All My Stars

9

"So I figured we could go over the arrangement here, it's private enough"

She slides the manila folder across to me over the table that we share. Natsumi had brought us to a restaurant in the city and paid for us to use a private dining area. I would say she had noticed how uncomfortable I was around crowds but it seems like she had her own agenda after all.

" Is that what you went back to get?"

"Yes, we need to get this out of the way" Her reply is curt, not even giving me the courtesy of meeting my eyes and I slump back into my chair wishing to become a part of the furniture to save myself from the setback in the relationship I thought we were building.

"You seem disappointed" She observes, tilting her head sideways to gauge my demeanor.

" I am, whatever, let's just get through this" I go to open the contract and she pulls it away, stacking it onto her own and linking her fingers on the table in front of us.

" No, tell me what's wrong"

" It's nothing so can we please-"

" It's not nothing if you're upset with me"

We sit in silence, her waiting on a response and me stewing in anger.

" I keep forgetting that this is just a business deal for you but for me, this is my actual life and I don't want to spend it with someone who doesn't actually care"

Our first fight, we've only lived together one night so the rest of my life should be fun.

She drums her fingers against the table for some time, her rings making noises as they rub together before I finally snap.

" Let's just get this over with, I'm ready to go home" 

She hands the folder back over and we go through it only speaking when necessary. This is a prenup if I've ever seen one. Most of it is politics and shares in our conjoined business but the very last page is about our actual marriage and the first question has me looking up at Natsumi. She seems completely fine so why am I silently freaking out. As if she senses me looking, her eyes meet mine and the following smirk is all kinds of devilish.

 Would you be opposed to sexual intimacy?

The words practically jump off the page at me. This wouldn't be as hard as it is to answer if my parents hadn't sheltered me my whole life. Now I'm going into this marriage as pure as a virgin ready for the warriors of Valhalla.

" I'll finally show you what that mirror is for" She teases.

And then it dawns on me, oh god, it's a sex thing.

"Do we really have to get into all that right now?"

She leans back, running her hand through her hair briefly.

" Unfortunately yes, your family's lawyers are so far up my ass that I'm surprised they haven't tried calling today"

" So all of this is because of my parents?"

She nods.

" You could've said that from the beginning"

" I didn't want to give you another reason to be mad at them"

I scoff unintentionally. 

" What an empath you are, so you'd prefer I be mad at you instead?"

" It's like you said, you have the rest of your life with me to get over it"

"But do they really have to know if we're gonna have sex?" Just saying it feels strange.

" They won't, this part of the contract is for us to establish boundaries, physically and emotionally"

"Oh"

"  There's no pressure here, Whatever you chose I'll respect your decision," She bows slightly, casting her eyes onto the table before looking back up at me.

" I don't intend to remain a virgin for the rest of my life" I mutter softly, shoving my head closer to the paper to go through everything thoroughly. There weren't any questions I put a hard stop to and Natsumi sat silently, giving me a chance to complete it. A sideways glance at her contract revealed the 'NO' pasted at the very top.

God, even her handwriting is pretty.

The contract is settled after that and we eat in comfortable silence before going home. When the sun sets, one of my family's lawyers comes to get the documents before departing just as swiftly as they had arrived.

Natsumi makes us dinner once again and we sit and eat together before heading to our bedroom.

"Oh, I got you something" she pulls out an object in the shape of a butterfly, larger than average and iridescent.

"What is it?"

" It's a night light" She flips it over in her hand, showcasing it to me.

"This way we're both comfortable" She plugs it in and it emits a warm glow, enough to see in and still be able to fall asleep.

Natsumi was thoughtful and sincere with her every action. Unknowingly, my parents may have chosen the best life partner for me in this scenario.

"Thank you" 

She nods, heading into the bathroom to shower and I grab my things to do the same in the bathroom down the hall so we would be ready for bed at relatively the same time.

When I enter our room, Natsumi's already sitting at the edge of the bed drying her hair, it was pin-straight even wet, and dark.

" Can I help?" 

She hummed.

" Dry your hair I mean" 

She dropped the t-shirt into her lap before humming again in confirmation.

I maneuvered behind her on the bed, resting on my knees as I did my best to gently dry her hair. I didn't feel awkward doing it, it felt natural. In the short time I had been with Natsumi, we had created an air of intimacy that I hadn't found in any of my past relationships.

" Hey I'm sorry about getting mad at you earlier. I'm not always the most level headed"

" It's okay,  I've already forgiven you"

"You're very emotionally mature, you know that?"

"One of us has to be" She teases.

"Hey!" I protest loudly, crawling to the top of the bed after her and she laughs, hiding under a mountain of sheets.

"Take that back"

"Nope" She laughs, peeking out from behind her wall of linen.

I join her under the sheets and she pulls me closer,  drawing us into a laying position.