In Another Universe

Rain - (Grace x Mar)

Author's note:
Again this is purely fictional.

Description: Mar came home from a trip. Domestic GraMar

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Mar sighed as the rain continued to pour. He muttered a brief prayer thanking God that his flight arrived early and he didn't have to confront any hassles at the airport. But as he had no car with him, he had to call a cab to San Juan. The weather reminded him of the first time he slept at her house, and he started to reminisce about that memory.

He was brought back to reality when the taxi driver told him they had arrived. He went inside the house only to see darkness. Everyone is already asleep since it's past ten already. After settling his bag in the living room, he immediately went upstairs to his wife and their bed. This coming home late from trips and events had been a common occurrence in their life. She was always almost asleep if he arrived late at their house from trips when he got home. Despite saying that she'll wait for him, exhaustion overtook her, and he completely understood because he knew how exhausting being a public servant can be. He would find her in bed with a book left open and slipped from her hand, her laptop open on her lap, and her glasses lost in the sheets.

He started to make a game out of it, guessing where she would fall asleep and what distractions were around her; laptop with unfinished speeches or work, book, TV. Whatever he stumbled upon, she would make him melt.

On some occasions, she had managed to stay awake before he arrived. She was always sleepy but fought it. Tonight he found himself shivering when he entered the house. It can be cold in the Philippines too. It was even colder when he entered the room because of the aircon, but he knew she was comfortable with the thick blankets.

When he crawled into bed with her, his instinct was to pull her for warmth immediately. She heard him moving around their bedroom but was too lazy to get up. She knew he would find his way to her eventually, and when she felt the bed move when he climbed in beside her, she smiled. Having him home was the nicest feeling. She knew it was raining, and that added to the cold air the air conditioning was blowing, so when she felt him slide his arms around her under the coves, she smiled, happy to share the warm bed with him. But when she felt his cold hands slide under her shirt and come to rest in her stomach, she almost jumped out of bed. She tried to squirm out of his embrace, but he wasn't letting her go easily. She faced him when she couldn't take it, murmuring a sleepy.

"Stop it, Mar."

"Well, it's raining at naka-aircon ka pa. Ang lamig kaya dito." He replied.

"Manigas ka dyan! And I almost forgot you're late, Sir."

"I'm sorry. Anong kailangan kong gawin para mapatawad mo ako?" he teased.

"Easy, kiss me" she replied. She reached up and pulled him for a kiss. She snuggled closer to him, and they stayed like that all night.

In the morning, he got lost in his thoughts about what he did to deserve someone like her in his life. Why had it taken so long? Sure, it was worth it, but part of him wished he could have met her sooner somehow. Just thinking of all the time they could have had if they had met when they were younger created a weird feeling of agitation and regret. Almost as if she could sense his agitation, she stirred in his arms, waking up, seeing it already morning, she buried her face in his shoulder. He smiled and started brushing her hair with his fingers. "Maayos tulog mo?"

"It's raining," she replied, which was not an answer to his question, just a fact she wanted to state.

"Yeah," he confirmed, "Wala naman tayong gagawin ngayong araw. You know what that means."

"Rest day," she said before stretching her arms for him to hug her.

Her sleepy grin made him smile and tousle her hair before cuddling her, being close to each other as physically possible. They lay in silence for a minute, listening to the gentle tapping on the windows from the rain but appreciating what it did for their lazy moods. Moments like this reminded her of when they were still secretly seeing each other. They would stay inside the room the whole day and order food.

"Mar?" she whispered now "May tanong ako,"

"Ano yon, hon?" he encouraged her gently.

"Do you ever think about the things you could change?" she voiced her concern carefully "yung mga nangyari sa buhay mo na sana mabago mo pa?."

"Lagi," he answered her right away, which surprised her.

"Anong babaguhin mo?" she asked boldly.

He sighed, thinking of all the possible answers.

"My brother," he recited first, "Sana di nalang ako nag-give way during 2010 elections, then losing my best friend.

He felt her tense up at the mention of his best friend. She hugged him tighter. "Hindi mo naman kasalanan 'yon" Grace assured him. "Kung may babaguhin man ako sana hindi na lang ako nanirahan sa U.S. at sana nandito ako nung tumatakbo si Papa." She said and buried her face in his chest.

"But it led us both here. Lahat ng nangyari ang nagdala sa atin dito ngayon." Mar shared and kissed the top of her head.

"Meeting and being with you in a different circumstance. Sana nauna kitang nakilala o nakilala man lang kita kaagad." he whispered, "I know," Grace replied. "Ang daming beses nating pwedeng magtagpo. Sa tennis camp, sa US, o sa rallies noon." he continued and Grace smiled.

She could imagine meeting him when they were younger. Due to their background in politics and showbiz, Mar could swear they could've met sooner. Her beauty and simplicity would have stood out in any crowd. Her laugh and personality would have captured his heart instantly. He closed his eyes, thinking back at all the events he went in the past, secretly hoping he could recall her face. It made his heartbeat a little.

"Paano nga kaya kung nakilala ko ang young grace?" he teased and stroked her hair she giggled against his chest. "Ibang-iba ako noong kabataan ko"she replied.

"Pero sigurado akong mahuhulog pa rin ako sayo." Mar pulled one of his cheesy lines which made her laugh. "Sus," she said.

"Ang mahalaga nandito na tayo ngayon. Sa dami ng "what ifs" ikaw ang tiyak sa lahat. Palangga ta ka, Grace." Mar said and those three words made Grace's heart leap. Hearing him say "I love you" in his mother tongue always melts her.

"Ginahigugma ko man ikaw, Mar" she replied as Mar kissed her. They enjoyed the rest of the rainy day in bed, safe in each other's embrace and warmth.

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🤍💛

Not really familiar with the dialect so please correct me if I'm wrong. I just googled the translation.