|| Chapter 5 ||

I was still standing at the door when Skylar came back. "What are you-?" He cut off as he saw the blood dripping from my arm. "The heck? What happened?" He grabbed my arm just like Moon did and examined it. "Who did this, Nisshoku?" I managed to gasp out, "Moon."

"WHAT?" He shouted, then took a breath, "Moon, you said Moon, right?"

Maybe I shouldn't have told him, but I did anyway. "Yes, her freaking ghost walked up to me and did this!" I was shaking now, "She said if I didn't do her bidding, she would kill my soulmate!" Skylar blinked. "Huh? Your soulmate?"

"I know, I thought the same thing, but apparently they're real…" Skylar furrowed his brow. "Well, who's your soulmate, then?" Oh no. How am I supposed to know? "That's the thing-I don't know! So anyone could be hurt and they could be my soulmate! I can't know!" I felt tears threaten to fall. I couldn't cry. Not here, not now. "We have to heal you," Skylar tugged on my arm, but I didn't budge. "Come on,"

"No-you'll be hurt!" I protested. "What? How?" He questioned letting my arm go. I took a deep breath. Why did I care if he got hurt? I mean, it would be better if he did, so I could escape. But I didn't want to be left alone…Moon could come back. "Last time you did it you…" I trailed off as he grabbed my hands. "I have to heal you, though." He whispered intensely. Why? Because he cared? My heart jumped at the thought.

Ugh.

I wasn't supposed to like him! Clearing my throat, I murmured, "But why?"

He took a deep breath. Oh, please say because you want me to be okay, please say because you care about me, please say anything but- "Because Touma will get mad if I don't." Skylar grunted.-But that. My heart plummeted and I snatched my hands away. "Do not touch me." Did I just see the tiniest hint of longing in his eyes? I probably imagined it. Probably. "But I have to heal you-" He began to say, but I interrupted. "No, you don't. And Touma can talk to me if he has a problem. Anyways, I don't think he'll want to talk to you after you lied to him. For what? Years?" Skylar flinched and took a step back. "I get it, you're mad. But that doesn't mean you get to treat me like that," Skylar said, rubbing his temples. "Oh, really, then why could you treat me that way when I first arrived?" I snapped back. He narrowed his eyes and snorted, "Well, now you see why I treated you like that, don't you?"

"Are you insulting me?"

"Maybe I am."

"Well you're bad at it."

"I would be quiet if I were you, because I can easily kill you."

"Well go ahead and try, no one else has succeeded yet."

"I would but Touma would kill me, after I killed you."

"Oh no! Touma, Touma, Touma!"

"Shut up, it's serious!"

I was about to say more, when the door swung open. "What is going on here?" Touma shouted. He was in a baggy shirt and jeans. His hair was messy. We must have woken him up. Uh oh. "What are you doing awake?" He snarled. I glanced at Skylar. His face was pale as he answered, "Sorry. She was hurt." Touma's wild gaze focused on me. "Sorry?" I winced when he snorted, "Well I am trying to sleep, we have a big day tomorrow-so SLEEP." And with that he whirled around and stalked off, slamming the door shut behind him. "Ow." Skylar said. I glared at him and sat on my bed, quickly taking my shoes off so he wouldn't notice. Skylar took a few steps towards his bed then stopped. "I still need to heal you," Skylar pointed out. I groaned and walked over to him. He had no idea I was there. I grabbed his hand and he turned around, surprise in his eyes. My fingers tingled when he grabbed my hand as well. I slowly lifted his hand towards my arm and he blinked at me. "Thank you," He murmured. His hand began to glow as he healed me. I probably shouldn't have let him do what he did next but I did anyways. He pressed his forehead against mine and I let him. I let him pull me closer. And I let him hold me. I knew he was going through a lot. I knew he barely knew me, and I barely knew him.

But it still felt comforting to have someone hold you close when everything else in your life was going south. My heart rate kicked up when I realized how close we were, how good this felt, how right this felt, too. Suddenly, he jerked back and drew his fingers through his hair. "Sorry, I just-" He sighed, "I just really needed that…" He nodded awkwardly. "No, no, it's okay. I…I needed that too." I admitted nervously. He laughed, "Well, we really should get to bed, now." Backing away still. He turned and dived into his bed, the light turned off as soon as he hit it. Yet I still stood there, thinking about what had just passed between us. I went to my own bed and fell asleep, my dreams full of Moon. And Skylar holding me, his forehead pressed against mine, his arms around me.