The Countdown

It's Girly.

When everything settled down I was able to catch my breath a bit. Kota was still in the room, staring at me with this calculated look in his eyes. I yawned and Sean pulled me closer, burying his nose into my hair.

"Go away Kota, we're sleeping," he grumped out.

I smiled slightly, and continued to look at Kota. I could tell he was refraining the urge to roll his eyes, but his lips did move up a little. A few more minutes of us staring at each other and then Sean sighed really loudly.

"You can have her feet."

And then I was being shared between the two of them. Kota having some sort of inner battle, and Sean whispering that he was a doctor and I needed sleep and I wasn't allowed to argue because he would tell Owen on me and I'd be in trouble.

I fell asleep somewhere between Kota rubbing my feet and Sean going on about getting in trouble. When I woke up the guys were all around me. I don't think they knew I was awake, mostly because I kept my eyes closed. They were all talking really quietly.

"We'll stay here, duh," Someone, Luke, was saying.

"No, we need a bigger place. One where we each have our own space, and she has hers. If this is ever going to work."

That was Owen, I'm sure of it.

"Can I hold her now?" That was a new voice.

With it my eyes flew open and across from where I was in Sean's lap, Gabriel chuckled. Next to him though was the biggest guy I'd seen in my life, but unlike North, he looked like he wouldn't hurt a fly. He smiled.

"See she woke up, she wants me."

He said it like the words meant more than just me wanting to go over and sit with him. Sean pulled me up like a doll and placed a loud kiss on my cheek, making me laugh. I expected the other guys to look mad, but they all had various shades of happy expressions, even Kota. It made me wonder what I'd missed while I was asleep.

"Fine," Sean said lifted me up.

Victor grabbed me from him and walked me over to set me down next to the new guy. I didn't bother looking to see if my heart was complete, because right then, in the room with all of them I felt complete.

Owen cleared his throat, "Sang, that's Silas. He's the dark blue segment of our marks."

I smiled shyly, and he grinned wolfishly, "Happy to meet you little one."

Cue the blush.

I looked over at Owen curiously, not minding the way Silas's arm went around my waist. It felt natural. All of it did.

"What are we doing?" I asked, my words being broken up by a yawn.

All of the guys smiled at the movement, except for North. I didn't see him. I felt my chest squeeze a little bit.

"We're discussing you, actually."

Oh great, here it is, I met them all and now I have to choose. A terrible thought crept across my mind and I quickly checked my wrist. The watch hadn't restarted. It would be taken out soon enough, leaving the mating mark the only thing that was left for a reminder that this whole crazy process had happened.

"I have to chose, don't I?"

Owen smiled, looking at me carefully, "Actually we were thinking that maybe you wouldn't mind leaving things how they are?"

I didn't understand for a moment, but Gabriel picked my hand up in his and Silas rubbed my side lightly. I looked around the group of amazing guys and my eyes landed back on Owen.

"You mean like all of us are soulmates? How would that even work? How can it be possible?"

Kota cleared his throat this time, "I've actually been thinking. Earlier when you..." he made a face and I cringed back at the remembrance of my little meltdown, "...anyways. It made me get an idea. We all have come from some pretty bad backgrounds, from abuse, to neglect, among other things. All of us are a little broken, and together I think we make a whole.

"We were friends before you showed up, that much is pretty clear I hope. We were all worried what soulmates would do to the bond that we have. It's deeper than brothers, but a platonic sort of love. The Greeks have a theory about soulmates-"

"That's because we're awesome," Silas said next to me, his chest rumbling with the words.

Kota went on as if Silas hadn't interrupted, "Plato believed that humans were born with four arms, four legs, two heads. He said that Zeus feared the power that this creation had, and so he split them apart and condemned them to search for their other halves. There's many variations of this, but the essential idea is that the two halves complete each other. The technology today recognizes the other piece of an individual's soul, I'm not sure how but the souls gravitate towards each other.

"If my theory is correct then our beat up, bruised souls all connect to make one. That's why our tattoo is the way that it is. Each of our favorite color combining to create a heart, with your favorite color wrapped around it, bordering it, keeping the pieces together. We," he gestured to all the guys, "had already found each other but we need you to keep us together and make us whole."

Kota's cheeks were pink, and I'm pretty sure I had tears in my eyes.

"I don't want to leave any of you."

That's all I had to say apparently. The guys all looked super happy and they included me in on the conversation that Luke's house was too small to fit all of us, and they made it my choice whether or not we get multiple houses, or just one big one.

I didn't want us to split apart. Owen excused himself to go find a decent real estate agent, and Luke got up to go make some food. Silas turned on a baseball game on the tv, and while I was interested Gabriel could tell my mind was elsewhere.

"You go talk to North and then we can go look at what I did to your closet while you were off being adventurous."

"He's still here?" I couldn't help the surprise in my voice.

"Of course the fuckers here, he's just upset he upset you. Been punishing himself since you fell asleep."

After Gabriel told me where Luke would be I excused myself to go find him. It wasn't hard, he was in the all black room near mine upstairs. I knocked before pressing open the door. North was sitting on his bed with an odd expression as he stared intently down at one of the books I'd gotten from B.

He didn't look up when I entered, and I saw the other two books laying on the bed next to him.

"North?"

"I don't like girly books," he said but didn't look up.

"Then why are you reading mine?"

There was a sigh and then he looked up at me, "Because I fucked up and made you have a panic attack. You thought that monster of a mother was out to get you, because I yelled at you. So I'm reading your books."

I smiled slightly, "How do you like them so far?"

"They're girly," he said.

"They're supposed to be," I replied.

He grunted and held out a hand. When I put mine in his he pulled me onto the bed into his lap and flipped to the beginning of the book. I wasn't sure what he was doing until he began to read out loud.

In that moment I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but it would be worth it.