Conflicted Eyes, Confusing Feelings | Complete

f i f t y - t w o

And that he did. Albeit hesitantly, he mustered enough courage to go by his window and lock it. He then shifted the curtains away and wiped the fog away, peering below to see a dark figure in his yard. Tap against the window came — almost startling Sage to death — but that served to confirm that the person was simply throwing stones. Small ones.

Then it occurred to him; would a thief or murderer really stand outside and blow their cover by throwing objects at the window?

Well, it was possible, but highly unlikely.

There was another sharp, unexpected rap at the window, a stone tapping against the glass, causing Sage to almost shriek as he jumped back. Thinking that it was an idle neighborhood kid, he yelled, "G-go away!", to which he facepalmed for not only his feeble tone, but also the fact that he blew his cover.

When the person refused to comply and only continued their provoking antics, Sage grew more nervous, more agitated. He slid the window up and tentatively poked his head outside, fixing the most feasible glare he could muster, down at the irritating person. Just as he was about to tell them to leave before he called the cops, Sage made out the silhouette of a familiar person. Said person also stopped throwing stones and had started gesturing for Sage to wait instead, hence what made him angling his head to get a better view.

Sure enough, standing on his lawn, glowing amber-soft in the street lamps, was a tall figure possessing dark curls; a boy. Despite the blazer engulfing his top, he shivered in the cold of the night, using his hands to cradle his arms. None of that seemed to dissuade him, though. The idiot stood on there nevertheless

Xander Love.

Sage instantly recoiled, falling back into his room after snapping the window shut.

W-what's he doing here?

Seconds later, the stone-throwing antic resumed.

Go away...

Something told Sage that he wouldn't, but how could he let Xander see him in such a deplorable condition?

He couldn't.

So, opening the window to tell him to leave, Sage fell short when his voice got caught in his throat.

"Sage," Xander's voice came in the form of a whisper yell. "Come open the door, a'right?"

Sage weakly shifted his body weight on his knees and looked out the window again, ensuring that he was cloaked by darkness. As a confirmation to his hypothesis, there Xander was, still standing there on the lawn like an utter idiot, a handful of pebbles in his right hand.

"G-go away!" he meekly responded, and was about to be firm on his resolution to hope Xander left, but then, a thought struck him.

What if a neighbor spotted Xander and saw it fit to notify Cecilia, thinking that Xander was a burglar? Without a doubt, Cecilia would instantly pick up on what was Goin on and really take legal action against Xander. Anna had told Cecilia that Xander disrespected the family and ran away because of a little misunderstanding, and thinking that it had something to do with Sage and wanting to escape the consequences of his actions, Cecilia loathed Xander even more.

As a result, Sage knew he couldn't risk Cecilia or a neighbor — or anyone for that matter — seeing him out there, but at the same time, how could he let Xander in his room when he looked so ugly and hideous? For a split second, Sage recalled Maria's vicious words, to which he suddenly realized that in and of itself, Xander being his room wasn't the problem. It was if he saw him like that, hideous and ugly, as Maria called him.