Chapter Text
It was that time again. The quiet halls erupted into teenage noise, lockers opening and slamming shut in the effort to go find their friend's lockers that much sooner. Binders and bags were being yanked and crammed simultaneously, papers were scrunched up, photos fell to the floor were chased after and tacked back up to the inside of the door. And the endless chatter. Endless. Gossip about who had black talked the teacher and was that much cooler because of it, girls opening the notes they'd been passed back and forth all class giggled and swore to keep them forever. Most of them were planning what to do with their weekend, who was meeting who at the movies tonight and only if my parents think it's just us.
When the bell sounded it probably released reward and pleasure chemicals to their brains. The only thing released into Tegan's brain was fear, the flight part of fight or flight. His lips pressed into a tight line, if only his gym teacher hadn't held the class back for one more lap he could have been gone already. He checked the time on his phone quickly and then crammed his gym bag in his locked that much faster. Would it really be too much to ask for to start one weekend without a single new bruise? The ones from last week were finally turning yellow and disappearing. Back pack in hand he kept his head down and turned to make the great escape while he still could.
"Oof!" It wasn't a wall, but it might as well have been. His shoulders were as wide as one, and his muscles were certainly toned enough to mimic the hardness of brick.
“Awe you weren’t going to start your weekend with out saying hi to me first, were ya bud?” The large blonde mocked. Tegan back peddled only to slam himself into a set of lockers. The once bustling hall was now a desolate waste land, loose papers blowing around like tumble weeds.
“Do you have to do this Nico?” Tegan whispered meekly, voice barely heard. A feral grin pulled at the corner of the jock's mouth, he took a step closer and Tegan pressed his back harder into the cool metal. Tegan looked down the hallway both ways from the corner of his eye. He dropped his bag and pivoted right only to have his chest blocked by a solid forearm. Tegan flinched as hot breath blew against his cheek."See that's the thing I like about ya Tegan, you always keep me on my toes."
-
Tegan got home twenty minutes later than he normally would, but what else were you supposed to do when you could hardly put weight on your ankle. He grumbled under his breath, swearing at Nico the whole way. He had never done anything to that jackass except be a little smaller than him. But still, where was the crime? He paused before the door, breathing in deeply trying to compose himself. His mom was a mom after all and if he gave any inkling he wasn't in perfect condition, there'd be a talk. No teenage boy likes talks. None.
Pushing the front door open he slipped through quietly as possible. Nudging off his shoes silently, he crept towards the flight of stairs that lead to his sanctuary. Five more steps. Around the once place that creeks and...
“Honey? Is that you?” His mom’s voice sounded from the living room. Just fake it for ten seconds then you can lose it.
“Yeah.” Tegan answered, his voice cracking slightly. Shit. He didn't want this, he didn't need anyone else to notice this. He didn't need his mommy. His mom paused before she answer, Tegan could hear the TV volume lower.
“Is everything alright?” He could picture her right now, hesitating to get off the couch to come see him, head tilted towards the hallway to hear his crappy voice better. Her hesitation turned into a choice when he heard the floor boards groan. Time to go.
“Yup just lots of homework, gotta get started mom.” He lied hopping down the stairs as quickly as he could. Just as he rounded the corner he could hear his mom from the top of the stairs.
“O-okay sweetie, just let me know if-“
“I’m fine.” He said before taking the last couple of steps to his bedroom door. Closing it tightly, he held his back to it, listening for his mom’s foot steps. The floor above him creaked slightly until he heard her footsteps move back down the hallway upstairs. Breathing out slowly he pushed off the door. Cave sweet cave.
The other month he had been careless and walked out of the shower with just a towel on to go back to his room and his mom had been doing laundry at the same time and had seen the bruised finger prints up the back of his arms. It had ended in a rather large fight. It seemed no matter what he did, it always ended up in a fight. She had finally given in on the promise he would tell her the next time something happened. As if. He was a strong guy, he didn’t need his mommy solving his problems, he’d deal with them on his own.
Flipping on his music he jumped onto his bed and got comfy before he allowed himself to be consumed by the internet like he did most weekends. It didn't take long before he clicked out of the first app he had opened. Not that he should have expected anything else, but it was nice to pretend sometimes.
Glow this and Glow that. Ads and gimicks - glow sooner now!, How to get him to glow for you!
The actual news feed itself wasn't any better.
So excited I started to glow yesterday!
She’s the one, it’s official <3
What are the chances it was my best friend all along?
Post after post was filled with how someone or someone they knew had found their soul mate. Humans were funny things, especially their bodies. If and when you found your soul mate your chest would start to glow or light up, or what ever you wanted to call it. It was fail proof. Had been happening since the beginning of time. They had learned about the theories in class, if your body finds a soul mate for you, you have more time to hunt, gather, ect. Made sense. But hundreds of years later it was just annoying to have pop up on your news feed constantly.
Some people took years to find their soul mates, they even traveled the world in hopes of running into them. Others walked in the first day of school and found theirs. Typically it was your first year of high school when people started to glow, nothing younger than that age group had really ever showed up. So there were those people, and then there was Tegan.
He had come to the conclusion he was never going to find his, nor did he want to. See the thing about finding your soul mate is, yes it's great they're the one and it's a forever thing, but that's the problem. It's a forever thing. You only get one. If they die? Yeah you're a loner for the rest of your life. If you don't like that thing they do? Once again, too bad, you're now stuck with the for life. While most people embraced that notion, Tegan found it horribly claustrophobic. One person in seven billion was a lot to bet on, Glow or no Glow.
Tegan ignored the social media for a while, and by a while he decided the rest of the night. Just as he had gotten to his zone out state of mind, where time seemed to pass with out noticing it, a loud banging could be heard above his head. He could lock the door, but that would most likely result in more havoc. He followed the foot steps above his head, over to the fridge and then over to the living room where they stopped for a while. Talking to his mom no doubt. And then it sounded like a thunder storm had started in his stairwell. Next his door was flung open. No announcement of any sort.
“Trace!” Sasha squealed like she hand't seen him this morning. He watched tiredly as her pony tail bobbed up and down vigorously. How did she always have energy?
“Ugh I’m in the middle of blogging what do you want?” He grumbled not bothering to look up. Suddenly she was very quiet. Next thing he knew his jaw was in her hand and she was turning his face this way and that.
“Again?” She whispered. He pushed her hand off and went back to his laptop.
“It’s nothing Sash.” He lied, even her loose grip had stung his jaw. Normally Nico kept it below the neck line but it seemed he was in a particular mood this Friday. She crawled up onto his bed and sat there cross legged, watching him silently. Tegan tried to ignore her but he could feel her eyes boring into his skin. After a few moments he couldn't stand her doing that anymore.
"Can I help you?" His voice flat and unimpressed.
“You should do something about him Tegan.” She said sternly. He rolled his eyes, using the motion as an excuse not to turn his eyes back to her. The peeling sticker on his laptop was rather fascinating. Another minute passed. Sasha moved till her she was beside him with her back resting against the wall. At least this way the pressure of her eyes were gone. The weight of the topic how ever was not.
“Just need to survive one more year then I’m outta here and I won’t have to deal with him ever again. I can move far far away, never have another bruise on my body again.” Tegan sat up straighter and wiggled till his back was against the wall like Sasha's. “Now come on, I know you have a test Monday. Where’s your books?” He sighed. Tegan watched his friend wiggle off his bed and grab the bag she had dropped in all her excitement.
“It’s like you know me or something.” She joked going back to her spot. His mind wondered as she flipped to the pages she needed. They had been friends for over ten years now. And in those years not much had changed. She had found the other boys picking on him and chased them off. Ever since then they had been best friends. How? Was beyond Tegan.
Sasha was beautiful and exciting, everything she did she did was with a passion. There was a spark in her eyes that never died and she always had a story to tell. She also had her hands in as many clubs as humanly possible and then some. Her only down fall was, of course, math. He didn’t blame her though, no one liked it unless you were good at it. And Sasha wasn’t.
“Alright pull out your practice test and we’ll go from there.”
After two mental break downs and three trips up stairs to make herself coffee later Sasha was more or less on her way to understanding everything.
“Alright I deem us done! Movie time.” She demanded. Every other Friday he and Sasha would go down to the movie store on main, grab a new release and head back to Tegan’s house. Sasha’s mom didn’t approve of them hanging out alone in a bedroom together but Tegan’s mom couldn’t care less. Sasha distracted his mom with small talk and "don't wait up for us." as Tegan made his way out the front door, they were off.
The doorbell rang as they walked into the movie rental place and started to scan around for any good releases.
“Ooo Zombie movie?” Sash suggested excitedly. Tegan shook his head.
“So typical. Let’s go comedy, I could use a good laugh.” Tegan stopped as Sash shot him an apologetic look. He shoved her shoulder lightly. “Don’t even.” After they had grabbed a romantic comedy, due 100% to Sasha’s influence, they started to walk back to his house.
“Now what is a pretty girl like you doing with a loser like that?” A deep voice called behind them. Tegan froze, his limp had just gone away and he could pretend his face wasn't bruised. Nico and a couple of his also large friends were just about to enter the store. Before he could suggest they leave as swiftly as possible, Sasha forced the movie into Tegan's fumbling hands and sauntered right over to the group of jocks.
“Think I’d have a better time with you boys?” She asked sweetly. Tegan dragged his hand down his face. This was going to be good. Nico perked up and leaned towards her, grinning back at her.
“It’s a promise beautiful.” He purred. Sasha leaned in a little closer, Tegan watched grudgingly as the other jocks were grinning along and chuckling.
“Think I could try something with you?” She purred back at him. Nico smirked up at Tegan before looking back down at Sasha.
“Anything you want.” There was hardly any space between the two now.
“Perfect.” Sasha said before bringing her knee straight up into Nico’s groin. Tegan and the other jocks gasped as Nico dropped to the ground like dead weight. After the initial shock his buddies started howling with laughter.
“Serves you right dude!”
“HA! Shoulda had my phone going. Five foot nothing girl brings down 6’3 lacrosse player.”
Sasha humfed, kicked backwards sending a few small pieces of gravel and then sauntered back to Tegan like she owned the world, plucking the dvd from his hands and looping her arm in his she pulled him away. By the time Nico got up and could yell without sounding like he was going to throw up, Tegan and Sasha were almost two blocks away.
“Are you insane?” Tegan asked his best friend, despite the shock he could feel a smile crawling up his lips. She had done what he had always wanted to do. Who didn't want to see their bully crash to the ground due to over whelming pain? Sasha flipped her hair over her shoulder.
“Hell hath known fury like a women scorn.” She smiled at him with a wink.
"I'll remember that the next time I tease you about your math score." He grinned back. He had no idea why Sasha chose to be friends with him, but shit was he happy she did.
-
The weekend flew by yet again and Tegan was dragging his feet to school. He always showed up early and slipped into class as soon as he got there. His math teacher, Mr. Lance, didn’t mind, seemed to enjoy his silent company. Every now and then in the mornings before other kids would walk in to class he’d slip self-help sheets onto Tegan’s desk. Thankfully he never actually brought this up vocally.
Once the classes had slipped by it was time for lunch. Scanning the cafeteria Tegan deemed it safe and stood in line to grab his food, once he got his tray he scurried off to the library to hide at the table in the back. Sasha had some sort of club going on at lunch, as she normally did, so Tegan the library was his next best place to hide.
The Liberian gave him a stern look when he walked by with his food but said nothing. Everyone seemed to know a little, but not enough to actually get involved. Pulling out the familiar cracked blue chair he set up all his books, angling them to make some sort of wall. Not that anyone could be bothered to come over here, it still made him feel that much better. Quietly eating his lunch behind the stack of books he heard his voice.
“Man, this is bullshit.” The lacrosse played complained. Tegan peeked through the shelf. Standing six foot something weighing well over two hundred pounds, was his worst nightmare. And of course, his equally intimidating jock friend. Just when Monday’s couldn’t get any worse. They did.
Tegan stood still, not moving, barley breathing. He willed them away harder, with each passing second he could hear them getting closer.
“Yeah but coach says-“
“I know what coach says, and it’s still bullshit. Let’s just get this done with, I think there’s a table here somewhere. Don't need the other guys giving me shit about this.” Tegan’s heart stilled. He waited as the two jocks rounded the corner. Maybe if he stayed really still, they'd leave. They'd forget they saw him and just go.
“Well hey if it isn’t my little buddy, Tegan.” Nico grinned. Fuck. He wouldn't do anything here would he? It's too quiet, someone would surely hear him struggling. Tegan gulped as he looked up to thick, broad shoulders. “I think you’re done here, aren’t you?” He suggested cruelly. Tegan bobbed his head up and down, grabbing only his books, he left his lunch behind. Nico stepped in front of him last second. Of course he did, why would he just let Tegan go? That would be human.
“W-what?” Tegan tried to say confidently but it came out in a dribble. God he wished he had Sasha's confidence right now.
“Just wanted to say hi, you’re always in such a rush to get going. I’m starting to think you don’t like me, hurts my feelings a little bit.” He chuckled. Nico’s friend buffed him on the shoulder.
“Let the nerd go, you have shit to do or you can’t do practice. And I’ll be damned if I have to hear you bitch for the next week.” Said the other jock. Nico looked down on Tegan and shrugged, stepping aside he let him race away. Tegan made a mental note that that one wasn't as bad as some of Nico's other friends. Some were all too willing to help out.
By the time school was over and Tegan got home his stomach had already been constantly reminding for the last two hours that he hadn't eaten his lunch today.
“How was school dear?” His mom asked as something cooked on the stove.
“S’all right.” Was the only thing he said.
“You’ve gotten so quiet these last months. Are you sure everything is okay?” She stood there staring into him. Staring through him. He huffed and laid his head on the table.
“Yes mom, for the millionth time. I’m fine.” He excused. Tegan’s mom waited a few moments longer before deciding to drop it.
“Alright then.”
After a quick dinner Tegan went to start his math homework down in his room. Well it wasn’t really something he had to do, just extra credits. He enjoyed math and it would help him to gain credits for scholarships. Win win. Scrounging through his back he realized he had forgotten his book. Tegan’s mom knocked on the door suddenly, causing him to jump. Had she followed him down here?
“You know Tegan, we could always find you another school if you were, you know bored of this one, per say.” She offered from behind the door, thankfully unlike Sasha, she respected his space when he needed it. Tegan buried his face into his pillow. How long would she do this for? He had half a year left of school and he was done, he could do this all by himself. He just wanted to be left alone with his problems. He got off his bed and opened the door.
“This school is fine mom. Speaking of, I forgot my books there I’m gunna go grab them quick.” He squeezed past her and ran up the stairs, hoodie in hand. Tegan forced his feet into his shoes as quick as possibly before his mom had climbed up the stairs. Just as he saw the top of her head coming up he gripped the door handle, swung the door open and yelled “Be back soon!” over his shoulder, and he was long gone.
Tegan’s house was only five blocks from the school it would only take him half hour to go there get his books and return. Longer if he dragged his feet, which he might just do considering his mom was rather persistent tonight. Pushing past the open doors he wondered down the hallways to his locker.
The idea of dragging his feet quickly went. Inside the school was eerily quiet except the whirring of the floor cleaner down in some other hallway, and all the lights had been dimmed. Creepy. Grabbing the books he needed he started back down the hallways to get the hell out of this place, the closest exit being by the gym. Not his favorite of all places, chances of running into jocks were highest here, one could only fathom as to why that would bother him.
After looking both ways for anyone around Tegan decided it was safe and hurried past the gym. Well he tried to. His feet slowed as he tried to make out what the sound was. Had someone left the stereo on in the gym?
He should leave. He should go home and study math he didn't need to study. And then, he should google how to remove any and all curiosity from his brain, because he was pushing the door to the gym open. It wasn't the stereo, someone was singing. Pushing the door all the way open, he closed the door softly behind him. He stood there listening for a moment. It had a sultry tune and the voice was pretty enough that Tegan had to get closer. This was starting to remind him an awful lot like mermaids that sang to pirates and then dragged them to their death.
He stayed close to the wall as he crossed the shinny gym floor, crisscrossed with all it's colorful lines. The melodious tune was coming from the equipment room. Now, what lived in there? Jocks. And what did Tegan have? No fucking common sense. Shaking his head he decided he really was an idiot and went to turn away. But then the song changed. Slower, sadder. After a moment he recognized the lyrics, and Tegan found himself wondering if this person could actually hit the note coming up.
Hit the note? No, but they had changed the tuning or something, and it sounded better than the original. Alright now he had to find out who this person was.
Letting curiosity get the better of him, he padded closer to the double doors, peering inside he couldn’t see anyone. He could still hear them, but they were father back. Daring to go deeper into the closet Tegan pushed up on top his tip toes to see to catch a glimpse. The chorus came around again and he found himself just standing there listening contently. But content was not something Tegan could afford. Paying more attention to the voice than what, or who, was around him he noticed exactly what equipment was being put away.
Lacrosse sticks.
Fuck, fuck fuck fuck fuck!
And then the board back straightened out came to about, oh 6'3. And their hair was blond. Tegan tried backing away as quickly as possible but as fate would have it, his sneaker caught on something laying on the ground, sending him straight into a towering stack of padded mats. With a muffled yelp they came crashing down on top of him, he tried pushing and shoving but the things we too damn big for him to move like he wanted. The singing abruptly stopped and Tegan heard heavy footsteps. This was it, this was how he died. In a equipment storage room because he heard someone singing.
“Shit hang on.” Nico’s concerned voice rang out. Tegan forgot his panic for a moment, pondering the tone the jock had just used. He had never heard him speak like that before. But as the mats were pulled off him, he began to panic again.
“Jack how many times have I told you not to try to sneak up-“ Nico’s voice fell away as he peeled the last mat away. The last piece of shield. “Shit it’s you!” The jock sounded less than impressed. Reaching down he grabbed the front of Tegan’s hoodie as he had done a hundred times before.
“S-sorry just needed uh books. I’ll go now.” Tegan tried slinking away but his feet weren’t on the ground to even get traction.
“How long were you there? Huh? What did you hear?” Nico leaned in closer snarling at the guy half his size.
“N-nothing!” Tegan stammered. "A-and I certainly didn't hear singing. Nothing."
“Think it’s funny listening in do ya?” He questioned harshly. Before Tegan could respond Nico threw him back into the pile of mats which were, thankfully, better than the wall. The jock began to advance on Tegan once again. Looking around he saw his text book and snatched it up, not thinking he wailed it as hard as his could at Nico’s face. It was only enough to give him a head start for a fraction of a second but that was all Tegan needed.
Taking off across the gym he heard the pounding of the jocks running steps. Tegan though he had had a chance but Nico didn’t just sit around, he ran. He ran fast and hard and took guys out in the process.
Tegan had no chance against him. Soon a hand grabbed into the back of his hoodie and he was stopped mid run. Struggling Tegan managed to slip out of his hoodie but only managed a few measly steps before being slammed to the floor, knocking the breath from his lungs. The gym floor was notably harder than the previous mats he'd been thrown at.
As he laid there gasping, trying to force air back into his lungs, Nico loomed over him.
“Try to pull that shit again-” Nico pinned Tegan to the ground, one hand clamped on his shoulder holding him down, the other wound back ready to fly into Tegan’s jaw. Tegan flinched and squeezed his eyes shut, hands gripping Nico's arm, waiting.
Moments passed but the blow never came. Mustering up the courage he peeked up at his attacked. Nico was frozen, eyes wide open in shock at Tegan. Maybe he had realized it wasn't nice to bully? No, this Nico we were talking about here.
Tegan started looking around frantically to see what had scarred Nico so badly, had a janitor come back?. He wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but his face was still in one piece so he would guess it was a good thing.
And then he saw it.
And then he felt it.
Like warm water pouring smoothly, carefully, into his chest. And then less carefully, feelings began to float in. Not just float, they flooded in, crashing into his unwelcoming cavity. The warm feeling started to heat up, like sticking your foot in a tub of water too soon, feelings begun to erode away at his harshness. Just as soon as it had been too hot, too forceful, the feeling calmed down and settled there in his body like an undisturbed spring that had been there since the start of time. In shock he stared at Nico, as he stared at him. He wasn't sure what he looked like but Nico looked like he was ready to cry. Turning away from the emotion Tegan looked at Nico's chest instead.
At first it looked like one part of Nico’s shirt was lighter than the other, some sort of accident with bleach, but as seconds ticked by it became much more obvious. No. It couldn’t be, this wasn’t supposed to ever happen. Ever. Glancing down at his own chest Tegan noticed it was glowing too, soft and warm. And then Nico's hand moved from the death grip on his shoulder to above the Glow.
Nico reached down and pushed up Tegan’s shirt. Tegan yelped and hit his hand away but not before the Glow had become painfully obvious. Nico sat back on Tegan's legs and peaked down at his own shirt. Then looked back to Tegan as the horror grew on both their faces. Nico pushed himself up and away from him and Tegan pulled himself backwards.
“Oh hell no!” They yelled in unison, glaring at each other. This could not be happening. This was not happening. It was a really bad dream. The mats had knocked Tegan out and he was dreaming. Or dead. Preferably dead.
But it wasn’t a dream, he wasn’t waking up. It was just him and Nico sitting in silence clutching their chests gawking at each other. Maybe a few seconds passed by, maybe it was a few minutes. Nico was the first to move. Slowly he stood up glaring at Tegan, and then turned around and walked back to the gym closet. Was this it? Was this the end of everything Tegan had been though? Swearing and crashing came loudly from the doors after Tegan had finished his thoughts.
Not needing to be told twice Tegan stood up, grabbed his hoodie and ran out of there like the devil were at his heals, because that wasn’t far off from what Nico was. Some demon that lurked around, plotting the next best way to screw up his life.
And screwed up his life he had. Tegan had just never imagined it would be that bad.
After running all the way home Tegan didn’t bother removing his shoes as he went straight downstairs. After in his room with his back once more pressed up against the door he began to process things.
Him.
Nico.
Soulmates.
How fucked up was that? The guy that had been abusing him for the last year had in some sick and twisted way become his soulmate. Tegan groaned as he raked his fingers though his dark brown hair. This was so, SO, screwed up.
No one ever gets a new soulmate. Even after death, there have never been reports of something finding a second one.
Sliding down the door Tegan curled up into a tight, hyperventilating ball. He never wanted a soulmate but he figured if he did get one it certainly wasn’t the beloved jock of his entire school, the one that all the girls crawled over.
Tegan smiled slowly. Well at least if he couldn’t ever have a real soul mate, Nico couldn’t either.