Soulmates │Jiper + Lelliana

[2] Conversations

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"Maybe we should all look at the same time," Elliana suggested. Piper and Lev nodded in agreement, but Jentzen said nothing. He sighed, and looked up resignedly.

Elliana, Piper and Lev all held out their arms. Jentzen did nothing. Piper was about to get his attention, but Elliana started counting.

"1..." hands on the ties.

"2..." starting to pull them off.

"3..."

There was a shocked silence.  Piper looked up, and caught Jentzen's eyes. He knew. When he walked through the door, he knew. It explained everything. The dull smile, the guilty looks, the resigned expression. He knew, and he hadn't told her. He had already checked - the bracelet was still covering his wrist. She felt anger bubbling up in her stomach. Why hadn't he told her?

Jenna put a comforting hand on her back, looking down at her wrist. Piper calmed down and released eye contact, taking a deep breath. Getting mad at him wouldn't help anything. Besides, they had all agreed to do it together. He was probably just trying to let her keep her promise. Jenna end Emily caught each other's eyes.

"We should probably leave them to sort this out on their own," Jenna suggested, and Emily nodded. They both left the room.

It was silent for a moment, and then Piper noticed that Elliana was still there. She looked between Elliana and Lev, and noticed them both looking at the floor. Jentzen had returned his gaze to there too.

Finally, Lev sighed and turned to face Piper. He showed her his wrist, and she could clearly see the initials 'EW' written on it. She looked at Elliana, and Elliana nodded. Piper could see the 'LC' written on her wrist. No one said anything.

"Well, isn't this all a big mess?" Elliana asked, sighing. "Look, I understand that no one wants to deal with this right now, but we have to. From the way you two are acting, I can tell you got each other." She gestures between Piper and Jentzen, and Jentzen sighs.

Lev meets Piper's eyes. "Is this is then?"

There's a dull way he says the words. He seems sad, but also distant and removed. He was trying to feel the least amount of emotions possible.

"I guess it has to be," Piper answers, and feel the tears pricking her eyes. She looked down at the sofa, and took a steadying breath.

"I'm really sorry," Elliana said, pulling Piper into a brief hug. "I really am."

Piper shook her head. "It's okay. No one could have predicted this. It's not your fault. I mean, it would've happened by itself eventually, right?"

"Not necessarily." They all turned to look at Jentzen, who had finally spoken. He was looking up from the floor, and his eyes were red. It looked like he had been crying, and he sniffled before continuing.

He looked at Piper and Lev. "I'm really sorry. I never meant to ruin your guys' relationship. I've always thought you were perfect for each other." That was a lie. But no one needed to know that. No one needed to know that Jentzen had never really thought that they matched. For some reason, he had just never thought that they were meant for each other. And maybe this is why.

Lev shook his head. "There's no point in apologising. What's done is done, and there's nothing we can do about it now."

Piper and Elliana nodded in agreement.

"We'll just see how it goes. We don't need to fall in love immediately or anything," Elliana said.

"Right." Jentzen said. But there was something off about him.

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Jentzen's POV

"We don't need to fall in love immediately." Well, what if I already was in love? What if I had been in love, ever since that day three years ago, when I first met her? What if I had been hiding these feelings, these thoughts, forever?

And I know how wrong it is. Piper was always with Lev. And I was his best friend. I was her best friend too. Friend. Why did I hate that word every time it was used in association with Piper? I really shouldn't, because it's all we ever was. All we ever would be. Friends.

You know that bittersweet feeling of getting something you've wanted for years, but hurting someone in the process? I feel sick to my stomach when I think about how this must feel for Piper and Lev. I have no right to feel these things for her. I've never had. And what's even worse is she doesn't have them. I've always been just a friend to her, and that's okay. I've learnt to accept that. Cherish our friendship, because that's all we'd ever be.

But now there was this. This soulmate thing.

"She'll never love you like she loves him."

The voice of Walker, my sole confidant of this, rings in my ears. He was right. She'll never love me like she loves Lev. And I have long ago accepted that. I've been able to hide my feelings and lock them away in a box for three years.

But now there's this. Apparently, the universe thinks we're meant for each other. The only thing is, I'm pretty sure she doesn't agree.

I feel bad for keeping her from Lev. The person she wants to be with. It's always been them, and it's always meant to be them. And maybe in every other universe, it was them. But somehow, in this universe, it was us.

I was confused, hurt, and guilty. I didn't want this if Piper didn't. Of course I was willing to give her time. All the time she needed. And if in the end, she said "screw you" to the universe and decided that Lev was the person who she wanted to be with, then I would be happy for her. Because that's how it's supposed to be. It doesn't matter what the universe thinks.

I didn't know what was going to happen next. We were just going to go on as friends and see if we magically developed feelings for each other? That seemed to be what Elliana suggested.

But of course, she didn't know that the feelings were already there for me. And they had been there, for a long time.

Forever.

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