CHAPTER 16

OPHELIA'S POV

There was dead silence in the room. I sat there without linking. I had ever seen Xavier this angry. Hell I had never seen anyone this angry.

A murderer?

What did he mean by that?

Also, a sister? Why would the twins hate him?

I knew I had opened an old wound.

Xavier got up and walked into his room and shut the door making it bang loudly. My head spun as I realized that I might have ruined everything I built with Xavier over these past few days. I didn't know what to do.

Should I approach Xavier?

Or should I give him his space?

Screw it. I am going to him. I was the one who had pushed him. I need to be there to pull him out.

I walked over to his room and knocked. He didn't answer.

My heart started to beat faster as panic filled my head. What if he had-?

I knocked again and again. The door was locked so I couldn't open it. I was going to give up when he unlocked the door. My hand immediately reached for the doorknob.

The first thing that I noticed was how clean the room was. It was something I didn't expect. The next thing was the cold air. It was still November, the beginning of winter. So it wasn't supposed to be this cold indoors.

I looked around for Xavier but I didn't find him. The window was open, which explained the cold air.

Xavier might be on the roof. I rushed to the open window and climbed on to the roof. The cold air hit me even harder but what actually pushed me over the edge was the sight of Xavier smoking. His eyes were puffy. He took a puff and coughed a little. His other arm was cradling his head.

I didn't know he smoked. I don't think his mum did either.

"I am sorry, Xavier. I shouldn't have asked something so personal. I crossed my bou-"

"I shot my father, Ophelia. My sister ran away after seeing the monster I'd become. She hates me. I hate myself-" His voice cracked and he broke down. I rushed to him and he fell into my arms. He sniffled quietly, as the salt that filled his lungs spilled out of his eyes. He sobbed into my shoulders, pain evident in his voice as I held him.

"I even scared you, didn't I? I really am a monster."

A solemn tear fell down my cheek. I didn't know what had happened with his dad, but Xavier wasn't a monster. He was a pained soul that took others grief and gave them his happiness.

"Xavier, listen, you didn't scare me, okay? If you did, do you think I would be here now? You would never scare me away, okay? I am right here and I am always going to be here. I don't know what happened with your father but you can tell me about it."

His sobs died down as he sat upright. His eyes look bloodied. His nose was red and his hair was a mess.

"My father left us when I was 9. My mother was devastated but she was determined to raise my older sister, Nicole and me."

He has an older sister? I thought he was the eldest.

"So where is she now? I mean is she in college?"

He looked down at his fumbling hands and sadly smiled.

"I wish I knew where she was. My dad had got my mum pregnant with the twins but he didn't know about it. He left a few days before my mum found out. 7 months later he returns home completely wasted and gets really angry at my mum for hiding the twins. He only abused her verbally but then he started to hit her. I was 12 at that time and Nicole was 16. One day, when Nicole was out with her friends, my dad took out a gun and was going to shoot my mum. I had to do something. He was drunk and that was my only advantage. He tripped and the gun fell and I took it. I shot him without a second thought because if I hadn't, my mum and the twins wouldn't be alive."

I felt so bad for everything Xavier had to go through at such a young age. He shot his dad but it was only to protect his family. He thinks he killed his dad but he only saved his mum.

"What about Nicole? I mean, why is she blaming you? It was self-defense."

"My dad had her brainwashed. She thought that I shot him because I was jealous that I didn't get the same attention from my dad as her. She was out most of the time, so she never saw what actually happened in the house. She ran away a few days later. We still haven't heard from her."

Xavier looked in so much pain. His shoulders were shrugged as he rubbed his forehead. I was so happy that he opened up to me but the fear that he regrets all this the next morning was eating me from the inside.

Fear is this worm that absorbs all you happiness away.

"Xavier, I don't know what all your sister ever said to you. But I need you to know that you aren't a murderer and you definitely aren't a monster, okay?"

He lifted his head and looked at me with disbelief in his eyes.

"Ophelia, you don't need to pity me. I was always the freak that sat alone in school. I can go on with my life like that. You don't need to keep hanging out with someone lik-"

I don't know what overcame me but I did something which made me consider my sanity.

More like my insanity.

I closed my eyes, leaned in and the next thing I knew, my lips were on his.

I, Ophelia White, was kissing Xavier Diego, the boy I had to save.