Immediately, Norman’s entire face went white.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Norman’s eyes darted around the cramped room nervously, never meeting my eyes.

For once, Norman wasn’t the sassy, ‘bitch-I’m-fabulous’ gay guy he normally was. Honestly, if he acted like this all the time, and was straight, I could see myself dating him.

“You have a thing for Nicholas,” I said with triumph.

“H-how did you get to that conclusion?” he asked.

“Duh. The way you look at him? Plus when you saw him kiss me? It’s completely obvious. I have a really good gay-dar.” Even though he was still as white as a sheet, he chuckled a little.

“Gay-dar? Really? And look, I can tell how much of a thing you have for Xander, so maybe you shouldn’t say anything,”” he said with a smirk.

“You’ve gotta be joking! No way!” He looked triumphant though, and there was no way I was going to win this. It wasn’t fair. Just because I thought he was a TAD bit attractive didn’t mean I had a THING for him. I mean, technically.

And then he passed out.

“Holy shit.”

For a second, I just stared at him. His body was motionless on the bathroom tile and if it weren’t for his shallow breathing, I would have assumed he was dead.

“Xander!” I screamed, my face flushing in fear.

Xander burst through the door carrying a history book that looked to be about seven pounds.

Upon seeing Norman, he stared at me, bewildered.

“Oh dear Lord, what did you do this time?”

“What? Don’t look at me! He just passed out on me. I didn’t do anything! And why do you have a history book? What are you going to hit with that, the scary monsters in the bathroom?”

He glared at me and put it down, kneeling down next to Norman. “Aw shit,” he muttered.

“That’s what I said.” I muttered.

“We have to get him to the hospital. He has asthma.”

“Nicholas!” This time, it was Xander that called out.

Shortly after he called, Nicholas sped through the open door and immediately went pale.

“God, Val, if you did this to him I swear I will kill you.” He stared at me, his eyes only meeting mine briefly before going back to Norman.

“Why is everyone blaming me? I swear, I did nothing. He just fainted.”

“He didn’t.”

“This is not the time to be bickering, you two. I think he’s going into shock or something,” Xander’s voice penetrated our argument, “We need to get him to the hospital.”

“Wait, what’s going on?” I asked.

“Oh shut up, Val!” Nicholas shoved me gently out of the way, picking Norman up.

“Anaphylactic shock. He needs the hospital.” Xander filled me in.

“Aw shit.” I muttered.

“You need a new catchphrase.” Xander answered.

“Norman could be dying, and you’re yelling at me for a catchphrase?” My statement seemed to snap Xander back into reality, because not minutes later, we were speeding down the highway to the hospital.

Norman’s head was placed in my lap, his body spread across the backseat. Xander tightly gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white. Nicholas’ eyes darted back and forth between the windshield and Norman. Despite his efforts to hide it, it was rather obvious that he was worried for him.

I leaned forward and patted Nicholas’ shoulder awkwardly, before giving him a sympathetic smile and sitting back in my seat.

The car came to a sudden stop and I came to the dull realization that we were in the hospital parking lot.

“Help me carry him out, Nicholas.” Xander ordered, getting out of the car at a fast pace. Nicholas and Xander both grabbed onto his body, before finding it to be too awkward.

“Screw this.” Nicholas slipped his arms underneath Norman’s knees and head and lifted him by himself, running into the hospital and leaving me and Xander staring after him in awe.

I almost considered making a run for it, but as soon as the thought crossed my mind, I felt a wave of guilt. I didn’t know why Norman had passed out, but it was possible that it had been my fault. I couldn’t just ditch. Not yet, anyways. I’d have another opportunity, I hoped.

Xander and I followed at a distance. Xander kept a hand on my arm as we went inside. By the time we got there, Norman was already being rushed away, so we sat down in the waiting room like we were told.

While Xander and I sat down in the uncomfortable chairs, Nicholas stayed standing up and paced back and forth, smacking his head repeatedly.

“Damnit, it’s all my fault. All my fault!” He muttered to himself so quietly that I barely caught it.

I stood up and took Nicholas’ hand, dragging him to sit next to me.

“It’s not your fault, if it’s anyone’s it’s mine. I was the one that started it.”

“Started what?” Nicholas asked.

“Ummm...”

“Started what, Valerie?”

“I don’t know if Norman would want me to tell you,” I trailed.

“Started what, Valerie?” he asked again, his voice dangerously quiet.

I sighed. “Okay, okay. I told him I knew that he had a thing for you. And he said something about me, and then he passed out.”

“What’d he say?” Xander piped in.

“Something like, ‘I need my something, Val.’” I began, “Made no sense, if you ask me.”

“His inhaler! He said he needed his inhaler!” he screamed at me in anger, “If you would have listened we wouldn’t be here!”

“How was I supposed to know that he had asthma?! It’s not like you guys ever talk to me besides to scream at me!” I yelled at the top of my lungs, my voice cracking towards the end. Xander’s face turned red in fury, but he didn’t say anything. Nosy people turned our way, observing our argument.

“I think you should come with me.” Xander’s voice was calm, warning me that he was past the point of furious. Although he made a suggestion, it was clear he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“No, I think I’ll stay here and wait on the doctor.”

His eyes stared daggers at me, scaring me into standing up and taking his hand that he held out in front of me.

He squeezed my hand, a gesture commonly used in encouragement, but there was nothing encouraging about this. It was like those times in third grade when the teacher told you to hold hands with your neighbour and they crushed your hand to the point of cringing and crying out in pain.

“Ow, ow. Dude, loosen your grip, will you?” I stared at Xander as he led us through surprisingly vacant hallways. Weren’t these places supposed to be bustling with people?

Xander’s face stared straight ahead, never making eye contact with me.

He peered into a crack in the doorway before kicking open the door, shoving me inside. He followed into the room and locked the door behind him, before finally facing me.

Frightened by his icy gaze, I peered around the room, trying my best to not make eye contact.

The room we were in looked a lot like a pediatrician's room. Paintings obviously done by children were hung up on the baby blue walls.

Xander clapped his hands in front of my face, bringing my attention immediately to him. He was now standing before me.

I backed up slowly, trying to get away from him. He followed me. It wasn’t long before I bumped into the small bed, the paper cover crinkling underneath me as I fell on top of it.

“There’s no running from me now,” he snarled sinisterly, “No closets to hide in, no Norman to try and stop me. There is nothing holding me back from raping you right here and killing you, just to leave your body for some doctor to find.”

I’ll admit, I was scared now. The look on Xander’s face never changed, as though he were a robot, no emotions left to show.

I slid to the end of the bed, Xander crawling on top of it and coming closer and closer to me.

He roughly grabbed me and tugged me into his lap, my face towards his, before shoving his lips onto mine.

Salty tears slid down my cheek, warning me that a flood was about to come. I didn’t cry much, but when I did, it always ended badly. The last time I cried was when I was seven years old and my mom refused to let me keep a frog that I had spent the entire day trying to catch. I ended up crying the entire night, my mother continually coming in to comfort me and trying to bribe me with other things, like ice cream, if I would stop crying. It never worked.

Xander pushed my face gently away from his, my tears now staining his cheeks as well.

He looked at me before carefully wiping away the tears under my eyelids. I turned my head away from his hand and refused to look at him, facing the wall. I hated when people saw me cry. My father had it screwed into my head that if a single tear shed, you were weak. He didn’t like weak people.

“God, I’m such a screwup.” Xander whispered to himself, not intending for me to hear.

I stared at Xander from the corner of my eye. He had his head in his hands and he was shaking slightly. His legs were crossed on top of the bed, with me still sitting on top of him. I wasn’t even sure what to say. A part of me wanted to slap him for what he had threatened to do, but another part wanted to comfort him. I had no idea what to do. For a hostage, I seemed to have a very strange relationship with my kidnapper.

I was physically attracted to Xander, there was no doubt about it. But other than that, what was there?

Finally I just couldn’t take the silence. “What do you mean?” I asked quietly.

He looked at me, surprised, like he had almost forgotten I was even there.

“A lot of things,” he muttered.

“Ah. Well that’s very helpful.” I couldn’t help but be sarcastic.

“I was supposed to just be getting information out of you, yet here I am. And that’s just one example. I’m sorry I made you cry.” I think it surprised him that I was crying. Maybe he had thought i was just too tough. Usually I was.

I shrugged. “You’re crying too, you big baby.”

He stared at me, not replying to my joke, but there wasn’t the same cold, empty stare in his eyes.

For a moment, we just stayed in that position, staring at each other. I found myself slowly leaning in, surprisingly myself but I didn’t stop.

Our mouths connected, yet again, but this time the kiss came from me.

It was soft, but rough. All the emotions were put behind it. Anger from Xander, sadness from myself, happiness from both of us; they all were there. For once, neither of us pulled away until we ran out of breath.

For a good minute, we just stared at each other with wide eyes, not believing what I did.

“Oh. My. God.” Nicholas stood in the open doorway, gawking at us.

Author's Note: 

The Fabulous Tara is back. *flips hair*

So, yes. Things happen here. Yada yada, comment and vote if you liked it, follow if you want to see more, all that shiz.

As a side note, if you have anything that you just want to talk to someone about, whether happy or sad, just send me a PM either here or my main account (on the profile of this account). I just want to help you all and be supportive. Just please talk to me if you're struggling with anything, because I want to help. I love you, you awesome person behind the computer screen. <3 Please don't hurt yourself.

With all awesomeness, Tara S. Chan