She no longer looked murderous, but now a little defeated; he wasn't sure which was worse, "Yes. Most of it." He was confused again.
"Most of it?"
She rolled her eyes, "I also feel strong emotions. Pain is strong, so when you get hurt, I feel it, but I also get whatever mark's been left by it," She sighed in exasperation. He stood there, speechless.
"Well, tell me what your soulmate thing is, then." She looked like she was going to get angry again, so he hastened to answer, "Uh, I, um," He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed, "Touch," He stated simply, unable to form a coherent sentence.
"Touch?" She asked, dumbstruck. He coughed, trying to clear his throat, "Yeah, um, I touched you and I got all, um, tingly and , uh," He wasn't sure how to put it without embarrassing her or himself, "I got a bit hot and bothered," If there had been a way, that wasn't it.
At that moment, she surprised him. She laughed. The awkwardness was dispelled. It was infectious; soon he was laughing too, and they were laughing together, the sound bubbling up and out of him, so comforting and so ridiculous at the same time. His heart lifted, his shoulders relaxed, and he let go of the weight he hadn't realised he'd been dragging around.
She glanced up, her eyes shining, "Touch?" She couldn't seem to understand it.
"Yes! Why is that so weird? Yours is stupidly complicated," He was on the defensive.
"Is that why you were reading that book?" She seemed to be piecing the puzzle together now. He nodded, knowing he might as well tell her.
"But, you've touched me loads of times before," She began, seemingly confused.
"Yeah, so?"
"So did you only just realise you don't feel that way when touch other people? Or are you the type where you only get the soulmate thing when you fall for them?" She tucked a stray curl behind her ear.
"There are people like that?"
She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, of course. I mean, I'm like that," She blushed a little. He gawked at her, "So that's why I couldn't figure it out!" Her brow furrowed, so he went on, "I've known since I first touched you," He suddenly felt self- conscious, "I've been trying to figure you out for ages. That's why I've been asking such weird questions," He had gone through a period where he constantly asked her if she was cold, to see if she had a temperature thing. She laughed again,
"I've known you for two years! Why didn't you say anything?" She was incredulous.
"But, you just said you only got the soulmate thing when you, you know," he trailed off, "Fell for me," His heart glowed at those words.
"I never said when I fell for you. I had a crush on you since we met, but I only fell really hard a few months ago." He sat down with difficulty, "Months?" She nodded hesitantly.
"Wow," he murmured, a slow smile growing in his face. She came and sat next to him.
"What?" She breathed, and his heartbeat quickened. "I just, can't believe we both know," He knew he sounded like an idiot, but he felt like nothing he could say would change anything now. She wriggled further back onto the table they were both sitting on. "I know what you mean," Her eyes shone, "It's so strange that it was something so simple this whole time. I feel like such an idiot,"
He wrapped an arm around her; she was so small, "Hey," he whispered, although no one was in the room, "We're both idiots," She looked at him, and they both grinned with a strange, silly kind if happiness.
Suddenly, the rumble of feet and voices echoed towards the classroom, and they jumped apart. They looked across at each other, and they giggled sheepishly, before merging with the crowd as the rest of their form came in from lunch.
