Chapter Six – The Morning After
It’s me who wakes first, smiling happily as I watch him sleep for a while. He turns over, before his eyes open and a smile takes hold of his own face.
“Morning honey,” I greet playfully, flicking a stray lock of hair from his face.
“Morning,” he grins in reply, hooking his fingers around my face as I peck his lips. We lay there for a little while in each other’s arms, before we realise we have a challenge ahead of us – digging under the duvet for our pyjamas, so we can get out of bed without scarring the potential viewers for life.
That turns out to be the easy part – Alec’s somehow got to get back to his room without making the others suspicious. We hover at my bedroom door as we contemplate how best to do this, but before that there’s a question now on my lips.
“Are you okay?” I ask, noting how awkward he now seems.
“I’m fine,” he smiles, and as if to ease my concerns he pulls me into an embrace, before lightly kissing my lips.
“Better go I guess,” he says with a resigned sigh.
“Yeah,” I agree reluctantly, and move to tentatively open the door, looking about me for any sign of movement. Spotting none, I leave the door ajar as I tell him that the coast’s clear, stealing another kiss before he scurries back to his room. Shutting the door, I lean against it for a moment as I allow a fond smile to take hold of my mouth, still wearing it as I move to get dressed.
Phew, I made it. By the sound of things they’re all downstairs, apart from Leo of course. Getting dressed however is the last thing on my mind, instead I sit on the bed as I ponder what happened last night. At first I smile, but as the clouds are blown away by the winds of reality, I come crashing back to Earth so hard, I inwardly fear I’ve broken something. … No, I have broken something!“Oh s***,” I mutter to myself, “What have I done?!”
Don’t get me wrong, last night was amazing… but he’s only fourteen! Granting him his first kiss is one thing, but claiming his innocence? I just hope this doesn’t get out…I decide to stay in my room after dressing, feeling in a musical mood as I sit at my keyboard. I don’t know long I spend there before I notice my fingers start to seize up, but the loud complaint from my stomach pretty much settles it – time to stop I think. Hmm, mushroom omelette sounds good!
I frown as I get to the kitchen, however. Alec is on a barstool at the counter, slumped over it as though bothered by something. Looking furtively about me to be sure we’re alone, I approach and lay a hand on his shoulder as I speak.
“Hey, what’s up?”
He delays eye contact, wearing a smile that mixes sadness and unease. “I’m sorry,” he tells me, finally looking at me, “We shouldn’t have done that…”
Frowning, I take his hand, truly puzzled at his change in manner. “Why?” I ask, beginning to feel dejected. Is he having regrets?
“You’re fourteen,” he replies, “I could get in trouble…”
“Dad’s fifteen,” I tell him, “Mum’s seventeen and she didn’t get in trouble…”
“She’s very lucky,” he remarks, wisely choosing to ignore the blatant flaws in what I just said.
“Look,” I continue, turning round to face him as I caress his hand, “I come from the wrong background to believe age is an issue. The only concern I may have, which I’m sure is unjustified but I’ll mention it anyway…” My speech dwindles as I fight the building sadness in my heart, before finding the will to finish. “Did we make love last night?”
His head tilts to the side, his face now wearing a “need-you-ask” look as his free hand runs along my cheek. “Of course we did,” he replies with a wide smile, his mood lifted, “I love you Leo.”
I just about have time to return his love with a happy grin of my own, before I feel his lips against my own. He slides off his seat to grip me tightly, and we share a kiss that soon grows in strength.
“Ah, that good game!” Zamir grins as he leans back, watching as Kii reaches for the remote.
“Sure was!” Kii replies, before frowning as he clutches his stomach. “Damn, even worked up an appetite!”
“Yes, me also,” Zamir agrees, before they both rise and amble towards the kitchen, “Who cook this time?”
“Mm, don’t care.”
Zamir throws a playful arm around his friend, a mischievous grin upon his face. “I cook last time, is your turn I think.”
“Hey, so long as it’s edible I don’t care!” Kii says, before a smile takes hold of his own lips. “Think you’d better do it,” he finishes with a wink.
“Ey, you not bad cook!” Zamir tells him, before delivering a teasing nudge. “Nice try!”
“Come on, A for effort?”
“E for result!”
Kii crosses his arms, pouting as the kitchen opens up before their eyes. Although he pauses, holding his friend at bay as something catches his eye.
“What…?” Zamir asks, frowning as Kii hushes him before creeping forwards.
“What the…?” Kii wonders aloud, barely letting his voice reach above a whisper. Then his arm moves, frantically beckoning Zamir forth but making sure he remains quiet.
“What?” Zamir whispers, before being hushed again.
Kii grips his arm and ushers him further forward, the two creeping into the kitchen. Finally the Puerto Rican youth sees them, his jaw dropping in amazement as the sight before them registers.
“Por mi madre!”
My heart races as we hastily pull away from each other, looks of horror upon our faces as we slowly turn to find them, a fair distance away, watching us. Zamir looks almost as shocked as we are, while Kii just stands there with folded arms.
“Hey,” Kii grins as he throws up his arms, “Don’t mind us!”
“S***!”
So saying, I walk away in despair, not caring if Alec follows or whether he’s still where I left him. I can feel my heartbeat in my throat and even begin to hyperventilate, Dad’s words about Gino ringing in my ears.
“Hey, guys,” Kii’s voice echoes through my mind, “Guys? It’s okay, really…”
“Is it hell,” I mutter to myself, and soon feel Alec’s hands upon my shoulders. My racing thoughts are picked up by my brain, which in turn continues to command the adrenaline flow into my blood, and my body’s reaction to what becomes an overdose of the substance is to go into panic.
“What I do?” Zamir asks, his tone softened as they gingerly move closer.
“Hey buddy,” Kii adds, “It’s okay, really…”
“Oh sure,” Leo suddenly utters, his voice strained in the fear he still feels, “Try telling that to my Uncle!”
“The guy at the awards?”
Leo nods in reply, but before he can continue his outburst Zamir takes the reigns, no longer caring who quietens his complaining stomach.
“Look, guys,” he adds, “I fix us breakfast, we talk more then, no?”
Kii looks to him and nods, trying to ignore his own demanding appetite as he looks back to Leo. “I’ll get you a drink, huh? You guys drink tea don’t ya?”
“Not a bad idea,” Alec agrees, and as Kii moves off he guides Leo to a table. “Come on sweetie,” he coaxes, “let’s get you sat down before you fall down.”
I don’t usually drink tea, although that might be why I’m always so hyper. For now I can only be grateful for the calming nature of the drink, as the tannin works through my system and gradually reduces the adrenaline concentrate to a more acceptable level.
“Feeling better now?” Alec asks, nursing my shoulder.
I nod, but although I’ve stopped shaking and my breathing’s normal, I’m only a fraction less worried than I was.
“What happened with your Uncle?” Kii asks.
“There was a reason I picked that award for him,” I tell him, taking another sip from my cup, “Dad, my Uncle Joe and my Grandma found him in a bloody, battered heap in an alleyway. I remember the state of Dad when he came back, and I was only… seven? Eight? He said they’d pulled off a load of guys beating the s*** out of him, trying to kill him.”
“Geez,” Kii mutters softly.
“Why?” Zamir asks.
I look up from my plate, fixing him with a steely gaze and a dry smile. “Because he’s gay,” I tell him, looking about me, “Now do you get it?”
“Whoa,” Kii remarks, “Come on, we’re not all like that…”
Thankfully, Alec rises to my defence, his tone lowered as he speaks.
“The problem is,” he tells them both, “we have to assume people are. School back in Oz was a nightmare, they’d been giving me hell since they found out.”
“If these guys air our time together I’ll get it too,” I add, glancing about me at the hidden cameras.
“So, how long has this been going on?” Kii asks, with no more than curiosity in his eyes.
“Just over a week,” Alec replies. Zamir nods in acknowledgement too, before speaking again.
“Look,” he tells us, “Was shock yes, but that all. You guys happy, that cool. No problem,” he finishes with a smile.
“Thanks,” I reply, before looking to his friend, “Both of you, thanks.”
“Hey, no problem,” he says with a smile, which slips as he changes the subject. “So, how come your Uncle was bleeding when he came to pick up his award?”
“Bleeding?” I check, not sure what he means.
“Yeah,” Kii answers, “from his eyes. Call me crazy, but I swear they were the same colour…”
“Come to think of it,” Alec chips in, “The way you mentioned your parents, as though they are fifteen and seventeen? Don’t you mean “were”?”
Uh-oh… I suppose when you grow up around it you consider it normal, but none of these guys are from around here. The shock those poor guys from Rhapsody got when they realised what else lives here…
“Um, no,” I answer Alec carefully, “That was no mistake.”
He opens his mouth about to speak again, but I cut him short. “Actually, in real terms, Dad’s… um, pushing thirty now I think, and Mum’s… what did she say she was? Two hundred? Or one hundred and eighty? Something like that…” I trail off as I notice the others straighten up in their seats.
“Excuse me?!” Kii queries.
“Welcome to Alpinloch,” I tell them, throwing out my hands in my attempt to lighten the mood, “Home to vampires, aliens, plant guys, werewolves…”
“Whoa, whoa, whoaaa!” he splutters, his poor brain already suffering from overload by the looks of him.
“You did ask,” I supply casually.
“Yeah, I’m sorry I did now!”
“Your parents are vampires?” Alec checks.
“Yep,” I reply, “and Gino’s boyfriend, who bit Grandma. He visited Gino in hospital, who on one occasion asked him to bite him – he wanted to stop what happened to him, happening to others.”
“Wow,” Kii utters, before pressing forth with his next question, “So, those guys who attacked him…”
I silently run an index finger along my throat in reply.
“Thought it might be something like that…”
Sensing a rising tide of fear within all three of them, I speak again.
“Oh don’t worry,” I tell them, “Unless you’re out causing major trouble at night, they’re quite harmless. In fact they’re really nice.”
“Right,” Kii utters slowly, “All the same, I’ll take a rain check on that meeting your Dad thing…”
“Mm,” Alec adds, before taking my face into his hands, lifting up my upper lip, “Got nothing tucked away in there have you?”
I start to laugh as I pull his hands away. “You would’ve known about it by now if I did,” I reply, in a way that only he’ll understand.
“Would I?” he checks, before the penny drops. “Oh, right…” Even so, he nervously strokes his mouth.
Zamir then clears his throat anxiously, changing the subject once more.
“Well,” he begins, “Is our last day tomorrow, no? How about a party before we go?”
My eyes light up at the thought. “Yeah!” I grin, “Great idea!”
“Yeah, and invite the girls from downstairs too!” Kii grins, a sparkle in his own eye, “See who we’ve been competing against all month!”
“Oh yeah, that’d be awesome!” I grin, our spirits well and truly lifted. Apart from Alec, who goes quiet.
“Aw, come on,” I tease, “You’ll love it, really.”
“If you say so,” he smiles uncertainly in reply.
“We’ll promise to keep those ladies away from you two,” Kii winks.
“Oh, I’m sure you will,” I reply, looking between them. Zamir’s already rubbing his hands together gleefully at the idea of female guests, and Kii now has a big grin fixed on his chops.
“No good can come of this,” Alec muses aloud.
