C8 - I am not falling in love again.

A month quickly passed. Exams, quizzes, recitations, practicum, work, and fun times. Before Ally knew it, it was already the day when she, Amelia, and Kyla would leave their house.

Last week, she officially received the house she won. They hadn’t moved in right away because she had to clean it first. Well, not just her—of course, her three bodyguards were there as well.

"Do you even know how to clean?" she asked the three.

"You’re overreacting. Hello, it’s not even that dirty since they cleaned it before they made it the raffle prize," Leio replied defensively.

"There’s still dust," she said, laughing as Zion smacked Leio.

"You and your big mouth, bro!"

"What? It’s a matter of fact!"

"Whatever. You’re not helping Ally with your arguments," Ethan chimed in, standing between Zion and Leio. "So, shall we start?"

In the end, instead of cleaning, the three managed to break some things. Since the house was fully furnished and the kitchen gadgets were too high-tech for Ally and the guys didn’t know how to use them, they almost burned the house down trying to cook.

"Are you sure you don’t have anything else to move?" Ethan asked while they were eating the pizza they had delivered instead.

"Just our clothes, probably."

"So, you don’t need us?" Leio asked.

"I think we can manage."

"We already talked about it, Ally. We’re going to help you. Or at least, I will. I’ll drive you," Ethan insisted.

"Me too. I think I can carry some boxes," Zion said, making Leio roll his eyes.

"Oh, fine, I’ll help too," Leio added.

Allison chuckled.

"Seriously, guys—"

"So, it’s settled. We’ll come and pick you up next Saturday," Ethan cut her off.

As planned, Ally was now waiting for the three of them to pick them up. They had been packed for a while, and her mother and sister were puzzled about why they suddenly packed up everything.

"We’re going on a vacation, Mom," she told her mother, who still had no idea they were moving to their own house.

She was getting impatient, even though Ethan had texted that they were going to be a little late.

She was texting Ethan back when they heard commotion outside.

"Check it out, Ky," she instructed her sister, who peeked out the door.

"Ally!” Kyla turned to them, pale. "There’s a fire!"

"What?!"

---

"What’s with the heavy traffic today?" Ethan said impatiently for the nth time in the last thirty minutes.

They were already an hour late for their appointment with Ally. Aside from the traffic, he couldn’t leave his house right away. His parents had arrived from NYC and, for the first time in forever, were looking for their son.

He texted Ally again. He didn’t like making her wait. He didn’t want to give her the impression that he couldn’t keep his word.

"Bro, relax. Ally said she will wait," Leio said.

"Guys, look," Zion lowered the passenger seat window and pointed to thick smoke. "There’s a fire!"

"Sh*t!" he exclaimed. "Tell me that’s not from Ally’s place!" He felt his adrenaline rush as he noted the direction of the fire.

"I’ll call Ally," Leio volunteered, something Ethan hadn’t thought to do.

His chest tightened with each shake of Leio’s head.

"She’s not answering," Leio said.

"She’s gotta be okay," Ethan said nervously. "Keep calling her."

The traffic wasn’t moving at all. He grew more anxious when they heard the firetrucks. There was definitely a fire, and there was a high possibility it was at Ally’s place.

"I can’t wait here without doing anything," he said, unbuckling his seatbelt.

"Ethan!" Zion grabbed his arm. "Let’s just wait!"

"What if Ally’s in there?" he asked his friend.

"What will you do, huh? Run in there? You’ll endanger yourself!"

"What if she needs me? I need to make sure she’s okay!" He pulled his arm away from Zion and quickly got out of the car.

"Ethan!" Zion followed him, leaving Leio with the van. "Don’t be stubborn!"

Ethan didn’t care as he ran. Ally needed him. He couldn’t wait and stay calm until he was sure she was okay.

"I’m coming, Allison!"

If something happened to Ally and her family, it would be his fault. He shouldn’t have kept her waiting.

---

Unfortunately for Ally and Kyla, they had trouble getting out because they couldn’t keep up with the rush of people trying to escape the fire. They had to protect their mother at all costs.

They managed to get out, but they lost all their belongings and suffered first to second-degree burns on their arms and legs.

So instead of going straight to their new house, they were now in the hospital.

"The important thing is that we and Mom are safe," she told her crying sister.

They couldn’t leave the hospital yet because they didn’t have money to pay. She admitted that during the fire, all she cared about was saving her mother and sister. She wasn’t thinking clearly, even though they were already packed and she had her money and phone in her shoulder bag. She forgot to bring anything because she was more concerned about how to get out of the fire alive.

Despite her embarrassment, she had no choice but to contact the only number she knew by heart—Ethan’s. She had asked a nurse earlier, and now she was hoping Ethan had received her message.

It had already been a couple of hours since then. She was starting to lose hope. She might have to beg the hospital to let them go and promise to come back and pay later.

She was about to approach a nurse when Zion arrived, clearly in a hurry.

"Zion!" she was very relieved to see him.

"Allison! Ethan sent me," he said, coming closer and checking her injuries. "Thank goodness you’re safe."

"I am. I thought Ethan didn’t get my message. I left my phone in the fire and—where’s Ethan?"

"He needed to attend to some important matters, so he sent me. He was so worried about you, Allison."

"I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking straight. I left everything," she said, lowering her head. "If only I had paid more attention."

"Ally," he placed both hands on her shoulders. "That’s not true. You all made it out. It’s very brave to get out of there alive," he looked behind her where her mother and sister were sitting, both obviously related to her by their resemblance. "And that’s what matters."

She almost cried in front of Zion. It was only now that it was sinking in that just a few hours ago, they were literally escaping a hellish fire in their area.

She pulled the young man closer and introduced him to her mother and sister.

"Mom, Kyla, this is Zion, my friend. He’s here to help us. Zion, this is my mom and sister."

Zion took Amelia’s hand and playfully ruffled Kyla’s hair.

"I’m glad to meet Ally’s family."

Amelia, who couldn’t speak properly, held Zion’s hand with tears in her eyes.

"Thank you, Zion," Kyla said.

"It’s nothing. Your sister is a close friend of ours," Zion assured.

Without further delay, Zion settled their bill and drove them to their new house.

---

Of all the times he could get hurt in a fire, it had to be during the fire at Ally’s place. And if it wasn’t bad timing, now his parents were in the country.

How was he going to explain the broken arm of their only son?

"Bro, that was very stupid!" Leio teased him in his hospital suite. "You ended up worse than Allison."

"Shut up."

He showed his friend his arm in a cast and supported by a sling. It would take some time to recover. He was lucky enough that his doctor said the cast would only be on for four weeks.

Now, how did he end up breaking a bone?

He had helped a child and protected her from falling debris. He had no regrets. That child might even remember him as her hero. And he was happy to help.

The problem was that he didn’t see Allison. The supposed damsel in distress he was going to save had saved herself and didn’t need his help.

"Did you pay my bill here?" he asked Leio irritably.

"Who else?" Leio grinned. "Just remind me to charge you for it."

He ignored him. He would pay Leio. It wasn’t like he didn’t have money and needed to borrow. He just didn’t want his mother to know that his credit card had a hospital charge. For sure, it would be harder to hide what had happened to him.

"Did Zion say that Allison’s okay?"

"Yes, sir. In fact, Zion has already taken them to their new house. Too bad the sponsor himself wasn’t the one who welcomed them," Leio continued to tease him.

"Zion will take care of them," he said confidently.

But deep down, he wished he could have been with Ally. He wanted to meet her family. He wanted to see their reaction when Ally told them they now had their own house.

But here he was, not the one who lost everything in the fire, yet he was the one in the hospital. He hated that when Ally sent him a desperate message asking for his help, he couldn’t come. Instead, he asked Zion to help her on his behalf. But he wanted so badly to be the one to go and be there for her. Unfortunately, he couldn’t help her in his condition.

Another thing, Ally will ask what happened to him. And he wouldn’t want to tell her. He didn’t want her to feel guilty. He didn’t want Allison to worry.

“Ethan,” Leio interrupted, realizing that he had been deep in thought.

“Huh?”

“You really like Ally, don’t you?” he asked seriously.

“She’s our friend. Friends help each other,” he replied.

“Ethan Montenegro, I’ve known you for a long time. Not as well as Zion knows you, but remember, I saw how you loved Felicity. This care and attention you’re giving Allison is becoming more and more like the way you treated your ex.”

“I am not falling in love again, Leio,” he responded firmly.

“Okay. Suit yourself then,” his friend shrugged, but he would bet all his family’s wealth that he didn’t believe him.

Ethan looked away as memories began flooding his mind.

No. Felicity is not like Allison. That woman was a traitor. Materialistic. A social climber and gold digger. She only loved him because he was a billionaire’s son. She never truly loved him.

What hurt the most was that he loved her genuinely. He loved her in every way he knew. He gave her everything. He fought for her even though one day she suddenly disappeared without any explanation. They parted without closure.

But later on, he found out that the real reason she left him was that his mother paid her. Five million pesos was the price of her love.

He was deeply hurt. That was all the closure he needed.

Since then, he swore to himself that he would never love again. Girls do not deserve his love.

They are all the same, not liking him for who he is. They only like him because of his money. Because he’s Ethan Montenegro.

But when the day turns into a cold night, when all the riches fade away, there will be nothing left to support him.

“So how are you going to tell your parents about your arm?”

“They do not need to know.”

“How exactly do you plan to hide your cast from them?”

“Adopt me.”

“Oh no!” he protested. “You are so not going to ruin my image, Ethan Montenegro! I am not going to let another guy live in my condo!”

He smirked. He knew that Leio brought different women home every night.

“Be careful, man, or else one of these days, you’re going to catch HIV.”

“Says who? The manwhore?”

“Excuse me? I’m not like you anymore.”

It was Leio’s turn to smirk.

“Somebody changed you,” he teased.

He shook his head.

“Of course not.”

He had already recovered from his broken heart. Falling in love with Ally was like exposing himself to get hurt again.