You Were Meant for Me

*Ville’s POV*

The side where Wynter had slept was empty when I woke up. Had she left me already? I groaned to myself as I stretched, getting out of the bed. I poked my head into the guest room and saw her clothes from yesterday folded on the chest of drawers and her shoes on the floor. I checked the music room on my way downstairs, but it was empty.

As I descended the stairs, I heard some noise coming from the kitchen. I walked in to see Wynter putting a giant bowl of something in the middle of a set table. I heard my voice coming from her phone that was on the counter as her head bobbed along to the song. She was listening to my music, and from the looks of it, she was enjoying it. She looked up and saw me watching her, and her face turned bright red. She grabbed her phone and turned the music off, giving me an embarrassed look.

“What’s all this?” I asked, looking at the table.

“Breakfast! It’s my way of saying thank you for allowing me to stay here last night. Lauri owed me big time so he went to the house and got clothes for me, and I may or may not have made him stop and buy a few things too. If it’s horrible, don’t blame me. I found a recipe for a vegan ambrosia salad online and thought it looked good.”

“Vegan ambrosia salad?” I questioned, sitting down at the table. “Hmm. Sounds interesting.”

“Wait, you are- you’re vegan, right? When I came down here to cook, I found no kind of animal products whatsoever and just kind of assumed. Oh god, I assumed wrong, didn’t I?”

I watched as panic spread over her face, thinking she had done something wrong. Her eyes dropped to the floor in a soul-crushing kind of way. I rose from my chair and wrapped her in a tight hug, kissing the top of her head. I was touched by her kind gesture, especially since usually, I was the one doing little things like this. She grinned before placing a sweet kiss on my lips.

“No, my darling girl, this is perfect. No one has done something like this for me in a very long time. It’s very thoughtful and sweet of you. After breakfast, you’ll be handing me a bouquet of roses and chocolates, right?” She let out a soft laugh as I joked. “As far as the vegan thing, it’s something kind of like that.”

We sat at the table and I started eating as Wynter opened a news magazine that Lauri must have picked up for her. I kept stealing glances as she focused on the words. Her face would crinkle up every now and then as she tried to read what was written. Her Finnish was better than I would have ever expected though. She flipped through the pages and sipped on her coffee, slowly eating, while I had already started on my second helping. She had picked an amazing recipe to try.

“Oh my god…” She suddenly gasped, causing me to look in her direction. “Ville… that’s me and you, that’s us. I’m in a tabloid magazine kissing you. This cannot be real. Oh god, all of Finland is going to see this, won't they?”

I took the magazine from her hands and sure enough, there were pictures of us plastered on the page with the headline, “Uusi tyttö Ville Valo?” A new girl for Ville Valo? There were pictures from last night, from the park, and one of us outside Freedom. The rest of the article talked about how I had been seen with this mystery girl that no one knew and about our kiss. I ran my fingers through my hair and tossed the paper to the side, feeling somewhat annoyed. Sure, it came with the territory of being famous, but I could dislike it.

“I am so sorry, Wynter. I never meant to drag you into this. I promise I will do everything in my power to keep your name from them. Those damn vultures. I should have thought about this before kissing you in front of everyone.”

She gave me a weak smile and tried to assure me that it was okay. I reached for her hand across the table and gave it a reassuring squeeze. We finished eating in an uncomfortable silence. I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t find the words.

After we ate, I helped Wynter wash and store the dishes. She mumbled something about needing to change so she could go to the hospital before climbing the stairs towards the guest bedroom. I made my way to my room to change and as I was pulling a random shirt I found in the drawer over my head, I heard the guest room door shut and her soft footsteps going towards the stairs.

By the time I got downstairs, I half expected to see her sitting on the sofa but she wasn’t. The tower was eerily quiet like something was different. My eyes scanned the room before I noticed the note tossed on the coffee table. I’m sorry was scribbled in pen with her name on the bottom. I let out a heavy sigh as I fell back on the couch, realizing she was really gone.