She reveled in the feeling of his fingers combing through her hair similar to the comforting lull of a hammock in the beach - the sound of waves were replaced by the rustling of the leaves of the tree they were under, the sea water with the smell of book pages and ink... and him.
"Jay?"
"Hm?"
"Don't you ever wish to just... be lost? To exist somewhere else - anywhere else but here?"
A minute frown formed in between his eyebrows.
"I mean, somewhere no one knows you. A place where you would be free to be who you are without worrying whether or not you are conforming to their preconceived expectations of you?"
He sighed, closing his book and leaning his head to rest on the tree trunk, a sad smile painting his lips.
"You know - more than anybody else - my answer to that question. But wherever you plan to get lost at, can you bring me with you?"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Ouch, Nicomaine. Careful please."
She grimaced and mumbled an apology as she continued to tend to his wounds.
It was one in the morning when he knocked on her room's balcony asking to be let in.
"'Wag ka muna magtrain bukas. Jesus, RJ these are very bad cuts and bruises. Ganito pa rin ba after I left?"
He stayed silent, choosing to play with the edge of her shirt instead.
"RJ naman eh. Bakit hindi mo naman sinabi pa kay Tatay? You know he would've offered to take you in nung wala ako dito."
"Nakakahiya kasi. I did not want to bother him with my demons. Kahit pa tatay siya ng best friend ko, he still is my coach."
"Exactly my point. He's your coach AND my father. He cares about your well-being. Una kasi atleta ka niya, pangalawa kasi kaibigan kita. What are you afraid of?"
"I don't know. Siguro iniisip ko pa rin na alcohol lang yun. That my father is still there and he does not really want to hurt me like this, na kailangan niya lang ng mapagbubuntunan ng galit and who am I to reject him? I'm the reason why the love of his life died. I'm the 'tumor' that killed my mom."
"RJ ano ba? Don't say that. It was not your fault and your mom would not want you to blame yourself. Hindi nakakatuwa ah."
She roughly wiped the angry tears on her cheeks and brusquely cleaned everything up.
"Maine naman..." he mummbled, holding her wrist before she could stop her way to the bathroom.
"Rest up. Ako na bahala magexplain kay Tatay. I better not see you at the pool tomorrow or else."
She put down the first aid kit on the bedside table and helped him get settled under the sheets - making sure he did not disturbed the cuts she had to tape. Maine sighed, sitting at the edge of her bed - patting down his hair.
"Nicomaine?"
"Mm?"
"Thank you."
