Chained By The Witch

Half-assed chapter 18 :/

"You never told me you could play." I say entering Xander's room, now dressed in comfortable, loose-fitting clothes. Xander jumps slightly at the sound of my voice. He sets the guitar against his nightstand and turns to face me.

"You never really asked." He folds his hands in his lap, his cheeks burning crimson.

"I didn't mean to intrude, I just thought it sounded nice." I lean into the doorway and cross my arms.

"Really? I always thought I was kinda bad." He replies sheepishly.

"How many songs can you play?"

"I lost count. I just mostly play by ear now. Sometimes I don't even know what song I'm playing, just that it exists. Other times I accidentally mesh two songs together." I nod and walk through the threshold of his door, sitting next to him on the bed.

"Do you ever play in front of people?"

"Not often, no. Why?"

"Just curious." I lie, shifting my gaze away.

"Did you want me to play something?" Xander asks knowingly.

"Would you? I've never gotten to see anyone play before." I blurt excitedly. He calmly picks up the guitar and thinks for a moment.

"What do you want me to play?" Xander asks, tuning the strings waiting for me to answer.

"Just play like I'm not here." He nods and plays around with strumming patterns until he finds one he likes. I watch him curiously, he plays for a while and starts to subconsciously hum the lyrics to the song.

I lay back onto the bed and just listen to him play to his heart's content. It almost feels as if he's actually forgotten I was in the room with him.

Xander starts to sing quietly, I strain my ears and try to listen to the lyrics but he's too quiet to hear. Even though I can't understand what he's saying it still calms me and I let my eyes slip shut. Though it is calming, it's not quite putting me to sleep.

After a while he stops and my eyes flutter open slowly. I sit up and he waits patiently for me to react. I smile and scoot closer to him.

"Did you like it?" Xander asks, setting the guitar aside.

"I don't even have words to describe it." I answer honestly. Xander leans his forehead against mine and kisses my nose lightly.

"Thank you, love." He says, grasping my hands gently.

"I don't think you noticed it but you were singing. I finally got to hear how pretty your voice is." I coo to him, holding the sides of his face.

"Really?" Xander's brows knit together in confusion.

"Mhm. You should sing more often." He looks away from me and sighs.

"Maybe someday." Xander says.

"Look at me, Xan." I prod gently. He obeys and I caress the side of his face with the pad of my thumb. "I know you don't believe me, but I really do love everything about you."

He connects our lips and I melt into him.

"I know. But it's gonna take me a while, okay?" He says, smiling at me. I nod solemnly.

"I feel better by the way."

"That's good." Xander says, running his thumbs over my knuckles. "I was starting to worry a bit about how long it would take to heal."

"How's your back?" I ask, concern lacing my voice.

"It's fine, I promise. You didn't hurt me as bad as you think." He says, laughing quietly at my concern. "Plus, if I had wanted you to stop at any point I would've told you by now." I nod but I still don't believe him. If they didn't hurt he wouldn't have reacted like that.

"Can I see them?" I ask, reluctantly pulling myself away from him.

Xander turns and pulls his shirt over his head. I cringe, knowing how much pain the movement is probably causing him. But the marks look less raised and have started to scab over and heal. I touch the marks as lightly as I possibly can, Xander doesn't react so I put a bit more pressure. I run my fingers over the marks, pressing a bit harder. He hisses quietly under his breath but doesn't move away from me.

"Please stop. You're gonna reopen the wounds." Xander forces through gritted teeth. I pull my hand away and he exhales deeply, pulling his shirt back down gently.

"With how little pressure I put I'd say you're lying to me." I say, laying my hand on his shoulder and digging my thumb nail into his shoulder blade. Xander squeaks and tries to writhe away from my grip, only making the pain worse.

"What was I supposed to say? Oh yeah, I totally feel like absolute shit and it's your fault?" He retorts.

"I told you how I felt. You could at least offer me the same honesty so I would stop hurting you!"

"Who says I wanted you to stop? These don't feel any worse than the tattoos covering 90% of my body and they heal quicker. Maybe I'll even raise you to the challenge of making them worse next time! Hello, princess, I'm a fucking masochist!" Xander chuckles darkly. A muscle in my face twitches at the nickname.

"See you say that, yet you flinch when anything even comes close to your back." I lean in close to the side of his face. "I don't believe you." I whisper in his ear. He rolls his eyes.

"Look, it's just like your current situation. You're in pain now, right? But how did it feel then, hm? You can whine all you want but what is pleasure without pain?" Xander declares, placing his hand over top of mine. He prys my hand away from his shoulder and suddenly pulls me around into his lap.

"I'm not like you. I wield the knife and you take the pain. I am better than you, I am stronger than you, and something in you likes that about me." I argue, pushing his chest. He puts a hand to his chest and scoffs.

"Are you calling me submissive? I'm sorry, who's on whose lap right now?" Xander asks rhetorically.

"This gives me a better angle to choke the ever-loving shit out of you." I say, pulling away from him. Xander grabs my hips and holds me where I am.

"Then do it, I won't fight." He smirks, daring me.