Royals: Misfits

chapter twenty

20: Run Monster, Run

ALEXID

"Right in front of my SALAD?!"

"Where's the salad? The existence of the said object is not here."

Agad akong lumingon kay Cosine na inosenteng nakaupo sa sofa sa living room. He looked at me like I'm weird.

You are the one who's weird, Cos!

Nagulat ako noong makita ang text message ni Daryll, saying Alli was kidnapped by Dexter! Like fudge! Hindi ko man alam and tungkol don!

I was too focused on March's proposal about her fixing Thea's case. Yup, the said girl harassed by that bastard. March explained everything and pretty much what happened to the case. Naintindihan ko naman lahat, but there's one thing that really clicked: Evan as witness to the case.

That's when I realized how Alli was serious from all this. Ayoko man mag-assume but baka may kinalaman nga ang kaso niya kay Evan. And man, if that happens, hindi ko na maisip pa ang kayang gawin ni Alli kay Dexter. I mean, we're doing all this for justice. Allison's justice is Evan.

After weeks of thinking about being in Royals, halos nakalimutan ko na ang dahilan bakit pa ako sumali. All I think about is helping Alli and the group get the peace we want.

I suddenly forgot about Danielle that kept appearing out of nowhere just to annoy me. I was too occupied about Allison and Dexter's feud about Evan.

Madilim pa rin ang gabi, pero hindi ako makatulog dahil sa naging balita kay Alli. Hopefully, she's staying in Daryll's place. Pinilit kong manood ng TV sa living room but my mind's still bothering me.

"I assumed that the humor behind the show isn't your type but the way how your face looked, you seemed so bothered. Are you okay?"

Nakalimutan ko nga palang katabi ko si Cosine.

I scoffed. "Ikaw na nga nagsabing 'I looked bothered' tapos tatanungin mo ko kung okay lang ako? Oo naman heto ako, hindi makatulog. I'm totally fine!"

Matagal ang naging katahimikan 'till he spoke again. "Can I hug you?"

Ano?! Agad akong napatingin sa kanya, kunot ang noo. "Aba, tumaas ang self confidence after nung halik ko ah!"

"N-No, t-that's not what I'm... hugging releases a chemical called oxytocin that has a very strong effect mostly on women. It's often associated with happiness and tends to lessen stress, commonly associated with norepinephrine. It tends to calm a person down."

N-Noreprinprin-

What the f*ck was that? B*tch the only thing I understood was the last sentence!

I sighed, spreading my arms wide for him to hug me. Ngumiti muna siya ng parang bata bago ako lapitan at yakapin nga.

After that scenario back at the mansion of Alli's cousin, I didn't expect that we became so comfortable of each other. Sa unang tingin kasi, siya yung taong hindi ko magiging ka-close, but turns out, it's possible.

Since then, we can talk about our own problems without any filter. I mean, to be honest, he's actually good to talk to (pwera lang kapag may sapi ni newton).

Entertaining rin pagtripan ang ka-inosentehan, hehe.

"Are we now cuddling or what?" agad kong tanong nang mapansin ang matagal naming pagyakap sa isa't isa.