swallows- soulmate au

two

Most of my apartment is fairly simplistic and spacious. I have to keep it this way to give myself enough room to spread out my artworks, for which I have a separate room that I only use for storage. Alex makes various noises of amazement as I show her around, occasionally stopping to poke my houseplants or bother Mochi, my angora cat. I lead her into the kitchen and let her know where everything is. I don't bother trying to stop her eating a slice of cake from the fridge- her happy face is too amusing to want to. After showing her the living room and bathroom, I take her to her bedroom. I'm proud of how I set it up- she mentioned when we first started discussing the roommate thing that she didn't have a bed or much furniture, so I sorted some for her. She opens the door and steps inside. I wait, watching her.

I've decorated the room with string lights and house plants like the rest of the house, though I made an effort to make it more like home for her. There's shelves and a wardrobe that my grandad built, and a big blue tapestry on the wall. I watch as she plops down on the wrought-iron bed and stares around the room. Mochi shuffles in and makes himself at home on the desk in the corner, and Alex grins at him and then at me.

"It's amazing, Iz! You didn't have to do all this for me."
"I mean, it really doesn't fit my aesthetic." I open the window then sit beside her. Mochi whines and pads over to us, jumping into Alex's lap. I prod his fat belly. "But I was worried you wouldn't feel at home, so I did some stuff. If you wanna come shopping with me for some extra stuff, I'd be happy to get you whatever."
"How do you even afford all this...?"

Alex looks around, lights reflecting in her glasses. I don't know why I notice this. I don't mind that I do.
"I have my ways." I wink.
She scowls at me. "Where's the weed room?"
"I don't have a weed room, what are you on about?" I laugh and stand up. "Come on. I'll tell the delivery dudes to let themselves in, we're going shopping."

-

The walk into my favourite part of town isn't long, only 10 minutes or so there and back. The evening is creeping up on us uncomfortably quickly, though, and the chilly winds make the walk a lot harder than it is. We enter the shopping centre I usually go to for art supplies and home decor, and Alex instantly relaxes. "It's warm in here!"
"It would be. It's a shopping centre, you flop." I watch her as she makes a beeline for the independent decor shop I visit occasionally- it's where I got her tapestry from, and I'm really friendly with the owners. I nod and she goes in.

I follow close behind, picking up a few things for myself: some candles, a framed photo of some succulents, a draught excluder shaped like a fluffy white snake, and a small terrarium. Alex is on the far end of the shop looking at succulents in metal buckets. "Are you sure I can have all this?" She gestures vaguely towards her basket, which is full of cute things. Judging by the items, her aesthetic is very similar to mine. I pick up a little black candle from her basket and inspect it. "Only if you put some in the living room. This is so cute!"
She grins widely. I pay for my things then hand her my credit card, which she dubiously accepts. Once we're both done, after waving goodbye to the store owners, we head towards the boba parlour. I get myself a pink boba to match my outfit and she gets the peach one. We wander about aimlessly for a while, trying to decide where to go.

"What do you wanna get now?"
"I don't know." She looks at her boba. "Should we look for stuff for dinner?"
"I bought a shitload of sushi, it's cool." I take a big sip of boba and sigh. "I wanna go get a new top, fancy coming clothes shopping with me?"
"It's getting late..." Alex shuffles on her feet.
I check the time. "It's only 7. I'll be quick, then we can get home. You can get something as well, if you want."
She pouts. "I'm paying this time."
"Whatever you say, boss."

As we walk to the shop, I notice for the first time how much we contrast. I'm in all pastel- light pink shorts and knee-high white socks with lilac Converse, and this huge pink and white hoodie with cat ears on the hood and a cute pink ribbon bow at the collar. Alex is in almost all black, with a cute green jacket thing and snazzy blue vans. Somehow, it works- we look like a really cute couple.
Shit.
I push the last thought out of my head before I end up dwelling on it and head into the clothes shop. Quickly, so as not to piss off Alex, I pick up a cute baby blue top with an alien face on the boob and a black hoodie with a terrarium print. Alex has found a similar black hoodie, except this one has white stripes on the cuffs and little red roses up the arms- it'll look adorable on her. I quickly pay and leave.

After leaving, we head home. It's dark now; I didn't anticipate how long we spend ambling around. It's also cold as hell. Alex cuddles into me for warmth and I accept her gratefully. We're not walking in a very straight line but I don't really mind- her presence is really comforting. After a while she pulls away from me and avoids eye contact. I stop walking. "Are you alright?"
"M'cold." She still won't look at me.
"You want my hoodie?"
She turns to me slowly. Her face says no, but her eyes say yes. I take it off and she almost snatches it off me, putting it on gratefully. I'm freezing fucking cold but it's not far home and Alex is happy so I don't mind.
"Aren't you cold now?"
I look down. The blouse I'm wearing isn't exactly thermal and the wind is blowing it around. I'm cold. Very cold.
"I'll be okay. Let's keep going."

Alex stares at me. She isn't looking at my face. I can't read her expression, but she looks like a combination of shocked and excited and fucking terrified. I don't think about it too much, but I let her cling to me as we walk home.

Once we're back, Alex sprints for the fridge. "Izzy! Come help me eat this sushi!"
I laugh and put my bag down. "You a bit better now it's warm?"
"Yeah!" She seems happy. Thank god.
I reach down to take my hoodie off, then I remember. I gave it to Alex. I notice my blouse is undone a few buttons at the top, exposing my soulmate tattoo to the world.

My tattoo.

Oh, fuck.

Suddenly I have an idea why Alex was acting so weirdly before.

My head feels weird.

I take a few breaths and clear my mind. "Save some for me, Alex! I'm coming now!"