Through Your Eyes

Chapter 7: Valarie

Each day crime rates seemed to increase drastically. It could be part of living in a big city, or it could just be the evil side of humanity showing its true colors. Either way, this rise made it feel as though my work patrolling the streets was pointless. Even today there was a huge accident only about thirty minutes away from my apartment because someone walked in front of a bunch of speeding cars. When I got called over to help mitigate traffic, I couldn't stop myself from sighing.

Things only ever got worse.

After such a gruesome and rigorous day, I barely had enough energy to make it home, let alone deal with my new roommate. I once again paused outside my front door, nerves rising. Would I regret giving Reese a key to my apartment? There was only one way to find out...

I opened the door and froze. They stood in the entranceway with a huge grin on their face, but something in my gut felt off. As if their expression was too happy or their kindness too forced. I tried to shove that feeling down and entered my apartment with an awkward smile on my face.

Reese had already been very nice to me, helping out wherever they could and constantly complimenting me. Still, I couldn't help feeling that something wasn't right. Sure they were my soulmate, but would anyone be this overly sweet right from the get-go? It almost left a sour taste in my mouth.

"Welcome home!" they said sweetly, stepping to the side to let me in.

I exited the hallway as quickly as possible and answered, "Thanks... were you waiting this whole time?"

"No, of course not! I just got back too and thought it would be nice to wait and greet you! How was your day?"

"It was fine..."

I could feel their gaze burning my back as I placed my purse on the counter. Despite my better judgment, I turned back and flinched slightly when I saw the darkness in their expression. Even through the smile plastered on their face, I could tell Reese was very, very angry. Why? Because I didn't want to start a whole long conversation with them right away?

"Is something wrong?" I asked cautiously.

Their face immediately lit up to hide their disdain. "Not at all! Wanna make some dinner?"

They avoided my question and swiftly jumped topics on purpose. What could they be hiding?

I tried to hold the fear that slowly consumed me as we made some pasta together. I went through the motions of cooking, eating, chatting, but I wasn't really present in any of those moments. My mind raced as I imagined each and every horrifying scenario of how this new soulmate of mine could completely ruin the life I spent so long meticulously crafting. I worked so hard and did so much to live a life my sister would be proud of and I wouldn't let anyone take it from me.

Even if I was overreacting and letting my own fears control me, I vowed to keep Reese at a safe distance so they couldn't hurt me. I steeled myself and braced for the worst possible outcome. But apparently I let myself drift too far into my thoughts, since Reese waved a hand in front of my face with a concerned expression.

"Are you okay?"

I tried my best to compose myself and shifted around on the couch while coming up with an excuse for being so distracted. "Ah... yeah, sorry. I just started wondering what we should do over the weekend. It'll be the first time we both aren't busy doing something else."

"I was thinking we could go on our first date," they said with that usual sly smile. "I actually already had a pretty fun one planned. You down?"

Still on edge I asked, "Can you tell me what it is?"

"Don't worry, it'll be fun."

"... Are you sure?"

"Yep!"

They weren't going to tell me anymore, so I didn't push it; I simply smiled back and let them change topics. "What would you usually do over the weekends?" they asked while leaning back against the velvety cushions.

"Nothing too exciting. I usually just stay home and watch some TV. I've kind of turned into a homebody over the years," I said with a nervous laugh, almost feeling embarrassed of how uninteresting my life had become.

"I'm definitely much more of the adventurous type. I hope you don't mind me forcing you outside more!"

They nudged me playfully and tried to lift my spirits. I offered a small smile in return and listened patiently while they listed off the fun adventures they went on recently: running through the entire city in a day, climbing to the roofs of buildings and parkouring across them—truly living life on the edge! It also suddenly made sense why I randomly woke up on a roof after we first met; Reese apparently spent a lot of time atop buildings.

After chatting more into the night, I calmed down slightly, though still a little on edge. We got ready for the night and I lent them another pair of pajamas. This set was already quite loose on me, so it was way too big for their slim figure. At least the pants were long enough this time and they seemed comfy. The light lilac really popped against their dark skin tone too.

We both entered our separate sides of the bed and I tried my best to snuggle into my blankets to get comfortable. That first night was super awkward for me, even if Reese slept like a log without even noticing my presence. While I still wasn't exactly happy about sharing my bed with someone, at least I knew that they were a heavy sleeper who also didn't move around too much in the middle of the night. I barely even noticed them after they fell asleep.

I took a deep breath and tried to force myself to relax and my thoughts to slow. I was already anxious enough on my own, but my thoughts at night always tried to make things worse. My mind came up with the craziest situations of how tomorrow's date could go horribly. We could be struck with a natural disaster, get caught up in a gang fight... Hell, maybe Reese would attack me! So many things could go wrong and my mind made sure I thought of every terrifying possibility.

I groaned into my pillow as quietly as possible to not wake Reese but still vent my annoyance at myself. Tomorrow would be fine. I would make sure of it. As long as I was careful enough, I would be able to stop anything bad from happening. There was no benefit of worrying.

I just had to stay calm and cautious.