Next Door to Them

Chapter Seventy Six

It was hard.

Difficult.

Mostly because their most burning desire always seemed to surface.

The needed to just let go, to not keep up with the condition to their relationship but the idea of not having Aila scared them even more, hurt them more than having to hide their emotions.

It was harder for them to see her now.

Every time they went by her apartment someone was there with her.

Whether it was Antônia, Maria, Nyala and sometimes even Izzy. It was mostly the girls that kept her company. When Vannozzo bonded, he had an episode where he needed to visit Aila quite often, but he always tried to keep his distance, to be respectful towards Aila and his new friends.

He tried but sometimes it was hard to be away from her, at least until the bond fully settled.

Now that all his soulmates had bonded Erick could feel the bond. That pull towards her, but only when she was around.

Turns out Aila was also a good match for their group.

Erick didn't want to tell his seven friends this. He hesitated thinking in their reaction, but he needed to be honest. His honesty and the love he felt for the bigger group was greater than the heartbreak he was going to bring them. 

The only consolidation was the closure Erick had come to.

First, he did tell them he lied about the kiss, about still having feelings for Aila, romantic feelings. However he wanted Aila to be happy and he trusted them to keep her happy, to cherish her and to heal the wound he himself inflicted.

Erick explained him and his soulmates were going to focus on themselves. On establishing their bond first and that meant he was going to let go of Aila. He didn't tell them how his soulmates protested against his wishes. They were ready to fight for her, if needed, to make her stay with them. But Erick convinced them to give the bigger group a chance. He omitted this part to his friends. He didn't want them to think they would go behind their back and steal Aila from them.

Then proceeded to explain the bond between her and his soulmates had become more platonic, more of what it means to be a soulmate, just people who perfectly fit together.

Erick explained the bond was more love, pure love, just the essence of what it should feel like. He explained when his mindset changed about finally letting go of Aila, their bond to her also changed with their feelings.

"You still want Aila right?" Erick had asked as he searched in the face of his friends.

"We want to kiss her and hold her. See what makes her gasp and her body shiver with excitement and please. We want to be the reason behind her smiles and what she looked forward in her days. To make her happy and to show her how much we love her, how much she deserves love."

"If you seven succeed in making her happy then in return we will also be happy and that's what we want: the best for Aila. We came to the ideal: it's you. So we are rooting for all of you to end up together."

He encouraged them with these words.

The first obstacle was not living with her.

Not spending time with her was probably the first thing they had to tackle because Nyala, Maria and Antônia weren't going to make it easy for them.

The girls said if they want Aila, they need to convince the three of them first. As much as they wanted to push just them out the way, they understood. Aila was a match to them and they wanted a part of their soul to be taken care of.