Antonio had always been mute. Doctors were never sure why he wasn't able to talk, but whenever Antonio wanted to speak, the words wouldn't come out. You'd think that this would mean that he wouldn't have any friends, but on the contrary, he had a lot of friends, but mainly out of pity. He hated the looks of pity he would get, but he tried not to let it affect him. He had his sister, Isabel, after all, and she loved him for who he was and was his lifeline to other people.
So, naturally, when he moved only a little ways away to college, his sister went with him. Worries about her not living her own life sometimes plagued him at night. Isabel always reassured him that she wanted to help him, but this did little to ease his thoughts. Another thing that troubled him was his soul mate. If he couldn't speak, how would they ever know that it was him?
And as he walked to the store in the streets of Spain with his sister, he bumped into someone that would change the rest of his life and put his worries to rest forever.
.o0o0o0o.
"Watch it, bastard!" At this, he froze, but soon realized that the man had kept walking. He rushed after him, leaving his sister in the dust and latched on to the man's shoulder. "What do you-" But the man never finished his sentence as he stared at Antonio with wide eyes.
Never before had Antonio felt like this. This man was perfect in his eyes. He had a lean build, and tanned skin and the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen-they were almost a mixture of green and gold that made his insides melt. And all of the sudden, something inside pushed him and he raised his wrist to reveal 'Watch it, bastard!' in loopy letters. He watched as the stranger looked down at his wrist and back up into his eyes, and he knew that they shared the same feeling.
"Antonio, there you are-who's this?" Isabel asked as she ran up. He turned to her and signed a reply.
'He's my soul mate.' Antonio smiled. She squealed and turned back to the man.
"You're his soul mate! Oh my gosh! This is perfect!" He watched as confusion flickered in the stranger's face before he spoke.
"I-If we're soul mates, how come he has a tattoo and I don't?" he asked. Both his and his sister's faces fell. This was it. Once they told him that he was mute, he could just see him look disgusted and turn Antonio away. He'd never been rejected by people before, but somewhere in his head, this tiny voice told him that he'd never be worthy of his soul mate's love. Who would want someone that would never be able to say 'I love you'?
"Antonio's been mute since birth." He cast his face downward and signed a quick sentence to Isabel. "He says that he hopes its not a problem." Antonio could feel it; he would be alone forever with the knowledge that not even his soul mate would-
"There's no goddamn problem at all," he laughed. Antonio raised his head in joy. He smiled at the stranger, who's expression of love finally matched his own. "I'm Lovino," he continued softly. He loved the way Lovino said his own name. In fact, he loved just about everything about him, and Antonio didn't even know anything past his name.
Somewhere so very deep in his heart, he knew that he would never be able to love anyone more than he loved Lovino, because the more Antonio learned about him, the more often he fell in love with his Italian soul mate over and over again. The voice inside his head was silenced, because he knew that even if he wasn't good enough for anyone else, Lovino would always love him.