Soulmates (AU)

Tidus shrugged and took a new sip of the coffee. Who would suspect that.
“I´m not quite sure what to answer to that… so I´m just staying quiet…” he winked at the popular jock. He knew that his word made sense. And at the same time… it didn’t he had no idea at all.
Just as he had joked about staying quiet, his former enemy, now going on frenemy, told him to relax and just talk. He liked listened to him. This made Tidus smirk a little. The little self absurd façade back. “oh, so you like listening to me huh?”
There was nothing wrong in being single. Well… he did know that, but for some reason, he just heard himself making up the fake boyfriend. Only to telling the truth again.
and luckily, Nath did not mock him, instead he came with a little joke that made the blonde blush even more. “Oh… yeah… maybe he is.”
Again… he couldn’t stop his words before they were blurted out like word vomit. “Not that… I… Immediately think that you and I… I… ahhh… forget it!”
why was he nervous?! Why was he saying these stupid things!? “tell me about you and Ty! How long have you been friends?” he asked kindly.

“Well, Ty was rather reluctant about me telling you in the first place,” Nathaniel revealed with a crooked smile. “I suspect he has a little crush on you,” he chuckled, knowing that it wasn’t the case, but it was fun to speculate.
“Of course I like to listen to you. Have you heard yourself? Your voice is like mellow humming... it is rather soothing, actually.” He said. He didn’t mention what it was soothing to, as it didn’t need to be explored. The blush on the blonde Picasso’s cheeks made Nathaniel smile calmly.
“Come on, don’t say that you’ve never thought about it.” He said, clearly just jesting with the poor guy, but it was in good fun.
“Honestly, my parents would kill me if they ever found out about this.” He said, placing his cup on the table between them. “Ty and I have known each other always. I can’t remember a time without him,to be honest. Ty’s mother would babysit me whenever mum and dad was out of town - which was usually a couple of weeks a month.” He said. He had grown up at Ty’s place, to be honest. His own parents had little to do with who he had become.
“Without Ty, I’m not sure I would be here today. So, he means a lot to me.” He admitted. As soon as he had said it, he looked down at his coffee, having a subtle flashback to one of the times he was left home alone and had considered just taking his mother’s pills and emptying them down his throat... right until Ty would show up with movies, games and food - trying to get Nathaniel’s mind away from those horrible and unfair thoughts of his.

Even though it clearly was a joke, it did make Tidus heart skip a little in anxious, when Nath told about a suspicion of a crush from Ty. Mostly because all Ty had seen of Tidus was him being a little bitch, reacting to Nath being his soulmate. Or… had he seen him do something else? Tidus weren’t sure if he had ever talked with Ty.
“awh, you´re just saying that to make me feel a bit popular,” He said and turned his head. The sweet spot on his tongue, had taken control over his eyes, so they spotted the cake behind the glass. “Ohhh, get a man who looks at you… like the way I look at those cakes up there…” he nodded towards them. In a split of a second, he looked at Nath. “Should I buy us one?”
when Nath said he had soothing voice, he chuckled and shoke his head, only to pretend he now sat with a book. “Could you imagine me having the job of reading E-books? Then people could hear my voice on their headphones all the time… all day long.”
The next tease, joke or whatever, made Tidus almost choke on his coffee. For yes… what could he say? That he might have had such a scenario in his head. Which he shamefully kept to himself. Especially since both him and Nath, always had misunderstood each other. “I do not share that kind of information, before after a beer or five.”
Now to the serious conversation… Ty… his parents… his parents who sounded like shit faces…
Ty on the other hand. It sounded like the sweetest kind of friendship. A friendship you had to search far and wild for. He smiled kindly. “Ty sounds like the greatest guy… and… I´m sorry about your parents…” He studied Naths facial features. “Why would they be gone for so long… what do they work as?”
It ached in his heart to know that Nath´s parents would never accept him for his sexuality. Worst nightmare of an offspring.

Every little joke of theirs faded into the background, as they had begun talking about his upbringing. The question about what his parents did for a living made him shrug. ‘’my father is in the army; my mother is a prosecutor and attorney for the army. Basically, I am expected to enroll when I turn eighteen.’’ He said, before he looked in the direction of the cake Tidus had seemed to take an interest in. He then got up from his seat before Tidus could do anything about it and purchased a piece of cake for Tidus, only to return with is moments later. He placed in front of the blue-eyed artist before he sat down once more.
‘’Look, I know you think it is none of my business, but it is and you can’t stop me from doing something about it.’’ Nathaniel said, not really stating what he was talking about, before he leaned in across the table; their faces inches from each other. ‘’If your father ever hurts you again, you tell me. It is not a plead, it is an order. I can’t stand that man, and the thought of him hurting you make me sick.’’ There was something in his voice; something rather primal - like an instinct had kicked in.

The army. Well… that explained why he had to keep that perfect image of being strong, masculine and brave. He bit his lip, lost in thought, while also nodding.
“Eighteen… that´s next year… isn´t it?” here he made a little face. “Damn… that´s a lot of pressure… I… where did ya go?” first now he realized that Nath wasn’t sitting in front of him anymore. Curiously he looked around, only to spot the tall young man at the counter. When he got back with the cake, Tidus admired it, by every curve and every glace. “Ohhhh and it´s a chocolate cake!”
as he was ready to dig in, the serious tone in Nath´s voice, made him put down the fork and look into the colorful eyes of the jock.
when he leaned in closer and Tidus could smell the cologne, the blonde felt how his head got dizzy. Something he shouldn’t be feeling. The words escaping Nath´s lips on the other hand… made him find his stability once again. “what… what makes you say that…” embarrassed he looked away. “Okay… yes… he´s…” he sighed and now picked up the fork to poke to his cake. “He has a temper and just like your parents… he would never accept me for who I am… I can´t wait to be done with school this year and just get the hell out of here…”
when he realized his words, he looked back at Nath, smiled kindly. “No offence.” He tilted his head. “But… even if I tell you… then… I´m sorry… what are you gonna do? If you beat him up, you´ll get kicked out of school and then your parents… yeah…” Here he took a piece of his cake. “A recipe for disaster.”

“It is.” Nathaniel said in a rather monotone voice. He liked the idea of the army, but he didn’t care much for the fact that it was expected of him. Life had its way of messing up plans.
“Actually, it is in a couple of months. When we finish school.” He said, looking shortly at the cake, wondering how it tasted. It had been years since he had enjoyed something like that.

Then the whole thing turned towards Tidus once more, regarding his father. “How I know? I’ve spent years looking at you, Tidus. I know every line on your face, every facet of your voice. I can tell when you’ve been crying, or when you’ve been laughing so hard your stomach hurts.” He said, knowing it was unpleasant to hear.
“Does he do more than beat you?” He asked, knowing that question might be a bit too personal. He needed to know what he was up against.
“Do you think I care about school? About my parents? I care about you. You are my soulmate after all.” He said, leaning back in the chair. “I’m no vigilante, but I will not hesitate making a statement if he hurts you. Just know that.” He said, calmly.

In a couple of months. Great. If he did get a strong friendship with Nathaniel, the man would leave, shattering Tidus slowly. As that dramatic thought ran through his mind, he sighed for himself and took another piece of the cake. when he spotted the looks Nath gave it, he kindly tilted his head and pushed the cake towards Nath. “Well… In that case, lets make sure you get a lot of snacks, dessert and junk food before you leave… because… in the military…” here Tidus stood up. “There won´t be any of that… I´m getting an extra fork!” Before Nath could stop him, he went up to get an extra fork and as he sat down, he kindly gave the fork to the jog. “Here ya go, taste! It´s good! It´s chocolate!”

with a smile, he sat down again, now only to have the conversation get a little darker. Except when Nath said how he had studied him over the years. To some, it might have been creepy and stalkery, but for Tidus… it was kind of sweet. He even caught himself in getting a light blush on his cheeks. “You… been looking at me?” he wasn’t sure if he found the words kind of cute, because Nath was his soulmate, or because he himself, had, had a secret eye to Nathaniel through the years. He smiled teasingly at the handsome jog.
“No no… he only beats me… nothing more,” he answered and took a new piece of the cake. “God forbid if he put a hand on me in other manners. He would cut his own hand of before letting that happen.”
again, the jog made Tidus blush, as he explained that he cared about him. “But… I… we…” he sighed and smiled warmly. “Okay, I will come to you and just so you know… I´ll be there for you as well… as good as I can.” He nodded. Satisfied by his own words.

Nathaniel was no pleasant aquaitance when he was angry. When you had angered him, he was without a doubt far more terrifying than the average kid at seventeen - it might have been the fact that he was able to take on the complete football team if he was asked to, or the fact that he was signed up for the army within the year.
Tidus tried to be nice, which was a bit too much for the jock. He looked down at his empty coffee cup for a moment, as the blonde Picasso went to grab another fork since he was convinced Nathaniel actually was able to eat such things. ‘’It’s nice of you,’’ he said with a crooked smile, ‘’but I can’t eat it. I don’t want to mess with the diet plan Coach has us on..’’ he said with a soft look in his eyes. ‘’Consider it my curse. I can’t eat cake!’’ he said, gasping theatrically to make it obvious that he was making some fun of it.

Blushing ensued on Tidus’ cheeks as he heard how Nathaniel had been looking at him. ‘’Of course I have! How do you think I was able to bully you for so long? It gets old, when there’s no new material once in a while,’’ he said, winking at Tidus to lighten the mood.
‘’Good. Then he is nothing more than a violent asshole and a homophobe. That’s easy enough to deal with.’’ He said, before he looked past Tidus and got eye contact with a barista, whilst he lifted up his cup. The barista walked over there with the coffee pot a little too eagerly, before she poured up for him. ‘’Thank you,’’ he said in a soft tone, before she nodded once and walked back after discovering that Tidus was drinking cappuccino and not black coffee. She immediately began making another cappuccino for him.
‘’I? We? But what, Tidus? What do you think it means? Think about it, you father beats you and you wish to leave this hell hole. My parents are forcing me to uphold some image and join the army. If anything… We should just pack our bags and get the hell out of here.’’ He sighed, taking a sip of his newly poured coffee, only to discover that it was freshly made and therefor scolding hot. ‘’God fucking damnit, that shit is bloody hot!’’ he snarled as he placed the cup back on the table, using his hand to fan his upper lip as it had gotten burnt.

Thanks to Nath´s coach the jog couldn’t even enjoy a bite of cake. This made Tidus look shocked. Just as if Nath had told him there was no Santa Claus. “But… But… not even a… a bite? A bite is not gonna kill you or… is it because it´s gonna tempt you too much… I´m sorry… I will stop now, I promise!”
and after that, he did not try to encourage his soulmate to eat or rather, take a bite of the cake.

Those sweet words Nath was throwing at him, immediately turned into something else, as he explained it to be bully material. With a low chuckle, Tidus shook his head and took the last sip of his cappuccino. Only to see how the eager and probably lovestruck barista came, to fill up Nath´s cup and make a new cappu for him. Just as the barista came down with the cappu, Nath talked about running away, something that actually did not sound to bad. When he thought about.
“Let´s do that!” and just in cue, Nath burned his perfect jog lips on the coffee, which was kind of hard for Tidus not to laugh about. “Sorry, I shouldn’t laugh… You need water, anything? You´re not fireproofed I see.”
If the jog told him to get some water, the artist would immediately get up, to pick it for him. And after that, he would sit down once again. “But… Let´s do it… let´s pack our bags, find a cheep ass apartment and stay there!”

“Not. Even. A. Bit.” He said, as seriously as he could muster, although it was very laughable that he couldn’t even taste cake. He could, but he wouldn’t be able to stop, and being unable to control what he ate made him anxious...
then, the incident with the too hot coffee happened. Tidus seemed to be getting a good laugh at it, making Nathaniel chuckle. “It’s okay, laugh about it! I should have been more careful,” he chuckled, even though his upper lip now was slightly more red that the lower one.
“Fireproof? I am not a dragon, dear Tidus.” He said, winking st him. “But you find me so hot that I am in need of being fireproof?” He guessed, winking st him once more, sticking his tongue out to tease the blonde Picasso although that helped little on the burned lip.
Then, he agreed to it. He agreed to run away...
“You are aware of what you are saying, right? Have the cake gone to your head? If it had been yesterday, and I told you to move in with me in some danky flat, you would have thought me to be daft.” He said, tilting his head a little.
“My parents would disown me. But then again, what do I have to loose..? Shite... let’s do it. Let’s get the He.l out of this place and just... live!” He said, his voice being lowered as if they were making a plan to escape something - which they actually did.

To the finding him hot as a dragon comment, Tidus just winked and now looked curiously at the new cappuccino, the cream formed as a heart. This made him raise an eyebrow and study it a bit more carefully. In this minute, he realized, that he was hiding his beating heart behind a façade there was looking at the coffee. He lifted his eyes from the coffee and now looked at Nath with a smile. Yes, he knew the idea was crazy, but what was the worst that could happen?
“I know, I know… It may sounds crazy and maybe we aren´t fit to live together… but I would ten times rather live with you than my father… even if we still weren´t on good terms.” He smiled brightly at him. And when Nath agreed to it, Tidus smile just grew even brighter. “Yeah! Let´s live… let´s say fuck them all and go to… America! Or… Or Scotland! Just… somewhere!”
even with this excitement, he still lowered his voice and treated it like a secret escape plan.
“But… You do have a friend here tho… what would Ty say about this?”

As his coffee seemed to have cooled down just a smidge, he took another sip; slightly scared to get burned once more.
''It doesn't sound crazy.'' he stated, smiling softly at the blonde Picasso. ''But some might consider it odd,'' he then said, taking a sip more of his coffee. It was one of his secrets to prevent himself from binge eating all of the time; coffee. Black and strong enough to dissolve a spoon if necessary.
''You are aware that parental abuse is illegal, right? And since he is our principal, he would loose everything if you were to file a report on him,'' he said, knowing Tidus would be too scared of his father to even consider it.

''Ty already knows that I am leaving to enroll. I know he would rather see me go live a life of my own someone else than serving in a military I have nothing but contempt for,'' Nathaniel answered Tidus, as he had asked about Ty. ''Heck, Ty would probably joke about being the best man at our wedding!'' he said, chuckling. He had no intention of marrying the blonde Picasso, but it seemed obvious that some would suspect they were eloping.