A Deal From The Past

Chapter 25

"Well, here's your room."

Bill put the bags he was carrying down on the queen-sized mattress as you looked around. The room wasn't lavish, like you'd expected from someone like him- just a nice bed, dresser, closet, and vanity.

"You can decorate it however you like. Just let me know, and I can do it for you. Or, you know, we can do it together."

You smiled at the thought, putting your bags down, as well. "It could use a little more black. Maybe some glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling. Oh, or maybe the moon as the ceiling lamp! Some light here, with a nice bookshelf and reading chair. And-"

Bill laughed. "I get it, you have a lot of ideas. We can work through them later, alright?" You nodded, embarrassed.

It was silent between you two for a long moment, until he spoke up again. "It's... going to be hard doing this." You tore yourself away from redecorating thoughts, turning to him. "This just... always happened naturally between us. In every one of your lifetimes. It was fast, yes, but it was still us. And I know, no matter what, we'll be together, because we are soulmates, and everything. But we've never really taken it slow like this before. Went on dates, or even just talked. It's... a nice change."

You nodded. "Now we can really get to know each other." You took Bill's hand, sitting on the floor and pulling him with. "Starting now. Tell me- who was William Cipher, before I came along?"

Bill chuckled to himself. "Angry, for one thing." He thought for a moment. "I'm the oldest of my siblings, so there was a lot of pressure on me to be the best. I'm sure you got the same amount of pressure from your parents, as you were an only child. It's... hard, living up to your parents' expectations all the time, and having a sister and brother look up to you as a role model. Eventually... I cracked. I guess you could call it my 'rebellious' phase. Let's just say... there's a reason the dinosaurs don't exist anymore."

"Oh, wow, it was that bad?"

Bill summoned a throw pillow, trying to hide his face. "I'm still embarrassed about it, to this day. It wasn't pretty, but as you've seen in your previous life, bits of that past is still with me. I can get angry, and it can get ugly. My father thought putting me in an arranged marriage would fix that for me. So I ran off. I came down to Earth expecting a place to hide. Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine I'd find someone like you down here, and spend the rest of eternity with you..." He trailed off, blushing madly and hiding his face more. "The point is, who I was before I met you wasn't pretty. But I want to change that. I want to be a better person."

You took one of his hands, smiling. "And you're starting to be, now that I'm here. I mean, really here. With no more jumping between lives. And I'm here to help you, in any way I can." Bill finally lowered the pillow, smiling. "Your siblings. Tell me about them."

He chuckled again. "I have no idea why'd you want to meet them. I haven't seen them face-to-face in centuries- I've only spoken to them through letters. Jillian and Willard are their names. Jill was... well, she was the beauty. She's have guys, God or human, falling to their knees when she was around. And she loved nature deeply. She could nurse a plant back to life like it was nothing, and she kept I don't know how many different animals in her room. I swear, it was like Noah's Ark in there."

You giggled. "You're over-exaggerating."

"Not by much, though. And Will, he was a big empath. He an reciprocate feelings, and make you feel whatever he wanted too. He could also make you fall asleep, which is not a fun thing to find out while babysitting." You giggled again. "We made an odd bunch together, but they were my family."

"I can't wait to meet them. They sound amazing."

"Well, you're just in luck. They've been wanting to come visit for ages, now. They'll probably be here in the morning." He stood up, pulling you to your feet. "Which means it's probably time for bed, so we can have the energy to keep up with them."

You pretended to pout. "I'm not a child, you know."

He patted your head, smiling before kissing it. "I know. But you'll thank me later." He stepped away, heading for the doors. "Goodnight, Tia. I'll see you in the morning."