And you decided whether you saw beauty or destruction

All I didn't know I needed

(Soulmates)

Connor had no idea why he wore the stupid ring, this morning he had slipped it on without thinking and now he couldn't get rid of it, which meant he was going to meet the poor soul that had gotten unlucky enough to be tied to him; just his luck.

So now, not only does he have to make it through a day in the hellhole that is his high school, but also has to avoid being anywhere close to a person he doesn't know; which, you know, Connor avoids people as a rule, so it shouldn't be that difficult, in theory. Then again, things rarely ever go Connor's way.

He manages to keep his hands to himself for the most part; that is until Jared fucking Kleinman opens his goddamned mouth.

"Hey Connor, loving the new hair length! Very school shooter chic"

Connor feels his hands tighten around the handle of his bag.

"I was just...kidding, it was a joke?"

Connor knows he's physical when mad, he knew he wouldn't last very long without blowing up, but he tries not to.

"Yeah, no. It was funny. I'm laughing, can't you tell?"

His hands itch from how tight he's clenching them.

"Am I not laughing hard enough for you?"

Kleinman stumbles back; Connor is relieved when he realizes he's running away.

"You're such a freak"

Connor watches Kleinman leave, and then it happens.

Laughter, only it wasn't really laughter, more like a high pitched intake of breath that happened to sound like it, and yet Connor whirls towards it with vengeance. The boy in front of him looks like he's staring at a ghost, or like his life is flashing in front of his eyes, and Connor is a light fuse.

"What the fuck are you laughing at?"

"What?"

Connor stomps towards him.

"Stop fucking laughing at me"

He can't stop moving.

"You think I'm a freak? I'm not the freak. You're the fucking freak!"

He goes to push him, or he intends to but his hands does a sharp turn and he loses his balance, and then Connor's on the ground, on top of the other boy. Connor tries to get up, but his hand is held by a force, and even when he manages to get on his feet the boy's hand follows him; as the two hands collide, rings meeting, Connor realizes what this means.

He pulls them both to their feet, realizing that the boy has a cast on his other hand; the one that isn't magnetized to Connor's. There's a familiar set of footsteps, and suddenly Zoe appears at his side.
"Oh my god, Evan, are you ok?"

She tries to push Connor away, but the hand follows him, and now their arms are hanging awkwardly where Zoe can see them. The boy, Evan, his name is Evan, moves his hand so he's holding Connor's instead of just their knuckles meeting, he has rough and blistered hands, with healing scratches on the fingers, Connor wonders what happened to him.

Zoe blinks at the joined hands, and seems to slowly make sense of what's happening, Evan has his eyes firmly trained on the ground, Connor clears his throat.
"Do you mind?"

Zoe looks at him, then looks at Evan, who's turning red, then looks back to Connor. There's a pause where she just stares at Connor like she's hallucinating; then she breathes deeply, like she's processing.