THADDEUS

From the very first day I'd been accepted into the social ranks of the Construction Unit crew, Mitty and I's usual lunch spot had transformed into a chaotic assembly of guys I'd never seen before in my life. (Mitty insisted they weren't strangers, claiming that I'd apparently been working alongside those same dudes for months, but honestly, how was I supposed to remember that?) And now, every day, I had the privilege of sharing my midday meal with a rowdy bunch of hooting and hollering dickheads.

Who knew that having friends other than Mitty would be so damn annoying?

I kinda fucking loved it.

"-And when she bounces on it like that, I'm not even ashamed to say that turn into a freakin' ten-second shooter, man! It's fuckin' crazy, dude." One of the guys sitting across from me shouted over all of the insanity. I'd quickly found out that it wasn't unusual for these Lunch Period conversations to get out of pocket with a quickness. In fact, it was almost expected.

Sure, it was a lil' weird at first. But luckily, I got used to the routine of the conversations switching from ration portioning to comparing dick sizes pretty quickly.

That guy - Bob or Pob or... Ricardo or some shit - then turned in his seat, only to grin stupidly at me from across the table. "What about you, bro? I bet Aria has you all tangled up in the bedroom-"

"Don't talk about him like that," I snapped instinctively through a low growl, the words spewing forth on pure instinct. Sure, I was cool with talking about their weird ass sexual activities. But speaking of Aria in that context was where I drew a very firm, very fatal boundary.

I was the only one who was allowed to think about Aria like that. Aria was mine, and mine alone. Point blank period. End of any and all fucking stories.

"Woah, dude, calm down!" Bob-Pob-Ricardo said, raising his hands up in surrender even as he still grinned over the table. "We get it, Aria is your perfect pretty prince!"

"Keyword: mine," I clarified, leaning back in my chair, attempting to exude the nonchalant, chill guy demeanor that I absolutely did not possess whenever it came to anything to do with Aria.

Onix chimed in then, longingly eyeing my empty lunch container that still sat on the table in front of me. "Can you at least share his cooking with us? Like, dude your lunches always look so amazing." He paused, eyes lighting up with a sudden realization. "Wait, do you think he'd make us all lunches if we asked?"

I clenched my teeth as the group of dickheads all turned toward Onix in mutual agreement, muttering bullshit like: "oh, do you think we should maybe go to his housing pod after Work Unit and ask?", and "he made me cookies once when we were in Instructional together and I just about died because they were so fuckin' good. I'm pretty sure I'm still dead to this day, actually."

Their bickering only lasted a few seconds though, mainly because that was the definitive limit to my dwindling patience.

"Aria only makes my lunches, alright?" I grumbled, the mere thought of someone else enjoying the exclusive privilege I'd cherished for months triggering a surge of selfishness. It was a wholly irrational thought - I know - but at this point I was so far gone that I'm pretty sure there was absolutely nothing that could stop me from hogging my Soul Mate and all of his talents all to myself.

That odd, undomesticated and possessive part of my brain that had only seemed to grow lately grunted in agreement.

Onix whined in exasperated frustration, a pout - yes a literal pout - forming on his lips. "Seriously, man, you're being a real buzzkill! My lunch today? One lonesome piece of fuckin' roast beef!" he complained melodramatically, holding up the meager remnants of said beef scraps. If I was being honest, it did look pretty damn pitiful, but that still didn't make it my problem. "Jeez, have some compassion for us lowly scavengers!"

Just as I opened my mouth to spew out some spectacularly witty retort, my travel tablet chimed in my pocket, the automated voice muffled yet unmistakable. 'Incoming comm: Aria Toulsend,' it announced.

I didn't even pay a single brain cell of attention to the way the guys at the table all fell into a stunned hush, staring at me with arrant confusion when I suddenly shot out of my chair, ripping my Travel Tablet from my pocket like it would somehow burn me if I didn't move fast enough.

And then, in a few quick strides, I was across the room, accepting the call and pressing the Tablet to my ear so firmly that it may as well have become an extension of my skull.

"Aria?! What's wrong? Where are you? Are you safe?" I blurted out before Aria even had a moment to get a single syllable out, my instincts going absolutely batshit as I tapped into our bond, desperately seeking answers as to his unexpected midday comm. "That's it, I'm coming to your Instructional Unit right no-"

"Thad, calm down!" Aria's voice filtered through the receiver, and not unlike a puppet obeying its master, my body immediately listened, muscles relaxing a fraction while my frantic mind quieted to a slightly less raucous buzz. "I'm okay, I promise," he added, though there was still a hint of uncertainty in his voice, "Well... at least now I am."

Those last words made me nearly lose my shit all over again. "Bug, please. You have to tell me what's going on right now or else I think I might just fucking kill something," I mumbled, pressing my fisted knuckles into the wall as squeezing my eyelids shut, attempting with all of my might to keep myself in check.

Aria's soft exhale preceded his response, and thankfully, it came before I had the chance to unleash my rage on the nearest unsuspecting organism.

"I'm at the Medical Unit," he finally explained. My stomach churned, and suddenly I felt like vomiting.

"What the fuck?! Why? Our mandatory medical check isn't for another few days at least!" I blanched, the blunt ends of my fingertips now digging into the flesh of my palm hard enough to threaten to draw blood.

"I," he paused, which realistically probably only took about a millisecond, but felt like an eon. "I almost passed out during Instructional today. I'm fine now, I promise! They're taking super duper great care of me here, I promise! I just wanted to let you know in case you felt anything strange through," he lowered his voice, as if guarding a secret, "our connection."

"I'm on my way." My words were absolute, leaving absolutely zero room for argument. So, when Aria tried to do just that, I abruptly ended the call.

My body moved instinctively, propelled by a mixture of anger, concern, and frustration. My senses were so attuned to the urgency of the situation that I didn't register Mitty calling my name or realize that I was already in motion by the time I had already left the Nutrition Pod and was marching down the corridor.

My frustration was directed inward, because fuck, I definitely didn't feel anything through our bond, which only multiplied my worry. I should have known that something was wrong. I should have been there.

Among the labyrinth of corridors that made up our Society, the Medical Unit was easy to find, especially considering how often I tended to end up there throughout my younger years. Maybe that's why the Unit workers already knew which name to yell when I blasted through the doors, my periphery darkening into tunnel vision as I made a beeline for the one and only treatment room that I could feel Aria's existence within.

Brushing past the Unit worker who attempted to step in my way, I followed my instincts until that uncomfortable, tugging sensation I always felt when we were apart abated.

I flung the frosted glass door open with a quick, anxious jerk. Within moments, I cradled his jaw between my palms, turning his face this way and that, my eyes flitting everywhere as they searched his body for injuries. It was only the sensation of Aria's soft hand wrapping around my wrist as he stared up at me from where he sat on the infirmary bed with the most heart-stealing doe eyes that slowed - but definitely not pause - the urgency of my inspection.

"Thad, you're breathing is really fast," Aria murmured, his sweet breath washing over me. I only narrowly restrained myself from burying my face right into his neck and breathing as deeply as I could, just to beckon more of him into my lungs. "If you keep that up, you might be the one to pass out next." he chuckled softly at that, though the humor was lost on me.

"What happened?" I croaked, my voice strained even to my own ears. In an effort to obey his request though, I leaned forward and down, resting my forehead against his own. Yeah, it was better this way. He was here, and he was safe.

Aria hesitated before he replied, his fingertips trembling a little where he still held onto me. "I don't know," he began, blinking away stray moisture in his lower eyelid before capturing my gaze once more. "All I remember is standing at the front of the Instructional Pod, and then everything started spinning. And next thing I knew, I was on the floor, and my little minnows..." he swallowed hard, as if the memory were painful to recover. And this time, it wasn't enough for him to try to blink away the tears; they toppled over his lower lash line before he even had a chance to try. "They were terrified, Thad. And I tried to be strong, I really did. But I was just as scared as they were because I had no idea what was happening to me." His last few words came out as a sob, tugging mercilessly at every part of my heart that had tethered itself to him over the past few months.

... So, basically the entire damn thing.

"Oh, baby," I cooed, seizing the opportunity to slip onto the infirmary bed beside him, tucking his body into the safe cocoon of my arms and nestling his head against my chest, close to my heart. Of course, that would be the exact time that one of those stupid fucking Medical Unit workers chose to try to pop in and reprimand me for not following proper visitor's protocol. But I easily solved that situation with one of my signature, 'I'll make your life a living hell if you don't leave' expressions that left them scampering in the opposite direction.

Because yeah, fuck all their bureaucratic bullshit. Bug was the most important thing in this entire world, meaning that anyone and everything else could wait.

"I'm so sorry, Bug. I'm so, so sorry." I continued, rocking us gently as his tears soaked through my jumpsuit. It wasn't until I leaned down to press a kiss to the crown of his head that I even realized that I was crying, too, my own tears leaving round, crystalline droplets on his lustrous, light brown tresses before vanishing into the thick strands. "I'm here now. And I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

I just held him like that for a while, his fingers curling tightly into my jumpsuit wherever he could reach. All the while I breathed in his scent greedily, using it to tame the beast inside who still raged in Aria's honor, demanding justice against a nonexistent enemy.

How was it possible that it took so long for me to realize how... perfectly he fit in my arms? How his sweet, peach scent set off fireworks in my brain, lighting me up from the inside out? How his soft skin begged me to run my hands across each and every square inch, to map each and every hidden crevice until...

"I'm sorry for distracting you during your workday," Aria's voice was softer than usual as he wiped his tears away with the back of his hand. And - shamefully - nearly whimpered when he pushed himself away from my chest, glancing up at me with red-rimmed eyes and a feeble smile that barely reached his lips. "You should get back to your unit before they reprimand you for being late. I'll be okay on my own, I promise."

My frown was quite literally instantaneous.

"Like fuck you will," my words came out so deep and growly that they were nearly sub-audible, "No way in hell. I darethem to try to take me away from you," I continued, instinct screaming at me to crush him back against my chest, an action to which he let out a little, high-pitched, 'oof!'. "I ain't budging. I'm sticking right here next to you, reprimand or not. And after they clear you for discharge, I'm following you back to our Pod and staying with you there, too."

Aria's reply was muffled from where he was pressed up tight against my jumpsuit, but I could still hear the disbelief in his voice. "But Thad, that could take hours!"

I shrugged with an air of casual indifference. "Oh, well. The longer they take, the more time I get with you. Sounds like a win-win. In fact, maybe I can bribe somebody to give us both medical absence clearance through tomorrow, so then we can just stay in bed all day, and then..."

"Thad!" Aria interrupted, pushing against my chest again, which I begrudgingly allowed him to do because, well I didn't exactly possess the mental capacity to deny him anything. My willpower when it came to him was just about as sturdy as a paper bag in a rainstorm, and that's if I was lucky. "That's against the rules!" he hissed in a whisper-shout, giving me one of his 'I'm a straight-A student, and you're about to get us both in trouble' glares. I smirked happily at the sight, finding his earnestness ridiculously adorable.

How was it possible that someone could be so fucking cute without even trying? That was seriously a dangerous superpower to have.

Teasing him was seriously too much damn fun. So, I let out an exaggerated sigh through my smirk, pulling him close once more as we both tumbled back onto the infirmary bed.

"Alright, alright. If you insist, your highness."

As I predicted, it did take a few more hours of us sitting and waiting in the Medical Unit for the worker to clear him for discharge. But after administering Bug with some intravenous fluids, a procedure for which I almost bit the damn worker for making Bug wince in pain during the IV placement, I was declared free to wrap my Soul Mate up in my arms and smother him with a very reasonable and sane level of coddling.

"Thad, you do realize I'm very capable of doing that myself, you know," Aria teased, giggling from somewhere beneath the mound blankets I had swathed around him like a human burrito the moment I got him carried home and deposited into our bedroom. I paused at the door, glancing back over my shoulder at him with a playful glance.

"Young man, if you so much as move a single muscle from underneath those blankets," I began, scanning our room as I rapidly searched for something to use as leverage. My smirk nearly doubled in size as my eyes fell on the golden ticket. "I'll confiscate and hide every single one of your nightgowns for a year."

"You wouldn't!" Aria gasped, and if I didn't know he wasn't completely serious, I would have laughed out loud at his gullibility.

I arched an eyebrow in challenge. "Oh, but I most definitely would. I mean, just think about it, no sleepwear means you'd have to resort to sleeping naked, a prospect I certainly would not object to-"

"Okay, okay, you win! I'll stay put, just don't touch my nightgowns!" He babbled hysterically, desperation cutting me off in the middle of my spiel.

With a sly wink and an utterly self-satisfied smirk that had definitely reached astronomical heights of 'cocky asshole,' I realized that I'd actually won. "Good boy. I'll be back before you can even start to miss me." I assured him before disappearing out of the doorway.

I quite literally ran to the kitchen, sliding on my socks across the polished concrete floor as I grabbed him the cup of ice water he'd asked for, adding a stray apple and a small ration bag of chips to the mix just for good measure. And then, with my makeshift refreshment tray in hand, I sprinted right back to our room.

In total, it took me a total of around thirty seconds to complete the entire mission, and within one full minute Bug was thoroughly hydrated, and I was nestled underneath the blanket beside him. Pulling his smaller body into my side, I attempted to leave the least amount of space between us as I could possibly manage.

By the time I was satisfied, our lips were nearly touching as we smiled dopily at one another, our heads sharing a pillow.

Unable to resist, I reached out to tuck a few stray strands of silken hair behind his ear. And even then, my hand lingered on his cheek long after I'd completed the deed.

We were quiet for a long time before Aria spoke, his voice a delicate secret between us.

"Did you really mean it?" he breathed, the words a soft caress meant for my ears alone.

"Mean what, Bug?" I replied, my gaze never leaving his, even as his nervous eyes drifted elsewhere. Missing his gaze, I used a crooked fingertip beneath his chin to draw his attention back to me.

"What you said," Aria stammered, flushed as he suddenly looking down at my collarbone as if it were the most interesting thing in the room. His face gained an even deeper shade of crimson, a sheepish smile pulling at his fingertips fumbled nervously with the hem of my shirt. "Don't make me say it. You know... "

I grinned knowingly, leaning in closer. "When we were...having sex?"

At the mention of that last, incendiary word, Aria squeaked as if I'd just cursed The Elders' parents or something (which, admittedly, I definitely did do in private). But after his little freak out passed, he dipped his head, has bashfulness expressed in a shy nod. "Y-yeah. When we were... yeah."

Releasing a breath, I drew him closer, pressing a quick, reassuring kiss to the tip of his nose. Sure, I was a jokester most of the time, but this... this was not a laughing matter. I needed him to believe what I was about to tell him.

"I meant every word," I assured him, feeling the tension in his body ease as my words enveloped him. "Every single one."

"Even the one where you told me..." Aria's swallowed audibly, voice trembling, "where you told me that you... you l-l-lo-"

"When I said that I love you?" I gently filled in the blank for him, suppressing a chuckle and tucking his head closer, hiding his embarrassment beneath my chin. "Yeah, Bug. Even that."

"Oh. Oh."

"Yeah, oh." I echoed, smiling. "But it's alright. You don't have to love me back just yet. I can love you enough for both of us until you're ready."

"Really?"

"Absolutely."

Aria's arms wrapped around my back then, squeezing me back just as tightly as I clung onto him. And somehow, with that hug alone, I knew that everything - even our... situation that I still had yet to figure out - was going to be just fine.

We were going to be just fine.

"You've been through a lot today, love. Sleep, now." I whispered. "I'll be here when you wake."

Aria's only response was the faintest of nods.

I waited patiently for his breathing to even out and his muscles to go slack before I closed my own eyes. But as I searched for sleep behind my own eyelids, there were only nightmares waiting to greet me.

__

Thoughts on this one?

Love you all!

Xoxo, Alex ❤️