From the moment Phil and I walked into school with our hands interlocked, a hurricane of people formed, with us at its center.

I was fairly used to this. After all, getting to Chris or I meant getting to Pj, and therefore a social path a social pass or the week. Hell, we might even give you a whole season if we feel especially generous.

Phil, though, was a different story. As a person who had probably only imagined so many humans focused on him, not to mention one who had probably panicked at the very thought, he looked like he was going to be sick with every new question.

"Are you two soulmates then?"

"What are colors like?"

"Does this mean you two are gay?"

"Dan, is this another hookup?"

I pulled Phil closer to me and waved my hand. The crowd hushed, each person eager to bring the gossip back to their group of friends. Keeping up a calm smile, I told them, "Phil and I are soulmates. Sexuality doesn't really matter to me, but we both agreed that we're probably bi. Or pan, either way. And, no," the arm I had around Phil pulled him a little closer, both to show the sincerity of my words and just because I wanted to, "this is not a hookup, and never has been."

Phil would probably think I was sharing a bit to much, but I knew it'd all be revealed eventually. The quicker people got their answers, the faster they'd calm down about it. When I told him this, he agreed, but still seemed to feel hesitant about it.

"Hey, it'll be fine," I promised him, given Phil a quick hug. "I gotta get to homeroom, but I'll see you in free period. And you're sitting with us at lunch today, alright? The guys'll love you, I swear."

"Alright, Dan," Phil smiled, still not fully convinced. While it was clear he loved his boyfriend, one could easily tell that Phil wished he could retreat back to the library and hide for the rest of high school. Or his life, if it were possible. "See you in a few."

The bell rang and I sprinted off, leaving Phil vulnerable to another round of freshman, all demanding to know what blue was.

Felix sat down next to me, almost missing attendance. He clapped me on the back and gave a hushed whoop. "Congrats, man!" He whispered, pretending to be picking up his pencil as he spoke. Though the charade was overused and obvious, Mr. Greener thankfully ignored it. "I heard you got your soulmate. Is it love already?"

"Not sure," I admitted, barely holding back a laugh at Felix, who had been looking for the pencil for way too long to be convincing. "How'd you know with Marzia?"

He smiled in the way that only his soulmate could make him do, all moon-eyed and young."It was obvious, really. It didn't take as long and wasn't anywhere near as grand or huge as they put it off to be in the movies; it was just secure. Like I could show her all my sides, dark, light, whatever, and we'd both feel the same. There's a reason why people die without love. They know the bliss from watching their parents, and they just want it so badly that they waste away." He shook his head sadly. "It's awful. Still, if there's a question, a thought that you might be in love, there's really no question. You see?"

Our teacher cleared his throat, shooting us an unimpressed glare. Felix made a big show of picking up a badly chewed, broken pencil from the ground and saying, "Here it is!" to make the class laugh. Luckily, Greener was one of the cool ones.

"I think I do," I whispered to Felix, making sure that no one was looking. He nodded, and for the rest of homeroom we were perfectly quiet, listening to absolute silence.

Lunch was ten minutes in, and Phil still hadn't showed. It had reached the point where only a few awkward stragglers were still walking into the cafeteria, a situation I knew Phil would do anything to avoid. The embarrassment would be too much for him.

I was about to give up on him when I felt two arms wrap around my shoulders. "Sorry I'm late," Phil apologized, sitting next to me. "I forgot a lunch, and apparently everything in the vending machine costs a bazillion dollars."

"Oh, here," Pj pulled out the extra lunch we all took turns packing and handed it to Phil. "Chris always used to forget food, so we started bringing some for him. Then his grandmother moved in, so now we just call it The Lost Traveler's Collection. If anyone has any extra food they always know where to bring it."

"Sort of like a food drive," Chris added, "but with Fruit Roll-ups. And Gushers."

Phil opened the lunch box and pulled out an apple. It was heavily bruised, probably due to the fact that Pj used the bag ad a target for his version of darts. The game involved fruit instead of the regular projectiles, since darts had been banned from school property after we had all been suspended for throwing them at Freshmen. Still, he didn't seem to mind the wear on his food and munched it happily. "What happens if someone doesn't eat all this?" He asked.

"Believe me, someone always does," Felix said. "Anyways, Phil, Dan was telling me how much he loved you during-"

"So, Phil," I interrupted, "apparently there's a science trip tomorrow to collect some specimen. You want to be my partner?"

"Isn't he already?" Chris joked.

Phil flung a pencil at him, smiling at Dan. "I'd love to."

ohhhh what will happen on the field trip? will dan die? will there be intense smut, turning this into a twisted m-preg? will i die? so many questions, all to be answered in the next chapter of colors™