[Xiaother Modern AU]

[ClassMates- Pt2]

♡ ———————————— ♡

Aether sighs heavily. Of course, rain was all he needed right now. It wasn't that he disliked it— no that would be the opposite, what he didn't like on this particular day was the unfortunate fact that he'd have to face nature's wrath in his current mood. The weather reflecting how his day had been, plus wearing soggy clothes and getting chilled to the bone wasn't exactly ideal. "Well, I guess I sort of expected this.. what luck—"

A wide umbrella quickly opens from in front of Aether's face; startling him. If it wasn't for the umbrella handler beside him he surely would've tripped backwards. Which ultimately would've added to his incredible 'luck' of the day. "X-Xiao! When did you get there?!" From the surprised look on Xiao's face, he wasn't expecting to meet Aether the way he did— let alone scare him. "..." A moment of silence runs across them. "I.. just came through the door," Xiao clarifies, before releasing Aether of his hold on him. "I wasn't intending to scare you, sorry."

It slowly dawned on Xiao exactly how much it killed him to let him go just like that. The warmth he embraced was gone in seconds.

"No— I'm sorry! I don't know what's wrong with me today." Aether knew it was an embarrassing question the second he blurted it aloud. His flustering expression which happens to make that quite obvious. But for Xiao, he thought his expressions were ridiculously cute; but hiding the amusement he felt by quickly changing the subject. "Well uh.. I was just leaving so.. if you'd like.. we could walk together."

Noticing how out of it and how little Aether brought to shield himself from heavy rain, Xiao saw it as an opportunity and rather necessary to accompany him. "Unless you—" Xiao's eyes widened slightly at Aether's eagerness cutting him off. Taking hold of Xiao's hand with a bright yet embarrassed smile. "Sure, let's go."

The butterflies in Xiao's stomach went flutter crazy.

The umbrella shielded both their bodies just fine. Since they departed, Aether had silently taken note of the umbrella that was being kept held towards him, as part of his companion had been getting drenched on without care.

Xiao, intentionally held the umbrella this way as a sign of endearment or maybe he just felt bad about his previous actions. Or, perhaps it was both.
Either way Aether knew of Xiao's umbrella coverage and soon felt a wave of guilt; taking it into his own hands. "If we both hold it like this.. then both of us will stay dry."//

Xiao's breathing wavered as he held the umbrella just a smidge tighter, feeling the warmth of Aether's hand right below his. "You, didn't have to worry about that.."///
Aether chuckles before taking a glance at the closeness of their hands. "..Thank you, for this."

Bonus:

Xiao: "..Warm"

Aether: "What was that?" ( ◠‿◠ )?

Xiao: "N-Nothing" (*￣▽￣*)