Evan walked through the crowded school halls, textbooks and notebooks clutched to his chest. His eyes scanned the crowd, trying to find Connor. He huffed and pushed his way through, throwing out quiet apologizes whenever someone bumped into him.

    Ever since the date, things have been kind of tense between Evan and Connor.

They aren't avoiding each other, but they're not making efforts to hang out outside of school. They talk before and after classes and during lunch, but it's short and awkward.

Evan bumped shoulders with someone as he squeezed through the crowd.

"S-sorry," he mumbled, looking over his shoulder at the person. The person had their hair in a bun.

Evan stopped. He knew that hair.

"Connor!" Evan called out, turning around and charging into the crowd again. "Connor w-wait. Pl-please!"

    It was pretty easy getting to the tall boy, as most students were scared of him and moved out of the way whenever he walked by.

    Connor stopped and turned around. He shoved a hand in his hoodie pocket.

    "What, Hansen?" he asked, casting an annoyed look Evan's way.

    "I-I need t-to talk to you," Evan said. "A-about the, uh the date."

    Connor's expression hardened, his jaw clenching. "What about it?"

    "I-I just. . ." Evan's gaze dropped to his feet and he played with the loose thread on his shirt. "I w-wanted to say-"

    "Just spit it out, Hansen," Connor snapped. Evan flinched and closed his eyes, holding his breath. Connor stared at Evan. "Wait a minute. You regret it, don't you?"

    Evan's eyes snapped open. "N-no that's not-"

    "You didn't want to go on the date, did you?" Connor accused, taking a small step toward the anxious teen. "You probably lied about liking me, huh? This was just a lie, right? Did you plan on telling Kleinman so that he could tell the whole school? So that everyone can see how much of a freak I am?"

    "C-Connor that's-"

    Connor was right in Evan's face, spewing things that weren't true.

    "How could I actually believe that someone liked me," Connor whispered. "How could I actually think that someone wanted to spend time with me. How could I believe that I might actually have a soulmate."

    "Connor. . ."

    Evan reached out, placing a hand on Connor's shoulder. Connor stepped back.

    "Just go," he muttered, holding his arms close to his body. "I just. . . Don't be surprised if I'm not at school for a while."

    Evan's eyes darted to Connor's arms.

    "W-wait!" Evan exclaimed, jogging to catch up with Connor's fast pace.

    "Just leave me alone, Hansen!" Connor yelled. "Go find Kleinman and talk about how much of a freak I am. Just. . . Let me be."

    Evan stopped walking, making people bump into him. He landed on the ground, arms breaking most of his fall.

    He watched Connor, not taking his eyes off of him until his body disappeared.

Evan sat at the lunch table, arms folded on the table and head buried in them.

    Jared leaned over and took a Cheeto from Evan's lunch.

    "Let me get this straight," Jared said. "You went on a date with Connor and after trying to explain that you didn't mean to kiss him, he freaked out?"

    Evan nodded. "I-I'm w-worried about him."

    "Why?" Jared questioned.

    "He, he said something that alarmed me and I'm scared he might. . ." His voice trailed off as he raised his head.

    "You're scared he might what? Kill himself?"

    "Y-yeah."

    "Wouldn't be surprised."

    "Jared!" Evan exclaimed. "That's rude."

    "Well I mean, you're dating the living embodiment of a Hot Topic store," Jared said. "So it wouldn't be too surprising if it happened."

    "I just, I really need to talk to him," Evan said, ignoring Jared's comment. "But I can't skip school and after school might be too late."

Evan ended up walking twenty minutes to the Murphy's house. Or rather, he ran. It would've taken him less time but he didn't remember the directions and had to rely on familiar sights.

    Evan wiped his forehead and leaned against the front door to catch his breath. Standing up straight, he rang the doorbell.

    What if I'm too late? What if no one's home except for Connor but I'll never know because he wasn't able to get the door. What if-

    Cynthia stood in the doorway. "Oh hello Evan." She smiled. "Connor's in his room. But be careful, he's not too happy."

    "Th-thanks." Evan stepped into the house, quickly removing his shoes and bounding up the stairs to Connor's room.

    Evan slowed down as he got closer. Loud music could be heard from the other side of the door. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door.

    Biting his lip, Evan slowly pushed the door open, bracing himself for the worst.

    What he didn't expect to see was a wet, shirtless Connor standing in the middle of the room.

    They locked eyes for a second before Connor started shouting at him to get out.

    Face burning, Evan slammed the door and leaned against the wall. He put his face in his hands, trying to calm down.

    The image of what just happened was burned into his mind. Connor shirtless, water dripping down his back and chest, towel draped over his neck.

    Evan's face burned more. Could you actually get a burn from blushing too hard?

    The door opened, revealing a fully dressed Connor. Evan avoided eye contact, feeling Connor's gaze burn into Evan's head.

    "I-I'm sorry," Evan whispered. "I-I d-did knock b-but y-your music was r-really loud so I just- I decided to g-go in. I h-had no idea y-you were. . ."

    "Why are you here?"

    Evan looked over at the long-haired boy for a second before averting his gaze back to the floor. "I-I j-just wanted to make s-sure you didn't. . ." The rest of the sentence was incoherent.

    "Repeat that?" Connor asked, leaning against the wall and holding onto the towel on his neck.

    "W-well after w-what happened a-at school I-I thought that y-you were g-gonna." Evan gestured to his arms.

    "You thought I was gonna kill myself?" Evan nodded. Connor grabbed Evan's wrist and pulled him into the bedroom.

    "I-I wanted to m-make sure that y-you were alright." Evan sat on Connor's bed, looking at him to make sure it was ok. "A-and I c-came t-to say I w-wasn't lying a-about l-liking y-you. Which is weird considering that I'm a compulsive liar and I lie constantly so that people don't worry about me and so I'm not a burden or troubling them with my problems when they're really busy or have better things to do or have better friends to talk to. And not that liking you is weird, I'm not saying that I just-"

    "Well if you're not lying, then what were you going to say back there?" Connor asked, sitting next to Evan.

    "B-back there? Oh, you mean at school." Connor rolled his eyes. "I-I was gonna say sorry. For uh, for kissing you. I didn't mean to, we keep saying we're gonna wait until we figure the soulmate thing out and then I just kiss you and now I don't know what we are. I mean, I'm pretty sure friends don't kiss each other on the cheek or go on dates. So, what are we?"

    Connor looked at the ground. "Evan," he said. "I don't. . . I don't want to wait until it's figured out."

    "W-what?"

    "I don't want to wait until we find out if we're soulmates. Because what if we never find out? What then?"

    "B-but what about w-what others will think?" Evan asked.

    "Fuck what they think, it's our life."

    Connor looked over at Evan, who was staring back.

    Connor's face turned red, his heart beating quickly. His eyes flickered down to Evan's lips. Then back to his eyes. He leaned in, his lips brushing against Evan's.

    When he pulled away, Evan was bright red. His chest was rising up and down fast.

    "We'll figure it out."