Conflicted Eyes, Confusing Feelings | Complete

Epilogue Part 1: Beautiful Boy

Hey, welcome back. It hasn't been long but I missed you guys 😭

Check out the song attached above if you may ^^ It's just so beautiful, and it describes things from Xander's POV so well 💕

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Forgiveness sometimes means 'let's create something beautiful through all the darkness'

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Three years later

"Go ask him out."

Multicoloured lights bore down from the overhead lighting system and worked their way through the crowd of men below, turning self-conscious, practiced dance movements into trashy, uncoordinated jerks and bumps, bodies of all types and sizes grating together. The air was hot and stuffy, making Xander tug at his collar, his eyes flitting across the room, searching for Randall or Carter, but alas, he came up empty-handed. Instead,

Annoyed, Xander's gaze fell to the 'EXIT' sign across the room, neon red, hoisted above the crowded doorway, looking like a beacon of hope among the dark mass of the nightclubers -- men, most of whom were either making out heavily right before Xander's eyes or practically naked. Turning his nose up in mild disgust, Xander contemplated calling one of his friends to declare that he failed the dare, but the music blaring from the overhead speakers would render his efforts futile, only giving him an even bigger headache.

So, rolling his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose in disgust, Xander then took a long swing of his beer, the cool, slick liquid tearing a cool yet sharp path down his dry, hot throat, cooling his entire body as it pooled into his stomach. The bottle jerked unsteadily on the chipped, wooden surface of the table after Xander laid it down, shifting at least a finger length away but the young man wasn't paying attention anymore, rather busy still searching for his friends but only catching the eyes of multiple gay men who saw him as a 'hot top'. Xander bashfully lowered his eyes, recalling one guy who'd been bold enough to approach him earlier, looking for one thing. Of course, Xander turned him down, duly explaining that he wasn't interested.

Being there was just happenstance - a 'dare' set upon him by his friends, who were all gay, bisexual and pansexual respectively. And what was worse, they all fled within thirty minutes of being at the party, leaving Xander alone for the past twenty minutes.

"Hey, cutie," someone yelled over the music at Xander, causing him to peer down to see a small boy in nothing but pink polka-dot boxers, gazing up at Xander suggestively through his fake lashes and pouting his lips. The guy was small in comparison, his hair dyed electric blue and curling above his black, lustful eyes, his lips set in a shy smile once adorned with Xander's stare, whose eyes almost seemed black in the eccentric lighting. "Wanna get out of here?" the twink queried, licking his swollen lips and flashing the attractive young man a toothy grin as he curled around Xander's tattooed arm, shifting closer.

Xander fought back a look of annoyance as he wrenched his arm out of the boy's hold, and about to respond, he was cut short when someone else slid in on the other side of the booth, their broad shoulder ramming into Xander's harshly, some of their drink sloshing out and spilling onto the table. Xander turned, his eyes narrowed. Carter. He shot the twink a playful look and a wink as he tugged Xander towards himself. "Go get someone else, alright?" he hollered at the twink, who reluctantly released Xander and slinked out of the booth. He flashed his rounded ass for both men to see as he sauntered past the table, giving Xander one last prurient glance before hobbling off into the crowd, swallowed in the midst of it all.

"Fück you," Xander mouthed as he faced the topless Carter, who was then re-coating his plump lips with strawberry lipgloss. He stopped upon deciphering the words, his mascara-laden eyes crinkling at the corners as he registered Xander's angry, impatient look. Still grinning, Carter downed the rest of his gin and tonic before crooning a finger at Xander and sliding out of the booth, signaling for him to follow.