Greenhouse || Xavier Thorpe x Male Reader

welcome, those of you that are early || chapter 26

hey y'all! sorry for updating so late and so little... my family's landlord has decided to stick harassing letters in our doors as well as lock our thermostat and internet so it's very cold and my cell data is very slow lmao. anyways, happy new year and enjoy the first chapter of Arc 4!

 The week of Community Day has arrived. April 16th. The snow has long melted, and I was able to restore some of my wildflowers back to their former glory. The bees have been liking them so far, much to Eugene's delight and Wednesday's not-apathy.

Community Day has had everyone at Nevermore in a chokehold. Rumors about events and reasoning behind the event have filled conversations everywhere. Tomorrow, we'll find out what's actually going to happen.

"I'm so excited," Enid chirps happily as we sit outside by the lake.

"When are you not excited, though?" Ajax asks her. She sticks her tongue out at him and he laughs. "Mature, Enid."

She rolls her eyes. "I'm making up for Wednesday. After all, I do have enough emotion for two people."

Wednesday pats her hand with less of a frown than usual. Enid is good for her, as the two of them balance each other out almost perfectly.

"Tomorrow is a historical day for Nevermore, though," Xavier remarks. "It's the first time we're doing an in-school community event. Normally it's just with Jericho."

"We've kind of kept in-school things competitive," Ajax notices.

I nod and pick at a blade of grass. "Yeah. A change of pace for that will be nice."

The group falls into silence and the wind breezes through my hair. Tomorrow, we'll see what all of these rumors are about. But that's still tomorrow, and there's plenty to do today.

~=~

The greenhouse table cuts into my legs again as I wrap my arms tighter around Xavier. I'm well aware of Weem's words about the weight limit on the table, but it technically is one of my belongings, so she doesn't have a strict hold on how much weight is on the table. A tree would be much heavier. I should get around to smoothing the edges of it, though.

The electric jolt of a hand on my back brings my thoughts away from tables and back into the moment. I try to hook myself around him again, but he pushes me back down onto the table until he's practically on top of me.

"Is this okay?" he whispers breathlessly. I nod, closing my eyes again and allowing myself to be swept up into the sensation of him and I, here again. My hands in his hair, the small stings of pain and pleasure mixed together every time his lips make contact with my skin, the increased heart rate. I pull myself closer to him, rejoicing in the warm feeling of his body.

He moves his hands behind my back and brings me up again, back into where we were before. This time when I move to wrap my legs around his waist, he doesn't push me back, instead taking on the familiar steadying position with one arm on my back and the other below my thigh. I expect him to move, back me against the cool tinted glass of the greenhouse wall, but he doesn't. We stay where we are, wrapped in one another and in our feelings.

~=~

The next morning, I wake up with a sense of excitement only half of what Enid has on a daily basis. Community Day. My eyes flick over to the sleeping figure next to me and I smile. He got back after I did, most likely painting into ungodly hours. It makes sense that he wouldn't want to get up as early as I do today.

I get up and grab a light yellow sweater. Since it's the weekend, uniforms are optional. I pull it over the green t-shirt I'm wearing already and grab some denim overalls to replace the plaid pyjama pants. Community Day has me awake even before I drink coffee, and I finally understand the constant buzz that the rest of the student body seems to have been creating. It's a historical event for us.

I walk downstairs and see the signature black-and-rainbow pair that is Wednesday and Enid waiting for me. Enid waves and I jog over to them.

"Xavier's still asleep," I tell them. "He got in late last night."

"Oh, okay. We're still waiting on Ajax as well," she responds.

I nod. "Out of the two of them, Xavier's normally out earlier. We'll see who makes us wait the longest."

She laughs and Wednesday turns to the staircase, scanning the faces of people walking down.

"As you guessed, [Y/N], somehow Ajax is still not here," she remarks. Xavier comes over to us and kisses my forehead in greeting.

"Any word from Ajax?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "Chances are he won't be down for a while. We're better off heading outside and waiting for him to find us out there."

We do so, finding an unoccupied table in the quad. I look around and realize that wouldn't have been hard to do. The breakfast bell hasn't tolled yet and so the quad is relatively empty.

"Weems is setting up," I say to the rest of the group. They look over to where she stands, putting together a microphone. "She'll probably make the first announcement at breakfast."

"How far is that from now?" Enid asks.

Wednesday checks her watch. "Twenty-one minutes. And fifteen seconds."

"We still have some time, then."

"Not enough if we want to guarantee a table, though," I remind her. She frowns.

"What are we supposed to do, then, just sit here for twenty minutes?" she complains. "That's boring."

Just as she finishes, Weems steps up to the now-assembled microphone. "Welcome, those of you that are early, to the first annual Nevermore Community day!"