"How come I havent met him before?" I ask. We're sitting by the kitchen table, my legs too weak from all the pain to be able to stand up. I rest my head in my hands and sigh deeply. The feeling of loss never leaves me.

"He travel and do like... science stuff" Summer responds. She have been staring at me since the thing happened, like she's fascinated or wondering what the hell the universe was thinking when they paired me with her grandpa.

I dont want to feel this, I dont want this? If this is the power of soulbonding then I want nothing to do with it.

"Travel.. Science stuff..." I murmur. "So is he a scientist? The lab coat?" I continue while remembering every little detail about him. We met only in a brief moment but I cant forget. His blue unibrow, his thin lips, his long, thin body, heck I even remember the size of his feet!? The realization makes me rub my face in annoyance. I cant get him off my mind!

"Yeah, he's like the smartest man in the universe" Summer state. I glance at her, expecting it to be a joke because it sounds pretty... dramatic? But to my surprise she looks sincere.

Smartest man in the universe? What is that supposed to mean even? Where is he travelling to? Was he the one who flew that spaceship? What's his iq? I resist the temptation to slam my fists on the table, why do I want to learn things about him? I dont even know him!

"Im going home, we'll talk later" I say and get up to head for the front door.

"Y-yeah okay" Summer looks after me as I disappear.

I power walk all the way to my house and instantly throw myself on the bed with my face buried into the pillow.

The pain didnt stop no matter how many days went by. The weekend came and went and I couldnt even go to school. I called in sick and since the only one in school who knew what happened is Summer; she was the one who called me and demanded that I came over. Spending four days in bed and barely eating wasnt healthy and she wanted to talk and see how I was doing.

Before walking over to her house I opened a folder on my computer and stared at my work: , it has to be done in a few days and I havent done anything... In my awful sorrow I deleted everything I had written so far and in its place wrote;

When I enter the Smith's residence Summer meets me in the doorway, her expression already that of pity and it gets even worse when she notice the dark bags under my eyes.

"How are you?" She asks even though she already know the answer. I look like shit.

"Is he back?" I ask, ignoring her inane question as she lets me step inside.

"No.." She respond and let her gaze fall to the floor. I sigh.

"Its fine, I just need to rest, I'll go back to school tomorrow" I dont actually have the strengt to but I cant continue to skip school for much longer or I'll fail the classes. Summer smiles carefully at my promise.

We're about to head upstairs to hang out in her room when I hear a grunting noise in the living room.

"Why wont it work!?" I hear Jerry curse and I notice his behind behind the tv screen. I tilt my head to the side and watch him.

"Do you need help?" I ask while moving closer.

"Oh! Y/N, I didnt know you were here" He throws a quick glance at Summer but she just glares back. "Well.. actually I could use a screwdriver"

"I can get it" I say and start heading towards the garage.

"Y/N, he's capable to do it himself" Summer protests.

"No, its fine, I need to feel needed right now.." My tone lowers and I can feel the stares at my back as I enter the garage. I dont want people to feel sorry for me, I know im not the only one who suffers from this in the world, people move forward somehow, I just need to find my way.

The garage is a mess and I take a second to just look around. I was so stunned by seeing Rick last time that I didnt even take in the surroundings.

"What a mess" I sigh and move toward a shelf with a bunch of tools and gadgets, most which I dont even recognize, its not like I've handled a lot of tools before but I cant recall ever seeing most of these? The second I inhale im hit with the scent again and im painfully aware that im not alone anymore.

"What are you doing in my lab?" I hear his voice behind me. My body reacts as on instinct, my energy goes back up, my headache disappears and my heartbeat quickens, its all so sudden and its scary how I cant control my own body.

"Its a garage" I state without turning around to look at him. I can literally FEEL him rolling his eyes at me.

"Just answer the question, d-d-dont you know its ruuude to mess with other people's stuff?" Now I notice the sputter. Is he drunk?

"Im just grabbing some tools, im helping Jerry" I straighten my back with a flat-head screwdriver in my hand and turn around. We stare awkwardly at each other, both fighting to be dismissive towards one another but failing when the soul bond makes us wanna embrace each other instead. He got dark circles under his eyes just like I do and I notice drool in the corner of his mouth. He sways to the side and struggles to remain eye contact, clearly drunk...

"We.. we need to talk" I speak up first.

"If you want to talk about the soulbond im working on it" He says, turning away while looking untroubled by it all. He pulls out a drawer looking for something.

"You're... working on it?" I ask with hesitation and raise my eyebrow. What does that mean?

"Working on ending it" He explains without looking at me and I shy back from his words. I've never been hurt easily by words before but it feels like his are poison.

"You want to... end it..." Its more of a statement than a question. The pain is back in an instant and in that moment I fight my own body, im trying to hate him with all my might while biting down hard on my lip to not cry. He throws me a glance while he continue searching for whatever.

"I can feel it to s-so dont bleugh start whining like a-a-a baby" He grunts. He sounds so very cold.

"You dont have to be so rude about it, I dont like this either" I struggle to finish because of the thick lump in my throat. He shakes his head.

"A-as expected from a child" He grunts. How does he do it? How can he be so harsh and keep such poker face? He feels the impact his words has on me, they must hurt him even more?

"Im not a child" I protest with a shaky voice.

"Y-you a-are in my eyes"

"We are fated pairs"

"Im going to change that"

"You cant" He straighten his back and clumsily makes his way over to me.

"There's NOTHING I cant do!" He growls at me while pointing a straight finger on my chest. His eyes burn holes in me and I can feel tears prickle at the corners of my eyes, threatening to spill.

Why did the universe pair me with this man?

"Is... is there something wrong with me?" I ask, my voice annoyingly weak and I clear my throat. He lets his hand fall to his side and for a second he looks perplexed, his eyes scan my body and it makes me feel both hot and vulnerable. I want to feel more, want him to look at me more.

"No..." He slowly speaks in a low tone, I almost didnt hear it and for a split second I spot his expression soften.

"Then why do you want to-" Im harshly interrupted.

"Because I dont want to have a god damn soulmate!" He screams in my face and I shy back only to be stopped by the shelf behind me. We both turn silent, I stare into his eyes unable to tear away and he looks at me, first with anger, then it changes into something else. I feel a pool of warmth form in the lowest part of my body and my heart is about to burst through my chest. My cheeks burn in crimson and I notice his does as well but he ignores it, how he manages to keep his cool I dont know? Even if he's being extremely rude I feel myself drawn to him, its an internal fight for sure.

"You need a Phillips screwdriver" He suddenly speaks and it takes me a while to actually filter what he said. His voice now much softer and I cant pick up on any of the anger from a second ago.

"What?"

"Hold on" He turn away from me and I exhale a breath I didnt knew I was holding. He reaches for a box and picks up a screwdriver with a cross shaped head. He extends his arm towards me and I slowly reach forward to take it, when I grab it our fingers accidentally touch and I feel like an explosion of electricity run through my body, I tremble and I can tell he's affected as well for he closes his eyes for a split moment like the feeling is too much to handle.

"F-f-fuck" He stutters and his hand moves up to grab my arm instead on instinct, his long, thin fingers curl around my limb and the feeling intensifies. I gasp and he pushes me against the shelf even further and lets his head tilt forward to rest against my shoulder, setting my entire body on fire but yet I feel paralyzed, uncertain what to do I just remain frozen. I can hear him breathing, feel the warmth from his breath against my shoulder, the closeness from his body gives me a sensation of safety and I feel like this moment outshines any I've ever experienced before.

"Rick.." I mumble, he groans and pulls away, much to my disappointment. Left I stand living mess, my face most likely a tomato and I see the blushing on his cheeks as well, even though he's very pale.