(Tristan)
"So. Can uh... Can we talk?" I ask Leonel quietly as Lucca walks away with a cocky smirk on his face.
I hate that he does those things. He flirts with me, pulls me close to him, and makes me want him to hold me forever. Then he just leaves like the only reason he did it was to get a reaction out of me.
"Talk? Yes of course. Uh well, I know you're an arctic merman and all, but maybe you'd like to go back to the room? To get warm?"
"Yeah. Sure." I respond.
He takes my hand and leads me into the bedroom where Lucca, him, and I will be sleeping. Somehow, I'm just realizing how awkward this will be.
We sit on his bed, and I turn to face him. "I just wanted to ask you a question."
"Okay, I'll answer as truthfully as I can."
"Alright… I'm not quite sure how to phrase it without sounding needy." I take a deep breath and mentally shake out my nerves, willing myself to just get it over with. 'No' is the worst he could say, right? I don't even know if I want him to like me. "Do you umm… like me?"
He sits in silence before a forced smile appears across his face. "Why? Did Lucca say something to you?"
"Not really. I was wondering before. He just convinced me to actually ask you. So… do you?" I respond, dreading the answer even more now.
What if he didn't answer because he didn't want to hurt my feelings? What if the answer is worse than 'No'?
"Let's just say Lucca and I are in the same boat. In the end, one of us is going to be thrown overboard." He smiles and stands up from the bed, looking to the door when it creaks open.
"Are you two done talking? I'd like to get some rest at some point during the night."
"Oh. yeah, sorry." I say, and he looks over with questioning eyes.
I'm assuming that Leonel's cryptic answer meant 'yes' which also means that they're going to ask which bed I want to sleep in.
While they strip down to what they'll be sleeping in as I just stand awkwardly, contemplating where I'll stay, and hoping that one of them will tell me where I'll be sleeping.
I don't like how Lucca wants me to choose. I don't like that he's making me do it now, and I don't like that I'll have to say it out loud. Maybe it would hurt less if I didn't say it. Maybe it would hurt less if they decided for me, but for some reason, he wants me to choose.
It's almost like he's rubbing it in Leonel's face that I'd rather be with him.
"Stop looking so conflicted. We're just sharing a bed, right? All you have to do is pick one to sleep in." Lucca stretches out his arms before ridding himself of his shirt and laying down on his bed. Leonel seems to do the same, but with a look of frustration on his face.
I sigh and look from one to the other a couple of times. Lucca doesn't care who I choose, but Leonel does. If I choose Lucca, then Leonel will be hurt, but if I choose Leonel then everyone is happy... except me.
I walk over to Leonel's bed, climbing under the covers without saying a word. I avoid Lucca's eyes because I'm not sure if I was right. I don't know if Lucca was just pretending that he doesn't care about my decision, and I don't want to feel guilty for it. I don't want to know if his eyes are filled with pain, so I don't look at him.
Leonel pulls the blanket further over the both of us, and at that moment I heard Lucca let out a small snort and shuffle around in his bed behind me. He blows out the candle in the room leaving us all to lay in darkness.
"Sorry we put you in such a situation…" Leonel whispers, his body slowly moving closer to mine.
"It's fine."
I let him wrap his arm around my waist, and pull me closer to him. The heat of his body feels oddly peaceful, so it doesn't take long for me to fall asleep with him.
***
In the morning, both Leonel and I are rudely awakened by the loud sound of pots and pans being clashing together as well as water being poured on my face.
We both shoot up from shock, our heads snapping over to see Alyssa standing between us and the door with a smirk. Her gaze turns over to Lucca who is surprisingly still peacefully asleep in his bed, and that, of course, made her smirk fade into a frown.
She glares at him with determination in her eyes before strutting over to his bed. She climbs on top of him, straddling his waist as she gets her pans ready. Smirking, she bangs the pots together as loud as she can, finally causing the sleeping giant to wake up.
I know that her actions are only playful, but I can't help but to feel a bit jealous of her. It felt nice when Leonel was cuddling me… but I would rather Lucca be that close to me. When Lucca finally sits up, he grabs the pots and throws them out the door, giving a harsh look to Alyssa before grabbing her and pinning her to the bed.
"Just what do you think you're doing?"
"Waking you up, silly." She laughs lightly at his stern face as if she finds his anger to be hilarious.
He groans and shoves her off the bed, snuggling back down into the covers once she's on the floor. "I'm gonna have to put a lock on that door…"
"Don't bother. I'd still get in somehow." She admits with a wide grin.
"Whatever. Stop talking to me and go speak to your fish friend and his cuddle buddy. Let me sleep."
"Aw! You guys were cuddling?" She squeals, and I nod slowly. "So cute."
Lucca grunts from the bed, and suddenly he swings his legs over the edge and stands up. He glances me over before running a hand through his messy bed head and making his way out the door.
"Ah well, he's always like that in the mornings. Grumpy, never likes waking up early. It'd probably be best if you just stick with me this morning. He'd most likely snap at you if you went and spoke with him."
"I'll just take a minute. We didn't really finish our conversation yesterday." I explain.
I chase after Lucca as he storms away. Eventually, I catch up to him, grabbing his hand to slow him down. "Just wait a second! Are you alright?"
He snatches his hand away and turns to me with a fake smile. "Of course! I'm amazing. Why wouldn't I be after I saw you cuddling with my only friend and got woken up by a fire lady banging pots over my head? I'm perfectly fine, so you can go back to him now."
"I didn't really want to stay in his bed, Lucca. There just wasn't another option. Of course, I would have rathered it been you, but I can't hurt him just to make you feel good." I try to explain, but he doesn't seem the slightest bit understanding.
"And so you go and hurt me and make him feel good? Yeah, that makes sense. Look, I know it must be troubling dealing with the two of us, but the longer you keep just going back and forth, you won't have to deal with one of us any more. Leonel will be yours, and I'll be gone. Maybe if I just went ahead and left you alone it'd be easier for you to make your decision. You must be favoring one of us over the other by now." He snaps at me. Leonel told me he'd be cranky, but I know he's just hurt. Even if he says that he's not.
"It's not only my fault. If you would stop acting like you're fine when you're not, then I'd stop assuming that you are. I only chose him because I thought that you wouldn't be hurt by it. If you would just said how you feel then I wouldn't have to make wrong assumptions." I begin, starting to get defensive.
"And you're the one who didn't even like me to begin with. It would've been easier for me to just fall for Leonel, but I gave you a chance. You can't complain that I keep switching back and forth because the only reason I am is to give you a chance. If you like me then just say it. If not then... why are we even doing this?"
"Just say it. Because it's that easy, right? I tell you that I like you and you magically fall for me and stop liking him? You must've fell for him first right? Hell, you two even kissed, so maybe I should just give up. Normally I wouldn't, but it'd be easier for you as you said before. That's all I need to hear. Hook up with the one you first fell for, and forget about the second." He laughs dismissively.
He takes a deep breath and shrugs, trying to seem unbothered like he doesn't care. "When you give me a chance, there's always the possibility that you won't pick me. Going through all this just to end up not being chosen? I don't know if it's worth it."
I scoff, and roll my eyes at his stupidity. "You really think I fell for Leonel first? From the moment I saw you, I knew that I felt something for you. It might've just been attraction, or something even less than that… but it was you. Not him. That kiss was an accident, Lucca. What I'm letting myself feel for you," I shyly take his hand again with a smile. "This is on purpose."
His eyes scan over my face before he's genuinely smiling and giving my smaller hand a gentle squeeze.
"You know I'm an asshole, right? One who isn't as sweet as Leonel or proper for that matter. He's smarter. I don't know about funnier… or looks." He mumbles jokingly, pulling me closer.
"I don't mind." is my simple reply.
I rest my head on his chest as he holds me tightly. He leans down and places a kiss lingering kiss to the top of my head, and I can feel the gentle smile on his face when he does this.
"Keep in mind, I'm very possessive of things that belong to me, so whether you tell him your feelings soon or not, dial it down with him."
"So bossy." I say sarcastically. "But sure. Anything for you."
He laughs softly and grabs my waist, yanking me closer and hovering his lips over my ear. "Bossy? Baby, you don't even know the half of it."
He plants a hard kiss to my temple and gently pushes me back, stiffening up when he looks to the sound of footsteps coming from behind me.
"I don't think I'll be able to stick around when you two are together. Tonight, the ship should arrive at the cave I was telling you about. Let's go swimming. We'll make it fun this time." He offers.
I turn my head to see Leonel, forcing a smile on my face. I don't want to say anything to him about my decision, but maybe if I just act like his friend rather than someone who likes him then he won't get the wrong idea.
"The crew members want everyone gathered around for breakfast. They wanna get to know you and Alyssa better. Lucca, as for you, the captain wants to speak with you."
"You mean my father? You don't have to act so formal, dude how long have we known each other?" The two crack a smile at one another, both looking to me after they did so.
I really hope that I don't ruin their friendship.
"Anyways, it probably has something to do with my mother. It'll be awhile. I'll see you two later." His hand that was resting on my back slides down to gently give my bottom a squeeze.
After doing so, he swiftly moves past Leonel and walks off towards the wheel of the ship.
"Hi." I say to Leonel, trying to to show any reaction on my face despite feeling mortified that Lucca would do that in front of him.
"Hello, ready for breakfast?" He questions. He doesn't seem to have noticed what Lucca did before he left.
"Yeah. They just want to know more about me, right? With how much Alyssa talks, I'm sure they don't want her there." After I said it, I realized that it sounded rude.
"No offense to her." I add quickly. Alyssa is my only real friend, but even I have to admit that she's a chatter box.
"I'm sure none is taken. Last I saw her, she was talking with one of the crew members. That means most of the attention should be on you. No pressure though." He smiles, holds out his hand and tilts his head to the side. "Ready?"
"As ready as I can be." I respond nervously.
He leads me to the main deck, and I continue to let my nerves run wild. For my whole life, I've been trying to go unnoticed by people, and now I'm the center of attention. I'll just have to do the best I can to not let them know what I am.