Can love save a life? (Mc romance)

08 - The Panda Bear

Xavier didn't care that he was getting wet as he looked down at Brooke sleeping peacefully in his arms.

She was all that mattered, she was all that ever mattered and would be the only thing that mattered to him.

Never again would she not feel like she was safe nor loved. And one thing was for sure Xavier vowed he would never make her feel like he had tonight ever again.

Kicking the backdoor open with his muddy boots, he felt the gaze of everyone watching, smiling softly as they saw Brooke asleep in his arms.

From a young age Xavier knew there was something special about his bumble bee. And everyone in the family knew that one day Xavier and Brooke would be leading the club as one.

Growing up they were each other's partners in crime, where ever one was the other wasn't too far behind. 

All Xavier had ever wanted was to find the one person that fully understood him, but still stood by him no matter what he did.

He thought that would have been in Brooke but with everything that had gone on he wasn't one hundred percent sure now. She had only been home a week now and in a way it had been the best week of Xavier's life but it had also been the worst week of his life.

He constantly kept thinking about the what ifs.

What if she never got taken?

How would they be?

Would they have been together?

But he wasn't going to give up, In the week that his bumble bee had been home he couldn't help but fall in love. Something he never thought would happen.

Yes he had one night stands but he had never been in a relationship, mainly for the fact he was holding out hope. He knew the road ahead wasn't an easy one, in fact it was long and bumpy but he didn't care.

All he cared about was the girl currently asleep in his arms.

Xavier carefully laid Brooke on his bed, he needed to wake her up, he needed to get her out of the soaked clothes but didn't want to do it as they didn't know the full extent of her past and the last thing he wanted to do was have her think he took advantage of her.

Gently he nudged her awake, watching as she sleepily rubbed her eyes yawning, scanning the room before smiling softly at Xavier, making his heart literally burst.

"Come on sleepy you need to get out of the wet clothes" He smiled to himself as he grabbed a pair of his boxers and a band tee out of his drawers. "You can wear these"

"Thank you" Brooke whispered, taking the garments from him before making her way into his en-suit to get changed.

As she looked at her reflection she sighed, tonight had taken a toll on her, from the nightmare to Xavier flipping out. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying.

As Brooke was getting changed Xavier climbed into bed, checking the time on his phone.

03.21am

A sigh escaped his lips as he realised that Brooke had been out in the cold and rain for at least three and a half hours because of him, he was lost in thought and didn't hear Brooke come out of the bathroom until he felt the bed dip slightly and her lifting his arm up so she could snuggle into him.

"I'm sorry" She mumbled as she ran her fingers across his chest, tracing each tattoo.

"Brooke, you have nothing to be sorry for okay" He whispered "I should have controlled my anger and been here when you needed someone. I should have come and found you because you are the only person that can calm me down, it was the same when we were younger. You somehow managed to calm me down within minutes"

Brooke stopped tracing his skin and propped herself up onto her elbow, smiling softly at the man laid next to her.

His words from earlier that night played in her mind. Everyone kept saying how close she and Xavier were growing up and she wanted to know more.

"Tell me about us" She whispered "like when we were younger what were we like?"

"Inseparable" Xavier chuckled. "I think my favourite memory of us was when the local fair was in town. You were seven and I was twelve. It was the day I knew that you weren't going to be like every other girl."

"What happened?" Brooke asked.

"I had been dumped, I mean it wasn't much of a relationship I was twelve years old but at the time I didn't know any different" He laughed "I was sulking but you wanted to have a good time at the fair and told me to stop being like a girl and to suck it up"

"Yeah that does sound like me" Brooke laughed

"You then saw this panda stuffed toy and fell in love with it and wanted it so badly but it was a shooting game and you sucked at shooting but you really wanted this panda" Xavier smiled at the memory

"So I spent about two hours trying to win you this panda bear. You were so happy when I finally won and the panda was in your arms, you wanted to do something for me and that's when you saw the ninja teddy on another stall and we spent a few more hours trying to win it"

"It sounds like a fun night" Brooke smiled trying to piece together something in her mind.

"I still have the ninja" Xavier laughed rolling out of bed and wandered over to his drawers grabbing the teddy before returning to bed.

Xavier could see she was trying to piece something together as she knitted her eyebrows together and chewed the inside of her cheek like she always did when she was thinking.

"Wait" she said, clambering off the bed, pretty much sprinting out of the room, leaving Xavier somewhat puzzled at what she was doing.

That was until she returned with a very battered and well loved panda bear in her arms.

He couldn't believe it, after all these years she still had the bear, and in that moment he could have cried with joy.

"I always wondered where I got this" She smiled looking down at the bear. "I had it when they took me"

"You always had a piece of me with you, wherever you went" Xavier whispered as he ran his finger over the now matted fur of the panda.

"It was the only comfort I have over the years" She mumbled dropping eye contact, she didn't want to look at Xavier as a wave of vulnerability washed over her.

"Bumble, it's okay, I've got you,"  Xavier said, pulling Brooke into his arms, holding her tight. "You don't need to feel ashamed, you don't need to hide when you feel vulnerable or weak around me" He whispered, kissing the top of her head. "I will always be here to catch you when you fall, I will help you back up and if you don't want to get up in that moment, well I will just lay by your side until you are ready"

"Thank you" she whispered looking up at him, her green eyes shining in the moonlight that flooded the room, alongside a few tears.

"Get some sleep Brooke, it's late and we have both had a very emotional day" Xavier hummed.

Brooke didn't need telling twice, her eyelids were getting heavy, and in this moment she wasn't afraid of going to sleep and having another nightmare because she had Xavier by her side.

Xavier refused to give into sleep until he felt Brooke's breathing shallow and the sounds of her soft snores could be heard.

His mind was racing, in the last week Brooke had shown him her most vulnerable side but also ran to him when she needed some comfort.

He never thought that she would still have the panda bear after all these years, but as soon as he saw it, it filled him with something he hadn't felt for years.

It filled him with hope.