Closeted freshman student, Aries Buan, falls in love with his senior after getting partnered with him during their freshman orientation. Afraid to admit his feelings, he kept his emotion in check and watched his first love from afar, swearing to him...
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"WHY DID YOU ARGUE with your dad?" I ask before pulling out a cigarette and a lighter from my pocket so I can smoke the worries away. Aries doesn't answer me while he checks the condition of his car that he left on campus before we went on that trip.
Aries and I didn't say anything the entire time we went back to Manila. Even on the bus, we didn't say a single thing to each other, and I know that we decided to remain silent so we could both think of the right words to say. I also let my emotions get the best of me and lash out in panic, so the silence helped calm me down.
I light the cigarette and start smoking while I lean against Aries's car. After making sure that his car is safe to drive, Aries walks towards me with an awkward atmosphere around him before standing beside me.
As I exhale the smoke from my mouth, Aries glances in my direction before looking away again.
"I'm sorry," he suddenly says.
"I told you, stop apologizing."
"I didn't mean to lie to you."
"Why did you then?" I ask, pulling the cigarette out of my mouth so I can finally turn to look at him.
Aries hesitates again but takes a deep breath and finally explains, "I didn't want to go to the US because Dad actually planned that I take my internship there."
"What?" I ask in shock.
"I wasn't going to come back after New Year. I was supposed to stay there for the entire semester and only return during the graduation ceremony," he explains further. "But I didn't want to go. I didn't—" Aries pauses, and the look on his face instantly made me know what he was about to say next.
"No. Aries..."
"I didn't want to be apart from you," he finally reveals, immediately making me drop the cigarette on the concrete floor before stepping on it.
I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and massage my forehead to calm myself down. This is what I've been worried about ever since I heard from Art that Aries ran away from home. This was the very thing that I was worried about.
I love Aries. I love him so fucking much. But I don't want to be the person to take things away from him, especially when it's about his future. I don't want to be the reason why his family got worried about him because he's been missing for days. I don't want to be the person who ends up pulling him down.
"We aren't breaking up, aren't we? You didn't have to do all this just because we're—"
"Dom, long-distance relationships almost never work. When we're apart, anything can happen. And you're younger than me, and you're just starting college, and you're gonna meet so many people, and I got scared that you might find someone better because I'm such a coward," Aries suddenly explains, his eyes watery as I watch him try his best not to cry.
