chapter 22

Cheap Thrills- Sia feat. Sean Paul

I'm dedicating this to @Bruh_itsZ03Y. Thanks for all of the comments!

"Oh no." I mumble under my breath, looking away from Xavier's cold stare.

I can't believe he's here, in freaking England.

Just how -- why?

Oh wait, never mind. I have a feeling I know why.

I take a peek at Jules to see his once cool and calm exterior has changed to something rigid and tense. He doesn't look like my teddy bear Jules, instead he's an irritated, angry man.

Jules gives Xavier a cold glare that has me shivering. I glance at Xavier to see him looking unaffected by it. He looks so pissed off right now I don't think he even cares.

"Annabella." Xavier practically hisses out my name, his eyes narrowing at me. The looks he's giving me has me trembling. I've never seen him act this way before to me. He's always refrained himself from showing his anger towards me, possibly because he's afraid I'd hate even more because of it.

Well, if he was thinking that, he's right. I'm terrified.

"Y-yes?" I nervously ask, subconsciously biting my lip. Xavier notices me biting my lip as his eyes zero in on my lips; his eyes turn dark slightly.

"Get here right now." He commands, coming out of whatever trance he was in. I shake my head at him, I'm not going to let him tell me where to go and what to do. Yes, I may have made him mad but that doesn't mean he gets to boss me around.

He shouldn't even be treating me like this! I'm not his, I don't belong to him.

We aren't together.

Xavier's eyes narrows his eyes, not happy with my defiance.

"I'm not going to repeat myself." He warns. I glance at Jules to see him looking at me with uncertainty. I don't want him to get into a fight with Xavier over something so pointless.

Sighing, I hesitantly walk over to Xavier. Once I'm by his side, Xavier immediately wraps his strong arm around my waist, like he's staking his claim.

Jules is staring at me, not happy with what's going on but not intervening. Its best that he doesn't interfere. I haven't seen Xavier this mad before. Sure, he was pissed at any boy who stared at me but he's never been like this.

I try to give Jules a reassuring smile as Xavier starts to tug me away. Jules' phone number is saved on my phone anyways so I can contact him after this has all blown over to tell him I'm fine.

Once we're far away from Jules, Xavier leans down to my ear to whisper something to me. "I'm very mad at you."

I gulp, raising my head to look at his calm looking face. He doesn't look angry at all, the only indication that he's made is in his eyes.

I try to get out of Xavier's hold but he only tightens his arm around my waist, not enough to harm me but strong enough to stop me from escaping.

"We are going to talk; you are going to cooperate."

Huffing, I stop struggling and let him pull me to the dining hall. An older man approaches us and asks where we want to sit.

I let Xavier interact with him, afraid that if I even speak to the opposite gender that Xavier would get mad at me. Well, madder.

I sit opposite Xavier, leaning against my chair as I search the menu for something to have.

"And what would you like madam?" The waiter asks and I order a cup of tea and a sponge cake. I'm not very hungry right now. I'm going to blame Xavier for my nerves and lack of hunger.

The waiter leaves me with Xavier who is also leaning against his chair, observing me. His face is masked so I can't tell exactly what he's feeling.

Even after the waiter brings the food, Xavier is still staring at me. Its making me feel so uncomfortable, like he's scrutinizing me, trying to figure me out. Fidgeting, I try to ignore him and enjoy the delicious sponge cake.

Sighing, I put my fork down. "Xavier, stop looking at me like that. Just say whatever you want to say."

He smirks, like he's happy I let him get to me.

"Who was he?" Is what he says. Of course.

"I should have expected you to ask that question." I mumble under my breath.

"Xavier, Jules is my friend." I put a lot of emphasis on 'friend'. "He's not trying to get with me okay?"

Xavier doesn't look satisfied. His face looks grim and he crosses his arms over his chest.

"How do you know that?" He asks.

"Because I know Jules."

"But you don't Annabella. You met the guy like two days ago." I glare at Xavier's grin. He knows he's got me in a sticky situation.

I know I met Jules only a couple of days ago but to me, that doesn't matter. I get on with Jules -- he's funny, a decent guy and he's kind.

"Look." I say, moving in. "Jules isn't trying to pursue me. So stop questioning me. Now I want to talk to you about how you reacted to this."

Xavier raises an eyebrow at me.

"I'm not your girlfriend Xavier. You can't just go around commanding me to come to you when I'm around boys. I can hang out with whoever I like, whenever I like. You don't get to boss me around." I confidently say, my feminist side coming out. He can't just turn up here and boss me around. Like really? What did he expect? Me to roll over and obey like an obedient dog. God, its like he doesn't know me at all.

Xavier doesn't look pleased at all but who cares? He deserves to get told off for what he did. I had to abandon Jules because of him! What he did was wrong.

"And now on to more pressing matters. Why are you here?" I ask.

"I'm here because you're here." He simply says.

Rolling my eyes, I press him further. "That's not good enough. Why are you here, in London? You couldn't have come because I'm here. That's absurd."

Xavier just shrugs his shoulders like he doesn't care. Like he didn't get on a plane to see me even though we've only known each other for around three weeks.

"Xavier, you can't be serious."

"Oh, but I am." Xavier replies.

"Was this your plan? Were you just going to turn up to London to follow me around?" I interrogate, narrowing my eyes. I can't believe he followed me.

"No, it wasn't my plan. But after seeing the video of you get cozy with that twerp I had to act. I'm not going to let somebody take you from me." He seriously says, his eyes staring intensely at me. He maintained eye contact as if to show me that what he's saying is true, that he's not lying.

"But now you know that nothing's going on, you can go back." I tell him. I doubt he'll listen to me but I could at least try.

Deep, deep down, I kind of hope he doesn't go back home. I hope he stays here with me. Deep down, I feel touched by what he did, I feel honored. However, the logical part of me (that being my brain) is annoyed that he did this.

Secretly, I'm thrilled he's here but I can't let him know that. Otherwise, he'll think I like him, which I kind of do, and then he'll ask me out.

And the thing is:  we can't be together. For starters, we're from two different worlds. He'll get bored of me once he knows me, guys like him just do. Its sad but true. Once he realizes that good girls are plain, he'll go and find a bad girl who knows how to keep him on his feet.

Secondly, Stacy is a witch. She would never allow me to be with Xavier. I think she'd rather see hell freeze over then let me be with him.

"I won't be going back home and you know that." He smirks. "Now, hurry up and finish your tea. I want to take you somewhere."

Word count: 1443

Hi! You might be annoyed that Annabella is ignoring her feelings for Xavier but please understand that she's scared. She feels like she isn't good enough for him and that he'll just dump her when he gets bored of her. She's just being cautious.

Anyways, did you enjoy this chapter? Thoughts on Xavier?

Comment below!

Next update: 18th January