Happy New Year's Eve! (:

I'm glad you guys are enjoying this so far. So, here's the next little chapter, where we'll be finding out a little more about Elsie.

The Significance Series belongs to Shelly Crane.

Chapter Two

I looked at him blankly, his words taking a moment to process. Meanwhile, my mind wandered. He really was handsome. I sort of felt bad for looking, since Paul was only racks away, while Martin was watching us very seriously. I felt like a soap opera character, put on display.

"We are talking." I finally managed to say, raising my eyebrows at him. My heart wouldn't slow down, though. It was thumping like crazy, like I'd just run a mile. Nick sort of cocked his head at me, his eyes extremely soft as he looked me over.

"Calm down," he said quietly, rubbing a hand over his chest. "And please, can we talk somewhere more… private? I promise it's something important."

Calm down? I wasn't freaking out. I wasn't panicking. I didn't know what his calm down was referring to. I glanced around the store. Besides the two of us, there was only Paul and Martin. Martin might've been paying attention, but he was too far away to hear our muffled conversation. Paul was closer, but he was in his own little world. "We are pretty alone." I said.

"I mean alone. Like, in front of the store." Nick said. His hand reached out to touch me. I usually would've pulled away from a forward move like that. I just don't do well with people that acted like I was didn't have my own personal boundaries. But instead of slyly moving away, my hand acted on its own accord, reaching out to meet his fingers. Immediately, my heart slowed down to its natural beat. The worrisome thrum that echoed it almost silenced.

I stared at my hand for a shocked moment before yanking my fingers away from his. I glanced up and looked around the room. Paul had no idea that Nick was even here, talking to me. Martin was still watching, his eyes narrowed as he played with a pack of gum on the counter in front of him. I looked to the front of the store. It was pretty dark out, but the nearby streetlights left circles of light right at the door. And if Martin was watching, it was like he was doing me a favor instead of just being a creepy kid.

"I guess," I said. Nick flashed me a smile, and led the way to the door. He opened it for me and stepped out of the way so I could go through first. The ding above the door sounded, but Paul didn't look up, and Martin didn't look away. Nick let the door close behind us. I leaned against the wall of windows at the front of the store. "So, what's up?" I asked.

Nick looked like he was shaking. He ran a hand through his hair. He cleared his throat, coughed, and looked up into my eyes. "Does the word Virtuoso mean anything to you?"

I closed my eyes. I felt like I should know that word. Was it an SAT word? I couldn't remember. I thought about it hard, repeating the word over and over in my head, a memory niggling at the edge of my conscious. Suddenly, I could hear a vague voice, garbled and long gone say, "Those Virtuoso, they think they can do whatever they want."

Where did that come from? Was that a real memory? Sometimes I felt like I was struck by something familiar, something that came before my life here in Tennessee. But I was never sure if it was real or just a figment of my imagination. "I don't know," I said after a moment. "I think I might have heard it, like, once."

Nick raised his eyebrows at me. "What about Aces? Ever hear of that?"

"Like, in cards?" I asked.

Nick cracked a smile and gave a low laugh. I liked the sound of his laugh, clear and deep. "No, not exactly," he said. "What about imprints?" He asked, leaning forward towards me. He was so incredibly close that I should've been uncomfortable, but I wasn't. I liked it, that he was so close to me. Paul never really got close to me at all. The most he ever did to show that we were together was to hold my hand in public, and maybe kiss my cheek if he was in a good mood. Nick towered over me. He felt huge, his broad shoulders casting a shadow that dwarfed me. But I wasn't scared of him. He felt more like a bodyguard, a protector.

And it was scary how much that I wanted him to be close to me, how much I wanted him to stay by my side. Maybe I wasn't having a heart attack. Maybe it was a stroke. That's the only reason why I'd be completely losing my good judgement, right? "Like, a mark on something?"

"Yeah, I guess that's one way to look at it." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "But it's… it's when two people imprint on each other. It's when one person's soul sees another and decides that it's the perfect match. It's reciprocated between two souls. It makes them soul mates." The words seemed to spew out of him, running together as if he couldn't say them fast enough.

"Soul mates," I repeated incredulously. It sounded like something Hanna would absolutely love. It also did not sound like something that I would believe in.

"Yeah, soul mates," Nick said back. "And… well, you know that feeling you got when we touched?" So he'd felt it, too? I wasn't going insane? I gave a slight nod, and he beamed. "That was the imprint."

I stopped. Stared at him for a quiet moment. I felt like my brain was rewinding his words, struggling to get some sense out of them. "Are you saying that we're… imprinted? Are you telling me that we're soul mates?" I demanded.

"Um," he began, rubbing the back of his neck. He gave me a sheepish smile. "Well, yeah, I guess that's what I'm trying to say. I mean, I know you're confused, and honestly I'm a little confused myself. But our souls have chosen each other. They want us to be together. They want us to touch."

"Who?" I asked, throwing my hands up in exasperation. "Who are they!?"

"Our souls," Nick said, all matter-of-fact. I stared at him like he was insane. Or was it me who was insane? No, definitely him.

I threw up my hands again when he didn't say anything else. Nick sighed heavily, his hand rubbing his neck furiously. His tanned skin was already starting to get a little red. Was it a nervous habit? I was so caught up in watching him that I didn't even realize he was reaching for me. His hand grasped my wrist, and I wanted to yell at him to let go. But the moment his fingers tightened on my arm, I was instantly relaxed. I wanted to lean into him. I wanted him to lean against me and press his lips to mine.

Whoa, where did that thought come from?

"Where did you get this?" He asked, turning over my wrist. I looked down at the bare skin there. I had a mark there that I'd had my entire life. It was a star – or, at least, half a star. Two defined points and one upwards line, left open. My mysterious mark that looked like a tattoo. I had no idea where it came from, but it had been there for as long as I could remember. I looked up at him blankly. We were so close to each other, him leaning down to see my wrist, that I could see myself standing up my tiptoes to press my lips to his. I bit down on my bottom lip hard to keep from acting it out.

"You can see it?" I asked. Nobody had ever been able to see my half star. Not even my parents. Not even my brothers. When I was younger, I'd point it out, and they always said that they never saw anything. I learned from an early age to pretend that it wasn't there, though if I got nervous, I would catch myself rubbing a thumb over it. Eventually I just sort of... forgot about it, as much as one can forget about something like that. It was always present to me, and only to me. Until now.

"Yeah," Nick said, "I can. Aces can see them. It's a tattoo that says you're an Ace, like me."

"I've had it my entire life." I said, after a moment of quietness. He nodded, like he already expected it. "But I'm not... I'm not an Ace, or whatever. I'm normal. I'm me."

Nick looked away from me, his eyes on the cars zooming past on the highway. He seemed to be looking for words. I waited until he was ready to say them. "Are… are you adopted?" He finally asked me.

"Yeah," I said, sort of incredulous. I mean, my friends knew that I was adopted, but it's not something that I openly tell people. Most people just assumed that I was the only blonde one out of a family of dark-haired people. Most don't wonder aloud about by genetic differences anymore. And the ones that know I'm adopted don't ask why, either.

"Do you know where from?" Nick asked.

I felt my eyebrows draw together. "Why do you want to know?" I snapped. Suddenly my sense of self-preservation was back in full force. What was I doing outside, with a stranger? Why was he asking me such personal questions, and why did I feel the need to answer them? My back was pressed against the windows. Martin could see me, right? If I screamed and ran, they would hear me, right?

"Just please, tell me." Nick said, as if he could sense where my mind was going.

I searched his face. He didn't seem like one of those psychotic guys that was out to find girls off the street so he could shove them into his windowless white van and hide them in creepy basements. He also didn't seem like he was the type of guy to try to take advantage of any girl. And he didn't exactly look like the stupid kind of guy – Martin and Paul were in there. Granted, they weren't big, strong types like Nick seemed to be, but it would be a two to one. That is, if Martin could stop chomping on his gum to help save me.

"Prague," I heard myself say. "The Czech Republic."

Nick let out a sigh. He shook his head. "I wonder why they gave you up." He said quietly.

"What?"

"There's Virtuoso in Prague," he said, "Aces. People like me. People like us."

"What are you talking about?" I said.

"Please, it doesn't make much sense now, but if you talk to my family…."

I shook my head. "I have a boyfriend in there, you know." I said, trying to stave off his interest. This - whatever this was - was going too quickly. I'd just met the guy, and now he wanted me to meet his family? Throwing out the boyfriend card seemed like my best warning right now. And it looked like it worked; Nick seemed to paled at the word. He looked back into the video game store.

"I'm sorry, Elsie, I really am. This whole thing is really complicated, and I can't really explain it all to you that well. But we're… we're imprinted now, and you need me as much as I need you."

"You're insane." I breathed, trying to sidestep him.

"Look. I know it's a lot to take in. It's crazy. But maybe if you talk to someone, to Maggie, you'll know."

"Who's Maggie?" I asked.

"My cousin's significant. That's the person he's imprinted to. They're engaged now." Nick said. "She's… well, she's basically the savior for the Virtuoso. She's the Visionary."

"The Visionary." I repeated. My voice was laced with sarcasm and practically dripping with contempt.

Nick didn't seem to notice. "Please, just give me a chance." A beg. A plea.

I looked at him for a long time. I had no idea how to answer that. "Look, I'm sorry, but I don't know you, okay? I guess I'll see you around town or something."

"Elsie," he said. "I wouldn't lie to you. I would never lie to you."

I moved a bit closer, staring at him right in the eyes. There was a deepness to them,an innocence that immediately put me at ease. Paul had never looked at me with such clarity the way Nick did. Not even my brothers or Hanna looked at me the way he did. Completely open, without a hint of a lie.

And I sort of found myself believing him. He was so openly honest, so it seemed. And he saw my half star. He was the only person I'd ever met who'd been able to see my half star. And even if I did think he was sort of creepy, he seemed to have answers to a lot of the questions I had. Crazy answers, but answers all the same.

"Okay," I said.

"Okay?"

"Okay. I'll meet your family." I paused, cocking an eyebrow. Who was the crazy one now? "Tomorrow."

"But –" he began.

"No buts. I just told you, a perfect stranger, that I would come and meet your family tomorrow. Alright? I'm already being crazy enough. And don't think I'm not going to tell my older brothers where I'll be." I said it with my eyebrows raised, hoping that he would get the threat in that – Royce and Nolan would do anything for me. They'd do anything to protect me. "Now I'm going back inside. Give me your phone number." I said, pulling out my phone.

Nick stared at me incredulously. Then he rattled off his number. "I'll send you a text so you have my number." I said pointedly. "And just because you have it doesn't mean you're allowed to call me whenever, okay? I'll talk to you tomorrow." I said, turning on my heel.

But I couldn't move.

"What the –"

Nick walked up to me. "I'll need to see you first thing in the morning. You'll get sick, without me there. Like I said, we'll need each other. It's a side effect of the imprint."

"We'll see." I said stubbornly.

Nick gave me an amused smile. "You have my number. Go on, Elsie. Go hang out with your boyfriend." The word was coated in disappointment and frustation. And suddenly I could move. Nick turned and left, headed towards a black car out in the parking lot, and I headed back inside.

What had just happened?

# # #

Paul didn't even notice that I'd stepped out of the video game store with a complete stranger. I guess it kind of hurt that he hadn't even looked up at me and noticed. I mean, Martin noticed that I spent a good ten minutes out front with a guy that was pretty good looking. I would've thought that even Paul would be bothered by that. At least just a little.

Nope. He didn't say anything to me as I reached the front counter. He'd laid a game on the counter and was scrabbling for his wallet. He had to dig for a second before coming up with some money, but he was a little short. I thought about the gift card in my bag. Enough to cover the cost. But it would probably seem like an affront to give it back to him now.

It was kind of annoying that he found another folded twenty tucked into his pants pocket.

Martin bagged up the game and gave me a long look as he waited for the receipt to print. I held back the urge to slap him. All I did with Nick was talk to him. It wasn't like I'd gone out there to make out with him. And it also wasn't like he'd stepped in to help me.

Paul held the store's door for me before heading towards the parking lot. He opened his door and got in, starting the car before I was even to the passenger door. I fumbled with my bag, having to hold it by the bottom since the straps had broken. He didn't even notice that, either, as I scrambled into the shotgun seat. I sat down in a huff and closed my door a little too hard. Paul didn't say anything, he just gave me a confused look as he put the car in reverse.

"You want to go to dinner or something?" Paul asked.

Finally. That was all that I wanted all night. "Sure." I said, trying not to sound overly excited on it. I didn't want to hurt his feelings by acting like the video game place was the worst thing ever on a birthday, even though it was. I should've been grateful that we were just simply spending time together, even if it was doing something that only he wanted to do.

"How about that steak place you like so much?" He asked.

I didn't know how he was going to afford it, since he just spent sixty bucks on a game, and he'd been searching for the last twenty bucks.

"Isn't that kind of expensive?" I asked, trying to find a nice way to say that he didn't have enough money. I also wasn't going to eat and run, if he even suggested that. We wouldn't get far, what with my clumsiness and his total and complete lack of athleticism. Not to mention that it was a real jerk move.

"Dad gave me his credit card for tonight." He said, flashing a smile my way.

I gave him a smile back, trying to ignore the feelings that Nick had implanted in me. He'd said that the two of us were soul mates, and that we absolutely needed each other. I looked at Paul again. Where would that leave him? Us?

As we drove towards the steak house, I tried not to think of blue-green eyes, a strong build, and shaggy dark hair that I wanted to run my fingers through. Really.

Paul pulled up in front of the restaurant, and I let out a breath that I hadn't been aware that I was holding. He flashed me another smile that didn't seem as bright as the previous ones and waited at the front of the car for me to crawl out of the seat. As I was stepping out, I felt a sharp pang in my stomach. I took in a breath and continued to get out.

We ended up in a booth seat. Paul sat across from me. I watched him carefully lay his silverware out on the napkin, eyeing the tines of his fork as though he were inspecting them for cleanliness. He slowly sipped his drink from the glass instead of the straw, which was something that I found extremely annoying. He made a slight slurping noise with every drink.

I leaned back against the booth seat and closed my eyes for just a minute. My shoulders and neck were starting to hurt. It was nothing big, more like when I slept funny on my neck and tried to turn my head later on during the day. Stiff, but not life-threatening.

Paul only talked about the new video game he bought, and how awesome it was supposed to be. He talked about the semantics of the game, which made absolutely no sense to me, the entire time until our food came. He'd ordered a burger at a steak place. It's not that big of a deal, really, since a burger kind of counts in a way. Still, it made me feel bad for ordering the more expensive steak that I absolutely loved.

I picked at my meal for a good twenty minutes, the pain in my neck slowly getting worse. As I ate, I started to feel a little sicker with each bite. It really wasn't the kind of sick you get from eating bad food. It wasn't even the kind of sick that you felt with a cold. It was just a constant muscle ache, the feeling that I was coming down with something serious.

"Are you feeling okay?" Paul asked.

"I'm just tired," I lied. I stabbed the last bit of my steak and shoved it into my mouth. I scooped up the last spoonful of garlicky potatoes off of the plate and leaned back in the booth. Maybe that was what was wrong with me. I was tired.

The waitress came by with the bill, and Paul slipped his father's credit card out his wallet. He slid the card into the plastic sheath and stood the bill up on the edge of the table. In one quick sweep, the waitress came back around to pick up the bill, and within minutes, she was back for him to sign the receipt.

As we stood up, Paul threw an arm over my shoulder. Together, we walked to the front door. The hostess propped it open for us to walk through. The night was starting to feel a little sticky, and I was regretting my outfit selection. I shouldn't have worn jeans. Or my ankle boots. "So, do you want to do something else?"

"Like what?" I asked as we took the concrete stairs to the parking lot. It was sort of hard to walk down the stairs with the weight of his arm over my shoulders. I kept thinking that I was going to fall over any moment.

"I don't know. We could go to my place and hang out. Or we could go walk around the park. There's the movies, too." He said, giving me a grin.

I felt a pang in my stomach, accompanied by a pounding in my skull. I hoped I wasn't starting to get sick. I blinked, silent for a second. I reached up and tried to rub my eyes without smearing my makeup. When I woke up this morning, I was all excited for my extensive date night. But right now I felt awful, and I was pretty sure it was only going to get worse. "Paul, I'm sorry, but I just don't feel really good right now." I said.

He practically jumped away from me, as if I just told him that I had a highly contagious, deathly disease. His arm quickly moved away from my shoulder, and he put in a good foot in between us. "Are you sick?"

"I hope not," I said with a sigh. "But can you just take me home for tonight?"

"Yeah, sure." He said. His car's headlights flickered as he unlocked the doors. "Get in."

# # #

The drive over to my house seemed like it lasted forever. I got out of the car, holding my ruined bag up to my chest. Paul walked over to my side of the car, reaching out for my hand. It looked like he might've forgotten that I wasn't feeling good, since he led me right up to my doorstep. Royce and Nolan were probably in there, waiting for me to get back. Those two were worse than an overprotective dad. I was sure that the two of them had scared Paul enough that he would never think about double-crossing them. He avoided them like the plague, anyway.

We reached the doorway. I started for the doorknob, but Paul reached out and grabbed my wrist. I looked down at his hand on my arm. I could barely see the edge of my half-star underneath his hand. It reminded me that, in my entire eighteen years, Nick was the only one who had ever seen it.

"Happy birthday," Paul said quietly. He leaned towards me, and I realized that he was leaning in for a kiss. It was sort of a surprise. Paul really wasn't the gooey type of boyfriend. I couldn't even remember the last time we'd kissed. PDA was not his thing. He was always too embarrassed to even hold my hand in public. Paul closed his eyes as he leaned a little closer.

Right before his lips touched mine, he stopped and opened his eyes. "You're not sick, right?"

"No," I answered. Our lips almost touched just from us talking.

Paul gave me a crooked smile and closed his eyes, leaning into me as he kissed me.

But that's when the burning started. Sharp, painful burning that practically ripped through me. My heart rate shot through the roof as I got the instant feeling that this was wrong. I didn't know why. Paul was my boyfriend. It was supposed to be alright for me to kiss him. I forced myself to kiss him back, even though it hurt all over, like I literally had fire burning through my veins.

Paul pulled away, and I tried to hide the fact that my eyes were watering from the mysterious pain. "Goodnight," I whispered, and before he could say anything else to me, I pushed open the door.

Royce was sitting in the armchair that was in the living room directly off to my right. Instead of being turned to face the TV, he had twisted it to where it faced the front door. He was holding a glass of water in his hand, and from the still-wet ring spots all over the table, it was clear that he'd been waiting there for a while.

"What are you doing?" I asked, trying to wipe away the tears discreetly. He'd lose it if he thought Paul made me cry. I ran my finger under my eye, like I was trying to collect the excess makeup there, wiping the evidence away on my jeans.

"Just waiting." He said, standing up. Out of the two of my brothers, Royce was the most serious. He was also the biggest of the two. He liked to go to the gym, and went more often than not. Royce kept his dark hair shaved short, showing off the strong bone structure of his jaw. His light green eyes glanced over my clothes, judging them on their appropriateness. He was a stickler about how much skin I was showing. "How was your date?"

"Fine," I said. "I'm really tired. I'm not exactly feeling the best right now." I said.

Nolan poked his head out from the kitchen. "You eat something bad?"

"I hope not." I said. "I'm sure I'll be fine. I think I'm just going to watch a movie. You guys want to watch with me?"

"What it is?" Nolan asked. I could see the fire his hazel eyes all the way across the room. His dark hair was longer than Royce's, and while Royce looked older beyond his years, Nolan was looked like the partying type of college student. Which was basically what he was. Only instead of college, he had a job.

"I don't know yet."

"I'll pop popcorn." He said, disappearing back into the kitchen.

Royce stayed silent, watching me from where he sat in his chair. "You know, that's really kind of creepy." I said, turning to hang my lightweight coat onto the hook by the door.

I heard Royce stand up. He reached out for a hug, and I easily hugged him back. "I know mom and dad would be proud of you." He said in a whisper. I felt more tears coming as I hugged Royce back. Hard. Our parents had died when I was fifteen. Nolan had been in his last year of high school, and Royce had been a fresh college graduate. I knew it wasn't exactly what he wanted right out of college, but he never complained about taking in his younger brother and sister.

I didn't answer Royce as he pulled back and gave me a smile. His eyes looked shiny. He wasn't the type to cry, which really meant that there was something going on with him. I figured it had to do with our parents, and didn't go to clarify because Nolan walked back in with a bowl of buttered and salted popcorn. My brothers had never really been the bare-your-emotions type, especially not in front of each other.

Nolan chose the movie, some action-adventure that had a lot of explosions. I tried to keep my eyes open, but I ended up falling asleep.

And I'm pretty sure that I dreamed of Nick the entire night.

Second chapter down, and hopefully you guys enjoyed it. :D Leave me a review to let you know what you guys think!

Peace out (: