The First Curse of Love
19. Hugging Your Broken Heart

Previous Night...

Danny was getting ready to go to the surprise party he had prepared for Qiara when suddenly Prissy called him and asked him to come see him immediately. Prissy said it was important. And if Danny doesn't see him soon, then they won't have another chance to meet. Danny was worried, between having to go see Prissy, or go give a surprise party for Qiara with the others.

At twelve o'clock tonight, Qiara turns 20. Tomorrow, June 8th is his birthday. And Danny has prepared everything very maturely. He had even prepared a gift for Qiara since two months ago.

But suddenly, Prissy who recently began to disappear often even contacted him and asked to meet.

Danny let out a long sigh while rubbing his face with both hands. He finally came to a very hard decision.

Elsewhere, Arga and Celine await Danny's arrival. A rooftop at the family-owned Hotel Danny has prepared as a place to give surprise. Over these two weeks, Danny has really worked really hard to get things ready.

"Where is Danny, huh? He said he'd get to it first. But it's empty here." Arga said in confusion.

Not long after that, Danny called him.

"Cumshall, Dann. Lo where? It's almost 10 o'clock. Soon the other college kids will come." Cecar Arga's.

"Ga, I think I'll be late. You guys go first. I'll take it." Danny answered across the phone.

"Lo what the hell? It's all the stacking elo. You could have said it would be late."

"Gue has a sudden business, Ga. Prissy's suddenly asking to see you."

"LO'S CRAZY!" Shouted Arga without him noticing.

And that shout, successfully attracted the attention of Celine and some hotel employees who were preparing the place. Realizing that he was now the center of attention, Arga immediately moved away from the others.

"That girl's been telling me and hard to contact for weeks. But now he had suddenly appeared to coincide with Qiara's birthday. Don't you think there's anything weird about that, Danny?" Arga said in a half-whispering tone.

"Ga, please. She's my girl. Please appreciate him. I'm sure he'll have a reason."

"OKAY. Just meet that LO GIRL. The show will continue WITH or WITHOUT you!" Cynic Arga with emphasis in a few words. He then switched off his phone with unstoppable emotions.

"Why, Ga?" Celine suddenly just appeared from behind Arga while touching her shoulder.

Ever since Arga yelled on the phone earlier, Celine had thought that something must be wrong.

"Danny said it would be late. He's got to meet Pricilla first."

"What's? How come?"

Arga just shrugged his shoulders while shaking his head. Just like Celine, it was also completely mindless with Danny's behavior.

"There's a weird thing about girls. There was no way he didn't know it was Qiara's birthday. He must have been on purpose!" Pointing Celine fiercely. He even showed the same emotional overflow as Arga.

From the beginning, Celine never agreed to see Danny dating Prissy. Although Prissy always showed her good attitude, somehow Celine never felt touched.

"Qiara never should have made them." Celine's regret passed away from Arga's side.

The show resumed without Danny. Later, Arga will explain as much as possible to Qiara, that Danny is on urgent business that he cannot avoid. Arga really doesn't want the atmosphere tonight to turn out to be unpleasant.

At exactly half-twelfth, some of their other campus friends had already arrived at the event venue. Later, a few minutes before twelve, Alisha and Kevin who had been coordinated by Arga before, will come carrying Qiara with their eyes closed.

Upon seeing the sightings of Alisha and Kevin who had arrived at the rooftop while guiding Qiara's steps, Arga gave the code to the others to take their respective positions. They all count down. And just after the clock was shown at 00:00, Qiara's blindfold opened with a happy birthday song from the others.

Qiara was moved, almost shedding tears. He did not expect that his friends and friends would give this extraordinary surprise party.

But, the happy smile that was drawn on Qiara's sweet face, slowly faded away as she did not notice Danny's presence among the others. At the beginning Qiara had thought, that Danny would appear at the back while bringing a bouquet of flowers for him. However, that thought only ended up being a pseudo hope that incised disappointment in his heart.

Danny was not present at all. Even as the show nears completion, Danny still shows no signs that he will be present.

Time pass. Thirty minutes later, Qiara was able to see Dean's arrival with uncertain steps. Of course, events like this were not familiar to Dean, considering he was an introvert. However, for the sake of Qiara's birthday, Dean ventured to attend.

Understanding what Dean was feeling right now, Qiara immediately walked up to him and flanked his arm to make his feelings better, "Sister Dean, thanks for coming."

"Happy birthday, Qi. Sorry late dateng." Mumbled Dean quietly.

"Look, Dean's brother who is so introverted is still fighting for Qiara." Said Celine who was still feeling annoyed at Danny.

"Sttt..it's over, Cel." Fizz Arga.

Not long after, Alisha who had been watching Arga and Celine had decided to approach them, especially Arga.

"Hay, Ga!" Sapa Alisha holding her drink.

"Hey, Al. Thanks for working together today."

Alisha simply replied to Arga with a faint smile.

Seeing the presence of Alisha who was quite foreign to him, Celine suddenly glanced at Arga, as if asking who the girl was.

"Yes, Al. This is Celine. I, Qiara, and Celine have been friends since Kindergarten."

"Hay, Alisha. I know Celine." Celine immediately shook Alisha's hand which looked still awkward.

"Alisha."

Upon hearing Celine mention her name, Alisha's mind suddenly glared far away. Celine's face was indeed foreign to him, but her name was... Alisha felt like she had heard that name before.

Danny was twirling a small black box with his hand when Qiara came to see him with an anxious look. Qiara remembered the jewelry box that Danny was playing. How not to remember, if he used to think that Danny would give her a camellia flower bobble necklace. The necklace that turned out to be Danny wanted to present wholeheartedly to Prissy as his birthday gift.

Yes, Qiara remembered it. But, if that necklace was indeed Danny gave to Prissy as his birthday gift two months ago, then why is the box still in Danny's hands now?

But the most important thing is not that now. The problem was, Danny suddenly called and asked him to come to see him in an apartment unit that Qiara later knew was Danny's property given by his mother. Before marrying his father, Mama Danny lived in the apartment. Danny even gave his door password to Qiara so that Qiara could enter as soon as he arrived.

What made Qiara even more anxious was that the tone of Danny's voice on the phone really sounded different. Qiara heard it not as a request, but as a plea. Moreover, Celine had told Qiara that Prissy left for New York today. And the reason why Danny was alone in the apartment he had not officially lived in was now definitely because of Prissy's departure.

Last night Qiara was disappointed, because Danny was the only one who did not participate in his surprise party. However, once you know the reason why Danny is absent, all his anger and disappointment suddenly subsides. For now, he just wanted to be next to the young man, and embrace all his sadness.

As soon as Qiara entered Danny's apartment unit, her attention was immediately drawn to the figure of Danny who was sitting alone on a sofa located on his balcony which was quite spacious. The balcony where Danny was at that time showed a view of tall buildings in a magnificent city.

Slowly, Qiara stepped towards Danny and took a position right beside him. Danny then took the jewelry box down and placed it on a small table located right next to the sofa they were sitting on. His view is now distracted by the view of the city that is colored by twilight with its kingpin.

Silence enveloped them even after ten minutes Qiara filled the empty space beside Danny. All that was heard was the murmur of the twilight wind and the boisterous sound of vehicles passing by down there. Then Danny sounded his breath. Nevertheless, he had been aware of Qiara's presence ever since. He memorized the sound of the girl's footsteps like he was memorizing his own name.

"He's gone, Qia..." Danny finally.

"Gue knows." Answer Qiara.

"We're done." Ogre Danny once again, but this time there was no answer from Qiara. "And you know what alesan why me and him should be done?" Danny continued after earlier sighing quite strongly.

"Lo doesn't need to tell me that it's not something you should tell me."

Danny smiled reluctantly and looked over. At the same time Qiara also did the same thing until their positions were now facing each other. At that moment Qiara could see Danny's face was being covered with eternal. "Because I can't choose him and let go of that." It paused for a moment before Danny's laughter broke.

And Qiara chose silence. He did not have the right choice of words to comfort this man right now. He didn't even have the strength to just pat Danny on the shoulder.

"He asked me to choose between you or him. Of course I can not choose, until anytime will not be able to choose, I—" Danny was not able to continue his words, what happened next is, what happened next is, he only sighed deeply to fill his chest cavity which was beginning to feel increasingly empty.

Without thinking any more, Qiara grabbed the young man and pulled him slowly into his arms. Both of Qiara's hands went down to Danny's back then rubbed him gently. At least, that was the only way he could do it now, this second. Hugging Danny's fragility and trying to convince him that he'll be okay, that all this unexplained distress will surely pass by in any way.

"Lo want to hear something?" Qiara asked while rubbing Danny's back.

Danny flinching. He also did not have the strength to return the girl's embrace.

"Gue's never had a second of this. In the past, when my first love I prefer other girls and just think I'm a friend. And now, when my first love was lamenting the departure of another girl in my arms. I was once that ruined, Dann."

Danny's still flinching. Not a single voice could be heard from him.

"But I'm fine. The fact that he was always by my side, watching me, loving me, and always having a way to make me laugh was more than enough for me. Of course you're not as lucky as I am now, but obviously everything will pass."

Then when Qiara was about to let go of her embrace, Danny actually held her back and hugged the girl's body even tighter.

"Lo want to know something too?" This time Danny's voice sounded stronger.

"Hm?"

"Either then or now, your first love will always choose you. Even if he had to lose the entire world and its contents, he would still choose lo."

A tear of Qiara fell on Danny's shoulder. And as she felt a soft sweep of Danny's lips fall on the top of her head, Qiara comfortably submerged her face in Danny's chest and felt the fragrance of her body that really made her feel protected. In addition, Qiara can also hear back the sound of Danny's heartbeat which has become his favorite music.

It's a fool about who Danny's afraid of right now. It would be stupid if Danny just made it an outlet from his pain right now. One thing for sure Qiara knew, she felt very comfortable with that hug.

At least, for just this once, let her be a stupid girl. And at least, for just this once, he didn't want to know anything.

Qiara knew, it didn't have to be this way. But in the depths of his heart, he was grateful that Prissy had finally left.

"Yes, Qi..." Danny said suddenly as he remembered something. He then broke his embrace with Qiara.

At the same time, Qiara instantly wiped away her tears that were still left in the corner of her eyes. Not long after, Danny grabbed the jewelry box and handed it to Qiara.

"Happy birthdays. Sorry for not being able to give me surprise semalem."

Qiara was stunned for a while. How could that gift be for him? While vividly in Qiara's memory, Danny prepared the gift for Prissy two months ago.

"Make me? It's not buaaat... Prissy?" Qiara asked hesitantly. Afraid Danny would feel sad again if he carried around Prissy's name.

Smiling, Danny gave a soft look at Qiara's confused head, "when did I say this was for Prissy? Elo himself, right, who directly drew the conclusion at that time. I'm a yes-yes. It's impossible if I say this gift for you at that time."

Qiara tries to roll back her memories back then, when Danny drags her forcibly away to a jewelry store. Because of that, Vanno severed Qiara when their relationship was only a corn.

"Where? Nice isn't?" Danny asked for an opinion while looking at Qiara's face in the mirror.

"Ba –good."

"Excellent!" Scream Danny with joy. He removed the necklace from Qiara's neck.

Qiara who immediately suspected that the necklace would be given as a birthday gift Prissy immediately asked Danny, "make Prissy's birthday gift?"

"Yes." Yeah." Danny replied after a few seconds of silence.

After being convinced that Qiara had already remembered something, Danny immediately got up from his side and walked into the room. He grabbed his jacket on the couch and said, "come home! I want to be malem."

^^To the Continued....^^^