The morning after felt… quiet.
Not the kind of quiet that screamed avoidance or regret.
But the kind that made you want to stay a little longer under the blanket, listen to the faint humming of the city, and pretend the world outside didn’t exist.
I woke up with my head on his chest, one leg tangled over his, and his arm still around me like he never let go all night.
He smelled like linen and leftover cologne. The couch was small.
Uncomfortable.
My neck was probably going to complain in an hour.
But i didn’t move.
“Gising ka na pala,” Calix murmured, voice still hoarse from sleep.
I blinked. “No. This is just my ghost.”
He chuckled, and i felt it against my cheek.
“You stayed,” he said.
“I did.”
And i didn’t even fight it.
He kissed the top of my head, then my forehead.
Slow. Gentle. Almost reverent.
“Tara. Breakfast?” he asked after a while.
“I don’t want to move,” I groaned.
“Same.”
We just lay there, pretending the world had paused for us.
And maybe, for a few stolen hours, it really did.
He eventually bribed me with pancakes.
Literal, from his personal stash of pre-mixed batter in the kitchenette.
Who knew this man even knew how to cook?
“Since when did you know how to flip pancakes?” I asked, sitting on the counter, still wearing his jacket.
“Since i realized breakfast was the one thing i could learn to make to impress you.”
I laughed. “Baliw ka.”
“Infatuated, maybe.”
“Kapal.”
“Cute mo kaya ngayon.”
“Calix,” I warned, cheeks heating.
He grinned. “Ayan, namumula na.”
“Baka masamid ka dyan—”
“Sige, halika dito. Kiss mo nalang ako para maligtas ako.”
I rolled my eyes but leaned down anyway and kissed him, slow and sweet.
God, when did this become so easy again?
By noon, we were back on the road.
He didn’t take me home right away.
Instead, we stopped by a hidden garden café somewhere in Tagaytay, one of those places na hindi pa nauubos ng Instagram.
Walang masyadong tao.
Walang masyadong ilaw.
Just nature, coffee, and a little peace.
We sat in a corner booth.
He ordered for me.
I didn’t complain.
I was too distracted by the way he looked, relaxed, slightly sun-drenched, hair still messy from earlier.
“Ang tahimik mo,” he said, sipping his drink.
“I’m just…” I paused. “Soaking this in.”
“This?”
“You. Us. This whole… weird thing we’re doing.”
He tilted his head. “Do you want it to stop?”
“No.”
And i meant it.
We walked around the garden after.
Hand in hand. No rush. No destination.
Parang nagbabakasyon lang kami sa ibang buhay, yung hindi kami nasasaktan, walang expectations, walang pressure.
Parang hindi kami dalawang taong nasaktan, nasira, at muntik nang hindi magkatagpo ulit.
I looked at him as he paused to admire some ridiculous succulent.
He looked like a boy again.
Like the boy i fell in love with.
And maybe—maybe—I was falling again.
Not to a stranger.
Not to a new man.
But to someone i used to love… and maybe never really stopped loving.
“Alam mo,” I said habang naglalakad kami pabalik sa car, “kahit ilang taon na ang lumipas, kahit galit ako sayo for the longest time… the truth is, I still remember everything about us.”
He turned to me.
And this time, it was his voice that softened.
“Same, Bella.”
My heart jumped at the nickname.
“You still call me that,” I said.
“Lagi,” he said. “In my head. Even when i hated myself for it.”
“Ang drama mo.”
“Mas drama ka.”
“Tanggap.”
We both laughed.
And i swear, for that split second, everything, everything felt right.
We reached the car.
He opened the door for me.
And as j was about to step in, he suddenly pulled me back.
“Ano ba—”
“I just want to kiss you again.”
So he did.
Right there in the middle of the lot, under the lazy sun, with strangers passing by and the wind in my hair,
He kissed me like he was making up for six years of silence.
And for once, I didn’t push him away.
We drove home with my hand in his again.
No awkwardness. No doubts.
Just two people, two broken, proud, messy people finding their way back to something soft.
I don’t know what we were.
I don’t know what we were becoming.
But maybe, just maybe—
We were starting again.
And this time, we weren’t rushing it.