15

BRIGHT'S POV

It has been a day since I got back and I was trying to reach Win... I left dozens of messages reaching out to him then I decided to go and check his social medias as well but there were nothing. He hasn't been posting recently. I was getting worried but I noticed Chimon wasn't active as well, maybe they're dealing with some family stuff. 

I gathered everything I have for him and got busy with school as well. I made sure everything was ready for the weekend for the past two days I couldn't contact Win. I saw him view my messages so I immediately dialed on his name, he didn't picked up so I decided to head to the coffee shop he works at. 

I sat for hours at the coffee shop but he wasn't there and I don't even know if he's coming... It was past 6pm when I gathered all my stuff and decided it's time to leave when the staff already changed and I saw Win walking out from the staff room. 

"Win!" I said upon seeing him. He looks so tired already. 

"Bright?" He confusedly said. 

"Where have you been? You're not answering my messages and calls, are you okay?" I asked when I got closer to him. 

"I-I got busy sorry... I need to go work now..." He said obviously being distant again. 

"I'll wait until your shift is over, then let's talk." I told him. He was about to protest but he was called for his shift.

I walked to a table in a corner and placed another order of coffee and some snacks I can munch on while Win is working. At first I was watching him and adored how he's so good at a lot of things. I started working on some plates and small drawings as well until I pulled out my sketchpad and colored pencils. 

"My shift is over, can we not stay here?" Win approached me after hours of him working. 

"Yeah, we could have dinner at my house... If you like?" I asked him. 

"Okay." He said. 

It was a quiet trip home. Win fell asleep after 5 minutes of driving, he's really tired... I wanted to ask him but I'll put it aside until after dinner, he looks really tired... 

"Win... we're here..." I tried waking him up when we arrived but he was sleeping so soundly.

I let him sleep for a few more minutes, I just stared at him most of the time. My emotions started coming out... that time he found me, that was the end of the line, I was ready to finish it all... I was ready to leave and give up on everything. I don't know what good was left in me or what I did for someone up there to send someone like Win... 

He saved me. I rarely believe in magic and fairytales, but he indeed is a sunshine throughout the series of all the very heavy storms that never leaves me. He is everything I could ever ask for and I know I lack a lot... I need to be better for him, I'd give him the world...

"Win, hey... you have to wake up now." I said shaking him a little harder. 

"Oh... hey, we here?" He asked and looked around. 

"Yep... we can eat and nap after if you want..." I told him. 

"We need to talk, we have a lot to talk about." He smiled and fixed himself before we got out. 

We walked in and it was quiet except for our helper who welcomed us with her very warm smile. 

"There you both are, I prepared dinner, go eat as much as you can, I'll go leave you two alone, we'll come back to get the dishes later." Our helper said. 

I thanked her and we sat on the dining table after putting our stuff down. 

"Nobody is home?" Win asked. 

"Nope, Namtan has to go deal with some work stuff she left. She'd come home later or at dawn." I told Win. 

We ate and talked a little, it was him asking about my LA escapade. 

"You look so tired... What happened to you?" I asked when we were chilling at the living room. 

"I'm gonna go cry, no." He said and pulled out some papers from his bag. 

"Oh Win, I know we rushed into this relationship but we gotta learn and grow with each other okay?" I told him. He sighed and stared at me for a long while. 

"My dad wants us in the business, he's being an ass and told mom he'd stop supporting me and Chimon if he doesn't get any one of us immediately on his service, that'll be me. I had to work extra shifts, I have to attend meetings and catch up to the business world he wants me in. I've been juggling school, work and another work to come lately and it hasn't been very easy. I know you're too fragile and dealing with a lot of shit as well, I didn't want to dump this to you, but Bright, you're the only left that gets me through the shitty days." Some tears started to fall from his eyes. 

I hugged him, he was crying and I made sure he felt safe with me...

"I am scared, my mom and brother would go through so much shit because of my father, and I know you know how it feels. I'm scared of everything Bright, I'm scared that my life will fall apart in front of me and I wouldn't be able to do anything to try and save me... us... I'm scared that it's all to dark and twisted, all of you would leave me." He said when we pulled out of the hug. 

"Win... hey, stop crying. I am here okay? I am here for all of it. The fun, the small things, the dark and twisty... all of it, I'll be here. I won't leave you. My family would be your family. I will introduce you to them." I said and smiled at him. 

"Y-you will?" He asked. 

"I will. Fix yourself up, I don't like you crying. I have so much stuff for you." I told him and got the big paper bags of stuff I bought for him. 

"This is too much." He laughed. 

"I got a few stuff for your mom and your brother, but you deserve all of this Win. You deserve the world." I told him. 

He was like a kid who got a bag of candies, he went through all of it and watched him as I hoped that smile never leaves his face. 

"You wanna stay over? You seem to have a lot to do..." I asked him. 

"Yeah, I'll go call mom and let her know." He said. 

I let him and walked up to get extra clothes for him and finally the surprise I've been wanting to give him. I went back down and saw him working on some school works... 

"Hey... here are some change of clothes." I told him and handed it to him. 

"You're gonna work on some school stuff too?" He asked. 

"Yeah why?" I asked.

"I enjoy watching you draw. I enjoy watching you do anything actually..." He said and gave me a goofy smile. 

"I have one more thing for you, but it's not from the US..." I told him and smiled. 

"What is it?" He asked. 

"My school work... here, can you read the task for me?" I handed the envelope to him. 

He was busy reading until he stopped and looked at me with suspicious eyes. 

"W-what is this?" He asked. 

"You're the one on the tourism field, care to tell me what it is?" I smirked at him. 

"A plane ticket, b-but... it says our name... El Nido..." He said and thinking about it. 

"It's gonna be one month being boyfriends hooman, we're celebrating, you're on leave and there's no school for you on the weekend." I said and smiled. 

"Omg! You are crazy! I love you!" He said and hugged me. 

"I love you too Win." I said and hugged him back.

He seemed to be so hyper after that so I let him go and do his school works but he was like Ton watching beside me when I pulled out my drawing stuff.

Win and I barely had time to bond with each other as we focused on our studies and dealt with our lives as well. We tried to make the relationship work though, we barely went out with our friends, all free time I had I made sure I hang out at the coffee shop he works at or I pick him up and hang out at my house since there is barely anyone there. Nap dates has became our thing, we take a few minutes of nap like a pause to the world and then we take on the world beside each other. 

The day of the monthsary trip came. I wanted to celebrate every moment with Win as much as we can, our lives aren't always a celebration, just a couple of days ago we actually fought about having not enough time for each other, we started taking our tiredness out to each other and said a few terrible things and not making this relationship work, but even though he was cold, I made sure this trip would happen. 

"You ready to go?" I asked when I picked him up. 

"Yep." He said and gave me a small smile. 

It was a quiet drive to the airport, he kept glancing as me but I could also feel him stopping himself from talking. I gave the ticket details to the attendant on the airport counters and they assisted us going to the private lounge. 

"Bright..." Win called to me as we were fixing ourselves  when we got inside the private plane. 

"Yeah?" I asked.

"I'm sorry..." He said like a child who broke a vase at home. He's just too cute. 

"I'm sorry too. I don't want to ruin this trip." I told him and took his hand. 

"We're gonna make the most out of this trip. I have something for you." Win said and gave me one of his brightest smiles. 

We took the nap date while we flew to the island. Win thought we'd be staying at the family home but what he doesn't know is that we have a whole villa to our self. He deserves the whole world. 

"Your house isn't that way." Win said when I turned left to the villas. 

"Yeah... we're not staying there. We've been staying at my house a lot in the city already." I told him. 

"Can we already swim?" Win said looking over to the beach. 

"Yeah of course, let's get the stuff to the villa and then we could go swim, grandma wants us at the house for dinner... then we're free to spend the rest of the time to ourselves." I said and put my arm around his shoulder. 

We went swimming immediately until the sun was setting. 

"Let's have a deal." Win said. 

"What deal?" I asked as we let the waves just carry us. 

"This vacation, we're working on our relationship, so messy fights don't happen like that. I know we have so much to learn..." I stopped him with a short kiss. 

"Let's save the speeches for tomorrow okay? Tomorrow is exactly one month, and I would like to take you out to dinner and we'd have all the time to talk under the stars." I said and smiled as I saw him blushing... 

"Is this kissing suddenly a thing now?" He asked. 

"We're in a relatioship anyway... you want more?" I smirked. 

"You are so naughty!" He said and splashed some water towards me. 

We washed up when it was starting to get dark... We got ready for the dinner we have with grandma. 

"Why do you look so stiff?" I asked Win when I looked over at him.

"Are you telling your grandma?" He asked. 

"Do you want to tell her already?" I asked him. 

"Yeah... but one at a time, is it only her?" He asked. 

"Yeah, it would only be her, the other cousins would be drunk or swimming or somewhere in around this island, we might meet some of them on the way..." I said which got him more quiet. 

"Hey... I got you okay? Don't worry... Grandma will keep this secret and she'd be happy about it. We can postpone if you like, we have all the time in the world to tell them about it." I told him. 

"If it's just grandma, then we're doing this." He said and smiled. 

We walked to the house and actually met a bunch of my cousins who are headed to the bar. They just finished their early dinner and they are actually inviting us for drinks after. 

"There you are! Ah! It's fun having you all around, except you are all alcohol driven now." Grandma said and laughed. 

"Hello to you too grandma" I said and hugged her. 

"Hello, oh... hello! You are Win right? Come on inside, I prepared a feast for the both of you!" She said and pulled us both to the kitchen. 

She wasn't kidding when she said a feast, there were so much food at the table, we enjoyed the meal and grandma had so many stories to share. 

"How was Ton?" Grandma asked. 

"She's fine, she's woke up, you called and she's still that hyper, you can call her from time to time" I said. 

"Oh, I might visit her one of these days, just gotta fix everything in here before I leave." She said. 

"I wish I could come." I told her.

"Oh if I could put you all inside my pocket, I'd bring you all even Win." Grandma said. 

I looked over to Win and he nodded when it was finally time to tell grandma about the relationship...

"Grandma... we actually got something to tell you..." I told her.

"What is it? Something I could help you both with?" She said. 

"The reason we're here actually... we've been a couple for month already..." I said as I tried to give her a smile even though I was also nervous inside. 

I felt Win held my hand from under the table and gave it a few squeeze trying to assure me that we'd make it through this day. 

"Oh look at you... don't be so nervous and all, I know it can be scary because this stuff isn't easily taken by people, but you both are welcome here! Congratulations! You both look good together! I'm so proud, you both are brave" She said and smiled at us. 

"Thank you" Win and I said both at the same time. 

"There's one thing... we would like you to keep it a secret, we like to be the ones to tell everybody else, one step at a time." I told her in which she smiled. 

"Of course, your secret is safe with me." She said and smiled. 

Grandma stood up and pulled out an expensive wine from the rack. 

"A celebration is in place. I could have a glass and you both could finish it." Grandma said. 

We laughed and talked more over the wine. Grandma said goodnight when we finished the wine. 

"You both have a great time, I'd be here anytime you need anything. Go grab everything you need from the pantry, it's a free grocery." She told us. 

Me and Win filled up a small bag and took some snacks we could eat. 

"What's our plans tonight? Are we getting drunk or you got something planned?" I asked Win. 

"I want a chill movie night, we're horrible when we're both drunk." Win said. 

We grabbed some chips, chocolates and two personal sized ice cream tubs. 

"What movie are we watching?" I asked Win. 

"You up for a disney movie?" He smiled at me. 

"You turned into a kid now?" I asked. 

"It's just my comfort movies..." He said shyly. 

"Oh don't be shy, I'm down for anything, as long as it makes you happy." He said. 

We spent the whole night watching Frozen and Frozen 2 while munching on the snacks and eating the ice cream. 

The next day we spent the whole day on the beach and we left all of our gadgets in the villa. I made sure though that everything would be set for dinner. Hoping Win would like the gift I got for him. 

"Where are we having dinner?" He asked as we washed up. 

"our place" I said and smiled. 

"We have a place?" He looked at me confused. 

"Yeah, you done?" I asked when I finished fixing my hair. 

"Where are we going?" He asked again. 

"You become dora now?" I giggled. 

"Oh Bright... go ahead, wait for me outside, I'll just grab my watch" He said. 

I then did went outside and checked on the staff in charge of arranging the place. 

When Win went out we started walking beside each other. He was clueless and I was smiling all the time. 

"Where are we really going?" He asked. 

"Just gotta follow the lights" I said when we reached the candle path my staff made. 

"Oh my gosh, the cliff..." He said when he realized where we were headed.

There were floating lanterns, fairy lights and candles all around us... After dinner, I signaled the staff that it was time for fireworks.

"Win, look at the moon, it's so bright tonight..." I said. 

After a couple of minutes staring, the fireworks began and I saw how surprised and happy Win was. 

"Happy one month hooman." I told him and he looked at me. 

"Happy one month." He said and smiled. 

"Here... I have something for you... you also have to listen to me, just listen first then you can talk after." I told him as I pulled the square box I've been trying to hide. 

"Win, I know it is all scary for you, as it is for me, and this first month, we got to learn so much about each other, I know our lives are as complicated as hell that we could imagine. I know that I lack so much, I get way too sad most of the time, I always fall apart, and I know you deserve better because you deserve the whole world... and I am willing to give it to you, just tell me. But I'm gonna need you to stick longer, I'm gonna need you beside me as we brace for everything else that could go wrong. You're pretty much the only sunshine that has been holding me together since the night you found me here when I was ready to give it all up. There's just so much more love I'd give you and I'll go through everything to find and make time for you. Because... YOU. DESERVE. THE. WORLD, don't ever forget that. I love you so much." I said.

"Oh Bright... I love you so much too, It may not seem like that but I am really used to not telling people I am in trouble that is why I don't tell you often even though I am close to giving up every time, but I need you as much as you need me, you're also the moon that lights up my darkest nights Bright, and I don't know what to do anymore if you're not there to cheer me up when I am having my breakdowns at your living room at 3am, I don't know if I could work long hours if you won't be there waiting for me with the biggest smile on your face and corny jokes even after the tough day you have, I am just lost without you, promise me you won't leave me..." He said. 

We spent a few hours at that cliff... He loved the metal anklet that I got him with an engraved airplane and clouds on it. He got me a matching band with him, I have the minimalist moon and he has the sunshine. 

We were pretty tipsy when we got back to our villa, we decided to go for a late night swim in our private pool but we ended the night making out in the pool instead...

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Thanks for reading! <3