Guard

Chapter Eleven: Trust

ELENA

Xander looked around him constantly as he lead me to his house. Since he told me he would treat my wound, he remained silent and stiff; a tense aura around him, causing unease to rise within me.

He opened the door to his house and invited me inside, telling me to sit at the table as he shut the door behind him.

I watched as he walked over to all the windows, sticking his head outside and looking around as if there was something he was expecting, before shutting and locking them.

"Is there something I should be worried about?" I asked, my voice unexpectedly coming out as small and shaky. Hearing this with my own ears, I realised that I was actually scared.

"No," Xander replied immediately.

"Then why do you look worried?" I enquired further.

Xander stopped pacing and looked at me. "Because you could've almost died." I heard anger in his voice, but also fear. It was a mix of both.

I stood there, my mouth opening and closing but unable to say anything in reply. I watched him as he walked away, walking upstairs and then disappearing from view.

I walked over to a chair at the table and sat down as instructed and looked down at my injured hand. I had been so caught up in the moment I had forgotten I was hurt. All I remembered was hearing Will whimper and cry in my arms as he clung to me.

Now that was over I was able to take in what had actually happened. As soon as I saw that sword come out I didn't know what I was supposed to do. All I knew was that I didn't want that weapon anywhere the boy, or me. So I hit it away.

I examined my hand. A deep gash covered the palm of hand, my whole hand red from fresh and dry blood. The more I looked at it the more I became aware of the pain I was feeling. It seared through my arm and then around my body as it throbbed. I threw my head back and closed my eyes, letting out a groan in pain.

"Here, let me look at it." I heard Xander say. I brought my gaze back down and saw that Xander had collected some different kinds of medicine and clean rags. He lay them on the table as he sat down beside me.

"Face me please," he instructed me. I obeyed, turning my entire body to the side so that I was facing him, the arm with the injured hand resting on the table.

Xander examined my hand, before picking up a bottle of liquid medicine of some kind and dabbing some of it onto a rag. He pulled his chair forward, closer to me before gently taking my hand. My heart sped up as I started to become breathless. He was about to place the rag on top of my palm when I quickly pulled my hand away.

Xander looked me in the eyes, a mix confusion and surprise on his face. "What's wrong?" He asked softly.

My heart pounding in my ears I looked away and stayed silent. Fear once again creeping up within me. I felt more fear than pain.

"Do you not trust me?" Xander asked, almost a whisper.

I closed my eyes. "No." I replied. "Not as much as I would like."

This time, Xander didn't reply. I opened my eyes and looked at him. "I know that I must, but I can't." I told him.

Xander stayed silent and searched my eyes as if looking for a reason why I didn't trust him.

I looked back to my hand and sat there in thought, before sighing. Right now wasn't a time to be like this. If I didn't let him treat my wound, it would become even worse that it already was.

"Right now though," I paused, looking back to Xander. "I'm more scared of infection than I am of not being able to trust you." And with that I pushed my injured hand closer to him.

"So you may proceed." I told him, trying to muster up as much courage as I could.

Xander didn't move, still holding eye contact with me. I was about to tell him to hurry but then his gaze left mine, going back down to my hand and then continued what he was doing.

Thought I could see he was trying to be as gentle as he could, I hissed and let out a loud cry of pain as he treated my wound, tears streaming down my face. I begged him to stop in my head but I knew I had to let him continue.

After what seemed like an eternity, Xander finally wrapped my hand carefully in a clean rag before tying the ends together to hold it firm. My breathing was ragged and my cheeks were stained with drying tears as I watched him pack away everything he had used, before sliding a different bottle to the rest, across the table towards me.

"Drink this. It will help with the pain." He told me, unscrewing the lid.

I took it and drank a few gulps. The taste was absolutely disgusting, the bitter liquid sliding down my tongue, down to my throat. I coughed as I removed the bottle from my lips, handing it back to Xander to take away from me.

"You must rest now." He said as he took the bottle from my hands. I looked at him, watching as he screwed the lid back on then played with the bottle in his hands, avoiding eye contact with me.

"I still have work to-"

"I will go and tell James and David not to expect you for the next few days. You can't work like this." He cut in, gesturing to my hand before looking at me. "Especially with Lord May around." He added.

The mentioned of his name caused the hair on the back of my neck to stand up. I didn't realise what kind of person he was until today. He was evil. And something definitely had to be done about it. I kept a mental note to mention it to mother when I receive a reply from her.

Xander offered his hand, and told me he would escort me to my house where I could then rest. I took it as he helped me up. Placing his hand on the small of my back and the other holding mine, he opened the door and walked me to my house. After opening the door and leading me inside my own house, he bowed and left, without a word.

That was exactly the reason why I felt I couldn't trust him fully. I closed the door and leant my head against it. I sighed and turned around, trudged upstairs and lay down in bed, turning on my side, curling up and covering myself with my thin, rough blanket.

I lay there and allowed myself to listen to everything going on around me. The sun was still up, the birds were chirping, and the people of Celia were shouting and talking to each other. Everyone was still working, going on about their day.

Though I was surrounded by so many people everyday, I felt alone. Though Xander was there, I also felt like he wasn't. I felt like I had no support. My mother and friends were so far away. I realised my inner demons were something even Xander couldn't protect me from.

I felt a tear slip out as I closed my eyes to try and get myself to sleep.

~~~

Chapter Eleven!

Wowww I was struggling a little bit with this one. I felt like it was a filler, but I also wanted to get the point out that Elena and Xander struggle with their relationship even though they've spent two months in Celia already.

And then again I didn't want the chapter to be too long ㅠㅠ *sigh* I hope you still liked it though.

Send me a comment or a suggestion, or a like/vote if you're liking the book :) I'm noticing lots more reads, thanks so much! A vote would be nice, so I know that you're liking it. No pressure though!

Thanks for keeping up with it as it is. More chapters to come!

If there's anything you want me to include in the future between characters, or something I missed that you're confused about, lemme know :)

Hope you're having a good day!

Stay safe and take care!

GM.