The next morning, Sara woke up, a familiar headache pounding. She sighed when she remembered what happened last night. This was the second fight she had gotten into this break. What is wrong with me? She thought. She sat up, looking around the room, wondering what to do, when she heard a soft knock on her door.
Mattheo stood outside the door, his arms crossed over his chest. He was feeling quite a lot of regret, and his head was killing him as well.
He sighed as he waited for Sara to open the door, rubbing his forehead. He didn't know what to say—or if his words would do anything to better the situation, but he knew that he had to try.
His tone sounded slightly apologetic as it did though. "Can we talk?" he asked quietly.
Sara, upon hearing it was Mattheo, walked to the door and opened it for him.
"Yea," she nodded, letting him in.
Mattheo walked into her room, shutting the door behind him carefully. As soon as it was closed, he took a deep breath and looked at her.
"I'm sorry," he spoke in a much more gentle tone of voice. "For last night, for everything."
"Me too. I had no right to judge you like that," Sara felt a wave of relief wash over her.
Mattheo smiled slightly at her apology. It meant something to him, and he felt a bit lighter.
"The thing I said about your family..." a grimace crossed his face, "That...it was out of line. I'm sorry about that as well."
"No, it's fine. I was being a bitch," Sara half-chuckled. While they *were* apologizing, things still felt off. Perhaps it was just a repercussion of them getting too close, when, before the bond, they were never meant to be. It seemed like he did want to distance himself from her, at least more distant than they were the past few months. It made sense, and it just further proved to her why she shouldn't tell him about the soulmate bond.
Mattheo sighed, his lips tightening in a grimace.
"We both said things we shouldn't have, I think maybe we were just a little fired up..." he said, his tone trying to be soothing, trying to convince both himself and probably Sara. "Maybe we should just..."
He paused, before sighing and going on, "Maybe we should just forget about it?"
"Yea, good call," Sara nodded.
"So...we're good then?" he asked, the tense conversation now coming to a close, but a small part of him was still worried, still waiting for some kind of catch.
"Yea, good."
"Good."
Mattheo took a deep breath, his expression loosening and becoming more casual.
"We better not have another situation like last night, though, we can agree on that, right?" he asked, his teasing tone returning momentarily.
"Definitely," Sara agreed.
"Well, in that case," he said, feeling himself relax, "I can get out of here so we can both get back to recovering." He pointed at his head, referring to their hangovers. "Happy Christmas."
"Happy Christmas," Sara gave him a soft smile as he left. *Now I've got to find a way to break this bond. He practically just said he wants nothing to do with me.* She thought to herself as she closed the door after him. *Not that I want that much to do with him either.*
Mattheo made his way back to his own room in his house, feeling satisfied with the way he'd left things with Sara. Everything was calm again, they had agreed they were both in the wrong, agreed to not have another fight like that, agreed to essentially leave that fight behind them.
And just like that, everything was back to normal—or so he thought.
~
"You what??" Pansy exclaimed, her eyes wide in disbelief, indicating that Sara had just finished telling her about the kiss and the subsequent fallout with Mattheo. Her tone mixed shock with a dash of amusement, knowing full well the dramatics that often surrounded their group.
Sara sighed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, her expression a mix of frustration and resignation. "I know, I know. It sounds crazy," she admitted, her voice low. "One minute we're enjoying Christmas Eve, and the next, we're in the middle of this huge argument. I just... I lost it, Pansy."
Pansy leaned forward, her curiosity piqued. "But you kissed him," she pressed, not one to let an important detail slip by. "And you guys were getting along so well. What happened?"
Sara shrugged, her gaze drifting to the window where frost etched delicate patterns across the glass. "It was a mistake. We got carried away, and then reality hit. I said some things... he said some things. It got ugly."
"And the soulmate thing?" Pansy whispered, lowering her voice despite the privacy of their room.
Sara winced slightly at the mention. "He doesn't know, Pans. And after what happened, I don't think I can ever tell him." She paused, taking a deep breath. "It would just complicate things further. Besides, he made it clear we shouldn't be... like that."
Pansy nodded slowly, understanding the delicacy of the situation. "So, you're just going to pretend like nothing happened? Just friends?"
"That's all we ever were, right?"
"Yea, maybe it's for the best, for now, to keep things platonic. At least until you figure out how you want to handle the... you know, soulmate bombshell." Pansy said.
Sara chuckled dryly, the term 'soulmate bombshell' putting a strangely humorous twist on her dilemma. "Yeah, the soulmate bombshell. Sounds like a terrible B-movie."
Pansy laughed, the sound brightening the mood slightly. "Well, if it ever becomes a movie, I call dibs on being played by the most glamorous actress."
"Deal," Sara smiled, her heart feeling a tad lighter. "Thanks, Pans. For listening and not making me feel like a complete idiot."
"No problem," Pansy grinned. "That's what friends do. Besides," pansy continued as she sat next to her friend and put a comforting arm around her, "I just had to make sure I wasn't hearing things. Soulmate thing? I mean, I've heard of that, but you can't possibly be serious...you two, of all people?"
"Yea, it's what I wanted in the first place, I just like, don't want to *die* you know. If that whole part of the soulmate thing is real," Sara chuckled, trying to make light of the fate she would have if her and Mattheo were apart too long.
"You sure? Cause this is now the second time you've hooked up with-"
"I was drunk! You should know all about that," Sara glared at Pansy, playfully, but still a reminder of the fight that them two had gotten into over Christmas break as well.
"You're right...I'll shut up," Pansy put up her hands in surrender.
"Thank you," Sara giggled, tossing a pillow at Pansy.
Pansy laughed as she dodged the pillow—barely—and then tossed one of her own at Sara, hitting her in the chest. She then grinned in triumph, but soon she had remembered the serious topic that they were discussing.
"So uh...now what?" she asked, wondering if Sara had any final thoughts or words on the situation.
"Guess I go back to the library and try to find out how to break this goddamn bond and have things go back to normal," Sara shrugged. "Honestly, I think I've grown about 5 grey hairs from all this stress."
Pansy pouted playfully, her eyes shifting to the snow falling outside.
"And you'll do this all on your own? Why don't I come with?" she spoke softly, a genuine concern in her tone.
"It's like you read my mind," Sara smiled, happy that at least one other person knew about this so that she didn't have to deal with it *all* by herself.
Pansy laughed gently, her demeanor shifting back to playful as she added, "I'm not sure there was a lot to read there."
After a minute of letting the banter go on, Pansy's tone then shifted back to serious.
"For real, though, you're not doing this alone this time. I'm coming with."
