Pieces [Wattpad's Editor's Choice]

11: ToNgUe-TiEd

"I'm setting some ground rules." I still held Arrow's hand, leading him somewhere I wasn't yet sure of. We couldn't go back to my dorm in case Luna went there too, and we couldn't go back to Isaac's dorm because Phil was there. All the buildings were still closed till tomorrow, but I needed to talk to him alone.

"Ground rules?" he said behind me.

"Yeah, rules that-"

"I know what they are," he said, struggling to keep up. "But why do I need them?"

I stopped suddenly and he almost rammed into me. I turned, looked up at him, and said in a low voice, "Because you can't just walk off without telling me where you're going. Not when the world is so dangerous and you're susceptible to believing the first thing you hear from people's mouths."

"Isn't it up to me to decide what I want to believe?"

He had a point. And I sounded like an overprotective parent. I didn't want our relationship to start off this way; he was supposed to be my significant other, not my child.

"Frannie, I feel amazing." He broke out into a grin. "I'm ready to take on this world. Come at me with all you got." He threw his arms out and tilted his head back, eyes closed, as he seemed to welcome the Universe.

I stared. Cute, but...wow, his personality was taking shape. I didn't know how I felt about it yet, but I guess that was a good sign. He was adapting quite nicely.

When he opened his eyes, he studied me curiously. The wind rustled his brown and gray hair, messing up the neat combing job he'd perfected. Finally, he said, "I don't believe her."

"What?"

"I don't believe that girl-Luna?-that you're not Isaac's type."

"That's not the point and that's not what she was talking about."

"He seemed to like you," Arrow said casually. "He didn't treat you like you were strange; not like how he treated me."

That wasn't relevant and I was still mad. "I don't freaking care what Isaac Marks thinks of me! I care what you-" I stopped myself. If I finished that sentence, I wouldn't have sounded very diplomatic, and I wanted Arrow to see me for me, not for how I reacted when other people did me wrong. "Never mind." I crossed my arms. "You're not allowed to talk to her. And you especially can't tell her things like that."

"Things like what?"

"That I slept with Isaac. You can't just...say what you see, because it's not always what it looks like. And it's a long story. There's a lot of history involved, and saying the wrong thing before knowing the truth can seriously mess things up."

He flinched at my words. A new feeling reflected in his eyes, one I was a little surprised to see: guilt.

"I just..." I lowered my voice. I didn't want to sound upset or frustrated, even though that's all I felt inside. But it was still just his first day in this world, so I had to cut him a little bit of slack. I sighed. "How did you even find Luna? Of all the people you could have found on campus, why her? How does something like this even happen?" That last question was more for the Universe, but I just needed some kind of answer.

"I don't really know." He looked me dead in the eyes, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and shrugged. "I felt it. She's connected to you somehow. I found her leaving the dorms across from Isaac's and something inside me felt a connection to her. I went up and asked her what her name was and when she said Luna, I knew it was the one you and Isaac kept mentioning last night. So if you two have a connection to her, shouldn't I?"

I guess that made sense. Did my lover also have some sort of sixth sense? I never wondered much about what kinds of abilities he could have. Did he have feelings connected to all the people I had a relationship to?