Omfg. This took forever, I know. More than forever. I'm so sorry. I've been really busy and have had no inspiration for any of my stories… particularly ones that were turning really cliché, ie. this one. :( But, I've tried to continue this anyway… only because of all my wonderful reviewers. You guys are wonderful.
Anyway, quick synopsis for those of you who don't want to read the last two chapters again:
Xavier saved Jennifer from getting run over by a car, and so claimed that she 'owed' him. Not intending to be in his debt forever, she agreed to go to a party of a yacht with him, where she was supposed to be on a date with his cousin, Isaiah. Once there, she meets Isaiah and a pretty model named Gwendolyn, both of whom she decided that she can't stand. That night, Xavier manages to save her from falling overboard the side of the yacht and they get fairly close before they're interrupted and she runs off.
Enjoy. :)
Also, as a side note, my penname has been changed from dangerous-fox to Niccy.
IOU
Niccy
Xavier Caffy stared at his hands, which were currently resting on the steering wheel of his black convertible. His face drawn in an uncharacteristically serious glare, as he wondered (not for the first time that morning) just what the hell he was doing sitting outside Jennifer Piper's house. Realising that he had started to grip the steering wheel a little too hard, he let out a deep breath and tried to get himself to relax a little bit.
It was the night after the party on the yacht, and even he wasn't drunk enough not to notice the tension between them during the ride on the way back to her house. She had barely said two words to him, other than a politely stiff 'thankyou'.
Either go up and ring the doorbell or drive off and don't look back, he ordered himself. Anything would be better than sitting there in the car and looking like a fool. What if she (or anyone else from her family, for that matter) decided to look absently out the window? What explanation would he have for just sitting there and doing nothing?
Ring the doorbell or leave.
Leave or ring the doorbell.
He chose to do neither.
Instead, he pulled his mobile phone out from his jeans pocket and scrolled down his contact list until he got to the 'L' section. It didn't take him long to find the name he wanted, and he held the phone by his ear as he waited for it to connect.
Xavier Adam Caffy.
Oh, damn him.
Damn him, damn him, damn him and his stupid damn charm.
Rolling over on to her side, Jennifer shut her eyes tight to try and stop the world from feeling as though it was spinning. Once she stopped the slight nausea that had begun to arise, she went back to her newfound favourite past time. ..that being the cursing a one particularly good-looking boy. The boy to whom she decided to credit her present hangover to.
She knew that she wasn't being entirely fair. After all, it's not like Xavier had stood there in front of her, filling her glass full of champagne each time it looked as though it were half-empty. No, the consumption of alcohol had been entirely her fault. She had simply been hoping to drown out the… the what?
Well, the jealousy, for one thing.
It seemed that no matter where she had turned to look the night before, there was Xavier – looking his handsome self – with Gwendolyn hanging off his arm – looking her usual gorgeous self. Oh, what Jennifer would do for a pair of killer legs like that. Grimacing, she forced herself to push all images and thoughts of Gwendolyn and Xavier out of her head. It was just making her stomach turn.
I am not jealous, I am not jealous…
After all, for her to be jealous… she had to actually care for Xavier. And she didn't. …right?
Oh, what a master liar she was turning out to be.
Brrr-brrr.
Jennifer groaned and attempted to pull her bed covers over her head to drown out her mobile phone ring. Oh, just let me sleep!… she shouted at it in her mind.
Apparently, it decided to ignore her.
American Idiot continued to play insistently.
Groaning again, she tossed aside her covers and leant over to fumble for her phone somewhere on the bedside table. Finally finding it, she collapsed back into bed, closed her eyes tiredly and pulled the covers up to her chin before answering it.
Though originally intending to bark out some curt greeting to whoever would be idiotic enough to ring so early in the morning, all Jennifer could really muster was an incoherent grunt.
"Well, good morning to you too, sunshine"
Xavier.
Jennifer eyes shot open as she heard that all too familiar voice at the other end of the line. "You!" she breathed, before immediately cursing herself. What the hell sort of greeting was that?
He seemed to be wondering the same thing.
"Me!" came the mocking reply, "if I didn't know better, I'd say that you were just thinking about me"
"I-uh.. wha.." Jennifer sat up, her free hand going to massage her temple. She could feel a headache coming on. Taking a deep breath, she tried again, "don't flatter yourself, Caffy. Now how did you get my number?"
"Luci"
"Ah". She made a mental note to throttle her best friend later. "And why exactly are yo-"
"You owe me"
Jennifer nearly choked on nothing at that. "What?" she demanded into the phone, "we're square, remember? We're even. I went on your stupid double-date and I don't owe yo-"
He cut her off. Again. "I saved your life," he reminded her.
"And I went out with you last night," she rejoined, before quickly correcting herself, "your cousin. I went out with your cousin"
There was a short silence on the other end, before he said with a certain edge in his voice, "and I seem to recall saving a certain someone from falling over the side of the yacht. … twice"
Jennifer's mouth open and closed several times as she tried to think of some witty reply. However, nothing came to mind. Hell, she couldn't even deny it. "Alright…" she responded somewhat warily, "and what exactly do you want? Because, I'm telling you now- if whatever you're planning involves some kind of yacht, I'm hanging up right now"
"Come shopping with me"
She nearly laughed out loud at that one. "Are you serious? You want to go shopping?"
His voice took on a slightly defensive tone, "is that so hard to believe?"
Shaking her head, though she knew that he couldn't see her, she allowed herself a small smile. In truth, she didn't entirely know why the thought of Xavier wanting to go shopping was so hilarious. It just… was. "Christmas shopping?"
"Mhm"
"Leaving it a bit late, aren't you?"
"Hm?"
"It's Christmas Eve"
"Oh"
"… are you sure you want to go shopping?"
"Look, are you going to come out with me or not?"
Jennifer raised an eyebrow, wondering what was with the testy tone of voice. "My, aren't we are little irritable this morning? Shopping with you promises to be a fun-filled day…"
She heard a sigh let out his end of the receiver. "Sorry, I'm just… tense," he explained. Not that it was really that much of an explanation. In fact, it didn't explain anything at all.
Jennifer was silent for a minute, weighing up the options in her mind. She could go shopping with Xavier and therefore not feel like she was in his debt… though, the problem with that being that she'd actually have to see him again. The thought of spending the whole day with him gave her a light feeling in her stomach. She wasn't quite sure if it was a good or bad feeling.
She put it down to the champagne still in her system.
"Alright," she said at last, trying to make her voice sound as reluctant as possible, "are you going to pick me up?"
"I'm here now"
"What?"
Xavier frowned. "Is that a top or a skirt?" he asked, eyeing the skimpy piece of material dubiously.
Jennifer returned his frown and looked to the mirror, first holding the item of clothing up to her chest and then down to her hips. "You know… I'm not really sure," she said, head tilted slightly to the side as she puzzled over it. If it was a skirt, it was a damn short one.
"Well, if you want it, it's yours"
Hanging the skirt/top back up on the rack, she turned to face him with a slightly surprised expression on her face. "You really shouldn't make offers like that," she warned him, "it's bad for your credit card"
He grinned and met her eyes, "just never seen you in anything so…"
"Revealing, slutty, skimpy?"
"I was going to say 'short'," he shrugged, "but it amounts to the same thing"
Jennifer rolled her eyes, "perv"
Xavier laughed, putting back a tie that he had been considering for his dad. "Seriously though," he said at last, "let me know if you see something you like"
This earned him a suspicious glare, "you're just looking for another IOU card, aren't you?"
"Who me?" came back the innocent reply.
"Yes, you"
"But it-"
"Xavier!" a new voice rang through the air, effectively freezing both Jennifer and Xavier in the middle of whatever they were doing. Jennifer's stomach started to turn again. And not in the good way.
Judging by the expression on Xavier's face, he wasn't too thrilled with this chance meeting either. However, she watched him force a tight smile on his face as he turned towards the source of the voice. "Gwen-" he began to sigh out a greeting, before being effectively cut off by the model's lips locking on to his.
Jennifer turned away. She tried to tell herself that it was out of disgust, but even she knew that it was more because she wanted to hide the irrational flicker of jealousy that had flashed across her face. For once, she was thankful that Gwendolyn had Xavier already occupied, so that he didn't notice. … then again, if it weren't for the leggy blonde, that jealousy wouldn't have even been there.
After the third attempt, Xavier was finally successful in prying Gwendolyn's arms away from around his neck, and he held her out an arm's length away. "Hey Gwen," he said, flushing slightly. Whether it was out of embarrassment or anger, Jennifer wasn't quite sure. He glanced over at her for a second, but she looked away and he sighed.
"You remember Jennifer from last night, don't you?" he asked, forcing his voice to sound casual as he dropped his hands from her arms. Gwendolyn glanced over at Jennifer without looking even mildly curious. The brunette could've been an alien and the other girl wouldn't have cared.
"Oh, yeah. Sure," came the non-convincing reply, before all attention was quickly zeroed in on Xavier again.
Not content to be left standing there like some third and unwanted wheel, Jennifer began backing off. "I think I'm going to go and take a look at the shoes," she muttered, conveniently forgetting for the moment that she hated shoe-shopping. It just so happened to be the department furthest away from where they were currently standing.
"Buh-bye sweetheart," Gwendolyn said with a condescending smile.
Xavier rolled his eyes and made a move as though to go after her, "Piper, wait…"
Jennifer chose to ignore his calls and kept walking. However, when the third voice called out to her, she found that it was enough to make her stop in her tracks.
"Jennifer!" an overly sweet and charming voice exclaimed.
Shutting her eyes tight, she wondered why on earth she had agreed to come out with Xavier in the first place. However, as she turned around slowly, she forced a fake smile on her face – one that would rival Xavier's when he had turned to face Gwendolyn.
"Isaiah," she said, forcing her voice to sound happy. She could see Xavier stiffen as his older cousin weaved his way through the tables of clothing and over to where they were all standing.
"Well, isn't this a cheerful little reunion," Isaiah grinned, pulling Jennifer in for a hug and kiss on the cheek in greeting. He gave Xavier a quick nod and then went to wrap his arm around Gwendolyn's waist.
Jennifer noted that Xavier looked anything but 'cheerful' and tried her best to ignore the bitter pang in her chest when she saw his eyes narrow and his jaw tighten. No doubt jealous over how comfortable his cousin was getting with the beautiful blonde. After today, she decided to vow that she would not have anything to do with Xavier Caffy and his screwed up love-triangle. No matter how cute he happened to be, or how many clothes he was willing to buy for her.
With that resolve implanted firmly into her mind, she forced her attention back to the idle conversation that the other three were making. It was on something trivial, possibly even the weather, but she was sure that even the innocent shoppers could feel the tension sweeping off their little group.
"Oh, Xavier…" Gwendolyn simpered, "did you see the tennis bracelet that Isaiah bought me for Christmas?"
"Lovely," he said impassively, not glancing at her held out wrist for more than a second, "so you two are here together then?"
"Yes" – Isaiah
"No" – Gwendolyn
Jennifer had to turn away slightly to hide a smile while the two glared at each other. Gwendolyn was the one to step in and explain things.
"Well, Isaiah was kind enough to take me shopping today," she clarified, batting her eyelids up at the 19-year-old, "but we're not together, together"
"I see… well, I guess we'll leave you two to shop together not-together then," Xavier said, with a cocked eyebrow. He walked by them and grabbed Jennifer's hand, "we'll be seeing you then"
"You're so transparent, you know that, Xavier?" Isaiah called out at his cousin's retreating back.
Xavier dropped Jennifer's hand and turned around slowly, a slightly incredulous look on his face. "Excuse me?"
"Oh, don't pretend like you don't care at all that I'm here with your ex-girlfriend"
Jennifer's stomach tightened slightly at that, but she chose to ignore it. Xavier, on the other hand, started laughing. "You really are full of it, you know that, Isaiah?" he remarked light-heartedly, though she could see the tense way in which he held himself, "you honestly thought that this would throw me off?"
"Well, didn't it?" Isaiah countered, smirk still firmly in place.
"Hate to break it to you, cous, but no"
"You're a terrible liar"
"So are you. But did you honestly think that I was upset over you being here with Gwendolyn?" he shook his head, before glancing over at the pouting model with more than a little distaste, "I've been over her for a while now. No offence, sweetheart… but I have been ever since you decided to screw around behind my back"
Jennifer bit her lip to keep from smirking as she watched both Isaiah and Gwendolyn open and close their mouths as though too indignant to even form a reply. However, Xavier wasn't quite done yet. "You know what the truly sad thing is?" he asked, lowering his voice slightly, having just noticed that some people were turning to stare, "you two belong together. Gwen, honey, Isaiah's just using you to 'one-up' me… Isaiah, Gwen's just using you to make me jealous. I hope you're both very happy together"
With that, Xavier turned to leave again. Unfortunately, though, Gwendolyn happened to find her voice right about then. "I can read you like an open book, Xavier," she said, her tone wavering somewhere between a shriek and a whine as she crossly pulled away from Isaiah's side, "you were definitely tense about something. And you can't honestly tell me that you care about… about it"
It took Jennifer a minute to realise that she was the 'it' that Gwendolyn had oh-so-kindly referred to. She opened her mouth in silent protest as Gwendolyn took a longer look at her, as though noticing that she was there for the first time. Xavier turned around angrily, countering back automatically, "leave it out of this"
Jennifer looked taken aback at that. It? It?!
"Oh, for Christ's sake!" she finally spat out, throwing her hands up in the air, "it has a name, and it is sick of all this whinging and complaining. So, if you don't mind, it is leaving now"
Without waiting for another word to escape from their mouths, Jennifer turned on her heel and headed for the shop entrance. She heard Xavier swear and come after her. At that moment though, she was sick of the Caffy men and that whining blonde… blonde… thing.
"Leave me alone, Caffy," she said, her voice no longer angry but just… drained. But he ignored her subtle warning and took hold of her arm, causing her to swing back around and face him.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" he said, not completely letting go of her arm but loosening his grip a bit, "I wasn't even thinking about what I was saying. It was… I don't know. An automatic response"
He paused, realising that she needed a whole lot more convincing than that. Dropping his hand to his side, he took half a step back to give her some more space. "You're mad at me," he said, more a statement than a question.
Arms crossed, Jennifer considered it for a moment before closing her eyes briefly and shaking her head. She couldn't stand that unsure look in the eyes of someone who was usually so confident and arrogant. "No, I'm just… tired?" she finished lamely.
She watched as a trace of his old smirk flashed across his face, and found that it was oddly comforting. "Come on," he said, taking her hand and pulling her back the way they had come, "we'll go get you that tropical smoothie you love and head over to the park across the road"
Jennifer didn't even bother to ask him how he knew her favourite beverage, but was simply content to smile and follow. She really was going to throttle Lucinda later though.
A sudden thought occurred to Jennifer as she sat atop of the monkey bars, sipping at what was left of her smoothie. "Your dad!" she blurted out, not really thinking about what she was saying. Xavier glanced over at her, surprise clearly evident on his face.
"What?" he queried, looking to where she had been staring a second ago.
She shook her head. "Sorry," she mumbled, "I meant… we never got your dad's Christmas present"
The boy sitting beside her laughed, and she glared at him. He held out his hand to take the empty cup from her and jumped down over the edge of the bars. "That's okay, I've already got him a present at home," he remarked, walking over to the garbage bin and throwing away her rubbish. He turned back around to see her climbing carefully down the side. She probably would've jumped down after him… had she not been wearing a skirt.
"What?" she demanded, turning around once she had hit the ground, "but I thought the whole reason for this shopping trip was to go buy a present for your dad!"
"Oh, did I say that?"
Jennifer rolled her eyes. "You lied to me," she accused, looking off to the west for a minute where the sun was starting to glow a bright orange. Despite the annoyed tone in her voice though, she was strangely calm. She loved the late afternoon, just before sunset. A warm breeze had just started up as she turned back around to face Xavier.
…or at least, to where she thought Xavier had been standing.
One hand shielding her eyes from the sun, she looked to her left and to her right. The park appeared to be empty. To her right, two swings swayed slightly in the wind and the sun glinted off the metal playground, so that she couldn't look there for too long, but he definitely wasn't there. Glancing back to her left for a second time, all she could see was a row of two or three large trees. A small smile crept onto her lips as she decided to play along with Xavier's childish game.
"Gee, I wonder where Xavier has gone?" she said rather loudly, pretending to look around as she headed towards the trees. The trunks of the trees were about a metre thick and wrinkled with deep ridges and scars in its bark. Could he be any more obvious? She wondered as she crept around the corner of the closest tree.
"Gotcha!" she yelled, springing around the other side to face… absolutely nothing.
Oh damn.
She could've sworn that he was hiding behind the tree. Frowning, she walked back around the tree to where she had started. "Damnit, Caffy… if you don't come out right now, I'll-"
Hearing a soft thud directly behind her, she turned around to find herself face to face with the smirking green-eyed boy. Or, face to chest, considering that he was taller than her. She yelped and took a step backwards into the trunk of tree. "You have got to stop doing that!" she berated him, one hand flying to her chest to feel her heart racing and the other going up to hit him over the shoulder. It took a moment for her to realise where he had just come from. "You were up the tree!"
"Your power of observation astound m-"
"Oh, shut up"
He grinned.
She glared.
Neither of them moved.
Her heart wasn't slowing down either.
But of course, that had nothing to do with the fact that he was standing so close.
.. Liar.
Jennifer attempted to clear her throat, as though that would bring her to her sense and also clear her head. "Are you planning to, uh… move any time soon?" she enquired, not trusting herself to try and move around him – just in case he happened to feel her heart beat a thousand times a second and call an ambulance.
He stared at her intently, and she blushed under his gaze. "Oh, I don't know…" he said, voice deceptively calm, "I kind of like you where you are"
She wasn't quite too sure what he meant by that, but before she could say anything, he leaned forward to whisper in her ear, as one hand went to brace himself against the tree and the other to rest lightly on her hip. Having him that close made her draw in her breath and she started slightly at his touch, as though something electric just ran through her. Normally she would scold herself for reacting in such a way, but her body seemed to have stopped taking orders from her minds.
Xavier took advantage of her momentary silence to speak softly in her ear, "besides… at least now I know that you can't run off like you did last night"
It was on the tip of her tongue to deny it, but somehow she found that she couldn't. Not only did she know that she had run off, but she was also caught off guard by his mentioning the incident. After hearing nothing about it for the whole day, she had begun to figure that he had simply forgotten all about it.
She was still thinking about this when he leaned down and kissed her. She was too startled to even consider pulling away. Even after she got over her initial shock, she found herself responding as his grip on her hip grew firmer and pulled her towards him.
It was then, though, that something in her mind then seemed to click.
I'm making out with Xavier Caffy in the park.
Breaking off suddenly, she laid her palms across his chest in an attempt to push away from him. However, his hand had moved from her side to around her waist, effectively stopped her from stepping back. "I… uh," she took a moment to get her breath back, trying to look anywhere but at him, "we shouldn't…"
"Because…?" he asked, a hint of a challenge in his voice.
She faltered at that, "well… because…"
Oh, to hell with it.
Without another word, Jennifer used the hands that had been splayed across his chest to grab at his shirt and pull his lips back down to hers. She'd be a downright fool not to want this. Feeling him smile against her lips, she tilted her head back in order to allow him to deepen the kiss. He now had her back pressed up against the tree, both hands on either side of her waist.
If she wanted to be honest with herself, she'd admit that actually being with him was better than she ever imagined.
…not that she ever had, of course.
Liar liar liar.
She had spent half the night wondering what it would've been like if they hadn't been interrupted on the yacht. And, naturally, as he had been the last thing on her mind before finally drifting off to sleep – she had dreamt about him too. Jennifer blushed at the memory.
It was Xavier who was the one to pull away. He grinned at her unintentional look of disappointment. He gave her a kiss on the lips to smooth away her frown, followed by a quick kiss to the forehead. "Come on," he said, "I want you to follow me..."
Although Jennifer had always pictured Xavier living in some glittering white mansion atop a large green hill, she was no less impressed by the moderate sized townhouse that he drove her to. Though the outside was nothing much by itself, the inside had obviously been seen to be a professional interior designer.
"Your place is gorgeous," she breathed, stopping by to admire the intricate golden frame of a mirror hanging above a fireplace. She watched her reflection as Xavier came up behind her and wrapped an arm about her waist. He was obviously amused by reaction. A sudden thought occurred to her as she turned to face him. "Wait, please tell me that this isn't just your place. Your family lives here too, right?"
"My older brother and I share this place. He's in Europe at the moment though… does that make this place mine?" he grinned, before leaning down and sweeping her off her feet and into his arms. She made a little noise of surprise as she instinctively swung her arms around his neck.
"Where are we going?" she asked suspiciously as he carried her out of the living room, down the hall and into a room on the left.
"Not a very trusting person, are you?" he observed, the corner of his lip turning up into a smile as he dumped her unceremoniously onto the soft queen size bed not far from the door.
"Hey!" she protested, before sitting up and glaring at him. He, however, ignored her and went about searching his desk for something.
After having muttered some not-very-nice things under her breath, Jennifer decided that she may as well make herself comfortable while Xavier went off on a treasure hunt of whatever he had evidently lost.
"I did not lose it," he replied indignantly, having apparently caught some of her muttering.
"Okay, fine... misplaced then," she retorted with just a hint of sarcasm, "better?"
He turned to shoot her one of his famous smiles over his shoulder, "much"
She didn't even bother to reply to that, but went about making herself comfortable. Jennifer had just grabbed one of his pillows and leaned back, when she heard him gloat with a triumphant 'aha!'
Not bothering to get up, but simply lifting her head a little, she saw him holding a small brightly wrapped present. It was roughly square or rectangle in shape. "What's that?" she asked, curiously, while at the same time wondering how he managed to misplace something that was wrapped in bright red and gold.
"That…" he said, coming over and sitting on the bed next to her, "is a thankyou for putting up with my cousin last night"
Jennifer sat up properly now, surprised. "You got me a gift?"
Xavier rolled his eyes, "I have a feeling that I more or less said that, but-"
Without really thinking about it, she pulled him in for a spontaneous kiss. She pulled back just as quickly though, hoping that she wasn't blushing as much as it felt like she was. He looked like he was going to say something, but for once seemed to decide against it and not tease her once. Instead, he wriggled the present in front of her nose. "Planning to take this off me anytime soon?"
"Oh, right…" she mumbled, a sheepish smile tugging at her lips as she accepted it from him, "uh… should I open it now or…"
"Tell you what, why don't you save that for Christmas tomorrow," he said, taking it back from her and slipping it into her bag that was on the floor beside the door. He then climbed back onto the bed, a mischievous smile on his face as he drew her towards him and into his lap, "I can think of a number of other things I'd much rather be doing right now"
"Oh, really?" she questioned innocently as he went to kiss her.
"Mhm," he replied, slipping his hands under her top and massaging her lower back. He smothered a groan as she nipped playfully at his ear, before kissing him in the exact same spot. "What do you think?"
Covering a grin, she ran her hands across his shoulders and back around his neck. "I think we should have less talking and more kissing," she told him, attempting to put on a serious tone of voice.
"For once, I completely agree with you," he remarked, eyebrow cocked. Using his left hand to pull her legs to the side in one smooth movement, he lowered her back down to the bed and wasted no time shifting his position so that he rested lightly on top of her – arm bracing himself on the bed either side of her, so as not to completely crush her. He then captured her lips back with his, effectively keeping his promise of 'less talking, more kissing'.
Opening her mouth slightly under his to allow him to deepen the kiss even further, she used one hand to start playing with the hem of his shirt and tugging it upwards. Getting the hint, he pulled away for a second to pull his shirt off, allowing her to fully admire the top half of his body.
Damn, did he look good.
And he knows it, too… the arrogant, son of a—
Any thought that Jennifer was currently having was effectively cut off as she felt his weight return to atop of hers and he started planting kisses down along her neck to her collarbone. Sighing contently, she ran her fingers through his dark hair and over his shoulders, inadvertently arching her back towards him.
What happened next was something that she couldn't quite explain. One minute she was overcome by her need for the gorgeous eighteen-year-old who had focused her attention back to kissing her lips, while he used one hand to draw up her top and trace nonsense patterns across her stomach. She was actually aching for his touch, and she could feel him pressed against her.
… The next minute though, it was like something clicked inside of her. Something clicked, and she found herself on the verge of freaking out. She wasn't even entirely sure what about. All she knew was that she had to get out of there. Jennifer sat up quickly, trying to ignore the tingling feeling still coming from the pit of her stomach at the thought of a half-naked Xavier sitting right there in front of her.
"Jennifer?"
Refusing to look over at him, she quickly climbed off the bed and murmured something under her breath about needing to be home for dinner. She grabbed her slip-on shoes that were beside her bag and hurriedly put them on. Grabbing her bag, she was about to turn around and leave when she found Xavier standing in front of her, one arm across the doorway.
"What's wrong?" he asked her quietly, a mixture of both confusion and worry creeping in his voice, though she knew that he was trying to keep his tone neutral.
"Nothing," she said quickly, still avoiding his eyes and wondering if there was another exit. She'd rather not have to resort to jumping out the window.
"Oh, bullshit," he muttered, trying to get her to look at him. When she finally did, she couldn't help herself. She blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.
"This shouldn't have happened"
The moment the words left her mouth, she wished she could take it back. The look that suddenly flashed across his face was unreadable, and Xavier took a step back as she stepped forward. "I'm sorry," she said quickly, "I mean… what I meant was that-"
"Forget it," he said shortly, holding up a hand to stop her excuses. He was angry. Actually, he was beyond angry. He was livid and annoyed… but not at her. At himself. Angry for actually believing that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. Angry for actually caring so much. Suddenly he wished that she would just leave, before his temper got the better of him and he said something that he'd regret later.
The moment that she had more or less told him that it was a mistake, he could feel something akin to a burning hole in his gut. Damn, he needed a drink.
Shaking his head, Xavier only just realised that he had made his way to the other side of the room, by the window. Turning his head to glance back, he found that he was alone.
He tried to tell himself that he didn't actually care.
He was lying.
Review please. (:
There is, actually, probably only one more chapter left.