurt and they probably didn't meant what they said at that time but everything hurt you and Ford knew that. He was apologetic for putting you through all that but you promised to remain by his side, no matter what other people said because at the end of the line, there were only you and Ford.

Through time however, and after fans learned about your academic achievement, and how you got accepted to one of the most prestigious medical school in the Philippines, there was a miracle and a sudden turn of events. They started looking up to you, they started accepting you as his girlfriend, talking about how you deserved him and how your life was their goals. They started treating you nicely and you felt like every hurtful thing thrown at you was worth it. Being loved by the people that loved and supported Ford even before you met him was everything to you.

"Hindi lang kasi ako sanay." You said with a shrug. "Baka may mag-picture sakin nako, lagot ka." You joked, even though you know majority of the fans would be okay and would find this normal. You and Ford were very private people when it came to your relationship. The only photos of him and you surfacing would be photos from friends. You never posted photos of him on your accounts despite of you being very proud of him, you thought it'd be best for the fans.

"Famous naman pala." He rebutted and you rolled your eyes.

And then you remembered how much you really did love Ford and how trivial things didn't matter. You guys weren't getting any younger, your parents expect Ford to ask you to marry him after you graduate medical school and you knew that this was forever. Maturity has honed the both of you to be the perfect partners for each other. Compromise was what always made your relationship work.

He watched you study for hours, occasionally taking your notes to quiz you on what you already learned. He promised that you'd get a reward later for every correct answer and fortunately for you, you had reviewed enough materials to get a perfect score. You couldn't help but get excited for later.

And Ford was all you needed to get through this week. Just his mere presence was enough to calm you of the storm inside. Ford needed you to remain grounded, to remember where he came from. And you gave exactly that.  

He'd spend tomorrow with you and then he'd be off to La Union to chase his dreams. You'd be back to school with a newly found motivation.