2 Minutes, 23 Seconds

2' 23"

"Kuya, will you leave Eury?" He could hear her voice whispering directly into his ears. The image of a fifteen-year-old Eury waving at him, full of innocence, flashed in his mind.

He opened his eyes as tears ran down his face. He couldn't do it, after all. He secured his grip on the ledge, careful not to lose balance. A whimper escapes his mouth. Visions of his own death, as horrifying as they were, saved him from taking his own life. He couldn't do it. He slowly went back down the ledge the same way he went on it, hugging it until his feet touched the floor of the rooftop once again.

There, he sat down and took a second to breathe.

He felt the presence of an object inside his pocket and so he fished it out. Hot tears began streaming right away. It was Eury's bracelet, the one he gave to her as  a present for her sixteenth birthday. She gave it back to him that night she made him promise to not leave her ever again. When he asked why she gave it back, she didn't answer.

He brought the bracelet near his lips and kissed it. He took another moment to breathe. He has to help himself, he thought, so he closed his eyes and began counting.

Days of when they went to school together, when they lived happily together before everything went downhill, all came rushing.

The feel of her kisses on his cheek...

The way she made her heart pound...

"We both know it already that you're the best Kuya in the world and I'm your number one fan so stop it."

Her rosy cheeks...

Her angelic smile...

Her soft voice...

He could almost feel her hugging him from behind like she always did.

Everything she did for her...

All the times she cooked for him...

Every time she stopped him from smoking...

He misses it all.

He misses his baby girl.

He was damn lucky to have had her in his life. What would life now be without her? Those three years without Eury was unbearable enough, what more a lifetime?

"I missed you, Kuya."

She was too precious for this world. She was too understanding. She was too patient, too forgiving. Her heart was too pure. She trusted him way too much, cared for him and loved him.

Even then, he knew he meant it differently whenever he told her he loved her. He had always known in his heart that he loved her—that he had fallen way before he acknowledged those feelings.

"Thank you for being here with me."

The way they danced and sang to a Twenty One Pilots song, the times they went grocery shopping, the times she took pictures of him, the littlest of things...

Their first dance during her graduation ball...

Every single time they hugged...
The fact that her arms were his home will never change.

"Best Kuya ever."

It hurt every time she called him Kuya back then, he admits, but he wouldn't trade it for anything in this world.

"Thank you, Kuya."

"I've always wanted to break that promise, Eury." The childish promise that started it all—to not be in a relationship until they were eighteen. Their young minds and hearts held on too much to that pinky promise, that he wasn't able to keep the actual promise he made to her to not leave her. He actually broke it. He left her.

He held the bracelet closer to him and forced himself to think only of joyful memories.

"Baby girl."

The feel of her soft lips, the warmth of he body, her touch, and that special night...

"I love you."

He gently opened his eyes. Decisions have been made. He will live. He will live until it's finally his time.

"Baby girl, I hope you can still wait a little longer. I can't be with you just yet," he whispered to the bracelet, thinking his words might reach her.

"Give me some time to really fulfill my promise." He lifted his pinky finger in the air. This time, he will keep his promise.