Xavier

"Are you ready to talk to everyone?" Cas asked as he rubbed my back.

"Honestly? Not really. I haven't talked to Syn at all," I groaned. Ever since Cas told him about our previous plan to keep Queen a secret, I'd kept my distance. Not because I was afraid, but because I knew he'd be disappointed in me.

"Talk to him then," he said.

"I'll try," I said. But what could I even tell him to justify what I did? I had truly no excuse except being completely selfish.

"I'm going to finish unpacking and you go talk to him. When we're done we can go surprise Cleo at work," he said as he moved to the luggage.

"Okay," I said. I walked out of the room and headed towards Syn's room. When I got there, I knocked but nobody answered. I tried a few more times but when I still got no response, I turned to Queen's room.

She immediately opened the door and smiled at me as she let me in. "Hmm, I didn't know if you'd ever be back."

"Yeah," I said awkwardly as I took a seat on the chair at the table. "I'm sorry for just being gone like that."

She shrugged and I sighed in response. "I know I haven't been a good friend," I said.

"We don't need to have this discussion, Xavier. Save it for Syn, he's your friend," she said.

"You're my friend too," I said. "And the both of you deserve a lot better than the friend I've been."

She sighed as she played with the rips in her jeans and shook her head. She looked back up at me with watery eyes and my heart dropped. "What's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Syn changed a lot since he's been back, but I didn't think you would too, Xavier. You before anyone else in the past would put Syn's happiness before yours. I was shocked when I found out that you agreed to Lucifer's plan."

I closed my eyes and she continued. "I mean, I thought the two of you were best friends but you barely talk to him anymore either. What happened?"

"I was just selfish as hell," I said. "I can't stand the thought of losing him again, Queen."

"None of us can."

"It's different, I've lost him twice now," I said. "Ever since we met, Syn has been my best friend. We did everything together, Queen. He always talks about how he saved my life but he saved mine so many times."

"How?"

"When I was younger, my parents were extremely abusive. For no reason, they'd punch me around when they felt like it and they'd lock me in an attic for days at a time. When I met Syn, he would protect me from them whenever he was around.

It lasted for years until we had this one school dance in high school. My parents were letting me go but this one boy from school that had a crush on me showed up at my house. He asked me to the dance in front of my parents and they went crazy. They sent him away and spent hours just—"

A tear rolled down my cheek and I quickly wiped my eyes and took a deep breath. "I almost died. They locked me in the attic again and I was bleeding out for a long time but instead of doing anything, they left to go to dinner.

I would've bled to death that night if Syn didn't come to find me. I remember him being so quiet, he didn't even ask anything. He just healed me, gave me his tuxedo to change into, and called me a taxi to go to the dance. He told me to forget everything that my parents did for the night and I listened to him."

"Then what?" Queen whispered.

"I had one of the best nights of my life."

"The dance was fun?" She asked.

"I guess so, but that's not what I meant. When I got home, Syn was the only one there and he told me my parents left. It didn't make sense at all, they loved their home but I didn't ask questions.

I didn't ask about the small bloodstains on his shirt or my mother's earrings she wore that night laying on the carpet. I didn't even ask about the pungent smell of bleach that was practically seeping from every inch of the house. I just hugged him."

"Syn killed your parents?" She asked softly.

"Well, he never confirmed or denied it. It's been an unspoken thing between the both of us. Regardless, that was the first of many times that he saved me. The next time was a few months later when I got addicted to these pills that were going around in hell."

"Xavier..."

"When Syn found out I was using, he wasn't upset or anything. He acted as if nothing happened until the next day I came home and saw him with a bottle of alcohol, and an entire bottle of the pills."

"For you?"

"Not quite. I was super confused as to what was going on until he started taking them one by one. One pill, one swig of alcohol, repeat. I could clearly remember his words just repeating in my head," I said as I closed my eyes.

Tears fell down my face but I wiped them away and took a deep breath. "He said, 'If you're going to kill yourself, I'll do it with you.' I never thought I could feel as much fear as I felt at that moment, Queen. I was ready to do anything to get him to stop. I was sobbing and I promised him that I'd quit and he stopped doing it.

He threw away every single bit of drugs and alcohol in the house and stayed with me through my withdrawals and mood swings. It lasted weeks and after, he attended every addict meeting that I had. If he hadn't done that, I probably wouldn't be here today."

Queen wiped her eyes and patiently waited for me to continue. "So me being selfish was a big reason but it was more than that. All my life, Syn has been protecting me and picking up the pieces that I couldn't myself. I've never been able to do the same for him.

When I heard he came back, I saw it as an opportunity to protect him the way I never could before. And you're right, I did change. I spent three years without my other half and I couldn't do it again. I should've thought about you and what he would've wanted but I didn't, and for that I'm sorry."

Queen nodded and stood up from the bed and walked towards me. She pulled me into a hug and I hugged her back. "Thanks for telling me. I understand why you did what you did."

"Forgive me?" I asked.

"Yes," she whispered.

"I forgive you too," a voice said. My eyes landed on the closet and Syn walked out. I looked back to Queen and she gave me an apologetic look.

"Sorry," she whispered between the both of us. "Before you blame me, this was a plan between me and Cas. I'm going to give you guys a minute."

Queen scurried out of the room and Syn and I were left alone. He pulled out a chair at the table where I was sitting and sat beside me. "Hey."

"Hi."

"That was a dumb reason to avoid me," Syn muttered.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"Stop apologizing," he said. "Just don't do it again. I have no other friends."

I laughed as I relaxed into my seat. "We're friends?"

"No," he said simply.

A smile spread across my lips and I lunged at him and hugged him. The chair he was sitting in fell back and I laughed as Syn tried to push me away. I kissed him on the forehead as I hugged him and I burst out into laughter when he started screaming bloody murder.

"Aww," we both turned to the door Syn's mother took a picture of us. "All the pictures I have of the two of you are always in this position."

"Get off," Syn snapped.

I laughed as I stood up and I held a hand out for him to take but he ignored it and stood up on his own. He glared at me as he adjusted his tie and we turned to Gen. "What are you doing here, Mother?"

"I'm here to give Queen lessons on the Queenz competition," she said.

"She's entering?" Syn asked in surprise.

"Yes, the public support portion of the contest starts in a week from today," she said.

"Don't you need a king or significant other to do well in that part?" I asked slowly.

"Yes, that's what I came to talk to Syn about."

꧁꧂

Author's Note
Syn on the other side of the door listening to Xavier's story😑

But ughhh this story with Xavier's parents always broke my heart. Do y'all think Syn killed them? If you don't why? And if you think he did...did they deserve it?🤔
Regardless...our besties are back together‼️‼️‼️
Lmk your thoughts ✨