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A myth said that everyone was bound to have a soulmate, someone to love and be loved by, to complete one’s life, a person’s heart outside of their body. The Goddess of Fate had bind soulmates together red knots and a thread to lead them to each other. However, through time, greed and envy had overshadow the humankinds with desire to find their soulmates and dread themselves in endless wars and bloodshed. This eventually angered Fate and gradually majority of human beings lost their ability to see the sole map led to their soulmates.
Except for those who were born with Sight.
Tyler Kennedy Strand was born with crimson red bow-shaped knot on his left pinky finger and a thread that reached far out of the hospital’s window. He had been fascinated with the concept of soulmates since he was a toddler. He watched couples on the street joined hands with matching red knots and happy smiles on their faces, witnessed how in-sync his parents were through eye-contacts and the tug of their thread. He heard all about the love and completeness that his parents felt from the very first moment that they met, how it was the most magical and euphoric feeling when their hands touched. It made 6 years old TK’s personal goal to meet his own soulmate and marry them when he grew up. He wanted the love like his parents had.
TK was idealistic, he took the concept of soulmate to his heart and his dream. Unfortunately, it meant his parents’ divorce had broken not just his happiness but also his whole belief. Reality hit him with the hard-earned fact that even being soulmates don’t promised a happy ending, not without the efforts from both parties.
TK grew up his teenager year with shattered belief and eventually lose his hope to find a soulmate. He traded the hope for soulmate for loveless relationships, his admiral to his parents for sneaking to parties and the euphoria of soulmates for the high from drugs.
Getting OD’ed was not the wakeup call he asked for but the one that he needed. He realized how living without a soulmate was not the end of the world and he could still have a happy relationship with someone who wasn’t his soulmate, like ordinary thread-blind people have done. His mom and Enzo could be the proof for that.
Meeting Alex at his friends’ party was what TK think was Fated. A future lawyer with good sense of humor and attractive smile, TK was hooked from their conversations and late-night chats. He knew he wasn’t Alex’s soulmate and Alex wasn’t his, but he couldn’t care less. Alex didn’t believe in soulmates and he was interested in starting a serious relationship with TK and that was all matter to him. They started out passionately and steadily for two years, until it wasn’t anymore. Alex canceled their date nights, he stayed late at his work and ignored TK’s messages for hours should have been the first signs. But TK was too ignorant for that, he was ready to settle down with Alex. And Alex, who insisted that he believed soulmate was a myth, turned down his proposal and confessed cheating on him for 6 months. The more Alex talked about how he believed Mitchell was his soulmate, how he made him feel complete, how the thread on his right hand seemed brighter in each second, the more TK felt his world was failing apart.
He didn’t remember trading the ring for drugs, he didn’t remember taking it. His first instinct came with crumpling pain in his stomach and his dad’s scared eyes. It took a second for TK to realized what he had done, how he had broken his promise to his dad and his years of sobriety.
~~~
TK didn’t know what he had expected in Austin. Everything was gray, the only thing he could feel is numbness. It was like high school all over again, he tried to busied himself by helping his dad rebuilt the station, interviewing new crew members and getting their house more homely. But they didn’t help with ache in his chest and his wandering thoughts about New York.
Texas served their first field day with its’ own weirdness. Singular vehicle accident, the driver hit the pole, the car rolled then turned one-side, what unique about it was a 10-month- old baby now struck on the tree. The slippering from the rain did nothing to help TK’s nerve as his dad climbed and tried to reach for the baby. The moment his dad and the baby safe on the ground was when he let out the breath, he didn’t even know he was holding. Cheers erupted around them, EMT team were treating the mother while his firefighter folks were clearing out the scene.
“He is an impressive guy.”
The voice from his left brough him back from his nerve bubble. Standing right next to him was the APD officer in charge of the scene, officer Reyes.
“He’s my dad.”
TK took the first close look at the officer’s face. He was a handsome guy, definitely TK’s type, but what strike to him the most was the soulful brown eyes. Even in the terrible lighting of Austin’s night, his eyes shined with warm and gentleness. Home. The strange feeling tugged at his fingers, but he looked away to avoid the eye-contact, too afraid to look down.
~~~
If you told TK half a year ago that he would be in a honky tonk down in Texas to watch his dad embarrassed himself by line dancing, he would told you were insane. But here he was, sipping his mineral water while his dad and his new team enjoyed the Texan bar.
“Hey” – It’s the officer from the scene. “Hey” – TK greeted him back, before turning back to look at his team on the dance floor. It’s the warmness again. “Wanna dance?” – considering his options, the pain from Alex was too new, too fresh for him to think about a new relationship, but a hookup with a hot cop might able to clear his numbness as sex always does and he did promised his dad to try for a new start – “Yeah”.
He followed his lead to the dance floor, tried to copy the moves. For the first time since he arrived in Austin, he was actually having fun. Moving with the music, dancing around with his new found friends. “Carlos” – the Austin officer tried to yell-whisper to TK under the loud music, his hot breath sent electric through his body. It took TK another minute to realized that the man was trying to tell him his first name and waiting for the fireman to reply. “TK” – “I take it stands for something, right?” – Carlos smiled a little while testing the name on his lip. TK smirked in return “You’re right, but you have to earn the meaning of it”. They danced for what felt like hours but they were soon to be out of breath from dancing and smiling.
“Do you want to get some air?” - Carlos tried his best to whisper under the flashing sound from the speaker, his deep brown eyes shined in the honky tonk’s lighting.
Everything happened in a haze. TK was led to the outside of the honky tonk, the night breeze at the first touch to his skin was nothing compare to the soft lips and solid body pressed him to the wall. The kiss sent thrill all over his body and the warm from before come back. TK didn’t realize he had closed his eyes up until he opened them when they had to separate for air. That was the first time he noticed the glow of his pinky’s string which he used to grasp Carlos’ impressive bicep. The string connected from his finger to the strong hand that was holding his waist. TK’s eyes widen in realization, the breath run short from both the kiss and the shock.
Oh it’s you.