What is this familiar feeling? [XIAOTHER]

Chapter 4:Waking Up Next To You

When Aether had opened his eyes, he was looking at the roof. He looked around the room to see Xiao. He was sleeping peacefully next to him. Aether became a flushed red. He slowly turned his body towards Xiao's. 'He sleeps so peacefully' Aether thought. That's when he noticed something. Xiao had a strange tattoo on his arm. 'That looks so...familiar' But he brushed it off. "How long are you gonna keep staring at me?" Xiao slightly opened one of his eye's. Aether immediately sat up. "I-I'm Sorry!" Aether became a bright red. Xiao laughed. "Calm down, it's alright." Xiao sat up as well. Aether covered his face with his hands. He had never heard Xiao laugh. It was nice to hear him. Aether slowly uncovered his face and looked at Xiao. He was still laughing. "It's not that funny." Aether made a pouty expression. "Sorry, Sorry." Xiao started to calm down. Then it became quiet. "So...How are you feeling?" Aether grunted. "Better.? I'm not sure." Xiao looked off to the side. "You know... I could get used to waking up with you by my side..." Xiao became red. Aether looked at Xiao.  Then he smiled. "Me too." Then it became quiet. Almost awkward. That's when Aether heard his phone go off. Lumine texted him. 'You need to come home NOW! Or get ready over there, You need to open the shop!' Aether's heart dropped. "Oh no, the shop!" Aether started to panic. "It's okay, let me get your clothes from the dryer then you can change." Aether sighed in relief. "Wait- you washed my clothes?" "Yeah, why?" Aether looked to see what he was wearing at the moment. "Then i'm wearing your clothes?" Xiao nodded. "We're both about the same size so I thought it would be okay.." Xiao then walked out of the room to go get Aether's clothes.
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Once Aether has gotten ready, he grabbed his phone and other belongings and went to the door. He heard footsteps behind him. "Why are you dressed? Are you going somewhere too?" Xiao nodded. "I'm going with you to the shop." Aether was surprised by this response. "Oh! okay." They both then walked out and
made their way to the bus stop. They go ton the bus and took their seat. It was very quiet during the ride. Sort of awkward.
Once the bus had stopped, Aether quickly grabbed Xiao's hand and ran off the bus. He quickly ran to the shop where there was a small line waiting in front of the shop. "I'm sorry for opening late!" Aether apologized to all the customers who had been waiting and then let everyone inside. While people were looking around, Aether was doing his normal schedule. Watering the plants and such. Of course, Xiao had helped him from time to time.
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At the end of the day, they closed the shop and Xiao had walked Aether to the bus stop. "Thank you for helping me today. I probably would have struggled a lot without you." Aether chuckled a little. "Of course. I'll always help you." Xiao slightly smiled. "Sorry for the trouble i've caused you. I appreciate you taking me to your house." The bus had arrived and the doors opened. Aether walked into the bus but before he went on, he quickly grabbed Xiao's face and gently kissed his cheek. He went back onto the bus and waved goodbye. The bus doors closed and drove away. Xiao stood there for a second in shock. But then he became red when he realized what had just happened. Aether sat down and covered his face. He was bright red.
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"ARGH, WHY DID I DO THAT!?" Aether was on his bed with his face in his pillow. "What did you do this time?" Lumine was standing by his door. Aether quickly sat up and faces Lumine. "I..." Lumine tilted her head. "You what?" It was silent for a moment."IKISSEDXIAOONTHECHEEK!" (I kissed Xiao on the cheek.) "Ohhh, did you now?" Lumine smirked. Aether quickly covered his face. "Well there's nothing you can do about it now." "That's the problem! What if he didn't like it. What if he hates me now! WHAT IF-" "Calm down, Aether! I'm sure everything is fine. You just need some sleep." Aether slowly uncovered his face. "Maybe you're right... I just need to calm down." Lumine chuckled a bit and went back to her room. Aether laid down on his bed and checked his phone for any new messages. Especially from Xiao. 'nothing yet..' Aether put his phone down and stared at the ceiling until he fell asleep.
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Lumine: Did Aether really kiss you?

  Xiao: Yes...
Lumine: Wow really? Didn't think he'd actually do it.

                                Xiao: What do you mean?
Lumine: Oh nothing :)

Xiao: Mhm...okay
Lumine: Anyway, I was wondering...did you like it 😏

Xiao: ...well....maybe I did..

Lumine: Haha! I knew it! Well, goodnight Xiao!

Xiao: Wait, you're not gonna tell him, right?
(read)
"Lumine, you better not do anything serious." Xiao put down his phone and laid down on his bed. He turned to the side. The only thing he could see was Aether, next to him. Xiao sighed. "I would do anything to have you by my side." Xiao then fell asleep.
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"CURSE YOU!" "PLEASE HELP ME!" "STOP IT! IT HURTS!"
All these voices rushed into his head. He quickly sat up in sweat. "Xiao!? What's wrong?" Xiao looked beside him. "I-I'm sorry Aether..." Xiao grabbed his head. "It's the nightmares again, isn't it..." Aether grabbed Xiao. Xiao then slowly nodded. Aether then kissed Xiao's forehead and laid him back down. "It's okay Xiao. There not here to torture you anymore." Aether held onto Xiao tightly. "Calm down okay? It's just me here now." Xiao slowly began to calm down and soon fell back to sleep. Aether kissed his forehead again. "Goodnight, my love."
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Xiao woke up shocked. He looked around his room. Everything was the same. Xiao then quickly grunted and grabbed his head. He began to have a headache. "Great...What a way to start the day off." Xiao got up from bed and went to go grab a cup of water. He then heard quiet footsteps from behind him. "Oh...It's just you Ganyu." Ganyu stood behind Xiao and rubbed one of her eyes. "What time is it?" Xiao looked at the oven's clock. "it's 9:34." Ganyu then groaned. "Do you want breakfast? I'll make your favorite." Ganyu then sat down at the island and nodded. "Here, have a cup of water." Xiao placed his cup of water in front of Ganyu. "Thanks." Xiao then began cooking
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When he was done, he placed a plate in front of Ganyu and went back to his room. "You're not eating?" "I'll eat later." Xiao then closed his door behind him.'That's when he heard a ding coming from his phone. He sat down on his bed and grabbed his phone. It was a message from Aether.
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Author's note: Hello! Okay firstly I've had this idea for a while now but I wasn't sure if I wanted to go though with it. Basically I wanted your guy's opinion on this. What if I did an art contest! It sounds fun but I wanted to see if you guys would do it. It could be from this book for the first book. But this won't be set in stone until I have opinions from you guys. The details will be in one of the chapters if we do it! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a good day/night!

(A drawing I did of Xiao cuz why not :) I'm really proud of the hand 🤩)