Early-morning sunlight pierced her eyelids as she grumbled, pressing her face deeper into the warmth of her pillow…that moved? Blearily and half-asleep, she opened her eyes and felt the pillow rise and fall beneath her ear, the steady cadence of someone's heart beating.

Swallowing a squeak, she examined her surroundings without moving her head and then, feeling a hand low on her back, relaxed when she realized where she was and who, more importantly, she was laying on.

"You're awake," the groggy, sleepy voice said.

"Yeah."

He squeezed her hip gently. "Get up. I gotta pee."

Reluctantly, she climbed onto the bed and off him and watched curiously as he pushed back the duvet and clamored to his feet. The front of his underwear was tented and she couldn't tear her eyes away from it. She felt like a pervert, ogling the half-asleep boy, but she couldn't stop herself from staring; she'd never seen a boy's morning wood before.

Was this how their Bond going to be? Her gaping at him constantly, awed by each boyish mannerism, each new situation?

She sat up and ran her fingers along the length of her nighttime braid, working the thin hair tie out of the tail of the braid and undoing the plaits with practiced ease. Her scalp prickled as she ran her fingers through the soft waves.

Should she get dressed? Did he expect sex right off the bat? Were they allowed to leave the hotel at all?

"Your aunt didn't tell you much, did she?"

Chloe jumped, not expecting his voice nearby, and turned to find him stumbling out of the bathroom. "Wh—what do you mean?" she asked, watching him as he ran a hand through his tousled hair. Hair, she recalled with a hot blush, that she'd yanked on as he sucked her clit eagerly last night.

"Your questions are all over your face, Chloe. No, I'm not expecting sex right off the bat. That's up for you to decide. I won't force you. and we are allowed to leave the hotel. I was thinking we could get breakfast if you want. Once we both shower and get dressed. You can call or text your aunt or whoever, let them know I'm not keeping you hostage, or whatever." He gave her a shrug. "I'm gonna go get dressed. The bathroom's all yours."

As he began to undress and pick out clean clothes, she crawled out of the bed and hurried into the bathroom.

Her shower was long and she took extra long to shave her legs and her underarms and contemplated the downy bush between her legs. He hadn't minded it last night, so she decided to just trim it with a small trimmer still in the bag she found beneath the cabinet. It was shorter once she finished, her hand trembling the entire time, and less wild. She liked it more.

As she moisturized her body, an exasperated knock sounded heavy against the door.

Derek asked, his voice an octave or two away from snappish, "Are you almost done? I'm starving."

She nearly squealed in surprise. "Almost!" She hurriedly raked a comb through her wet hair, brushed her teeth, and washed her face before slipping out of the bathroom. As she walked to her bag, she cursed herself for forgetting her clothes and changed briskly. As she did so, she noticed Derek had yet to turn back to her. Ever the gentleman.

Finally dressed in high-waisted jeans and a cropped Harry Styles tank top, she addressed Derek as she squeezed any excess water out of the ends of her hair with the nightgown from last night. "Are we going out? Or eating at the hotel buffet?"

He turned to face her, raising an eyebrow at her questions. "The hotel buffet closed at eleven. It's twelve-thirty." His voice was full of laughter which surprised her.

"I'm gonna call my aunt."

He hummed and rocked back on his heels. "Don't be too long," he said, gazing straight at her with sleepy green eyes.

She sipped her hot chocolate, swathed in the over-sized, Derek-scented hoodie her soul-mate had insisted she wear when he found out she didn't have any sweaters or jackets packed, watching him through the fringe of her eyelashes. He'd ordered two plates and was busy eating so he didn't notice her staring at him.

And even if he had, she wasn't sure what she'd say to defend it. That she liked looking at him? That she was imagining the rest of her life with him? That she was sorry he was stuck with someone like her?

Funnily enough, she couldn't imagine someone else she'd rather endure this with.

Forcing herself not to stare any longer, she began to eat her waffles in silence, cutting them into triangles and then dousing them in syrup. Where as he'd gone with a burger, fries and a side of three pancakes, she'd picked blueberry waffles and a side of hash-browns and was barely halfway through the first waffle when he went rigid in his seat, eyes fixed on something behind her.

She turned and watched a young couple—the woman light-haired, the man dark-haired, and a baby in a carrier—and she couldn't stop herself from staring. The woman smiled up at her husband, and that's when Chloe saw it. The soul mark that took up a large portion of her cheek. Like his face had pressed to hers. It glowed and shimmered, luminescent, and she found herself staring at the mark.

Beneath the sleeve of the hoodie, her arm burned pleasantly.

She turned back and found her soul-mate watching the couple too and couldn't help but wonder if he was thinking that that was a glimpse into their future too. She turned back to her waffle, dragged a piece through the puddle of syrup, and popped it into her mouth.

The I-Hop they had breakfast in was a few blocks away from the hotel, and on the walk back, she texted the girls (Kari, Rae, Miranda, Beth, Mila, and Amber) and Lauren with a quick I'm alive and safe as she briskly kept pace with Derek's long stride with obvious struggle. Her legs hurt.

Just as she started to walk across a pedestrian walk, a hand closed around her arm firmly and yanked her back. A car whizzed past. She turned, heart hammering, adrenaline making her shaky, to find her soul-mate behind her, his mouth thin, eyes hard.

"Be careful," he murmured, his voice nothing more than a gravelly whisper, as she felt the jackhammer beat of his heart against her spine. His thumb rubbed up and down her arm.

Liquid heat swam through her, made her dizzy and hungry, and she couldn't stop her cheeks from blazing.

She couldn't find her voice and simply nodded as he stepped away. His cheeks were red, his ears pinkened, as he nodded once and bit his bottom lip.

As they walked, she felt the edge of his hand brush against hers. Heart thumping, she slid her hand into his and stared straight ahead.