Chasing Tide (A Merman's Tale And The Human Who Desired Him)

MURDEROUS INTENT.

Chapter: 79.
*****

With legs soaking in the warm water he blinked tears away from his eyes. His heart felt heavy. With all that he had just learned. It was up to him to make a decision.

"Tide, baby." He muttered helplessly, pushing a hand into his pocket to retrieve the little glass bottle in there. "Here, this is the Mountain Tears," he showed it to the pool. "You told me you would get better if you could drink it. I found it, baby, and I hope you can drink from it." He dropped the bottle into the pool and watched it disappear in the thickness of the fog that had clogged the surface of the pool then slowly he went on his feet and walked into the house. He was going to head upstairs to his room and fall asleep but he turned around, heading towards the kitchen. Once inside, he placed the keys back into the bowl and turned on the kettle. As he watched the water fill up the coffee pot he tried to calm himself enough to think straight. Everything was fine. For a brief moment there he was genuinely happy, he thought nothing was going to ruin that moment but he had thought too soon.

He should have known happiness isn't meant for the likes of him.

Something always comes to steal that happiness.

First, there was Maria, he thought he would be happy for the rest of his life with her until it had all ended so terribly. Then he had found Tide and once again, he felt happy until Tide went into his deep sleep, and with each day that went by he feared for the worse, always glancing over at the stone, hoping it never stopped to give its glow. And if Tide hadn't done this, he would have died and once again he was left miserable. Then there's Matthew, who came like the wind and swept away his worries, taking him out on dates and out to sea. He drove him insane with his sex and here he was once again, alone, feeling miserable.

The only constant happiness in his life is Easton.

Easton is the only one who would not leave, lie, deceive, or hurt him in any way. The only one he would trust with his heart and not fear for it to be broken or left in shambles.

This was his life. He will be okay. He is okay. Oh, who was he kidding? He was a mess. A complete and utter mess. Why... just why would Matthew go to this extent? Was he really worth all that trouble? And he is not forgetting the fact that the man invaded his life, controlling the angles like he owned him right from day one. This was all too much. After their conversations, Alexander wasn't sure if he would be seeing the man again.

As far as he was concerned, Matthew has pretty much lied to him this whole time.

Matthew loves him no doubt and yet he lied, deceived, and used him. He hurt him and now this was the consequence. Alexander clenched his fists. He shouldn't have gone out with him in the first place. What else was he expecting to happen in the end? He deserved nothing but the heartache he was feeling. Alexander felt the urge to start crying again but pushed it back down his throat. He shouldn't cry. He shouldn't feel upset or disappointed. No matter how badly he wanted to scream. He took a deep breath and forced himself to stop crying. His shoulders fell, he wasn't even sure how to feel. He grabbed the kettle and poured it into his coffee mug then brought the steamy hot liquid to his mouth. After drinking it, he poured two more cups and brought them up to his bedroom.

He sat down on the bed and drank both of them before laying down on his pillow and staring blankly at the ceiling. Fuck you, Matthew. Alexander sighed deeply, rolling on his side to face the window that faced east. The clouds were dark and it looked like there was going to be a heavy downpour soon, it had rained a little earlier while he was still at Matthew's and he was glad it wasn't raining when he was on his way home, otherwise, it would've been quite annoying to wake up with a cold.

He rubbed his eye with one of his hands before letting out a yawn. He must've fallen asleep because the next thing he knew, someone was standing in his doorway and he jumped, pulling the blanket over himself. When he realized who it was, he relaxed. The other man entered slowly, his eyes searching Alexander's face as if he was looking for a sign of anything. The second he found the distress on Alexander's face, Easton knew something was wrong. He's known the man for far too long to read through his every expression, not that they were hard to read. Alexander was the easiest person to read, he just doesn't have that ability to fake happiness when he isn't. His eyes dimmed and his lips would twist into a flickering tremble. Every once in a while you would feel the side of his lips twitch as if he tried to fight back tears or trap unspoken words back in his throat.

He hasn't seen this expression since Tide went into his sleep and it makes him unhappy whenever he is like this.

"You're awake?" Easton asked, taking a seat beside him.

Alexander nodded. "Yes."

"How are you feeling?" Easton asked and Alexander shrugged then rolled his eyes. "What's the matter?" Easton leaned closer, one hand grabbing onto the other man and pulling him into his chest where he proceeded to hold him tightly in a protective hug. "You sounded very troubled when you called and your voice was shaky, I knew you had been crying," Easton spoke softly then brushed a gentle kiss into Alexander's hair. "What did he do to you?" He asked, his voice taking a rougher tone to them. "I heard you call Michael, did they both do something to you?" This time he sounded worried and Alexander knew he had to ease the man's mind before he explodes with murderous intent.