Anything Goes (Scomiche)

Half a Heart

"This is yours, Scott, okay? You need to keep it safe."

Scott is just five years old when he asks his mom what the half-shaped, rose gold heart is for.

"It will help you find the other half of your heart, dear, your soulmate. Scott, for every half a heart, there's another that belongs to one other person, and that person is your soulmate. That person is the one you're supposed to spend the rest of your life with. Their heart will fit perfectly against your heart, and that's when you'll know you've found the one person who was made just for you and your heart. So, you need to keep it extra safe, Scott, because your other half will keep their heart extra safe for you too."

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Scott is 13 when he finds himself in love with Grant.

He meets Grant when he's eight years old. Grant is the popular kid at school, the goofy, charismatic, class clown. He's very loud, very quirky, very confident, and everyone loves him... even the teachers, who tend to discipline him behind smiles and eye rolls. He's short, with light brown hair and sparkling green eyes, and a perfect smile to match. Scott is instantly drawn to him, but so is everyone else.

Grant approaches Scott at lunch time, and by the end of the hour Grant decides that they're gonna be best friends.

And then they are. They're inseparable, basically a package deal. Scott's a bit more quiet and more reserved than Grant is, but they balance each other out and that's what Scott likes about it. That they seem to complete each other.

When they're 10, Scott starts to wonder if they're soulmates.

But Grant doesn't have his heart necklace like Scott does... hanging from a chain around his neck and almost always tucked safely underneath his shirts. "My mom wants to wait until I'm 13 to give me mine," Grant tells him when Scott asks why he doesn't have his.

That's a long time to wait, three years, to see if Grant is his soulmate, but Scott is ready and willing. Grant makes him happy, makes him feel special and important. Just the thought of seeing Grant makes Scott's heart race in his chest, and the butterflies come alive in his stomach every time Scott does see him. Sometimes Grant holds his hand and sometimes they cuddle together when they're watching movies in the basement. Scott thinks they're perfect together and that it just makes sense.

Besides, it's already been two years, so Scott's pretty sure he can wait three more years.

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Grant gets his heart necklace on his 13th birthday and Scott is sick with anticipation for the moment when he can put their hearts together. But there are so many people gathered at Grant's house for the party, and Scott is nervous enough as it is, so he waits and then waits some more. He waits until all their friends are gone and Grant's mom is cleaning up the mess they've left behind while the boys are playing Grant's new video game. 20 minutes in, Scott can't take it anymore so he pauses the game, against Grant's wishes, and he grabs Grant's necklace from around his neck and places the jagged edge of the heart against his own. And then his real heart plummets into his stomach and his chest tightens and Grant looks confused, but Scott doesn't care because it doesn't match. Grant's half doesn't fit his half. But Scott's always been stubborn, so he tries again, and again, and again. It just doesn't fit.

Grant looks at him like he's crazy, laughing as he snatches his necklace back. He teases Scott for thinking they would be soulmates, turns the game back on, and says that he's straight anyways. Scott doesn't care about anything else after that. Grant is straight and not his soulmate, and that's it.

Grant doesn't seem to notice the unshed tears shining in Scott's eyes or the way his breathing has quickened like he's about to lose it. Grant's mom comes in with Scott's mom trailing behind and by the time Grant does notice the tears and the labored breathing and the shaking hands and the quivering bottom lip, Scott's pushing him away and yanking his own mom towards the front door. He wants nothing more than to leave.