A sixteen-year-old boy looked slightly distressed as he entered the convenience store.

His lips were drawn into a thin line—eyes hiding beneath an old baseball cap that made him unidentifiable.

But that was exactly what Xander had intended; for which teenaged boy could walk casually into the convenience store, grab a box of sanitary pads, go up to the counter and pay for it with an equally indifferent expression?

Xander couldn't, he realized, and thanked the skies silently for the baseball cap.

He scanned through the shelves on the convenience store quickly, spotting the feminine products after a moment or so.

He proceeded to turn into the tiny aisle—but upon noting the presence of a woman and a young girl, he stopped in his tracks and turned to the shelf behind, pretending to take interest in the selection of deodorants.

"Mom, you're taking really long...can't we just buy the ones Jenny uses?"

"But Jenny isn't you honey. We should choose one that's suitable for you!"

"Mom!" The girl groaned, and her eyes met with Xander's for a brief moment. "Mom, this is so embarrassing..."

"Honey, there's nothing to be embarrassed about!"

"But—"

Xander thought so too.

They, indeed, had nothing to be embarrassed about.

There was no reason for the young girl to be embarrassed. After all, she had her mother to protect her—guide her in the sudden change that she was actually, deep down, pretty nervous and afraid of.

Xander had thought that only wounds spilled blood—but apparently, it wasn't so.

It wasn't that he was disgusted by it.

But the fact that he was almost clueless and had no idea how he was supposed to address his sister's fear, and perhaps, how she might take some time to learn how to even use the product—

But then, the thought of Giselle—

Scared,

Afraid,

Alone in the tiny apartment that they shared;

Unable to comprehend what was happening to her body;

Perhaps even thinking that she was going to die—

Xander knew that this was not the time to waver. And that he was her older brother, her only family, and her guardian.

Still, the fact remained that he had no idea which of the large variety should suit his sister the most. The mother and her daughter were still talking.

Xander was a sixteen-year-old boy. He was slightly lost, and slightly afraid.

After all, it had been just he and his sister—against the world—for as long as he could remember.

But then he remembered that he was not alone.

There was someone who cared;

And there was an Angel that watched over him quietly.

There was an Angel that came to save.

So the boy, slightly lost, and slightly afraid;

Approached the pair with a face that showed no fear at all.

"Excuse me, sorry to bother but...could you help me choose one of these for my sister?"

_______________________________

Beyond Love Chapter 4: Here

[Xander]

I heard the sound of running water from the bathroom.

"Angel?"

It was approximately an hour after dinner. Blake and Ace left moments ago, saying that they had some administrative work to do for the company (which I simply assumed that they were going to bang).

I pushed the door that was slightly ajar.

"Oh! Xan," My angel jumped, a cute smile surfacing. "I was just filling the tub. It's been long since I had one at home," His blue eyes reflected the bubbling excitement in his voice.

"Well you could have always popped over next door. Your neighbor had one," I shrugged with a smirk.

He smiled, rolling his eyes—but it was my world that seemed to be standing right before me with a smile. "I...I didn't want to," He looked away quickly with an adorable pout. "Besides, the bath is for Giselle, not for me."

"Giselle?"

"Un!" My angel nodded. "It's a new house you know. Giselle's feeling very uncomfortable, but she kept quiet about it because she's such an understanding girl. So I'm going to make a bubble bath for her! Hehe."

Really—

"I even bought her favorite scented bath salts," He held up a packet of pink-tinted bath salts, happiness in his eyes. "I really hope she'll cheer up."

Really, I don't know—

"Of course she will."

My angel glanced up, meeting my gaze. "Hehe, you think so?"

"Yeah."

"Does it seem too motherly?"

"...I wouldn't know the answer to that," I replied honestly, leaning down to kiss his forehead.

"Me neither," Chip smiled quietly. "A-As long as I don't seem like another annoying brother to her," He teased daringly, and I flicked his nose.

Really, I don't know what I'll do—

"N-Nn!" He flinched. "That was mean!"

"That's me," I shrugged, laughing low beside his ear. "But..."

Without an angel like you.

"But?" He blinked, mixing the bubble bath soap under running water.

"It's nothing."

He turned around, indignant. "Th-that's rude! You can't leave me hanging like that."

"It's really nothing Angel," I laughed, wondering if he would, too—if he knew what I had wanted to say.

"I won't laugh," He crossed his arms adorably; and somehow, I wasn't surprised that he could already read my mind.

After all, that was the least my world could do.

"Mm," My arms slipped under his, closing the distance as I pulled him closer. "That...it's nice to have someone to tell me that it's not always..."

Me against the world.

"—a bad day."

Chip craned his neck, raising his gaze to meet mine that was directly above. "Every day is a good day!"

"Really?" I asked, raising a brow.

"O-Of course! As...as long as you um, start it with blueberry hotcakes. And strawberry milk. A-And maybe some muffins. Oh but waffles are good too...strawberry...uwa, I'm hungry..." His shoulders drooped all of a sudden, hands coming up to rub his flat tummy.

"Was the sushi box too little?" I felt bad. "Giselle's been eating a lot lately."

"Oh no! No, it's not like that," He shook his head quickly, pulling away from my embrace. "M-Maybe I'll go check the fridge for dessert..."

Speaking of which, I've been craving for dessert for a really long time.

Chip turned off the running water, drying his hands as he stepped out of the bathroom. "I'll go tell Giselle that the bath's ready. Th-Then I'll get dessert—"

I held onto my angel's arm, stopping him from going any further.

"I'm hungry too."

"...I'll see what we have in the fridge...there's probably some bacon. B-But! Didn't you have that huge ramen set all to yourself?" Chip reminded, trying his best to sound stern. "You shouldn't be over-eating!"

Ah...should've seen that coming.

"That's not what I'm craving for," I sighed, leaning down to speak beside his sensitive ears.

"It's dessert."

"Nn..?!" A soft sound escaped.

I smirked, noting the shiver that I felt from the angel in my arms.

Ears hot, he backed away quickly.

"W-What? We just moved. I...I haven't got the time to make any ice-cream yet, s-so. And! And you didn't have to speak so closely...beside my ear..."

...Xander, you knew it wouldn't work. Why bother to try?

"At least a bath then?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

Chip was already half-way down the stairs, scrambling away—and I could still see the blush on the back of his pale neck and ears.

"Together?"

My angel stopped in his tracks.

"But that's!" He stopped mid-sentence.

Then continued, "Giselle's using the tub today, s-so..."

I had expected that answer, so I wasn't really surprised. Smiling nonetheless, I called that I'd be in the bedroom.

But before I moved away from the stairs—I thought I heard my angel's voice sound softly from the bottom.

"So...m-maybe tomorrow."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Great, I'm way too horny. I'm even hearing things.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Xan! What—you...this..."

"What?" I feigned innocence (not possible, really) as I stepped out of the bathroom in nothing. "Something wrong?"

"Y-Yes! Why do you have a towel to dry your hair but not a towel to...t-to cover your...lower parts?" My angel asked, red-faced, as he hurried over to the wardrobe to retrieve another towel. "Hurry! Uwa have you forgotten that there's a young lady in the house?"

My fiancé huffed, pushing the towel into my arms and looking anywhere but the area below my waist.

"C'mon Angel. It's not as if I used the main bathroom. It's the one in the master bedroom," I pointed out smugly, "Giselle won't come barging in—and besides, she wouldn't be able to tell even if I was wearing nothing."

Chip tried for a glare.

"Don't say that!" He snapped, nudging me in the ribs (but all I felt was a tickle), "And Giselle could walk in anytime too, you know."

"Meeeee?" A curious voice sounded from the doorway, which turned out to be Giselle clad in her nightdress, Fluffy in her arms. Berry the husky was wagging her tail beside the girl—already posing as her bodyguard.

"Uwaa Giselle!" My angel got between Giselle and I, blocking the view as he pointed urgently at the towel and made the action of wrapping it around his waist.

I teased a smirk. "Fine."

Complying, I wrapped the towel lazily around my waist, not exactly caring how low it seemed to ride on my hips.

"What are you doing here Giselle? Don't tell me you want to sleep with us," I said right off the bat.

My sister pulled a face.

"Who'd want to sleep with Xandie? Ew!"

"That's right—" I nodded, but I had rejoiced far too early.

"I'd rather sleep with Chocolate Chip..."

What? Noo—

"Oh! Do you not like your new room, Giselle?" My angel asked anxiously, going up to her and smoothing the strands of baby hair that stuck out all over. "Would you like me to go over?"

I should've known.

Giselle is the number one chocolate chip cookie thief.

"Er—why don't you sleep with us, then?" I suggested instead. "The bed's pretty big here."

"I don't wanna sleep with Xandie," She repeated once more, and I was officially defeated. Giselle 1—Xander 0.

"I'll go over to your room, then!" My angel reassured quickly, but before he made a move to grab his pajamas that had gingerbread men prints all over, Giselle shook her head.

"No need! Berry says she'll sleep with me. Can she come into my room?" My sister asked, and I blinked.

"Wait, but you're not familiar with your room yet... are you sure?"

We've moved far too many times in the past five years for me to miss this—Giselle had always been wary and uneasy about new things, especially when there was no way of escaping it.

She'd sleep in my room for a week; do her paintings in the room she was supposed to sleep in; spend her free time simply staring at the wall with Fluffy—until she was used to the house.

Which would take more than a month.

Giselle shook her head once again.

"Berry is enough. She says she'll bite the monsters since I can't see them," My sister insisted. "So can she come into my room?"

"O-Of course she can Giselle!" My angel replied promptly, glancing at the huge husky beside. "But can she fit on your bed?"

"Oh." Giselle paused. "I'll figure out."

"Chocolate Chip can sleep with Xandie," She added (generously, I must say). "Because Xandie wants to...do the thing, anyway."

Sharp! That's my girl.

"E-Eh?" My angel blushed. "The...the thing?" He glanced behind, confused as to why or how Giselle was in on this. "But if you ever need us, please don't be afraid to say it!"

Giselle giggled all of a sudden, nodding.

"Hehe. Dessert." She said, probably repeating what I had been saying many times. See? She gets it. Chip doesn't. Ever.

.

Just then; before Giselle and Berry returned to their room, a soft squeak sounded to my left—which turned out to be coming from Chip.

"Angel? What's wrong?"

He was staring at a spot on the floor, not too far away from Giselle.

"Chocolate Chip?"

Berry spotted it next—the cockroach.

It skidded across the floor, antennas twitching.

"Oh fuck—"

"Uwaaaa—"

"WHAT?" Giselle screamed.

"Oh shit—"

Berry growled at the thing, snapping her jaws in the general direction of it.

"D-Do we kill it?"

"What the hell is that thing doing here?" 

"I...I don't know! Maybe it's because we moved a lot of things...? Um, the storage room, especially..."

"WHAT?" Giselle repeated, standing very still but also slightly afraid. "WHAT'S IT?"

"Giselle! Come over here—" Chip pulled her into the room. "It's a cockroach!"

"What? Just that?" She frowned with a snap. "No wonder Xandie's so scared."

"Hey, I'm not scared," I corrected her quickly. "Just disgusted."

"G-Guys, can we figure out something? Um, it's...it's coming here—"

Berry was chasing it around, and the cockroach seemed to be running away from our husky as much as it was running away from us. "Where's the spray?"

"Downstairs!"

"Fuck," I cursed, grabbing a stray magazine on the bedside table that came through the mail. "I'll kill it."

Giselle burst out laughing.

I ignored her.

Berry continued to growl and bark at the weird black spot skidding across the laminate flooring, and Chip was getting worried about the neighbors.

"Sh-Shh, Berry!"

I rolled the magazine, tightening my grip on it as I took a step towards the roach.

Man the fuck up, Xander!

I dived, aiming for the bug as I raised the rolled-up magazine—

Wait. Where did it go?

Chip practically wailed. "It flew??"

"Fuck no," I cursed under my breath, gaze darting around the room in search for that thing.

"GAHAHAHAHA!" Giselle simply laughed, as if she was having a great time.

A black spot flew past my line of sight.

I practically jumped.

Enough of this shit—

"X-Xan?"

"Sorry Angel—uh, I didn't get to tell you but..."

"Xandie's scared of bugs!" Giselle's fits of mirth didn't seem to stop. Laughter rocked her back and forth, legs kicking uncontrollably. "So lame!"

"Ugh, shut up Giselle," I rolled my eyes, handing the magazine over to her as the roach landed on the floor; creeping around once again.

"Where is it? Where is it? Both of you so lame!" My sister sighed, swinging the rolled up mag like a baseball bat.

"Two o'clock—no, it's moved. Three!"

Giselle slammed the magazine flat on the floor—jumping on it. "Dead?"

The roach crawled out from under the paper, wandering towards Chip.

"U-Uwaaa!" He scrambled to the bed, "Anything but roaches!"

"Ten. Ten o'clock. Stop. Hit!"

"Dead?"

"Um, not yet—"

"Berry, come here girl. Corner it."

"Giselle! It's right in front—"

What a night.

We spent close to thirty minutes killing that fucking thing.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Here Giselle, this is how you use it," The young man produced a sanitary pad, tearing the plastic and showing his sister what it looked like.

She clutched her midriff, a pained expression on her face as she shook her head. "Make it go away."

"Um, I can't. Giselle. It's how your body works. Don't worry, every girl has it—" He smiled encouragingly, unfolding the pad. "Okay, just place it like this..."

He was patient.

He taught his sister how to do it exactly as that woman had taught him. He kept his smile. "Easy, right?"

Giselle shook her head. "No. I'm not wearing that!"

"Hey, don't be difficult..." He touched her head. "I'll buy you ice-cream if you learn how to wear it properly, okay?"

"No...no..."

She whispered.

"I'm scared."

"Xandie, I'm scared."

"There's nothing to be afraid of Giselle. The woman at the store has this too. She wears it too! Everyone wears it," The young man lied through his smile.

It was getting harder to keep it, he realized.

"Make it go away," She was crying—and there was nothing he could do about it. "Xandie."

"I'm sorry."

"I...I can't."

The boy felt quite lost at that point of time indeed.

The house was quiet—and there was only the two of them.

There was no one else.

Xander was alone.

He felt the darkness in his heart.

He wondered if this was how it felt; had the world decided to give up on an insignificant person like himself.

No—

He didn't have to wonder.

He was quite sure.

"Don't...don't be difficult, Giselle..."

"Please?"

"Please."

Where was Love when you needed it?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I woke—

Strange.

There was a sweet scent.

It threw me off for a moment.

There was never a sweet scent in the morning.

It had always been the bitter aftertaste of a nightmare.

And here I was;

For the first time in my whole entire life—

Waking to the scent of breakfast.

No one's ever done that for me before.

And for a moment, I had to ask myself whether this was the dream.

I followed the sweet scent, feet wandering towards the place of the heart.

No, not the kitchen.

Close, enough.

"Morning Angel," I leaned down to take in his scent, wrapping my arms around his waist. "Smells good."

"Uwa! Xan," He jumped in my arms, flustered. "I-I'm making breakfast so...don't disturb me!"

I laughed low.

"What are you making?"

"Blueberry hotcakes," He smiled brightly. Like...the Sun. "With scrambled eggs and bacon! O-Oh and a strawberry and banana milkshake for everyone."

"Sounds amazing."

My angel laughed. "Alright alright, why don't you take a shower while waiting? I'll be done soon."

"Mm...strawberries."

I felt the heat from his frame—ears turning red as he blushed.

"Um, yes. Strawberries."

The words he said last night; that every day was a good day, as long as one started it with blueberry hotcakes...

I smiled to no one in particular.

And for some reason, I found myself tightening my grip.

I hid;

Not wanting him to see the tears that were streaming down my face.

It's here.

Love—is here.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A/N: Sometimes, we take it for granted. The smell of breakfast in the morning as we wake.

1. There is breakfast.

2. Someone made it.

3. They made it—for you.

I'm so sorry it's a short chapter, but it's been long since I wrote from Xander's point of view.

Everyone's so happy :'D

But not for long.

Jkjk. Omg don't give me that face my dears ;_; Haha yeah I knew you were making a face.

I love you. See you soon.

*rolls out carpet for Trudy* *trips her*

-Cuppiecake.