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

SEARING JEALOUSY.

Chapter: 83.
*****

To think that Tide wouldn't have been sick if Matthew had stepped in. Just like he did with him, he had ignored the Merman's call until it was almost too late.

Alexander's throat became tight, causing a lump to form at the back of his mouth. Tears welled up at the corners of Alexander's eyes threatening to spill over and down his cheeks. He let his head fall on the glass table with a dull thud, closing his eyes tightly and letting the tears flow freely. He allowed them to wash over him before pulling himself together and looking up towards the ceiling. His breathing turned shallow before suddenly stopping.

Suddenly everything felt like it stopped spinning and his chest was no longer feeling heavy. His head no longer felt like his body was trying its hardest to explode. Everything felt strangely distant.

Alexander stood shakily from the table before heading toward the balcony doors. Without thinking twice about his actions, he flung the doors open and stepped outside. His body felt weightless, as though his body was floating above the ground. He took an inhale deeply before letting the air flow out of his lungs with a loud gasp, taking in the fresh air that filled his nostrils and cleared his mind completely.

Alexander let the cool air blow through his hair causing him to smile lightly, reveling in the feeling. He closed his eyes and smiled contentedly. It must be nice to feel at peace, he thought absentmindedly. Then, all of a sudden, his mind started racing once more, causing another set of tears to fall from his eyes. This time, however, they didn't fall onto his face nor did they make contact with the concrete below. Instead, the tear fell from his cheek landing softly on his chest. Alexander gasped sharply when the cool sensation touched his skin causing him to shiver. Alexander looked down only to find he was soaked in rainwater. His eyes widened and he glanced upwards before rushing back inside to get cleaned up and dressed.

How did he not notice it was raining?

He ran upstairs and stood frozen by the closed door when he heard both twins arguing. When he finally moved, he opened the door quietly and peeked around it, looking at the two siblings who were standing at opposite ends of the room glaring at each other. Matthew was facing Michael. Alexander saw as Matthew crossed his arms in front of his chest and glared defiantly at Michael.

"You knew this day was coming, you better man up and fix what's ruined, don't let him slip away this time, and as for me, I'm done with Maria, we have to fix her up, our deal is off."

"Deal?" Alexander asked, pushing the door the rest of the way open and walking in on both men. "What deal?" he threw a suspicious glare at Michael.

"Fuck," the man groaned.

"I think you better start explaining before I lose my patience. I'm not exactly in a good mood, you should have noticed."

"She has been carrying a prosthetic bump as a pregnancy for months now. I don't know what she intends to do till the end but I found out. Maybe she didn't want to get pregnant, heck I never wanted her to but when it happened I was really committed and happy to be a father but out of her dereliction she lost our child then she couldn't tell me rather she played both Allie and me while parading fake pregnancy around."

"I don't care what she did, I care about what deal you had with him!" Alexander pointed to the other man.

"He made me marry her so your daughter would be in a place where he would be able to keep an eye on her and look after her."

"What?!" Alexander cried. Is there an end to all these lies and secrets?

"When I told him I met a certain lady called Maria he was certain she was the same Maria who had the heart of the man he loved and so he switched places with me and went on dates with her, that way he learned the truth and since she was no longer yours and I'm a playboy I don't care about love or marriage, he made me marry her and I had to do it for him. I know he's not the smartest in matters of the heart since you're the only one he's ever only loved but please give him another chance to make things right, to make all these right."

"Do you by any chance know what a Mountain Tears is?" he asked Matthew, ignoring Michael and all he had said.

"I do?"

"I need it for Tide, please."

Matthew leads him to the private room. Once inside, Alexander gawked at the sea treasures he saw. They were beautiful and for a moment there they calmed his racing heart. Made him feel at ease with himself.

"What is this place?"

"Where I kept all my grandmother left in my care, no one else has been in here until now." He walked over to the other end of the room and Alexander just stood by the door, staring at a transparent Rock. He seems to be seeing things in there, maybe it was his imagination or the little light in the room but he was certain he saw Tide swim across that Rock.

"What is this?" He pointed to the Rock and Matthew smiled.

"Why do you ask?"

"I saw Tide in there, just now, might be my imagination but... it's probably nothing." He dismissed and Matthew didn't push any further. He knew better.

"Here, this is the Mountain Tears." Alexander took it and turned to leave, he had gotten dressed while he was in the room and nothing was keeping him there anymore. "Let me call the driver to take you home-" the words had barely left his mouth before Alexander declined the offer.

"No, I'm fine, I'll find my way."

"But, we need to talk."

"Not now Matthew, I need a moment to process everything." With one hand at the door, he turned to give the man one last glance. "You should have been honest with me from the beginning." The doors shut and he was gone.

******

It wasn't long before Matthew returned to his room. His steps seemed hesitant as if he wasn't entirely sure if Alexander was serious about leaving. He opened the door to his room only to see his brother already seated on the bed, legs hanging off of the edge. A bottle of whiskey lay abandoned on the bedside table and Matthew grimaced at the sight. "Don't you dare touch that," he said sternly as he approached his brother with a glare

Michael raised an eyebrow challengingly, challenging Matthew to come near. Matthew ignored him and watched as he grabbed the whiskey bottle and filled it to the brim before bringing it to his lips. Matthew frowned, annoyed. "I hate you."

Michael chuckled lightly. "No, you love me you dipshit."

"Blabbermouth." Matthew grabbed the glass from his mouth and downed the rest of the whiskey.

"I helped you, you should thank me." Michael took the glass and refilled it.

Grunting Matthew yelled. "Thank you?!"

"You're welcome..." A smack brushed his head and Michael whined. "Hey, what did I do?"

"I was already in a fudging mess and you had to add more to it!"

"He deserves to know, My brother, Alexander is a good man, he will come back and stop beating yourself up about this, yes you messed up but you love this man too, he knows that."

"I'm scared he doesn't love me," Matthew whispered defeated.

"Of course, he does Mattie," Michael reassured. "Just trust me." A small smirk curled upon Matthew's lips at the nickname, he hasn't called him that in a long time.

"In as much as I would want to believe that, he's in love with someone else, he told me this."

"With who?"

"The Merman from my dreams."