Chapter 72: Chapter 72 Love confession.
" Hmm, I don’t know what to say." Daniel stood there, flabbergasted and stupefied by the grand gesture. They looked at him with expectancy, probably thinking he would jump at the proposal and they could be one big happy family, but that wasn’t on Daniel’s agenda.
Oh, poor Xylander. This was everything he had been dreading, and the worst had happened. What if, after rejecting him, they ganged up and threw him out of the house? What would he do then? The house he had in Paris would be gone, taken away from him immediately.
"That was unexpected," Daniel sniffled, pretending to be in tears. He had done this countlessly back home when trying to gain his father’s favour, which most of the time backfired tenfold.
"I’m not used to someone confessing their love to me, Xyle," Daniel began, tearing up even more. "I thought I couldn’t be loved, that finding it was close to impossible. Nothing could have prepared me for this." Daniel sobbed further, using a part of his sleeve to clean his tears.
Xylander began to reconsider his words. Maybe he should consider Daniel’s plight and see from his point of view that this might be too much, too soon. He should give him time; it wasn’t over yet. They could still do this again sometime.
"Sorry for the confusion," Xylander said, his emotions coming to the fore. "I was so caught up in this that I forgot to think about how you would feel about the proposal. We are married, but that doesn’t feel natural—more like a contractual process. From this moment, I wanted something real, but I guess I will have to build it brick by brick and wait for things to unravel." Xylander felt disappointed, his expression said it all, but that was Daniel’s choice, and he had to respect it.
Alexander, too, was taken aback by the rejection. He felt it was an indirect way of Daniel saying he wasn’t interested, and he would be lying if he said his heart didn’t break a little.
"We’ll see how things go," Alexander muttered, amused at his own former cheekiness. "Who would have thought that I, Alexander, would be pleading for someone’s affection?" Guess people change, and Xylander’s own transformation had been prominent. Daniel Lancaster had sure transformed the man.
"Sorry for the inconvenience I must have caused," Daniel elaborated. "But remember, when I entered this marriage, I sought protection, and aside from that, I wanted revenge on both Adrian Valez and my family. Adrian has been defeated, and one of my purposes is done, except for the torturing, which I am so looking forward to. So what remains is my family." Daniel looked at Xylander with gloomy eyes.
"So, aside from my goal, I can’t engage in romance. Sorry for leading you all on, and hopefully, you will be able to forgive me." Daniel came to a halt. Seeing the flash in their eyes, he concluded that maybe today was the day of the divorce, and Xylander was going to throw him out of the house.
That fear was imprinted on his mind until Xylander’s footsteps filled the air and he slid his huge hands into Daniel’s delicate, soft ones.
"Don’t fall into unnecessary conclusions yet," Xylander stated, his voice firm. "Because Daniel, you want a chase, and I, Xylander, love chasing. I will woo you and make you mine; it’s just a matter of days." He declared this confidently.
Alexander’s jaw dropped at Xylander’s words. After everything Daniel said, he still wanted to woo him. He, on the other hand, was utterly confused.
Just like Xylander, he hadn’t entered into romance before; his experiences with his own gender were just for fun. If anyone had made his heart race a bit, it was Daniel, but that hadn’t gone well.
"I’m not giving up on you," Xylander challenged. "Definitely not. I would be the last person expected to quit. So Daniel, give me 99 days, and I will make you fall hopelessly in love with me. And not just me, Daniel—my friend Alexander here is included."
Alexander nearly choked on his saliva. When did I promise such a thing? At this point, he didn’t trust Xylander’s plans. How would he make someone as level-headed as Daniel fall in love with him? As small as this challenge might seem, it was tasking.
"This is your marriage, Xylander. It wouldn’t be right if I got in the middle of you and your groom," Alexander explained, trying not to meddle too much. Even if he was benefiting from Xylander’s kindness, that didn’t mean he should take advantage of it.
"Nonsense, Alex. We have always shared things, and I love you so much I would even share my groom with you if that’s what it takes. Alexander, I want us both to settle down, and you think I don’t see how you look at my groom?" Xylander laughed at Alexander’s words.
Daniel, who stood there gaping at the two, felt a wave of insecurity. Like he said, he didn’t deserve two gorgeous men like this; it felt like a taboo.
"I will be retiring for the night," Daniel announced. "To my own room." He stated this and eventually slipped out, climbing the staircase.
Xylander grew worried at this behavior and shared a look with Alexander, who smiled to reassure him that all was well.
"What did I do wrong? I must have overwhelmed him again," Xylander reasoned, trying to see things from Daniel’s perspective.
Alexander held Xylander’s arm and sighed sorrowfully. "We might think we had a sorrowful past, but Daniel’s might be worse. Right now, I can see clear insecurities in his emerald eyes. And not just that, he has this trauma of the dark, which, as you know, might be born from a terrible experience." Alexander educated him, and Xylander listened attentively.
"He isn’t like normal people, and those 99 days—I doubt they might prove something immediately. But he has to try to heal, to trust us fully and let us into his life. We must let him know that the dark has no hold over us, that it’s okay to be afraid of it, but we won’t let it define us." Alexander revealed his own longing, and by his speech, it was clear he was speaking from a traumatic experience as well.
Xylander facepalmed himself for not realizing Daniel was battling this paranoia. As confident as he might appear, he was still suffering internally. He wished he could share the burden, to lessen it... But soon. Just soon. 99 days was okay. He and Alexander had chosen Daniel, and there must be a reason for it. Only he could heal them, and they, in turn, could help him get over his phobia of the dark.