Amber
Amber stared at her soulmate.
His face was stiff and solemn, jaws clenched tightly as his eyes searched hers. Those dark and pretty eyes, framed by long lush lashes, were reminiscent of a doe's. They were brimming with his need and hope, wet and shimmery with unshed tears as he watched her.
His eyes...They reminded her of a bonfire. The embers flickering and dancing as they escaped from the burning wood, curling and swirling in the darkening night sky.
Amber could see herself in those eyes. Eyes that were warm and tender. Eyes that begged for her to speak, begged for her to tell him the truth. Take my hand, and tell me what you are to me.
What she was to him. His soulmate.
Soul melt was one of the more elusive soul bonds. It was rare, extremely rare and the feelings she felt were nothing like what the internet described. They called it a pull, a nudge at the centre. Hers was more of a heat and warmth of the soul.
It was why during the initial stages, she didn't know what the touch with Sieon in the toilet had meant, chalking it up to oversensitivity. Later, the doctors explained that she might have a soul melt soul bond.
However, her soulmates may not be able to feel her touch anytime soon because of the suppressants. But Hikaru was proof that he could feel it. That their soul bonds were healing and working again. Her lips stretched at the thought.
She resisted the urge to scream with happiness, the sound lodged in her throat. Her heart felt as if it were bursting to soar into the sky, pounding in her chest at speeds she'd never known were physically possible.
The only thing preventing her from speaking was her body, frozen from his words. It was flabbergasted, unable to truly register the words of the handsome male before her.
Words, that she never really expected to one day hear. He was not asking for a relationship like Sieon had. He wasn't asking for something as superficial or as temporary as her arrangement with Ezra.
Hikaru was asking her to be his one. Hikaru was asking for her to tell him that she was his soulmate and essentially seal the deal. Forever.
Her mind flashed with the image of his expression when she had touched his bare hands. The shock that filled his eyes, the confusion that radiated across his body. The delighted happiness that had then emerged from his eyes. Those looks had practically stopped her heart.
Then like a zap of electricity from a defibrillator, her heart was sent into a thundering speed. The way he looked at her, changed. The gentleness that once thrummed from him could barely cover the sudden burn of lust and yearning in those pretty soft hazel eyes.
Under the golden light of the tent, Hikaru had looked beautiful and she was drowning, drowning in those soulful eyes.
Outside, the clouds released a rush of rain from the heavens down upon the tent. The sound of pattering rain on the plastic shelter drowned out the almost deafening silence between them.
And in that silence, Amber felt as if she had finally learnt of the true meaning of beauty. The wetness of her soulmate's eyes as he beseeched her. The pale rosy pink of his parted soft lips. The darkness of his hair that brought out the creaminess of his skin. The grapefruit pink of his cheeks.
How long had she waited for this day? For her soulmate to stand before her and tell her that he wanted her as much as she did? Then insidious and depressing thoughts flooded her mind.
She thought of her other soulmates. Thought of how she was essentially split between seven men. A situation that not many would agree to...Even herself if she were given a choice. Amber bit her lip, panic flooding her system. Was he sure? Would he really want her or would he think of her as a whore?
"I..." She began to speak, her eyes trained on her soulmate's hopeful expression.
Hope. She knew what he was seeing. He saw a future. A future with children, with laughter and with love. He saw a warm body to hold at night; a shoulder to lean on; a person to talk to; a best friend; a lover.
He saw baby sneakers laid side by side with his shoes. Someone to have a child with; someone to grow old with; someone to cherish and protect. He saw a family...A family of two parents.
Not eight.
He would reject you if he knew. Her mind hissed, broken and as depressed as it was. It roared at the possibilities of heartbreak and the unknown.
Hikaru would run into the arms of another girl, just like JieMi. He would rather choose for himself. He would not want you.
She faltered, her face souring at the thought. Her body clamping up as her heart shielded itself once more. She glanced back up into his eyes, her mouth opening to tell him some dumb response that would essentially push him away, only to freeze at the sight before her.
He was crying.
Her soulmate was breaking, his face crumpling into pure sorrow. His bottom lip trembled violently as tears leaked from his beautiful eyes. Eyes that were stormy and dull with his sadness, eyes that dripped and flowed like a river.
His shoulders shook as he stepped away from her, pearl after pearl of tears flowing down his face. He cried, soft hiccups and wretched gasps of air escaping his lips. He was utterly and completely devastated.
He pressed a hand to his cheeks. Hands that shook violently as he tried to stop the tears. But each swipe of his fingers only resulted in more tears.
He looked embarrassed. Embarrassed at his inability to control himself, embarrassed at his feelings. He tried, tried to give her a polite smile but failed to as the corners of his lips fell.
He cried, soft whimpers escaping his lips, soft gentle exhales of air that tore at her heart. Each desperate sob was a direct stab into her chest twisted over and over again.
Her mind swam, unable to comprehend the situation. She'd never seen him like this, never seen that look in his eyes. That broken look in those beautiful eyes...It was as if he had lost sight of life and he was lost in the storm. God, help her. Her heart seized as she watched him, clenching tightly with a deep ache.
He had misinterpreted her expression, Amber realised, taking a shaky step forward. He thought he was hallucinating. He thought that he was the one feeling all that, that the bond was in his head.
Her blood was rushing through her ears, pounding loud and clear as she realised her mistake. He believed that he was alone. Her heart cracked at the thought, splintering at the edges to the image of her soulmate consumed by his sorrow.
Amber didn't want him like this. She wanted him confused, wanted him in the shadows. Not completely and utterly broken from rejection.
No.
But her face had always been an open book, and he had read those emotions on her face loud and clear.
"Wait—"
She reached out, watching as he turned and tore through the tent. The flash of his body as he disappeared into the rain was enough for the adrenaline to pump through her legs. She didn't even have to think. She didn't need to. She was out in the rain the very next second, ignoring the cries of the aunty.
Bad idea.
Amber winced at the sudden shift in temperature. The cold frigid water piercing into her skin at below zero temperatures. Her body was immediately quickly losing heat, heat that she had gained in that food tent. Her skin was turning numb and blue with the cold.
God fucking damn it. They could get hypothermia like this!