The Best Mistake (GL)

Couldn't Help

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A certain song kept repeating over the clamorous stereo, but that didn't make her stop. It might have been because she was in the state of the what-so-called Last Song Syndrome, despite the fact that she was not entirely familiar with the song.

She thought she had heard it before, she just didn't pay much attention until Ayen played and sang it for her. It was honestly not the kind of genre she listened to. As intriguing as it may have sounded, she most likely listened to grand opera, thanks to her mom. However, the song she heard from Ayen was playing over and over again through the stereo, which was totally funny because she had never done this before.

As the song kept playing, the lyrics also synced on the screen of the tablet for her to memorize it. Every lyric was seeping through her core. Strangely enough, it wasn't the original artist's voice she could hear but Ayen's.

Aside from only hearing Ayen's voice, the sudden banging on her room's door was also ignored. She was too busy to be interrupted. Not intending to stop until she memorized the lyrics, because she was already planning a duet with Ayen when they saw each other again. She wanted to sing the song with the perfect blend of Ayen's voice.

A lopsided smile formed on her lips in the midst of singing when she recalled how foolish she might have looked while she watched Ayen singing and playing guitar in front of her. She undoubtedly got mesmerized whenever Ayen closed her eyes to fancy the lyrics, while she felt the tension in one corner. That was the kind of effect that only Ayen could give her.

"What the hell, Heathe?" The door swung open, revealing Arqui's annoyed face, her twin sister.

She almost jumped off the couch after being startled. "And what the hell, also, Arqui?!" She hollered back.

"You have a plan to play the same song the whole day?"

She reached for the remote control to minimize the volume and to hear Arqui's complaint, clearly.

"Yes. Does it bother you?"

"Well, in case you didn't know, my room is just a wall away from yours. So apparently, I could hear this damn song every time you play it."

"It's not a damn song, Arqui. It's a special song." She beamed at her twin sister, somewhat teasing her.

Worse luck, Arqui was seemingly not in the mood to snap back. Instead, she stood at the door while giving her a bad look as she crossed her arms. It seemed clear to her what was up with her sister. There was only one reason why Arqui didn't want loud surroundings.

She smiled cunningly. "Alright, don't be so grumpy. I'll use headphones then." She surrendered, completely turning off the speakers.

"And I wonder what the song was for? Why do you have to repeatedly listen to it?" Arqui asked, raising a brow.

"Just find it cute, is all." She shrugged off.

Arqui shook her head before turning back to the other room.

She took the headphones and put them over her ears. She lay down on her stomach on the bed instead of staying on the couch. She was really engrossed with that certain music that she didn't notice, she had already fallen asleep. Even in her dreams, she was watching Ayen while she played her guitar.

When she woke up, what greeted her was the pitch-black surroundings. She was already lying on her back, losing the headphones from her ears. She took notice of the glimmering lights outside the window the moment her eyes adjusted their focus. The song must have lulled her into a deep sleep. That was the only thing she did the entire day, hence she felt indolent to get up and go somewhere.

She rolled over to her stomach while having a dilemma on her mind about whether to go out or not. As far as she knew, no plan tonight had been made to go out with her friends. But that was not her. She was not the kind to stay in one place, let alone in her own room.

She groped in the darkness, pressing a button on the side of the drawer. The sudden exposure of her sleepy eyes to the bright light made her close them momentarily. Once she thought she was okay, she got up and dragged herself to a cold bath. After lazily undressing, she took her sluggish body into the cold shower. She purposely turned off the heater, expecting that the cold bath would wake her senses.

It worked.

After quickly revamping herself, she dialed Alesana's number.

"I thought you had already killed yourself," Alesana greeted, sarcastically.

She chuckled. "I'm fine, my dear. Thanks for your concern."

She heard a long sigh from the other line, and the background noise was giving her a hint of where her friends might be. Alesana didn't have to answer her query.

"The Lotusland, huh? What's up with the sudden change of mind?" She uttered as she searched for the car key.

"You know, sometimes all you need to do is to accept the fact and eventually ignore it. Besides, we ran out of choices so we ended up here." Alesana said, in a vain attempt to convince her.

She nodded as if her friend could see her. "Alright, I'll be there." She affirmed before ending the call.

She steered Foxtrot downtown the usual way she drove cars, which took her only five minutes instead of fifteen. Lotusland was a classy bar in town, not to mention, the first gay bar in Georgetown that was legally operating. When it was first built, prudes had been protesting to cease construction but the bad news for them, its operations resumed. She couldn't be more grateful to her dad, and although he was intrigued, it didn't stop him from giving permission to make the business run. That was how broad her dad's mind was.

She could say she and her twin sister were very lucky.

She spotted her friends at their usual table. They'd been going there since the grand opening, so this could also give people around the thought that she was a lesbian. As she had said, no need to get out publicly.

She sauntered towards her friends and immediately noticed the florid face of Alesana. It hadn't been long since she made a call and her best friend sounded okay. She rubbed her nape, disbelieving that her best friend was already lushed up. "Accept and ignore, huh? Well, you might as well lock yourself in a room than get tortured publicly." She smirked once she got closer.

"I thought the same, Heathe," Lois interrupted. "Welcome back, by the way." She added, raising a goblet.

She responded with a smug smile as she pulled a chair to sit beside Aly, who didn't seem to notice her presence insofar as she didn't even want to stop drowning herself in alcohol.

She tapped Aly's shoulder, "So you've seen her?"

Aly confirmed it by nodding before she took another glass of whiskey. She already sensed why she was acting that way. It had been the third month since her best friend had broken up with Francine— the girl who caused her so much pain. Until then, Aly had been having a hard time moving on. As a matter of fact, they were all having a hard time adjusting to the circumstances.

It wouldn't have been hard for them to go to different places had Aly only listened to them. Her best friend was so wise that she always brought Francine to all of their usual hang-out areas. The Lotusland was one of those places, and where, actually, the two met. In fact, no matter where they went, Aly had memories of Francine. The couple stayed together for a year and Aly was so loyal to the point that she never went out without her girlfriend.

Therefore, she was clueless about where to bring Aly to make her forget about her first heartbreak. It sucked that the couple had made memories almost everywhere.

Over the duration of Aly and Francine's relationship, she and her other best friends were all snitty about their insane attachment. They were inseparable, which Lois and Caddie thought would lead the couple to live together.

But she had thought otherwise. And she wasn't mistaken.

Lois and Caddie must have known who won the wager. It might not sit well with Aly once she found out that they made a bet about the outcome of the relationship. She would just collect her money from Lois and Caddie after they were done with Aly. Their top priority was to calm her down.

"I told you not to bring Francine wherever we go. Now, she has left her mess all over our hang-out places." Caddie stated while making a face.

The thought left her pondering for a while. Where else could they go that Francine had never been before? Aly had to collect herself together 'coz there'd been times she suddenly passed out. It was actually better than getting into trouble, but she didn't want to carry a sozzled person to avoid being barfed over. And once Aly turned unconscious, they would end up being in a hospital. If misfortune kicked in, their best friend could go stagnant within 24 hours. It happened twice and they never wished for a third time.

"Alright, enough." She smothered Aly's mouth with her hand to stop her from drinking again. Aly growled but wasn't able to say anything because of her current state. "Let's go." She stated before helping her intoxicated best friend to stand on her feet.

"Where are we going?" Lois uttered behind.

"I know a place."

Her skinny build was only a fake manifestation of how strong she was. She draped Aly's arm across her shoulders and clutched her from the waist.

She didn't have a problem carrying any of her best friends. The only thing she didn't want to happen aside from getting vomited over was having all of her best friends intoxicated simultaneously. That would be a total disaster.

Once they reached her car, Lois opened the shotgun seat and carefully took Aly in, and then her two best friends rested in the backseat, afterward.

Her brows furrowed as soon as she hopped into her car, looking at them from the rearview mirror. "How about your cars?"

"I already called our driver. He's on his way." Caddie answered.

As expected, after her best friends caused a headache, they would let her suffer while thinking about how to settle everything. She shook her head in disbelief as she started driving.

"WHO the hell is living in that house?" Caddie asked. Curiosity, as well as disgust, were painted on her red face.

The way Caddie stated it was deeply insulting, to be honest. It was as if she wanted to imply that the house in front of them was ugly. She didn't get offended easily whenever she would hear unpleasant parlance from her friends, but this was a far different case. She should talk to them about Ayen, but not right at the moment.

The residence might be small, but it wasn't unsightly. Although her friends' judgments were predictable, there wasn't much of a choice for them. Aly was their priority and they needed to find a place to get her back to her senses.

She was the person who would always fire back whenever something displeased her, but not tonight. She chose to ignore Caddie's annoying remark and got out of the car, instead. She walked toward the house, expecting one of her curious friends would follow her but they didn't.

As she strode near the house, there was this uncontrollable happiness running through her senses. Sure thing, it was also another chance to see Ayen after getting intoxicated by her song. She took a quick glimpse at her wristwatch to check the time. It was a quarter past nine— too early for her to hit the hay, but she thought that someone like Ayen tended to sleep at that hour due to the time of their work, not to mention they were farmers. But since she was already there, she wanted to take the chance. She shouldn't be disturbing anyone, but she needed Ayen tonight.

She gently knocked on the door. When she received no response, she placed her ear against the door. Soft noises could still be overheard from the inside, which she assumed were coming from some devices. Someone might still be awake, but she decided to move back and was about to leave when the door suddenly swung open. She was still leaning against it when it was unshut, making her almost fall on her face.

But before that could ever happen, a soft figure blocked the way with one hand on the doorknob and another against the door frame for support. The door was half-open so she didn't tumble down entirely. Ayen was strong enough to hold her still.

But the most epic fail was when she turned her head to look at her.

Surprised by how they were close to each other, her breath almost faltered. She actually didn't know how to move because she might mistakenly kiss Ayen— which was honestly favorable to her but not to Ayen. And she didn't want to be struck as being immodest.

Ayen swallowed her lips to avoid being kissed, as if she read her mind. The wise move made her chuckle and come back to reality. She deftly moved back when she realized that she was also holding onto Ayen's arm. That must have been heavy.

Ayen cleared her throat as she stood properly, "What are you doing here?" She asked, practically whispering. It might have been because she didn't want to disturb anyone in the house.

She did the same, "I just want to ask something."

"Ayen," Called by someone from the inside, whom she thought was Ayen's father. "Are you talking to someone?"

Ayen looked to her left, which gave her the liberty to scrutinize the lady. It was then she noticed that Ayen was wearing short shorts matching an oversized shirt, which, in all fairness, was not crammed with green color.

"It's Heather, father. She must've gotten lost."

She chortled after hearing Ayen's witty line.

Soft footsteps sauntered near them, and suddenly Ayen's father and grandpa appeared.

"G-good evening." She flashed a smile as she greeted the elderly.

"Good evening, Heathe. Come in." Grandpa invited, before completely opening the door.

She politely rejected the invitation on the grounds that her friends were waiting for her. She couldn't leave them behind for so long. "I'm sorry but I have to decline, gramps. I am with my friends." She added, pointing to her car.

The three looked over to where she pointed.

"What can we do for you, Heather?" Asked Ayen's father.

She rubbed her nape while thinking of the right reason to tell them. She couldn't say that she was with her drunk friends, because she didn't want them to think negatively of her. "Uh.. hmm.." She looked at Ayen who, thankfully, was looking back at her.

As Ayen squinted her eyes she knew that her smart brain was already working for a loop. She faced her father and gramps. "I can handle this, dad. You need to take a rest because we'll be working too early tomorrow."

"Are you sure you'll both be okay?" Added her father.

Ayen nodded for a coherent affirmation.

When the elderly excused themselves, Ayen went outside with her. Her frowning face was a clear sign that her presence was irritating her. "What do you want?"

"I brought my three friends here... with me." She started while being intimidated by Ayen's gaze as she resumed, "I left out of choice. One of them, uhh, is dead drunk. I just wanna ask if you know a place where we can stay for a while. I mean, around the farm? I've been thinking that fresh air could help Aly to prep and gain her vigor."

"Do you really think I can help you? At this hour? Don't you know that I should be sleeping right now?"

"I'm sorry. As I said, I ran out of choices. Then, I thought of you."

Ayen looked at her meaningfully, then toward the car, and back at her again. Even if she wasn't saying anything, she could sense that Ayen was thinking of something. Then she sighed, "Okay, I know a place. Wait for me."

Before she could answer, Ayen quickly went back inside the house. All she did was wait for her, even though it took Ayen some time and mosquitoes took advantage of her. When Ayen finally got out, her clothes were different. More appropriate, she thought.

"I'm sorry. I had to convince my father that this was an emergency." Ayen stated right away.

"It's okay. What did they say?"

"They were okay with it and told me that they trust you. So, now we can go."

"That's nice to hear." She was trying to hide how glad she was that she would be with Ayen tonight. Not only that, but knowing that her family trusted her was overwhelming.

When they reached her car, Ayen stopped by the shotgun window where she looked at Aly, who was sitting quietly with half-eyes opened.

"This is Aly." She pointed at her friend. "Drunk and almost dead."

Ayen didn't say anything, but the way she shook her head meant a lot of disappointment. She opened the door at the backseat for her. There they saw her two friends, who were completely puzzled about what was happening. She knew that they already had a bunch of questions.

"These are my friends, Lois and Caddie." She introduced them to stop them from looking stupified. "And guys, this is Ayen."

"Dude, why didn't you tell us that we had to fetch a sweetheart?"

Lois's statement made her scowl at her, but she only earned a teasing laugh from her naughty friend. Ayen suddenly tilted her head down, probably got embarrassed. This was the first time she saw Ayen that way, as she was used to seeing her like a tigress who wanted to attack anytime.

"Shall we?" She asked to get her away from awkwardness. She even extended her hand to help her climb into the car. She was ready to get humiliated only if Ayen didn't take her hand. But when she held on to it, it made her smile inwardly. Her friends gave her looks which she already knew the meaning behind.

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