Temporary ✔️

Chapter 21: Beautiful

AN: here's chapter 21. Enjoy, people.

Lexi's POV:

"Get away from my sister," Thomas growled, glaring at Xavier.

Heroically, I limped in front of Xavier and raised my arms, "wait! Don't shoot!"

My brothers frowned and lowered their guns, but their fingers rested on the trigger. I relaxed slightly.

"What's going on Lex?" Ryan asked.

I opened my mouth to respond, but a wave of exhaustion overwhelmed me. My eyes rolled to the back of my head and my knees buckled from underneath me. Warm arms caught me just before I hit the ground.

"Sorry," I yawned, "I'll explain later. Just... don't kill Xavier," and then I was out.

Xavier's POV:

Cheers Lex, I thought as she passed out in Ace's arms, thanks for leaving me alone with your hairy and scary brothers!

Ace looked at me, "I don't know why you came here- Lexi made her decision very clear in that regard. I also don't know exactly what happened. But if you've hurt her, I will kill you." And I had no doubt he would.

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed, "I know there's bad blood between us. But what happened is she called me, frightened, saying that someone was going to kill her. I came here, picked the lock and saw him," I snarled, pointing at the battered man on the floor, resisting the urge to give him a good kick, "about to shoot Lexi. I beat him up and then you guys came in and pointed your guns at me."

One of Lex's brothers shook his head, "that's not possible. You're lying. You must've hurt her."

My jaw clenched, "right before Lexi blacked out, she told you guys not to kill me. Do you really think she'd be dumb enough to say that about someone who tried to hurt her?"

They were silent and I knew that they considered my point. Apparently, the men decided that I wasn't a threat yet.

"What do we do now?" One of them asked.

A tall one with dark hair- I recognised him as Antonio- sighed heavily, glaring at me, "we have no choice but to trust him. We'll put Nick- wait, where has he gone?"

Startled, we all turned to where the battered man had been just moments ago. In all the confusion, he must've quietly slipped away. I knew I should've killed him when I had the chance.

"We'll track him down," Antonio continued, his dark eyes flashing dangerously, "but for now, Luke, take Lexi down to the medic room and treat her injuries." His expression softened a little.

I hope she'll be okay, I thought, watching as Ace carried her to where I presumed the medical room was.

"So you're Lexi's friend right?" Five men came towards me, "I'm Kyle. These are my triplets William and Thomas. Those are the twins Noah and Sam." I smiled at them, but they didn't return the gesture. Rude.

"Yeah. I'm Xavier," I responded.

"We know. You're the guy who came to our house to ask something from Lexi and stayed the night." Sam narrowed his eyes at me, "how do you know Lexi?"

"We're friends," I replied, "Um why are you guys interrogating me?"

"Don't consider this an interrogation, merely friendly advice," Sam said, giving me a not-so-friendly smile.

Oh no... I thought, fearing for my life.

Lexi's POV:

I opened my eyes and blinked the sleep away, staring at the ceiling. I sighed deeply, then sat bolt upright upon remembering what happened before I blacked out. My breathing sped up and tears blurred my vision. Is Xavier okay? Where's Nick? Did he hurt my brothers?

"Lexi," Ace's voice cut through my panic thoughts.

Blindly, I gripped his wrists. The walls were closing in on me. It was too much. I couldn't breathe.

"It's my fault," I whispered, tears spilling out of my eyes, "it's all my fault."

"No," Ace said firmly, "it's not your fault. Nick, Isla, Liam. None of it was your fault."

I sobbed, "then why does it feel like it is?"

"Alexandra," I froze at the anger in Ace's voice, "you are the most amazing person I have ever met in my life. All of the bad stuff happening to you is not your fault. So snap out of it," he lightly hit my head.

I nodded, but the tendrils of doubt still wrapped around my heart. Sighing, Ace held my hand and pulled me up. He typed something on his phone and 'What makes you beautiful' by One Direction started playing.

I shook my head, "you can't be serious."

Ace shrugged, "what? It's helped you before."

Third person POV:

Ace pulled her up span his best friend around, his heart warming at the sound of her laughter. The brotherly love he felt for her was astronomical. He hated his mother for making him forget the memories of Lexi.

"Thank you," Lexi whispered, wrapping her arms around Ace, "for everything."

He kissed the top of her head, holding her just a little bit tighter than usual, "you're welcome, Shorty. And thank you for everything as well." Lexi glared at him for the nickname, but couldn't help but smile.

They pulled apart and continued dancing, feeling their hearts become lighter.

"Hey Lexi?" Sam opened her door and smiled when he saw how happy she looked, "there's someone at the door asking for you. He said his name was Jackson?"

Lexi's eyes widened and she hastily followed Sam to the front door with Ace following. She reached the front door and saw her friend hunched over, wearing a black hoodie that covered his face. Beside him stood a tall, pretty girl with blonde hair and green eyes. Her arm was wrapped around Jackson's shoulders protectively.

"Hey Lex," he wheezed, "I need your help."

End of chapter 21.

Another cliffhanger! I kinda feel bad now- my first update in a while and I end it like this. I was taking a break for a bit but I'm now feeling much better! Thank you guys for your support!

I hope you guys liked it!

Stay safe and thanks for reading :)