Chapter 25
“I can’t believe you’re still mad at me,” Xavier said for the umpteenth time. I’d been ignoring him for the past, oh I don’t know, two hours or so? But now I’d had enough.
“You kidnapped me!” I exclaimed.
“Well, not really.” was his pathetic excuse.
“Not really? You grabbed me when I was walking home, forced me into the car, which means that I went in your car unwillingly, and now you won’t let me go. How is that not a kidnap?”
“You’re not blindfolded.” He said after a long time consideration of my circumstances, no doubt.
“Not anymore!” I replied, knowing that my face was red and not from shame. I just couldn’t believe this! Here I was, silently and quietly walking back home from work, after all it had been a beautiful Friday night perfect for a walk, and the next thing I know some baboon grabs me from behind and pushes me into a car. I’d been terrified. Until I saw that said baboon was a familiar one. Then when he blindfolded me I’d been highly aware that most kidnaps were done by people you knew.
“I’m not gonna ask for a ransom.” Xavier said, almost questioning.
I just glared at him.
It was silent for another few minutes as I stared outside. Due to the blindfold for most part of the ride, I had no idea where we were going. It was already dark and I couldn’t really see any of the scenery around us.
“My dad is home. He’ll be worried.”
Xavier looked sheepish when he told me, “Ah, yeah, he won’t. I kind of stole your phone and texted him when I went for that pee break.”
I let out one angry breath and refused to speak to him for another hour or so. Then the silence became too much and I said, “Does Julio know about this.”
Xavier scoffed, “Who do you think told me where you were?”
My mouth fell open, “Oh that traitor, no more free ice creams for him.”
With pleasure I saw that Xavier looked indignant as he said, “What? He told me he had to pay for it, that bastard!”
Not responding, I looked out the window to see if I knew where we were, and where we were heading. After a few seconds I found out I didn’t have a clue.
“So, now we have established this isn’t a kidnapping, are you willing to forgive me?”
“If this isn’t a kidnapping, then what is it?”
He gave me a big-ass grin, and changed his radio station, searching until he found what he was looking for. The way you look tonight blared from his boxes. Great, I thought, a love song.
“This, my dear, is an attempt to woo you.”
I raised my eyebrows and, in my most sarcastic voice said, “Wow, you’re so amazing at this, making your object of affection mad at you in the first five seconds.”
The smile fell of his face, and he looked at me with lost puppy-dog eyes, tying to make me feel bad. I, however, didn’t fell for it and cocked an eyebrow. His grin returned immediately, and he said, “Well, sure, but maybe that’s because you’re hot when you’re mad. Besides, I just know you’ll love where we’re going.”
“And where is that?”
“If I told you all that blindfolding would be for nothing, wouldn’t it?” he said.
I sighed and looked out of the window again. I still had no clue, and decided to look in the car for one. Who knew, maybe he had left a map with a red circle on the backseat.
A map wasn’t what I found. I did see two bags, one that was awfully familiar. “Is that my bag?!”
Even though he probably put it there, Xavier still looked around to see what I meant. “Oh, maybe I should have put that in the trunk.”
“You think?”
He gave me an apologetic smile, and fixed his eyes on the road again. “How did you even get it?” I asked, glaring daggers at him. If looks could kill… but then again, I don’t think it’s smart to kill your driver while you are in the car.
“Uhm…” he hesitated when he searched for words, then he said, “I might have broken into your house to get your stuff.”
My mouth fell open and not a sound escaped. I just couldn’t believe this. Was this my fault, had I not “encouraged” him enough, as Kate said. Deciding that I would not forgive him for a while, at least until I saw where he’d brought me, I turned my back to him and looked out the window.
We passed a lot of trees, some houses, but mostly trees, until the scenery started to change and I suddenly knew where we were going.
“You’re taking me to the beach?”
My voice, that was full with amazement and disbelief, made him smile. “Yes, I am.”
“Xavier…”
“A friend of mine, one who owes me a favor, has a beach house there. We’ll stay there for the night, and leave tomorrow evening. You can call your dad, to tell you where you are or something, if you want.”
He’d made me speechless again, this time the good kind.
“What if I had work or something other important?”
“Julio told me you didn’t have anything.”
That sneaky bastard. He had been more interested than normal in my private life, but I hadn’t suspected a thing. And all the while he was playing spy for Xavier. I shook my head.
“Come on, you can’t tell me this is not the most awesome place for a first date, right?”
“I didn’t even agree to a date.” I said, but more because I wanted to bring down his ego a bit, then that I disagreed with him.
He gave me a look as if I was being difficult, which, okay, I was, then he rolled his eyes. He kept his mouth shut, though.
He made a turn and drove into a lane, another car already parked there. The house looked like what you might expect of a beach house. It had only one story, was dyed in light colors, with lots of windows. When Xavier turned the car off, the front door opened and a boy, probably around our age, came out of the house. It was a geeky kind of boy, long and gawky, with a star-trek t-shirt, pants that came up to his middle and showed off his white socks, glasses on his nose and his hair short and well, un-modeled.
He didn’t seem like the kind of guy that owed Xavier a favor. More like the kind of guy that Xavier would bully into lending him a house.
I would have said so, if not for the big grin on the gawky kid’s face as Xavier walked towards him. I hadn’t even heard him leave the car. They embraced, one of those manly hugs that Xavier could do so well, the kid just looked awkward. They turned to me, and suddenly nervous, I exited the car, too.
As I walked to them, I could hear the other kid say, “Lovely lady,” at which Xavier gave him a friendly slap on the arm. I faltered in my steps, shocked by the kid’s voice. It was deep, and if I had him on the phone I would’ve thought I’d been talking to a grown up. He reached inside his pockets, pulled something out and offered it to Xavier, who shook his head no. The kid shrugged, put the cigarette in his mouth and lighted it.
I was looking at that cigarette when I reached them. The kid took it out of his mouth and looked at it.
“Nasty habit, I know. Picked it up in prison.”
I was sure I was gawking.
“Don’t ask,” Xavier said, noticing my shocked look. The kid laughed.
“This is Ephram.”
“And I’m leaving. See you guys tomorrow.”
With nothing more than a wave, he walked to his car, not at all clumsy, got in and drove away.
“Okay,” I said, stretching the word into infinity.
“I know. He’s… something else. But he’s a good kid, well mostly,” Xavier chuckled and I decided to let some mysteries be.
“Just tell me he wasn’t in there for murder.” Well, not all things were better buried than dug up.
“No, just a small…dispute with his father.”
I said nothing after that, feeling terribly sorry for the kid. Xavier said, “You go in and check the place, I’ll go and grab the bags.”
Xavier:
I kept my eyes on Eliza as she walked to the door. The nervousness I felt hadn’t gone away. I just wanted this to be the most perfect date she’d ever had, but I had no clue what she did with Drew, and let’s face it, he had more money than I had.
I really needed to come up with something good for Ephram for lending me his house.
The two bags weren’t heavy, the only things in them were some toiletries, a change of clothes and of course swimming gear. I thought Eliza would like it if she had her own stuff, but I wasn’t completely sure I should have said that I’d broken into her house. I couldn’t use the excuse of checking up on Reyes because she knew I knew he’d left, and, well there wasn’t much more.
At least I could say I was honest. Wasn’t that supposed to be most important in a relationship?
I shook my head to clear it, and followed Eliza.
I found her in the living room, looking with big eyes, whispering, “Beautiful.”
“Agreed,” I said, but I don’t think she noticed I wasn’t talking about the interior.
“It’s late so I think we best go to bed early, we can enjoy a whole day of sun and beach tomorrow. Come on, I’ll show you your room.”
I brought her to her room and informed her that if she needed me, I’d be three doors further, gave her her bag and wished her goodnight. When I was almost at my door, she said, “Xavier, you’re forgiven.”
I paused and glanced back to gave her a smile, before opening my door.
The next morning, I was making pancakes when Eliza arrived in the kitchen.
“You’re making breakfast?” she asked, a little bit sleepy-headed.
“I did promise to cook for you,” I said as I flipped a pancake.
“Well, sure, but I meant real food, Mexican food, not pancakes.” She said it with a smile, so I knew she didn’t mean it the way her words sounded.
“As of now, our date officially started, so I’m gonna be the perfect gentlemen.”
“Good start, not asking me out on a date and all.”
I admit, I rolled my eyes, “Well, there’s probably a word for that, half a blind date or something.”
She opened her mouth to retort something back, but I quickly placed a pancake on her plate and said, “Eat.”
“If this is a date, couldn’t you have picked nicer clothes for me to wear.”
“Didn’t want to get your precious designer clothes dirty. Besides, most important thing is if you’re wearing your bikini?”
She blushed, probably because I picked it out of her closet, or because she saw the lingerie set I picked out. Don’t blame me, I’m a guy, I chose what I wanted to see on her, not what would be most comfortable.
“Yes, I am.” she finally said.
“You need nothing more.” I said and flipped another pancake. “How many do you want?”
“Two’s fine.” She replied.
I dumped another pancake on her plate, then started making them for myself. She was quiet when I ate my food, deep in thought. She was staring outside, giving me plenty opportunity to stare at her.
Eliza:
The tiny black two-piece Xavier had picked out wasn’t meant to be worn in public. It was what I always wore when I was sunbathing in our garden, where there were no onlookers. The two-piece didn’t hide much, and it did nothing for my scars.
Turning around once more, I twisted my head to look in the mirror. They weren’t pink anymore, but that didn’t mean they weren’t visible, and however I tried, I just couldn’t quite get my hair to cover them. I sighed and pulled on a sundress. The yellow fabric caressed my knees, it usually made me smile but now I just sighed again. Then I breathed in deeply, raised my head and marched downstairs.
Xavier was casually leaning against the doorpost, arms crossed in front of his chest. He wore a t-shirt that was a little too big on him, hiding his figure, and next to his feet was a bag. He pushed himself up from the doorpost when he saw me, and nodded toward the bag.
“I’ve got the towels. You ready to go?”
“Yeah.”
He flashed me a smile and picked up the bag. Then he opened the door for me and said with a half-assed English accent, “After you, ma’am.”
It was a short walk to the beach, and we walked in a comfortable silence. I was looking around me, taking in the sounds, the sea air and smell, I was so caught up in my surroundings that I startled when my foot didn’t meet hard concrete but sank away in the sand.
I removed my slippers, enjoying the warmth from the sand against the soles of my feet. I wriggled my toes, letting the sand slip through them, and smiled.
“Come one,” Xavier said, taking my hand and pulling me forward. When he found a good spot, he opened his bag and pulled out two large towels. He put them down, but instead of setting the bag right next to it, he pulled it up to his front, and with a motion that was almost too fast to track with my eyes, he pulled something from his pants and put it in there.
A gun. He’d brought a gun. To the beach! I opened my mouth and then closed it, opened it again just so I could close it. Oh, whatever. If he wanted to bring a gun, let him. Wasn’t if he wasn’t packing everywhere he went. I don’t know why I was even surprised. And, to be completely honest, it did make me feel a little safer knowing he brought it with him. No chance of me getting kidnapped when Xavier was around, well, unless it was him doing the kidnapping.
Xavier’s shirt followed, and as he was propping the thing in his bag, I couldn’t help but stare. Sure, I’d seen Xavier shirtless before, but never from this close. And damn if he didn’t hurt my eyes.
Tanned skin stretched over well defined muscles, darkened where he was tattooed, but what attracted my attention the most, was the lovely V that disappeared into his pants, leading straight to his, uhm, manly parts. You’re perving, Eliza, perving. Stop it. Now. But no matter what I told myself, I couldn’t stop from looking.
He bend down to put the bag next to his towel, and as his skin stretched, for the first time I could see his scars. He was covered with them. Some small, some bigger, like the one from the gunshot. Jesus, but I suddenly felt bad bitching about mine. I had had one horrible event, he’d been living hell for his whole life.
My shyness and shame about my scars disappeared as ice-cream in the sun, and with a swift motion I pulled off my dress. Folding it neatly, I asked, “Xavier, can I put my dress in your bag?”
Xavier looked up and froze. His eyes went up and down my body, taking me in, as if he wanted to memorize every part of it. I hated comparing him to Drew, but I could not help but think how different his eyes were on me. There was no expectation from Xavier. He didn’t expect me to have sex with him here and now, just because I flashed some skin. His eyes on me simply felt…wonderful.
“Uhm, i…ah,” He cleared his throat and tried again. “Ah, of course, yeah, let me do that for you.”
I smiled as I handed him the neat bundle, “Maybe you should have picked a different two-piece, huh?” I loved how I made him, the ever confident Xavier, speechless.
As his hand touched mine when he took the dress from my hands, his eyes flashed up and met mine, his smoldering with heat, and all air left me.
He didn’t respond to my words, only put away the dress, then said, “Last one in the water is a rotten egg!”
We ran off, stumbling in the sand, our arms flailing to keep balance. Xavier, who obviously had more experience running for his life, made it to the water first, diving in when it was deep enough. He emerged from it, throwing his head back to get his hair out of his eyes, just as I stepped into the water.
I jumped back immediately, the cold startling me, even though I knew it would be cold. When I hesitated, Xavier came back to me. “What’s the matter, chica, a little cold bother you?”
“No,” I said defiantly. Xavier laughed at me, and asked, “Then what is it?”
I opened my mouth to speak, saw that twinkle in his eyes that meant he was up to no good, had a moment to think, Oh shit, and then he threw me over his shoulder and marched further into the water.
“Xavier, put me- no wait, don’t put me down. Do you hear me, do not drop me!”
The only answer I got to that was more laughter. “Xavier!” I protested. He slid me off his shoulder but wrapped his arms around me so I never touched the water, and I ended up being carried bridal style.
“Don’t you dare.” I warned him.
“One,” He said with a huge grin, “Two,” without waiting for three, he dumped me into the water.
I had to admit, when I came up again after a few seconds, the water did seem a lot warmer. I also couldn’t see Xavier. A hand wrapped itself around my ankle, and before I knew it, I was pulled under again.
When, sputtering and coughing up sea-water, I managed to get my head above water once again, I looked accusingly at Xavier but no words left my mouth. I was too busy getting rid of the salty taste. Xavier grinned at me and said, “Come on, let’s race.”
We swam for what seemed hours, and I, as usual when I was at the beach, was completely taken over by the beauty of the sea. I could live here, I so could imagine myself living on the beach.
When my skin was thoroughly wrinkled, Xavier proposed we head out and sunbathe for a while. I agreed and lazily we swam back. As soon as the air hit me, I shivered, the roles had switched. The water felt warm, the air felt cold.
We both plopped down on our towels, I was on my back and Xavier on his side, facing me. He didn’t speak and I didn’t either, I was just enjoying the feel of the sun on my skin, my lids half closed, almost asleep.
Then, out of the blue, Xavier asked me, “You don’t think it’s weird, that I took you to the beach?”
I opened my eyes and turned my head so I could look at him, “No, why would I think it’s weird?” had I given any indication that I didn’t like this date we were on?
“Well, I asked Diego’s opinion and he said, “Dude, you don’t think that’s a bit weird, taking her so far away on your first date?” But then I thought, you work so hard, you’ve earned it.”
I chuckled at that, “I work in an ice cream parlor, I don’t work that hard.”
Xavier grinned at me, “Ah, but you serve my brother, that counts as hard work.”
He made me laugh, but then I turned serious again, basically because I womanned up and realized that I wanted Xavier as my boyfriend, screw what my friends thought of it, and told him in all honesty, “This has been the most awesome date I’ve ever been on, Xavier.”
The smile he gave me back made my soul flutter.
After another moment of silence, Xavier said, “Do you ever think about your future.”
“Well, yeah, I guess.”
“What do you want to do with your life?” Xavier asked.
I let out a deep breath and considered his question. “I think, I think I would like living close by the beach. Have a small shoe shop that only sells extravagant shoes. And,” she hesitated as she considered telling him something she hadn’t told anyone, “I would love to start a home for people who have nowhere to go. People who don’t feel safe at home. Women that get beaten by their husbands, children who get beaten by their parents, just, yeah, people who stay in a shitty place because they have nowhere better to go.”
Xavier stayed silent for a long time, but not because he thought I was being stupid, I could tell as much from his expression. He was looking as if he was… impressed. I rolled over to my side and said, “I’ve never told anyone that.”
“Afraid they’d drown when you got them out of the kiddie pool and into the grown up one?”
“Xavier!” I scolded, “That’s my friends you’re talking about.”
“Doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”
“Well, that’s not the reason. It’s just that it is so, idealistic. It’s not like I can make it come true, you know. I’d need a lot more money than I would make having a simple shoe shop. Like millions. To pay for a lawyer if need be, food, clothes, the house itself. I don’t know, it’s just an idea.”
We fell silent after that, and soon I felt my eyes droop, I hadn’t slept well all week since the nightmares had returned, and it didn’t take long for me to fall asleep.
I awoke to Xavier’s studying eyes and armed with new energy, I said, “I’m going to swim some more, you want to come?”
He shook his head lazily at me and said, “You go.”
I shrugged and ran towards the water, this time, I didn’t stop running until it was deep enough for me to splash into. It really did help with the cold. I swam for a while, but without Xavier it wasn’t as much fun so I headed back, only to find Xavier ta
lking with some scary looking guys. I couldn’t make anything of their body language, so I stayed back and tried to catch Xavier’s gaze.
After a while, he looked my way and I walked forward. When he didn’t shake his head at me to stop me from coming, I raised my head a little and with a confidence I didn’t feel, walked towards Xavier.
He’d stayed sitting on his towel, which meant he didn’t feel an imminent threat, otherwise he would have been on his feet and ready to fight, wouldn’t he? But I did notice his hand was awfully close to his bag.
“Hey Xavier, who are your friends?” I asked when I was close enough. He glanced up and smiled at me, “Eliza, this is John and that is Beck. Guys, this is Eliza.”
“Lovely girl you have there, Xav.”
“I know,” was Xavier’s only answer.
Beck said, “Sweetness, if you ever need a real man who can satisfy you real good, you give me a call, right?”
“Thanks but no thanks,” I said, placing a hand on Xavier’s shoulder, “Xavier keeps me more than satisfied, be crazy to pass that up.” I rubbed his shoulder in what I hoped was a loving way and smiled at Xavier.
John let out a deep laugh and said, “Beck, just give it up. When have you ever scored with the girls, huh?” Beck grumbled something unintelligible back. “Xavier, it was nice to see you, Eliza, a pleasure meeting you. Now, come one Beck, we’ve got more things to do today.”
When they were out of hearing distance, I sat down next to Xavier and let out a whoosh of breath.
“Are you okay?” Xavier asked. “You don’t have to worry, they were only here to check if I wasn’t doing anything gang related without notifying them.”
“Wasn’t worried.” I replied, “It’s just so hard playing your girlfriend.”
Xavier didn’t think I was funny and narrowed his eyes at me. “Really?” He asked, “Really.”
I threw my head back and laughed, though I didn’t really know why. Maybe because of his expression? When I faced Xavier again, he was much, much closer than I thought, and I sucked in air like a fish.
“You’re absolutely stunning when you laugh, did you know that, Eliza?” he came closer still, until our foreheads were touching and I was convinced he was going to kiss me.
“Mmm, you smell like the ocean.” He whispered against my lips, “But I can still smell you, underneath all that, I can still smell your lovely scent.”
I’d closed my eyes because I couldn’t handle his intimate stare, his brown eyes that seemed to pull me in.
“Xavier,” I whispered, his name like a plead on my lips, though I didn’t know if I was begging him to move away, or come closer and kiss me.
“I know, I know,” he whispered, “Promised I wouldn’t kiss you unless you asked. But this is me begging you, Eliza, please ask.”
I wanted to, god it felt as if I had never wanted anything more than to ask him to kiss me, but I knew that if I permitted him that, it wouldn’t stop by just a kiss. I also knew I wanted more than that. I wanted him for keeps. As a boyfriend, by my side. But I just couldn’t be that girl.
“Xavier,” I said again, but this time a little more resolute, and my tone informed him that I wasn’t asking for a kiss. He moved away, with a sigh.
“It’s not that I don’t… want you. It’s just, I can’t be that girl. I can’t have a boyfriend so soon after breaking up with my ex. Just can’t. I hate those girls who go through boyfriends like they are clothes.”
“I know that.” Xavier said, “But your killing me here. I want you, I want to be with you, I want to be able to talk with you at school and ask you how you’re doing and how you feel and I want to kiss you for everyone to see, just so they know you’re my girl and its hands off for them.”
Not able to stand it any longer, I snaked my hand behind his neck and pulled him towards me. I could see his eyes widen in shock, before I closed mine.
Xavier:
“I know that,” I said, and though I knew it was going to sound so very primal and caveman-like, I said, “But your killing me here. I want you, I want to be with you, I want to be able to talk with you at school and ask you how you’re doing and how you feel and I want to kiss you for everyone to see, just so they know you’re my girl and its hands off for them.”
Eliza’s eyes flared and before I knew it, her hand was at the back of my neck and she was pulling me towards her.
I crashed my mouth upon hers, having a moment to think, finally, before I was lost in her. I stroked her mouth gently, tracing the outside of her lips, planning on a nice and slow kiss. She would have nothing of it. She caught my tongue and sucked on it, and it drove me wild. I pressed her back into the sand, supporting my weight on my right arm, while I placed my left hand on her waist.
Like a starved man I kissed her, deep and thorough, I explored ever corner of her mouth, fighting her for dominance. Not wanting to crush her, my body hovered above hers, and I was sure to keep the lower part of my body even further away, knowing I had to stop otherwise I might not be able to.
I broke our kiss and stared at her, taking in her red lips, swollen from our kiss, and couldn’t help but smile. “God Eliza,” I said. “I love the taste of you, I do. But it doesn’t change anything. I don’t want you just once.”
She sat up, pushing me away with her body, and blushing furiously she said, “There might be, but… I don’t want you to think that I’m ashamed to be seen with you, but I’d like to be your girlfriend in secret.”
She looked down for a second and then continued, “I know that sounds so wrong, but I don’t know if I can keep away from you much longer, either, Xavier. God, I was just fooling myself and… I can’t show up at school having another boyfriend when I just broke up with Drew, just can’t. So maybe we could keep it a secret, until like a month has passed or something.” She gave me a small smile, “Might be kind of fun, sneaking around.”
I only had one answer to that, “I’ll take you anyway I can get you.”
Her eyes widened and her smile broadened, so I leaned in for another kiss, only to have her pull away and stand up.
“Doesn’t mean you can stop the wooing though. I like the wooing.” Then she turned and ran.
Eliza:
I ran as hard as I could, but I knew Xavier was hot on my trail. I laughed out of pure joy and because I had all this cropped up energy that only seemed to amplify after our kiss. I pushed myself a little harder and sped up. It was no use. With a battle cry Xavier lunged for me and tackled me to the ground. we rolled around in the sand, then Xavier came to a stop and pulled me on top of him.
His lips smashed against mine and the whole world stopped existing. With a desperate need I kissed him back, heath exploding in my body, making it tingle everywhere. I’d never felt this way before, ever, and I loved it. Xavier broke our kiss and stared past me, and I, shaking off that dazed glaze I no doubt had, followed his gaze.
A man stood towering above us, a little kid by his side. “No PDA on the beach permitted.” Then he walked away and mumbled something like, “Disgusting teens, thinking they can have sex wherever.”
I turned my head back to Xavier and the moment our eyes met we burst out laughing. Xavier rolled us around, got up and helped me up, saying, “Come on, we should head back.”
He wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed my temple. We walked back towards our stuff, which appeared to be quite some end. I dressed while Xavier stuffed in the towels, pulled on his shirt and very swiftly replaced his gun. When he was done, I just had to kiss him again, just a quick peck on his lips, and almost cursed myself for being such a horny teen.
It was as if, now we’d agreed to date in secret, some wall between us had been torn down, all restrictions out of the window, and we just couldn’t stop touching.
When I commented on it, Xavier said, “Well, think about it, tomorrow we won’t see each other, and then it’s Monday and we won’t be able to act all lovey dovey, until last period when we have dance lessons, and then what little contact we will have will drive me insane, because it won’t be enough. So I have to get as much of you in my system as I can.”
We packed slowly, both feeling as if the day could never end, and because of our laziness, it was already getting dark when we hit the road. The way back seemed shorter than before, maybe because I wasn’t mad at him anymore and instead we talked freely and sang along with songs.
Too soon, we arrived in front of my place. I didn’t want to give him up just yet. I was cursing myself for not dumping Drew the moment I met Xavier, I could’ve had so much more time with him.
As if sensing my feelings, Xavier said, “Can I come in?”
I was debating that when he added, “Can I sleep over?”
My first reaction to that was, no. hell no. then he added, “No sex. Just me holding you while you sleep. God, Eliza, I don’t want to let you go just yet.”
His words echoed my thoughts, and before I knew it, I was nodding my head. “You’ll have to sneak in, though,” And remembering how he got my stuff I said, “Shouldn’t be a problem. But no funny business.”
He grinned and agreed.
I turned away from him and walked inside, looking for my dad. he was sitting in his favourite armchair, wathing television.
“Hey, dad. I’m home.” I said when I saw him.
“Hey girl, how was your sleepover at Kate’s?”
“Fun, but now I’m really tired so I’m headed to bed, kay?”
“Sure, sweet dreams.” He turned back to the television and that was that. I hurried upstairs and locked the door behind me. Xavier was already in my room, his back to me, busy closing the window.
I grabbed my pajama, told Xavier I’d be in the bathroom and locked the bathroom door. I did my business and when I came out, found Xavier had changed, too. he was dressed in the same shirt as he’d wore to the beach, the one that was big on him.
I had a moment of slight panic, but then he smiled at me, and all that melted away. I hopped onto the bed and under the covers, suddenly really tired, and felt Xavier slide in behind me. he draped his arm over me, pulling me closer and nuzzled my neck.
“Goodnight, Eliza.”
“Goodnight.” I whispered back. I fell asleep almost immediately, and for the first time in a while, I slept without having a nightmare.
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I am mighty sorry for the really long wait, I have no excuse except writer's block and school. I'm in my last year and to be honest, it sucks. I've never been soo freaking busy.
Anywho, hope you enjoyed!
Greetings, Rieka