The Only Bruise On Your Heart

Identical

The moment he heard Shane's idea, Drew's eyes lit up like diamonds and he straightened up in their bed, pulling his friend's arm closer to him. 

'Are you serious?' he asked, searching Shane's green eyes with his brown ones; he saw Shane nod with trepidation in response. 'That's amazing, Cy!' Drew enthused, yanking the taller boy into an awkwardly positioned hug. 'Come on, let's check.' 

Before he could protest, Shane was being dragged back into the ensuite bathroom, the viciously bright lights flickering on and searing strange shapes into the backs of his eyelids. Then, just as he was about to ask Drew why he was being so excitable about it, his best friend started stripping again: Drew quickly unbuttoned his pyjama shirt to reveal the patterns decorating his chest, gazing up at Shane like he was looking for approval. He then removed his top completely, motioning for Shane to do the same. 

'I, uh, I don't--' Shane was cut short by Drew flapping his hands around and tugging the hem of his t-shirt up, frowning rather adorably at him. 'Fine...' 

Once they were both topless, Drew swiveled to look in the mirror, Shane joining him. It was just as Shane had expected - the markings on their sternums were exactly the same, matching in every way. He looked nervously at the reflection of his best friend, who was looking back at him with manic happiness. 

'Let's check the back, now!' Drew instructed, lightly grabbing Shane's sides and turning him so he could view the tattoos on his back properly. Shane could feel the other boy's warm hands prodding (and sort of... stroking?) the markings on his lower back, and shivered. Hopefully he could blame it on the winter's coldness. 

While Drew compared their back markings in the bathroom mirror, Shane's heart was beating in his throat, making him feel like he was about to choke on his own pulse. What if Drew didn't want to be he soulmate? How would this affect their friendship, their relationship? Would this change everything? He had to admit it, he was scared. Drew meant the world to him. 

'Hands, hands, hands,' Drew muttered to himself, pulling his shirt back on but not buttoning it back up. Reaching forward, he took hold of both of Shane's hands in his own, examining the markings on them to ensure they were exactly the same as his. Finally satisfied, he dropped one of Shane's hands and beamed up at him. 'Aww yis!' he exclaimed; Shane couldn't help but giggle at his best friend's reactions. 

Back in their shared sofa bed, the boys settled down for the night. Shane managed to pull his t-shirt back on, but only after Drew insisted on taking one more look at the soul tattoos that were identical to his own. Feeling shy about having the person he had "romantic" feelings for staring so intently at his body, Shane tried to focus on a single point up on the ceiling. 

'...and I mean not all soulmates are couples, are they, some are just friends, best friends like us, it doesn't have to change anything, isn't this great? I'm happy, I hope you're happy...' Drew was rambling away - mostly to himself - and Shane was only half-listening, pleased that Drew was content with who his soulmate was, but also a little disheartened that he just wanted to remain best friends. Platonic love was a beautiful thing, he knew that, but it wasn't really what he felt for Drew, not any more. 

'Yeah, Wooly, I'm happy,' Shane reminded him for about the fifth time that night, sinking further down into the covers, hoping that Drew would start to calm down and get sleepy again soon. 'I knew this would happen, anyway.' 

For some unknown reason, a pinkish blush crept up Drew's neck and face at that, circling his cheeks and making him look even cuter than usual. Best friend, remember, Shane thought, somewhat bitterly. Soulmate, but best friend. Nothing else. In reality, Drew was ecstatic to hear that his best friend had expected this to happen: he'd been hopeful, since he loved Shane more than anyone or anything else in the universe, but to hear that the other boy had anticipated them having matching markings just made him feel even more at peace. 

'So, um, platonic soulmates, yeah?' Drew repeated, pulling Shane's hands in to his warm torso again. Shane smiled back at him, nodding; his light brown hair fell into his eyes, and Drew felt a small pang of something he couldn't quite describe. 

There was about a minute of silence then. It wasn't awkward or uncomfortable, it was simply the Timids taking a moment to get used to being soulmates. That was a big deal. Adults constantly reminded their kids of the strange mythology around soulmates; scientists were always looking into new research methods to discover how and why the markings appeared; every sixteen-year-old's dream was to find their soulmate as quickly as possible. The two boys were extremely lucky to already know each other at all, let alone be best friends - some people never even found their soulmate, forced to live in a slightly lonely way until they died. So yes, despite unrequited feelings, Shane knew he was lucky. As long as he was with his Timid, he was sure that he was going to be alright. 

'Come on, let's sleep,' Shane half-whispered, breaking their comfortable silence with a toothy smile. As if on command, Drew yawned, then snuggled down into the blue covers. 

'Love you,' the shorter boy mumbled as he closed his eyes. Shane's breath caught, and for a few seconds he didn't know what to do: Drew loved him. They were just friends still, but they were soulmates. Of course they loved each other. Of course. 

'Love you too,' Shane whispered into the darkness, letting his soulmate drift closer to him until they were practically cuddling. He fell asleep quickly that night, and dreamt well.