Basically Strangers

[8] Stranger with a Past

Arkin’s Flashback POV

I was born in Ireland to two people whom I never met. As soon as I was born, they were killed and I was adopted by a man by the name of Roberts. Little did I know that I had a twin sister who was also adopted, just by a Scottish man. I didn’t meet her until I was a teenager.

The man who adopted me, Roberts, was in fact a pirate. I was raised on a boat, rarely going on land. When I turned 12, our ship was sunk in an attack off the coast of Japan, and I narrowly escaped with my life. I was floating in the ocean on a piece of debris for what felt like days until a helicopter found me.

My name was changed and I lived in China for a few years until I turned 15. In an incident, my temporary home was burned to the ground, and I was found by an old acquaintance of Roberts. So, from the age of 15, I was raised to be a criminal. By the age of 18, I had lived in 42 countries, lived under 32 aliases, and had stolen millions from many people and governments.

I arrived in America and changed my name once more, getting an apartment and trying to hide from multiple countries and gangs searching for me. At first I attempted to find a home in Los Angeles, but then I found that I have an addiction to gambling. Instead I moved to the midwest where no one would look for me.

Sadly, my twin sister who was raised in a similar fashion found me and attempted to blackmail me into giving her all of my riches and valuables. This ended when I shot her in the shoulder and handed her over to the proper authorities who had been searching for her. I didn't know where she had disappeared to until very recently. You met her, don’t you remember, Y/N? Probably not, in all honesty. You were asleep through most of her visits. Or at school. Ada Christo.

The point is, my parents were dead, my sister wants me dead, all of my past relations with people have ended badly and the only thing keeping me sane is now a fifteen year old kid with H/L H/C hair and E/C eyes….

How’d I get here?

3rd POV

You sat beside Arkin, your head on his shoulder as he told his tale. You didn’t move, didn’t talk, just listened. Finally when he was done, you just snuggled closer into Arkin.

“Why would I hate you?” you muttered under your breath.

“Because, Y/N…” Arkin sighed. “I’ve killed. I’m a monster.” You sat up and  caressed Arkin’s cheek ever so gently, as if he would break under pressure.

“So what?” The statement took Arkin back just a little bit. How could you say that? “So what if you’ve killed before? Who you are and who you were aren’t the same thing, Arkin. I love you for who you are now. Not who you used to be.” Arkin’s eyes widened just a bit.

“You... love me?” You kinda froze.

“Not the way you’re thinking, pervert!” You playfully punched Arkin’s shoulder, and he began laughing before wrapping his arms around the person’s waist and lifting them into the air with a squeal of shock.  “Hey put me down!” Arkin carried you to the bedroom, dropping you on the large bed. He pounced on the space beside you, making the whole bed jolt. “Gah!”

With both parties in a fit of giggles, Arkin and you laid beside each other, a simple comfortable silence filling the room. Arkin rolled over and pulled your body to his, your back to his chest and his face in your hair. He held you tightly to himself. It seemed like if he let go, you would disappear, or cease to exist. Arkin would be all alone again. No matter what, that couldn’t happen. That wouldn’t happen.

Y/N sighed with contentment as a question filled their mind.

How did I get here? Living with a criminal, hiding from my dad, loving every second with Arkin.

The simplest answer was this: Arkin Rune needed help. Arkin Rune needed a lot of help. But so did you. The two were like opposite pieces in the same puzzle. You never feeling adequate, Arkin never feeling whole. You always thinking you weren’t good enough, Arkin always feeling broken. You, even if you didn’t know it,  were slowly putting Arkin Rune back together. And even though Arkin was an oblivious idiot, he was definitely fixing the broken life of a 15 year old.

You just had no idea how bad things could, and would, get….

*****
Thoughts? Questions? Answers? Hallucinations? Anything? Two chapters in one day to say sorry for being offline so long.

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