CHAPTER TWO

Miguel was rudely awakened by Altivo nudging his shoulder roughly. He grumbled and rubbed his eyes, pushing strands of hair out of his face and scratching at his goatee absentmindedly. Pale sunlight illuminated the area slightly, and he examined his surroundings, memories of the past day coming back to him gradually.

He'd made the decision to leave the ship before Tulio and Chel could notice. Left them behind. Left Tulio behind. It had taken all of his willpower not to go running back, but he felt that he'd made the best choice. Tulio would be much happier spending the rest of his life with Chel, and now Miguel would never interfere with their relationship again. He could start his life anew in Spain, and hopefully move on.

But how could he ever move on? How long would it take? Would he ever truly forget everything that he'd been through with Tulio? All of the adventure... all of the glorious days spent in the city of gold, the legendary El Dorado... He didn't want to forget it. His days with Tulio had been the best of his life. It would take a lot of focus to just let all of that go.

Altivo nudged him again, more impatiently this time, snapping him out of his thoughts. Miguel twisted around, patting the horse gently. "You hungry, Altivo, old boy? Let's go get you some apples. We own that ship now, you know? We can still help ourselves to everything on board."

Altivo whinnied excitedly at the word 'apple', pushing Miguel to his feet. Man and horse crept out of the cold alley they'd ended up sleeping in, and Miguel mounted the horse. They trotted along slowly, and Miguel tried his best to get the kink out of his neck from sleeping on the hard ground. It wasn't like he'd never stayed the night outside before, but it had sure been a while.

He guided the horse back towards the Spanish port where the massive ship awaited, unmoving. When they were near enough, he dismounted Altivo and the two of them boarded the ship, heading below deck towards where the food barrels still sat idly. He opened up one of the apple barrels and let Altivo feed from it freely, moving over to find some slightly stale bread for his own breakfast.

"I'm sorry I dragged you into this, Altivo. But I feel like you're really my responsibility. I'm the reason you ended up coming to El Dorado with us in the first place. I should take care of you, right?"

The horse, unsurprisingly, did not reply. He continued to munch away, enjoying the apples. Miguel laughed half-heartedly and leaned against the bread barrel, chewing each bite leisurely.

He tried to plan what he might do to start off his new life, but all he could think of was Tulio. The echo of his voice calling out Miguel's name, the frantic tone of his voice...

Miguel shook his head angrily, attempting to force the thought from his mind. If only nothing had ever changed. If only they had never used those loaded dice and gotten a hold of that map... they never would have found the city of El Dorado and never would have met Chel. That thieving woman would have remained an unknown stranger to them forever. Maybe then his friendship with Tulio never would have changed. They would've figured a way to get back to Spain and picked up life right where they left off.

"Oh, Tulio, I wish things hadn't gone the way they did. El Dorado was our adventure... And now..." He whispered into the air and took another bite of bread, "Now the adventure is gone." He trembled with the threat of tears and used all of his effort to regain his composure, although nobody was there to see him possibly break down aside from the horse.

"What happened to the adventure, Tulio?"

Tulio blinked his eyes slowly, coming to wakefulness. He stretched and yawned , trying to remember what had happened to him.

He'd staggered through the streets of the Spanish city, crying out for Miguel, getting more desperate by the minute. Where could he have gone? Where could he possibly be staying? Was he really hiding from Tulio? He just wanted to find his friend and apologize and make everything better. He didn't want to lose the most important person in his life.

He'd even gotten desperate enough to stop a few passerby and ask if they'd seen someone that fit Miguel's description. A few of them had actually pointed him in a particular direction, but most people had just shrugged and apologized for not being able to help.

He'd wandered around for hours, fighting off the exhaustion sinking in. Finally, his tired eyes couldn't handle searching anymore. Instead of going to the inn to meet up with Chel like he'd said he would, he'd made his way to the ship, since he was closer to the port than the inn, and he was too frustrated and tired to walk back to the inn. Besides, he was upset enough with Chel right now, he didn't really want to face her until he had to.

Now here he found himself, stretched out on a cot in the sleeping chambers below deck.

"What happened to the adventure, Tulio?"

"It's like I can hear his voice, here with me..." he groaned to himself, rubbing his temple. Should he continue searching today? That was a dumb question - of course the search would go on. He could never allow himself to stop looking. He was determined to find Miguel and fix everything between them.

"Come on, Altivo, let's go."

He perked up this time, confused. There it was again. Could it be...

"M-Miguel?" he whispered, leaping up out of the cot with excitement.

"Miguel!" he shouted when his first call received no reply. He ran out of the sleeping chambers and skidded to a halt when he turned the corner.

There he was. Right there. Standing there in front of him, right there, oh god, what a wonderful sight it was, what relief he was feeling right now...

"Miguel..." he sighed, feeling something stir inside of his chest.

"Tulio, what are you-?!" Miguel gasped and the apple he was eating fell to the floor with a soft thud and rolled away.

He was cut off by Tulio closing the short distance between them and throwing his arms around Miguel forcefully, trapping him in a tight, relieved embrace.

"Don't you ever decide to disappear like that again. I told you, Miguel... I told you... I need you. I need you. How many times do I have to say it?"

"You... You don't understand," Miguel stammered, limp in his arms, clearly debating whether or not to fight his way out of Tulio's grasp or not.

"Then tell me. Help me understand, Miguel. I can't lose you."

"You say you need me... But... you don't need me in the same way I need you. You don't get it. You want me in your life for different reasons... Please just... let me leave. It hurts."

"I don't want to hurt you. Don't go again."

"Seeing you with Chel hurts me. I... Look, I'm jealous, okay? I'm jealous. And when you're kissing her, when she's close to you, and I just don't exist to you... It..." He wriggles free of Tulio's arms now, turning away, his face flushing red. "It hurts my heart."

"Miguel, what are you saying?" Tulio's mind was swirling with confusion, and he couldn't tear his eyes off of Miguel, fearful that if he looked away, he'd disappear again.

"I... I..." He hung his head, avoiding eye contact. "I feel differently about you than you might think... I was very confused at first about it, I tried to deny it... But I figured it out. And leaving was the best thing for me to do. I'm sorry."

"What...? Miguel, you're making no sense." Tulio reached for him again, resting one hand on Miguel's shoulder and gripping his chin with the other. He raised Miguel's face up and locked eyes with him. "What do you mean?"

"I..." He mumbled something quietly, blushing bright red again.

"What? Miguel, please tell me. I don't understand. I feel so awful. I'm so sorry I wasn't paying attention to you as much... at all... anymore. I'm begging you, please just tell me what's really going on here."

Miguel met his eyes, looking more distressed than Tulio had ever seen him before. The two of them were so close to each other that their noses were nearly touching, and he could feel Miguel's breath on his face. His chin was trembling in Tulio's light grip.

"Don't make me say it."

"Whatever it is, I want to hear it."

"Tulio... I just. Look, I don't even know, okay? I don't understand. I just know that my thoughts have changed. I don't know when it started, but I really started to notice all these weird new feelings when we were in El Dorado."

Tulio froze, gradually understanding what Miguel was hinting at. He felt his own cheeks get hot but stayed right where he was, centimeters from Miguel's face.

"Miguel... are you saying... you have... romantic feelings... for me?"

The beet-red color of Miguel's face now suggested he hit the right mark. Embarrassed, Miguel tried to pull away, but Tulio tightened his grip on Miguel's chin.

"T-Tulio? What are you doing?"

"You just assumed those feelings were, what, a burden? Were you never going to tell me? Without even asking me... if... if I felt the same way at all?"

Miguel's eyes widened, "Do... Do you?"

"I..." Tulio sighed. "I... I don't know. There's one way to find out."

"What's tha - " He was cut off as Tulio unexpectedly pressed his lips to Miguel's somewhat forcefully. Miguel all but melted and Tulio wrapped a sturdy arm around his waist to hold him up as the kiss softened. They broke apart, both of them breathing hard now.

"T-Tulio...?" Miguel stuttered, touching his fingers to his lips delicately, "What... What..."

Tulio's face had gone blank. He looked down at his shoes and then sat down slowly, feeling like if he remained standing much longer he would faint. Miguel looked down at him, seeming confused and somewhat alarmed. Tulio tried to speak, but could find no words.

What just happened? He ran a hand through his tangled black hair. Did I just... What just... Do I really feel that way for Miguel?

"I never knew... that you might feel like that... for me," Miguel whispers. He sank down to his knees in front of Tulio and leans forward so that their foreheads are touching. Tulio can feel Miguel's heavy breath moving his hair slightly. He moved his eyes up to notice that silent tears were sliding down Miguel's cheeks.

"Why are you crying?" He asked, frowning.

"I... You..." He smiled, chuckled half-heartedly, and then sobbed. "What's happening here? What does this mean?"

"It means..." Tulio placed his hands on Miguel's face, "That I feel the same way as you do."

"You do?" Miguel couldn't hide the excitement in his tone.

"Yes...Yes, I think so."

"Oh... Tulio... I can't believe it... I don't even know how to react... But... But..." His smile abruptly fades and he looks at Tulio with watery eyes, "What about you and Chel?"

"Yeah, Tulio, what about you and Chel?" A snide voice came unexpectedly from behind them, and the two men whipped around to see none other than Chel herself standing at the foot of the stairs, leaning against a pillar. She looked like she was fighting back tears, arms crossed in front of her.

"Chel?" Tulio reached towards her and stood up, but she cringed away from him.

"Don't touch me! You don't think I didn't see what just happened?!" She moved out of his reach, backing up the stairs slowly. "You never came to the inn so I got worried and went looking for you. And I find this?"

"Chel, I'm sorry, let me explain - "

"No need for an explanation, I 'm not blind and I'm not deaf." She stormed away, leaving Tulio dumbstruck and staring after her. After a moment, he turned back around to see that Miguel was still sitting on the floor, staring down at the floor.

"What happens now, Tulio?"

"What?"

"Was that kiss just a one-time thing? Are you going to go after her? Or are you going to stay... with me?"

Tulio glanced back over his shoulder at where Chel had been standing, then back at Miguel, feeling awful because no matter which decision he made, someone was going to be hurt by his actions.

"It's okay, really," Miguel put on an obviously forced smile, "You can go after her. I just want to know, is it her, or me?"