Harrison could see the beloved mark on his ring finger that he waited so long to obtain starting to fade away. It was a month ago that he noticed and he desperately tried to ignore it, at first telling himself that his vision wasn't so good, that he had got a tan and it just looked less evident on his skin because of the sun exposure. But truth was, the small birthmark looking blotch at the base of his finger was fading away, in the first few days of the current month he saw it get more and more dull as days passed, along with the mark his girlfriend's eyes had turned equally dull towards him, if not more. They didn't shine bright when she looked at him, when she dared to look at him. Cold few kisses, one-word answers, meaningless touches, obligatory and forced conversations.
Sleepless nights watching her lay beside him, being careful in her slumber to not touch him. He was losing her as well as the mark. He was losing his soulmate. His mother had told him before to fight for her, and he did, everyday he fought for her, for the memory of them being happy together for only a couple of years. But no one was fighting for him, not her, and god did he wanted her to do so. She could smile at him again the way she used to, with her eyes pushed closed by her cheeks, her perfectly straight teeth showing and she'll have his heart once more. But she didn't.
"How was work, love?" He asked as soon as the girl walked through the threshold of their shared flat. He was cooking them both dinner, he knew she used to like it when he tried to do it, even though she wouldn't finish her plate because it was definitely really bad, but she would have this huge smile on her face every time she'll catch him fumbling with the pans.
"Fine." She said dryly, dropping her handbag on the floor and shedding her coat, her tired feet toeing her ankle boots off. The sizzling of the pan and the smell that filled the tiny space doing nothing of what he expected would happen.
"Dinner?" He asked in a hopeful voice, the wooden spoon he held in his right hand stained with the stir fry sauce.
"No, thanks." She sighed, dragging her feet to the bathroom. Harrison's heart tightened and his eyes glossed over, he stood still looking blankly ahead the smell of burned food made him turn back to the stove and kill the heat with a frustrated sigh escaping his chapped lips, his hands coming flat on the surface of the counter top as he bowed his head breathing deeply a few times to calm down, his watery eyes landing on his ring finger. He cleared his throat to get rid of the horrible lump that was obstructing his vocal chords, straightening up and rubbing his nose with the back of his hand before grabbing the frying pan and putting it in the sink. The boy felt as if he was just existing, not really present, his legs dragged him to the fridge and his hand reached inside it for a beer, absently opening it and taking a swing.
That wasn't his first attempt to work things out, the inevitability of what was to come was making him so anxious that he was often out of the flat, he didn't do much inside anyway, fresh air did him good, as fresh as London air can be. The cold wind hit his cheeks, the tiny droplets of rain nipping at his exposed skin, in his typical way he forgot to check the weather forecast before leaving the flat so now his knitted top did nothing to keep him warm or safe from the rain. Along with the rain hitting him like needles, the wind also brought the unmistakable smell of flowers, a tiny flower shop a few feet away.
He's eyes lifted from the pavement to look ahead and he felt his heart stop in that moment, a set of locks he knew too well accompanied by a beautiful giggle he could barely remember now, a pair of arms wrapped around her while hers carried a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. The blonde didn't notice he was rushing towards them, he didn't notice the harsh shove he gave the guy that had her in his arms, but he noticed the hateful look she gave him, he noticed the way she shielded the guy from him.
"Harrison, what the fuck?!" The angry girl exclaimed.
"The fuck you mean?! What are you doing? Why?" The heart broken boy rushed out, his breath elaborated.
"Oh, please! Don't play dumb now." Her face was red and her eyes were dead.
"C'mon. Just say it. I wanna hear you say it." He's voice cracked at the end, and he cursed himself for it.
"I. Don't. Love you. Anymore." She enunciated, no remorse in her voice, no hesitation. Harrison felt as if she had stabbed him repeatedly, he let out a shaky breath. There it was, the inevitable, what he feared the most.
"Soulmates." He gasped, the air suddenly escaping his lungs.
"Don't tell me you believe in that, Harrison." Bitterness coated every word she spoke.
"I wish I didn't." He whispered, he was fighting the urge to cry, his nose burned making his eyes fill with tears that he refused to let fall. The girl shook her head rolling her eyes and stepped closer to him only to dodge him at the last second to walk past. Harrison's hand caught hers to stopped her but before he could do or say anything else the guy's fist came in contact with his face sending the blonde to the concrete, his back flat on the wet ground as his hands came up to cover where he felt extreme warmth, not a single word was hear but a gasp coming from behind the boy on the floor.
"Are you okay?!" A panicked small voice asked, a pair of soft hands held Harrison's head in place. "What did just happen? Should I call the police?" The voice kept pressing. He's eyes were trained on the couple that had just broke him, emotionally and physically as they walked away like nothing happened.
"I'm okay." He mumbled against his hand, the answer sounding muffled.
"Come inside, I'll clean you up." The stranger offered in a worried tone. As absently as he'd been doing everything lately he got up with a little help of who had come to his aid and walked inside the small flower shop all the way in, sitting where the person pointed him to. "I'm gonna bring the first aid, I'll be right back." It felt like two seconds that the florist was gone, quickly handing him a rag to hold against his nose while preparing some antiseptic to clean the little gash on the bridge of his nose. Warm, delicate fingers held his chin up forcing him to look up at who was helping him, gentle facial expression just as gentle as the way she pressed the wet gauze over his wound. The silence wasn't uncomfortable even though they were strangers, even though she was almost cradling his face, even though he was holding back tears of frustration, heart ache and anger. "Everything alright?" The girl asked softly once she put away the aid kit.
"No."
"Was she really your soulmate?"
"I thought..." He whispered looking down at his left hand, his ring finger was bruising, covering the mark, her mark.
"Hey, mine too." She humoured, a hint of pain splattered over it as she held her left fist up to him so he could see the huge bruise. He looked up from her hand to her face, a sad smile drawn on it that broke his heart all over again. He didn't dare to stare longer so his eyes shifted back to her raised fist, his finger tips delicately running over the purple skin.
"How long?" Harrison wanted to know, it looked fresh, just like his.
"Months." She bit the inside of her cheek.
"You've had it for months?" The boy didn't believe it. It couldn't be possible, bruises don't last months. The girl hummed in confirmation and retracted her hand stuffing it in her forest green apron's pocket. "Why?"
"It was my soulmate who caused it. Only finding a new one can make it go away."
"And you think that will happen?" He was so curious about the whole thing, his mind drifted away from what had occurred not long ago, to the topic that fascinated him the most.
"I like to think so, yeah." She smiled a more cheery smile this time, making Harrison's heart beat a bit faster. "And by what little I've heard, you believe in this crazy thing too." The tone of her voice was slightly teasing which caused a smile to tug at Harrison's lips.
"I don't know if I should anymore." He shook his head and shrugged one shoulder.
"There's always a broken heart for a torn one." The girl said, "Mum always says." The sparkle in her eyes was so pure and put him at ease quicker than his ex's ever did.
"I should get going." Harrison spoke when he realized he was staring.
"Sure." She nodded and stepped back to let him walk past.
"Thanks. For..." He just gestured to his nose with his index finger without finishing what he was going to say.
"Oh! Don't mention it." She waved her hands, walking closer to the door with him. "Come by any day..." She handed him a vibrant orange lily, he took the flower and nodded, catching on her hesitation at the end of the sentence.
"Harrison. I'm Harrison." He allowed smiling at her.
She nodded politely, "Y/N." She put her hand on her chest, her fingers hooking on the necklace she wore grabbing the dainty flower pendant.
"See you around, Y/N." Harrison lifted his flower and exited the shop, the cold wind greeting him once more. He walked home slowly there was no rush, he knew she wouldn't be there, he had noticed some of her stuff missing from the flat a few weeks back so he loved the thought of not seeing her again. Because if he saw her again the image of the flower girl will fade. He mourned his loss, he cried for the girl he once loved, for what they used to have but the same phrase would always made its way to the front of his mind every time he glanced at the single orange lily on the windowsill. A broken heart for a torn one.