11. Do you know what these flowers mean?

The roses had withered a little, the soft pinks and purples fallen down like the chunks of ice around Alexandra's heart, slowly melting away to make a hole through which a certain person had entered so smoothly, like a ship on water.

She gathered those fallen petals in a small glass jar and placed it beside the vase. She didn't want to throw such beautiful petals away, especially since it was Xander's first ever gift to her.

She checked her phone for any new messages from him, only to release a short sigh of disappointment. After he'd told her to wait a little longer, there weren't any new messages from him.

Maybe it's not his family that's coming tonight.

Shaking her head, she sat on the chair, glancing at her reflection in the mirror.

She was wearing the other dress her mom bought. It was a black and pale pink coloured high waisted halter dress with the sleeves ending just below her elbows. She paired it up with black heels.

She had also let her hair down which was a rarity as she never bothered much to dress up for dinners her parents held and attended. It was different this time as she hoped it would be Xander and his family. She wanted to look good for him.

She groaned in embarrassment. Never had she thought she would be getting dressed up, trying to look beautiful for a boy. She used to cringe at the mere thought of it.

Standing up, she went to her window. She watched the dark sky filled with stars and the moon. The meteor shower was in two days. She wondered if she would really get to see it.

As she was about to turn away, she noticed a sleek black car pulling up their driveway. She waited until the people inside stepped out.

Her heart raced as Liam stepped out, followed by his parents. But there was no sight of Xander.

She moved away, closing the curtains. Why wasn't he here?

When she heard her mom calling for her, Alexandra rushed out of her room, trying not to let her disappointment show on her face.

Liam was the first to notice her as she stepped in the living room. "Hey!" His eyes brightened as he practically ran to her. She gave him a smile. "Hi. How are you?"

"I'm great, I managed to survive another one of my brother's tantrums." He winked at her. "How are you? Is my brother annoying you yet?"

She laughed. "Not yet."

Liam flashed her a grin. "Awesome. We'll both annoy him when he gets here."

Before she could ask where he was, George spoke, gesturing towards her. "Well, that's your goddaughter." George the smiled at her. "Our Alexandra."

"Hello." She said softly, shifting her eyes towards Liam's mom and dad, who were both smiling at her warmly. Amelia walked to her and held her hands. "It's so good to finally meet you." Her eyes showed more than just warmth.

"We would've met sooner if your dad had just accepted my invitation to our house." Ethan said, punching George's arm lightly. He was smiling at Alexandra with so much familiarity, as if he had watched her grown up with his own eyes.

"I got busy, okay?" George said, putting his arm on Ethan's shoulder. "Now, tell me. Did you bring that recipe? We'll do the cooking tonight ladies." He flashed Amelia and Sophia an excited grin.

Ethan nodded, a similar expression on his face. "You kids are gonna love it." He told Liam and Alexandra. "So much that you'll ask us to make food for you everyday."

Sophia rolled her eyes. "Sure. Go ahead."

"Yeah who are we to stop your bonding time?" Amelia sat down on the couch, patting the spot beside her. "Come on Soph, let's enjoy the peace while it lasts."

"Wow. It's almost like we're not even here." Liam whispered to Alexandra. She nodded in agreement. "Should we slip out?"

Liam flashed her a thumbs up. As they were about to leave, Ethan stopped them. "Liam, why don't you keep your aunt and mom company? Make sure they don't snoop on us okay?"

"Uhh sure."

Sophia threw a rolled newspaper at Ethan, making him hide behind George. "Your wife's gotten really violet. What happened to the sweet and nice Fea from before?"

"True colours mate. True colours." George smirked. This time Amelia waved a rolled magazine in warning. Sniggering among themselves, George and Ethan left the room, leaving behind Amelia and Sophia to talk.

Cole would've gone after them if he was here. He had gone to his best friend's house for a sleepover, their last sleepover as his friend was leaving the states in a week. Alexandra would be missing Cole right now, but somehow Liam made it okay.

He wouldn't let her stay silent for more than a minute and he had interesting things to speak about.

"Do you know Beyblade?" He asked.

Alexandra smirked. "Which one?"

The look of excitement he got almost made her laugh. "The metal fight one?"

"That's literally my favourite! Pegasus is the-"

"Strongest after L-drago."

She gaped at him in disbelief. "He hadn't mastered it fully. If he had, he could've defeated Ryuga."

Liam let out a laugh mimicking Ryuga Kishatu. "Too bad he didn't! But Ryuga would've won anyways."

"How long did you practice that for?" Alexandra asked in amazement. It was spot on.

Liam's mouth quirked up in a smug smile. "A few minutes... everyday. I used to wake Xan up with that laugh."

"My brother tried it on me once. Let's just say he's afraid to even think of it now." Alexandra crossed her arms on her chest, pulling her legs up on the couch, making herself comfortable.

Sophia, who was listening to their conversation with a smile laughed. "Oh yeah. He didn't talk to you the whole day."

Amelia raised her brows in amusement. "What did you do?"

Alexandra smiled in embarrassment. "I kind of threw a book at him. A really thick book." She had been so pissed off Cole startled her awake with the sound of Ryuga's laughter, she grabbed the first thing that she could find. And it just happened to be a hardcover of the Blood of Olympus.

"It kind of hit his nose really hard."

Liam couldn't hold back his laughter. His shoulders shook as he wrapped his arms around his stomach. His eyes were crinkled at the corners, looking Exactly like Xander's.

He held up his finger in the air, trying not to laugh again. "Xander did the same thing to me. And he was worried about the book getting damaged, not me."

"I was too."

"That made Cole more mad." Sophia said, shaking her head as if saying 'This girl seriously.'

"Speaking of Xander, where is he?" Amelia asked Liam, her lips pressed in a frown. She didn't know why he had suddenly left in the evening after he got dressed too early.

Something twinkled in Liam's Steele blue eyes like the sparkling of water in an ocean. "He went to get something. To make a moment." He winked, specifically looking at Alexandra.

"A moment?"

Liam shrugged innocently, the small smile on his face full of mischief. "I can't tell you what it is. Besides," he tilted his head down towards Alexandra. "What kind of magic did you do?! Seriously he wouldn't stop smiling these days and frankly, it's creeping me out."

"Yeah, how did you two even talk?" Sophia asked curiously. "As far as I know, you're the most antisocial butterfly I know."

Amelia nodded. "Xander's exactly the same."

Alexandra didn't know how to answer their question. It just happened, like it was meant to be. That book on constellations, that was the reason they talked flashed in her mind. Of course, it just had to be a book. And it just had to be about the stars.

Her lips curled up in an involuntary smile as she spoke. "It was because of a book?"

Liam gaped at her with his hand on his mouth. Then he nodded like he should've known that was the reason. "That... actually makes more sense than what I imagined."

"And what did you imagine?"

"I dunno, something cliché like Xan catching you when you were about to fall or you collided into him accidentally and he helped pick up your books?"

Alexandra held in her laugh. "Like that could ever happen."

Liam sling his arm around her shoulder. "Mom, did you notice how she talks similar to Xan?" He glanced down at her, pure bafflement in his eyes. "Like how is that possible? He literally said the same things you said to me."

As if on cue, the doorbell rang. Liam gently pushed Alexandra and winked. "It's for you."

"Yeah you should get to it." Sophia said, having understood what Liam meant.

Alexandra got up and walked out of the living room, trying not to show her eagerness. She couldn't help it. She hurried to the door, only stopping for a moment as she held the door handle. Taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm her heart that threatened to burst out of her chest, she opened the door.

It was weird. So weird how her thudding heart seemed to calm down at the sight of him, illuminated by the moonlight. The only thing left was for him to sprout wings from his back, completing his look of an archangel...or the devil.

But right now, he looked like a fallen, awed by the beauty before him, as if he'd found his grace that he'd been searching for so long.

He was dressed in a white dress shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbow, exposing his tattoo of the arrow and dark blue jeans with a rip on his right knee.

"Hi." They both breathed out at the same time. A breathtaking smile curved up their lips.

Xander brought forth his hand, holding a bouquet of roses, similar to the one he'd given her previously. But the difference was, they were all lavender in colour with the one in the middle being a white Gardenia. They were tied up with a small delicate rope, like the last time.

"Thank you." Alexandra took the bouquet, her fingers curving around the cool and soft stems of the roses. The thorns were completely removed.

As she moved to let him in, trying to hide her blush, Xander chuckled. He brushed his hand past hers softly, slowly intertwining their fingers. When she closed the door with her hand still in his, Xander leaned closer to her, his breath fanning her ears. "Do you know what these flowers mean?" He whispered, his lips twitching up in a grin.

She bit her lip, her face heating up as blood rushed in her cheeks, adorning it with a link hue that Xander was really starting to like. "I think so."

He stepped back. "Remember." Turning away, he glanced at her over his shoulder, his piercing eyes silently telling her the words he didn't say out loud. Then he smiled a smile so beautiful, so special as if it was just reserved for her. "Don't say no."

_______

"So? Did you make it?" Liam asked as everyone came out to the backyard for dinner. Alexandra was helping her mom and Amelia with setting up the table.

"Make what?" Xander asked.

Liam rolled his eyes. "A moment Xan. A moment. Remember what I said? You don't find a perfect moment, you take a moment first and then make it perfect."

"You stole it from Pinterest."

"That's not the point." Liam denied, wagging his index finger at him. "So? Did you do it?"

Xander caught Alexandra's eyes as she turned to grab the dish. She held his gaze, her lips threatening to curl in a smile. "Kind of?"

Liam blinked. "What do you mean-"

"Ah Xander's finally here." George's voice suddenly interrupted him. George and Ethan had left moments before Xander came, saying they had to go get some final secret ingredients.

Ethan placed a box the size of his hand on the table, blocking it's view from Sophia and Amelia.

"What even is that?" Liam asked, trying to take a peek at it.

Ethan gestured him to come near him. He then whispered something in his ear that twisted his already confused expression into a more confused one. "The hell?"

While everyone was busy by the table, caught up in Ethan's mystery box, Xander spoke to George. "I'm going to tell her."

George's eyes hardened. "No you won't."

Xander gave him an incredulous look. "She deserves to know. Especially since she might get caught up in the middle."

"She won't." George said firmly, leaving no room for argument. "It's for her own good." Vulnerability flashed in his eyes, making Xander question why he hadn't treated her well if he truly loved her that much. "Don't you see? I'm trying to protect her and Cole. Knowing the truth will just push them towards danger."

Xander considered this. After all, ignorance is bliss sometimes. He didn't want her to know his darkest side that he had concealed from her. He didn't want her to know that he was a murderous killer, who didn't have an ounce of mercy. But she had a right to know if he was really planning to let these feelings towards her grow. Hell, they've already been sowed deep inside his heart.

And knowing everything now is better than finding it later from someone else.

"You can't keep hiding it forever." Xander said, his eyes never moving from Alexandra who was now listening to Ethan speak with curiosity. "Not when your own brother is trying to kill her."

"It must've been a mistake-"

"I fucking saw him there." Xander stated, anger seeping into his voice. "He was in a meeting with the traitors and the moment I got there, he tried to escape. And we fucking found the bastard who fired at Alexandra. He fucking confessed that your brother told him to shoot."

George didn't want to believe what he'd just heard. Even Ethan had told him about this, saying that Jordan tried to harm Alexandra and Sophia. But how could Jordan do this? He was his older brother, the one who loved George a lot, the one who saved George by risking his own life.

His showed his inner turmoil. "Still it's..." He had no words to say. How should he even feel about this? His own brother...!

"There were also reports of him meeting with Robert Callaghan." Xander said, his eyes flashing with warning. "If they're true...expect an actual war instead of a cold one. He won't be spared." It was clearly a warning. Xander didn't know what George's true intentions were as he found out that Flynn Villin had gotten news about George's whereabouts. Anything could happen at this moment. George could decide to go back which will lead for the worse or he could decide to go to a safer place to hide.

"And Alexandra better not be dragged into this shit." Xander bluntly stated before walking away from a stumped George.

Xander took a seat beside Alexandra, who seemed to be busy in a conversation with Liam. He noticed that they'd gotten pretty comfortable with each other, especially with the way Alexandra smacked Liam's arm when he whispered something to her.

When they finally noticed him, in amusement, he said "Hello."

Before Alexandra could respond with a hi, Liam leaned forward to see Xander more clearly.

"Oh shut up." He rolled his eyes dramatically. "Don't you have something else to say? Hmm? Other than a hello?"

When he continued to look at him expectantly, Xander raised his eyebrows in question. "A moment Xan!" Liam yelled, banging his hand on the table a little too loudly, catching their parents' attention. When he noticed their questioning glances at him, Liam whispered. "A moment."

"Not yet Li." Xander kicked his leg under the table, flashing him a glare.

"What moment?" Alexandra's question turned their glaring contest into one with panicked looks. Liam smirked devilishly. "Oh you know, the one where he asks yo-" Xander shook his head at him, telling him to stop. Liam's smirk just widened. "Actually, you should leave it to him to explain."

Xander breathed a sigh of relief. He would do it on his own terms at the perfect timing, at a perfect location. But before all that, he had to tell her the truth about himself. She might not even stay after that, who knows? But if she did...that would fill his life with the colours his past had taken away.

"Let's just say, you both probably won't be single for long." Liam whispered in her ear, making her heart beat the rythm of Xander's own at that very thought.

Alexandra sneaked a glance at him, to find him looking up at the stars. "Let's skip school on Monday." He said suddenly, something akin to excitement and longing shining in his eyes, as if Monday couldn't come soon enough. "Or Tuesday. We can leave school at lunch and then we'll go watch the-"

"Meteor shower." Alexandra smiled softly, the excitement she felt for that seeming completely different from the excitement she felt knowing that she would be watching it with him.

A beautiful smile curved up his lips. "And so much more." He murmured to himself.

The dinner went on really well, filled with laughter and warmth. Xander's family felt more like family that her own with her aunt and uncle.

"So? How's the food?" Ethan asked, a smug smile on his face. He gave Liam an expectant look at which Liam shrugged. "Not too bad. Al though, it was a bit too spicy. Right Xan?"

Xander didn't even bat an eyelash, looking straight at his dad, he said "Yeah. Almost as if he's trying to kill me with it."

It should've looked like a joke. It should've. But it wasn't. The only reason Xander was even here, instead of being with his uncle, was sitting beside him innocently, her brows furrowed in a cute little frown as she mulled over his words. Xander was again wonderstruck at her and how she seemed to recognize the hidden hostility in his tone while the others laughed it off.

Alexandra knew something was off with that comment of his. Even though he always had a poker face on, it was different this time. She could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice. This boy beside her had been hurt so many times, she realised. And two of the ones responsible were his own parents.

It might be too soon to assume and it was none of her business. But she couldn't ignore the way Xander didn't even lift his eyes to his mom who seemed almost desperate as she tried to initiate small conversations with him and how he stayed mum during any conversation involving his parents.

His previous comment had an undeniable tone of hurt in it, no matter how minute it was, heavily coated with his sarcasm.

"Here." Amelia pushed a glass of lemonade towards him. "I made it just how you like it."

He didn't take it. He didn't even lift his eyes to her. Alexandra could see that it pained him to do so. Why? What happened that was so bad that he couldn't even look bear to look at his mom?

"Is it the one with salt?" She asked Amelia, who smiled and gave her the glass. "There's another one there." Sophia gestured to the glass beside the jar. Alexandra took the two glasses in her hands and put one before Xander. She made sure not to keep the one given by his mom.

"You like it with salt too?" Liam asked curiously. Taking a sip, she tried not to close her eyes in bliss. She loved it. "It's my favourite."

When he saw her smile after she took a sip, the content she tried to hide showing on her face, he took the other glass. Just because she was the one to keep it there. He also noticed how she switched the glasses for him.

"Mine too." He mumbled loud enough for her to hear. She raised her glass. "Cheers?"

He gave her a soft smile. "Cheers."