Day dropped him off in the same place he’d picked him up sometime later. Onyx twisted around in his seat to grab his bag of art supplies with a certain excitement he hadn’t felt in a while. It’d been months since he last played around with pastels, paints, and markers because he couldn’t bring himself to spend his extra money on it. Instead, he’d been using pencils exclusively for the past few months. 

He had a hand on the handle of the door and was just about to say his temporary goodbyes to Day when the blue-eyed male tapped him on the shoulder. He grabbed one of his hands to place a one hundred dollar bill within it. Day held on for a moment longer than what was necessary before he dropped his hand and muttered a ‘goodbye’.

“Thanks,” Onyx said. “For everything. I’ll see you soon—”

“But until then, could you answer my texts?” Day asked hopefully. “Or calls. Or anything—”

“Yeah, I got it. I’ll text you tonight,” Onyx promised before moving to climb out of the car. He sent Day another goodbye wave and watched as he drove off before he started on his short walk home. 

He wasn’t too surprised when he swung open his door to find Alyssa lounging on his living room couch with a can of beer in hand. Alyssa’s eyes first fell on him and then on the bag in his hand. Onyx knew a storm was coming before he even had a foot in the door; before he had a telltale sign.

“Where were you?” Alyssa questioned with a glare. “No, never mind. I know where you were. What I meant to ask is why the fuck are you going on dates with your soulmate when you know you have a girlfriend?”

Onyx let out an irritated sigh and kicked off his shoes. “You and Cora fucking suck at keeping your mouths shut.”

“This isn’t about Cora, Onyx.” Alyssa’s eyebrows furrowed in a way that made her look a weird mixture of concerned and irritated. “I thought you said you weren’t attracted to men?”

“I’m not—”

“Well, you’re going out with him and letting him buy you all sorts of shit and do shit for you that you know you can’t ever reciprocate, so what is this about? What? Are you bored of me or something?”

“Stop asking stupid questions,” Onyx urged. He set his bag on the counter before taking a seat next to his girlfriend. He took the beer from within Alyssa’s grasp and set it on the coffee table to the right of them. “I barely even know him.”

“You don’t have to know him, Onyx! What don’t you get about that? He’s your soulmate meaning you have a set bond with him that will most likely become something more. You can’t just… control this sort of thing. Feelings are feelings whether you admit to them or not.”

Onyx was caught in a weird place between wanting to argue against his girlfriend and recognizing that what she was saying held its truths. He knew that the percentage of people that were lucky enough to find their soulmate nine times out of ten would grow close to their soulmate and eventually get married. That was the whole point; to find someone who knew you more than anyone else and develop a bond that was unbreakable until death. Most people were thrilled by the concept but somehow, the whole idea of it still scared him, terrified him even.

He didn’t like the idea of relying on someone as much as he relied on air. He barely even liked the idea of staying by one set person’s side for the rest of his life. While most people would say life was too short, he’d argue it was too long. It was way too long for him to settle down early and work the same career for years upon years. He wanted to be able to experiment and try new things, but there were always the things that would hold him back from that.

For example, his soulmate who, at the forefront of it all, was still a guy.

“I don’t know what you want me to tell you, Alyssa,” Onyx sighed.

“Tell me you won’t leave me,” she whispered and reached out to caress the side of his neck before letting her hand trail up to rest on the side of his face. “Even if it isn’t true.”

“I won’t leave you,” Onyx said and for the moment, he meant it.

“Are you sure?”

“As sure as the sky won’t turn red,” Onyx muttered and leaned in to press a chaste kiss to her lips. He leaned back just enough to whisper against her lips, “stop worrying about this. I’ve told him I don’t like men and as far as I’m concerned, I’m just hanging out with him with the added bonus of some extra cash.”

“I’m sure you’re getting more than just that out of this shit,” Alyssa laughed a bit, looking over to the bag that rested on the counter.

Onyx rolled his eyes. “Just know I’m here.”

“I know,” Alyssa nodded. “I just wanted to be sure you’re here to stay.”