Saturday – April 5, 2014

"Isn't this the best?!"

"What is?" I asked while marvelling at Alex's genuine happiness that glimmered from his eyes and sounded off his curved lips.

Okay, maybe I was imagining some things. I couldn't see his eyes. In fact, he was wearing a pair of overly huge sunglasses and an equally gigantic beach hat covered his brown hair. However, I could still see his smile and that, perhaps, painted an image of his handsome face in the back of my mind and still let me see past his sunglasses.

"Hills made of chocolate! What else, big bro?!"

He turned around and leaned over the stone railings with the summer wind almost blowing his hat off. He looked like a model in his outfit. He still had that same floral shirt on, those loose shorts and flip-flops. Without the hat and shirt and a surfboard under his arms, I'm sure he'd look like a surfer with that almost perfect tan and infectious smile.

"I'd bet a hundred bucks you'd eat all of them in one go," I told him.

"Nah," he said. "I can't eat all of it alone, y'know."

"You want me to eat them with you?"

"Hell yeah! Just imagine...we can have our kingdom built here and we'd never run out of chocolates. Ever."

"Our own kingdom on top of these chocolate hills, eh?" I chuckled while intimately drawing that kingdom in my mind. It did look awesome, I tell you.

I moved behind him before placing my hands on his shoulders and turning him around to face me. His lips had that expectant smile around it and he seemed to be leaning in closer to have both of us kissing.

"No, idiot," I said, pushing his lips away with two of my fingers. "I just want to get this off you. Your eyes look more amazing without your mom's sunglasses."

He giggled and poked his tongue at me while allowing me to remove his sunglasses. At last, I could see the sun in his eyes.

"Y'know, big bro," he mused. "You really like looking at me eyes."

"Of course I do. Don't ever hide them from me, okay?"

"I won't. Promise. I can't hide anything from you, after all."

My heart skipped a freakin' beat. Why did he have to say that? Surely, he was hiding his `diary' or calendar or whatever that was from me. I took my hands off his shoulders and leaned over the rails while letting the breeze carry my thoughts away. I heard him move closer and beside me, probably disturbed by my sudden retreat.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing. Just...thinking about my mom. I don't want to hide anything from her, too. But she's not even letting me show her anything about us at all."

"Even if you don't show her anything, she'll know everything about you, big bro. That's how moms are. Most of the time, I guess."

I turned to face him and saw that he meant every word he said.

"That's just horrible, right?" I said. "They're not s'posed to know everything, but if they do, they should still love us. Right?"

"Knowing something doesn't mean loving it. Like they always say, it takes time to truly love something."

"Do we have all the time in the world, then?" my mouth slipped.

"Huh?" He looked at me curiously.

"I mean... How long do we have to be like this, Alex? I'm scared that I might lose you and...and..."

"Ssshh." It was his fingers that silenced me this time. "Don't worry `bout the time we'll be having in the future. Just think of the time we have now, okay? `Coz if you think so much about what will happen next, you'll fall behind yourself. Sure, we can worry about the future, but what's the point if we don't even know where we are now? We're still here, big bro. And right now, we have all the time in the world."

"So we should just...," I paused, mesmerized by his eyes once more. "...let it come and..."

"...don't try to stop it," he finished off.

Don't try to stop it. That got stuck in my head for the rest of the day as we climbed yet another series of steps up and down several elevations to get a good a good view of the whole landscape littered with hills that turned chocolate brown in the summer sun. It was really hot outside, but I could only care less because Alex seemed to be brighter than the sun. Just being beside him made me feel warm and funny and like everything else didn't exist. I came to realize then that in our relationship, he was the more mature one and he lived every second and every breath he took. Maybe that's how he could make everything come true. He wasn't afraid of what would happen next. He wasn't even afraid if the slope got too steep and the crumbling steps had wide gaps in them. He carelessly skipped over them and still treaded the path he was making for both of us.

Late in the afternoon, we checked in at our hotel and made ourselves some coke blended with sweetened milk and ate some sugar coated bananas that burned the tip of my tongue. Oh, and if you should know, our `hotel' wasn't classy and didn't have any star to its name. In fact, it was a typical bungalow that belonged to a relative of Alex's mom. We just crashed into someone's house and they seemed to enjoy our company as much as we loved seeing the sunset over those same hills which turned all of it into dark chocolate when night-time arrived.

"You think I should go first?" Alex asked.

We were sitting out in the balcony after having filled our tummies with local dishes and topped it off with a can of beer for each of us which was really a bonus from Alex's dad. Yep. We were allowed to drink, but under the oath of not doing anything stupid. It was just one can anyway.

"It's your idea, after all," I said. "You take first blood."

He shrugged and put his hand into the jar we filled with rolled bits of paper that contained all the things we wanted to do. Tonight, we decided, we'd strike one out and see where it will take us.

"Here goes nothing."

Drumroll! Okaaaay. There wasn't any drumroll, but a little cricket graciously provided an eerie sound effect.

"So?"

"You won't believe this, big bro."

"Is it that one already?" I asked, clearly referring to the...sex thing that he wrote.

"Nope. Not that one."

"What is it?"

He showed me the paper and my jaw dropped to the earth's crust. It wasn't something so hard to do. However, this would be the biggest thing for both of us so far. Alex giggled and as I looked at him, he was sporting the cutest blush I've seen on his face.

"Go out on a date," he whispered the exact same words written on the paper he picked.

"Now? You mean right now?"

"Yep!"

Have I ever mentioned that despite our amazing and awesome relationship, we haven't gone out on a single date? Well, the universe surely conspired to send both of us out into the middle of the night and maybe enjoy some popcorn and a cheesy movie. That's what couples do, right? The guy would pretend to reach over the girl's shoulder, suggestively pulling her close so that she could rest her head on his shoulder before forgetting the whole point of the movie and just contemplating on the narrow distance between their bodies and how annoying the armrest was. Then, when any romantic clip played, the guy would make his move to kiss the girl and the silhouette of their shadows could easily be seen by others. And maybe (just maybe), the guy's hand finds its way to the girl's thigh and that's when the girl almost falls into a dreamy sleep...

"It's still half past six. We can figure out where to go and be sure to get home by 10."

I nodded and watched him replace the lid on the jar before putting it away in his backpack. We decided to get ready and find something nice to wear. His mom and dad allowed us to go out just as long we don't stray too far and stay out too late. 10PM was our curfew, but that should give us enough time to officially call it a date.

"No peeking, big bro," Alex reminded as he went for the bathroom to get ready while leaving me in our room to do the same thing as well. Thankfully, I took a quick shower earlier when we checked in.

"Dad...c'mon dad! Pick up!"

I was anxiously pacing around our room while desperately waiting for my dad to answer my call. I didn't know anything about going out on a date. What should I wear? Should I bring any flowers? Chocolates? Should we have dinner later? But we just had dinner earlier!

"Michael?"

"Dad!"

"What is it son? How's your vacation? Are you having fun with Alex?"

"No, dad! I mean, of course! But..."

"Is there something wrong?"

I took a deep breath in, lowered my voice and spoke slowly for my dad to hear every syllable.

"We're going out on a date."

"..."

"Dad?"

I heard him chuckle and I felt really annoyed at that. How dare him! My palms were sweating and I haven't even picked out anything to wear and my dear old father was laughing at my predicament!

"Sorry, buddy. I didn't think you'd be asking for my help with your first date."

"This is serious! Is mom there?"

"She's at the other side of the room, don't worry. I told her that our CEO is the one calling, but son...your first date. I'm so proud of you."

"Quit it, dad! I don't even know what to do! I don't have any clothes to wear and no chocolate to bring him. Should I give him flowers instead?"

"Woah there, boy. You're speaking too fast."

"I don't have much time left! We should be out by seven."

"Okay, now listen. Just be cool about it. Pick some nice looking clothes, but don't overdo it. Fix your hair and put on some deodorant `coz god knows you'll both be getting close to each other all the time. Think of where you should take her so you won't waste any more time later. If you don't have any chocolates to bring her, just bring her some flowers. Watch a movie, take a walk down by the park, put your jacket around her, always hold her hand and be sure to kiss her when you say goodnight to her."

"Uhh, dad...?"

"Yes, son?"

"I'm dating a boy, remember?"

There was that hearty chuckle of his again.

"So you are. Your mom's giving me a weird look, Michael. Call me later and tell me every single detail. Good luck, buddy."

"Thanks dad."

I haven't even realized that I stopped in front of a mirror when my father ended the call. I was still in my beach attire and I only had 15 minutes left to get ready.

Rummaging through my luggage, I found a plain looking black buttoned-up shirt and some nice slim fit jeans to go along with it. I put on some deodorant, a bit more than usual and wondered if I should have my hair sticking up or not. Well, Alex liked it when I didn't put any wax on my hair and that should save me some time.

After having satisfied myself with how I looked, I went out to the garden and stole some tulips and went inside again. I went to the bathroom to see if Alex was still inside and he still was.

"Can I come in?" I asked.

"Just a sec!" he shouted back.

When the door to the bathroom opened, I was met by the most handsome boy alive. His damp brown hair fell partly to one side of his face, his hazelnut eyes were beaming like never before, his cute nose had a tiny blush over it and he was biting his bottom lip while staring up at me. He was wearing a pastel blue shirt with dark pants on. He looked like a kid actually, but he still got my heart jumping out of my chest.

"Is that for me?" he asked, pointing to the flowers in my right hand.

"Oh...uhh, yeah."

He giggled and showed me what he was hiding behind his back, holding out the same kind of tulips I stole from the garden. The only difference was that his bouquet of flowers looked to be more pristine and alive. I must've squished the life out of mine since my hand was shaking and clenching nervously.

"I just hope they won't find out we picked out some of their tulips," he mumbled. "So...where to?"

He took the bouquet from my hand and put it in a glass on top of the sink together with his set of flowers. We got out of the house after getting the final permission from his folks. When we were on the sidewalk, I took hold of his hand as we walked to nowhere in particular while enjoying the cool breeze.

"Want to watch a movie?" I asked.

I saw him roll his eyes and I could only raise my eyebrow at him.

"That's waaaaay too mainstream, big bro."

Oh damn. Now he ruined my whole plan! Movie – restaurant – park – walk home – balcony and a kiss goodnight. It was clear that he had some other things in mind.

"Where do you wanna go?"

"Nowhere, really," he answered as he swung his arms out front while still holding onto mine. "You like mangos?"

"Sure, but..."

"C'mon."

He dragged both of us to the end of the street where a vendor was selling some sliced and unripe mangos dipped in vinegar or some other...pinkish concoction that tasty salty and sour. He bought one and soon we were eating sour mangos under the night sky.

`Weird,' I thought. Even the moon was shaped like a mango, having been covered partly by some cloud.

"What are you looking at?" Alex asked.

"What do couples do on a date?"

"Eat stuff."

I chuckled, but to prove his point, he ate another slice of mango and gestured for me to do the same.

"Besides that, dummy."

"Walk, talk, watch a cheesy movie, more talk, dance..."

"That's it!" I interrupted. "We should go dancing."

"Who? Me? Dance?"

"Duh! Who else should I go dancing with?"

"No way! I can't dance! Never!"

"I taught you, remember?"

"That was a different kind of dance!" he argued.

"What kind was it then?"

He pulled my shirt collar and got closer to whisper his answer.

"The naked kind."

I laughed at what he told me, but he seemed serious with his answer and a pout even made its way to his lips. He punched me gently on the shoulders to get me to stop laughing.

"I'm serious!"

See? What did I say?

"Oh, c'mon lil' bro! It'll be fun, I promise."

"But there will be people there! Don't you know how utterly embarrassing that would be?"

"Don't worry," I said. "I'll cover up your quirky dance moves."

"Quirky?" he repeated. "You're s'posed to encourage me and not say anything about my dance moves."

"Okay, my fault. I give up. You don't wanna dance. I get it."

His hand tightened around mine as he stopped in his tracks while almost causing me to fall backwards. I looked at him and he had this really outrageous fire in his eyes. If I was an anime character, I would've had the biggest sweat drop at the back of my head.

"You really insist on dancing, huh," he stressed. "Oh we'll go dancing, alright."

"Uhh...Alex?"

He looked to his left before looking to his right and took deep breath in. His eyes changed after he exhaled and it looked more frightening than it did a while ago.

"Let's go dance," he declared.

And that's how I got dragged (yet again) to the other side of the road before we hopped on a local transport and went to what looked like a club of some sort. The sign above it clearly read: NO MINORS ALLOWED.

"This is your idea of dancing?" I asked as we watched several people, mostly teenagers, go inside.

"How old are you?" Alex asked back.

"14. You know that, right?"

"No," he stated, looking seriously at me. "You're 18 and I'm 18. Okay?"

"Do I look like I'm 18? Besides, I bet they'd ask for our IDs."

"It won't hurt to try."

I sighed as we walked to the entrance with the party music getting louder and those two overly sized bouncers leering at us. We just smiled at them. Alex looked cool while I undoubtedly had an awkward grin on my face.

"Can't you read?" one of the big guys asked.

"Free beers?" Alex said.

"No minors allowed."

"Who's a minor here? I don't see any kids here. Are you?"

Alex pointed to me and I could only stare at him before looking toward the awesomely big man in front of us.

"I'm 18. We're both 18."

"IDs."

"Yeaaaah, well...," Alex stalled. "It's summer, isn't it? We don't have our school IDs with us."

"Sorry kids. No minors allowed."

"We're 18!" Alex continued to argue.

"Yeah!" I backed him up. "And we...uhh...want some free booze."

Great. I gave myself a hard hittin' imaginary slap on the face. I was not good at this pretending stuff.

"No means NO," the other guy seemed to growl. "Move it. You're keeping the line."

As we looked over our backs, there surely was a line of annoyed and amused looking people. They were urging us to get out of the way and just go home to our mommies. Oh how I wanted to punch the hell out of their faces.

"18?" I asked Alex as we moved away from the entrance. "Really?"

"At least we tried."

It was my time to search for an alternative. Right ahead of us was another line of clubs so we could probably try our remaining luck there or...

"The parking lot," I mumbled as if the idea came to me like a speeding bullet train.

"What about it?"

"The music's loud enough. We can dance there."

I thought Alex would protest, but he agreed and let me lead both of us to the parking lot behind the club. It was spacious enough, of course. The music didn't fade completely in the wind and we could even hear the DJ shouting some stuff like, "Put your hands up in the air!"

There was enough light coming from several light posts and the most important thing was:

"There's no one here," Alex said.

"Exactly."

So I grabbed him by the waist and he held onto my shoulders. We both smiled at each other while waiting for the right music to play. Sadly, it wasn't slow music. Instead, it was an upbeat EDM mix and the DJ was still shouting that same phrase of his.

"Should I do as he says?" Alex asked as he giggled.

"Nah," I told him as I made him sway his hips. "We can dance in whatever way we want to."

I could feel the music inciting me to let it all loose, but Alex held onto me awkwardly and he didn't seem so sure with how his body swayed. So I just fell into his pace and we were slow dancing to the faint sound of party music.

"This is fun."

"Told you so."

Alex looked over to one side and I followed where his eyes led mine. He was gesturing toward the traffic light that glowed green then yellow before finally settling on red. It was at the corner of the parking lot and as I scanned the vehicles that stopped before it, I saw some people looking and hooting over at us and chuckled awkwardly.

"We even have our own party lights," Alex commented.

"Yeah. You know what couples do when they go out dancing?"

"What?"

I waited for a couple more minutes while guiding Alex near the hood of someone's car which was at a much darker space in the parking lot. I looked over to the same traffic light and saw it turning yellow before giving me the go signal. Being teenagers, I easily got caught up in the moment as I spun Alex and gently laid his back against the hood of what clearly was a sports car. His eyes popped out of his head at the realization of me leaning over him before kissing the surprise away from his face. My body over his must've doubled the weight on the car's hood and it soon sounded off its alarm. The party music faded, all those people by the road were speeding off in their vehicles and the traffic light continued to glow green. Even with the annoying sound of the car's alarm, we easily blocked it with the sound of our own ragged breathing.

"That's what couples do on the dance floor," I whispered after I broke the kiss.

"Hey, you kids!"

We looked to our far right and saw the security guard waving angrily at us. He looked prepared to run after us, but we beat him and ran off before he could even place one step forward. We just ran and ran through the busy street while laughing so hard. It was exhilarating. Both the kiss and running away felt so goddamn good.

"We didn't get to finish the dance," Alex said after having caught his breath.

"Doesn't matter. I got what I wanted."

"You mean the kiss or what?"

"The kiss and a dance from you."

He smiled heartily. Then, to a bit of my surprise, he placed his hand over my chest and stared at it thoughtfully. We were in the middle of the sidewalk with people walking past us and I could only look around nervously.

"I just want to make sure it's still beating," Alex mumbled.

"What? Why?"

"Coz I don't know how many beats my heart skipped already from you kissing me, but it's still beating. See?"

He took hold of my hand and placed it on his chest. Surely, the heart inside it continued to beat tirelessly. It was the ever present reminder of life, it seemed.

"Yeah," I whispered. "It is."

"You hungry?"

Being reminded of food suddenly made me hungry. We were boys who still had so much growing to do anyway. With that thought in my head, I wondered how much more I will grow down there. Alex's coy smile made me blush and he just giggled before pointing toward a fast food joint ahead. This time, instead of holding hands, I put my arms over his shoulder and held him close like other best mates do. He must've felt comfortable and he even moved closer to my side. I'm sure we looked like brothers then.

"That bee looks weird," Alex commented about the large statue of the restaurant's mascot.

"Tell me about it."

"He's got a big belly and he doesn't even have a stinger. His wings are too small and he's wearing a red tuxedo without pants on!"

I pulled him away from the statue and through the entrance before it started hitting us for such rude comments and got us a table. There were lots of kids inside, but that wasn't a surprise since this was mainly a kiddy attraction rather than a place to eat. In fact, I always thought they served toys and meals were only a side offering.

I ordered some fries and spaghetti, per Alex's request, and bought an ice cream sundae for myself. It didn't take long for us to finish our meal since we didn't want to spend the rest of our evening eating. There were so many more things to do on our first date.

"What do you wanna do next?" I asked Alex as we exited the restaurant.

"Is it okay if we go look for something to read?"

"At a bookstore?"

"Yep! There's a book I've been meaning to buy for some time now."

"What book?"

"You'll see."

So the second part of our date was spent looking for Alex's book. Once inside the nearest bookstore, he told me to just wait for him and go look for something to read while he searched for his book. I wanted to come looking with him, but he insisted that I just wait for a bit. So there I was with an open book in my hands and seated on the floor while waiting for my angel to come find me.

Do you care to know what book I was reading? It was a book about predicting the future. Astrology, prophecies, riddles and all sorts of enigmatic texts was right under my scrutiny. Every single prediction written was attributed to a future event that fulfilled it. There wasn't a single wrong prediction. Even with how vague the words were that almost every other event could fulfil it, it was held to be true and mysterious. It wasn't even statistics and probability. It was just plain destiny.

"Found it."

I looked up and Alex was waving his book in his hand while straining to take a peek at the book I was reading. I quickly closed it and put it back on the shelf without giving him the chance to ask me about it.

It was a blue book that he held onto and paid for. He told me that it was written by one of his favourite authors and that the plot was something he was interested in. Simply titled The First Phone Call from Heaven, he was determined to finish it in one day or two.

Once outside, Alex had another idea of what we should do. It was kind of a trust exercise between both of us. We decided to walk the whole distance to nowhere with one of us leading the other down the streets. The one being led would have his eyes closed and the one who led would do so for 10 minutes before the roles got reversed. Considering that we were both tourists in the area and the only places we knew were restaurants, malls and dance clubs (with the help of someone in finding those clubs), it would be one hell of a crazy trust exercise. Perhaps he'll lead me down a wrong path and I'll lead him back the same path and we'd end up going around in circles. It didn't matter though. We could just call his folks if ever we got lost.

"I go first, okay?" I volunteered and Alex immediately closed his eyes.

I tied a hanky around his eyes to prevent him from cheating and he just giggled. We got some weird and curious looks from others, but I didn't mind.

"Are we there yet?" Alex kept asking every five seconds and we weren't even near any definite place in my opinion.

"Change of rules," I said.

"Huh?"

"I'll ask you where to turn, okay? Left or right?"

"Left!"

I looked up and saw the traffic signal preventing us from crossing the street as of yet. We waited for a minute before I led both of us to the other side of the road and resumed on following the dim lighted sidewalks. When I got to the other end of the street, I asked where to turn and Alex chose right this time. At least, we won't end up in circles knowing that he won't keep going for left.

"My turn," Alex said.

I wasn't quite sure if it was 10 minutes already, but I let him tie the hanky around my head before he started leading me forward. I chose left, right, right, left and right and I wasn't quite sure with how far we got.

"We could've walked straight, y'know," Alex commented.

"Huh?"

"We're just a few meters away from where we started and on the other side of the road again."

"Sorry, but this was your idea in the first place."

"I know, I know," he sighed.

"Alex? I didn't mean anything by it. Honest."

He chased away the guilt I felt when he moved closer and placed a quick peck on my cheeks causing me to pout and feel a blush settle on my face. He giggled and reassured me that I shouldn't be worrying too much. Besides, we were in front of a closed establishment and there were no people around, he told me.

"We're getting nowhere with this," I told him some time later when it was my turn to lead him.

He agreed and took off the blindfold before looking around to see how far we've gotten on foot. We weren't sure with that so we settled for about a mile or so from our starting point.

The third part of our date was an epic fail. We haven't gotten anywhere and surely nowhere near any place of interest. So maybe not every bit of our first date could go smooth and perfect. We felt frustrated, but the night was still so young for us to completely give up.

"I can't think of anything else to do!" he exclaimed in frustration.

"Relax, dude. We'll think of something. We can still catch a movie, I guess."

"No movies. I don't want to just sit there for almost two hours doing nothing."

"Do you even know what couples do inside the theatre?" I asked.

"Duh! They keep kissing and stuff and don't even watch what they paid for."

"And that's why you don't like movies? You think it's a waste of money if we just keep kissing and don't watch any of it?"

"Not that, Mikey," he sighed. "I want to do so much more than just kiss inside a theatre. There's no fun if we can't even be in the same seat together."

I laughed at his comment, but he was again quite serious with what he said. He sat down on the pavement and I took that opportunity to call my dad for some advice. We clearly ran out of ideas for our date. I excused myself and dialled for my father's number.

"Son, it's still 8:30 and quite early for your date to have ended already."

"We don't know where else to go dad."

"You took her to the movies? How about dinner? Did you go to the park?"

"It's him dad, not her," I reminded. "No movies for us, just a quick bite and we don't even know where the park is."

"Ask for directions."

"But what'll we do there? Talk?"

"Look up at the stars, kiddo. It'll be romantic for both of you. Or you can go look for a carnival..."

"Hold on dad," I interrupted as I saw Alex resting his head on his knees.

I moved closer to him and it seemed his breathing fell into rhythm with sleep. He was being quiet and he didn't even look up when I nudged him a bit.

"I know what to do dad. Bye."

After hearing my dad say goodbye, I sat beside Alex and put my arms over to his other side. I pulled him closer and let his head rest on my lap. He did fall asleep. There was no smile on his face. It didn't look calm either. He just looked exhausted. I sighed and brushed the few strands of hair that fell over his eyes.

"Look up at the stars?" I asked myself loudly before looking up to see a night sky devoid of any star. "Romantic, huh."

Several vehicles passed by us and people came walking behind us, but Alex didn't seem to hear any noise. He just slept to his heart's content on my lap. It then occurred to me that I didn't bring any jacket. I could've put it over his body, but I just had to forget that useful piece of advice from my dad. Luckily, it wasn't so cold outside.

"Is he your brother?"

I looked up and saw a young man standing to my right. He was wearing a suit which must mean that he worked for a big firm or came from a party or whatever. He looked nice and charming with his short black hair sticking up and that curious smile of his.

"You don't look like you're begging for food, but isn't this a bit late for two kids to be out on their own?"

"We're not begging for anything," I clarified. "We're just taking some time to rest."

"Okay. Is he your brother then?"

"He's my little brother, yes."

"I saw the two of you by the parking lot, you know," he mumbled and I must've blushed at my sudden realization. His light chuckles only annoyed me some more.

"So what?" I countered.

"It's either the two of share a really intimate brotherly connection or...," he paused and tapped a finger on his lip. "...you know what I mean."

"It nothing to you."

"I'm just saying. Anyway, take care of him. You're still too young, but I don't have the right to tell you what or what not to do. Just be careful. It's a tough world out there."

"Thanks."

"Here's my ride, kid. Go home and let him rest."

He waved goodbye and got into the cab he hailed. I took out my phone and saw that it was almost nine and the dark corner where we sat didn't feel so safe anymore. I borrowed Alex's phone and called for his dad to pick us up. After 15 minutes, our ride arrived and I struggled to get Alex in the backseat with help from his dad. My lil' bro was knocked out for good.

While on our way home, the car's stereo was tuned in to a station that played music from the 80s. One particular song stirred Alex and made him shift to a more comfortable position on my lap. On the other hand, the song left a peculiar feeling in my heart.

`Don't fall in love with a dreamer,' it chanted. `Coz he'll break you every time.'

I clenched my fist on Alex's shirt and stopped brushing his soft hair. The song really got to me. It was nerve-racking and it felt so...so true with each of its word. Alex looked peaceful though. He didn't seemed bothered at all.

`So put out the light and just hold on,' the song continued. `Before we say goodbye.'

And that was all I could take before I hurriedly took out my phone and scanned the picture I took of Alex's diary a couple of months ago. I was frantically scanning several photos until I reached the month of April. I zoomed in and focused on the first week of the month.

My heart stopped. The anxiety was gone. The words of the song faded and didn't mean anything anymore.

On his diary, there wasn't anything written about our first date. He didn't write about this day. He didn't know anything about this day! He could not have made this come true just because he wanted to. He could not have predicted what he picked out earlier from that jar containing our list. There was nothing he could have done about this.

It just happened.

My eyes squinted when that phrase came to my mind. It might have just happened alright. At least, this wasn't part of his diary.

"Where...where are we?" Alex mumbled and stirred in my lap.

"On our way home, dummy," I said and pinched his nose to wake him up fully. "You fell asleep in the middle of our date."

"I did?" he asked as he stared up at me.

I stole a glance from the rear-view mirror and didn't see Alex's dad looking back at us so I leaned in and gave my angel a soft kiss on his lips. Despite the pain in my neck from bending over too much, it was all worth it because I got to see Alex smile at me and that cleared away any trouble I felt earlier.

"Sorry," he whispered. "I promise not to fall asleep next time we go out."

"Don't worry," I told him. "I like having you like this."

Soon, we arrived at the house we were staying in and got comfy on the bed we shared. There wasn't time for any sexy play as we both came to an agreement that we desperately needed to rest. Half of the day was spent at a beach on a nearby island while the other half was spent on a much larger island that had hills made of chocolate as its landscape and it wasn't even a perfect first date that we had. We were still kids after all. Too much fun and we'd completely black out and surrender to a deep sleep. At least, we got to give each other a sloppy goodnight kiss.

The song that played earlier said not to fall in love with a dreamer. However, when it was two dreamers falling head over heels for each other, what would that mean then? Will they be able to create a fantasy and live it to the end? Or...will it end in the usual sugar-coated, vague, improbable and incomplete "happily ever after?"

It was the following morning that I read a text from an unknown number giving me some kind of power over the ending of our story. That's for the next days to unravel.

Goodnight.