"𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬."
{ Hey! For those of you who know Spanish, I don't so I always use an online translator. Unfortunately, for me, it doesn't change dialects. You may have noticed throughout the story it's grammatically correct instead of more slang but they travel to Spain in this chapter and I know they have a different dialect in Spanish so uh... Haha, sorry to those of you who become annoyed at this, I have no idea how to change it. :) Thanks for bearing with me! }
-
𝘼𝙪𝙜𝙪𝙨𝙩 4𝙩𝙝
"Y/n! Our flight is at six... Can't we take a small nap in the car?" He muttered out, eyes half asleep as I let out a sigh. Yes, we had driven back to Toronto since the ticket prices were cheaper, and it was around three... In the morning. But, one thing I knew well, was that coming early was the best way to go. If you come late, then that was a terrible problem.
"Alex...! Common, once we check in we can get breakfast..." I nudged his head, his soft beanie fabric brushing against my hand. Coffee coloured locks poking out through the sides, his soft grumbles tried waving me off trying to get a couple more minutes asleep. I continued to whine his name, poking and nudging at his head. "Y/n... Let me sleep..." "Alex common, I've been driving for how many hours and I've gotten even less sleep. We gotta go..." I unbuckled his seatbelt and tried making him sit up, but he whined as leaned to the other side.
"Alex!" I cried as I shook him, "okay okay...! I'm getting up, I'm getting up..." He rubbed his eyes, letting out a sigh as he looked at me. "Is this really what travelling is like...?" "It can be like this, but common!" I opened up my door, stretching out my arms and legs... Being in a car for so long troubles my back. I walked around to his side and opened up his door, I didn't know he was leaning and the minute the door opened Alex came tumbling on-top of me. We cried out as I fell onto the parking lot pavement, "ow..." My legs rubbed up against the harsh cement, that was going to be red. He was fully awake, immediately getting off of me and helping me up. "Are you alright? I'm so sorry. Here I'll get our bags no worries."
He practically ran to the trunk, opening it up and taking everything out in a snap. Dragging and carrying things in his arms and struggling, I was quick to help him out in taking my bags. "Alex, thanks." I smiled at him as he sheepishly did me, he was embarrassed at the fact he had fallen on top of me but having that overly sweet Alex was just so nice. We walked through the lanes of cars, it was pitch dark out, the sun usually only started rising around four five-ish, but the numerous lamps they had around made it easy to find the spot to catch the bus. Since this airport was huge, the parking lots were also large. So they have a bus service that takes you from the parking lot to your terminal.
"We're in terminal three, flying with... Aer Lingus. We're going to Ireland then we have a connecting flight to Barcelona." He nodded, already starting to dose off, leaning back on the glass walls that protected us if ever rain were to fall. It was a clear evening, calming as the wind sung a low almost silent tune. I made the fateful decision to wear shorts today, unfortunately. So I was quite chilly as the wind blew against my bare legs, I shivered as my hairs stood on end. I let out a soft burr as I held my arms, a thin sports jacket being the only thing protecting my arms.
Then a warm arm wrapped around my shoulders, and of course it was Alex being is classic sweet self. "You okay?" He mumbled out, basically falling asleep on me. I smiled, snuggling into his side. His warmth not helping all that much due to the fact he had a jacket on... but having a hug was a really sweet thing. It was just a nice comforting thing, that extra little bit of protection just making me feel that much better.
"Yeah... Yeah, I am, thanks." "No problem..." He ushed out, falling into slumber again resting his head on top of mine.
-
"You're drinking that in the morning?" I asked him, he was disappointed that the convenience store inside the airport didn't have Capri-sun's. So as we walked to our gate, he decided to get a frappuccino from the Starbucks we saw on the way. And of course, he got one of the ones with caffeine.
That means he was slowly becoming more and more hyper, and that was half an hour ago. He was completely off the walls, thankfully not too many people were here yet, surprisingly. We had an hour and a half left about till boarding should open up, but knowing travel, it would probably take longer. We had time to kill and the booster juice I drank gave minimal energy levels, but it wasn't going to last long, I knew it. "Yeah haha!" He continued to happily sip at his beverage, he was the only energetic one in the whole area. The low amount of people around acting like zombies, but it was around four in the morning, could you blame them?
He was completely off the walls, holding my shoulders and swaying back and forth with me as he mumbled a song I couldn't exactly make out. "Alex, what are you singing?" I giggled to the taller male as he cupped my face and make me face him. "You're stunning, you know that?" He giggled and smiled till his cheeks turned a dusty pink, tinting his pale cheeks. "I love you a lot, you know that? I love you!" He held the 'u' sound as he wrapped his arms around my head, having a gentile grip as he rested his head on top of mine. I could hear him smile as we continued to sway back and forth.
He reminded me of a loving child, innocent and playful. I wonder how much sugar was inside of that one little drink? I had made sure only to get him a tall size... "Have you ever just been present? Caught up in the moment you could say..." He spoke out of the blue, our movement stopping as he pulled away from me, his face cloudy and sombre. He looked me in the eye, not daring to look away as sadness seemed to gloss his eyes. "You feel so in the moment you can feel time slowly slip from you, and the minute you let yourself go... It's already been a day since you thought about it, a week, a month... Years. I've been kept up late at night just, thinking. Thinking of how my life has panned out, and how I don't have a very long life to live. It scares me, that one day, we'll be separated for good. But on those, depressingly bitter nights, I have you, still by my side. Even if you don't say a word your presence is... Comforting. So, warm... I never want you to feel alone, like how I used to feel when I moved out here with Anabel.
I never want to feel alone again, not while I have you by my side." He whipped his welling eyes, "Anabel was always gone, I had no friends here and I focused on making her happy over anything else. Even if it meant not talking to my friends anymore, she was so obsessively jealous... I was so... asinine to believe her." He let out a disdainful sigh.
"Alex," I placed my hand over his, I gave my warmest smile as I spoke "we all make mistakes, you know. And, I promise you, for as long as I can, no matter what I won't leave you alone. I love you, and only you." A cheeky smile slowly graced his lips, then he leaned in and whispered into my ear.
"If you don't stop being so irresistible, I'm gonna kiss you. And that's a threat, I promise. Because when I get my hands on something so very special like yourself, I'm not letting go." I get my cheeks warm as he pulled away, stopping for a moment to kiss me on the cheek. "Alex you're way too hyper." It was so like him to have these aggressive mood swings, it was almost comical if at times it didn't get so depressing. "I'm not hyper..! Ok, I'm perfectly... Not hyper... Is there a word for that? I am... Not excitable?" He continued to mumble to himself as he looked like he was trying to figure out the meaning of the universe. "Mhm, I'm gonna go to the bathroom real quick okay? Can you watch our stuff while I'm gone?" "Yeah yeah of course! Take your time," I gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek before getting out of my seat. Stretching a bit as I did, before walking off to the nearest bathroom.
It was clean... Enough. It smelt of Lysol and Pine-Sol, the overpowering floral citrus scent making my nose slightly ache from how strong it was. It was a nice scent, but it was so intense it almost hurt. I pasted by a numerous amount of mirrors as I walked towards an empty stall, seeing my tired face displayed in front of every last one. I stopped in front of the last one before the stalls, my skin paler than usual and my eyes sunken in. I looked laughable, I guess thas what little sleep and driving for too long can cause. Alex always complains how he looks twelve but I wouldn't mind having a babyface for a day. Especially if I look like this, what does Alex see in me?
I let out a soft huff, who knew coming here would make me so... Insecure.
I did my business and came out once more, making sure to wash my hands thoroughly before shaking them dry. As I left I looked back at my reflection, when will my reflection show someone I'm happy with?
Another hard sigh as I left still shaking away all excess water, walking out of the bathroom and walking over to our gate my heart sunk but then risen again in furious wrath. Another woman was trying to get to Alex, and in a quite distasteful way as well. I gathered myself and made my way over to her, their conversation becoming clearer as I took each step.
"You know you're a really cute guy, I'm sure we'd have a lot of fun travelling together."
"Listen okay, I have a girlfriend-"
"You think I care?"
"I hate to interrupt you, but I'm afraid you're talking to my boyfriend." My confidence was high as I held my most threatening voice, she turned around and sat up... She was so much taller than me. She was about three, four heads taller than me, pretty face with sleek black hair. She had a surprisingly feminine figure, almost unrealistic. Circular crimson glasses framed her face and her almond-like eyes, she held a fierce expression, but then it turned into a contempt one. "You think I'm scared of you? Alex here deserves a lady like myself, have you ever looked at yourself?"
"If you're what I deserve then I obviously must've done something wrong," Alex spoke up from behind her, causing both of us to look towards him. "Sabrina, you're nothing more than a pretty face, you have no substance to your character. Y/n, on the other hand, is much more than that, a sweet someone who even through it all, stays by me. She's the definition of eye candy, and she also forgives me no matter my mistakes, that's family, that's love... I love her." 'Sabrina' looked towards the two of us and scoffed, "I refuse to waste my time on this." And she took her rolly luggage, taking off... But...
In a rush, she snatched Alex's beanie and then left. Our eyes widened as we stood there in shock as she turned around and gave us a wink before disappearing into the crowd of people. I turned back to him, he was like an ostrich covering his head. he had taken off his sports jacket and effectively covered his head with it.
"At least that wasn't your nice one. Where did you put your other ones?"
"I still really liked that hat... I stole it from Juliana's boyfriend in spite. And my other ones were in the suitcase we already checked in..." I chuckled, looking through my backpack to find one of mine. "Here, this as the only one I could find at the moment." I passed him the cat tuque that I managed to find laying around, it was an old hand-me-down from my cousin who didn't like it. "It's a special hat you know, my crush in first grade touched that." "Wow, bet he wasn't as cute as me." "Bet." We joked around a little as he placed it over his head, it surprisingly fit.
"Hey, you don't look twelve anymore!" "Really?" He smiled in pride, I had gotten his hopes up, "Yeah, now you look eight instead!"I started to laugh at him as he pouted and complained about how he's a Macho Man, as he likes to put it. "That's so mean Y/n..." He puffed, crossing his legs and arms. "I'm sorry, okay?" I playfully told him as I embraced him, "You're my short king, I love you." "I'm not short okay!"
I continued to tease him as he was having none of it, "You know I love you!" "Love you too..." He mumbled out, we calmed down a little from our joking and laughing... "I'm still sad about that hat..." I pat his head, the feel of the soft knitted hat rubbing against my fingers. "I'll make you a new one." "You'll make me one?" His mood boosted considerably as he looked at me with sweet puppy dog eyes.
"Yeah sure, I took a sewing class with Audrey before you know." He smiled as he calmed down, slouching in his chair as he seemed so chill. I guess he was beginning to crash from his aggressive sugar high.
I guess all we had to do left was wait for our gate to open. "Hey Alex, the stuff you said about me before... How I was much more than a pretty face... How I was eye candy and you loved me..." "Is there a problem with me being honest?" I smiled and looked over to him sheepishly, "was everything you said... True?" He let out a soft chuckle, "I would never lie about that, you're my everything. Of course, it's true." He told me, leaning back into his chair as he closed his eyes to rest for a minute.
I looked to the side, a tinted window was there. I could make out my reflection, and... I saw someone I felt was beautiful. I smiled, who knew a couple of sweet words from Alex would make me feel so nice. I would always love him for making me feel so empowered, he had the power to make me feel my lowest but he never used it in that way. "You'll never know how much I love you, Alex." "Neither will you Hermosa."
-
I sat back and listened to my pre-downloaded playlist, only having one earbud in just in case Alex needed me. And surprise surprise he did, he held onto my hand for dear life as he peeked out the window every so often.
I found it a little funny how intently he watched to safety video that was always shown after take off, I practically knew it by heart and didn't exactly need a reminder.
He was browsing the tablet that was attached to the back of every seat, the sparkle in his eye causing me to smile. I had thought his excitement had gone flat but no since he was even more excited and bouncy than before.
"So Alex, just so you remember... We're stopping off in Dublin but then-" "Connecting to Barcelona. I know." He smiled as he continued to mess around with the thing. More interested in it than me, was I mildly jealous? Haha, maybe a little.
"On this flight, they're gonna serve dinner and they should be coming around soon to ask if you'd like any snacks or drinks." "Free?!" He spoke a little louder than he should've, drawing unnecessary attention towards us. "Drinks are snacks no. Though I think they give you free pretzels with your drink, anything else you have to pay for."
We then have me a curtsey smile, leaning in a little as I knew what he was going to say. "Can I please buy a snack?" I sighed, pinching his cheeks with a smile. "You're too cute you know." I handed him five euros and directed him towards the collection of pamphlets, "if you look at the large white one there, you can skip to the end and they'll be a menu I believe." He immediately rushed to pick it up, following my instructions and flipping to the end.
I watched him do it and in a moment's notice his eyes widened, he looked as if he held his breath as he looked up to me with a giddy smile. "Can we order now?" I shook my head, "usually when the plane first takes off they come fairly quickly. They're probably in the cockpit right now preparing everything, just give it some time." He sighed, sinking into his chair.
He took out one of the blankets we brought and draped it over his head like a kid, making a makeshift blanket tent. Wanting to see what exactly he was up to, I knocked on his shoulder, playing around like it was a house. "Knock knock, is Alexis home?" "No sorry! He used to live here, I'm Macho Man and I inhabit this blanket fort." I chucked at his silly hijinks. "Well Macho Man, tell my short king that I have a kiss waiting for him when he gets back." "I'm not short!" He whispered cried out, not wanting to gain weird looks again from the people around us.
"You are though!" I taunted, making sure my giggles weren't too loud. He poked his head out, a silly pout on his lips. "Well, you're my Calaca." I smiled, bending down and kissing him. "Can a Macho Man like you deliver that to my Tonto?"
He blushed as he saluted me, "Cualquier cosa por ti Hermosa." His accent melting my heart as he disappeared once more under the Dora the Explorer blanket. That boy was something else.
[ Anything for you Beautiful. ]
I smiled and leaned back into my chair, listening to the soft tunes play inside my ears. I sunk into the music, letting myself just get wooshed away as I focused on breathing. Letting the words strike a nerve with me, the harmony just sinking into me as I turned to a relaxed complainant puddle in my mildly uncomfortable chair.
Then someone had tapped my shoulder, it was one of the flight attendants, she smiled brightly at me "Would you like a drink?" I smiled back at her as Alex popped out of his blanket fort.
"Orange juice please," I told her, as Alex chimed in asking for apple juice instead. She poured our beverages and handed them to us alongside a little packet of pretzels as she was prepared to go to the next row, but Alex spoke up before she could. "Excuse me, could I also would like a bag of animal crackers please!" "Oh, alright. That'll be €2." He handed her a two Euro coin as she handed the little plastic package that held the sweet animal-shaped cookies. She continued to make her way down our isle as I raised a brow towards Alex.
He looked up at me with a smile, unfolding one of the napkins he had placed all of them onto it. The napkin serving as a blanket so his crackers didn't have to touch the probably dirty foldable table.
"As a kid, I loved animal crackers, they were like a new set of toys that when you got bored with you could eat." He smiled as he picked one up, making small noises pretending to be the small elephant.
"Oh no... Please help... I have high cholesterol don't eat me..." And then he proceeded to bite off his little cracker head.
"Oh what a world... What a world..." He moaned out, eating the rest of the salty-sweet cookie. I giggled, but then he smiled at me. "Wanna play?" Not really having anything better to do, I agreed. I picked up a giraffe and he did a lion, "rawr, I'm going to eat you!" he spoke using a silly voice. "Please don't Mr. Lion, I have a life to live... People to see," I pleaded with the cookie lion.
He sighed, "But if I don't eat you my family won't eat! I'm a single father, what will I do with Thanos doesn't eat tonight!"
"Wait, the lion's son's name is Thanos?"
"Shh, just go with it."
"What will I do with my old mother! I'm the only person she has left, she can barely walk!" I moved the cracker up and down, causing crumbs to fall onto my fingers with I didn't mind too much. "...I'm sorry to hear that. What's your name?" "Shrek, Shrek Kishibe."
"Kishibe?" "Just let it happen..."
"Nice to meet you Shrek, my name is uh... Oh, uh... Obama... Trump... Yeah, Obama Trump." "It's nice to meet you too... Mr. Trump."
We both broke character for a minute to laugh, what were we doing? Why were we doing this?
"You know Mrs. Kishibe, you're really pretty." "Why thank you, Mr. Trump!"
He moved the cookie closer to my own, "You know, Shrek. I think I love you." Holding in my laughing due to the cheesy plot I barely made out.
"Really? You do?"
He stayed quiet for a decent amount of seconds...
"No lol." And he snatched the cookie from me, giggling as he did pretending the lion ate Ms. Shrek.
"Haha! I got you!" He hugged me, eating the lion as he did so. "Wow, haha. I expected a cliche love story, but you know, that was better." I laughed along with him, the people around us glaring and telling us without words to shut up. So we both began to calm down, taking in deep breaths calming ourselves.
"So... What now?" He asked me, almost now fully relaxed. "We wait to land, then go on another plane." "Oh..." He seemed to become less excited, I guess he was starting to get bored. "You're already getting bored? Here," I directed his attention towards the small touchscreen tv he was so enamoured with before and showed him the movie section. "What do you want to watch?" he looked around a bit, but then decided on a rather weird choice, Jojo Rabbit. "Jojo Rabbit? I didn't know you liked those kinds of movies." He shrugged, "It's something different."
And somehow, for the rest of the flight that managed to keep Alex entertained. Somehow...
-
𝘼𝙪𝙜𝙪𝙨𝙩 5𝙩𝙝
"This airport smells like shit!" He cried out as we left the baggage reclaiming the area, it was about mid-afternoon here in Barcelona. But it was ridiculously early our time, I was incredibly tired, but Alex? Just as ecstatic as ever, even if he was currently covering his nose with his shirt. "I can't wait to see what we're going to do!" He spoke, as we left to outside to flag a taxi.
"Well, first things first... We get to our hotel." I waved to a nearby taxi as he was slowly making his way to park due to the traffic. "And then?" He asked, eager to find out as he was bouncing off the walls. "We sleep for four-five hours." Alex gave me a confused face as I told him my plan, but I smiled at him anyway. He was going to thank me anyways, it was like what? Maybe two, three in the morning for us? We needed sleep, I needed sleep. He was on an empty high right now, he was bound to crash. Shouldn't he know this? Oh, wait... Hasn't he only travelled to places that have a maybe one or possibly two-hour time difference? Nothing too extreme, while travelling to Spain is quite the jump in time. So he wouldn't know...
"¡Hola! Estamos buscando que nos dejen aquí." I told the driver as I passed my printed reservation paper. He looked at it and handed it back to me, "Muy bien, entra ahí." As I was speaking to him Alex had so kindly placed our bags into the trunk of his car, we both got in. Alex said I could sit up front since in the case he forgot where he needed to go, I had the papers. And also I was paying-
[ Hello! We're looking to go there. - Alright, get in. ]
And so he started to drive away, setting up his meter to know the price of this ride at the end. "¿Así que ustedes dos son amantes? ¿Casados?" I hummed as Alex jumped up to exclaim how I was his girlfriend. "¡No estamos casados, pero es mi novia! Es hermosa, ¿verdad?" I chuckled a little alongside the taximan, "Puedo decir que te quiere mucho, así era yo cuando me comprometí con mi esposa." He told me, a bittersweet smile ghosting his lips as he seemed to remember her.
[ So you two are lovers? Married? - We're not married but she's my girlfriend! She's beautiful, isn't she? - I can tell he loves you a lot, that's how I was when I first got engaged to my wife. ]
"Cómo era ella?" Alex chimed in from the back, the elder man smiled as he spoke about what I assumed to be his loving wife. "Ella fue muy amable, tuvimos dos hijas y un hijo. Dirigimos una pequeña boutique juntos, pero todo eso se ha ido ahora." He let out a soft sigh as he twisted and turned around the cramped and busy streets of Barcalona. "Qué la pasó?" "Alex!" I cried out to him due to how insensitive he was acting.
[ What was she like? - She was so very kind, we had two daughters and a son. We ran a small boutique together, but that's all gone now. - What happened to her? ]
"No, está bien. sólo es curioso." He sighed, "Yo... la engañé. Nunca olvidaré su cara el día que le rompí el corazón, se llevó a los niños con ella cuando se fue. Nunca me lo perdonaré." He sniffled a little and his eyes turned glossy but he kept in the tears. "Ming-Li... no hay nada en este mundo que no haría para ganarme tu perdón."
[ No it's alright. He's just curious. - I... I cheated on her. I'll never forget her face the day I broke her heart, she took the kids with her as she left. I'll never forgive myself. - Ming-Li... there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do to earn your forgiveness. ]
Wait a minute... "Lo siento, ¿has dicho Ming-Li?" I almost jumped straight out of my chair, the last time I went I did see two women help her pack up. I perceived them as her daughters so could it be...? No, what would be the chances? "Sí, lo hice, ¿por qué? ¿La conoces?" "Dependiendo del Ming-Li del que estás hablando, pero conozco a un Ming-Li que tenía una pequeña boutique en un centro comercial en los Estados Unidos." he looked at me, skeptical but listening. "¿Así que eres estadounidense?" "No, sólo estoy allí para la escuela. Considero México mi hogar." He hummed as he began to park the taxi in front of a hotel which read 'HOTEL ORIENTE' out front.
[ I'm sorry, did you say Ming Li? - Yes, I did, why? Do you know her? - Depending on the Ming-Li you're talking about, but I do know of a Ming-Li who ran a small boutique in a mall in the states. - No, I'm only there for school. I consider Mexico my home. ]
I rushed out to get my luggage, why was I so enthusiastic? Well because this is my chance to thank her, Ming-Li for the beautiful free dress. Reuniting two people from a long time's past, he may have made a mistake but he does touch on how he wants to let her know he's forgiven her. So as I pulled my suitcase out the trunk I opened it up and looked through it a little before finding the beautiful one of a kind dress, embroidered flowers all over the soft fabric. I walk up to the front of the car, unfolding him the dress so he could see. "¿Esto parece algo que haría tu esposa?" His eyes started to water up looking at my dress, "Ese... ese era el vestido que llevaba esa noche..."
[ Does this look like something your wife would make? - That's... That was the dress she wore that night... ]
-
The Spanish moon shone, though the stars were near impossible to see due to the city lights being that much brighter. It was a beautiful fall evening, it was a scene that should've been accompanied by the soft piano tune.
Everyone was out and with a skip in his step, our hero, Taxi Driver was young and spry. Bow-tie around his crisp button-up collar as he wasn't afraid to say hello to every beautiful lady he saw. The guy was a flirt, no question. He was a handsome young man before he met her, Ming-Li.
Taxi Driver was raised to always respect a lady, but he didn't listen when he stole every heart and broke them along the way too. He was a Chad before Chads were even a thing. This man, as sly and charming as he was still wanted what every princess did, to live happily ever after.
And this night, he found his happiness, the woman that would make his life complete. Ming-Li confidently strode in the same floral gown, she used to be taller honestly which meant the dress fit perfectly. She was a foreigner, first time out of her a small provincial town in Asia. A first-time traveller and a little disoriented and confused, to be honest, she wasn't the prettiest girl there was. Probably not even the prettiest girl on the street, she was a little chubby and big round glasses hid her eyes due to how cloudy they were but our old friend Taxi Driver couldn't care less.
Something attached him to the oddly adorable female, the best way he could describe her? A perfectly round dumpling, plump and delicious. Maybe all the other guys on the street wouldn't think she was al that, but Taxi Driver thought she was the prettiest rose of them all. He fell head over heels for her, and he didn't even know her name.
"Greetings señorita, what's a beautiful woman like you doing out this late?" She laughed, amused at his tone and flirty persona "What is a handsome guy like you doing here so late?" You could tell English wasn't her first language, but he just thought her accent was that much cuter. "My dear, I practically run these streets. I could... Show you around if you please." He expected the usual answer, 'Yes! Take me away!' they kiss they ban and escape when the sun rises the next morning. But she chuckled, walking straight past him, "No can do, goodbye my dear." She walked straight past Taxi Driver, bringing the guy out of cloud nine to almost a state of confusion.
No one had ever not wanted him.
And that only made him crave her more, he had to convince her to go out with him. Why was he so hung up on this particular woman? He wouldn't know but something told him she was special, and she was.
"You don't even want to go for dinner? I promise that'll be all I ask." She stopped in her tracts, looking back at him filling him with hope. But then it was almost immediately deflated as she smirked and spoke her last sentence, "Sorry lover boy, another day."
Those next nights he'd always come out to the same spot, catching her walking home and making small talk with her. He remembered everything she spoke, enamored by her silky soft voice and the way she spoke and structured her sentences. Hell, she was even getting better at English than he was, since it was both their second languages.
He eventually became fond of the young woman who was only to stay six months, he became her only friend in the unnerving and new country she had never been in before. They acted as f they knew each other for years, he knew everything about her as she did him. He knew her exact skincare products that she used before bed and she knew his favourite places to visit late at night when he couldn't fall asleep.
There was always a blissful feeling when they both were together, and eventually, they fell in love.
But then they cracked when he made the worst mistake of his life, one that would haunt him forever... The night he was unfaithful to the woman that gave him everything, a decision he would regret for the rest of his life. And the minute he saw her face shed tears, he knew he messed up. A mistake a few hugs and kisses couldn't fix, his lust that he just couldn't contain exploded at him and ruined his life.
Ming-Li gave up everything to be with him, her education for when she fell pregnant, for a total of three times. She lost her relationship with her family since she wouldn't become a successful physician, becoming a housewife instead to a guy who owned a small clothing store. Sure it was no luxury but she enjoyed it because well... The person she loved was by her side. But it all fell apart when she saw another woman in her bed.
So she divorced him, taking the little they had with her as she left. The children and most of her handstitched dresses that were a favourite with the locals and half his money, and soon he couldn't manage the store on his own. Overwhelmed by how much clientele he had to serve, and how the quality was severely diminished due to the fact he was nowhere near as good as his ex-wife... He ended up filing bankruptcy and severely downgrading to a small run-down apartment where he would live to the present day.
Never to feel the joy of love or to feel a sense of true happiness again, this was his punishment for all the wrong he put the woman he loved through and he was fine with living this way. He just wanted to let her know how sorry he was.
-
"¿Sabes... sabes a dónde fue?" I hummed, "Este es el último lugar donde la vi, ella mudanzas." I wrote down the name of the mall and city and handed it to him. "Muchas gracias por todo." He said as he rushed off, huh I didn't even pay him.
[ Do... Do you know where she went? - This is the last place I saw her, she's moving - Thank you for everything ]
"Who's Ming-Li?" I jumped a little, Alex stood there with all our bags confused as ever. "Remember? When we went to the mall that one time before the qinceañera and there was a Chinese woman there?" He hummed as I gathered my bags from him and counted them making sure they're all here. "Oh yeah her! She kept insisting that we were lovers." I hummed, "Yeah well anyways I told you how she gave me this dress for free right?" I folded up the dress and placed it in my open suitcase, zipping it back up. What I had done was impulsive but I'm thankful no one tried to steal anything.
"Yeah, you think he's her long lost lover?" I pondered it for a minute, "Not sure honestly but he seemed to have recognized the dress, and how many people do you know are named Ming-Li?" "True,"
-
"Ah! Finally..." I practically collapsed onto the hotel bed, "This part of the trip is always the longest you know. But! I'm gonna sleep..." I snuggled myself on top of the crisp cold bed, perfectly made and heaven to lay on. There were even two heart-shaped lollipops on one of the counters to welcome it, how sweet. "One bed again?" I asked him as he chuckled and closed the door behind him
"It was cheaper okay? I've been saving for a chance to travel with you since we were like in grade nine." He sat on the edge of the bed, looking at me with loving eyes as I met them with ones just as loving. "I'm not complaining, late-night cuddles are the ish." I sat up, reaching over to him and grabbing his wrist, laying back down pulling him with me. He held himself up above me as I smirked at him, holding him down. "I love you, you know that?" "Look who's the hyper one now." He laughed, throwing himself to the side allowing us to just lay beside each other.
To appreciate the fact we were just, there. These past view months have helped me feel young. Who would've thought, in less than a year, I would go from a work driven student with no regard of her personal life to now... Travelling like I was young again. The last time I travelled like this... Was probably before I entered university. The cruise I dropped my phone in...
"I miss high school, as surprising as that might sound those were the days you and I didn't worry about a single thing, we would just... Do our thing, but now we have more things to worry about than just homework or waking up early." He spoke, taking my hand into his. "But time moves forward, nothing stays the same does it..." I yawned out, turning to my side and closing my eyes. "I'm gonna sleep for a couple of hours, okay? Then tonight we could pick up some dinner..." I told him, getting under the cold sheets even if still in my dirty clothes. "I suggest you do the same, Alex... If not... You're gonna crash..." I told him, slowly falling unconscious as I did so.
"I'm gonna stay up a bit longer, you must underestimate my sleeping schedule." He came down and kissed my forehead, "when do you want me to wake you up?" "Maybe like... five-ish hours...?" I could barely focus on the words that came out of my mouth. "love... you..."
Everything went quiet as the calming comfort of the blankets and pillows lulled me to sleep, it was so warm and so soft... Sleep was the best.
-
"Y/n... Y/n..! Y/n!" I was eagerly shaken awake, I stretched my arms in a tired yawn. "Alex... What's happening?" "I've been stuck inside is what's happening! You know our window has a lookout onto one of the most famous streets in Spain and is known throughout Europe but guess what? I'm stuck inside!" I whined, in a desperate attempt to wake me up. I sat up, fluttering my eyes trying to help wake up. "We can go eat and look around for tomorrow if you'd like." He practically jumped for joy as I told him that, "really? Oh my, I can't wait!" He sped off from the bed and slipped into his shoes. I chuckled at how cute he was pacing around letting out all his bottled up excitement. I threw the covers off me, half asleep honestly as the cold air his my warmed skin.
"Why is it so cold in here?" I mumbled out getting up and heading towards the bathroom, dragging my feet as I walked. Though, the soft-is carpet floor was nice against my bare feet. I wasn't a heathen, okay, I don't sleep in socks. Once I entered the washroom, the cold tiles were sure to give me another chilly shock. I tied my hair up so make sure I wouldn't get it in my face while I washed it, and when I finished I styled in in my usual style. Patting down my clothing, trying to straighten out my clothing of wrinkles and make myself look half presentable to go out into the world. "You look great Cariña, now let's go!" He begged, I chuckled a little and stepped out. Sitting down and putting on my socks and shoes, purposefully going slower then I would of normally.
"Ugh! My god, señor dame la fuerza..." He mumbled out, falling back onto in rolly chair. Watching me, slowly, slide my socks up... My feet. "I don't know how much longer of this I can take..!" He got up to only get down on one knee and start putting on my socks and shoes. I laughed as he did so, I didn't know he was that desperate to leave.
[ Lord give me strength... ]
"Alex you really wanna go huh?" "This is something that I've been waiting for since what? Ninth grade? I can't wait for another five minutes!" He had finished rather quickly, looking up to me, his once irritated face turning to a smile. "But, what's more important, is that I'm here with you." And then, that cheeky bitch grabbed my ankles and dragged me down to the floor. "Alex!" I cried out as I fell to the floor. He erupted into giggled as he grabbed my arms and pushed me forward into a hug. "I'm sorry I just had to!"
My shocked face turned soft as I hugged him back, letting him enjoy his laugh, but still... "My ass hurts. You're going have to make up for that, the bed to the floor was a hard fall." I pulled away from him, he smirked then I realized it. My legs ended up wrapped around his waist as I sat on his lap.
He then proceeded to wink and make a bunch of obnoxiously loud kissing noises, "ew Alex!" I pushed away and fell backwards as he smiled his classic cheeky mischievous smile with a little giggle. He got up and gave me a hand of which I graciously took, "common, let's go eat."
-
We walked down the mildly busy street, turning left when we exited the hotel since going this way would lead to the plaza. And even though we were craving Mc Donalds and one stared us point-blank in the face, we decided to keep looking in case we would find somewhere more interesting. It wasn't even that late, I doubt Alex let me sleep te full five hours like I asked but I could last till then. I hummed as we swing our arms, fingers intertwined walking casually down one of the most famous streets in Europe. There wasn't a ton of people at this hour but I wouldn't scoff at the number of people who were here, I bet during the day this place was packed.
"Oh, my, god... Y/n, I think I know where we're eating tonight." He pointed to across the street, or... The other side of it? Since La Rambla was a big street with a very large walkway in the center, the other side of the left road, a set of restaurants where situated. One of switched seemed to be a Lebanese maybe Moroccan restaurant that was called... Habibi.
"Oh, you want to eat at Pasta Market?" I joked, talking about the restaurant just beside it. He looked at me extremely unimpressed. "Oh Maccabi, right?" I spoke pointing to the next one over, smirking as he still had hopes that I'd say it. "Wait, okay... so you wanna go to sweet gauffre? Shouldn't we eat before we have dessert?" He looked over to where I was looking, "you know that place looks nice- But! No, I was talking about Habibi~! Because after all, Habibi means-" "My dear, my love, my darling or beloved according to dictionary dot com." I interrupted him, mischievous grin. he rolled his eyes with a soft smile as we crossed the street to eat dinner.
-
𝘼𝙪𝙜𝙪𝙨𝙩 6𝙩𝙝
A sweet smell came to my senses as the bright sun shone in my eyes, what was that smell..? I sat up and rubbed my eyes, and at the foot of the bed, sat Alex. Smiling with a crepe topped, a whole load of different things. What I assumed to be either gelato or sorbet of two, either was amazing and it was two different colours, whipped cream, cherries, sliced bananas and chocolate. "Woah what's this?" I woke up almost immediately at the promise of food. "I went to that sweet gauffre place this morning! I already ate, so I pulled the curtains and you already started to wake up." I hummed, taking the crepe and plastic utensils from him.
"So, what's planned for today?" He hummed, "Well, I wanted to go out to the beach, maybe visit La Sagrada Familia..." I closed my eyes, remembering the beautiful architecture of the basilica. I hadn't appreciated much as a child, but now, with Alex, I'm sure I'll appreciate it more. "It's been years since I've last seen it. I don't believe it's finished construction, has it?" He looked on his small pamphlet and shook his head. "It should be finished twenty-twenty-six, in celebration of Antoni Gaudí's one hundredth death anniversary." "Alex, when were you such a historian?" He smiled and winked, "the pamphlet knows all I guess."
"Anyways, I bought the tour bus tickets for two, we can hop on any colour bus to any number of stops. We can hop onto the green one, go to the beach and do our time there... Hope back on the green one to take us back to the Plaza de Cataluna, and then we can hop on the red bus to take us to La Sagrada! It'll be around lunch or dinner time and we can come back and head to the market place on La Rambla." He even pulled out a city map and pointed to the circled locations. "There's a bus of each colour that shows up every fifteen minutes until I think eight or nine. We're not going around that late anyways." I smiled, "You sure wanna do a lot don't you?" "We only have three days here you know, then we take a flight to Rome! After that, a quick stop in Milan to then leave for Paris! Then we go to Berlin, then Prague and then we take a flight to Athens to finish our tour!"
"A full eighteen days of travel, wow," I mumbled out, wiping off all the miscellaneous toppings around my mouth. All I had left on my small plastic plate was a bit of fruit and the smallest amount of melted ice cream mildly soaking the plate. He had taken it from me to throw up, getting up off the bed but then I realized he was wearing swimming trunks already. I had to start getting ready. I got out of the bed, stretching and walking over. Last night was so nice, the food was nice and we both slept well. Cuddling was the best after such an exhausting day.
I looked through my suitcase and noticed a pink plastic bag I didn't remember packing, was it some sort of drug someone smuggled into my bag? But then the logo on the bag... Victoria's secret...? I looked over, it seemed that Alex was busy on his phone and looked really... Happy... "Alex, what are you doing?" He jumped up hearing my voice. "Haha... Well, I may have... Posted a picture of you asleep to my Instagram to brag on how pretty you are I'm sorry-" It took me a moment to process his words, he tried speaking quickly so I wouldn't understand but you can bet I understood. "excuse me...?" I went over to him and snatched his phone, on it a peaceful picture of me asleep. It actually was a pretty picture, the lighting making it a stunning aesthetic.
I swiped to see the following pictures attached to the post, the others just being him posing with me and some funny little edits. The post in question had... Holy shit, four hundred thousand likes. The caption? 'MY GIRLFRIEND IS CUTER THAN YOURS, I'M SORRY SHE'S SO PERFECT.' It made my heart absolutely melt. "Ouff, the comments... Since when did you have such a fanbase?" "Since I was so sexy, muah." He winked, I playfully hit his shoulder. "Yeah, right little ducky." "For your information, I'm a Rubber Ducky." I laughed, handing him back his phone. "I'm gonna change, don't you dare try and steal a picture again." "Well, why do people have art museums?" I raised a brow, "to show the world the most beautiful and breathtaking things. You are the most breathtaking thing and I want the world to know that."
I smiled, really just embarrassed at how sweet he was. If Alex wanted, he could leave me and use his charms on any girl. But he wouldn't because I was special to only him.
"Again I'm gonna go change," I told him, heading back to gather my clothing pieces. Also picking up the victoria's secret bag but making sure Alex didn't see when I walked past him to go to the bathroom. Closing and locking the door behind me, I dropped all the items on the washroom counter. Most curious about what was inside the bag.
' Y/n! I found out you were leaving for Europe like right now. You just told me and now you left to get lunch with your boyfriend, so cute! Anyways, you know me, buying everything at Victoria's Secret when they have a sale and only wearing half of what I ended up buying. So, I'm giving you one of my unused ones! ( I promise I didn't use it, ok! ) Have fun ;)
- Your best friend, Audrey Pitre.'
So Audrey's the one who snuck this in my bag...
I took a peek inside, and wow was it something I wasn't even sure I could pull off...
But you know, I wanted to do wear something that'll really knock Alex's socks off...
-
"Even in this weather, you still decide to wear a hat." I chucked to Alex, "Hey! Wearing a baseball cap outside isn't the weirdest thing ever." "At least we get to see more of your hair." I teased, pointing out the sides and back of his head where his hickory brown locks were proudly curled and poked out from under his hat. "At least most of it is covered..." He sighed as we walked to about the middle of the beach, setting our towels onto the sand. Many people were here and I was nervous to remove my tee shirt and shorts and show what Audrey had given me.
And yet, Alex as confidant as ever removed his shirt and shoes, showing his extremely lanky body. "You're such a noodle, Alex." I smiled as he grew red, "hey! I am very Macho." I went over and kissed his cheek, "of course." I pulled away, taking a breath as I removed my shirt and shorts. Felling the cold air against most of my skin. Audrey had bought me a small bikini, letting my body be on display. But I channelled my inner Alex and stayed confident even if people looked my way as I removed my shoes. Even Alex seemed so surprised. And when we placed our things down, he wrapped his arms around me and kissed me.
When he pulled away I giggled, "Woah, self-control much?" He smirked, "Some guys were eyeing you, I couldn't let them get away with it. You should see their faces, you know how jealous they are." He said as he turned to them, smiling and waving. "Tag! You're it, Alex!" I started to run off towards the water. Not caring too much for the looking eyes admiring me, "Hey! Wait up!" He started running too, as we laughing like we were kids again. I slowed down once I got into the water, only for Alex to jump on me, hugging me as we both fell and splashed into the water.
We giggled as we sat on the sand, the water coming up to our shoulders. And then, he went behind me, "You didn't tie this properly you know, it's already coming loose." I blushed as he untied it to retie it. I yelped as he tugged tightly on the strings, "sorry, too hard?" I hummed as he became more gentle with me.
"where did you even get this?" "Audrey snuck it in my suitcase when I wasn't there." He hummed, " I owe her a favour, I've never seen you in something so... Revealing." He had finished tieing, he even made it into a nice bow. "Why, you like it?" I turned to him, winking as he turned a dusty pink. "Maybe... I don't like those other guys looking at you in ways they shouldn't..." "Awh! You're really cute when you're jealous." I teased, he turned an even darker rouge.
"I'm not cute..." 'Yeah, you're right... You're adorable." I laughed, swimming away from him, "Y/n! Get back here!"
-
"Today was fun." I murmured out to him, he hummed along. After we left the beach, we went to the basilica and admired arguably Gaudí's most famous and beautiful work. The way the natural light shinned through, the coloured windows with colours displaying the four seasons. It was a sight that brought me back, remembering when I visited when I was younger.
And we were now, munching down on a sliced potato on a stick, enjoying ourselves in the almost chilly Spanish night. "After we broke up I never thought I'd ever come here. Barcelona reminded me too much of you." "How so?"
He let out a sigh, "I had in my mind that Barcelona is this perfect city to travel to, beautiful sights, amazing food and would make me crave the world even more... It was perfect, just like you. To me, you're perfect, and you have never proved me wrong." I smiled, "You think we can work through the distance since you're leaving to be with Mamá?" "I won't let it not work, I'll tell you that." "Neither will I...
Alex, promise me... No matter what we'll be together, we'll work through our issues together?" "Of course, I promise." We shared a sweet smile, and we were about to lean in but then his phone began to ring.
We grew curious about who would be calling, Alex asked everyone to not call him in Spain since the call rates were a bit higher. He took it out and stared in shock, "It's a private number." "Take it." I encouraged him, and he did.
He chatted with him, but his happy mood slowly dwindled until he looked like his heart was completely torn out of him. He was off the phone before I even knew it.
"What's up? Why'd he-" "We're booking the next flight to Mexico." He got up from his seat as he started walking off to the hotel, "h..hey, Alex wait up! Talk to me what's going on?" I caught up to him, he was so stiff when I grabbed his shoulders. And when I turned him to face me his eyes were watering as he bit his lip so bad it bled.
"Mamá is in the hospital, she just attempted suicide."
-