Short Stories and Oneshots

Broken Thread

Red string AU, inspired by the song at top

Lmao I don't fully know how the whole red-string thing works so I basically made up my own idea

Ooh and haha I dID NOT EDIT THIS HA

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She saw him in her dreams.

Almost every time she fell asleep, every goddamn night, he was there.

His thin artist's fingers gripping hers, that bright, carefree smile he wore, and those stupidly intoxicating blue eyes.

Just more reminders of what had happened to them.

Petra woke up slowly, the faint dawn light lifting her from sleep. She couldn't even recall what the dream had been about, just that he'd been in it. Again.

She'd been out on her own for three months now, roaming and exploring and getting into trouble. Trying to 'find herself', as she'd told Jesse.

That was a lie, or at least a partial one. Her, the old her, belonged back in Beacontown, with the blonde boy who now plagued her unconscious. Now, she was trying to find where she fit into the world without him.

So far? No luck.

Petra got up and quickly cleared up her camp, trying to drag her mind away from Lukas and her dark mess of emotions. Still, she couldn't help but glance down at the pointer finger on her right hand, the one that her mythical red string had been attached to.

It was still there, sure, but it didn't lead to anyone. Not as much of a mythical scarlet ribbon as a shredded piece of a broken heart.

Everyone had a string. Everyone. Every single person had a piece of crimson thread that looped around their pointer or middle or ring finger, connecting them to their soulmate. Supposedly, having the string on your little finger, like Jesse did, meant that your relationship with said soulmate would be platonic, and having it on your ring finger meant something corny like 'love at first sight'.

The rest of the strings weren't always visible. They weren't tangible either- you could feel the bit around your finger most of the time, but it was difficult to touch the rest of the string. If you put your mind to it, you could focus on your string and maybe even follow it to your soulmate, but most of the time the magic threads didn't come into everyday life.

And they weren't supposed to break.

It had been three months since she'd left Beacontown, and six since she and Lukas had broken up. Though, technically speaking, it hadn't been an official breakup. They'd gotten into a fight, a big, horrible, angry fight, and she'd up and left. He'd yelled at her as she stomped out the door.

"Fine, Petra! If you're gonna fucking act like that, just don't come back!"

She'd whirled around and shouted back, "I'm not planning on it!"

The day after that, when she'd cooled down a bit more, she'd wondered what to do next. She knew that the fight had been partially her fault, maybe even mostly her fault. She'd pushed him too far.

But she couldn't bring herself to go back and apologize. What if she just made things worse?

Then the guilt began to set in. The fight had been her fault, all of it. She'd been a horrible friend, not to mention a pretty awful girlfriend. This was exactly why she'd spent so much time alone, before the Witherstorm had attacked and she'd become part of the New Order. She was pushy, and she had a temper, and she should've never shoved that onto Lukas.