Love Like Winter ❄️ Xavier Thorpe

Chapter 9: Trust and Promises

Soundtrack:

"Let Me Be" by Escape the Fate
"BABY SAID" by Maneskin
"Today I Saw the Whole World (Acoustic)" by Pierce the Veil
"casual sabotage" by YUNGBLUD

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xavier and I go to Weems first thing the next morning about Divina, and Yoko actually tags along too, practically in hysterics.

"What if this ... thing, is specifically targeting the Nightshades? I mean, first Bianca and now Divina?" She asks Xavier after we leave the headmistress's office.

Xavier looks over at me and then Yoko, "I'm sure that's not what's going on. She'll probably turn up today or tomorrow."

"Yeah, in the woods, clinging to life like Bianca!" Yoko cries. "The two of you have each other, Ajax has Enid, but Divina was my ... we were just really close, okay?"

"Don't worry," Xavier says while giving her a reassuring hug. "Weems is sending out search parties like probably within the next hour. They'll find her."

She sniffles and takes a deep breath. "I hope so. Please stay safe, both of you."

Xavier nods and pulls me close to his side as Yoko leaves. "You have any big plans for the rest of the day, Princess?"

I shake my head. "What did you have in mind?"

"Oh, you know, I might have a thing or two up my sleeve," he smirks.

Xavier and I go to our usual spot, his art studio, and he has me close my eyes until he opens the door and walks me inside. "Okay, open your eyes."

I open my eyes and see that Xavier had taken the time to string up lights throughout the shed, and there's a painting on his easel of our pendant that we shared but it was glowing. The futon is loaded up with even more pillows and there are snacks on the table beside it.

"What is all of this?" I ask, stepping closer to check out the snacks.

"I thought we could both use a break and a distraction from the bullshit going on, so I set this up for us. It's like a little picnic and I figured we could watch a couple movies, you know, the usual," he smiles and shuts the door behind us, making sure to lock it.

I grab a bag of popcorn from the table and sit down on the futon. "I love it, Xavier. Thank you. And you did good on the snacks."

He chuckles. "I wasn't sure what exactly you'd want, so I just got a little bit of everything."

We watch the movie Warm Bodies, which was always a favorite of mine because it proves that true love really can change people, even if they're zombies. When it's over, he turns to me and asks, "If I suddenly became a zombie, would you like love me until I turned human again?"

"What, is this like that trend where girls ask their boyfriends if they would still love them if they were a worm?" I giggle.

He laughs. "Sure, I guess you could say that," he tucks my hair behind my ear and strokes my cheek with his thumb. "And for the record, I'd definitely still love you if you were a worm."

I feel the warmth spread across my body. "I'd still love you if you suddenly became a zombie."

"A zombie and a worm," Xavier laughs. "That'd be one hell of a movie."

I laugh so hard that I can barely breathe and I fall off of the futon onto the floor. "Shit," I say, still laughing.

Xavier stands up to help pick me up but when I reach for him, he jokes about my "worm-like reflexes" kicking in and bursts out laughing so hard that he falls down on top of me.