𝓓𝓸 𝓸𝓻 𝓓𝓲𝓮 ❣︎ 𝓔𝓶𝓫𝓮𝓻 𝓐𝓭𝓭𝓪𝓶𝓼

𝓢𝓔𝓡𝓘𝓔𝓢 𝓞𝓝𝓔 ❣︎ 4

"Welcome back."

Xavier was there, standing over her, as her eyes opened.

Ember raised her eyebrows and sat up.

"Hey, hey, just- take it easy," Xavier said, taking a seat next to her.

She was in a bed in the infirmary. The exact place she had just escaped from. Why did she always end up here?!

"Nurse said you don't have a concussion, but you probably have a nasty bump, huh?" Xavier asked her.

"The last I remember I was walking outside, feeling something along the lines of rage, pity and self-disgust," Ember said bluntly. "I've never felt that way before."

"Yeah, losing to Bianca has that effect on people, I think," he sighed.

"Well, then I saw that gargoyle coming down at me, and I thought 'well, at least I'll have an imaginative death'," she went on. "Then you tackled me out of the way. Why?"

Xavier chuckled. "If someone has guts to take on Bianca, those guts should be saved. So just... call it instinct."

"So you were guided by latent chivalry, the tool of the patriarchy to extract my undying gratitude?" Ember asked.

Xavier laughed. "Mm-hmm, most people just say thank you."

"You've probably learnt by now that I'm not most people," Ember replied harshly. "I didn't wanna be rescued."

"So I should'a just let that thing smash into you?" Xavier raised his eyebrows.

"I would've rather saved myself, actually. I don't want death to embrace me that much."

Xavier laughed. "Good to see that a hit to the head hasn't changed you. But... let's just say I returned the favour."

This confused Ember.

"Xavier Thorpe?" He said.

"That's you," Ember nodded sarcastically.

"Well, you probably don't remember me," Xavier sighed. "Last time we met I was about two feet shorter, forty pounds heavier?"

"What happened?" Ember questioned. He had gotten onto something, now. Something she needed to know more about.

"Puberty, I guess-"

"What happened the last time we met?" Ember cut across his explanation for how he ended up looking like he did now.

"Oh," Xavier grinned, something Ember swore she would never ever do. "Yeah, it... it was my godmother's funeral. Apparently she was friends with your grandmother, and they spent their twenties in Europe, swindling the 'rich and notorious'."

Ember had to stop herself from leaning forward in interest.

"I don't know, but, we were ten, and we were bored, so we decided to play hide and seek," Xavier continued. "And of course, it was me who had the inspired idea to hide in her casket. And... I got stuck as it was headed to the crematorium-"

"I'd heard muffled screams," suddenly, Ember remembered. It was a small thing, a memory in the middle of thousands. One that she had pushed to the back of her mind. And buried. "I thought perhaps a ghost was going to come out. I'd always wanted to see one."

"Either way, you hit the big red stop button and saved me from being flame-broiled. So... I guess me saving you today was just a long time coming," Xavier finished. "Look, Ember, I know you didn't want me to do it... but let's just say I'm glad I did it, okay? Now we're even."

Ember just watched on.

She still wished she had saved herself.

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