Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.
Challenges listed at the bottom.
Word Count - 401
Warning - mentioned child abuse.
Kiss It Better?
Dudley grew up, wondering why he was always getting bruises out of nowhere. His mum fretted over him constantly, but she never told him why.
It wasn't until he was ten, when he heard the other kids talking in the school yard.
Amy Shumer was parading around with a bruised arm, showing it to everyone who would stop and look, as she declared that she was getting her soulmate's injuries.
The other kids oohed and ahhed over her, and Dudley could only watch on with confusion. Did that mean he had a soulmate?
And if he did… why did his soulmate have so many bruises?
…
He met Piers when Piers transferred into his primary school. He was a quiet kid, but there was something about him that Dudley liked. He'd watched from the sidelines as Gordon and Malcolm shook him down, but Piers had ignored them.
Stood there and took their abuse as though they were talking about kittens. As though he was unshakable.
It didn't take long for Piers to become Dudley's best friend.
…
"What's that?" Dudley asked, catching a glimpse of yellow and green on Pier's chest as the two of them got changed after Gym class. They'd snagged a quiet corner, the same way they always did, and usually they stood back to back.
"Nothing," Piers muttered, as he pulled his t shirt down to cover his torso. Dudley was quicker though—his boxing lessons paying off—and he caught the hem of Pier's shirt and lifted it. His entire left side was covered in bruises, varying in colour and darkness.
"It's nothing," Piers insisted, pulling his shirt down again. Dudley allowed it, letting go of the shirt to tug his own up. On his left side, a smattering of bruises in different colour and darkness made Piers' eyes go wide.
"Oh."
…
"It's weird, not getting bruises from you anymore," Dudley murmured, stroking his hand through Pier's hair. "I can't say I'm mad about it though."
Piers smiled up at him. He'd been living with his cousin, Max, for long enough now that his many bruises had healed up, leaving clear skin in its wake.
"I've got one from you," Piers muttered, lifting his shirt to show a healing bruise on his right ribs, a left over from a particularly hard jab in Dudley's last boxing match. "Kiss it better?"
Dudley grinned. "It would be my pleasure."
Written for:
Romance Awareness, Day 4 - You feel everything your soulmate feels.
Romance Awareness, Extra Prompt - 32. Confusion
Pinata - Hard - A Canon Muggle
Pairing The Character - DudleyPiers