The Emancipation of a Fuckboy - Chapter 59: Chapter 59

Dominic
It's hard to accept the blatant fact that karma is finally coming for me, and maybe it isn't the quickest karma, but it surely took time to sharpen its claws. The biggest part of me wanted to let things happen, perhaps let Valentine destroy me, but then I realized he already did. I don't have to ask him to be my boyfriend, and he doesn't need to reject me because I'm already crushed to pieces.
When I woke up earlier this morning, I wasn't surprised that I brought Lyndon home, but I was more than shocked to know that nothing happened between us. We both woke up topless, but we knew that nothing happened besides the casual kissing and snuggling. It was kind of disappointing considering the fact that I know how good he is in bed. Perhaps nothing happened because I was super wasted last night that I couldn't walk straight or even unzip his pants.
"Dominic," I just puffed a smoke when I heard someone called for my name. I was waiting for Lyndon to show up as we planned to go out tonight, but I remembered he just sent me a message that he'll be late.
"Valentine?!" I was more than surprised to see Valentine strutting his way towards me. I've been ignoring his calls for the past twelve hours, and here I thought I'm just going to smoke my cigarette with peace; he shows up out of the blue.
"Hi,"
"What are you doing here?" I asked, almost irritated. I don't want to see him for at least a full twenty-four hours, and yet he's here. I haven't processed everything yet, and frankly, I'm afraid of what I might say to him.
"I'm here for you." Valentine spat, seemingly bursting out of excitement. Is he excited to see me? Or is he excited to destroy me? I don't quite know which is which, but seeing him sent a sudden pang inside me.
"What do you mean you're here for me?" I inquired, blatantly confused as to why he's even here. I'm sure he knows he's here to break my heart. Why is he even acting so innocent?
"I have some things to tell you," He spat and was about to hold my hand, but I casually shook it away.
"What is it?" I replied as I took another hit.
"Let's go get a drink inside first," He suggested and was ready to pull me to go inside.
"No, just tell me right now." I uttered, dodging his hand from grabbing me.
"Are you angry?" Valentine asked innocently as if ignoring him the whole day didn't send him some red flags. "What's wrong? Are you really avoiding me? I've called you a lot of times this day."
I shut my mouth for a whole minute, and he was just there waiting for me to respond, his bright and excited demeanor slowly fading into confusion. His eyes looked like they want to speak to me. I took one last puff and threw the cigarette away before eventually opening my mouth to speak.
"Aren't you here to break my heart?" Aren't you here to destroy me?" I spat outright. I was already starting to get heated. I honestly wanted to keep what I learned to myself and just pretend that I'm still into him, but I just couldn't keep it inside of me anymore. Until now, I still couldn't believe that Valentine had the nerve to even do this.
"What are you talking about Dominic? I don't understand." Valentine pulled me to the farthest corner where no one could hear us bicker. "What is this about? Is this about what happened yesterday?"
"You are sick! Why are you even acting as if you're the innocent one here?" I told him, and he still has the audacity to look confused.
"I'm telling..." He was about to start talking, but I cut him right before he could even spit some words that might change my mind.
"I saw the list." I spat, and just as I thought, Valentine's eyes popped. "How to destroy a f***boy huh!"
"F***! F****! F****!" Valentine began yelling as he ultimately realizes why am I acting like a woman on her period. "It's a mistake. This is a mistake."
"Mistake?"
"Listen to me Nick, I'm going to explain everything." Valentine uttered desperately, and I can tell he was shaken to his core.
"What is there to explain?" I asked, and this time I was already coming to a better sense that I should tone my voice down and talk as calmly as I could. "There's nothing to explain Valentine. I completely understand everything."
"No, it's not what you think."
"But it is, Valentine, it is." I looked at him in the eye. "You wanted to get even with me and that's fine. I understand that. I hurt you and what a good and poetic way to get back at me is by doing the same thing that I did to you."
"I wasn't planning on continuing with the plan. I did a terrible mistake. Listen to me Dominic, please." Valentine trailed, subsequently getting on his knees, and I can surely tell that he's desperate.
"Of course you don't have to continue with the plan. You don't even have to finish the plan at all. You don't even have to do numbers 9 and 10 because you've already destroyed me." I uttered, looking down at him. I know I'm about to go on a breakdown, but I took a deep breath and composed myself, careful not to let my tears fall in front of Valentine.
"I'm sorry Dominic. I was...." He stood and held my hand.
"Just stop talking Valentine. The game is over." I said coldly, cutting him right before he starts talking with what might change my mind to listen to him. I turned away from him and started walking away, but he caught up to me fast and hugged me from behind.
"Dominic," He burst into tears as he enveloped his arms around my torso.
"Let go of me Valentine," I tried shaking away from his arms, but he was just locking me tight.
"I love you Dominic." He began sobbing, and that's enough for me to stop struggling. "I was really planning on taking my revenge on you but I just realized that I truly love you. I was hurt by what you did to me. I was hurt so pretty bad that I spent five long years moving on from you." I closed my eyes as I listened to Valentine. It was hard to keep my tears from cascading, and it was even harder to be guilty. "I thought I've already moved on from you but then you showed up out of the blue and I was back to square one. I thought maybe getting back at you is the answer so I started taking revenge on you." Valentine's words seem to ring with sheer honesty.
"F***!!!" I whispered inaudibly. Valentine was telling me the truth and not just the truth but also everything that I needed to hear from him; however, that's not enough for me to just hug him back.
I opened my eyes, and I noticed everyone's already looking at us.
"I went to apologize to my mom this morning and I felt so much better than yesterday. That's when I realized that I truly love you. That's the reason why I came here to find you and tell you that I love you."
"Valenti..."
"Dominic!" I saw Lyndon inching his way towards us, and that's when I successfully got away from Valentine's tight hug.
"Lyndon!" I yelled.
"What is going on here? Is this guy bothering you?" Lyndon walked faster, and before I know it, he was already punching Valentine.
I went frozen for a while. I can still see what's happening in front of me, Lyndon launching uppercuts towards Valentine, but I didn't have a good grasp of the reality. People were already taking videos of Lyndon kicking Valentine on the ground, but all I did was walk away from them. I turned my back like it was nothing, and I started running. I ran as fast as my feet could. I ran like someone running away for his life. My tears poured like a waterfall as I was running until I eventually decided to stop at the first bus stop. It was still early in the evening, and there are a lot of people waiting for a ride home. I had to wipe my tears in a snap and act as if nothing happened.
I stood along with the group of tired people and quietly thought of how I knew I've hurt Valentine so pretty bad, but the way he told me those words made me feel even guiltier. I was utterly overwhelmed by Valentine's confession, and I'm going to admit it did affect me in an unimaginable way. My mind refused to believe what he just confessed, but my heart knows we both felt the same way. We both tried to move on, but even after five years, we still haven't let go of each other.
The people huddled all took their bus ride home one by one until I was the only one left. I didn't have much of a choice but to embrace the company of solitary and sat at the bench for a while, not knowing what to do or where else to go. I sat for about an hour, and while the company of silence was good, it didn't stop me from overthinking. I lit up a cigarette, and at the first smoke, I thought of going home.
"Hey," A young guy called for my attention. "Can I have a cigarette?" He asked as soon as he got to where I was seated.
"How old are you, kid?" I asked immediately, asking for his age. Judging by his baby face and his squeaky voice, he's most definitely a minor.
"Uhm, 18."
"No, you're not!" I spat at him as he sat right beside me.
"Okay, I'm 17." He admitted. I let out a silent chuckle and then fished the cigarette pack from my pocket and gave it to him as if he's not a minor.
"Here, take it all."
"Wait. Just like that?" He asked, probably shocked that I just gave him the pack of cigarettes so easily.
"What? You don't want it?"
"No, it's just, I just came from a store hoping to buy one."
"Well, you're 17."
"But I showed them this fake ID." He said, showing me the fake ID that he had, and I just knew that was from someone who I used to know.
"What the?" I let out a burst of short laughter. "No one's really going to believe that."
"Why? I paid money for this."
"I don't know." I thought of telling him the truth about the guy who's making that fake ID, but I just thought he'd have to learn it independently. He has the audacity to smoke a cigarette at this young age, so he should at least learn something from it just like I did.
"Uhm, thank you for this. My name's Jayler." The kid said.
"I'm Nick."
"Thank you. Uhm, I need to go back to my friends."
"Oh, sure, no problem. I thought you're alone."
"Nah, me and my friends were drinking at the empty slot under that bridge."
"Okay, enjoy!"
The kid left with the whole pack of cigarettes that I gave him. That was a quick moment, but it made me want to travel back in time to where everything was just about me hating Valentine. I feel so bad that I just ran away from that fight, and I blame myself for not knowing what to do. It was a whirlwind of emotion, and I would've truly listened to Valentine if it weren't for Lyndon popping out of the blue.
The last bus for the night finally came. I hopped in, still feeling heavy, and as soon as I got home and got to my bed, I fell asleep almost instantly.