Soul Mate Service (boyxboy)

Chapter 33

THADDEUS

"Well... have a good day." I croaked, sweat growing clammy between the thin grooves of my palms as I clutched Aria's delicate hands in my own, some stubborn fragment of my brain deciding, 'No way we're letting go of him.' His hands were a dream – so soft and pliant as I squeezed them.

Meanwhile, Aria gazed up at me with a faint but still heart-stopping smile. Those eyes of his, like rich walnuts, had this angelic quality, and his lips... well, they were enough to distract anyone from reality. He stood framed in the doorway of his Instructional room, and even the glass food seemed to know it was outshone as it dulled in comparison to the way his face shined up at me.

It had been a handful of days since I'd had that... rather enlightening conversation with Aria's folks, and my gut still had yet to thaw. The truth of our situation hadn't fully sunk in yet, but I wasn't fooling myself – sometime soon, it was sure to hit me like an eighty-pound ton of bricks against my chest. Until then, I would hold Bug as close to me as I could, keeping him in my sight at all times just in case those damn ugly-ass Elders tried to...

"Thad, that's the fourth time you've said that. You sound like you're on a loop," Aria giggled, the tinkling sound forcing me out of the abyss of my mind and back into the present, "You'd better head to your Work Unit now before you're late," he reminded me.

I felt my face screw up before I even realized that I was consciously doing it, and before I knew it I was tightening my grip on him as I glared hotly at the glass door of Aria's classroom – the same door that his little brat students were currently staring at us through, their hot breath fogging up the glass.

"Hey!" Aria scolded me gently once more, but this time my death stare relaxed when he slipped his hand out of one of mine and cupped my cheek, redirecting my attention back to his face. "Don't glare at my students, you goofball!"

Fuck... he's just so... pretty.

It took a long moment for my mind to wake back up from that thought, but when it did, it was only because Aria had pressed up to his tip-toes, pressing a soft kiss to my lips that honestly left me a little woozy. I chased his lips when he pulled away, leaning in for more and more and more, only to be left disappointed when he met my desperation with a playful shove against my shoulder as he shot me a funny look.

"Thaddeus, seriously, you have like, less than sixty seconds to make it to your Work Unit," He said urgently, his expression becoming more dire as he glanced up at one of the many digital clocks littered around this horribly mundane place. "Please, you need to let me go."

A discontented grumble rumbled through my chest at his words. But even though everything in my soul screamed to stay with him, to do whatever was necessary in order to ensure his safety, I couldn't ignore the truth in his words.

After all, the very last thing that I needed was The Elders having an excuse to fuck with us, as if they hadn't done enough already.

"Promise me you'll keep yourself safe while I'm away," I somehow managed to force out between clenched teeth, my jaw so tight that it was nearly painful, "and that you'll wait for me to come and pick you up after Instructional Unit ends."

Aria's subsequent giggle at my words – which were probably kinda overly protective, now that I self-evaluated – was fucking adorable, but even someone as pure as him wasn't enough to make me lower my guard. Especially after becoming aware of the very likely truth behind The Elders' intentions for us, it was becoming hard to tell if it ever would.

"Of course, Thaddeus, I solemnly swear to keep myself safe from the perilous clutches of my classroom full of terrifyingly dangerous four-year-olds," I could hear the sarcasm in his tone, which on one hand unnerved me, but also made me feel a fraction of a bit better. Only a fraction, though. "Now please, go," he urged, those gorgeous, almond-shaped eyes flickering back up to glance nervously at the clock behind me.