The Only Bruise On Your Heart

News

The next morning, the Timids awoke pleasantly and calmly. Shane was awake first as usual, and took a few minutes simply to look at his soulmate. 

From the minute he could judge whether someone was attractive or not, Shane had always known that Drew was beautiful - even before he realised he had a crush on his best friend, he thought the other boy was one of the prettiest people he'd ever seen. Unfortunately, that resulted in his self-esteem being even worse than it was already, but he'd gradually gotten used to it over the years. But now, with the boy who of course had turned out to be his soulmate so close, he was taken aback at how truly gorgeous his closest friend was. 

Not long after, Drew's eyes opened blearily, and he stretched and squawked until he could see properly. The two smiled at each other blissfully, perfectly at peace. 

'Morning,' Shane finally greeted in his deeper voice, still groggy from sleep. Drew rolled over so he was almost lying on top of him, then suddenly sat up, almost falling off the bed in the process. Shane snorted at him, then grinned apologetically. 

It didn't take them long to get ready: they both wore the same black skinny jeans as their birthday the day before, and Drew borrowed one of Shane's many band t-shirts, so they were pretty much matching. Shane's mum waved at them as they left out the back door, having a quick and silent conversation with her son using mostly eyebrow movements and facial expressions. 

'Can we tell them?' Drew piped up when they were about halfway to Laurence's house; the five of them were spending the day at the Beveridge household and having some illegally procured alcohol. (No one questioned how Luke kept getting all these drinks without getting caught, but they never got really drunk anyway, so it wasn't a massive deal.) 

'Are you sure..?' Shane asked nervously, biting his lip and widening his emerald eyes. As pleased as he was with the result of his markings' completion, there was a part of him that was still scared to make it public. Especially since he suspected that Kier knew he had feelings for Drew... 

'Pleeaase, Cy! You know they'll be happy, and we're happy, so it's all good!' Looking down at the shorter boy's pleading expression, Shane physically felt himself giving in. He always gets his way with me, he thought to himself humourously, and he bloody well knows it. 

'Well, if you're sure, then--' Shane didn't get to finish his sentence, as Drew started whooping and grabbed a hold of his hand, pulling the taller of them along. They were nearly at Laurence's now. 

Soon enough, they arrived at their friend's house, instantly greeted by an already slightly tipsy Pilnahn, holding a bottle of cheap cider in each hand. 

'Timids are here!' their long-haired friend called out to the other two, beckoning the newly confirmed soulmates inside; Drew finally dropped Shane's hand when he saw Kier and Laurence down the hallway, running to greet them. 

'Guess what!' Drew enthused, voice high-pitched and clearly showing his excitement. Sighing, Shane rubbed his eyes and stepped inside the house, feeling Luke pat him on the back and snicker at his embarrassment. 

It was hardly a minute before they were all in Laurence's conservatory, spread across the various sofas and chairs; Keveridge (a fond nickname for Kier and Laurence) were flopped down on a huge floral sofa, Luke had bagsied the huge leather armchair, and Drew was perched on Shane's lap on the futon. 

'So you're soulmates, yeah?' Laurence raised his eyebrows with a kind smile, chuckling when Drew burst into some big speech about them checking the tattoos and how they matched identically and how great it all was. Shane was squished underneath him the whole time, blushing and smiling and looking a little big awkward, but mostly content.