Screw You, Soulmate

chapter fourteen

"That moment when we were
staring into each other's eyes
without uttering a word,
I knew you were my better half."

Text message from: WILLOW MY #1 BABE
Get your ass over to my house right now I feel BIG NEWS in the Drew and Ryan case. I got Ryan coming over now for some reason, WHAT ARE YOU DOING STILL READING MOVE!!!
Sent at 3:15 pm.

"Fuck," I muttered. As much as I wanted to love and support my friends, they could've done it when I wasn't in the middle of watching a movie.

On my way.
Sent at 3:17 pm.

Grabbing my keys and securing my phone in my pocket, I ran to the living room to see my parents and younger brother sprawled out on the couch watching a football game. "I'm going to Willow's!" I called over my shoulder.

"Whoa, hold it there young lady," Dad said, standing up. "Why do you need to go over there? And so suddenly?"

"Willow says that there's a development with the Drew and Ryan case. Well, we're trying to get them together, and that's basically the case." I tapped my foot and crossed my arms, but still tried to keep a small smile on my face. "It's kind of an emergency."

Mom stood up from the couch as well. "Those boys do need to get together! Send me updates and have fun sweetheart. Just be back before ten, please, if you end up staying for a while. I'll save some dinner for you."

I grinned. "Thank you! You guys are the best. Bye!" Spinning on my heel, I just about sprinted out the door and to the car.

During that car ride over to Willow's house, I probably broke several rules of driving. But at that moment, I couldn't care even a bit. This case that Willow and I have taken on needs to be solved, and the only way to do that was to get our two idiotic friends together.

Once I whipped my car into her driveway, I saw that Ryan and Willow were sitting on the front step and waiting for me.

Both of them looked somber, sitting there and looking all dejected. Immediately, I grabbed their arms and hauled them to Willow's trampoline in the backyard. That was a favorite place of ours to just meet up and talk about whatever. Inside the house, Willow's five younger siblings and parents could hear us, but out there, it was just us four, or three in this case.

We climbed in and sat in a circle around the middle, criss-cross applesauce style. I started off by saying, "So, we've called this counsel in honor of you, young Ryan Wext. What great news do you have to bestow upon us, your elders and best friends?"

Thankfully, the tension eased up a bit after that. The two of them just chuckled before Ryan got a little bit nervous.

He took a deep breath. "There's been something I wanted to tell you guys for a long time. I know you'll accept it, I just wanted to tell my parents first."

Ryan looked straight down, almost burning a hole through the trampoline. "I'm ninety-nine percent sure that I'm gay."

Willow and I turned to each other and smiled; then, we both launched ourselves at Ryan, tackling him in a hug.

Laughing, he wrapped his arms around the both of us. "Thank you, guys. It actually means a lot to get this kind of reaction."

The two of us pulled away from him and let him sit back up. Willow brought her hands to his face and said, "We're so proud of you for coming out to us." She pulled her hands away and wiped some tears away from her face.

I chuckled. "Always you and Drew with the waterworks. Speaking of, why isn't he here, Ryan?"

"Well, I kind of found out I was gay when I found out I actually really liked Drew, as more than a friend. I wanted to tell him that I was gay and tell him that I like him in the same conversation, you know?"