Myself- A Broken Creation

Chapter 17: Xander's P.O.V.

Jane and Alex were talking when I woke up. I snuggled into Alex's warmth and he chuckled, ruffling my golden hair. I felt much better, now that I had slept. It was dark when I had fallen asleep last time, so it must be the middle of the morning by now, at least. His strong arms went around me and more heat shot through my body. I kept my eyes closed and heard Alex sigh in relief at how relaxed I was.

"I'm glad you didn't have another nightmare,"He whispered.

"Me too," I sleepily mumbled.

I pressed my face into his warm, golden, muscled chest and breathed in his intoxicating scent. It made me think of the forest. It was dark, musky, sexy.

"Jane tells me you're a good painter."

His voice was curious.

"Not really."

I yelped in protest when someone harshly smacked my bare shoulder. Alex's hand firmly rubbed and massaged the sore muscles with his large, strong, rough fingers. I slowly relaxed as the annoying pain dissipated and Alex berated Jane for hitting me.

"Does that feel better?"

I nodded my head against his hard chest.

I heard a scratching nose before Jane excitedly squealed,"I brought one of your old paintings."

She handed it to Alex and I closed my eyes. I could tell he was looking at it and I patiently waited for him to tell me how terribly awful it was. My mother had always told me I would never amount to anything special, especially not as a painter.

"This is really good."

His deep voice rumbled and flowed through my body. I made a noncommittal noise and rested my flushed head against his chest.

"I'm serious. I didn't know you could paint like this. Why didn't you tell me?"

I sighed, realizing they weren't about to let me face back into my enjoyable sleep.

"I haven't painted in a long time. I never thought it was that good, anyway."

Alex gathered me into his comforting arms and tilted my head up.

"You can be very silly sometimes."

I flushed even more as he kissed my cheek. I buried my warm face in the crook of his neck and my arms limply hung around his waist. Alex stroked my soft hair and cupped the back of my neck.

"Xander?"

"Yes, Jane?"

"Will you paint something for me?"

She sounded so excited. I couldn't say no, but I had to.

"I don't have any supplies, Jane."

I waited and hoped she hadn't brought any with her. I just didn't feel like painting right now. I was extremely tired and just wanted to cuddle with Alex. I had no such luck.

"I do!" She almost screamed.

I sighed and maneuvered myself around. Sure enough, she had paint, pencils, erasers, paper, a clipboard, a little tray for the paint, and about twenty brushes. I reluctantly waited for her to decide.

"Paint me a picture of the beach."

Typical girl, I thought in amusement. I took a skinnier brush and dipped it in black paint to create a bold coastline. I made the sand realistic with long lines and dots in it. I used thick, wavy lines to paint the ocean in varying blues and even included a small fish. At the top of the painting, I created a horizon of oranges, yellows, and pinks. I finally blended the coastline to make it softer and more natural.

I handed the painting to Jane and put all the supplies back where they belonged. When I looked up, there was a woman standing in the doorway. It was Stephanie. I gasped in shock. I hadn't seen her in a long time. Stephanie was tall, slim, and dark-haired. She had black jeans, black stilettos, a black tank-top, and a black leather jacket on.

"Hello."

Jane's voice was freezing cold. I winced; not this again. Stephanie returned the greeting, but her voice was cheery. I didn't know why, but Jane hated Stephanie and I was tired of it. Stephanie had gone through a hell neither of us could even imagine and I wouldn't let Jane hurt this woman anymore with her pettiness. However, I didn't have to intrude because Stephanie was also tired of her blatant rudeness.

"What is your goddamn problem with me?" Stephanie demanded.

I settled back against his chest and crossed my legs at the ankles to carefully watch them. I didn't want this to escalate further. I could feel Alex looking on at the scene with vivid interest.

"You take Xander from me every time you come near me!" Jane yelled with her hands on her hips.

"They do realize I'm not a toy, right?" I asked Alex in a whisper.

"I'm not really sure, honey," he chuckled.

Jane and Stephanie continued arguing without paying any attention to our exchange.

"I'm sorry I steal him from you for one damn month so that we can have some happiness in our lives, which has never had anything close to happiness in them. You have an excess of it!" Stephanie screamed.

I groaned and pressed my hands over my ears. I hated screaming, plus they were giving me a migraine. I sighed in relief as Alex soothingly rubbed my temples.

"Excuse me?" Jane angrily asked.

"You have never lost twins and then felt extremely guilty because your best friend, who tried to help you, was in a damn coma for a year!"

Stephanie's voice bounced off the walls as she gestured to me. Alex's movements stopped for a moment, but he soon went back to calming me. His hands stroked my blonde hair and I leaned my head back against his shoulders.

"Is that true?" Alex quietly asked me.

I nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

I sighed.

"I don't like to talk about it. It was a long time ago, anyway."

He nuzzled my neck, but said nothing else. Jane and Stephanie gradually calmed down. They had finally sorted out their troubles, which made me much happier. I didn't like them fighting all the time. I nestled into Alex's loving embrace.

Jane said she had to go somewhere and left the room after kissing me on the cheek, but Stephanie came and sat on the edge of the bed.She studied me with an odd intensity before leaning forward.

"I need to ask you something, Xander."

I tilted my head to motion for her to continue. I was curious.

"Will you let me tattoo you?"

She squealed the question like a little girl. I sighed. I should have expected this. Stephanie was a tattoo artist, after all, and she had been bugging me about this for years.

I opened my mouth to respond, but she quickly continued in a desperate effort to convince me," I was thinking of giving you sleeves or some angel wings on your back in black ink."

I raised an eyebrow and she groaned.

"Oh, come on, Xander. Your skin is so pretty. It's begging to be tattooed."

A small smile spread across my lips. Did she just call my skin pretty?

"After my injuries heal," I told her.

She let out a happy cry and clapped her hands.

"Yay!" She squealed.

Stephanie jerked me out of Alex's embrace and swung me around in joy. I hung on for dear life. She finally let go when I groaned as she put some uncomfortable pressure on my ribs unintentionally.She kissed my cheek.

"Get well soon. I have to go. Brandon is waiting for me."

Brandon was her fiancee. I nodded and waved as Stephanie left. She suddenly ran back and gave me a slip of paper before leaving again. I curiously picked it up and saw that it was a phone number. I smiled and curled up on Alex's lap again, feeling happy and comforted.