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"Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell you dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten." - Neil Gaiman.

Dedication: KamilaDj123 for the new amazing cover! Kamila has some awesome covers if any of you guys are in need of one!

Recap:

My lips felt dry. Swallowing uneasily, I stepped back. I forced myself to speak, hoping my throat wasn't as dry as it felt. "Maybe."

"You should."

As I wound up the stairs, I glanced back at him. He was watching me, a small smile on his face. I rarely saw him genuinely smile.

It annoyed me that that small act, had butterflies exploding in my stomach, making me realise I was in more trouble than I thought.

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I scrunched up my nose. The tickling still persisted. I waved my hand around my face lazily. Same again.

"Faithless," a voice taunted.

I now realised why. Peering through one eye, I saw Xavier grinning at me, as he draped over the side of my bed. I sighed, rolling away from him.

"Hello?"

If I pretend he doesn't exist, he might just go away... I thought hopefully to myself.

Of course, I had no such luck.

"Faaaaaaithless," he sang, louder this time. "Darling, wake up."

"I ain't yo' darling."

"Ah, a response!" he cheered.

"Question," I stated, rolling onto my side and staring up at the boy next to me. "Would you find it weird if I came into your room, while you slept and played with your face until you woke up?"

He cocked his head to the side. "Sounds kind of creepy, when you put it that way."

"It is creepy."

"It's cute."

"Still creepy," I muttered.

"So you do think it's cute?" he persisted, smirking.

"What? No, ugh, leave me alone. It's a Saturday. I want to sleep in." I was off my game, but hey, I woke up like not even a minute ago. And besides, I was not a morning person.

"I want to go have some fun."

"Why don't you leave me alone?"

"Come on, you never let me do anything fun." He literally pouted.

"Do whatever the hell you want, I'm not your mum." I snapped, pulling the covers up so that I felt a little more reserved. "You can have fun without me being there."

"What if I make you breakfast?"

"I'm not falling for that."

"You were the one who sabotaged my breakfast, Faithless. I'm actually serious, let's go do something."

"Like?"

"Anything!"

"Why can't you go with someone else? You have plenty of friends." I argued, really not wanting to leave my toasty bed.

"Don't make me force you."

"Just go away, for God sake!" I scowled, burying my face into my pillow.

He was so damn infuriating.

"Have it your way then," I heard, just before my beautifully warm sheets were ripped off of me. I squeaked, realising that I only had a shirt on and my legs were exposed.

"Ew, don't check me out!" I yelled, burying my face once more to hide my crimson cheeks. Oh my goodness. I hate that I was flustered by him staring. It made me feel squirmy and that was something I did not like feeling.

"Cute undies," he laughed, slipping his finger underneath and pulling it, so that it snapped against my skin. I could not breath. My stomach was doing flips. He was so close to... I clamped my legs together, feeling beyond flustered now. I just wanted to die. "I didn't know you were into batman."

"Stop being a pervert!" I sneered, slapping him away.

He suddenly wrapped his arms around me and I honest-to-God was going to collapse. My body was going into cardiac arrest. What the hell was wrong with me? Before I could scold myself further for having hormones, I was suddenly lifted from the bed. I am embarrassed to admit a squeal escaped my lips.

He marched me towards my bathroom and settled me down onto the cold, tiled floor. He gave me a toothy grin, impressed with himself.

"Shower time."

"GET OUT!" I cried, mortified at this whole situation. My cheeks were redder than my hair at this point.

He smirked, knowing exactly what was going on. His eyes dipped and I tugged ferociously at my top, it not being as long as I would have liked it to be.

"Only if you agree to hang with me today."

"Oh my God, fine, just get out!"

"Okay, okay, all you had to do was ask," he said, much to my annoyance, before shutting the door behind him.

Hastily, I locked it. I sagged against the door, feeling breathless. I glared at the mirror, ashamed of myself. I shook my head in disappointment.

I was just like all the other girls.

***

"That's a cute outfit."

My mouth fell open a little. He not only had made me breakfast, which looked relatively normal and un-tampered with, but he paid me a compliment as well.

"What?" he asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Why are you being nice? You're about to prank me, aren't you? Where are your friends? Around the corner to record it again?"

"I really don't know why you think I'm such a bad person."

"I know you are."

"I'm really not."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm going to be so pissed if you've done something to my food."

"It's fine, I promise."

After one more skeptical look, I plopped down onto the seat. I took a long swig of my orange juice, not realising how thirsty I had been. It tasted normal, which was a good start. Surely he couldn't have done much damage to toast, could he?

"Just eat the food," he said, exasperated. "I promised, remember?"

He turned his back to me, starting to clean up the mess he made. My eyes were boggling by this point. Things have gone back to normal, clearly. Maybe I scared him not staying here the other night. He probably thinks I'm depressed or something and thinks he has to be careful. I almost laughed. That would almost be good if he did think that. Might be healthier for my blood pressure.

I glanced down at my outfit. As it was cold in the house, meaning it was definitely cold outside, I had decided to wear my high-waisted, dark blue jeans and my high neck, black singlet top. I'll wear my signature black, leather jacket over the top. I guess it was pretty cute. I didn't think Xavier would comment that, however.

I wonder if he meant cute as in cute like "damn girl, you fine", or as in sister cute.

"What are we going to do?" I questioned, taking my final bite.

So far, so good. I hadn't dropped dead. Yet.

"I want to show you something. I found it the other day," he said, an excited tone to his voice.

I quirked an eyebrow, sipping at my juice. I hadn't ever heard Xavier speak like that before.

"Is this the part where you take me to a secluded spot and murder me?"

"Well, if I told you now, it would ruin all the fun, wouldn't it?" he wiped his hands on the tea-towel and hung it up on the oven handle.

I took a moment to stare at him. He always dressed nice, not that I really saw him out of school all that much. He had a lightly faded pair of jeans on, that fitted him extremely well. He had a navy blue shirt on that was casual, but like, smart casual. He had good style, I'll give him that.

"Now who's checking who out?"

I wasn't even embarrassed. I hadn't exactly been subtle, after all.

"I like what you're wearing."

I surprised myself, too. Why was I giving Xavier a compliment? Don't I hate him? I guess I was just repaying him for giving me one.

"Thanks," he said, flashing me his pearly whites. "Ready?"

I nodded, shrugging my jacket over my shoulders.

I trailed behind him wordlessly until I realised what exactly was happening.

"Nuh uh, no way." I said, shaking my hand, holding my hands out in front of me in a 'stop' signal.

"Don't tell me you're scared of motorbikes?"

"It's your crazy driving, not the bike!" I said defensively.

"I even bought you helmet!"

"How thoughtful."

He rolled his eyes. Giving me a heart-stopping, lope-sided smile, he handed me the helmet.

"Just do it, Faith. For once, can you not argue?"

My eyebrows rose. He never called me Faith. But it wasn't angrily, this time. It was just a no-bullshit-let's-do-this tone. I liked it.

Reluctantly, I slipped the helmet over my head. If I tilted my head, my whole body would fall with it, it was that heavy.

"Great! It fits!" He slammed his own over his and I winced. I'll be surprised if his ears are still attached to his head.

He mounted the bike and I followed suit, having ridden on bikes with my dad before. I felt a little uncomfortable wrapping my arms around Xavier. I felt like we just crossed a boundary I wasn't sure I wanted to, yet.

"Ready?" he called out, the bike rumbling to life underneath us.

"Ready," I yelled back, snapping down the viser over my eyes.

I yelped as he did a skid on my driveway, dramatically pulling out. I gritted my teeth as I made a mental note to slap him when I felt safe to remove my arms from around his waist. I clung on tightly as we wound our way through town. I lost track of where we were going.

It wasn't long, before the bike rolled to a stop. I got off and smacked him. He laughed, pulling the helmet from his head.

"That was for the skid, wasn't it? Thought you would love it."

I laughed, shaking my head at him. He wasn't as bad of company as I thought. I placed the helmet down, hoping I didn't have hat hair.

"Now what?"

"Now, we walk." he said, pulling off his gloves and shoving them under his seat.

"You're just going to leave your bike there?" I questioned, glancing around.

"We're the only ones here aren't we? And besides, where would I put it anyway?"

"Valid point."

We walked for a while. He didn't stop talking, but it wasn't annoying, surprisingly. It was nice to have an actual conversation with him. I might have been wrong about him. But I wasn't ready to admit that yet. For all I know, this is all part of an evil plan. I'm paranoid, I know.

I had explored a lot of my town, but I'd never been here. It seemed like we were in some forest. The track was pretty easy to walk across, which was good. Not that I was all that clumsy, but I do have the tendency to get myself tangled up sometimes. I felt something flutter in my stomach as I heard the sound of rushing water.

How did he know I loved rapids and waterfalls?

I picked up my pace, actually overtaking Xavier. We made it to a clearing type thing and my breath honestly was taken away. It was beautiful. How had I not seen this before? Maybe we were out of town. I don't know, I was too busy clinging on for dear life.

"Holy shit."

Xavier snorted. "Classy, Faith."

"How did you find this place?" I murmured.

Out of my peripheral vision, I saw him shrug. "I was looking for some stuff to draw so I went exploring. Just found this on accident. I got lost actually."

I stared at him, pretty impressed.

"What?" he asked, noticing my gaping.

"That's cool." I said.

"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Faithless."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get used to it."

I wandered over to a rock, before my foot slipped on the moss. Xavier caught my elbow and I righted myself, giving him a sheepish grin.

"Thanks."

I withdrew my phone from my pocket and took a few photos. I'll have to send them to dad. He'll be spewing he didn't know this place existed. Xavier and I took a quick 'selfie' on snapchat. I sent it to dad, writing "look dad, we're friends!"

I turned back and noticed Xavier's camera was on me, not the waterfall.

"Hey!"

"Hey what?"

"You're taking photos of me!"

"Yeah? And?" he said casually. "I'm good at taking photos."

"Are you not good at anything?" I muttered, feeling my cheeks turn hot at the idea of him taking photos of me.

"Heard that."

My stomach clenched slightly. Did he enjoy taking photos of me? I wonder if he was planning to draw me again. A goofy grin danced on my lips. I walked closer to the waterfall, my eyes rounder than saucepans.

"This place is really, really nice." I said after silence had fallen for a few minutes. "Thanks for sharing it with me."

"Maybe it can be our place."

I grinned. "Yeah, maybe."

He sat down and I joined him. The ground beneath me was damp, but I didn't really care. We just stared in silence at the waterfall. I didn't expect the day to have turned out like this.

"What do you like to do?"

"Huh?" I asked, having gone into a little trance, staring so intensely at the water.

"Like, for fun. What do you like to do?" he asked.

"Um. I like to watch movies, read, I don't know, hang out with friends. I like parties, I like the movies, bowling, all that kind of stuff."

"Well, maybe we can do something you want to do next time."

Next time? This isn't a date, is it?

"Uh, sure."

He smiled and it was better than the view in front of me. I stared at him, again. He doesn't like me, does he? He could have any girl at school, why would he want me? Especially considering he's seen me at my worst - bare faced in the morning and in my gross clothes. And after work, when I'm covered in filth.

Maybe he's just playing me, I don't know. I don't trust easily, not after Jacob.

Xavier rose to his full height and extended his hand to mine. He pulled me up effortlessly and I did a little jiggle, attempting to get all the dirt off my backside.

"Let's go," he suggested, giving me a light punch in the arm. I responded but actually punching him in the shoulder. He staggered to the right, not having expected me to return it. "Bloody hell."

I smirked, taking the lead this time.

"Catch me if you can."

I began running back to the bike, jumping any sticks or logs in my path. Xavier kept up with me easily, but it was still fun. We made it to the bike, both breathless.

"Thanks for coming with me," he said with a smile, jamming the helmet on.

"You are going to remove your ears if you keep doing that," I said lightly, ignoring what he said.

He shrugged, not seeming to care.

I checked my phone, before hopping on. Xavier had tagged me in a post of Instagram. It was a photo of me walking towards the waterfall. It was pretty. And my hair looked cool. I actually looked pretty bad ass in my jacket. I grinned. He really could take good photos.

"Great day, with great company".

I raised my eyebrows at the caption. Now that was just too much. What was he thinking? He's going to get me murdered at school if he isn't careful.

I climbed on the back and this time, I didn't hesitate to wrap my arms around him. We jolted forward, more steady though, than last time. I smiled the whole way back to my house. I dismounted, my legs feeling slightly wobbly. I could hardly see a thing through this helmet.

"Ugh, Faith," his muffled voice came out. "Who do we know that owns a Mercedes?"

My heart plummeted into my stomach. No... I wrenched the helmet, painfully, from my head and stared at the sleek looking vehicle parked in my driveway. I groaned, face palming myself.

"That would be my mother."

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Hey guys!

Q1: What do you think of the new cover? I love it!

Q2: What did you think of Xavier and Faith's little date? Let me know if you want more scenes like that!

Thanks for reading!