This Side of Paradise (Aeventi) (finished)

8 - "Don't make my mistakes."

3rd Person Omniscient

Xiangling took a deep breath, looking straight ahead of her.

"Well, you know her, actually. Her name is Xinyan." Xiangling said, preparing herself to tell the full story.

"I loved her, Aether- I still do. But I realized it too late. By the time I realized it, she had been confessed to by Barbara- you know, Miss Jean's sister. I guess what I'm trying to say is...you realized it. Go for it. Don't make the same mistakes I did."

Xiangling took another deep breath, and looked at Aether beside her.

"Hey Xiangling...Barbara and Xinyan broke up a while ago. So you maybe still have a chance with her!" Xiangling looked shocked, but shook her head.

"This conversation isn't about me, we'll-"

She was interrupted by an overenthusiastic Aether, "I can help you!"

Xiangling realized that Aether was adamant on this, and gave in, "Fine, you can help me with Xinyan...IF you let me help you with this boy you told me about."

Aether reluctantly agreed, and the two started divising a plan.

The plan was simple:
-Go to Xiangling's party together in 3 days (which will already happen)
-Leave early, and go somewhere else together instead. (Xiangling thought of this after remembering that Aether HATED social situations)
-Aether would tell Venti EXACTLY how he feels, and Xiangling would make sure that the plan was a success by watching and manipulating the situation from afar.)

Xiangling said she and Aether would come up with a plan to help her after the first plan took place, and Aether promised to remember that.

(a/n do y'all think I can trade a Yoimiya + Mona acc for an acc with Hu Tao on it? Our fictive keeps bugging us about it😒)

Aether and Xiangling said their goodbyes, and Aether went back to his dorm to think about how he's going to pull this off.

When entering his dorm, Aether is met with a very enthusiastic Bennett.

"Aether! Guess what!" Bennett all but jumped out of the chair he was sitting in, running up to the blond.

"What is it, Bennett?" Aether asked, placing his bag of books on a small coffee table.

"I actually did it, Aether! I asked him out!" Bennett was super proud of himself, and Aether chuckled.

"I'm proud of you, Bennett. How'd it go?" Aether knew that Bennett had been trying to tell Razor how he felt for a while now, so he was genuinely proud of his friend.

"Well...we're going on an actual date on Friday! Isn't that amazing!" Bennett boasted, standing on the table in excitement.

"Bennett that's great but-" before Aether could warn him, Bennett slipped and fell off the table and onto the hard ground.

"Bennett- are you alright?" Aether rushed to his friend, who almost hit him with his head as he bounced up, claiming he was just fine.

Aether mentally facepalmed at his...rambunctious friend.

(A/N WISH YOU WERE SOBER BY CONAN GRAY IS ON AND I LOVE THIS SONG HELP-)

"Bennett, I'm glad you're excited, but please calm down-" Bennett took a deep breath and sat back down in one of the two chairs around a small round table.

"Aether, can I ask you a serious question?" Bennett asked.

Aether sat in the chair across from Bennett and nodded, signaling for him to continue.