Hale felt like a thorn had been pulled out. He is worried right now. The scene of his nightmare seems lively and happening in real-time. He is becoming paranoid and overthinking now.
"X-Xander, are you okay? Did something bad happen to you? Are you hurt?"
"W-Why? What a question, are you fine? I bet you are stressed. What made you so worried about me? Did you have a bad dream?"
"Not just an ordinary bad dream, it is a freaking, traumatizing nightmare."
"Don't be scared, my babe. Let's meet then later, after your afternoon class."
"Will you ever do that to me? You are busy, aren't you?"
"That is okay. You are so special to me, I will sacrifice everything just to be with you because you are a part of my life."
"Uhhmm, is that true? You don't need to do that, you need to prioritize your work."
"No, I am serious. I will make you happy and forget all the negativities you have. You are my life, I will surely die if I don't find a way to relax your mind. That's how I care for you, I don't want my babe to be sad and terrified."
"You know, you are exaggerating."
"Of course not, all my words are sincere. I don't want you to be a victim of evil and negative attractions. I will only allow attraction from yourself when you are looking at me."
Hale giggled silently and felt butterflies in his stomach. "Xander, you are speaking so much. It looks like you are in love every day to me. I only heard that on the first day of dating."
"I am always in love with you, and I will always choose you just like what I did, I will cancel my afternoon meeting just to pamper you."
"How sugarcoating. You are slightly funny, you act like a high school that courting me."
"If I am sugarcoating, it might be the ants will come to me to taste how sweet I am."
"Haha! A super typhoon has just come."
"And aside from that, the ants might be attracted to me because I am handsome and hot."
"The lightning strongly bombarded! Hahaha!"
"So you mean I am not handsome and hot?"
"You are more than handsome and hot. That is one of the reasons I fell in love with you. But don't you ever that I liked you because of your physical appearance, I love you because you care for me and are sincere. Plus you are thoughtful and have a sense of romance. You have also great humor, I enjoyed our conversation. You made my day."
Xander giggled silently and smiled so wide. Because of what he felt, he went to the pantry and had some coffee. He is so happy because that is a statement he long waits to be said by someone, and Hale just did it smoothly.
"I am grateful you love my whole me. I also love you for what you are, I love your personality. Even if you are a trans, I will love you always and protect you from those who discriminate against you."
"Promise?"
"That is a promise!"
"Uhhmm... By the way, I am so worried because the scene from my nightmare is like a real event. Someone shot you a gun and you bloodily died."
"W-What did you just say? Someone killed me in your dreams? Who would it be?"
"I don't know the face, or even recognize him. I tried to study his body, voice, and the way he wear, but it's a mystery to me. Xander, I don't want you to die in front of me. I will be so depressed if you die."
"You know, I feel nervous right now. I don't know why I suddenly feel this. Who will kill me? Can you tell me what he said? And why did he want to let me die with his gun?"
~~~
Armando still feels guilty about what he did to Hale. He broke a promise, he must introduce Hale to his family as his girlfriend. He thinks what he did is cowardly. He is planning right now on what if he calls Hale and invites him for a night date.
He exited the building of the company where he works in, then pick his phone from his pocket. He finds the number of Hale at his contacts and immediately clicks the call button.
Hale is still with Xander, they have just done eating a bunch of heavy snacks and having a fun conversation. His phone vibrates he is the only one who can get notified if someone is calling him, so he makes a short excuse to Xander.
"Uhhmm..." He clears his throat when he sees that Armando is contacting him. "Xander, can you give me a moment? I have to answer an important call."
"Go ahead. I have to put these things in the trash. Take your time."
Hale deeply sighed due to his nervousness. How troubling Armando is, why he was called during his date with Xander. He is hoping that he will never get caught he is talking with Armando.
"How dare you call me, Armando!" He slightly speaks with anger.
"Oh Hale, why are you so mad? I already asked for forgiveness for what I did. Are you still upset?"
"It's not what you think. The truth is I am just nervous because you just called in at the wrong time. So... Why did you just call?"
"I missed you so much. And I want you to have a night date with me. It has been a long time since we shared our love together. I am longing for your touch and I want to feel your rawness."
"Hhhhmmm... That's a great idea! I am glad that you invited me. But it doesn't mean I will forget what you did to me."
"In the right time, Hale. I am not just confident this time, it's too early if you will realize. We have not celebrated our monthsary. Soon if that date comes, that would be my gift to you."
Hale felt the butterflies in his stomach. He is silently giggling and controlling his emotions and actions because Xander might see him having fun with someone on call.
"Really? I look forward to that, I don't want to be embarrassed by you again. It breaks my heart if you will treat me like that for the second time."
"You know, you are being so dramatic."
"It's not by being dramatic, I am serious. I am just reminding you that if you made a promise, be sure that you will not break it."
Armando massaged his head. "Fine! Sorry again. I think you are still mad at me. You are not interested in meeting me. I think you will just quarrel with me if we meet. Forget the date."
"Okay! If that is your decision, then go! Just do it! Fuck you!"
(Call disconnected)
Xander has just heard a cracking high volume of voice coming from Hale. He went to where Hale was stationed. Hale is almost caught, how lucky of him that he is done talking with Armando.
"Why did you shout?"
"There was a prank caller, he is scamming me."
"But you look red, are you angry?"
"Someone is blackmailing me that he will kill me and trace my address if I never give ten million pesos."
"Seriously? How fucked up! You know, you have to report that number to NTC. Our SIM cards are already registered with our complete names. You must be cautious."
"Don't worry about it. I can handle it," Hale just lied and successfully made an alibi.
Hale will not let someone discover that he was talking with Armando. Xander is smart, he just made a great idea to trace a scammer.
"X-Xander, I think I have to go. It's already quarter to six o'clock."
They kissed romantically and had a passionate French kiss.
"I love you so much, my babe."
"Bye, I love you."
~~~
Armando is sadly sipping with a glass of beer at the bar. He never expected that his girlfriend would raise his voice to him. Now he knew the feeling of feeling heartbroken.
(His phone vibrates)
He picked up his phone to see who texted him.
"Oh, it's you, Hale!"
From: My Girlfriend
I am so sorry I raised my voice earlier. Can we meet? A motel will do, I will be the one to pay.
He smiled like a killer. He is surprised by what he just read. His imagination is fucking naughty, he thinks that their meet-up will be so fucking wild.
He contacted Hale to confirm that he would meet with him.
"Hale, good you answered."
"My pleasure."
"You are in a good mood today."
"Of course, I am very excited to meet you."
"Well, I am more excited than you. You will really pay for the motel? I am not getting used to it, I must be the one to pay. Don't tell me you will provide a condom."
"Yeah! And since you have drunk alcohol, it's obvious because of your voice... I will give you medicine to make your pet strong. Just so you know, I don't want to be disappointed."
"Hahahaha! Wait, you mean you will just let me take a Viagra?"
"No, it's dangerous and not recommended. It's a surprise."
"Okay. Can I hang up now?"
"Sure. Bye, see you there."
Hale went to his room to find an outfit to wear for his night date. He opened his cabinet and got his set of lingerie. He got the secret box and carefully opened it. He looked suspiciously in all directions and angles to ensure that nobody would see he was opening a sensitive package.
"The time has come that I can use these with my boyfriend. My savings are worth it, I bought the right product."
Armando has just taken a bath. He is smiling wide and keeps imagining what position he will perform for Hale.
"Now we will share a love on a king-size bed, I will make sure you will shout too loud my name."