Kiss Me Not

Gavin keenly watched Damiel's expression as he further said, "I don't remember anything at all, father. That's why I'm asking. I want to know the last memory we had together…"

"I… Uhm. You came here to see me saying you will be gone for a long time. But you didn't want to disclose where you wanted to go. We had a discussion since I did not want you to leave like that, without me knowing where you planned to go. All you said was you would take a short trip. We parted ways with a heavy heart, both of us were crying."

"Did I ever tell you why I was leaving?" Gavin asked.

"No you didn't, all you said was that you need time to heal and some space to sort things about yourself," Daniel told.

"I'll… need to check the kitchen if lunch is ready. This is your home, Gavin. Feel free to look around," Daniel suddenly said and left him inside the room in a hurry.

He could feel that Damiel was not telling him everything. He decided to walk around his room, hoping that looking around would help him recall something.

Meanwhile, Brione walked back inside to look around since she was a bit worried for Gavin. She did not want to look suspicious in uncle Damiel's eyes earlier. He might think that she was guarding his son from the father who raised him. Besides, back then, she was not that clingy towards Gavin. It's always him who would not let her out of his sight whenever they were at this residence.

She was about to go up the stairs but paused when she saw uncle Damiel coming down. He smiled at her and said, "Gavin is in his room. I left him there. I will just check with the chef if our lunch is ready."

"Uncle… I am sorry," Brione whispered.

"For what?" Daniel asked.

"That I took your sample for DNA testing without consulting your permission. I was confident that you and Gavin would match since I was not aware that he was not your son. I mean you two have a really good relationship. Noah and I often envy Gavin for having such a dedicated father like you, unlike our father whose world only revolved with the woman he loved… My stepmother till his last dying days..." Brione commented with a downcast tone. 

It was all part of their script though the part where she said that she and Noah were envious of him before was real since their father did not show or gave them the same dedication as to how uncle Damiel did to Gavin. Because of this, no one would suspect that they were actually not blood-related.

She looked at him apologetically and teary-eyed as she continued, "I was too confident that I thought the result would be a match. I wanted to surprise you about him once I convinced him to return with me. I am so sorry uncle."

"It's okay. You just did what you think was good for Gavin. But I'm curious, how did you manage to get a sample from me when you are not even here?" Uncle Damiel asked her.

"Uncle, is it okay if I won't disclose so much detail? I hired people to do it… A private team. I am really sorry uncle. I really did not expect that result would turn out like this," Brione said and acted as if she was too ashamed of what she did.

Damiel heaved a long deep sigh. "Alright. Let things be as they are now since Gavin's coming back to us is more important. Please don't think about it anymore. Like I said, you did what you think was right and it's fine with me. Somehow in my heart, I know that Gavin will eventually come to know the truth. It's a good thing that he now knows it. Just that, I feel sad since he cannot recall anything at this moment. I feel like he became too distant…"

Brione saw how uncle Damiel's shoulder dropped so she smiled and comforted him, "Don't worry uncle… It's just a matter of time. Gavin will remember everything soon."

"You mean he is recalling more details now aside from you?" Daniel asked with a furrowed forehead.

"Not really, uncle. So far, it's only me but I'm sure that he will recall all his memories with you soon," Brione uttered with a smile.

Uncle Damiel left her to go to the kitchen while Brione walked towards Gavin's room. She went inside and saw Gavin looking at the photo albums.

"It's been a while since I last saw this room. More than a year… Something feels weird though. The arrangement… and the color of the paint. Ah, I can be wrong. I can't actually remember. I don't have a good memory." Brione nonchalantly commented as she looked around the room. 

"Father said he did not change a thing…" Gavin replied.

"Maybe just some minor change? Maybe he had repainted? Anyway, can you remember some of your memories now that you are here?" Brione asked as she sat beside him.

"Nothing's coming about him but... more about you and Noah. I remember my times with you and Noah here, like us staying at the veranda or garden most of the time. And me… not telling you to just barge inside my room whenever you want." Gavin said with a grin.

Brione's face frowned upon recalling those moments. She was fifteen then and Gavin was twenty when he started being cranky whenever she would ask to be in his room.

"You're so grumpy! It's annoying! Are you keeping something from me?!" Brione mumbled with a pout.

Gavin stood up and walked towards his walk-in closet. "This is the reason," he said with a cheeky smile as he held out a big portrait of Brione.

"What?!" Brione exclaimed as she looked at him in disbelief. 

Gavin chuckled and said, "it's time I put this back on to where it belongs. I removed it on this wall and hid it in the closet when I moved out…"

"You see, I didn't want you to see this so I didn't allow you to enter my room. I didn't want to ruin our friendship if you found out that what I wanted was more than friendship. This is a picture of you during your singing debut and it's too beautiful so I asked a good painter to draw the same for me. See how much I love you Bri?" Gavin commented with a smile as he stared at the big portrait of Brione he hung back on his wall.

He felt Brione's arms hugging him from behind as she whispered, "Wow, you're so dedicated and loyal, love… I'm really more than grateful that you are here again with me… that we are finally together like this. I love you, Gav."