“Mom, it’s not funny!”

His mother nodded, her lips pursed. “I know. I know. I’m sorry,” she replied, sitting back down on the ottoman. “But c’mon, now. It is a little funny.”

Dylan stared, unamused at her, for a moment before standing up. “Okay, great talk. I’m gonna go home.”

“Dylan, no, wait. I’m just teasing,” she told him, which prompted Dylan to return to the chair. “You know, maybe someday you’ll look back on this and laugh.”

He harrumphed loudly. “Okay, but now isn’t the time, though,” he spat at her.

“Okay, okay,” she told him, allowing him to sink slowly into the chair again. Licking her lips, she cocked her head curiously and asked, “How did it feel?”

“What?” he asked, viciousness mostly gone. His mother placed her hand across her chest, looking knowingly at him. Spreading his own hand across his ribcage, he looked down at Piper sitting next to him and recalled quietly, “At first, it was anxious. Like my…Potential Feeling. And then it changed.”

Mrs. Matthews leaned forward slightly. “To…”

Dylan brought his gaze back to his mother, his eyes glossy and kind. “Warm. It felt light.” He chuckled for a second and added, “It definitely felt a lot better than my Potential Glow.” Unbeknownst to him, Dylan’s Glow softly radiated through his chest. As soon as Dylan noticed it, it vanished.

Mrs. Matthews smiled. “It must’ve been nice,” she whispered.

“Yearning.”

She leaned forward again. “What?”

“That’s what it was,” he explained, a frown spreading across his face and a knowing thought that the feeling was never going to change back. “Innocent, sweet yearning.”

~ ~ ~

Bryce lived in a large flat two minutes to the south of the building the company occupied. He shared it with three other people – Theo, Katie, and Jack – most of whom Bryce had met either before or during his time at university. His flat sat on the fifth floor and looked out towards the City’s centre, and provided fantastic vistas in the early mornings and late evenings.

It was neatly appointed, but that was mostly Theo and Katie, who had appointed themselves the “parents” of the flat. Decorated in blue tones with white accents, portions of the flat itself gave off a “repressed elegance” feeling.

Other parts of the flat were claimed by emptiness. Or several storage units.

They were surprised to see him home so late, having anticipated Bryce home earlier that afternoon. “Now you come?” asked Theo, whose oven mitts were complimentary with his apron. “We were expecting you back, like, three hours ago.”

“Sorry, Mum,” Bryce sneered at the group before heading towards his room.

“Jesus, what’s wrong with you?” asked Katie, who was struggling to get the paprika from a middle shelf in the overhead cabinets. Jack retrieved it for her. “I could’ve gotten it myself,” she told him, sneering.

Jack chuckled. “You would’ve needed a chair to do that,” he teased, leaning down and kissing her forehead gently. Both their Glows – blue and red respectively – lit up before Katie brushed him aside to go back to Theo.

“I blame you all for making me meet him. Again,” announced Katie, handing the paprika to Theo before pointing aggressively to everyone in the kitchen, even the defeated-looking Bryce walking towards them.

“Why’re you such a sad sack?” asked Theo, who added a pinch of paprika to some steamed rice in a pan.

“Soulmate problems,” Bryce mumbled, his actions rushed and precise while he retrieved a cereal box, plastic bowl, and spoon before moving to the refrigerator with the intent of getting milk.

Theo dropped his oven-mitted hands to the counter, dejected. “I made a turkey!” he exclaimed, watching his flatmate move to the counter with stunned eyes. “Jack’s already eaten, Bryce’s having cereal. Katie, wanna finish off a whole turkey with me?”

Bryce groaned in agitation. “I’ll eat it for lunch tomorrow!” Bryce shouted back, violently pouring the cereal into his bowl. The remaining milk from the carton tipped into the bowl, Bryce picked it up and began eating.

Katie silently moved beside him before asking, “Did you say ‘Soulmate’, or did I not hear that right?”

Bryce momentarily froze before continuing to eat. He responded with a nod.

“A’ight, mate!” Jack hollered, slapping his friend on the back. “Who are they? They hot?” That question resulted in Katie smacking him in the arm.

“I said ‘problems’ after Soulmate, didn’t I?” asked Bryce, mouth full of cereal and milk slipping from his lips and down his chin.

Theo was the one to ask, “What did you do?”

“My Soulmate hates me. I think.” Before anyone could ask for more information, Bryce continued, “I insulted his Glow, like, last week, and – ”

Katie smacked him in the arm. “You insulted his Glow?”

“He’s a ‘False Alarm’er.”

That seemed to diffuse the mood.

Theo jumped in with, “Y-you can’t just insult someone’s Glow, though.” He looked around, trying to gain support.

Katie winced, like her flatmate’s words didn’t ring true.

But it was Jack who asked, “Why did you do it, mate?”

“I-I didn’t mean to,” Bryce insisted. “And we both just don’t want to be each other’s Soulmates.” He sighed. “And now he hates me, and it just sucks.”

“What is your compulsive need to be liked?” asked Jack.

Bryce shrugged. “I don’t know. I like being liked, and that’s it.”

“Maybe he can help you with your commitment issues,” Katie casually replied, moving over to help Theo with the turkey.

“Why does everyone say I have commitment issues?” Bryce asked, spewing crumbs and milk across the counter.

Katie and Theo dropped the turkey onto the stovetop. Katie began, “Well, your track record – ”

“So I like to date people!” he yelled, shoving more cereal into his mouth. “That doesn’t mean I have commitment issues.”

Theo and Katie exchanged glances. “Really?” asked Katie.

It was Theo who began counting his fingers. “Yeah, like there was Mariah, Allen, Kelsey, Beth, Susan – ”

“That doesn’t mean I have commitment issues,” Bryce half-shouted.

“Oh,” Katie began, “Becca was there for a long while – ”

Bryce tensed up at the mention of the woman’s name. “That doesn’t mean I have commitment issues!” he shouted, effectively ending Kate’s statement.

Theo looked up suddenly, turned to Bryce and asked, “What’re you gonna do?”