Fire & Ice | Soulmate AU 1 |

chapter twenty-five

Rowan and I never thought anything of kissing right outside of a crime scene. It just proves we're a pair of total idiots. I heard the clicking of the cameras as we exited the bank. I mean, innocent people were being held hostage in a bank, for god's sake. What made the two of us think that nobody would be watching?

The pictures are everywhere. It's Arctic Hurricane, the youngest agent in the League, and Inferno, the newest agent on team N, kissing after a mission! You'd think that the world has stopped spinning by the way people are reacting.

It's not atypical. If someone can catch League agents in any kind of candid moment, it's considered gold. It's hard for people without powers not to idolize people who have them like they're some kind of superior beings. I get it. I looked up to League agents just like every other kid. It's just human nature. Unlike celebrities, people don't photograph League agents to mock them or start drama; they take pictures to capture a moment in the life of a superhuman. It's ridiculous, but it's how one of Atlas's friends, Kasey, has explained it to me. She's not one of the photographers who hunt for those key moments, at least not yet, but she works with a bunch of people who are.

Sure, heroic fights and action shots are super cool. Little slice-of-life moments, however, are heartwarming and realistic. Take Nick, for example. It's hard for people to see someone who is the human embodiment of an angel, wings and all, as a normal person. If someone were to take a picture of her eating a sandwich, though, it would bring her back down to earth in everyone's outside view.

I'm not mad about the whole privacy thing. Rowan and I didn't think anyone was watching, but he wouldn't have kissed me if we were afraid of getting caught. Being an agent means being in the spotlight at some point in time, whether we like it or not. We both signed up for it.

I'm lying in bed trying to evaluate the life choices I've made that have gotten me in this situation when my phone rings. I almost ignore it all together until I see Atlas's name. I sigh heavily. I already know how this phone call is going to go.

"Hello?"

"You're all over the news!" Atlas's familiar voice shouts down the line. "Mags literally called me from the library to tell me! The library! And she hates people who talk on the phone in the library!"

"I know, man," I huff, rolling my eyes up towards the ceiling. "It was an accident."

"An accident," he says flatly, clearly unimpressed. "Right."

"He's the one," I say quietly. Rowan makes a little noise from where he's lying beside me. I look over and smile, poking him lightly on the nose. "We're...Bonded and everything, now. Everything worked out, believe it or not."

"Bonded?" Atlas exclaims. I hold the phone a small distance away from my ear to prevent hearing loss. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know whether you've noticed or not, but I've had a busy last couple of weeks. Dead mom turned out to be not so dead. Nearly dead League director. Anti-League terrorism. The list goes on."

"No excuse," Atlas insists. "No excuse! You need to bring the mystery man over. Oh my god, Maggie is gonna scream when I tell her this."

The bed sinks in a bit as Rowan rolls over onto his side to look at me. He smirks, and I narrow my eyes at him with a stiff shake of my head. He leans forward anyways, shoving his face into the crook of my neck despite the fact that I'm still on the phone.

"Alright, alright," I say a bit breathlessly as Rowan's fingers creep down to the waistband of my jeans. "Row!" I whisper-shout when he starts unbuttoning my jeans.