Becoming A God In Another World With My Crush

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The moment Eli left the cottage, the silence was unbearable. 

Xander sat frozen, staring at the door where the old man had disappeared. His mind raced, words crashing into each other like a chaotic jumble of nonsense. 

Then it hit him. 

Their walk home from school, the truck, Iris reaching out–

The world around him blurred, and his breathing grew uneven. He pressed his hands to his temples, gripping his hair as the weight of everything finally collapsed onto his shoulders. 

'Shit!'

"Oh my god. Oh my freaking god." His voice cracked. 

Iris blinked, unmoving from her stool. 

Xander shot up from the bed. Well, tried to. His body instantly betrayed him, and he nearly crashed face-first onto the stone floor. He groaned, crawling back onto the mattress, but the panic didn't stop. 

"We died! We actually died!" He pointed aggressively at Iris, as if she needed the reminder. "A freaking truck! And now...now we're in some weird medieval world, with monsters and magic nonsense, and...and why is he even calling me Kaelhi?! Why am I healing fast from a Hydra's poison?! Is that normal?!" 

Iris just stared. 

Not even a blink. 

Just staring. 

She had been in this cottage for two days as Xander lay in a comatose state, during that time she had gotten her memories and the acceptance that she was indeed in a world vastly different from hers.

Xander continued spiraling, throwing his hands in the air. "And you...why are you just sitting there?! We're literally stuck here! No Wi-Fi, no phones, no food delivery service, my mom is probably scared shitless—what are we even supposed to do?!" 

Iris sighed dramatically. "Are you done?" 

Xander glared. "No, I am not done!" 

Iris rested her chin on her hand, watching him unravel. "You look like you are done." 

Xander groaned and fell back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling like his life had officially ended for a second time. "I can't do this." 

"You have to do this," Iris said flatly. "We're here, genius. Accept it." 

Xander turned his head toward her, eyes full of betrayal. "You sound way too calm for someone who literally got isekai'd after detention." 

Iris shrugged. "Spending forty-eight hours in this insanity would that to you, but I am still freaking out...internally." 

"That does not help." 

The silence stretched again, and Xander sighed deeply, running a hand down his face. 

This wasn't just some nightmare. They weren't going to wake up in their beds back in Oak Pines. 

This was real. 

And that terrified him. 

Xander exhaled sharply, still sprawled on the bed like a man who had just lost every ounce of sanity he had left. 

"Iris," he muttered, staring at the ceiling as if searching for answers in the old wooden beams. "Please tell me Eli gave you something while I was unconscious. A hint. A step-by-step tutorial on how to go home." 

Iris, who had been lazily examining her nails, glanced at him. 

"…Nope." 

Xander groaned, dragging his hands down his face. "Of course. Of course, he didn't." 

"But," she added casually, "he did say something weird...which wasn't shocking since that's all he does." 

Xander peeked through his fingers, voice tired. "Oh, great. How weird are we talking?" 

Iris leaned back, resting her elbow on the small table beside her. "He told me he can't speak to The Kaelhi's Companion without The Kaelhi being present." 

Silence. 

A long, agonizing silence. 

Xander slowly sat up, ignoring the ache in his ribs, and stared at her like she had just spoken an ancient language he had zero hope of translating. "Sorry…What?" 

Iris crossed her arms. "Yeah. Said it like it was some sacred rule or something." 

Xander blinked once. Twice. "You're messing with me." 

She shrugged. "I wish I was." 

Xander threw his hands in the air. "What does that even mean?! Kaelhi's Companion?! What, are you my legally assigned bodyguard now? My magical assistant? My emotional support?" 

Iris frowned. "You're spiraling again." 

"Obviously! Because nothing in this world makes sense!" 

She sighed dramatically. "I could ask him again, if that helps." 

"Oh yeah, sure, let me guess...he'll say something cryptic again, refuse to give us real answers, and then disappear into the mist like some wise old sage who lives to be mysterious like in the movies?!" 

Iris blinked at him. 

"…Not wrong." 

Just as he opened his mouth to start ranting again, Iris sighed loudly and did something completely unexpected, she reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. 

Xander froze on impact. 

All previous thoughts of panic vanished into thin air. 

Why was she touching him? Why was she touching him again?! 

His brain short-circuited so aggressively that for a full five seconds, he completely forgot why he was spiraling in the first place. 

"You need to stop freaking out," Iris muttered, her palm warm against his shoulder. "It doesn't matter anyway." 

Xander blinked. His heart was beating way too fast, and he hated that. 

"…It...it doesn't m–matter?" he echoed dumbly. 

Iris huffed, pulling her hand away like nothing even happened, while Xander tried very hard to pretend his body wasn't reacting like a middle schooler with a crush. 

"Yeah. We don't need Eli," she continued, completely oblivious to his inner crisis. "The plan is simple. When you get better, we set off for the cave again." 

Xander stared, brain still in reboot mode. "…The cave?" 

Iris rolled her eyes. "Obviously. It brought us here, so it'll take us back." 

Xander narrowed his eyes at her logic. "That sounds awfully too easy." 

Iris shrugged. "Sounds better than waiting around for an old man who refuses to answer questions." 

Xander wanted to argue. He wanted to point out that just because they appeared near the cave doesn't mean touching the crystal again would magically reverse everything. 

But then again… did he really have a better plan? 

No. No, he did not. 

So instead, Xander let out the longest sigh of his life, dragging a hand down his face. "Fine. Cave plan it is." 

Iris nodded. "Great. Now hurry up and recover already. Dinner's almost ready." 

For now, he closed his eyes and finally let sleep pull him under when she left.