Imperfect Desires

As Darren had expected, Xiu indeed got the directions wrong but he kept quiet about it. First of all, he didn't want to point out her mistakes. Secondly, her concentration on driving was aspiring. He couldn't just let her down. So what if she had taken an hour to reach the place they could have gone to in fifteen with the shortcut? It didn't matter.

He loved any journey with her.

So, the longer, the better!

But when they finally arrived at the destination, he was even more surprised. When did she get interested in these things?

"I want that!" Xiu pointed at the plushies inside the crane machine and blinked her naive and innocent eyes. No, don't get it wrong. After all, she wasn't all that naive and innocent but she was good at acting it out. Especially to get what she wanted right now.

Darren's brows furrowed up until only a minuscule space was left between them. "Sweets, you don't like stuffed toys." He pointed out very confidently.

Xiu pressed her lips together. Of course, she didn't like stuffed toys. She wasn't like Nora either who would suddenly develop an obsession with stuffed toys. But this time was an exception. And this was necessary!

Xiu squished his cheeks saying, "Although I love it that my family's husband knows me so well, you still need to stop questioning and get me those plushies. Because..."

Darren placed a hand on her head and she stopped speaking. "I know. My family's wife loves to win." Xiu's lips curled up instinctively. See? He already knew why she was so eager to get here. "Don't worry. I'll get all of those plushies for you. Okay?"

Xiu shook her head, "I don't want all. Dylan won 8, I'll be fine with 9."

Darren laughed at her and nodded his head. Rolling his sleeves up, he went up to the claw machine and exchanged money for the coins. Seeing how tense she looked while giving all her concentration to him, he decided to distract her a little.

"Sweets, you still haven't told me why you came all the way here."

Xiu's brows knitted up slightly, "I came because I missed you. Is that even a question? You should know the answer already."

"I believe that you missed me. I also believe that you can be impulsive sometimes doing random things. But I still think there is something else that brought you here." Xiu decided to stay quiet in reply. And Darren figured that he had hit the mark this time. "Did you read all the letters?"

Xiu's eyes widened as she looked up at him. He also pressed the controller and tilted his head to look at her. Crouching halfway, he picked up the plushie he won and pushed it into her arms saying, "I'm not asking you what's written in the letters. But if something is really disturbing you, share it."

At first, Xiu hesitated. Not because she wanted to hide it from him. That was never her intention. If she ran all the way to him, it meant that she was willing to talk about it with him. Only him!

Seeing her eyes filled with grief and indignation, he questioned, "What's wrong?"

"Baobei, I'm gonna become a mental patient all over again. So, don't stop loving me. I'm trying my very best to cope up with everything but it's a little devastating."

Darren stopped playing and hugged her tightly as he said, "Sweets, I know it's difficult for you. And why would I stop loving you? Stop assuming things."

Xiu took a deep breath as she said, "I can't help it. Since the time I finished reading the letter, a lot of memory snippets had been invading into my brain. Those memories aren't mine but the feelings they evoked are real. I can't help feeling like I'll lose myself to Destiny. What if I really lost my own identity while trying to find Destiny's identity?"

Darren patted her head lovingly. "I won't let that happen. I won't lose you once again. There is no way I'm letting that happen."

"At first, I also thought I'd be fine. But I can't stay indifferent anymore. For the past week, I'd been having nightmares. I ran to you to escape that. I felt like even if those nightmares followed me, at least I'd have you by my side."

Darren's heart clenched as he heard the pain and fear in her voice. He couldn't even imagine what she was going through. He hated seeing her like this. As if she was gonna break at any minute now. And he knew she wasn't that weak. This wasn't her. It was the fear of carrying such a burden. And she wasn't able to overcome it just yet.

She looked up from his chest and said, "My plushies. There is still 8 more to go."

Darren poked her head and shook his head at her. How did she even do this every single time? She was just about to cry from how wronged she was feeling and now, she was demanding her plushies again. Really, there wasn't another like her. 

When Darren got focused on winning those plushies for her. She kept looking at the side of his face. She didn't want to tell him that Destiny's memories were scary. Whatever she learned was dangerous and there were several things that weren't clear to her yet. But there was one thing she was certain about; She and Destiny shared a dangerously close connection. However, she didn't know what connection it was that bound them together even at the door of death.

"Here you go," said Darren as he pushed the 10th plushie to her. 

"I asked for only 9," retorted Xiu.

"The last one is a gift from me. I spent so much effort on getting this for you. I should be rewarded, right?"

Xiu nodded her head and held his collar to pull him down. Dropping a chaste kiss on his lips she said, "Let's go. We have more activities to get to."