17. First and Last

George watched from the window as Xander Knight smiled softly at his daughter, his eyes that usually were emotionless now displaying an affection so intense, George found himself tightening his grip on the window sill.

Were his intentions really pure? Was there truly no hidden malice behind that adoration that his daughter seemed to reflect?

George's heart clenched as he saw Xander being greeted with a beautiful smile from his daughter, jealousy prickling his heart like a thorn. She had never smiled at him like that before. Not even once.

"Hey." Xander said, aware of George's hawk like gaze on him. To spite him, he took Alexandra's hand in his and looking her in her eyes, he placed a chaste kiss on her wrist.

Like he wanted, a light pink hue decorated her cheeks, her smile never leaving her lips. Lips that he couldn't wait to feel on his own.

"Hi." she replied, putting her hand on his shoulder as she got on behind him. "So, where are we going?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his stomach.

George narrowed his eyes in disapproval.

Xander glanced down at her hands in content. He smirked, turning his head back to look at her. "It's a place in the woods."

"A really dangerous place to go with someone like me, if you ask me." he provided, waiting for her reaction.

She shrugged. "If that's what it takes to see a meteor shower."

He gave her a bemused look, making the corners of her lips quirk up. "Don't worry, you're the only one who I'll ever take the risk with."

"I better be." he muttered darkly, making her chuckle. Mustering up her courage, in order not to embarrass herself, she leaned up and kissed him on his cheek. A smile immediately replaced his scowl.

George's phone rang suddenly as he practically glared daggers at the boy who just received a kiss from his daughter. He answered the call without seeing the caller I'd.

"Found you...son."

George almost dropped his phone in shock. He stared blankly as Xander and Alexandra left, the words of the person on the phone echoing in his brain as if he were in an empty cave with no exit. "Can he really protect your precious daughter?"

This wasn't a mere question. Not when the person asking it was his father. "Don't." the words left George's mouth before he could stop himself. "Please. Leave her out of this." Panic and fear gripped

He heard that familiar sound of laughter that used to send shivers down his spine when he was younger. "Oh no no no. She's the reason you left. She'll be the reason you'll come back."

Before George could answer back, the call was disconnected. George immediately called Ethan.

"Hey George, what's -"

"He found us."

__________

The smile never left her lips for a single moment. He made sure of it.

Tall, looming trees stood on the either sides of the road, casting a coolness and calmness so different from the city's. Xander had asked her to take her helmet off and she understood why now.

She was loving the feel of the cool wind on her face, pushing her hair back into the air. The song playing through their shared AirPods made it even better.

Alexandra wished she could see Xander's face at this moment. She was sure there was that smile on his face that always made her feel things she has really started to like, she wanted to see the content expression on his face, all his worries and thoughts pushed away.

"Did you speak with uncle George?" Xander asked suddenly.

Alexandra sighed. "No. I...usually tend to avoid him when Olivia's at home. We always end up arguing no matter what happens."

"Maybe he's trying to use Olivia as a shield to protect you."

"That's impossible." Alexandra scoffed, the mere thought of it amusing her. "You haven't seen the way he speaks to her or how he looks at her. One would think she's his actual daughter, not me."

Xander creased his brows, his lips pressed in a frown. He was definitely going to have a talk with George or he was gonna make his dad do it.

"What if I get her kidnapped?" he asked out of the blue, his thoughts whirring into a rough plan.

She was silent for a few seconds. Then she asked. "Can you?"

His lips quirked up. "Of course. I think I can make use of her and get some stuff done. Some really well deserved stuff."

"Can I ask what that is?"

"You'll probably get a bad impression of me."

"Are you going to use her as a bait to harm my uncle?"

Xander wondered if he should tell her. He didn't want to go a whole mile just because he was granted a centimeter. "...and get mine and Blake's revenge."

Alexandra furrowed her eyebrows. "Revenge? Wait, he's a Frazier?"

Xander was impressed. "How did you figure it out?"

"Well, my cousin kind of explained about the enmity between our families. Speaking of which, did they seriously try to get you hitched with uncle Jordan's illegitimate daughter?"

Xander almost missed the turning at her sudden question. "...Yes?" he answered nervously. She wouldn't suddenly stop liking him for this reason, would she?

... She did like him, right?

"But I like you." he blurted out before he could stop himself, mistaking her short silence of mere seconds for her starting to question her choices for hanging out with him. He had come this far. He wasn't going to let her leave.

Xander was suddenly struck with the realisation of her effect on him in such a short period of time. This was so new, so different from what he was usually used to. He never had experience in this sort of things before, nor did he have the time for them. He'd been too busy trying to survive in his world, to escape the hands of death, half of which belonged to his own family and friends.

Not that he ever had interest in girls as he usually tended to avoid doing things his friends used to do.

He was also surprised by this nervousness as whenever someone brought that subject up, he would get livid. It happened during one of the darkest times of his life and he was beyond the grip of sanity. He had almost killed Flynn Villin back then, snapping whatever strings of peace that could've solidified into an alliance.

That was also around the time he had to give up his rights as heir to Liam who was anything but ready to bear them.

"I know." Alexandra's voice pushed away all the thoughts in an instant, and at that moment Xander wanted to stop the motorcycle then and there in the middle of the road and take a look at her. He didn't want to delude himself but he could definitely feel the smile on her face and the ecstasy in her voice.

"And I like you too." she said as if she could hear his thoughts and wanted to reassure him. He felt like he was on cloud nine. He was smiling like a fool, his eyes dazed as if he was high on drugs. Goddammit if this was how he would feel by just hearing her say she liked him, what would he do when she says she loves him?

The motorcycle skidded to a stop. He turned his head around, only to find her smiling up at him as if she had just seen the dark side of the moon. She loved the moon...maybe she would love him and his scars too. Even though that was too much to hope. He was lucky enough that she was here with him in this moment, despite the fact that he was the one to hold the most danger to her.

She wouldn't betray him...right?

But right now, betrayal was the far thing from his mind as he couldn't help but raise his hand to put the strands of hair behind her ear. He gently caressed her cheek with his thumb, the gesture ever so soft and tilted her head up.

Their hearts matched each other's beat, as if they were one, and thunder flashed in the background, acting like a witness to what was about to happen. He leaned in slowly, and her eyes fluttered close in anticipation. His breath fanned her lips, and the moment they were about to meet...something wet touched their heads and then the miniscule impact increased into the falling rain.

Xander glared up at the sky as if it would stop raining if he did. Alexandra had the same look on her face as she looked up at the sky, her lips curved in a scowl. When their eyes moved down, meeting each other, their lips curled up in to smiles.

Xander stopped the motorcycle by a huge oak tree down the pathway he took. There was a pretty big hole in its trunk, almost like an entrance to the inside of the tree. They immediately went inside for shelter. The space wasn't that cramped as it could fit the two of them well. It looked like the inside had been hollowed out a little to get more space.

There was a carving of two paper airplanes on the top of the hole.

Xander laced his fingers through hers, drawing her attention away from the carving. He brushed away the water droplets on her cheeks, tilting her head up. "Can I have that chocolate now?" he asked, his voice thick with emotion, adoration and awe glinting like the rays of the sun in his sapphire eyes.

All it took was a mere nod, the gesture ever so small but he noticed it right away. Trailing his fingers up her arm, he encircled it around her waist and pulled her to him.

Then he leaned down, and their lips met.

She closed her eyes, one of her hands resting on his chest, the feel of his lips the only thing she could register in her mind, the feeling like nothing she had ever imagined.

Her lips were much softer than he'd thought. And they felt so damn good. He could get addicted to them and he wouldn't care. Hell, he wanted to get high on them as they moved against his own, matching his slow pace, etching the feeling in his mind.

He could feel her smile as he kissed her, as if she was his only breath of air, unable to get enough of it.

When they finally moved back, gasping for air, Xander pulled her in another long kiss, filling her with contentness so warm, the cool breeze tapping against her soaked clothes seemed to have no effect on her.

"My first, " he murmured against her lips, making blood rush in her cheeks, the warm pink hue adorning them like a thin veil of shyness. "and last." he declared almost possessively, refusing to let her look away from him.

A grin overtook his features as she murmured "Mine too."

He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against his chest. She leaned her head on his chect, precisely above his heart that thumped as loud as hers, yet it seemed to calm hers down.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Can I ask you something?" Alexandra traced the small tattoo of the paper airplane between his thumb and index finger on his hand. She understood why he always wore gloves when he was acting like Adam Taurus. This small paper airplane would've given away his identity.

"Yeah." he said, watching her hand trailing the pattern of the airplane.

"What does this mean?" she asked, tapping the tattoo. "Back in that bookstore too and that carving over the hole. Is there a particular reason behind it?"

A fold smile curved up Xander's lips at her question, the face of the person responsible flashing in his mind. His thoughts turned back to 11 years ago, the picture of a vibrant city in China still fresh in his mind and the person he met there.

"It's...a reminder of someone really important to me." Xander said, "He's more like a younger brother to me than Liam, something that Li gets really pissed about." he chuckled.

"His whole existence is a well kept secret to use him as a secret weapon by his family. I wasn't even supposed to know him, no one is. He was five when I met him. He wanted a paper boat but neither of us knew how to make one. So I made him a paper airplane instead." the smile on his face was that of an older brother fondly recounting his younger brother's antics. . "It's been our inside thing since then."

"Where is he now?" she asked, smiling softly.

"China, at the moment." Xander straightened up, taking out his phone. Excitement foamed up in his heart, of finally showing the person he liked to his little brother. He felt like he was a kid again, excited to show the person he'd come to love as a little brother the gift he'd brought him.

"Would you like to meet him?"

The eagerness in his eyes and the way he spoke of him told her that this person meant a lot to Xander. Perhaps even more than his own twin.

"Sure." Alexandra gave him a nervous smile. "But he won't hate me right?" she was genuinely worried about it.

Xander rolled his eyes, a teasing smile on his face. "If he can manage to like me, how could he not like you?"

Squeezing Alexandra's hand reassuringly, Xander dialled his phone in a video call.

It didn't even take five seconds for the call to be picked up.

"大哥." (Dàgē.)

She had never seen Xander smile that way at anyone other than herself. His eyes had a soft look in them, something even Liam was unable to get sometimes. "How are you?" he asked.

"How am I?!" the person sounded like a teenager, disbelief and accusation dripping his tone. "So you finally remembered you had another brother, huh?! Why are you wasting your time calling me?! Go call your twin!"

The entire time, Xander had a fond smile on his face like he was watching his most favourite person in the world throw a tantrum. "Are you done?" Xander asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Yes." the person stated, "For now anyway. Now tell me what happened to you. Did one of those assholes die or something?"

"Not yet." Xander shook his head, "It's an entirely different thing."

"...Did you get laid?"

Alexandra tried to hold in her laughter at the serious question and Xander's flustered reaction to it. She could've swore his ears had turned red a little as he stuttered on his words. "I...you...seriously Zhe?! Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

Alexandra heard 'Zhe' snicker. "Well, what else could it be? We know you're way too obsessed in following great grandpa Knight, so you getting laid -"

"Okay that's enough." Xander interrupted with a cough, quickly before he could finish his sentence.

"Aww is my big brother getting shy?" the person asked, in a really similar way to Jeremy. Alexandra couldn't stop the chuckle erupting from her mouth this time at Xander's expression that was caught between embarrassment and annoyance.

"Who is that?" the person asked suspiciously.

"That," Xander said, giving Alexandra a soft look. "Would be your brother's girlfriend."

A brief silence took over the place until Zhe spoke again, his voice full of excitement. "This was my surprise?!" he asked, making Xander chuckle. "Finally! I want to meet her! I'm coming there right awa-"

"No." Xander denied firmly, leaving no room for argument. Zhe let out a cry of protest at which Xander gave him a meaningful look. "I promise I'll come get you myself when the time is right."

"We'll see when that happens." Zhe said in a half-hearted tone, obviously feeling dejected by Xander's denial. "She's there with you right? I wanna see her!" his tone returned to a cheerful one.

"All right." Xander angled the phone so that Zhe could see both of them. Alexandra gave Zhe a small smile. "Hello...Zhe?"

"...All right, we're keeping her." Zhe said after scrutinising Alexandra, his mouth curving up in a grin. "Welcome to the family!"