Hector stares at the messages he sent Rachel, half expecting a reply. Will she believe his lie that it was mistakenly sent? Does he want her to? Just one tap, the ring could go. He could hear her voice.

Instead, he closes his eyes and leans back on the pillow. He can see her now. The warm amber eyes, rosy lips, and slender neck. The day when he visited her place, the day it was raining, the day he almost kissed her... It's a day he had played many times in his mind. Each time the kiss would happen without interruption. At times, the clothes came off, too.

His fantasies and pining are all he's left with. How could he have lost everything else? Lost her. He would do anything to go back to that moment when there was nothing but a little space between them. Now it seems to be the entire universe that's keeping them apart.

The despair hurts him more than the broken arm. He can glimpse his mother's agony. This must be what it's like to love someone who won't love you back. Then does he get the same fate too? Vodka and violence. That's all his unhappy mother could ever do for herself.

He can't be his mother. He needs to change. He needs to do better. He needs to get back Rachel.

IN THE MORNING, Rachel keeps glancing at her phone sitting on the dining table. He didn't send another message, no matter how much she was hoping for it. Then her phone dings and she picks it up quickly. It's Ricky saying he's at a cafe on his way to pick her up and asking if she would want anything from there.

Guiltily Rachel replies a no.

How could things have gotten so complicated? Isn't it supposed to be simple? She's with Ricky, not Hector. Isn't that simple? Why is she making everything difficult for herself? Losing sleep over a few words from someone she swore to forget.

A sudden thunder takes away her attention. Her mother says by the sink, "The monsoon this year seems to never want to end. You sure you want to go to school today? The forecast said there'll be heavy rain."

"I'm good."

Her mother dries her hands with a small towel and comes to her. She places her hand on Rachel's shoulder. "Rachel, I'm happy for you and Ricky. He seems like a really nice boy. But," she says, sitting down next to Rachel, "Are you happy?"

"I am," Rachel says, not meeting her mother's eyes, "I don't know why you would ask that."

"I think you do. I don't know what it is, but something seems to bother you, and I want you to know if there's anything you need, and if there's anything you want to talk about, I'm right here."

Rachel accepts her mother's hug, feeling grateful. If only Hector had a mother like hers, then maybe he wouldn't have ever hurt her, and he would've been the one she would be riding with once again through the rain.