Three Years Ago
"Is that stripe of hair still bothering you?"
Black looked up, to see his sister staring in his general direction. They'd been sitting by the river for the past few minutes, and Black was still staring at his reflection.
Up until he was seven, a stripe of white hair was present in Black's hair. But one morning, it had simply disappeared, and in the five years since then it hadn't reappeared.
"Only a little, White," Black lied, rubbing his neck.
White muttered something under her breath that Black couldn't quite catch, but he assumed it was another quip about how he needed to drop the issue. It was easy for her to say, she still had a light strand of hair that stuck out rather well.
Black sighed and rubbed the area where the white stripe used to be. It felt so familiar to him, despite the fact that he had no clue who it belonged to.
What did it mean, the stripe vanishing? Had something happened to his soulmate? He didn't have anyone to ask, and the books he'd found on the subject of soulmates had never said anything about a stripe vanishing. Some people were born without stripes, but Black could always remember having one until he was seven.
He hated that it bothered him so much.
Black got to his feet, and dusted the dirt off of his pants, "Let's go."
"Finally," White grumbled.
Whoever invented mosquitoes needed to be bitten by a pack of them.
Black had been tossing and turning in his sleeping bag all night, scratching the numerous bug bites all over his body. He'd hardly slept, and he felt miserable.
Blue's idea of going camping to strengthen their friendships wasn't going very well. While Black enjoyed the atmosphere of wherever the hell they were, he didn't enjoy the bugs, or the rocks, or the lack of kool-aid that he'd unfortunately become accustomed to.
He sighed. Sleep apparently wasn't going to happen, so maybe a breath of fresh air would do him some good, as long as that breath of air didn't contain any bugs.
Black fumbled for his glasses, not trusting himself to put his contacts in with how tired he was, and reached for his compact mirror. He'd forgotten to remove his winged eyeliner earlier, and he was praying that it wasn't too badly smudged.
It looked okay enough for him to step outside for some air. Black was about to close the mirror, when something caught him off guard.
The white stripe was back in his hair.
It wasn't as long or as thick as it used to be, but the white stripe was back.
Black squealed. He couldn't help himself, he felt a rush. For the first time in months, his senses felt heightened, and he felt a bulb of excitement inside him.
White raised her head from her sleeping bag next to him, "Black, what the fuck? Go to sleep…"
Black shook his head, "Uh-uh. White, the stripe is back. I have to go find my soulmate, and before it's too late."
White flopped back down onto her pillow, and hissed a muffled, "Do it quieter, then. Some of us are trying to sleep."
Black didn't need to be told twice. He left the tent with a burst of energy, and glanced wildly around the clearing. The moonlight lit it up so brightly and beautifully, that Black almost forgot what he was doing.
"Black? What are you doing?"
Black swiveled around to see Blue standing off to the side. His arms were crossed, and he had an expectant look in his eyes. In the moonlight, his hair looked incredibly pale, almost like-
Black recoiled in horror.
No, do NOT tell me that Blue is my soulmate!
"Well?"
Black laughed, "Thought I'd appreciate the view before going to the bathroom; what're you doing up?"
Blue raised an eyebrow, "Is everything okay? Do you need something?"
"The bathroom," Black said, resisting the urge to rub his neck.
Blue stared at him for a moment, before saying, "Okay, but try not to take to long. And if you see Brendan, can you make sure he gets back? He went out a while ago, and he hasn't come back yet."
Black nodded, "I got you, bro."
"Thank you, 'dude.'" Blue replied awkwardly.
Black left the campsite, and headed down the gravel road towards the large bathrooms. When he was about halfway down the road, he froze, having the sense that someone else was there.
He swerved around, only to catch May awkwardly leaning against a tree. She looked particularly fed up, and she was breathing heavily.
"May?" Black asked, "What're you doing out here?"
May shouted, "Waiting for Brendan to get the fuck out of the bathroom! It's been twenty minutes, it's dark, and I'm fucking freezing. I have to talk to him, but he just rushed past me earlier, and I'm starting to get pissed."
"Does Blue know you're out?"
May snorted, "Thankfully not. If he did, he'd be so fucking angry with me. If you see Brendan, can you tell him that I need to see him? It's important."
Black responded, "Can't it wait until morning?"
"I've been waiting here this long already, I am not going back until I get my goddamn answer," May snapped.
Have fun with that.
Black left May to continue fuming, and headed towards the bathrooms at the end of the road. There was a bright light shining from inside, and Black had to squint in order to see.
To his surprise, Brendan was standing in front of the mirror. There was a bottle on the counter, and his hat was lying next to it.
"Brendan?" Black asked, unsure of what he was doing.
Brendan jumped, and in a quick motion, pulled his hat back onto his head.
"H-Hi Black," he whispered, "Do y-y-you need s-something?"
Black shrugged, "Not really. Both May and Blue are looking for you though."
Brendan tugged on his gloves, "Oh n-no, they're going to be s-so mad at m-me..."
Black replied, "I don't think so, they're probably just worried."
Well, Blue's worried. May's just pissed.
Brendan didn't respond, just looked away awkwardly, a light blush on his face.
"What're you doing?" Black asked, looking around. His eyes fell on the bottle on the counter, "Is that… hair dye?"
Brendan's eyes widened, and he tugged his hat down lower, "S-Sorry… I'm so sorry… I…"
Black you idiot!
Quickly, he tried to remedy the situation, "I didn't mean to upset you, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
Brendan whispered, "It w-was supposed to b-be a secret. I dunno… I just…"
"Hey, Bren," Black said, keeping his voice level, "I promise I won't tell anyone that you dye your hair, okay?"
Brendan dipped his head for a moment, tugging on his hat as if he was deliberating something. Then, Brendan slowly pulled his hat off his head.
Black's eyes widened. The hair around the top of Brendan's head was a stark white. His hand unconsciously went up to his own bangs, where Black knew the strand of white hair was.
Brendan's mouth opened and closed a few times, but he never said anything.
Black murmured, almost to himself, "This bit was all white when I was young… Then one day, it just disappeared."
"I-I began dying i-it when I was s-seven," Brendan whispered back, "I chose brown b-because there was t-this one strand t-that was like that a-already."
A gentle smile formed on Black's face, and he took a step closer to Brendan. The shorter boy did the same, until the two of them were practically touching.
Their eyes met, and Brendan smiled brightly. Black couldn't help but follow suit.
/and you won't look back from here, you've lived up until this point./