Smoke and Fire ||Lams Soulmate AU ||

Alone Together

~~

"Hey, what're you doing out of class?" Alex asked with furrowed eyebrows. Before he could ask any more questions, I grabbed him by the wrist and led him towards the nearest exit.

"Can you at least tell me where we're going? And I have to watch the booth!" Despite all of his complaints, he obediently followed me to the field behind the school. It was usually my private spot, where I could get away from all of the bullshit going on during school hours.

We finally reached a shady spot underneath a tall oak tree, where I let go of Alex. He had a somewhat annoyed look in his face, but deep down, I knew he was up for a bit of an adventure. I guess spontaneity wasn't really his thing.

"John, can you please just tell me what's going on? We could get in a lot of trouble for skipping." I could sense the worry in his wavering voice, but I still laughed at him being so concerned.

"Is that really what you're worried about? I'm kind of still a stranger to you, and I just dragged you out of the school, to some sketchy, empty field, and you're worried about skipping?" I smirked in amusement as I leaned up against the school building, drawing one of my legs up.

Alex rubbed the back of his neck, his other hand resting in his jacket pocket. "Yeah, well, when your Dad's the principal, you kind of-"

"Wait wait wait, your Dad's Mr. Washington?" I questioned.

"Well, my adoptive dad, but yeah. I don't really go around telling people that, though." He specified.

I could tell the current topic of conversation was a sensitive one by the way he quickly tried to change the subject. "Can you just tell me why I'm out here?"

"Oh, right." I remembered why I wanted to talk to him in the first place, but I couldn't just come out and say 'hey I want to see if we're soulmates.' So, I can up with a fool-proof cover.

"I need to see your wrists." He gave me a questioning look, as if I needed to explain even further. "It's for a, uh... science project?"

Alex was hesitant to respond, but he ultimately shrugged and held out his arms for me to inspect. His sleeves were covering both of his wrists, though. "Mind if I ask what the project is about?" He asked, not wanting to sound pushy.

"It's got something to do with the, um, veins in people's wrists. I'll need you to roll up your sleeves." It looked like I struck a nerve as he retracted his arms.

"I uh, do I have to? I mean, can't you just ask someone else? And why did you bring me out here just to look at my wrists?" Alex started getting defensive. I grabbed onto his shoulders and looked deep into his dark, brown eyes.

"Please, Alex. All I need is to see your wrists." I reassured him. He still looked hesitant, though.

"N-no. I can't."

I sighed in defeat and backed up a few steps. I ran a hand across my face and through my hair. Sitting against the cold, brick wall, I asked "If you don't want to show me your wrists, that's fine, but can you just answer this one question?"

Alex nodded and sat next to me on the ground. I rolled up my sleeve to reveal my oddly shaped birthmark and held my arm out in front of him. "Does your birthmark look like this?"

He looked at me, his lips slightly parted, then down at my wrist. "I don't think this has anything to do with your science project." He deadpanned, getting a soft chuckle out of me.

He stared at the mark for a moment before turning away and pulling up his own sleeve. He showed me his birthmark, which looked almost identical to mine, except his had a scar that ran across it.