Saving the Villain

Cosette yawned, rubbing her weary eyes. She glanced up to check the time on the wall clock. It was already two in the morning. She glanced around the center table in the living area, only to see that Luke was already nodding off while Remo was leaning against the couch while sitting on the floor, sleeping.

"You should sleep now." She blinked when she heard Maxen's soothing voice beside her, turning her head to him. "Should I help you?"

Cosette blinked, her thought process was slow. Just moments ago, she remembered she was solving an equation. But when she blinked, she realized her blink went straight to a power nap.

"Mhm." Cosette lazily leaned on Maxen's side for some affection. "Why are you still awake, Max?"

"I just finished this one."

Cosette glanced at the note in front of Maxen, furrowing her brows. She leaned closer to see it better before surprise took over her countenance.

"You finished it?" she looked back at him, gasping.

"Haha." Maxen laughed. "It was challenging, but the challenge is worth it."

Maxen raised a hand and ruffled her hair. "Are you having eye problems, Cozie? Why do you need to lean over to see my notes?"

"I'm just sleepy." Cosette shrugged, picking up the notebook to check on it one last time. "Wow... this is a long-ass formula. Luke and I kept avoiding this problem."

"Don't avoid problems. Solve them."

She looked back at Maxen to check if he purposely said that since it had a double meaning. A deep exhale slipped past her lips, realizing she was right.

"Max," she called, making his brows raise slightly. "Should we attend Asher's graduation?"

"Whose graduation?"

"Asher's." Cosette bit her tongue. "I thought I told you already."

She shrugged and shook her head mildly. "Well, Asher invited me to attend his graduation."

"What's stopping you?" he asked, making her pause for a moment.

Cosette stared at Maxen quietly, blinking. She knew her boyfriend was the best of the best and he was the most understanding person she ever came across with. However, now that she thought about it, Maxen was too kind and considerate. Her goal was to prevent him from taking the villain route that would eventually lead to his demise, but the Maxen she ushered to the right path was just like an angel.

"Maxen," she called, receiving a low hum from him. "A normal person would first ask, 'why would he invite you?' not 'what's stopping you."

Maxen chuckled shortly again. "I trust you."

"What?"

"I suspect Asher Quinn likes you more than just a friend. Personally, I don't want you to come, but that is just me being selfish," he explained sincerely. "I don't want to stop you from doing whatever you want. I want to be supportive. It's not like you will betray me, right?"

"Never." Cosette pressed her lips into a thin line, satisfied at how mature Maxen was and the level of trust he was giving her.

Little did Cosette know, aside from trust, Maxen simply accepted her habits to save everyone. Cosette had many layers; there were times she was mature, childish, impatient, and silly. All of them and those personalities were her, and thus, he wanted to embrace her all.

Still, there was a small part of him that was deeply concerned about this other side of her.

Cosette seemed to have this obsession to save everyone to the point she would jump into hellfire to save a friend. Maxen didn't think much back then, but after the incident with Amie, he was certain Cosette would stop at nothing to save others.

Stopping her would only repel her and make her defensive. So Maxen was thinking of ways to protect her since she wasn't protecting herself.

"Cozie, don't forget to take care of yourself, hm?" Maxen reached for her hand, eyes fixed on her. "I know you have a big heart to spare, but don't forget about yourself."

Cosette smiled subtly, nodding in understanding. "Can you come with him?"

"Mhm?"

"To Asher's graduation." Cosette slowly shifted her soft eyes to Luke. "At first, I didn't want to go because I don't want it to be a problem between us. But a part of me didn't like some conclusion in my head."

"What conclusion?"

She looked back at him and smiled. "Some sort of cause and effect." She kept her answer vague, knowing a night wasn't enough.

Cosette might be silly oftentimes, but she had never forgotten their previous life. For instance, she would still think of how Maxen and compare the current Maxen to the one she met in their previous life. And with that laid on the table, Cosette never forgot the fact she was rewriting this story.

Since Maxen didn't seem would take the villain role, it was only natural for another person to take that role. This was all her theory, of course. Still, whether this was only her response to trauma or it was something that would eventually happen, she wanted to prevent it.

Even though Asher was a jerk and only thought of himself, Cosette also wanted to save him. His life back then was also unfair... with everything that had happened. Thus, she might not reciprocate the shallow feelings Asher had for her, but at least, he wouldn't turn into a monster she dreaded seeing once again.

"If you think keeping you company will make you feel safer, then I'm in." Maxen didn't ask anything further and just gave her the reassurance she needed. "Though I don't think he will like it."

"He might not like it, but what can go wrong, right?"

"I know." Maxen let out a short chuckle before shifting his attention to Luke. "What about him? Did you tell him about it already?"

"Well..." Cosette cleared her throat, setting her attention to Luke. "He has to come as well. Should we bring the entire class to his graduation?"

"He won't like that."

"At least, there's an entire class to tie down Luke if he goes berserk."

Maxen furrowed his brows and looked at her. "Don't tell me..." he trailed off, narrowing his eyes while Cosette looked back at him with a devious grin.

A/N:

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!