You swore your heart completely stopped. Meeting your soulmate was supposed to be a beautiful thing- at least for most people. You're supposed to feel happy and excited that you've met the person you'll spend the rest of your days with, however long that may be. It's supposed to be like finding treasure. You realize you get to learn them and love them and be with them.

Yet, you were anything but happy.

You were petrified.

You were seeing him for the first time, and you were terrified. Blood red was dripping from his fingertips, disappearing into thin air as they fell. You could feel them crawling down his arm- just as you could feel something dribbling down your neck and you just felt panicked. Red was supposed to be on your skin. It's supposed to stay there and be vibrant until your very last breath. It should not be dripping off your skin and disappearing.

You wanted to scream- you wanted to thrash out and cry until you couldn't any more. You wanted to hit him for all the pain he caused- for the fact that this was happening and you didn't know what it meant. Red was beautiful. Black meant tragedy. Dull meant just that. So thorns? Thorns were prickly and painful- but not deadly-

The red was getting darker- bloodier. More of it was dripping down his arm until it completely consumed his palm. You didn't know what to do or what to say- so you ran. You ran as fast as your legs could take you. You shoved past irritated people and ignored his voice calling out to you. It burned- it absolutely burned because you were supposed to be running to him, not from him. He was supposed to be a breath of fresh air. Your 'aha' moment. A 'I haven't seen you for over seventeen years' moment. Two familiar souls finally finding each other once again- but it wasn't. This wasn't fair- all the bullshit you'd dealt with, and now you didn't even know what your life with your soulmate would be like. You didn't know that thorns were a thing- and you damn sure didn't have a clue as to what it could mean.

Nothing on this earth could have prepared you for any of this.

Your throat still burned, but your eyes burned too. You were crying-

Crying, that was what Peter felt like doing, only he wasn't sure why. He felt panicked, and he understood that, but he wasn't sure what the need to cry was about. His only guess was that it was you. Something in you found this horribly unfair and he couldn't grasp why. He couldn't even ask you, you were long gone, and so was the red on his palm. It stopped once you were away from him and the burn on his chest was starting to fade. The burning on his throat was doing the same. He could no longer taste smoke or felt the need to grasp at himself as if he could put out the internal fire.

It was all fading, but you were still there. He could feel his legs start to ache from your constant running and his lungs start to burn with a need for oxygen. People were staring at him, confused at the situation. Had they seen the red running off his palm? Did smoke come out their mouths- or were they just nosey, wanting to know why a girl ran from him so suddenly?

"Next! Oh, hey Mr.Parker. Hows..."

Peter couldn't bring himself to listen or properly respond. He got his usual and numbly wandered out. It was starting to hit him. His white rose wasn't going to turn red was it? He wasn't going to get a lucky break, was he? Of all that he's lost and dealt with- the universe won't at the least allow him this will it?

When he got home and lifted his shirt to see his rose, it was no longer white, just a black outline of a rose. Thorns surrounded it but they did not move like he saw on her- however, he swore they threatened to the moment he thought of her. What were these thorns? What did they mean?

A gasp startled him, "Oh, Peter.. no.."

You had to hide away in your room and hold your hand over your mouth. You were so angry and the tears just wouldn't stop. The pain was gone from your throat, but now it was in your head. Your legs felt like jelly and your head ached from your crying. Your soulmate was supposed to be your escape- your one happy thing. Now what? What do you do from here? Where do you go?

Your Mother found you crumpled up on your bed, in tears and blubbering about thorns. Her face visibly paled at the words.

"Thorns..", she says, "I remember the warning.. oh.."

Warning? What-

"Sweetie, there's something we have to talk about.."