You're Are Here (Under Revision)

Desmond

Desmond no longer wanted to let Orvyn go.
Hindi niya alam kung kailan niya napagtanto ang bagay na iyon pero isa lang ang talagang alam niya habang hawak-hawak ang mga kamay ng dalaga: hindi na niya bibitiwan pa ang mga ito.

He couldn't fathom how crazy she made him feel. She barely did anything but she shook his world like a massive earthquake. Ni hindi niya namamalayang nagiging cheesy na siya dahil dito. He didn't mind though as long as it would be because of her.

"Alam ko na ang lahat. And when I knew about it, I don't know, maybe I just needed the time to process everything? Kasi...ewan." Orvyn took the time to breathe and Desmond waited patiently. "I thought it was such an amazing thing that it was such a great...perhaps coincidence, how things fell into the way they are right now. Sino ba naman kasing mag-aakala, diba?"

She glanced at him and how it made Desmond's heart jump.

"How cruel destiny is. Pota." Napakurap-kurap siya rito nang marinig niya ang marahang pagmura ng dalaga. Heck, it didn't even sound like a curse word when she said it. "if everything happens for a reason, hindi ko maintindihan kung anong rason kung bakit nasasakal tayo sa isang malaking problema ng nakaraan."

He could feel the atmosphere between them getting heavier and heavier.

He caressed her hands before kissing them lightly. Hindi siya nagsalita at nanatili lamang na nakatitig dito, nakikinig, binibigyan ng oras ang dalagang ilabas ang mga bagay na gusto nitong ilabas. "Hindi ko maintindihan kung bakit nangyayari ang lahat ng 'to. Hindi ko maintindihan kung bakit kailangang mangyari ang mga bagay na 'to. Hindi ko alam kung bakit parang ang laki ng galit ng mga magulang mo sa kuya ko. I...I just don't understand where the hate is coming from."

It made Desmond think as well. Alam niyang hindi pa alam ni Orvyn ang lahat tungkol sa mga pamilya nila. But whenever he thought about it, it made him feel bad. His family was really the one to be blamed and he still couldn't find a way to tell her all of that. It made him feel ashamed of himself even when he was out of it, he didn't know any of it.

He let out a sigh. "They're overly protective, not of us, their children, but of the status they had set for the people to see us with. Takot silang bumaba kami dahil hindi lamang kami ni ate ang bababa sa paningin ng iba, pati na rin sila." He sounded bitter but it was the truth, it was the truth that was hard to admit. "They saw us as their asset, a stepping stone for them to feel higher than everyone else. Sino ba naman kasing magulang ang hindi maipagmamalaki ang mga matatalino nilang anak?"

"Kaya ba n'ong nagkaroon ng relasyon ang kuya ko at ang ate mo, they saw my brother as a threat against your sister's success?" she asked. Napatitig siya nang ilang segundo rito bago bumaba ang tingin.

"Your brother is smart, Orvyn. My sister admitted that he was one of the few people that could beat her. My parents didn't only see a threat but they saw a competitor out of him. They thought he was sabotaging my sister's routines so that he would totally beat her—"

"Hindi ganyan 'yong kuya ko."

"I know. We both know," he said, squeezing her hands in the process. "But my parents were competitive and when someone's that competitive, he would see competition out of literally everything. Your brother was just a victim."

Muli niyang naalala ang mga nalaman tungkol sa mga nangyari sa pagitan ni Owen at ng mga magulang niya. He doubted his sister even knew about it.

His parents first tried to bribe Owen with a big amount of cash just for him to stay away from Niña, but he needed no money. When that didn't work, they grew very desperate. Nakita ng mga itong madalas ay hindi na masiyadong napagtutuonan ng pansin ng kanyang ate ang mga gawain nito. That made them make their move that really changed things.