⪁⨥Adventurous⨥⪄

8.

After an hour and a half of walking, you finally reached the inn. "Ah, finally. Now just to climb up all those stairs..." you sighed. Then looked over to Bennett. He was looking at a board. So you decided to read the contents of it too.

The stairs have been broken in a few places, please use the newly made and installed elevator to travel your way up. Thank you for your attention.

"Huh, so they did make an elevator. And I thought it was just a rumor. Eh, that doesn't matter now," you shrugged and grabbed Bennett's hand before skipping your way to the elevator. You stepped in and waited for it to move upward.

Just a second later it moved. Bennett let out a yelp due to the sudden move. "Not used to this? It's fine, there's no way to fall out... Well, there is. But you just need to stand still and everything will be fine, I promise," you smiled at him.

"Anyways, we're here!" You cheerfully said and jumped out of the elevator. Bennett tried stepping out but fell on the floor. The sound made you turn around. "You okay?" You chuckled and helped him up.

"Goldet! Missed me?" "Y/n? I did miss you quite a lot. But someone else missed you more. Be sure to visit him later," "I'll make time. But can I have a room for two?" "Of course," you had a little chit-chat and she told you the directions.

You thanked her and went to the room while dragging Bennett alongside you, just so he wouldn't get lost or hurt. "So this is our room?" "Yep, just for tonight. If you don't mind, can I go visit a friend?"

"Your friend? Do they live nearby?" "Uhh, he actually lives at the very top of the inn," "Of course," "Thanks!" You quickly hugged him and ran out. As much as you remembered, he should be back from his "Adepti errands" by now.

"Xiao~!" You said and jumped on him. "Y/n? Where have you been all this time?" He hugged you which was a rare move from him. "In Mondstadt, sorry for not informing you. I've missed you a ton," you hugged him back.

"Ahem," he let go. You chuckled "It's fine, this is a natural feeling for everyone. It's fine to miss someone," as an answer, Xiao huffed. "Let me guess, you didn't come here alone," "You guessed it!"

"Who," it sounded like he didn't ask for an answer, but like he demanded one. "Do you need to know everything?" "Hmph, I rai-" he stopped himself from saying anything else. "What was that?" "Nothing, don't worry yourself," he turned his head away.

"It's not nothing, I heard you. Tell me," Xiao sighed. "I've kept it to myself for too long. I was the one that raised you until you were 3. After that, I took you to Liyue. The MIllelith probably saw you and decided to send you to Mondstadt," he inhaled.

"And from that day on, I kept an eye on you, seeing how you grew up and changed. Got a Dendro vision, just like your biological brother. Sad to know that your new "family" didn't like you," "My whole family? Even Eula?"

"Yes, even her. She might have not shown it, but she hated you," "A-and.. brother?" "Yes, you have a real brother. He has a Dendro vision. But you shall find him yourself," you nodded. "Thanks for telling me all this, Xiao," you hugged him.

"You should get going. The sun is setting," Of course..." you wiped the few tears that came out. "See you soon," you waved and stood up. You kept a straight face all the way back, no matter how hard it was. At that moment, you just wanted to cry your heart out.

"You're back! How did it go?" "Oh, everything went just fine!" You quickly put on a smile. "Really? You didn't look fine when you entered?" He sounded concerned. "Yeah, I just found out that most of my life has been a lie," you sighed and plopped on the bed.

"Want to talk about it? I'm here to listen," you hesitated for a moment before sitting up and patting the bed next to you as a sign for him to sit down. "Before coming here, I was Y/n Lawrence, but after..."

~Timeskip~

"It'll be fine, I'm here. I'll help you find your brother. I won't your side until you want me to," you were now crying in his arms as he kept patting your head. You didn't have the strength to answer him.

Soon you quieted down and Bennett looked at your face. You looked so peaceful now, except for your puffy red eyes. The boy wanted to move but didn't want to disturb your sleep. He bit the inside of his lip before fixing his posture a little bit and falling asleep while still holding you.

Even though he said he won't leave you until you said you wanted him to leave, he didn't want to leave. Bennett hoped you didn't want him to leave either. The boy just realized a few minutes ago that his bad luck wasn't affecting him as much as normal.

He loved fighting alongside you, protecting you, talking with you, or just looking at you smile and be happy. He wanted your friendship to last forever. But he knew that everything must come to an end.

~Y/n POV~

I woke up and felt arms around my waist, slow and steady breaths against my neck. I opened my eyes to see Bennett. His hold was loose, so I got up to get a drink. Hopefully, that didn't disturb him...

I tried to be as quiet as I could. I looked up at the clock and realized it was already 4 am. Huh, 2 more hours left to rest... Not much, but enough. After drinking I went back to see Bennett in the same position I left him in.

I debated whether I should go back to sleep with Bennett or if I should sleep in the other bed. Whatever, it was warm in Bennett's arms. I slipped back into the bed and slowly fell asleep again.

Some fluff for you in this chapter

Beware of the angst in a future update :)