No Matter What

33

XIAO'S POV:

"I have a bad feeling about this." Lyney turns to me in the hotel bed, a worried look on his face. "Childe," he continues. "Before he left, I heard something about finding a man. Earlier they were whispering about an ID and I think he might have found the man that..."

He trails off, and I look up from my phone at him with a frown. "I know," I say. "I'm worried too. But Childe is strong. He can handle anything." Lyney nods, but he's still looking at me with that expression, as if I can do anything about it. "This is what he does," I say, going back to my phone. "Stop looking at me like that, you're freaking me out. Just relax. Go to sleep. He'll be fine."

"I wanted to go with him," Lyney says, "but I knew Zhongli was gonna say no, and I didn't want to mess anything up. I'm also the oldest, so I can't leave the two babies here."

I hear what Lyney says, but don't process it, because I'm in the middle of an important text. Usually, I'd yell at him for calling me a baby, and he notices I haven't because he shifts in the bed and leans in to peer at my phone.

"What?!" I say, shielding the screen.

"I'm literally talking to you," he says. "Stop texting your hot boyfriend and pay attention. This is serious, Xiao."

My brows furrow, eyes narrowing at him. "Can you not call my boyfriend hot?"

"Oh, that caught your attention." He rolls his eyes. "He's all you care about. Childe is going out to confront the guy who killed Lynette, Father, and all the other people they worked with. Can you at least pretend like you care?"

"You think I'm not worried?" I say. "I just don't want to think about that right now. I can't sleep knowing he's out there doing that and Aether's my distraction. Am I allowed to have some peace in this chaotic life of mine?"

Lyney frowns. "You're lucky."

"I know," I snap.

"Wish I had a distraction," he says. "If only the person next to me would comfort me."

"Sucks to suck."

He pauses, and my fingers continue on my screen. I can feel his eyes shift from the closed bedroom door, then back to me.

"You know what Freminet said the other day?" he says in an annoying sing-song voice, clearly to piss me off. "I said to him: isn't Aether cute? And Freminet nodded and said he likes him."

My brows crease. "He's like 2," I say. "Liking someone means something different for him."

"Nuh uhh, he's got a little crush on your boyfriend too."

I glare at him. "So the whole fucking family just wants a piece of my boyfriend now?" I say. "Fuck off. Go get your own boyfriend. Aren't you 16? How's it feel that a 14-year-old got a boyfriend before you?"

Lyney's mouth hangs open. "Rude..." he says. "How's it feel only being two years older than a 12-year-old?"

"How's it feel having no bitches?"

"How's it feel being Aether's bitch?" he says.

"How's it feel being a fucking faggot?"

"You're gayer than me," he points. "You have a boyfriend."

We stare at each other as I take in that last statement. I don't want to laugh, but the two of us sound like deflating balloons as we suppress the loudness of our laughter into our hands and the pillow.

Our giggles quietly fill the bedroom, but the moment is cut short when we hear the same sound. We stop instantly, our faces completely different this time as we watch each other with caution. There it is again. A faint rustling at the door. If our room wasn't so close to the entrance, we may have missed it.