Doe's POV:
Xander must have succeeded in taking his own advice but was up early to continue Nico's work where he had left off.
The only reason I realized that I too had fallen back asleep unusually quick was because I woke up a while ago to the sound of him moving back to his desk.
I don't think I've ever seen him so set on getting something like this done.
If I didn't know any better, I'd say he just finally wanted to get his shit together.
But, unfortunately, I did know better, and my best guess was that he felt guilty about the past couple of times he'd annoyed Nico and this was his way of trying to make up for it a little bit.
At least that realization finally got its way into his brain.
One thing at a time I guess.
So thus he'd been working on and off on it all day, only taking breaks for us to eat and one longer one to take a shower.
Now it was closing in on the evening and he was nearly done.
I stood in the position I took early this morning, leaning my arms on the top of his chair to occasionally bug him as he got closer and closer to the end of the workload.
I kind of wanted to go and mess with his violin for a bit, but I didn't want to give off the energy that I was feeling a lot better.
In all honesty, I did feel a lot better.
Well, maybe not a lot better, but good enough where I found myself starting to fake certain things.
Like the occasional rests, my insistent requests for that tea, or the slight croak I would add to some of my words.
That bruise on my throat was now really the only thing that was bugging me.
I'd still get small headaches whenever I'd stand up too fast, but other than that I was fine.
I snapped back to what was happening in front of me as Xander smacked the pen down onto the table with a heavy exhale.
From the looks of it, he had finally finished.
"You done yet?" I asked him, lifting my head up from the top of the chair.
"I think so," He replied with a determination that I didn't hear in him often.
Tapping the thick stack of papers against the table to straighten them out, he then separated them into their respective files alphabetically before stacking them on top of each other that way.
I took a step back as he extended his arms in a stretch, leaning back the chair with him.
He then abruptly stood, with a pep in his movements that was hard to come by recently.
The relief in his eyes matched with his proud smile for a moment before looking at me.
"I got it done faster than you thought, huh?" He asked almost teasingly.
So, I just shrugged.
"I guess. It was certainly the hardest I think I've ever seen you focus on something."
Usually, he just spaces out for random intervals, or just gets bored and loses focus.
His eyes crinkle as his smile widened.
"Yeah, well having you breathing over my shoulder definitely keeps me reminded that I need to be working on it."
Jeez, was that really all it took to get this man to focus?
I guess he's lucky that my apparent show of still being ill prevented me from doing anything but watch him.
"Is that a 'thank you' I'm hearing?" I chaffed with a grin.
I guess I wasn't actually expecting him to play along.
He took a step forward, "If that's what you want, then yes. Thank you," he appeased.
I grinned at his compliance, eyes soon shifting as I saw his right hand begin to lift.
He soon realized it too, quickly dropping it in a way that was more awkward than anything.
Whereas I avoided any kind of direct physical touch, I learned very quickly that Xander seemed to thrive on it.
I saw it in the way he interacted with Nico, whether it be random elbow or shoulder nudges, begrudged-on-Nico's-part high fives, or the occasional hand on his shoulder.
And I knew that Layla was well aware of this as well. Given the amount of times I've seen her grab his hands or cup his cheek whenever he hesitated on doing something that she wanted him to.
How quickly he'd comply after a simple touch...
I've definitely seen it more recently whenever he interacts with me like this.
When the mood is relatively light and Layla had no plans to be here soon.
When I wasn't dying in some way and he wasn't at the moment being a complete dumbass.
Moments like this where I guess he'd forget the situation.
But he always remembered. He always caught himself before getting too far.
Almost always he'd draw back apologetically once he remembers.
And then it would get awkward.
Which I really wasn't trying to deal with today.
I cleared my throat, acting as if I didn't see anything.
"So what now? You gonna go bring it to him."
The drop in his shoulders told me enough as that slight tension in the room dispersed.
"Nah, probably tomorrow. He went into town today to do something for Khloe, and I don't know if he's back yet."
I just stared at him, eyes half-lidded in subtle disappointment.
"So you're not even gonna go check?" I deadpanned, "It's like a 40-second walk. Or not even 1-second with your dumb vampire speed."
He immediately began scrambling for an excuse.
"Well- I..." He sighed in defeat, "I guess I could..."
"Don't you have to check on something with the front desk downstairs anyway?" I pushed.
Something about a lightbulb in the bathroom that needed replacing? I didn't really know.
What I did know, was that Xander was very bad at making decisions.
Especially when it came down to Nico
So every once in a while I had to try to guide him.
I would even dare to say that I was helping.
How very kind of me.
His eyes looked toward the door in thought.
"You're probably right," He finally admitted, hands sliding into his pockets, "I'll stop by his room on my way back and then just come and get the files if he's home."
He thought on that for a moment, eyes still glued to the door before eventually turning his head back to face me, "Wanna come with?"
I was about to agree but immediately stopped myself.
Did I want to get out of this room for a little bit? Yes, but sick people aren't typically so eager to do so.
"Nah," I ended up saying, "I think I'm gonna go ahead and rest for a while."
His brows furrowed and for a moment I thought he might have caught on to my lie.
But before that thought got a chance to settle in, he spoke.
"Alright. Want me to turn off the lights before I leave?"
I nodded, clasping my hands behind my back, "Please,"
~~~
Xander's POV:
A strange twist sat in my gut as I dragged myself up the stairs, preparing myself to check if Nico was home.
God, why was I getting so worked up over this?
If anything, I should be somewhat excited to show him that I took away some of his workload.
I should feel something other than stressed at the thought of seeing him.
I'd like to think he'd be appreciative... Even Doe said he would be.
My eyes squeezed shut as I finished tracking the steps and turned into the halls, trying to force that thought to stick.
It didn't work.
Although, it never really did.
I guess now I was just hoping that he wasn't home yet.
At least then I could just make this tomorrow's problem.
Which probably wasn't the best way to think about things, but I'll take what I can get.
I opened my eyes, knowing that I was within eye-shot of Nico's door.
Yet what I saw instead caught me completely off guard.
"Khloe?" I asked, my surprise deciding to voice itself.
The small red-head quickly turned towards me, almost immediately shrinking back once she realized who I was.
Which I couldn't really blame her for but...
I continued my path over to her stopping a little bit in front of her.
She, understandably, took a step back towards the door, fear already written all over her face.
Or I guess I should say more fear than what was already visible when I first saw her.
"What the hell are you doing out here?" I asked.
I quickly glanced down toward her neck, spotting the collar around her neck.
Nico wasn't the type to toss his pets out like this, but that fact just confused me more as to why she was out here, to begin with.
Guessing from her prior panic, I could only assume she was locked out.
"Where's Nico?"
The immediate look in her eyes after I asked and the shaky inhale told me that she didn't know.
He wasn't here.
That twist in my gut tightened at that realization as the request Layla gave me crept back into my mine.
No... no, this situation was supposed to be impossible.
Nico never left his pets unattended like this so why now?!
This wasn't supposed to happen yet the universe was practically handing it to me!
I had already accepted that what she asked of me wasn't going to happen. i had come to terms that I was going to fail.
Yet the situation was sitting in front of me on a silver platter.
I could do it... I could do it but-
I focused back on the girl whose nerves were more than visible, watching her struggle to fish up some kind of answer for me.
Given the image of myself that I forced her to have, I can only imagine that she knew that I would know if she tried to lie.
Although I let Doe get away with it...
The pain in my gut shot up to my chest.
Oh god, Doe. She'd be pissed if I actually went through with this.
I thought on that for a while before the words I've told myself on countless occasions overpowered my previous thoughts.
I can fix this.
It'll be all worth it once this is over.
I live a long life. I'll have plenty of time to make up for all of this once I get what I've worked so hard for.
I have to be close right?
I have to be close to finally winning Layla over.
This request was so bizarre... so It has to be a breaking point.
It has to.
I can make it up to Nico.
I can somehow make it up to Khloe.
I can... I can-
Fuck, I don't know. I'll have to find some way to deal with Doe's disappointment.
My throat was dry as I swallowed hard.
"I guess it doesn't really matter, but since you're out here, I need you to do me a favor." I heard myself say.
I'll take her back to my room.
This kind of situation didn't fit Nico. He'd have to be back soon.
Khloe's eyes widened, her entire body freezing.
If we manage to run into him on our way... then that'll be that.
I can tell him I was gonna have her take back the files I finished.
If not then... then I'm gonna need a lot more than finishing his workload to make any kind of amends.
God after this I think I'll be lucky if I don't have to end up healing myself after.
Oddly, I found a sense of comfort in that thought, knowing that at the end of the day, I deserved so much worse.
"What?" She finally spoke, eyes darting to the side for a short moment.
I wondered which one of us hoped Nico would show up more.
But he didn't.
I forced myself to relax, gesturing for her to follow as I turned.
"I have a stack of files that I need you to give to Nico." I explained.
Which wasn't necessarily a lie.
I took a few steps, quickly realizing that she wasn't following.
So, forcing my facial features to harden, I turned and repeated my previous gesture.
She followed this time, her shoulders falling forward and her head lowering.
She looked like she just wanted to fold in on herself and dissapear.
I wouldn't be surprised if those were her exact thoughts.
I walked a bit slower than my usual gait, trying not to make it obvious that I was actively listening for any sign of his return.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
My tongue ran over my fangs that were suddenly sitting very uncomfortably in my mouth, the pain in my gut turning into something that I felt was going to make me sick.
I didn't like feeding from the source, and I hadn't done so since the last blood moon.
I quietly sniffed the air, searching for any sign of Nico that way.
Again, absolutely nothing.
Where the hell was he?!
Instead, I caught something else.
I was only familiar with the different scents that emotions had with Doe, but fear had such a distinct musk that I had no doubt of what I was sensing from Khloe.
Shit.
My door was approaching a lot quicker than I wanted it to, and Nico was nowhere to be seen.
The weight of what I was about to do deepened itself into my body, making the front I've shown so much recently surface itself.
My hope was gone by the time we reached my door, and I mentally prepared myself for everything that was about to go down.
Placing my thumb on the door handle to unlock it, without another word or glance, I opened it and lead her in.