A/N: This is the end of the story. This is a supposedly short story na hinati-hati ko into chapters kasi naguguluhan ako kapag dinidiretso ko yung sulat. Salamat sa pagbabasa. :)))
"Ariel..." he breathed. He was still mesmerized by how her charm had always and will always worked on him.
"Yes." she said, forcing a smile that didn't reached her eyes. "Can I talk to you for five minutes? I mean, I know you weren't here to chat but I just need to talk to you. Ten minutes tops, maybe?"
Another thing about Ariel was that she makes a lot of hand gestures and she speaks really fast whenever she was nervous about something.
"Okay.." he answered, hoping that this talk wouldn't mean another goodbye.
"Yeah.. so.." she trailed, looking to her left and right. "There's this cafe just a few blocks around here. It looks really nice."
"Sure." he said, taking the hint. He waved for the waitress who returned with the bill. He pulled some cash and left with Ariel.
The Coffee Book was a new cafe. Actually, it was the renovated version of Book Nook with the addition of coffees and cakes. The smell of coffee and cinnamon wafted through the air as they neared. No wonder Ariel had seen this.
"Cinnamon!' she exclamied childishly and there he was, back five years ago when everything was alright. When everything was fixable. Maybe this talk would benefit the both of them.
The scent grew intense as they stepped inside. Ariel ordered a weird frappucino with generous amount of cinnamon powder on top. How a person can consume this great amount of sweetness was beyond his imagination. But this was Ariel sitting in front of him and she was just as weird as her frap. She would cry over the stupidest movies, the littlest things but will stay strong when she gets a paper cut or bump her knee against the table.
"Hey." she started and Ruess focused on her, memorizing every bit of her face- how long her eyelashes were, the curve of her nose, his pink lipstick that complements her skin tone.. Just in case she decided to leave again.
"I met Simon back on train coming here." she said, taking a sip on her frap. "He told me about Kyle's mother and he still wasn't a very good liar. In short, I managed to get the truth out of him."
She smiled. A wide toothy smile. She does that when she was feeling a little too happy about something. Like, seeing James Franco on a movie or something.
"That you ahh, that you guys were trying to track me down. And I was too. You know, hoping to bump into you in here to talk to you."
There was a pregnant pause. Ruess waited.
"I.. I know I have hurt you way back then and I'm so sorry for leaving you guys like that but I was so scared, I don't know what to do and that time, it seemed like leaving was the only choice I had. To run away, to escape."
Ariel drew a deep breathe.
"But I didn't." she continued, pursing her lips. "Escaped, I mean. Everyday was such a drag, I don't know if I can still make it to the next day. I moved on and accepted what Kyle had done to me but somehow, you always came back. In my dreams, wherever I go, I always see you. The look on your face when I said goodbye. I wanted to go back but I had to fix my life first. I couldn't drag you into another hellhole and then bail out again when things get rough."
Ariel raked her hair with her fingers. Her fingernails were painted red. Ruess smiled to himself.
"I found out that I won't be able to go on with my life and start anew if I left things hanging between the two of us. I'm just sorry and I'm sorry that I didn't get the chance to say that I love you too. I did, ever since you held my hand when I first met you. There was some unexplainable force pulling me towards you. I loved Kyle but I couldn't help myself to care so much about you."
Pause.
Ruess didn't know what to feel. He was surprised that after all those years of wallowing in misery and self-pity, she love him too. He was so stupid! He could have followed her and not gave a damn to whatever his cheating bestfriend had to say about it. He grinned at her but Ariel wasn't finished.
"Taylor told me that what I needed was a closure. A proper goodbye. So that I can leave-"
He stared at her, dumbfounded.
"Are you saying goodbye again?" he croaked. "Don't you know something else other than to say goodfuckingbye?"
"I-"
"I loved you and you chose to ran away. You told me to forget you like it was the easiest thing to do. You bailed out on me and then came back here to say you need closure? To say goodbye? How many times do you have to break my heart before you're satisfied, huh?"
"I came here to attend a party hoping to bump into you," she said, ignoring him. "but I bumped ino Simon instead. I wanted closure, yes but that was before I saw him at the train station! He told me he was helping you track me and I saw a little hope in there. I came to Diner's because I already knew you were there. I've tracked you, while I was sitting on the train with Simon."
He was speechless.
"I was hoping that you still love me after all those years I wasn't there with you. That you would stop haunting me in my dreams and start-"
"You were the first ever girl who annoyed me so much into talking, ino opening myself to others, to smile instead of sulk. My world was black and white before you came but you showed me how beautiful it was to live life with you." he interrupted, tears threatening to fall in his eyes. After five years! After five fucking hellish years!
"I'm not going to bail out this time, Ruess." she whispered and he saw sincerity in her eyes. "I love you and I you back in my life if you wanted me to."
"Are you crazy? Of course I would always want to."
He smiled, stood up and beckoned her to follow him. She did, still holding her frap in her other hand while the other held on to him. He's never letting go. She was never running away. Ever.
