A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Ben's POV

"Come here, Ben! I'm waiting to claim my reward!" Bright yelled above the noise of the rest of our group.

I pretended not to hear him.

I removed my sandals and started wading into the water, my heart pounding so hard in my chest.

I did not want Bright to kiss me even if it was just for the fun of winning a race and claiming the prize.

I was looking down, studying the foam of the water when suddenly Bright grabbed my waist.

He tried to kiss me but I pulled away.

"That's not fair!" Bright protested. "I won the race fair and square!"

"Two things," I said, moving farther away from him. "First of all you had an unfair head start on me. You sprinted away while announcing the race. Second of all, I can't go around just kissing anyone, because I have a boyfriend. I am in a committed relationship and so are you."

"No I'm not," Bright declared, his face suddenly turning sad. "Win broke up with me a month ago and has gone back to his ex girlfriend."

I stared wide eyed at Bright.

It took a while for me to process what he had just announced to me.

I ignored the sudden fast and hard pounding of my heart against my chest and tried to convince myself that it had nothing to do with the news that my ex boyfriend was now single again.

"Say something Ben," Bright broke into my thoughts.

"I don't know what to say," I said, my voice barely above a whisper because I felt like I could not breathe.

"You could say that you're sorry to hear that I'm single again," Bright said, trying to hide a smirk.

Instead of reacting to what he just said, I decided to walk away from him.

I was not even startled when I felt him grab my wrist.

"Let's  go over to that big rock that's jutting out there in the distance," he said. "Let's get away from the rest of this noisy crowd."

For some reason I did not have the energy to go against his wish. I let him lead me to the giant rock that was quite a distance from where our team mates were frolicking in the water.

When we reached the other side of the large rock where the rest of the group could not see us, Bright did not try to kiss me.

Instead he leaned against the rock, close beside me.

"I must confess that I was the one at fault for the breakdown of my relationship with Win," he said.

I did not fail to notice the quiver in his voice.

"Why do you say that?" I found myself asking, hating myself for wanting to know.

"Win broke off with me because he could tell that my heart was not in our relationship, that my heart was somewhere else, that I was longing to be with someone  else," he said, his breath starting to become labored and erratic.

I was afraid to ask who that someone else was.

He leaned closer to me and whispered, "Are you not going to ask who the invisible third party in my relationship with Win was?"

I could not meet his eyes. I could hardly breathe now because my heart was now beating unbearably, dangerously fast.

I could feel his breath against my ear as his face came closer and closer.

I closed my eyes, unable to decide whether I wanted him to continue with his intention or to move away.

Suddenly, my phone started to ring.

I took it out of my pocket and looked at the screen.

Oh shit, P'Man was video calling me!

Bright leaned over to look at the screen of my phone.

"Please don't answer it," he pleaded.

"Please," he repeated, when he saw the indecision written all over my face.

The hot tears started streaming down my cheeks when I faced the truth that I wanted to free myself from the ties that bound me to someone who was eleven years older than me, old enough for people to refer to him as my uncle.

"Ben?" Bright's voice interrupted my thoughts when the ringing stopped after I had left the call unanswered.