Because I Love You✔️

Chapter 25: It Begins

In fact, they'd never been further apart considering as of right then, Amelia seemed to be angry with her over everything she'd done. 

They were just acquaintances who lived near each other now.

Nothing more.

Ella's eyes drifted and came to rest on Xaphile, the most mysterious member of their group, and scowled since he was slightly hidden behind a tree only a short distance away. His eyes were closed and his chest was rising and falling rhythmically, but Ella didn't have to wonder whether or not he was asleep because she already knew. 

She had watched him closely, just to be sure, and while at first it hadn't seemed like he was breathing at all, after a long hour those breaths had become visible and slow.

Her eyes fell, immediately being obscured by her long white lashes.

Up until the moment he'd saved her life, she'd genuinely hated him, and she still disliked him even now... almost unbearably so. He was an enigma, and his personality was unpleasant, which was not a good combination for her low-tolerance of problematic people.

Plus, she didn't understand how he could want to kill himself when nearly everyone else around her would have killed someone else, even their own children, just to stay alive, but again, he was an enigma since instead of fighting to keep his life he was fighting to end it.

It was disturbing and definitely not natural... and and yet... and yet, somehow, even though she hated him, she was also grateful to him because as strange as he was, he was one of very few people who had ever attempted to save her life, and even more strangely, whenever things got rough he always stood fast and tried to protect everyone if he could help it.

First with Gus, and now with her, too, his behavior during crucial moments pointed to him being nothing short of a good soul. Despite his negativity, and despite the fact that he wasn't even human, she couldn't stay completely mad at him after what he'd done for her, no matter how stupid she was for it.

She was still skeptical, but not nearly as much as she'd been, and the anger she'd harbored had become much less intense. In fact, for the first time, she was truly thinking that the others were right. If she kept up with her hateful attitude, something bad might indeed happen, since he seemed mentally and emotionally unstable.

It wouldn't be so bad to treat him just a little better, right? He had needlessly suffered because of her, after all, and he already looked as though he'd been kicked down by life.

She didn't necessarily need to add to his suffering for it to continue, but admitting that she needed to change was the same as admitting she was wrong, and she hated being wrong with a passion, even if it could help her learn from her mistakes.

That was precisely why she was so frustrated all the time.

She spent a few more minutes mulling over the argument she'd had with Amelia, then reluctantly decided to take everything to heart. She would apologize to Xaphile whenever she had an opportunity to do so with the humility she knew was due until he decided to forgive her.

She wouldn't let herself be in the wrong when she needed to be right, for she knew that if things continued on, she would lose the faith and trust of those around her. Perhaps if she managed to convince him that she was sincere, things would be a little less tense between them.

With newfound resolve, Ella lay down again, figuring she should get herself some sleep while she could, but the next time she opened her eyes, the sun was up and the others were already awake and packing. Gus glanced at her when she sat up and blearily blinked at everything.