Chapter 254 - Right Here With Me

The apartment that always greeted him submerged in the darkness that he had made his own sanctuary looked different tonight. Because tonight, it wasn't the darkness that greeted him. Instead, it was candlelights spread out. His slumped posture straightened up in curiosity and equal confusion. 

As he took a further step inside, candlelights making the arc of brilliant gold in the darkness seemed to have made his heart beat faster. His eyes darted around the living room before they settled on a box lying on the glass surface of the coffee table. His flashed with astonishment and happiness as he noticed something else. Or more precisely, someone else.

Since the candlelight gave far less illumination that the blaring electric bulbs, even the furniture's shape were barely discernible. And just like that, Xiu's figure was also hardly discernible to him. Using her arms as her pillow, she was leaning against the coffee table as she sat on the thick carpet. 

Darren took small but a bit hesitant steps towards her and kneeled down right beside her. He didn't make a single sound, only stared at her face in the dim candlelights. The flickering yellow flames might have muted every other color in the room, but as he sat beside her, he was mesmerized by how she seemed to be basking in the warm light.

Her skin looked mellow like peach, her bones seemed sharp and her hair... Oh, how badly he wanted to run his fingers through her long hair. But he didn't lift his hand to touch, scared that he might wake her up and mostly because he was afraid that she was just an illusion. And if he touched, she'd vanish. 

With fascination palpable on his face, he kept his eyes on her. Suddenly, he noticed her eyes fluttering a little and she furrowed her brows before lifting her hand to rub her eyes like an adorable kitten. After rubbing her eyes when she lifted her eyes, she was met with the most beautiful orbs she was most familiar with. And noticing those grey orbs looking back at her, her sleep went out the window while her lips lifted up in a bright toothy grin.

"Hi, baby!" Xiu waved both her hands at him in happiness. "When did you come back? Why didn't you wake me? I've been waiting for you here." She kept talking and talking while Darren didn't say a word in reply. His eyes just followed her every gesture or her every single expression. 

Under the dimness, he could say that her brown eyes seemed black, each pupil quite undetectable. And yet they shone so brightly like stars in the dark sky. She looked strangely different in that shallow light like she didn't even belong to that era. 

Xiu clicked her fingers before his eyes when she didn't hear anything from him and pouted, "Why aren't you saying anything? Are you angry with me?" Xiu slid closer to him and held both sides of his face in her hands saying, "Don't be mad at me. I know I was not supposed to drink when you're not with me. But..." Xiu looked downward guiltily as she went on, "I had something to talk to Dylan and I couldn't do it sober. Besides, I promise I only intended to drink one or two glass." She even raised her three fingers to show her solemn stance but it waivered soon enough.

"Baby, you know that I was literally an alcoholic in my previous life. So, when a drop of alcohol went into my system, my nervous system had a short circuit and I lost count of how much I drank." Xiu was trying hard to explain herself as best as she could in her half-drunk state. But even then Darren didn't speak which made Xiu's heart beat like a drum in fear. "Baby, are you that upset that you won't even talk to your Sweets? Can't you forgive your Sweets just this one time? Please!" She tugged at his sleeve as she continued, "Even if you want to stay angry, please say something. Don't be so silent. It's scaring me."

Darren finally spoke, "I'm trying to figure out whether you're really here or I'm dreaming again." Xiu's eyes widened as she heard his response and stared at him unblinkingly as he continued, "But you don't talk to me this much in my dreams. I've been looking for you for hours and when I couldn't find you anywhere, I honestly thought you're gone. You left me again. The thought of losing you again scared the hell out of me. That is why I don't dare to try to see whether you're really here or not." he sighed heavily, "Because even if it is my dream all over again, let me live in this dream a bit longer. At least, you're here with m-"

His words were cut off by Xiu's lips. It was for just a moment, a fraction of a second, incredibly risky and yet painful for Xiu to see him doubting. But the moment she pulled away, she felt him trembling against her and it clenched her heart in her chest terribly. 

Slowly and carefully her arms wrapped around his neck as she looked into his eyes and said, "This time you're not questioning my will to stay. This time you're actually doubting your own love." Darren raised his brows at her as she continued, "Baby, it's our love holding us together. There is no way around it." She leaned her head a bit and bit his cheek making him flinch a bit in surprise. "This is to remind you that I'm very real. This is not a bloody dream. I won't let this be one. When this reality is better than the dreams why would I let you think about some lost dream?" she whispered against his cheek before her lips slid to the corner of his lips to drop a kiss.

Xiu almost pushed him as he fell on his back while she kept hugging him as if to transfer all her warmth to him. He wrapped his arms around her, her scent mixed with alcohol overwhelmed his senses and he rubbed her hair with a content smile as he said, "Yup... This reality is far better. You're right here with me."