"I am." Si Xia spoke as he pulled her to her feet. "You, on the other hand, need some food and sleep. I'll put you in a taxi for my bungalow, I really don't think you should go back tonight." Xia said, and Chen couldn't agree more with the not going back to her apartment part, and continued straightening her jacket, which was actually his.
"And order you some food. It should arrive around the same time you will. Go straight to bed once you've eaten, and I'll see you tomorrow." he finished, ironing out the details in his plan. Yes. Si Xia nodded to himself. This plan made the most sense.
But apparently Si Xia was the only person it made sense to as Yu Chen's voice rung out, loud and clear in the otherwise silent corridor, "No."
"What?" Xia blurted out, almost loosing his footing. Had he lost his mind due to the long day, or had Chen?
"I said, no." Chen spoke again, enunciating evey word. "I'm not leaving until Xiao Hai's family gets here." Si Xia rubbed his temples as he spoke, god, he really didn't have the energy for her stubbornness right now, "Xiao Hai is my employee. I will make sure everything is fine. And you can come visit the first thing in the morning."
But Chen jutted out her chin stubbornly. "He got hurt because of me. I want to make sure he's all right and also apologise to his family."
Si Xia was very close to losing his temper. His teeth were grinding together as he said, "Please don't do this Chen. I am in no mood to argue."
"That's good then." Yu Chen replied as she sunk back onto the bench, "Because neither am I. I'm not leaving, I want to meet and apologize to his family."
Xia had finally lost his cool and was about to burst in anger when Chen spoke something else. It was so low that Xia asked her to repeat and leaned down to hear her. "Besides, I want to be with you right now. I'm scared of being alone." she mumbled, not looking at him.
Si Xia seemed to actually deflate as those words left Chen's mouth. Of course, how could he have been so stupid! Yu Chen had just gone through a very traumatic experience and even though she was physically fine, she was definitely mentally a bit traumatized.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have talked like that." Xia said, taking Chen's face in his hands and rubbing soothing circles with his thumb on her cheeks.
Chen shook her head and gestured to the seat beside her. Xia sat down and pulled Chen closer to him before wrapping a protective arm around her.
Yu Chen positively melted in Si Xia's embrace as she snuggled as close as was publically acceptable to him and closed her eyes.
"But you wouldn't have been alone you know." Xia spoke after a few seconds of silence. "Hmm?" Chen asked, too comfortable to focus on anything else.
"I said, you wouldn't have been alone. I'm sure Oreo has missed you a lot today." Si Xia repeated with a smile, not sure if Chen was hearing. But apparently she had, as she replied without opening her eyes, "I miss Oreo. I'll take him to play fetch tomorrow."