Truth, Lies, and the Space Inbetween

Chapter Eighteen

There's a chill in the early morning air as I drive towards Xavier's house. The sun breaches the horizon, tendrils of light reaching upwards, starting the day. Despite its beauty, I scowl. It's too early to be awake, let alone going somewhere, and for the millionth time I curse Hunter (and myself) for forgetting our project yesterday, resulting in this early travel to school.

Pulling up at the grand estate, I jump out of my car and let myself into their house. I check my phone and pull a face – 7 am – and text Xavier a quick message to let him know I'm here as I bound up the stairs. As I reach the top, the door to his room opens and he leans out into the hallway, a happy grin on his face as he beckons me over. Hurrying over, I slide into his room as he closed the door behind me, trapping me against it and capturing my lips with his.

I begrudgingly make a noise, causing him to break the kiss.

"As much as I'd enjoy staying here, I didn't just come her for you", I say with a smile. He pouts and rests his forehead against mine. "I've gotta find that painting and drag your brother to school early to our checkpoint, or ill end up with another detention." My hands rest on the ends of his open jacket, holding him reasonably close, not that he intended to move. My eyes flick back up to his. "Help me?"

He kisses my nose quickly and says "of course", before stepping away and letting us out of his room.

Down the hall in the study the half-finished painting sits unassumingly, resting innocently against the easel, reminding me of what transpired when we were painting on it last time, and all of a sudden I'm uncomfortable being around both it and Xavier. It seems like two separate timelines and people and I even feel like I'm a different person around each. There's a moment of doubt – should I come clean to Xavier? – But my mind instantly quashes the thought – at least finish the project before Xavier blows up at Hunter and you never get a chance to finish it in comfort. At least that's what I'm determinedly thinking. In actuality, I've got a niggling feeling I might actually miss Hunter's company. But I don't want to sacrifice everything I have with Xavier, so I should come clean. Oh, it's all so confusing. I should tell Aubree about it all, and get her opinion – I need my best friend to tell me what's right and what's wrong in this situation.

Grabbing the painting and gently placing it into a large art case, we leave the room. In the hall, we hear a cluttering from downstairs, then a loud bang and an "oh shit!" to which Xavier winces.

"That sounds like mum. She must've dropped something. I'll go check if she's okay really quickly, you can wait here or go see where Hunter is. I'll be back in a minute", he says to me, already making his way down the stairs.

"Okay hope she's alright", I call after him, putting the painting down at the top of the stairs and heading towards Hunter's room. I check my phone again, seeing it's almost half past seven. We'd better leave in the next twenty minutes or we'll be late for our meeting. I open Hunter's bedroom door and barge in loudly, leaving the door ajar. In hindsight I probably should have knocked first.

His room is dark, which is to be expected at this hour. I didn't really get to have a good look at it the last time I was in here, during the paint war. It's got a dark theme – dark grey walls with black curtains covering the windows, black and dark brown furniture around room – including an almost navy blue couch against the far wall. There's clothes strewn across it and the dresser next to it, and a desk covered in papers opposite the bed. Besides the clothes, it's quite tidy, despite the obvious lack of care from its owner. He must have it cleaned for him rather than do it himself.

There's a dark framed bed in the centre of the left wall, with a black duvet tossed carelessly over the end of it, over white sheets. Tangled amongst them is a snoring and very shirtless Hunter.