Better off without him

Chapter 25 - Harper

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A strangled groan woke me from my slumber and I bolted upright to see what all the commotion was about. I blinked and saw that Lex had Xavier in a chokehold before jumping out of the covers and going over to the pair.

"What the hell are you doing Lex, get your hands off of him!" I screamed, watching as Xavier struggled to breathe with the chokehold Lex had him in.

"Shit sorry. I thought you were some intruder," Lex said letting him go; as Xavier bent at the knees trying to catch his breath. I rubbed my palm up and down his back and glared at Lex asking for answers. "Sorry Harp, we were asleep and I heard the door creep open and a figure coming in. Thinking it was an intruder I made a move and grabbed him in a chokehold. I didn't know it was him. Besides, what were you doing coming in here like some creep?" Lex said eying Xavier up and down.

Xavier stood up with a hand around his neck and looked at me. "I was coming in to check on Harp."

"She's fine, as you can see," Lex said eying the both of us curiously and standing under his scrutiny I decided to come clean.

I grabbed Xavier's hand and held it, looking into Lex's eyes, "Xavier and I are kind of together."

"Not kind of together sweetheart, we are together," Xavier clarified.

Lex was quiet for a long moment, staring between Xavier and I. The silence was deafening so I looked up at Xavier, who bent down and gave me a kiss of reassurance. He manoeuvred my body so that I was facing him and hugged me close to his chest.

"Holy shit Harp, you really are dating this guy," Lex said with laughter in his tone. I turned around and faced him and nodded my head at his question.

"Is he treating you alright?" He asked in a serious tone.

"It's only been a few days and yes he's treating me well," I said as I walked out of Xavier's arms and stood in front of Lex.

"Can you give Harper and I a few minutes man. I just want to talk to her for a bit," Lex said to Xavier.

I turned and watched Xavier as he stared back for a long moment before turning around and exiting the room. Lex took my hand and sat on the bed and I took a seat beside him, afraid of what he might say.

"Harp, you're like family to me and I want you to tell me the truth. Is Xavier treating you well?" His question shocked me but I felt the need to answer honestly, starting from the beginning.

"You know how I told you about that date that  I went on almost a year ago?" I said and Lex nodded. "Well, Xavier was the guy that I went on that date with. I had been crushing on him for years and Macy set the both of us up. When he arrived at the house, he came over thinking I was one of Macy's other friends and I guess he didn't like what he saw because after that everything went down hill." I didn't know my hands were shaking until Lex grabbed them and clutched them in his bigger ones. I took a deep breath and continued. "He ignored me the entire ride to the restaurant and I tried getting him to have a conversation but he acted like he couldn't hear me. When we arrived at the restaurant he walked ahead of me and ordered before I even sat down. I tried to engage him in conversation again but he just sat there and texted and the next thing I know, he said something about having to be somewhere and left. The date isn't what hurt me, it was more his anger and animosity towards me in the months that followed that hurt the most. It was ironic that I had to move in with him and to be honest Lex, I was a ghost in that house until you showed up. We were like strangers sharing the same space. Up until a few weeks ago Xavier and I barely spoke to each other," I said my voice cracking a bit. "When you left, I decided to move out and things happened and now here we are."