Page 22 of Alien in the Attic

He reached out, offering his hand to Carmen. She smiled and took it as she slowly stood back up.

“Why did I bother with makeup?” she asked with a short laugh.

Arccoo lifted his hand and wiped a tear from her cheek. “I never understood the need. You look beautiful without it.”

Carmen sighed. That exact behavior made this so hard to handle in the first place.

“Would you take a walk with me?” he asked. “I want to enjoy the scenery of this planet one more time.”

Carmen nodded and took his hand as he led her outside into the nearby woods. They strolled through the path silently, stepping on fallen yellow leaves and listening to birds chirping at each other. They would be moving further south soon and needed to eat up plenty of bugs and seeds to fuel their trip.

The thought made Carmen’s heart sink. Her grip on his hand loosened as thoughts of the future they couldn’t have flashed through her mind. She imagined some fairytale happy ending,where she and Arccoo would live together in their mansion forever. They’d get married, introduce him to the town who would adore and accept him, and they’d live happily ever after.

As if.

“Carmen,” Arccoo said as he stopped their walk. “I… want you to know how much you mean to me. This world is full of so much beauty and wonder. These creatures, your plant life, architecture, art and music, all of this has made such an impact on me. But none of it can possibly compare to your face.”

Carmen choked back a sob, her lip quivering despite her attempts to maintain her composure.

“I will take the memory of you with me into the stars, where you will be in my heart until the day I take my final breath. The vastness of space between us will do nothing to quiet the depth of my love for you.”

Arccoo leaned down, a finger lifting Carmen’s chin toward him. He brushed his lips against hers, making her sigh in contentment. If every kiss was threatening to be their last, she’d have to take in the passion of each one in equal measure.

She stood on her toes as their kiss deepened. He held her closely against his body as if worried she’d float away if he let go.

That question flickered through her mind again. The ugly, selfish question she would never let herself speak out loud.

Would he stay for me? If I asked him right now, would he?

Carmen sighed as their lips parted, her heels touching the ground again. Somehow, deep down, she knew the true answer. She wouldn’t let him. If he told his rescue party to head back out and leave him here, she’d be the first to pack his bags and shove him on board.

His people needed him. She understood that feeling more than most people, and she wasn’t about to let her own feelings stand in the way of an entire planet’s needs.

“I love you, too,” she finally said.

“I want you to be happy.” Arccoo held her face in his hand, his thumb tracing over her cheekbone. “If that means, one day, that you—”

“Don’t,” she said, cutting him off. She couldn’t even consider the concept of ever moving on, especially not right now. This ache hurt, sure, but it was proof their love was real. She wanted to hold on to that ache as long as her heart would allow. It was bad enough that, as a prince, surely Arccoo would need to marry another woman one day. That’s just what princes did. They married princesses.

Not plain, frumpy human women like her.

“Very well.” Arccoo took her hand again and squeezed it. He led her further into the woods, this time with less silence. Hepointed out things he enjoyed and things he found strange or fascinating, little observations about her planet that he loved.

“What is that creature?” he asked, pointing at a tree branch. “I’ve seen many of them around here.”

“A squirrel?” Carmen asked with raised eyebrows.

“A squirrel…” Arccoo repeated. “It’s so small yet appears so angry.”

Carmen giggled, holding back another round of tears. “He’s busy gathering nuts to store for the winter. He’s going to bury them, so when food becomes scarce, he’ll know where to go when he gets hungry. We’re probably standing in his way.”

“Intelligent. We will leave you to it, then, squirrel.”

Carmen shook her head with a wide smile. She knew she’d never be able to look at a squirrel again without thinking of Arccoo and his unending love of her planet.

And maybe that wouldn’t be so bad.

“We should head back soon,” Carmen said. “You probably have to get your things in order.”

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