The Thrill Is Gone

He was going to be sick. The milk he’d had that morning must’ve been off, then again, it could’ve just as easily been the actual meal that he’d had and not just the milk, but whatever it was, he was certain that one thing or another had been off. And now, now his stomach was conspiring against him, grumbling that it wouldn’t be long before he made an ass of himself, that he really ought to be on his way to the loo. It wouldn’t take long, he could run off quickly, sort himself out, and then sprint back to the arrivals area where he’d been standing next to Paulina. It would only be a matter of minutes, but Harry suspected the grumbling wasn’t all to do with his hearty breakfast, he suspected it had to do with the fact that he hadn’t slept at all the previous night, and that he was terribly nervous.

In a matter of minutes, he would finally be face to face with her family. Her parents, her brothers, her brother’s respective lovers, they would all be there, and Harry hadn’t a clue as to how to process that, how to be in their presence. He got on well enough with Luis. Luis seemed to be the brother that was most opened to him, most friendly and willing to actually get to know him. On more than one occasion, Harry had conversed comfortably with Luis. It hadn’t been a very deep conversation, having primarily dealt with the Champions League, but they had delved into other territory, Harry brought up the fact that Luis had been in England for an extended period, and they spoke of where it was that Luis had lived, and shared a few anecdotes, nothing to personal, like one would tell a confidant, but it was a pleasant enough conversation to put Harry at ease. And despite the fact that Luis was nowhere near as friendly or talkative as Rodolfo had been, Harry couldn’t help but feel that Luis approved of him, that he liked him and was nowhere near as guarded in regards to him, as Adrian was.

Adrian was welcoming, well, as welcoming as Adrian could be, but he wasn’t particularly warm or friendly. He still distrusted Harry, he didn’t believe that the young prince was good enough for his sister, which would’ve made most people laugh, but Adrian thought Harry was trouble, and if Harry hadn’t already broken Paulina’s heart, then it was only a matter of time. Paulina and Harry, they were two different worlds, they wanted to lead two different lives, and maybe their love had tricked them into believing that they’d be able to live a fairytale, but Adrian wasn’t so sure of that, so he was cautious in regards to Harry. And out of love for his sister, he was welcoming to Harry, but not warm, he spoke with ease to the ginger prince, but it wasn’t friendly conversation, but funnily enough, even that was better than Raphael’s behavior.

Raphael was civil, but that was it. He didn’t engage Harry in direct conversation whenever he stumbled into a Skype session at his parent’s house. He said hello, told them that he hoped they were doing alright, and then made up an excuse, which usually consisted of his saying that he had to be off because Teresa wanted him to pick something up from the market or that his kids needed his attention. He avoided prolonged exposure to Harry, because he didn’t trust him, not in the slightest. After he’d found out that his sister was dating a prince, he went on his computer and did some research, and he wasn’t happy with anything he learned. Before Paulina started dating Harry, he didn’t really know anything about the prince, but after, he was caught up on the drug scandals, the poor choice in costumes, the long list of women that he’d been with, and he wasn’t pleased by it, not in the least. Raphael was old school, he was very much like Alfred in a sense, believing that men have to act with honor at all times and do right by their family and never cause their loved ones a headache, he was a traditional man, and he couldn’t bring himself to approve of his sister’s relationship with Harry. His wife tried to convince him to give the prince a chance. Teresa had a habit of bringing up the fact that Harry had punched someone for Paulina, and that Harry wasn’t acting like an idiot out in public, and that Raphael should really give him a chance, because what was printed on the internet could be very different from what the prince was in real life. Teresa argued on her sister-in-laws behalf, but Raphael had already made his mind up, and he would only be civil and nothing more.

And Harry knew that. Harry knew that civility was all he could expect from Raphael, and he knew that was all he could expect from her father, as well. They were intimidating men, who distrusted his motives, and truth be told, he couldn’t really blame them. If he was in their position, he wouldn’t trust him either. Not with the track record he had. But Harry held faith that somehow he’d manage to endear himself to them. That they would come to care for him as much as they cared for Thomas, that he could earn his place among their family. He knew it was silly for him to say those things, what with his being royalty and all, but he couldn’t help it, he wanted to be accepted.

And as he stood there, eyes firmly fixed on the arrivals gate, he suddenly realized that what he was feeling – the stress and nerves – was surely what Paulina experienced whenever she was in his family’s presence, he suddenly came to understand what she endured, and he loved her all the more for it. Whenever she was around his family, she was graceful and charming, attentive and amiable. Whenever she was around his family, she never embarrassed him or let on just how nervous she was. She was in control of herself, and he hoped to do as well as her.

If he could do that, he’d count himself a success.

From her place beside him, Paulina watched the arrivals gate attentively. They’d been standing there for what seemed an eternity, and with each passing moment, she felt herself growing more and more impatient. What was taking her family so damn long? Their flight had landed nearly forty minutes ago, it had landed twenty-five minutes before her and Harry had showed up, and if her calculations were correct, her family should’ve already been cleared by the UK Border Agency Officials.

When Paulina had first landed in England, it had taken less than five minutes to get through the immigration checkpoint, granted that had been in the obscenely early hours of the morning, but when she got back from Botswana, it took nearly the same amount of time, so she didn’t understand why it was that her family was taking so long. And she couldn’t help but think that maybe there’d been an issue. Perhaps someone had been taken into a secondary revision area? If that had happened, then the rest of her family would’ve waited nearby, and only walked out once everyone had been given the clear, but Paulina couldn’t believe that that was why they were taking so long. They wouldn’t have brought anything that warranted a second look at their luggage, and her family always looked, put together when they traveled, her mom had a habit of pestering everyone into dressing presentably. So that couldn’t have been it.

In the end, Paulina decided that they were taking long, because there was a long line to get through immigration, that the line was as long as the ones at Los Angeles International Airport. She’d once had to wait an hour for her grandparents to get through immigration, because there had only been two immigration officials on duty.

“There must be a long line to get through immigration,” she commented, hoping to start up some conversation between her and Harry, whom had been uncharacteristically quiet since they arrived at the arrivals area.

She waited for him to say something, anything, but no response came from him.

Concerned, she turned to face him. She had to tilt her head slightly upwards in order to get a proper look at him, had she not done that, their eight inch height difference would’ve left her staring at his chest, but after nearly a year together, she knew well enough to look up. And when her dark eyes settled on his face, her heart nearly gave out. He looked like someone had just punched him in the gut. His lips were pressed into a tight thin line, his brow furrowed, and along his hairline, beads of sweat were forming. He looked ill, gravely so, and without thinking, she reached out to take his hand.

“Henry,” she called softly to him. “Güerito?” she called again, a bit louder than before.

“Huh?” he said, absentmindedly. “What’s going on? You alright?” he asked, noticing her concerned expression. “Did, uh, something happen with your parents?”

“No. Nothing’s happened with them. I think they’re still getting through immigration.”

“Oh.” Harry cleared his throat. “I reckon they’ll be out any minute now, shouldn’t be taking too much longer to get through. If ya like, I can ask that they be escorted to the head of the line.”

“Thanks for the offer, but you shouldn’t bother yourself with that. They’re fine. I know they are. And not to long from now they’ll be here.” She smiled nervously. “I was just wondering how you’re doing. Are you feeling okay?”

“I'm alright, yeah.” He didn’t want to let on just how nervous he was. “A bit tired, is all, but I'm fine.”

“You sure?” she asked. “Because you look a little . . . well, you look a little off.”

“Off? What do ya mean, off?”

“Henry, mi amorsito (my little love), you’re getting really fucking sweaty, and look like you could use a lie down.”

“Don’t be daft. I'm not sweaty.” He stated. “Must be the light or something, it’s probably hitting me at a weird angle. That’s it. I'm sure of it.”

“It’s not the light.” She lifted her hand to his forehead, and when his sweat came into contact with the back of her hand, she pursed her lips. “It’s definitely not the light. Are you sure you’re feeling alright? I think you might have eaten something that wasn’t quite right. Maybe it was that weird pudding thing, the one that I don’t like that I passed over to you.”

“Don’t blame the pudding. It’s nothing to do with it.” With the back of his hand, he wiped the sweat from his brow. “I'm just a bit hot, is all, not like fever hot, just a bit higher than normal, hot.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Well, I reckon you should.” Harry did his best to seem like his usual self. “And I reckon we ought to be paying attention to the arrivals, not to whether or not I'm sweating about.”

The arrivals . . . That was it! That was why he was sweating about! Harry wasn’t sick. He hadn’t eaten anything that upset his stomach. After all, what could upset his stomach? He ate questionable food all the time. There were numerous instances in which Paulina told him that he shouldn’t eat whatever it was that he was eyeballing, but he still ate it, and he rarely got sick. So he wasn’t feeling ill due to food poisoning. It was his nerves that had him looking like he needed a lie down. He was freaking out. He was acting and looking like she did whenever there was a family function of his. That was why his lips were pressed into a tight thin line, that was why he looked so grave, preoccupied. She couldn’t believe that she hadn’t noticed that right away. That was the expression she wore whenever she was going to be around his family, she’d seen it in the mirror countless times, and now, now it was him that was dealing with feelings of inadequacy. And that vulnerability, that lack of confidence made her love him all the more, because instead of being the ever cool and collected Prince Harry, he was just being a bloke that was scared shitless about meeting his bird’s family.

Feeling compelled to say something, she took his hand in hers, entwining their fingers. “My family’s gonna love you. It might take some a little longer than others, but they’ll grow to love you.”

“How can you be sure?” he found himself asking. “What if your dad’s not having it?” He didn’t look at her. He kept his gaze fixed on the arrivals gate.

“My dad wouldn’t do anything to make me unhappy,” she stated, simply. “And if I love you, then he’s gonna learn to as well, even if he’s a little stubborn early on, which he will be, because that’s just the way he is.”

“I take it’s him I have to thank for your being such a stubborn arse, at times?”

“Mostly him, though my mom’s almost as stubborn as he is.” She smiled adoringly, and placed a hand atop his chest. “You know, there’s only one thing you need to do when you’re feeling nervous.”

“I'm not nervous.”

“Of course you’re not,” she said, dismissively. “But if you were, all you’d have to do is look at yourself through my eyes.” It was then that he turned his gaze on her, his eyes staring intently into her dark brown orbs. “In my eyes, you’ll see that you’re as close to perfection as any ginger could ever be.”

“Am I?” His tight lipped expression vanished, and was replaced by his signature smirk.

“Don’t get so full of yourself.” She smacked his chest playfully.

“Ya can’t compliment a bloke and not expect him to be pleased with himself.” He wiggled his brow, and placed his hands on her shapely hips. “How about you give us a kiss then? For the nerves?” he added.

“I thought you weren’t nervous.”

“Oh. Shut it.”

He smiled, chuckling lightly to himself, and when he’d had his laugh, he slowly lowered his lips until they captured hers in a tender, innocent kiss. There were no tongues involved, none of their usual grabbing about, but despite its modesty, despite it being close mouthed, and his hands never straying from her hips, it was enough to leave them both feeling light headed, and enough to give him a surge of courage.

“How was that?” she asked in a soft voice, after having pulled away.

“It was alright. Though, to be honest, I could do with another. Wouldn’t hurt now, would it? I reckon it’d do a bit of good.”

“I don’t think another alright kiss would be much help to you.”

“Well, it was more than alright.” He smiled, coyly. “It was nearly brilliant, but missed the mark by just a bit. I think this time around we could definitely get brilliant.”

She was about to lean in for another kiss, but just then, as she was tilting her head upwards, she heard her mother’s booming voice ring throughout the arrivals area, and the moment Paulina heard her mother telling her father that he needed to hand the trolley over to Luis, her heart nearly leapt out of her chest with joy.

Her family was there.

Her family had finally arrived.

“They’re here!” she exclaimed, her eyes twinkling in delight. “Henry, they’re here!”

“What are you goin’ on about?” He turned to look towards the arrivals area, the large archway that her family would walk through. “They’ve not come out.”

He was telling the truth. The only people he could see were some older gentlemen that were pushing along a trolley, and a woman carrying an infant while a slightly taller woman struggled with their luggage. There was no sign of her family, none at all, and he couldn’t help but think that maybe the anticipation was getting the best of Paulina.

“Maybe they haven’t gotten out yet, but I can hear my mom. Just listen. There’s someone speaking loudly in Spanish, and that’s mom! I know it is!” She watched his face intently and when his eyes widened, she couldn’t help but clap her hands excitedly. “My mom’s just as loud as I am,” she told him. “I can always hear her coming. And judging by how much louder her voice is getting, I think she’s almost out.”

“Should we get to the end of the barrier then?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I think we should.”

“Right then,” he ran a hand through his unkempt ginger hair, trying desperately to make it look more presentable. “I reckon this is it then.”

“It is.” She took his hand in hers, entwining their fingers. “Don’t worry though, you’ll be brilliant.”

“You won’t wander off though, will ya? I reckon your dad might try to corner me and . . . well, I wouldn’t be very good.”

“No offense, güerito, but I don’t think we’ll be able to hold off on the cornering, indefinitely. At some point during their stay, my dad’s gonna want to talk to you. We can hold off on it for as long as you like, but I think maybe getting it out of the way early on, would be better. It’ll give you the rest of their stay to breathe easy.”

He paused, taking a moment to think her words over. “Hmm, I reckon you’re right, but all I'm asking is that if it looks like I'm about to shit myself, that you’ll come rescue me. Yeah?” he asked.

“Of course I’ll rescue you. What kind of a Prince Charming would I be if I didn’t rescue my Snow White?” She grinned brightly at him, that toothy grin that he loved so much. “You ready?”

“I am.” He said, though in truth he would’ve much rather postponed the meeting for another day, maybe a week or two.

But he couldn’t do that. There would be no putting it off. The Balcázars had finally arrived, and the moment in which he would be properly introduced to her loved ones, was at hand. It was the moment of truth, the moment which he’d been looking forward to with a strange combination of excitement and dread. And with each passing second, with every step that carried them closer to the end of the barrier, he felt himself growing increasingly nervous. He’d never felt so insecure before. Not when he’d met Chelsy’s parents, not when he’d been busted for pot, he’d never felt that way, and it was unsettling to feel that he loved another person so much that he wanted – no, not wanted, it was more along the lines of needed, he needed their approval. He needed to be accepted, and what made that more difficult for him was the fact that he knew her family wasn’t going to be swayed by his crown, if anything his title and station in life worked against him, so he really was going to be judged on his own merits as a human being, and he wasn’t quite sure if they’d think him deserving of Paulina.

By the time Harry and Paulina reached the end of the barrier, her family was a little over halfway up the pathway that was strictly for the arrivals. They had three trolleys among them, Adrian was pushing the one that was stacked up with his and Thomas’ belongings, Raphael was handling that of his and his wife, and Luis was pushing along the one that carried his and his parents’ belongings. They moved at an easy pace, considering all the luggage they’d brought along, and the moment they spotted Paulina standing alongside Harry at the end of the barrier, they couldn’t help but smile and pick up the pace.

“Chunky butt!” exclaimed Luis, happily, as he pushed along the trolley.

“Don’t say that!” bellowed Paulina, blushing in embarrassment. “We’re in public!”

He shrugged. “Like that’s ever stopped me before!”

“So fucking embarrassing,” she mumbled. “Just watch, Henry, by tomorrow some tabloid or another is gonna be calling me chunky butt.”

“You know not to read that rubbish.” Harry said.

“I know not to, but I just know they’re gonna write it, and it’ll be so annoying. Oh well. Fucking Luis, I just hope he doesn’t say anything too embarrassing, but knowing him, he will.” She looked up at Harry. “Please don’t take him too seriously. That asshole lives to embarrass me, never misses an opportunity.”

“So long as it’s you he’s having a go at, and not me, I reckon I’ll be fine. Oi!” he exclaimed when she shot him a glare. “Was just teasing is all, nothing wrong with having a laugh. And I promise I won’t take him too seriously.”

“Thank you.” She took in a deep breath, attempting to steady her heart.

After nearly two years of being without her family, she found it hard to believe that they were actually there, that there was only a short distance keeping them apart. She couldn’t help but think that she was lost in a dream, that she would wake in her bed, and find out that her family wouldn’t be getting to England for another two or three months, she was afraid they’d vanish in a blink of an eye, but that fear was taken from her the moment her dark brown eyes settled on her father’s face, on the face of the man whom loved her unconditionally and supported her dreams even when he didn’t quite understand them. There was no man more perfect than him, no one that could even come close to the man who had come from Mexico with only a seventy dollars in his pocket, and had worked hard to provide his wife and children with a home, a comfortable living, and to send his four children to college. He was an exemplary man, and in a world where father’s abandon their children, in a world where father’s don’t get involved in their kids lives, she couldn’t help but feel blessed to have him in hers, she couldn’t help but feel tears of joy prick at her eyes as she watched him coming ever closer, and when he was only a few feet away, when he was nearly out of the pathway, she found herself so overwhelmed, that she leapt into his arms, and buried her face into the side of his neck, inhaling that Old Spice cologne that he’d been wearing since the 80’s.

It was a tender moment that seemed to last an eternity. Ricardo held his daughter tightly, he wasn’t much taller than her, only three inches separated the pair, but he felt so much taller to her. As he held her, Paulina couldn’t help but feel that she was back in kindergarten, and that he’d gone to school to take her a happy meal as her birthday lunch. In his arms, she was transported to another time, and she couldn’t help but let out tears of joy, because there was nothing like a father’s embrace, absolutely nothing.

And when they pulled apart, her eyes were sparkling with tears, and she was smiling brightly.

“Te extrañe mucho papi. (I missed you a lot dad.)” Paulina told him, sniffling slightly.

“Y yo a ti, mi princesa. Pero ya estamos aquí. Ya llegamos y eso es lo que importa. Ven acá, déjame verte. Te vez muy pero muy lindo. (I missed you to, my little princess. But we’re all here now. We’ve arrived and that’s what matters. Come over here, let me see you. You look very, very beautiful.)”

“Gracias dad. ¡Ay Dios mío! ¡Se me olvido mi güerito! Y la primera cosa que le promete fue que no me le iba apartar, un segundo por favor dad. (Thanks dad. Oh my God! I forgot about my güerito! The first thing I promised was that I wouldn’t stray, please wait a minute, dad.)” She turned back to Harry, and took his hand in hers. “Sorry about that, I just got swept in the moment and became this like crying hot mess. Ugh. I’m sorry.”

“S’alright.” He reassured. “You’ve not seen your dad in ages, and you lot show affection, so yeah.”

“Thanks for understanding.” She sniffled. “Okay, ah, I guess it’s time for me to introduce you to my family, we’ll start off with my dad. Dad, el es mi novio (this is my boyfriend), Harry,” she spoke. “And Henry, this is my dad, Ricardo.”

She waited for her dad to say something. In fact, he’d already extended his hand towards Harry, but Ricardo wasn’t the first to speak, Harry beat him to it.

“Mucho gusto conocerlo, Señor Balcázar. Uh, es honor muy grande de . . . final . . . finalme . . . finalmente conocerlo en, uh, persona. (It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Señor Balcázar. Uh, it’s a massive honor to finally meet you in person.)” Harry spoke in broken Spanish, surprising not only the Balcázar family, but his girlfriend as well.

Paulina didn’t know that he knew how to speak Spanish. He’d been keeping it a secret, having decided to continue with his lessons after the mariachi serenade had worked out so well. He’d been at it for nearly a year, but he wasn’t quite fluent at it. He could carry small conversations, nothing to complicated, and he was decent at understanding, but he was far from being fluent, and he hoped that his effort would earn him some brownie points.

Ricardo appreciated the effort the young man had made in first addressing him in Spanish, there might have been a thick accent in his delivery, but it was a sign of respect, Ricardo knew it was, and he was pleased with Harry.

“Hablas el español muy bien, muchacho. ¿Te ah estado ensañando Paulina? (You speak Spanish very well, young man. Has Paulina been teaching you?)”

“No, Señor. Um, yo en mi . . . timepo . . . no, that’s not it . . . uh, en mi tiempo libre eh estado aprendiendo. Queda mucho para aprender pero creo que bien. (No, Sir. Um, in my spare time, I’ve been learning. There’s still a lot left that I have to figure out, but I think it’s going well so far.)”

“Si te va bien, muy bien, la cosa es que no te de vergüenza hablarlo. Por que a veces si a uno se le hace difícil, yo a veces me pongo así con el ingles, pero (It is going well for you, but the thing is that you can’t be embarrassed to practice speaking it, because sometimes it can get a little tricky, I get self conscious of my English from time to time, but) we have to talk to get better. You get better, I know you will. Now, I introduce you to my family. Yes?”

“Yes Sir, I’d love to.”

“Good. We move first so we no block the people. ¡Vénganse para acá! (Come over here!)” he told his sons. “Harry, this is my wife, Irmalinda, we marry almost forty years. Irmalinda this Harry, the güerito.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ma’am.” Harry spoke politely. “Paulina’s told me so much about –” he would’ve kept going, except Irmalinda stepped forward and placed a big kiss on his cheek, followed my a warm hug, the standard greeting among the Balcázar family.

“Your Spanish very good,” complimented Irmalinda, a friendly smile adorning her face. “You speak it like Mexican, no like the Spaniards.”

“That’s due to my taking lessons with a Mexican gentleman, Ma’am.” From the corner of Harry’s eyes he could see Paulina trying to keep herself from speaking out, but despite her keeping quiet, he could see the adoration in her eyes. “I’ve still a ways to go with learning the language, but I think I’ve done well enough so far.”

“You have.” Irmalinda nodded. “You speak it well.”

“He does.” Paulina chimed in, gazing up at him with a loving smile. “He's absolutely fantastic at it. Don’t you think, Luis?”

“Yeah, yeah, I do. Your Spanish is coming along really well, Harry. And I know how much of a pain it can be with some of the sounds. I used to mess up a lot when I was little. I was horrible at rolling the r’s. I’d end up calling perros, pedos ( dogs, farts), which always made everyone crack up while I was all frustrated. Paulina had the same problem with that. She got it down by the time she was seven.”

“Seven?” Harry said, surprised.

Luis nodded. “It took her a few years to really get the Spanish down. She went through a phase where she only wanted to speak English, so we had to kind of force it, and started ignoring her when she talked in English, so if she wanted to play and she asked us in English, we’d ignore her until she asked in Spanish. Might sound a little intense, but it worked.” He chuckled to himself. “It’s great to finally meet you. I’ve been looking forward to this. I’ve heard a lot of good things from Paulin.” Luis held out his hand, and when Harry took it, he pulled him in for a one armed hug. “Don’t look so scared, man. It’s just a hug.”

“Sorry, sorry, it’s only . . . well blokes don’t really hug all that much here. Thank you though. I'm taking the hugs as a good sign.” Harry laughed nervously.

“It is.” Luis reassured. “And you better get used to it, this family hugs a lot. You should see us when we walk into a relatives house for a birthday party or carne asada, it’s like a procession of hugging and kissing. I don’t know if that’s just a Balcázar thing or a Latino thing, but we do it.”

“I’ll have to work on the hugging then.” Harry stated.

“There’ll be plenty of time to work on it. You’ve got all of us to deal with. Don’t worry though. It’ll be alright.” Luis grinned. “Let me just step out of the way, give everyone else a chance to say hello before the photographers manage to sneak in from outside.”

“Are they already trying?” Harry turned to look, and sure enough, there were photographers trying to get by the airport security. “Sorry about them, I wish you didn’t have to deal with all that, but, you know.”

“Yeah, it’s alright. No worries, man.” Luis patted him on the back and then walked off to the side.

“Harry,” spoke Paulina, placing the attention back on herself. “Let me introduce you to my brother, Raphael, and his wife, Teresa. Teresa this is my boyfriend, Harry. And Henry, this is my sister-in-law, Teresa.”

“You’re a lot taller than I thought.” Teresa spoke right away, a friendly smile on her face. “I think you’re gonna have to lean down a little so I can kiss you or else I'm gonna be getting a lot of shoulder action.”

Harry couldn’t help but chuckle and leant down a little so she could kiss his cheek and hug him. “It’s lovely to finally meet you, Teresa. How are the children? I trust they’re well.”

“They’re doing great, thanks for asking. They’re staying with my parents in Pico Rivera while we’re out here, so they’re gonna have fun running around with them.”

“I'm pleased to hear they’ll be so well situated.” Harry paused. “Will they be there when we travel to America?”

“They will.” Raphael answered in his deep voice, earning a disapproving look, from his wife. “We live a few blocks from my parents, so the kids will be there, and since they’re on summer vacation, they’ll be there a lot. They love helping their Nana with the garden.”

“I look forward to being in their frequent company. I get on famously with children. Isn’t that right, darling?”

Harry felt himself uneasy under Raphael’s gaze. It didn’t matter that Raphael was three inches shorter than him, at that moment Harry was the one who felt small under Paulina’s eldest brother’s gaze.

“He’s absolutely brilliant with children. There’s actually a charity he started that focuses on the children of Lesotho, and when we went to go visit them, they were all so happy see him and they were just playing around and it was really adorable to see how he was with them.”

“We’ll just have to wait and see how Isabel and Ronaldo feel.” Raphael commented.

“They’re gonna love him,” said Paulina, curtly, narrowing her eyes at her brother. “Teresa’s already painted you a picture Harry. She showed it to me the other day.”

“Really?” he was touched. “I'm very much looking forward to seeing it. She sounds like an absolute sweetheart.”

“She is.” Paulina said. “She can be a little bossy, but, uh, she’s a sweetheart. I was gonna say let me introduce you to my brother, but he’s already made himself known.” At that, she shot a glare at Raphael. “Henry, this is my eldest brother, Raphael. And Rafa, this is Harry.”

“I'm very much pleased to finally make your acquaintance.” Harry held his hand out. “Paulina and I’ve been looking forward to this.”

“I’m pleased we could be here as well.” Raphael took Harry’s hand, and firmly shook it. “We hope to learn more about you as the week goes on.”

“And you will.” Paulina chimed in. “Now please step to the side Rafa. We’re not done with introductions yet.” She waited until Raphael moved off to the side. “Do I really need to introduce you guys?” she asked Adrian, Thomas and Harry.

“Introductions are for when you first meet people, we’ve already been around Harry.” Thomas smiled brightly at him, a friendly smile that was much appreciated after Raphael’s stern look. “It’s great seeing you again, Harry, some would even say brilliant.”

“I’d definitely say brilliant, mate.” Harry held out his hand, and just like Luis, Thomas pulled him into a one arm hug. “Good to see you in England, again.”

“And its good to be back, especially since we came prepared with warmer clothes this time around.”

“Warmer clothes?” repeated Harry. “It’s summer.”

“An English summer is colder than a Southern Californian winter.” Thomas smiled. “You should know that by now, I'm sure Paulin’s always complaining about it.”

“It’s true. She always is.” Harry smiled. “And even when she takes a coat, she always manages to be cold. Adrian seems like he’ll be nice and warm though. That’s a lovely coat.”

“Thank you.” Adrian was much warmer than Raphael had been, though nowhere near as warm as his boyfriend or brother. “Tom gave it to me for our anniversary.”

“How many years has it been?” asked Harry. “Your being together, that is.”

“Nine years.” Adrian said, proudly. “Next April, it’ll have been a decade.”

“May,” corrected Thomas.

“Isn’t it the last day of April? I swear it’s the last day of April.” Adrian spoke.

Thomas shook his head. “It’s May 1st.”

“Oh, right, right, I always get that mixed up in my head. Sorry. It’s next May that it’ll have been a decade.” Adrian told Harry. “So how are we getting to Oxford?” Adrian asked. “Do we have to rent separate cars?”

“Don’t be daft,” said Paulina.

Adrian started laughing. “Did you just tell me to not be daft?”

“Yeah . . .” Paulina’s cheeks flooded with color. “I spend a lot of time with Harry and Brits, so I talk like them sometimes.”

“She tells people off like us as well.” Harry smiled.

“It can’t be helped though.” Paulina assured. “But yeah, we got van, well, it’s not really a van, it’s more like a minibus, it seats twelve people and it’s not the best looking thing, but it’s decent.” She turned to Harry. “Should we call Alistair to bring it out front? That way we can just get all the luggage in and then have them walk out to just get straight inside?”

“I’ll call him then. They’ve brought three trolleys, so I’ll come for the third, and you wait a few minutes, and then you walk out with them. How’s that sound?”

“Great.”

It wasn’t long before Alistair drove the Ford Transit to the entrance of the arrivals area. As soon as he informed Harry that he was in position, the young prince and his girlfriend took off with their designated trolley. It was difficult to maneuver through the press, even with three airport security personnel assisting them. The press kept snapping photos and asking questions that would never be answered, and they just had to push through it, and when they reached the Transit, they stored the luggage quick as they could, and then walked back into the terminal.

Harry took the remaining trolley, and with the security personnel at his side, walked out, leaving Paulina behind to brief her family on how to act. She told them to keep close to themselves, to mind their tempers, and to not let their face betray their emotions. She also told Raphael to keep a good hold on Teresa, Thomas offered to stand at her side to help out, and Adrian and Ricardo were to look after Irmalinda. With that settled, Paulina, whom held hands with Luis, led them outside.

Her family had thought they’d seen the bad side of the press already. When word first leaked out that she was dating Prince Harry, her family had found itself forced to deal with the American press, and a few members of the British and Mexican press, but that was nothing compared to the sea of photographers and journalists that were closing in on them. The Balcázars struggled to get through the crowd and into the Transit, and when they finally got into the safety of their van, they started complaining loudly, voicing their displeasure loudly in Spanish.

“In English, please!” exclaimed Paulina as she strapped herself into the drivers seat. Alistair had scooted down to the far seat in the front, and in between him and Paulina, sat Harry. “Not everyone here speaks Spanish. And that reminds me, everyone, I want you to meet Alistair, he’s a dear friend and Harry’s security detail.”

“Are you the one that’s coming over to the house?” asked Luis, from his seat directly behind Alistair.

“Yes, Sir,” replied Alistair, politely. “I will be accompanying His Royal Highness on his holiday to California.”

“Well it’s good to meet you ahead of time. That way you won’t just show up to a house full of strangers. I'm Luis, by the way. And please, don’t call me, Sir. That’s . . . that’s unnerving. You know? Let me introduce you to the rest of us, since chunky butt’s gonna be driving. Alright, this is my mom, her name’s . . .”

Luis handled the introductions, and after everyone had greeted Alistair, – Raphael treated him with more warmth than he did Harry – they lapsed into conversation, which was actually just a somewhat kinder and friendlier seeming interrogation of Harry. Harry had thought that they’d wait for them to get to Oxford before they started interrogating, but no, they started as soon as they could, they spent the entire drive asking him what he did for a living, what he was passionate about, what school he’d gone to, what his family thought of the relationship, what he was looking forward to in California, they asked him everything they could think of. That’s a lie. Ricardo held off on a few questions, but that was due to his wishing to ask those in private.

They questioned Harry until they reached the property the Balcázar family would be staying at for the week. They had thought of staying in a hotel, but since it was end of term and graduation season, the rates had gone up dramatically, so they settled to rent out Cherbridge Lodge in Summertown, Oxford. For a three bedroom lodge with ample space, it was only $1,400, nearly two thousand less than if they would’ve rented four separate hotel rooms for an entire week. And what was best, was that it was on privately owned land, it was part of a family business, one of several holiday properties that were situation on a farm that had been passed down from generation to generation, so they would have privacy, and be free to walk on the grounds without worrying about the press. The owners had even been kind enough to let them check in earlier than the usual four p.m. arrival time. It was an ideal space with a fully furnished kitchen, washer and dryer, and three bedrooms and bathrooms.

And when they stepped inside, they were relieved to find that it looked every bit as beautiful in person as it did on the pictures posted online. Everyone settled into their rooms, Ricardo and Irmalinda took the master bedroom, Adrian and Thomas took the one that overlooked the small pond, and Raphael and Teresa took the one that overlooked the gardens. Luis and Paulina had toyed with the idea of staying at the lodge with their family, they’d sleep on the couches downstairs, but Luis wanted to go out to party, he didn’t want to spend his entire nights sleeping, so he had convinced his parents to let him and his sister stay at Paulina’s apartment, they would leave at nine pm, and be back by nine the following morning. It was an ideal situation. They’d be able to go out drinking at night, and not feel guilty about it.

They spent their entire first day getting situated in the lodge. The long flight had taken their energy out of them, and instead of doing sightseeing and walking around Oxford, they decided to spend the day together, just enjoying each others company and having family meals with everyone present. Paulina, Luis and Harry were the ones that went to the local market to fetch what their mom listed out, and her family had brought food and spices from America to cook with, so it was a feast unlike any Harry had ever had. He’d thought that Paulina was the best cook in the family, but on that day, he learned that title belonged to Irmalinda.

On that night, Paulina and Luis bid farewell to their family earlier than they’d planned to. By seven, everyone was struggling to stay awake, the jet lag had gotten to them, and as such, they decided to call it a night early in hopes of getting their bodies to adjust to the time difference.

“So what’s good out here?” asked Luis as they drove away from the lodge. “And you better not say there isn’t anything going on, because you fuckers just finished up the semester, and it’s time to drink and make bad decisions.”

“You’re always so damn charming, Luis. Honestly, you’re male perfection!” Paulina exclaimed as she drove them onto the main road. “But if you must know, there’s a club called The Bridge, and that’s where we’ll be going tonight, but first we have to drop Alistair off at his house.”

“There’s no need for that, Miss.” Alistair told her. “I can take public transport. It wouldn’t be an issue.”

“Alistair, I am not going to let you take public transport.” Paulina was offended that he’d even propose that. “Your house isn’t obscenely far away. We’ll be back by 8:30 so it’ll be fine, really. And don’t you dare mention public transport again, because I will throw a tantrum.”

“In that case, thank you, Miss,” Alistair smiled appreciatively from his seat beside Luis.

“You don’t have to call her, Miss.” Luis told Alistair. “Why the fuck, do you have him calling you, Miss?”

“I am aware that I am not obligated to refer to Miss Balcázar as Miss, she has told me so on numerous occasions, Sir, but I prefer to address her in that manner.” Alistair explained.

“I still think you should just call her chunky butt.” Luis joked.

“Luis!” cried Paulina. “Don’t bug Alistair. He has enough to deal with without adding your ass to it.”

Wanting to annoy his little sister further, Luis flicked the back of her head.

“I'm gonna kick your ass when we get home!” she threatened him.

“Oh. I'm so fucking scared.” Luis smirked. “You know what would make that scary? If you had actually ever managed to kick my ass, but no, no, twenty four years, and not once have you done it.” He scratched the base of his neck. “Hey Harry, you gonna spend the night at her place?”

“I was thinking of staying at my uncles.” Harry informed Luis. “I’ve not yet told him, but I can pop by unannounced at four in the morning and he would still welcome me.”

“That’s down. That’s a good uncle, you’ve got, but you don’t have to stay at his place. You can stay at Paulin’s.”

“He can what?” she nearly yelled.

“He can stay at your place. I'm not gonna get all crazy about that shit, but just so you know, you’ll be on the couch.” Luis told Harry.

“Shouldn’t Paulina be on the couch?” asked Harry.

“We’ll split the bed. I grew up with her climbing in my bed whenever she got scared, in fact, to this day she still pulls that shit whenever she gets freaked out, so we’ll get the bed, and you’ll get the couch. And don’t think that I'm gonna let you two have at it while I'm there. That’s not rad.”

“I would never expect you to. I would never dream of doing that while you were present, not that I would do that while you weren’t. That is to say, I would, but I wouldn’t. Bloody hell, I’ve dug myself in deep. Haven’t I?” Harry was mortified and he didn’t want to look back at Luis.

“Nah man, don’t worry about it. People say some crazy ass shit when they’re nervous. Just relax. I'm not the scary one. That spot belongs to Rafa. That’s the one that gets all weird. I think it’s cuz he’s the oldest, so he’s extra protective of us. He once ran out some girl I was seeing in high school, because he’d seen her fucking around with someone a few days earlier. I tried telling him that I didn’t fucking want her as my girlfriend, I just wanted to put it in, but then he went into old ass Mexican mode and told me that I couldn’t disrespect women like that, that sex is a commitment, and egh, point is that he can be lame, but he’s also really cool. He just needs to warm up to you a little.”

“That likely to happen during this holiday?” inquired Harry.

“Honestly, I don’t think so. That’ll probably happen while you’re in America. As soon as his kids take to you, you’ll be alright in his book, but the thing is, you’ve already got our mom on your side, and our dad, well, he’s as bad as Rafa, but you speaking in Spanish was a nice touch. I could see it in his eyes, he was impressed.”

“He was. And it was an amazing touch.” Paulina agreed. Her lips curled into a bright smile on her face as she drove. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me that you were learning Spanish. I could’ve helped.”

“I know ya could’ve, but I wanted to surprise you.” Harry said.

“Well you did. And I love you very much, güerito. That was beyond sweet. I honestly keep myself from pouncing on you when I heard –”

“I'm sitting right here!” Luis reminded.

“We know.” Paulina shouted. “It’s not like I was gonna say anything bad.”

“You were saying things not for a brother’s ears.” Luis nestled into the seat. “This is a sweet ride by the way. I thought you were gonna end up getting us crappy cars.” Luis had sent her the money to pay for the vehicle rental and he’d assumed she’d get two minivans to accommodate everyone. “There aren’t any of these in America. Are there?”

“No. This is a Ford model exclusive for England.” Paulina informed Luis. “It is a good space though, and it handles well.”

“Awesome. We’ll be able to move around comfortably then.” Luis paused, taking a moment to stretch. “Are you gonna travel around with us, Harry?”

“I’d love to, but I’ve training. I’ve Sunday off, which means I’ll be able to spend most of tomorrow with your family, but I have to head back to the camp at night, and I’ll stay there until Wednesday, then I’ll be done with that for a few months.” Harry answered. “It’s not as many days as I would’ve liked, but we’ll be in California soon enough, so that’ll make up for it.”

“It will.” Luis agreed. “So are you looking forward to going to California, Alistair?” he asked him.

“I am, Sir. I’ve never been, so I'm much looking forward to it.” Alistair replied, politely.

“You’ve never been? Man, you don’t know what you’ve been missing out on. It’s good weather, well, sometimes it gets under sixty, but compared to what it’s like in England, it’s great weather all the time, we have an earthquake every once in awhile, hasn’t been anything serious in awhile, so that’s rad, and the food’s just phenomenal. You’re both gonna gain weight while you’re over there. My mom and tias are the best damn cooks.”

“Your mother and what?” asked Alistair. “I'm not familiar with that word.”

“Oh. Right, right, I forgot you don’t speak Spanish. Well, tia means aunt, so my mom and my aunts are the best cooks. You guys will like the food though. Wait. I just remembered you just had the food. Did you like it? Don’t feel obligated to say you did just to be polite.”

Alistair chuckled slightly. “It was delicious, a bit too spicy for me, since I don’t really eat many peppers, but it was fantastic. Miss Balcázar has done a bit of that cooking as well, though her dishes are milder and suit me better.”

“Chunky butt’s a good cook. She always used to take over for us whenever our parents would go out of town.”

“I only took over cuz you can’t cook.” Paulina said.

“It’s because I'm a man!” Luis joked. “All I’ve got to know how to make are carnitas and beans. That’s it. The rest is para las damas (women’s work).”

“Just for that, I'm never cooking for you again.” Paulina made an empty threat.

“That’s what you say now, but we both know you will. It’s not in you to not feed someone that’s hungry. That’s another Balcázar thing,” he told Alistair. “If someone goes into the house, you have to give them a feast. And if you’re the person that walked in, you have to eat the entire thing or else it’ll be viewed as an insult.”

“I'm quite ready to feast,” Harry chimed in.

Paulina glanced over and smiled at him. “I’ll make sure to ask my mom to make your favorite dishes.”

“I want you to make them.” Harry pouted. “She cooks brilliantly, truly, your mum does, but like Alistair said, your dishes, suit us better.”

It wasn’t long before Alistair was dropped off at his house, and Paulina drove the rest of them back to Oxford, where a few members of the press were sitting outside her apartment complex. She’d hoped that they would’ve just given up since she hadn’t been there all day, but no, they were there, waiting to snap pictures and pester her with questions.

They maneuvered through the crowd as best they could; Paulina held her brother’s hand and led him into the building, hoping to minimize the amount of time he’d be exposed to the flashing lights. She hated having to put her family through that, but there was no helping it, they’d come to England, and they just, well, they just had to make due.

“Sorry about that,” she apologized when they got in. “There’s always a few lingering out front.”

“Don’t they have anything better to do?” asked Luis, not really expecting to get an answer.

“Apparently not,” replied Harry as he set down his overnight bag. “They’re a bunch of wankers that get paid to be a bunch of wankers.”

Luis began to laugh. “No offense to you, Harry. I just think its really funny when people say wanker. It’s just one of those bad words, that shouldn’t really be a bad word, but it’s funny just the same.” He took off his jacket. “So what time are we heading out? Will I have enough time for a shower?”

“Yeah, you will. The clubs here don’t really get going until late, so we’ll probably leave at around eleven or so.” Paulina told him. “There are some clean towels in the linen closet and a fresh razor in the bathroom if you need one. Everything’s just in there. I even got that body wash you like.”
“Alright then, I’ll just grab some clothes and take a quick shower. Remember, don’t be fucking trying to pull anything pass me. If there’s anything shady going on while I'm in the shower, I’ll find out and then you won’t be able to stay here, while we’re here.” Luis warned Harry.

“I don’t even get why you’re being so ridiculous.” Paulina stated. “You know we have sex. We’re in our damn twenties; I think it’s obvious that we’re having a go at each other.”

“That might be so, but I'm your older brother and I’d rather not have to think about that. That reminds me, can you make me some coffee while I'm showering?” Luis watched until she nodded. “Sweet, and remember to do it with the French press, there’s no coffee better than coffee done from a French press.”

And with that, Luis picked up his change of clothes, and walked into the bathroom.

“I am so sorry about him,” apologized Paulina. “He’s just . . . he’s Luis, and he’s a little weird. Well, not a little weird, he’s as weird as I am, but you know.”

“Yeah, I know. S’alright though. He’s a good bloke.”

“I'm glad you think so.” Paulina smiled softly. “You were really fantastic today. When you started speaking Spanish, I was just trying to keep myself from pouncing on you, because oh my fucking goodness, you sounded so hot.”

“Did I?” he smirked.

She nodded. “I love it when you speak Spanish. It makes me remember that time you serenaded me, and we both know how that night went.”

He placed his hand on the side of her face, and softly caressed it. “Maybe I’ll have to give another go at singing when your parents leave.”

“Please do,” she whispered as she placed her hands on the loops of his pants, pulling him towards her. “It’ll just be you and me, and a week and a half of us doing whatever it is you’ve planned for us to do.” She gazed up at him, her hands resting on his hips as he stood between her parted legs. “You know, I know you want to keep it a secret and all, but I think it’d be pretty rad if you told me where we’re going off to. Is it in the UK?”

“I’ve nothing to say on that.” Harry stated, dropping his hand from her face. “It’s meant to be a surprise, and I mean to keep it one.”

“I’ll still be surprised. You know how I am, I can watch the same movie over and over again, and still be surprised by what happens. I'm not one of those people that can’t enjoy it afterwards, if anything I enjoy it even more.”

“I'm not telling you.” Harry chuckled. “Just wait and see, yeah?”

“Oh. Alright, I guess I’ll just go crazy trying to figure out where it is you’re taking me.”

“You’re such a dramatic curly headed –”

She lightly smacked his chest. “You’re such an ass.”

“And you love me, so you must be an even more massive ass.”

“I must be.” She smiled softly. “You know, today went really well.”

“It did.” He agreed, returning her smile.

“My mom loves you. I could see it on her face. Teresa does too. And Thomas! Oh! Thomas was amazing, even Adrian was better than usual. And my dad, like, he’s . . . oh, he’s well on his way to loving you.”

“Is he really? I thought he was well on his way to tolerating me.” Harry joked.

Paulina shook her head. “When he tolerates people, he’ll give them a few civil words and then ignore them, but he engaged you in conversation, he put himself out there by speaking in English. He doesn’t do that for just anyone. Plus, he already likes the fact that you respect him, and that you know how to speak Spanish. I still can’t get over the fact that you’ve been taking lessons. That was just . . . I couldn’t believe it, and my emotions just went haywire and I was like going crazy, but that was just, I don’t know, I'm really bad at putting things into words sometimes, but you’re amazing, güerito. Te amo (I love you).”

“Love you to.” He placed a cautious kiss on her lips, nervous that her brother might come out. “And I'm really pleased your family’s here. This was a lot less terrifying than I’d imagined. I thought your brothers would gang up on me, but it’s just the one.”

“Don’t worry about him. Like Luis said, he’s just a grouch. And if he knows what’s good for him, he’s gonna be better tomorrow, because I told his ass off enough today, and I’ve no problem of telling him off tomorrow, because no one messes with my güerito.”