Why Me? *DISCONTINUED*

Chapter Eight: Mysterious Boy, Buried Past

"What about your family?" I slowly looked up from the ground to gaze at his incredibly bright red irises. My mind began to wander, practically melting in his stare.

I can't believe this perfectly beautiful stranger has already gotten me to open up to him after only about 5 hours of knowing him, and he, the very same boy, has comforted me like we were best friends.

I continued to look into his eyes and he seemed to get nervous by my gaze, as he began to blush immensely. "I-I don't really... talk... about my family... really..." He said, looking away, still painted a deep, dusty pink, and scratching the back of his head. His white hair was blowing softly back and forth in the humid August wind.

"Alright." I thought to myself for a brief moment before adding, "But... just so you know, I'm not the type of girl to judge someone based on their family. I obviously have no room to talk. You can tell me anything. If you need to talk to someone, I'll be here." I put a serious expression on my face. I had used his own words that he had said to me just minutes before. Soul was deep in thought, his features illuminated by the dwindling sunlight. A ghost of a smile formed itself from the corners of his lips and he looked towards me.

"You used my own words against me." He chuckled softly and I smiled sweetly in response. This was the most I had smiled while in the presence of someone in a really long time. It made me kind of pleasantly surprised and... happy.

"You know, you remind me of someone I used to know. She was a lot like you." He huffed quietly and looked at the ground thoughtfully. The tiniest of smiles appeared on his lips.

"Who do I remind you of?" I asked curiously. I guess I took him from his thoughts because he lifted his gaze with a surprised start. "Huh? Oh. Well, I haven't seen them for a long time. Don't worry about it." His face relaxed and his eyes were gentle. I was still wondering who it was but I let it go nevertheless.

Soul's legs bent at the knees as he sprang up from the ground and proceeded to grab me under my elbows and hoist me up, gently to my feet. He watched me for a fleeting moment and then wrapped his strong arms around my torso and I had to hold back a soft sigh as I felt him tighten his grip around me. I did the same, holding him tenderly against my body, absorbing his warmth. Where has he been all my life, I thought to myself.

We stood there, embracing, for a long while. I was in pure bliss. Something about him calmed me and made me feel safe, and warm, and secure. I trusted him. With all of my being. I breathed in softly taking note of his scent. He smelled of citrus and oakmoss, much like what the woods smell like just after the cool rain.

After we broke away from our embrace we looked each other in the eyes and said nothing. It was like we could read each other's thoughts. He grabbed my hand and gave me one small squeeze, reassuring me that he would, in fact, be there for me if and when I ever needed a shoulder to cry on. I returned the gesture with a quick pump to his hand so he would understand that I would do the same, without having to say it out loud.

A time passed and Soul once again continued to lead me to his apartment, finally arriving around 11:00 PM. Death, that took longer than I thought it would to get here from the stadium. I thought.

He opened the door with a key that he had placed in his pocket. It was a skeleton key. Not a key that would open many doors, but a key with a literal skull on it. He probably bought it in a store in the city. It's full of trinkets and such with the logo of Lord Death's school plastered onto them since he basically built this entire place.

It was a very shiny key, and very boy-like in looks. It fit Soul's personality to a T from what I had experienced of him so far. Scary and abrasive at points from the outside, yet if you peered closely enough, there was a shiny and beautiful side of him as well, if you just took the time to look into his eyes...

"Ladies first." He smirked and gestured for me to walk in. I bowed my head, smiling faintly and blushing at his gentlemanly actions. I stepped slowly into his home. The lights flickered on the second he flipped the switch upwards. I threw my hand up to shield my blacked out vision and gazed at the simple room before me. It was a living room just down the hall from the door. It had a dark red, family sized couch in the middle of it, a short oak table top with a medium sized table lamp that wore a black lamp shade covering the bulb, and a white costar that sat next to it. In the front was a gigantic flat screen TV, placed just so, in an entertainment center so that you could see it's screen perfectly from any angle in the room, and as well from in the kitchen, just adjacent of the living room.

Behind the couch was a large, hand crafted, mahogany hutch that held... well, nothing. But it was still a nice piece in the room. Across the hall from the kitchen were three doors. One door that was closest to the kitchen, Soul told me was his room. He pointed out that the second door across from his was the bathroom, and the third door at the end of the hall was a spare room that apparently had never been used.

I wonder if I can somehow weasel my way into that spare room since my living arrangements right at the moment are a little less than... livable? I wondered.

"Hmm..."

"What was that?" Soul asked. I guess I 'Hmm'd' out loud on accident.

"W-What? Oh, nothing! I-It's nothing..." I stammered. He looked at me kinda funny. "Okay...?" He said, holding out the 'O.'

"So..." I said, looking around the room and then down at my feet. "So..." Soul mirrored, doing the same while slouching and putting his hands in his pants pockets, which he seemed to do a lot. "You wanna soul resonate?" He asked a bit too quickly. I looked at him with eyes wide but immediately diverted them and looked again at the ground.

"Okay. Sure. I mean, that's why I came here, right?" I looked up at him and he was blushing, scratching the back of his head, standing awkwardly in front of me, looking to his side at the hutch which sat like a statue placed in the middle of the room. "Well... I mean... Yeah. Isn't it? I mean - I promised I wouldn't try anything on you, so... Uh..." That was all he said before he leaned back on his heels, grimaced with his shark teeth, and stuffed his hands deep into his pockets, looking very uncomfortable. I have to break this silence... I thought to myself as the awkward atmosphere closed in around us, making it difficult to breathe. But how...?

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