XF → Harry Hook [2]✔

Back in the Game

When Audrey heard a knock on her door, the stream of tears that had slowly been leaking from the corners of her eyes almost turned into a torrent of water. She had lost everything she had ever wanted, and now that she wanted privacy, that right seemed to have been taken from her too.

"Go away," She called, continuing to sketch, ignoring the tears that had besmirched her drawing of the crown that she had wanted since she could remember.

And yet, the knocking persisted, until Audrey thought that it would drive her insane. At last, she snapped her diary shut, tossing both it and her pen onto her bed. She stomped over to the door, viciously yanking it open.

"What do you - ?" She began to snap, only for her jaw to go slack as she saw who was leaning against her doorframe.

It had been a while since anybody had seen XJ around Auradon Prep. Although lessons had only stopped a week ago, XJ and Harry seemed to come and go whenever they wanted, and it was rare that they appeared. Now, however, here she was, looking bored as a ripple of golden fire danced across her knuckles.

"I thought you were perfect," XJ said languorously. "Last time I checked, that meant being polite, and not answering the door when you're clearly in isn't really well-mannered, is it?"

Audrey's bottom lip trembled. Her eyes were drawn to the show of magic that XJ was currently playing with, as if the flame that disobeyed all the laws of science was nothing special. "There's no point in being perfect if there's nothing to show for it."

XJ raised an eyebrow, looking insufferably amused. "That's something I never thought an Auradonian would say." She looked over Audrey's shoulder into her room. "Can I come in?"

Without waiting for an answer, XJ knocked the protesting Audrey aside, whistling as she made herself at home.

"Hey!" The dams that were keeping Audrey's tears from overflowing threatened to break. "You can't do that!"

"I can do whatever I want," XJ said casually, now tossing the flame from one hand to the other. "And I take whatever I want."

Her words echoed in Audrey's mind, growing louder by the second. She shook her head to clear it. "What do you want?"

XJ shrugged. She grabbed the back of Audrey's chair from the vanity mirror and spun it around. She sat down, one of her legs on either side of the back. The golden flame bounced on the back of her palm, as if it had a mind of its own. Audrey stared at it, almost forgetting the question that she had asked.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing."

Audrey folded her arms. "I'm doing just fine, thank you very much."

"You've got puffy eyes," XJ pointed out. "And I saw the way you looked when Ben proposed to Mal – it was like you had swallowed a lemon from the Isle. You're not fine."

"Why does it matter to you?" Audrey sneered, the reminder of her situation sending a knife into her heart.

XJ's fist closed, and the fire extinguished. Audrey felt an odd desire for it to return. "You weren't awful to me when I first came," She said, her voice now much gentler than it had been a few seconds ago. "And I know what it's like to not get something you've wanted for a long time."

"But you decided to let go of the crown." Audrey argued. "I had it stolen from me."

XJ laughed humorlessly. "I've had seventeen years of freedom lost because of you Auradonians, and if the villains had had their happily ever after, it's obvious that I would have ruled the world." The spark of ambition that had never left XJ's eyes, that was at most ingeniously masked, now glinted dangerously. "You, on the other hand, never had to suffer until two years ago, when Ben changed his mind on what girl he wanted to marry."