Vulnerable: Book 1 of the Magic Mutations Series | ✓

6: Bittersweet Beginning

Back then, I thought I was silly for thinking it. But when I was trapped under his burning blue gaze, a part of me thought it almost felt like being under a spell. And when he finally did look away, it was like I had been released.

The freedom to move flooded me at once. I pushed back from my chair, hastily threw my belongings into my bag, and ran down the stairs, out of the library before he could say anything further.

Putting distance between us, I finally felt like I could breathe. The coolness radiated back through my body as I took in some deep breaths. Then I casted a glance over my shoulder to check whether he followed me.

What the heck was that? Am I really that pathetic of a girl that I'm going gaga over someone I barely know just because he touched me? The depth of the pull towards him was beyond any feeling I had felt for another person. It was terrifying. But familiar. Oh so familiar.

But as my eyes caught my hand—the one he had touched—a tug on my heart echoed, wanting me to go back.

Everything about him screamed 'run'. Common sense told me I shouldn't get close to him... that I had to just let him leave my life as nature had wanted to happen the past week once he disappeared. A part of me knew if I walked back into that library, I was bound to get hurt.

Yet all I could think then was, as Ben so eloquently put it, Screw instincts.

My legs began carrying me back inside before I could force them to stop.

I bounded up the stairs and rounded that corner, a large part of me eager to see him again, and a small part wishing he might have left already... So that I could keep my heart safe.

But he was still there. Just where I had left him, his eyes found mine immediately. Waiting. Expecting. But also mirroring my anxiety.

His gaze told me all: he, too, wasn't sure what was going on with us... or if he wanted it.

One step at a time, I closed the distance between us until I was standing by the table once more, looking down at him.

"Do you want to get out of here?" I breathed. It was far beyond the routine, but something about his touch, that pull, had broken me from that desire. My patterns and rituals no longer felt necessary. I just wanted to be alone with him, getting to know him. Getting to know why I was compelled to him.

"What about your research?" he questioned.

I shrugged. "There's always tomorrow." My confidence began to wane the longer I stood there, waiting for a response from him.

But then he finally got to his feet, grabbed his bag, and we were heading down the stairs and out onto London's busy city streets.

"Where are we going?" he asked me after a while of walking.

"I don't know. I didn't think that far." My stomach twisted in knots, wondering if I had just made this all awkward.

Yet a smile graced his face, his hand slipping into mine as he pulled me along. "I know a place."

· · ───── ∘☽༓☾∘ ───── · ·

One bus ride and twelve stops later, we got off at Marble Arch, walking a few steps down the road before crossing to Hyde Park.

At once, an ache spread through me as I glanced around at the scenery. I hadn't had a chance to visit yet, but its landscape was familiar to my mind.

Must be from all the movies that have featured it, I deduced.

"This is one of my favourite places in all of London," Ben whispered, just audible enough for me to hear.

Taking a moment to glance at each other, we shared smiles before beginning to walk through the park, hand in hand.