soulmates lovers and other useless human relations

xxxvii

[a/n: so things actually didn't work out with the guy :/. I'm not really as sad as I thought I would be but I guess it was a little disappointing considering we've liked each other for around two years now. That's alright though, summer is coming and though I was a little silly for wanting that 'teenage dream' summer romance, I'm gonna keep dreaming. One day I'll get that words bubble up like soda pop romance <333]

Norton was avoiding you - it was more than obvious with the way he'd catch you walking down the same hallway, turn and run back to where he came from.

It hurt. It hurt a lot considering how the skip in your heart was just beginning to beat for him, but it was sort of to be expected with the incident. Still, you tried your hardest to reach out for him; standing outside his door patiently after the third round of soft knocks that night. The light that flooded out from the crack beneath the door was more than enough proof that he was awake, merely pretending not to hear the constant knocking, and it further picked at your patience.

"Norton." You called out softly as to not alert the other survivors around, most of them surely asleep. Still, no reply came from his room and your back slumped in defeat. Whatever had happened to the stubborn prospector? The one who said he wouldn't let a thing get between him and his goal.

Your head aches and your feet tensed on the cold wooden floors, you regretted not bringing slippers.

Was this all just the Aesop incident all over again? Your heart going wild for a possible happiness before getting shattered to pieces by the hands of men who could not stay persistent with their promises?

Finally, you huffed and begun your way back to your room. This wouldn't be the last he hears of you, far from it actually, but nothing could be done in the silent night with his door locked. Tomorrow would come another day and you'd be sure to get at least some words out of him.

———————————

When morning came you were surprised to find a single flower at the foot of your door, your favorite flower, actually. It laid perfectly on the floor and had grown dry overnight, but it was still beautiful to you nonetheless.

Inside your heart thumped at the idea that maybe Norton had a change of heart and this was his first, albeit silly, step to apologizing. However, these speculations were cut off when you entered the kitchen to find Aesop cooking breakfast.

"Good morning." He nodded.

Your eyes widened - this was the first time he had spoken to you since he broke up with you after all - but despite his friendly gesture, your eyes narrowed and you looked away. "Yeah, good morning."

Humming, he flipped the egg on the pan. "Did you like my flower?"

With your hand on the door of the fridge, your movements froze. "That was you?"

"Who else would it be?"

"Norton." You shrugged, but upon better judgement you cleared your throat. "I don't know, Vera? Fiona? Patricia? Maybe even Robbie."

He made no eye contact with you but chuckled nonetheless. "You hate me that much?"

"Me?" You scoffed in disbelief. "Aesop let me remind you that you were the one that broke up with me. Of course I'd be surprised when you haven't even spoken to me since."

"And I'm sorry for that. I swear my actions were with good intentions."

"Well your actions caused me more pain than not being with Norton to begin with." You retorted, sounding a lot harsher than intended but refusing to soften your voice for him. "I didn't love him. I loved you. Hell, I trusted you and all you did was think about your pride! So what if I'm not with my soulmate? Wasn't our happiness more important?"

"Of course it was!" He gasped, only now turning to you with wide eyes. "Y/n, I can't explain to you how much I-"

The door to the kitchen swung open before he could continue, Kreacher walking in with his eyes to the floor before freezing in his path when looking up to spot you both. "Uh..." he stuttered, eyes snapping from you to Aesop who stared back at him with wide eyes. "Sorry I'll uh... come back..."

"No. Sorry Kreacher, I just came here for the juice anyways." You gave a tense chuckle, grabbing the box of your drink before walking out the room.

The embalmer sighed as he watched the door swing closed, turning back to his, now crispy, egg. The bearded man in the room hummed before moving to stand beside him, patting his back. "You alright?"

"As alright as I can be." He shrugged, picking the egg up to place on a plate. "Forget about that. We still have breakfast to make."

Outside you took a deep breath before continuing to your spot beside the three familiar girls, the small group giving you sweet smiles as you sat down beside the enchantress. "How you feeling sugar?" She asked softly, chuckling when seeing you frown and toss your head onto her shoulder.

"I'm tired."

"Nap after breakfast." She smiled, raising a hand to stroke your cheek. "You're lucky Emily gave you some days off matches."

"Yeah. Maybe next time I'm feeling tired again I'll ask Mike to throw another bomb at me."

From the other end of the table came Mike's loud screech. "I ALREADY SAID I WAS SORRY."

Unable to hold back your laughter, all three of you fell into a laughing fit at his pouting face and doe eyes. "I know, I know!" You chuckled. "It's fine. It was an accident."

But it felt worse than an accident, it felt like something you shouldn't be excusing so easily as if it were spilt milk. After all, this was the destroyed nature of you and your soulmate - something that, seemingly, could not be fixed.

And yet you were always so lenient with mishaps that happened in your life. Perhaps you'd have better luck in another universe.