Chapter Text
Saturday morning dawns, clear skies, a few degrees above zero. Xiaolian wakes up around five AM, blinking away the sleep while letting her eyes adjust to the light coming from her window. At first, she feels like it’s just a normal morning. Then the events of last night rush back into her head, and she turns over and screams into her pillow. After about five minutes of that, she gets over her initial embarrassment and is instead filled with guilt. “I can’t believe I made him deal with my dumb ass. He probably hates me now.”
She sits there, wallowing in her self-pity before she bolts up right in her bed. “I’m going to bake him so many sweets, he’ll have no choice but to love me again.” She gets up out of bed with a newfound determination, and gets herself ready for a hard morning of baking. Thank God for her double ovens.
After she finishes getting dressed and freshened up, she heads into her kitchen. She loves the kitchen at home almost as much as she loves the kitchen at the cafe. She grabs one of the four aprons that are hanging on the wall. It has her name embroidered on it and has multiple stains. “Okay, so, what can I make? Obviously I should do Bigfoot footprints. Oh! I’ll make the dàn tǎ. And maybe some UFO cake pops? Do I have the fondant for that? I think it still have some leftover from my last baking session. Maybe a batch of cookies? Can’t go wrong with good ol’ chocolate chip. And I’ll use browned butter…” She pulls out all the necessary baking tools and ingredients. It’s a lot.
As the sun rises, the town is quiet for the first few hours, before small signs of life start to appear. Sometime around 9, Roan Morris decides they want some pancakes. Or the breakfast food of their choice. Roan makes their way towards M&D, clutching their bomber jacket closer to their body, cursing the fact that they never check the weather. The town is still fairly quiet, but Roan can feel something in the air. They know that something is coming – they’re just not sure what. Pushing open the door to the cafe, they look forward to the French toast they are gonna order.
…Except the door doesn’t open, and they kinda run into it.
Roan feels their forehead make contact with the door. “What the fuck?” One hand comes up to rub their head while the other pushes at the door again. “Well shit.” Roan pauses, looking around, unsure of where else to go. They spot the bookstore further down the street and stride towards it. They pause at the door and tentatively poke at it, not wanting another injury.
It is also locked tight. The lights are off, too, just like the lights at M&D.
James walks along Main Street, intending to spend some more time at Alshaytania to see the hot owner—ah, to do some more research on the surrounding area. As he approaches, he sees someone pushing against the door. “Hey,” he walks closer to them, “is it locked?”
“No, I’m just standing here for the hell of it.” Roan winces as the words leave their mouth, turning to look at the man. “Sorry, that was rude. I’ve not eaten cause the cafe is shut too. Any idea what’s going on?”
“Nah, it’s understandable. I don’t have a clue. I only got in town recently. Oh, uh, I’m James. I don’t have any delicious cookies, but I’ve got a granola bar?” James reaches into his pocket and pulls out the bar.
Roan eyes the man. He was either naive or a weirdo to think they’d take food from a strange guy on the street. “No, thanks. I have allergies.” They pause, contemplating whether they could take the guy if things got weird. “I’m Roan. Know anywhere else in town we can go to find out what’s happening?”
Interestingly, according to the sign by the door, the bookstore should be open.
James shrugs and puts the granola bar back in his pocket. “Well, there’s an information centre… I actually don’t know if they will have any info on this, but it can’t hurt to try.” James turns to leave. “Do you wanna come with or keep manning the door?”
Roan huffs out a laugh, shoving their hands in their pockets. “I’ll come with you. If I stand here I’ll probably freeze to the spot.” They step forward, frantically trying to remember how to hold a conversation. “So, uh, what are you doing in town?”
James quickly eyes Roan over. He shrugs one shoulder. “Heard about some of the alien stories. Thought it would be a fun place to stop at for a bit to round off my Canada trip.”
Roan smiles at him. Dude seems to have an adorable thing for shrugging a lot. “Yeah I’m here for the aliens too. Took a year out of college to…deal with some things. Also, where exactly is the information centre?”
James smiles at Roan. “It’s just down the road. Shouldn’t take more than a few more minutes.”
Owen wakes up in his comfortable bed, cuddled up under a mountain of blankets, hugging his pillow. He stretches, sitting up and pushing his hair out of his face.
It’s a quiet morning. Not that there’s any other kind in Willow River. But yesterday, even up on the top floor, Owen could hear the sounds of the kitchen. Today they are silent.
Owen heads downstairs, looking for Adam or Andrew. “…Adam?”
The building is empty, dark, and quiet. Steven’s office is down the hall.
Owen starts to get nervous, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. “Steven?” he calls, going to the office.
Steven is sitting at his desk, going through papers, as usual. He looks up as he hears Owen’s voice. “Oh, good morning Owen,” he says with a smile. “Sleep okay?”
Owen can feel relief wash over him when he sees Steven. He hadn’t had the opportunity to bond with Steven as much, but he still trusts him.”… Where’s Adam and Andrew?” He asks, lingering in the doorway.
“They had to go out last night,” Steven says, glancing at the window. “They aren’t back yet.”
“Oh.” He pauses for a moment. “…Do you know when they will be?”
“They should be back soon; they went hunting.” He looks over at Owen again. “If you’re looking for something to do…” He pauses, thinking. “I think the community hall has a small library? I’d say try the bookstore, but Shane went out with them too last night…” He frowns. “What do you like to do for fun?”
Owen thinks about it for a minute, then shrugs. “I don’t… know,” he says.
“Right,” Steven says, “I guess that’s not really a thing you’ve done much. Um…tell you what. Let’s go down to the community hall together, see who’s there. At the very least, maybe we can watch a movie or something.”
Owen nods. “Okay,” he says. “Right now…?”
Steven shrugs. “We can go now, we can go later, it doesn’t matter. It’s Saturday, man! Our time is our own!” He kicks back, puts his hands behind his head, and catches sight of the papers on his desk. “Though paperwork never goes away.” He chuckles. “Whatever you wanna do, I’m chill with. We could go shoot some hoops, watch a movie, make a cake…or if you wanna chill on your lonesome, go right ahead. House is all yours as long as you clean up after yourself.”
“I don’t know how to do… most of those things.” He actually comes into the office, taking a seat.
Steven rolls his chair forward a little and puts his elbows on the table. “Well, okay, let’s see. What sounds enjoyable? Playing a game, enjoying a story, or making something tasty to eat?”
Owen shrugs, playing with the hem of his shirt again. “I don’t know, a game, maybe?”
“Cool!” Steven stands up. “Let’s go down to the park and I’ll teach you how to shoot hoops.”
Owen stands back up, grabbing onto Steven’s sleeve. “Okay.”
Later that day, shortly before noon, Xiaolian lets out a huge breath when she finally packs the last cookie into the Tupperware. “I should head over now, so that he can eat some of this while it’s still warm.” She looks at all the stuff she has to carry. “…I’m gonna need a bag.”
A few minutes later, she walks up to the front door of the bookstore, bags over her arms. The lights in the store are off.
“Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me!” She gives a little huff, and stands there, unsure of what to do next. It’s strange. It should be open. Midday on a Saturday? Everyone’s either at M&D or Alshaytania. “Shane? Mickey? Anyone in there?” She waits for a response. “I mean, I could drop these off at Shane’s house…but I’d rather not.”
It is entirely silent. She looks out towards the street, hoping Shane will pop up out of nowhere so she can give him these stupid treats. And the note in her pocket. She really hopes he won’t notice the tear stains on the paper.
Xiaolian hears footsteps crunching along the road, from the direction of the cafe. She turns to look, hoping that she’ll see obnoxiously long legs, but she sees Steven, and the new shy boy. Steven is dribbling a basketball as they walk. They’ll be heading to Ryan’s, then, where the recent arrival to the town has set up a makeshift court in his driveway.
“Steven!” She bounces a little to get his attention while waving her hand in the air.
Owen looks up when he sees her, his grip on Steven’s arm tightening slightly. He was still kind of scared of her.
Xiaolian pretends that she doesn’t see the new boy.
Steven notices Xiaolian and tucks the ball under his arm, waving. “Hey Xiaolian!” he says, coming up to her. “What’s in the bags?”
Xiaolian doesn’t know a good excuse. “About 40 pounds of baked goods.”
Steven blinks. “Um. Why?”
“I… kinda made a mess of things with Shane last night, so I made ‘please forgive me’ goodies.” She looks at the ground. “Is that weird?”
He tilts his head. “You saw…?” His phone buzzes, interrupting his thought, and he pulls it out of his pocket. “Oh, uh, hang on…” He looks at the message. “Shoot.” He looks up at Xiaolian, then over at Owen nervously. “Xiaolian, could you do me a favour?”
“Yes.” Xiaolian would never say no to Steven.
He smiles, but it’s tinged with worry. “I … have to go. Could you please keep Owen company for a bit while I take care of this? I should be back … soon. Um.” He looks away, down the street, nervously. “We were gonna go shoot some hoops, if you wanna do that?”
Xiaolian is a liar. “No. I’m not taking care of him.”
He frowns, surprised. “I’m not asking you to take care of him… I’m just asking you to keep him company. I have to go.”
Xiaolian groans. “Fuck. Fine. Just go.”
Owen shoots Steven a worried expression, wordlessly begging him to not go.
Steven bites his lip, then hands Owen the ball. “I’m sorry, Owen – I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Steven glances at his phone again, frowns deeper, and takes off running down the street back towards the bed and breakfast.
Xiaolian glances at Owen. “Do you still want to go to the court?”
He doesn’t make eye contact with her. “You don’t have to take care of me,” he says.
Xiaolian snickers. “You’re right, I don’t. You have Adam, Andrew, and Steven all taking care of you like you’re a damn baby.” Xiaolian shakes her head. “Whatever, just follow me.” She turns to head in the direction of Ryan’s.
Owen bites his lip, hugging himself. “I’m sorry,” he mumbles. He has absolutely no idea what he did to make this girl dislike him.
Xiaolian doesn’t respond, she just keeps walking. She knows if she opens her mouth, she’ll just say something even more mean and she’s already let people down this week.
Owen just follows her. After a moment, he speaks up. “… Why don’t you like me?” he asks.
Xiaolian doesn’t respond for a moment. She wraps her arms around herself. “…I don’t like people who turn others away before giving them a chance.”
Owen gives her a confused look. “I don’t even know what that’s supposed to mean.”
Xiaolian just shakes her head. “I don’t even know why I bothered to try with you. Let’s just both agree that we don’t like each other.”
Owen sighs. “But I don’t. You just don’t like me and I don’t know why. I don’t know what I did.”
Xiaolian stops walking and looks at him. Her fingers twitch at her side. She really wishes Bolin was here. Or Zhiqiang. “Do you not remember when we first met?”
“Yeah…?” Owen thinks back to the cafe. “Did I do something…?” He looks genuinely distressed. “I didn’t mean to, I swear.” Xiaolian just stares at him. They stand in silence for a moment, before Owen speaks up again. “I really have no idea what I did to you,” he says softly.
“…What do you think about Adam?” she asks, slowly.
Owen shrugs. “I like Adam… He makes me feel safe,” he says softly.
“And Andrew?”
“I like him too…? Them and Steven have all been really nice to me and helped me. It’s really nice.”
Xiaolian nods. “Okay. I have one last question.”
Owen nods. “Okay,” he says, waiting for her to ask.
“How do you feel about doing a start over?”
Owen gives her a soft relieved smile. “Me and you?” he asks, hopefully. “That sounds good.”
“I have an idea. Just, just stand here and give me like, a minute.”
“Okay…?”
“And don’t turn around!” Xiaolian runs off in the direction that Owen isn’t looking.
Owen just stands there, fidgeting awkwardly with the hem of his borrowed shirt.
Xiaolian stops when she’s a good twenty feet behind him. She takes moment to take a deep breath. Then turning back to Owen, she slowly makes her way up behind him, then gently taps his shoulder to get him to turn around.
He turns to her.
She gives him a bright smile and a small wave. “Hi, my name is Xiaolian. I haven’t seen you around before, are you new here?”
He takes a second to process what exactly she’s doing, before he smiles softly. “Yeah, I’m new. I’m Owen.”
“It’s really nice to meet you, Owen.” Slowly she extends her hand towards him, palm facing upwards.
He looks down at her hand. “I don’t know what you want me to do with that,” he admits.
Xiaolian blinks. And then she starts laughing.
Owen looks at her, confused. “What?”
She struggles to catch her breath. “God, you’re so cute.” She straightens up. “It’s called a handshake, it’s something you do when you want to greet someone for the first time.”
“So… What am I supposed to do?” he asks, blushing.
“Is it okay if I grab your hand?”
He nods. “Yeah. That’s okay.”
She grabs the hand opposite of his and gently places it on hers. She moves his fingers so that they’re in the right spot. His hands were actually…really nice to hold. “Okay so this like Saying Hello 101. So when someone holds their hand out like I did, you grab it like this. And then you shake.” She gently shakes his hand. “Got it?”
He nods. “Okay, yeah, got it.”
Xiaolian lets go. “Well, now that we’re basically best friends for life, do you actually want to play basketball? Or we can some something more lowkey.”
“…I don’t actually know how to play basketball, so I don’t really care, I guess.” He shrugs.
“Well, that makes two of us. Come on, we can head to my house and watch a movie or something.” Without really thinking about it, she holds her hand out for him to grab.
He takes it immediately, letting her lead the way.
Xiaolian holds on tight and immediately begins to pull him to her house, ranting on and on about which movie they should watch. “And I can totally make popcorn, or like anything else if you want something to eat?”
“Uh, no, that’s okay.” Owen says. Just because some of the town people were cool with him literally living off human flesh didn’t mean everyone would be, and he wasn’t about to just tell her about it.
Xiaolian nods. “Okay, if you’re sure. Oh, what do you think about dragons?”
“I don’t really know anything about dragons,” Owen admits.
“Well, let’s say hypothetically, that you met one or something. Would you run away screaming?”
“I don’t know? I guess I run away from most things. So maybe.”
“Okay, but what if you knew that the dragon wouldn’t hurt you?”
“Then I probably wouldn’t run away.”
“Okay, cool, cool.” She pulls him down a different street.
“…Why, though?”
“Just wondering. Don’t worry about it.” She stops right in front of her house. “Here we go!”
“What are we doing again?” he asks, looking up at her house.
“Watching movies. Unless you wanna do something else?”
“No, we can watch a movie. I’ve never done it before.”
“…So, not only am I taking your hand shake virginity, but I’m taking your movie virginity too? Damn, I’m better than I thought.”
Owen doesn’t know what virginity means, but he’s not about to admit that. “I guess so.”
She laughs. “Come on, let’s get inside.”
He nods. “Yeah, okay.” He lets her lead the way.
As they enter, Xiaolian hears Bolin call out from the kitchen. “Hey xiǎo mèimei! Sorry I slept in so late, Andrew texted last night saying they might be away today so I didn’t need to come in…” Bolin rounds the corner – a tall man with long black hair, tied back in a ponytail, and somehow serious-looking even in sweatpants and a t-shirt. He’s drying his hands on a dish towel, and he stops mid-stride, frowning deeply. “…Who’s this, why have I never seen him before, and why are you holding his hand?”
Xiaolian’s eyes go comically wide and she immediately moves to stand in front of Owen, but forgets to let go of his hand. “H-hey gēgē!” She puts her free hand on her hip and scoffs. “This? This is just Owen! Also what did you do with your hair? It looks so good today!” She chuckles nervously.
Owen steps behind Xiaolian, looking over at the new person, a little scared.
He doesn’t stop frowning, and crosses his arms. “I know every single person in this town. There is one Owen – Owen Rainwater – and that—” He gestures to Owen with his forehead, giving him the impression of looking overtop of glasses which do not exist— “is not Owen Rainwater.”
“He’s new in town!” She gives her brother a bright smile. “Don’t worry about it.” She gently squeezes Owen’s hand to check if he’s okay.
Owen still looks a little worried, and he holds onto the hand offered to him. He still doesn’t say anything.
Bolin’s face darkens. “Xiaolian. You show up holding hands with a boy I’ve never seen before, who won’t introduce himself, you clearly baked the morning away for some unknown reason – and you tell me not to worry? You had better start explaining yourself, kiddo, because I am not here for you sneaking around behind my back. It is my job to worry about you.”
Xiaolian wants to die. “Gēgē, it’s nothing like that! I baked all of this for Shane but he wasn’t at work so I brought them home! And Owen is super shy! He needed a friend so I invited him over!”
Bolin now looks very confused. “You— you made all that for Shane? Why on earth would you— and what do you mean he’s not at work? And I’m all for you making friends but for God’s sake why are you holding his hand? And where the hell did he come from? What is going on here? What were you two even planning on doing? Having a bake sale?”
“Am I not allowed to be affectionate with my friends?! And it was for an apology for Shane! And stop being so damn nosy about people!”
“You have brought a complete stranger into our home, unannounced, unforewarned, do you have any idea—” He cuts himself off, literally snapping his mouth shut.
Xiaolian growls. “He is my friend, and I’m allowed to have friends over.” She turns to Owen. “My room is up the stairs and the last door to your right. I’ll meet you up there.”
“You could have let me know,” Bolin says through gritted teeth. He turns on his heel and goes back into the kitchen.
Xiaolian groans. “Owen, head up. I promise I’ll be right there but I need to talk to my bodyguard.”
Owen looks at Xiaolian, looking quite frankly terrified. He nods, and heads up, following the directions he’s given.
Xiaolian watches to make sure he makes it up the stairs alright. Then she follows her brother into the kitchen. “Bolin, what is your deal?”
Bolin has gone back to washing dishes, dish towel slung over his shoulder. He doesn’t respond immediately, scrubbing at a mixing bowl.
Xiaolian scowls and puts her hands on her hips. “Bolin, we both know that the bowl is clean.”
He waits a moment, sighs, rinses the bowl off and puts it in the drying rack. He holds onto the edge of the sink, looks down into the sudsy water, and cracks his neck.
Xiaolian rubs her face. “Bolin, I need you to talk to me. Otherwise we both know we’re going to sulk and snap at each other all week long, and then we’ll blow up at each other. Which will only end with both of us crying and gaining an extra 10 pounds from stress eating. Gēgē, please.”
His shoulders shake in a silent laugh, which turns into a sort of cough-laughing, which sounds … wet.
“Gēgē? Are you okay?!” Xiaolian immediately goes up to him.
He stops laughing, and heaves a long sigh. “Yeah, xiǎo mèimei. Yeah. I’m fine.” His voice sounds thick, and he won’t look at her.
“You’re definitely not okay! Are you crying?!” Xiaolian’s voice starts rising in pitch.
“No, I… got soap in my eye.” It is the lamest of lies and he knows it, and he knows she knows it too.
Xiaolian doesn’t respond and instead just shoves herself into the space between him and the sink. She buries her face in his chest while she hugs him tight.
He stands there for a second, hands still on the sink edge, before giving in and wrapping his arms around her as tightly as he can. His hands are wet, and his breathing isn’t regular. He puts his head on top of hers and squeezes her so tightly, so protectively, it feels like he thinks she might just disappear if he doesn’t hold onto her.
Xiaolian can feel her eyes start watering. She listens to his heartbeat. “Gēgē, what’s wrong?”
He shifts his head so he can whisper in her ear. “Mòshēng rén kěnéng shì wéixiǎn de, xiǎo mèimei… Qǐng xiǎoxīn. Wǒ yě bù huì shīqù nǐ.”
Xiaolian feels her heart stutter and it takes all her will not to start full-out sobbing. She pulls away slightly to stare her brother in the eyes. She brings her hands up to his cheeks and gently squishes them. “Nǐ bù huì shīqù wǒ. Wǒ bù huì shīqù nǐ. Shàngdì zìjǐ kěyǐ chángshì dài nǐ, wǒ huì zài tā nénggòu zhīqián shā sǐ tā. Nǐ shì wǒ de xiōngdì, méiyǒu mòshēng rén huì bǎ wǒmen fēnkāi. Bùshì zài wǒmen jīnglìguò de shìqíng zhīhòu.”
Bolin doesn’t answer her for a second, just looks at her determined and teary face. “Wǒ qídǎo nǐ shì duì de. Nǐ de yìzhì hěn qiáng.” He leans forward and touches his forehead to hers. “Qǐng ānquán.”
Xiaolian closes her eyes when they touch foreheads. She lets the moment pass.
He pulls away, his smile still a little watery, and puts his hands on her shoulders. “What goodies did you make this morning?”
“You’re lucky I made so much. You can take some of any of them except for the Bigfoot footprints.”
He laughs softly. “Excellent.”
“I’m heading upstairs. And yes, I’ll leave the door open.” She gives him a quick kiss on the cheek before she heads up the stairs. She’s left poor Owen alone long enough. She can hear Bolin opening Tupperware containers as she goes up the stairs.
Xiaolian walks into her room. “Owen? You okay? Sorry that took so long.”
Owen was just awkwardly sitting on the bed. He looks up at her when she walks in. “Who was that?” he asks.
“He’s my older brother. He basically raised me… sorry about how protective he got. He won’t be as forward anymore, promise.” She heads over to her TV. “What movie do you want to watch?”
Owen nods. “Okay,” he says, and then, “I don’t know any movies.”
“Right. Um, what kind of things do you like? In general.”
Apparently living with society just meant a lot of people asking you questions about yourself you don’t know the answers to. Owen shrugs. “I really don’t know… I’ve never had time for fun stuff.”
Xiaolian groans. This was going to be ten times harder than she thought. She sat down in front of the drawer containing all her DVDs. Xiaolian looked back up at Owen and patted the floor next to her. “We can look through them together.”
Owen gets up, sitting down next to her. “Okay. We can just… watch something you like, if you want, though.”
Xiaolian shakes her head. “No, I’ve seen all these multiple times. You should pick.” She looks over the titles. “Would you rather see something scary or funny?”
“Uh. Not scary. Funny is probably… much better.”
“Okay cool. Do you like animals?” Xiaolian crosses out the horror titles in her mind, which is like half of her movies.
“Yeah, animals are good.” He nods.
“Okay, so, I have Hotel for Dogs, Air Buds, Kung Fu Panda, Happy Foot, Finding Nemo, Ice Age, and Ratatouille.” She points out each title and shows him the cover for each one.
“Um.” He looks between the movies, unable to decide.
“Okay, how about this, pick a number 1 through 7.”