Complicated Minds

Coming out with it just like that Xilo never broke eye contact with Felli as she waited for him to respond. "I think I'm an idiot." No matter how much Xilo thought about his idiotic tendencies they never changed for better or worse. "Oh well." He could feel Felli's palm turn cold in his hand as he tried to let go. That deep pit feeling filled his stomach as he instantly assumed he had done something wrong. He had to force himself out of Felli's hand in order to let go but eventually he got free. She still wasn't saying anything though so he didn't know what to do.

Nervously Xilo spoke up in a much more quiet voice that wasn't nearly as confident as it was a moment ago.

"Are you alright Felli?"

He had felt just how cold she was so he wanted to make sure she was fine before anything else. Felli didn't say anything out loud but she did nod her head and try to assure him that she was fine. Taking a large breath Felli stopped shaking as much. If she kept this up Xilo might go and call Tearia. If Tearia came running in here because Xilo thought she was sick or in danger that would be a disaster. "So...he likes me." Those words weren't what she expected to hear at all. She thought he would have talked about typical things like planning or training. Instead he dropped that on her when she hadn't quite figured out her own feelings just yet.

She was in a rough spot now and didn't know how to proceed. She didn't want to accept his feelings for the sake of it nor did she want to outright reject him. She just wanted some time to really think about it and make sure this was what she wanted. Him confessing just gave that thought a kick in the butt to get started. This was why she had tagged along with them in the first place, that was something her Mother had seen through no matter how hard she tried to hide it. "She just kept teasing me." Wiping her eyes she tried to stop any chance of her crying as she gathered the courage to talk.

The answer she was going to give Xilo was something he probably didn't want to hear.

"Sorry, I'm fine. Just a little shocked by such a sudden confession. I really appreciate how you feel, I do honestly.....but."

It was also something she didn't want to say.

"But?"

Once Xilo heard that he felt his heart sink to the bottom of his stomach. He didn't do anything else though and just waited for her to talk. If he didn't properly listen to her and hear out what she had to say, then he wasn't ready. Talking and listening was way too important to just skip by. Her feelings were just as important as his. He didn't hear the words he so painfully expected, instead he heard something different that left him surprised. It wasn't a flat out rejection or anything like that. Instead it was more of a mixed answer, almost like Felli wasn't really sure herself how she felt.

"I do like you Xilo, I just don't know if it's in that kind of way. There's a lot for me to think about when it comes to stuff and I don't just want to...rush it. In a year I'll also be leading my Country if it's still around by then. So...do you think we can take it slow and give me time to acess how I feel? Going into something half hearted or not fully committed isn't something I want to do. That would only hurt the both of us."

Felli tried to get out how she was feeling as best she could even with her mind in a mess at the moment and it showed, enough for Xilo to tell at least.

Felli wasn't trying to avoid him or create distance between them like how Relia had done at first so it was already a lot better there. He knew Relia wasn't to blame for that either but that fear had already been planted. So to hear her answer to his confession, he was more than happy to accept that. "Gives us both time to think and make each other happy." Nodding his head he watched Felli outstretch her hand again and clasp it around his. It was much warmer this time around then when he had let go. "I'm glad." Thinking that he lightly squeezed her hand and smiled, this hadn't gone the way he had thought it would and he was happy about that.

"That's alright Felli, honestly. I don't want to stress you out with emotions and the likes. So take your time, figure it out. I'm sure Xelfia or Tearia are down to talk about it as well or even me. I know you got a lot going on and that's fine. Deep breaths and don't stress out! I won't hate you regardless of what happens. We are friends and it'll stay that way."

Scratching his head, Xilo didn't really know where to go from there but he assumed Felli probably wanted to actually sleep now. He had kept her up for even longer, so she was probably quite tired physically and emotionally. Letting go of her hand, Xilo stood up and stretched his body. He also felt a lot better now that he had gotten that off his chest. "Did I miss anything?" He was too lazy to do a once over as he said goodbye. He also wanted to sleep himself and just give Felli a bit more space. That didn't exactly go to plan though as Felli refused to let go of his hand.

"Uhm, Felli. Is something on your mind?"

"This might sound weird....but could you stay here tonight?"

Felli looked at the ground to hide her face, she knew she was definitely being unreasonable asking that. She didn't care though, right now she just didn't want to be alone. Having someone like Xilo by her side would be much more comforting and help her sleep. Without laughing or saying anything Xilo gave up going for the door as he brought Felli to her bed. "Guess I'm not coming back tonight Xelfia, Tearia. Sorry." Sitting her down he gave her one side of the bed and took the other. There was plenty of space for the both of them and some room to spare so it shouldn't be a problem. Once he made sure she was comfortable Xilo closed his eyes and slept. He was positive that he left room in between them but after a few minutes he felt a presence crawl closer to him, he just ignored it and let his body finally fall asleep.