Easing Heimweh (Heim, #1) ✓

13: Royally Alluring

The cruise ship sailed on the morning of July 21. The sun shone bright above, prickling my exposed skin, and Aelius scrunched his nose beside me, his eyes half-closed as we passed by Anguib Beach.

"How about you show me around?" I asked, wrapping my arms around his. He reached for it and held my hand instead. My forefinger brushed against the hair tie on his wrist, and I spared it a glance. Huh. "I don't wanna be fried alive on my first day here," I muttered, pulling the hair tie and letting it go with a snap.

"Ow."

"Sorry."

I'd seen it from pictures I found online, but Royal Allure was massive. Every corner was the epitome of luxury. The wooden furniture, the intricate adornments on the ceilings, the architecture screamed timeless. We passed by a white porcelain statue—a boy holding a paintbrush and wearing a torn cloak—sitting in between the set of stairs that led to the grand hall. I stood there for a moment and couldn't hide the adoration—no, the very pleasant surprise.

I couldn't believe they had this piece.

"It's a new addition," Aelius commented when he noticed that I wasn't following him anymore. "Do you know the artist?"

My eyes couldn't pry away from the statue. I knew the artist. I grew up with him and witnessed the piece being sculpted two years ago.

"Yes. Saudade."

It was Elton's favorite Portuguese word. He chose it as his pseudonym.

The statue was made by my brother.

"You know, I'm kinda curious about the dining hall," I said when I snapped out of it. "We can have brunch there."

"You didn't have breakfast?"

I shook my head. "You fetched me earlier than expected."

"Oh, so it's my fault you couldn't eat," he joked. I hit his arm and laughed at his soft 'ow'.

"I'll just try that 8-course meal you mentioned."

"You remembered that, darling?"

"I remember everything, pretty boy."

The night we first met, when he saved me from a jerk in the bar. His jet skis, Nero and Bianca. Our first date. Our first kiss. I could remember everything about him in vivid detail.

Eventually we ditched the 8-course meal. It turned out that I wasn't the only one who looked forward to a break from fancy brunches. I couldn't avoid situations like that before, as my family had made it a custom to eat like we had all the money in the world. Alonzos need not scream about the wealth they carried for generations, so we were no stranger to curious eyes and invasive news articles. You would never see someone of my kin eating street food even if a gun was pointed to their head.

But I must admit, I'd never tried the famous kwek-kwek and other tusok-tusok before. There was a section in the restaurant that served those, thank gods, and I dragged Aelius to try some with me.

"Filipino specials, huh?" I mused, picking out a stick of kwek-kwek and putting it in the glass cup the server handed out.

Aelius did the same. "T'was fitting. Our last destination was Cagayan."

I chuckled. "Yeah, it's fitting. So..."

He finished his first stick of isaw. "So...?"

"This whole Royal Allure thing," I began poking my kwek-kwek repeatedly. "You work here?"

He shrugged. We began walking away from the counter and back outside where the breeze ran past us. The cloth keeping my hair together flew away and it was too late to catch it. I watched it flutter straight to the horizon ahead, sighing in defeat.

"Something like that, yes," Aelius responded. My back was on him, and I felt him brush my hair with his fingers. I stood there in silence as he began tying it up.

Right. He was wearing a hair tie on his wrist.

"Must be nice."

"Yeah? What is?"

"Working here, I mean." I turned to him when he finished. It was my turn to fix his unruly hair now. "You're free. You probably weren't forced into this job."

Slowly, he nodded. "I wasn't. And there were no expectations set from the start. I decided on my own."

"Lucky," I mumbled.

"Why so?"

"Ah, you know, Filipino parents and their life plans for their children." I bit back a bitter chuckle. "Instead of being doctors and lawyers, though, they wanted us to be pilots. And it's part of my job—flying, reaching every part of the world, being to places others can only dream of, but...but I'm not free."

Aelius held my shoulders and slowly turned me away from him. He'd done it just in time for a flock of birds to run past the ship and into an island nearby. I sighed contentedly, and the man behind me rested his chin on my head. Aelius' hands caged me, and I let myself be hugged.

"This can be a lonely job," he said, voice muffled and deep. "I'm always away from the ones I love."

Then, silence. I could tell by the fast beat of his heart against my back that he was nervous, so I stood there and waited until he had the courage to speak again.

"I do not have a home to return to, Alon." It took another few seconds before he continued. His chin found the space between my neck and shoulder, and it stayed there. "Mamma and Papà died long ago. My fratellino is living with our cousin because he can't depend on his brother who only appears once a year."

"You're...you're free and alone."

"Sì." He planted a chaste kiss on my neck. "Free and alone."

"We can do something about that."

He laughed. His breath tickled my skin, and I fought the urge to shiver. "Yeah?" Aelius whispered in my ear.

"W-Were on a vacation," I stammered, stumbling upon my words because of him. Gods. I would willingly die first before admitting that he had this effect on me.

He was just so, so warm, addicting, so royally alluring. Aelius drove me crazy in a hundred ways and more.

"You're not alone. I'm here."

"Will you stay, then?"

I reached for the back of his head and pulled him in a kiss. He melted in my arms, caressing my face like it searched for home, like I was the only one capable of giving him a temporary one. A place to stay. A reason to be a little less lonely.

"Yeah." I smiled against his flushed lips. "I'll stay."