"So...which season are we watching?" Mark asked in a quiet voice. It was Friday night, and all of his new friends were crowded the TV in Chenle's huge bedroom. Chenle was devouring the snacks, Jaemin and Jeno were mumbling quietly to each other, Jisung was flipping through episodes, and Mark was tucked underneath Donghyuck's arm, softly cuddling with him. Donghyuck looked down and gave him an affectionate smile. 

"Season six," Jaemin explained, turning away from Jeno and towards Mark. "It's required viewing in terms of Rupaul's Drag Race." 

"What happened to the other season we were watching?" Jeno asked, "The one with Miss Saltine and stuff." 

"Miz Cracker!" Jaemin, Chenle, Jisung, and Donghyuck shouted in unison. "And that season is over now," Jaemin explained. 

"Who won?" Jeno asked as Jisung finally reached the correct screen. Chenle already owned the entire season on Amazon. 

"Aquaria," Donghyuck spoke simply. Jeno and Mark gave him confused looks. "The fasionista one," he explained further. Jeno and Mark still didn't quite get it, and Donghyuck sighed. "The one that wore the red velvet turtleneck in the confessionals." 

"Ooh!" Jeno and Mark responded in unison, nodding as the first episode of the season began to load. Jisung laid down on his stomach, resting his arms on a pillow, and Chenle rested his head on his friend's back. Donghyuck ruffled Mark's hair, his arm still wrapped around his shoulder, and Jeno and Jaemin interlocked their fingers. 

"I wish my soulmate was here!" Chenle whined loudly. "I'm jealous of you guys." 

"You two should have invited them," Jaemin responded, gesturing to Chenle and Jisung. 

"We did, but they had some theatre rehearsal," Jisung explained. 

"Shut up! Adore Delano is coming on," Donghyuck interrupted and the boys fell silent. 

Mark dug himself further into Donghyuck's arms, sighing comfortably. He couldn't think of anything better than this: laying with his new friends in Donghyuck's arms, just relaxing with nothing to really worry about. Before all of this happened, he would stay home Friday nights, working on school work or watching whatever was on by himself (his friends usually had choir). But now, he got to meet a whole new group, and be with his love. Maybe he didn't really care about Rupaul's Drag Race that much, but the light in Donghyuck's eyes and the smile on his face when they watched it was enough to make Mark enjoy it all the more. 

Donghyuck suddenly reached over and grabbed a blanket, gently placing it over Mark's small frame. Donghyuck barely thought anything of the action but Mark blushed the prettiest shade of pink, unable to stop smiling at the subtle sweetness of the action. He moved down so his head was on Donghyuck's strong thigh, eyes still glued to the screen, and Donghyuck absentmindedly ran his fingers through Mark's hair. 

Suddenly, Mark could imagine a future, the future with him and Donghyuck. The two of them laying with Mark's head in Donghyuck's lap, just like this, watching TV. But they'd be older, and it would be their own apartment, and it would be the nightcap after a long days work. Maybe they'd get a cat, and the cat would cuddle with them. Mark sighed, no way, Donghyuck was definitely a dog person. The dog would cuddle with them too, and they'd fall asleep in front of the TV, and it would be domestic as all hell. Mark smiled at these thoughts. He could imagine all of it so easily. 

Donghyuck looked down at Mark all of the sudden and smiled, not with a smirk but plainly, sweetly. "Cutie," he mouthed, trying not to make noise so the others wouldn't get mad. Mark grinned back up at him, showing all his teeth. Donghyuck blew him a kiss, booped his nose, and watched the TV again. Mark knew they were cheesy as hell, but he wouldn't have it any other way. 

As Jaemin wrapped his arms around Jeno's shoulders, resting his head on him, Jeno thought about how far they'd came. His mind flashed all the way back to when they first realized, in their stupid first period class, where both excitement and pure panic had run through Jeno's veins. How painful it was to see Jaemin's beautiful face, so happy just to be with him, turn into hurt when Jeno explained the situation. How it felt to walk away from Jaemin, who was close to tears, to go back to the boyfriend who he wasn't even sure he loved. He left Jaemin behind for Renjun, who had only betrayed him, and Jeno couldn't believe he'd even done it. 

But now, things were as they were supposed to be. Neither Jaemin nor himself thought of anyone else; they were soulmates for real. Jaemin wasn't afraid to look at Jeno like he was made of magic. Jaemin gave him that look, just then, turning and giving him his knowing smile. Jeno grinned back, watching Jaemin pretend not to be fazed but seeing him blush adorably. He turned back to the TV; he couldn't imagine this night getting any better. Jaemin was warm and bright beside him, and anyways, he was starting to really like Rupaul's Drag Race (not just because Jaemin would never shut up about it). 

"Why is it so quiet?" Chenle asked. 

"I dunno; you're usually the one that makes all the noise," Jisung responded in his quiet tone, and Chenle released that loud dolphin laugh of his. That triggered at least a giggle from everyone else. 

Jeno really did lthink this was a perfect night. He felt so at home with Jaemin's friends, and Jaemin was right, they were his friends now too. They were sweet, and funny, and exciting, and made Jeno feel like he belonged. They could be loud, and they didn't have the best reputation at school, but who was Jeno to care? They didn't deserve anyone's judgement; they'd treated him well when no one else had. 

Whispers amongst Chenle, Jisung, Mark, and Donghyuck brought Jeno out of his head. Jaemin seemed unfazed, but Jeno looked curiously at all of them, trying to figure out what the hell they were talking about. 

Finally, Donghyuck cleared his throat, and Chenle giggled. 

"Hey Jaemin," he said, trying to sound serious but holding back a smile. Jisung managed to not laugh, but Mark had to cover his mouth. 

"What's up?" Jaemin responded, an edge to his voice. 

"We were thinking; it's time you showed Jeno around Chenle's guest room," Donghyuck said. 

"Yeah," Chenle added, pausing to giggle. "You really should see it. It's great." Mark laughed into Donghyuck's thigh and Jisung shoved his face into the pillow he was leaning on. 

Jaemin sighed and rolled his eyes. "You guys are idiots," he responded, but smiled. He made a move to stand up but Jeno held him down. 

"I know what you guys are trying to do," Jeno said. "I was there when you did this to Mark and Donghyuck." The schemers blushed with embarrassment. "And anyways," Jeno added, tugging Jaemin in closer. "I'll just kiss Jaemin in front of you guys. I don't mind." 

"Seriously?" Jaemin asked, grinning brightly now, scooting in towards Jeno. Jeno nodded and shrugged like it was no big deal. Chenle and Jisung excitedly watched on, while Mark peeked out from the blanket he was tucked under. Donghyuck smiled, but there was judgement in his eyes. 

Jaemin giggled a bit before Jeno cupped his cheek, pressing their lips together without a second thought. Jaemin smiled against his lips and pressed closer, his hands resting on Jeno's broad, strong shoulders. Jeno didn't want to stop, ever, kissing Jaemin felt like magic, his pretty lips all his to kiss. But he figured the others were probably getting fed up with their PDA show and pulled away. 

Chenle whistled and Jisung wiggled his eyebrows at them. 

"You two are cute together," Mark said, and Donghyuck made a face. 

"Aw, Hyuckie, don't be jealous of us," Jaemin teased.

"I can kiss my boyfriend in front of everyone too," Donghyuck grumbled in a whiny tone. Mark blushed, but Donghyuck didn't reach over to make a move, knowing Mark was shy about PDA sometimes. But Mark reached up and pressed his lips to Donghyuck's in a quick peck and everyone cooed over them. 

"Happy now?" Mark asked with a small smile. 

"Most definitely," Donghyuck responded, looking over Mark, unable to stop smiling himself. 

"You guys !" Jisung suddenly whined, louder than Mark or Jeno had ever heard him. "You guys have been so distracted and now we're halfway through the ing episode!" 

"You wouldn't be complaining if your soulmate was here," Jaemin responded in a low tone. Jisung pouted, but stomped off to go text him. 

"See, Chenle and Jisung are the real jealous ones!" Donghyuck yelled. Chenle made a face and Jisung came back with his phone in hand. 

"My soulmate owes me," Jisung grumbled under his breath. But everyone laughed, and watched the TV and ate more snacks, and knew this really couldn't get any better. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Ten wasn't sure if it was a good idea to go to Taeyong's house Friday night after dance practice. But one simple text from his soulmate was all it had taken for Ten to make his way to his house, laying down on his couch in no time. 

Even though they still didn't talk much at school, they texted more frequently, and after their date at Granite Run on Monday things between them had been better. But they were still on the fence, whether to give or not, whether or not to trust each other. Even though things had been great on their date, Ten had just thought and thought and thought, overanalyzing until he didn't believe a word that left Taeyong's mouth. But because they were Ten and Taeyong, the only possible solution to a strained situation was liquor and drugs. 

Taeyong rolled some fat blunts and pulled some vodka out of his parent's liquor cabinet. It wasn't long after that smoke filled the room with its heady scent, fogging their heads, and the only thing they could taste on each other's tongues was alcohol. 

Ten had quickly taken control of the speaker, putting on some Lana Del Rey to kill the awkwardness in the dead air. But it quickly didn't matter, because soon enough they were high and drunk enough to forget that anything had ever been awkward at all. 

Taeyong was laying with his back on that damn couch and Ten was on top of him, his fingers tangled in Ten's hair, eyes hooded and red but unable to tear them away from Ten's face. 

"You're damn pretty," Taeyong spoke in a low, grumbly voice. 

"This isn't the first time I've been told I'm pretty," Ten responded in his own breathy tone. After a beat he laughed, but Taeyong was serious. 

"But I said you were damn pretty. It's different," Taeyong weakly protested. Ten laughed more, his head falling onto Taeyong's chest, the buttons of his shirt opened enough to reveal bare skin. Nothing Ten hadn't seen before. Ten had seen more of Taeyong's body than his heart, at this point. Ten knew they wouldn't be sharing any more of their feelings; this wasn't that kind of a night, it was a 'let's and pretend everything is alright' kind of night. He hated himself, he needed to be around Taeyong so much but was terrified of what his presence did to him.

Taeyong released a breath, just on the edge of a chuckle. Ten smiled back at him and captured his lips in another kiss, by far not the first of the night. His hips ground down as vodka covered tongues slid together in reckless teenage abandon; nothing seemed to matter in that moment. Their lips were slick with spit, soulmate sparks like liquid in their veins, dulled and jarring inside. 

"The is this ?" Taeyong mumbled against Ten's lips, gesturing to the music, pulling him in for another kiss between his answer. Ten gave in a bit before pulling away with a glare. 

"It's Lana Del Rey," he responded. 

"Oh," Taeyong mumbled uncaringly, trying to get Ten's lips back on his, but Ten pushed him back down into the couch cushions. 

"You know, every time you insult Lana Del Rey, a 's soul dies," Ten said. 

"Twinks will let their soul die because of this fake deep music?" Taeyong asked, already looking guilty. Ten looked back at Taeyong incredulously. 

"Little ," Ten grumbled, sitting up (still straddled on Taeyong) and looking away from him. He tried to hide a small smile but Taeyong caught him, using his hand to tilt Ten's chin toward him. 

Ten immediately flinched away from the touch, panic rising in his gut. The touch was just too affectionate, too caring. Yes, Taeyong had admitted he was beginning to fall for Ten. But that could've been just a ploy to get into his pants, keep him close enough to but not close enough to care about. Ten could never be sure that wasn't the truth. 

He reached for the bottle and tilted his head back, swallowing as much as his gag reflex would let him. Ten passed him the bottle and Taeyong drank too, almost as much as him, the bottle at least three quarters done. 

Taeyong hummed and pulled Ten closer. Ten pulled away to listen for a moment withouth Taeyong's lips distracting him.

"This song..." He trailed off.

"What is it?" Taeyong asked, with surprisingly genuine interest. 

"Guns and Roses. By Lana." Taeyong looked at Ten for an explanation. "It always reminds me of you." 

They stopped to listen for a moment, but Taeyong exhaled and kissed Ten again soon enough. Ten noticed that god, Taeyong could not keep his hands off of him, soft palms pressed into clothes and skin, gripping hair with no force behind it, eyes shut and involved. Ten always knew Taeyong would take anything he could. Would Taeyong ever give? Even if he did gave, would Ten be too afraid to let him? 

Taeyong did it again. He reached over and tucked a loose lock of Ten's hair behind his air, too ing affectionate for Ten's liking. Ten flinched again but Taeyong was too far gone to notice, mouths open and languid, no rush to finish. 

"Ten, I want you," Taeyong slowly growled in Ten's ear, touching up and down Ten's back with his hand. 

"Then me already," Ten teased back, pressing his forehead against Taeyong's. But Taeyong blinked and shook his head. 

"No Ten. I want you. Want to know you, to be yours," Taeyong responded, almost in a whisper but not ashamed. He cupped the side of Ten's face and Ten flinched, again, his breath rate rising, he didn't know what to do. 

Ten laughed, almost out of fear. "You're high. You're drunk," he said, more to himself than Taeyong. He tucked his head in the crook of Taeyong's neck, not quite wanting to look at him, what was he supposed to do? 

"Ten, I want you," Taeyong repeated in Ten's ear, curling his hand around Ten's hair to it softly, rolling his hips back slowly. 

"Shut up," Ten said, more aggressively than he meant. 

Taeyong frowned and Ten immediately felt guilty. "Why?" Taeyong asked sincerely, the ghost of a frown crossing his face, his finger tripping and trailing over Ten's soft, sheened skin. 

"I'm not letting myself trust you any more," Ten whispered. 

Taeyong blinked slowly, and Ten could feel him sober up beneath him. Taeyong reached for the bottle and drank, almost so much that Ten stopped him, but when the bottle was almost drained he finally put it down, slowly, deliberately. 

"Ow. That hurts," he admitted with a pathetic laugh. He cracked his fingers once, twice, three times, twisting them. Ten looked down; it was obviously a nervous tick. They shook a bit, but they were still the handsomest hands Ten had ever seen. 

"Let's stop this," Ten mumbled, leaning down to kiss Taeyong again, pretending he didn't taste tainted anymore. Soon enough he didn't though, just like alcohol, and Ten grinded his body down against him. Ten knew what he was doing; Taeyong wouldn't be thinking about wanting to be someone's anything soon enough. All he'd be thinking about was ing Ten; Ten knew he had that power. 

Ten ignored the pang in his heart and circled his hips, Taeyong pulling away to caress the sides of his waist. It was still too affectionate and Ten turned his head away, not wanting Taeyong to see him blush pathetically. 

"God I wanna take you," Taeyong growled against Ten's skin. 

"Please," Ten responded, in a groan. He wanted it too. Taeyong's body was the prettiest distraction there was.

"," Taeyong simply said. Ten finally got off of Taeyong, scooting off to the cold end of the couch while Taeyong dug through his things for protection. He watched Taeyong go to his room, unlit cigarette between his fingers. Ten reached for the vodka, downing the last drops of it. He tried so hard to act as aloof as Taeyong really was. Finally, it was working. But maybe, they were starting to switch roles. But that was too complicated for Ten to think about, so he laid back down where he and Taeyong had been before, trying to recapture the warmth of when Taeyong was there moments before. Taeyong would be back in a moment, but it wasn't the same. Ten could pretend they were something entirely different.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: hey guys! I hope you're enjoying the story so far. I just wanted to say that today is my birthday (aug. 14th)! I'm turning 19. Can you believe I've been writing on this site since I was 15 and a half? It's CRAZY! I just wanted to say that I'm so happy to be spending my birthday writing a story people enjoy. Thank you all for reading and for making 19 a great one! I love you guys!

Love,

RainbowDonkeys.