"You're so spoiled talaga, my baby." I laughed softly, before leaning in to kiss Connie's head. Connie licked my chin as he set his paws on my chest as if saying, "whose fault is it, mommy?"

Without taking his eyes off the road, Creed reached his hand out towards Connie and rubbed his head. Bringing Connie wasn't part of the plan, but Creed was having so much fun with Connie, and I didn't have the heart to break them apart so I asked Creed if we could bring him. Nag-agree naman siya kaagad. Tuwang-tuwa pa nga.

"Saan na tayo pupunta? Maybe you can tell me na?" I asked in a teasing voice.

"We're going to Batangas," he answered.

"What are we going to do there? Kakain ba tayo ng lomi?"

"There's a good lomi restaurant near our place." He smiled. "Walking distance lang. We can go there for merienda."

A sudden thought occurred to me. "Wait, will your grandfather be there?! Wala akong gift!" Nagpa-panic na 'ko ngayon. Kaka-birthday lang ng lolo niya and here I was, empty-handed. Unacceptable!

He chuckled at my reaction. "Wala. And it's fine, I passed on your birthday greetings to him. He told me to send you his warmest regards. Ah, he wants to meet you nga pala."

I gaped at him. Creed's grandfather... wanted to meet... me?

"H-Ha, bakit daw? Is he gonna give me ten million?"

Napatawa siya ng malakas. "Papa wants to meet you because he's curious about you. It's because it's the first time I'm bringing someone else aside from Devin and the guys to the house. Akala nga niya gir—" he suddenly stopped. "Uh, oo nga pala, kailangan natin magpa-gas."

We arrived at the rest house aroud four o'clock. May sumalubong saamin na matandang lalaki at piangbuksan kami ng gate.

"Welcome back, hijo!" The old man exclaimed, obviously happy to see Creed once again.

"Hi, Manong Jude."

Manong Jude looked between the two of us. "May dala ka pang girlfriend at bagong alaga! Hello, hija."

"Magandang hapon, po." I greeted back, shyly smiling. "Nagkakamali po kayo. Magkaibigan lang po kami ni Creed."

Napatawa siya sa sinabi ko. "Gano'n ba?"

"Si Daneri, po. Sa kanya rin 'yong aso. Connie po 'yong pangalan." Creed informed him.

He opened the gate wider. "Do'n muna kayo sa veranda. Mamaya na lang kayo pumunta sa kwarto. Wala pang bedsheet ang mga kama."

"Okay lang, manong. Hindi po kami matutulog dito." Sambit ni Creed.

"Sige, sabihan niyo lang ako kung nagbago ang isip niyo."

He then left to fetched us some drinks, much to our protest that we could get the drinks ourselves. Manong Jude was full of happiness and energy. I smiled at the thought that Creed grew up with someone like him.

"So, you guys go here often?"

"Yeah," Creed replied. "It's our... escape."

"It's a nice escape," I commented, looking at the trees and plants surrounding the place. There were trees of different kinds: mango, jackfruit, calamansi, and flowers such as daffodils and orchids, and more.

Manong Jude came back carrying a tray that had a liter of RC Cola, two glasses, and two bowls. I stood up to pull the sliding door since manong's hands were occupied. When manong set the tray down, my eyes lit up. Lomi pala 'yong laman ng bowls! My mouth was probably watering by now.

"Mayroon pang lomi sa kusina," sambit ni manong. "Pumunta na lang kayo sa kusina kung gusto niyo pa."

"Salamat, manong. Paano niyo po nalaman?" Creed asked with a gleeful laugh.

Tumawa rin si manong. "Kilala ka na namin, hijo." Lumingon saakin si manong, an amused expression dancing on his features. "Alam mo 'yang sina Creed at 'yong tropa niya? Kada punta rito may dala-dalang lomi galing sa malapit na restaurant. Hindi sila nagsasawa kahit ilang beses na nilang nakain."

"Well, it's the taste of home," Creed shrugged.

Afterwards, we conversed with Manong Jude about the trees he'd recently planted for a bit until he took his leave, saying he still had some work to do. Creed also left for a few moments to get something from the kitchen. When he returned, he was carrying a larger bowl of lomi and apple cider vinegar.

"Para hindi na tayo pabalik-balik," he said as he sat down. "Para sa lomi 'yong vinegar. Ah, wait, I forgot... I'll get the other vineg—"

"No need," I lightly held his arm to prevent him from standing up again. "I love apple cider. It complements dishes like this." I can't stand it as a drink, though.

After our merienda, Creed and I washed our dishes before he carried Connie and took me on a tour of the property. He showed me the fishing "pond" (mind you, it was bigger than a pond), the greenhouse, and the pool. He also took me to see their three, two wooden layered rabbit hutches. When I asked about the rabbits, Creed replied that his grandfather and his younger cousin both shared a fascination with rabbits.

Creed showed me the small guesthouse beside the veranda before bringing me to the main house. It was a two-story modern house with big glass windows.

Our final stop was Creed's room. It had a balcony that overlooked the pool and flowers. He went out and sat down in one of the hanging chairs and gestured for me to sit down on the other. He let Connie do his own thing.

"This view is gorgeous."

"The view's pretty good at night, too. Sometimes, you can see the stars." He told me. "Do you want to go stargazing?"

"Of course!" I've never went stargazing before. It was on my bucket list.

"Surprise," he did a little show of hands.

"Huh?"

"Did you forget about the surprise?" He smiled a little. "Checked the weather app today... no sign of rain."

My heart was beating loudly. He wanted to surprise me with this?

He continued on, saying, "you mentioned it before that you never went stargazing. Figured this was a good day."

"Why?"

"Why, what?"

"Never mind. I... thank you. This is so thoughtful."

"You're welcome."

The warmth in chest tripled. I felt fuzzy all over, it was completely different from the way I felt with my past crushes or with Mitchell. Creed was only supposed to be a crush, a harmless source of affection. Nothing deeper than that. But who was I fooling? No one else but myself. I was in trouble right from the start.

"You wanna play?"

Startled, I turned towards Creed who was standing beside me. I didn't even notice that Creed had left momentarily to grab a PS5 controller.

"Sure," I nodded and grabbed the controller. I needed a distraction.

We went back inside. Creed pulled the bean bags towards the middle of the room. We played Tekken 7, Call Of Duty, LittleBigPlanet, Marvel VS Capcom, Street Fighter, and more. We were both so absorbed in the multiple rounds we played that we lost track of time. And when Creed checked his phone, it was already past seven.

"Let's call it quits nga," Creed chuckled, making me grin. Kanina pa kasi kaming nagsasabihan ng "last na" and "after this, quits na tayo." Parehas kami na ayaw magpatalo.

"As long as you know who won the last match." I teased.

"You're good at avoiding attacks, I'll give you that." He smirked. "Pati ikaw mismo umiiwas, eh." He proceeded to mimic my actions from awhile ago--abruptly leaning back into the bean bag or to the side while holding the controller, as if I was avoiding Creed's attacks myself.

"Stop." I laughed and softly hit him with a pillow. We exploded in a fit of laughter until I stood up to turn off the console and the tv. I was about to sit back down when I heard the sound of heavy raindrops. Walking towards the window, I lifted the blinds up to confirm if it was raining, and sure enough, it was. Hard.

"Shit, it's raining?" Creed stood up and went over to where I was. "Damn, it's coming down hard." He looked dejected.

I poked his cheek. "Why naman so sad?"

"You won't be able to see the stars tonight. Ano ba 'yan, na-jinx ko ata." He frowned.

"Cute mo naman," tumawa ako. "It's fine, we can see the stars another time."

"Creed?" Manong Jude's voice called out as he knocked on the door.

"Pasok ka po," Creed said.

The door to Creed's room opened as Manong Jude stepped inside, holding a comforter. Linapag niya iyon sa kama.

"Dito muna kayo matulog, ah? Bukas na kayong bumiyahe. Mukha kasing hindi titigil ang ulan." Napakamot si manong sa ulo. "Baka madisgrasya pa kayo sa daan. Delikado."

Creed turned to me. "Would that be fine with you? Are you in a hurry to go home?"

"Yes, it's fine."

"Hija, nakahanda na ang guest room para saiyo. Buksan mo na lang ang aircon." Manong informed me.

"Thank you, Manong Jude." I bowed my head slightly once more. "Pasensya na po sa abala."

"Hindi ka abala saamin, Daneri." Manong Jude assured me and gestured for us to follow him. "Nakahanda na ang lamesa. Kumain na kayo ng hapunan."

"Opo."

We ate dinuguan and ginataang langka for dinner. Afterwards, Creed and I helped in fixing the dining table. The rain really wasn't letting up anytime soon, so we had to use an umbrella to go from one place to another. I carried Connie the whole time to avoid getting him wet and dirty.

Pagkarating sa main house, Creed and I said our good nights. But before that, he gave me a towel and some clothes so I could freshen up. Good thing I always had a pair of disposable underwear in my bag in case of an emergency. I put on his shirt and pajamas next--they were big on me, but comfortable.

Normally, I would've screamed at the heavens and take countless mirror selfies of me in his clothing, but I couldn't--not with Creed being two doors down the hallway and me having a small crisis over my feelings moving beyond casual.

"Connie," I whistled while patting the space beside me. Connie jumped onto the bed and rested head between his paws like the cute, good dog he was.

I grabbed my phone from the nightstand, surprised to see a message from Creed.

From: Creed
I'll take you here again soon. We'll watch the stars, this time. I promise haha

To: Creed
that's sweet of you
will definitely take you up on that offer :>
thank you for showing me your escape, creed.

From: Creed
This can also be your escape, you know.

I almost dropped my phone on my face at his message. I was struggling to come up with a reply when Creed messaged again.

From: Creed
Sweet dreams.

Deciding to delay thinking of an answer to his message, I turned off my phone only for the screen to light up once more, but this time with multiple messages from my friends. I guess I shouldn't put off replying to them until tomorrow morning.