I remember the time I told Aleister how I felt about him.
That night, Aleister took me onto the roof as the others were preparing traps in case the hotel got invaded. I started to talk about how I would never have guessed that Lila would be knowledgeable of all the traps that we were placing around the hotel, but Aleister cleared his throat and I stopped in the middle of my sentence. Aleister wasn't really one for interrupting me (everyone else seemed to be fair game to him), so I thought over all the possible things he could be wanting to tell me.
He thinks I'm smart? Well... He seems to bring that up frequently with everyone else. He's pissed with Raj again? That's not unusual, and not interruption-worthy. Could it be... I pushed the thought away. I knew what the thought was going to be, and I knew it wasn't helpful. The chances of Aleister liking me back... Slim, at best.
"There's something I've been wanting to say to you about..." The soft lights around the deck entered my peripheral vision, and my eyes unfocused slightly to create a soft romantic light around Aleister, akin to that of an aesthetic blog's photo of a city. I found my heart starting to beat faster, as he continued. "That is... I have needed to tell you this for... For a while." Was he... nervous? "And... well... ahem... What I've been trying to tell you is..."
"Yes Aleister?" I reply. It's a bit awkward, but I'm hoping he's going to say what I think he's going to say.
"It's simply a matter of wanting to be forthright." He nervously folds his fingers together, but a voice suddenly called out from across the roof, and then before I knew it, everyone swarmed out to where we were and started yelling at Aleister.
"You're involved with Rourke!" One voice cried out, while another yelled, "Be forthright about THIS!" A piece of paper came out of nowhere and into Aleister's hands. For the first time, he looks scared.
"Where did you find this?"
"Doesn't matter! What do you know about this?!"
"Please! Please! What is this about?"
Looking at the dossier, I noticed the picture at the top. Aleister? I dared myself to keep reading, and more information flooded into my mind. By the time I was done, I forced myself to look up at Aleister. I couldn't stop the feelings of betrayal coursing through my veins, and it hurt that he, he of all these people, was the mole in our group. Did he burn the aeroplane? Did he knowingly put us into this danger? I look into his eyes, and take a step back. Those blue eyes, which I found soulful, intelligent, and wise, were now pools of deceit and bitterness.
"Aleister..." I say, trying not to cry. "You... You're..."
"Grace," Aleister says softly, "It's not what it looks like." I swear I could see a tear pooling in his eye, but my eyes were already becoming cloudy from my own tears threatening to spill out.
There are shouts of "EXPLAIN!" from the others, and Aleister looks at them, taking his eyes off me. "I... I am Everett Rourke. Not the Everett Rourke, but Everett Aleister Rourke the Second."
I swear my heart is beating faster than ever before, and I can't handle this. He... He can't be... Can he?
"The man who brought you all here... is my father."
Before anyone can say anything, I'm running back into the hotel. I can't handle this, I thought. I'm blindly running through the hotel, hoping that I'll find my room. My face was now streaked with tears, and I just couldn't handle it. I couldn't handle any of this. I can't believe... I can't believe I fell for a guy who knew all along what was going to happen.
I found a random door, opened it, went through, closed it, and collapsed onto the bed. The room was clean (thank goodness), there were two blue suitcases, and a leather bound book on the desk with a snake on the front. The teeth of the snake were at the forefront, and it looked like it was about to bite. My mind felt too emotional to think, but I noted that you need a room key to get into rooms in the hotel and if this room's unlocked it means anyone could come into it. I planned that if anyone came in I'd hide behind the bed, so I roll onto the side of the bed closest to the window, and I look at La Huerta. It's a beautiful, but deadly, island. I smelled a whiff of a deep but classy smell, and deduced it was a guy's room. But which guy?
I gazed at the island for a long time. The leafy trees and multicoloured flowers dazzled in the night, and for a second I forgot about Aleister and just thought about the chemical reactions that must happen to create those lights. If I ever talk to Aleister again, I'm asking him about how the flowers were made.
All of a sudden the door opened and my reaction was to hide. I made myself flat against the floor, and I tried to think of who it was. Footsteps aren't too heavy... So not Sean or Craig. Silent, so not Raj. That left Jake or Aleister. I was hoping it wasn't Aleister when I hear a sob. Followed by another. Followed by a "How could I be so stupid?!" It was Aleister. Why was he crying? Shame, I thought. It has to be. His secret's been found out, so now he's retreated to his room to cry.
"I..." He let out another sob again. "I'm so sorry Grace."
My heart suddenly went from "going fast because I'm scared" to "going fast because my name has been spoken". I kept eavesdropping.
"Why was I under the pretense that I could keep it a secret?"
I only realised then that I was starting to cry again, except this time I needed to stay quiet. I grabbed a portion of his duvet, and buried my face in it, letting the fabric soak up my tears.
"She despises me now. And I was going to tell her..." A sob came again, but this time from both of us. I don't hate you, I thought. Well, I'm going to need an explanation but for now I don't hate you.
"I love you." He stopped for a while, no sounds coming from him. I felt the tears suddenly go from moderate to heavy, like a thunderstorm after a light shower suddenly. I didn't notice the footsteps, but I did notice the hand on my shoulder. I turned around, and Aleister was there.
"A-Aleister?" I readjusted my foggy glasses, hoped he didn't notice the huge tear-stains on the duvet, and felt another tear slip out.
"Grace?" His eyes had red rims, and I could see him trying to hold back his tears.
"I-I didn't know this was your room," I feebly mumbled.
"It's quite alright." Aleister hesitated, then pulled me in for a hug. I put my arms around him, and felt his heart beating against my cheek.
"I... I guess I just need an explanation."
"Naturally." Aleister pulled away, then put his hand on my chin and lifted it up to look at him. "I was... I suppose you could say that I was wanting to rebel against my family. There's quite a large amount of pressure on me, and I suppose I ended up coming here because I knew it would be quite an action on my part." He stroked my cheek, wiping away a tear, before he continued. "I didn't know any of this was going to happen. I didn't know that... I didn't know that I'd meet you."
This time I was the one who pulled him in for a hug. As we held each other, I whispered, "So you're not a mole?"
"If I was a mole, I would have left by now. It's been far more dangerous than I could've imagined, but..." He squeezed me a bit tighter. "There's you."
"Were you being serious when you said 'I love you?'"
His heart sped up. "To be frank, yes."
At that point, my heart finally told me to stop wasting my time. "I love you." As soon as I said it, my heart went into overdrive and my face must've had quite a red shade on it.
Aleister pulled back and looked at me in disbelief. "Really?"
"Of course."
Once Aleister saw I was being completely serious, he smiled. "I... I was so sure that you wouldn't return my affection, and then after you saw the dossier... I felt our chances of being together were completely dashed."
His lips were so close to mine, and I looked up at them. Theoretically, I could've kissed him, but I'd already admitted my feelings and that was already quite a big step.
"I really care about you, and even if you were a mole, I would've probably still crushed on you."
Aleister smiled and blushed. "Do you want to get cleaned up then leave?"
"And face all of them?" We both smile, and Aleister can't stop a little laugh from sneaking through. "Do you mind if I stay here?" I ask, with the biggest smile on my face.
"Of course I wouldn't mind." He got up, and as he went to lock the door, I grinned. Tonight would be a good night.