Boundaries

Chapter 10

Dylan and Orion sit in the shallows of the river, the water trickling past them as the gentle spring sunshine warms their skin. Winter had lasted forever, as it tends to do when you're small, and they had feared that the leaves would never return to the trees. But finally, spring has made her glorious return.

Orion caresses his thumb against the smooth surface of the pebble in his palm, patiently awaiting his turn. They're sat shoulder to shoulder, neither of them wearing a shirt, and the places that their arms touch feels electric and alive.

His fingers dance over the smooth surface one last time before he launches it, watching with bated breath as it soars through the air, knocking against the rim of his boot before bouncing off.

"Good one." Dylan says, aiming his own pebble.

He squints, closing one eye as he focuses his attention. When he has just the right angle, he throws. It doesn't even come close, soaring past Orion's shoe and into the woods behind it.

Orion laughs jubilantly.

"That was awful." He says, picking up another pebble from the riverbed.

"Oh yeah? Like to see you do better." Dylan mutters, scowling when Orion's stone lands perfectly in his shoe.

Orion smiles smugly.

"I hope it stays in there and you have to walk on it all the way home." Dylan mutters bitterly, folding his arms.

"Aw, Dyl, you don't mean that." Orion says, tugging his friend closer. He ruffles Dylan's hair, which the younger boy just hates.

"Geddof me." He whines, pulling away.

He plucks up another pebble, throwing it quickly this time. It barely makes the embankment, rolling gently down the riverbank before plopping into the stream again.

He exhales shortly, clenching his jaw.

"Are you excited to meet your mate?" Orion asks suddenly and Dylan looks at him, glad for the distraction.

"What?"

"Are you excited?" Orion asks, his face thoughtful.

Dylan ponders it for a second. He hasn't really spared a thought to his soulmate at all. He knows that everyone has one, in theory. His parents have told him that, and for as long as he can remember his mate has been a given. A fact of life. He knows that they exist and that they are out there. That they are his, as he is theirs.

He figures they'll come along eventually, and until then, he'd have fun. He's only nine years old for silly billy's sake.

"I guess." He murmurs, feeling pretty indifferent about it. But the more he thinks about it, the more he's sure that he isn't excited. Not one bit.

Dylan likes his life now. He has Orion, and nearly every day they get to play together, and talk together and have adventures together. Dylan thinks that his mate probably won't like that much. His mum and dad are mates and they're together all the time. If he has to do that with his mate, then there won't be any time for adventures with Orion.

Well, there's an easy solution to that, he thinks to himself. Don't find them. Then he won't have to give up adventures. He feels pretty pleased with himself for coming up with that ingenious plan.

And then he begins to panic. What about Orion's mate?

"Are you?" Dylan asks urgently, turning to face his best friend.

Orion frowns for a moment, turning a pebble very slowly in his fingers. He looks so much older like this, and infinitely wiser. Dylan hates the sight of it. With every moment of Orion's consideration, he seems to age another year, slipping out of the younger boys reach.

Finally, he looks up at Dylan, his eyes scanning the Bluewood boys features.

"I'm scared." He says finally.

Dylan reels back at this.

Orion isn't a sissy, but he's afraid of some things. His dad when he's angry, and bears, and the sound of glass breaking.

No, Orion's no sissy. He's only afraid of Bad Things. Really Bad Things.

Are mates Bad Things?

"Why?" Dylan asks, his eyes huge and patient, awaiting the wisdom his older friend can share.

"Because you don't get to choose. And I..."

Orion stops talking, his cheeks suddenly hot and red. The tips of his ears too.

"What if it's not who I want?" He asks quietly.

Dylan ponders this, wondering if he should suggest his idea. He decides it can't hurt, and ideas are things that are best when shared. His dad taught him that.

"Do what I'm going to do." He says proudly.

Orion glances over, curious.

"Don't find them. That way, nothing has to change." He says simply.

Orion watches him for a moment, a glimmer of something passing in his eyes. Then he looks away.

He throws his stone, both of them watching as it soars far into the woods.

"That was really bad." Dylan says after a moment of silence and Orion laughs.

"Let's play something else." He says suddenly and Dylan agrees wholeheartedly.

He hates playing games that he's bad at, and this one is his worst. He only says yes because Orion likes it.

"Let's wrestle." Orion says, his eyes shining and Dylan nods, standing up eagerly.

They tussle in the shallows of the river for the rest of the afternoon. Orion is still taller than Dylan, but his little friend is growing like a weed. He's thin but quick, keeping Orion on his toes.

They splash about for hours, screaming when Dylan's toes get nibbled by a fish and laughing when Orion trips over, stumbling head over heels over his own foot. Their smiles never fade and the faint tingle of where their skin touches is accounted for as a mere reaction from too much sun, nothing more.

And when Orion walks home that evening, he walks with a limp, caused by the little stone that he forgot to take out of his shoe, but he doesn't mind. It reminds him of Dylan. Dylan, his friend who loves their adventures just as much as he does, who doesn't want anything to change.

Orion walks home with a grin.

_

A/N

Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas to all my lovely readers. I hope your day has been jam packed with joy, laughter and love. I know mine has, and I couldn't be more grateful. 

Enjoy the double update-

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