Notes: Here's a little something I made for my friend, Paola. All credit of the plot goes to her. I was merely in charge of making everything come to life. Love you, Pao. :)

Tears and Waves

She couldn’t sleep.

Something was bothering her. Thoughts that were normally tucked away somewhere in the day now revealed themselves in the silver moonlight. Thoughts that lingered in some part of her consciousness moment by moment. Thoughts she sometimes tried to suppress but sometimes succumbed to.

Memories.

Memories of him.

Of them.

She languidly strolled to the beach, her ipod and phone in hand. Choosing a spot just in front of the shoreline, she sat and welcomed the waves to touch her feet. The breeze cooled the summer night and stars lined the sky like broken pieces of light. The stars in the city did not even par to this infinite horizon of eternal diamonds.

It was a perfect place for her to think. To be still and talk to her God. To ask all the questions that dangled painfully in her heart. She kept her tears at bay, wishing for the waves to carry them away into the vast ocean ahead of her.

Her silent reverie was broken when a figure materialized behind her.

It was him.

“May I join you?” He asked.

“Yeah, sure,” She replied absentmindedly. It was an opportunity to be with him. It didn’t matter if no words were to be exchanged. All that mattered was that he was there that moment, sitting next to her on such a perfect summer night. Actually, she did not intend on saying anything. What was there to talk about? She said everything she wanted to say. All the things she could say. Things her limited courage allowed her to disclose to him.

She clicked her ipod on and turned the volume up a bit.

The silence turned from comfortable to awkward. Despite the music thumping in her ears, the wordless exchange between the two of them became earsplitting. Realizing that the music didn’t do her much good anymore, she shut off her ipod and listened to the waves instead. A smile formed on her lips. That did it.

“What’re you listening to?” He finally asked.

“What’re you doing here?” She retorded hastily out of impulse.

“Can’t sleep. And you?”

“What are you doing here.” She asked once more. The tone of her voice hinted a demand for the truth. Or maybe she just didn’t want to tell him anything. Maybe.

And then silence.

“I was thinking about you.” He admitted feebly.

She brushed off the serious air with a wave of her hand. “Shut up,” She told him, a laugh escaping her lips. Truth be told, it was quite shocking on her part.

Getting the impression that she took it as some joke, he pressed on further. “Really. I have. About what’s happened between us when that…that thing happened.”

He continued on and started to speak words usually fabricated by her imagination, words that someday, he’d tell her in their reality.

“I miss you,” He went on, his courage building up as he carried on. “I think about you during the day, hoping that maybe you think about me, too.”

She was dumbfounded. He had not done anything like this. Said anything like this.

And for the first time, she felt that it was the truth.

If only she knew that he had loved her since the day they met. If only she knew that he had been keeping her captive in his heart. If only she knew that she was in the very core of his being so that nobody else could know. Nobody but God. The God he thanked everyday for bringing her to his life. The God he thanked for showing him that love is possible in this harsh world. The God he thanked for letting him feel the love he felt for her. And the same God she prayed to for him to love her back.

And now he wanted show her how much he felt for no words could do no justice to the way he felt that very moment.

Without warning, she finally burst into tears. Her sobs seemed to overpower the waves that crashed against the rock face. She turned her back at him. He couldn’t see her like this.

Clueless and taken aback, he gingerly laid a hand on her shoulder hoping to pacify her pain but to no avail. Her cries seemed to pierce more painfully into the night.

She turned to face him, tears streaking down her face. “Why are you only telling me this now?!” Her face became hot with anger. She found it pointless and didn't want to hear any of it anymore. She never thought this moment would come, when all the things she imagined would come true. Instead of bliss, pain and brokenness washed over her frail body. It all seemed better in her head.

And yet he was still determined. He walked over to where she stood in long strides and took her in his arms.

Months and months of unendurable pain finally flowed through him. He was incapable of keeping his tears at bay. He pressed her closer to him and from quiet cries there came waves of sobs and sorrow.

“I’m sorry,” He managed to say as he kissed her cheek and pulled her back into his arms. “I love you. So much.”

She was at a loss for words. What should she do? Push him away or receive his love? Diverse emotions flooded her senses as she mustered all she could to stay rational. She Should she open herself to him again? But doing so would make her vulnerable again. Her heart hasn’t healed and yet here was another chance for her to get hurt again.

“Please. Say something.” He begged. He cupped her face into his hands and stared into her eyes searchingly. A weak smile formed on his lips as he saw her lovely eyes gazing into the dark ocean ahead.

“I’m scared,” She replied, turning to look at him. Tears rolled down her face once more.

He wiped them off with the sleeve of his jacket. “What’s to be afraid of? I’m here. Til’ my very last breath. Til’ eternity comes to an end. I’ll be here. I promise.”

He pressed his lips onto hers and enveloped her in his arms once more. It seemed so much warmer now… as if the cold breeze had seemed to drift off to visit another lonely soul.

“I love you,” he said, pulling away from their kiss and resting his forehead onto hers.

The battle resonating within her had finally come to and end. After all the scars and wounds she had to bear, it was all finally done. It was finally time to heal. She smiled to herself and replied,

“I love you, too.”