Vapor || Meteor Garden

Chapter 17

Author's Note: Meteor Garden, it's plot, cast and characters do not belong to me, only Dao Ming Xia does.

PS. If you like this chapter, please fave and/or review. Positive feedback , suggestions and ideas are always welcome.

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The next day, Xia woke up in the arms of Mei Zuo. She happily smiled as she remembered how her Achi gave them her blessing to date. She looked at his sleeping face and realized the she was starting to fall in love with him already. It wasn't that hard given their history of being friends, she just needed to place her attention on the right person. She hoped that he would be the one but she didn't dare raise her hopes up in fear of Mei Zuo leaving her for someone better. When that time comes, she would have to make do with the promise she made; that she'd let him go so that he could be free to be with whoever he chose. She sighed as she kissed his forehead before getting out of bed. She went into the bathroom to shower and change. Once she was done, she exited the room to make breakfast for the two of them only to come across Hua Ze Lei who was exiting the guest room two doors down. They both looked at each other. She hadn't directly spoken to him since the rooftop incident. Lei approached her.

"Good morning, Princess." He greeted with a smile and Xia looked away as she murmured a good morning to him.

"Can we talk?" He asked her and she looked at him. Truthfully, she missed her best friend. Maybe it was time to put her anger aside and forgive him.

"Sure. Would you like to talk while I make breakfast?" She asked him and he nodded. She then turned to walk towards the kitchen and he followed behind her. Once there, she started preparing breakfast for her brother, sister, and their friends. The maids would usually have breakfast prepared but she told them last night that she would do it the next morning. She was preparing all the ingredients she would need and started to think of a topic to avoid an awkward silence.

"So, how did it go with Shan Cai last night?" She asked as cheerfully as possible. She turned to look at Lei as she waited for an answer. He looked at her with serious eyes.

"Princess, first of all, I wanted to tell you how sorry I am for the rooftop incident." Lei admitted which made Xia stop what she was doing as she remembered the incident. She smiled sadly as she turned her back to him.

"It's fine. I was—" She started but Lei cut her off.

"No, it wasn't fine. It was rude and disrespectful. I never meant to hurt you or Mei Zuo, I respect you guys' relationship." Lei explained and Xia sighed as she took a deep breath before facing him.

"Lei, I admit, what you said hurt me. We've known each other since we were kids. I thought we could trust each other enough to talk about our problems. Not hide behind a fake façade and pretend to be someone we're not. That's not the Lei I grew up with." She lectured.

"I understand. And I know I failed you. You don't know how sorry I am that I hid instead of just coming to you and talking about it. It's just that, you reminded me so much of Jing that I was scared that you would leave me as well. So, I pulled away. I thought that if I did that, it would hurt less when you left." He admitted. And Xia's heart cried for him. She was the one reminder of someone he couldn't have.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't know that I reminded you of her. Maybe we should keep our distance from—" Xia tried to say but Lei shook his head.

"I realize now that you and Jing are alike yet different in so many ways. Yes, you both helped me out of my shell when we were young. But you, you stayed when she left, you continued to take care of me and make sure I was alright without her. It hurt me at first, because I only saw the similarities and I thought our friendship would end in the same way my relationship did with her. But now I see that when she left, we stopped knowing how the other grew up. I didn't know everything about her anymore and she didn't know everything about me. But you and I, we're best friends. You've been there for me since day one and hopefully, you'll be there until the end. So, I'm sorry. I hope you forgive me." Lei said as he stood up from his chair on the counter and bowed to her. Xia couldn't help but walk to him, pull him up from his bowing position and give him a big hug.