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“mikhs… nasaan ka?”
mikha jolted up, immediately noticing stacey’s wavering voice. she’s been crying.
“what’s wrong, staks?”
“sunduin mo’ko. please?”
mikha put on her hoodie and shoes and grabbed her keys. “where are you?” she said as she headed out the door.
“sa bahay.”
“eh? bakit kita susunduin? anong nangyari?”
“just please…i don’t want to be here right now.”
“okay, princess. 15 minutes.”
“thank you, mikhs.”
“always.”
—
when mikha got to stacey’s house, she saw the girl sitting at the front door, head down and wrapped up in pink hoodie. mikha jumped out of the car and ran to her. “stacey, nandito na ako.”
stacey looked up and mikha could see the evidence of her crying, bloodshot eyes and the faint wet path from the tears. “mikhs…” stacey jumped up and hugged mikha tightly. the younger girl reciprocated, wrapping her arms around the former’s waist. mikha could feel stacey starting to cry again as she began to shake and sniffle in her arms.
“shh.. it’s okay, staks. i’m here. come on, let’s go.”
mikha took stacey’s hand and took her to her car. she opened the door for her and buckled her into her seat. when mikha sat back in the driver’s seat, she reached into the backseat and pulled out a pink care bear.
“here. para mayayakap mo ‘to habang nagda-drive ako.” mikha placed the bear next to her and she could see the small smile that appeared on stacey’s face.
the story of how the pink bear even got into mikha’s car was all because of stacey. the older girl complained of the lack of decoration in mikha’s car. (“ang boring mo!”) which led to her gifting the younger girl one of her care bears so people knew that stacey had been there. (“bakit ang possesive?” “kasi, ako lang dapat yung #1 passenger princess mo.”)
stacey held the bear in her lap as she hugged it, which put a soft smile on mikha’s face. the latter queued her and stacey’s late night playlist, started the car and drove off. “where to?”
“wherever… basta hindi dito.”
20 minutes later, the girls found themselves in a small parking lot by the playground near mikha’s apartment. when mikha looked back up at the older girl, she saw that she’d stopped crying heavily but a sad expression was still drawn across her face.
“are you okay, staks?” mikha asked, turning off the car but still letting the music play.
“i just…di ko na alam. nag-overthink na naman ako… tungkol kay BINI, tungkol kay mama, tungkol sa pagiging mag-isa at ayun, tapos bigla akong umiyak kasi…naiisip ko… wala magma-mahal sa’kin…” stacey sniffled through. “alam ko namang yan hindi totoo pero recently, yung nararamdaman ko…”
she knew it sounded dramatic. this shouldn’t be anything new to her – she’s an idol for gods sakes. but the silence at home only grew the voices until they were the only ones playing in her head.
“alam ko alam mo na, pero it doesn’t hurt to hear it again. there’s so many people that love you, stacey. lahat ng BINI girls, yung pamiliya mo, yung mga fans mo at yung blooms that waited for you and heard you out…” mikha said softly, “especially, me. nandito ako para sa’yo… palagi.”
stacey smiled a little bit, hugging the pink bear closer to her chest. “thank you.”
“so, wag ka na mag-overthink. maraming tao nagmamahal sa’yo, princess. human lang tayo. we make mistakes and we learn.” mikha said, with a smile. she reached into the backseat and grabbed a water bottle for stacey. “here, uminom ka, i’m sure dehydrated ka na sa kaiiyak.”
the older chuckled, “who needs a prince charming when i have you? prepared ka talaga sa’kin.”
“luh, for your information, i’m prepared for anything. ikaw lang nag-gagamit ang mga supplies ko.”
“bakit ako?”
“ikaw lang tumutawag sa’kin halos 3am na!”
“at sobrang grateful ako sa’yo…” stacey said softly.
“aiii… wag ka ma-soft sa’kin suddenly.”
“hindi ako nag-bibiro… i’m really thankful for you, mikhs. lagi kang nandito para sa’kin at alam mo kung anong dapat sabihin… halos 3am na, pero pinick-up mo pa rin ako, walang reklamo.”
it was mikha’s turn to smile softly, “of course, princess. i’ll always do anything for you.”
the younger girl got out of the car, confusing the older girl still in the car, but mikha appeared at her door, opened it and opened her arms for the older girl to hug. stacey moved towards the edge of the seat and wrapped mikha in a tight hug.
“anong gusto mong gawin na?” mikha asked, still holding stacey in her arms, drawing small circles on her back, “do you want to talk more or do you want me to just hold you?”
stacey bites her lip, as she asks carefully, “can i ask you something, mikhs?”
“hm?”
“kanina…sinabi mo… maraming tao nagmamahal sa’kin pero… you said especially you. anong ibig mong sabihin?”
mikha paused, her hands stopped drawing circles and her breathing stuttered.
she noticed?
she pulled back from her hug to look at the older girl. stacey’s eyes weren’t teasing. they were soft and searching, just geniune.
and that made it harder because now mikha had to say something real too. mikha exhaled slowly, “i meant it exactly how it sounded.”
stacey blinked, “so…?”
mikha smiled, taking stacey’s hand in hers, “so…out of all the people that love you, i think… i love you a little differently.”
stacey’s face softened at mikha’s confession. she didn’t say anything at first, she searched into mikha’s eyes but she found nothing but pure love. she looked down at the care bear in her arms, then back up at the girl in front of her.
mikha tried to continue her words, but the words caught in her throat as she saw stacey analyze her. her brows furrowed as she looked down shyly at their connected hands.
“sorry… wait that’s… that must’ve sounded weird…” mikha pulled her hands away, fidgeting with her hair awkwardly. “i didn’t mean for it to sound like that…”
stacey tilted her head, watching mikha fidget, “like what?”
“like…too much? lahat nalang sinabi ko. di ko alam… bakit di mo ako pinigilan? gusto ko lang sabihin na i care about you tapos ang dami ko pang nasabi…”
mikha blushed in frustration and dropped her forehead lightly against stacey’s shoulder “ay… never mind. ”
stacey giggled at the younger girl—not because she was teasing the girl (she could but not now), but because the action was so mikha: soft, careful and so easily flustered when she started speaking from her heart.
stacey took mikha’s hand in hers and with her other hand, played with the younger girl’s hair. “i think naiintindihan ko, kahit di mo alam paano sasabihin.”
mikha lifted her head up from stacey’s shoulder, her face displayed with surprise and a little bit of relief.
“okay.”
“pero…mikhs, ayokong malito kung saan tayo tumatayo… kaya…”
without hesitation, mikha stated, “i like you, stacey. matagal ko nang alam na totoo ang nararamdaman ko para sa’yo.”
it was stacey’s turn to blush. “huy…”
“too much?”
“hindi naman.” stacey held mikha’s hand a bit tighter, "hiindi ko in-expect na ganyan mo sasabihin…ang…”
“relieving?”
“parang… yeah… at sweet… so thank you for saying that.”
mikha smiled and hugged stacey once again. “i’m glad.”
the pair were quiet for a while with only the soft hum of their playlist playing in the background before stacey said softly, “i care about you too and i…i like you too, mikhs.”
stacey could feel mikha’s shock as the younger girl froze, then pulled up from the hug, eyes wide. “...really?”
this time, when stacey looked at mikha, her breath hitched and the quiet hum of her heart, that has always been there whenever she’s around mikha, now grew louder.
maybe… this was always meant to be something more
a small, shy smile grew on stacey’s lips as she looked at mikha, as if seeing her for the first time all over again. they wouldn’t be the same after this, but with mikha, she didn’t have to worry. she knew — this was love: real and unbreakable, and it was theirs.
stacey nodded, “i think i always have… just took a while to get there.”
mikha searched her eyes, looking for any signs of doubt or hesitation, but she couldn’t find any. just stacey’s bright eyes gleaming with so much love. has she always had those?
“thank you for telling me, princess. i would’ve waited for you if you didn’t know, but i’m happy you can tell me now.”
“i’m glad i could do something for you. ‘wag ka na maalala. dito na tayo. yung yun importante, di ba?”
mikha kissed the top of stacey’s head. “yeah. yeah it is.”
the moment settled over them, warm and uncertain but…filled with love.
—
mikha made her way back around the car and sat back in the driver’s seat.
“umuwi na? o dito lang tayo for a bit longer?”
“hindi ko gusto umuwi sa condo ko…”
“hindi, umuwi kasama ko. sleepover ka?”
stacey smiled, “okay.”
the older girl leaned over and kissed the younger girl on the cheek, “thank you, mikhs…”
mikha’s face turned red at stacey’s sudden action but still, she smiled back at her, “anytime, princess. wherever, whenever, one call away lang ako.”
“i know, mikhs.”
“good.” mikha said, starting the engine and pulling out of the parking lot, “magseselos ako kapag narining ko meron kang iba.”
“selosa ka pala, mikha lim?”
“pag ikaw ang usapan? syempre.”
stacey laughed, hugging the care bear in her lap, “ikaw ha!”
once they got on the road, mikha looked over with a smirk on her lips, “ako lang dapat tumatawag sa’yo ng princess.”
“ang kapal ng mukha mo!”
“you like it though.”
stacey jokingly pouted, “sige na nga. sasama na nga ako eh! ano pa ba gusto mo?”
“ikaw.”
“luh, baliw.”
“haha. wala akong care bear sa bahay ko, anong yayakapin mo?”
“ikaw nalang, mukha ka namang care bear.”
“compliment ba yun?”
“of course!”
“fine, pero ikaw magluto sa umaga.”
“deal.”
the two stayed quiet for a while before mikha broke it with, “hindi naman akong mukhang care bear!!”
stacey laughed as she held the care bear in her arms tighter and mikha’s pout grew deeper.
but beneath the banter, mikha was smiling, because stacey was smiling.
and mikha would do anything to see stacey happy.
as the street lights blurred past them, mikha was certain of one thing:
regardless of what was next, they’d have each other. because for them? love was that simple.
pure. soft. gentle.
and always one call away.