Our eyes locked.

Chapter 15. The beginning of the butterflies.

Chapter 15. The beginning of the butterflies.

***
Quickly getting myself out of sight and off the courts as soon as I could, I stood in the hallway where the two doors for the male and female changing rooms were when I heard the door open again and out of instinct looked in the direction of the noise.

With his hand still on the handle of the now open door, stood Xander in his football jersey, with apologising eyes.

I shot him a small  and timid smile, "hi" I spoke softly.

"Are you okay?" He began to walk over to me, allowing the door he came through to close.

Everyone knows it's weird for a player to come off the courts even after being subbed off, never mind subbing themselves off and then walking away completely- they usually wait out the game and I guess thats what had him worried.

"Yeah, actually. I just um-" I started,
"I feel bad" I stuttered over my explanation since I didn't know if our small argument earlier meant anything significant but I carried on anyway, "-about earlier"

His eyes looked so light as he smiled at me, letting out a laugh filled scoff and began to walk towards the door on the other side of the hallway that would lead us into the schools playground, but not before grabbing my hand and leading me out there with him.

"Come with me, we need a walk" he spoke.

And I followed, because with no game to finish I had nothing better to do. But also because I enjoyed his company, and loved the time I could get to spend with him. Wherever it was.

A weird concept even to me.

He lead me to a bench that sat in the middle of the schools playground and didn't let go of my hand until he knew that this is where I would willingly be but I knew from the minute he asked me to follow him, I would go with no doubts.

"Hey it's like a first date" he joked as he sat next to me.

I rolled my eyes and let out a short laugh.

"What are we doing, Xander?" I smiled

"Look, I know things have been tense between us since the fight. And I get why you would side with Tommy, But you need to know that I'm not acting like this just to be a dick" he spoke so convincingly I didn't want him to stop.

"I know. I realised that after how annoyed you looked when I came up to you earlier. It threw me off my game" I explained.

"It did?" He smiled to himself.

"Yeah. I figured for you to go on the defence like that at me, there had to be a reason" I looked down, feeling guilt again for not hearing him out.

He nudged shoulders with me before trying to make me feel better.

"I'm sorry about flipping earlier, it's just that when you asked me I figured it was because you assumed it was my fault-"

"Was it? I mean, was it your fault, because I still don't know both sides" i looked at him, hoping he would trust me enough to tell me why the two of them hate each other so much.

"It's just that, Tommy and I have a history. It's not really important but he made some pretty nasty comments about a girl who means a lot to me. He's just not a person I get along with-".

I notice the slight pang of jealousy I get in the deep pit of my stomach at the mention of a girl he cares about, since I've never heard him talk about any girl like that other than Riley and she was just like a sister to him. So this new girl caught me off guard.

Not that the feeling  meant anything, so I suppressed it. Begging it to go away.

"That's not the full story, is it?" I spoke my thoughts out loud. For two boys to hate eachother as deeply as those two do, there had to be more than 'a few nasty comments'. I've seen first hand what it takes to get Tommy's temper to rise, and I can't see it happening over a girl I've never even heard about. But it was what he was willing to share, so I didn't push. I know the truth always comes out.

I sighed at his small explanation, not seeing a way of resolving it and wondering if we could all still be friends if two of our members couldn't stand each other. It sort of felt like I'd have to say goodbye to a friendship that could have been so much more, though those thoughts didn't last long as Xander noticed my thoughtful expression.

"-But he is a person I can try to tolerate, if it means your happy and we can all still be hangout" he finished.

I looked up from the spot on the ground I was staring at to be faced with his eyes looking back at me.

"But you hate him" I spoke quietly, almost worried he might walk away from our friendship once he remembers just how much he dislikes Tommy.

"I do. And believe me when I say that's not going away. But he's barely in school, so on the days that he is, I will find myself busy at lunch or I'll sit next to Hudson so he can kick me if he notices my temper rising at Tommy's ability to breathe"

I giggled at how irritated he gets over the smallest things, like someone's basic need for air.

"I'll do what I can, and I'll try to be civil but the minute he pisses me off, I'm done. No re-do's Andy" he looked at me.

I let out a relived breathe and nod, smiling at Xander, and feeling warm at his want to compromise so he could still be friends with us. 

"Thank you" I lazily leant my head on his shoulder in a sort of side hug as I spoke the words. Feeling so comfortable, I almost didn't move away- but then because of the level of comfort I felt being that close to him, I did move. Not wanting to blur lines.

He looked at me a little longer, studying my features before looking down at my netball uniform.

"Cute costume" he nodded his head gesturing to my bib that had the letters "WD" on them

"It's a uniform, thank you very much" I joked before continuing, "and I can say the same for you, Mr. Number 24" I laugh and notice how easy it is for tension to disappear when he smiles at me, or looks at me, or jokes with me.
Because with Xander, for most people, a conversation that wasn't armed with sarcasm, jokes or insecurity trying to hide itself in a charming package of compliments, to take away from how angry he really was, was an occurrence that didn't happen often.

A real conversation, where he lets his facade crumble was the rarest thing to happen with him but was an event I had seen several times and was why it was so easy to forget about any anger I was feeling before. Because him opening up, even slightly, made me feel special.

And it was a soft spot I needed to get rid of, because I knew it was the beginning of the butterflies.

****
Short chapter, I know but I needed some Xander and Andrea alone time ;))

Don't be afraid Comment, vote and share <3
The next few chapters are about to get HEATED.
Be prepared.
-Mys x