Where Have Our Souls Gone

Chapter 1:

"James, let's go!" Xander yelled across the house to Jem.

"Were not going, Xan!"

"James, let's go."

Jem popped up behind the wall with only shorts on, "Le Fleur, what did I say?" His bed hair and eyes made him look even more beautiful than usual.

"You said no," Xander said with a pouty look that Jem normally falls for.

"Le Fleur, don't give me that look. I already said no."

"Fine, I'll go alone," Xander turned on his heel and begin to walk when he heard nothing. Complete silence. Weird. He turned around to find Jem gone. He decided to walk the back room- Jem's room- and find him sitting on the bed waiting for Xan to get there.

"Changed your mind?" he gave Xan a slight side smirk.

"No," Xander turn to walk back into the hallway before he turned back to the doorway, "Yes, I'm sorry Jem."

"I know. You don't need to be."

"Ok. I would like to go out today, if you don't mind."

"Is that an invitation?"

"Do you consider it one?" he takes Xander's hand and starts to pull Xan toward him. I place my knee on the bed holding myself up. My hand on Jem's back, I can feel his muscles tighten as he lays back onto the bed. He grabs Xan's shirt collar and pulls him down towards his own body, so close, and Xander feels the heat radiating off of Jem's body.

"Yes," he says, out of breath. He pushes me off of him and pulls my shirt off. He begins to trace the scar running from the top of Xander's stomach to the top of his pants, "Remind me how you got it."

He lays back down, still admiring Xan's scar, "After," Xan says and leans down just as the doorbell rang, "Do we have to get it?"

"Yes, we do. What if it's important?"

"They come back later in hopes that we would actually answer the door," Xan said mockingly. Jem pushes Xan off and throws his shirt back to him. The doorbell was pressed a consecutive number of times before the door opens. They run to the front to find Liliana eating an entire pie with a fork.

"Oh hi," she catches the pie that fell out of her mouth and finishes her bite, "I came over to steal your Netflix."

"Lily, get your own Netflix," Xan tells her, but she just shrugs her shoulders and resumes eating her pie. She sits on the couch and turns on netflix.

"Lily can we have our house back, please?"

"Were you busy?"

"A bit, yes."

"Can I go cook?"

"Lily-," Xan gets cut off by Jem's held up hand.

"Lily you can go cook, and Xander," Jem turns to him, "We will go out as you had previously asked."

"Jem-," Jem raised his hand once more and turns to get his coat.

"Fine," They walk out of the door and immediately walk past the car, "Where are we going?"

"I don't know."

"What about the car?"

"Nope."

"Jem! What are you doing? We need the car!"

"Xander!" Jem turned around and gave him a look that held the burning rage of a thousand suns. His silver eyes had lit up and were brighter than usual, "Xander, we don't have a car. We don't have any gas, much less money to get any. I can barely hold up a stable job and with you going to the bar every other night, Xander, we just can't get by," his eyes had begun to dull and tear up. The cold was already beginning to get to him, and it was clearly visible he was on the verge of passing out.

Jem's eyes were becoming more and more dull as the seconds ticked by.

"Jem? Jem don't-," Xander ran towards him as his head hit the pavement with a hard crack, "Lily! Lily?," he choked back the tears as his cries fade. Jem's heart beat fades as the world around Xander goes black. The last thing he sees is Lily's eyes fading from view.

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Xander wakes up to the steady beeping of the heart monitor and Lily sitting in the hard chairs opposite of him. She was whispering to herself with her head down. He assumed she was praying.

"Lily?" Xan tried to sit up but she pushes me back down, "Lily, where's Jem? I want Jem."

"He's resting. he hit his head quite hard. You need to rest too."

"I don't need to rest," He pushed her off and stood up, maybe a little too fast. He dropped to the ground with a soft thud but somewhat caught himself.

"Xander," A soft voice came from above his head, "Xan, my love, sit back down."

"Jem," He lifts himself off the ground to find Jem's eyes closed. He looked terrible. His head was bruised along the side, a bandage was swelling with blood, "James you look bad. Really bad."

"Wow, thanks," Jem tried to smile but winced. Xander leaned over to kiss him but Jem held his hand up, as if it were just a force of habit now.

"Are you still mad at me?"

"How can anyone be mad at anyone like you? No, it just hurts a lot," Xan sat back down and pulls out his phone and started searching for local jobs, "Xan, don't be mad at me. "

"I'm not, I promise," Instead of going back to browsing Xan pulled up his music and played Jem's favorite song, 18 by One Direction . He began to whisper the song even though he is a relatively good singer. I walk over and sit on his bed

"I have loved you since we were 18. Long before we both thought the same thing," Xan spoke the lyrics to him. A faint smile flashed across his face.

As Xan continued, he held Jem's hand gently. He was so fragile. He pulled Xan's hand towards his mouth and kissed it. Even though Xan's body was here with Jem and Lily, his mind traveled elsewhere. Xander was still thinking about what happened yesterday. Jem was still mad at him and Xander knew it. But in Jem's state, who knew what he was thinking. The painkillers probably got him messed up.

"It's time to go Xan," Lily took Xander's hand and pulled him off of Jem's hospital bed, "The doctors are here. They'll take care of him."

"I love you, James," Xan whispers. Even though he can't hear him and can't reply back, he still hears his voice lulling him, "I love you too, Le Fleur."

"Xander," Lily turned his face away from Jem to look at her. She wiped the tear on his cheek away. In the hallway, they saw gurneys and running nurses. Sitting on a empty gurney was Jem's father. Why was he here if he was never in Jem's life before? He is a bitter man, and everyone knew it.

"Hello, son. Is James in his room?"

"Yes, but it confuses me on why you want to see him."

"Well, he is my son and I am his father," He said smugly. That's what broke Xan.

"Vous n'êtes pas son père et vous ne serez jamais. Vous ne pouvez pas le voir lui je ne me soucie pas combien vous dites que vous l'aimez parce que vous ne le faites pas!"

"Xander, you're speaking in french again."

"Sorry, but you can't see him."

"I can not see my son?"

"He's not your son! You were an abusive bastard and I don't want you in there," Xan walks back to the room with Lily calling for him. I can't let Jem see his father. the subject of his father makes him uncomfortable, so why give him the real thing?

"I thought we had asked you to leave, son," the doctor was holding a bloody rag. Xan's stomach churned at the sight of all of Jems lost blood.

"I just need to tell you no relative of James' is allowed without my consent."

"Yes, sir. Not a problem. Now leave," The nurse smiled at him through the window of the closed door. Her beautiful golden cat eyes flashed at me. Cat eyes? I've see her eyes before. But where?