The New Plan

♔♔♔

THE SOUND OF the tip of a pen scratching against the paper's surface could be heard. In fact, that was the only noise that filled the otherwise silent room. Occasionally, Xavier's pen would stop moving, the tip hovering mere inches above the paper before returning to the sentence. That was followed by the faint yet crisp sound of a page turning as he moved on to the next paper. Xavier continued to draft his letter in that process for more than an hour, not even pausing once for a bathroom break or anything along that line.

I sat on the couch in Harr's home, side by side with him as both of us observed Xavier's robotic movements. The former held a book about plants in his hands, the very same one that I got for his birthday recently. Harr flipped the page, his fingers going through with the movements. However, his eyes were glued on Xavier's crouched figure, frowning.

"Do you think he'll even get the letter done by today?" Harr asked. "He's been at it for nearly two whole hours. The sun is almost down."

"You can't rush perfection," I fiercely whispered back. "If he is to get it right this time, he needs to take his time to think his words through. If he messes this up, I don't think there'll be another chance for their relationship to recover. It will be the end of this ship."

At my last sentence, Harr's frown deepened. He sighed, shaking his head before returning to his book. "You and your slangs," he muttered under his breath. He was quiet after that, dutifully reading the encyclopedia without so much as another peep from him.

I, on the other hand, pulled my feet up on the couch, knees tucked towards my chest and my chin rested on them. I leaned back on Harr, our shoulders pressing together as the seconds ticked by.

Outside the glass windows of Harr's apartment, the sun had already begun to set. The blue skies darkened to crimson, tainted by a tangerine hue as the golden hour approached. Mother Nature worked fast, however, and the red didn't stay for long. Scarlet became magenta in an instant before changing into an inky indigo. White clouds disappeared into the dark, replaced by stars that resembled scattered diamond dust. On the streets, the street lamps lit up all at once as the preset timing hit, illuminating the streets with a soft yellow glow.

Night was upon us.

"I think I'm done."

Xavier's voice was a little shaky, a little unsure, lacking the confidence that I once thought he always possessed. He held the scattered papers in his hands, tidying them up as he straightened the stack using the table's flat surface. He then placed it back down, capping the pen before reaching for an envelope that he had prepared beforehand.

"You've written everything you want to say?" I double-confirmed, sitting up a little straighter. My movement made Harr jolt a little as well as he looked up from the page he had been on, watching Xavier intently.

"No," Xavier's reply was nearly immediate. "I can never do that. There are too many things that I wish to tell her. And honestly, even when I run out of things to tell her, I still want to talk to her about anything else. I will never be able to put everything down on paper. This... This will have to do."

"But you did apologize, right?" Harr prodded. "Along with your explanation?"

Xavier pursed his lips, denying us a single hint as to what he had written in his secretive little letter. He quickly sealed the envelope with a small sticker, pressing down hard on it to make sure that it stuck well before rising to his feet. Instead of answering Harr's question, he changed the topic, asking a question of his own.

"You know the best about flowers, right?"

Harr's fingers, which were gripping the cover of his book, slackened a little in surprise. It wasn't like Xavier Park to ask about flowers, of all things.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Which flowers symbolize apology?" Xavier inquired.

Harr's book slapped shut, dropping to his lap as he raised a hand to his chin. Rubbing at it, his eyes darted about left and right, most likely scanning through his wealth of knowledge regarding the language of flowers.

"Hmm," he lightly hummed, squinting a little. After a moment's worth of inner debate, Harr sighed with a shake of his head. "There's too many. Tulips, orchids, carnations, roses, and that's just to name a few of the more common ones."

"Roses are good," I suggested. "The flower of love. Sincere, delicate, elegant. It's perfect."

"Roses it is." The letter tightly gripped in his hand, Xavier hastened towards the front door of Harr's home, reaching out to grab the jacket that he had carelessly thrown into the dining table before grasping at the doorknob. "Wish me luck," he said before slamming the door shut behind him.

The silence left behind by his sudden departure was louder than any noise I've heard. Harr and I sat in stunned silence, staring at the shut door before slowly turning to face one another.

"Did he just leave without us?" Harr asked, flabbergasted.

With how Harr reacted, I knew that I wasn't the only one that thought Xavier would wait for us to go with him. We were simply too used to the thought that Xavier would always depend on us that we had forgotten that all baby birds would still eventually leave the nest.

"The audacity." I nodded. "Though I suppose this shows that he has grown up. He's finally learning to depend on himself when pursuing his most desired."

"I can't say I'm not curious, though. Is it bad that I kinda want to know what sort of grand romantic trick he'll pull?" A mischievous grin danced on Harr's lips, the corners quirking up handsomely. "Shall we follow him?"

I barked out in laughter.

"Sure. For moral support."

Despite my confident words, between both of us, we knew that it was a lie. We were just curious cats.

♕♕♕

We soon found ourselves huddled behind a discrete bush right outside Jules's home. It was a short distance away but we could still easily see whatever interaction the pair might share. Just for precaution, Harr managed to dig out a pair of binoculars that were kept unused somewhere in his house. We were equipped and ready, hunched over and just waiting for the show to finally begin.

After Xavier had left Harr's home, he had stopped by a florist's and left with a decent bouquet of red roses, peppered by baby's breath and tied off at the stems with a dainty white lace ribbon. He rushed to Jules's house after that, leaving us scuttering behind him all while trying not to get ourselves caught.

Looking back, we were definitely a suspicious pair, Harr and I. We hid behind all sorts of roadside variables, peeping over just to make sure Xavier hadn't noticed every once in a while. In the end, through blood, sweat, and tears, we made it to the final stage without Xavier noticing.

"Ooooooh! Oh! Oh!" Harr crooned, his fingers tightly gripping the binoculars. He was so entrapped with the scene that he had leaned far beyond the leaves, his head poking out of the bushes a little too obvious to be conspicuous. "He's knocking! Xavier pressed the doorbell and is knocking on the door!"

I wrinkled my nose. "Why does he need to do both?"

Harr, whose eyes never left the scene for even a second, shrugged. "Who knows? It's probably for good measure."

"It's irritating to hear both the doorbell and the door knock."

"Cut the guy some slack. He's probably shaking as he's doing this."

Bending over, I peeked over Harr's shoulder, squinting in an attempt to get a clear view of the scene. Xavier still stood by the door, slightly fidgeting in his place while checking both the flowers and the letter every few seconds. I had expected him to leave the flowers and the letter right on Jules's doorstep so this was a sight that surprised me greatly.

"He's actually waiting for Jules to open the door?" I voiced out my thoughts, shocked.

"Silly move. Jules won't open that door. She doesn't want to see him so why on Earth would she— Ah. Ah!" Harr abruptly cut himself off, jumping a little where he squatted. He reached back, tapping on my shoulders many times in succession, each time harder than previously. "She opened it! She actually opened the door for him!"

"Move over!" Quickly, I snatched the binoculars from Harr's hands, swiftly placing them at my eye level before peering through it. True enough, Jules stood by the door, half of her body hidden behind the wooden panel, head poking through looking lost for words. "I can't believe she actually opened the door for him!"

We weren't close enough to the scene to hear what Jules or Xavier had to say to one another. Yet, through the binoculars, I could see their lips rapidly moving, a small and curt conversation exchanged before Xavier practically shoved the flowers and envelope into Jules's hands. The second her fingers grazed the paper, she flushed scarlet, glancing down at the bouquet, refusing to look back up.

"What are they saying?" Harr's words were my exact thoughts, the same question that flitted about my mind.

I couldn't read lips but my guess would be that Xavier was apologizing. Furthermore, from where we were hidden, I couldn't even see Xavier's face. All of my assumptions were just mere guesses made from observing Jules's innocent reactions.

All of a sudden, Xavier sharply bowed. He dipped down, bending at the waist as Jules took a step back in shock. As quickly as he got down, Xavier raised back up to his full height before spinning on his heel and dashing away. He ran down the path much faster than he came, almost as if he was making a grand escape. That left Jules stunned at the door, eyes wide and lips slightly parted.

"Did he just... run?" Harr stifled a laugh.

Jules stared in the direction where Xavier had disappeared off to, gazing his way even after his shadow had disappeared. Then, slowly, she looked down at the objects in her hands, lifting the bouquet to take a quick whiff of the flowers. There was a ghost of a smile threatening to show on her lips as she stepped away from the door, finally disappearing past the threshold. The door then closed.

The faint buzz of a phone's vibration nearly knocked me off balance in surprise. I yelled out a curse, falling back only to realize Harr was already reaching for his phone in his back pocket. When he pulled the device out, Xavier's caller ID flashed across the bright screen.

"Hello?" Harr spoke into the phone, shooting me a quick glance. His eyes held some urgency, no doubt worried about whether our cover had been blown or not.

I edged forward, curious to know what Xavier and Harr were talking about. However, even though my ear was nearly pressed against Harr's cheek, I still couldn't hear coherent words coming from the other side of the line. There was Xavier's distinct voice but the words he spoke didn't sound human. Or at least, not at this distance.

"Yes, we put up a movie."

There was a pause.

"Well, what else were we supposed to do? You suddenly ran out."

Although Harr's tone was irritated, he looked more relieved than anything. He shook his head, mouthing the words "he doesn't know" to me before turning his attention back to his phone.

"Wait... now? ... Wait a minute... No... Wait, hold on, Xavier. Xavier! Xav— Shit."

"What's wrong?"

Harr peeled his phone away from his ear, locking the device all while combing his hair back with his free hand. He pulled a little at the crimson strands, frustrated. It wasn't just in his actions. It was written all over his face with how it wrinkled and creased.

"Xavier is on the way back to my place. I told him we were there watching a movie and now he's headed back. Shit, Aiko, we've got to go."

Nothing else needed to be said. We were on our feet and dashing down the street within the next few seconds, our hands linked with Harr running ahead and dragging me along behind him. His fingers and mine were entwined tightly, connected despite the multiple twists and turns that we encountered on our way back. We raced in the dark, the stars guiding our path and shadows appearing for only a fraction of a second under the bright streetlights, desperate to reach home before Xavier.

And when we finally made it back, with Xavier nowhere to be found, Harr and I collapsed onto the couch in a bundle of arms and legs, the binoculars thrown into a corner having served its purpose.

"I'm never, never doing that again," I heaved and panted, head against Harr's chest as we both laid on the couch.

The lights weren't even switched on in our haste, our bodies laying in the dark. The only sources of light were the rays that snuck in through the glass windows from outdoors, streaming in dimly in a mixture of bronze from the streetlights and silver from the moon and stars.

Harr snickered in amusement, his chest rising and falling with each breath he took in. When he finally calmed down, I felt his fingers running through my hair, gently caressing me.

"Well, it's fun. All human beings need a little excitement in their lives every once in a while."

"Not this old lady," I mused. "I just want to take life one step at a time. Speeding through everything gives me a headache."

"Oh, shut up. You're nowhere near old."

There it was, that peal of laughter. Harr's voice sounded like music when he laughed, always carefree and filled with childish wonder. It was one of the things I liked most about him. I never had to worry for there was nothing to be worried about. Harr made the world simple.

A simple world for a simple girl. Sometimes, I wished to be in his embrace forever. That way, I would never have to think about the troubles that frustrate me in my reality.

The doorbell that rang broke that little bubble that held us within before it was followed by Xavier's voice, muffled by the locked door. I scrambled up immediately, jolted back into reality as Harr slowly rose to his feet. While I reached for the lights, Harr headed for the door, only unlocking once he was sure I had the lights switched back on and the television playing in the background in an attempt to falsify our evidence.

When the door was finally cracked open, Xavier stood just beyond, his phone placed against his ear as he smiled dizzily at nothing in particular. There was only one thing that could make Xavier Park smile like that, or to be exact, one person. The thought of it made my heart both drop and soar at the same time.

A completely human reaction for me to inflict self-pity. I lost the war before it even began. However, knowing that Xavier probably succeeded in his apology scheme and made up with Jules made me more overjoyed than I could ever be dismayed. Jules's happiness was as good as mine.

"Alright," Xavier spoke into his phone, still beaming brightly. "See you soon, then."

The end of the call was followed by a few seconds' worth of silence. Xavier stuffed the phone back into his pockets, his lips never losing the upward curl for even a fraction of a second. It was Harr that initiated the conversation first, nodding towards the phone, most likely already figured out who was on the other end of the line.

"Everything good?"

Harr opened the door a little wider for Xavier to step in. Once he was in the house, his grin broadened. It was clearly displayed, first to Harr, then it moved over to dazzle me.

"Never better," came his reply.

————

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