October 26, 2021

Xavier

I rubbed Cleo's pregnant stomach and smiled to myself whenever I felt the babies kick. We looked out at the busy dance floor as we sat in the sitting area, and she sighed in my hold. "Okay, that's the fifth time. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Cleo..." I warned.

"Okay, okay," she said softly as she lifted her head off of her chest to look up at me. "I feel like I'm ruining your and Caspian's fun."

"Why do you feel like that?"

"I can't go places with you guys anymore, and I can't even dance for longer than two minutes without my feet going crazy," she explained. "And then look at us now. Cas is getting me lemonade and you're sitting on a couch with me during a party."

"Baby..."

"I'm sorry I'm boring these days, I'll try to do mor—"

"Don't finish that sentence," I said as a flicker of anger ignited in me. "You are more than your activity status, baby. We don't care if you're bungee jumping with us, or binge-watching one of those dumb shows you like. You're fun all the time, no matter what we're doing."

"Really?" She asked as a slow smile spread across her face.

"Yes, and you have to keep in mind that you are PREGNANT. You are carrying two children that are—more or less, draining your energy. We get that you're not going to feel good all the time, but we appreciate you. I could never begin to imagine what you're going through in your body so damnit if you want to sit during a party, my ass is right next to you."

Her bottom lip quivered at my words and I shook my head. "Please no." She made a high-pitched noise before sobbing and I let out a breath. She hurried her face into my chest as she cried and I kissed her forehead before shaking my head. I knew better than to do that since she was so emotional, but I hated her feeling insecure. "Baby...you're going to cry about ruining your makeup if you don't stop."

She nodded as she lifted her head and sniffled heavily as she wiped her tears. "I-I'm sorry," she said between breaths. "I've j-just been feeling horrible...because of not being a-able to do things with you guys."

"Stop thinking like that, okay?" I assured her as I wiped away her tears with the pad of my thumb. "No one is thinking that, I swear to you it's all in your mind." She nodded at my reply and took deep breaths to calm down.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Syn mumbled as he took the seat across from us. I rubbed Cleo's back comfortingly as she glared at him and I kissed her head to relax her. Syn and she hadn't been seeing eye to eye at all for the past few weeks. He'd make a comment and she'd start crying and he'd have no idea what he did. It was hilarious to see him so shocked, but I didn't like her so sad. I was able to keep them separated for the most part, but tonight had to be an exception.

"We're just talking," I said calmly and Cleo nodded.

"Sounds fun," he spoke lowly as he looked around in boredom. When he couldn't find anything of interest around him, he sighed and looked back at Cleo. "How is your day going?"

"Like you care," she mumbled in annoyance.

"I don't, but I'm making conversation. You know what that is, don't you?"

"Syn..." I warned.

"You're a dick." Cleo scrunched up her nose in disgust before grabbing her purse along with her water and standing up. I tried to reach for her but she shook her head and stood back. "I just need air. I suddenly feel suffocated."

"I wonder why," Syn muttered as he looked down at his phone.

"You don't have to wonder, Syn," she argued. "It's because of you, asshole. You're like a black hole just sucking away people's happiness. I can just literally breathe and you're bitching about it. I'm so convinced at this point that Queen was the only thing that gave you a likable personality. I'm honestly glad she left you because she deserves a lot better."

She walked away before past him, but before completely doing so, she spilled her glass of cold water on top of his head. "Cleo," I called out as I stood up from the couch. She stormed away from the both of us and I ran my hand through my hair before looking down at Syn. He stayed quiet, but I could feel the waves of anger radiating off of him.

Disrespect was a big boundary for him and I'd seen him kill people for doing less than what she did. I knew the only thing at this point that was keeping him from completely killing her or removing her from the palace was me, and the fact that she was carrying my kids.

His jaw ticked as he ran a hand through his now soaked hair and I sighed before picking up a few napkins and holding them out for him. He waved my hand away in dismissal and I let out a breath before sitting across him. Fully being able to view him, I saw someone else behind his angry demeanor. I saw sadness. I've heard Cleo go off on him plenty of times and he was unfazed, but this was the first time she ever mentioned Queen.

I saw Cas stride back over to us with a grin on his face, but as he got closer, his smile dropped. He set the drinks down carefully, eyeing Syn and me, and took a seat on the cushion adjacent to the both of us. "Syn, I'm going to ask this and don't take it the wrong way..." he began cautiously. "Why are you wet?"

"Ask your wife," Syn muttered.

Caspian seemed taken aback by Syn's words and I could almost picture what would happen if Syn didn't clarify. It was sometimes hard to tell when Syn was just joking, or if he was being disrespectful. "Excuse me—"

"Not like that," I cleared the air. "Cleo threw water on him." Caspian said an "Oh" in understanding and I looked at Syn who still seemed saddened by the situation. "Syn, I can talk to her and—"

He shook his head. "No worries, Xavier. I'm not trying to cause problems with you and your family." You are my family too. He stood up from the chair and walked away from us. When he was gone, I sunk into the couch and groaned as I tugged my hair.

"Fuck." I felt the couch move beside me and a strong hand on my thigh. I caught a whiff of Caspian's familiar cologne as he silently comforted me, and I let out a deep breath.

After a few moments, I dropped my hands and turned my head to the side to look at him. "What do I do?"

"Honestly? I have no idea. A war between your best friend and significant other is never easy." He softly rubbed my hand with his thumb and I relaxed slightly. "But my advice would be to let them take time apart. There are clearly more underlying issues that we don't know about, but if they keep fighting like this, it'll come out. When that happens, maybe they'll finally stop."

"So just let them fight until they blow up?" I questioned in bewilderment. It sounded like a horrible idea.

"Sometimes the best way to stop a bomb is to just let it explode. I don't know if you've ever been near one, but after an explosion, everything is just fucking quiet as hell. Sure, it ruins a lot of things in the vicinity but there are different ways to see it. You can either look at that as your life is completely over, or you can see the ash and ruin as a chance to rebuild and start over."

I nodded slowly to let his words sink in, but he must've thought I was taking too long and he nudged me. "Do you get what I'm saying or am I just speaking into the void that your mind happens to be sometimes?" He teased.

I laughed softly and pushed his hand off of me. "Fuck you, and yes I get what you mean." It was going to be hard to just let them fight like they were, but I trusted Caspian's intuition a lot more than my own. "I think what she said hurt him though."

"Then you go check on him, and I'll go find Cleo," he suggested. "It may be a good time for you to give him his birthday gifts too."

I gasped as I remembered what I had gotten for him and I immediately stood up. Cas laughed at my quickness and I gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek. "You smart bastard, what would I do without you?!"

"Hopefully you'll never have to find out," he said. A playful smirk lighting up his handsome features. I gave him one last smile before rushing to my bedroom and grabbing the two gift bags I had stashed away in my closet.

I made the long trip to Syn's bedroom and usually, I would've been tired from the walk, but my excitement and adrenaline distracted me from it. I knocked on his door and stepped back to wait for him to open the door. "Come in," he called from inside. I walked in to see him buttoning up a navy blue dress shirt and I dangled the bags in the air.

"You know what time it is, Syn."

"You know I don't like celebrat—"

"I know, I know..." I said as I set the bags on the table. "But this is tradition for us. I'm not sure why you despise your birthday so much, but I understand you not telling me. I can respect that boundary, but I refuse to not show appreciation to you for everything you do at LEAST once a year."

He roped his tie around his neck with a sigh, and I laughed knowing that I had won the battle. I sat down at the table and he took a seat to my right and clapped his hands together. "Well, let's get on with it." He was acting like his usual abrasive self, but I knew deep down he was always excited about this.

I cleared my throat and passed him one bag. He removed the tissue wrapping paper from the top and when he peeked into the bag, he snickered. I laughed softly and watched as he pulled out one of the many items. "A water bottle...thank you. I've been seriously needing this for so long."

I burst out into laughter at the sarcasm dripping from his voice and he pulled out another item. "Baby wipes."

"For Saint."

"How thoughtful." He smiled before setting it down and continue to go through the next gifts. "Oh wow...a lightbulb." He chuckled deeply and it became a large bellow as he looked at it longer.

"What's so funny?"

"You gave me a single lightbulb," he pointed out as his laughter died down. "No container or anything." I laughed as I realized how it looked and he shook his head. We spent the next few minutes laughing about the random items I had gotten for him, and when we were done there was a plethora of random gifts on his table; the ones he'd already taken out in addition to batteries, a doorknob, shoelaces, and a miniature bobblehead of him.

"This is all amazing, thank you." His voice was full of sincerity and I nodded before handing him the final bag. He moved to open it, but I quickly shut it and shook my head.

"Just open it when I leave please," I cringed.

He raised an inquisitive brow at me before nodding slowly and I let out a small breath. "Umm...okay." He moved to set it to the side when a sound from outside made me jump. I got up thinking they were gunshots, but when I looked out of the windows, I saw fireworks and smiled. "I forgot that we set that up." I laughed.

I turned to Syn to comment on them but frowned when I saw how frozen he was. His hands were gripping the armrest so severely that his knuckles turned white and I looked at him with concern. "Syn." His eyes were shut tightly and with each bang of a firework, his body jerked. "Syn," I called out once again as I laid a hand on his shoulder. He flinched at my hand and his eyes widened as he looked directly at me. Staring back at me was an expression I had never seen on Syn's face and one I never wished to...

Fear.

꧁꧂

Author's Note
*Me as a party guest looking into Syn's room*

Not me ruining another sad moment 😭
But oh wow...what do y'all think is going on?
Lmk your thoughts ✨