ROBBY

He dribbled and tried not to have Bryan intercept the ball. He dribbled to his left and moved to his right.

It was a late Saturday afternoon and they were at the Gonzales' private basketball court located just behind the Gonzales' house. They had a fraternity meeting earlier that afternoon to discuss the allocation of the funds raised during the Spudz Concert which took place a week ago. After two hours of arguing and finally getting a consensus from the membership, Robby welcomed his friends in his house and decided on a friendly game of basketball.

He saw Marco behind Bryan eyeing him, his hands stretched forward positioned to catch the ball. In one swift motion, Robby quickly threw the ball to Marco who caught it expertly.

Robby watched Marco dribble and ran and turned to block Patrick from getting the ball.

If somebody told Robby last month that he'd be playing hoop with Marco today, he would have laughed at the ridiculous idea. But here they were, in his house, playing basketball, all differences forgiven and forgotten.

Marco made a quick turn to lose Patrick. He dribbled the ball again as he ran and stopped just behind the three point line. He bent and threw the ball in the air.

Robby held his breath. In. In. In.

And it swished right into the basket.

" Yes! " Robby and Marco shouted in unison and exchanged a victorious high five.

" Fuck! " Bryan and Patrick said eyeing the ring in disappointment.

" Gonzales dribbles the ball left and right and passes it on to Sebastian, " Robby announced in lowered voice imitating a sport's commentator. " Sebastian makes a move towards the basket and stopped just when he was outside the three point mark. Deciding he can make it, he threw the ball. Off it went in the air and right into the basket!"

" Three points for Sebastian!"

" Drinks on both of you tonight? " Marco grinned at Bryan and Patrick.

" That game wasn't fair, " Patrick retorted as he looked at the two of them dubiously.

" Oh yeah? " Robby asked as he took the ball and tucked it underneath his arms.

" How can we possibly win? " Bryan muttered. " The basketball team captain and point guard were on the same team."

Robby and Marco exchanged grins.

Both of them were Varsity Players in the University's Basketball team. Robby was the team captain and Marco was the point guard. The team's point guard usually becomes the team captain. But Marco vetoed the idea so Robby became team captain. Marco will never admit it but Robby thought Marco was not just into strategizing and analyzing games and would prefer to just dribble and shoot without having to think of how to win the game for the team.

" We need a rematch, " Patrick declared as he squatted on the floor to tie his shoelace.

" Definitely, " Bryan echoed his hands on his hips.

" You losers, " Marco said laughingly and shook his head at the two of them. " When did we ever play this game and not have Rob and me in one team? "

" Never, " Robby answered his team mate as he held the ball with his two hands.

He threw it at Patrick who managed to catch it.

" We still want a rematch, " Patrick told them as he swirled the ball on his fingertip.

Marco waved his hand at them and made his way to the bench at one corner of the court.

" Can't now. Need to go. "

Robby followed him leaving Patrick and Bryan playing one on one.  He grabbed his towel from the bench and quickly wiped his sweat on his face. He swung his towel on his neck holding it on each end.

" Where you off to? " Robby asked him.

Marco grinned at him as he opened the lid of his water bottle. " Hot date, "

Robby watched his friend in amusement as he drank from his bottle.

" If circumstances were different, " Marco continued as he closed his water bottle and stuffed it inside his duffel bag. " I would have asked you to come, the chick has an equally hot cousin but considering who you are dating..."

Marco's voice trailed off.

Robby chuckled as he sat on the bench. " I think I'll pass, "

" You better, " Marco said in agreement and slung his bag over his shoulders.

" You're picking Mia up later?"

Robby nodded at his friend as he glanced at his rubber watch. " In an hour, "

At the moment, Mia was currently taking her Constitution exam at the Library Auditorium along with every sophomore taking the same class that semester.

" One of the perks of having your friend date your sister, " Marco said as his face broke into a smile. " is getting a break from brotherly duties."

Robby didn't know what happened for Marco to have a change of heart. He knew he had mellowed down when he came back from Christmas break. In the weeks following his arrival back in the city, he seemed to have slowly accepted that Mia and he were together.

So imagine Robby's surprise when Marco finally spoke to him during the Spudz Concert and consequently, with a few grunts and snorts, gave Robby his blessing to be with Mia.

It almost felt surreal.

" Gotta go, " Marco said as he made his way back towards the house and gave Bryan and Patrick a quick wave.

Thirty minutes later, after another game of hoop, they all decided to call it night.

Robby had just finished taking a shower and was putting on his clothes when he heard a knock on his door.

" What is it? " Robby called out as he pulled his shirt down his chest.

" There's someone for you in the den, " Anita said.

Robby called out a quick thank you to Anita.

He knew it wasn't one of the guys. Otherwise, they would have barged in his room like it was their own and not wait for Anita to show them to the den.

Robby glanced at his watch as he grabbed his wallet and mobile from his side table and made his way to meet his visitor.

Robby hoped that whoever it was, wouldn't take much of his time. He needed to get to school quickly to pick Mia up.

He pushed the door of the den open and saw a figure standing at one corner of the room staring at their family photo.

" Ange? " Robby didn't feign surprise in his voice.

She spun around and Robby was taken aback at the sight before him.

She was wearing jeans and oversized sweater which was not Angela's style at all. Her hair was tied in a loose ponytail, strands coming out from every angle. Her arms were folded across her chest which made her look even smaller than her normal frame.

But what bothered Robby was her face. She looked deathly pale, her eyes red and puffy like she has been crying. He could see streaks of tears down her cheeks, mascara stains painted the skin underneath her eyes.

" What happened? " Robby asked in alarm as he walked near her. " Are you alright? "

" R-Robby, " she croaked, her voice hoarse. " You n-nneed...sh-she can...t-tthey w-will..."

Robby held her shoulders and saw panic in her eyes. " Breathe,"

Angela nodded and took a deep breath.

" Again, " Robby ordered and watched as she took another handful of breaths and exhaled.

When she was finally calm, she looked at Robby with a pained expression on her face.

" I was so angry at you Rob, " Angela began in a soft voice. " I know we broke up but I was hoping that we can fix it. That you can fall in love with me all over again. But you didn't."

Robby's eyebrows shot up. This was the reason for her visit?

She paused not taking her eyes off him. " I watched you fall in love with her despite all the warning and threat that you got from Marco. And for a while there,  I wanted to be her. So you can look at me the same way that you look at her, so that you can hold my hand the way that you held hers, so that you'll talk to me without being irritated at the sound of my voice. "

Watching her and hearing her words, Robby suddenly felt guilt slowly creeping through him.

" I kept wondering what I did wrong, " Angela choked as tears started to run down her cheeks. " What I didn't do right that made you want to leave me. I was going crazy thinking that maybe, I should have cared more about things that you do in that fraternity, that I should have spent more time with you than the girls, that I should have been there on your last birthday instead of taking that trip to Paris."

She was crying and it broke Robby's heart to see her like this.

" Don't go there, Ange, " he said quietly.

But her tears won't stop. It kept falling.

" I hated you, Rob, " Angela continued in an anguished voice. " For a while there, I hated you so much that I wanted you to hurt as much as I was hurting. I wanted you to feel how it was like to lose someone that you love. I wanted to break you as much as you broke me."

For the first time since they'd broke up, Robby felt her pain. He hated himself for being the jerk who caused it.

"Ange, " he said softly. " I'm sorry. I didn't know what you were going through."

He wanted to engulf her in an embrace but she pushed him away and took a step back, her tears flowing endlessly down her cheeks.

" No, I'm sorry, " Angela cried as she looked at Robby in agony. " I was so angry at you. I-I just wanted to break you. I'm sorry, Rob. I didn't mean to. I didn't."

Robby couldn't understand what she way saying and took a step forward. " You have nothing to be sorry for, Ange. We changed. We both did. Breaking up was inevitable. I thought that we could just never really work out with a lot of our differences. "

" I'm sorry for putting you through all these, " Robby ended in a quiet voice.

Angela was crying uncontrollably and she fell to her knees. Robby quickly bent down to help her up, but she wouldn't stand up. She was crying, her face buried on her hands.

He gathered her in his arms as he rubbed her back.

" It's okay, " Robby said softly rocking her back and forth. " It's okay."

Angela pushed him away. Heaving a shaky breathe, she spoke.

Her next words sent chills to Robby's spine.

" Mia is in great danger. " Angela choked as she placed her hands on her mouth. " D-Dom...Dom was planning to do something horrible to her tonight. You have to save her, Robby."

Colors drained Robby's face when he heard her; he finally realized why Angela was really there.