Chapter Fifty-Three: Xavier's Story

                                    

                                          
Chapter Fifty-Three: Xavier's Story
                          
So, I left out this one part in the story where Xavier was explaining about the whole six years waiting for me and everything. I mentioned it in Chapter 48 about all the things that made up our relationship. This was one of them.
                          
"Hey beautiful."
                          
His sweet voice echoed through the speaker as I lay in bed with the blanket over my mouth to muffle the sound. A small smile tugged at my lips. Being called beautiful by your boyfriend, especially this way, was corny and nothing to be so happy about. But somehow, the way he said it, even though I know that he's said it to other girls before, it made me feel special, and somehow I knew that he's never said it this way before except to me.
                          
"Hi sunshine..." I murmured, grinning as I heard the sigh on the other end. He never really got used to the whole 'sunshine' thing, even after I realized and explained why I chose that name for him. "How are you?"
                          
"I'm alright, I guess," he replied. "But I wanna talk to you about something tonight." 
                          
Something gnawed at my heart. Usually, when people said that they needed to talk about something, it wasn't a good thing.
                          
"Okay..." I replied uncertainly, but he had already launched off into it in a tone that suggested it wouldn't end anytime soon.
                          
"I met this girl six years ago. When I saw her, I couldn't stop looking at her. I never believed in love at first sight before I met her. I thought she was adorable. I mean, c'mon. I was 10, so Barbie and the colour pink was completely out of the question, but she was...cute." 
                          
I smiled, even though he couldn't see me, and listened patiently as he continued.
                          
"And I thought it was just puppy love. Even my parents tried to convince me that it was. But as time dragged on, and the feelings didn't go away, I realized that it wasn't. So I told her. I actually told her that I loved her." 
                          
"Through your phone," I reminded him immediately.
                          
It caught him off guard. "You remember?" he asked, surprised.
                          
I nodded, then remembered that we were on the phone. "Yeah..." I said quietly, chuckling. "Hard to forget the first to tell you he loves you."
                          
"I was your first?" The surprise became even more obvious.
                          
"Didn't I tell you?" Cocking my head to one side on my fluffy pillow, I actually heard the shrug with a careless grunt before he continued.
                          
"Anyway...the thing is, I wasn't expecting her to say anything more. But I didn't expect her to just turn and run either." 
                          
As I thought back to that memory six years ago, I cringed as I remembered in shocking clarity his typed out confession on his phone and my reaction of running away out of fear. The heartbreak must've been unbearable. Even I've never been rejected that way before. "I'm sorry," I whispered, curling around my blanket in shame.
                          
To my surprise, he chuckled. "Never said it was you. But it's okay. I knew our relationship might be a bit stretched after that but I really needed to get it off my chest. It was worth the wait though, after we started getting close again." 
                          
"Do you know what it's like, watching the one you love but never being able to express your feelings? All I could do was show it in little ways, hoping she'd get it. She never did though." There was another chuckle, and I managed a wry smile. "Again, it got unbearable. I got my chance when she came into the function hall 'cause her parents were attending this talk. We started talking, and...I just couldn't contain myself from asking about a boyfriend. I had all my money that she'd say no."