"We don't pick who we fall in love with. And it never happens as it should."                            

~Anonymous

Hunter 

"'Finally, I see you' the young princess said. The charming prince smiled and pressed a sweet kiss on her lips.

'You're as beautiful as I imagined' the prince said back. And like that the two soulmates lived happily ever after," I finished saying as my little sister's eyes started getting heavy.

"I can't wait to meet my prince charming," she muttered, voice soft and tired. "Have you?" I almost didn't hear her question. I set the book on her nightstand and ruffled her blonde hair.

"I think I have," I said and kissed her forehead. "Goodnight, princess," I added and headed out of her room. She beamed at me and huddled up under the covers. Her room was lit up light green, from her night lamp, that created shadows on her walls, looking like trees.

I drew her door closed and turned around only to see my father leaning against the wall next to me. I jumped, not expecting him there, muttering a curse word under my breath.

"So... you met your prince," he started folding his arms before his chest. My eyes bugged and I felt my voice go weak. "What's his name?" he asked a few seconds later, his face splitting up by a smile. Color rose to my cheeks and I lowered my gaze.

"Dad, I'm tired, can I go to bed?" I said awkwardly, running my hand through my hair.

"Oh ho ho, hell no. You're going to tell me all about this little soulmate of yours," he replied and draped an arm over my shoulders.

"Dad!" I pressed, but I knew there was no way of getting out of this. My father may have been a little pushy but he did it with good intentions. He knew where to draw the line.

"Come on, I'll make the coffee," he dismissed, patting my shoulder with his other hand. Ten minutes later we were sitting on the sofa, the clock next to the fireplace showing it was ten minutes before eleven o'clock. "So, his name?" he repeated taking a gulp of his coffee.

"His name is Alexander... well, Alex Clifford Richardson," I said with a small voice.

"Alexander Clifford Richardson? That's a mouthful of a name," he noted. I gave a small laugh and in my mind, an image of a six-year-old Alex formed, him trying to spell his name. Hell, my sister too had a problem trying to spell Aurora Anderson. "Richardson... Anderson... that's a little on the nose, huh?" my father went on and at this point, I knew he was babbling until I went on talking.

"Yeah. So, he goes to the same school as me, but we have never hung out. His group of friends is not the kind of crowd I like hanging out with".

"Meaning? What are they like?" Here it comes...

"They're homophobic".

My father was the kind of person that seemed angry and mean to strangers, yet in reality, he was anything but that. Truth be told he was very, very chill. He barely freaked out with anything, he completely understood the word boundaries and at the end of the day, he was there for me and Aurora. Calla said that he seemed mean due to his bone structure, or whatnot. His expression kind of always had a frown, even when relaxed. I was used to it, but others weren't. So, when my father, was angry he got scary. Crazy scary. And now was one of those times.

"Homophobic? Why would Alex hang out with them then?" he inquired.

"He, um, he is in the closet. And he's bisexual, though, I'm pretty sure they are also biphobic," I started mumbling, rubbing the back of my neck.

"That still doesn't explain why he hangs out with them..." my father snapped and folded his hands in his lap. "Goddamn society," he muttered, making me bite my lower lip. "Anyhow, how did you two find each other?" he finally said, trying to lighten the mood.

I ended up telling him all about today. From my fight with Matt to that boring class of biology to our conversation in the toilets. In the end, he looked rather skeptical.

"Alex's parents sound like idiots," he noted, as I was finishing my coffee, resulting in a coughing fit since it ended up in the wrong pipe.

"Understatement of the year," I managed to say, with tears in my eyes.

"And you guys will be dating in secret?" I nodded, my throat still protesting about the coughing fit. "Well, if you guys even need anything, I'm always here for you. Oh, and as for that Matt, just say the word. Some of my poker buddies owe me". At that, my eyes widened.

My father was an early, retired journalist, who was now a crime novelist. His poker buddies consisted of a couple of cops, an ex-M.M.A. fighter, a federal judge, an incredible criminal lawyer, and two fierce Olympic athletes. All could fix any issue I had with Matt and yet I didn't want any of them to get involved.

"I can handle Matt. He's all talk and no action so it's okay..." I replied looking away from him. A few moments passed in silence and he huffed.

"Okay, you should go to bed".

My eyes drifted over the clock that now read almost four a.m.. Suddenly, my eyelids got very heavy and I groaned as I remembered that in about four hours I had to get up again. Even though tomorrow was a Saturday, Calla had a softball match. Wonderful.

***

I was positively and absolutely exhausted. I was wearing shades yet that didn't help lessen my headache. My eyes moved over the field where Calla was playing. She was captain of her team and now she had scored another home run and was running around the field. They were leading the score with 6-1.

Noah came and sat next to me, while handing me a big cup of coffee. I took a big gulp and downed the bitter and warm liquid.

"Six to one, huh? What a shocker!" Noah said with a roll of his eyes. I let out a grunt of amusement, which made him give me a worried look. "Are you okay, dude?"

"Didn't get much sleep?" I said sharply.

"Hunter," I heard someone call out. It actually took me a moment to realize it was Alex in my mind.

"Hey, Alex," I replied, sounding way too tired for my liking.

"You sound awful".

"Gee, thanks," I snapped back, rolling my eyes, thankfully under my sunglasses. "I didn't get much sleep".

"So, eh... tell me something about yourself. Like what are your plans for after high school," he asked changing the subject.

"I'm going to art school. What about you?" I replied seeing as Calla yelled something to herself.

"I'm trying to get signed to a record label. Until then I'll gain more subscribers on YouTube, I guess".

Oh, right he sang! I did follow him on social media, not that I used much, other than Instagram, on which I uploaded my art. I don't think I had actually seen a full video of him singing, maybe some snippets.

"How many do you have now?" I asked.

"Around two hundred thousand..." I could hear the awkwardness in his voice almost as much as his smugness.

"Unbelievable". It slipped by my lips before I could catch myself, causing Noah to look at me with a raised eyebrow. "That's impressive," I said to Alex.

"Thanks, though my parents aren't that happy about it," he replied half-laughing.

"Could have guessed that... how did they let you dye your hair green?"

"They didn't. I just showed up one day like that. They're still bitching about it".

Before I could reply, I felt my phone buzz. Pulling it out of my pocket, I saw that it was my dad calling me and I left the bleachers before answering.

"Hey, what happened?" I said as I picked up.

"Dad said something came up and he is bringing me to you," Aurora answered.

"My agent called me in," my father called from the background. I guessed he was driving.

"Yeah, okay, I'll be waiting for you at the entrance". I hung up. "Sorry, for not answering, something came up with my sister," I then said to Alex.

"You have a sister?"

"Yeah, she's seven," I  said, clearing my throat. "Do you have any siblings?"

"An older brother. He's like the golden kid in my family. Everything he does is just fucking great". The annoyance was obvious in his voice.

"When you say older...?" I went on trying to lessen the mood.

"Twenty-two. He's the same age as Calla's brother."

Calla's brother was one of the greatest people I knew. He identified as demi-heterosexual, which meant he felt physical attraction to the opposite sex only after forming an emotional connection with an individual. He had helped me a lot when I started coming out, he was easy to talk to. And it helped that his group of friends consisted of queer people, making every party he threw incredible. And according to Calla, he was one of the best softball coaches.

My dad and Aurora came a couple of minutes later, my father throwing gratitude at me as she climbed out of the car. We waved him goodbye and grabbing her by her hand and we headed toward Noah. Looking around I saw Donovan and Alex sitting a few seats below us.

"Wait, you're at the match?!" I said to Alex.

"Yes, Beth's playing," he replied and looked for me. His brown eyes met mine and I pulled Auro along. "Your sister's adorable. She actually looks a lot like you".

"So I am also adorable?" I joked as I sat down next to Noah and placed my sister on my legs. I took a sip from my coffee, waiting for his response.

"No," he finally muttered. "No, you're hot".

As soon as I heard him I started coughing, since coffee ended up choking me. A few people turned around to look at me, including Alex and Don. I was well aware my face was dusted pink, one of the downsides to being fair-skinned.

"You're an ass," I yelled at him. His laughter echoed in my mind, but I didn't waste any more energy to him.

"Are you alright?" Noah asked me, as I still hadn't fully recovered from barely choking to death. Hot coffee in the lungs isn't fun, people. I nodded positively. Aurora's little pointer finger jabbed me in the chest and I looked down at her.

"Is he here?" she inquired.

"Is who here?" I asked back, not following.

"Your soulmate!" Blinking, I felt my face get redder.

"What are you talking about? Hunter hasn't..." Noah immediately bit off the end of that sentence as he shed a look at me. "Hunter!"

"I was going to tell you! It happened yesterday..." I said.

"Who is he?"

"I can't... say," I muttered. Noah was about to protest but we got interrupted as it was Calla's turn to play again and after Calla's turn, the game ended.

We watched her hit the oncoming ball, striking once again a home run and she started running. The score was now 11-7, our team winning. Everyone's eyes were on Calla's yet our attention was stolen by Beth, who was standing at the third base, not paying attention to the game.

"Run!" the whole field yelled and she broke off her haze. She must have been talking with Don, seeing as he also seemed shocked when everyone yelled. Immediately the girl started running, but it was too late. Calla was faster and they ended up in a tangled mess. Calla was the first to stand up, blood dripping down her nose.

"Fucking unbelievable!" she screamed. "Talk to him when you're off the field!"

The game had ended with our team winning, and Noah, Aurora and I headed to the sidelines to get Calla. She was holding a damp cloth on her forehead and a cotton wad was stuffed in her nostril. Next to her was Sebastian, her brother, who was trying and failing to calm her down.

"...I swear to God if she keeps doing this I will shove my foot..." Calla's voice flattened as her eyes focused on Aurora. "Oh, hey, Auro... did you like the game?" she asked smiling.

"Uh-huh, I liked it. Are you going to be okay?" my sister asked, worry in her blue eyes.

"Oh don't worry about me. My nose will be okay," Calla assured her, but that didn't stop Aurora from hugging her.

"Donovan took Beth to the hospital," Seb said turning to us.

"The hospital? Come on!" Calla said exasperated.

"Cal, her arm probably broke," he went on. At that Calla scoffed.

"Let's go, guys," Calla motioned. We all headed towards the exit of the field, except Seb who was still noting something to his notebook. As we headed out Calla was typing the number of the home runs she had made today on her phone.

She was one of those people who kept tabs on that kind of thing. I wasn't exactly sporty, but that one time I had tried playing softball I had, in fact, hit the ball. Not that it went any further away from the pitcher.

"She is really impossible. I mean she does this kind of thing all the time! And Sebastian still won't kick her off the team," Calla whined, closing her phone. Her nose had stopped bleeding, but it would bruise.

"Aren't you captain? Can't you kick her out?" Noah asked folding his arms before his chest.

"Only with all the votes of the rest of the team. But almost everyone on the team likes her. So, no, I can't," Calla replied.

"Well, look who it is..."

Why? Why! Why. Slowly, we all turned to look at Matt, who was leaning against the fence of the field, smoking. Right next to him was Alex who was looking rather uncomfortable, with a half-finished cigarette between his fingers. Oh, this would be great.

"Knock it off, Matt. I'm already fed up today. Don't test me," Calla growled.

"Bad move tackling Beth like that..." Matt went on unfazed.

"It was her fault!" Calla snapped. With narrow eyes, he threw the cigarette butt to the ground and leaned forward. Instinctively, I pushed Aurora behind me. Matt's eyes followed the movement and he sniffed.

"Who's that? Your sister?" I didn't say a word, I just watched him completely still. I really didn't want to turn my back at him and leave. "Does she know you like to take it up in the..."

He didn't get to finish that as my fist connected with his face. And fuck did that hurt. Matt reacted immediately and punched me back, my lower lip starting to bleed. He was about to hit me again when both Alex and Calla got in the way. Though their intentions were completely different. Alex tried to get between me and Matt, while Calla tried to hit Matt. In the end, Calla actually punched Alex.

Seb was just leaving when everything happened and he stopped whatever this was. He made Matt and Alex leave and he followed us back to my place. Auro seemed like she was about to cry, but she was also angry. Thankfully, she hadn't understood what Matt was going to say that ticked me off to the point of actually hitting him.

This weekend had started off great. An unbearable headache, a throbbing lip, and a bruised hand. Just. Fucking. Great.