She cursed under her breath, looking around frantically as she searched for her soulmate. The rain pelted upon her skin like shards of ice, tearing at her flesh. But it was nothing compared to the ache in her chest. That pain felt as if her heart had been torn out of her chest and ripped into little pieces. She hated it, hated feeling like this.
She blinked, rubbing her eyes as the flood of rain spewed all over her face, blurring her vision. It took a couple of blinks to spot him. Her eyes darted towards the ghost of his silhouette dashing past a streetlamp and she followed. Her feet were tearing across the rough asphalt as fast as she could. But he was too far. Too fucking far and too fucking fast.
She never knew that she would hate him for being athletic but she did now. She was panting, her chest cramping up with the sudden burst of exercise.
The stitches bloomed at her sides, and her lungs were steadily losing precious oxygen, but she didn't care. She couldn't care less about the rain soaking her sweater, turning it into a block of weight that hung on her shoulders, heavy with moisture. Couldn't care less about her soaked feet, her toes squeaking on the wet rubber of her flooded shoes.
All she could think about was how stupid she was. So so so stupid. Amber cursed, her fists clenched so tightly that her palms hurt from the press of her fingernails. She didn't mean to make him cry. She didn't mean to make him sad. He shouldn't, he shouldn't be sad. Her soulmates should always stay happy and healthy.
Her tears welled up in her own eyes, and she could feel them forming at the back of her throat, a sour lump of emotions. But the rain concealed the tears and each drop that formed was mixed with the rain.
The best place to cry, after all, was in the rain.
She just didn't want to get hurt anymore. Didn't want to cry over her soulmates, but it seemed that in her moment of fear she had fucked up. She had hurt the one person she didn't want hurt in the entire world.
She didn't let him in, just like she hadn't let Ezra in. Only this time, she was losing him. Losing the person who was hers and would love her just as much as she would love him if she gave him the chance.
No.
She tripped, losing a shoe. Her feet tearing across the rough granite that was ripping at her skin and flesh. But Amber didn't care and her soaked feet tore across the road despite the burst of pain running up her leg.
She didn't care even when her bare feet met the scratch of sharp material on the road, the pieces of fragmented rock and glass piercing into her flesh. Amber didn't care. She didn't fucking care if her legs got hurt.
It wouldn't hurt as much as the pain Hikaru must be feeling, the pain that had caused him to run like this. The pain that stung deep within her like a reopened wound from her condition.
It hurt.
It hurt like hell.
Fuck.
Amber cursed as she bolted and turned the corner only to see Hikaru stumble under the light of the streetlamp and fall to his knees. His shoulders were huge, wide and broad with his strength and masculinity. But now, they shook and hunched into a ball and she had never seen him look so small and so alone before in her entire life.
Stupid, little shit.
She finally caught up to him. He turned, surprised, having not heard her due to the roar of the rain that surrounded them and the crash of thunder above their heads.
He turned, his eyes wide as he stared at her blinking through the rain. He was still beautiful like this. His skin soaked in water, hair plastered to his face and his lashes dripping with crystal beads of rain. His eyes were red with his tears, puffy and swollen. His beautiful lips had been nibbled raw, blood was dripping from the wounds.
He looked stunned, unable to comprehend why she was with him.
Why she was standing in the rain with him.
"YOU'RE SO DAMN STUPID!" She yelled at him, her heart thumping as she pulled him up by his shirt with energy and strength she didn't know she had.
Her voice was raised to fight the roar of the rain. Behind them, thunder boomed illuminating his skin in a brief moment before it disappeared. The lump in Amber's throat grew, bitter and hot with her regret. His eyes, the windows to his soul, they reflected his pain and his suffering.
"L-Leave me, please," he mumbled, his voice was rough like sandpaper, crackling and raw with his sadness. "I'm fine. Go."
He turned his head away from her, trying to distance himself. Yet, his body trembled under her touch and she could almost see the sadness bubbling under his cracking mask.
He was seconds away from a mental breakdown, his chest heaving as his body spasmed and forced him into those soft dry sobs. Dry sobs that broke her heart completely.
"You didn't even let me speak!" She exclaimed, glaring furiously at him. They could have avoided this! Hell, if he didn't start running like an Olympic Sprinter they wouldn't be here in the rain! He could get sick!
"Then, you run headfirst into the rain at this temperature? Are you out of your mind?" She raged, pissed off beyond belief.
He blinked, wide-eyed and cute as he stared at her, finally looking into her eyes. Her face seemed to remind him of the false information which he had created in his brain because his face crumpled. Not again...This adorable cry baby. Amber growled in her mind, the heat boiling deep within her chest.
She was angry at the fact that her soulmate was crying and sad because of her. Angry that she was the one that had caused his pain. Angry that she had even dared to consider running from him. If she had done so just a step earlier, she would have not seen this. This sadness. This sorrow. This! She swallowed thickly. She would have not known his pain.
"But...But you..." He sobbed, lips trembling as he watched her. "We're not—"
"I AM YOUR SOULMATE!" She screeched at him, the sound echoing around them.
She was loud, the loudest she'd ever been in her life and her voice seemed to have shocked him out of his tears. She panted, her chest heaving at the outburst.
"I am your soulmate," she repeated, softer this time a sigh escaping her lips.
She'd finally said it. Finally, said it to one of them and somehow saying those four words seemed to take a weight off her shoulders. He stared at her in his stupor. Eyes wide as he gaped at her, his lips parted like an adorable goldfish. He looked as if she had just short-circuited his brain with her words, and he stood, staring at her numbly.
Goddamnit.
She pressed her lips to his, kissing the remaining tears away. Immediately, her soul bond reacted, flaring under her skin. The warmth that burned within her heated her up from the inside out.
It felt like a spill of sunshine and the soft lapping of warm ocean waters within her chest. A warmth that bubbled and spread all over her like sweet and soft cotton candy. Her heart fluttered for a different reason now, beating under her skin as she kissed him.
He was stiff under her lips as she moulded her own against his, gentle and warm. Then he finally melted, meeting her with a hot press of his mouth on her lips.
He tasted like rain, salty with his tears and a little sweet from the soju. I'm sorry. She apologised, with gentle kisses to his raw, bleeding lips. I'm sorry for being stupid and making you cry.
She ran her hands up his skin to cup his face, holding him with a tenderness that she only reserved for the people she loved. Her fingers were drawing him closer to her. I'm sorry that I took so long to meet you.
She had forgotten. Forgotten how she wasn't the only one in pain in this relationship, forgotten that each one of her soulmates had waited for her for years. And those that continued to wait experienced unbearable pain. Pain that was no doubt increasing from the effects of the suppressants that both she and JieMi consumed.
I want to love you. She tried to say with her kisses as he held her tightly in his arms. His large hands were wrapping over her body and pulling her up to meet her with a deeper kiss.
I want to know you. Her lips met his with a fervent need as she explored the feeling of his mouth on hers. The touch of his skin burned her, in a way that made her want to stay in his embrace forever.
Thank God.
Her body finally relaxed in his embrace, freed from the fear of losing him. Her tears welled up within her, dripping down her cheeks with the rain.
Thank God.
Her legs trembled as she held onto him tightly, the feelings of pain and the burn from the lactic acid in her legs hitting her.
Thank God he was here with her, instead of lost in this storm.
When they finally parted, he stood watching her from above with soft eyes. His eyes seemed to sparkle then, glistening with wonder as he stared at her with a whole new look in his eyes.
With that confirmation of their relationship, he had changed and now he seemed to look at her with more than just lust or adoration. He seemed to have accepted his new 'position', and there was a serene calmness in his gaze as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders.
He looked content. Happy. Pleased.
The rain shifted then into a light, soft patter that was much more pleasant to her skin. A gentle, sprinkling rain that didn't roar with the wind.
"I'm sorry," she breathed, her heart squeezing as she looked at her soulmate. "I didn't know if you would want me." Amber began to say. Her tone was soft. "I wasn't sure if you would accept all my flaws and weaknesses." Her voice trailed off. The back of her throat stinging with her tears as her insecurities unfurled.
"H-how could I not?" Hikaru replied, his voice trembling and she glanced up at him to see the smile on his face. It was endearing, loving and he brushed her tears away with his fingers as a singular bead spilt from the corner of his own eyes and dripped down. Cry baby, her mind supplied fondly. "How could I not love someone as beautiful as you?"
God. Her heart fluttered pathetically in her chest. She watched as he took her hand, pressing a kiss to the surface. He smiled, holding her hand as he gazed at her, his eyes portraying more than he could ever say.
He leaned forward, pressing another soft kiss to her lips and Amber closed her eyes to the soft sound of rain bouncing off their skin and to the warmth of his touch.
And the world around them seemed to stop.