Limelight

Chapter Forty

~~Goodbyes Kinda Suck~~

It was two hours later when Aaliyah and Xavier stumbled into the Waters' penthouse after a trip to the emergency room. More for Xavier's sake who's two fractured ribs kept him from walking on his own. Aaliyah ended up having to be checked out as well since whilst she was waiting for Xavier to be checked out, she was knocked out by a mild concussion.

On top of that, Xavier had to get stitches over his brow and a cold compress for his fractured jaw. They also had to come up with a reason why New York's very own Xavier Adams and Lia Garcia were almost battered and bruised in a hospital. They came up with a mugging and insisted that they wouldn't be pressing charges, Xavier claiming that "They needed my watch more than I did," He answered in a cool voice, "Besides, I was the ass that couldn't back down from a gunfight."

Aaliyah was frustrated that somehow Xavier managed to take all the blame and paint himself the bad guy. She wanted to point this out to him once they were alone, but she hadn't been able to put her thoughts into words since his brothers left the apartment. Xavier had spoken for the both of them, though even he sounded spaced out and disconnected. Neither of them had exchanged a word when they were alone, and Aaliyah was thankful for the silence. Maybe she felt like she was trapped in her own mind, but at least it allowed her to sort through everything that happened. Try and figure out how she was going to be able to move forward.

Xavier didn't seem to be thinking of anything. His face was set and unemotional, though Aaliyah learned to not take his expression at face value, it was still bone-chilling when she would cast him a side-glance. Especially when she was almost certain that he had cried with her when he had her in his arms right after Dominic had left the apartment. The way he managed to switch off on demand was eerie. And the way he could pretend like nothing was wrong was even scarier.

As Aaliyah supported half of his weight on her arm, Xavier managed to explain and calm down everyone at the Waters'. Aaliyah had completely forgotten about Madison's concert and her post-celebratory concert dinner that Malcolm insisted on hosting, so when they got back and saw everyone including a few new faces file out of the dining room talking over each other anger and upset and worry ringing in Aaliyah's ears almost overwhelming her. Xavier explained to them his story, and Aaliyah had to bite her tongue as everyone passed judgment over his actions.

"So Aaliyah almost ruined my concert because Xavier couldn't sort out his ego?" Madison exclaimed, her annoyance blatant in her tone, "And I'm supposed to be okay with that?"

Aaliyah did her best not to roll her eyes, she did understand why Madison would be upset, and it's not like Xavier didn't do his best to paint himself guilty. "I think he's learned his lesson, Madison," Blair argued gesturing to Xavier, who stood almost detached, "Though it was a pointless lesson. And Xavier was dumb and reckless, and a little selfish for letting Aaliyah get hurt and put your concert in jeopardy—"

"I think we should all just be glad that they're both okay," Malcolm interrupted his voice cool and collected, but by the look in his eyes, Aaliyah could tell that he was anything but. Aaliyah could understand. She was weeks away from her own tour and failed to show up to Madison's opening night. It didn't look well, it was going to take a lot of work to remedy this mess. Aaliyah couldn't bypass the doubtful look in his eyes like he didn't believe their story, "And that neither of you was in any serious danger. We were all worried."

Aaliyah bit down on her bottom lip looking away, as the backs of her eyes stung. Lying to Malcolm for any reason seemed to hurt. "I apologize if my concern for their wellbeing isn't high on my list of priorities now that we've been dealing with a slew of negative attention because now the world thinks that Aaliyah blew off her first concert performance." Uriah sneered in Malcolm's direction, a scowl fixated on his face, his arm linked in the arm of a tall and lithe dark-skinned woman with a gold band like Uriah's glinted on her wedding finger, Aaliyah didn't recognize. She was gorgeous, Aaliyah thought, intimidatingly so, especially next to Uriah who was a few inches shorter than her. Her huge coils packed into a bun on her head added the extra height too. She watched as everything unfolded with minor interest and boredom. Aaliyah wondered what she was thinking, "Only weeks before her own tour for that matter."