There were a lot of days you wished the sun didn't rise, while other days you simply scolded yourself for forgetting to pull the curtains across your window. Today, it was a mix of both.

Grumbling to yourself, you turn and begin to pull the covers over your head, not expecting to fall off the bed so suddenly. You shouted out a quick curse, the hard floor knocking the air out of your lungs. You could already feel a bruise starting to form on your hip. 

Not bothering to move, you simply layed on the carpet with your bed sheets tangled around your legs, silently contemplating if getting up was really worth it. In the end, the fact that you still had work in a few hours was enough for you to push yourself up and carelessly throw your sheets back onto the bed. 

"What the...?" Blinking owlishly, you poke at one of your bare legs with a mildly confused expression on your face. 

Oh, right. Rolling your eyes with a small chuckle, you let your rising heart beat slow to its usual pace. You sometimes kicked off your pants while you slept if you got too hot during the night. Somehow it always confuses you when you wake up to find you were wearing nothing but your underwear and a baggy shirt while your pants were on the other side of the room. 

You yawn and stretch your arms over your head until you hear that satisfying pop from your back, it was nearly enough for you to groan out. Arms flopping back down to your side, you start to move around your room to grab your work uniform which only consisted of a dark blue polo shirt with your name stitched onto a breast pocket and one of your own pairs of skinny jeans. 

Closing your closet with your hip, you moved out of your room to waddle down the hallway and into the bathroom where you take a half an hour long shower and a quick brush of your teeth. So far you didn't have to worry about being late.  

Next stop was the kitchen, the image of a pop tart in your head was enough to leave your stomach grumbling. With your bare feet tingling from the cold morning tiles, you searched every cupboard for your precious pop tarts, almost slamming the last one when you didn't find any. 

"Better add that to the list." You grumble, walking to the fridge. You grab the magnetic pen from the fridges door and write down 'Pop Tarts' with a dark underline, letting your roommate know it was your top priority. 

So instead of having your desired treat, you stuck to a simple piece of toast. Sliding the bread into the toaster, you turned back to the fridge and pulled out an almost empty bottle of milk. 

You stared at it for a few seconds before shrugging and lifting the bottle to your lips, only being able to take a few gulps before you turned and spat a mouthful onto your roommate when you felt a tap on your shoulder. 

You knelt over your knees and coughed, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand with a small wheeze while your friend squealed in the background. 

"(Y/n)! What the fuck?!" You hear her whine, slowly raising your head to send her a playful scowl. It was amusing to watch milk drip from her face. 

"You snuck up on me!" You instantly defended yourself, straightening your back to screw the lid back onto the milk bottle. "You honestly should have seen that coming." 

You ignore her small huff and instead turn around to open the fridge again and place the milk back. Alicia was a good friend of yours since you were both in nappies. Her mother was friends with yours, so it was only natural that you two ended up being friends for so many years. 

You two were so close that you had got an apartment together, sharing the rent and money for groceries. You couldn't had asked for a better friend, and you knew she'd be there to back you up if you ever needed help. She had a heart of gold, that was for sure. 

"You're lucky I haven't had a shower yet." She mumbles, her shuffling coming from behind you to presumably grab some paper towels for her face. 

You snicker and turns back to face her though soon snap your mouth shut after preparing to tease her again. Your eyes scanned her face, your cheeks puffing out with held back laughter. 

"What? You think this is funny, missy?" She pouts back at you, rubbing the paper towel across her cheek, soaking up the milk.

"N--No," You manage to choke out, raising a hand to gesture to her face, "I think your Soulmate had some fun last night." 

You watch her green eyes widen, her hand pausing mid stroke. That was enough to make you break down, your laughter bouncing around the kitchen. Black marker was smeared across her tanned face, a poorly drawn moustache lined her upper lip along with multiple lewd words written over her cheeks. The thing that made you cry with laughter was the huge penis on her forehead. 

This was one of the reasons why you didn't mind not having a Soulmate bond. Alicia had a connection with her Soulmate that allowed them both to communicate by writing on their own skin to each other. It seemed hers was a jokster and had a love for humiliating her. 

"Wait -- what did he do?!" Alicia shrieks, instantly dropping the towel in her hand to rush to the bathroom, curses following her trail with a few threats here and there. 

Once she was out of sight and your laughter had fell into quiet giggles, you turned back around to grab out your now burnt piece of toast. Not really bothered by the black toasted bread, you eagerly buttered one side before taking a quick bite. 

Munching on the toast, you raised your wrist to your eyes and nearly choked on your breakfast. If you didn't hurry up you knew you'd get an earful from whoever was working the front desk. Shoving the rest of the toast into your mouth while trying to brush away the crumbs on your uniform you race towards the door. 

"Alicia!" You shout out down the hallway, hoping your friend heard your cries as you struggled to shimmy on your shoes, "I'm heading off to work now! Don't wait up! Love you!" 

Not waiting for an answer you reached out for your keys that hung up on the wall by a hook and your handbag, threw open the front door and marched straight towards the lif after making sure the door was shut again. Shit, you really didn't need to be late.  

On the way to the ground floor with almost irritating elevator music floating around in your ears, you double checked your pockets and made sure you had your phone and house key on your body. Being locked out of your room wasn't really on your 'To-Do' list. 

The moment the lift chimed and opened its doors you were out, making haste to get to your awaiting car in the parking lot. Looks like you weren't stopping for your morning coffee. 

♡♡♡

It takes about a fifteen minute drive full of your favorite playlists while singing at the top of your lungs until you pulled into the employees parking space. Turning the purring engine off, you hop out of your car and lock it, throwing the keys carelessly into your bag. 

"Another day, another dollar." You mutter, hands raising to run through your hair, pulling it back into a messy but casual bun.

The large building loomed over your small figure, but the large towering stature of Mount Ebott behind the Animal Shelter easily gained your attention. No matter how many times your eyes caught sight of the mountain, you always felt chills run down your spine, leaving an electric tingle. 

You didn't know what caused such deep emotions to stir inside of you. Was it the fact that the stories and legends of the Monsters living underneath this very soil frightened you? You weren't scared, per say. What frightened you was if those rumors were true or not. They were only myths, of course. Stories passed down from generation to generation. Stories to scare away small children from venturing up that very mountain. This is what you told yourself, at least. 

You blinked your thoughts away, shaking your head with a small chuckle. You were getting side tracked again. Adjusting the strap of your handbag across your shoulder, you pushed yourself forward into the electic doors, the smell of wet dogs and fur tickling your nose. 

Your first stop was the front desk, where the large green font on the desk read 'Haven Tale'. Haven Tale, a cute little animal shelter for animals of all different shapes and sizes. Dogs, cats, ducks, mice, you name it. This was a place to get those animals back on their feet, train them, get their medical needs looked after and get them adopted. Sure, it wasn't the best paying job but you loved it either way. 

"Well, mornin' sleeping beauty." A smooth voice chuckles out behind the desk, a teasing tone to their words. 

You simply roll your eyes, not even bothering to look up at them. "I didn't sleep in, for your information." You pick up a nearby pen and grab a clipboard that sat to the side on the desk, signing yourself in for the day. 

When you were finished you pushed both items away and finally glanced up to meet a pair of honey colored eyes, a grin slowly etching its way onto his face. 

"So you were just takin' your time to get here?" Zachariah crosses his arms over his chest, leaning back against the chair he sat in, a playful glint in his eyes. 

Zachariah, or Zach, was another close friend. You two had been working together at the shelter for a good two years, bringing your friendship closer every month that passed. He was a huge flirt, but it was his way of showing he cared. He would never date you anyway, you obviously weren't his Soulmate. 

He was considered lucky. Both he and his partner shared a telepathic link, they were both smitten for each other. Zach was always caught day dreaming on the job, chatting away in his head to his other half at any chance he got. You were glad he was so chipper, he deserved all the happiness in the world. 

"You could say that." You sigh, propping your elbows up against the desk. You placed your chin on your open palm, "Got any new arrivals for me to snuggle?" 

This seems to make Zach perk up, "Oh, I was waiting for you to finally ask!" He pushes himself out of his seat, a hand brushing away some stray brown hair from his eyes as he bends down behind the desk, away from your view. 

You raise an eyebrow and rise on your toes to try and peek over the desk, only to lean back when Zachariah rose again with a small German Shepherd puppy cradled in his arms, its ears flopped down against its head. 

"Oh. My. Stars!" You instantly gush, one hand reaching out across the desk to run your fingers through its fur, "You're so adorable!" You squeal, watching the puppy tilt its head against your hand with a small whine. 

"She is, isn't she." Zach grins widely down at the animal, a thumb rubbing her side. His grin slowly falls though, "Although someone must've disagreed. She was dumped here sometime last night, I only found her this morning. She was freezing, poor thing." 

Your eyebrows instantly shot downwards at this, a small sigh passing from your lips. You didn't understand how someone could just throw away an animal like it was trash. Didn't they understand they had lives too? A personality of their own? 

Sadly, you saw a lot of this while working at the shelter. Animals were dumped at the front door, sometimes beaten and on the verge of death. It was a sickening sight, but you did your best to push your rage aside and help the animal to the best of your ability. It only tore you apart more when the animal didn't make it. 

"Does she have a name?" You question softly, looking away from the pup to glance at your work partner, your fingers still weaving through the fur on her head. 

"I haven't decided yet, but if you want to wash her and do our usual check up, I'll let you pick." Zach shrugs his shoulders, shifting the puppy in his arms a little so he could carefully hold her out over the desk to you. 

"You don't have to twist my arm. Come here, darling." You cooed softly, taking the puppy into your own arms. She wriggled around uncomfortably until she settled down, her head laying against your shoulder. 

"I knew you'd say yes. You can never resist the puppy eyes." Zach snorts, sitting back down at the front desk. 

You poke your tongue out at him, not denying or confirming his statement. Instead, you left to the employee room to put away your bag, puppy still in your grip. You had no clue on what to call her as of yet, but you knew you'd end up picking something once you've bonded with her. 

♡♡♡

First step was to give the little unnamed pup a bath. You stood in front of a hydrobath which was basically a dog washer, the hose nozzle in one hand and a soapy hand running through the pups dry and dirty coat. 

"You're so dirty, but not to worry. I'll have you smelling like a wet puppy in no time!" You beam down at her, quickly booping her nose with a giggle. 

She let out a small sneeze, probably from the bubbles on your hand. Holding back a small squeal at her show of adorableness, you give the hose nozzle a squeeze of the trigger, warm water flushing away the suds. 

Surprisingly, she seemed to like the water. She kept trying to turn around in the bath tub, teeth bared as she snapped at the water, trying to find somewhere to bite the liquid. Snorting under your breath you try and get her to stand still, gently holding her head with your free hand. 

"Calm down, girl. It's just water." She doesn't seem to understand your words and slips out of your grasp again to spin around and jump up onto the corner of the tub. She lets out a small bark, lifting her hind legs up as far as her little body would allow to try and take the hose from you. 

"Ah, no. I don't think so." Chuckling, you try and get her to sit down again but only manage a small gargle when she jumps up and grabs the hose with her teeth. "Hey! I need that!" 

She growls playfully and yanks the rest of the hose into her bath, shaking the rubber holder around wildly. The water was still on, spraying around carelessly with her shaking. You squeal when she turns to face you, water coldly splashing against your face and clothes. 

♡♡♡

"I'm sorry, I wish I could take you home but I don't think my roommate would be very happy with a last second choice." 

You frown at the young German Shepherd, carefully placing her in her pen. Ignoring the heart breaking whine that left her throat you shut the cage door and stare down at her with sorrow clouding your eyes. 

Sighing softly, you turn your gaze to the marker and whiteboard that was clipped to the front of her pen. Hesitantly, you pick up the black marker and write down 'River' against the whiteboard along with small pieces of her other information. 

River was her dubbed name. You chose it after the whole bath situation a few hours ago. She enjoyed the water so you thought the name gave her some purpose, to you it suited her. 

After a long but enjoyable day, it was now the end of your shift. You wished you could say you didn't bond with River, but that would be a lie. You knew it would be hard to see her get adopted in the future, but for now you still had a while. 

River still needed to be trained and monitored for the next week or so, just to make sure she wouldn't get any illnesses over the night. As for training, it was pretty basic for a dog her age, so you weren't worried about that. 

Taking a step back from Rivers pen, you placed your hands on your hips and frowned. It always felr wrong to leave animals in such a small place, a cage no less. Sadly, you had no control over that. If you did, you'd supply a whole area for each animal. 

"You're still here?" Zachariah comes up behind you and places a steady hand against your shoulder, raising an eyebrow, "You know your shift ended ten minutes ago." 

"I know." You mutter, raising a hand to scratch at your cheek,"I just... wanted to make sure she was comfortable." 

"Hey, don't stress. River has some friends to keep her company." Zach grins reassuringly and gestures to the two pens beside Rivers. 

To her left was a young Corgi, who was fast asleep on his little cushion. He had been here for a few months now and you were use to seeing him run around behind the front desk. His name was Conner, and while he was an adorable little fella he had a small temper toward men. He just didn't seem comfortable around the male gender and he seemed to always want to attack them, unless they were familar. That was one of the main reasons he wasn't adopted yet. 

To the right was Stella, a black Himalayan cat. She was one of your most well behaved animals and you loved her to bits. She was brought in heavily injured, on the verge of passing over to the other side. The couple who had brought her in said that she was found at the front of their house laying on the road; Most likely after being hit by a car. 

She was rushed into surgery and after a hard battle to save her, she had lived. The only thing that was missing was her hind right leg. It took a long month to get her back onto steady feet but she was soon back to her playful self. 

"I guess you're right." You groan and rub your eyes with the palms of your hands, "Okay, okay. I'm going before I change my mind." 

Zach only laughs and pushes you towards the front electric doors, "Girl, you care too much. Now go get some food into that stomach of yours. River will still be here for you tomorrow morning." 

Grumbling out a small goodbye to your friend, you clambered into your car and took your hair out of its messy bun, gladly messaging your scalp after a long day. With the sun now setting over thr horizon you started your car and backed out of Haven Tale and drove along the road, a destination already in your head. 

Ten silent minutes pass by, ten long minutes and the occasional growl of your stomach. Luckily, that short time was all you needed until you pulled up into another parking lot. 

Turning off the vehicle and pulling your keys out of the ignition, you jumped out of the car and quickly locked it. Food was on your mind and you were going to get it. 

With a few sharp strides you pushed open the swinging door, the bell above you singing a familar tune in your ears. The warmth of the bar happily greeted you, chasing away the nip of the cold outside. 

"Ah! There she is!" A chipper voice calls out from behind the kitchen window, a spatula raised above his head, "Dakota! (Y/n)'s here!" 

You couldn't stop the grin from blooming across your cheeks, "Hey, Ivan! What's today's special?" 

You take a seat at your usual stool, watching the middle age man send you a wink while simultaneously flipping a patty, "My famous steak, of course!" 

"Oh darling! I thought that was you that walked in!" A sweet voice catches your attention. You turn your head to see a woman rolling over to you on some rollerblades, a tray tucked away under her arm. 

You nod and send her a quick wave, eyes following her behind the bar. "Yeah, I'm here for my usual as always. You didn't think I'd miss you guys, right?" 

"Of course not!" Dakota chides and waves a dismissive hand at you, a playful smile on her thin lips. 

"Shi--!" Snapping you both out of your small chatter was a painful hiss from Ivan, who clutched at his hand. 

"Not again, sweetie." Dakota sighs and places the tray that was under her arm on the bar top, eyes flashing with concern. She leaves you own your own and skates over to her husband, gently taking his burnt hand into her own. 

You couldn't help but stare at the scene, eyes growing wide in awe. The red blisters against Ivan's hand glowed a soft indigo color, and ever so slowly did they start to heal over. 

Ivan and Dakota were a lovely couple, having been married for thirteen years now. They were Soulmates, and it was the perfect match you had ever seen. Their bond allowed them to heal each others injuries, even if they were simply close to each other. Perhaps that was your bond... why did you doubt that? 

"Must be great, huh?" 

You nearly jump out of your skin at the surprise question, not at all expecting it. "P-Pardon?" You clear your throat and raise your gaze to meet brown eyes. 

"Having a Soulmate. Someone that understands you to the very core." Theodore smiles bitter sweetly over at the couple, his arms crossed and his hip leaning against the bar.

"Yeah..." 

Theodore was like you, a very rare person that was born without a Soulmate. He didn't have any kind of bond towards another person, just like you. You both held free will over who you chose to be with. As nice as that sounds, it didn't stop you both from feeling like outcasts. 

"Well, this got depressing really quick." Theo chuckles softly and turns to face you from behind the bar, throwing down a towel, "How have you been?" 

Thus this started a whole mess. At first you began to tell the sweet boy about your day, how River was found at the front door, how Zachariah was caught day dreaming again to his Soulmate and how you felt like you were alone in this wide world. 

Travelling further down the rabbit hole, you ordered drinks with your meal. Something strong to take your mind off the whole Soulmate thing. One shot down. Two. Three. It wasn't enough. Even after Theo mentioned you had to drive back, you didn't care. Another drink. One more. Soon, you didn't know how many you had and you didn't care how much it cost. At least your brain stopped nagging about -- What was it nagging about again? 

"Theo, love, can you call a cab?" The soft voice of Dakota was hard to pick up with what sounded like the entire ocean in your ears. "I'll give Alicia a ring as well, just in case." 

"Already called the cab, don't worry." Was that Theodore? You weren't sure anymore.  "Alright sleepy head, let's get you outta' here." 

Two arms wrapped themseleves around your waist, lifting you out of your seat with little effort. You giggled and leant your head against the persons shoulder, clouded eyes finding the blurry face of your friend. 

"You taking me home, Theo? We could c--cuddle!" You hiccuped and almost tripped over your own two feet if it wasn't for the arms of Theo holding you steady. 

"I wish, but you know I wouldn't do that while you're drunk." He sighs and helps you outside, the night air bringing a small sense of reality back to you, though it wasn't much. 

"Aw, you're s--so sweet." You reach up and pinch his cheek with a slurred laugh, your eyes barely open with the weight of sleep bringing them down. 

A cab pulls up in front of you, and for a second you thought it was a submarine. Still giggling to yourself, Theo opens the cab door and helps you into the backseat. "I'd go with you, but I have work." He winces to himself and looks to the driver, giving him directions to your apartment. 

You didn't hear much of their chatter and instead rested your head against the cool window, letting everything around you drift off into a small buzz. Before you knew it, your eyes had shut and you were out like a light.