La Mémoire de Lune

CHAPTER 16: Jaime

Tears wouldn't stop falling from Hope's eyes all throughout the night. She woke up groggy, her eyes were puffy and heavy, all she wanted to do was go back to sleep.

Memories of last night came crashing back to her.

I think this is a mistake, all of this.

Evan's words remained engraved in Hope's mind, she couldn't forget them and it hurt.

A heavy feeling settled on Hope's chest, a weight that she couldn't remove. She wanted to cry out, cry even more, to shake off the feeling. Her tears, however, were all dried up.

The soothing water from the shower managed to calm Hope's heart a little but the memories of last night kept coming back.

Hope dressed up appropriately for their trip going back to Manila, she wore sunglasses to cover up her puffy eyes as well as a gatsby hat.

Her heart may be broken but that didn't mean she wouldn't be stylish about it.

She hoped nobody would notice the signs of heartbreak showing on her face.

Hope sighed out as she began to pack of her things, she's never been so hurt since Jaime.

At least I got to fix Jaime, Hope thought, at least a little bit.

Having packed up all her things and rearranging her room, Hope went out of her room with her luggage in tow.

"Hey, Hope!" Kai greeted her when he saw her come out of her room, just in time when he did.

Hope smiled at Kai, she tried her best to mirror the same energy only to fail, "Hey!'

"What's wrong?" Kai knew by the tone of Hope's voice that something was amiss.

"Nothing's wrong." Hope defended herself, she looked down and started to walk away from Kai.

Kai stopped her by grabbing her wrist gently, "Hey, what's wrong?"

When Hope shook her head and refused to turn back, Kai softly said, "Look at me, Hope, what's wrong?"

Hope looked at Kai, she couldn't hold back the tears once she saw his gentle gaze. One by one, the tears rolled down yet again. She thought she had no more tears left to cry.

"Hey, it's okay," Kai pulled her into his embrace, swaying her side to side in his arms.

The warmth of Kai's embrace made Hope sob harder, her shoulders shook as her tears kept coming.

The cries soon died down, Hope calmed down and sniveled, "I'm sorry, you didn't have to see that."

"Don't say sorry, it's okay. Here, drink this." Kai handed her a bottle of water.

"Thanks, Kai."

"Anytime, Hope." Kai smiled softly before he joked, "Now, who made you cry, huh? Tell me, I'm ready for a brawl."

Hope laughed, finally expressing an emotion aside from sadness. She laughed harder when Kai pretended to roll up his non-existent sleeves, his face formed into a look of that of a bull ready to fight.

"See, that's better, tears don't suit you."

The two walked side by side as they headed their way to check out, "It's Evan, isn't it?"

Hope paused in her steps for a moment, "How did you know?"

"The way you look at him speaks volumes," Kai uttered, glancing at Hope with raised eyebrows.

"You're very observant, Gonzales."

"Only when it comes to you," Kai winked before smirking at her, "So should I beat him?"