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Language:
English
Series:
Part 1 of the language of our souls
Stats:
Published:
2020-10-15
Words:
940
Chapters:
1/1
Comments:
42
Kudos:
151
Bookmarks:
9
Hits:
598

I Hope You Know

Summary:

Patton and Roman are childhood sweethearts. They have to be soulmates too.

Don't they?

Notes:

Loosely based on the song Big Girls Don't Cry by Fergie.

Work Text:

  • roman and patton are childhood best friends and they grow up together doing everything together.
  • they've been “boyfriends” since before either of them knew what the word meant, making each other glitter-covered valentines and holding hands in the playground.
  • in this world everyone has a special quote that they and their soulmate(s) share but plot twist, no-one can read the quote until it is seen by your soulmate(s), everyone else sees blurred out letters, including you. so you don't know what your quote is going to be until you find your soulmate and see it written on them (whereupon it becomes legible to everyone).
  • as you can expect, roman is a complete sappy romantic who is convinced that they are soulmates from the start, but patton at first insists they follow their parents rules and wait until they're older to find out. patton is also 100% sure that he could never love anyone more than he loves roman, and all he wants is to settle down in the town they grew up with a white picket fence, two kids and a dog.
  • by the time they're 16, they've shared their first school dance, their first real date, their first kiss. roman finally convinces patton they should prove to themselves it was meant to be.
  • so they show each other their marks, and -
  • it's blurry.
  • they aren't soulmates.
  • the two of them go through the five stages of grief right then and there. but eventually, after a lot of pain and a few tears from both of them, they decide to stay together anyway. roman swears blind that he'll never love another, that his soulmate mark is broken or he only has platonic soulmates, because patton is his one true love. patton tells him not to make promises he might not be able to keep, but he can't bear the thought of breaking up.
  • fast forward two years, the summer before college. roman has a place at a high level performing arts school. patton's school is a couple of hours away, but roman swears he'll visit every single weekend, call every day -
  • and then at the start of the summer, patton tells him not to. he tells roman he wants to break up, that roman should move on and try and find his true soulmate. that they both need to grow up.
  • he leaves roman devastated, begging him to stay. patton makes it all the way home before collapsing in tears in his dad's arms – but he's sure it was the right thing to do. he can't bear to keep roman away from the love of his life, even if it breaks his own heart.
  • roman spends the summer grieving the loss, and goes away to college still heart-broken. over the years, he thrives as an actor, singer and writer, and the hurt slowly fades away. he doesn't like visiting home for the holidays, and his family understand. there are too many memories there.
  • patton defers his college place, but he can't bear to stay in his home town either. he starts volunteering, working for good causes that pay him little more than a roof over his head. to his surprise, he finds that cooking is something he's really passionate about. going to college always felt unnecessary, just a step on the path to suburbia. now he turns it down and goes to culinary school instead, with plans to someday open his own restaurant with good, nutritious, affordable food.
  • ten years pass, and they both grow up. roman is more guarded with his heart now – and more confident in his strengths. patton is set to open his restaurant, with a dozen ideas for where he'll take it – and his years of trying to do good have taught him that some things aren't just black and white.
  • neither has found their soulmate, despite searching.
  • then, by chance, they meet again.
  • the two of them agree to get coffee and catch up, even though they can hardly look each other in the eye. once they get talking, it's almost like no time has passed at all – except it has. patton is surprised by how grounded roman is; roman is pleasantly shocked to hear about patton's new passions.
  • “i hope you know,” patton says, not making eye contact, “it wasn't really anything to do with you. i had a lot of figuring out to do... i needed some time getting to know myself, even though i didn't know that at the time. i'm so sorry that finding me meant hurting you. i never...”
    he trails off, embarrassed.
    “it's okay,” roman says. “i never stopped loving you either, pat.”
  • they get back together, not caring what the world thinks any more. it's slow and careful, it takes time to mend the years and the hurt between them. but the first time they kiss, it makes up for all of it.
  • then, one day:
  • “holy shit,” roman whispers, stilling halfway through unbuttoning patton's shirt.
    “language!”
  • “pat.”
    roman's voice is grave.
    “i – i can read your words.”
  • patton stills.
    “is that possible?”
  • “you're my soulmate,” roman whispers, sounding awed. “you – you are, patton. not the kids we were. we needed to become ourselves, before we could...”
    “oh my gosh,” patton says. his voice is shaking. “oh my gosh, roman! you're my soulmate! you can read my words!”
    “i can read your words!”
  • “what... what do they say?”
  • roman smiles, wiping the tears clear from his eyes. then he lets out a soft gasp.
    “it says... 'no matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true.'”

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