She Crossed That Bridge

29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Scars are beautiful . . .

"I can't believe Dest just kissed you on the cheek! Jusko! Pisngi lang talaga? Gano'n ka ba kapangit?! I was expecting him to kiss you on the lips with tongue on it because that's what he does all the time! He makes out with whoever the hell he wants." Halos mapatakip ako ng tainga ko dahil sa lakas ng bunganga ni Kath.

Bakit ba kasi siya ang kasama ko sa tent? Kawawa 'yong pandinig ko, gasgas na gasgas na sa boses niya.

I turned around to sleep, but she talked again. Seriously? Ayaw niya ba akong patulugin?

"Maybe you're not his type? Jesus. Shin, we really have to do something about your—face, your smell and all. Maybe he finds you disgusti—"

"Shut up, Kath," I cut her off.

I'm still pissed about Dest kissing me on my cheek, but I found it weird that I also felt disappointed dahil sa pisngi niya lang ako hinalikan. I wasn't expecting anything from him, so why do I feel this way?

"Or maybe . . . he respects you too much?" Kath wondered. That's not possible. Walang ibang ginawa si Dest kundi buwisitin ako buong buhay ko. He didn't care about me at all, so why would he even respect me? Sino ba ako para sa kanya? Eh lagi niya lang naman akong inaaway.

I remember him putting his chewed gum on my chair so I always walked around the school having a gum on my butt. He even made his dog bite me on my arm!

"Or maybe . . . he's really different from Helix when it comes to girls? You know, Helix stole his girl. Maybe Dest couldn't do that to Hel," dagdag pa niya ulit. Well, that's something I think I might consider about Dest.

"There's nothing to steal, Kath. Hel and I broke up. And no, Helix didn't steal Pauline from Dest. Pau was the one who initiated it all," I said, defending Helix.

"Whatever."

There's a moment of silence. I still can't stop thinking about Helix. I wanted to talk to him, I wanted to touch him, I wanted to . . . be with him. But I just can't. I didn't want to get hurt again. And I'd never want to hurt him again.

Pero normal lang namang ma-miss siya, 'di ba?

Normal lang naman hilingin na sana . . . kami na lang ulit.

Napabuntonghininga ako.

"Kath?" I said, but there's no response from her. I looked over my shoulder and saw her sleeping already.

A smile escaped my lips. She really falls asleep easily while it's really hard for me to sleep.

I got out of the tent to get some air. I tried not to make any form of noise, so I won't wake anyone up.

"Can't sleep, Park?"

Holy crap!

My heart almost jumped out of my chest when Helix suddenly came out of nowhere, holding a flashlight.

Grabe. Magkapatid nga sila ni Dest. Ang hilig nilang manggulat palagi! Ang hilig nilang sumulpot na lang bigla!

"Why are you still up?" inis kong tanong.

"I asked you first, so, you answer me first," he said, raising a brow at me.

"It's none of your business, Helix."

"Right," tumatangong sabi niya.

Akmang babalik na ako sa loob ng tent pero muli akong napaharap sa kanya dahil bigla niyang hinila ang kamay ko.

Napakunot ang noo ko. "What do you want, Hel?" I asked as I pulled my hand away from him.

Flashes of those times he pushed me away suddenly came rushing back to me. I didn't want that to happen again. I didn't want to feel like a useless person over and over again.

"I know you still love me," he trailed off. "And I don't blame you for breaking up with me. I got mad, sure. It was disappointing, sure. But I don't blame you for anything. I know I fucked everything up. I know I hurt you. I know I failed you. But that was when I've been getting treatments for cancer. I . . . tried to push you away because one day, my body might suddenly shut down and I could no longer be there for you. I was scared. And I'm sorry." His voice cracked, filling his eyes with tears.

I looked away. Seeing him like this made my heart heavy.

Ang bigat marinig mula sa kanya. Pero nakagagaan din pala . . .

He cupped my face and slowly turned it again on him. The moment our eyes met, I didn't get to stop the tears from falling and they started to fall from my eyes.

"I'm here now, baby. Please, give me a chance," he said in a low voice, giving me a soft kiss on my forehead.

I can see the sincerity through his eyes and it melted me. His eyes drove me crazy . . .

God, I missed him so much. Now that he's holding me close to him, it's . . . making me weak.

He's definitely the guy I've been longing for. He's definitely the guy I love.

And even if a wound could leave a scar forever, maybe . . . I should still choose not to fear getting hurt again. Because at the end of the day, scars remind us that we healed from something that once pained us. And I think that's a beautiful thing.

His eyes were still locked on mine.

"Do you promise not to—push me away again?" tanong ko. Hindi ko na kayang magmatigas sa harapan ng taong mahal ko. God knows how much I love this guy in front of me. The first time I saw him, I knew I'd love him forever. It's true. I loved him. And I always will.

"I promise," he eagerly said, gazing straight into my eyes.

Slowly, I nodded. "I'm sorry too, Helix. For leaving you when you needed me the most."

"It's not your fault, baby," he said, flashing me a genuine smile.

Seeing him smile like that after so many months made my heart happy. Who could've thought that the guy who once had cancer can smile genuinely like that? Like nothing happened at all. Like he didn't fight for his life.

Slowly, I wrapped my arms around his waist. A smile escaped my lips as he hugged me back.

Eight months. We haven't talked for eight months. We haven't seen each other for eight months. But those freakin' eight months made us realize how important we were to each other. And that we should never give up on each other again.

"This time, I promise not to leave you again no matter how many times you push me away," I said, hugging him tighter. "I love you, Helix."

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