Broken

.10.

"Come on, Liviya." Rhex grabbed my wrist once again and pulled me towards a dark blue door.

I stumbled behind him before leaning against his hold with a scowl. "No, Rhex! It's Liv and you can't do things like that to me!" I jerked back hard and he let me go, turning around slowly. I wanted to stamp my foot on the ground like I used to do as a child to show him my frustration.

"I'm only human, Rhex. I can feel everything about you, you are that intense. Being around you is like being in an ocean that is swirling around me, pulling me down and then you go ahead and touch me." I gestured at him with my hand. He just needed to understand how I felt. "You don't even have to touch me to affect me. Just being around makes everything that much more intense. My skin feels like humming when you are near me and it feels like fire when you touch me. I desire you in a way I have never desired another person in my entire life and that's terrifying." I took a deep breath in, holding out my hands towards him, imploring him to understand.

"Then you make the rule no touching because I'm a distraction. Then you proceed to break that rule and then withdrawal from the situation right after. You don't feel it when you shut down but I can. It's like a bucket of icy water dumped over me that hurts. It's like a vicious slap to the face." I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead, trying to rub the sudden ache away. "I don't want to be this sensitive to you, Rhex, but you put out a goddamned energy and I'm only human." The differences between us was right there in front of us but it was like he didn't see them like I did. He could shut everything down, withdrawal, I couldn't.

"Please, if you are going to play this weird game with me, take that into account." I felt drained but in a good way, as if all of that had been festering inside of me and having it out in the open was a good thing. I looked up at him and he had a look on his face that frustrated me, it was nearly undecipherable.

"Come on, Liv. We have things to do." His voice was even and I levelled him with a glare but kept my mouth shut. I had said what needed to be said and I wasn't about to say anything else. He opened the door and I walked into to the dim stairwell. I gritted my teeth as he closed the door and moved past me, starting down the stairs. I followed behind him slowly.

I envied the way he was able to push everything away as if it didn't bother him. I wanted to be able to do just that, to push everything away like I didn't have a care in the world. Instead I had half of a Council who wanted my head on a pike, more than half the population on this ship wanted me thrown down the recycler. Not to mention one person wanting to wage war on humans all because the Source had decided my soulmate had to be Orrian.

We walked down several flights of stairs before he opened another door and led me out. I blinked, the doors on this floor were red and there were far more Orrians than I was comfortable with. I resisted the urge to step closer to Rhex as we started walking towards a door sitting beside clear windows. It appeared to be a clothing store and I almost balked. I didn't like clothes shopping on Earth, let alone surrounded by Orrians who would probably smother me in the clothes while Rhex wasn't looking.

I paused at the doorway and as if sensing I had stopped Rhex looked over his shoulder with a frown. "Come on, Liv. Into the store, I said I would get you more clothes and it wasn't an empty promise." He levelled a look on me that demanded he be obeyed and I wanted to stand just outside of the door to spite him. I clenched my teeth tightly, my jaw aching at the pressure, as I stepped inside of the store. "Pick out what you wish to wear." I looked around, the styles were similar to Earth styles but I had no clue where to start.

I moved over to a rack and moved some of the shirts around, the fabric was nearly sheer. I frowned, most of the pieces would need to be layered and it irritated me. "Can I help you with anything?" The worker's voice sounded stiff and I looked at her with a small smile before shaking my head.