02

"Tiberius! Tiberius, wake up, you sleepy head!"

I groaned and wrapped myself up. "You're so loud. Go away. Let me sleep," I shifted my position and continued to sleep.

I felt someone shaking my body. "What's this? A cocoon? C'mon, Tiberius wake up, hmm?" I knew what he was doing but I still let myself get swayed.

My eyebrows met as if I was annoyed at him and removed the covers from me. "Fine, I will!"

"Aww are you mad, Tibby?" He chuckled and his eyes faded again.

This is not healthy for me. My heart might explode seeing him this cute.

I put my hand on his face and pushed him so I could stand. I walked to the dining room with my ears still red. I'm pretty sure my cheeks are red as well.

I was shocked when I saw the dining table all set up and food was served already. I looked back at Diesel who was cockily leaning on the wall while his arms were crossed and wearing a playful smirk.

"Impossible that you did this," I looked at him with questioning eyes.

His expression changed from being proud to something.. weird. He's pouting. "Yeah, yeah. Fine! I was the one who received the food from mom," he rolled his eyes and sat.

I chuckled and ruffled his hair. "Thank you for fixing the table," I sat down in front of him. He was still pouting which caused me to laugh.

I started to put food on my plate but he still wasn't moving.

"Haa.. you're such a baby," I pushed my chair backwards and started to put food on his plate while he was still having his tantrums. I ruffled his hair and sat back down.

His eyes were just fixated on me and then suddenly took his gaze away from me and started eating. I just shook my head while smiling and started to eat as well. It took a couple of minutes before he started talking again.

"Wanna go to the arcade tomorrow?" he stated while peacefully eating his hotdog followed by a spoonful of rice.

He looked at me with his mouth full when he noticed that I didn't give him a reply. "Well?"

"O-oh uhm.. yeah sure. It's been a while since we visited that place," I awkwardly laughed at ate again.

Diesel just scoffed and finished his meal while we talked about random things. And naturally, he'll be the first one to use the bathroom since I'm a slowpoke at eating.

After he was done, it was my turn. I was done washing the dishes already and preparing my clothes to wear. Today's Friday, gotta go to the afternoon classes together with this brat. Yep, both university students, age: 19.

"Oi, Tibby, go!" he winked at me while drying his hair. He was basically telling me to get my ass in the shower and get ready or we'll be late.

"You really are a slowpoke at everything, Tibby," he was suppressing his smile.

"Hah?" I glared at him while we were walking and pulled his backpack. "Mind you, I'm older than you. Show me some respect," I smirked.

"Oh really? Should I call you uncle, then?" he laughed and ran away from me because he already knew what I was gonna do.

"You can't get away from me, you broom hair!" So, we were like kids running and chasing each other.

In the end, we both still got to school late and.. tired.

We have the same course so it wasn't really a problem. We didn't need to split up. He was humming something random that I don't know where he heard it from but looking at him slightly leaping while walking made me think of how cute he is.

"What ya lookin' at?" He snorted and bumped his shoulder with mine while laughing.

My hands were inside the pocket of my trousers. "Something disturbing." I tried my best not to let out a laugh but failed.

"Excuse me?" He placed his hand on his chest, mockingly telling me that he was hurt.

I chuckled and ruffled his light brown hair. "Your hair's especially messy today. Don't you have a comb, Diesel?"

He rolled his eyes. "Well, that's a compliment for me, thank you. By the way, why is it taking so long for us to arrive at the room than usual?"

Come to think of it, he's right. It's like we've been walking for almost an hour inside this school but we still haven't arrived at our room. Yeah, I was exaggerating it but it seems like we've been walking for too long. We're 10 minutes late already.

"Ah! Here we are." We entered the back door without anyone noticing us and sat at the back as well.

We brought out our notebooks and ballpens and tried to stay awake for the whole lecture, well, just him. If I sleep, we won't have notes. See, this dimwit just goes to school to sleep like it's his own room. My eyes were tired trying to look at the old man who was talking for hours. I gazed at him who was sleeping so soundly and occasionally munching because it was one of his sleeping habits which I found cute. I soft giggled while enjoying looking at him until the lecture ended.

I gathered my things and put it in my bag. I pinched his nose to wake him up and slowly, he opened his eyes, rubbed them and yawned. "Is it done already?"

"Mhmm. Now get up and go to your class."

We walked out of the room and walked together until we needed to split up. He has a different schedule.

"Don't sleep, okay? Listen to the lecture for once," I ruffled his hair again and fixed his polo.

"Yeah, yeah. Let me go now, dad?" He snorted and suddenly pinched my cheeks. "I gotta go. See you later, okay?"

•

My classes ended at 5 but I'm still waiting for Diesel to finish his classes at 6. "Tibbyy!!" He enthusiastically called me while running towards me.

I patted his head when he was in front of me. It became a habit for me to ruffle his hair and I guess it grew on him too. Can't help it, he really looks like a puppy with his eyes sparkling and an imaginary tail wagging. I gave him his frappe, and we started to walk.

"You're always the most energetic when classes finish." I laughed and placed my arm around his shoulder while we walked.

"Don't you miss auntie and uncle? I'll go with you if you have plans on visiting them." He flashed me a wide smile.

"Mm.. next week?" I rubbed my chin and thought of what my schedule will look like next week. "I guess next week works."

"It's settled then. Let's go!"

I chuckled at how energetic he was. Once we arrived at home. I took off my jacket and my backpack. I layed on the sofa to try and relax my back for a bit because I'm a 19 year old with back pains of a 50 year old. I didn't know where Diesel was but I figured that he was in his room or in the shower.

I entered the shower knowing that he wasn't there and took a bath. He's probably in the room passed out again or just playing games. It became a daily routine for us to be like this. Since we started going to college, we've been living in the same unit. Well, when we were young we basically lived together in a way? Our houses were just close to each other

When I was done taking a bath, I entered our room. Yep, just one room with 2 beds. I saw him on the floor, his clothes all wrinkled from moving too much, playing on his phone and laughing. We kinda made this agreement since then that we can't sleep or lay down on the bed unless we took a bath.

"D, it's your turn. Go take a shower, you stink." I threw him his towel.

He mimicked what I said in a mocking voice. "Will do, dad!" He laughed and turned off his phone. When he was out, I put on my clothes and started to cook for dinner.

Diesel doesn't have any talent for cooking so I'd rather cook rather than eat something that isn't edible.

"What's for dinner, Tibby?" He peaked from the room while wearing his shirt. Well, my shirt.

"Chicken fillet. Also, stop wearing my clothes. Don't you have your own?" I secretly smiled but tried to sound annoyed. I like seeing him wearing my clothes at home. It's too big for him but it suits him well.

"Meh. I like comfy clothes. And I can also smell like you so I like it." He sniffed my clothes and cutely smiled.

I faked a cough to calm myself down. My heart was pounding like crazy. I can't handle his cuteness very well.

"Tibby, aren't you tired of seeing this face everyday? I mean, since we were kids, we hang out. Until high school and until now. We've been together since we were 17 years old." He rested his chin on his palm while using his other hand to get his chicken.

"Hmm.. nope. Why would I get sick of your face? Especially the bird's nest on top of your head." I glanced at his hair and laughed.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Why don't you just tell me that you're madly in love with me that no matter how many years pass, you still won't get sick of this pretty face of mine, right?" He was trying to act cute in front of me.

"Stop acting cute, doesn't fit you, D. I lost my appetite." I put down my utensils as a joke and acted as if I was disgusted. I covered my mouth and minutes later, I laughed.

He leaned towards me and smacked my head. "You stiff-faced."

"I told you. Dry your hair properly. Don't air dry it, you'll catch a cold. It's getting colder these days because it's almost Christmas."

I was drying his hair with a small towel while he was sitting. He looked up to me. "You sound like a dad, Tib," he chuckled. "Ah, come to think of it, what do you want to do for Christmas? We didn't have the time to celebrate our 2nd anniversary. Wanna do something special?"

I was back to drying his hair. "Hmm.." I pretended to think. It was just to tease him because I know he'll suspect me of something.

"Hey! No lewd stuff, Tib. A big no no!" He showed me how he strongly disagrees with that idea. He even created an "x" with his arms.

I pinched his ears and laughed. "I wasn't thinking of lewd stuff. I'm not like you."

"I wasn't thinking of that either!" Slowly, his ears and cheeks became red. I laughed at his reaction and continued to dry his hair.

I woke up with a terrible headache. I'm recently having more dreams about him than usual. I don't know what it means but everytime I wake up, I have a headache and a fever. My heart also aches everytime I wake up. I got up and walked towards the kitchen and poured myself some water and drank the medicine.

I have to go wash up since I'll be meeting auntie today. I still have to go even with this headache. I guess it'll reside after I take a bath.

I closed my eyes as the water freely flowed from my head to the bathroom's floor. I looked up with my eyes closed, now the water's directly hitting my face which kinda calmed me down. I tried to shake off what I dreamt about since it's just gonna add to the headache I have. It's not that I don't want to remember his face but because everytime I do, I have heartaches. I cannot explain how painful it is to see him or just remember his face. It hasn't been too long since we've seen each other.

I got out of the bathroom, towel wrapped on the lower half of my body and another one on my head while I'm drying my hair. I grabbed a dark blue button up polo and black trousers. I tucked my polo and folded the sleeves up until my elbows. Diesel always complimented how he thinks I'm so handsome. He said that he really loves my seductive eyes, perfectly shaped eyebrows, my sharp jawline, and my lean body. I sighed. I didn't mean to think of him again.

After getting ready, I cooked an egg and bacon for my sandwich and toasted the bread. I assembled my sandwich and cut it in half.

I placed my plate with the sandwich on it on the table and created coffee. I wasn't in the mood for sugar or creamer so I left it as it is. Thankfully, my headache lessened. It's not part of the plan to pass out in the middle of the street or during a conversation with auntie so I'm really thankful that my body cooperated with me. I guess I've been having it too frequently that my body is slowly getting used to it so it resides faster.

After a light breakfast, I grabbed my wallet and went to where auntie lives now. It'll be a 1 hour journey to go there but I don't really mind. Bad thing is, I'll be taking a bus since the car that my parents gave me as a present was being repaired. Good thing I had my earphones with me so I won't get bored. I plugged it in my ears and played a song. It was on shuffle so I didn't know what was going to play but coincidentally, it was one of our favorite songs that we usually listened to whenever we were together going home.

I've never been in love before

Now all at once, it's you

It's you forever more ‍~

I've never been in love before

I thought my heart was safe, I thought I knew the score ~

I let out a heavy sigh and closed my eyes while quietly listening to the song that was piercing through my heart. I was trying so hard to hold back my tears because if I didn't, I'd look like someone who is completely out of their mind.

After a very long hour, I finally arrived. I stepped out of the bus and inhaled the air and gathered up courage. Before going straight to auntie's house, I stopped by a flower shop and bought a small bouquet that had her favorite kind of flower.

I cleared my throat before knocking on her door and checked if I looked presentable with my front cam. I, once again, inhaled deeply. I opened my eyes and gave myself a little pep talk and finally, I rang the doorbell. This house was far different from where they lived back then. I'm happy that auntie and uncle are finally in their dream house. Even back then, I would say that they were financially stable but chose to live simple.

It didn't take a lot of time before someone opened the door. It was auntie. Her hair was light brown but the gray color was more dominant, which was a sign of getting old. She was wearing a light materialed sweater, a long skirt and a scarf that was wrapped around her shoulder.

"Welcome, Tiberius." She greeted with a smile which caused her wrinkles to be more visible and her eyes to disappear. She really has the same smile as Diesel.