No! I wasn't sure if I'd spoken the word, because my lips hadn't moved and no air had left my throat, but for two seconds, everything stilled, a window smashing breaking the calm.

Birds flocked into the room, swarming around all of us but leaving me intact. They provided the distraction I needed to escape. Deliberately slowly, I got down on all fours and started crawling my way to where I remembered the door to be. The birds for some reason parted where I went, but I decided not to question my good fortune, simply continuing on my way. When I finally got out, I sprinted for the door.

I didn't feel like running away again though. They hadn't done anything wrong per se. I mean, the mental torture hadn't begun yet. I should leave before they could start it but something in my chest didn't allow me to just run away again. So sitting down on the log where this whole misadventure began, I took a deep breath, prepared for all the hell that would soon ensue.

Gray's POV

No! That was the first time I'd ever heard Maisee's voice sound powerful. So much that it took me a couple of beats to realise that she hadn't even spoken them. But when I did come to that conclusion, my mind finally caught up with my heart, which had been beating erratically in my chest since I heard her in my head. It was her. The reason why I existed. The reason why anything mattered.

I know I was supposed to see fireworks or a dozen other lights, but instead I saw a forest, looking just like Maisee had shown it to me. How I'd seen life before seemed meek and irrelevant. I only saw it all properly now that I had her with me.

It all made sense. How ridiculously attractive I found her, how much I wanted her to be with me always. That stupid urge to protect her since the first moment we met.

It was because we were soulfinders. We were meant for one another.

I wasn't left alone with my thoughts for very long though, as a swarm of birds had entered the room through the window, hailing down on us. I was willing to bet a couple hundred bucks that Maisee had caused this subconsciously. I should be mad at her for bringing birds from hell to attack us but, instead, I just felt a swelling pride. She was already so powerful, without even being aware of her abilities. It was amazing.

Scanning the energy of the room, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to find her, but because she'd called in all the birds she still had a lot of savant energy surrounding her. She was crawling towards the door. Making a quick decision to let her go and deal with my family, I watched her force of energy make its way around the corner, fading away as it went further. Somehow, without it, I felt empty. Forcing those thoughts away though, I regained my composure from finding out that amazingly kind and gorgeous girl was my soulfinder, deciding to start the damage control.

"Guys! Listen! Don't hurt any of the birds, alright?" I shouted over the ruckus of the birds. I wasn't sure if mom and dad had heard, but that was soon solved when I was answered through telepathy. In retrospect, I really should have thought of that. To be fair though I had just found my soulfinder so I was allowed to be a bit ditzy.

God that had sounded good. I had found my soulfinder. And without auntie Crystal's help and everything.

Why not Gray? They're attacking my face. Dad replied, but I was thinking about something else. Something a lot more important. Gray?

Oh, right. Um I don't have a reason that I can say right now but just trust me on this.

Will they go on a killing spree if I hurt them?

Well, um, no.

Then why in hell's sake am I not allowed- Mom cut dad off before he could go into an even bigger rant about how his own son was letting him be mauled by birds. He was exaggerating anyway, I'd only gotten pecked at once.

This is Maisee's ability, isn't it? That's why Gray doesn't want us to hurt the birds, in case it hurts her too.

"Because he's an actual considerate human being." Mom's teasing voice rose above the noise the flock of birds were creating, much like mine had done before. We needed to fix this and fast. Arguing about our peril was getting us nowhere.

I'll go find Maisee, see what she can do about the mess. Dad's message reached my mind, making me panic momentarily. I wanted to give her some space but if dad was going to talk to her now, it'd be even worse. Surely, having to speak with her soulfinder (I did another mental dance at the word) wouldn't be as bad as having to talk to dad, who was 6'4" and used to be a biker. Lesser of two evils, I guess.

No, wait, I'll go, it's fine.

Are you sure?

Yup. Without letting him talk me out of it, I batted my arms a couple of times to try to clear a path for myself. Maisee had crawled out easily but, then again, she'd also had the birds on her side. After a couple of attempts, I finally made it out, running out the door.

I was afraid she'd run away and that by now she was already at the interstate. Luckily, I found her seated at the log where she'd sat yesterday, disproving my earlier thought. A sigh of relief escaped my lips quickly before I could stop it. I'd wanted to be able to be there without her noticing me so that I could properly take in all her beauty, but it seemed that she had ridiculously good hearing, startling when she heard my exhale.

"Gray?" She had dried tear tracks on her cheeks, some of the panic from earlier still covering her features.

"I… Hi." Deciding that I was being too awkward to keep shuffling on my feet, I sat next to her like I did just yesterday. God, it seemed like it was decades ago. "I know you probably don't wanna hear it, but I'm sorry for earlier."

"It's ok." She looked relieved. I didn't understand why though, she didn't know what a soulfinder was yet, so she wouldn't be that happy at me coming crawling back. "I mean, people lie all the time."

"Wait, wait, I'm not apologising for that. I wasn't lying before – I was saying sorry for overwhelming you. I know it's a scary thing to find out about." But I didn't. I'd found my savant ability when I was 4 and even then it hadn't been weird to me. Mum was constantly talking about auras around me and dad had made my toys fly around quite a few times. It had always just been normal to me. So, no, I didn't understand how she was feeling.

I would try damn hard though.

"I… I won't try to keep shoving this down your throat. Just, please look at me?" She'd had her eyes shielded, a waterfall of golden strands hiding her from me. I needed to see her eyes though, I hadn't had a chance to properly look at her since I realised what she was to me. She slowly moved her gaze from the ground over to stare at me.

Time seemed to stop once again, like it always did when she looked at me. I saw a blue sky on a summer day. Warm and fun and just a day of pure lazing around. I saw an ocean, calm, serene, enveloping me with its tranquil waters. And I was drowning in it, falling for a girl I'd barely even talked to. God this was a mess, but it wasn't one I was willing to get out of.

"Maisee?" Tears had accumulated in her eyes, taking me by surprise. Was she scared of me, did she need to back away, was I bringing back memories of all those times when she was beaten? I couldn't even stand the thought of it.

"I don't know if I can believe you. I don't know if I can hope again."

Hi :)

Sorry I didn't update on Friday but I was on holiday in Spain and forgot to tell you guys :/ But I loved all of your reviews, they make me so happy =^.^=

Merry (delayed) Christmas and I hope you all had some wonderful holidays! I don't know if I'll be able to update next week either (what with it beingNew Years and everything) so bear with me :) Sorry bout that, but I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!

Bye bye =^.^=