Everglow

March 20, 2015: I'll be holding all the tickets, you'll be holding all the fines

A/N: Thank you to everyone supporting Everglow! For all the reads, votes and comments--  I wanted to reply to each and every one of them, pero this month is really being killer for me. But do know that I read all of them, appreciate them and take them into consideration. Salamat po ulit for hanging on to the story. 😊

FYI, this shall be a four part chapter.

And as I have mentioned before, throughout the coming chapters, hopefully more things will come into light. I hope I may be able to justify ficRj and ficMaine's actions to your liking. 😀

Oh, warning for a little cursing on Richard's part--slight lang though.

Again, thank you po ulit for hanging on and supporting Everglow 🙃

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Richard woke up that day with the plan. With his eyes closed, he reached over to his bedside table and grappled for his phone. He was surprised when his fingers met cold air, there was not a single solid thing within his reach.

Teka lang. Where am I?

He was almost scared to open his eyes and find himself in a foreign place, yet he slowly opened his eyes and was instantly met with grey curtains covering what appeared to be large windows which made up the whole wall to his right.

I'm at my apartment. It actually feels like I haven't been here in such a long time.

Wait. Teka. If I woke up at my apartment instead of our old house....How much days.... no, months did I skip?? How much did I miss????

Richard bolted straight up and adjusted his eyes to the surroundings. It looks exactly the same as he remembered--the walls were stark grey, near his mahogany doors was his bookshelf, adorned with several picture frames.

His eyes landed on a photo of him, Riza and his mother during his college graduation. He remembered how they both sandwiched him into a tight hug to take this photo--his mother had her head slightly thrown back, her eyes closed, and mouth open mid-laughter. A couple books over, he saw a picture of his mother in black and white. It was taken during her prime, but it was also the photo used during her funeral. He insisted that he be the one to keep it--his mother looked as if she was full of life, and as he looked at the photo, he still felt as if her eyes were twinkling through the frame's glass.

Richard's gaze then was averted to the picture to the far left--it was of him and Maine. He could not help but smile as he saw his younger self legitimately happy, arms wrapped around his favourite girl. Maine had her arm wrapped around his torso, and her other hand trying to keep her graduation cap in place. It was taken during their law school graduation around April of 2013.

We both looked so happy. I never thought I'd ever smile again after my mother died, yet here was a photo of myself looking like the happiest man on earth. It was all because of Maine. That day, I distinctly remember her telling me, as she cupped my dimpled cheek in her hand, "Don't lose that smile again, my dear."

Richard was jolted back to reality. The left side of his bed remained pathetically neat and untouched. His pristine white sheets suddenly felt achingly cold.

He dragged himself out of bed and walked over to his work desk. He picked up his phone and finally checked the date.

March 20, 2015?

2015??? I skipped two fucking years!

Richard suddenly felt a rush of panic. He did not know if anything has changed within the two years he unfortunately skipped, he had absolutely no idea if it was the same as he remembered.