Project X ✔ [O L D V E R S I O N] - Chapter 5: Chapter 5

The next day, Alexa woke up and looked around the room groggily. It was strange for her; she would sleep more comfortable on the bed Xander had given her, than in the bed Seth had gotten for them. She would be lying if she said she'd miss that bed.
She slowly sat up, allowing her head to adjust to her surroundings and then walked over to the window. The sun was shining through softly, but the green curtains moderated the yellow rays. Pulling the curtains back, she let out a deep breath and closed her eyes; enjoying the warmth of the sun.
Alexa continued looking out the window in wonder, loving the way that everything before her seemed to be taken out of a picture. It was truly breath-taking; the sun was slowly rising, illuminating the beach below and added orange coloured hues to the water.
A couple of seagulls flew over the water, diving in to catch their food and then continued flying away. She let out a yawn, walking away from the window and made her way into the bathroom. After rinsing her mouth and splashing water on her face to awaken herself, she tied her unruly hair into a sloppy ponytail and walked out to the kitchen.
Her stomach grumbled loudly, resembling a wild zoo and she groaned opening and closing cabinets to find something to eat. After a long while, she finally found bread and jelly spreading. She hummed to herself quietly, surprisingly feeling content as she smeared strawberry jelly on her slice of bread.
Noticing that it was still early and Xander was nowhere to be seen, she realised that it could be a good time to communicate with Seth and tell him where she was. Although, she didn't know the location herself...
Alexa began rummaging through the drawers, hoping that Xander had been dumb enough to leave it in the drawers. At that moment, she didn't know who was dumber; him for not leaving it out or her for thinking he was dumb enough to leave it out.
"Where the heck did he put it?!" She hissed through her teeth, but not loud enough for anyone to hear her.
She gritted her teeth, anger coursing through her when she came up empty-handed. Before she could go around the house to look for something to use for communication, Xander entered the kitchen.
He had a white towel wrapped around his waist and was using another one to dry his hair. Alexa widened her eyes, almost dropping her sandwich at the sight of his body. Not only was it extremely toned, but his tanned skin was embellished with intricate tattoos.
Droplets of water ran down from his hair, over his broad shoulders and down his chest and she gulped, tightening her hold on the butter knife. "Good morning," he said softly, his voice coming out deep and husky.
But she didn't reply; instead she coughed out and munched on her sandwich, to justify not answering him.
Xander raised his eyebrow questionably, shaking his head and placed the towel on the granite countertop before walking over to the fridge. He grabbed the orange juice, pouring some in a glassed cup and then grabbed a large granola bar. "Did you sleep well?"
"Mm," she nodded, feeling a blush fanning over her cheeks when he caught her looking at his abs. He couldn't really blame her, tattoos were her weakness and a toned body just made it all the better.
"Are you alright?" He frowned, opening the granola bar.
Alexa nodded again, knowing that if she spoke, she'd make a fool of herself. She continued eating, almost swallowing the entire sandwich before she had even swallowed the first bite.
Xander shrugged, taking a gulp from his juice and set it on the counter gently. "You know," he began, the corners of his lips curling upward, "we have excellent hearing, as well as vision. Right now, I can see a dust particle on your nose."
She widened her eyes, scratching her nose in response and blushed.
"I know you were trying to find the telephone," he stated, "but as I have said before, you cannot let your people know of our location. It is for their safety and ours."
"How is that going to keep us safe? For all we know, you guys could attack and we wouldn't have a chance to protect ourselves." She snapped.
He rolled his eyes, shaking his head and said, "If we did attack, you would not have a chance. Humans are fragile, you are slightly behind on technology and your government is too prideful to admit they need help. We came here in peace and we told your leader; in fact, we are providing protection from other civilizations."
"There are more of you?" She whispered.
"Did you not hear the presentation yesterday? Our galaxy is made up of eight planets; we inhabit them. For each human in Earth, there are a thousand of us. But we are not protecting you from ourselves; we are protecting you from a race known as the Griods. They are ruthless and cause massive destruction to everything they come into contact with."
Alexa slumped her shoulders, shaking her head and said, "That's just great. Are they going to attack us?"
Xander shook his head. "We do not believe so. I hope this does not offend you, but they do not exactly take over planets like yours. That was one of the major factors why we came here. It is way too polluted for their liking and they like taking over people that can put up a fight; if they invaded, your people would not last half a day."
"Stop bashing Earth," she snapped, "it's your home now."
"Which is the reason why we are trying to clean it up," he replied smoothly, not bothered by her anger.
"We're not completely horrible either," she frowned, "we've done good things and it's not like we don't have programmes to help the planet."
He chuckled, chewing some of the granola bar and said, "I did not say you were horrible, but compared to the other life in the galaxies, you are one of the weakest we have ever found. As for your programmes; they are mediocre. Your people take that money and spend it on themselves and send a miniscule amount to the actual cause. If all the money that went into those programmes was actually put to the use it was for, your planet would be far cleaner than when we got here."
"Whatever," she mumbled, playing with the crumbs on the counter.
Xander chuckled, amused at her annoyance and shook his head, drinking from his cup quietly. "Also," she looked up at him, "I looked up what you meant. You said you were engaged and I am very confused."
Alexa narrowed her eyes, raising her eyebrows at him and said, "And?"
"Does the human engagement not mean that you are partnered up with someone else?"
She widened her eyes and then burst out laughing, her shoulders shaking up and down. Some snorts escaped her mouth, but it only resulted in her giggling louder. Xander frowned at her, not finding humour in the matter, but waited patiently for her laughter to simmer down. "I told you that you made a mistake when you brought me here!"
He sighed, "Alexa-"
"No," she cut him off, "I'm serious. I told you guys that I was engaged and I happen to love my fiancé. Yeah we fight and get into crazy arguments, but at the end of the day that makes a healthy relationship."
He raised his eyebrows. "Fighting makes healthy relationships?" He muttered something under his breath, "Humans really are crazy."
"Fighting doesn't make a relationship healthy," she snapped, "but if you fight about things, it shows that you care about each other."
"Really?" He mused, "What did you and your fiancé fight about?"
"Well," she blushed, "sometimes he'll miss our date night on Thursdays."
Xander nodded, choosing not to speak about his knowledge of her lies. He didn't know what she was lying about, but her body language and change of tone made it clear. He could also hear her heart beat increase and she was simply standing. "What is a date night?"
Alexa shrugged, feeling somewhat uncomfortable that he was prying into her personal life. "I don't know...it's just a night that I cook for us and try to spend some times with him."
"I do not understand," he shook his head, "if you are trying to spend time with him, why does this result in a fight?"
"Because," she glared at the countertop, "his friends will invite him out and he'll leave me with the damn food by myself."
His frown deepened and he said, "Why would he choose to go with his friends on that night? There are seven days in the week; can he not go another day?"
"That's exactly what we fight about," she muttered, surprised that he understood so quickly.
"Is that what you people refer to as love?" He asked in an incredulous tone. "If I was in love with my fiancée, I would not leave her alone; I would spend the time with her, especially if she took the time to prepare dinner."
She rolled her eyes at him, wanting to hit him with the nearest thing — which happened to be the butter knife — and said, "Yeah, well, we're not all like you." Her eyes travelled down his chest again and she bit her lip hard, curiosity exploding in her as she noticed the large bulging scars in his skin.
"What?" He raised a perfectly arched eyebrow.
Her eyes quickly looked up at his and she snapped, "Can you just put on a shirt? Jeesh, you're walking around naked. Don't you people have any decency?!"
Xander frowned, looking down at himself, but Alexa walked away to the kitchen before he could say anything in return. She knew that if she stayed a couple of seconds longer, she'd say something stupid. Well, more stupid than what she had been saying.
After he found a shirt and pants, Xander walked towards the living room, where Alexa was sitting. She chuckled, making a slight smile grow on his lips at her relaxed figure. She seemed so normal when she wasn't so angry at him.
"Would you like to do anything today? The General gave me the day off to spend with you."
After she noticed he was speaking to her, Alexa raised her eyebrows and gave him a look. "You want me to spend some time with you?"
"Yes," he nodded, "I mean, we are going to spend the rest of our lives together, we might as well try to get to-"
She sighed loudly, making him stop midsentence and she rubbed her temples. "I am not going to spend the rest of my life with you! Have you not listened to me all this time?! I want to go back to my family; to my life! I am not going to serve as your damn baby-making machine; if that's what you want me for, you're going to have to force me to even touch you."
Xander watched as she got up from the couch, glaring at him as if he were the dirtiest scum of the universe and stomped towards her room. She angrily huffed her name to the room scanner and slammed the door after her.
He sighed, shaking his head and wondered if the other Xrions were having as much trouble with their partners as he was with his. If only she knew that in six months, she would have to bear his child or she'd be taken by force.
She would not be raped, but she would be forced to take a sperm insemination. She did not need to engage in any sexual relation with him to conceive his children.
They weren't known for their violence, but they were in desperate need for women. Their empire would start crumbling if their people realised that they had gone to another galaxy to find stubborn women that thought they were too high and mighty for a simple favour.
Of course, the pregnancy process was anything but simple, but they would be treated like queens; each and every single one of them. Before their women began dying off, they were practically placed on pedestals.
They were treated with the utmost respect and equality; carrying a child for almost ten months wasn't something to be taken lightly. Their women experienced far greater things than they could ever endure. It was a known fact, that they could withstand stronger currencies of pain and served as great warriors.
For that reason, Xander couldn't understand why Earth women were viewed as sexual icons. In his home planet, it was forbidden for a man to speak to a courting or married woman without the permission of her husband. It wasn't to prove who was greater; it simply showed respect.
A married woman could choose whether the husband would have to give the final say on the matter, but it became tradition. If a man knew a woman who was courting another man, they would not dare look at the woman with amorous eyes; it was a crime punishable by death.
If they desired the woman, they would have to be single and ask for the woman's feelings. If they were reciprocated, the woman would divorce her partner and begin her new life. It barely occurred, for their marriages were viewed as sacred and were not to be taken lightly.
Nevertheless, the Xrionian women were almost seen as goddesses, they did not need to show themselves provocatively for they were beautiful in any way. If they wished to show more skin than usual, they would, but they'd feel uncomfortable, since they were so used to their customs.
Xander clicked through the channels, grimacing at the amount of skin women showed on the television and shook his head, feeling disgusted with himself for even wasting his time on the contraption. He stood up from the couch, not knowing how Alexa could spend her day watching the screen and decided to spend his free time in the gym.
~*~
Exactly two weeks had gone by and Xander couldn't take it anymore. Alexa reminded him of the children in his planet and even they weren't so uncivilised. When she said she'd make his life hell, she meant it.
They fought over every little thing and he was growing weary of her mood swings. One minute she would be calm and speaking to him normally and the next she was screaming obscenities at him, throwing vases and acting like a spoiled brat.
Her behaviour reminded him of his first months working as Lieutenant. Not because his soldiers were hard to handle, but because he didn't know what to do. Just like he didn't know what to do with Alexa.
She was driving him crazy and if he hadn't needed to strengthen his patience with the new soldiers, he would've snapped and returned her to the human she whined constantly about.
He was on the verge of snapping, but he had to remind himself that that's what she wanted and that he needed to be an example to the Xrionians that opposed mating with the humans. He needed to show them, that mating with the humans would save their race and they wouldn't go crazy — like he was going.
No matter how bad things were going for him, he couldn't allow his people to know how psychotic some Earth women could be.
The previous night he had heard that a woman in Sector 7 had threatened to cut a man's testicles if he didn't get her chocolate. Apparently the Earth women had cravings worse than the Xrionians — and some of their women craved metallic foods.
"Xander," Ryann, one of his fellow soldiers approached him, nervously playing with the tag on his suit and stood before him, waiting until he was done packing his bag.
Xander turned to him. "Yes?"
"My partner, Ling, wants to get pregnant."
He frowned. "That is great news!"
Ryann shrugged, lowering his blue eyes in shame. It was a disgrace to show fear, but he had grown really attached to his partner in the very short weeks they had known each other; so attached that they had already tried for conceiving children. "I do not know if the doctors will conduct experiments on the child, I do not want Ling to be hurt either."
Xander smiled, shaking his head and said, "Ryann, no harm will come to the child. The doctors are actually going to monitor Ling's health so that the pregnancy will go by smoothly."
"She is afraid that they'll take the baby from us and use him for tests."
"General Jenks would never allow something like that, Ryann. Why would we want to hurt these women and their children, if they are helping us with our lineage?"
"True," he sighed, smiling gratefully and said, "Thank you, Lieutenant."
He nodded, dismissing him and slung his bag over his shoulder before pressing some buttons on his watch to teleport himself home. He was somewhat reluctant, for he was tired and did not wish to stand another day of Alexa's bratty tantrums.
What he wished for was peace. He wanted to go home, take his shoes off and reread more about their strange history. So far he reading about Ancient Greeks and he respected them greatly. Of course, they had many flaws, like any great civilization, but he admired their Macedonian leader Alexander the Great. He was one of the few government leaders, who actually seemed to care about his people and treated them like humans.
When he conquered neighbouring lands, he simply asked for resources to feed his troops. He allowed them to have their own beliefs and religion as long as they fed his army along the way. Xander really admired that.
He took a deep breath, releasing it slowly before opening the door to his house and cautiously entered. He was waiting for Alexa to jump out and stab him, of course, he'd have her pinned up against the wall before she could count to one. He was a skilled leader for a reason.
Nonetheless, he was surprised when he entered the house and found everything quiet. She was usually watching the strange TV shows she was so enthralled with or eating her infamous Pringles. But there was no sign of her.
He placed his bag near the door, focusing his enhanced hearing to see if she was in the house. For a couple of seconds he didn't hear anything, but eventually he heard her familiar heartbeat. She was doing something that would get her in trouble; her heart was beating extremely fast.
Xander sighed, preparing himself for another argument and deliberately began to walk to the centre of the house, to pinpoint her location. He figured she'd be in her room, but was surprised to realise that she was in his room.
Alexa huffed in annoyance, muttering curses under her breath once she moved on to the next drawer and carefully tried to fold his clothes exactly like they were before she began to meddle in them.
"Do I want to know what you are doing in my room?" Xander spoke quietly, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest.
She jumped, hissing a curse and then gritted his teeth. She had been caught — and still, she hadn't found the damn phone. "Hey..."
"Alexa," he sighed, his voice coming out as tired as he felt, "how many times will I have to tell you that you cannot tell your fiancé of our location?"
She slammed the drawer in, turning to him and quietly said, "Why can't you just let me go? I've been nothing but a pain in your ass! I just want to go home and see my fiancé. I want to forget you people abducted me and I never want to see any of you."
He slid his hand down his face, his shoulders tensing as he tried to calm his growing irritation. "You filled out a survey for us, you marked that you were single. It is not my fault that you wrote that. So please, just stop and try to be a little more civil."
"More civil?!" Her tone of voice raised a few octaves, "You people took me from my damn house and refuse to take me back home even though I have repeatedly told you that it was a mistake! I have been as civil as I can fücking get!"
"You are looking through my personal belongings," he gritted out, "how is that civil?"
Her jaw dropped open in disbelief and she blinked multiple times before crying out, "You basically know everything about me! You know my favourite food, my favourite colours, and my favourite everything – and you're complaining about me looking through your damn drawers?!"
Xander breathed in deeply, trying his hardest not to allow his anger to get the best of him. He closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger and pleaded to any of the gods that would listen to him, to provide more patience because he desperately needed it. "Alexa, you filled that information out for us we did not pry it out of you."
Alexa squealed out in anger, the noise sounding like a mixture of the squeal of a pig and a roar. She slammed her hands behind her, on his drawers and cursed him out. But Xander wasn't paying attention to her tantrum.
He was paying attention to the glass one-of-a-kind picture of him and Corah. His reflexes were usually faster than most, but at that moment, he was paying too much attention to Alexa's whines, to notice the frame falling to the ground.
It shattered, the only remaining picture of Corah and him, and he was not content. The pent up anger he felt overcame his rational side and that small mistake, managed to break down his walls.
"Enough!" He snarled, his eyes turning pitch-black as he clenched his fists at his sides, "You have been an ungrateful, incompetent human!"
Alexa widened her eyes, his outburst taking her by surprise. But it was soon replaced by fear when he stalked towards her and resembled a raging bull. She gulped, stumbling out of the way and watched as he knelt next to the broken frame and tried to piece it together.
It wasn't a photograph. It seemed to be a hologram and now it was broken — and it had been her fault. She gulped, watching his large fingers struggling to pick up the small pieces of glass.
"I have tried all I could," he spat, his black eyes watering with angry tears and his voice came out growled, "I have bought your favourite snacks. I have given you your own room. I even bought you a painting set so that you would not be bored. I renovated my house around your likings so that you would be comfortable and this is how you repay me?! All I asked of you in return was to lend me your company. I never touched you inappropriately and I never desired you sexually like the males of your planet. I respected you; that is all I wanted in return."
"Xander," she whispered, licking her lips nervously as her heart began to speed up. Her eyes watered and she no longer felt fearless. She wanted to cry and beg him for forgiveness, but that seemed to be the last thing on his mind. "I'm sorry-"
"Do not lie to me," he snarled, "you are not sorry. You humans never are. You cannot think of anything but yourselves. You take what you want and leave the rest of the people to fend for themselves. You enslaved your own race because of their different colour; you are all heartless and I refuse to have my future generations come from a race as callous as yours."
Tears welled in her eyes and she felt her bottom lip trembling. She didn't know what to feel, she actually felt sorry that she had hurt him because he was right. He had done everything in his power to make her feel comfortable and she had only made his life a living hell.
"Do not worry about having to carry my children," Xander growled, his voice coming out unrecognisable, "I do not want you to be their mother. As a matter of fact," he stood up, grabbing her elbow and yanked her towards the door, "we are going to see General Jenks right now. You are not staying in my home another night."