For some indescribable reason, I felt angered by Xavier's words.

"I don't have a story to tell." I turned abruptly and began to walk down the hallway, not sure where I was headed to, but I had had enough of standing in the middle of the staircase and pausing after every step. 

On the floor of the narrow hallway lay a long grey carpet that stretched all the way down the hall, and the walls were a light shade of beige and covered in almost every inch with various-sized frames containing family photos; some in black-and-white, and some tracing back to what looked like centuries-old original drawn portraits.

"Nora," Xavier called out for me, and I forced my feet to stop and plant me to the ground. I turned around to meet his gaze, and he stopped a foot away from me. "I thought you said we couldn't build a relationship without knowing the whole truth."

I did say that, and I bit my tongue for having done so. The ugly truth was that I couldn't ask Xavier to tell me everything about his life while keeping my own in the dark; if he trusted me enough to tell me his family secrets then I must have the courage to let him in on my past as well.

But I couldn't bring myself to do that.

"I did say that; and if there were any significant truths you needed to know, I would tell you them in every detail. But there's nothing worth knowing." I clenched my fist so tightly by my side, my nails dug deeply into my palm.

"We both know that's not true." Xavier's jaw clenched tightly, and I watched the muscle tick on the side of his face. "Why are you lying to me?"

My chest ached as I identified the pain in the tone of his voice, and I hated myself for being the cause of it. My eyes began to sting as I bit the inside of my cheek.

"I'm no-" I began to deny it but he cut me off sharply.

"What is it with the whole 'history repeating itself'?" He asked.

My heart took a sudden leap out of my chest, and it began to beat rapidly against my rib-cage that I felt it would break free at any second.

"What do you mean?" I whispered, feigning ignorance.

Xavier sighed frustratingly, his jaw once again ticking in annoyance. "I've heard your fights with Elliot, Nora. Don't take me for a fool."

My eyes began to burn more intensely as I fought against the tears, knowing I no longer had a way out.

Xavier noticed, and his eyes softened a bit. He stepped closer to me until my nose was almost touching his chest. Gently, his index finger traced down to under my chin and he tipped my head back so I could look up into his striking, determined, and promise-filled gaze. "You can trust me enough to reveal your past to me."

My heart clenched in my chest, my mind going over everything he had done for me and my friends so far. And the one thing he was asking for in return, I was struggling to provide. But he deserved the truth, at least that much I owed to him after the lengths he had gone to to protect my friends and I. So hesitantly, I nodded my head.

Xavier's eyes brightened gradually, and he took a step back. Turning towards the other side of the hallway, he motioned with his hand for me to head that way. We walked slowly as I felt my stomach clenching, my nervousness increasing the nausea and leaving my mouth dry. At the end of the hallway, we arrived at a wide double door. Xavier stepped forward and reached into his back-pocket, retrieving a golden key and inserting it into the lock. He turned it and we heard a light click as the door was unlocked and he pushed it open, gesturing for me to enter first.

The insides of the room took my breath away, as every other part of the house had. It was an office, only so dreamy with three walls entirely covered in bookshelves stretching from the wooden floors up to the high ceilings, filled with hundreds of books. Directly across from the door was a wide mahogany desk packed with papers and a laptop, and behind it - the fourth wall of the room - was a huge glass window that spread across the entire wall, and gave a marvelous view of the garden below.

"Wow," I whispered in wonder. Every place in this house was breath-taking.

I heard the click of the door closing behind me, and I turned to glance at Xavier. He gave me a small smile and motioned towards the right side of the huge office, where there was a seating area with comfortable-looking couches. We walked up to the area and sat down, Xavier to my right.

I dropped the bag I had in my hand to the floor beside me, and got comfortable on the seat, shifting my body so I was mostly facing Xavier as we sat side-by-side.

His eyes stared into mine expectantly, and my breath got stuck in my throat. I didn't know where to begin.

Xavier sensed my unease, what with my leg bouncing and my hands shaking and my palms sweating. He reached out and grabbed both my hands into his, pulling me forwards and resting our entwined hands on his lap. He drew circles with his thumb on the back of my wrists, his eyes never leaving mine.

That small gesture was enough to again send my emotions into a whirlwind. I felt my eyes watering, and I tried to yank my hands out of his grasp but he held on to them, tightly. He shook his head. "You don't have to hold back."

I bit the inside of my cheek so hard I began to draw blood. I could identify the metallic taste and it only increased my nausea.

"How did you meet your current friends?" Xavier suddenly asked.

I was taken-aback by his question, so it took me a few seconds too long to put together an answer.

"W-we met in college. I was already friends with Ariel since high-school, and then we met the rest at college."

Xavier nodded, a small smile on his lips. "Were they friends then? Or did you meet everyone separately?"

I shook my head. "The guys were all friends, and they were living in the same apartment. We met at a frat party." I began to recall the first night we met, a ghost of a smile on my lips. "Ariel had gotten so drunk that night," I chuckled, "after dancing manically, she ran into Seth and accidentally spilled her drink on the both of them. And Seth being the kind-hearted gentleman that he is, made it his mission to make sure she cleaned up properly and sobered up a little since the house was packed and she was sure to fall prey to at least one guy; even though I told him I could take care of her."

"The next day, we ran into Seth again, and he was with Noah and Elliot. After that night we started hanging out and it wasn't a week later that I met Bella in one of my Photography classes. And of course, when I introduced her to the rest, she fell head over heels for Elliot, it was like love at first sight." I chuckled, my heart fluttering as I remembered what was one of the best times of my life. "It didn't take long before we all became really close friends. Hanging out on every weekend, spending every consecutive holiday together..."

I glanced at Xavier to see him gazing down at me with an unrecognizable emotion in his eyes, and a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"On my second year of college, I made a new friend." My heart suddenly clenched tightly in my chest, and I felt my palms begin to get clammy in Xavier's hands. And I don't know if he noticed or not, but he continued holding onto them while watching me expectantly, urging me to go on. "Elliot wasn't too keen on our friendship, saying he had heard the guy was bad news," I felt Xavier tense, his back straightening a bit. Yet still, he held onto my hands and continued the circular motion of his thumbs on the back of my wrists.

"But he was very charming, and I was very naive." I bit the inside of my cheek as my voice broke. "So many girls had a crush on him, and of course - like the young dumb girl that I was - I'd felt very special when he picked me out of the mass. We hadn't been friends for too long before he asked me out, and I was so blinded by his charming behavior that I immediately said yes." I recalled the memory of the day he took me ice-skating, our first date, and I was smiling and giggling at every word he said, because I was so bewitched by his ice-cold blue eyes.

"Everything was going so well. He was the first boyfriend I had ever had, and he was a real gentleman - spoiling me every week with luxurious gifts, taking me out on a date every weekend, holding my hand and offering his jacket whenever it got too cold." My eyes fell down to where Xavier held my hands, no longer able to look into his eyes as I recalled the worst memory of my past.

"But then he started hiding things from me, and lying about his whereabouts. So, one night, I decided to discreetly follow him after he left my dorm. He led us to a nightclub, but circled around to the backdoor, where he met with a group of men who looked much older than his age. Much bigger, and much more dangerous looking. They exchanged words, and I turned to leave before I'd get caught." I recalled that chilly night when I ran back to my dorm, to find Ariel already asleep in her bed, and I was left alone to ponder over what I'd seen. "I decided the next day that I'd confront him about it, and ask him why he'd been lying to me when we had been dating for over five months." I shook my head, remembering just how foolish I'd been. "He didn't appreciate me getting all up in his business." I felt a huge lump forming in my throat, and I tried to swallow it down.

"He found out that I followed him that night, and thinking that I'd caught on to what he was dealing, he completely lost it." I felt my lips start to quiver, reliving the parts I had fought so hard to forget. "He ordered me to stay away from my friends, for the fear that I'd tell on him. He threatened that he would do worse to them than what he did to me. And I believed him - I believed he would. That night, I saw a side of him that I had never before seen in anyone, and I knew that if he could do something like that to someone he supposedly loved," the words felt like acid in my mouth, "then he would definitely do worse to a bunch of others that he couldn't even tolerate."

Xavier's grip on my hands had tightened slightly, his gaze never leaving my face, and my eyes never meeting his.

"I disconnected with my friends for weeks, during which he never stopped emotionally tormenting me for breaking his trust," I heard a deep growl rumble in Xavier's chest, and his grasp tightened even further on my hands, but not yet to the point where it was uncomfortable. "When Ariel's persistence to get answers didn't stop, I decided to secretly meet up with her after class, just to tell her that I needed sometime to figure things out, at least until Da-" I bit hard on my bottom lip,  "until he cools off and I could regain his trust."

"But he had people watching me. And word got to him that I'd met up with my friend." I took a quick glance at Xavier, seeing his eyes now fixed on the wall behind me, a shade darker than the usual. His teeth were gritted so tightly that I could see the muscles in his jaw clenching. "No matter how many times I swore to him that I hadn't told Ariel anything to give him away, he wouldn't believe me." I felt my chest tightening further with every word, and my tears began to flow freely now. I couldn't control myself as my voice broke, "that was the worst night of my life. He had hurt me so bad to the point where I'd gone completely numb."

Xavier suddenly released my hands, his own falling to his lap and clenching so hard his knuckles turned completely white.

I forcefully continued to the end, knowing that I will never be able to bring this topic back up again, so I had to tell him everything now while I still could.

"I only vaguely remember waking up in the hospital the next time my eyes opened." I tried to recall the memories when I came back to consciousness. "I was out for three days. And when I woke up, Ariel told me that Elliot had followed me to his apartment, where he found me unconscious on the floor, with him nowhere to be found."

My breathing was coming out rapidly, and I was beginning to see black spots invade my vision. "Even with the statement that we made and the word out for his arrest, they never caught him. Because he had men of power protecting his back," I croaked out the fact that I hated the most.

I couldn't stand looking at Xavier now that he was informed of my most vulnerable state. My tears kept flowing until my entire vision had gone blurry, and I tried to restrain the sobs that threatened to escape. Through hazy vision, I saw a hand reach out and grab my hand, the familiar sparks shooting up my arms. Xavier's fingers grabbed my chin and slowly lifted my head so our eyes could meet. I blinked the tears away, trying to restrain the rest threatening to fall.

His eyes were not the usual striking-silver. They were now steel-grey, hard and emotionless. Through clenched teeth, he growled out. "What's his name?"

I took a sharp intake of breath, surprised by his only response to everything I had just narrated. I shook my head. I made an oath to never mention his name out loud.

"Tell me his name," Xavier insisted, his voice hard and icy.

I shook my head. "No. There's no point.."

"Tell me his name, Nora."

"No!" I exclaimed, but he didn't even flinch. My tears began to stream down my face once more, now completely reckless. I began to sob. "There's no point!" I nearly yelled.

He suddenly yanked me by my hands, and I fell forward into his chest. His arms came around me, wrapping tightly and stroking the back of my head.

But it was suffocating me. Being in his presence was suffocating me. Being held was suffocating me. I planted my hands flat against Xavier's chest and tried to push, but he wouldn't let go. And I started to hyperventilate.

My breaths came out rapidly, and with tightened fists I began to punch against Xavier's chest. He suddenly let me go, pulling back but still holding onto my shoulders tightly. His eyes found mine, widened with fear. He began to speak, but I couldn't hear him. The only things I could hear were my ragged breathing, and my beating heart - beating so fast I felt like it would burst out of my chest at any second - I felt like it would stop beating altogether. Xavier shook my shoulders gently, but now - I couldn't even see him. My vision started going hazy, with dark spots invading my sight, until eventually it turned completely black and I felt myself falling forward into strong arms.