That night felt like a turning point for Tor. He knew that Josey had difficulties expressing himself and that he was scared of something…and that Tor himself had probably aggravated that fear when he pushed Josey away the first time they’d met. Tor could’ve kicked himself for it.

“Where can I get a time machine so I can go back and kick my own ass?” he thought the next morning as he watched a bleary-eyed Josey eat a bowl of Cocoa Puffs. Josey must’ve noticed his dark mood, because he smiled weakly.

“What do you want to do today?” he asked, maybe hoping to distract Tor if he was about to have an episode.

“Whatever it takes to convince you that I care about you,” Tor wanted to answer, but instead he said, “Um, I was actually thinking about buying a new phone. Would you want to go shopping?”

Josey brightened. “Really?! But wait…do you have enough money for a phone? I can give you some if you need…oh no, that sounded really rude! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to assume…”

“It’s alright Josey,” Tor interrupted him quickly. “It’s not a far leap to assume someone who was living on the street doesn’t have any money. But yes, I still have a bank account with most of my savings from my military career.”

He’d tried to avoid using his bank account over the last six months, in case someone from his past tried to trace him using it. But that morning Tor had been thinking about a lot of things and he’d come to the decision that in order to be someone who Josey could rely on, he needed to start taking responsibility for the present, which included finding a new job, which itself required that he owned a phone. Therefore, today’s mission was to go shopping.

“OK!” Josey said, and he gave a little smile. “If you’d like, we could add the new phone to my account, so that you wouldn’t have to provide an address or anything like that. It might save you time and some uncomfortable questions.”

Tor nodded. “I’d be grateful for that.”

It turned out that getting the new phone added to Josey’s account took practically no time at all. The clerk in the mall’s storefront took one look at them and pulled up the necessary paperwork for Josey while Tor browsed over the latest phone models. In the end, he picked out one just like Josey’s and they left the phone store in less than half an hour.

“There, I messaged you with my new number,” Tor said as Josey’s phone buzzed. “Save it in your contacts.”

Josey grinned as he tapped his phone screen. “Why? Are you going to come to my rescue when I call?”

“Of course I would,” Tor said, startling himself with the earnestness in his voice. Josey looked a little startled too, because Tor quickly smiled and added, “I mean, I keep expecting that you’re going to be picked up by some school group and get carried onto their bus!”

Josey laughed. “What are you talking about?” 

“It’s these cute little schoolboy sweater-vests you always wear,” Tor explained, tugging at Josey’s clothes. “I live in constant fear that some prep school headmaster is going to haul you away for skipping class!”

“I have other clothes!” Josey insisted, but after a moment of thought, he flushed. “OK, so maybe I do have a lot of sweater-vests…I just don’t go clothes shopping very often because I’m too busy with work!”

“Well, we’re going shopping today,” Tor said, and he grabbed Josey’s hand.

“We?” Josey said with a grin. “Are you going buy new clothes too?”

Tor nodded. “Yes. We’re making our changes together, remember?”

Josey’s grin turned impish. “Does ‘changing together’ mean sharing a fitting room?”

Tor leaned close to whisper, “Only if you promise to behave yourself,” and felt Josey’s cheeks warm with another flush. But they were both smiling as they walked across the mall to one of the larger department stores. They stuck close together as they went through the racks, picking out new casual sweaters for Josey and jeans for Tor. However, they ended up choosing separate fitting rooms, which was for the best because Tor had to do his best not to ogle Josey when he came out to show off his selections.

“This isn’t too tight, is it?” the younger man asked Tor, running his hands over a form-fitting t-shirt.

Tor tried not to imagine how it would feel to run his hands over that tight chest. He swallowed thickly as he said, “Nope, it looks fine.” 

After grabbing some new underwear and socks for Tor, they moved over to the nicer evening-wear section.

“I want to take you out for a fancy dinner before your vacation is over,” Tor said suddenly. “You know, something other than Chinese take-out.”

Josey’s eyes widened. “Really? You don’t have to…”

“But I want to, Green,” Tor replied. “So pick something nice to wear – it’s on me. No arguing!”

Josey’s face lit up with a brilliant smile and he found a soft green waistcoat that set off his warm brown eyes nicely. Tor picked a dark blue blazer that made the gold tones in his hair glow, and they happily went to the register to ring up all their purchases. They were waiting in line when Tor heard Josey gasp and then he grabbed his arm.

“Tor!” he hissed. “Look over there!”

Tor frowned as he looked where Josey was discreetly pointing and he caught sight of something bright red in the corner of his eye. Shocked, Tor blinked and spotted it again…and it was exactly what he’d thought it was.

“A red string!” he gasped.

It belonged to an elderly couple who were leaning over the jewelry counter not too far from the register. They looked quite commonplace and would’ve appeared like any other older couple in the department store, except that Tor could see the bright red string that linked their hands together. They leaned their heads close as they talked, totally oblivious to the world around them as they shared their private conversation.

“How’s that possible?” Tor whispered to Josey. “I thought only soulmates could see their strings before they disappeared!”

But Josey shook his head.

“I’ve heard about this happening,” he said, and after a moment of hesitance, he added, “My dad said his grandparents had the same thing. Apparently there are some soulmates who have a bond so strong, that other people can see the red string connecting them together even after the couple stopped being able to see their own bond. But it’s super rare and usually only develops with really old couples who’ve been together forever...”

Josey’s voice trailed off and a strange expression came over his face. But before Tor could ask him about it, the cashier at the register called for them to come forward and they rushed over to check out. 

As they were leaving the store, Tor glanced over his shoulder at the elderly couple again. The man was talking to the employee at the jewelry counter, but the woman was looking straight at him. Tor felt a moment of panic at being caught staring, but then the elderly woman gave him such a warm smile that he immediately felt at ease again. It was as though she was saying, “Don’t worry my dear, it will all turn out alright!”. And if that wasn’t strange enough, Tor believed her. He smiled back before taking up Josey’s hand again. 

They strolled through the mall, glancing into the shops but not going inside any of them. Josey seemed a little subdued and Tor wondered if it was because he’d seen a red string again, or if it was because he’d dared to mention one of his parents.

“He’s never brought them up before today,” Tor thought. “I really wish he’d tell me what had happened…but no Tor, he’s been patient with you and you need to do the same. Try to find another way to cheer him up instead!”

“How about we go to Etta and Sam’s deli for a late lunch today?” he suggested aloud. “We haven’t been back there since our first lunch together.”

“You just want free chocolate chip cookies!” Josey replied, but he was visibly more cheerful at the suggestion and agreed. 

They took the bus from the mall to the little deli and were greeted by a shriek from a dark-haired young woman. 

“Josey Green, it’s about DAMN time!” she cried as she flung her arms around Josey’s neck. “Would it have killed you to call me with the news, instead of me having to interrogate my poor parents about it?!”

“Hi Kristy,” Josey said sheepishly as he hugged her in return. “I’m sorry, I would’ve called you but I’ve been busy…”

“I’ll forgive you this once if you introduce me,” Kristy replied, and she let go of Josey in order to face Tor. She was a petite young woman with a wavy bob and a neat business suit, but the gleam in her eyes warned Tor that she could rip his head off if she wanted. She offered her hand with a grin and Tor shook it.

“So YOU are soulmate Josey’s been waiting for all these years!” she said. “I have to say, he hasn’t done too badly for himself, considering all the…”

“Kristy!” Josey hissed, and Tor glanced over to see him shaking his head at her. Kristy’s brow wrinkled for a moment and they seemed to share an entire silent conversation before Kristy nodded and smiled back up at Tor.

“Well boys,” she said, “How about we get you some lunch?”

Tor and Josey moved to the counter to place their sandwich orders before sitting at a table with Kristy, who asked polite questions about their shopping trip and the week so far. Josey took over most of the conversation, giving answers without much detail and Tor had the distinct feeling that he was trying to steer Kristy away from the question that she really wanted to ask. Josey’s body language read more and more tense the longer he spoke to his friend and eventually he said, “Hey Kristy – I’m sorry, I just got really tired. Do you mind if we take our sandwiches back to the apartment? I’ll message you later.”

“Oh…OK,” Kristy said. “Do you want me to tell Mom to bag your food…?”

“No, it’s alright, I’ll tell her,” Josey said, and he stood up quickly. “Tor, I’ll meet you at the door.”

He hurried over to the sandwich counter, leaving Kristy and Tor to exchange concerned glances.

“What happened today?” Kristy whispered as they stood up from the table.

Tor understood there was no point in lying to her and he answered, “I’m not certain. He was fine until we saw an old couple with a red string…and he mentioned his dad.”

Kristy frowned. “I’m guessing he hasn’t told you about his parents yet.”

“No,” Tor agreed. “All I know is that he lived with you while in high school and he doesn’t have any other family pictures on his walls.”

The young woman nodded. “And he hasn’t said anything about his red string?”

“…No?” Tor answered in confusion.

Kristy sighed and then looked straight into Tor’s eyes. He felt like he was a mouse pinned in place by an eagle’s talons.

“I know you care about him, Tor,” she said. “That much is obvious to me, but you’re going to have to spell it out for him. Josey has major self-esteem issues – it’s one of the reasons he overworks himself – and he doesn’t trust others easily. He was forced to grow up too suddenly and the only thing that kept him going was the hope that his red string was eventually going to lead him to you.”

Tor felt a chill run down his spine. “What do you mean?”

Kristy glanced over at Josey, who was talking to Sam and pointing to the chocolate chip cookies on display, before she looked back up at Tor.

“Josey’s been able to see his string since he was nine years old,” she said. “That’s all I’m going to say. He will have to tell you the rest…but you’re going to have to tell him EXACTLY what you want from him in order to get the truth. Do you understand?”

Tor gritted his teeth as he looked over at Josey. “Yes, I understand.”