Watching Sunrises

Tuna Casserole

A/N: With this new chapter, I already marked this story with a "Mature" rating. Nothing too explicit, but things can get pretty racy from time to time.

It's almost midnight in Pia's kitchen and here she is scrambling for whatever she could find in her fridge. Grocery day isn't until tomorrow, so it's pretty bare, but she has a few options. "Onion, garlic, cheese, all-purpose cream, tuna...okay, baked tuna carbonara it is."

She then laid out the ingredients on her kitchen counter and started chopping the onions into cubes. Then, the garlic.

Cooking isn't Pia's forte, by any stretch (she's more of a baker than a cook), but there's something oddly comforting about whipping something up in the dead of night. More so if it's shared with someone she loves.

Pia then craned her neck to get a glimpse of Loren on the dining table. "You okay over there?"

Loren responded with a thumbs-up. "At least she's talking to me, I guess?"

She mixed the ingredients together until the cream and pasta combined, then added more herbs than the last time she made this. Pia pondered for a bit, then, unlike if she's making this for herself, added some salt. "Hindi naman siguro ako mamamatay kung maglalagay ako ng asin, diba?"

For the final part of the saucy puzzle, Pia grated some cheese on top of the pasta and spread it around the dish before placing it in the oven. After doing that, she walked to the dining table and sat herself down right across Loren, now staring over some sort of distant object. "Hey."

Loren shuffled on her seat, but refused to look at Pia in the eye. "Maybe I should talk less. Baka nagsasawa ka na pakinggan ako, eh."

After a few minutes, Loren continued talking while fidgeting her hands. "Di bale, sanay naman ako na hindi pinapakinggan. Sa plenary nga, nilalayasan ako pag nag-s-speech ako, paano pa kaya pag sariling problema ko na ang pinag-uusapan?"

Pia's heart sank upon seeing Loren like this, even more so knowing she's the one who caused it to happen. She tried to find the right words to say, but words kept failing her tonight.

Instead, she rubbed the back of Loren's hand with her thumb. "Reg, I'm sorry for not saying anything a couple of days ago. Alam kong marami kang iniisip lalo na sa dissertation mo, so I didn't want to be an extra burden."

Loren finally looked Pia in the eye. "I understand that what happened must be really difficult for you, P. Sana lang sinabi mo that you wanted some space - maiintindihan ko naman iyon, eh."

The many attempts Pia made in order not to cry have started to fail her. "I just felt so powerless, you know. Here I am talking about all these things, but when it happened to me, I just froze."

She expected Loren to move her hand away, but instead, she flipped her palm up and gave Pia's hand a gentle squeeze. "P, hindi mo kasalanan ito. I may not always be here physically, but I'll do whatever I can to lighten the load if you want me to."

Pia started to sniff upon listening to Loren's words. To her surprise, Loren took a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped the tears off Pia's eyes. It's such a small gesture on Loren's part, but to Pia, it meant the world.

Not long after, the timer went off. She then got up and took the dish off the oven and served it on the dining area along with some plates and utensils. A delectable aroma has filled the kitchen while Pia sectioned off two slices of the casserole. "Sorry, hindi naman ako chef. Fun, fun lang cooking lang naman ito."

"Basta walang lason yan, ha?" Loren quipped.

Pia tapped her chin as if thinking something up. "Hmm, we'll see about that."