CHAPTER 38: HOSTAGE

SORCHA'S POV

I woke up with the sun on my face and the feeling that I'm fully rested, so I instantly knew that I slept longer than I used to. It didn't send me into a panic because I know it's my day off. But I do need to check my plants.

I groaned and rolled around the bed with my eyes still closed, but to my confusion, I felt more space instead of reaching the edge of the bed. My eyes snapped open at the same time that realization started surging into me.

I wasn't in my own bed!

Napaupo ako ng wala sa oras. Di hamak na mas malaki ang kama na kinahihigaan ko ngayon.

I quickly scanned the room. My vision is still clouded, and my mind is still hazy from sleep, but it didn't take me long to realize that I'm in a room that is half unfamiliar and half familiar to me. Unfamiliar because this is not the room that I expected to wake up to. Familiar because I've been in this room once.

The bed, which I thought was a king-sized one before, feels more like an Alaskan king bed now that I'm on it. It's like I'm being swallowed by a huge fluffy cloud.

Hinilot ko ang sentido ko. I don't even remember how I ended up on this bed. The last thing I remember was Daze punching Arcane, who kissed me. Arcane, who happened to have feelings for me that he basically admitted last night.

That was an unexpected one. I always thought Arcane treated me the way he treats everyone, but now that I know about things I didn't notice before, I'm starting to realize the difference.

He doesn't care much about plants, but he made a game about farming just for me. Kapag umuuwi siya galing sa ibang bansa ay lagi siyang may uwi sa akin. Pasalubong man 'yon o pasalubong na trabaho na alam niyang hindi ko tatanggihan dahil adik akong magtrabaho. He always looks for me first when he comes back, he keeps badgering me when things at work are getting heavy, and I could count on him when I needed something done.

I just never considered that it's because he has feelings for me. I don't think I even ever admitted that we were friends out loud. "Poor Arcane..."

"You're in my bed, and you're thinking of another man."

Muntik akong mapatalon sa gulat nang biglang may nagsalita. Hindi ko napansin na kanina pa pala nakaupo si Daze sa madilim na parte ng kuwarto at matamang nakatingin sa akin. He's probably been here for hours as I sleep like I own the bed.

"W-What... what are you doing here?" Ipinilig ko ang ulo ko at muli akong nagsalita, "What am I doing here?"

"I told you that I'm taking you home. So I did." He stood up and walked towards me. "I don't say things that I don't mean, Sorcha. Lahat ng sinabi ko sa'yo, totoo. Lahat ng ipinakita ko, totoo."

"Daze—"

"I thought it was the same for you. You might not admit it through words, but I could feel it in your actions. I know we both wanted different things, but I thought I succeeded in convincing you that we're more than what you want us to be. I thought that after everything, we became more. But these past few weeks, it feels like I'm the only one staying on one page and you have moved on to another." Sinuklay niya ang mga daliri niya sa buhok niya. He looks like he hasn't slept a wink. "I was swamped with things and I thought you were just the same. Baka busy ka lang. Baka hindi naman totoo ang iniisip ko na iniiwasan mo ako. I thought I meant more to you than that. That you wouldn't just discard me like that. I was barely sleeping, trying to straighten everything and take care of my other responsibilities as quickly as I could so I could go back to you. Then I saw you last night."

Pain crossed his eyes before he could hide it. And I hate it. I hate to see it on him. I hate that I know I'm the one who caused it.

His jaw clenched as if remembering what he saw last night. "I'm not going to give up on you. I'm going to give you a million kisses to erase the one he gave you. I'm going to make you feel more than he did. I don't care if you like him more than me. I don't care if you want him more than me. If that is being selfish, then so be it. If that makes me a terrible person, then so be it. I'm not going to let him take you."

Holy shit. This is not the Daze that is a golden retriever. This is the version of Daze that is a rottweiler with bare teeth, ready to mangle anyone on his way.

"If I have to uproot every plant you treasure so much and move them here to hold them hostage, I will do it."

Napanganga ako. "Did you just threaten my plants to convince me to stay with you?"

"I'm not trying to convince you anymore. I decided to stop doing that when I saw you kissing another man." My eyes widened as he stepped closer and closer to me, bridging the distance left between us, until I had no choice but to move back until I felt the headboard on my back. Inilagay niya ang mga kamay niya sa magkabilang gilid ko nang magtangka akong bumaba ng kama. "I'm not trying to convince you. I'm telling you."

"Y-You can't do that."

"I can and I will."

"You're crazy," I whispered.

"You love brutally, I'll love you crazily." He touched my lips with his thumb. "This is mine."

"Daze—"

"You're mine." He gritted his teeth, and I could see the battle behind his eyes. It's like he's trying to keep everything inside, but the pain he's trying to hide is still pouring from the cages he locked them into. "You're supposed to be mine, Sorcha. Just like I am yours. Why is it so hard for you to accept me when it's so easy for you to accept him?"

"It was just a kiss," I whispered.

"It's not just a kiss."

"You've kissed people on screen, Daze."

"That's different, and you know it."

"It's the same thing—"

"It's not! It's not the same fucking thing, Sorcha. I've kissed those people because it's part of the script. It's part of my job. And I haven't done that since you came into my life! I can't even think of kissing another woman except for you. I don't care if I lose my career because I can't imagine sharing that with someone else!"

I could feel a swell of emotions rushing through me—more powerful and huge than anything I had ever experienced in my life. I pushed on his chest as the overwhelming feelings circled around me, but he didn't budge. "L-Let me go."

"No. Never. I told you. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going to let you go anywhere. Especially if you're going to that man!"

"It was just a kiss!" I found myself shouting back.

"It's not just a kiss to me!"

"It is for me because I didn't feel anything except that it was wrong! I didn't want it! I didn't ask for it! I was about to push him away!" Tinulak ko siya sa ulit at sa pagkakataon na ito ay bahagyang nagkaroon ng espasyo sa pagitan naming dalawa. "You're losing your mind because of a kiss? You went to a hotel with another woman! You're talking about me moving on when it was you that did it in the first place!"

"How can I be with another woman if all I can think about is you pushing me away?!" He smiled bitterly as he straightened. When he spoke again, his voice was a lot quieter. "I lost a lot of people I love, Sorcha. I could feel it with you. I know I was losing you too."

Namayani ang katahimikan sa pagitan naming dalawa. For a moment, all we could do was stare at each other. He was the first to look away. He was also the first to move away.

His words had assured me again and again that he wouldn't let me go, and yet, with him walking away, I saw a glimpse of what he must have felt these past few weeks. Pushing all my racing thoughts aside, casting off the one thing I have relied on for years, which is my brain, and counting on my heart that I had never listened to before, I found myself running towards Daze, who was about to leave the room.

I wrapped my arms around his waist, and I buried my face on his back as he stiffened.

"I was afraid," I whispered as tears started falling from my eyes. "I'm scared of what I feel for you. I haven't... I've never been this way with anyone. I don't know what to do with it. I thought that when you go back to your old life, I could do the same. But I couldn't. I... that kiss... it felt wrong. Any kiss that is not from you would feel wrong."

Nang maramdaman ko ang mga kamay niya na inabot ang braso ko na para bang aalisin niya iyon ay lalo ko lang hinigpitan ang pagkakayakap ko sa kaniya. "I never thought about being with someone, Daze. I don't care if I will never be with anyone. I was happy with my life. Everything in my world, I could anticipate. I could prepare for anything. There was assurance in everything I do because I make it so that no problems would come that I wouldn't be prepared for. But with you, I can't have that. I can't have the same assurance because the future is too vague. And I don't know what to do with that. I don't know how I can let my feelings take over, to let my heart have control, only to have it broken when the time comes that you stop wanting me. For the first time in my life, I was afraid of something."

Daze's hold on me tightened, and I felt my heart drop when he successfully pried my arms away from him. But before my heart could break more, he turned around and pulled me into his own arms, hugging me so tight that it feels like he's about to crush me... and yet I didn't mind.

"I don't know the future, Red," he whispered, his lips sounding close to my ear. "But I know for sure that I don't want to share my future with anyone else but you. I can't see a future without you in it. I can't see a future where I don't love you."

He tugged my chin up, and he gently wiped my tears. As if he couldn't help himself, he leaned down and kissed away those that followed.

Ikinawit ko ang mga braso ko sa balikat niya at tumingkayad ako. I placed a soft kiss on his lips. It was like the simple action was enough for him because whatever clouded his eyes disappeared and was replaced by the light I always see in him.

"I... lo..."

Nangingiting idinampi niya ang mga labi niya sa akin. "I'm waiting, Red." I whispered the words so quietly that even a ghost wouldn't be able to hear, and he grinned. "That doesn't count."

Impit na napatili ako nang maramdaman ko ang mga kamay niya sa magkabila kong hita at basta na lang niya akong binuhat. That's when I noticed for the first time that I wasn't in the clothes I had on yesterday, and instead, I'm wearing a huge hoodie that isn't mine.

"You changed my clothes?" I asked in surprise.

Inihiga niya ako sa kama pero hindi niya ako tuluyang pinakawalan at sa halip ay kinubabawan niya ako. "Yes, but I didn't look." My heart quickened when I felt his hand on the hem of the hoodie, pulling it up as he caressed upward from my bare thighs. "But I'm about to."

I gasped when I felt his hand reach my underwear. His finger felt like a feather as he grazed the middle, teasing what's underneath that suddenly became sensitive and damp from his touch.

"Tell me," he murmured. "I need to hear it."

"Y-You're not fighting fair."

"I never said I would." He leaned down and nipped the lobe of my ear. "I was ready to be a villain and hostage all your plants just to keep you with me. I'm done with playing fair, Red." Bumaba ang halik niya hanggang sa marating niya ang sensitibong parte ng leeg ko. My lips parted when I felt him leave a mark there. "Tell me. Tell me so I can completely make you mine."

The heart tells me to go for it. The brain tells me that this is out of her expertise. So I followed the one that felt right. The only one that will ever feel right. "I love you, Darien Zeon Henderson. If that makes me yours, then that also makes you mine. If I ever see you kissing anyone, I will also punch them on the face, just so you know. I don't care if it's in the script. I will never be mature enough to accept it."

"Not planning on it." He cupped my face, and he leaned down as if to kiss me again. But before he could do so, he murmured against my lips. "You can take hostage of my lips, my heart, and any part of me for the rest of my life, Red, and you won't hear me complain."

I felt something hard touch my stomach, and I couldn't help but push back. Daze let out a groan, but he didn't stop me. "Any part?"

He gripped my hips, and he pulled me closer to him. "Any part."

________________________End of Chapter 38.