What's this feeling || Xiao x Aether

Her support

Xiao POV:

I woke up to the blinding beams of light from the sun shining down upon my face. I groaned and attempted to cover my eyes with my right hand, blocking any light to make me blind.

"Xiao? Are you okay?"

I turned to the sound of Ganyu's voice. Right, we were going to... Aether's house. Fuck.

"Yeah."

I stumbled out of the car, totally forgetting my feeble condition. Immediately when I set foot onto the ground, I felt my leg tremble. Ganyu helped me stable myself with her arm as I took my sweet time getting out of the fucking car.

Once I finally got my legs to carry themselves, I took small steps towards the house. The first step seemed harmless but, as I begun to take my second step, I felt something almost pierce through me, the sound of a familiar warm laughter.

Step.

Then came the sight of their smile, bright and beautiful as always. It was almost too mesmerizing to look at, I could feel my eyes always drawing to it when it appeared. It hurt.

Step.

Then came their eyes. A stunning yellow colour, ones that I've never seen before. Ones that I could get lost in for hours. How they softened when looking at something they cared about, it was breathtaking.

At the final step, those words came back to me. The words that caused me so much pain. The agonizing pain that I thought would dissolve after a cold drink, but it didn't. Those few words...

"I think I'm in love with Albedo"

I hate myself.

I took hold of Ganyu's shoulder, gripping onto it tightly, maybe a bit too tight since I felt her flinch as my grip got harder. She turned her head towards me, the corners of her mouth forming into a frown.

"Xiao... you don't have to go if you don't feel well. I'll speak to Aether if you'd like."

I glanced up at her, my face appeared tired and emotionless but really, I was hiding more emotions than I'd ever like to show.

Ganyu sighed quietly under her breath and raised her fist to the door, knocking on it weakly with her left hand.

Once she lowered her hand from the door, a familiar shorter blonde girl appeared at the front of the door, her hair in a messy bun with her small blue hairpin almost falling out.

"Oh~ hello you two! Come in, come in. Aether is still recovering in his room. You guys can go visit him in a bit. I've got something I'd like to discuss" Lumine stated. She honestly acted nothing like Aether.

"Thank you for having us. Did Aether tell you we were coming over?" Ganyu asked as she took her shoes off and layed them at the front door.

"Oh!" Lumine fished something out of her pocket, pulling out a rectangular shaped device in her hand. "I took Aether's phone and saw Xiao's text. I decided to just reply for him since I didn't want to go bother him. Anyways, come sit down, I made us muffins!"

The blonde girl hopped her way to the living room and patiently waited for us to follow. I waited for Ganyu to leave the entrance way then begun to remove my own shoes. I let my eyes travel throughout the house, it looked quite different from the last time I visited. I glanced back down at the many shoes in front of the door, only to see a pair that I didn't recognize. It couldn't have been the twins since their shoes seemed much smaller. Was there someone else visiting? I slowly made my way into the living room and sat done next to Ganyu.

"Ahem" Lumine started, her eyes drifting over to me, "I suppose you don't know what I'd like to discuss. Well, it's about my brother"

I wasn't used to Lumine being more serious in her conversations. She was usually a bright, bubbly and loud person but right now, it was like I was facing a different side of her that I've never seen before.

"What about Aether?" Ganyu asked

Lumine sighed and stared at me directly in the eyes, "I know about your feelings for my brother, Xiao"

I felt my eyes grow wider and my body grow tense. How could she have figured out? Was I that obvious? No. I always tried to hide it. My eyes travelled over to Ganyu's direction, only to see her staring at Lumine with the same look of shock on her face when I told her about the same feelings I had for Aether. She couldn't have told her, right?

"But, I also know about my brother's feelings for Albedo"

That name sent a familiar feeling come back. That same hurt from that day. The tremendous pain it brought was unbearable. His face from that time kept repeating in my head, the way his lips moved to say those few words that would cause this feeling.

"The thing is Xiao... I think you'd be perfect for my brother"

My head darted up to stare at the blonde. Was she serious?

"W-what?"

She nodded and gave me a large grin, "Maybe try making a move, it could pay off"

I looked over at Ganyu for reassurance, only to see that she was nodding vigorously with a large smile plastered on her face. I let out a small and exhausted sigh.

"Fine"

She practically jumped out of her seat and tackled me, wrapping me in a tight bit warm hug. I felt the corners of my lips form into a tiny smile, maybe there would be someone else I'd let get close.

Lumine slowly pulled away from me and took my hand, yanking me off the couch and both my feet onto the floor. I flinched, the pain from my few injuries slowly growing back. Lumine began to push me up the stairs and in the direction of Aether's room. Once we made it to the front of the door, I felt my whole body turn stiff. Was I ready for this now?

Lumine pat my shoulder and gave me a reassuring smile.

She winked "Go get your man"

I felt my face heat up slightly after those few words. What a fucking idiot. She quickly pranced away and down the stairs, regrouping with Ganyu.

I took a deep breath in as my hand travelled to the door knob of Aether's bedroom. I set my palm on the cold metal, hesitating before I finally twisted it open. The door slowly began to creak open, the room was pitch black apart from the faint blue light of Aether's lamp.

My eyes travelled to the boy's bed, only to see someone else sitting beside him.

Once the door finally opened fully, my eyes fixated on the unknown person, only to realize I knew who that person was. The one person I wished to never see again.

"Albedo..."
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Author Notes:

Hahaha, I tried to make the ending good but miserably failed. Hoped you liked the chapter regardless :). Sorry for the late chapter, I've been attempting to catch up with studying for my 3 tests this week. Anyways, as per usual stay safe and healthy! Have a wonderful day :)

Also, tysmmmmm for 700 views! Y'all are amazing I swear 😭✨