Beautiful, Beloved [feat. RaMen]

Fourteen

Lea was about to confront whoever the person was on the other side of that door but soon as she opened the door, she stood there frozen as the person standing there was the last person she expected to show up at her house in the middle of the night.

Rachel stood in the hall outside Lea's apartment. Namumula at namumugto ang mga mata nito, her hair was gathered in a messy bun at nakapantulog ito. Never pang nakita ni Lea sa gantong estado si Rachel. Yes, Rachel may have opened up a little bit to her the other night but never has she seen such raw emotion from the woman - well, y'know - except lust and anger.

"A-anong ginagawa mo rito?"

"Uhm, I-I," clearing her throat she started again, "P-pwede ba kong pumasok?"

Lea made way as she replied, "Sure."

Pumasok si Rachel sa loob ng bahay na kaagad namang sinundan ni Lea at inalalayan papunta sa couch at pagkatapos ay naupo siya sa bean bag na adjacent dito.

"M-may problema ba? Bakit naman alas-tres na ng madaling araw ka nagpunta rito?" malumanay na tanong ni Lea.

"M-mas gusto ko rito," Rachel mumbled.

"Nahihibang ka ba? I'd much rather be in that penthouse of yours kaysa dito sa apartment ko! At saka parang hindi naman matinong rason 'yun para dis-oras ka pumunta rito di ba?" Lea said bitterly as she recalled being woken up in the wee hours of night.

Natahimik naman bigla si Rachel na dahilan kung bakit siya napagmasdan ni Lea, mukhang broken hearted ito. Kaya napagdesisyunan ni Lea na tumayo at tumabi rito. Once she was beside her, inangat niya ang mukha nito para magtagpo ang mga mata nila.

"Kung ano man 'yang feelings mo d'yan sa dibdib mo, pwede kang magsabi sa akin," Lea said pointing at Rachel's heart.

"You scare me."

"Ako? Ako pa talaga? A woman who's 5'2 in height and is 5 years younger than you are, takot ka sa akin? Can we not forget which one of spanked the other nung isang araw?"

Natawa naman ng kaunti si Rachel sa sinabing iyon ni Lea but it sounded sad. It made Lea's heart lurch.

"Natatakot ako dahil walang kahit anong pasubali, walang babala, isang araw na lang nagising ako and all of a sudden I just can't stop thinking about you. Natatakot akong hindi ko na kayang mag-isa sa bahay na hindi kita kasama when in fact bago naman lahat ng ito I was never affected kung nakakasama ba kita o hindi. Natatakot ako dahil gusto kong lagi kang nasa tabi ko - gusto ko lagi kitang kasama at lahat ng gagawin ko gusto ko kasama kita. At kapag hindi kita kasama, ikaw pa rin ang laman nitong isip ko. It scares me that I'm starting to have feelings for you. I have never given any one the permission to touch me so easily like I did with you the other night, I always had to be in control but in one swift move, you took that control away from me Lea Carmina and I did let you. And you know what scares me even more? It's the fact that I'm willing to give up all that control and let you be in charge."

"Why does it have to be scary?" Lea whispered as she tucked a lock of hair behind Rachel's ear.

"Paano kung iwan mo ako?" Rachel confessed as she looked at her fingers.

Napangiti naman si Lea, "And what if I won't? What if I tell you now, in all honesty, that I couldn't imagine living without you? Tatlong taon na kitang mahal, ma'am. Ngayon pa ba kita susukuan kung kailan alam ko na kung ano 'yang nararamdaman mo?"

Lea brushed away the tears under Rachel's eyes.

"I guess this is not very Rachel of me to rock up here at 3am. Mukha akong tanga," Rachel said as she chuckled ever so slightly.

"Buti naman at napansin mo rin," Lea said as she shook her head, "Anyhow, back to the whole "mas gusto ko rito", ano 'yon? I mean, this apartment is nothing compared to your place."

"It feels much more like home here. Oo, maganda sa penthouse, no questions asked. Yes, mamahalin ang furnitures and everything else pero ang lungkot, Lea. Dito sa apartment mo, oo nga't maliit pero kompartable rito and puno ng love."

After hearing those words, Lea was speechless the only thing she did was tilt Rachel's face up again and kiss her slowly.