Soul Chains

Chapter 37: A Little More

"What about this talk of 'us' that we're supposed to have?" I ask.

"Ah, that," Reine grins and makes her way over to me, "yes, I suppose we should get to that."

"And?" I raise my eyebrows.

"And?" Reine's lips twitch playfully as she continues to smile and she playfully shoves a hand at my chest, making me stumble backwards and hit the edge of second bed in the suite.

"I really like you, Reine," I say, my eyes searching hers, "in fact, I really love you. I love the way you smile, the way you look when you're serious, the way you fight, the way you try to hide your pain, the way you love the people close to you deeply and refuse to give them up, the way you hide your worries and how that makes it seem like you don't care as much, but I know that every little thing makes you worry and you feel everyone else's pain, the fact that you're determined, intelligent, beautiful, blunt yet eloquent, caring, and unwavering."

"Gabriel..." Reine breathes out as her lips part in surprise, her breath hitches, and her eyes search mine honestly.

"And..." my lips tug up into a smirk as I grab on to her hips and swirl her around while moving forward in one swift motion, making us fall on to the bed, "I would really love it if you would be my girlfriend. I don't know what the future holds for us, but I know that I most definitely want you in it until the day I die."

"You didn't even have to ask," Reine smiles up at me and giggles as I hover over her, her hair splayed out across the bed covers in a fan as her arms rest by her head, "I love you, Gabriel. I always have."

I continue to smile widely as I pull her into a hug and burrow my face into her shoulder, inhaling the scent of her honey and rose smelling shampoo as it drifts off of her. After a few moments, I move so that I'm lying next to her and she rests her head on my chest while I place an arm around her waist. I grin up at the ceiling as my eyes trace the patterns on the white paint and after a while I begin to drift off to sleep.

***

I wake up in the middle of the night whenever I hear a strange scraping sound coming from across the room and a smell of herbs floats throughout the room. I sit up carefully, making sure not to disturb Reine, who's fast asleep and drooling slightly with her hair splayed out everywhere, and I let my eyes adjust to the darkness of the room. I look over to the other bed to see it empty with the covers pushed aside and I notice a faint light coming from underneath the bathroom door. I slide out of bed and make my way over to the bathroom slowly, gently nudging open the door once I reach it to find Mikasa standing by the sink and grinding herbs together with a pestle and mortar.

"Mikasa?" I whisper.

She jolts slightly and her eyes flicker up to the mirror to see me standing in the doorway and she turns slightly to face me.

"Oh, sorry. Did I wake you?" she whispers back.

"No," I lie so that she doesn't feel bad, "I just couldn't sleep. What're you doing?"

I shut the door softly behind me so that we don't wake up Reine by talking and Mikasa sighs.

"Do you remember me asking you for help looking for Valerian?" she asks and I nod, "well, it's because it's a medicinal herb used for a multitude of things, especially insomnia."

"Wait," I furrow my eyebrows, "you have insomnia?"

"It's...not something I typically share," Mikasa grimaces, "but...yes. I've had it ever since..."

Mikasa clears her throat and places the mortar and pestle down on the counter by the sink and blinks a few times before she meets my gaze and smiles sadly.