A/N: There are approximately 15+ chapters to go. Please bear that in mind.
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Just because I let you go, doesn't mean I wanted to
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They met eyes, but the situation wasn't ideal. Sage hadn't realized that Xander didn't move away, and as such, their faces were only inches from each other. Wanting to rip his eyes away from Maria's boyfriend, yet not possessing enough strength to do so, Sage blindly drowned in pale pools of blue, darting between them, searching for anything. Something.
A fleeting flicker of emotion, consisting of Xander's eyebrows unfurling, eyes softening, but a second later it vanished, morphing into his mask. That mask.
The cold, impenetrable mask he hid behind every time things got hard, or too overwhelming; the same one he bore when Sage confessed his feelings that night. He'd heartlessly looked away, lingering a while before completely leaving, but this time, Xander didn't move, nor looked away.
Sage didn't, either.
Carlos's words rung in Sage's head, like a warning bell, and just before he could shake off the feeling and get out of Xander's grip, a voice came.
"Xander?"
Xander broke away first. He quickly released Sage and straightened himself, forking his hand through his tousled black hair just as Maria rounded a few vacant pool tables. "Yeah?" he answered her call.
His girlfriend's grin faded for a second as she took into consideration how closely the boys stood before the younger shuffled further away. Disregarding that, her smile returned as she walked over. "You were showing him how to shoot, right?" she inquired, to clear the air and any lingering suspicions. Xander nodded, eyes focusing on the table. "Giving away your trade secrets, huh? That's kind of you." brushing past Sage, she stepped up to her boyfriend and ran her gold fingernails along the curves of his face.
Sage looked away, just as Xander's blue eyes flitted over Maria's face to him.
What?
W-why is he looking over here?
"Since this is a couple's match, why don't you show me the ropes? You're my boyfriend and I'm probably rusty too," she sweetly purred, running her hands down to his shoulders as she tilted her head to the side and poured. She aimed a pointed look at their competition before dragging her eyes back to Xander. "Show me. We can just go over the basics." she adjusted her blouse to bring attention to the deep v-neck cut in her white crop top.
Xander's eyes never strayed again, "Certo." he replied.
Suddenly, feeling uncomfortable, like the unneeded third wheel, Sage ambled away, back to the couch and picked up his juice from where he left it. Heart thundering in his chest and knees seconds away from giving out, Sage carefully sunk into the couch, biting his lip to calm himself from the recent disgruntle.
That was a mistake, obviously.
He conjured all the excuses in the world to get rid of the hopefulness rising in his chest, deluding him that Xander felt something towards him. Though Sage knew that wasn't true, his heart had other plans, doing somersaults at something it chose to believe.
But his heart deflated like a balloon when he looked up to see Xander showing Maria how to shoot, just as he'd shown Sage, only more intimately as she stood closer.
See? You're no different.
Get a grip, Sage.
"Sagey bear! Come help me!"
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Conflicted Eyes, Confusing Feelings | Complete
Romance[bxb, completed ✔] "Listen, just because ... that ... happened last night doesn't mean we're friends now, a'right? And I don't expect you to go blabbing, yeah?" The blond tried to step back, but the realization that he was against the sink didn't...
