Later that evening, the two of them wandered throughout a mall downtown after having stopped for a bite to eat. Alyssa practically dragged Onyx from store to store, and while it was exhausting, he could admit to enjoying spending time by her side. Well, that was excluding the moments when she would throw bags of clothes, nail polish, and whatever else in the cashier’s direction only to wait expectantly for him to pull out his own money to pay. He didn’t comment on it. It was the least he could do for her and it effectively took her mind away from the pressing matter that neither of them particularly enjoyed speaking on. The fact that Onyx did in fact have a soulmate that he had spent more time within the past two weeks than he had with her in the past month. 

Well, maybe that was an exaggeration. Whenever Alyssa wasn’t at school or Onyx wasn’t at work, they were constantly glued to one another’s side. But ever since Day had come into the picture, some of that limited time was now spent with him, leaving Alyssa alone to think. To overthink. To distress about the way everything would turn out; about being left truly alone.

The notion pained him as much as it probably pained her. Without a thought, he reached out to curl a hand around her waist, pulling her gently into his side. Alyssa seemed suspicious at first. Surprised, before she smiled down at him and shifted her bags of things to her other hand to return the affection. 

They strolled in silence for some time, simply sparing barely interested glances into the shops they passed by before Alyssa finally spoke up. He was surprised she hadn’t done so sooner. Sometimes, it seemed as if he could never get her to shut up.

“My dad noticed his cigarettes have been coming up missing,” she said, cackling to herself. “I think he’s onto me.”

“Mm? How?”

“Well, he yelled at me about it for one thing.” Alyssa shrugged, the smile never leaving her face. “God, he’s such an asshole. Me stealing a few of his cancer sticks every now and then doesn’t compare to the shit he pulls on me half the time.”

“Cancer sticks?” Onyx cocked an eyebrow at her. “Interesting name for them. Why do you smoke them anyway? Maybe you should stop.”

“Oh, don’t get all high and mighty on me now. You’re no better. You drink.”

“I’m just saying I don’t see the appeal. They taste like shit and I know that because whenever you smoke ‘em and I kiss you, you taste like shit. And they’re little tickets to early graves. Something you’re smart enough to know, so…”

He trailed off, letting his statement speak for itself.

“Makes me feel alive.” The look Alyssa sent him let him know she was primarily joking, but he could sense some underlying truth to the statement. What it was, he had no idea.

He wasn’t left pondering for long on her words because, a second later, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He unlocked it to glimpse at the message, conscious of the way Alyssa was peeking nosily over his shoulder, and couldn’t stop the smile that crept onto his face if he tried.

[Day]: The painting’s beautiful. I figured I could get away with saying that since you aren’t here to wreak havoc on my ankle. Thank you, Onyx.

“What painting?” Alyssa asked before he could type out a reply.

He knew he should lie; knew that if he told the truth it would be another argument he wasn’t in the mood—or proper setting, for that matter— to have. Yet, he also knew Alyssa could sense bullshit from a mile away. And besides, he was no liar. Never was and never planned to be.

“We made a deal.” He decided to start from the beginning, hoping that Alyssa would understand his reasoning better that way. “He agreed to buy me a bunch of art supplies if I let him see whatever I created with them. I gave him a painting as thanks.”

“But beautiful?” Alyssa’s nose scrunched up a bit. “You gave him a painting of what?”

Onyx hesitated, could feel the way his face began to heat up and wished it would go away. Thinking back on it, why in the hell had he decided to gift a painting of flowers to Day? It was weird. Certainly out of place. Practically the definition of a mixed message, and wow, was he starting to question himself more as the days passed.

“Uh…” He cleared his throat before saying in the most casual way he could, “a bouquet of flowers. Figured I could mess around with more colors that way.”

“Mm.” Alyssa offered no further comment on the matter, but her facial expression had fallen. She looked oddly disappointed and Onyx was at a loss of what to do with himself. What to do to make her feel better without making everything worse. 

“Can you maybe…” Alyssa’s voice was meek, hesitant. “Could you maybe paint me something? Promise I wouldn’t ruin it. I’d keep it safe.”

“Yeah,” he nodded immediately, “of course.”

“And also…” Alyssa sat her bags on the floor and moved to stand in front of him. Placing her hands on Onyx’s shoulders, she looked him in the eye when she asked, “what do you say I get to meet your soulmate? Day, or whatever his name is.”

The word “no” was already on the tip of Onyx’s tongue, but he held it back. He knew where this was going. He knew Alyssa’s intentions— how tense the atmosphere would be with the two of them in the same place. He knew that Day doubted the legitimacy of their relationship, that Alyssa questioned theirs, and he didn’t want to get caught in the middle of that. Yet, he still couldn’t help but ask. He wanted to know what was going through Alyssa’s mind in her own words. 

“Why?”

“Well, it isn’t like Day is just a nobody.” She rocked back and forth on the heels of her feet, her eyes no longer trained on his, but instead focused on something past the side of his head. “He’s your soulmate. I’m your girlfriend. Don’t you think it’s fitting I meet him?”

“No.”

“Well, it’s not like you have anything to hide.” Her brows furrowed together, her lips tight. “I know about him and he knows about me, right?”

“Mhm…”

“So I want to meet him. He’s probably dying to meet me, too.”

Everything about Alyssa felt off right about then. The way she was thinking on and tip-toeing around her words; hiding the things she truly wanted to say. Her seriousness. Her reasoning. How her face seemed more like a mask. Everything.

“I’ll ask him if he wants to,” Onyx agreed anyway. He figured the sooner they got the inevitable encounter out the way, the better. “If he’s game, so am I.”

“Great!” She smiled, picked up her things, and continued to pull him alone as if the offputting conversation they’d had just seconds prior had never happened. “Just a few more shops then we’re done.”

“Great…”