Soul Mate Service - Chapter 33: Chapter 33

"Well... have a good day." I croaked, sweat growing clammy between the thin grooves of my palms as I clutched Aria's delicate hands in my own, some stubborn fragment of my brain deciding, 'No way we're letting go of him.' His hands were a dream – so soft and pliant as I squeezed them.
Meanwhile, Aria gazed up at me with a faint but still heart-stopping smile. Those eyes of his, like rich walnuts, had this angelic quality, and his lips... well, they were enough to distract anyone from reality. He stood framed in the doorway of his Instructional room, and even the glass food seemed to know it was outshone as it dulled in comparison to the way his face shined up at me.
It had been a handful of days since I'd had that... rather enlightening conversation with Aria's folks, and my gut still had yet to thaw. The truth of our situation hadn't fully sunk in yet, but I wasn't fooling myself – sometime soon, it was sure to hit me like an eighty-pound ton of bricks against my chest. Until then, I would hold Bug as close to me as I could, keeping him in my sight at all times just in case those damn ugly-ass Elders tried to...
"Thad, that's the fourth time you've said that. You sound like you're on a loop," Aria giggled, the tinkling sound forcing me out of the abyss of my mind and back into the present, "You'd better head to your Work Unit now before you're late," he reminded me.
I felt my face screw up before I even realized that I was consciously doing it, and before I knew it I was tightening my grip on him as I glared hotly at the glass door of Aria's classroom – the same door that his little brat students were currently staring at us through, their hot breath fogging up the glass.
"Hey!" Aria scolded me gently once more, but this time my death stare relaxed when he slipped his hand out of one of mine and cupped my cheek, redirecting my attention back to his face. "Don't glare at my students, you goofball!"
Fuck... he's just so... pretty.
It took a long moment for my mind to wake back up from that thought, but when it did, it was only because Aria had pressed up to his tip-toes, pressing a soft kiss to my lips that honestly left me a little woozy. I chased his lips when he pulled away, leaning in for more and more and more, only to be left disappointed when he met my desperation with a playful shove against my shoulder as he shot me a funny look.
"Thaddeus, seriously, you have like, less than sixty seconds to make it to your Work Unit," He said urgently, his expression becoming more dire as he glanced up at one of the many digital clocks littered around this horribly mundane place. "Please, you need to let me go."
A discontented grumble rumbled through my chest at his words. But even though everything in my soul screamed to stay with him, to do whatever was necessary in order to ensure his safety, I couldn't ignore the truth in his words.
After all, the very last thing that I needed was The Elders having an excuse to fuck with us, as if they hadn't done enough already.
"Promise me you'll keep yourself safe while I'm away," I somehow managed to force out between clenched teeth, my jaw so tight that it was nearly painful, "and that you'll wait for me to come and pick you up after Instructional Unit ends."
Aria's subsequent giggle at my words – which were probably kinda overly protective, now that I self-evaluated – was fucking adorable, but even someone as pure as him wasn't enough to make me lower my guard. Especially after becoming aware of the very likely truth behind The Elders' intentions for us, it was becoming hard to tell if it ever would.
"Of course, Thaddeus, I solemnly swear to keep myself safe from the perilous clutches of my classroom full of terrifyingly dangerous four-year-olds," I could hear the sarcasm in his tone, which on one hand unnerved me, but also made me feel a fraction of a bit better. Only a fraction, though. "Now please, go," he urged, those gorgeous, almond-shaped eyes flickering back up to glance nervously at the clock behind me.
I winced, my heart doing a little flip-flop. "Just... one more kiss?" I tried. My attempt only earned me a flat look from Aria, though.
Well, it was worth a try.
"Go," he repeated, his voice gentle but firm, "and you'll get all of the kisses you could possibly want when you come to pick me up."
"... You promise?" I interjected once more, still stalling my ass off to the very best of my ability. Fuck, it was just so damn hard to leave him.
"Oh my goodness, Thad! If you don't leave I'm gonna never kiss you again, how about that?!" He said, his voice trembling with worry now, "Please don't make me have to be the mean guy about this! You're really gonna be late any minute now!"
"Alright, alright," I sort of whined. And then, gathering every single inkling of rationality that I could muster, I reluctantly forced my hands to let go of his and took a step back.
That simple step felt nearly as painful as surviving an afternoon with The Elders.
Damn it.
Aria shot me one final, knowing glance before putting on the brightest smile known to man as he turned toward his students. Some of the miniature terrors were currently crying gigantic tears as they tried to eat their way through the door like it was the last ration within The Society, all in an effort to reach their favorite, cherished Instructor.
With Aria's back now fully turned to me, I gotta admit, I sneaked a quick childish tongue-out gesture in their direction. It just didn't seem fair that they had exclusive Aria time all day, and I was getting progressively pissed off that I couldn't come up with a valid scheme to disguise myself as a preschooler and infiltrate his Instructional Pod during the daylight hours.
Yeah, my thoughts were getting that alarming.
Ugh, I hated kids.
I could have watched Aria work his magic on his students for hours on end though, as he immediately dropped down to their pint-sized level. And then, like the patient saint he was, when the little imps attacked him like little demons set loose, my little Bug would take the time to plant a kiss onto each tiny forehead, an action of which they ate right up.
It was at that moment that I realized that I really, really needed to turn away and head to my Work Unit before I ended up forcing my way into his Instructional Pod, demanding a place at the very front of the forehead-kissing queue like a fucking lunatic.
Because seriously, at this point Aria made me act like a man who had misplaced his mind – and heart – completely. And oddly enough, I couldn't even find the energy or the will to give a damn.
I sorta drifted my way to the Construction Unit, my thoughts full of nothing but Bug the entire way. That's why when I finally reached my destination, I nearly punched a hole through Onix's forehead when he slung an arm over my shoulder, right as I was about to swipe my travel tablet on the attendance beacon.
In the name of not racking up another third strike however, I simply took the deepest zen-inducing breath before turning my head to look at his goofy-ass, grinning mug.
"I will kill you." was all that I greeted him with as I wrestled his heavy arm off of my shoulder before promptly moving toward the Assignment Board to scope out what Construction Unit task I'd been given for the day.
To my deepest disappointment, the dude didn't even bat an eyelash at my threat and instead just kept in step with me, shadowing my every step even as I tried my damndest to shake him off.
"Dudeeee," Onix drawled, punching my arm lightly a few times. Part of me itched to punch him back, maybe even a tad more enthusiastically... but well, now that Bug was in the picture, my survival instincts were on high alert. Gotta stay alive long enough to yank him out of this wretched, soul-sucking place, at least.
... If there even was a way out at all. I shuddered at the overwhelmingly depressing thought.
"You know, your intimidation factor? It's dwindling, my man," the jackass continued with a grin that simultaneously ticked me off and also weirdly, didn't. "I mean, the past few days you've been... I don't know... weirdly kinda nicer than your usual charming self. You're still the fuckin' asshole that we all know and tolerate, but," Onix paused, tapping his chin as he rummaged around for the right word to use, "Now you're like, a well-meaning asshole, if that makes any sense? Lending a hand here and there, doing good-guy stuff, you know? All of the Unit guys are talkin' about it. They've all been wondering if you got the lay of your life or something recently," he confessed, sneaking a glance over his shoulder.
Following his gaze, I have to admit that my face gained some peculiar ass sense of increased heat when I spotted a bunch of other Construction Unit guys I'd never exchanged two words with, lurking around a corner like I was like I was some sort of experimental specimen being stared at under a microscope.
I definitely caught 'em red handed, since they quickly averted their eyes like they hadn't been snooping on the Onix and Thaddeus show.
"Let's just say... there are some guys that were wondering how in the ever-loving fuck you turned from an epic jerk to a somewhat regular person in record time, and apparently, I'm the only one who wasn't pussy enough to actually come up to you and demand answers, man-to-man," he winked at me, mischief dancing in his eyes, "so come clean, did you get a brain transplant, download a new personality," he lowered his voice so that only I could hear, wiggling his brows suggestively, "or did you finally stick your pickle in the forbidden sauce?"
And yep, my face was definitely, unmistakably bright crimson now.
"Bro, fuck off," I huffed, trying my best to sound chill while my heart played a wild bongo solo in my chest. "Where the fuck is Mitty, anyway?" I ground out, instantly deciding that I needed my wingman in order to convince these guys that I was still just as scary and unapproachable and menacing as I was a couple of days ago.
"Oh, he's over there, too," Onix shrugged, nonchalantly gesturing somewhere behind him... to which I suddenly spied Mitty smack-dab in the middle of the gaggle of guys who were pretending that they weren't fully eavesdropping on Onix and I's conversation. "He was the one who has been trying to talk the guys off the ledge ever since you got to this Unit. Because I mean, even just a few days ago, the guys were thoroughly convinced that you were some kind of fuckin' Elder-planted Cyborg," he exclaimed, and I scowled as he burst into a fit of unexpected laughter, his eyes forming little crescent moons, "but now I see that you were just a pent-up virgin who hadn't experienced the miracle of love yet!" he finished the humiliating sentence with an equally humiliating but also oddly friendly smack on my back.
For a hot minute, I wanted to disappear into the walls and never show my face ever again. Because fuck, I couldn't even deny that he might have been a tiny, miniscule, itsy-bitsy, microscopic bit... right?
My extended silence must have given me away, because the next thing I knew, I was being swarmed.
What could only be described as a flood of guys surrounded me at once, and among them was Mitty, who was smiling like a fuckin' man possessed as he watched them ask me like a zillion questions at me, all at once.
Most of their questions sailed straight over my head, considering most of them only asked stupid shit like, "You're reallynot a robot, right? Can you prove it?" and "Oh wow, Mitty wasn't kidding! You're not all evil!" while they looked me up and down with new eyes.
But then, I heard my favorite name in the world – "Aria."
Instantly, I perked up like an animal sensing the scent of treats, narrowing my eyes suspiciously at the guy who uttered the name.
Anger immediately flared in my chest, my blood simmering as I bulldozed through the crowd to glare down at the dude who had the audacity to mention his name. And right in front of me, no less.
The Construction Unit entry room went quiet as what I could only assume was a pulsating, dark aura surrounded me. I found myself looming over the guy, my voice a low, steady growl.
"What the fuck did you just say to me?" I grumbled, my knuckles cracking at my sides as I tried my best to reign in a rapidly constructing fantasy of shoveing one of those rock-clearing explosives – the ones we use for blasting out new areas for construction – down this guy's fuckin' trachea.
If he had even a single thing to joke about in relation to Aria and I's unconventional relationship... I would make sure that it was the last thing he ever had the chance to fuckin' say.
He swallowed audibly as he stared up at me. Everyone around us waited with bated breath as he opened and closed his mouth a few times, waiting for some kind of showdown, before his lips finally moved, a few false starts before he managed, "I– I was just saying that A-Aria seems like a pretty awesome Soul Mate to have. I mean... he's, you know, always been a remarkably nice dude." He chuckled nervously, rubbing his upper arm like he was trying to polish away his nerves. "You guys really do make a super cute pairing. I mean, all the Unit guys I've talked to think so, at least."
I paused, my eyebrows knitting together as I stared down at him from a slightly different angle, now.
I'd braced myself for him to try to make fun of me, or worse, some underhanded dig at Aria. The very last thing that I expected was a... compliment.
And now that I really thought about it, now that I really mulled it over... I don't think I'd ever received such a genuine sincere like that. Not ont that didn't focus on my exterior, at least.
"O-oh... um," I blinked, muscles losing their tension. And against my will, I'm pretty sure I even... smiled at him a little. I ran a hand down my face then, just trying to cope with this newfound plane of surreal existence. "Well, uh... thanks, man. Admittedly, I gotta hand it to you, Aria's just... he's something else, for sure."
The room continued to hold its breath for a long moment. Then, out of nowhere, SmashHead – we called him that 'cause his head resembled a squashed melon – burst into booming guffaws that echoed throughout the entire place.
"Didja head that, guys? Thaddeus Axton is whippeddd!"
The entire gang of guys collapsed into a fit of uncontrollable laughter at that. And Mitty, throwing an arm around my shoulders and playfully ruffling my hair with his knuckles, joined in on the hilarity. And for some reason, I couldn't help it – a goofy grin stretched across my face, too.
Because yeah, I guess you could say that I was whipped.
And yeah, maybe I really was better for it.
But I'd think about the details of how Aria's mere existence had my mind doing loop-de-loops later. Same as how I'd figure out how I was ever going to possibly tell Aria about what his parents had told me three nights ago.
For now, thorough, I'd let this grin stick around for a little bit. Smiling hadn't been getting its fair share of action in my life lately, anyhow.