Break All the Rules (LGBT) ✅

Break All the Rules Timestamp 2

Timestamp 2

By the time Alex got to Clarissa's office, it was quarter past eight.

He'd left with enough time to spare, even after he'd spent a while in front of the mirror to build up his confidence, but it'd taken longer to get there than he'd thought. He couldn't park a car at Clarissa's office in central London so he had to take public transport. It meant the photographers had dogged his footsteps and he'd had to run to lose them. They'd chased him past his usual bus stop and, when he'd reached the second stop, he'd arrived just in time to see the bus drive off.

Which, really, was a perfect way to cap off an already shitty day.

Only it wasn't the end and he still had to catch two tubes, all while seeing his face on the day's newspapers. He wasn't on the front page, thankfully, but Alex ducked his head a little further into his scarf and kept his eyes averted. The last thing he wanted was more drama. He already felt too exhausted right now to be outside and walking around.

So he was hoping that, when he got to Clarissa's, he'd see he'd made the journey for a reason. Alex didn't know what he was expecting but it was definitely something more than an air mattress in the middle of the floor and the lights on bright. Clarissa herself was sat at her desk, delicately eating a cookie and sipping a coffee that looked far too sugary for the evening.

"You called me out for this?" he asked, not having to fake unimpressed. "You are aware there are people staking out my flat, right?"

She rolled her eyes, popping the last bit of cookie in her mouth. "So young and yet so cynical. I promised you happiness, didn't I?"

"I think you said something more along the lines of teaching me how to appreciate what I have. Is this to show me the value of a bed and good lumbar support?"

She laughed. "No, I'm going to show you something much cooler."

"Better than good lumbar support?" He made a face of exaggerated shock. "Well, I don't know, Clarissa, that's a pretty hard thing to beat."

"Sometimes, I forget how funny you are."

"You don't even know the half of how funny I am."

"Oh, I do." She said, getting up and moving over to the side of the room, picking up a teapot. "We're good friends in the future."

Well, that answered one question. He'd wondered why she'd called him, especially since they'd only met and talked once in the past. He hadn't given her his number, either, but that was less of a mystery when it came to a woman like her.

"Is this why you're helping me?"

She lifted a delicate shoulder. "Yeah, partly. But also because I rarely see soulmates with such a strong connection as yours. It seems a shame to let you guys destroy yourselves. The universe doesn't make mistakes, you know, but people do."

He laughed, since that was definitely something he'd said in the past. "I suppose you're going to try and tell me that Freddie and I aren't a mistake. Have you seen us?"

"I have," she said, pouring some tea into a cup, "but you haven't. I'm going to show you."

Alex frowned, more than a little confused, "What do you mean?"

"Well, haven't you wanted to see your past lives?"

It wasn't an option he'd ever thought was possible. But, as soon as she'd said it, he wanted it. Alex had loved the idea of soulmates since he was a child and he'd greedily read all the happy stories he could and listened to his grandparents talk about their bond, the strongest one he'd known. He'd never had that himself and the possibility of seeing the lives where he did, of seeing their souls entwined, was enthralling and something he desperately needed.