Three months later...
Hale still feels the pain. It's been months but the bombing incident is still fresh to him. He cannot forget what happened on that day. He felt heartbroken as always, the bad memories pinched his heart and soul.
He left the boarding house of Armando after he changed his clothes. He is still wearing black even if the death of Xander is beyond forty days.
After he bought some flowers and candles, he called a taxi and instructed the driver to bring him to the cemetery. He massaged his chest as he felt something heavy.
When he arrived, he immediately went to Xander's tomb. His tears fell when he saw the name of his future boss. He cried too much, he gasped intensely.
He lit a candle on the tomb, but something weird happened. The lighter is not working, he cannot fire the candle.
"Xander, don't scare me. I am now here, I am visiting you."
He tried again but failed again. After a few seconds, the wind went strong. He felt a cold breeze and it sent shivers down his spine.
He started to be insane and deluded. He thought that Xander was here. He even heard a voice of him talking to him.
"Open the coffin, please. It's warm here and I can't breathe."
He panicked when he heard him. He immediately digs to successfully open the coffin. He longs to see him again as he misses him so much.
Armando just went home. He didn't see Hale there, so he went to Hale's home. He knocked on the door many times but no one was there.
Today is the third month of Xander's death. He assumed that Hale was at the cemetery. He called a taxi and asked the driver to bring him to the cemetery.
He stopped by a convenience store to buy some snacks. He wanted to offer Hale food as he was concerned about his health.
Hale cannot sleep, he always experiences sleep paralysis and sleeps talking. He is experiencing an eating disorder and it affected his weight. His weight dropped much. The death of Xander impacted him negatively.
Armando saw Hale digging the tomb of Xander. He ran immediately to stop him.
"Stop this, Hale. You are out of your mind."
"Don't stop me, Armando! I heard his voice, he was still alive. I can feel his presence here. He said that he cannot breathe."
"Don't be a fool! Xander died three months ago. Why do you keep on dreaming he is alive? Accept the fact that he will not come back!"
"How can I forget him? Huh? Do you think it is not difficult to move on? How can I move forward if he is always in my mind? How can I forget him if I saw in my own eyes what happened to him? I saw him dying but I am very sad I let him die! How? Just fucking how? What will I do to forget him?"
He burst into tears as he felt very emotional. Armando hugged him tight and let cry on his shoulder.
"Hale, I know it hurt you so much. But don't be doomed with a person. You deserve to live normally. Just move on, I know he is here observing you. He will understand if you forget him. He cannot deal with you anymore because he is now in heaven."
"Yes, I will. I will try to be strong. I don't want to live in sadness. Sometimes it's tiring to be depressed, anxious, and heartbroken. I am so miserable, I want my heart to heal."
"I have an idea to heal your heart, Hale."
"What is it?"
They looked at each other, their eyes met as they were talking. They eventually kissed and felt romance.
~~~
"What makes you busy right now, Hale? You looked so very happy."
"Yeah. I missed wearing some makeup. I didn't expect I would be happy again."
"That's great."
After wearing makeup, he went to Armando's side. "Uhhmm... Do you know that I want you to thank you? Thank you because you never leave me. You are always beside me, you stayed with me during my bad times."
"I am grateful also that you forgave me. I love you so much, so I will offer my heart and kindness to you as always. But if I will ask you, do I have a chance with you?"
Hale closed his eyes and thought of what would be his response. He forgot that Armando was his ex-boyfriend. He realized that Armando helped him to recover, so he wanted to accept him again to be his boyfriend.
Someone knocked on the door, it was his two girlfriends. Finally, his friends came at the right time as they were going to plan for their beach time for tomorrow.
"Hi, coach. It's been a long time!"
"Hey, Papi. You are still yummy and hot!"
Armando laughed. "Just a small thing, of course, I am. Thank you for coming here, take a seat."
"So Hale, how are you?"
"I am okay now. My recovery journey is fine, I am eventually forgetting the trauma."
"That's good to know. Just keep on fighting, Hale. We are just here for you."
"Actually, we would like to thank our coach because he is the one who invited us. It's his idea for a beach party so that you can unwind."
"Really, Armando?" Hale is shocked.
"Yes, my dear. I knew that it was your dream to wear a two-piece and breathe some fresh air. I will be the one to put a sunblock on your body tomorrow. This is the only way to fully recover yourself."
Hale hugged Armando and kissed him on the forehead. "I love you very much."
"I love you more."
His friends felt butterflies in their stomach. It's their first time to witness how their friend and coach love each other.
After their romance, they make a plan on what are their activities tomorrow. They make sure that Hale will be exhausted and can express his emotions.
"Goodbye, Hale. Bye coach."
"See you tomorrow. Don't be late."
~~~
Hale had a great good night's sleep. He was sleeping like a couched potato dipped in an oil. He was even snoring like a pig and it created whistling music.
His body is nicely stretched, and he seemed to volunteer when resting in the bed as his blanket was thrown away on the floor and his pillows too.
Armando is stopping his laughs. The way his girlfriend lies on the bed ridicules him. He is enjoying looking at him sleeping like a cat because of the body formation.
He is thinking of an idea of how to make fun of Hale. Since he is the one who wakes up early, he will give Hale a punishment. Well, it is not a usual punishment that requires violence as you think, his approach will be really fun and ridiculous.
As the seconds pass by, his girlfriend's mouth is watering. The saliva is coming out. Armando is getting tested by his patience to stay calm as he doesn't know anything or saw Hale sleeping like a canny big joke.
While he is still snoring and enjoying his rest, he does not feel any coolness or warmness applied to his skin. He even doesn't know he is being played by his boyfriend.
It's passed six in the morning and the sun starts to shine. The cold breeze bid goodbye and nature welcomed the humid air.
Armando doesn't want to disturb his sleeping beautiful princess, so he changes his clothes and wears a sando and shorts. He missed how active he is in working out. After he leaves the boarding house, he jogs in a mile until he sweats intensely.
And there it goes, Hale finally woke up. He yawned so much, how bad he ruined his jaw. He was supposed to panic but he calmed himself. Luckily, he fixed the slight dislocation. He straightly went to the sink picked up his toothbrush and put a paste on it.
This is his morning routine, cleaning first his teeth to have a pleasant and fresh breath. He washed his face and proceeded to skin care procedures.
"OH... MY... GOOOOOODDD! Armando! What did you do to my face? Kyaaaahhhhh!"
It is good that the tub has a mirror. He noticed early how his face was ruined. He looks like a tribe that is going to a ritual. How sucks, his face is full of charcoal.
He washed his face very carefully to ensure the charcoal would be removed. Unfortunately, the thing applied to his face is not simply charcoal or not only that one.
He tried many times but he failed. He is getting mad and his hands are trembling as he badly wants to slap Armando's face.
"Good morning, my beautiful princess." Armando has just arrived.
Hale stared at him badly. "Do you see this face?"
Armando burst a laugh hilariously. But did he think Hale would not act violently? His girlfriend has just attacked him and wrestled him.
"How dare you, ashoole! You ruined my face!"
"H-Hale, spare me... Ouch! My arm, my poor arm... Ouch!"