Baked Love

Chapter 21

A/N: I'm so sorry for the late update—I really am. For those of you who have waited all night, I'm really sorry :'( This is for all of you. And I still can't look at my 200k reads because I think I'll cry when I look at it X'D. Enjoy.

Chapter 21: What matters, and Something awaited.

[Chip]

When I heard the crushing sound that shook my anxiety, I felt my eyes widen in fear; and my heart stopped altogether.

"Xander?"

"Xander—"

"What the hell was that crack about?"

The referee was blowing his whistle at Blake's signal for time out. There was this unknown force that seemed to propel me towards Xander, and the desperation to hear his voice and confirm that everything was okay heightened to a maximum.

Everyone was directing their curses at the other participant of Ashton High. I couldn't see much (short), but I knew that everyone's attention wasn't really on the right person.

Breaking through the crowd, my legs carried themselves towards the only person I seemed to see. The voices and sounds were blurred—as if I was in a dream.

I crashed into the sand beside Xander, who was sitting up.

"Xander? Are you—" My fingers passed his hand gently but he winced from the small touch.

"No, don't worry. I'm fine; just a...dislocation."

Blake, Xander's team mate, was ordering the medics over. I glanced around anxiously, searching for water.

A-A dislocated finger...? That's bad—that would mean he can't practice for weeks and...and with his competitions and all, he would be really upset.

"Xander, you're going to be okay right?" I asked unintelligently. Of course he wasn't going to be okay, his face showed signs of distress, and he had the back of his uninjured hand over his eyes, shielding the sunlight.

His teeth were sunk deep in his lips, as if trying to force down the pain. "I'm fine," He smiled shortly.

My heart wrung like a wet towel, and my chest ached so badly.

"I'm fine," He repeated, trying to give the usual smirk he always had.

The beat of my heart stopped for the second time of the day when I felt something warm encase my hand.

Tearing my gaze away from Xander's face, I registered another hand grasping mine.

It was firm, but strangely gentle.

Xander's fingers moved to fill the spaces between mine, and he squeezed.

The whole scene was in chaos, with several of the Ashton High supporters backing up their team. In the background, I heard shouts, shrieks, profanities, orders, the blasting of the speakers as the announcer tried to stop everyone—but that was the background.

For everything really didn't seem to matter anymore.

I never believed it when fairy tales said that love was foolish, stupid, blind, that it would actually matter most to people.

But really.

The spaces between my fingers are right where his fit perfectly.