The day was pleasant, so much so that neither Xavier nor Bel wanted it to end.

  “This is the best day I’ve had since coming to Forks,” Bel voiced.

  “Then, I guess you haven’t had many good days,” Xavier noted.

  “You could say that,” Bel admitted. “When you’re not around, it’s like I become a way for Mike and Eric to measure their manliness. Ange and Jessica are in a cold war, and I’m there like I exist only conceptually…”

  “Find new friends,” Xavier advised.

  “Tried,” Bel admitted. “Jessica, Jessie, Mike, and Eric are as normal as Forks gets,” She joked.

  Xavier chucked. “It’s sad that that’s true.”

  WHOOOOOOOSH

  Xavier extended a hand, grabbing the football that had been aimed at Bel’s face just moments before.

  “I swear,” He sighed. “You’re a magnet for stray things.”

  “Wha?” Bel was at a loss.

  One moment she was chill and talking to Xavier, and the next moment, he had grabbed a soccer ball inches away from her face.

  Bel shuddered to think what would have happened to her face given the speed of the ball – she was very likely to die given her fragile physique.

  “How do you even see that?” She questioned.

  “Easy…” Xavier rose from his seat and gestured across the street where three kids were missing a soccer ball. “I have been watching those kids for a couple of minutes now, waiting for an opportunity to join them – I have that chance now.”

  Without waiting to hear Bel’s reply, Xavier tossed the ball into the yard across the street and chased after the ball to have some fun with the kids.

  A couple of minutes ter, Bel watched in fascination as Xavier not only joined the game but led the three boys to py a better game.

  --------------

  “Okay, so – three on three?” Xavier banced the ball perfectly on his heel, much to the amazement of the three kids.

  “It’s been a while since we had enough pyers,” Damon repyed the bad news despondently. “Ted has been busy with school – applying for schorships and all.”

  “And Leslie?” Xavier frowned.

  “Mom hasn’t been around much,” Samantha – one of the twins – reported. “Dad says she has gone for another stint or something.”

  ‘That means jail…’ Xavier muttered in his mind, but his mouth said something different. “I am sure she’ll be back soon.”

  “That’s what dad says, but I don’t believe her. I know stint means a sentence,” Sam – the other twin - expined. “I read a book about prison and learned that.”

  Xavier spun and flicked the ball to Sam’s feet, and the game started in earnest. The kids instantly forgot about whatever unstable situation was happening at home.

  Still, they talked as they pyed.

  “And your dad?” Xavier flicked the ball over Samantha’s head. “Has he been around?”

  “Sometimes, he’s working with James again.”

  ‘That means drug dealing…’ Xavier thought.

  “And he recently sold our bikes,” Damon added. “Ted was super mad about that…”

  ‘That means heroine…’ Xavier concluded.

  Cocaine would lead to selling the house, and fentanyl would lead to a swift death, so the only drug avaible in Forks that requires selling bikes is Heroine.

  The four dribbled the ball around each other, carefully not to stray onto the road. Though the road doesn’t see much traffic, each of them has had a brush with a car before.

  Then, Xavier stopped.

  “We need another pyer,” He announced and dashed across the street, pulling Bel along. “This is Bel,” The Eternal introduced. “She has two left feet so she is a striker by birth.”

  “Wow…” Bel rubbed her temples in frustration. “I don’t like how you can make two left feet sound so awesome to children.”

  “Samantha has two left feet too,” Sam justified.

  “And an extra toe too,” Damon added.

  Samantha, eager to brag, slipped out of her shoes to advertise the extra toe on her left foot with a wide, toothless, smile.

  “Wow… okay,” Bel felt like someone had finally out-awkward her. “Then, I guess I have no reason not to py then…”

  The game started anew.

  The game naturally took on the configuration of girls versus boys, and Xavier made sure to fumble enough balls to give Bel and Samantha prideful hearts.

  For the first time, Bel felt that having two left feet was an advantage in life.

  Of course, she took many tumbles during the course of the game, but Xavier was always there to make sure that he protected her from the worse of it.

  Samantha, Sam, and Damon took many tumbles.

  Xavier’s advice ranged from ‘put dirt on it’ to ‘meh, it will heal’.

  -------------

  Bel struggled to walk back across the road as the game concluded, and seeing the chance, Xavier scooped the fragile teenager into his arms and dashed across the road.

  It was a very accident-prone road.

  HAHA

  HAHA

  Bel ughed…

  Xavier ughed…

  They both stopped ughing when Charlie’s head popped through a window, and true to his ungentlemanly nature, Xavier simply released Bel from the bridal carry.

  PLOP

  Bel’s butt graced the ground.

  Charlie simply shook his head and withdrew from the window, leaving Xavier at the mercy of a thoroughly enraged Isabel Swan.

  “Please don’t…” Xavier quickly closed his legs when he noticed Bel was gearing up for a low shot.

  “You deserve it!” Bel argued, brushing her butt and she stood once more.

  “I can make it up to you.”

  “How?”

  “Come on…” Xavier pulled Bel along.

  The duo ventured into the backyard, and though Bel took cautious steps, she was still caught unaware when Xavier reached into Charlie’s boat and withdrew two water balloons.

  “No… no! No!”

  Bel’s yelling didn’t help.

  Xavier marched up to the fragile teenager and crushed the two water balloons over her head.

  SPLASH

  Bel was stunned for a couple of seconds – enough time for Xavier to repeat the action one more time. Then, when she came to her senses, Bel’s eyes narrowed – the game was on.

  Water balloons flew…

  The hose sprayed wildly…

  At least twelve gallons of water was wasted…

  Bel missed a step, and Xavier – in the coolest way possible – slid on his knees to catch the teenager mid-fall.

  WHOOOSH

  Bel felt a strong embrace, and as they settled on the ground, Xavier couldn’t help but be captured by Bel’s innocence and na?ve strength.

  Her na?ve strength was somehow more potent than his actual strength.

  “If you keep looking at me like that, I may get ideas,” Bel threatened, though it was more the truth than anything else.

  Xavier shifted his and Bel’s bodies, ying the teenager ft on the ground as he settled on top of her, using his arms to support a thin distance between them.

  Their clothes were soaked, revealing more than necessary.

  But their soaked clothing revealed exactly what the other person wanted to see most.

  Xavier admired Bel’s curves, and her pink bra especially captured his attention – her nipples were stiff, and she was aroused.

  Bel, for her part, admired the wet shirt that stuck desperately to Xavier’s abs – she counted eight of them.

  Bel felt her mouth run dry – it was the first time she experienced the peculiar sensation of wetness blossoming between her legs.

  It was only by some small logic more akin to self-doubt that she rationalized that someone as hot as Xavier would never truly be interested in someone as pin as herself.

  “You’re beautiful…” Xavier leaned down and whispered the Gods-honest-truth into Bel’s ears.

  All at once, the rationality she had been building up colpsed.

  Before she even realized what was happening, Bel’s hands had extended around Xavier’s waist, pulling him down towards her body, and his head towards her lips.

  Their lips met…

  There were sparks once again – just like the first time…

  No, even more, intense than the first time…

  It was all embodying and gravity-defying!

  It was air without the need to breathe, and sight without the need to open your eyes…

  Unwilling to harm Bel, Xavier spun their bodies, pcing his back on the ground and Bel’s thighs around his waist as she was now on top.

  His hands snaked up her soft legs.

  There was no control left in him – he had been trying to restrain himself, and obviously, it was not working.

  He was now an Eternal, and Xavier Ikaris Aionios had no need for restraint in a world that was primed to become his.

  Their lips remained connected, and saliva cycled between them with greater frequency than the most efficient engine.

  Bel’s hands found purchase under Xavier’s shirt, and as she caressed the contours of his abs ever higher, the sudden thought struck her that she should be heading down instead.

  The next step was near…

  Wet…

  Hot…

  Inch-thin clothes…

  The moment was perfect… if the location had been considered a bit more carefully.

  COUGH

  COUGH

  Bel – faster than she ever had before – rocketed to her feet, finding critical bance in a time of utmost importance.

  Xavier, for the first time, was unfocused – still lingering in a state of enlightenment.

  Bel's subtle kick was what awakened The Eternal, and Charlie’s judgmental gaze from the backdoor brought greater crity than his Eternal senses.

  “Uhm…” Charlie scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

  A normal father would have given their daughter a proper scolding, but Charlie was simultaneously out of practice and wanted to preserve the fragile retionship he still had with Bel, so his range of responses was limited.

  “Bel… you should go and take a bath,” The aged man stated. “Xavier and I have to head down to the station to have a talk.”

  Bel dashed up the stairs and pass Charlie without even as much as gncing back, leaving everything that came next on Xavier’s shoulders.

  As he stood there awkwardly, Xavier’s mind spun and he became aware of the fact that he and Charlie were really going to take a ride to the station, considering what had happened the night before.

  ???

  FORK’S POLICE STATION

  The ride to the station was almost wordless – a single sentence was shared between the two men.

  “Aren’t you with Ange?” Charlie inquired.

  “Yup…” was Xavier’s guiltless reply.

  “Well…” Charlie reminded himself to tell Bel about this a bit ter. “Just remember, I have guns.”

  There was silence once more.

  -----------

  When Xavier settled in front of the officer that would be taking his statement, Charlie paused.

  “You know,” Charlie said. “This is the first time I have brought you to the station and actually hope you committed the crime.”

  “Wouldn’t I be hanged for this specific crime?”

  “As long as it gets you away from my daughter.”

  Xavier spend the next thirty minutes providing his statement about the events in the club, and what he was doing st night – his response was basic… he was doing Ange.

  It took a couple of minutes for Mr. Robinson to be called and his timeline of events matched up perfectly with what Xavier had described, successfully alibiing the Eternal out.

  Now, there would be no question of how Luis and Greg died.

  In the first pce, the police were only doing their due diligence – all the results would show as Xavier intended, it was an ordinary accident.

  “Am I free to go?”

  “Yeah, you are…” The Officer replied.

  Xavier exited the station and was forced to walk all the way back to Charlie’s house for his Bugatti. Of course, after realizing that she had betrayed Ange, Bel was not so eager to see her accomplice.

  Xavier hopped into the Bugatti and drove home, but he knew the night was far from finished – there was much to get done now that Ange would be living with him.

  As for the guilt in his heart?

  It was not nearly enough to stop him from pursuing Bel while loving Ange.

  Something had changed inside his mind and Xavier wasn’t exactly sure of what it was.

  An Eternal was entitled to many things – many things he wouldn’t pursue, but two women should be reasonable enough.