𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 ➤ 𝐱𝐢𝐚𝐨

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟏.

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"𝐘/𝐍! 𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊!" 𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐑 𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐓 her place behind the counter and ran up to me, grabbing me in her arms and squeezing me into a tight hug. her warm breath tickles my neck as she spoke. "he's at the table in the back." she whispered quietly before letting go of me and returning back to her former position behind the counter.

i tilted my head in confusion as verr teased me with a smirk. i brushed it off and slowly walked towards the table she was talking about. i weaved in between the bookshelf's, stopping every now and then to read the back of a few books.

within ten minutes i reached the small table verr was talking about to see a pile of books, one of them opened in front of a familiar teal haired boy. xiao's head was laying on the surface of the table, his chest rising and falling gently. i laughed quietly as the sight of him sleeping. quietly, i pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down, carefully so as not to wake up.

my curiosity got the better of me and i carefully reached over to grab the book that lay open in front of him. i turned the pages to look at the front cover and smiled slightly. "the boar princess.." i whispered quietly, brushing my finger over the cover.

"it's the book you read when we first met." a raspy voice muttered from in front of me. he looked up at me, his head still laid on the table. his hair was messy and he had slight bags under his eyes from lack of sleep, but that didn't stop him from smirking at the sight of me sitting in front of him. "i went searching for ages to find that damn thing." he chuckled, his eyes staying on mine.

"why didn't you just ask verr to get it for you, you dumbass." i say my elbows on the table and lay my head on my hands, smirking at xiao.

"she would have teased me relentlessly." xiao sat up  to have a better look at me. i let me eyes fall from his to the cover of the book in my hands and flipped the page, reading out the words laid across the page.  

"y/n..what are you doing?" my gaze shot to the confused boy in front of me.

"i'm reading to you, duh." i cocked my eyebrow and laughed, again. xiao's face flushed a deep shade of red as me looked at me intently. then, he motioned with his hand for me to carry on.

my eyes yet again fell on the book as i started reading out loud.

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𝐱𝐢𝐚𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐯

as y/n sat in front of me reading the book out loud i couldn't help but stare at her. the way her hair perfectly framed her face, the way her eyes moved as she read, and the way her lips moved as she spoke.

i couldn't help but smile as i gazed at the girl in front me. i've tried to stop myself but i can't, something about her just makes me feel safe, she makes me feel good about myself. no one's ever made me feel like that before, not even verr.

ever since i can remember people have spoken down on me, my parents, the kids at school, even the teachers. i dislike reminiscing on my past, so i've never spoken about it to anyone.

flashback

"why the hell are you here xiao, no one invited you to sit with us."

my hands were shaking as i held my lunch tray up to my chest. the children who were supposed to be my classmates stared at me with a mixture of cruel, judgmental looks. a pair of girls exchanged looks and sniggered under their breath.

i took a deep breath in and mumbled quietly. "i...uh..i just-"

"wait the freak actually talks?" the whole table erupted with laughter, laughter directed at me. before i understood what was going on more offensive comments flooded in.