Chapter Three

Anton walked down the street, past Xav, who for some reason he could not shake from his mind. He had been so embarrassed to have fell on him like that, but in a way he was glad he did because otherwise they might have never talked. When he'd straightened up and turned to face the guy he had fallen on, Anton's breath was taken away.

He was tall, nearly matching his own height, which was a rare feat, though not as skinny as Anton, more muscled though still lean. His skin was naturally tanned, almost golden. His hair was a much lighter brown than his own, long and styled just right, and he had chocolatey brown eyes. He looked like a Hollister model, but with more class. When he had opened his mouth and that American accent had come out, literally the first thought that Anton had was, That's it, I'm dead.

Anton had noticed that Xav had looked at him too, really looked at him, taking all his features in the way Anton was doing to him back. He was quite proud of himself for thinking of a couple of clever things to say, otherwise they would have probably just stared at each other for a long time, not knowing what to do. When Xav's cheeks went red, making him even cuter than before, Anton had gained a little more confidence in knowing that Xav was embarrassed too.

But their conversation had been cut short because of Anton's prior arrangements. Stupid Finnick with his stupid girlfriend, he thought as he was forced to rush off to meet his brother, something he had been too nice to say 'no' to. No one had ever attracted Anton as immediately as Xav had, it had been instant, and stronger than anything else he had ever experienced.

As he sat though his evening with Finnick's girlfriend, some love-struck girl named Theresa, Anton could not rid his mind of Xavier Benedict. He seemed to be stuck there permanently now, forever haunting Anton with his wicked good looks.

Anton seriously regretted not giving Xav his number or something, because one thought kept coming back, and it wasn't a particularly nice one.

Would he ever even see Xav again?


Xav's dreams had been surprisingly pleasant, in a guilty sort of way. He had dreamt of Anton, without the any of the worry that he had felt the night before. And without that worry, it had felt damn good.

He woke up with a groan, hiding underneath the covers, wanting to go back to sleep. He stayed in bed for a while, before dragging himself out and getting ready. He sat around for a bit, wondering what to do. It was the last day before his job started, so he felt like he should do something but couldn't think of what. He needed to go out, though, because sitting here would lead to too much thinking, and Xav needed some sort of distraction. Maybe I'll just take another walk and see of there's any nice coffee shops or something.

And so Xav found himself heading out of the door again, his feet taking him in a certain direction. All too soon, he found himself in the same neighbourhood which he had seen Anton in yesterday. But there was no point in coming back here, he mused sadly. It was extremely unlikely that he would see him again.

Coming back made him feel a little sad, but also brought the memories of yesterday back with an extra sense of sharpness, as if they had been somewhat murky before. He wandered down the main road, which was fairly busy as it was about noon now; Xav had overslept more than he had thought. He really wasn't a morning person.

He was checking out people's faces, hoping in vain to find Anton again. Quit it, the reasonable part of his brain scolded the rest of him, but it didn't stop him doing it. He had almost reached the end of the road, feeling utterly stupid and sad, when, against all odds, that voice called out to him, "Hey, look! It's my saviour."

It sent Xav's heart into a little flutter. Well, a big flutter, beating faster than ever. He turned around slowly, almost thinking that it was a trick because his brain wanted it to be real so much. But it wasn't. There, in front of him, was Anton Blue.

He looked as amazing as Xav remembered, still in black and white, a smile painted on his face. He was standing next to a girl, and Xav felt a twinge of jealousy, before realising that a) he had absolutely no right to be jealous and b) the girl was much younger than Anton, maybe thirteen or fourteen, and so similar in looks that she had to be related to him somehow. She had the same dark hair, but her eyes were darker and bigger than Anton's.

He was still in shock that Anton was actually here. It was so unlikely and yet they were both now staring at each other in slight wonder, neither quite believing their luck. "Hi Anton," said Xav, trying desperately to sound casual, but failing.

The girl Anton was standing next to regarded him curiously. "Who's this, Anton?" she asked.

"This is Xav Benedict. Xav, this is my sister, Arya." So she was related to him. Xav couldn't control the sense of relief he was feeling. He didn't really seem to be in control of any of his emotions at the moment.

"Hiya, Xav. I'm guessing that's short for Xavier?" She had the same accent as Anton, which was to be expected if they were siblings, but Xav was kind of sad that Anton wasn't the only person that had it.

"Yes, got it in one." He smiled and held out his hand, which Arya took with a slight laugh. "So, Arya? That's a pretty unusual name," he said, to make small talk. He really just wanted to talk to Anton, but was being polite.

"It's all part of that story I was going to tell you," said Anton, his eyes shimmering in the stark sunlight.

Arya turned to her brother. "Well, I'll leave you guys to it. I know you promised mum that you would walk me to Katie's, but it's not that far."

Anton looked slightly reluctant to see his sister go, his overprotective big brother instincts setting in, but didn't stop her. Arya gave him a knowing smile as she walked by, and Xav noticed Anton's blush. It wasn't helping his own.

"Um... So I don't have to rush off this time, maybe we can have a proper conversation." Anton seemed nearly as embarrassed as Xav. It was quite reassuring that he wasn't alone.

"That would be nice. Although, the street isn't the most usual place for a proper conversation. Unless you just want to be different," said Xav.

Anton laughed, he seemed like the kind of guy who laughed a lot. "No, you're right. There's a really nice café just down the road, if you're not doing anything else," Anton said, adding the last part hastily.

"No, I would literally just be sitting at home with my thoughts. Lead the way."

Anton beckoned for him to follow, but Xav's legs were already moving. He would follow this guy anywhere. Wait, thought Xav. Is this a date? Oh my god, what if it is? Am I having a date with a guy? With Anton? His thoughts took over him. He wasn't sure whether he was ready for a date yet, but how could he say no to Anton. Maybe Anton just wanted to become friends. But somehow Xav doubted that. The way he had been looking at him didn't indicate so. Xav had been looking at Anton the same way, so that was probably what had led him to do this, but Xav was seriously panicking.

Anton turned back and was greeted with Xav's frown. "Are you okay? It's just here," he said, gesturing to a quaint little café called Violet Leaf. Xav put on a smile, and it was genuine, unlike the many times he had smiled falsely with his family.

"No, I'm fine," he said, shoving all thoughts of dates from his head. Whether this was one or not, Xav resolved that he would have fun, and not think too hard about any of his worries. Anton beamed back, and they went in.

Inside, it was small, dark walls with little round tables dotted around the place. There was a couple of steps at the back which led to an outdoor porch where there were more seats, but in England they were more like wishful thinking rather than regularly used. A petite waitress with an eyebrow piercing came up to us. "Brought a friend along, have you Anton?" she asked, giving me the once over.

"Yes, Annabel. Could you give me my regular table?" he asked, as though addressing a friend.

"Sure," said Annabel, gesturing to a table near one of the windows at the front, but in the corner, so you could look out of the window but no one outside could see you. An ideal place for observations.

Anton settled into what Xav assumed was his regular seat, and Xav sat opposite him, in proper date fashion. Annabel came to take their orders for drinks, Anton had some tea thing, and Xav ordered a latte. "So, you come here often?" It was a question, but Xav already knew the answer. He was simply wondering why.

"Yeah. I found it a couple of years back, and now I come to just observe, relax, and draw when I can't concentrate at home, when Finnick's being a jerk, or Arya and Calypso are fighting, or when Nico's having one of his moods."

"Wow, I'm guessing they're your brothers and sisters," said Xav, now genuinely interested in where the names came from. "Are you going to tell me the story of the names?"

"Yeah, I promised I would, didn't I?" Anton's smile never wavered, it was always stuck on his face in some shape or form. "My mum's an author of Young Adult and children's books, and loves the genre, so plucked our names from some of her favourite books."

That was so much more interesting than Xav's stupid story of 'we're an alphabetical family'. Damn. "Where does Anton come from, then?"

"Anton Shudder from Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy. He's a minor character, really, but my mum and dad said they loved the name. My middle name is Alec, from Alec Lightwood in The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare."

Xav was slightly lost with all the book references, and it must have shown on his face. "I'm guessing you've never read them," said Anton.

"Er, no. Never heard of them to be honest," admitted Xav.

"It's okay. What do you like to read then?" he asked. His face was open and curious, his eyes imploring. Xav noticed something about them; they were very dark, but oddly enough had little flecks of green in them. They were only noticeable if you were looking really hard, which Xav was. He wondered if Anton even knew.

"I don't really read that much, to be fair. Sometimes I'll just pick up a book one of my brothers, but I wouldn't say I have a favourite or anything," said Xav, wishing that he had read now, as it would give them something to talk about.

"Why are you called Xavier? You said it had something to do with the alphabet." Anton was genuinely curious; it was nice to have someone who was honestly interested in his life.

"Yeah, it seemed like a cool story at the time, but it can't really compete with yours," he admitted.

"Go on," said Anton. "Now I want to hear it."

"Well, I have six brothers, and my parents decided that they would call us things that began with the letters T through to Z. I'm X, the fifth son, so naturally, I'm Xavier."

"Nonsense, that's pretty awesome!" He sounded so enthusiastic that Xav had to laugh. "Six, brothers. And I thought my family was big."

"Yeah, it gets annoying sometimes, but I love them all really. And its ever growing. My younger brother Yves just got married, and Zed's girlfriend, Sky, is basically family now." Xav missed out the fact of soulfinders, as Anton would be very confused, and they weren't meant to tell people about Savants without good reason. Plus he was trying not to think about soulfinders; his was somewhere out there, and here he was, having a maybe-date with who he considered the most good-looking guy he had ever met.

"Wait, your younger brother got married?" Anton sounded incredulous. "How old does that make you?"

Xav laughed again; laughing was so much easier with Anton than anyone else he had ever met. "Only nineteen. There were...circumstances that made Phee and Yves decide to tie the knot, despite being only eighteen."

"Oh, right. Well, I'm nineteen too, although I'm the eldest in my family, so no additional members yet." He looked stunning sitting there, half shadowed by the dark décor of the café, that Xav couldn't really comprehend the dazed looks he was giving Xav, clearly as affected as himself.

"I thought you said your brother had a girlfriend," asked Xav, mildly confused.

"Yeah, but she was just the current one in a long line of girlfriends. Each time he tells us she's different, introduces us to her, then we never see her again. Finnick's a little heart-breaker."

"Well, I'm hoping you're not," said Xav. He didn't know what made him say it, it was way more flirtatious than he had been expecting, but the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. He was blushing furiously, hoping the dim lighting would hide it, but Anton just smiled, that smile that sent Xav melting every time it was on his face.

Their eyes locked, and for a moment they just stared, and Xav was lost, Anton's dark eyes captivating him, the green in them showing. Then the moment was ruined by Annabel returning with their drinks.

She set them down without a word, knowing that she'd interrupted something. "Sorry," she mumbled as left.

Xav stared at his drink, suddenly unsure about the what he had and the moment they had just shared, and yet he didn't regret it.

He forgot his family, his soulfinder, his confusion, his jealousy and looked up to smile at his maybe-date, and for the first time in a while, Xav felt really happy.


A/N: Yay, chapter three. Its a little shorter than the others, but I'm going to finish the 'date' in the next chapter, and didn't want to make it too long.

I know that the names I've picked for Anton and his siblings aren't really plausible, as Anton is nineteen and the books were only published a couple of years ago, but they're from the books I love to read, so oh well. If you know what books they are from then wahoo, we have the same book taste :D

Thank you so much for your lovely reviews and follows, they make me really happy, so please leave a review :)