White Rabbit

Chapter 36: And Suddenly It'll Be Theirs

REECE

I wake up at around four in the morning to find Essence still lying in my arms, her body pressed up against my chest and my arms wrapped around her waist. A smile forms on my face as she breathes with her lips slightly parted and a strand of hair is lying across the bridge of her nose. I move one of my hands to brush the piece of hair back and my eyes widen whenever I notice I've also subconsciously started to stroke the side of her face with my fingers. I freeze and my breath hitches whenever she begins to stir in my arms, whining slightly and trying to burrow herself even closer to me, her small arms winding around my torso as she buries her face in my chest.

I still don't know what happened or why she decided to come to me of all people, considering she seems to not like me, but then again, maybe it's the opposite. After all, not everything is always as it seems to be. We stopped training at around ten and I went to get a shower while Essence went to go for a jog around the block as she waited for me to finish up so that she could get a shower. I was done after about fifteen minutes and Essence came back just as I was finishing up. After that, I didn't see her for the rest of the night up until when she barged into my room shaking several hours ago. I couldn't just turn her away in that state. I'm not heartless. But, I was surprised to find how well she seems to fit in my arms and against me. It's comfortable, almost too comfortable, as if she were made for me. I defiantly shake my head at the thought, careful not to wake her up in the process.

"Reece..." She murmurs in her sleep and I raise a brow at her, glancing down to watch her expression as one of her eyebrows twitches in her sleep and she drools slightly, "warm..."

I suppress the urge to chuckle in fear of waking her up and I take to staring at the ceiling.

"You're one hell of a guy," I sighed and the blond beside me laughed wholeheartedly as his grasp on his glass tightened slightly, tilting his head slightly and glancing at me from out of the corner of his eye.

"Same to you," Kaden said with a smile as he stood up from his stool at the bar, leaving his almost empty glass of Cola rest on a napkin on the counter as he fished a few dollars out of his pocket.

"No," I shook my head, "really, though. I just don't get it."

"Get what?" He asked as I glanced over at him before standing up and gathering my black coat with golden trim off of the back of the stool I was sitting on.

"I don't get how you so openly trust people," I said as we walked towards the glass doors in the warmly lit restaurant that starkly contrasted the cold winter outside, the bell ringing above my head as I pushed one of the doors open and Kaden followed behind me, "and, I mean, Clattonia."

"What about Clattonia?" Kaden asked as he looked up at the winter sky, his breath forming a cloud in the air as he shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and he took long, animated steps.

"She's my best friend, we both know that. And we both know that I trust her with my life and I believe wholeheartedly in her, but you've only known her for two years and you're willing to give your life away to her so willingly. I get it, but I just, I don't understand how you're so open with yourself about it," I said.

"She's different, ya know," Kaden said as we kept walking.

"I know that--"

"And it's because she's different that I was enamored with her from the moment we first met. She didn't even have to speak for me to notice her presence or for me to want to give myself to her entire being," Kaden said with a slight smile, "she lights up a room like nobody's watching and she doesn't care whether someone is or not. I guess that's why."

"Yeah," I breathed out, "I know. Trust me, I know."

"You'll get there one day," Kaden laughed as he swerved side to side along the sidewalk, bumping into my shoulder before sighing, "It'll just take a certain someone and you'll know it when you meet them because suddenly your world won't be yours anymore, it'll be theirs."

"It'll be theirs, huh?" I muse as I glance down at Essence, "yeah, that seems about right."

"Shut up," Essence murmurs sleepily and shifts around slightly.

I chuckle and tighten my hold around her, making her hum slightly in contentment.

"I'm just a girl who's been running her whole life," She said as she averted her gaze back to the water fountain, "nothing special."

On the contrary, I quite think you are, Essence Kaori.

***

I wake up with a start whenever I'm kicked off of the bed several hours later, or rather, shoved off the bed? I'm not really sure, but either way, I'm on the floor and Essence is sitting in my bed and holding a hand anxiously to her lips as she points her other hand at me accusingly, which shakes slightly.

"What?" I scowl slightly, "if anything, I should be the one startled, not you. After all, I'm the one who was comfortably asleep before they were viciously kicked off of their bed by the person who they oh so graciously allowed to stay the night with them."

"S--Sorry," She stammers, "I was caught off guard. I woke up and forgot where I was and panicked whenever I saw someone next to me..."

"Gee, thanks," I grumble as I stand up.

"I didn't really think to check who it was first," She laughs nervously, "sorry..."

"Don't worry about it," I sigh and climb back into bed.

"And," Essence glances down and fidgets with the hem of her shirt nervously, chewing on her bottom lip before glancing back up to meet my eyes, "thank you...for taking me in...it means a lot to me."

My eyes widen slightly and my heart skips a beat as I glance off to the side, crossing my arms in an attempt to not bring attention to the blush rising to my face.

"Whatever, it was no problem, really," I say as I check the time on my digital alarm clock that rests on my dark brown nightstand, the red numbers on the black little alarm clock reading 10:13 A.M., "don't worry about it."

She visibly relaxes and nods and the two of us sit there in silence for a few moments.

"So," I start, "are you finally going to tell me what happened?"

"I..." Essence pauses, thinking for a few moments before continuing, "I was just having a nightmare."

"A nightmare?" I raise a brow.

"Yeah," She nods, "I have them a lot. There's a recurring one about how I discovered my parent's bodies whenever I was little. That was whenever I started running and I only stopped whenever I finally met you."

"I'm sorry," I frown, "that's horrible."

"Thanks," She gives me a weak smile before it falls from her face and she appears hesitant for a few moments.

"Wh--"

I go to ask her what's wrong, but she leans forward quickly and embraces me in a hug, wrapping her arms around my neck and burying her face in my shoulder, my eyes widening slightly in surprise.

"Thank you," She says once more before leaning back quickly just as I go to put my arms around her and she climbs off of the bed.

The door shuts with a soft click that echos throughout the room as she exits and I sit there in my bed still, staring ahead at the space where she once was, still slightly in shock.

"What's happening to me?" I groan and rub my face with my hands before turning and falling into one of my pillows.

Just what does that girl do to me?