And There Was One || Xiao x Reader

𝙼𝙴𝙼𝙾𝚁𝚈 𝚄𝙽𝙻𝙾𝙲𝙺𝙴𝙳

Click!

Hello? Hello~! . . .

Hey Xiao, what's up?

Yeah, I'm doing well. I'm in my house at the moment.

Yeah, I've eaten. Don't worry about me okay? Lots of friends came to hangout with me, so I'll be fine.

It's okay that you couldn't make it. I understand.

Silly, go hang out with your friends instead of talking to me. You don't want to exclude yourself right?

Okay. Will do.

Mhm!

You too!!

Click!

The phone call ended and your smile faded away. You looked up from your phone where you were leaning against the railing of a small bridge over a lake. How easy it would be to submerge yourself in the water . . . to let the cold water swallow you and your worries whole.

You took a deep breath and a puff of smoke left your mouth. You tied up the scarf around your neck and stuffed your shivering hands into your pockets. Your jacket did little to ward off the biting cold and slowly but surely, you felt your body begin to numb.

Tonight, the sky was clear, illuminating the night sky. Billions of stars glittered and spread throughout the black canvas of the night, each star shining in its own way, not a single one made to be the same. For once in your life, you felt yourself like the main character of a book, but instead of the Sun in your face and the warmth of the wind, the moon was your spotlight and the winter breeze accompanied you, tickling your nose and brushing against your cheeks.

You thought to yourself for awhile, this wasn't so bad. Being alone wasn't entirely horrible. While others thrived in the presence of others, being alone with just your thoughts accompanying you wasn't bad either. You could have so many friends, but no one would listen to you. At least, when you are alone, you would begin to learn and understand yourself more and more.

Xiao was like that with you, like a quiet phantom whose presence was there but his mind was elsewhere. He would listen to your rambling, nod along to show he was still paying attention, and then the two of you would sit in silence together. While some would believe that this exchange would be a waste of time—why talk if the other wouldn't respond?—however to you, it felt necessary. It felt good. And you were grateful for those small moments with each other.

It was tragic that on a day as special as this one, he had failed to accompany you, but you held no blame, no hatred, no anger, no jealousy. Rather, a sense of pride welled up inside of you, proud that your quiet friend was now expanding his horizons.

You were never meant to be his first choice, you knew that, but the thought saddened you. Like you were just the person who was chosen to fill the empty void in people's hearts until they didn't need you anymore.

As you leaned against the railing once again, you felt a sudden coldness on the tip of your nose.

Then again.

Then again.

And then there was more.

More tiny flurries started to fall onto your hair, gently adorning you in snowflakes. Your eyes widened in realization before you smiled softly to yourself.

The first snow.

As the snow gently trickled down, you tilted your head upwards and closed your eyes, relishing in the euphoric feeling of the flurries.

You gave a soft laugh as you felt yourself being hugged by the blanket of snow and the refuge that the night gave you . . .

Suddenly, a small pain grew at your chest, dampening your mood, but you refused to acknowledge it.

But it hurt.

It hurts.

It hurts so much . . .

Someone take this pain away from me . . .

Please.

When did you become so clingy? Why did you expect, that even after you told Xiao to hang out with his friends, that he would still come running back to you? You felt a sense of guilt that you had selfishly wanted to take up all of his time because he had promised not to leave you.

And like a fool,
you believed him.

So what does it mean now? When the person who promised to never leave you, finally leaves?

Now, it felt like a book . . . you felt yourself to be in a fairytale.

You, falling for Xiao.

And him, feeling the same way.

"Merry Christmas Xiao," you whispered, staring into the stars, hoping that he could perhaps hear you.