The Descendent Protectors

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Xavier's arm dropped down to his side, and he continued to stare at me. I was breathing heavily by that point, my eyes burning holes in his chest.

He took a step closer, and I mocked his by taking one back. When he noticed my movement, he stopped his, planting his feet to the ground a few steps away from me.

I was still staring at his chest.

"You don't have to do this, Nora." He informed me in a gentle voice, taking a step forward. I tried to move my own legs but they wouldn't budge. His arm stretched forward and his hand gently grasped my chin, tilting my head upwards. "Look at me," he demanded.

But I refused to.

I couldn't bear the look in his eyes, no matter what it was. So my eyes remained fixed on his chest.

Xavier moved another step forward, his hand moving from my chin to cup the side of my face, and his other hand coming up to repeat the action on the other side of my face. He softly tilted my head back again. "Nora, please look at me."

The gentleness of his tone almost broke me down, but I bit hard on my tongue, almost drawing blood. I could sense him coming closer to me as his head lowered down, his warm minty breath fanning over my face. In a gentle motion, his soft lips crashed against my forehead, and he held still for what felt like an eternity with my breath hitched in my throat. A spark of sensations traveled from where his lips connected with my skin down to my cheeks where they warmed up.

Slowly, Xavier pulled away from my face but his hands remained in their positions. I blinked away the shock and slowly moved my eyes up to meet his gaze. His shimmering silver eyes were staring down at me with a deep emotion that clenched the muscles in my chest. They brightened up as our gazes met, and I saw the glimmer of joy sparkling in them.

"It's alright," he whispered reassuringly. Those two words alone caused my eyes to well up with tears, and I swallowed the lump growing in my throat. I forced my feet to take a step away to back up from his touch, blinking the tears away as I cleared my throat.

"C-can we just forget about last night?" I asked hopefully. Xavier pursed his lips, looking like he's about to argue. "Please."

The muscle in his jaw ticked as he clenched his teeth, before forcefully nodding his head once. I sighed in relief, thanking him.

"I still want to go back. I want to see my friends."

Xavier nodded, his eyes moving from mine to the button of his dress-shirt's sleeve as he fixed his attire. "Of course. I will take you to them." He motioned towards the front door, offering a tight smile.

*

We were driving down an unfamiliar path, not far away from where Xavier's family estate lay. It took only a few minutes to reach the small cabin surrounded by tall, enormous trees, and I wasn't sure we even left the premises of his estate. The car slowed down as it got closer to the modern cabin.

I frowned. "Why are we stopping?" I glanced at Xavier in confusion, to find his eyes still fixed on the cabin.

"Because we've arrived."

My frown deepened. "I thought you were taking me to my friends." My tone was accusatory, and it came out harsher than I expected, because I was tired and I needed my best friend.

Xavier quickly glanced at me, and cleared his throat. "They're here."

The second those words came out through his lips, the front doors of the cabin were burst open and two figures came walking out, their postures stiff and in high alert. As they descended the porch steps and neared us, I began to see them more clearly.

"Noah?" I whispered in disbelief, my hand already on the door handle pushing the car door open. Elliot and Noah stopped a few feet away from the car, Noah's fist tightened on a baseball bat.

What the hell is going on?

I rushed out of the car and ran towards them, stopping a foot away and my hands immediately falling on Noah's shoulders as I began bombarding him with questions. "What's going on? Why are you guys here? And why are you holding that bat?"

He dropped the bat in his hand with a soft thud, his hands went over my own and he grabbed them gently. "Everything's alright, don't worry." he reassured. "Lets get inside first then we'll explain." He motioned to the cabin and dragged me towards it.

"Nora, wait," Elliot stopped us, and we all turned to look at him. He glanced at Noah and Xavier, "we'll be right behind you."

They understood that he was implying he wanted to speak to me privately, so they nodded and continued towards the cabin, Noah picking up his bat along the way. I walked towards Elliot.

"Hey, uhm.. I'm really sorry for pushing your buttons the way I did. I was freaking out and I-"

"It's alright."

"No, it's not. I shouldn't have treated you that way."

I shook my head. "I understand that you were stressed out about everything, so it's alright."

Elliot sighed, his hand coming up to brush his black hair back frustratingly. "We're all stressed out. I had no right to say those things to you."

My heart clenched as I detected the sincerity in his voice. "I forgive you," I voiced the words I knew he needed to hear; and I meant them. I understood how freaked out he was and people often bable random things when they're in that state.

Elliot broke out a cheeky grin, his arms stretching wide, and a single eyebrow rising in question. I chuckled as I moved forward into his embrace, wrapping my arms around his torso and giving a crushing squeeze, to which he groaned painfully in response to.

He backed away then and chuckled, too. "Let's go inside." I nodded and followed him towards the porch.