MG2018 - Ximen + Xiaoyou

Part 3

Ximen was driving down the street when he spotted a familiar figure crouched by a tree. He slowed down and peered closely at the figure. Was that Xiaoyou? It had been weeks since he last saw her. He stopped the car and got out. He walked up to her and crouched down. "Xiaoyou?" he said, and she looked up at him with tears in her eyes. His heart suddenly felt heavy. He stood up, then reached out his hand to her to help her up. She took it, and he led her to his car. She sat in the passenger seat and he buckled her up before going around to the driver's side. He stayed quiet as he drove, and he could hear her sniffling as she kept her head bowed. Her hair covered her face, but he was sure that she was still crying.

He drove as quickly as he could to his house, and once he and Xiaoyou were settled in his den, he set about making her some Lavender Dingxiang tea to calm her down. He watched as she sipped it and took a deep breath. Her eyes were red from all the crying, and her cheeks were still stained with her tears. "How about you tell me what happened?" he asked, trying to keep the worry from creeping into his voice. She kept quiet as fresh tears came to her eyes, and he quickly pressed a tissue into her hands. She gripped it so tightly in her hands as she pressed the tissue to her eyes. "I'm sorry," she sobbed, "My luck has been so terrible lately." Every sob she heaved seemed to have a grip on his heart, which only tightened when he forced out the words, "Is it because of your boyfriend?" He didn't like it when he heard that Xiaoyou had a boyfriend, but he couldn't put a finger on why exactly he didn't like it. Seeing her like this now, he knew-- that guy was up to no good. Why else would she be crying like this? As if to confirm his suspicions, Xiaoyou nodded. "Today, I saw him with another girl," she said shakily, "He said it was so boring to be with me, it was like watching paint dry." Ximen felt his hand close into a tight fist. How could he say that about a cute girl? He's awful, he thought. Xiaoyou shook her head, and that's when he realized he had spoken aloud. "No, I think he's right," she said, and he looked at her in surprise, "The girl I saw today is much prettier than me, has a nicer voice, and was all dressed up. She has a nice body." He couldn't stand seeing her look down on herself so much. He rested a hand on her shoulder. "Chin up. Look at me," he commanded softly. She looked up at him, and he said, "Don't make such a terrible comparison. You need to know that you've got your own lovable traits." Cute, lovable, hard-working, passionate-- Stop it, Ximen, he admonished himself. "You'll find someone better," he said instead. "I have my own lovable traits. I'll find someone better," she repeated after him, and it made him smile. Before he could stop himself, he lifted a hand and rubbed her tears away with his thumb. "See? How lovable," he said softly. She looked at him with her wide, beautiful eyes, and he snapped out of it. He pulled his hand back and said, "Freshen up. Let's go." She looked at him in confusion, "Where are we going?" He looked away from her, "We're going to teach that piece of shit a lesson." She put a hand on his arm, "Are you going to hit him?" she asked worriedly, and he turned to her. "I will if you want me to," he replied seriously. She shook her head quickly, "No, it's okay." He smirked at her. "You'll be smiling at the end of this. I promise."

He kept that promise as they found that loser at the bar, and Daoming Si was quick to have his back. He quite enjoyed pulling that loser away and throwing him directly into the path of Daoming Si's fist. But if he was going to be honest with himself, what really had him on a high tonight was the feeling of having his arm around Xiaoyou and pulling her close. "She's my girlfriend." The words echoed in his head, but he tried to shake them off. They were just role playing, he told himself. "Do you feel better now?" he asked Xiaoyou as they stood on the sidewalk outside the bar. His heart lifted when she beamed up at him and nodded, "Yes, much better. Thank you." He smiled back at her, "You're welcome." They turned to see Daoming Si and Shancai bickering again, and Ximen turned back to Xiaoyou. "Let's go. We shouldn't bother them," he said to her, and she nodded with a smile. He held out his hand and was glad that she took it, enjoying the feeling of her soft hand in his as he led her to his car.

He couldn't keep the smile off his face as he listened to Xiaoyou recap the night so excitedly. "This kind of thing doesn't happen to you often, does it?" he teased, and she shook her head. "No way! I'm always just in school or at the tea shop," she replied, "My life is very ordinary." She turned to him. "But I'll bet your life is exciting. I mean, you're F4!" His smile faded a little, and she picked up on it right away. "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" He shook his head at her and gave her a little smile. "No, don't worry about it," he reassured her, "My life is pretty ordinary too." She shook her head, "I don't believe that! You're super popular!" He looked at her quickly, then looked back at the road. "The thing with popularity is you get a lot of fans, but not a lot of friends," he said quietly, "F4 is all I have, really." He felt a sudden jolt of electricity when he felt her hand on top of his. "And me. You have me," she said softly. He stopped at a red light and took the opportunity to look at her. She gave him a tentative smile and said, "I'd love to get to know you better. We can just hang out, eat, watch movies--" "Make new flavors of tea," he said with a smile, and she smiled widely at him. "You can help me with my homework too," she said and he laughed. The light turned green and he focused on the road again, an easy silence settling between the two of them. Finally, he stopped the car in front of her house and stalled the engine. "Thank you for tonight, Ximen," she said, turning to get out of the car. "Xiaoyou?" he said, and she stopped and looked at him. Before he could stop himself, he held out his hand and cupped her cheek. He looked into her eyes deeply and said softly, "I don't ever want to see you cry like that again. If anyone or anything ever bothers you, tell me." She stared at him intently, nodded slowly, then turned her face to kiss his palm, sending sparks all throughout his body. She gave him a small smile, then got out of the car. He waited until she entered the house before finally driving away, and because no one was looking, he kept the stupid smile on his face as he drove all the way home.