In love we rise

Chapter 3

Since then, it had been almost four hours. The sun had set and night had well and truly fallen. At some point, the reception had called and informed him that he was to wait in the room till the alphas were back, and that he had been asked to help himself to the room service, if he grew hungry.

Initially, Elio had been averse to ordering food for himself, but then, when the hunger pangs had hit, he had caved in and ordered the cheapest thing he could find on the menu. Yes, the prices had made his eyes bleed and even the lone sandwich that he had ordered had not been cheap at all.

And now, it was almost ten at night, and Elio was going out of his mind. What had he gotten himself into? This morning, all he had had to worry about was an overly friendly client, and now here he sat in a place, which for all intents and purposes, he should never have been able to afford to see, much less sit in and eat in! Dear Luna! His wallet had cried in devastation when he had handed over the money to the beta that had come by with his sandwich, despite being assured that he was allowed to put the sandwich on the room’s tab. No, that had been unthinkable. Be indebted to two unknown alphas for food? That would have been stupid at best. Sure, they had seemed decent enough. Although, truth be told, Elio was still quite unsure about what was going on. But, well, it’s not like he could leave without thanking them for bringing back his bag. Right?

Therefore, he had handed over the money and cried internally, swallowing down his scream of desperation, as the beta had taken the cash, as well as some tips (that sneaky, evil, opportunistic bastard!). The beta had given him a sleazy grin as he had bowed, and Elio had forced himself to return the smile. Well, it had honestly been no more than a grimace. But, he had tried, alright!

And now, Elio was bored. And tired. The rollercoaster of events and the sheer range of emotions that he had gone through in the span of a day, had left him feeling slightly raw around the edges. But, mostly tired.

Perhaps, if the place were not as fancy, he would have ventured further into the suite and explored, but honestly, he was afraid to so much as breathe in this place. What if he left a stain? Luna! Would they make him pay? How would he? Would he have to sell his camera? Right after he had got it back?

Shuddering, Elio shook his head, trying to get the thoughts out of his head. Surely, the Angelo and Raphael were not that cruel. They had even got his bag back for him. 

Deciding to stretch his limbs, Elio got up gingerly from the edge of the sofa, where he had been sitting for the past four hours, and made his way to the giant glass wall.

The city of Asra stretched out infinitely below him, twinkling. Always moving. In that moment, Elio was hit by the strangeness of it all. Here he was standing in one of the most beautiful hotels he had ever seen, and there the city lay, thrumming and vibrating with the lives and troubles of thousands of people, living their own lives, chasing their own dreams. Even his own mother was in the hospital, fighting for her life. Elio felt so connected to it all, yet so very distant, and perhaps, he thought, that it was this non-belongingness that had allowed him to trust a stranger. Perhaps everyone felt this way. But maybe, today the infinite consciousness had decided to grace him with its benevolence.

There was something about Angelo that called to him. An instant connection. No, connection? Perhaps not. Instant trust. Like a child’s towards their mother. It was like he knew he was safe. Protected.

Elio frowned as the thought crossed his mind. Why should he feel like this for a stranger? It made no sense. Yet he did. Breathing out, Elio looked at the sky, dark and mysterious, aglow at the horizon by the many lights that shone down upon the lives that inhabited Asra. For once in his life, Elio decided to take it as it comes, and not try to analyze and dissect every little thought in his head.

His rambling thought were brought to a sudden halt, by the shrill, piercing wailing of his phone. Jerking, he looked away from the window, almost tripping over his own two feet as he hurried over to the sofa.

“I’m coming!” he exclaimed, as he struggled to dig out his phone from his backpack, letting out a breath as his fingers wrapped around the cool metal of the device.

“Hello!” he breathed out, swiping the accept button, without even seeing who had called.

“Elio!” Elio jerked away from the phone, as his brother’s voice carried over across the receiver.

“Hey,” he muttered back, knowing that he was up for a right ribbing for vanishing without informing them about his whereabouts. It had slipped his mind, okay!

“Don’t ‘hey’ me, asshole! Where the f**k are you? You were supposed to be here at the hospital two hours ago!”

“I know, I know-“

“We waited for you! But then the visiting hours were over, and now we’re back home. And guess what we find when we get back home? Not you! That’s for sure!”

“I have an explanation!” Elio exclaims, trying to get his younger brother to calm down. Oliver had always been hot-headed as a child, but when he had finally presented, and his alpha tendencies had kicked in, that was the end of it. He was territorial, possessive and extremely protective. And Elio could only imagine what Oliver was feeling, but he couldn’t deal with his alpha bullshit right now. He had had enough of that high-handedness and self-importance today to last him a bloody lifetime!

“Oh really! You better have an explanation!” Oliver snipped. And that was the last straw.

“f**k you! Why should I give you an explanation? Who do you think you are, asshole! I’m a whole ass adult! I can do whatever the f**k I want! I’ll stay out all night, if I want! And you can’t tell me anything!” Elio screamed, feeling the traitorous sting of tears behind his eyes. Distantly, he realized that he was having a melt-down, after the high strung emotions of the day, and that shouting was probably unfair towards his brother, but he couldn’t stop himself. “I earn my own money! I take care of myself! I’m responsible! And no bloody alpha can tell me what to do, and how I should be! Who do you think you guys are, huh? Luna’s gift to the world? f**k you! And f**k every alpha in the world! The only thing you do is look down on people and make lives harder for everyone around you. You think you’re so great! Let me burst you bubble, alright! You’re not! You’re so entitled! Thinking you can push omegas around. That they will just roll over and do whatever you want! We won’t! We have our own minds, thank you very much! And if you dare try to tell me what to do, Ollie, I swear, I will rip your throat out, motherfucker!”

Elio breathed heavily into the mouthpiece, the silence on the end tell-tale. Suddenly, the guilt came rushing back in. Not only had he not gone to see his mother, he had also not informed his family where he was. That was not okay. That was irresponsible at best. And what had happened was only an excuse for such oversight. He should have reached out. And now, he had gone ahead and unloaded all the pent-up aggression and feeling of injustice on his brother. It was only natural that his brother would worry. It was after ten at night. He’d never stayed out so late on his own before. At least not if it wasn’t related to work. Especially not without informing them.

“Ollie, I-“

“It’s okay. Something must have happened for you to be so worked up. Do you wanna talk about it?”

And this is why Elio loved his brother. For despite being hot-headed, he was a good man. A kind soul, who cared deeply for his family. Someone who would put aside his ego, and self to support his loved ones.

“Ollie, I-“sighing Elio turned around, only to be faced by the sight of Angelo and Raphael standing behind him. He came to a sudden stop and his heart sank. Had the two alphas heard him? God! Like this entire encounter couldn’t get any more embarrassing! Elio could feel the blood rushing across his face, painting the tips of his ears red.

“Ollie, I’ll, uh, call you back,” Elio stuttered out.

“What? Elio! Elio-“

But, Elio had disconnected the call. Quickly he brought the phone down and away from his ears, surreptitiously hiding it behind him, as though hiding it would help hide his shame.

Angelo quirked his eyebrow, and for a second Elio thought that he could see the hint of a smile gracing his lips. But the next moment it was gone, making Elio think that he had surely mistaken it.

“I, uh,” started Elio, scrambling to come up with an explanation for his repeated faux pas. Luna! Today was not his day! He just couldn’t catch a break. But, before he could open his mouth, Angelo held up his hand, and made his way over to the sofa, followed closely by his friend.

“It’s okay. I’m generous. I won’t judge. Today has been a difficult day for you, and if you have generalized and criminalized an entire gender, I shall forgive your transgressions on account of your less than savory experience with said gender today.” Angelo said, making himself comfortable on the sofa. “But, I’m sure, you will look upon us with favor, for it would be a loss for us to lose the regard of a creature as lovely as yourself.”

Surprised at the sudden compliment, Elio looked up to see Angelo grinning in earnest, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Sputtering, Elio struggled to control the blush that spread across his entire face, sure that in that moment he was probably as red as a tomato. Luna save him from good-looking alphas that smelled far too good for anyone’s health and flirted smoothly!

“Uh,” Elio struggled to form a coherent sentence. He blamed it all on the alpha that was looking at him with intense grey eyes, a smirk still playing on his lips. “Sorry, that was my brother. I should have let him know where I was, and I didn’t. It just got out of hand. I’m sorry for causing a scene and that you had to witness it again.”

Angelo waved a hand, as if brushing the topic aside. He looked to his friend, who had made his way to the minibar and was making a drink for himself. Elio followed his gaze and for a second, he was shocked that he had completely forgotten about Raphael. Luna! What was happening to him?

Elio watched as Raphael walked back to the sofa and sat down, crossing his legs at the ankles and nursing his drink in his hand. He watched as Angelo stole the glass and took a sip of the drink himself, before returning the drink back to his friend. He watched as Raphael shook his head, both in exasperation and endearment, and took a sip from the amber colored drink himself.

Elio watched, and wondered what was going on. Where had the two alphas been for so long? When could he leave? What if they didn’t let him leave? Maybe he should have told Ollie where he was.

But, before he could really rile himself up, Raphael broke the silence.

“Elio. It’s okay to call you that, right?” Elio nodded. With a brisk nod of his head, Raphael continued. “Get ready. Once I’m done with the drink, we have to go to the police station. We found the alpha that was chasing you.”