Xander's POV:

My jealousy-ridden anger had simmered down during my walk back to my room.

And by simmered down, I mean it just shifted into more of the stress that'd I'd been feeling since this morning.

Which caused my mind to wander searching for a fool-proof plan that would also keep the lie that I told Layla.

Okay, current plan:

1. Find her a new pet tomorrow, while somehow getting at across that I'm not... in the right place to be getting another one to share so soon.

Eventually... but not yet.

Of course, I wouldn't mean it, but she gets upset when I tell her no, so 'later' will have to do until I figure something else out.

2. Ask her to the ball...

Ok, right, easy enough.

3. Get her to say yes.

Anything for her to say yes.

I had to be close to getting her to be mine... I had to.

All this effort for so little in return.

So much sacrifice for no result.

I had to get her to be mine... so all of this didn't happen in vain

So I didn't completely ruin how my brother saw me for nothing.

And Doe...

That hard ache in my chest returned the second her name entered my thoughts.

A reaction that's become quite common lately.

4. ...I'll figure that out later.

I paused in front of my door, just staring at it.

No... this will be fine. Yeah. Everything will be fine, everything will work out how it's supposed to.

My shoulders sagged, refusing to acknowledge my attempt at hyping myself up.

I hardly believed it either, but this was the consequences of my actions all piling up.

It was my own undoing, and I was just going to have to deal with that.

I masked my pitiful sigh while unlocking and opening the door, keeping my body turned towards it as I entered and closed it.

Only to nearly jump out of my skin the moment something was pushed towards my face the second I turned.

"Try this," Doe spoke with a stern voice and a very determined look.

"What?" I spoke through my initial surprise, eyeing what she was showing me.

A relieving sort of amusement ran through me as I did.

What looked like a milkshake of sorts being held in a glass jar being held by both of her hands.

It looked to still be mostly full with whipped cream topped with chocolate shavings still sitting on top.

As well as a chocolate drizzle all around the sides.

"Try. This." She said again, "I didn't know what I wanted for dessert, so I told them to just surprise me. There's a flavor in there that I really like but don't know what it is so I need you to figure it out for me. I got the chocolate fudge and the peanut butter, but there's something else."

I caught myself smiling as she pushed it towards me once more, catching the anticipation in her eyes as I took it from her.

Once I had it, I could tell that it had melted a bit.

"Did you just sit here with it and wait till I got back before having any more?" I questioned, moving the metal straw around the cup so that it was in front of me.

She blinked at me like the answer was obvious.

"Yes. It was going to drive me crazy tasting it again if I didn't know what It was," she answered casually.

Nodding at her explanation, I took a sip.

I wasn't personally a fan of frozen, blended drinks, but I'll admit that this one was good.

The blend of flavors was familiar, but it took me a second to figure out the third component.

"Coffee," I answered while lowering it back down to her.

She took it in both hands again, eyeing it curiously before bringing the straw back towards her.

She was only barely a head shorter than me, but due to her close proximity, I had to tilt my head down to watch.

And I'm glad I did because her next sip brought a rare shine to her eyes and an upward tilt to her lips.

"That's coffee?"

I let out a small snicker at her enthusiasm on the matter.

And at the weird realization that she's never had coffee before.

"That's sweetened coffee," I told her, "It's a milkshake so I can only assume this ice cream they used was coffee-flavored and they just blended it together with the other stuff."

Kind of weird that not only did they give her a frozen dessert right at the start of winter, but also coffee at 6 pm, but whatever.

She liked it and that's what matters.

"It's good." She still sounded surprised.

"Remind me tomorrow morning to get some for breakfast, and you can add whatever you want to it," She just gave me a nod, too busy with the drink to speak, "Do you like it better than the lava cake?"

She paused, eyes narrowing as she thought.

If she said yes, then I'd need to figure out how to order it again.

Not that it'd be that hard to replicate.

"Not quite, it's a close second."

Noted.

"Anyway, how was dinner?"

I felt my mood prior shrivel down to nothing at a speed that should be illegal, everything I was feeling before walking in returning to my brain.

I tried not to let it show on my face, but the subtle widening of her eyes told me I failed.

"That bad, huh?" she deadpanned, taking a step back.

I tried to brush it off with a slight laugh, taking now as the time to head to my closet to switch out of this stupid dress shirt.

"Not bad, just... you know how Nico is," I said while unbuttoning it.

I didn't want to bring Layla up.

Maybe that's why I couldn't bring myself to talk about my thoughts with her, regardless of the fact that she asked me to...

Bringing Layla up caused a darkness in her eyes that I didn't want to see.

Especially not now.

Not after seeing her genuinely smile for the first time in what felt like forever.

Even if it was just because of a milkshake.

I leaned back as I slid the shirt off, enough so to where I could see Doe hop up onto the edge of my bed through the closet doorway.

Crossing her legs, she set the jar down between them, and met my gaze.

"What'd he yell at you about this time?"

"Nothing I didn't deserve," was all I said, grabbing a random t-shirt from its hanger.

I didn't want to bring up Layla but I also didn't want to come up with a whole made-up conversation either.

I didn't like lying to her.

"The ball is coming up though," I added, slipping the shirt over my head and stepping back out.

"Oh yeah? Who are you gonna ask this ti-"

She cut herself off, face blanching and lips pressing firmly together.

Like she regretting starting the question at all.

The look on her face told me that she already knew what my answer would be.

Which somehow made it worse.

"I mean, um, when is it?" she said in an effort to quickly cover her last words.

An attempt that I was more than happy to comply with.

She didn't want to touch that topic? Cool, me neither.

Not yet.

I began my way over to the edge of my bed, "Two weeks from now. I don't know whether or not the pets are invited but you can-"

"I'm dead, Xander. Remember?" she criticized, yet I was surprised by the satire in her voice.

I stared at her, blowing out a sigh before sitting down two feet beside her.

"Right."

God, why did I go there again?

She lifted her drink, "Probably best if you don't forget that tomorrow." She stated as nothing but a simple suggestion.

"Probably," I agreed, setting my palms on the bed behind me and leaning on them.

I kept my head turned just enough to where I could see her without it being too obvious.

She was... oddly calm right now.

Opposed to the worry I could sense on her for most of the day, up until I left for dinner.

She was worried about something, but I couldn't figure out what it was.

All the... normal concerns she had were gone due to my lie, but I wasn't going to try to press her for answers.

Especially not now when she was in good spirits.

I honestly thought that she'd be furious with me after the position that I put her in.

'Dead'

I thought that I'd be hearing her tell me off for hours after that lie left my mouth.

I was already preparing for it the moment I opened the closet to let her out of her hiding spot.

But she didn't.

She thanked me of all things...

That spot on my shoulder burned once again.

What a strange day... a strange 24 hours.

A strange lie that the blood moon allowed me to pull off.

I turned my head a bit more, trying to find the marks I knew I left on her, and being thwarted by the long-sleeved turtle neck she wore.

I couldn't see the bite, and I couldn't see the bruises on her arms.

And I'm confident in saying that she was doing it on purpose.

To prove my point, I suddenly found the jar in front of me yet again, as both an offering and a distraction.

Just past it was the glare of a woman who just caught me in the act.

"Stop trying to develop x-ray vision, weirdo," she grumbled.

"Oh, you didn't know? I already do," I spoke with a grin, taking the offering handed to me.

Who am I to pass up another taste of something she finds enjoyable?

"If you already did then you wouldn't stare for so long- Hey don't drink all of it!"

I easily surrendered the drink as she reached for it back, leading to her now guarding it as she turned her back towards me with a 'hmph'.

Her semi-serious glare still peeked over her shoulder at me.

And for some reason that awakened the fact, that although my lie was foolish, it gave us more opportunities for moments like this to happen.

Where things weren't so serious, and her health wasn't detrimental.

Where she'd occasionally smile.

I'll make this work. I'll force it if I had to.

Some way to keep her safe while still getting what I've fought so hard for in the end.

I'll figure it out.