Chapter 8

Constantly thinking about what happened the week before, you doubted he’d even want to see you, let alone speak to you or hear you out. 

Porco was sitting by the window, the sight of the woods behind his apartment, that he held so dear, completely forgotten in the background as he stared into his coffee mug. The void of the black liquid held all of his attention for a couple of minutes now, the beverage already having lost its heat but he didn’t seem to notice it.  

“I don’t want you, Galliard!”

Your hateful words kept echoing in his head, keeping him company for the entire week, replaying over and over like a broken record that just cannot be turned off. And he definitely wasn’t the only one who couldn’t get those words out of his head.

They kept haunting you too, the feeling of guilt settling down in your chest every time you think about how much you must’ve hurt him. Let’s be real, you never were a fan of the whole ‘soulmate’ shenanigans.

Not everyone had the mark, it was pretty rare to have it, even rarer if you actually managed to find the one you’re apparently ‘destined’ to be with. You spent most of the time covering your chest, where the mark was, hating the looks random people would give you. Some of them envied you for having the chance to find somebody who is supposed to be your other half, others pitied you because they knew just how small that chance really was.

Truth be told, as years went by, you stopped paying so much attention to it, not really prepared to bet all of your cards on fate. Last week however, your collar didn’t really do a good job at covering it and as soon as Porco saw it his eyes went wide and he was dragging you away from your friends to talk to you. 

You found out he had the exact same mark in the exact same place as you, a telltale sign that the man was your soulmate. The only problem was, that you spent the better part of the last 3 years (at least) hating each other and barking at one another like a pair of angry dogs.

So you were less than thrilled about this turn of events. A small part (the part that still believed in happy endings and true love) of you hoped, that your soulmate would be someone you’ll fall for instantly, a person that will understand you and would want to spend all of his free time with you. Not somebody that seemingly couldn’t stomach merely looking at you just a couple of seconds ago.  

So you said the first words that came to your mind, not really caring about repercussions or hurting his feelings. “We’re soulmates Y/n!” His voice was filled with joy and you would’ve definitely questioned your sanity if you noticed. But you were too preoccupied with your own jumbled thoughts and confusions. 

“Even if we are, it doesn’t really change anything…”

“What do you mean? It changes absolutely everything.”

“It doesn’t, we still hate each other. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with somebody that can’t stand me. I don’t want this. I don’t want you, Galliard!” 

You don’t even give him the time to respond, turning on your heel and walking away. Subconsciously you’re probably too scared to even look at him, fearing that his undoubtedly crestfallen and hurt expression would make you want to wrap your arms around him and punch yourself in the face for causing him pain. He was your soulmate after all and if you still needed any kind of confirmation of the fact (besides seeing his mark), the way your heart twisted and your body almost refused to listen to you as you walked away provided just that.  

He didn’t come to any of his classes for the rest of the week, skipping out on any of your group activities and avoiding contact with all of your mutual friends. You were conflicted, one half of you feeling guilty and wanted nothing more than to break down his door and apologize, tell him you were stupid and your nerves just got the better of you, and the other half (that was clearly not over lying to itself) was delighted that your days were once again spent without fights and mockery.

But the third day in, you found yourself missing everything about him, the smiles, the glares, the sassy remarks and sarcasm that you countered with your own, the way his cheeks flushed when a remark hit too close to home… All of it. 

Seeing that you were moping probably just as much as Porco was, Reiner took it upon himself to verbally beat some sense into you.