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Chapter Text

Joseph Liebgott's ribbon made its first appearance right on schedule, on his 13th birthday. He sat with his mom and dad at their kitchen table, watching as the dully glowing red line wound its way around his left wrist. His mom breathed out a sigh of relief, rubbing at her lover's noose, low enough on her neck to be easily hidden by a shirt's collar. Joe knew that the ribbon around her neck bothered her, heard the snide comments from his friend’s mothers, saw the stares as they walked around, knew that it haunted Joe's mom like a specter that even Joe’s dad couldn't chase away. She stood up from the table, brushing a kiss across her Joe's cheek, looking relieved that he didn't carry the same stigma with him.

David Webster's soul ribbon, on the other hand, came later. At 17 years old, David stood in the doorway of his childhood home, still wearing his rumpled uniform as his father pitched bag after bag full of clothes out the door.

He had been staying late after school for weeks, fooling around with Bob Leckie under the bleachers, both of them escaping for an hour or two from the confines of their families’ expectations of them, no real expectations of a relationship, just stress relief. It was heaven, an island of peace, for a while. Until that afternoon when Mr. Webster had shown up to bring David home earlier and caught them, shadowed by the stands, tongues down each other’s throats. He had ripped them apart, slamming Bob back against the bleachers, and grabbing David by his hair as he hauled him back to their car. As soon as they got back to the house, David’s father had stalked inside and thrown David’s life into bags and begun tossing it out onto the street where he had left his stricken son, hot tears of shame rolling down David's flushed face.

It was then that his neck began to itch and chafe. His father stopped mid throw, looking taken aback for a second.

"Not only a queer but a sissy one at that," He sneered, disgust contorting his features horrifically, pulling apart his usually composed affluent disguise to show the hate inside.

He spat at David and threw the final pack at David's chest. Turning on his heel, David's father slammed the door, cutting David to his core. It struck him how so much had changed in an hour. An hour before, he had been with Bob. An hour ago, his plans for life were laid out for him. Finish high school, go to college, get the inheritance, get away from the choking, cloying presence of his parents. Now, Bob would be too scared to come anywhere near him, his parents would cut off his money for school. No high school degree and no place to live. The urge to just give up, to break down swelled high in his chest.

Suddenly, he felt a light tug at the end of his bond - a tentative pull sending calm resolve down the bond. He wasn’t totally alone. He had a soulmate. He pulled his shoulders and spine taut, realizing that his parent’s neighbors were most likely peeking through their shutters at the commotion. No, he thought, he wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing him break. He had that much. David felt another wave of emotion spiral through the ribbon, his soulmate's resolve setting into his bones as David pulled out the phone that he'd had the presence of mind to hold onto, even though he knew it would be disconnected soon and dialed an old friend.

“Pat? It’s Web.”

Chapter Text

250 dollars, 7 phone calls, and three Amtrak cross-country trains later, David arrived in San Francisco. All through the journey, he could feel the bond getting stronger, the emotions stronger, his soulmate closer and closer with every passing mile. When he finally made it to San Francisco, he felt a tug deep in his soul. David trudged his way down the steps of the bus into the bright light of the balmy California sun. As he looked around, David saw Pat stood leaned up against his parent’s car just across the street. His lanky form and shark-like grin separated him from the bustle of the crowd desperate to leave the stale air of the bus. Catching sight of David as well, he started weaving his way through the masses of people. As he neared him, Pat eagerly swung David into a bone-crushing hug. 

"Web! Good to see you."

David groaned, wriggling out of the embrace, his face burning at the public display, the kind that his parents had abhorred. David readjusted the scarf around his neck to cover the noose again, shifting his eyes nervously around to see if anyone saw.

“How are you? Haven’t seen you in ages, Web. Not since…” Pat trailed off semi-awkwardly.

“Not since dear old dad told me never to hang out with you again,” David said, hitting the nail on the head before the silence got any more awkward. David’s father’s homophobia knew no bounds, because as soon as he found out that Pat was an artist, which to his archaic way of thought of course meant gay, he forbade David from hanging out with him, even getting his cousin to spy on him at school. Soon after, Pat moved away, all the way to the other side of the country.

“Well, I was gonna say since my dad moved us out here, but that works too, I guess,” Pat said, breaking the tension. “Here, let me grab that for you.”

Pat made a grab for David's luggage, ignoring his friend’s protestations. Making his way towards his car, Pat tilted his head towards David and slung an arm around David’s shoulders dislodging his scarf in the process. Pat caught sight of the mark for a moment, his eyes widening and hissed,

"Shit, you weren't kidding." David gave him the best dead-eyed look he could muster, then rolled his eyes as Pat raised his hands in surrender.

"Alright Web, have it your way, we won't talk about it." Reaching the car, both of them stopped. Web tilted his head up at his friend, doing his best to look grateful in the face of his exhaustion, saying,

"Thanks, Pat, really."

Pat nodded solemnly before suddenly ruffling David's hair and throwing David's bags into the back seat.

"No problem, Web! We’re gonna get you home, unpacked, and then we can go out." Pat walked to the other side of the car, slipping into the driver's seat. David quickly followed suit,  turning the key, and pulling away from the busy sidewalks.

“I don’t know, Pat. I’m kinda not up to going out, really.” David looked uncertainly at Pat, but he just grinned.

"How else are you gonna meet your soulmate?" He singsonged the last word teasingly at David. Reaching across the console, he smacked Pat’s arm as hard as he could.  

"Hey, no distracting the driver!" Pat yelped mock-indignantly. He flicked his eyes across the car at David and at seeing his obviously indignant face, burst out laughing. It was infectious. David started snickering and worked his way up to full blown laughter. David hadn’t laughed like this in ages since before he started tiptoeing around his parents, worried that they would find out. Since his parents tightened up their restrictions on him. Since all his friends moved away, Hoob first, then John, Pat the last to go. Their laughter died slowly into chuckles, but Pat and David kept grinning at each other, their stressfully strained friendship settling back into place.

“I’m glad you’re here, Web.”

“Me too Pat. Me too.” David settled back comfortably into his seat, quietly noticing the ribbon humming with happiness in a loopback from his soulmate. He smiled, finally happy again

Chapter Text

It was the last week of May and finals were kicking Joe's ass. He knew they were required, but with graduation just a week away, the urge to leave was crawling under his skin. He was ready to leave high school in the dust.

Joe was hunched over the scantron sheet of his Government and Politics final when he felt his left wrist begin to burn like hell. It was a flaming itch, right on his soulmark. It felt like it had when it had first marked his wrist. Great time for my soulmate to show up, he thought sarcastically. He hissed and swore quietly as the itch got worse.

“Ah, shit.”

His teacher's head whipped towards him, her hawkish eyes glaring at a disruption in the middle of a final test. She caught sight of Joe, rubbing at his glowing ribbon. He made eye contact and cocked his head pleadingly. Her eyes softened as she quickly gestured him towards the door. As he passed her desk on the way out, she whispered,

"Come see me after school, you can finish your test then. Good luck." Joe nodded his thanks at her momentary lapse into kindness, stumbling out the door. As he did, he felt a crushing wave of blunt hurt crash down on him from across the bond. He doubled over his knees from the pain of it, sinking against the wall and clutching his head in his hands. Trying to drown out his soulmate's pain and anguish, to send a reassurance. He tried to remember what his mother had taught him.

"Just a light tug at the bond, Liebchen. Just to let them know you’re there." He remembered being sat on the floor, legs crisscrossed, across from his Ma as she taught him how to reach out to his soulmate, his nshmh por. He remembered being disappointed when no one tugged back. You wanted a response, now you got one, he thought to himself. Joe doubled down on his concentration, his forehead creasing with the effort, sending line after line of resolution to his soulmate. After a few seconds, he slowly felt them calming down. He dropped his head to his chest, exhausted by all the emotional heavy lifting he'd just done. His soulmate's emotions settled down into a light awareness at the back of his mind, rather than screaming through him so loud he couldn't hear himself fucking think.

Carefully getting to his feet, Joe made a beeline for the office. Immediately, his Ma's reaction was first in his mind. The secretary, Ms. P, looked up as Joe walked in the door. She shot him a confused look.

"Shouldn't you be in class, Joe?" Joe walked over to the desk and leaned gingerly on it, favoring his soul-marked arm.

"I need to call my mom." Ms. P looked quizzically at Joe, a bit suspicious.

"Usually you don't ask." Joe held up his left arm in explanation. His soulmark was glowing lightly. Ms. P nodded knowingly, rubbing her own ribbon wrapped tightly around her ring finger, and passed the phone to Joe. His mother picked up on the third ring, as usual.

"Hello, this is Judith Liebgott.” Joe relaxed at the sound of his Ma's voice.

“Ma, it’s Joe,” He said. His Ma's tone was immediately concerned.

“Joe, Liebling, is something wrong,” she said. Joe tried to calm her down, but she kept rolling, “Did something happen?”

Joe sighed, realizing how fucking exhausted he was.

“Yeah, Ma.” He heard her inhale sharply over the phone. “Nothin’ bad,” he said quickly. Joe breathed deeply, mentally preparing himself, "Ma, my soulmate came online." He heard his mom inhale sharply on the other end of the phone. He could imagine her standing at her desk in her office, hand at her neck. Any mention of soulmates and her hand would fly to the bond on her neck. Her end of the line was filled with a deafening silence for about 30 seconds.

“Ma?” Joe hazarded, nervousness building up in his chest. There were a few more nerve-wracking seconds of silence before it was broken.

“Joe, that’s good!” He breathed out a heavy sigh of relief, the nervousness dispersing for the most part. Now that the possibility of injury/problems was out of the way, his mom started excitedly asking questions.

"How was it? Did everything go alright?"

"Well, not really. I got outta class, and all this pain just came through the ribbon. I got 'em calmed down, though." He sunk down to the floor pulling the phone with him. He kept chatting for the next few minutes, feeling better about this whole soulmates deal now. His mom hummed and tsked in all the appropriate places as they talked. But soon the bell rang sharp and loud, shocking Joe out of his conversation. He looked up at the clock. 2:20.

"Ma, school's letting out. I gotta go," He said.

"Don't be too late. Love you." Joe smiled.

"Love you too, Ma. Bye." He hung up the phone on the cradle and carried it back to Ms. P from where he'd migrated during the call.

"Thank you," she said, "Have fun with your soulmate. It's an experience if ever there was one." She chuckled and waved Joe out of the door. Joe half smiled at her as he felt the nerves settle back in.

Chapter Text

“Welcome home, Web,” Pat said as he slowed the car. David looked out of his window at the house they had pulled up in front of. He swung himself quickly out of the car, surveying the house. It was a pretty two-story, all gabled roofs and bay windows. The wide bay windows on the upper floors were strangely flung open.

David heard a big commotion and turned around to see Pat opening the backseat and hauling David’s biggest bag out and slinging it over his shoulder. David tried to make a grab for it but Pat just passed the smaller one to David, tightening his grip on the large bag.“C’mon. I’ll show you ‘round.” Pat said, gesturing with his head towards the house.

“C’mon. I’ll show you ‘round,” Pat said, gesturing with his head towards the house.

“Put your bag anywhere. Come on up,” Pat yelled down from where he’d disappeared upstairs after getting in the door. David did as he was told, dropping his bag by his shoes, a bit suspicious.

“Second door on the left.” He heard Pat call down again. He slowly made his way up the stairs to the indicated door, covered in stickers and posters for art gallery showings. As he pushed it open, a sudden bright cacophony of noise greeted him. David nearly fell over himself at the sight of Hoob and John, standing next to a smirking Pat. He almost couldn’t believe his eyes, mouth hung open wide in shock, eyes feeling like they were bugging out of his head.

“Hey, Web. Good to see you too,” Hoob said, walking over to him and hauling him into a back-slapping hug. A surprised laugh bubbled out his chest as he hugged Hoob back, tight, to check if this was real. It all felt like a dream.

“Good to see you, too?” He said haltingly, his voice finally came back to him. “When did you...how...wha…?” Hoob chuckled and let him out of the hug. David whipped his head from Hoob to Pat to John in confusion, his mouth hanging open again. John beamed at him, shaking his head at David’s expression.

“Pat called us right away,” John explained, “Told us the whole deal. We both got here soon as we could. You didn’t think we’d let you do this alone, did ya?” David realized that he had. For the last few months, he’d felt alone, the lone person on an isolated island, his only escape his work and his “stress relief” with Bob. He’d thought that he was alone, with only his soulmate. He hadn’t considered the possibility that his old friends still cared enough about him to help. He’d gone out on a limb with Pat, lucky that his father hadn’t deleted Pat’s number from his phone. He started to tear up a bit.

“Thanks, guys,” David said, wetly.

“Hey, what’re we here for?” Pat said, clapped him on the shoulder again, wrapping his long arm around David’s shoulder. David smiled up at Pat in thanks again, feeling ridiculously content. The emotion swelled like a bubble in David’s chest, and he knew that he was sending it down the ribbon. However, seconds later, he felt something harsh and intense. He nearly winced at the strength of it.

“Pat, where’s the bathroom,” David said abruptly.

“Just across the hall,” Said Pat, his forehead creased with concern, “Everything ok?”

David nodded simply saying, “Soulmate stuff,” and ducking out of Pat’s bedroom, into the bathroom, and sinking to the floor against the wall. He felt a slow ebb of panic at first, then all at once, a crushing wave of it slammed into him. David had had enough panic attacks to know one when he felt one. Before almost every major test, and every asinine social event that his parents ever dragged him to, panic would set in, tension building in his chest, breath coming up short as if he could never get enough air into his body for his brain to respond like it should.

This must have been what it was like when the bond activated, David realized. He tried to send calm down the bond like he’d gotten from his soulmate. If he could just calm them down, the attack might subside.

David went through the motions of when an attack struck. Calm down, slower breathing, ignore shortness of breath, just keep breathing, in-two-three. Out-two-three, in-two-three, out-two-three. He felt his soulmate’s panic settling into what felt like mild anxiety. He realized suddenly that it wasn’t the vague feeling he’d gotten originally it was a sharper, clearer emotion. David knew what that meant. He waited a few more seconds and once he realized the attack was over, gingerly got to his feet, exiting the bathroom.

“Everything good, Web?” Hoob ventured.

“Yeah. A little panic attack, but they're fine now, I think,” David said. He kept his revelation about his soulmate’s close proximity to himself for now. His friends nodded, accepting the explanation and moving on.

“Pat, what was that you said about going out?” John asked, turning to Pat.

Pat grinned, back on track for his plan for the night.

“Was wondering when you’d ask.”

Chapter Text

“Hey, Lieb."

“Hey.”

Joe nodded distractedly at Tab. He spun his locker combination and tried to open the door. Joe jerked the lock violently and kicked the bottom.

“Hey hey hey! You alright?” Tab grabbed his shoulder, stopping him from straight up murdering his locker. Joe huffed out a sharp breath, leaning his head against the cool metal and restarted opening his lock.

“My soulmate came online during the AP Gov final,” Joe said quietly. Tab dropped his hand from Joe’s shoulder.

“Shit. Joe that’s…”

“Yeah,” He said, his voice heavy with significance.

“Where’s Chuck? He’s gonna want to hear this.”

“Gonna want to hear what?” Chuck asked, walking up. He stopped when he saw the look on their faces, Joe nervous, Tab concerned.

“Who died?” Chuck said, halfway to joking, halfway to serious. 

“Joe’s soulmate came online.”

Chuck nearly dropped his bag in shock at the word soulmate. Joe looked at him, instantly suspicious. Chuck shifted uncomfortably, tugging at his collar like he had been doing all fucking week. Joe’d finally had it with the weird distance that Chuck was putting between himself and the rest of them, most of his own issue forgotten.

“Alright. Chuck, what the fuck is up with you?”

Chuck glared for a second before he looked down, muttering.

“What?”

Chuck jerked his head back up, glaring clearly at Joe.

“My soulmark showed up. I got the noose.” Chuck’s eyes bored into Joe as if daring him to start shit. Joe huffed indignantly, hurt that his best friend didn’t trust him not to be a bigot.

“That’s it? Fuck, Chuck! My Ma has the noose! You think I’d stop bein’ your friend cuz of some fucked up idea of inferiority?” Joe hissed, trying to keep himself from yelling.

“Well, Joe I didn’t fucking know. I told a couple people and they offered their fucking condolences. It’s not like they wear a sign that says ‘Hi! I’m accepting and not a douche-canoe,’” Chuck deadpanned. His rant came to a sudden grinding halt. The three friends became encompassed in a bubble of tense silence as the hallway bustled around them. Tab snorted. The bubble burst.

“‘Douche-canoe’?” Chuck spun his head to look at Tab, who was struggling to hold in laughter. Soon all three of them dissolved into laughter, the tension broken. Chuck punched Tab lightly in the shoulder, saying,

“Shut up.”

The first day after Joe’s soulmate came online, he sensed a vague tiredness coming through the bond. He ignored it, shoving it down along with his own nervousness, and got on with making his breakfast and getting out the door.

Later that day, in his shop “final”, he sensed exasperation. The emotions got sharper every hour, like a lens focusing in, revealing the image that had been previously obscured.

The second day after Joe’s soulmate came online, he could feel their exhaustion. It was bone deep,  that had Joe’s joints screaming in sympathy. He tried to send some sort of reassurance to them, to calm them, and ease their aches.  

On the third day, he could feel their excitement. Tinged around the edges was an apprehension mirroring his own that made Joe’s heart beat out of his chest with the overpowering strength of it.

His soulmate was here.

Chapter Text

David looked apprehensively at the house as he leaned against the car door.

“Pat, whose party did you say this was?”

Pat hopped out of the car and walked around the hood.

“Friend of a friend. Luz got us an invite, though. He’s friends with guys all over the Bay Area.” David still looked apprehensive. Pat clapped him on the shoulder.

“C’mon Web. He’s chill. Look, that’s him now." Pat pointed over to a short guy with floofy hair and a wide grin who was walking around, playing host. Trailing him reluctantly was a stoic guy with dark hair and cutting cheekbones. Pat cupped his hands around his mouth, yelling,

“Luz!” The aforementioned Luz turned around at his name and caught sight of Pat. He threaded his arm around the waist of the dark haired guy following him around and made his way over.

“Pat, how’s it going at your fancy art school? Miss us?”

Pat grinned again.

“Screw you too, George,” Pat said playfully, sticking out his hand. George disengaged his arm from his companion’s waist. Clasping Pat's hand, he brought Pat into a quick hug. As soon as it was over, he slipped his arm back around the waist of his partner, who in turn brought his arm possessively around George’s shoulder. George beamed and shifted his eyes to Pat’s entourage of David, Hoob, and John.

“Hey. Pat, you gonna introduce me to your friends here?” He grinned impishly at David.

“George, David Webster, John Janovec, and Don Hoobler. Guys, George Luz.” Pat pointed to each of them in turn. David waved awkwardly as Pat pointed. George nodded as Pat gestured to George’s companion.

“You gonna introduce us now?” George glanced up at the person who was obviously his boyfriend, smiling as he caught his eye.

“This is my soulmate. Boy Toye.” His dark-haired companion rolled his eyes all the way around before sticking out a hand and saying in a deep gravelly voice,

“Joe Toye. Georgie here thinks it’s cute to make fun of my name.”

Pat shook his hand slowly, then nodded at George.

“Nice job on finding your soulmate.”

George chuckled, brushing his fingers along his soulmate’s ribbon on his wrist. David felt as if he was intruding on a private moment as Joe’s face softened and his eyes, though still exasperated, softened with a hint of adoration. He quickly tried to stop staring but Joe fixed him with a piercing look, saw the vulnerability that must have been evident in his eyes, and discreetly looked away.

“Thanks, Pat,” George spotted another car parking down the street crawling with more people, “you kiddos enjoy the party. If you see Buck, remember to tell him congrats. He finally got the scholarship. See ya later.” And with that, George was rushing away again, pulling his begrudging soulmate behind him.

“Well, he’s...interesting,” said David, still a bit bowled over by the whirlwind that was George Luz.

“Who’s Buck?” John asked, just as confused as David. Pat started herding them towards the front door of the house.

“This is his party and his house. Parents out of town so all of us get free reign,” he discreetly passed a twenty off to the person standing at the door, “but not free beer.”

All of them chuckled at the joke except David. Pat’s words started to fade into the background, getting duller with every passing second. They were overridden by a complex blend of anger, and a dullness that felt like being drunk, even though David hadn’t had a sip of anything yet. His soulmate was so close, he could almost feel him.

“He got a baseball scholarship to UCLA…” Pat trailed off, noticing David’s discomfort.

“Web, you alright?” Hoob asked, suddenly concerned.

“My soulmate,” David choked out, “he’s here. And he’s angry.”

“Fighting angry?” Pat asked, grabbing David by the shoulders to support him.

He nodded.

Hoob and John immediately split off, scanning the crowd for a fight in progress, Pat staying with David. David bent over his knees, trying anything to alleviate the pain. Suddenly Hoob appeared again out of the crowd.

“We think we found him!” He yelled over the boisterous crowd.

Hoob grabbed one of David’s arms while Pat grabbed the other and they helped him as they cut through the crowds to where a small circle had been formed, the hallmark of a drunken party fight. In the center of the makeshift ring stood a bulky guy with an underbite like a bulldog. As David’s gaze shifted to the other combatant in the ring, his breath caught in his throat. The other guy was wiry in a way that should have been unattractive but there was a violent kind of beauty to his form and movements as he shifted from foot to foot, his hands guarding his face. The rest of the world fell away, narrowing down to just him.

As if sensing David’s gaze, he turned and caught David’s eye. This was his soulmate. He felt it deep in his bones, his heart. They stood transfixed like that for a few seconds before the spell broke. The noise of the crowd came roaring back as the bulldog-jawed guy’s fist plowed into David’s soulmate’s face. Before David could do anything, a muscle-bound blonde shoved his way into the ring, ripping the two in the middle apart.

“Not at my party. Take it outside if you have to. Bill, go chill out.” David realized this must be Buck, the owner of the house. The person who was apparently Bill begrudgingly disentangled himself from the fight, making his way out of the circle. Buck turned to David’s soulmate.

“Joe, really? Again?” He said in a tired voice. Joe shook his head, flapping one hand dismissively at Buck.

“Yeah. Sorry, Buck.” Buck didn’t look convinced. He waved at the crowd, shooing them away. With the excitement obviously over, most of them drifted away in search of another fight or drink. Only David, Pat, Hoob, and John remained, lurking, trying to be inconspicuous.

Buck turned back to Joe.

“Sure you’re sorry, Joe. Like you were last time. And the time before that. Jeez, Joe, pick someone else’s parties for Christ’s sake.” Joe looked as abashed as he could with bloody knuckles and an impressive bruise blooming on his cheek.

“Just stressed is all,” Joe said.

As Joe said that, David realized that was that little niggling emotion he had been feeling through the bond. Joe was worried. Before even thinking about it, David sent calm and reassurance rushing through the bond. He saw Joe do a double take as if suddenly overwhelmed. He rapidly cast his eyes around the room, snagging David’s gaze. He felt as if he had been hit by lightning as he stared into his soulmate’s eyes. He saw a flicker of recognition before it shut down and Joe’s mouth curled defensively. David felt a shard of fear twisting deep in his stomach.

“What’re you looking at?” He spat.

David’s heart shattered.

Chapter Text

“Joe, come on.”

The three of them lay smoking on top of Joe's car, hidden by dense green trees, only a glimpse of the afternoon's dying sunlight filtering through the thick boughs. Joe stretched out on the roof jiggling his leg, blowing smoke up towards the sky nervously, Chuck propped up, back against the windshield. Tab was laying next to him on his stomach, frowning disapprovingly at Joe. He glanced over, exasperatedly, at Chuck.

"Tab, come on," Joe mimicked, "My soulmate's here. I need a drink. Chuck, back me up, man." Joe gestured with his cigarette. Chuck slid off the hood of the car and folded his arms like a disapproving mother as he leaned against Joe's crappy Buick.

"My soulmate's here too, in case you forgot. Has been since I came online. I'm not spoiling for a fight or getting drunk." he said, annoyance dripping from his tone. Joe shook his head restlessly at his friends and slid off the car as well.

"Just because you're suddenly stressed, doesn't mean you should crash another one of Buck's parties. I swear to god, you're setting a record," Tab said.

"Alright!" Joe snapped, throwing his cigarette butt to the ground. "I get it! Fuck. You ain't my ma." Joe hunched his shoulders defensively. Chuck threw his cigarette to the ground as well and tried to put a hand on Joe’s shoulder. He immediately shrugged off Chuck’s touch.

“Joe, it’s gonna be fine,” Chuck said as calmly as he could.

Joe jerked his head up sharply. “You think I don’t know that?” Joe snapped again.

“Jesus, Joe. When’d you get this touchy about it?”

“When my soulmate showed up 3 days after coming online!” Joe yelled, throwing up his hands, finally snapping. Everyone was standing to fucking close.

It's too much, Joe thought. His thoughts were flying. Too fucking much. His chest got tight. He couldn’t breathe. He had to get out. Joe shoved past Chuck, barely registering his voice, stumbling his way to his car. He shoved the key in the ignition, hands shaking so hard that he almost dropped his key-chain. He drove away, Chuck and Tab’s wildly waving figures disappearing in his rearview. His leg jiggled out of control as he pulled out of the park roads and onto the street. His chest felt like it was in a vice, panic clutching at his heart, making it beat like a jackhammer. Suddenly Joe felt something over the bond. Intense calm washed over him like cool water on a burn. He pulled over to the side of the road, not overly anxious to get into a car wreck. Joe tried to take stabilizing breaths, letting the emotions wash over him.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

Joe felt the iron band was gripping his chest loosening. He hadn’t had a panic attack since his great-uncle’s funeral when he was 13 and had been terrified at the idea of seeing the dead body of his favorite relative.

Joe started up his engine again, back on track with his plan for the night, and drove to Buck’s house.

Twenty minutes later, the party was in full swing and Joe was on his way to drunk. He found himself wondering if Chuck and Tab were alright before he stopped that train of thought in its tracks with another drink.

Suddenly, someone smacked full force into Joe’s shoulder. Before he could even think, he lashed out, throwing a punch straight into Bill’s nose. Ah shit, Joe thought before Bill’s fist crashed into his cheek. He felt all of his pent-up rage and worry bubbling to the surface, clouding his vision as he and Bill traded blows, barely registering the crowd gathering around them. In the swirl of people, he caught a glimpse of blue-grey eyes staring at him. He stopped for a few seconds, almost frozen until Bill's fist plowed into his eye, bringing him back to the fight. Suddenly, someone’s voice cut through the fog.

“Hey!” Buck yelled gruffly in his “team-captain” voice and ripped Joe and Bill apart.

“Not at my party. Take it outside if you have to. Bill, go chill out.” Bill still looked spitting mad but stormed outside anyway. Buck turned to Joe.

“Joe, really? Again?” Buck asked, exasperated. Joe waved his hand, waving Buck off.

“Yeah. Sorry, Buck,” Joe said, not really meaning it. Buck picked up on that, looking incredulous, but didn’t say anything only turning around to shoo the rubberneckers and stragglers away. Once the crowd had drifted away, Buck turned back, looking half like a disapproving mom.

“Sure you’re sorry, Joe. Like you were last time. And the time before that. Jeez, Joe, pick someone else’s parties for Christ’s sake.”

Joe had the decency to look a little sorry.

“Just stressed is all.” He said, hanging his head a bit, really selling it. Suddenly he felt a rush of emotion, strong, like a riptide carrying him away and nearly stumbled with the force of it. Quickly he scanned the room for what the hell caused it. A stunning pair of blue eyes caught his gaze. In tandem with the face that the eyes belonged to smoothing and gentling, a surge of happiness flowed through him.

“What’re you looking at?” Before his alcohol addled brain could stop the words out of his mouth, they ran out, defensive and cagey.

He felt a shattering in his soul as that sweet face fell.

Oh fuck, Joe thought.

Chapter Text

“Oh fuck,” Joe said out loud as his soulmate turned and ran out the door. Three people who he hadn’t noticed, turned to him and all glared. He ignored them, feeling the crippling pain through the bond, and gave chase.

“Hey, wait up!” Joe called after his soulmate as he disappeared into the teeming crush of people. Joe struggled to keep sight of his soulmate, barely seeing him as he ducked out the front door. Joe shoved people out of his way, ignoring their annoyed shouts as he flew through the door at top speed.

When he finally jostled his way past the milling crowd outside, his soulmate was nowhere in sight.

“Fuck!” He yelled at nobody in particular, startling a nearby entangled couple apart.

“Hey, asshole!” Joe spun around and was immediately met with a punch in the face. He stumbled back a few steps, cursing, and looked up to see the three guys who’d been glaring at him. The one with ears like rocket fins was shaking out his fist.

“What the fuck was that for?” Joe hissed, cupping his already bruising cheek.

“For fucking with David’s feelings, dickhead.”

Joe realized that David must be his soulmate’s name. Shock filled his body so completely that he almost missed the next punch. This time it was the tall lanky one who wound up. Before the guy could clock Joe in the face, a shout came from behind him.

“Hey!” Chuck came like some avenging angel with Tab trailing him, charging up and putting himself between Joe and the impending fist. The sharky-looking guy dropped his hand as soon as he locked eyes with Chuck, his face going slack. Joe could see all the tension bleeding out of Chuck as well. The two of them looked like they were in a world of their own, staring into each other's eyes like they were in some kind of fairy tale. If Joe hadn’t just been punched repeatedly, it would have been sweet.

“I’m Chuck,” Chuck said, still looking up at his soulmate with doe eyes.

“I’m Pat,” Chuck’s soulmate said, then ducked his head, seeming shy, “I mean, my name’s Burton, but my friends call me Pat.”

“And I’m real happy for you buddy, but my soulmate just ran somewhere.” Joe cut in, breaking the moment. He felt a little twinge of guilt, seeing how reluctantly Chuck tore his eyes away from his soulmate. Joe could see David’s friends looking at each other, seeming to have a silent argument, heads tilting back and forth with significant looks before the one who hadn’t tried to punch him threw up his hands and turned back to Joe. He gestured Joe away from the rest of the group.

“John!” He ignored his friends’ hissing his name, taking Joe by the arm, out of earshot. When they had moved a couple yards away, he turned to Joe again.

“What is it?” Joe asked, getting a little impatient, still resisting the urge to run off and just look for David. He couldn’t have gotten that far. Maybe he had a chance of catching him before… Joe didn’t even want to think about what could happen.

“David’s had a tough few days,” John started reluctantly, still glancing back at the others. They were glaring at their friend now, shaking their heads as they caught his eyes.

“You think I don’t know that?” Joe scoffed. He’d felt every hurt, ache, and pain since the bond came online.

“Then you know he’s really hurting now.” Joe nodded, the keen pain from his soulmate still washing through the bond.

John looked reluctant for a few seconds before seeming to decide something.

“Web has shitty parents. Homophobic, impossible standards, the whole package deal.” Joe nodded, wondering where this was going. “They kicked him out 3 days ago.” All at once it dawned on Joe.

“When he got the soulmark…”

“His dad was throwing him out. He caught him fooling around with a guy.” Joe couldn’t even find it in himself to be jealous, just stood dumbfounded at what he’d done. He could feel himself sobering up by the second.

“And when I snapped at him…”

John nodded.

“The one person who he expected to support him rejected him. And the bond.”

Joe was taken aback. That wasn’t how bond rejection worked, he thought. It had to be deliberate. Right?

“But I didn’t mean…” Joe started, but John cut him off.

“Even if you didn’t mean it, it’s still a rejection. Especially with all the shit that’s happened to him the last couple days. You gotta make it right.”

Joe shook his head.

“He won’t want to see me.”

“He’s gonna have to see you. A rejected bond might drive him insane.” The wheels in Joe’s head were spinning, thinking of some way to see his soulmate again. Then it struck him.

“Graduation,” Joe blurted out. “Chuck and me are graduating on Monday. It’s a big thing. I can talk to him there, but you guys need to get him there.”

Hopefully, he wouldn’t be too late.

Chapter Text

Laying back on his borrowed mattress, David followed the spinning of the ceiling fan around and around as it dragged lazily through the dust specked sunbeams coming in from Pat’s window. He tried to block out the intermittent tugs on the bond which was starting to ache like an overworked muscle, and the sense of quiet desperation he could feel bleeding through it. 

He looked up as Pat’s door swung open to see John let himself into the room. He dropped his head back to the pillow and continued his tracing of the path of the fan.

“Hey…” John said as he shuffled his feet.

“Hey.”

“So, Pat met his soulmate last night.”

David nodded, closing his eyes and barely resisting the urge to burrow deeper into the blankets of his mattress.

“Yeah.”

The bond pulled again, insistent and grating.

“So, we… I mean, I… I mean, the guys were wondering if you wanted to go to a thing on Monday? Pat’s soulmate invited us.”

“Honestly, John, I don’t really want to hear how happy Pat is that he’s found his soulmate just now,” David said bluntly, propping himself up on his elbows, fixing his friend with a blank stare. John’s eyes widened a bit at David’s sharp tone.

David dropped back down onto the bed, exhaling sharply and closing his eyes again as the bond pulled, straining his heart again. Why couldn’t the guy just get the hint already?

“I’m sorry, but I just want to sit by myself and wait until the bond shuts the hell up,” David said apologetically, smoothing his hands back over his hair.

David heard John sigh, and he bet if he opened his eyes, John would be giving him the class-A puppy-dog-eyes.

“But you’re coming to Pat’s guy’s graduation right?”

David opened his eyes and found he was right. John was sticking out his lip just a little bit, his chin tilted down, eyes just slightly tilted up.

He sighed. John always went with the puppy-dog-eyes as his ace in the hole to get David to do things. John knew he had no immunity to them, so naturally, he used them all the time.

“Fine. Sure. I’ll go to the thing,” David groaned finally, scrubbing his face with his hands. He resigned himself to being the one stick in the mud and watching Pat and his soulmate being totally in love.

John beamed at him, which brought a little smile to David's face before he closed his eyes again, the smile dropped.

“Pat’ll really appreciate it,” John said, a wheedling tone creeping into his voice.

David looked up again, opening his mouth ready to say something to John when he saw the smirk sneaking up his friend’s lips.

He relented, smiling and rolling his eyes. 

“Yeah, I know,” David said.

John clapped his hands together with finality and strode over to the mattress on the floor and began hauling David bodily up off of it.

“Alright, c’mon, stop moping around Pat’s room like someone kicked your cat and come get some food with us,” John said, as he wrangled a squawking David to his feet.

David tried to brush himself off and maintain some semblance of dignity after being picked up like an unruly kid.

“Hey don’t joke about Mr. Darcy, you have no idea what my parents might be doing to him right now,” David pouted, still dusting off his clothes.

“Your parents might be bigoted pieces of shit, but I doubt that they’ll hurt your cat. Trust me, Mr. Darcy is safe.”

“You don’t know that! He has delicate sensibilities!” David squawked comically.

John gave him a look, eyebrows raised, mouth just barely grinning, before busting out laughing. He wrapped both arms around David’s waist and hauled him out of the room, still laughing as he carried him the stairs.

David let the noise wash over him, not even feeling the answering wash of joy that was coursing through the bond.