Broken

.12.

I felt arms shift around me and I jolted slightly, unaware I had actually fallen asleep on the couch. I became aware I was being carried somewhere. Panic filled me as I opened my eyes completely. Someone was taking me.

"Easy, Liv. You are okay." Rhex's voice rumbled through me and I felt myself slowly relax. I looked around carefully, we were going up some stairs and I felt slightly concerned. He was taking me somewhere I didn't know.

"Where are we?" The words showed my apprehension and Rhex said nothing as he pushed open another door, carrying me over the threshold. The room was lit but it was from the light of millions of stars. I let out a gasp of delight as Rhex set me down on my feet. I did my best to take it all in as I slowly turned around. The tiny pinpoints of light marking the stars surrounded us. It was beautiful and I walked forward a smile spreading across my face.

"I come here sometimes to think." Rhex was behind me again and he pulled me over to a blanket laid out on the floor. He sat down and I sat beside him, staring up at the night sky with awe.

"It's beautiful, Rhex." I smiled up at the stars and Rhex grasped my shoulder. I turned to look at him and he tugged me backwards slightly.

"Lay down." The words were soft and despite my confusion I did. He moved his hand from my shoulder and lay down beside me. "I brought you up here so we could talk." His words were even, as if he had planned each one carefully.

"Talk about what?" I swallowed hard and looked up at the stars, trying to figure out what he meant.

There was a faint pause that made my heart beat quicken. "Everything, Liv. I want to talk about... everything." He paused once more and I wondered if I needed to say anything when he spoke again. "There is never any pressure while I am up here. I feel less closed in, more able to freely express myself. Orrians don't talk about such things and I'm trying to figure out how to deal with all this." I watched as a shooting star flew across the sky.

I could tell he was nervous and tense and I bit my lip, trying to think of a safe subject, something that would put him at ease. "I was born May twenty-fourth to Louis and Eliza Burch. I was two and a half months premature and weighed only three pounds and eight ounces. My dad used to tell me that I barely fit into both his hands cupped together." I gave a small chuckle and shook my head. "He used to call me his little potato. Not my most favourite nickname in the world but it was mine. Other little girls were called princess, dolly, or cupcake but I was the only little potato." I smiled at the memory before laughing at the absurdity of my dad's nickname.

"He doesn't call me it much anymore." I frowned slightly before returning my attention back to the cluster of stars that made up the arm of the Milky Way galaxy. It was like a bright ribbon of light across the sky. "He's a genetic researcher helping try and find the cause for Orrian infertility. My mum is a specialist for interstellar plant growth, her research is helping feed soldiers on the front and the Orrians in ships." I rested my hands on my stomach, drumming my fingers, listening to the slight patter they made.

"I had a good childhood. Actually my entire life up until my eighteenth birthday was perfect. I had doting parents, good grades." I let out a heavy sigh holding my hands still on my stomach. "After my, eighteenth birthday I spent the next seven years feeling like I was deformed. I couldn't bond. I was an oddity, a freak. I was referred to as 'the broken one' at Ami'la's office." That nickname haunted me for a very long time. "The only human unable to form a soulmate bond. I hated myself every day for not being normal like everyone else." I felt tears clog my throat and I swallowed, trying to force them away.

"I am glad you aren't like everyone else." His smooth, deep voice startled me. I had almost forgotten he was there. I watched as he reached over, grasping my hand in his, threading his fingers through mine. I shivered at the contact, his skin was warm and rough against my own.