XERO

Chapter Four: Let's Get Family-er

Whooooooo a hella intense chapter. I personally needed a bit of a breather after that one. Sooooooo much blood and guts, but we're here for it! Have your opinions on Xero changed? 

Maybe this one will clear some things up for you....

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A buzzer.

That's my cue. I made my way to the exit after stopping to put my tray in the incinerator. To not finish my food when it was exceptional was a cardinal sin; I would pay the price for that later, my stomach grumbling at the emptiness. Ugh, I'm too theatrical for my own damn good.

"Leaving so soon?" A voice called out from behind me as I escaped through the double doors. "I was enjoying the show."

I recognised the lilt of the teasing tone and chuckled to myself as I turned to meet Andreas' gaze. Looking down at me from between his thick dark lashes, he cocked his head to the side, his hair falling in front of his eyes.

I ached to brush it away as my teeth sank into the flesh of my bottom lip. The look on his face made me smile, one of pleasure and poise. He knew no one could sneak up on me in this place; I could sense everything, but he kept me on my toes, moving quicker and more quietly than any human I'd ever known.

"I'm sure you were." I chuckled, wiping my bloody hands on my off-white lab dress that now looked like the canvas of a toddler's finger painting.

"Gotta be careful though," he muttered, tucking in some loose tendrils of hair that had escaped my ponytail, "there're eyes and ears everywhere. You don't wanna land yourself in solitary now, do you?"

A slight frown overtook my sharp features as I pouted. Solitary is no fun. I huffed, leaning against the wall beside him as I batted my long lashes. He responded as I knew he would, caging me in with his brawny arms on either side of my head.

My eyes sharpened to tunnel vision as he rested his forehead against mine and closed his eyes with a moan. Thoughts of my isolation running rampant in his mind were clear as day in the tight fist he had unknowingly made.

"Boo, you know I'm a sucker for a good show." I mused, grabbing hold of his hand and unmaking his fist, finger by finger. He stared at me with a slight grin, knowing that I knew.

I always know.

"With you, milady, it's the greatest." He wickedly confided as he kissed my bloody knuckles.

With a wink I pulled him closer to me until he was close enough to taste the mint on his breath and the gentle aftershave on his skin. His proximity made me giggle like a schoolgirl as I felt his blood rush in a way that was all too familiar.

A battle ensued, with both opponents fighting for a dominance neither would give. Commencing the tango we had practiced to perfection, I let my fingers disappear into his stubborn curls as his arms banded around my waist. I could taste blood on my lips as his tongue slipped past them, but we didn't care.

This was normal.

For as long as the laws of time allowed, I disappeared in all that was Andreas, leaving the world behind. For a second, a minute, an hour, I forgot what it was like to suffer and to hurt; I forgot what it was like to be a Prototype.

All my worries, all my sorrows, all my everything drowned in an ocean of Andreas and his lips and his touch and his smell and hi–Ahem, someone cleared their throat.

We snapped apart.

Our relationship was one that was hinted but never stated, implied but never mentioned. Our secrecy was key, as knowledge of our rendezvous would solicit a separation that neither of us could bear.