U.T.O.P.I.A. | BOOK 1 of Death of the Future Series

SEVEN

OLIVIA

We slept next to each other but neither of us was really sleeping. From the way Neo sighed often, it was quite easy to deduce that he was simply pretending to be dead to the world. Maybe he couldn't do it because he was thinking a lot. At least, I would like to think so.

I had a lot to think about too.

Mostly about what Matched pairs had been saying to me since I was young.

'Sparks fly, love.'

'You'll know immediately the minute you look at him.'

'It's an amazing feeling.'

What was that amazing feeling? I frowned as I raised my hand to look at it in the dark.

Because I certainly had no clue.

"Are you sleeping?" Neo asked, his voice coming out soft, breaking the silence.

"No," I said. "You're not too?"

"Yeah."

Silence once again greeted us. We didn't speak for a few more minutes before I dropped my hand to my chest. I then turned to my side to face him. "What are you thinking about?"

He looked at me, his eyes reflected beautifully from the small amount of light we got filtering through the curtains. There was slight surprise on his face judging by how wide his gaze was on me, but then he huffed a breath.

"Observant, aren't you?" he said. After a beat, he added, "Stuff. You too?"

"Me too," I said. "A lot of stuff."

Neo nodded. He turned to lay on his back and I continued to look at his side profile. There wasn't anything remarkable about him, nor was he a looker. But the warmth he was radiating as he was next to me made me feel comfortable. I glanced at his arms. Would it be weird to ask him to hug me?

"Want to get out?" His voice broke through my thoughts.

I raised my eyebrows. "Go where?"

"Just for a walk," Neo said. "We can take a walk to the cliffside. It'll be beautiful this time of the night, I think."

I looked at the curtains. "Would it?"

"Yeah," he said as he moved. I looked at him to see him getting out of the bed, heading to his hoodie that was folded neatly on the dressing table. "Never been out late at night before?"

I sat up and shook my head. "No."

Life in South House didn't allow late night trips. I had a curfew I needed to follow which was bed by ten. Judging by how he seemed to be almost eager to leave the house this late at night, I didn't think he had a curfew.

I was uncomfortable with the idea of nightly strolls. Mainly because my parents had spooked me since I was a child about the dangers of going outside at night held. I knew, now that I was older, that there was no such thing as creepy men taller than a tree ready to kidnap young women if they left the house at night.

There had been no crimes since U.T.O.P.I.A. So, there weren't any men ready to kidnap women just because they stepped outside of their house at night. But the fear was still ingrained in me and I couldn't shake the uneasiness that accompanied it.

He stopped moving for a second before he looked at me. "Oh yeah, rich kid."

I frowned. I moved out of my bed and adjusted my pyjamas. "What does being rich have to do with anything?"

"Nothing," Neo said as he tugged his hoodie over his body. "Just it makes you live so... closed up."

I crossed my arms and frowned deeper. "It wasn't like I lived in a cage."

I still had my freedom. The only rule I had to follow when I did leave my house was to be back home by six in the evening. Neo wouldn't understand. He wasn't a South House resident.

"Well," he said but from his tone, it was easy to know that he didn't believe me. "As your husband... literally, let me be the first one to show you the beauty the night has to offer us."

I dropped my hands to my side. "Isn't it too cold outside?"

"Hence, the hoodie," Neo said with a point to himself. "Now, go get changed. I know exactly where to take you."

I hesitated for a minute and my heart thumped at the thought of going out at night. It was a confusing mix of emotions. While fear dominated my thoughts, his presence calmed me right back down. Even as I looked at him, I knew I had already placed my trust in him. He would keep me safe.

Glancing at the windows, while it was a scary thought to take up a new adventure, with Neo by my side, I wanted to try.

I went to change.