Kryptonite

Ghosts of the Past

Nadine woke up to the smell of cooking.

She sat up immediately, only to raise an eyebrow as she scanned her surroundings.

"Teka, paano ako pumunta sa tent?" she asked herself as she she looked down to see a blanket wrapped around her.

As she stood up, memories from last night played through her head. A hand went to her lips as she recalled every second of that moment. From him suddenly pressing his lips onto hers, to her taking off his shirt and kissing down his neck, and of course, to him suddenly apologizing and retreating into the tent.

He left her speechless from the start of that damn thing to the end. Unsure of how to react or what to say, she merely remained outside and fell asleep trying to think of what happened as she was left in a sudden daze.

She clenched her jaw in frustration.

This was the first time someone ever did that to her.

She was notorious for being the one to just leave without an explantation. Granted they didn't mean anything to her, so it wasn't like she was wrong for not waiting for the morning or just walking out as soon as they were finished.

Never had she been the one just left behind - and even though he technically only really went five feet away, he still did leave her hanging.

For the longest of times, that was her role.

That aside, when it came to love, she didn't play around. Had he been just some random guy, she would've easily gotten over it.

But he wasn't - and that made the situation even worse as so much confusion ran through her mind.

And somehow teleporting from outside to inside the tent didn't help her case.

"Tangina ka, James," she mumbled to herself as she walked out of the tent, her arms crossed.

Her eyes widened as she found herself greeted with the sight of James cooking something over a new fire.

And against her own will, seeing him caused more detailed memories of last night to run through her mind as she found herself uncrossing her arms while her cheeks heated up.

Two plates were set aside over a log, which, to her dismay, caused her expression to suddenly gentle.

James abruptly turned his head to face her, causing her to step back suddenly and nearly trip out of shock.

"Oh, gising ka pala," he greeted casually before returning his attention back to his cooking.

Yan lang ang sasabihin mo sakin? Nadine thought to herself.

Unlike her, he didn't seem to have any air of awkwardness surrounding him.

It was as if nothing happened.

But as her eyes trailed down his neck, the various marks said otherwise.

Nadine gulped as she walked to where he was, her eyes still tracing over his neck.

He had a bandana tied around his head and wore a loose, sleeveless black top that showed off his arms far too much for her at that moment.

Seeing him not even bothering to cover it and allow it to show out in the open irritated (and confused) her even more.

Parang wala lang ba ang nangyari satin? Nadine thought to herself as she took a seat on the log.

James got one of the plates and added food over it before handing it to her, his hand lightly grazing hers as she took the plate from him.