In My Heart Is Where You Are

Twenty: Stand By Me

Six months later, their third year in college finally reached its end, much to their relief.

The final requirements this time were proven more difficult to accomplish. As a result, pulling an all-nighter slowly became a habit.

Even Blythe was no exemption. Besides healing a broken heart all over again, she was juggling her time between school and photography-related activities. Fortunately, all was well for her, and had excellently passed her third year, second semester.

Because she and her friends barely hung out for most of the semester, they decided to catch up by spending three days in Tagaytay. It's been their 'tradition' since high school to have a vacation together at the end of the academic year.

Marvey, on the other hand, was lookin​​g forward to the trip after missing it when he was in London. Tagaytay happens to be one of his favorite local vacation spots, so he wouldn't miss this trip for anything.

That early morning of the trip, the group gathered at Kei's house as he offered to use his family van.

"I'm still sleepy," Marvey muffled between yawns.

"That's funny. I thought you were a morning person." Jonas shrugged.

"I am," Marvey yawned again. "I just stayed up late last night because I was talking to Blythe on the phone for hours."

True enough, they also caught Blythe yawning while loading her traveling bag in the van.

I didn't get much sleep last night, Blythe gingerly rubbed her eyes. I shouldn't stay up late, especially when there's a road trip the next day.

She then glanced at Marvey from a distance, making her expression lighten up. But if I spend late nights talking to Marvey, I guess it's worth it.

One hour later, the group of ten boarded the van and drove off to Tagaytay. Along the way, they kept themselves awake by singing songs together, sharing jokes, taking pictures, and talking about anything they had in mind.

They arrived at their destination a few hours ahead of the hotel's check-in time, so they chose to tour around for a while.

They visited Picnic Grove to chill out. As they haven't been to this particular place in a few years, they were surprised to see a zipline standing and found a few customers enjoying it. So they decided to give it a try.

"Are you scared?" Blythe was teasing the fidgeting Marvey while the zipline staff securely fastened the harness on them; then they hovered on air.

"Y-yes," he said nervously. "You know me, I kind of fear heights."

"Oh come on! That's not really high." Blythe laughed, pointing to the path, approximately twenty to thirty feet above the ground. "You better keep your eyes open while we're crossing."

"Eh?! Do I really have to?" He groaned.

"Oh yes, you have to, or you won't enjoy..."

Blythe didn't get to finish her sentence and screamed along with Marvey as their harness started to move at a fast speed, catching them off guard. They were grasping each other's hands as they crossed.

When they reached the other end, Blythe checked Marvey if he was still okay.

"Well, what do you think?"

"Wow! I didn't know this was awesome!" Marvey was beaming.

"See? I told you ziplines are fun!" Blythe smiled triumphantly. "So, one more round?"

"You bet! Let's do it again!"

And so the childhood friends enjoyed one more round of zipline together.