Page 82 of Never To Suffer

Xander leans over me, pulling Theo to him for a deep, hot as hell kiss. “Maybe you should come in before things get any weirder.” Xander offers.

“AHH, YOU’RE HIM, TOO! You’re salt and pepper bedroom hottie and baker neighbor?!” I yell, unable to stop myself.

“Again, yes. Dr. Theo Clay, to be more exact on who I am.”

“Okay, come in now. Please?” Xander asks him.

“Yeah, come in because I have soooo many questions. Why are you here with pastries? How does everyone here know you? What bizarro world do I live in now? Can I expect pastries on the daily?” I bombard him in rapid fire interrogation, but don’t move to give him room to come inside. Xander may be ready to welcome him into our home, but I’m not so sure I am. Even with my mouth full of sugary, flaky goodness. “Ah! They’re chocolate filled! My weakness!”

Xander grabs my hips and spins me around, so I face the couch. I cradle the food like a baby, protecting it like a hobbit protects their pantry. Skylar sits beside me, and I come close to snarling about them being my precious snacks when he moves to take one. I’ve got to stop watching Xander’s fantasy movies.

“I couldn’t sleep last night, worried about you. So, I baked. I thought about leaving them here at the door for you, but I didn’t want anyone taking them.” Theo explains to Xander before glancing over at Skylar and me. “I didn’t realize you were the girlfriend, Dani. He only ever called you Beetle. When Kennedy said your name, it didn’t click that she meant D-A-N-I instead of D-A-N-N-Y. I also didn’t expect you’d have company.”

“Yeah, guess I need a referral for a different therapist,” Skylar smirks.

Lightbulbs are going off above all our heads like some kind of cartoon, as we all connect the dots and realize everything has been an intricate web of coincidence from the start.

“Maybe I should go.”

“No!” Xander yells and grabs his arm. “No, please. I…please don’t go. I can explain! Well, some of it.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah, please? They need an explanation, too. It's—everything went sideways.”

Theo looks down at their hands, his fingers tracing over the words below Xander’s thumb. I hadn’t noticed the new ink yet with everything else going on, but the entire scene gives me butterflies and giddy feelings. Until Theo’s shoulders slump and I panic. He might leave after this.

“GET IN HERE!” I scream. “Sorry, I mean, you shouldn’t…can you come in here before Xander cries or whatever? We just got him back!”

Theo nods, brushing his knuckles over Xander’s cheek. “I told you I’d wait until you were ready and ended up barging in like this. I’m sorry, Xander.”

“It’s okay. I promise, it is. You can make breakfast to go with whatever you baked if it would help. You know, being in the kitchen and cooking or whatever?” Xander offers before leaning in and kissing him chastely on the cheek. I’m melting into the couch faster than this butter melting in my mouth.

“Sure, baby.”

“Excellent!” I yell.

Xander blushes and kisses Theo again before whispering, “Good, I’m starving, and Dani can’t cook eggs without the shells getting into the pan. She also burns the bacon.”

“LIES! I can cook bacon and eggs!”

“No, you can’t,” Skylar agrees with a laugh. They grab a pastry and run off to the bedroom, pillow still covering their front, before I can smack them.

“Baby?” Theo smiles at Xander and I want to kick my feet so badly. It’s a miscommunication rom com happening in my own living room. “Put on some pants. It’s…distracting.”

I’ve kept my mouth shut for over an hour now as Xander fills us in on Theo and some of what happened in Tokyo. Okay, that’s not true, I’ve been shoveling these croissants into my face like its popcorn and I’m watching the movie’s big reveal scene. That’s when I notice they’re all looking at me. They’ve gone around the room, but I haven’t told them my part of the story yet.

“We met a few years ago at one of her shows,” Theo offers as he picks up the coffee mugs and plates from the coffee table. “I judged her band, and I’ve kind of been obsessed with her voice ever since.”

“So that’s not creepy at all. Are you a stalker?” Skylar asks from their perch in the window across the room as they blow smoke out of the apartment. They’ve only said a few words here and there, since they’ve had the least amount of contact with Theo. I’m hoping they’re okay.

“What kind of terrible stalker misses all of her inner circle when they’re a part of it already? I’m sure we’re even in pictures together if you go through enough of Chase’s parties, since I’ve made an appearance or two over the years.”

“Coop’s parties?! No way!” I scream, jumping up in my seat and almost knocking over the few remaining goodies. “When, which ones!?”

“Uhm, let’s see. They were both Halloween. I went as Negan from the walking dead one year and?—”

“HOLY SHIT! I REMEMBER YOU!” I slap my hand over my mouth as they all stare at me, bursting into laughter. Even I laugh at that, and it’s good to see Xander smiling again, even if he keeps grabbing his ribs when he does. “Bro, Xander got so wasted that night, he kept begging me to go hit on you. There were so many baseball bat innuendos!”

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