Take a Chill Pill - Assorted Be More Chill Stuff

All of Forever

His best friend wasn't exactly what you'd call normal. The seating chart in their freshman history class put them next to each other. Jeremy had never been much of a socialite, but this kid (who looked more than a little older than fourteen but swore he was a freshman and hadn't ever been held back) in his red hoodie and thick glasses... Jeremy just hit it off with him the second they met. He was never really sure why. Maybe he was just way too amused by Michael pointing out the many times the people in the terrible old portraits in the textbook looked weirdly like them.
Over the years, they became thick as thieves. They spent more time together than they did apart. Michael slept over at Jeremy's house almost every night. Scratch that. Every night. It took Jeremy years to realize that it was weird. Eventually, he had to ask.
"Dude, why don't we ever have sleepovers at your house? Why don't you ever sleep at your house? At all? You've stayed here every night since we met. Is there something going on? I've never met your parents. You've never talked about them either." Michael was looking into the chip bag in his lap. The TV in Jeremy's room cast an eerie glow over them as the dying light of sunset filtered long shadows across the floor. He spoke without lifting his eyes.
"I wouldn't think it would be too hard to guess."
"...What happened to them?"
"My dad got the plague and my mom was burned at the stake." Michael's voice and face were both flat.
"...What?" Jeremy giggled through his question. Michael smirked.
"Didn't think you'd buy that. Car crash. Back in sixth grade."
"You seem pretty okay with it?"
"I've had... years..."
"Still! Michael, why didn't you ever tell me you were an orphan!?" Jeremy moved closer to his friend, trying to meet his eyes. Michael was still staring into the chips.
"I didn't want to worry you, I guess? I usually avoid thinking about it."
"This is the sort of thing I should know! Are you okay? Is there anything I could do to help? You're not homeless too, are you?"
"Dude, I've kinda moved in here, remember?" Michael finally met his worried gaze. His chocolate eyes were sparkling, whether with tears or laughter, Jeremy couldn't tell.
"But food and money and all of that!? You're not starving?"
"I've had enough time to figure out how to fend for myself." Michael averted his eyes again.
"Dude! You're not stealing!?"
"Sometimes."
"Michael!" Jeremy grabbed for his arm, shaking him. Michael sat there for a second, dazed. His glasses were askew on his nose. He stared at Jeremy.
After a moment, he grabbed him and pulled him roughly into a kiss. Jeremy struggled, head bent at an odd angle. Michael's glasses were digging into his face and he was in too much shock to pull away. After a moment, Michael dropped him. He fell backwards, limp.
"What the fuck?" Jeremy could feel a blush growing on his face.
"Do you believe in reincarnation?" Michael was looking away from him again. His voice was low and steady.
"What? No! Seriously, Michael, WHAT THE FUCK!? You suddenly admit to me that you're an orphan, then you fucking kiss me, then you start asking me about reincarnation of all the fucking things!?"
"Colorful language tonight." Michael said. He hadn't moved. His voice was still robotic. His distance only made Jeremy angrier.
"Michael, look at me!" The boy obliged, his eyebrows raised, which left Jeremy off balance. He hadn't expected him to listen. "W-what the fuck is going on with you? And don't lie to me." Michael snorted with some dark amusement.
"You won't believe me."
"That's the stupidest excuse ever."
"It's true."
"I don't give a shit. Tell me." Michael smirked again. He was relaxing a bit.
"Fine, but you're not allowed to interrupt."
"Deal." Jeremy's curiosity was piqued. The kiss had been forgotten entirely, save for his mouth feeling a little smushed and weird.
"There was this weird fortune teller lady in the town I grew up in. She spewed this crap about soulmates a lot. No one really cared. Then she started talking to me and this other kid in the village, saying we were soulmates. One problem. It was me and this other little boy, and people kinda freaked out."
"But you're like super gay—"
"Don't interrupt. Yeah, I am, but it was like the most conservative little town ever, so even suggesting it was weird. Everyone in town freaked out and called her a witch and stuff. They executed her, but not before she had the chance to put this spell on me. Everyone freaked and called it a curse and did all this stuff to try and cure me. I thought it was a hoax... Until my parents died. And I didn't."
"That doesn't make sense. Were you in the car? What kind of spell? Where did you grow up, anyway? Salem?" Jeremy's mind was reeling. It made enough sense, only it really didn't. It sounded like something out of someone's weird fanfiction.
"One, you're interrupting again. Two, um... no. They didn't actually die in a car crash. Three, I think her exact words were 'something to keep you searching for a time when it's right?' I don't know. It was weird then, and it's still fucking weird. Four, yeah, I think it was kind of close to Salem, at least."
"I still don't—"
"Stop interrupting. Anyway, I kept seeing that kid. The one who the old lady said was my soulmate. And I moved around a lot. But I always managed to run into him. Sometimes it worked out. Sometimes he freaked and rejected me. But I keep finding him. He always looks pretty much the same." Jeremy bit back his questions. Michael looked at him. "That's why I asked you about reincarnation. I think my soulmate keeps being reincarnated and I keep running into him."
"What—Michael. You can't be reincarnated unless you're dead. There's no way. It's probably just a creepy coincidence with the same guy." Michael smirked.
"That would make sense, but it's been like four centuries."
"...What?" Michael stood and went over to Jeremy's closet, where he dug around for a minute. He emerged with their old history textbook.
"Remember this?" He flipped through, pointing out a few pictures. "The one guy in the crowd here? This one on the Titanic? This guy in the Civil War? Or in New York?" Jeremy's eyes darted between the pages and Michael's face. There was no way.
"Are you trying to tell me that's you in all of those?"
"Kinda, yeah."
"That is such a load of horeseshit."
"Well I had to do something to occupy myself for four hundred years." Jeremy stared at him. His mouth was hanging open. His head shook slowly.
"There is no way in hell. Are you trying to tell me you're immortal?"
"Pretty much." Michael looked into his eyes. His gaze was steely. If he was lying, or batshit crazy, he had a really impressive poker face.
"You know what? Fine. Say I believe you. Why are you telling me?"
"You asked me to?"
"Not what I meant."
"Well..." Michael looked away again. "I've finally figured out how to share the immortal power stuff. I can make one other person immortal if I want."
"And you're saying you want to do it to me?"
"You don't have to! I mean, it's kinda a raw deal. Everyone's always dying around you, there's a lot of technology stuff to stay up-to-date on, and you don't really age, so explaining that to people is rough. I've been through high school five times now because I'm stuck looking seventeen."
"But... why me?" Jeremy's skepticism had fled his mind. Of course Michael was immortal. And he was asking him to be immortal too. The obvious answer was yes, but what would that mean? So much could go wrong.
"Because you're my best friend?"
"W-what about that guy? Your soulmate who keeps being reincarnated?"
"...You really are clueless, aren't you?"
"I'm serious! If the lady put this spell on you so that you two could be together, why not give the power to him?"
"You do remember I started this conversation by kissing you, right?" Jeremy turned red.
"Y-yeah."
"And that this guy has looked the same every time I've found him, so I can always tell it's him?"
"Yeah, but what does that—?"
"It's you, moron." Jeremy blushed harder.
"Oh."
They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes.
"So..." Michael asked, shifting his weight around. "What do you think?"
"I—I don't know." It was Jeremy's turn not to make eye contact.
"That's okay. This is a big thing. It still sounds fake when I say it. If you don't want to, I'm sure some version of you in the future will."
"What!? No! Nothing like that. I like you too! And I can't believe I just said that out loud. I've been low key crushing on you since we met." Jeremy's blush was tomato red and burning. "I just... Immortality is a huge thing. This is a big decision. Can I have some time to think about it?" Michael smiled, his eyes bright.
"Of course, dude. We have all of forever."