Continuing with the finale of the show “American Horror Story: 1984”, our story begins in the present day. Xavier Plympton has been trapped at Camp Redwood for decades. Along comes Lara, a determined believer in redemption on a mission to help Xavier and the others escape the perpetual twilight of purgatory, driven by a hidden agenda of her own. These are the Days of our Xavier.
Characters: Xavier Plympton/ OFC, Richard Ramirez, Ray Powell, Montana Duke, Trevor Kirchner, Donna Chambers, Chet Clancy, Light Xavier / Dark Xavier.
Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, brief drug use and mentions of drugs, mentions of addiction, fluff, slow burn romance, falling in love, angst, super angst, angst with a happy ending, mentions of masturbation, edging, oral sex (f/m), fingering, anal pleasuring, sex, rough con sex, unplanned pregnancy, mentions of trouble with childbirth, AHS Apocalypse AU, soap opera AHS 1984. Very brief mentions of Xertie, Xantana, m/m sex and Jingles Drama (“my son!”). Also, the depiction of Richard Ramirez is of the fictionalized version from 1984 only.
Word count: 22,737
Excerpt:
Looking at Xavier's photo again, feeling dizzy, Lara put her suddenly feverish head in her hands. She had kissed the man her mother had murdered in an orgy of killing.
Summary: Xavier is a ghost who never moved on, now he roams the Earth, looking for a purpose. Nobody can see him anymore, he’s long forgotten. He just walks around and watches people, wishing to be alive. The year is 2019, he has followed a woman into a store where the strangest thing happen, someone finally sees him.
Xavier was bored, to say the least. Everyone moved on after the camp, and now he was alone. No one saw him, no one knew that he was there. He watched the world grow and change throughout the years.
There were things he liked and things he hated.
He always followed a person around for a week or so, played with them and then moved on to have fun with another. Since he stopped killing people, it wasn’t that much fun, but he still enjoyed the frightened faces and screams.
The date was 2019. Autumn, he followed a woman around for that week. She was a heavily religious person, those he always found particularly funny, she even called a priest to bless her home, which caused Xavier to laugh so much.
He found himself following her into a convenience store, he was looking at the new kinds of candies, wishing to taste them when the most unexpected thing happened.
“Can I help you sir?” the girl asked with a sweet smile on her face. Xavier didn’t know how to reply, no one ever saw him since he left Camp Redwood. For a second he thought she was talking to someone else, but no, she was looking at him. She looked like she was working there, the nametag on her shirt was a giveaway clue, Y/N, was her name. Before Xavier could say anything someone called her and she excused herself.
“Sorry, I’ll be right back with you in a moment.” and she left after giving him a smile. Xavier was astonished, shocked and confused. He looked at your back as you walked away, the woman who he had been playing with long forgotten.
He needed to know why, why were you able to see him and others not?
So, he did what he thought was the logical move, he waited for you to be alone, and since the store was open until late in the night, he hoped he’d be able to find a few minutes with you alone.
When you went back to the customer, you were disappointed to see that he left. He looked rather odd like he was out of his time. His shorts and jacket screamed 80’s and that’s why you wanted to talk to him. He seemed like an interesting person.
Later that night, it was only you in the store. Not a single soul in sight. You were checking some things on your phone when a voice made you jump out of your skin.
“Excuse me.” it was the guy from that afternoon.
“How-When did you get it, I didn’t hear the door.” you said as you placed a hand on your chest, trying to calm your heartbeat.
He just ignored your question and stared at you. “How can you see me?”
At first, you didn’t understand his question. Then it hit you.
“A-Are you one of those special people? My grandma said to me when I was little, that I will be able to see people who are …special.” you said as you placed your phone back into your pocket. Now you understood why he was so out of place. Your grandma was said to be a medium and she often held séances at her house, she taught you everything she knew, because as she said, you are like her.
“If by special you mean fucking dead, then yes. I’m special.”
“Wow.” was all you can say when the door opened and a tired-looking man came in.
“Good evening.” you said to him but he ignored you. You gave the guy in front of you a look and just decided to wait until the man leaves. However, while the man was shopping, the guy started talking.
“My name is Xavier Plympton. And you are the first person who’s able to see and hear me well, since 1984 that is. What are you?” he asked which you gave him a look for. The man came over to you and placed his items on the table, you placed everything in a bag and after the man paid, you were left alone with your newly found ghost friend, Xavier.
“That’s a weird name. No one names their child Xavier anymore, well not many. And to answer your question, I might be a medium. But my grandma is sure one, I’ll go to her place and ask her what to do with you.”
“What do you mean, what to do with me?”
“Well, don’t you want to, you know…move on?” you said while making a face.
“Fuck no. This is a lot more fun.”
“Still, I’ll go and ask her. She knows a lot more than me. And I always thought that she was just joking…”
You went home that night and since the next day was your day off, you decided to take a long bath.
You didn’t know where Xavier was. You assumed he found someone and was scaring them now. You will probably never see him again. But this confirmed that your grandma was right, you did inherit her abilities, unlike your mother.
You were close to falling asleep, deep in thought, in the bath when a sudden bang made you jump almost out of the tub.
Xavier was smiling at you as you saw he knocked something off of your shelf.
“Not funny.” you told him as he laughed.
“I think it is.”
You wanted to get out of the bath and get some clothes on but he just continued to stare at you.
“Can you like…go out or turn around? I want to get out.”
“Oh, I have seen many naked women before, no need to be shy.” but his cocky comment didn’t rub you the right way.
“Turn around, right now, or I swear to God, I’ll just ignore you for the rest of you being here.” but Xavier didn’t believe you. He had to admit that this was a lot more fun than when the person couldn’t see him. It was like he had a purpose, to annoy you.
“Okay.” you said and just got out of the bath.
“Wow. Honey, you look…wow.” but you just ignored him and went to your room.
The next morning you woke up and found the blonde only centimeters from your face.
“You snore.” was what he said, but you ignored him. To be honest, you felt pretty bad for him, he was dead and you are the first person who’s aware of his existence and you were mean to him, just because he saw you naked. So you decided to be nice with him instead. As you drank your morning coffee/tea/cocoa, you decided to get to know him better.
“So, Xavier, what should I know about you? Were you a good person while you were alive?”
“Oh, decided to talk to me know, did you? Well, yes, while I was alive. But not after though. It’s complicated. Do you know about Camp Redwood?” you shook your head, but you grabbed your phone and after 0.05 seconds everything was in front of you.
“Oh. So, you were killed there. It says you were…burnt and stabbed?”
“Yes…” he went ahead and told you the whole story, from the very beginning. You found it quite cruel what happened to him and his friends, he even told you about what happened after and he took revenge. Which you still found cruel, but it was a long time ago and he clearly changed. You felt so bad for him, he had so many dreams he wanted to reach, he wanted to an actor, but it all went downhill.
The next thing you did was that you searched his name up on your laptop. He was standing right behind you.
A rather interesting video popped up after you dig deeper.
“You did porn?” Xavier hurriedly shut your laptop down and you looked up at him. “Are you gay?” you asked. It visibly disturbed him, so you quickly added. “You know its fine. Even back then, but now people are much more acceptable.”
“I’m not. I was forced to.” when his eyes didn’t meet yours, you felt like you reached the bottom of the barrel. He was such a sweet, handsome and charismatic guy, yet what he told you so far made you feel so bad for him. He really was mistreated.
“So, what do you want me to do? How can I help you?” you asked and he finally looked at you.
“Just talking to me is fine. I can finally say thing and you actually answer and react.”
“Okay. Then let’s go. I still want to talk to grandma.”
***
“My lovely Grandchild! How can I help you? Oh, I made you cookies, I was so happy that you called and said you’ll come over.”
“Thank you, Granny.”
After she made you eat at least 3 cookies and she fed you lunch, you wanted to talk to her why you really came over.
It was clear, even she couldn’t see Xavier.
“Granny. Can you tell me about ghosts?”
“Oh, you know I don’t do that anymore.”
“I know. But... the other day, a guy came into the shop and… I was the only one who saw him.” she looked a bit alarmed at that.
“Has he…Did he notice? That you saw him?”
“No, why?” you lied, it alarmed you just how scared she got.
“Because-“ she came closer to you, she looked around in the empty room and said to you. “When you acknowledge a ghost, they might follow you. Many ghosts are harmful and can suck your energy out.”
“Are there ones that are…nice?”
“Of course, but those usually move on after they fulfilled their purpose. How did he look like?”
You looked at Xavier standing behind her, then back at her.
“Like if you take everything from the 80’s and put it on one person.”
“So, he must be a lonely one then. Those are not dangerous, they are usually looking for someone they can follow, someone they can play with when they are bored. I had a customer once, a young man, he had a feeling that someone was following him. As it turned out, a ghost of a girl followed him. She said that the young man reminded her of her long lost boyfriend.”
“Oookay. And if I ever meet someone like that…how can I help?”
“Those ghosts are stubborn, Y/N. They won’t leave easily.”
“Right, and what did you do with the young man?”
“Well, I can barely remember details, but I remember that in the end, she realized that he wasn’t her boyfriend and moved on.”
“So, a ghost like that needs a reason to move on?”
“How should I say this? It’s not as easy as in those movies. Ghosts are stubborn and some doesn’t even have a reason why they never move on, they just don’t. But if you ever meet a ghost like that, don’t let it get attached to you, because then, they won’t leave until you die. Imagine how annoying that can be. When you’ll find a boyfriend and you can’t even be with him because the ghost will be there, always watching.” she made a disgusted face, but your thoughts were elsewhere.
“How does a ghost become attached?”
“Don’t ever talk to the ghost directly, only during a séance. And even if you do, not for long. This attachment can happen to either of the ghost or the person. So, if you like the ghost for whatever reason, it will stay.”
Well, shit.
“Thank you Granny.”
“You’re welcome. And please, always avoid the dangerous ones. You can look at them, but if you talk to them, then it’s all done, they will know about you and they will try to steal your life, that’s why you need to avoid ghosts. They might seem nice or genuine, but it all can be just a mask. Wait here a moment.” she said as she stood to grab something from her jewelry box. “This is a special crystal. It’s like the one we use during a séance, so while wearing this, you can talk to ghosts, and they won’t get attached or get your energy. And with the help of this, it will be easy for you to differentiate the good and bad ones.”
“Can I touch one? Like, if they are in front of me, can I like physically touch them?”
“While wearing that, yes. Without it, no. And the same goes for them. Because that crystal is like a gate for the dead. They won’t know that you can see them, but you’ll know the difference.”
“You should have gave me this a long time ago.” you said as you pointed at the clear crystal that was now hanging around your neck. As you looked at Xavier for a brief second, you now knew why your grandma said that you’d be able to tell the difference. He looked now clearer, but still not as clear as if a living person but very close to it.
“I wanted to. But your mother said not to influence you with ‘my nonsense’. I’m glad I was right though. Now, you can use what you learned from me, and please, always be careful.” she said as you said your goodbyes to her.
“Thank you, Granny. I’ll call you up later, when do you need to go to the doctor? I’ll come and drive you there!”
After you talked everything through with her, you found yourself in your car as Xavier sat beside you. You thought over everything you just learned.
“So, I just got attached to you…sweet…I never really saw myself in a serious relationship but-“ Xavier stopped as he saw your expression.
“How many…How many people have I seen and I didn’t even know? What if the people I smiled at on the subway or bus were all like you?”
He left it at that, you were obviously disturbed about what your grandmother told you and he didn’t know you enough to be able to comfort you.
***
Xavier has been with you for the past month. You really got used to him being there with you. Even to the point where once you spoke to him in public and everyone gave you strange looks, it made him laugh wholeheartedly.
He followed you wherever you went, just like your grandmother said. You learned about him more and more each day, he really opened up to you and this encouraged you to do the same.
It felt like years since you had been so close to someone. He understood you completely and you really felt like you could be yourself around him. One night, you decided to sit outside on your balcony as you watched the sunset. Xavier was sitting beside you. You didn’t really understand why a ghost needed so many clothes or how and when he changed but oh well.
“You know, I’m really glad I followed that woman that day. I was able to meet you, I feel like you understand me.”
“Of course, I’m glad too.” you said and offered a smile to him. But you saw something on his face you couldn’t quite put your fingers around.
For a few seconds his face turned serious and then he looked at your lips, you called out his name, but it seemed like he didn’t hear you. He then slowly moved in and placed his lips on yours.
You were so shocked you didn’t even close your eyes. You felt it all, and weirdly, his lips were surprisingly warm.
“I think I fell in love with you, Y/N.” he whispered when he pulled away from the kiss, his forehead against yours.
“What if…it’s only because you are attached to me when we met.”
“I definitely got attached to you the moment your gorgeous eyes met mine.” he said a bit joking, but you were serious, so he decided to explain himself. “I mean it, and I know it’s not just that. You are the first person who accepted me, cared for me and actually listened to me. I know that I’m dead and you are not, but, I still believe that we can make this work.” you looked him in the eyes, then he closed his and was about to kiss you once again but his lips met air since you walked away.
He heard you start talking from your room.
“Remember the book grandma gave me the other day?” he didn’t say anything, too baffled by the situation. “I found this in it.” you presented him the book.
He looked at the page, read it and then looked up at you.
“Can this work?” he asked.
“I don’t know. But it’s worth a try.”
***
You couldn’t believe it, the ritual worked.
Xavier was now alive. A living, breathing human.
“Kiss me.” was the first thing he said before he did kiss you. He said he needed to know if it was real or not. Because even though he kissed you many times before when he was a ghost, this kiss felt the most intimate. It held so much passion and love, you felt overwhelmed. “This is crazy! I’m alive.”
“You are!” you said as he hugged you close to his chest.
As it turned out, the stone your grandma gave you was a so-called ‘soul-stone’ it had the ability to make the person who had it in their possession see the dead, and to restore it. There were very few of it and not many people knew about their true potential.
Xavier was thrilled to be alive again. He wanted to go and try literally every kind of food.
Although you were a bit afraid that once he would be back, he’d leave you, but that never happened.
He proved to you over and over again that he was truly in love.
Perhaps the biggest proof was your new-born son. The little boy was only a month old, yet his father admired him very much.
After being with Xavier for so long, and then he became alive, you officially dated for two years before your son was born.
Since you had the baby, you stopped working at the store, Xavier is the one working there now, while you stayed at home and occasionally, you held séances.
One night, you caught Xavier missing from the bed and as you went to check on your son, you saw your boyfriend just standing there, admiring his son, a tiny person he created with you out of love.
You leaned against his back as he couldn’t keep his eyes off of the baby. His and your baby, a child who looked exactly like Xavier, a child whose eyes were just as blue, but his attitude and stubbornness, he got that from you.
“You know,” he started with a hushed voice. “When I died that summer, when I killed those people, when I took my revenge, if someone would have told me that I will find a girl, a beautiful, intelligent and amazing girl who will I fall in love with and not only that, but I will have a child, I would not only have laughed, but probably even laughed while stabbing the person in the neck. I feel so blessed. I’m so thankful.” his honest words made you tear up. You hugged him tighter as he leaned down a bit to pull the little blue fluffy blanket further up on his son. He braced himself against the crib, his own tears found their way down his cheek. “This is something I never thought I would need let alone have. A family of my own. Thank you, Y/N.” you turned him around and pulled his face close to yours, making him look at you.
“You deserve it, Xavier. This and more. You have been through a lot… I love you.” you said as he was now crying, but not from sadness, he was happy.
Happy that he went into that store, happy that you saw him, happy that he fell in love and so did you.
He kissed you on the lips as you teased his salty tears, but above it all, love.
When your son stirred in his sleep, you decided to leave the room, but not before both of you placed a kiss on his tiny forehead.
You got into the bedroom, Xavier was still hugging your back. He didn’t let you go since you got out of your child’s room.
“I love you too.” he said once both of you were under the warm covers, with your back against his chest.
Xavier found his true purpose, being with you. That’s why he couldn’t move on. But all those years of boredom and loneliness was worth it all.
