Chapter 14: Yes I do the comprehending!

"Chad! What are you doing here?" I asked him as he got closer and I stood up.

"You're not invited here," Luke got in his way aggressively.

The girls were interrupted with what they're doing and everyone got their attention focused on them.

"Calm down... Will yah..." Chad raised his hands in surrender and looked at me for help. "My sister asked me to come here to take her place..." He added.

So that's why he's here. I guess, she's not ready yet. For now, I got some explaining to do before things get ugly.

"He's right, Luke," I said as I pulled him lightly away from Chad. "I did invite Claire...She may have her own reason for not showing up but I guess this is what she came up with to not let us down... But for now, just let it pass... please?"

He took a deep breath and looked at Chad.

"Fine... But if you are up for nothing good, I'll beat the crap out of you, " he said then walked away.

Whew! That was close.

"So... Are you sure about this? I mean..." I asked Chad.

"My sister told me everything about what happened... As a brother, I felt bad for her but her problem is not my problem... I'm here for my own reason..."

"Huh?"

"I'm here to see you, "

I felt a bit awkward when I heard that. I glanced at Luke and was relieved that he didn't hear it. Wait... Why did I get bothered by that? Why did I get a feeling that this would mean trouble?

One of the staff called our attention.

"Our dear visitors, we'll have your room prepared... In the meantime, please relax and enjoy yourself."

The girls squeal with excitement.

"Hey, Bes, we're going to take a walk at the beach, would you like to come with us?" Jenna invited me.

"Sure, I'll go after you," I said then watched them trotted towards the beach.

-----

I introduced Chad to the rest of the boys. At first, they can't believe that he and Claire are siblings but Chad seemed to get along well with them. They started to talk about sports, cars, and girls. Well, I don't have much to share so I walked my way out to the beach. The girls were being girls, taking photos here and there...

I got the chance to watch the stillness of the sea... I closed my eyes for a moment and listened to the sound of the waves... I felt the warm breeze went pass through me... This place is really amazing, being close to nature like this is a breath of fresh air... I bet Luke had a wonderful life living here.

"What do you think about this place?" Luke asked as he stepped beside me from behind.

"Well... With everything I'm seeing right now, this place is incredible... I'm just wondering why you decided to modify this place... You have your mother's memory here."

"She's the one who wanted this to happen..." He said looking at the horizon.

"Huh?"

"I remember... she told me that she wants other people to see this place... How beautiful it is... Back then, she planned to make this place what it is now. I just carried out her dream to reality..." His voice was calm but I sensed sadness in his eyes.

"Do you miss her?"

"I do... But... Somehow I felt happy..."

"What do you mean?"

"Because I was able to fulfill my promise to her."

"You mean... this resort?"

"Nah..." He uttered then looked at me.

"I promised her that one day... I'll bring someone with me... to witness the sunset... Someone dear to me..."

His eyes reflected the golden rays of the setting sun... They were fixed at mine... My heart trembled... But I don't want to look away... I like the way his eyes made me feel... mesmerized.

"Oh my God!!! This is beautiful! Definitely IG worthy!" Jenna blurted out cutting our moment.

She had her phone up and took pictures. Pam and Miya came after her and we're also amazed. The other boys joined us shortly. It's good to see everyone gathered up and being enthralled by the glamour of the dusk.

I looked around but didn't find Chad. I turned around and he was there standing, not far from us... I made an effort to call him but he walked away.

-----

We were back in the living room area and we were told by Manager Ben that there were four rooms prepared for all of us. The girls will be staying together in one room so for us, boys, we can have three rooms but the question is who will be in the same room together.

"If I can't be in the same room with my girlfriend then I want to be with my bro here," Niko said as he put his arms around my shoulder.

"I'm good with that, " I said.

"I want to be with Jenna..." Alex blurted out. Jenna looked at him for a second then looked away. He got ignored again.

"Cut it out, Alex... You stay with me..." Luke scolded him and Alex just obeyed with a dejected look.

"That means Mike and I will share the other room," Jessie said as he looked at Mike, who just nodded.

"So the one who hasn't got any room yet is... Chad." I looked at him and saw him staring at me.

"He can sleep in my bed... I don't mind sleeping on the floor!" Jenna proposed with her eyes glimmering.

"I'll sleep on the floor with you!" Alex said loudly with his right hand raised.

Jenna looked at him with glaring eyes as she clenched her fist and brought it up to her chin.

"Stop embarrassing yourself, Alex!" Luke said as he pulled his brother's ear and yanked him away. Alex just rubbed the pain teary-eyed.

"Hmmm... It appears you got yourself a boyfriend for your birthday..." Miya whispered teasing on Jenna.

"Who? Him?" She muttered as she glanced at Alex who was just staring at her smiling. "No Way!"

"It's not fair! I don't want to be left single after this trip!" Pam complained childishly.

"Chad can't stay in your room. You're all girls!" Niko asserted with a frown.

"He's right... I got a lot of respect for ladies..." Chad said dropping Jenna's offer.

"Uhm... If you want you can stay in our room. Maybe we can ask for extra cushion." I suggested.

"I can't say 'No' to that!" Chad seemed so excited about it.

"No!" Luke exclaimed. It was so loud that all of us got his attention.

"Uh... You can share the room with my brother" he said as he pushed his brother towards Chad.

"What? You're abandoning me..." Alex sounded piteous.

"Don't be so melodramatic, Alex... You would be fine..." He said.

He's acting weird. I can't tell what he is up to...

Then He walked closer to Chad.

"Uhm... Since I own this place, it's my responsibility to ensure high-quality hospitality services and making sure all needs are covered. That includes comfort for every customer. So Chad... You can share the room with my brother." He explained.

"O-Okay?" Chad uttered quizically.

Wow... He really acted like a legit business person. He thought of it for the sake of this place. They are new to the business as a service provider so there should be no complaints or whatsoever. But he is our friend as well...

"How about you?" I asked him

"I can stay in the cabin at the back" he answered.

I felt bad after hearing that... We're here to enjoy this place. I don't want him to be alone...

"Well, I won't be able to sleep knowing a friend is sleeping in a cabin while the rest of us is under cotton and linen. Why don't you join us in our room, you don't need to worry about your responsibility." I suggested.

"Good!" He uttered as he nodded.

"Ben! prepare additional cushion for their room..." He ordered Ben as the latter walked out of the dining area.

"Will do, young master!" Ben bowed down.

"Huh?" I muttered. What's going on?

"That's settled then... Now let's eat." He said then I saw him sneered at Chad before heading to the dining area.

The rest followed him delightedly since most of us were hungry already. Chad looked at me first, shrugged his shoulders, then followed them.

I was a bit confused. I  walked over to Manager Ben who was talking to staff about bringing an extra cushion to our room.

"Manager Ben... Is there a cabin nearby?" I asked him.

"Uhm... There's none, sir."

I got deceived and fell again in his trap. He's really annoying but I found myself smiling.

-----

We had our dinner and we enjoyed the food so much... They prepared seafood of all sorts; buttered shrimp, calamari, steamed fish, baked mussels, crabs, and seafood curry... It was the best dinner I had in my life...

Luke told us that there will be a bonfire by the beach. So we got ourselves ready and headed to the bonfire area.

We were enjoying the night with marshmallows and booze except for Pam who settled with fresh fruit juice.  Maybe she got aware of how she behaves whenever there's alcohol running in her blood. Niko and Miya were sweetly sitting next to each other. Chad was chatting with Mike next to Pam. Jessie was laughing at Alex's silliness and Luke was sitting beside him just listening to their conversation with his usual poker face.

I caught sight of Alex glancing at Jenna once in a while and even made some remarks on Jenna but she didn't even make any comments or noticed Alex's effort. Well, it hasn't been passed twenty-four hours since they met, but I think they really make a good couple. They complement each other.

"Jen, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"I know I don't have a say on this but why are you ignoring Alex?

"Huh?" she uttered

"He's totally into you... Look!"

We both gazed at Alex who was staring at her at the moment. He waved at us and smiled.

"He got the good looks like his brother, his personality is the total opposite of Luke but he's not bad," I told her trying to help her realize what she could be missing.

"Hmmm... He looked young and immature" she opposed.

"We're just a year ahead of him and you're immature yourself. It's a match!"

"I'm not immature, just a bit wet behind the ears."

"Why don't you give Alex a chance? That way you'll get to experience... that.."  I pointed to where Niko and Miya were sitting wherein Niko got his arm around Miya.

Jenna looked at them and I saw how her expression changed.

"Jen... I'm sorry... I know you have feelings for Niko but I think you need to accept that he's happy with Miya. It's time for you to open your heart to someone else."

She looked at me.

"Am I too obvious?"

I nodded.

"Haist. I'm trying to forget what I feel for him... I really do... But something kept me holding on to this feeling."

"You're just afraid... I know... You're afraid that if you'll let go, you won't find your own happiness."

"Maybe you're right..." She said and let out a faint smile.

I rubbed her back to show her that as her best friend I want her to be happy and to be with the right person.

"Now let me ask you your question"

"Huh?" I uttered.

"Why don't you give Luke a chance? You said he's good looking. He had done things to make you happy. Even this amazing get-away, is not for me... I know he planned this all for you..."

Geez! She's really quick at turning things over.

"But..."

"Don't you dare use the reason that you like girls because I know, you don't. You haven't stared at Pam the way you do at Luke... as a matter of fact, I haven't seen you look at any girls at all, instead of me..."

"But..."

"Uh-uh, I'm not finished yet," She shushed me with her index finger in front of my face then continued talking.

"I'm your best friend... You should be telling me things about you and not hiding it from me."

I felt guilty all of a sudden, I haven't been honest with her. I wasn't able to say anything. I just looked away from her and up in the night sky.

"So what do you say?"

"Uhm, how can you be sure if you like someone?" I asked her off-topic...

"That's easy... Before whenever Niko got so close to me... My heart beats faster... and I start to blush... it's like my face becomes warmer and... I got this unexplainable feeling when I got a chance to look into his eyes..." She explained.

"I see."

"But I eventually learned to control my feelings the more I realize we can't be together..." She added.

"Jen..."

"What?"

"I think... I like Luke."

She screamed so loud and I covered her mouth with my hand.

-----

Jenna made everyone startled with her shady outcry but we made an excuse so that they won't question us anymore. She then asked me the details, when did it start, how it happened, do I have plans to tell Luke about it. I told her everything and her eyes glimmered for every part that I shared with her. Her BL fantasy world is coming true bit by bit.

I asked Jenna to keep my confession to herself. I don't have any plans yet to tell Luke about how I feel about him. Later that night, the girls all went up to their room to sleep for tomorrow's celebration. Jessie and Mike went up to their room to rest, they're the ones who drank the most. Chad, Alex, and Niko head to the game room to play billiards, they got excited when Luke told them about it. I stayed at the beachfront sitting on the sand with a bottle of beer on my hand.

I felt a little relieved after I opened up to Jenna, at least now, I know she got my back on this.

"Can I join you?"

I lift my head up and saw Luke wobbling beside me.

"Sure!"

He sure looked drunk already. He even had trouble sitting down properly.

He sat beside me and we stayed silent for a while. I can see him glancing at me through my sight-line but I just kept a straight face looking at the ocean that was being illuminated by the moon.

"Did you know that the moon didn't realize how lovely it is... until the ocean served as its mirror?"

"Huh?"

"The more it gets closer to the ocean, the more the ocean gets drawn to its beauty... Like us... You're my moon and I'm your ocean."

Our eyes met once again and I felt my heart quivered. I swallowed a lump in my throat as his face got closer to mine... Then I got a whiff of alcohol from his breath so I moved back a little.

"Y-you're drunk, you t-talking non-sense n-now," I told him and it seemed like he noticed me panicked a little. He just smirked.

"You never get tired of poking fun at me... Huh?" I asked squinting my eyes at him.

"I just love the way you react, especially when your face turns red. It tells me something..." He teased.

"Oh yeah? It tells you what?"

"That you're mine... And I'm your's"

"Okay... That's it... I'm outta here!" I put the bottle of beer down, stood up, and wiped off the sand on my backside. I was about to walk away when he grabbed me by the hand.

"I'm sorry... Actually, I need to talk to you." He sounded serious.

"About what?"

"About Claire."

I wanted to talk to him about her but I never thought he would reach out to me about it. This is a good opportunity to persuade him to admit guilt so I sat back down beside him.

"I know you want me to apologize to her for what I said or did to her but please listen to me first."

I nodded. I wonder where this could lead to.

"I knew it was you who's texting me... not her." He conveyed.

"You do?" I was astounded.

"Yes... remember the first message you sent me... I did call your number... I was there when you struggled to turn your phone off... I saw it."

So from the beginning, he knew it was me. But why didn't he say anything at all? Why did he let it come to this? Is he the one to blame or me?

"I didn't know the reason back then why you started texting me but I just go on with it. That's why I reacted badly when Claire told me she was you."

So that was it all about... the pain I saw in his eyes. I was not able to react from what I'm hearing, I just kept on listening and let him do the talk.

"I happened to see Jenna when I tried to look for you. She told me everything and that stupid deal of yours."

My ears perked up when he gave emphasis on the word 'stupid'.

"Hey, it's not stupid! I'm just caught in between..."

"I know... That's why called it off. I'm just so frustrated that Claire had to go that far..."

"Because she likes you that much!" I raised my voice when I felt he's deriding her.

"But I don't and I will never will..." He protested but I still believed it's not enough reason to treat her like that.

"You could have been more gentle to her..."

"And why would I do that?" He said not giving any concern to her.

"She's a girl!" I raised my voice once again.

"So girls can't be slap with reality?"

"No... She deserves respect."

"Respect? How can you expect me to respect someone who didn't even respect herself... She didn't even respect you! For God's sake! Kris! Stop defending her!" He sounded mad.

"I just don't understand why you have to be so vicious to her." I'm really having a hard time to break his shell.

"I did that because of you!"

"Me? Why me?" I uttered. Is this another one of his tricks? Well, he said Claire went too far but he's doing the same thing... I can't believe he made someone transfer school just to get back at me.

"I see... You just want me to suffer the consequences... Being guilty as fuck! Well... congratulations! You've done it... I feel guiltier than ever... I really wanted to say sorry to you Luke... But I guess, you're not worth it."

"You didn't get it, do you? Did I ever ask you to say sorry?"

"But why? All you did is annoy me..."

I noticed his eyes... I saw pain deep down his brown eyes... He wanted to say something but he bit down his lower lip...

"What do you want from me?"

Right after I said that he pulled my face and sealed my lips with his.

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