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Soulmates were serious business. Aside from the legal aspect of it, that is. Soulmates meant happiness. They meant a life at someone’s side, unconditional love and eternal joy.
At least that’s what everyone says.
Bad didn’t really believe in soulmates. No, scratch that, of course he believed in soulmates, it would be dumb not to, after all he was one of the ten percent who actually did have a soulmate. The mark on his arm bore prove to that. ‘Oh my god, it’s you.’ it said in turquoise letters.
It didn’t matter. It didn’t mean anything. Happiness isn't having a soulmate. It's making your own path, choosing your own destiny. Blindly following what other people tell you isn’t happiness.
So, when the time came, Bad chose not to register himself. His soulmate would probably not like him anyway so what was the point. He was more than happy with how his life was going. He had his server, his friends. Rat. He didn’t need more. He didn’t want more. A soulmate would just get in the way of his life.
“Oh my god Bad, I’m so excited.” Skeppy screamed. His voice sounded tinny over the phone speaker but Bad could still hear the utter glee and it eased the tension coiling in his stomach. He had stalled it for long enough, nervous, anxious but it was time to meet. Finally, after so many years he would see Skeppy for the first time. Hug him, hold him, never let him go.
He was scared. Scared of how them meeting would change their dynamic. Maybe Skeppy wouldn’t like him? Maybe Skeppy would decide that now that they’ve met up he didn’t need to talk to Bad as much anymore. That that chapter of his life was over.
Bad knew, that that was an unreasonable fear. Skeppy wouldn’t just dump him like that. He would be kind and sweet but ultimately, what they had would fizzle out, like a balloon slowly but steadily descending to the ground, unable to escape the passage of time.
And Bad didn’t want that. He wanted Skeppy to be in his life forever. He wanted more than just a casual friendship. He wanted the world.
“Skeppy listen.” He said, “I’m probably going to be very tired when I get there you know-“
“Oh my god Bad, I’m not going to maul you, stop stressing so much.” Skeppy laughed. “We’re just gonna chill, okay? Get some food, relax.” He sounded so sure. So confident. Like everything was going exactly the way he wanted. Like he wasn’t even nervous to meet Bad, just excited.
“Okay. Okay.” Bad said biting his nail.
“Seriously though Bad,” Skeppy said, “I’m really, really happy we’re meeting up.”
“Yeah. Me too.” Bad said. And nothing he said had ever felt this true.
Turns out when you’re busy, like really, really busy time flies by unnervingly quickly. And what had initially been weeks until the best, or potentially worst, day of Bad’s life was now days. Or rather a day. As in singular. As in he was going to meet Skeppy within 24 hours.
Bad was freaking out. Taking a car trip with Rat was bad enough on its own, shaking hands didn’t improve the situation at all.
His head was spinning and his mind racing.
What would he say? What would be a normal thing to say to someone you’ve known for years? ‘Hi, it’s me, Bad.’ No, that would be really dumb. Of course, Skeppy knew it was him.
‘Hi, Skeppy, it’s so nice to see you.’ Impersonal but appropriate. Realistically, he didn’t need to stress so much. Skeppy was good with things like that. Skeppy would just open his arms and they could hug and then they would just seamlessly slide into how things usually were. And Skeppy wouldn’t even notice how awkward Bad was. Because he never did. So, it wouldn’t be much different in person.
And that’s the exact thought process that Bad had had at least five times during this trip. Great.
“Oh god, Rat, what are we going to do?” he asked and looked in the rear mirror. He saw Rat lift her head blinking slowly.
“At least you’re going to love me no matter what, right?” he said and watched how Rat turned around and continued to snore.
“Thanks.” Bad said.
It wouldn’t be long now. Just a few short hours. Oh god. He was going to die.
The hotel room was nice. Big and cozy and most importantly: Rat had her own bed! The hotel staff had cooed over her, scratched her head and after hours spend in the car, Rat basked in the attention.
What had been shaky hands initially, had turned into a constant feeling of nausea that had build up and just didn’t go away.
He was going to meet Skeppy. They arranged to meet up in an hour. One hour, to go and eat food.
“They have amazing Pizza.” Skeppy had said on the phone. There was a teasing lilt to his voice. “Thin-crust pizza.” He said and laughed and laughed and laughed. And Bad had laughed with him.
As it was, thin crust or not, it wouldn’t matter much anyway, Bad didn’t think he would be able to eat. Too anxious to stomach food. Usually, when he got like that, he would text Skeppy. But that wasn’t really an option now.
After a quick shower and 15 minutes spent fidgeting in front of the mirror, Bad was ready. Rat was curled up on her bed, watching him. She didn’t know what the next few hours meant. She had no idea, Bad thought as he let the door shut behind him.
Bad sat in the parking lot of the restaurant. He had been sitting there for five minutes already, it was quite embarrassing. Especially because he had seen the small figure of Skeppy in front of the restaurant as he had pulled in.
The air felt stuffy around him but his shaking hands had finally calmed down and the nausea was all but gone. After travelling for so long, he was exhausted. Maybe too exhausted to care? No, never. He would step out of the car and go meet Skeppy. And it would all go well. Because it was Skeppy. Skeppy who always teased and made fun of him in the nicest way possible. And who eased his mind whenever he got stressed. Skeppy, who always knew the right things to say and whose voice felt like a warm blanket on a cold winter day.
It would all go well, because it was Skeppy.
Bad opened the car door and stepped out.
Skeppy was so Skeppy. With his stupid hair and stupid shorts even though it was late in the evening and cold. And he hadn’t spotted him yet. Bad cleared his throat.
“Hi Skeppy.” He said, words strange in his mouth. “It’s so nice to see you.”
Skeppy turned around. Mouth slack and eyes wide, as if he had been struck by lightning.
“Oh my god.” He said and the words on Bad’s arms burned, “It’s you.”
It’s you, it’s you, it’s you.
Turns out, having a soulmate was much better than Bad had ever thought possible.