Hold It In

The Definition of Beautiful

"Well what was the song he chose for your next performance?" Karlos asked as we walked to the nearest Starbucks. "He chose a song called Never Be. Coach said he saw fury in my eyes and, well this song was perfect", I explained.

"We'll never be as young as we are now!" He belted out, earning us strange glances from random people. "Sh- okay, I'm not exactly sure what to call you. Should I call you Juan Karlos, Juan, Karlos, or JK?" I asked. He had an amused smile on my face, "I didn't think you cared so much."

"I don't wanna call you something you don't want to be called. Like, "Sweetface", and "Ms. Sungit". Does it ring a bell?" I said sternly. I noticed he was staring at the ground, like he was thinking very hard about something.

"Hey," I said softly. "What's up?" He let out a loud sigh and when I looked into his eyes, I saw something I've never seen in his eyes before. Sadness.

"I don't know," his voice cracked. "I just miss my mom." I nodded and embraced him in a hug. I learned not to say, just listen when people talked about their problems. "What was she like?" I whispered. I brought him to the nearest steps we could sit on and I had my arms around him, and his head on my shoulder.

"She was really supportive. With every decision I decided to make. It was her dream for me to be on a competition like the voice. And I've made it", he said proudly.

"She was beautiful too", he smiled. "Like you."

This was the most sincere I've ever seen him. I was blushing madly as he smirked at me. "It's cute when you blush. And you blush all the time. So you're always cute", he teased.

"How could you suddenly be talking about me, when we were just talking about your mother?" I asked.

"You remind me of her. In a lot of ways, actually. But mostly because when I'm talking about my feelings, you keep quiet. She always did that too", he whispered, on the verge of tears.

I nodded, holding my arms out again. "Thanks", he said, holding me tighter than earlier. "Anytime", I whispered.

"Let's go before you fall in love with me even more", he teased. Ah there was the Juan Karlos I knew. "Get your head out of your ass", I snapped.

"Wow. Feisty. I like", he winked, poking my sides. "Let's go. Baka hindi ko mapigilan sarili ko", I threatened.

"Fine, fine", he laughed, putting one arm around me. "You act like we're dating", I pushed his arm off of me.

"It's friendly", he explained. "Like this." I was confused for a second until he kissed my cheek.

"You stole my first kiss!" I yelled. "I was saving that for someone I actually liked!"

He held his hand to his heart, "You don't like me?"

I slapped the side of his head, "Why'd you do that?"

"Because it was friendly. Go ahead try it on me", he smiled gesturing for me to kiss him.

I smiled and leaned in, only to push his head away from me. "In your dreams. Let's go", I demanded, grabbing his hand.

"Asus. Playing hard to get ka pa dyan. Alam ko naman may crush ka sakin."

I scoffed, "Shut up. I'm mad at you."

He laughed. " You could never be mad at an angel like me."

I smiled and opened the door to Starbucks. "Here's the money, get out of my face", I commanded, sitting down at a table.

A few minutes I heard the name "Sydney Labajo" being shouted out. Wow. I got up and glared at Juan Karlos. "We are not married", I explained to the lady at the counter. "I don't think he knows that", she laughed.