The Soulmate System

24. A Theme of Thoughts

It had been the moment when Dylan screamed, "Fuck off, you annoying, insecure little shit! Grow a backbone and get back to me on thinking she's a decent candidate for couples counseling" when something inside Bryce snapped, ricocheting inside him like a broken rubber band.

It wasn't an anger sort of snapping. It wasn't the type of snapping that people felt that came from emotionally exhausted.

It was the type of snapping that people feel right before they break.

Five minutes of Dylan berating him, and saying terrible things to him and Amber, had been enough, and the final comments had only pushed Bryce further over the edge.

He expected tears on his end.

He expected to scream until he had no more energy.

But Bryce felt his legs give out and himself curl into a ball.

Slowly, that sense of crushing isolation, fear, and depression spread through him. His eyes remained down and watched the floor intently through his knees, breath heavy while he tried in wiping away everything that had been said. "This is coming from the man who adamantly refused to let everyone know we were Soulmates." "At least I'm not an emotionally frayed primary schooler who comes off as a pompous asshole all the time." "Yet this is still coming from the guy who's made every single decision because of his parent's failed marriage."

Bryce now saw that look in Dylan's eyes when he said it; the expression now etched into his mind and would, subsequently, remember there forever. Shock and abandonment; offense and betrayal; Dylan showcased everything in a single moment while his anger continued to boil.

'He'll never forgive you, throwing everything back into his face,' he cynically told himself. 'This is the end.'

Bryce wanted to run his fingers through his hair, but couldn't find the strength to move. He felt his energy slowly draining the longer he sat on Dylan's floor. At the time, he didn't think much of it; he was just waiting for his Soulmate to finally say something that would mean the end of their still-fragile relationship.

It didn't come, but Bryce still expected it.

From beyond the windows, Bryce thought he heard sirens.

Everything suddenly felt very quiet.

He watched the world change around him before his vision turned black; he had absolutely no idea how it happened. Bryce could sense movement, but couldn't tell if his eyes were open or shut. Feelings dulled. His breath became steady and rhythmic, chest rising and falling eight seconds each. His mouth felt dry. Muscles suddenly felt relaxed, but didn't drop from their position. Everything felt numb. His fingers and toes tingled for what felt like forever before losing their sense of touch; other limbs followed before the sensation stopped completely. Eventually, he even felt his ability to sense movement pass.

Bryce was just sitting on the floor of room 1013.

His thoughts quieted slowly.

"What would it be like to be friends with the seagulls?" his mind recalled Dylan asking.

An image of the Pleasure Pier came into his mind's view. "I think it would be weird."

"Why? It isn't like I want to be, supreme overlord of all birds in the country. I just want to be friends with them." Bryce remembered suppressing a smile at his contemplation; he found it charming. He still did. "They could hoard stuff for me."