My Soul Will Find Yours : The Fulfillment of the Promise

Home Before Midnight Like Cinderella

"Impossible?" Brandon held me by the shoulders and continued, "Nothing is impossible for souls that are linked together, Hinata."

"Lovers in our past lives? No... That's ridiculous!" I shook my head vehemently.

"If that doesn't explain why you haunted me in my dreams my entire life, I don't know what would!" he insisted.

I stared at him and he stared back at me with the same intensity. Brandon's eyes were clear and sure. Could this really be the beginning of Kaname's vow's fulfillment?

"Hinata, give me a chance," he whispered as he lowered his head, obviously in an attempt to claim my lips.

"Brandon..." aside from my lips, I couldn't make any other part of my body move. I wanted to avoid him, to push him away, but I couldn't. I just stood there like prey hypnotized by its hunter.

As his face inched closer and closer to mine, the beating of my heart went from steady to irregular. I clenched my hands, closed my eyes, and held my breath. Suddenly, a loud crash came, startling not just the two of us but our mothers as well. Brandon let go of me and we both gaped at the sight to our left: Panther, my anti-social senior cat, was swishing his tail with a smug expression on the kitchen counter. Beneath him was a saucer and the ceramic tea infuser I used earlier, broken into several pieces on the floor.

"Panpan!" I screamed.

When he saw me, his self-satisfied expression vanished. Hurriedly, he jumped down from the counter to roll on the broken china as though he was attempting to hide his mischief. I shrieked and ran to pick him up.

"What's wrong with you!?" I gasped while carefully brushing off the bits and pieces of ceramic sticking to his fur.

"Is he alright?" mum asked worriedly while I checked his body for possible injuries. He did manage to roll his plump body thrice on the shattered fragments before I picked him up after all.

"What were you thinking, huh?" I asked him, my voice slightly raised. I didn't care that I must've looked ridiculous for talking to my cat as though it was human. "Never mind that you broke a saucer and the infuser, but did you have to roll on them and give me an almost-heart attack as well?"

"Mrow[1]," Panther looked at me guiltily with his ears back and flat against his head, his pupils dilated.

Looking at his pitiful face, the anger I felt earlier vanished. "I'm sorry," I sighed and hugged him to my chest, causing him to purr.

"He's not injured, is he?" Brandon asked, reaching out to pat his head.

When Panther saw his approaching hand, he swatted it away with his paw, claws bared. Unsatisfied, he even hissed at Brandon and gave him a guttural sound of warning.

"Hey, it's okay. He's a friend," I murmured to my cat comfortingly.

"Looks like he doesn't like you, son," Aunt Susan chuckled.

Brandon just looked at Panther who was still looking at him guardedly, his expression resigned.

"I'm sorry. Admittedly, he's not the friendliest cat," I told our guests sheepishly. As if in protest, Panther gave a mewl that sounded more like a cat's version of a derisive snort.

"It's alright, maybe he could sense that we're dog persons," Aunt Susan said before sneezing. "Oh, dear. It's starting."

"I forgot you're allergic to cats!" mum said as she worriedly pulled her best friend out of the kitchen.

~~~

It was after lunch when our guests prepared to leave. Brandon and I were waiting for our mothers in the driveway when he broached the subject of wanting to be with me in that way again.