stale·mate (boyxboy)

Chapter 2

"This is fine, it's fine, right? I mean, it's magic, magic can make mistakes. This is just...a mistake," I say, pacing the floor and running a vaguely shaking hand through my hair. Hallan is sitting against the wall, shaking his head with his eyes closed. Our chests have stopped glowing, luckily, but my heart still hasn't stopped racing. It's...weird.

"Soulmates can't be wrong, that's the whole point!" he snaps. I purse my lips, eyebrows furrowing down softly.

"Well, clearly, there's something wrong here, right? I mean, there's no way that we're actually soulmates."

"Maybe...maybe it's like a platonic thing," Hallan says softly, hopefully, wrapping his arms around his knees and laying his chin down on his kneecaps. For a fleeting moment he almost looks small and...lost?

But that's ridiculous.

"Yeah...maybe," I sigh, rubbing my hands through my hair once more, tugging on the soft strands and groaning. "This is so fucked up." Hallan hums in agreement. Silence permeates the space until it's nearly suffocating. I open my mouth just to make some kind of noise when the doors to our left slam open.

"Hal! There you are!" Owen says, running over and kneeling down next to Hallan. "I got worried when your teammates said that you left right after practice. Are you okay?" Hallan just nods, not meeting Owen's eyes and glaring down at the tile.

"What are you still doing on campus, Owen? School got out hours ago," I say. Owen turns, jumping slightly as if he hadn't noticed me and smiles.

"Oh, hey, Ace! I drove us both here. We usually carpool, so I was studying in the library until Hal's rugby practice got out." I frown at him. It seems plausible, but for some reason it feels like he's lying. "What are you two doing together?"

"Oh, uh, we were just--" I begin, trying to come up with a believable lie on the spot when Hallan interrupts me.

"We ran into each other when Ace was leaving the drama room. We're soulmates, apparently," he said. Owen's eyes bugged as he looked between us quickly, shaking his head and sitting back on his heels.

"You're pulling my leg," he says at the same time that I kick at Hallan's shin.

"Why the hell would you tell him that?"

"Because he's my brother, dumbass? I'm not just gonna lie to him."

"We still haven't figured this out!"

"There's nothing to figure out, Demenok! We're soulmates and there's no way around it! It's not wrong or a mistake, that's just the way it is," Hallan says, standing up and getting in my face.

"Stay the hell away from me!" I shout, shoving at Hallan's chest and watching him step back slightly, huffing out of his nose and staring off to his left, jaw clicking.

"There's no need for that," Owen says softly, standing up and getting between us. His gaze met Hallan's and they shared a significant look before he spoke again. "You know we have to take him home. Mom will be able to tell if you don't."

"Oh, no, I'm not going anywhere with him," I say. Owen turned to me with a tired look.

"Look, Ace. You don't really have a choice, and I would prefer if you came with us quietly. Just tell Sidney that you'll be home late. You two need to work this out."

"Why?" I ask petulantly. I can see Hallan shooting Owen another desperate look, being met with a sharp glance.

"Because there is a lot that you don't understand about our family and your own, Ace. Now get your phone out and start dialing."

My hand reaches into my pocket and tugs out my phone before I even realize what I'm doing. I've never seen Owen so aggressive before. The line clicks after three rings.

"Ace? What's up?" Sidney asks casually.

"Uh, I'm gonna miss dinner tonight. I'm going to Owen's house," I say.

"Owen? Isn't that your nemesis' brother?"

"Step brother," I correct, making Owen roll his eyes. Hallan is giving me a hard stare that I can't decipher, making a chill run down my spine.

"Of course, that's such an important distinction," Sidney laughs.

"I, uh...speaking of Hallan Maddison," I begin, switching my phone to my other hand and wiping the sweat gather on my palm onto my jeans. "I ran into him today."

"And? Ace, am I gonna get another call from your principal about damaged property?"

"No, no! We didn't have a fight, it's actually that, I guess, we're...soulmates?"

There's a long pause before Sidney scoffs and proceeds to bust out into completely uncalled-for raucous laughter.

"Are you shitting me?" he asks between gasping laughter. "That's classic! Have fun little bro!" he says, still laughing as he hangs up. I pull my phone away from my ear and stare at it for a moment before looking up at Owen and Hallan.

"He laughed at me."

"That sounds like a very Sidney-like response," Owen mused, grabbing Hallan's and my wrists and pulling us toward the student parking lot.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Owen?" Hallan asks hesitantly, glancing at me.

"Do you really want to give up on this before you try?" Owen asks. Hallan meets my eyes, and for a second it almost seems like he's going to say yes before he shakes his head and sulks.

"Alright, Ace, I'm gonna let you take your own car, but don't try anything funny. Please," Owen said, letting go of my wrist and smiling somewhat stiltedly at me. I shrug.

"I don't really have much of a choice. Lead the way," I say, pulling out my keys and jumping into the driver's seat. I can see Hallan and Owen arguing at the car in front of me. My lips tug down as I watch them. Hallan appears to me genuinely distressed, which is shocking on it's own. I turn down the radio to see if I can catch any of the conversation.

"What if he ends up hating me more than he already does?" Hallan shouts. Does he mean me? I'm not sure that I have the capacity to dislike Hallan Maddison more than I already do, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that I really, truly hate him. Owen reaches out to grip Hallan's shoulders.

"He's your soulmate, that has to mean something, right? It'll be fine! I promise!" I keep futzing with the radio and air conditioning so that they don't think I'm eavesdropping.

"You can't promise something like that!" Hallan shouts again, even louder than before. His voice is tight and so out of character that I nearly check to make sure it's actually Hallan talking. They share a few more softer words I can't catch before Owen shoves Hallan into the passenger seat and gets behind the wheel of his own car. A honk alerts me to their car again, and Owen pulls out of the parking space. I follow suit, feeling my heart still racing in my chest.

The fact that Hallan thinks that I really, really hate him makes me...sad? Upset? Something that I most definitely should not be feeling, surely.

Because that's ridiculous.

A/N I'm. so sorry. I totally forgot about this account and this story until I got a comment on it a couple months back;; I'm also sorry that this chapter took longer than it really needed to. But then school and life happened but I'm back! This chapter isn't super long, but it's all I can do for now, but I promise to have another one out within the next couple weeks. If I don't then feel free to come and bother me until I do!! Alright, well I hope that you enjoy! Lots of stuff is about to go down woooooo!