When He Calls My Name

47

The two of us catch our breath once we make it a block away from the club, far enough away where we can enjoy our drinks in peace before heading in.

I laugh through my harsh inhales, shaking my head. "That was so... Babe?" I frown when I turn to look at Xiao. He's squatted on the ground with his face firm in his hands. "Xiao...? Are you alright?" I squat down beside him, placing a hand on his back and rubbing gently. "Baby talk to me, are you hurt? What happened??" I place down the drinks and grab hold of his wrist, pulling his hand away from his face to reveal wet cheeks. My lips part as my heart sinks. "Baby...why are you crying..?"

Xiao sniffles, aggressively wiping at his tears. "I just—I hate it! I hate that! What right does he have to judge us like that?!"

"Xiao..." I frown, facing him and gently wiping at his tears. "Don't let a low life asshole like that get to you. He doesn't matter. What matters is that we're happy together, right? Let him drown and die in his misery of what other people are doing with their lives while we happily live ours. Please don't cry baby boy, he's not worth your tears."

Xiao sniffles, laying his forehead on my chest as I stroke his hair softly. "Okay..."

I place his cheeks in my hands and look down at him with a smile, kissing his nose. "We're gonna have fun tonight, yeah? We're gonna be surrounded by a bunch of people like us and who support people like us. There's plenty out there, babe. Don't worry about what any irrelevant person thinks."

Xiao pulls away a bit and clears his throat, wiping at the remaining tears. "I'm...fine. You're right. Who cares about that fucking troll."

"That's the spirit!" I say with a chuckle. "But careful how much you wipe, you have glitter by your eyes!" I smile, cracking open his bottle and handing it off to him—we need this right now. We drink as much as possible, before deciding we've got a good enough buzz going on to make our way over.

——

It's seems like everyone in Teyvat showed up. The line is wrapped around the building for a while, slowly inching its way up, until we finally make it to the front. The bouncer checks our IDs, and before we know it, we're engulfed by the thunderous sound of dance music and colorful, flashing lights.

Xiao and I are already pretty drunk as we stumble our way over to the bar for more. We order two rounds of LITs and sit at the farther end of the bar for a bit to sip and talk. I'm feeling the music, raising my glass and moving my hips on the bar stool.

"I wanna danceeee," I say, and Xiao shakes his head.

"You know I hate parties," he slurs. "I only agreed to come because I didn't want you going alone."

I reach for the drink in his hand and put it up to his lips. "What you need is to loosen up a bit more so you can be my dance partner," I giggle. "Chug, chug, chug!"

"Aether stop it," he says, though I can see in his eyes that he's starting to really feel it.

I laugh, leaning in to kiss him softly, then pull away, scanning the room. "I already see sooo many people I know," I say. "Look, Itto and Gorou are here! And... Kaeya? Why didn't he tell me he was coming... Oh, he brought Albedo! There's... oh my god... Xiao your dad's are here." I burst out laughing as Xiao nearly spits out his drink. He looks around quickly, until he spots the redhead man sitting besides the wheel-chair bound archon, eating each other's faces.

"Oh fuck..." Xiao puts a hand up to shield himself from the scene. "Gross. Dammit, they didn't tell me they were coming here! This was definitely Childe's stupid idea."

I frown. "This isn't a stupid idea... Damn, hurry up and get drunk already, you're killing my mood." I roll my eyes, taking another sip, before my focus pinpoints on a familiar face across the way. My eyes light up, and I stand to my feet. "Oh my god, I didn't know he'd be here! I have to introduce you to someone you've never met!"