Chapter 3
I woke up the next morning when my alarm went off, very quickly rolling out of Will's arm to mute my phone, before, rolling back. Will still had his arm around me, fast asleep. He had his phone on his chest where he must have been on his phone as he fell asleep. His dark brown hair was fluffy and going every which direction – and he had amazing eyelashes too. There was a small scar on his right cheek, around two centimetres long.
Realising I was just staring at him, I gently got out of bed, careful not to disturb him as I pulled the duvet over him. Quickly, I wrote down on a piece of paper "Had to go to work, when you wake up call me and I'll come and pick you up. Sleep well x". I hesitated before I put the kiss at the end, leaving it on top of his phone, closing the bedroom door and getting changed into a hoodie and jeans I had on the washing pile, before heading out the door. I could normally make myself look decent in the car at work.
/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\
I had barely got to my desk before Alice appeared next to me. I looked at her, continuing to eat a croissant.
'So.' Alice said. I looked at her and she smiled at me. 'I see you clocked out late last night… Will clocked out at the same time. I also wanted to make sure you got home safe, and Will got to his hotel fine… but, this is a bit weird, Will didn't check into his hotel.' Alice said to me and I took a sip of my coffee.
'What are you suggesting?'
'That Will Benedict got hit by a train at night.' Alice said and I laughed.
'I couldn't be arsed to drop him off last night, he stayed at mine.' I said gently.
'WHAT.' Alice shouted and everyone looked at her.
'Shh?' I said and she sat down on the floor next to me, looking up at me. I sighed. 'Nothing happened, I took him home with me saying I'll sleep on the settee. We were talking about… stuff and he thanked me for letting him stay with me last night. We eventually ended up kissing and shared the same bed.' I saw Alice's face drop as I took a sip of my coffee. 'Didn't do anything, don't worry.'
'How did you sleep? Were you on other sides of the bed?' Alice asked and I shook my head.
'No, I fell asleep cuddling him.' I said, shaking my head.
'You did what?!' Alice hissed at me.
'I left a note telling him to call me when he wakes up and I'll go and pick him up.' I said and Alice's mouth dropped.
'You're like a married couple already! Could he be your Soulfinder?' Alice mumbled to me quietly and I looked at her. 'You're the same age roughly, you know you were born in March but the date is unknown to you because of the whole orphanage situation. Will was born in late March, and not only that is he is from a very prestigious family of Savants. I know you're scared about everything Savant and with your past and your gift, that's fair – but Will seems like a genuine guy and I can bet my ass last night was the first night in forever where you actual slept properly, and you weren't awake every hour?' Alice whispered to me.
'I… I don't know.' I whispered backed. 'I didn't wake up at all last night. I felt safe. I dunno, something is different about him. I kept thinking that but I'm too scared to go down that road. Everyone I get close too I end up hurting. The only exception so far is you.'
'Yeah, it just proves that – perhaps – when you are really close to people, you won't hurt them. Have you told Will what you can do? What you've done in the past, that is?'
'No. He'd hate me forever. I'm banned from the Net, the very same thing his family owns and runs. Hell – his brothers were the ones that banned me for being too dangerous and having a banned gift. Even if Will accepts what I do and that's all fine, his family won't and he will never go for me over his family. That's if he likes me, which is highly unlikely.' I explained as my phoned buzzed.
'He hugged you all night, he likes you.' Alice said as I checked my phone. I had a message from an unknown number; I hope you don't always leave strangers in your flat unattended – I would have thought a detective would have known better Fin x.
'Loverboy?' Alice asked and I nodded. 'You need to go and pick him up?'
'I guess so then, yeah.' I said, putting my jacket back on.
'Finley?' Alice said and I looked back at her. 'Give Will a chance, trust him. You are happier than you have been for years. What's the worst thing that can happen? You have an amazing month, you smash a case, and you never see him again? Still seems like a good time.'
'God, are you giving me relationship advice now?'
'Depends, do you wanna be in a relationship?' Alice said as I gave her a dirty look. 'See you later, Sarge.'
"Had a nice lay in? x" I replied back.
"I did, but I woke up and you were gone, and I was very scared someone kidnapped you. How did you sleep beautiful? X" I smiled at the message but didn't know how to reply.
"I'm leaving now to pick you up, I'll be an hour. Feel free to have a shower and help yourself to whatever is in the fridge x" I promptly text back before unlocking my car – amazed that somehow I managed to walk down 3 flights of stairs into the underground carpark before I even realised I was by my car. As I started up my car, slipping my seatbelt on, Will replied.
"I'll make you a cuppa x" Will simply said as I put my phone down, blushing and feeling the butterflies in my stomach. Did I like Will? Had I started to gain feelings for a guy that had been in my life for… twenty-two hours?
The drive home was long – despite the lack of traffic. I was getting excited to see Will again, and then regretting everything – I hadn't had a shower that morning and my make up look awful but I wanted to make an impression. I cared about him. As I turned my car off, I hit my head against the steering wheel gently. I care about Will – why did I have to do this to myself.
I very quickly got out of my car and jogged up to my apartment, putting the keys in the door. The second the door opened I saw Will appear around the corner of the corridor. His hair was damp, but he was changed into a pair of jeans and a tighter fitting top, showing his muscles. He was built to perfection, I swear.
'Hey, sweetheart.' Will said immediately and my heart just melted. 'Made you a cupper.' He said, gently passing it to me. I took a sip as he stood there, smiling at me, his hand on my back.
'Thank you.' I said and he smiled at me gently. 'How did you sleep?' I asked and he nodded.
'Good, yeah, good. Very good with you by my side.' Will said as I walked into the kitchen, resting the cup of coffee on the table as I turned around. Will was right there, behind me. 'Amazing, actually.' Will said as he moved his hand to gently touched my waist. Alice's words were repeating in my mind – what's the worse that can happen? I stepped forward and kissed Will. His arm very quickly moved and held my waist, pulling me in closer as he kissed me back. I don't know what came over us but Will gently pushed me against my wall as he deepened the kiss. It was weird; I felt home being that close to Will, and the kiss was amazing. My knees gave way slightly but Will held me up, but it felt like I suddenly had a purpose. That I wasn't lost anymore. Will pulled away eventually, still holding me close.
'What's got into you, hey?' Will said softly.
'Sorry.' I whispered back.
'Don't apologise, sweetheart.'
'Look, Will, I think there's something different between us. I don't know why I say that and I hope you feel it too so I'm not just being weird. I dunno what it is and it scares me.'
'Fin, I was thinking the same thing.' Will said. 'But the whole thing, I think, is to do with Savants. And you're not ready for that, and that's fair enough. Whenever you're ready, we'll look into it. Until then, let's just go with the flow, yeah?'
'Yeah, let's just go with the flow.' I said as Will kissed me again. 'We do need to go to work though.'
'Come on then, I haven't got a UK drivers' license yet.' Will joked, taking my hand.
/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\
Will and I got on like a house on fire. In the mornings, we got ready and headed to work, Will working near enough non-stop on the missing pearls case, calling his contacts in the FBI whilst I worked with him several hours a day, and the others on my other open cases. In the evening, we went home, one of us cooked dinner or we ordered in, and we went to bed sharing the same bed as we did the first night, normally ending up with Will spooning me or me cuddling into his chest. I had kept Alice and Mitch informed – Alice as my only true friend, and Mitch as my superior who needed to know about workplace relations, as well as someone I could look up too and trust. On the other hand, I knew Will had mentioned me to his parents and some of his closest brothers, and everyone seemed to generally agree we could be Soulfinders.
Two weeks into Will's stay, the heavens opened and blessed us all with a good foot or so of snow – enough for the office to close. Will laughed at how unprepared Ireland was for snow and how the world had ground to a halt when we had a dusting of snow. But nonetheless, we got changed and decided just to go for a nice walk down into the local town for coffee – which he treated me too. We got home, got warm, and it was that night when I was in the crook of his arm, a blanket over our laps that I felt comfortable enough to tell Will about my past.
'Will?'
'Mmm?' He said.
'You know I said when I'm comfortable enough, I'd tell you about my gift and my past?' I mumbled and Will nodded – I could feel his stubble moving across my hair. 'Can I tell you about it now?'
'Yeah, yeah of course.' Will said, muting the TV and adjusting how he sat so he was facing me. I very nervously took a deep breath. 'What's up then, Fin?' Will said, gently stroking circles on my leg.
'I don't know where to begin.' I laughed nervously, my breath sounding staggered. Will nodded.
'Tell me about your gift then, poppet.' He said ever so softly and I nodded. 'Whatever you tell me, it won't change my opinions on you, I will still really like you after, okay?' I nodded again. 'So what do you do.'
'It's referred to as the Devil's gift.' I said and saw Will frown at me. 'See, I knew you would hate me.' I started to panic.
'No, no no. I was just confused and shocked. I don't hate you.' He laughed slightly, standing up before he picked me up, and then sat down with me on his lap, pulling the blanket over my shoulders. 'Tell me more.'
'So I can manipulate peoples minds, do whatever I think they should do, and can completely reprogram their brain. So I can make them pick up a coffee or turn them back into a toddler. But, I have little to no control over it. The second I get angry or sad or any extreme emotion, I lose the little control I have on it and make people forget me, or wipe their minds completely.' I whispered, and Will nodded.
'Wow.' He said. 'That's pretty impressive. Explains a lot as well.'
'What do you mean?' I asked.
'Well, I can sense danger, and with you, I can sense when you're getting upset or anxious or depressed or whatever, because you start coming up as a danger to yourself. I've wondered what it was, but that makes sense now. So what happened to your parents?' Will asked me and I cowered into his shoulder.
'I was seven, I was reading a kids book I got from the library and the kid before me who had ripped out the last two pages. I got so angry that I would never find out how the book I spent so long reading ended I wiped my parents and five siblings minds and they all forgot I existed. They were horrified when I suddenly appeared and called the police saying I was a lost child in their home. My oldest brother, Daniel, wasn't home when the incident happened, and he took me down the local orphanage and left me there.' Will hugged me tighter. 'After that, all care homes the same thing happened, I got angry or upset, caused havoc, got moved on until I moved in with friends, but the cycle continued. I just ended up living by myself – it was much safer.' I explained.
'Why didn't you apply to the Net? They would have helped you, found you somewhere safe to live with other Savants?' Will asked.
'I did apply. I got rejected.' I mumbled.
'Wait, what?'
'I applied twice, once when I was fifteen, the other a few years ago. Got rejected both times as I had a gift that wasn't reflective of their beliefs and caused more harm than good. I got banned the second time around, told I couldn't apply again.' I said and Will frowned.
'But… my family go through all the applications?' I nodded 'Who declined you?'
'I don't wanna say.' I whispered.
'Fin…' Will said and I could feel myself starting to slip.
'First by Saul Benedict because I couldn't get a reference, the other by both Trace and Victor Benedict.' I whispered and I could feel his horror. 'Are they related to you?'
'Yeah, Saul's my Dad, Trace and Vick are my brothers. Did they decline you? All three of them? They know better than that, they know someone's gift doesn't define them… Fin wait, calm down for my poppet.' Will very quickly changed his tone when I started crying, equal parts upset about the conversation at hand and getting upset I could feel the control going again. Will just held me tight. 'Let's focus for a second and calm down, yeah?'
'No, Will, go, I'm losing control – I don't want to lose you. Please, go, I can't lose you.' I cried into him and he just hugged me tighter.
'You won't lose me Fin, but I'm not leaving either. We're going to try and calm you down now, sweetheart. Now, we're going to focus on our breathing, okay? You're gonna breathe in when I say, and out when I say. We're going to prove to you that you do have control of your gift. So, breath in for me. Actually, do it.' I laughed slightly as I did it. 'Now breath out.'
We sat there for near enough an hour as Will calmed me down, making me put on his hoodie to keep me warm, slowing down my breathing and stopping me crying. Eventually, I just sat on his lap, exhausted – but he remembered me and I didn't lose control. Will sensed that I was a danger to myself and calmed me down. For the first time, I knew I was slipping but I didn't use it – I didn't use my gift.
'There we go.' Will said, holding me close. 'Told you I won't leave, and see, I still remember you.'
'I've never lost control and not hurt someone.' I whispered.
'You have now.' Will said gently.
'Thank you, Will. It was only because of you. You sense I was in danger and you calmed me down. Thank you.' I said.
'You know about Soulfinders, right, Fin?' Will asked and I nodded. 'And how your gift develops when you're with your Soulfinder – what if I sense you before you went past the point into no return, and you had more control because… well, you're getting the drift.' Will explained.
'Yeah, I've been starting to wonder that.' I said, looking up at Will. He smiled at me. 'But what if we aren't?'
'It won't change anything. It'll just be good to know one way or another. Let's just give this a go, yeah?' He explained to me gently, keeping hold of me on his lap.
'Okay, yeah, sure. How do we do this?' I asked and Will just held me to his chest.
'Keep calm, Fin.' Will said. 'Don't panic about anything, we can work it out.'
'Can we?' I mumbled.
Of course, we can. Will replied telepathically and I jumped back my mouth open. It felt like I was hit with lightning. I knew Will felt it too and I wasn't being dramatic as he just grinned at me, holding me closer.
Guessing that's good? I asked and he laughed.
Very good. Will said before kissing me hard. 'Hey, Soulfinder.'
'Well, shit. Now what?' I asked, laughing, but leaning against his shoulder. After all these years of feeling lost and lacking without a family or friends, at least now I had someone who understood my gift and could work it out and, unlike my family, wouldn't give me up – or so I hope.
