Red thread of fate - when someone is born, there is a red thread that is tied to them, an invisible red thread that connects them to the people they are destined to meet and be connected to in their lives, most commonly, their soulmate. Sometimes, when a couple passes away due to unfortunate circumstances, the family will tie a red sting on each of the couples pinky to make sure they meet in their next life.

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Aaron and Ryan walked home together every day. They grew up together, neighbors since the age of 2. When they got older, they started questioning things about themselves. Ryan had a strong force that was driving him to Aaron but he always thought it was just because they were friends but Aaron knew he was different.

Trigger warning

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December 29th, 1999

Aaron woke up to the sound of Ryan moving around in his bed. Aaron yawns and rubbed his eyes as he sat up and looked at Ryan to see him tossing and turning. Aaron put his hand on Ryan's hand and rubbed it softly.

"Shh, it's okay. It's just a dream."

Ryan stopped moving and his breathing got softer. He then muttered something that Aaron barely picked up.

"Sleep with me..?"

Aaron couldn't tell if Ryan was being serious so he stayed put until Ryan held onto Aaron's hand tightly and whined.

"Hurry...it cold.."

Aarons heart pounds in his chest as he climbed in bed with Ryan. He lays down and hold Ryan's hand tightly as he cuddles with him.

"Ryan..?"

Ryan hums and looks up at Aaron, this time, his chocolate eyes were open. Aaron smiles with his icy ice squinting as he smiled.

"I want to tell you something..is that okay?"

Aaron felt like his heart was going to explode. He was going to confess. He didn't know what would happen, Ryan's birthday was literally the next morning which is the whole reason he's sleeping over at Ryan's house that night.

"Yeah...that's..okay." Ryan's muttered out, still trying to stay awake but Aaron could tell he was going to fall asleep any moment.

"I like you.."

Ryan's eyes widen as he sits up. He looks at Aaron and shakes his head.

"What?!" He whispers and looks at Aaron scared.

"Hey, hey. Calm down. I don't expect you to reciprocate these feelings...trust me, I know it's hard to come to terms with this...our parents would kill us but-"

Aaron was caught off guard when Ryan kissed him. Aaron melted into the kiss and pulled Ryan on top of him. They made out for a good 10 minutes before they pulled away from each other and smiled.

"Is that your answer to my confession?"

Ryan blushes and nods. "I...I think I like you too.."

Aaron smiled. Even if he didn't know if he likes him back, Aaron was still happy. Ryan kissed Aaron again before getting off of him and laying down next to him again.

"Will you...would it be okay if we dated..?"

Aaron was caught off guard with Ryan's question. He was happy that he was being asked this but also scared as both of their families were very against same sex couples.

"We can't tell anyone, you know that right..?"

Ryan nods with a sad face and sighs.

"Yeah...I know but I want to try this out. I want to be with you...more than friends."

Aaron smiled and kissed Ryan softly.

"Yes. I would love that."

Ryan smiled as the two fell asleep. They woke up the next morning to knocking on the door. Aaron got up first and opened the door for Ryan's parents and sisters.

"Is he awake yet?" His sister whispers.

Aaron shook his head and rubbed his eyes to wake himself up more.

"No, would you like me to wake him up?"

They all shook their heads at Aaron's offer. "Let him sleep...do you want to help finish decorating? I have to take the girls to practice before the party." Ryan's mother spoke.

"Oh, sure. What do you need help with?"

"The banner needs to go up, some of the gifts needs to bet wrapped and the cake! Oh no! I forgot about the cake!"

"I can make it! Don't worry, I'll handle it."

Ryan's mom smiled and hugged Arron. "Thank you so much! I'll repay you with something. Maybe I'll take you boys out tomorrow if that's okay with your mom."

"No need ma'am, just helping out as much as possible."

"You're such a sweetheart. Thank you Aaron. I'm glad Ryan has a friend like you. I'm going to go, everyone you need is downstairs."

Aaron nods and lets them leave. He turns to Ryan's sleeping body and smiles down at him. Once he heard the door open and close, he gives Ryan a kiss on the cheek and then play with his hair for a second.

Ryan wakes up and looks at Aaron with a smile. "My parents will be awake soon"

"They actually just left. I'm assuming both of them as both your sister do something different but they left to take your sisters to practice. I have to decorate for your party though. So you know, let's get that done."

"Mmm, well if you offered to help decorate, I'm going to sleep. Bye now." Ryan laugh and turned his back to Aaron to go back to sleep.

Aaron got up and went to get dressed. Once he was done, he went to the kitchen to start making the cake batter. He put that in the oven and then started putting up some more decorations. Once he was done with that, he took the cake out and let it cool as he went upstairs to get Ryan up.

"Your mom and dad will be back any second. Get yourself showered and ready."

"Yes dad. Got it. Now shoo." Ryan said sarcastically.

Aaron smiled to himself that nothing has changed since they started dating. It would be easy for them to go through the day without anything happening.

"I'm going to decorate your cake so let come downstairs when you're ready."

"Okay...bye!"

"Bye-bye." Aaron smiled as he walked downstairs to check on the now cooled cake.

Aaron decorated the cake and did his best to write on the cake with icing when Ryan walked downstairs in his outfit. It was similar to Aaron's in style apart from the words on Ryan's shirt. They both wore white shirts with acid washed jeans and a black leather belt but Ryan's shirt had birthday boy written on it.

"Aw how cute is that shirt of yours." Aaron teased.

"Shut it. I don't know why my mom insisted I wear this shirt. I've had it since I was 7! And for some meticulous reason, it still fits!"

"You haven't really grown much if I'm being honest Ry..you're still tiny and adorable as always.

Ryan rolled his eyes at Aaron's comment and walked upstairs to get something. He came back down as Aaron finished the cake and set it aside in the fridge. Aaron then noticed what Ryan had. It was a Polaroid camera.

"The sooner you take this photo, the sooner I can change and give the photo to my mom."

Aaron laughed and took the photo of Ryan wearing the shirt and doing the pose that he has been doing since he was 7. It's become some sort of birthday ritual for the family. All the siblings have one and this was Ryan's.

Once Aaron finished taking the photo, he walked up to Ryan and handed it to him before kissing Ryan and taking a photo of that.

"I just want a little keepsake of your birthday."

"It's my birthday, I should be the one getting the gifts."

"Oh but I have you the best gift of all."

"Yeah? And what was that?"

"The gift of me! Being your friend for...12 years now? Yeah, 12 years. I also became your boyfriend yesterday so you know, there is that too."

"Right, you are the best gift of all." Ryan spoke sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.

"I'm joking, I have a gift for you, I just can't give it to you yet."

Ryan sighed and walked away with the camera and photo for his mom. He took it up stairs as Aaron cleaned up the house just it time for Ryan's parents to walk inside.

"Oh it looks wonderful in here! Did Ryan wake up?"

"Yeah, he just took the photo too. I think he went to change."

"Oh good! Can't wait to add that to the picture book!"

Ryan's mom walked out as his dad looks down at the kitchen table. He picks something up and then walks to Ryan's mom.

The day goes by and Ryan's party was fun for both him and Aaron. Nothing seemed wrong until Aaron goes home and gets ready for bed. He tries to look through his stuff to find the Polaroid photo of him and Ryan but it's nowhere to be found. Aaron thinks that maybe Ryan took it so he stays calm until he hears yelling and stuff being hit against the wall. The wall that he shares with Ryan.

As Ryan and Aaron live in townhomes, they can hear everything that goes on in each others homes if they are in the same area. This told Aaron that something happened and that something wasn't good.

There was then stomping and then nothing for a second until the door was being knocked on. Aaron runs down the stairs and peaks out to see Ryan's parents and Ryan standing outside the door. Ryan had a bleeding nose and busted lip.

"We would like to speak to you about some things your son has been doing behind your back.." Ryan's mom spoke as they walk inside to sit with Aaron's mom. He bit his lip as a tear slips from his eyes when Ryan's dad pulled the photo out and showed it.

Aaron's world came crashing down as he finally showed himself to them.

"Oh good. He's here. We need to have a chat."

Aaron's mom started crying as she let them in. Ryan looked sad and kept his eyes away from Aaron which made him feels hurt. He never meant for any of that to happen and now that it did, he didn't know what to do.

"Our son admitted to having...homosexual relations with your son...we found a photo that he took of the two of them kissing when we left to drop off our girls at practice. We don't know how long this has been going on for but we believe it's been going on for a while behind our backs."

"Aaron...what has gotten into you..." Aaron's mom spoke which caused Aaron to cry. He looked away and that's when Aaron's dad walked inside, drunk.

"Oh good, his father is home." Ryan's dad spoke. He then repeated everything Ryan's mom just said to Aaron's dad which caused Aaron's dad to grow angrier.

"Oh I'll deal with him once you guys go. I don't want anyone to witness this."

Ryan's parents seemed satisfied and they left. Ryan finally looked at Aaron but with fear. Ryan knew what Aaron's dad did to him and he knew that this wasn't going to be good.

Aaron just ran to his room, ignoring his dad's calls until he went upstairs after him.

"So what!? You're a little sissy now!? You like sucking dick?! Is that it!? Get on your knees boy!"

Aaron got on his knees and cried as he dad smacked him across the face.

"Dad! Stop!"

"I didn't give birth to no faggot! If you are going to live here, you are going to be a fucking man!"

"N-no! I-"

"Shut it boy! First thing tomorrow, you're going to go to church and pray for forgiveness! Pack your bags. You're not going to leave that church until you are fixed!"

And with that, Aaron's dad left. Aaron was left crying and alone with his own thoughts. He didn't know what was going on but he started to think things. He didn't know any way out of this but one.

Although Aaron wasn't the type to act upon the thoughts he had, they definitely kept getting stronger. The only thing stopping him from doing anything was the fact that he would be able to see Ryan the next day but now that wasn't going to be an option anymore and he didn't know what to do.

"Maybe it's better if I just leave.."

Aaron smacked himself and pulled at his hair. He couldn't control his thoughts as they told him to get his mother's pain meds from the cabinet. He quietly went to the bathroom and looked at himself. His nose was bloody and his lip was also busted. He has a bruise forming on his cheek and he knew it wasn't going to be a pretty outcome in the morning.

The thoughts came back and he grabbed his moms pills. He opened them and took out a few, and then piped them in his mouth. He drank water and then looked at the bottle again, he walked into his room and took more. He didn't know how to stop himself and kept taking them, more and more.

"I'm so sorry Ryan...I can't be strong.." Aaron cried as he laid flat on his back and closed his eyes, trying to sleep as his stomach started hurting.

He started chocking on his own vomit but didn't let himself turn over, he wanted this. This was his decision.

The next morning, Aaron's dad walked into his room to get him up but walked in on Aaron's lifeless body on the floor. He didn't try to wake him up, he knew Aaron was gone and walked outside of the room and down the stairs. He opened a bear can and then dialed 911.

Ryan woke up to the sounds of sirens going off. He didn't know what to think and then he saw them run inside Aaron's house. He heard noises in Aaron's room and instantly ran out of his house to Arron's.

"Aaron! Aaron!?" He shouted as he ran into Aaron's house and tried to make his way to Aaron's room. The police stopped him as he got up the stairs.

There, he saw Aaron's lifeless body being put in a bag and picked up. The cops pushed Ryan back as they carried him out of the house and into the ambulance. Ryan cried as he was sent back home.

He went into his room and locked himself there. He didn't know what to do but he knew he couldn't be left in this world without Aaron. He grabbed a pair of scissors and just stared at them before shaking his head and throwing them.

"Ryan! What is all this noise for!?"

"YOU KILLED HIM! HIS DAD IS AN ABUSIVE PERSON! A DRUNK! YOU LEFT HIM THERE AND NOW HE IS DEAD!"

"This is no way to act! Shut up and go to sleep!"

Ryan cried more as ran downstairs. He ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. He ran upstairs and into his parents room.

"HE IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU! NOW I AM TOO!"

Ryan stabbed himself in the stomach and then fell on the ground as his parents got up and tried to stop him, they didn't know what to do and ran outside with Ryan in their arms.

Aaron was now in the ambulance so the EMT's now ran to Ryan and tried to help him, they put him on a stretcher and put him next to Aaron's lifeless body. Aaron's arm was sticking out which Ryan grabbed onto, Aaron's cold limp hand in Ryan's warm bloody hand.

They both stayed like that until they got it the hospital. Ryan hung on for as long as possible until he later died while getting surgery.