Kathniel Writing Blog

"What do you mean..it'll be delayed?" Kath said under her breath.

She grasped the phone tighter as her eyes widened at the explanation of the sales lady.

"We're sorry, there was a problem in the factory and it'll take another week to get here..." The lady apologized as Kath's grip intensified, a small bead of sweat forming atop her head and trailing down the side of her face.

"I...okay..." Kath murmured. "Thank you..." She slowly lowered the phone before burying her face in her hands, groaning at the sudden issue.

It was April 25 and Daniel's birthday was the 26th. Kath had planned it so that he'd receive his gift on the exact day of his birthday, but an issue in the production had delayed her plans and left her without a gift for his birthday.

"God...what will I do..." she whispered to herself as she eyed the calendar. The 26th of April was circled with a heart and the words "Dj's Birthday<3" were written ever so lovingly across the top.

There was no way she wanted to face him tomorrow without something and with a final breath, she clenched her fists in determination and grabbed her baseball cap.

He may not have the original gift he ordered until next week, but he definitely will have something to open tomorrow.

--

Kath rummaged through the various NBA jerseys and sighed as she found nothing he didn't already have.

Daniel being such a basketball fan was very up to date on merchandise and his large collection was the envy of others.

As amazing a feat as that was, it made Kath's job harder as it made choosing a gift more difficult.

Which meant she had to be more creative, though there weren't many options left. He was up to date with technology and he was not one to care for clothes. He had everything essentially--except well, the large portrait that she had painted and mailed out but that was not an option at the time.

After glancing around further, she let out an exasperated groan and walked out as the mission was unsuccessful

As she began strolling through the mall to find another gift option, her phone beeped and a message was her mom popped up.

Kath, can you come by and babysit?

Letting out a sigh, Kath walked out of the mall and proceeded home.

She would have to go looking later.

--

Kath ran a hand through her niece's hair  and the young girl giggled in response.

"Tita, anong regalo niyo po para kay Tito DJ?" Lhexine asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Hindi ko pa alam..." Kath answered as she sighed.

"I'm sure he'll like whatever you give him!" Lhexine cheered on, clapping her hands together enthusiastically.

Kath grinned and for a moment the stress of finding a gift left exited her system.

"I hope so," Kath replied as Lhexine motioned her off the couch so the two could play outside.

After a couple of hours, Kath felt exhausted after playing outside and running after her niece for so long. Yawning, she went to her room and dropped onto the bed as she figured a nap wouldn't hurt

--

Kath groggily opened her eyes and realizing she had taken a nap, shot up and quickly grabbed her alarm clock and eyed the time.

It was 10 A.M. the next day.

Kath gulped as she remembered she had yet to buy Daniel a gift and the party was at 12.

She jumped out of bed, got changed, and hurriedly ate breakfast and ran outside to try and find something.

-

"Happy birthday anak!" Karla yelled as she pulled him into a hug and planted a wet kiss on his cheek.

"Ma..." Daniel groaned as his cheeks flushed.

His friends and family gathered around began to giggle and Daniel hid his face in his hands. He then suddenly looked up in realization that someone was missing: Kath.

"Where's Kath?" he asked and everyone shrugged.

"I'm here!!" Kath yelled as she ran towards Daniel, nearly tripping from the speed.

"Kath, relax, you're going to hurt yourself," Daniel said with a chuckle as he kissed her on the forehead.

Kath was breathing heavily from the run and held her arm up to hand him the bag with the gift inside

"I have your gift for you," Kath said breathily, placing a hand over her heart to further help regulate her breath.

"Aww you shouldn't have," Daniel said with a cheeky smile as he took it from her grasps and reached into the bag.

He lifted up white wrapping paper with slight shimmers and cocked his head to the side in confusion.

Kath's eyes widened. She had gotten him a newsboy cap from the mall and was sure she had placed it inside.

Oh wait I changed bags and I may have left it in the plastic bag I threw out...

Kath fell to the floor, head tilted downward as she cried in frustration.

Daniel dropped onto his knees and placed a hand on her shoulder as he tried to soothe her. "Kath?" he mumbled.

"I'm sorry DJ, I'm sorry. I-I'm the worse girlfriend ever," she cried out, sniffling as she lifted her head up to reveal her teary eyes and soaked front hairs. "I-I your gift was supposed to come today but there was a delay and I-I didn't know what else to give I--"

"You're not the worse girlfriend ever," Daniel assured. "You're the best, actually."

"No I'm not, if I were may regalo sana ako para sayo--"

Daniel cupped her face and gently pressed a thumb to her lips. "Kath, alam mo naman ako right? I grew up with nothing kaya these material presents, although nice, are not as important to me as let's say people I love being here."

Kath sniffled more as she nodded to show she was listening.

"I don't need a present, Kath. If you had nothing that's fine with me because you're the best present I could ever have. You being here and being in my life all these years, that's been the best thing I could have ever gotten," Daniel said as he wiped around the tears in her eyes. "Mahal na mahal kita. And I know mahal mo din ako and that is enough of a gift for me," he assured as he closed the gap between their lips and gently pressed a kiss upon her lips.

Kath closed her eyes as tears began rolling off her eyes once more.

Except this time it was tears of joy and tears from the love she had for him.

As they pulled away, the two erupted into wide grins as Kath caressed his cheek. "Mahal na mahal kita, DJ," she cooed. "Happy birthday, Bal."

Daniel only smiled in response as he leaned into a kiss once more before motioning her to stand up so the two can celebrate the rest of the party.

With an arm around her waist he looked at her and smiled.

No amount of money or any sort of expensive gadgets could compare to the blessing she's been in his life.

She glared and took his hand off. “Say what you want, but at least I wasn’t the one that had to play Juliet because my partner wanted to be Romeo. I still have the pictures of you in that dress.”

"You don’t…." he trailed off. The "dress" crisis was only three years ago.

She swung her flash drive around. “Maybe, maybe not.”

"I made everyone delete everything," Daniel stated, though it came out more as a question due to confusion dripping off the tone of his voice.

Kathryn shrugged.

"Give me the flash drive," he began. She raised her arm up as he made attempts to snatch it, though he ended up clawing air as she moved it opposite of him.

He straightened his body and Kathryn was immediately at a disadvantage due to height. She stood up and snuggled it close to her chest.

She turned over her shoulder and smirked. “Are you going to try grabbing it from there?”

He pursed his lip. “No, but I can make you drop it,” he threatened as he began to tickle her sides.

"N-No," she giggled as she began descending to the floor, still tightly clutching the flashdrive. Eventually, her body gave out and she fell. Daniel, shocked, tripped as well and fell above her.

"You’re heavy," she complained as she pushed him off.

They were both lying on the ground and Daniel still continued until she rolled over, still clutching the flash drive and suddenly on top of him as he continued tickling her.

"I’m going to kill you," she threatened between giggles. 

"You sound so threatening, I’m frightened," he added sarcastically.

He lifted her arms off her and grabbed the flash drive. Kathryn immediately leaned forward on his back and stretched her arms out in an attempt to retrieve it.

Her head inclined far over his shoulder. Just then, he swiveled his head to the side. Her eyes widened, his face was suddenly so close.

Something inside her felt off, butterflies? He was her best friend—an idiotic underachiever that teased her to no ends. Why was she suddenly feeling something else inside her? 

He was looking into her eyes, and for a moment she thought he was going to lean closer when her door flew open.

"Is everyone going—what are you two doing?" Enrique, Kathryn’s brother, asked.

"Kuya!" she yelled, almost disappointed that he had to come on. Her hand promptly swiped her forehead, she couldn’t concentrate on what happened. As far as she was concerned, it was all Daniel’s fault.

"Your sister obviously can’t resist me," Daniel teased, smirking.

He was joking, but for once she felt her cheeks heat up while Enrique crossed his arms.

Kathryn coughed. “We were trying to do a project but he’s a horrible worker.”

"A school project right?" Enrique asked.

"Yes, Kuya." Kathryn was sure he needed clarification to know that school was the only thing going on. 

Daniel brought her wrist up so he could check the time. “Looks like I have to go, bye Nerd,” he said with a wave of his hand.

Her eyes amplified. “We barely did any work—” 

"Tomorrow, maybe," he added calmly.

Kathryn’s muscles relaxed and she didn’t bother further arguing. As soon as Enrique left, an evident raised eyebrow due to suspicion, she closed her door. Leaning against it, she tried to make sense on what was going on.

Getting up, he grabbed his keys and decided to visit her so they can possibly talk over what happened.

He knew flowers wouldn’t buy forgiveness, but nonetheless he decided to stop by a store and by a bouquet of roses. 

She was the only one home when he valiantly walked up the steps and pressed the doorbell. He had so many words he wanted to express; he sank into his thoughts as he waited somewhat anxiously for her to come.

She opened the door, his express deadpanning when she noticed it was him.

She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it to take a moment to contemplate on what to say. “What do you want?” she asked dryly.

"To apologize," Daniel began.

She glared at the flowers, her face still unconvinced. “Let’s here it.”

"The entire argument blew up and I said things I shouldn’t have. We both did," Daniel said, her face beginning to soften. "I don’t think one of us has to necessarily be correct. We both made good points and bad points, but I don’t want us to end because of this idiotic fight."

"I don’t either," Kathryn began. "It was my fault too, I can’t just shoulder all the blame onto you."

"I’m sorry. Maybe we just need to reach a middle ground, but we’ve come too far to let it end like this," Daniel said, clasping her hands.

"I’m sorry too," Kathryn cooed. He craned his arms higher until both tickled her back and gently, he began to push her closer into a fight embrace. She was evidently shorter and buried her head into his chest as his right hand flitted through her hair. He tilted his head down and kissed the top of her head, which fit right under the space between his neck and chin.

"DJ? DJ?" Kathryn called out as Daniel found himself blanking out as he tried to make sense of his feelings.

"Oh yeah, sorry," he apologized.

She grinned. “You were thinking about me weren’t you?” she teased, mocking him.

"Yeah definitely," he responded.

She winked.

She had to wink. It was playful—but she still winked and to his knowledge,she was oblivious to how the little gestures translated into a different form with him.

Luckily for him, she couldn’t easily notice a change in his skin tone. Nonetheless, Kathryn was smart—too smart, she could easily take a hint that his mind is occupied with something else.

Being Kathryn, she would assume he wasn’t daydreaming about her.  Not that he was—he was not a hormonal—he was. He was hopelessly in denial.

Her smile, the way her arms moved as she walked, the way her eyes lit up—she was unintentionally messing with him. 

If he didn’t have an ounce of self control, they would probably be making out at that moment. And dare he thought that maybe there would be mor—

He smacked his face. She was drinking out of a water bottle and that apparently affected him. His thoughts  bewitched into another image and she wasn’t even trying.

"Are you alright?" Kathryn asked, water dripping from her mouth.

"Yeah, I didn’t get much sleep last night," he lied.

Kathryn gave him a questionable look as he tilted his shoulders upward in a shrug.

She looked different. 

Kathryn turned around as she gazed at her reflection in the mirror from her shoulder. She didn’t look like Kathryn Bernardo. It was as if some other woman swapped bodies with her and donned that outfit. Her stomach was in full view as the strapless top covered only her breasts, leaving everything exposed. She couldn’t remember wearing a skirt that short. Could it even qualify as a skirt? She sighed, She loved fashion, but this wasn’t her style. Her hair fell loosely to her hips in soft waves. Her make up, on the contrary, was sharp; as if to match her tall heels. 

"Come on, Kath. You’re eighteen, many girls your age wear this to the beach!" The stylist claimed.

"It’s so weird," Kath commented once again.

"You aren’t sixteen anymore, hun."

There was a saying that time moved faster the older you got. She was legally an adult, but underneath she probably was the same fourteen year old girl that wouldn’t think of wearing an outfit like that to a photo shoot.

She let an exasperated groan as soon as the stylists left. She was supposed to look “seductive” yet still was too shy to kiss her own boyfriend.

She jolted as she heard a knock on the door. Her hands came together as she began to pray that it wasn’t—

"Kath?" Daniel called out.

Kath rolled her head back. She didn’t want him—or anyone—to see her like this. 

"It’s me, I came to visit. Kath, are you in there?" Daniel asked.

"No," Kath called back, a mistake on her part. She placed a hand over her lips and berated herself silently.

"You sound a lot like Kathryn Bernardo, have you seen her?" He replied rather dryly.

"Very funny," she retorted. "Yes, i’m here. I’m still changing so you can’t come in," she lied.

"Alright, I’ll wait for you to finish."

Kath balled her fists. “Don’t you have somewhere else to be? I mean, it can take a while you shouldn’t wait around.”

"Well, Ate Marco said you have to be out in five minutes. I can wait that long," Daniel responded back.

"I didn’t know you were coming," Kathryn asked.

"I was planing on surprising you. Is something wrong? You seem a lot more tense than usual," Daniel asked innocently.

"N-No I’m fine," Kathryn claimed.

"Mhmm," Daniel mumbled sarcastically.

"Kathryn, it’s Tito David, I left my phone inside and I’m in a slight hurry," One of the stylists named David called out.

She looked at the vanity table. Sure enough, he wasn’t lying. 

"She’s still changing," Daniel informed.

"She was already dressed up," David said.

"Oh was she?" Daniel asked.

She couldn’t see him but she could picture his face. She could almost seem his eyebrow in a lifted position as he looked curiously at the door, wondering what was wrong with her.

she picked up the phone and stood on the other side of the wall by the door. Stretching one arm, she managed to open up the door and still manage to give her Tito David his phone. 

Before she could close it, he placed his arm in the space separating the door and wall. 

"Kathryn," Daniel said firmly."What’s wrong?"

She exhaled and opened up the door, standing behind it so he couldn’t see. He walked in and she immediately closed the door behind him.

She shifted against the now closed door and was behind him.

"Okay, Kath, what’s—" He turned around, his jaw dropped and a gasp escaped from his throat. "W-Wrong?!" His voice cracked as he tried to compose himself.

She buried her face in her hands. “I know, I know. I look different, this wasn’t my idea!” she squealed.

"Was this why you were hiding?" Daniel asked, connecting her embarrassment to her refusal to allow him in.

"I had to come out eventually. But if I had the choice, I’d die before anyone saw me wearing this," Kathryn admitted.

He let out another cough and peered his eyes away. “You shouldn’t have agreed if you weren’t comfortable. Above anything else, that’s more important.”

"I didn’t really have a choice," Kathryn sighed. "But here I am, about to make the most embarrassing photoshoot in my entire life."

She looked once again at the mirror. She could see her imperfections practically glowing. She could imagine what comments people would make. Even when she wrote “appropriately” deemed clothing, it still warranted snide comments in others’ minds.

Daniel noticed. He maneuvered closer and handed her his jacket temporarily. She slipped it on and gave an appreciative smile. 

"I guess the outfit isn’t the problem as much as how you feel about wearing it, right?" Daniel asked.

Kathryn nodded. “I can’t go out wearing this, I don’t look like me—it’s to revealing.”

She couldn’t back out either, she already made an agreement and it would be rude to get up and leave.

He pulled her into a hug, his arms slightly cold against her bare skin.

"I can’t do this."

"Next time, no matter how hard it may seem—don’t do something you aren’t uncomfortable with. Right now, forget what others may say about it. I’ll be right there next to the camera, don’t forget that. Whenever you’re nervous, look over and remember that I’m there," Daniel whispered.

"I don’t want to keep you here longer than necessary," Kathryn whispered back.

"It’s my own choice. Really all I was planing on doing was going home and watching the playoffs," Daniel said with a small chuckle at the end.

"Next time I’ll be firmer," Kathryn promised.

"Not until you are ready. Though I have to say, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at all turned on one bit," he said in a low voice.

"DJ!" She shrieked under her breath.

"You really do look good in anything," he complimented with a wink.

She rolled her eyes, trying to contain her embarrassment. She thought of her earlier question; how can she look and act seductive when she still blushed like a teenager over things like this? 

"Well, we are dating," 

He gave her a kiss on the forehead. 

"You are incredibly corny," Kathryn said.

"But you like it," Daniel argued.

"I suppose it’s sweet," Kathryn said with a shrug.

"I think suppose is an understatement," Daniel retorted as he wrapped an arm around Kathryn as they walked out.

Sure enough, he stayed. Though Kathryn could tell his earlier claim about being turned on was not false. She could see his eyes expand, and at one point he needed to get a glass of water.

She swore she’d tease him about it later since she liked turning the tables on him.

As soon as she finished, she immediately rushed into her dressing room followed by Daniel.

"So, how did you like it?" she asked, smirking.

He gave her a knowing look. “The truth or what you want to hear?”

"Start with the latter."

"It’s part of the truth. I’m glad you were able to stick through with it even if it was hard. Now it’s over with and you won’t have to do it again if you don’t want to," Daniel said.

"Now, what’s the other part?" Kathryn asked.

"You looked sexy and I don’t know how to feel about the photos being distributed across magazines and the internet," Daniel Padilla.

"Don’t know how to feels means ‘I don’t want’, right?" Kathryn said in a low voice. It was payback.

"You know me too well," said Daniel.

"You’re my boyfriend, after all."

His lips curved into a smile as he wrapped his arms around her. “You’re right, I am.” He placed his hand under her chin and leaned in to a kiss. 

Kathryn leaned against the table, her arms around his neck as his moved down to her bare waist.

"You have lipstick on your mouth," Kathryn said with giggle as soon as they  pulled apart.

"Your blush is pretty strong, how much did they put?" He teased back.

She puffed her cheeks which prompted him to chuckle. And like an enzyme, she ended up laughing along.

He had to remain in the same floor, and trusting her hearing, she turned right and ran down the hall. She peered through windows and spun open numerous doors in the process. Panting, she noticed one last door at the side of the hall. The edges up her lip quirked upward as she opened up the door. There were no lights, the room was tiny. She hypothesized that it was a closet of some sort. The door closed behind her as she entered. He had to be somewhere, though she admitted without light she couldn't see very well. The only source of light crept from the bottom of the door.

"DJ, where are you?" Kathryn called out. Her hand began to roam the walls, sliding as she attempted to find him.

She felt the tingling of fabric and immediately stripped off what she believed to be a blanket.

The sound of someone huffing followed.

"I told you I'll find you," Kathryn said victoriously. He was up against the edge of the room with a blanket masking him.

"Fine, you did find me," Daniel groaned as Kathryn's smile deepened. He patted her head. "But I took a shorter time."

"Still, I found you," Kathryn retorted as she walked a few steps towards the door. Her hand laced around the knob, though despite twisting it every way possible--the door did not open.

"It's...locked?" Kathryn questioned.

Daniel reached over her and began twisting the knob. Sure enough, it refused to budge.

"It wasn't locked when I came in," Kathryn claimed, placing a hand on her chin. She didn't even remember closing it.

Daniel knocked on the door. "Hello?" he called out.

Kathryn did the same, hitting frantically. No one responded, the hallway was rather desolate.

"Do you have your phone?" Daniel asked. She shook her head, since he had to ask she assumed he had no phone either.

"What are we going to do, we need to be back in probably seven minutes," Kathryn informed, sinking to the floor.

Daniel crunched down next to her, the closet was tiny, meaning there wasn't room for space between them. He placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to reassure her.

His other hand was placed under her chin, lightly pressing against it in a soothing manner. He bobbed his head closer. "It'll be fine, I promise."

She could feel his breath tickling her skin. He probably did not mean to be so close. However, without much light, it was difficult to trace the other's figures.

He wanted to move closer. She felt him inching just a smudge, before retreating back. It was an endless pattern, which eventually ceased as she felt his presence move back a tad more.

He wanted to kiss her. But he didn't want to at the same time.

He was very upfront about his feelings for her. Daniel was also aware that she wanted to wait until she was older--but now she was, she was eighteen and while she was never as blunt as he was, she felt just the same.

Kissing was something she has never done. She knew that one kiss would solidify their relationship into a romance. They acted like boyfriend and girlfriend, a kiss could be the single enzyme to start using the title.

He's had his first kiss already. On the other side of the spectrum was she. She never had a boyfriend before, and she most definitely never had her first kiss.

He wasn't going to kiss her until he knew she was ready for a relationship. As she quickly contemplated, she wasn't ready--but at the same time, she wanted him to kiss her.

She wanted to kiss him at that moment.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes and leaned in reluctantly. She could tell he was taken back by the kiss, but did kiss back. His lips felt soft as one hand caressed her cheek, the other on her back as the kiss deepened.

They broke away for a moment, slightly gasping for air. Daniel placed a hand under her chin and pulled her in once more.

She could feel her lips tingling as she inhaled his scent. There were no words spoken, but the kiss translated a plethora of meanings.   

She couldn't even see him as they pulled away.

"Kath..." he began, confusion dripping from the tone of his voice.

"I.." Kathryn began, her throat immediately running dry.

"We should try knocking on the door again," Daniel said, letting out a cough as he finished.

"Right, we need to get going. That took...some time," Kathryn said, her cheeks heating up. To her fortune, he couldn't see.

They knocked on the door and it immediately opened up on its own.

They looked at each other, the door was locked when they tried to open it two or three minutes ago.

There was a clock in the hallway. they still had five minutes to get back. 

"I don't know what happened, but we should get going," Kathryn instructed.

"Right," Daniel agreed, nodding.

Once both disappeared out of sight, another pair appeared.

"So, what do you think happened?" Enrique asked.

"Their business. I can't believe you locked the door on them," Julia [Montes] said with a sigh.

Enrique shrugged. "From what I could hear, it worked."

Julia rolled her eyes. 

"They'll thank me later," Enrique claimed as he smirked.

"Well, that's one positive way to look at it," Julia said sarcastically.