While I Was Away(79)

“I'm sorry I wasn't there when you woke up,” he breathed, his lips brushing against her temple.

“God, that probably would've been worse,” she snorted. “You would've been convinced I had brain damage and you never would've listened to me and then I would've been all alone forever.”

He paused for a long time, then his arms squeezed her tight in a hug.

“No,” he disagreed. “Because I think what you said before is true – we were meant to happen. We were supposed to be this fantastic mess. You would've said crazy things and I would have thought you were crazy, but then I would've tried to help you. I would've stuck by your side. And I would've gotten to know what an amazing person you are, and I would've listened to you, and I would've fallen in love with you anyway.”

Adele heaved a shuddering breath.

“You think so?”

“I don't think, I know. I believe.”

“I'm scared that when I fall asleep, I'll wake up and you won't be here,” she spoke softly. It was strange, now that she had him, she was even more afraid of losing him.

“I'm not going anywhere,” he informed her.

“That's what I thought about myself, and then I was lost forever in a dream.”

“And I was there, too,” he reminded her. “And I'll be in the next one. And I'll be wherever you go next. I'll always be there.”

“Always is a really long time,” she warned him.

“Always isn't nearly long enough,” his voice was low in her ear. “Not for people like us, Adele. Not for soulmates.”

Warmth was blossoming in her soul – in their twin, shared soul – and she let it spread over her body and consume her. Her eyes grew heavy and she slowly shut them, but she refused to slip into the darkness.

“If this is a dream,” she mumbled sleepily. “I don't want to wake up. Don't let them wake me up this time.”

“No dream could ever compare to us, Adele. No fantasy, no mirage, no fairy tale. You and I, we're something bigger. Something better.”

“Something ...” she sighed, struggling to search for the right word. Struggling to stay away.

“Something ...” he echoed. Then she smiled and took her last step into sleep, but not before breathing out one last sentence.

“Something magical.”





36




Jones was there when she woke up in the morning.

He also seemed to have a tendency to hog the bed, which she didn't mind at all. She stayed laying under his tangle of limbs, watching his eyelids twitch while he was in deep REM sleep.

How am I awake!? Last night was like a marathon for the body, mind, and soul.

Apparently when two soulmates finally found each other, they went about trying to become one as often, and as vigorously, as possible. His stamina was mind blowing. After their second round in the bed, they'd chatted for a little while. Whispered sweet things in the dark. Slept for a bit. Then woken up again for rounds three and four.

Her face was on fire, she could feel, but she didn't care. She grinned and wiggled her way out from under him.

“Five more minutes,” he grunted, and Adele rolled her eyes.

“Up, up, up! I had an idea,” she said cheerfully.

“Are you always this chipper in the mornings?”

“Generally, yeah.”

“I'm starting to have second thoughts about us.”

She whacked him on the butt, then straddled his hips.

“I think we should go back today,” she said, using her hands to tap out a beat on his back. “And it's a long drive.”

“You want to go home now?” he asked through a yawn. “Like right now?”

“Like as soon as possible, we're burning daylight.”

That seemed to fully wake him up. He grumbled, then started rolling around under the sheet. She rocked and rolled with him, maintaining her position while he moved. Eventually, he was face up and she was sitting on his stomach, her knees on either side of him.

“Adele,” he said in a creaky voice. “Where's the rush?”

“I've been thinking about it, and I want you to meet my brothers,” she said. He cocked up an eyebrow.

“I've met your brothers. Multiple times,” he reminded her, and she rolled her eyes.

“Never in my presence, though. And really, you met three grumpy, melodramatic bears that liked to hover over my death bed, and they met my dutiful nurse. Now I would like you to meet my actual brothers, and I would like them to meet my ...” she was at a loss for what to call him. She knew he was her soulmate, and he knew that – but it might put people off if that's how they referred to each other all the time.

“Your Jones,” he suggested, resting his splayed hands on her thighs.

“Exactly. Auggie leaves tomorrow, I don't know when he'll be back,” she explained. “And they're such a big part of my life, and now you are, too. It's important.”

“Auggie, huh,” he mumbled, his troubled gaze drifting towards the window. The bed had forest green sheets, and they did amazing things for his eyes, even when he was frowning.

“Please,” she begged. “They're really teddy bears, I promise.”