5 Chapter Five The Rescued

He wasn't sure how long he sat on the floor staring up at this unbelievable girl. 'Xander, Xander what did you get yourself into this time?' he thought to himself. Was this really the same snake he had helped? She said as much but the story she spelled out for him just wasn't really believable. But then again she was standing proof of that. Her lower half spoke as much. "So… you're saying this wolf came out of nowhere and just attacked you? And this wolf wasn't your average wolf either? It stood higher than five feet?"

He tried to keep his eyes averted from her lower snake half. It was harder than you would think it was. Like a huge scar on someone's face. Trying to talk to that person while looking them in the face it was hard for your eyes not to be drawn to it.

"Yes, more or less. I'm still too weak to fully transform back to fully human hence…" her hand gestured to the rest of her body. As if he needed an excuse to stare at that part of her. God, he felt like a pervert. There really wasn't anything more he could do for her.

"Well… I can't exactly hide you in this form either… you were better off staying in that snake form…" Was he really having this conversation with her? Did he really believe in magic?

Xander rubbed at his temples as he could feel a migraine start to form. It had been such a long time since he had one of those. Not when he was a little boy. His parents were worried about him for the longest time until, "Ow!" his thoughts were interrupted by a stabbing in his head. Like just the thought of his childhood was painful.

Snake girl furrowed her brow at him before moving over to him. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just… a really bad headache." He pushed off the bed away from her. So, how were they going to hide her?

"Okay. I was just asking. You seem to be in a lot of pain."

He lifted a brow and looked at her from the side. "Seriously? Says the one with a large gash in their side half assed stitched up now. I doubt my pain is more painful than that." That sounded a bit jerkish but he got like that when people tried to cover up their own pain and deflect. "What we should be more concerned about is hiding you until you can recover."

She lifted her hands up and went back to the spot she was sitting at. "I should be back to health in a few days… as long as you don't feed me mice and toads…" She glanced at the cage he had her in. "And I don't want to be locked up in that…"

"Fine… you can share my room just don't bite or eat me." He waved his hand.

"Ooooh… is someone scared of a little snake?" She grinned over at him before she gave him a wink when he looked up at her.

A small blush formed on his cheeks. "Uh.. no."

"Oooh." She moved on his bed so she was laying down on it instead of sitting at the edge. "So you're curious what it's like," she licked her lips and his gaze was drawn to the motion, "to have se-"

"What?!" he squeaked out as a heavy blushed deepened on his cheeks as the words she spoke finally sunk in. "N-no! Gosh no!"

"Oh...I see." A small pout formed on her cheeks and he now felt bad for saying it like that.

"I mean.. It's not like you're not beautiful-because you are! I just-"

"No, no. It's okay. I totally understand. A scaly body, gross right? No, I get it."

Okay so he just wasn't going to win this battle. He slapped a hand over his face before drawing it down his face. His eyes closed he gave a heavy sigh. How could he fix this misunderstanding? It wasn't long before he heard a giggle. Opening his eyes he glanced up at her. His cheeks burned as she was still laying in that sexy pose-wait did he just think it was sexy? 'God, Xander, get your head out of the gutter!' Not only that but she was laughing at him. Clearly she thought this was all very amusing.

"You are quite adorable. I suppose I can spare you and let you live." Oh good. She wasn't going to kill him. That was always nice to hear. "But only if you promise me that you'll bring me one of your mom's cooking. I've had to sit and smell them for the past few days and not be able to eat it… sucks. It really sucks and you have no idea how hungry I am." The look in her eyes as she stared at him told him everything. She was really hungry. He wasn't sure how long her last meal was.

"I'll save you some of tonight's dinner." Xander found himself saying without really thinking about it.

"Good. Then you can live." She smirked at him. Gosh, what did he get himself into? She actually looked like she had been seriously thinking about killing him.

When it was time to eat luckily for him it was a quiet evening. Not a lot of questions or talking while they ate. Must be a lot of his parents mind. Sometimes it got like this when there was a lot on their plate at work. He offered to do dishes and put the leftovers away. Luckily it wasn't that odd for him to do that. Once he finished putting things away, setting a serving of everything in one container, and he did up the dishes he brought the one container up with him along with a bottle of water. His parents were talking in the office so they didn't see him sneak the food and drink upstairs. He would have to wait till everyone was asleep before he brought the empty container downstairs. He didn't want them to find it in his room.

"So what did she make tonight?" the snake lady asked him.

"Steak, green beans and potatoes with gravy. I also brought you some water, because I didn't know what you wanted to drink." Xander told her, realizing now he didn't even know her name. "So, if you don't mind me asking, what can I call you?"

She glanced up at him as she took the container from him and opened it up to look inside. "What do you mean?" Her brow was raised as she stared at him for a moment before digging into the meal after Xander gave her some silverware.

"Ah, what do people call you? Like your name?" Xander rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. He wasn't good at talking to girls.

"Oh." Was all she said around a mouthful. Once she finished she continued, "I guess you can call me Celest."

Celest. That's kind of a cute name. A small smile crept up on his lips before quickly vanishing as Celest gave him a weird look. "What?"

"You just looked rather creepy just now… I don't know what thoughts you were thinking but they better be clean. Just because you gave me food doesn't mean I can't still kill you."

"Uh… I was just smiling… no creepy thoughts here. I swear!" He lifted his hands in the air as if in surrender. Man this was going to be a long few days here.

When she was finished eating she handed him the container and proceeded to finish up the bottle of water. Tomorrow he would have to go to school. Was it really okay for him to leave her here? Now that he thought about it the weekend seemed to fly by. As he went to get ready for bed he heard a small voice say, "Thank you." He turned to see her giving a shy look but her words were honest. "You're welcome." Xander smiled before picking up the container with his clothes and headed to the bathroom. He met his mom in the hallway as he quickly made sure the container was hidden. "Goodnight mom!"

"Goodnight Xander."

Xander spent a bit longer than usual in the bathroom to make sure his parents didn't happen to walk around in the hallway and catch him going down stairs to the kitchen. He snuck down the stairs as quietly as he could then washed and dried the lid and bottom before putting it away and headed back up the stairs to his room. "Well, goodnight Celest."

"Goodnight Xander." Her soft voice spoke before he turned off the lights and crawled into bed. Xander was hoping he could get some good rest knowing that there was a girl in his room. He did end up tossing and turning at first but then he eventually fell asleep as a nice warm sensation calmed him into sleep.