"You are the whole sky, and no amount of storms could make me unlove you".

~Anonymous

Alex

It was Saturday afternoon and for once I didn't have any plans with Hunter. He was preparing for an art show and he had been trying to draw something that went along the theme for the past two days. The theme was "Sadness" and weirdly enough he couldn't think of something that would go along with that.

I had just uploaded a new song on my YouTube and now I was sitting in the living room with my parents. They were watching the news, both invested in it so much that for once they didn't glare at me for being on my phone.

If I wasn't on my phone though, I would have noticed that something about them was off. I noticed way too late. I noticed once my father turned off the TV and both of them turned to look at me.

"What's up?" I asked them, setting my phone aside.

"We had a very interesting conversation today... with Savannah," my mother started. Oh, fuck.

"She said you went to the soup kitchen this Wednesday. With a friend," my father went on.

"Yeah..."

"According to her, a gay friend," my mother pressed. I stayed silent, not taking away my gaze from them.

"Is it true?" my father asked, folding his hands before his chest. I gave the smallest nod I could. "I thought you said you didn't hang out with the gay kid".

"I didn't. Now I do," I replied and watched my parents share a look.

"Yes, that's going to have to stop," my father said back and figured the matter ended there.

"Or...?"

"Or?" he snapped back. "Or we are going to have to interfere".

"Oh? In what way?" I knew I was pushing it, but honestly, I didn't care.

"Alexander, stop," my mother whispered, trying to ease both of us.

"In a way, you won't like," my father said, through gritted teeth. I kept staring at him, waiting to hear that way. "If you refuse to stop seeing him you will force us to take away your guitar. And if that won't work, you could always change schools," he said, sitting back in his seat.

"Are you serious? You'll take away my guitar? You'll make me change school? What am I, ten?"

"You sure are acting that way," my mother noted.

"I'm acting like I'm ten because I'm friends with a gay guy?"

"You're acting like you're ten by not listening to us. We're warning you for your own good".

"Bullshit, you don't want your name to be tarnished," I snapped back.

"No, we don't want your name to be tarnished. Because if you keep up with this sinful way of living, your soul will be corrupted in the eyes of God," my mother went on.

"Stop hiding behind God!" I yelled, sitting up.

"We're not hiding -" my father began but I cut him off.

"Yes, you are. You are using his righteous words as a scapegoat for your own beliefs".

"Alexander," my father warned. "You're getting off topic. Stop hanging out with that Hunter guy". I only shook my head and grabbed my phone.

"For once, I'd like to see what would happen if you didn't get what you wanted," I muttered and headed out.

I told Hunter through our bond that I had to get out of my house and he immediately told me to meet up with him at his place. What threw me off was the little surprise he said he had for me. As soon as I rang the doorbell I heard the little surprise he had. It was a soft bark, barely hearable. Hunter opened the door with a puppy, as big as half his forearm, in his arms.

"Oh my god, who is this?" I asked, my voice turning into the baby-voice people often used.

"This is Philip, our new puppy," he told me with a smile and I reached to scratch its head. Immediately, it stuck its tongue out and started licking me. "Aurora has been begging for years. It's a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel," he added and I ran my fingers over its curly ears.

"He's the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life," I told him. The puppy wiggled and Hunter let it down after he closed the door behind me.

"So, what happened?" he asked me, worry filling his eyes.

"Savannah told my parents about us hanging out," I replied, sitting down on his bed. "Can you believe they actually forbade me from seeing you?" I went on, seeing as he stayed silent. "They think we are only friends. What will they do if the find out we're soulmates? Get restraining orders against you from me?"

"Technically, they can," he said, with a small voice.

"Not helping," I dragged and fell back on his bed, staring up at his beautiful ceiling.

"Come on," he said and tugged on my shirt, after a few moments of thinking it through. I frowned up at him and stood up. I followed him down to his car and jumped in without saying anything.

"Should I ask where we are going?"

"Somewhere special to me. I want to show you something," he replied. Shaking my head, I stayed silent and watched as he drove out of town and near a small hill.

It was covered in grass with only a handful of trees on it. I followed his lead and went to lay down next to where he had fallen. Almost immediately my eye grew as big as saucers and I was left with my jaw hanging. From here you could see all the stars and ever so slightly the Milky Way. His ceiling was beautiful but this... this was breathtaking.

"I used to come up here with my mom," he said with a soft undertone in his voice. "She loved to teach me about space and constellations". He gave a small laugh with something he thought of. "There's this thing on my mother's side of the family. You see, my mother was named Estelle. Her sister is called Celestia. My mother's grandmother was named Aurora and my mother's uncle was named Atlas. And for some reason, all loved the sky. And it passed down to me".

"And your name? Why Hunter?" his smile wavered.

"Hunter is another name for Orion. But, um... it was also the name of my father's brother," he said, sitting up and steading his hands on his knees.

"Was? What happened to him?" I stupidly asked.

"His soulmate was killed in an armed robbery. He killed himself after that," he replied. I just bit my lip. "Sadly, there's another thing in my family..." he went on.

"What?"

"Losing soulmates," he said and reached over to hug me. "I don't want to lose you. Ever. So, if things get rough with your parents, don't hold back. Tell me or my father. We will help you. We want to help you". I nodded against him.

"I just keep telling myself that it's only one more year. After that, I'll be an adult and I will be able to live on my own. I'll be able to love who I want".

"Are you not... are you not seeking their acceptance?" he asked pulling back so that he could see me. "Because, I know a lot of people say that they don't care what their parents think, but when it comes down to it, they do care. Take Noah for example. He says he doesn't care, but the moment he came out to them as asexual they just scoffed and that broke him. No matter how much you dislike them, at the end of the day they are your parents..."

"I don't dislike them," I replied, shaking my head negatively. "I hate them. I realize that may sound cruel, but Hunter, if you knew them you'd hate them too. They're horrible and I can't take it anymore. I have found a way to deal with them trashing my dreams. Uploading covers online really helped. Reading all those positive comments. Gaining subscribers. It makes me feel as if it's not only in my mind. But this..." my voice cracked and I covered my face with my palms. "I don't know how to handle this. I don't know how to handle listening to them say all these bad things about you. About us".

"Alex..." he tried but I cut him off.

"Being with you helps. Listening to your voice. Feeling you close to me. It helps to have someone who loves me and accepts me for me. But I'm dragging you down with me. I can see it; I can see how sad you get by seeing me like this. I can see how much you want to help me, even if it tires you. You don't deserve this. You don't deserve me".

"Don't you fucking dare Alex!" he screamed making me snap my head up. Tears were staining his face and he seemed like he was on the edge of something dangerous. "Don't you dare think you are not good enough. Don't you dare think I'd be better off with some other guy. Because you are who I want. You get that? You are who I want to share my future with. And if your parents or your friends have a problem with that they can try to come at me".

I couldn't help but laugh happily. My boyfriend is the best. I reached out to touch his face and rubbed his cheek with my thumb. Then I whipped away the tears and fell back on the grass.

"I have been thinking about something... for the past couple of days..." he told me quietly, not falling next to me as I expected him to. I nodded for him to go on. "You see, Calla, Noah and I have these movie nights almost every month. And tomorrow Calla's boyfriend if flying in from Germany and he's staying for two weeks. And Noah's girlfriend will be arriving on Thursday... and I was wondering whether you would like to come next Saturday to our movie night. Get to meet my friends and stuff..."

Next Friday Chris was coming for a visit. Giving me two options, either stay at home and listen about Chris' exciting life at Stanford, or go to my soulmate's place and get to know his friends? What a hard decision.

"Well, if Calla's and Noah's soulmates will be there, I can't just let you there all by yourself, am I right?" I told him, smiling up at him.

"Are you sure?" he asked me and after I nodded with certainty, he smiled down at me. A few seconds later he fell next to me and as we sat there we noticed a shooting star. "Make a wish," he muttered, sounding happy as he ran his lips over my cheekbone.

I wish of staying here with you forever.