The Soulmate System

28. A Theme of Acceptance, Pt. 2

It wasn't until several months later, when Bryce had begun to make peace with his childhood demons, when Dylan desired to venture off into the depths of a new dream that his Soulmate supported wholeheartedly, when a letter clad in periwinkle and stamped in royal blue ink arrived in their letterbox.

It was an invitation to the twenty-third Matthews's Family Reunion.

It was now close to eleven months since the two discovered they were Soulmates.

"Do you want to go?" Bryce asked, dropping groceries on the counter and beginning to put things away.

Dylan clutched his coffee cup, the warmth spreading through the porcelain and moving in waves up his arm. "Not really, no." Despite the wishy-washiness of his answer, Dylan's tone was definite.

"Do you think your dad'll be there?" he asked. Dylan tapped his nose. "Is that really enough for you to avoid your family reunion?"

"Really?" asked Dylan. "You want go down that road?"

Bryce raised his hands in defeat. "Fine. I get it." Dylan downed the rest of his coffee and slid it across the counter towards Bryce. "I mean, you did get to meet my family – "

"Bryce, the final answer is no."

"I'm just sayin' that I'm a little curious about your extended relations."

The man stopped, inches from the seclusion of the bedroom. "No."

"Ok – "

Dylan glared sternly across the room. "That's. Final." Bryce sighed and turned back to the kitchen sink, possibly because Dylan's angry glare still unnerved him, no matter how many times he'd actually seen it. He was just about to turn the faucet to wash the remnants of their breakfast away when Dylan called out, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go 'Angry Dylan' on you."

"I know you didn't," Bryce whispered back, listening to the running water.

"Bryce?" Dylan hesitantly asked moments later.

The man in question turned away from the running water and replied louder, "I still think you should go. Even if it is just so you can see the family you like. And, you have a way better family than I ever had."

"That's subjective," snidely replied Dylan, who exited the bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. When Bryce caught sight of this, he merely stared. "Give me a chance to think about it?"

Bryce blushed unintentionally. "Uh...y-yeah. Sure, sure," he answered, looking away back to the dirty dishes.

"Leave them. I'll do them after my shower, okay?"

He began turning his head, asking, "Are you s – " when Dylan's hand fell to his wrist. He hadn't anticipated Dylan being so close. Bryce suppressed a lustful whine, and the urge to bruise his boyfriend's lips with kisses until Dylan forgot what he was going to ask. But Bryce blinked away the fantasy.

"I'll do them after my shower, okay?" Dylan asked again, his tone quite calm. It was the earnestness that Bryce first noticed, that softened the colour of his eyes until they were nearly a honey colour. Bryce nodded, withdrew his hands and turned off the running water. "Now go get ready," he continued. "We'll be late for work."

To say that nothing changed at work would be a mixed message. Finally the little picture of Dylan's parents was presented, unobstructed by the pencil and pen receptacle; the faux plant replaced with one that needed attention. The lemon cleaner was replaced by an air freshener that made Dylan's cubicle, and everything within a five-foot radius, smell like lavender and vanilla.