Chapter 5

Raquel

It was the night of Andres' dinner gathering. She wore a long, comfortable, knitted sweater tucked-in on her skinny jeans. She partnered her outfit with her favorite leather boots. Although Sergio insistently said to dress casual, here he was with his white long sleeves and black tie- complete with a coat. She wanted to change but Sergio said she looked absolutely perfect so she believed him. Nevertheless, she can't stop feeling nervous.

"Are you okay?" he asked because she was quietly looking out the window, staring at his brother's house. She only nodded in response.

"Let's go then." He got out of his seat and quickly walked onto the other side of the car to open the door for her. When they reached the front door, Sergio knocked twice and almost immediately, they heard somebody shouting- offering to get the door. They heard the footsteps coming so he took a step back and threw her a reassuring smile. The door opened and the sight of a beautiful woman greeted them, whose face instantly lit up when she saw Sergio.

"Professor!" the woman exclaimed.

"Agata. So happy to see you." Sergio said as he opened his arms for a hug.

"I could say the same to you!" Agata said with such glee. When she took the hug, her eyes finally met Raquel's. She pushed Sergio aside to look at Raquel in her full form. She turned her head slightly to the professor without breaking eye contact.

"And who do we have here?" she said in surprise.

"Hi." Raquel said nervously and extended a hand. "I'm Raquel. Sergio's friend."

"Hello there! I'm Agata." she said as she accepted the handshake. "Come on in!"

When they stepped inside, Raquel looked around and observed the place. It was a nice, huge house, definitely a Mediterranean style household judging by the combination of warm woods and bricks on the wall. It was simple yet elegant.

"The gang is out in the veranda." She heard Agata say to Sergio.

As soon as Sergio opened the sliding door that leads to the veranda, the beautiful warm color of the sunset welcomed their eyes. She was sure she just gasped in awe. When she finally stepped out of the threshold, she was surprised to see such an enchanting setting for a dinner. There were strings of tiny light bulbs hanging on the roof of the veranda, which made the place very intimate. In the middle is a long table, which looked like an antique- the chairs matching its design. There were candles illuminating the variety of delicious-looking food served on the table. As she looked around more, she saw unfamiliar faces laughing with each other while holding what looked like sangrias. In a way she felt out of placed. What the hell am I doing in a house full of strangers? She thought. She's sure it's just her imagination, but she felt the ground just swallowed her feet because she couldn't seem to move. She looked around once more and sighed in relief as she finally saw a familiar face.

"Professor! Inspectora!" Denver waved at them and stood up to give them a hug. The young man caught the attention of the others and so they started walking towards them. She stepped aside, not wanting to interrupt their little reunion.

"Ah! Professor! Long time no see!" A much younger-looking lad said and hugged Sergio.

"Anibal. How's out-of-college life treating you?"

"I'm still trying to enjoy my unemployment, profe. Soon enough I'll start looking for a job." Anibal smiled and then moved aside to make way for the others.

"Good to see you, Martin." Sergio greeted. Martin just hugged and patted him on the back.

"Professor!" A largely built man saluted to him.

"Yashin." He saluted back. The two ended up hugging too, which made them laugh. She was starting to feel awkward when all of a sudden, Agata wrapped an arm on her shoulder, tugging her closer.

"Hey profe! Aren't you going to introduce your friend?" Agata commented with a smug look on her face.

"Oooh, professor brought a girl." Anibal teased exchanging looks with everyone else.

"Yes. Uhm." Sergio was visibly affected by all the teasing that he started adjusting his eyeglasses. "Guys, this is Raquel. She's my good friend." He said which earned him some "ooh" and "aah" from the gang.

"Hi. Good evening." Raquel greeted and smiled.

"Well, you're already friends with Denver." He said while pointing at Denver. "Those are Anibal, Martin and Yashin" all three of them waved in acknowledgement. "And you've met Agata earlier."

"Take a seat. We're starting dinner soon." Agata said to Raquel and she happily obliged.

"Inspectora." Denver called and motioned for her to join him at the table. "Uhm I might have brought someone with me. Please don't be mad." He said in an agitated manner, which rendered her confused.

"Why would I be mad?" he was about to open his mouth in response, but before he could do so, she heard a familiar voice called her name coming from inside the house.

"Monica?!" she's not even sure why she's surprised to see her two friends together. Mon waved and joined them at the table.

"Have you met everyone?" Mon excitingly asked.

"I still haven't met his brother. Where did you come from?"

"Oh me too. He hasn't showed up yet. And the bathroom."

"Are you drunk?"

"Tipsy. Not drunk. You want something to drink?"

"Wow. You're fairly comfortable here."

"I know! I think it's the sangria."

When Monica stood up to fetch their drinks. She shot Denver a sharp look.

"I'll keep an eye on her, I promise."

"You better."

Raquel removed her attention on the lovebirds and caught the sight of Sergio intensely talking with everyone. Now she can see what Denver was pertaining to at the night of their first meeting. His hand gestures and his posture scream authority. She couldn't help but smirk at how everybody is listening attentively to him.

"He gets serious like that." Denver whispered to her noticing that she was staring at the little affair happening at the other end of the table.

"And why aren't you there? Don't tell me you're cutting professor's classes?"

"Ha! You're not going to snitch on me, are you?"

Monica arrived with a glass on each hand and offered one to Raquel. She accepted it, muttered a small thank you and took a sip of her sangria. She relaxingly closed her eyes when she felt the taste of alcohol slid down her throat and then sighed. She felt a warm hand touched her shoulder from behind her. She opened her eyes and smiled knowing it was Sergio. Deep inside, she beamed in victory for not freaking out. Sergio's touch became so familiar to her that she couldn't help but connect her hand to his and then looked up to see his warmest smile. However, the moment was interrupted by the claps and whistles of his friends.

"There's the man of the evening!" Rio happily shouted and everybody laughed.

"Welcome, my friends." Andres said, stretching out his arms in a dramatic motion.

"Goodness! You're always so extra!" Agata jokingly said and stood up to give the man a hug. While everybody else did the same, even Denver and Monica, Sergio asked for Raquel's hand and pulled her up from her seat. It's time to meet his brother.

"Andres."

"Ah, hermano." His brother acknowledged him and pulled him into a tight hug.

"This is Raquel. The uhm…friend…that I was telling you about."

Raquel smiled her sweet smile but before she could say her greetings, she found herself almost suffocating within his brother's arms.

"Thank you for coming. Not only tonight, but also into my little brother's life."

"Oh my god." Sergio reacted, already embarrassed by his brother's dramatics.

"Raquel?" she heard someone say. "Raquel Murillo?" the redhead appeared from Andres' behind.

"Alicia?" Raquel recognized in bewilderment. "Alicia Sierra."

"Oh, you two know each other?" Andres said, not exactly surprised.

"Yes." Both women answered at the same time.

"We knew each other from the academy." Raquel added. Alicia and her are not exactly close friends. If anything else, they are competitors. They're not enemies per se, but they find themselves always in each other's nerves.

"I want to say that it's nice to see you but, I'm just not feeling it." Alicia infuriatingly said.

"Oh don't worry. Not feeling it is all I feel for you." Raquel spat in response.

"Okay woah." Sergio held her by the shoulder.

"Well, isn't that a nice surprise." Andres said with a smirk as if he was enjoying the ruckus. "Now, before you two kill each other, why don't we have dinner first? Yes?"

Sergio

The night is young at the De Fonollosa household. Everyone exchanged stories like they haven't seen each other for the longest time. Even Raquel and Alicia share a laugh at stories about their time at the academy, somehow realizing how immature they both were at the time. Denver shared how he and Monica met and their instant attraction with each other, which made Monica blush.

"How about you professor? How did you meet the lovely Raquel?" Yashin asked. The question sent Sergio into his panic-mode so he gulped his remaining drink, which he soon realized was a pretty bad idea because now he can feel the heat on his face. He can only imagine how red his face looked.

"You know, it wasn't very different from my story actually. Both our jaws gaped open when we saw our ladies for the first time." Denver casually shared then laughed his weird laugh.

"Seriously, how could you stand his laugh?" Agata teased Monica who only happily shrugged.

"I think that's a story for another time." Andres announced. "Right now, I have something important to say."

The tone of the announcement made Sergio nervous. Something doesn't feel right. He knew that his brother like extravaganzas, but he wouldn't just gather the gang just because he missed them. Everyone at the table dropped whatever they were eating and drinking and expectantly looked at Andres.

"Hey. You okay?" Raquel whispered and touched his hand. He smiled telling her he was fine and took a deep breath.

"I gathered you all here because I consider you my family."

He looked at Raquel and Monica and then said, "And if you are someone important to my brothers, then I consider you family." He continued, "I have been fighting a battle for quiet some time now. And I kept it to myself, for the time being, because I thought I could fight it alone."

"Andres…" Sergio softly but nervously called. His brother looked at him and sadly smiled.

"Especially, from you. And I'm sorry. I thought I could protect you from what was once your nightmare- and now my reality."

"What are you talking about?" he asked in a trembling voice. Andres paused before continuing.

"Several months ago, I was diagnosed with a kind of neuromuscular disease called Helmer's Myopathy. Basically my muscles get weaker, and weaker as the days pass by until I can't function anymore."

"It can be cured right?" Martin asked squarely, his eyes scared but hopeful.

"There are treatments I could undergo to lessen the pain."

"You didn't answer him." Sergio said in a flat tone.

"I'm not finished." He looked at him with a straight face then continued, "I ought to tell you that the doctor said I have a few more months to live. With treatments, there's a slight possibility that I could last for a year. However, with or without the treatments, the ending's gonna be same for me."

That was when Agata started shaking in tears. Yashin hugged her, trying to contain his own distress. Martin stared at him with blank eyes, trying to process what had just been said. A few seconds later, a tear fell from his eye. Rio covered his face with his hands while Denver stood up from his seat and then walked back and forth trying to breathe in and out. Monica approached the young man to soothe him down. Sergio, on the other hand, remained calm. He can feel Raquel's eyes bore on him, as if waiting for him to break down like everybody else.

"Does Silene know about this?" he calmly asked Andres.

"Yes. She took the first flight she could get to come home from Tokyo."

"Good. That's good. Now what did the doctors say about the treatments? How much would it cost?"

"Oh no. I've decided not to subject myself to any treatments. I don't want to watch my body rot from all the drugs and chemicals I'd have to take."

"You're kidding right? Those drugs and chemicals might save you." Sergio said in a firm voice, his breathing becoming heavy.

"No they will not, Sergio. They could possibly make my life a little bit longer, but no, they will not save me." Andres said and determinedly continued, "I will live like I've always had and I will spend the rest of my days in the arms of my beautiful cariño- preferably in bed." he said trying to make light of the atmosphere.

"You knew about this?!" he raised his voice to Alicia, which made all of them look at him with fear in their eyes.

"Yes. He told me about it the first few days we started seeing each other." Alicia answered with her chin up- unfazed with Sergio's sudden burst of anger.

"And you're okay with his decision?" he scoffed in disgust.

"I'm with him- whatever he decides."

"NO!" he finally snapped and slammed his hands on the table. He heard Raquel gasped in shock. He couldn't look at her. Not at his state like this.

"Don't shout at her!" Andres said matching Sergio's intense voice. The siblings stared each other with piercing eyes, neither one of them dared to blink.

"If you care about us, you'd fight to live. If you love her, you'd choose to fight and risk all the possibility you have of getting better."

"What do you know about love, my dear brother? Really? Tell me all about it."

"You're not being fair!"

"You spent each day for the past month following a woman like a puppy who's never going to get his treat!"

"Andres!" Alicia tried to stop him from saying more things he might regret later on.

"How. Dare. You." Sergio uttered each word with grave enunciation that left everyone in the room more frightened- his knuckles turning white from clenching his fists too tight.

"Oh I'm sorry. Did I hurt both your fragile hearts?"

"Andres, please." Alicia said and held Andres' hand to calm him down. Sergio stood up with so much force that he sent the chair tumbling down and then walked out. Raquel, though still in shock, followed him in a heartbeat.

He sat at the stair of the front porch and huffed the breath he didn't realize he was holding. He looked at the night sky in an effort to calm himself down. He heard the front door opened followed by some frantic footsteps, which shortly stopped right behind him. Raquel took a sit beside him but stayed silent. Now the both of them are looking at the sky.

"It's not fair." He finally said, breaking the silence. "I fought, Raquel. My father moved Heaven and Earth to support my treatments- just so I could be better. God knows how many times I said enough. But my father refused to give up. And now here I am and I made it. Why can't he be the same?"

"Sergio. You and you're brother are completely different."

"Exactly. He has all the means to make himself better. Hell, I'm willing to spend money to help him get better."

"But it's not about money to him. It's about what makes him happy."

He sighed knowing there's truth in what Raquel was saying.

"I can't lose him, Raquel." He said with a heavy heart. The pain of losing his father became all too new once more.

"And he can't lose you too, especially at a time like this. He needs you to support him."

"How? Am I supposed to jump in joy?" he couldn't believe he's being sarcastic to Raquel. She didn't deserve to be snapped at like this.

"No. But you can start by not making him feel guilty for wanting to spend the rest of life being happy."

"It's so hard."

"I know. And the truth is, it's going to get more difficult. That's why you have to be there by his side."

He looked at her with longing eyes. She smiled and opened her palm, asking him to take her hand, and so he did.

"Come on. Let's go back inside."

Raquel

When she and Sergio went back inside the house, they heard soft laughter coming from the veranda. She looked at Sergio with encouraging eyes and urged him to come out. He slid the door open and all eyes turned at their direction. Andres stood up with a smile on his face and walked towards Sergio with such urgency. Sergio met his brother halfway and pulled him into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry." Sergio said to his brother.

She smiled at the sight. Andres caught her eyes and then mouthed a thank you. He finally let go of his younger brother and walked towards her. He took her hands and said,

"I owe you an apology."

"There's no need, really." She said and offered him a genuine smile.

"Thank you for bringing him back." He whispered and looked at his brother.

"Don't worry. He didn't go anywhere." He let go of her hands and then turned around.

"I can see why our professor likes her." He shrugged while everybody smiled at Sergio. She touched Andres' elbow to catch his attention.

"Andres, thank you for the wonderful dinner."

"Almost."

"It was wonderful meeting all of you, but I'm afraid I need to head out." She shook hands with the gang and wished them all a good night. When she was about to approach Sergio, he stood up and gathered his things.

"Stay. I'll be fine, I'll just get a cab."

"Not happening. I'm bringing you back home."

The ride all the way back home was quiet. Sergio stopped his car in front of her house, yet they stayed inside for a few still moments.

"I'm sorry for what you had to witness." He said in a gentle voice.

"Please don't apologize."

"But I want to. And…I just want you to know that I wouldn't hold it against you if you don't want to ever see me again."

"What? Where is this coming from?"

"I couldn't contain my frustration back there, Raquel."

"You were upset. I don't even know Andres that well and yet I was upset."

"Still. I should've controlled my emotion and not act out like that. Especially with you at my side."

"Sergio, I'm fine." She took his hand. "I'll be honest. I was terrified to see you like that but not because of my history. I was terrified because I wanted to comfort you but I couldn't because everything happened so quickly and I held back, when I shouldn't."

"Don't say that. You were right there, at the right time, with the right words. I went back in there because of what you made me realize. Thank you for being there for me." He said, tears forming in his eyes and it broke her heart. She's not used to seeing him so defeated and hurt and she wanted to kiss the pain away. But before she could do anything else, he spoke.

"You should head inside. I'll accompany you." He said then got out of his car. He walked on her side and opened the door for her. She mouthed her thanks and walked with him until they reach her front door. She turned around to face him.

"You have great friends, Sergio. Thank you for introducing them to me."

"I'm sure the pleasure is theirs." He smiled, tiny wrinkles formed at the corner of his eyes.

"Well then, good night." She held his gaze waiting for something, although she wasn't sure what.

"G'night." Sergio said and finally walked away.

"Sergio, wait!" she called out. Sergio turned around and looked at her, halfway through his path and she strode towards him with her heart pounding. She can see the confused look on his eyes as she approached nearer and nearer. She stopped right in front of him and grabbed his face with her trembling hands. She touched her forehead with his, feeling his breath as his nose connected with hers.

"Raquel wha-" he almost pulled away but she didn't let him finish and shut his mouth in a searing kiss.

Each and every emotion the both of them had been holding back came rushing through all at once in their kiss. She opened her mouth and Sergio took no time for granted and searched for her tongue. She felt him wrapped his hands on her waist so she did the same and wrapped her arms around his neck, aching to deepen the kiss. His moan sent vibrations down her throat and she couldn't help but moan in response. When the need for oxygen became necessary, she pulled away and rested her forehead against him.

They were both breathing heavily when she felt a hot liquid started streaming down his face. She held him tighter. She wiped the tears away with her thumb and nestled his head on the nape of her neck.

"You don't have to be strong all the time." She said. "I'm right here, Sergio. This time, I am right here." She whispered as she closed her eyes, hoping to somehow ease her beloved's sorrows away.