When he was twelve, initials had appeared like a tattoo on Ryder's arm. He'd been excited for it to happen, nervously waiting to see what letters he would get. When he saw the dark JM against his skin, he'd been a little disappointed. It wasn't the KT or SB that he'd been hoping for.

He'd spent the next three years searching for his soulmate. He'd found himself checking everyone's forearms obsessively, hoping to find his own RL somewhere. But none of the girls with the initials JM had his initials on their arm. Not until he met Jessica McDonald. He'd been excited when he'd found her, and they'd immediately started dating. Ryder was sure she had been the one, until she fell in love with Ruby Lee, whose forearm matched his own.

From there the search became more frantic. He found himself checking Josh Mackenzie's arm, and then James Mathewson. He wasn't sure whether he was relieved or upset to see their initials; JS and RY respectively.

At the start of sophomore year, there was a new guy on the football team; hulky and huge. Ryder had absolutely freaked when he caught sight of his meaty forearm: RL. It wasn't until he'd heard someone call the guy Drew that he could calm down. This wasn't his soulmate.

By now, about half his classmates had found their soulmates. And sure, that meant the other half still hadn't, but that didn't make things any more bearable. Ryder didn't want to wait to find his soulmate. He wanted to find them now. He wanted to be in love now. He wanted to find his happiness now.

But apparently it didn't matter how upset Ryder was about all this. Because apparently life just kept marching on. Regardless.

Xxx

'You're getting a foster brother,' Ryder's mom told him one night at dinner. He looked up, surprised. Sure, he knew it was on the cards, his parents having signed up when his father got a permanent job at the University of Lima. But still, he hadn't thought anything was actually gonna come of it.

'When abouts?' he managed to ask.

'Tomorrow.'

Ryder didn't reply, just got up from the table with as much noise as he could muster. They really weren't giving him much warning about this. What if he didn't want a brother?

His father spoke up then. 'Sit down, Ryder. We're still talking to you.'

Ryder did so, giving them a look full of fake interest, his tone sarcastic. 'And what would you like to say?'

'We thought you might actually like to know something about him. You know, ahead of time.' When he didn't say anything, his mother continued. 'His name's Jake Puckerman. He's your age. His mother died when he was young, and his father's an alcoholic.'

'Did his dad ever, y'know, like, hit him or anything?' And ok, sure, Ryder still wasn't thrilled about this. But this Jake guy was still a human being, and Ryder didn't want him getting hurt.

'No, no, fortunately not. Just yelled at him a lot. The neighbours kept calling Child Protective Services, and they finally decided to take Jake away.'

'I see. Can I go now?' When his father nodded his agreement, Ryder got up, thoughts already churning through his mind. Sure, it was good that Jake's dad had never hurt him, but even still, getting yelled at must be pretty awful. He was kind of apprehensive to think what this guy was gonna be like.

Xxx

When Ryder met Jake the next afternoon, the first thing he thought was that Jake was nothing like he expected. Where he had expected Jake to be moody and angry, he was reserved, emotionless. In a way, it almost made Ryder worry more.

The second thing Ryder noticed was Jake's forearm. In the place where the initials should have been, there was a large square of black. Ryder found himself squinting at it, finally deciding that Jake must have coloured over his mark with a sharpie. The idea confused him; he really couldn't understand why anyone would avoid the idea of their soulmate.

After they'd spent an age standing there awkwardly, staring at each other, Ryder's mom finally spoke. 'Ryder, why don't you take Jake down to the den? You could watch a movie, or play Xbox or something. Get to know each other.'

Not quite managing to suppress his sigh, Ryder led the way. When they made it to the den, Jake instantly perched on the edge of the couch. 'What do you wanna do?' Ryder asked him.

Jake shrugged his shoulders. 'I don't mind.'

'That's really not helpful, dude.'

'I really don't care what we do though.'

Ryder sighed deeply that time, taking a moment to kick at the side of the couch. 'Seriously, dude. What the hell's your problem?'

Jake's face screwed up at that, into something not quite resembling an emotion. 'I think you know what my problem is. Dude. I think I'm allowed to not be enthused. But what about you, huh? What crawled up your ass?'

'What, so you're allowed to not want a brother, but I have to be all excited about it? I have to be excited about sharing my parents? About not being an only child anymore?'

Jake was looking confused now. 'Have you – have you guys never had a foster kid before?'

'No,' Ryder huffed out, 'and I don't see why that had to change now.'

'So, for the record, this whole anger thing has nothing to do with me?'

Now Ryder was confused. 'Of course not. Why would it? I don't even know you.'

'Oh, oh, ok.' Jake actually looked relieved about that. 'So you know though, having a brother was, like, the one thing I was looking forward to.'

'Really?'

'Yea. I mean, I could always do with more friends, y'know?' Jake was smiling now, a small tentative one, but still more emotion than anything Ryder had seen thus far.

Ryder smiled in return. 'Of course. Well, in that case, I would like to inform you that I'm gonna be the best brother-friend that you've ever had.'

Xxx

From that moment forth, the two of them immediately clicked. Jake was still at his old school, and still hung out with the same group of friends, but whenever they were both home, they were always together.

Ryder quickly discovered that they could talk about pretty much anything. But whenever he brought up soulmates, Jake never seemed interested. In fact, Ryder always felt that he almost closed down a bit.

When Ryder walked into Jake's room before school one morning, he found Jake colouring his arm furiously. The moment he saw Ryder, he tilted his arm away on instinct.

'Jake, man, you don't need to worry. It's already covered.' When Jake didn't respond, Ryder kept talking, curiosity getting the better of him. 'Why do you cover it anyway?'

'Because soulmates are stupid.'

Ryder felt himself frown at that, confused by the sullen tone. 'That's not even a reason, dude. Seriously, why would you try to hide from the idea of love?'

Ryder couldn't understand Jake's muttered reply, only managing to catch the words 'some people' and 'worthy'. But when he asked Jake to repeat himself, Jake just scowled. 'Not everyone's as pathetically lovesick as you are, Ryder.'

Jake's words stung. 'There's nothing wrong with wanting to find your soulmate.'

'Oh yea?' The sneer on Jake's face was cruel now as he reached down to pick up his sharpie. 'Well, in that case, let me help you. Help you show everyone just how serious you are about this.'

Jake reached for Ryder's arm, gripping it firmly in his left hand as he began to draw around the initials. After a second, Ryder felt a burning sensation where Jake's palm connected with his skin. It stung, the pain of it making his eyes water.

'Shit, Jake, shit, that hurts.' He shoved at Jake, trying to get him off, but Jake just held on tighter. It wasn't until he'd finished drawing that he let go. Ryder looked down at his arm with watery eyes, half expecting blisters to appear on his skin. There weren't any, but he did notice the crude heart drawn around his initials now.

'Like it?' Jake asked, as he continued to scrawl on his own arm.

Ryder looked up momentarily before answering. 'You're a douche.'

Somehow, he knew their friendship wasn't going to recover from this.

Xxx

For the next three days, Jake and Ryder didn't speak to each other at all. As a result, dinners were a quiet affair, with barely a word spoken.

So Ryder was surprised when Jake began a conversation that evening at the table. 'I've decided I want to change my last name.'

Ryder's mom smiled at that. 'What to?'

'My mom's maiden name.' Ryder figured that made sense; it wasn't like he was gonna change it to Lynn. Even still, his mom seemed a bit upset.

'How come?' she asked.

'Well, I just, I don't want to be reminded of my dad every time I hear my name. I'd much rather think of my mom instead.' Ryder couldn't help but smile at Jake; this was the friend that he knew. Jake just glared in response.

'That's nice, dear,' Ryder's mother said, unaware of their interaction. 'So what will your new name be?'

'Jake Mitchells.'

Ryder felt the floor fall out from beneath him.

Jake Mitchells. JM. Did that mean – ? But there was no way. No way. How the hell could fate, or whoever it was, know that Jake would change his name? There was no way that Jake could be his soulmate.

Ryder was glad for that fact.

Xxx

Ryder was watching tv with his parents when he heard a sharp intake of breath. 'Stop it, it hurts. You know it hurts.'

He heard his father laugh. 'Oh come on. You love it really.'

'What are – what are you talking about?' Ryder found himself asking, regretting it immediately afterwards.

'Your father keeps touching my initials even though he knows it hurts.'

Ryder was confused. 'Why would it hurt?'

'It always hurts when your soulmate touches your initials. Not as bad as when you first meet, of course, but it's still pretty bad.'

Ryder was in shock. That meant, that meant that –

'Have we seriously never told you that?'

Ryder shook his head, getting up from the armchair. 'I need to – I should go.'

He rushed to his room, slamming his door closed. He needed to think.

Xxx

A few nights later, he snuck into Jake's room at two in the morning. He had to see what was underneath Jake's sharpie mark, he absolutely had to.

He'd done his research, so he squeezed a dollop of hand sanitizer onto Jake's forearm where it rested on his pillow. Trying his best not to touch Jake's skin, he rubbed at the ink with a tissue. He sighed a breath of relief; it was starting to come off.

Jake was starting to move his arm though. Without thinking, Ryder reached out to hold it still, and in an instant, Jake was awake.

'Shit, shit that hurts.' Ryder clamped a hand over his mouth, not wanting him to wake his parents. When he quieted, Ryder pulled both hands away. 'What the hell are you doing?'

'I need to see your initials.' Why did he sound like he was begging?

Jake was glaring at him. 'What for?'

'I-I think we might be soulmates.'

'Yea, right.'

'No seriously.' He held his arm out to Jake. 'I have your initials on my arm. And the burning pain? It's caused by your soulmate touching your initialled arm. So, I just – I need to see your arm.'

Jake heaved a sigh. 'Fine, but it doesn't change anything, ok?' He grabbed the tissue from Ryder, using it to swipe at his arm until the initials began to appear through the murk.

Ryder inhaled a deep breath. RL. They were soulmates. But – but Jake must have known.

'Why didn't you say anything?'

'Well, I-I didn't know. Not really. My initials were JP. Technically, they still are until the paperwork goes through.' His eyes hardened again. 'Besides, I've told you I don't want a soulmate.'

'Bu-bu-but I love you.' And, sure, the thought may never have occurred to Ryder before, but even still, he knew it was true.

Jake screwed his face up at that. 'No, you don't.'

'Yea, I do.'

Jake's voice was raising now, anger evident. 'Don't lie to me about that kinda crap.'

'I'm not lying.' Ryder was matching Jake's tone now.

'Yea, like I'm gonna believe you.'

'What the hell do you mean by that?'

Instead of replying, Jake rushed forwards, crashing their lips together. He pushed Ryder back until he was lying against the bed, gripping at his shoulders to keep him in place. The kiss was aggressive, angry, Jake putting all his contempt and dislike into it. Ryder did his best to respond in kind, pulling and tugging, nipping at Jake's lip. Jake hissed at that, wrenching his mouth away from Ryder's and sitting up.

'I hate you.' The words sounded forced.

'No, you don't.'

Jake was facing away from Ryder, who was still lying on his back. There were tears in Jake's voice now. 'You're right. I don't.'

'So do you wanna tell me what the real issue is?' Ryder gently tugged at Jake's shirt until Jake was lying down next to him, curled into his side. Ryder couldn't help but wrap his arm around him, pulling him close.

'You don't really love me.' Ryder opened his mouth to protest, but Jake continued. 'And if you do, you shouldn't.'

Ryder rolled over to his side, cupping Jake's face in his hand. 'You have to believe me that I actually do love you. And I really can't see any reason whatsoever for me not to.'

'You obviously don't know me very well then.'

'Oh, I'm pretty sure I do. But, please, enlighten me with this knowledge that I'm clearly missing.'

Jake scowled at him. 'It's not funny, dude. Seriously, I'm not worthy of love. I'm just a stupid, spoilt little mamma's boy who deserves to go die.' He let out a sob at the end, burying his face in Ryder's neck.

'Is that what your father told you?' He felt Jake nod against his neck. 'You do realise that was just the alcohol talking, right? It's not a reflection on you at all.'

'Doubt it.'

'Seriously, it's true. And if I have to spend every day for the rest of my life trying to prove that to you, I will.'

'You would do that?' He lifted his head, a hint of hope in his eyes now.

'Yea, I would.'

Jake shook his head. 'I bet it's just that soulmate thing talking.'

'Yea, your soulmate. And I promise you, I know what I'm talking about.'

Jake laughed, leaning in for a quick peck. 'I love you too, by the way.'

I would really, really love some more reviews for my Jyder week stories, because so far I haven't had very many. So I'd really appreciate it if you'd leave me some, letting me know what you liked or what didn't work for you. I really just want to hear what you think, and would love some feedback.

I'm actually considering continuing one of my Jyder week stories in the future, but at this stage that seems kinda pointless since there doesn't seem to be too much interest. So reviews to change my mind would be great. (And no, I'm not gonna tell you which story it is, even though it feels kinda rude to be doing that. Guess I'm just trying to maximise the number of reviews I can get. :P )