2024 Story Collection

Best Friends to Enemies to Arranged Marriage to Soulmates to Lovers IV

He'd reached for her hand and in that moment, all her pain was gone. She'd felt light and warm, as if embraced by the warm summer sun. It was as if just by touching he'd healed her and gave her back all her strength.

Then he flinched. Pulling back his hand, he screamed, falling to the ground in agony. He'd passed out not long after. She'd used that newfound strength from their skin contact to carry him to his bed.

She watched in awe as an almost identical soulmate mark grew on his body. Even in his partially unconscious state, he winced and gasped at the pain. It was bad, she knew from experience, but it seemed he was would be okay. That was until her initials began to burn into his skin.

He shrieked as his clothes burned away from his skin where her initials were being burned into his side. She watched as, much like her own had, his skin smoked, the area around it inflamed and red. She sat there helpless, unsure of what to do. So she did the only thing she could think of. She took his hand, hoping that the healing and strength she'd felt earlier might help lessen the pain.

Instantly his screams stopped, and his furrowed brow relaxed. She'd brushed his blond hair away from his forehead but yanked her hand back. He had a fever. When she'd touched his skin, it'd felt like she was placing her hand on red-hot coals.

She'd left him for only a moment to get some ice water and a cloth, but in that time her soulmate mark had began to ache again.

By the time she got back to his side, she was limping, and he had sweat through what was left of his clothes.

She'd removed his clothes, aside from his boxers, and wiped down his body. Even the light brushes of her fingers against his muscular body was enough to make them both visibly relax and feel better.

She'd sat there for hours before his fever finally broke. She'd covered him in blankets but couldn't help but stare at the initials on his side, black and hollow on his skin. Her initials.

It made her heart race for some reason. She'd always dreamed of meeting her soulmate, of what the light, dainty mark would look like. As a child, she'd drawn a million iterations of her initials on her soulmate, surrounded by light flowers in baby blue and purple. There was even a short time when she was little, before her mother decided her fate, that she'd imaged her initials on Hugh's forearm or back, but looking at it now made her feel both sick with fear and anticipation.

How was this possible? She'd asked herself. But then again, how was any of this possible? Soulmates were mostly a mystery even after all this time, but-

Her mind was a mess of thoughts and questions. She tried to think of something, anything else.

Her first kiss. Why did that come to her mind now?

She rolled over to face Hugh. He still looked the same. After all this time, they really haven't changed much. They just got older and more angry at the world, but unlike most people, they took it out on eachother.

But there was a time before all that when they had been close friends, when they trusted eachother and often walked around with their hands intertwined. They were inseparable.

So it made sense that he'd been her first kiss.

When they were 5, maybe 6. They'd been playing tag. He was chasing her through the park near his house. She had quite a lead until she'd made the mistake of glancing back to look at Hugh. She'd tripped and fell.

She'd looked down at her knees. They were bleeding, but she didn't cry, she refused to. That was until Hugh had run to her side. He'd looked at her, big tears welling in his eyes as he looked at her bloody knees. The tears fell and cried out while tackling her in a hug.

You scared me. What if you died? he'd said.

Were his words overly dramatic? Yes. Did his worry for her make little 5-year-old Amy swoon? Also yes.

She'd burst into tears and hugged him back. He'd patted her back and comforted her the best a 5-year-old could. She'd finally calmed down and gave him a quick peck on his lips before either of them realized what had happened.

They'd blushed, and after a few minutes, he'd helped her up and led her over to his mom to take care of Amy's knees. They walked they way they always had, hand in hand.

It was a sweet story but didn't change anything that had happened between then and now.She still remembers that day. It was raining and foggy. Like any other Saturday, their families had dinner together, which meant the two went with them. They'd announced the engagement without even considering the children's opinion.

There was something that changed in that moment for Amy and Hugh. The two looked at eachother and what was once smiles was now replaced with scowls. They'd walked into the dining room hand in hand as friends and left fiances, wanting nothing to do with one another.

She tried to tame his blond locks, but they just stuck back up every which way. Good to know some things never change, she thought before rolling back over to her back, still laying beside him, keeping skin contact with his hand to make sure he continues to heal.

Her thoughts were filled with memories of the past and worries of the future. She'd doubted she'd be able to sleep, but somehow, the pull of the subconscious mind won and she drifted off.

She slept side by side, next to her once best friend? Or worst enemy? Her arranged husband? Her soulmate? Beside Hugh.

To be continued...

March 9, 2024