Strings Of Perfection

Sylas' Playlist :p

All I know is---I’d do anything to carry the weight he's been bearing alone. To take all the hatred thrown at him and crush it in my fists. If I could rewrite every cruel word ever etched into his skin and soul, I would. A million times over.

I held him tighter, burying my face into his shoulder. Parang kapag binitawan ko siya, mawawala siya sa akin.

"Safe kana sakin," I whispered, not sure if he heard it, but praying that somehow, he felt it.

Ang kanyang mga daliri ay pumulupot sa aking kamiseta, ang kanyang mga hikbi ay mahina ngunit panay.

He clung to me like I was the only solid thing left in his world. Ramdam ko ‘yung bawat panginginig ng balikat niya habang pilit niyang kinakain ‘yung hikbi niya.

"Sorry," he whispered, voice cracking. "You weren’t supposed to see me like this."

"Psh. Tangina," I said, brushing the back of his head gently. "Ako pa ba pinagsasabihan mo n'yan? Umiiyak ka man o nakikipagsuntukan, mukha mo pa rin ang gusto kong makita araw-araw."

He let out a breathy laugh---shaky, short, and filled with something too painful to name.

"You're not disgusted?" tanong niya, sa wakas ay itinaas ang ulo, namumula ang mga mata. "Even after what they said? Even after seeing... those scars?"

"Disgusted? Tangina, Sylas. You think that's what I felt? Sa dami ng pinagdaanan mo, sa dami ng kinimkim mong sakit, hindi mo naisip na pwede mong ipakita ‘yan sa’kin?"

His bottom lip quivered.

"I tried to hide them, Creu. But they still saw it---and they said things that... weren’t wrong."

"Wag," I cut him off. "Wag mo ituloy. They don’t know shit, Sylas. They saw the marks but they’ll never know the weight. Pero ako? Tangina, I see you. And I’ll keep seeing you even when you can’t look at yourself."

His eyes shimmered again, this time not just from pain but from disbelief.

"Why do you even care this much?"

"Kasi gustong gustong gusto kita, gago. And I don’t care how scarred you think you are. You're still the same Sylas I look at like the world ends in your smile."

He cracked. Not from weakness---but from all the walls crumbling down at once.

"Stay," he whispered, holding on tighter. "Just... stay."

I wrapped my arms around him, burying my face into his neck.

"Always."

He was trembling in my arms, but this time, it wasn’t from fear or shame. It was from release; parang ngayon lang siya huminga ulit. Parang ngayon lang siya pinayagan ng sarili niyang humina.