#daragonau

This story has a history of false start.

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It's the hope I can't get rid of. The hope that sets me up for a thousand new falls. It may be the hope that keeps me going. But it's the hope that will kill me in the end.

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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　　　　　　⠀⠀⠀✦ ⠀ ⠀　　　　　　　　　　　　　　⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀* ⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　　　　　　. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀✦⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　　　　　　　　　.　　　ﾟ .　　　　　　　　　　　　　. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　✦ 　　　　　,　　　　　　　.

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　　˚　　　⠀　⠀  　　,　　　　　　.

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Eros Altair

Eros stood still rooted as he watched her lifeless body lying on the ground.

Minsan iniisip niya, kung hindi siya nakilala ni Astrid, hindi mangyayari ang lahat ng ito. 

If he only followed his destiny, she would have been happy along with the company that suits her best; he could have been happy. 

Happy? Eros knew that was a lie. His whole life would have been a lie. He never before had a sure sense of his life beginning again as he did that day he met Astrid.

"Excuse me, dito po ba 'yong pa-18th floor?" 

Astrid is terrible with directions. She will always, for some reason, lose her way and just like before, for a reason, he will always be the one to find her.

"Astrid.."

He almost pulled her close to him and wrapped her in a long embrace to say how much he longed for this moment. 

He wanted to get on his knees and beg her to tell him how they could put an end to this misery.

But he knows he has no right, he put her into this.

"Uh… ito po ba..?" 

He almost choked as he answered her. 

"Can we have lunch together? I have a lot of things to ask you."

Their whole life flashed before him the moment he looked into her eyes.

How they met; how they loved and fought for it only to be badly defeated.

How she's back only to be taken away from him again.

How this endless cycle is a reminder to him of the brutal fact that the only thing that might end this is something that he cannot ever get - his death.

So Eros did something he has never done before– built a huge wall between them. 

Pero may nakalimutan yata si Eros. This is Astrid we are talking about. Marami nang version ni Astrid ang nakilala niya pero may iisa silang pagkakapareho - Astrid is incredibly stubborn and determined.

Undaunted as she is, Astrid climbed and broke the fucking wall. 

Little did she know that breaking that wall would also break her. 

"Astrid.."

He called for her name, pleading to the Gods he didn't believe in. 

"P-Please.."

His trembling hand reached for hers but stopped midway. 

He shouldn't have taken her hand that day. 

He should've built more walls, thousands at that, so she'll run out of patience and strength to climb and break it. 

No. 

He should've ran away that day at the lift for the 18th floor. 

He lost her for so many times in the past and in so many different ways. Years later they would cross paths again to remind him why he is still alive. He will lose her once more to show him the brutal fact that the only thing that could ever save him from this insurmountable grief is something that he could never get - his death.