meraki (verb) - to do something with soul , creativity , or love

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ hold on by chord overstreet

CASSIAN DOESN'T REALLY
KNOW HOW SOULMATES WORK

Cassian knows what Asia's scream sounds like. There's no real explanation for it. Even if he tried to come up with one, he doesn't know, it's just some kind of feeling. He's never heard Asia scream before, she's raised her voice, only slightly, before. Never really screamed though.

So when he wakes up in a cold sweat on the second floor of his home, hearing the ringing of some kind of call in his ears, he doesn't know what to make of it. All he really knows is that it was Asia.

Maybe I was dreaming.

Likely not. Cass didn't really dream a lot, and he didn't remember anything from his fitful sleep other than that ringing sound in his ears, the feeling of fear. But not his own fear, someone else's, like he could feel it second-hand, in a way.

He sighed, pushing himself up and swinging his legs over the edge of his bed. On the left side of him, the balcony doors were open, beckoning the soft scent of the night. A night that looked temptingly similar to the night Asia broke, as Cue so delicately put it.

Dread stirred in the pit of this stomach, not quiet like fear, but like suspense, like waiting for some kind of tension to snap. Sighing, and frustratingly accepting the fact that he probably wasn't going to get anymore sleep tonight, Cass stood from the bed, striding towards the open balcony.

The moon hung high above the forest, full and bright, bathing the forest in a gentle song of moonlight. He let his gaze hang on the sky for a moment, before giving in to the urge to look towards Asia's house. It was dark, as it had been for the last couple of nights.

Four days.

Asia had been out for four days, 16 hours, and approximately 23 minutes. He'd overhead Cue talking to Echo the other day, about getting Cordelia to venture into Asia's soul. Reassuringly, Cue had told him that Asia was still there, was still alive, she was just stuck somewhere, and he had to find the best way to get her out.

Four days since Cassian had to watch Cue rip Echo's wings from her back, and hear the reverberation of her scream across the island. She'd done it for Asia, and no one knew how they were going to tell her.

Cassian missed her.

He knows, okay? He knows how she feels about him, but he can't help but love her anyway. He'd stop, he told Echo once, he'd stop if Asia ever told him he made her uncomfortable, but every time he asked, Asia just scoffed at him, and changed the subject. He had asked Echo once, if he made Asia uncomfortable. Echo had laughed, that bright sunshine laugh, and reassured him that that wasn't certainly the case.

Another melancholy huff fell out of his mouth as he braced his palms against the railing of the balcony, chilled winds biting at his bare skin. He didn't sleep with a shirt on, which only gave his friends more ammo over teasing him about being straight from a book, but it was simply because he overheated, not because he had something to prove like Cue did evidently. Because Cue took his shirt off at every opportunity, and it was really fucking annoying because suddenly Cassian wasn't the most attractive one in the room.

Even his own internal monologue of laughter couldn't bring a smile to his face. Which was just a disappointment, because insulting Cue never failed to get a smile out of him.

The ringing in his ears had faded now, gone silent. There was a buzzing that replaced it, and for a moment, there was silence all over again. Nothing in the air but the sound of a trickling river and the leaves blowing in the wind.

Cassian's heart stopped dead in his chest at the sight of Asia's lights flickering on.

On, then off, then on again, and then off. There was silence, but not the same kind, it was suspenseful silence, the kind that could be broken by a single breath. His heart was pounding in his ears, but all he could do was stare at Asia's house, body still and tense.

He heard it again.

It wasn't out loud. It was a silent scream - a piercing sound that hit the inside of his head before it seemed to echo into the outside, because then it was coming from both places. Synchronized screaming.

Not just screaming.

Asia.

Asia was screaming his name.

Cassian isn't really sure what happened next, because suddenly he was moving, leaping down the stairs as the sound pierced through the air, over and over again. It hurt. It hurt because he couldn't get to Asia fast enough. In an instant, he had thrown open the door, darting down the well-worn path to her house, seeing the lights flicker in response to her agonizing cries, illuminating the forest in flashes. It didn't matter.

He knew this path like the back of his hand.

He could feel it. The fear, the ache, the need for someone to come and help her. Asia had been abandoned so often, and so frequently in her life, and it made Cassian sick. It made him feel worse knowing what she was feeling right now. Because her friends would never abandon her. Cue, and Echo, and Joon, and Amir, and Freddie, and Cordelia - they would never.

I will not abandon you.

He wanted her to hear him, he wanted to hold her, comfort her, and tell her that everything was alright because he would protect her from whatever she was scared of. It didn't fucking matter how many times Asia told him she didn't need protection, that wasn't the point. He was going to protect her because he wanted to, not because she needed it.

He broke the treeline moments later, booking it towards her door as her bout of screams quieted again, fading into something distant. The lights had stopped, but he nearly bowled over Echo, who was frantically pulling at the door. She turned to face him the moment he broke through, and achingly, feet planted against the wall as she pulled on it, called to him. "Cassian! Help me!"

He didn't need to be asked twice.

In another moment he was there, Echo skittering out of the way as he gripped the handle, planting a foot against the wall, and straining against it. He could feel his own panic begin to surge up into him, that feeling rising in him again. That suspense, and Cassian just knew that the screaming was going to start all over again.

He had to get to her.

He needed to get to her.

The door didn't budge. Not even an inch, and despite the rising tension that was beginning to eat away at the silent forest, he snapped to Echo, "Why won't it open?"

"I don't know!" She barked back, staring at the dark windows of the house, eyes darting across the porch, like she was trying to think of some way to get inside. "How about a window?"

"They won't break Echo, you know that." Cassian's eyes didn't leave the door, his own plan beginning to form in his head as he took a step back from it. "Echo, get out of the way."

"What?" There was desperation lingering there, and Cass took a breath, stepping back from the door until he was some distance away from it. Staring at it like it was the enemy team at his highschool football games.

"Get out of the way."

Echo looked at him, then at the door, and he practically heard the panic rising in her voice. "Cass, you can't-"

"I don't see another option Echo, do you?" Before she could respond, he shook his head. "You already saved her once Echo, I can do it."

There was silence, and Echo opened her mouth, but it was interrupted as the lights on the house flashed on, temporarily blinding the both of them. Echo's hands slammed over her ears as Asia again was crying for someone, for anyone, to come.

"Cassian!" Echo's shout was hardly heard, but he forced his eyes from the doors, to look at Echo, and watched her nod.

That was the only sign he needed.

No, Cassian had not crashed through a door before, but he'd seen Cue do it, like once, so how hard could it be?

The world started moving in slow motion, but he felt the same, and sharp, bloody agony suddenly spiked from his back, running down his spine and curling into it. Flesh ripped from his body. The pain sung in some kind of sick harmony with Asia's screaming, blood splattering into the air. In front of him, he watched Echo's eyes widen, but Cassian didn't have the time to turn around before he collided with the door.

The door didn't break, but the wall around it did, and the door was pushed inward, slamming into the wall.

He shot towards her room, the screams reverberating across empty hallways. Up the stairs, past her music room, and into the inky darkness that had dripped against the walls towards her bedroom. No moonlight penetrated the abyss here, but Cassian knew. He knew where she was, and even if he didn't understand it, he wasn't about to take it for granted.

Cassian felt like he was flying.

He could hear her more clearly now, screaming his name, over and over. She was crying, and it hit him like a truck. She was crying for him.

Oh god.

Cassian kicked open her bedroom door with less force than he thought it would take, and stumbled into a pit of absolute darkness.

It didn't matter, because he could see her. She was thrashing, desperately pushing at something that wasn't there. Writhing like something tortured, and something inside his chest cracked at the sight of it.

It took him about two seconds to realize that she was gripping her arms, digging into her skin, drawing blood.

It took him less than half a second to be sitting over her. Legs braced on either side of her, grabbing her arms, and ripping them from where they were slicing into her own skin. Deep red dripped down them, but he pressed them against the bed as Asia's chest heaved, and a heart-shattering sob echoed from her chest.

"CASSIAN!"

Cassian didn't know what to do, so he did the only thing he could think of, took his own deep breath, and dug into his own power.

The emotion, the hurt, the ache. He could reach her. Cassian wasn't like Echo, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a path for him to get to her.

So he let it go. The sorrow, the loneliness, the heartbreak. He let acceptance flood the room in its own kind of special magic, soothing the darkness, singing to it. It was okay. It was okay to hurt. He could - he had to help her. So desperately, in a voice shakier than he wanted it to sound, but strong enough to shoot through the sounds of screams and heartache, yelled back at her. "ASIA!"

It was a call. A message back to her that he was here, he was listening, but most of all, she was not alone. In whatever battle she was fighting, she was not alone, and that was the most important part. It did something, because he felt Asia shift, arms squirming from his grip. Her face, stained with tears, contorted. The shadows had started to dissipate, allowing the gleam of the full moon to illuminate the room. So he did it again.

"WAKE UP!"

There was a gasp, raspy, and broken, but he watched as the shadows vanished entirely, and Asia's eyes snapped open, red with uncried tears. She immediately started to thrash, and he felt that thick panic again rise in his own chest, so he started speaking again.

"Asia- Ana, hold on- hey-" He forced her arms down again. He'd apologize later, after he was sure that she wasn't going to hurt herself. Bracing a muscular arm against the bed, he cupped her face. "Hey, Asia, I need you to look at me."

She snapped her eyes shut, and the echo of her sob came bubbling out, and she was crying all over again, breathe caught in her throat.

"Asia."

She shook her head again, desperate to breathe.

"Darling." Cassian's voice fell to something softer, and it somehow convinced her to open her eyes, staring at him, wide-eyed. "Breathe. In and out. You can do it."

"No.." her voice was wobbly, and it broke his heart a little more, because she shook her head. "Can't."

"Yes, you can, you can breathe."

She sobbed again, but her arms squirmed again, and convinced that she was awake enough, he let them go. They went to his chest, but not in the way he thought. He assumed she was going to push him off, but instead, they went up his chest, around his neck, and pulled him closer, till he was right there. "You weren't there." Her voice was wobbly, but at least she was breathing. He debated on questioning it, but decided that comforting Asia was much more important, and curled an arm around her waist.

"It was just a nightmare...just a nightmare, you're okay."

"I'm...i'm okay.."

"Yeah." Cassian didn't want to think about that fear that he had felt, that panic that had risen so quickly into his chest and throat. He didn't wanna think about losing Asia at all. "Yeah..you're okay." He really couldn't help but tighten his grip around her waist.

There was silence for another moment, and he felt Asia murmur something into his neck. Soft, and uncharacteristically quiet, although he felt her arms tighten in sync with the words. He thought about leaving it, really, but Cassians' asshole attitude won out in the end.

"What was that, sweetheart?"

There was a trembling breath, and she curled impossibly closer to him, as if somehow he'd be able to leave her when she was clinging to him like this. She was silent again for another moment, before she pulled back and rubbed her eyes, looking up at him. Asia's lip wobbled, and she shut her eyes again, "I . . I'm in love with you, Cassian - and i'm - i'm sorry, cause I really didn't want to be, and it's your  fault - and I-" He could hear the panic in her voice, and she began to pull away from him, untangling her arms from his neck.

No.

Instinctually he pulled her right back, "No." After a second, he realized he should elaborate, so he scoffed, trying to disguise the amount of sudden butterflies that had exploded into his stomach. "I- are you serious, Asia?"

"Don't be mean to me about it-"

"No-" Cassian huffed another laugh, wrapping arms around her once again, securely, "I flirt with you all the time, are you fucking serious?"

"You flirt with ever-"

"Not the way I flirt with you, Asia." He shrugged, chewing his cheek for a moment, then moving his head to put his chin on the top of hers. "I've been in love with you for a while."

Silence. For a moment, Cassian regretted the words, worried about her reaction, but instead, there was a sniffle, and a muffled sob, and Asia curled right back into his chest. "You, you love me?"

Cassian looked down at her for a second, where she was hiding, and just smiled. "Yeah, Asia, I love you."

There was another broken cry, and she just looked up at him, lip wavering, and voice trembling. Her cheeks were stained with tears, but she still managed a broken looking scowl at him. "...I can't believe you didn't tell me."

Cassian stared at her for a long moment, then grinned, "Oh, I missed you."

Asia stared back, then relented, closing her eyes, before muttering "I guess I missed you too."

꘎♡━━━━━♡꘎

ophelia !!

thirteenth chapter done !

an apology chapter ?
it's a long one : )

sleep well , lovelies
cause tommorow there
will be new pain <3

( not directly for asia + cass )

[ whats been your favorite chapter so far ? ]

answers ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥