Chapter 140 - A Cinnamon Bun

"The type that knows it wouldn't affect things regardless," he said, his grin turning into a crooked smirk, adding, "Even if you know, it would make no difference, so why not?" 

Madeline had backed away, so much so she had hit a dead end. She felt her heart beating so fast to the point she thought it was beating in her ear. 

Taking rapid, deep breaths, Madeline began hyperventilating. 

'How do I get out of here?' She asked herself, looking upwards since everything around her was pitch black.

'There has to be a way out of here, there has to be,' she thought to herself, thinking of an idea. 

"Yoohoo~ Madeline," the creature said, before he chuckled, "Don't worry, I won't do anything about you. Not this soon. But, beware. I will be back."

Madeline had to stifle a scream the moment she woke up. She got up, placed her slippers on and ran towards Xavier's office. Tears were streaming down her face. 

It felt real. Too real to be just a dream. It was more than that, Madeline knew that.

However, instead of bothering Briar, or waking Indiana up, she chose to go to the one person who was awake. One person who - by the time she arrived - would've already seen her coming. 

A concerned look was plastered across his face.

"I don't–"

Madeline sniffled, wiping her eye with her sleeve.

"I had a nightmare, and I know it's no reason for me to come here, but–"

Xavier took a step forward, bringing her in a hug. 

"I told you you could always talk to me, didn't I?" He mumbled as Madeline buried herself in him. 

"Nightmare?" He asked, practically reading her mind.

Madeline nodded. 

"Yeah," she whispered, trying not to cry in front of him. 

She had felt like she had been bothering with all of her antics. 

What had she done for him? 

If Madeline were to list all the things Xavier had done for her, the list would go on. It was endless. 

Meanwhile, what had she done for him, hmm? Nothing, practically nothing. In her mind, at least. 

And yet, he never once made it seem like she was indebted to him. Like she owed him for everything he had done for her. 

Why did he do that?

How was he so… Sweet? 

Meanwhile, she was just… Herself. The same self that made mistakes, was clumsy, and constantly embarrassed herself. 

Compared to Xavier, who was perfect in every way… She was just her. 

Just Madeline. 

What did fate have in mind, pairing her with someone like him when she was absolutely no match for him. 

'I was never a match for him to begin with,' Madeline said to herself, unable to meet his gaze. 

They stood there, not saying a word to each other and staying as quiet as they possibly could.

Xavier wondered what had happened in that nightmare. And if it hadn't been a nightmare and something else.

'No, I should wait for what she has to say before assuming anything,' he thought to himself. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, raising his brow in curiosity. 

Of course, if she didn't want to talk about it, or bring it up, he'd understand. However, he was quite surprised Madeline did indeed have a nightmare. He figured she just decided to visit him in the middle of the night. 

Madeline shook her head, thinking it was better she didn't talk about it. She was someone who was easily frightened. Sure, she placed a brave face sometimes, but this was something she couldn't possibly hide. It was like her feelings just poured out of her. 

After nearly being killed, after finding out she had a father, after finding out her cat was basically her aunt. It had taken a long time before she cracked. 

Not to mention, the others thought she was using Xavier. Even if Xavier had told her many times that whatever others had to say was completely false… 

Madeline couldn't help but feel horrible about it regardless. Xavier may have seemed like a cold person from the outside, but once you got to know him, he was an adorable little cinnamon bun, as much as he didn't seem like it. 

If Xavier knew Madeline saw him that way, he would have frowned and insisted he was nothing like a cinnamon bun. Of course, he would have asked how him being described as being a cinnamon bun would work when it was just food first, before going on to react that way. 

"Let's get you a seat," Xavier said, pulling up a chair for Madeline.

Once Madeline sat down, she passed out. 

Xavier looked over to see Madeline who had already fallen asleep. Seemed like she was really just exhausted. 

Sitting there, Xavier wondered what to do. He had never dealt with a sleeping guest in his office before, so it was new to him. 

'Should I bring her to her quarters? Do I leave her here and wait till she wakes up? What should I do?' Xavier wondered, doing everything as stealthily as always so as to not wake up Ms Sleeping Beauty.

Thankfully, Madeline had seemed to already calm down by then. After all, she had managed to fall asleep already. 

The next day, Madeline woke up to find herself in her bed. 

Had Xavier brought her there? 

Madeline rubbed her eyes, trying to remember anything from the previous night. 

What had happened…?

She squeaked, remembering the events of last night. She had come up to Xavier's office, crying and sobbing like a cowardly fool. 

"I must've fallen asleep," Madeline said, cursing to herself as she closed her eyes shut. She cried, "How will I face him? This is the millionth time I've embarrassed myself already."

She slumped against her pillows. 

"Argh, why am I like this? Must I really have done what I did last night?"

Sighing, she wondered if Briar and Indiana were up already. They must have been, they were never the type of people to wake up late and sleep in. 

Well, Indiana at least. Briar, on the other hand, liked sleeping in a lot.

The Briar in university, at least. Madeline wondered if that part of her had changed. 

She pulled out her phone to text Briar.

[Author's Note: Yes, they have phones. Yes, they still use them. Sometimes. However, the service in Eudora is horrible and they live close to each other so what's the point of them using their phones to communicate. Not that that stops them anyway. Alright, back to the story. Author out.] 

Texting Briar, she asked if she was awake.

A couple seconds later, Briar responded to Madeline's text, informing her she was awake. 

Indiana knocked on Madeline's door, hoping she'd answer.

Madeline was surprised to hear knocking coming so early. She reckoned she'd have more time to get ready and dress up. 

Too bad. She didn't.

"Indiana?" Madeline asked.

"How did you know?" Indiana sounded from the other side of the door. 

"Educated guess," Madeline answered, getting out of bed and heading for her door to let Indiana in her quarters. 

Indiana heard shuffling from the other side of the door.

And then, Madeline opened the door. She had a bad case of bed hair, and Indiana could've swore Madeline's eyes were puffy. 

Narrowing her eyes, she asked Madeline, "Are you alright?" 

Madeline nodded, "Yeah, I am. I just woke up, so…"

Indiana gestured to her eyes, "Uh, your eyes are puffy."

And at that moment, Madeline nearly gasped. Trying to play it off as having rubbed her eyes one time too many, she told Indiana that it was nothing and that she was perfectly alright.

"I just rubbed my eyes a lot when I woke up," she lied. 

Knowing damn well Madeline was lying, Indiana decided not to say anything about that.

"Alright," she said, trying to sound like she was convinced when she sure as hell wasn't. 

'I should check in with Briar later, see if Madeline's okay,' Indiana said to herself, making a mental note. 

"So, what did you come here for? Came to tell me all about your dinner with that mystery man?" Madeline asked, fascinated by what Indiana was up to the other day. 

"Well, first of all. Mystery man has a name, and it's Jonathan."

Madeline wiggled, "Ooh, Jonathan. Nice name."

Indiana chuckled nervously, "Yeah."

"We just had dinner the other day, it was nothing much. I just asked him out to dinner to get to know him better." 

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Psst, author here. If you're still reading all the way here, before moving on to the next chapter, I have an announcement to make. HDA will be having a mass release on the 1st of February. So, mark your calendars and be prepared for five brand new chapters! All the best, mari. 

P..S. Still reading? Well then, I'm pleased to tell you that the mass release may not be the only thing to look forward to hehe, since there's something else stirring…