Hannah's P.O.V
"It's strange hearing your voice outside my head" I mumbled as I sat on my bed watching hoseok move his clothes from his suitcase and into a dresser. I hadn't taken much of anything with me when I left my apartment so most of the storage in the room was vacant. I didn't want to call it my room anymore because it honestly didn't feel like it. It felt like ours. All of ours'. I couldn't explain it, but waking up this morning it didn't feel like Taehyung and Jungkook sleeping in my bed. It felt like the three of us sleeping in our bed. And now with Hoseok here, he just naturally fit into every thought that had previously included Jungkook, Taehyung and I.
"I know what you mean. It's weird seeing your face. None of the guys know what you look like, you know."
"Wait, what? No, I didn't know that!" The surprise was genuine, Taehyung has been randomly snapping pictures of me constantly, and he'd even admitted to sending a couple of them to the guys. Was he lying?
"No he didn't lie, hold on, let me show you" He said. Would I ever get used to him naturally holding a conversation including both my spoken words and my thoughts?
Hoseok got up from the floor and scooped his phone out of his pocket as he walked over and sat down next to me pointing the screen of his phone for me to see. Two pictures was all he had. Both of me, but neither showing my face. If I hadn't known it was me it could honestly have been any blonde girl with a similar bodily structure.
"Taehyung sent us these in an attempt to satisfy our curiosity, but he's been adamant on not sending pictures that reveal your identity. Just in case they end up in the wrong hands." Hoseok sighed amorously and I could almost sense the pride he felt about his caring and detail oriented soulmate.
"Taehyung seems to have been looking out for me far more than I've been aware of." I whisper as I lean my head on Hoseok's shoulder wrapping my arms around his arm to have him close.
"He's a carer, a worrier, a thinker. It's his thing to consider all outcomes and do his best to stop the bad ones from happening." Hoseok was definitely lost in thought of his soulmate but so was I.
"So that's his skill? His power? He sees potential outcomes and finds ways to avoid the ones he doesn't want?" Sounds like a badass thing to have if he can use it in all parts of his life.
Hoseok chuckled and fell backwards on the bed pulling me with him so we were laying next to each other staring up at the dark canopy. "No, that's not it." The sound of Hoseok's voice was almost so distractingly beautiful that I was tempted to close my eyes and fall asleep to it. But I must admit I got immediately curious about what Taehyung's skill really was.
"Taehyung heals." Hoseok paused for a second before continuing. "Both emotionally and physically, he can effectively heal you to lift or ease the pain you feel inside or quite literally stitch you up. He only uses it when he's asked to though, not wanting to rob someone of their feelings even if they're big and bad. He's good at knowing when to offer it and when it's not his place to"
I nodded and was silently processing the information. Wondering intently why he hadn't offered to heal my heartbreak when we first met, why he'd let me be mad at myself and at the universe. If it's true as Hoseok says that he has a good intuition on when he should and shouldn't offer up his help, what could the reason have been to not offer to make this alteration to my life easier to step in to.
I looked over at Hoseok who seemed to be memorising my appearance millimetre by millimetre as his eyes traveled slowly like a turtle across my facial features. Just his stare left me breathless and I couldn't help but stop every thought swimming inside my head to lose myself in the visual that was Hoseok.
He hugged me to him and wrapped his arms around me, once again sending that relaxing wave through me from his presence. We laid there for some time until Jungkook and Tae knocked softly on the door and entered. Hoseok had fallen asleep holding me and I was just comfortably staying in his arms listening to his steady heartbeat when the sight of my other soulmates brought flutters to my chest.
Taehyung had a slight flush to his complexion making him look younger than what I was used to, and Jungkook was covered in a strong baby-pink cloud. Love. I couldn't help but smile as I took in the obvious and contagious happiness that also radiated off them when they walked in.
As if it was the most normal thing in the world Jungkook walked over to the bed, whispered "Let's get you in your jammies" to Hoseok before picking him up bridal style. The older man instinctually wrapped his arms around his neck as he carried him to the bathroom bringing a set of blue pyjamas with him.
I crawled up to lay my head on the pillows of the bed, and got under the covers seeking warmth now that Hoseok's arms weren't cocooning me anymore.Taehyung joined me seconds after, propped up on one elbow next to me while the other arm pulled the duvet over me to cover me completely.
"Aren't you going to change to sleep wear?" He asked me, a caring smile pointed at me with nothing but kindness in it as he brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. His touch left a warm trace along my cheek.
"Too tired" I said and scooted closer to him wrapping my arms around his waist as I snuggled into his chest getting comfortable. He chuckled as an answer and I could feel his breath hitting against the top of my head.
Bending my neck to look up towards him, meeting his warm gaze as he had his face pointed down for the same reason, our faces were incredibly close. I could almost taste his breath as it escaped him in short huffs of air, our noses close enough to collide and our sight getting almost blurry as nothing was at a distance ideal for focus. He was breathtakingly beautiful, even like this when I could feel him more than I could see him.
Of course I knew of his beauty. I wasn't blind nor stupid. But having him this close definitely made for another experience of his beauty. We'd shared a bed several times now, even hugged while sleeping. But it didn't feel like this. He didn't feel like this, or maybe it was I who didn't feel like this?
My eyes fluttered closed from the sensation of his lips carefully grazing mine, just close enough to send ripples of warmth through me but not close enough to call it an actual kiss. I was frozen in place for a moment, just letting the feeling linger in me as I took in the feeling of having him this close. His scent wrapping me up in a blanket of familiarity and comfort like it always did.
I couldn't help but smile into it, pressing my lips properly onto his in an attempt to get even closer to him than I was. The kiss was powerful, all-consuming, romantic, and I didn't want it to end. He eventually pulled away from the kiss, warm eyes gazing down at me as he smiled, combed his fingers through my hair and kissed my forehead before letting me rest my head on his chest.
"Goodnight Hannah"
-
This morning was a strange one. I woke up all alone.
The feeling I didn't even know I had grown accustomed to, the feeling of having a soulmate within close proximity of me. It was absent. They were absent.
Naturally my first thought was that they had left me. Thoughts still clouded with sleep I had no issue seeing a scenario in my head where they'd just all decided they didn't want me after all and just up and left. Maybe I had gotten too comfortable. Stepped somewhere I shouldn't have, taken for granted something I should have found to be an extraordinarily kind gesture. I wasn't sure what I had done but I must have done something.
I could feel the tears well up in my eyes as I slowly made myself believe my theories as to why there were nobody in the apartment. My body started shaking and I felt like I couldn't breathe, spending all of my energy on pushing oxygen in and out of my lungs.
"Hannah?"
A voice spoke but I couldn't focus on it, I was too occupied with my own thoughts and my body's vivid reaction to the emotional turmoil I was going through.
"Hannah this is Yoongi I need you to breathe slowly for me, can you do that?" My eyes shot open as I realised the voice was in my head and belonged to one of my soulmates.
I tried to answer him but all I could get through was my staggered sobs and half of a word every now and then.
"Breathe, you're gonna be fine, Taehyung is on his way home, he'll be home soon sweetheart. Can you look around the room? Tell me five things you can see"
I looked frantically around not able to focus on anything until I saw Hoseok's suitcase standing by the dresser.
"Suitcase" I manage to stagger out. "Curtain, s-s-shoes, pillow, window" After giving Yoongi the 5th word I realised my body had stopped shaking.
"That's it sweetheart, how are you doing now? Talk to me, you're not alone"
"It feels like I am" I stuttered, the cries still stuck in my throat as my eyes travel around the room looking for evidence that my soulmates hadn't left me in the middle of the night. Hoseok's suitcase being the one to ground my worry.
"I know, absence can be painful when you're used to feeling their presence. I've gotten like that too sometimes. But you're going to be fine. They were out getting another car for the road trip, but they are on their way back to you now. You are not alone. You will never be alone."
I hugged my pillow tight as I listened to Yoongi's comforting words performed by his melodic dark voice. It was the vocal equivalent of a hot knife cutting through butter and it brought me comfort when every direction my thoughts wanted to run were towards chaos and panic.
He kept calling me sweetheart. And every time he did it made my lips curl slightly and a flutter went through my body like a warm breeze. I hadn't spoken much to Yoongi since I'd found out about the eight of us being soulmates. He only ever joined in on the conversation when all of us were talking and he rarely said anything of significance.
I'd been so caught up in my life here with the soulmates I had already met that I sometimes forgot about the ones I was yet to meet. Of course I knew they existed, I yearned to meet them in person. But it seemed like until I did meet them in person they were some equivalent to a selective conscience, jumping in with kind words on several different levels of usefulness. But Yoongi had stayed silent, until now. His words echoing through my head as I felt like I was somewhere between sleep and consciousness.
"You will never be alone"
Then I felt it, like a puzzle piece pulling itself towards its match I could feel one of my soulmates getting closer. Then I could feel them all.
"They're here" I whispered, letting my eyes open once again with newfound hope setting colour to my surroundings as I could feel pieces of me suddenly returning back to where they belong.
"I told you they wouldn't be long sweetheart. There's no us without you" Yoongi hummed to me as I could feel his voice drifting further and further away until I was all alone in my head once more. Just in time for my heart to physically ache once I could hear the front door of the apartment being thrown open. Several sets of footsteps were gaining volume as they got closer to the bedroom, when the door opened to reveal my three soulmates it was as if I could touch, taste and smell the feeling of being close to them once again.
Home.
A/N
I thought we'd get the taste of some the bad sides of the soulmate connection today.
Thank you all so much for 20k I'm so appreciative of all of you reading this and commenting and voting. It really means the world to me thank you thank you thank you!