Rain or Shine | Soulmate AU 1.5 |

3

Bella is crying into Rowan's shoulder a few feet from the elevator on the common floor when I finally get back to the tower. Rowan is murmuring soft words, rubbing a soothing hand up and down her back in an attempt to stop the hurt. His voice is calming but the look on his face over Bella's shoulder is anything but.

"S'my fault, Row," Bella mumbles. "What if he don't come back?"

My eyebrows furrow in confusion. This definitely isn't the first time I've seen Bella cry, which is expected considering her age, but it is the first time it wasn't over something trivial like bedtime or having to eat broccoli.

Rowan's eyes flick up and notices my presence with a slight start. He continues the slow spin in the circle he's been doing with his sister in his arms, but now he looks a bit relieved.

"Lake and I had a...disagreement," he whispers. "I don't know where he went, but he's upset."

I nod in understanding, sending him a look that I hope portrays that I'll take care of it before turning to head back to the elevator. I press the button for the roof of the tower once the doors slide shut behind me. Lake has been slipping away to the roof whenever things have gone wrong since he first started hanging around the team. I'm somehow the only one who seems to have realized the pattern, though, because the rest of the team always acts as if he's dropped off the face of the earth when he decides to distance himself.

I find Lake sitting near the edge just like I expected him to be. Seeing him so close to the edge used to make me insanely nervous, but he's never done anything reckless like dangle his feet over the edge, so I've relaxed over time. I eventually voiced some concern and his reply relaxed me even more. He just likes the view, and I can't help but to agree.

His shoulders tensed the second I stepped off the elevator, but he doesn't say anything to acknowledge that he's not alone anymore. There's something clenched in one of his fists and as I get closer I realize from the black strand hanging from it that it's his counterpart necklace. Bonding with Rowan didn't really change a lot with them, it seems. I've only seen the necklace maybe a handful of times after they told the team about their relationship. It makes sense. A Bond isn't a cure-all. His desire for privacy didn't magically disappear when they cemented their Bond because that's not what they're for.

I sit down beside him without saying a word. I learned from experience that confronting Lake directly when he's upset or angry isn't the right way to go about things. Give Lake enough time and he always eventually comes around and speaks up on his own.

The hand clenching the metal counterpart pendant tightens and then loosens a few times before he finally drags in a breath and speaks.

"Did Rowan send you up here after me?" he grates out without looking over at me.

"No," I reply. "He didn't know where you went."

"But you did," Lake says tonelessly.

"I did."
There's another pause before he says anything else.

"Bella's struggling to control her powers, you know. She's three. It's impossible to control something so big by herself even with any help. That's just not safe," he explains quietly. "All I did was suggest we pull her from school for a little while. Just long enough that she's not sneezing storm clouds into the air, you know."

"Sounds reasonable," I agree, nodding a few times even though he's not looking at me.

"I thought so, but Rowan freaked out. Said that, you know, just because my parents suppressed my powers doesn't mean we should do the same as Bella," Lake continues. He sighs quietly, looking off to the side. "He didn't mean it, I know that. He's just stressed out. There's no handbook for this."