``something beautiful (xavier)

[mel3]

It was late. Merie wasn't sure how late, but the moon was high in the sky and the stars glistened brightly. Standing on Heart's Desire Beach sure brought back memories.
It had been almost a full year since she'd come out here in the night to relax. In a way, it was her happy place. All through middle and high school, whenever her mother and her had fought, she'd sneak out at night and just lie in the sand, picking out stars and forming her own little constellations. Being surrounded by such a vast, open, beautiful world made all of her problems-- her arguments, her fears, her troubles-- all melt away. Nothing was really all that important, relatively speaking.

With her sandals in one hand and a broken protest sigh rod in the other, she trekked around the beach, just close enough to the surf so that every few minutes, it would rush over her toes and under her arches.
Today had been rough. Meredith and some her gals had spent a good portion today in front of Capeside's local slaughter house, until the cops came and broke the rally up. In the end, Meredith had left the site with a warning and only the thin board of wood she'd used to support her sign.

Sighing, she glanced around. Just before she'd reached the beach, she'd texted her friend-- well, her best friend, really-- Xavier in hopes that he might show. She hadn't been waiting long, though, so his lack of response didn't surprise him. Either he was asleep, or busy. Hopefully neither, she thought with a sigh.
After meeting Xavier a year ago when he stumbled into town, he'd replaced her years-old tradition of coming down the Heart's Desire Beach. Being with him had been comforting enough, since he never seemed to judge her and was just so comforting and good to her. Admittedly, she really didn't deserve it, but he had always been unfailingly kind and she really adored him for it.

Merie sat on the sand, a few feet out of the surf's reach. Her phone sat in her pocket, set on vibrate, ready to get a text if he responded.
It wasn't that she wanted to spend the night venting, or complaining or God knows what. Just being around Xavier was the cure, whether they were talking or underwater basket-weaving, it didn't seem to matter. She always left with a sense of contentment, and that was what she needed now. Her restless spirit refused to calm, and he was like a soothing touch on her bristled spine.
With not a sight of him on the dimly lit beach, she simply wrapped her arms around her knees and waited, praying to whatever God she believed in that he was coming.

(notes; ahhh crappy. D: i stink at starters. sorry if there was a little godmodding in there... kind of had to just wing it. xD)

[xavier]

The moon was already floating around in the big, dull sky by the time Xavier received the text. He was already in bed. The illumination and annoying ring woke him from his near sleep state and he moaned, reaching over to his bed side table to grab the phone. As soon as he saw who it was from he sat up. Meredith. His best – and perhaps only – friend. They had known each other ever since Xavier had come to Capeside a year ago and they had become friends quickly. She had been the one to direct him to where he was living now, with two of his amazing sisters. He loved his family, there was no doubt about that, and he missed the portion of it that was still living in California.

The boy did not bother to reply. He hoped that by know his best friend knew that he would do anything for her and would follow her anywhere in the whole world. Or perhaps she did not know that. Perhaps that was the reason for him writing her the song. In truth he thought that the song would be the only way she would ever know how he truly felt. Of course, it was far from complete just yet. He barely had one stanza and his rhyming was absolutely terrible. Most of the assignments they set at college were compositions that did not involve words. This was a whole new territory for him. He could play guitar perfectly fine, it was just the composing part that stumped him.

Getting up, he grabbed the first t-shirt he could find and shoved it on, not caring whether or not it was clean, he knew that Merie would hardly mind. He wondered if his boxer shorts were alright but, thinking better of himself, he grabbed a pair of shorts and threw them on. Chucking on a pair of man sandals he disregarded his dorky style and shoved the phone in his pocket, heading for the door. He wondered whether the rest of the house was asleep. Lily probably would be; she was only four years old after all. Annabeth was floating around, perhaps not yet asleep. Aimee was out somewhere, he remembered, so the babysitter would be around. He could not remember her name so he just casually waved at her as he walked for the front door. “If I’m not home before Aimee gets back tell her I’m with Merie,” he whispered to her, so that he would not wake Lily in her bedroom. The babysitter smiled and nodded and Xavier left, closing the door behind himself.

On his bicycle, Xavier managed to get to the beach in twenty or so minutes. It was probably dangerous riding at night, especially without a helmet, but he could not be bothered to take the car. Cars on the roads made so much noise and so much pollution, as Meredith probably knew well. That’s right. There had been a protest that day. He could not quite remember what it had been on but he had missed that one. Getting arrested was not on his to-do list, especially since he had not yet expressed his feelings to his best friend, yet alone finished the song. Once that was all done, then he could get arrested. Of course, Aimee would probably kill him for that. From what he knew of his sister, she did not like paying money to bail him out. It would probably be Peter who would bail him out anyway, that’s where Xavier’s call would be going to.

Walking down the beach, the boy assumed that Capeside residents wouldn’t steal a bike at this time of night, and so he left it unchained. Xavier saw the feminine figure of his friend down by the water and instantly a smile fell across his face. He loved her. He knew that. But she did not. And she could not. At least not yet. Now was not the time for that. “You’re lucky Merie, I wasn’t completely asleep when I got your message,” he laughed quietly as he sat down beside her. Smiling over at the girl he noticed the broken wooden post at her hand. “I heard about the protest, news travels fast in Capeside. What was this one on again?” Unlike most guys, Xavier was genuinely interested. He found it amazing that one girl could have so much passion in her heart. Meredith certainly was an amazing young woman.

[mel3]

There had always been something... etheral about water at night. Spirtual, maybe. Despite her strict veggie-only ways and her need to state all of her opinions loudly and in the form of a picket line, Merie wasn't crazy. She simply had dreamed up the dense, outerworldly atmosphere Heart's Desire Beach possessed when the moon was out and the stars hung above it.
Yeah, there wasn't definitely something magical in this place. The concept-- even the thought of magic-- made her smile. She'd long since begun telling her mother she had become wiccan and had taken up a weeky ritual of dancing naked for the trees. Of course, this was completely untrue. Merie was an atheist, but she figured her mother didn't have to know that right now.

Settling into the sand, she used the butt of her sign to slowly draw the white, soft sand over her feet. The surf rushed up to absorb her, but like it had every other time in the past five minutes, it made it about two feet away from her toes before retreating.
Jeez, she loved this place.
Pulling her phone from her short's pocket, she checked to see if she'd somehow gotten a message and missed it. Nope. Sighing, she replaced the phone in her pocket and figured Xave was sleeping, or writing music. He could get really heavily impassioned by just one line of music, and then who knows, he might never have noticed his little gal pal ringing him up.
Though it would've killed her to admit, she definitely had a little bit of a thing for her friend. Xave was a good deal taller than her with a limber, thin body. Even though he wasn't huge with muscles, he still was a good deal larger than her, and his long, perfectly-fingered hands could circle her forearm with ease. And to top off tyhe package that was Xave was his sweet, extremely tender and caring personality. God, she would've been dead out of luck if he had a killer smile or something.
...Oh, wait. He did.
She laughed sadly and privately at her predicament. Merie had no idea what do do in a situation like this. She'd only had one boyfriend in high school, and they'd dated for like, a month. Hardly what one could call experience. And Xave wasn't a heavy flirt, so if he liked her, he had never let on. Pushing her feet more deeply into the sand, she figured she'd be content with just their friendship. Not worth risking it, she thought. Besides, there was no one she could talk to about it. The only person who knew her every (well, almost) secret was Xavier, and she definitely couldn't tell him that she was in love with him.
Nope.
Uh-uh.
No way.

Enraptured by her own thoughts, Merie nearly jumped to her feet when Xave appeared. She laughed quietly with him as he settled into the sand and gave him a light push on the shoulder. "Xave! Way to scare me. I thought you weren't coming." Since she hadn't heard from him, the last thing she'd expected was for him to step out of nowhere and plop down at her side. She could still feel her heart beating hard against her chest. "But thanks fo coming." Even though he'd startled her, she hadn't missed his soft words. "Oh, dang. I'm sorry if I woke you up. You didn't have to come if you were already half asleep!" She grinned, though, because she was quite happy that he'd picked her over sleeping.
At the mention of the protest, her smile vanished. "You heard already? Dang." She chewed at her lower lip, keeping her eyes glued to the turbulent water farther out. "Me and some other people were protesting the nearby slaughter house," She murmured, feeling a little embarrassed. "It's not that I have a problem with meat. I just think that if people are going to eat, they should get it in a much more... I don't know, friendly way." She shuddered, thinking about some of the research she'd done about those slaughter houses. "Xave, they torture some of those animals." And she hated it. Merie couldn't hurt a bug-- not to mention a pig, or a cow. The least they deserve a quick death, if they had to die at all. "It just bothers me." Meredith murmured into the breeze, resting her chin on her knees and wrapping her arms around her calves.

(EDIT: holy cannoli. this post is no longer severely hampered by typos. i repeat, it has been saved. over and out.)

[xavier]

Smiling as he noticed the surprise look on his friend’s face, Xave allowed himself to relax a little. It had been quite a hard day, for a college student at least. He had been composing both classical and pop today, of course only one of those actually counted towards his final grade. And as was the usual fashion, he spent more of his time on the piece that had no relation to his college course. To Xavier, it was the acoustic guitar song that mattered most. After all, that song was completely about his heart. It was harder to write, for some reason. It was like he simply could not quite articulate what he wanted to say in the song. However, he would find a way, because it was the song that was the only way he could tell Meredith how he felt. It sucked, not being able to actually talk to her about those feelings. The only way he could do it was through song. How cowardly.

Why would the girl even think about mentioning him not having to come? Did she not realise that he would do anything for her? “Hey Merie, relax. Besides, I’d catch a grenade for ya, throw my hand on a blade for ya, I’d jump in front of a train for ya, you know I’d do anything for ya,” Xavier sung the words of the well-known Bruno Mars song, grinning at his best friend. Sometimes having perfect pitch came in handy. He could recite many of the popular and not so popular songs almost perfectly in tune. “However Merie, I do hope that unlike the girl Bruno Mars is singing to, you would do the same for me.” The boy laughed and leant back on his elbows in the sand, looking up at her.

The topic of protests and slaughter houses brought the mood down a little. Sighing, a frown fell across the boy’s face. “That sucks. I mean, I’m not vegetarian like you but, I still think that an animal deserves a quick death. I’m sorry I couldn’t come help you protest this time. I was tied up with compositions and stuff. But next time I’ll try and get out of the house.” Xavier dearly hoped that Merie knew just how true his words were. He wished that he could make it better, so that she wouldn’t be so sad about all of those things all the time. It was not fair. Why was he so helpless? There was nothing he could do really and it sucked. He wanted to be her Superman, to live up to that nickname. At the moment he was just a stupid side-kick with no helpful powers and no chance to save the world. He would never be able to save her, she would simply end up with some drop dead gorgeous guy and they would move to New York City or something and she would never look back. Xavier, like always, would be forgotten in someone else’s shadow.

[mel3]

There weren't a lot of words that could actually describe the way Meredith felt as Xave sat beside her. It was really just a melting pot; a myriad of emotions she could hardly distinguish. A little happiness here, a little calmness there, but most of all, there was a sense of comfort that followed him, sort of like a cape.
Despite being the strong, independent woman she was, she never felt awkwardly tough around Xave, though some might think she would. After all, Xave was hardly a beacon of manliness. He didn't pump iron daily or drink protein shakes. He didn't flex his muscles constantly or swear profusely. Really, around someone as crude and blunt as Meredith could be, one might expect them to maintain a fragile, awkward relationship at best. Instead, Merie liked to think that her confidence made him more confident, and his kind happiness made her less... well... her.
Somehow, Merie was able to sit in between two hardened bikers and feel pretty damn tough, but with Xave, her inner damsel came shining through. He proved that as he sang, and a small river of giggles drifted from her mouth. "Xa-ave," She said it as if her voice were arms and his name was her first born child. Her vocal chords caressed the sounds and her smile warmed them. "Of course I would catch a grenade for ya," She added a playful punch to his arm, but from her sitting position, it was more of an awkward graze to his elbow. With a devious glint to her eye, she added, "Except when I caught it, I'd just chuck it at the dummie who would dare try to hurt my best friend." Then again, the grenade would probably explode. However, seeing as that was never specified in the verse, she decided that in this metaphorical situation, the grenade would not explode and she would reign triumphant.

It was unfortunate that they had to go from joking to being serious. Merie wished she'd just left the topic of her protests out and instead distracted herself with the friendly banter she and Xave were so good at.
Still, when he offered to attend the next one, she shook her head. "Sometimes I really wonder if they're worth it. I mean, I have to keep trying, but actually making a change is harder than yelling at a few people and waving big signs in their faces." She held up the broken sign stick in her hand, her frown deepening. "The stuff you do is probably more revolutionary then what I do anyway. Besides, I would be really upset if you got tomatoed." It wasn't uncommon for people to protest against protesters. She'd had all kinds of fruit and squishy food products thrown at her for picketing, and the idea of subjecting to Xave to that was almost embarrassing. "How about you just write me an awesome theme song and that will give me the strength to protest against those stupid g-men and their stupid policies forever and ever?" The idea, although ludicrous, was Meredith's attempt to lighten the atmosphere. Hopefully, it worked.

(notes; apologizing in advance for any further typos. i'm just nasty bad at catching them. i'll fix them when i can, but if my mangled writing becomes too much, just tell me and i'll work harder lol. sorry about that.)

[xavier]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,320,true] WORDS 654 | TAGGED MERIE <3 Laughing at her reply to his grenade joke, Xavier grinned at her. She punched him but it was a bit of an awkward punch and he barely felt it. That was Meredith though; she would not hurt a fly. Unless, for some reason, that fly tried to kill him. It was odd. She was so ready to protect animal rights and she was just as ready to throw a grenade back to the guy who threw it at him. Were they even talking about a literal grenade anymore or was it something different? Whatever the matter, he was just glad that she was willing to stick up for him. But then, it just made him feel worse. Because he knew that she could pull something like that off, and that he never could. So what if she called him Superman? He was just a fake and she was the real deal. She was Wonder Woman. The serious mood that came over the conversation did not quite affect him. He was used to being forced into a serious mood. The teachers were always telling him that it was not the time to goof off and that he had to work. Of course, goofiness was in his blood, it was who he was. And yet everyone tried to rein him back, to make him some serious musician. What if he didn’t want to be? What if he wanted to goof off and just to have fun? That would get him nowhere. That’s what everyone would say to him. Maybe that was the difference between his little brother and him. His little brother was so focused with violin, which was why he excelled in it so much. And here was Xavier, jumping from instrument to instrument and adding composing and song writing on top of that. He just was not as focused. Sitting up, a frown crossed his face. “Hey. It’ll be worth it Merie. Trust me. Never, ever give up on what you believe.” Xavier’s tone was so serious he thought that, for a second, he just was not himself. But then he shook his head and sighed, calming himself down. Smiling, he chuckled at the theme song idea. “Oh wow. You really have no idea what I’ve got in store for you Meredith Pilsbury.” Of course, she would have no idea that he was referencing the song that he was writing for her. But what if she knew about it? Had Aimee told her? No. Never. He would shoot his older sister for that. Regardless, he had to spill the beans now, just to save her from confusion. “I have a slight confession. Please don’t laugh or anything or bug me about it or whatever. In fact, just don’t say anything until I’m finished.” Xavier paused and raised an eyebrow at her, willing her to stay silent. Of course, she was a rather stubborn girl, but he hoped that she would at least honour his wish for now. Swivelling on the sand so that he was facing her completely Xavier took a deep breath. “I’m writing you a song. Well, I’ve written it. Kind of. It’s nearly done and when it is I’ll show it to you… or sing it to you or whatever. Really it’s no big deal. I just thought it’d help with my composition and I didn’t really want to bore anyone with my complaints about how long Annabeth and Aimee each spend in the bathroom. So I thought I’d sing about how much I… like you. You are my best friend after all.” Xavier paused, nodding and smiling to her so that she would know he was finished. Hopefully none of what he just said to her gave her any hint to how much he liked her. Hopefully she would just think that he was singing about how much of an awesome friend she was. Nothing about him being… in love.

[mel3]

Merie was a pacifist. She always had been. Gandhi was practically her idol; a man who could fight a good fight with out raising a fist. Though she thought of herself as tough, she didn't think of herself as violent. The idea of Xavier in danger, though, made her feel queazy. He was her best friend. Even she would compromise her morals to help him.

She gave him a sad smile and leaned against him, resting her head against his shoulder. "Fine. But only because you asked." If he believed in her, she believed in herself. It was something about his willful almost (but not quite) childishness that gave her hope. Sometimes she wondered what she'd done before him.
She had no idea what he had in store for her? Merie straightened and narrowed her eyes at him. "Have you already written me one?" A wide, excited grin broke out across her face as he confessed to writing her a song. Covering her mouth with her hands, she wriggled giddily in the sand. "No way!" Xavier had no idea how elated he'd just made her. Words were bubbling out of her mouth, fighting for order and speed. "I can't believe this, Xave!"
Suddenly, the events of the day didn't matter. It didn't matter that her protest had a been a flaming failure or that she had tomato skins in her socks still. Xave, her Superman, had come in and made things a little brighter. Just for her. "God, I'm so excited now." Her cheeks were red from giggling. "You're like my superhero, you know that? My superman. You come in and save the day for me. When I'm old, you'll probably be helping me across the street!" She could see it now. Two elderly people, a hunched old woman and a wheezing old man, walking across a street in the daylight, hands held, supporting each other.
The thought was surprisingly romantic.
No, don't think like that! She chided herself, it's pointless, after all. All Xave and I are are friends. And staying that way wouldn't leave her unhappy, and she knew it. So long as she had him, an honest smile would always be found on her face.

They sat in silence for a few moments, Merie trying to pick a new topic to begin rambling about. Each time she came up with something, though, it led back to that song. Her song. She wasn't supposed to bother him about it, he'd said so... but... "What's the title going to be?" Meredith blurted, ashamed of her lack of self-control. "Is it going to be poppy, or like, indie, or... I don't know, rap? Are you putting my mom in it?" She sneered, "If so, I'd rather you just reference a dog, or... I don't know, my neighbor." Maybe rambling the way she was would be considered rude, or even annoying, but it was just who she was. Merie was insatiably curious and when the matter involved Xavier and her, well... She might get a little... how do you say... out of hand.

[xavier]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,320,true] WORDS 478 | TAGGED MERIE <3 | SORRY FOR THE WAIT Xave smiled. He was glad that she was happy about the song. In fact, he had no idea that she would have been this happy. In all honesty, he had no idea how she would react. A positive reaction was exactly what he had been hoping for and that just made him feel brilliant. At least his musical talent was being put to good use. Of course, now that she knew about the song there was no way of chicken out of singing it to her. Now he would have to follow through on that part. Hopefully Merie would like the song just as much as she liked the idea of the song. Oh God. What would happen if she didn’t like it? Xavier could not bear to think about that. No. It would all be fine. Merie would love it, he could just tell. “Let’s not get too carried away Merie. It’s really not that good anyway. And I do not want to make a big deal of it.” Xavier could feel himself blushing slightly and he tried to laugh it off. Running a hand through his brown hair he looked over at his friend with a grin. “We’ll definitely be friends when we are older. And of course I’ll help you across the street…. Although it’ll most likely be you helping me. We both know how uncoordinated and clumsy I am.” Laughing quietly he lay back in the sand, not caring that there would be sand all through his hair. He simply sat and stared up at the stars, wondering what it would be like to be old. He and Merie would always be friends, he knew that. But what if he wanted more? Xave did not know if that would ever work out or if she even felt the same way. Everyone who met the pair always assumed that they were a couple anyway. So what if they became a real couple? Would it ruin their friendship or simply make it stronger? Xavier wished that he had the answers to those questions. The title? Xavier had not really thought about a title very much. The main chorus just spoke about how he was not superman but he could not quite convey that to Meredith without actually singing it. So he needed a different name, something that was close though, that she would understand. Smiling, he turned his head towards her. “It’s called Superman. And it’s kind of an acoustic sort of Indie pop song. I don’t really know how to explain it. You’re just going to have to wait until I can actually play it for you.” Xavier could not help but laugh as his friend continued to ramble on. “No. Your mother is not in it. Chill out Merie. It’s just about you and me. And how much of an awesome friend you are.”