stell immediately went out of the gymnasium and briskly walked to the parking lot to get to his car. it's the night before the UAAP Cheerdance Competition and stell was supposed to watch and cheer for justin on their last night of practice but unfortunately, his bestfriend needs him. it's currently 11:30 pm on the clock and the Salinggawi Dance Troupe promised to practice until 1 a.m to make sure that their routine is properly polished.

stell zoomed through the highways of España through Taguig just to reach BGC fast and save his bestfriend from whatever kind of trouble he has gotten himself into. why the fuck is he even drinking? also, it's only half past 11 pm and he's already wasted as fuck??? gaano na ba katagal umiinom 'to? stell thought, his eyebrows furrowing in both worry and annoyance.

fortunately, there was no traffic so in less that 25 minutes, he was able to reach Xylo at the Palace in BGC. the booming sounds from the speakers, the fully air-conditioned club which smells like a mixture of liquor, sweat, and intoxicating perfumes and scents immediately filled stell's senses. he made his way through a huge crowd of people, lightly pushing some of them just to get to wherever paulo is.

because of his undeniably gorgeous looks, stell earned lots of glances and head-to-toe stares from the different people around him which made him a bit uncomfortable, considering that they were physically close to him.

god, i hate clubs. fuck you, paulo. he said inside his head.

finally, after spending a good ten minutes, stell saw pablo half-sitting half-lying down on a blue curved couch with a glass of hennessy on his hand.

paulo exclaimed as soon as he saw stell and he tried to stand up but tripped by the side of the table. fortunately, stell was able to catch him in his arms, their faces only inches apart from each other. stell didn't seem to mind but paulo's heart started beating at a faster pace.

stell shouted, trying to overpower the loud music around them for paulo to hear him. he helped him sit back down on the couch and snatched the glass from his hand.

stell hoisted paulo in his arms and carried him. good thing, there's a nearer exit at that side so they wouldn't have to squeeze through people on their way out again.

pablo murmured and chuckled, gently sliding his index finger across stell's cheek down to his jawline, and down to his neck.

stell responded before placing paulo on the passenger seat of his car who immediately curled up like a ball and closed his eyes to sleep. parang bata talaga. stell thought.

the drive to paulo's condo was quiet. the older only slept the whole ride and all stell did was check the time to know if justin's practice was already done. 1 hour left.

stell gently placed paulo on his bed while the older sleeps calmly. the room was pitch black and stell didn't bother to open the lights anymore. he then changed paulo's dirty shirt into a fresh white shirt because he knew how much the older hates sleeping in his dirty clothes, then, he fixed the sheets to cover the older's body completely. stell went to the kitchen to get some medicine for paulo to drink the next day and a glass of water too. when he came back, he heard paulo's soft sobs and he was calling out stell's name.

the older sniffled while trying to get out of bed and walk around the pitch black room. but before he could completely get out of bed, stell already had hold of him, pushing him to sit back. the younger then carefully placed the glass and the medicine on the bedside table.

stell said, trying to comfort the older who immediately hugged him tight.

paulo sobs into stell's shoulder and the younger was confused as hell onto why his bestfriend was acting like this.

he gently rubs paulo's back to comfort him and shushes him down, trying to calm him.

stell thought deep. he knows he can't stay. in less than an hour, justin's practice would end and he has to drive for him. the drive going back to UST would take 15-20 minutes and he knew he has to leave soon but when paulo pulled away from the hug and stell saw the miserable look on his face, the younger had second thoughts.

paulo whispered another 'please' and stell slowly nodded, mentally cursing himself for leaving justin behind tonight. he just planned to leave when paulo is already fast asleep but as soon as he lied down beside him, paulo immediately wrapped his hands around his waist tightly. paulo cuddled close to him, like stell would disappear if he ever looses his hold onto his body.

now stell knew he couldn't leave paulo alone. and it sucks.

fuck me. i'm sorry, jah. :(