Part 1

The skies are overcast when she comes out to greet him. His car's already parked in front of the gates, a steady noise in the quiet neighborhood. It's still early in the morning, just an hour past sunrise when his text informed her of his arrival.

He's been driving since midnight. She told him it was too early, but he insisted to be here before she woke up.

She did get to sleep the night before but she made sure to set an alarm so she won't miss his arrival.

She's been waiting for him since.

The engine soon shuts off, and Kai climbs out of the car, sporting a beige long sleeves, dark trousers, and black sneakers. A surprising deviation from his usual black get-ups.

A smile curls at the corner of her lips at how wickedly good he looks so early in the morning, and she's about to walk closer to him to greet him when he crosses the distance himself and gathers her into his arms. A light press of his mouth against her temple sends a warm flush of butterflies to her chest.

Milly buries her nose to the curve of his neck, inhaling his familiar scent. He's wearing a different one now, compared to the last time they were together. It's the cool, magnetic scent of Bleu de Chanel, her favorite perfume of his.

"I missed you," she murmurs against his skin. His embrace around her waist tightens and presses her even closer to his chest.

"Gising ka na o gising pa?"

"Gising na. I slept early last night because you said so. How's the drive?"

"Boring. Couldn't come here fast enough."

She grins and pulls away just enough to catch a glimpse of his expression. There's a soft, easy smile dancing on his face as he looks back at her.

Gods. Ever so handsome.

"Wala sina Tita right now. She went out to meet some friends. You haven't had breakfast yet, 'di ba? Let's eat together."

His brows shoot up into an arch. "'Di ka pa kumakain?"

"I was waiting for you."

He chuckles and runs a thumb across her cheek before nodding. Her chest skids again.

"Sige. I'll make our breakfast. Will your tita mind if I use her kitchen?"

Milly looks at him, half incredulous, half amused. That's a sight to see. Kai getting busy in her tita's place. So domestic, the comment forms in her head, but she files it away.

"Silly," she says with a laugh. "What makes you think I'll let you cook after long hours of driving? I can make eggs and fried rice just fine, thank you very much. I can do basic stuff like that."

He's smirking now. "Really. Show me."

She rolls her eyes, but her smile's widening. "Arrogant ass. I really can. I know how to feed myself kahit papano."

It's true. Ollie's mother taught her after she found out she's still hiring their personal chefs to prepare her meals back in college. Between then and now, she's learned to prepare more basic food to sustain herself, but they're nothing too fancy like what he can make.

"Go on then, chef. Show me what you got. I'll be watching you."

He wasn't kidding when he said that. Milly can feel his eyes following her every movement when she starts moving around, like his attention's a brand getting emblazoned on her skin.

He's quietly standing at the sides, arms crossed as he leans against the wall. He's not saying much, but that wicked, distracting smirk shows how much he's enjoying this.

Milly laughs at him and starts her preparation. Kai raises a brow, playful.

"It's just fried rice. I can do it. But you'll have to make do with eggs and hotdogs. Unhealthy for you but it is what it is."

He chuckles at that and she buzzes at the sound.

When she starts stirring the rice and adding the egg and vegetables onto the pan, she feels his approach. Soon, sculpted arms are snaking around her waist from behind, his warm lips following suit, leaving light kisses on the side of her neck.

"If I knew you'd look like this in the kitchen, I would've let you use ours from the start," he's saying as he nips at the space under her ear.

Her hands stop. "Kai..."

"Focus. Baka masunog."

Huh. It feels like she's the one on fire. One kiss and she's already itching to undress him.

"This isn't what I had in mind when I asked you to eat breakfast with me. But I won't complain," she says, puts the spatula down, and grins. "You can be my breakfast."

With a flick, she turns off the stove. She tries to turn but Kai roots her to the ground with his arms.

"In your tita's house, huh."

"Why not? We can use my room. But we need to be quick. I don't know what time they'll be home. So? Game?"

Kai chuckles again. She groans.

"Babe, stop tempting me if you're not planning to take me to bed."

"Alright. I'll stop," he concedes and pulls away from her neck. The ghost of his breath feels like an inviting caress on her skin, and she shivers. "I wouldn't want your family forming a bad impression of me at the second meeting after all."

Milly fakes a frown. "You distracted me just to keep me hanging?"

"Later," he answers instead, still chuckling. He leans his face down, his cheek pressing against hers, as his hands slide across to grab hers. "Let's finish this first."

Palm on top of hers, he turns on the stove again, gets the spatula, and takes over the pan.

"Is this what this is? You don't trust my cooking?" she jokes.

His mouth moves closer to her ear, and he says in a low voice, "I trust you. I just want to do it together."

She shivers again at the sound of his velvet voice.

Together. She likes the sound of that.

He's taught her how to cook a few times before, but they've never done it like this. Never this intimate. Never this seductive.

It feels nice. Warm. Dizzying. She likes that too.

"After this, I'll drive you to your place," she says beats later after they settled down to eat. Breakfast is simple. Just fried rice, omelettes, hotdogs, and coffee.

He looks up from his mug. "Where? You told me not to book any."

"Of course. Why would I let you spend when we have lots of properties here. I can't take you to our mansion, though. I don't have the keys and I don't want to go there. I prepared Maestra's cabin house for us instead. It's near Camp John Hay."

His brows lift. "Us? You're staying with me?"

She nods, getting amused at his reaction.

"You're sleeping. In the same house. As me."

The disbelief is so palpable in his voice that Milly laughs.

"I am. I feel iffy leaving you alone there. Alangan naman iwan kita mag-isa sa house ni Maestra."

"Your tita's fine with it?"

"Yeah, she agreed na." She grins at his line of questioning. "What are you thinking ba? We won't be sharing the same bed naman. I have my own room there. You can use it. I'll use Maestra's and Lolo's. I won't jump you, don't worry."

The confusion melts, and the amused smirk slides back in. "Sure."

"I'm not planning to do anything to you. We won't have the time for that 'cause I'm driving you around the city mamaya."

"Sure."

"Oo nga," she defends herself with a laugh. "I'm not always into the sex, what image ba do I have in your mind? Sex is good and all but... I'd rather spend more time with you doing lucrative things. It's our first get-away together. Though this is my home and it doesn't really feel like traveling. But still. You're here."

Kai turns back to his food, his smirk getting wider. "Wala naman akong sinabi."

"You were thinking it."

He tilts his head, looking unbelievably smug. "I'm fine with that too. No touch. No games. We've tried this challenge plenty of times, haven't we? Did you ever win?"

She remembers, and yes, she's always the one giving in. But in his presence, who won't? He looks and smells and feels so damn good each time.

"Hey, that's kinda your fault. But I'm standing firm this time. Hands off. We'll be busy."

"Hands off," he repeats with a chuckle. "Even when I do this?"

His hand skims over the surface of her thigh, going down to her knee and up.

She swats him away before he makes her feel things again. "Don't seduce me. I told you I made plans!"

He's laughing harder now. "Sige, mamayang gabi na lang. That should help you sleep."

"You realize you've been seducing me in my aunt's house?"

He raises a brow like she said something strange. "You've seduced me in worst places. Public places."

"Shamelessly guilty. Now, eat."

He clicks his tongue. "You changed. Are you sure you're the woman I'm dating?"

"I changed? You're the one who changed. You're teasing me now and you... I don't know. Are you starting to become more insatiable than I am?"

"Always been," he says and her breath holds for a second as she registers the meaning of that.

When Kai smirks at her again, she pushes his plate closer to him.

"Eat para makapagpahinga ka na. We're setting out again before noon."

"Alright," he says, amusement still lacing his tone.

Clinking utensils soon fill the quiet air as he obliges. She's watching him and can't help herself. It feels wrong ending the conversation like that, so she scoots closer to steal a kiss before he can take a spoonful. His hand automatically goes to the back of her head, and Kai pulls her back in, lips melding against hers fervently, when she's done and tries to move away.

Hers is meant to be innocent, playful. A quick peck to feel him for a little bit and satisfy the soft lull of craving in the pit of her stomach.

His is more ardent, needy. Like he's searing his unspoken words into her soul.

She's breathless when they pull apart for air. And his gaze.

Gods, his gaze on her lingers. It's electrifying.

"At this rate, we won't get to eat breakfast," she pants after she regains her composure. Her heart's still drumming at an accelerated speed against her rib cage.

"Nagmamadali ka ba?"

"Not really."

"Then let's take our time."

He captures her lips again, and this time, Milly doesn't complain. Screw her plans, she'll let him do whatever he wants.

Because she wants it too, maybe even more than he does.

With a strong pull, he guides her to his lap, and she sinks into him willingly, fingers losing themselves in his hair.

"Milly," he murmurs against her lips when he breaks away for a short minute.

A bolt of desire runs through her spine. She loves it when he rasps out her name like that.

Eyes half-closed, breaths coming out uneven, she hums. "Mm?"

"I missed you too."

A heart stopping admission, and she's breathless again.

She bites her lips, and then smiles, cupping his cheek fondly as an instinctive reaction. Gods. This man. So impossible. So hers.

Kai doesn't wait for her to gather her thoughts. A hand on her nape presses her back down just as he claims her mouth again, and again, and again, as if he's eager to tell her through his actions, and with every touch, what he told her just now. What he's been telling her all this time since they met an hour ago. A man of action, as always, and she warms and burns and shivers at his advances.

At what he's done for her.

No one that has left her has ever really returned. No one has ever really gone this far for her. They may say they have, but they haven't. Not really.

It's just him.

Just Kai.

So she discards what little reservations she has left and loses herself in him, knowing that her decision is the right one this time.

Part 2

"First thing. Where do you want to go first? Do you wanna see Maestra's place ba muna or later na lang?"

Kai raises a brow at her.

She's driving. Insisted, reasoning out that she knew how to navigate the city better than he does, and he knows she's right so he lets her.

Is this the first time he's let her drive for him like this? He's not so sure.

With Milly, it feels like he's already known her a day and forever and still less than that.

So many days and so many issues have passed between them, and their first encounter already feels like centuries ago to his mind.

Yet when he looks at her, it feels like he's looking at her for the first time. Still feels like he still doesn't know her as much as he'd want.

He won't pretend. He likes the attention. She's always been caring, but this, right now?

It's different. He can't place how or why. He just knows it is. He likes it this way.

"I thought you have plans already," he says, smirking just to tease her again.

Milly's too busy on the wheel to glance at him.

"I have, but I wanna know if you want to settle down and rest muna before I tour you around. You know, drop your things. Chill for a bit."

"Marami bang pupuntahan?"

"'Di naman. But you just got off from six hours of driving. I don't wanna tire you out."

Frankly, he could care less about Baguio.

He's been here before. Not long enough to see everything, but enough to form an opinion that he doesn't really care about what else it has to offer.

He's here for her. To be with her. Make up for the lost time.

But he's also curious. He wants to see where she's planning to take him. How she'll look when she tours him around.

That, and this is Milly's childhood home.

Nevermind the tourist spots. He wants to know where she grew up. Where she spent most of her time playing the piano and excelling in her music. Where she walked and ate and lived most of her childhood.

He's most interested in that.

"I'm not tired. We rested enough earlier. Take me wherever you want."

She smiles at his go signal. "Hmm. Got anything in mind?"

"Ikaw na bahala. Kung ano plano mo."

She skirts a sidelong glance at him. "You're awfully cooperative today."

Has he not always been?

He itches to reach for her hand and maintain the physical connection, but Milly drives with both. Can't risk distracting her. The streets of Baguio are too confusing and extreme that he won't even think of it.

Also, there's that challenge which she posed back to him before they set off earlier.

No touch. Hands off. Remember?

Yeah, right.

"It's your lead. I'm just a passenger today."

The satisfied twinkle in her eyes brightens her face even more, and he finds himself unabashedly staring.

He never takes his eyes off of her even when she notices it.

She's getting conscious of him. He can tell with the way her eyes keep cutting to him. The women around him would flush and hide on normal circumstances. That's the reaction he's used to.

But his woman is built different.

She thrives in his attention.

At the red light, she leans in quick enough to plant a kiss to his lips. "Love it when you watch me like that, babe," she says playfully.

And then she's driving again, a huge grin plastered on her face as if she just won and claimed her prize.

Kai's aware of it too.

That he's grinning with her for the rest of the ride.

***

She takes him to a park. There's a lot of parks in Baguio, but he chose this one when she asked after she told him that she used to ride the swan boats with her grandmother here.

Burnham park is big, but not that exceptional. Objectively, he's seen better parks. But the nostalgia in the way she's talking about her casual walks in this place during her high school days spark an interest in him that no ever tourist spot has ever done before.

He looks where she points.

He drinks in every boat ride she's mentioning, and his eyes roam, drinking in every nook and cranny as he envisions a younger Milly who used to take walks around this park as her breather and break from her grueling music lessons. Alone or with her friends. With her family or even classmates.

A half-grin starts on his lips.

Now she's walking with him.

"Let's take a picture," he says, to commit the memory into a more lasting reminder.

Milly blinks, surprised. "You want a pic?"

"Ayaw mo?"

"No... I'm just surprised that you're asking. You hate getting your photos taken."

"I don't hate it. I simply don't like it."

"What's the difference?"

He doesn't answer. Instead, he places an arm over her shoulders, pulls her closer, and lifts his phone camera in the air in front of them.

She automatically angles her face closer to his, giving a cool smile, and his arm drops to her waist before he repositions the camera to get a better view of them. Her mouth presses to his cheek in the micro second it took to click the shutter.

Snap.

His skin is tingling when she pulls away to get his phone from his hold, completely oblivious, like she didn't just do that.

"Is this our first photo together?" she asks after as she reviews the shot. "I don't remember."

It's not, but it's the first that they've taken since they became like this. What are they? He still doesn't know.

The photo looks good. They look good, but the mild surprise was evident on his face while there's a smile edging at the corner of her lips. Barely visible though.

Milly asks him to take a few more shots. She only stops when she's satisfied while he gets distracted by a street vendor passing by.

Too busy reviewing and transferring the photos to her own phone, she barely notices when he walks to the vendor and buys a bouquet, the prettiest among the five available. It's smaller than he'd like, but it will do.

Milly's still preoccupied when he returns to her. Surprise flickers across her face when he raises the flowers to her attention.

"Flowers for me?" Her face lightens up, and the sides of her eyes crinkle into that smile. The one reserved for him. His chest warms. "Let's see. First, a condo. Second, musical instruments. Third, apology gifts. Fourth, stuffed toys. And now, this?" she says when she accepts the flowers. "Babe, aren't you spoiling me way too much?"

Is he?

He doesn't think so because he has no problem giving her even more than what he can if it means seeing the same rewarding smile each time.

***

She's taking the long way round, she says. Good Shepherd is their next stop because it has one of the best views where they can take a good photo of the stunning landscapes, but she's taking the longer road at his request.

To see the campus she spent majority of her youth in.

She's startled that he asked. Admitted that she's planning to showing him her school too, but she's just unsure if he'd be interested.

Of course he's interested. Everything he can get, he'll take.

Everything she can give, he'll take too.

"That's it. That's my music academy," Milly points, and a wave of nostalgia takes over her face as she says, "That's where I learned anything and everything about music. That's also where Maestra worked part-time too after they moved here for a few years."

The campus occupies a bigger location than he'd initially expected. The facade is old, but it's clean and it looks well-maintained. He would've wanted to check the premises, if Milly didn't say that outsiders and tourists are not permitted inside.

"D'yan din ba nag-aral ang mama mo?" he asks a moment later as Milly drives away. He watches the view of the academy grow smaller through the side mirror.

"Elementary, yes. The Armadas-that's Maestra's family-are really based here in Baguio. Mom transferred to Manila in highschool, though. And then she studied in Philadelpia after. That's how she became a world-class concert violinist. Doon siya nahasa. It's hard to get into that institute of music. Only a few ever really get in, and she did at her first try. She was a child prodigy, so expected naman."

"Like you."

Milly only smiles at that. Doesn't say anything. He understands why too.

He drops the subject.

"Lahat kayo tumutugtog, 'di ba? Pati mga pinsan mo?"

"All of us. Pati mga tito at tita ko. And even yung mga kapatid ni Maestra down to their children and grandchildren. Not everyone makes a career out of it though. No one gets passed on. It's a family tradition now. Some of my cousins still play, but the eldest of us, 'di na. He's busy learning the ropes of Lolo's businesses."

"What about you? Ba't 'di ka nagtatrabaho sa lolo mo?"

Milly casts him an amused glance.

"Can you imagine me doing corporate work? Sitting eight hours a day doing a routine job?"

"You're smart. You'll easily get a higher position."

"But it's essentially the same. There are people who work best in that setting. Not me. I don't like getting my wings clipped like that."

That's not the first time he heard that. She's right. It's hard to imagine her being any different than she is now.

Good Shepherd, as it turns out, is a convent that's also known for selling local food products. He follows Milly all the way to the back, his eyes taking inventory of the shop and the line of locals crowding there, when she abruptly stops.

"Oh."

He follows her line of sight.

Not far ahead, wisps of thick, white fog has settled in. Not even a shadow or outline of what lies beyond is visible to the sight. Milly looks so disappointed.

Kai stifles a smile.

"Wrong timing. Wala ka makikita kahit hintayin natin. Lipat na tayo sa Mines View?"

She turns on her heel, about to leave, but Kai takes her hand and steers her to the viewing deck.

"Let's take a picture anyway."

"Gusto mo pa rin? Kahit walang kita?"

"Who says I wanted the view?" he says before he positions the two of them and captures the shot.

It's just them and the layers and layers of fog behind them. Milly likes the clouds but says it would've been better if the rolling mountainside are in the backdrop instead.

Kai begs to differ.

They're together, and she's smiling, and it's perfect.

Whatever the background is, wherever they are, it's already the perfect picture for him.

***

They skip buying the pasalubong. They skip Mines View too in favor of the strawberry park because she's expecting a light drizzle to come in soon. Strawberries are not ready for picking yet, but she wants to take him nevertheless so he can go back there on his own whenever he wants.

Why would he go back to Baguio without her? he wants to says but stops himself. Milly's already telling him stories about how she used to pick strawberries by hand with her grandparents before.

He listens intently to every word. Hangs on every memory.

So that's why she loves strawberries so much. It's not for the taste, but for the memories. For the nostalgia.

It's always her and her grandparents. She very rarely talks about her mother and father.

He doesn't ask anymore because he already knows why.

"This is one of the many places where you can buy souvenirs and wines. May blades too, if you wanna check. It's there in one of the stalls."

They end up tasting and buying different wines and eating strawberry ice cream that he thinks is overpriced but she reasons is made of real strawberries in the next half hour. Milly took it upon herself to buy several souvenirs for his pesky little sister.

He can already see it, the flailing and shrieking and boundless jumping again that his grouch of a sister will do when he delivers the gifts to her.

That'll be quite an affair too because Kylie did the exact same when she received the Kalimba.

Eventually, he does get distracted by the stall of katanas that she mentioned. By the time he's done looking, Milly's moved on to another stall, carefully eyeing the bronze accessories displayed on the wooden table.

"Want something?" he asks when he walks up to her and checks the selection. Immediately, a particular gem stone catches his eye.

Milly shakes her head, but Kai picks up the ring anyway.

Aqua blue, her favorite color.

"Are you buying that? There's no need. I have a lot of-" She stops when he takes her hand. The color he chose is just right for her fair complexion.

The vendor's saying it's adjustable. He's about to put it on her left ring finger when he stops, catches himself, and puts it on her middle finger instead.

Milly's watching his face as he does so, and he can't tell if she's happy with him or teasing him or both.

"Pick one for me," he says before she can begin teasing him.

"Couple ring, huh? Sweet," she singsongs before she carefully checks each ring until she settles for a plain bronze design instead. "No stone. Ayaw mo nang gano'n," she explains when she adjusts the ring to his right middle finger too.

It intrigues him how well she knows him by now.

On their way out, Milly reaches down to grab him, and it pleases him how well their hands fit together, the bronze rings cool against his skin and pressed against each other, glinting bright under the sun.

He likes it, he realizes.

Likes it when they share things together.

Likes it when they own things together.

Whether that's a condo or a ring or a memory.

He likes being a part of her life.

***

Baguio Botanical Garden is unbelievably vast... and impossible. It's divided into different sections and themes, and by now, he's already feeling the exhaustion settling in his muscles just by looking at the expanse of it.

He hides the building discomfort to avoid dampening her mood, but Milly is perceptive and sensitive and notices anyway.

Face soft, eyes warm with understanding, she asks, "Uwi na tayo?"

Uwi na tayo.

His breath stills.

Something about that feels different.

He takes her hand, the one with his ring on, and kisses her knuckles. "Balik na lang tayo bukas. I'm spent."

She softens even more at him, and the words she doesn't say are reflected in her eyes when she looks back at him in this way.

He thinks she doesn't even realize it yet. The extent of her own feelings.

But he knows. He can wait.

Milly presses the back of her fingers to the side of his eye, smoothening his unease. "Pahinga na tayo."

He nods, squeezing her other hand. Good decision too, because not long after she said that, a strong outpour rolls in and rains down on them.

They're already soaked wet when they get into the car.

The ride to her grandmother's house, fortunately, is quite short.

It's a big house that looks more like a cabin than an actual house he's used to seeing in Manila. There's a hearth that he sees as soon as he pads into the living room, but Milly clarifies it's not the one she talked about before.

"Wait there. I'll get us towels," she says before she disappears into one of the rooms.

Kai drops their bags on the floor and waits for her in the living room. The entire house has been cleaned and prepared for his arrival. Milly says no one has lived there for years, but it's where she stays when she goes to Baguio to unwind.

Why she let him into a special home for her is beyond him, but he's not complaining.

He's casually checking the pictures of her grandmother hanging on the walls when Milly returns not a minute after and drapes the towel over his head.

The fabric glides against his hair, and then she moves to his face, wiping the remaining sheen of rain moistening his skin with light, gentle pats.

The gesture is so tender, and so foreign, that his breath holds again in his lungs.

She's also soaked and shivering at the cold, but she's chosen to attend to him and dry him off instead of changing into fresh clothes.

Always, always the caring one.

Always others before herself.

A part of him clenches, and snaps - and then without thinking, he's already holding her wrists, stilling her movements.

Milly raises her brows at him to silently ask why.

He tugs the towel from her hands and discards it to the sofa as an answer.

Then he's pressing her to himself and leaning down to claim her lips.

Challenge be damned. There's no way he can still keep his hands to himself after today.

That's just a known fact he's grown to accept by now. His self-control is practically non-existent when it comes to her.

Kai hates losing, but for this one, he'll happily accept his defeat.