At that, Aka leaped up from his spot on the couch, grinning from ear to ear over at Calum. He swept Calum up in his arms, making sure he didn't touch Calum’s skin. Calum laughed as Aka ran out of the house. “What--Where are we going, Aka?”

Aka grinned down at his soulmate. “The beach. I’m probably going to shift back when we connect the bond. I’m going to shift and then we’ll connect the bond.”

Calum grinned back, Aka’s excitement rubbing off onto Calum. He was excited to number one, see Aka’s siren form completely, and number two, connect the bond. He couldn’t believe it. Two days ago, if you had told Calum that sirens were real, he would’ve laughed in your face. Now, he was in the arms of a siren about to become soulmates with him.

Aka stopped at the beach and placed Calum down onto the sand. He stripped his shirt first and then got rid of his pants. He was given a sleep shirt and pants before he went to bed a couple days ago. Calum averted his eyes as he sat up. Aka walked into the ocean and imagined his legs forming back into his tail. Once he was a full siren again, he caught Calum’s attention. “Cal, you can look.”

Calum looked over at Aka’s upper half of his body floating in the ocean. He stood up and pulled his hoodie off of his head. He soon joined Aka in the water. Aka and Calum kept their distance respectively, even though they knew they were about to seal the bond.

Aka watched Calum nervously. He was watching to see if Calum really wanted to do this. He did. There was not a glimmer of doubt in his turquoise eyes. He was beginning to feel the effects of the bond more and more and he wanted to connect the bond with the person he was meant to be with.

Aka hoped that Calum wouldn’t regret it. He knew he was tearing him away from a normal life. He was going to outlive his twin and his parents. Aka still didn’t know where Calum’s mother was, but he assumed she just wasn’t home. Aka hoped to the Sea Goddess that he wouldn’t regret this.

Aka forced himself to stop worrying and enjoy the moment. Calum fidgeted nervously. “So, what do we do?” He asked, kicking his legs to keep himself afloat. “Will it hurt? Will it burn? Will I pass out?”

“Um, we just touch as far as I know.” Aka looked in Calum’s turquoise eyes. “We can just touch hands if you want.” Calum nodded. “I don’t think it’ll hurt. From what I was told when I was learning about soulmates, it actually makes you feel a lot of love and affection for the person. I don’t think you’ll pass out either.” Aka took one of his now webbed hands out of the water. Calum looked at it in amazement. He took a hand out of the water and let a finger graze the siren’s hand.

~~~~~~~~

Jack woke up abruptly with a tugging in his chest and sat up quickly in bed. He had never felt this before. Jack rolled his eyes as it didn't happen again, deciding that it must have been a part of the dream he was having. He laid back down, planning to fall back into a dreamless sleep

He couldn’t sleep.

Jack sat up again, looking at Evan’s sleeping form on the air mattress. Jack smiled blissfully. He imagined himself being cuddled up in his comforter with Evan holding him in his sleep. But he wished for the impossible.

Calum had a crush on Evan. And Jack knew that. He saw the way he looked at his best friend. He saw the way that Calum blushed whenever Evan was near or touched him. Jack almost laughed out loud as he thought of that line from Hamilton. If I tell her that I love him she’d be silently resigned. Jack chuckled. But he wouldn’t do that to Calum. As much as Jack was falling for Evan, he would leave him for Calum to pursue.

There was something that Evan was hiding, Jack was sure about that. He had known the Hispanic boy for almost his whole life, yet he had hidden something from his best friend for almost his entire life. Jack was hurt, but he understood why. He had some secrets himself.

As he laid back down on his bed, he had one thought in his head.

I will find out Evan’s secret.

~~~~~~~~

Immediately, they both felt the effects of the bond sealing. It was invisible to the naked eye, but the two soulmates saw threads of gold burst out of their chests, weaving and sewing together with their soulmate’s thread. Calum grasped Aka’s hand and stopped swimming due to the shock of the bond. Aka held them both up as Calum grasped Aka’s shoulder as well to keep himself upright. Aka looked at his soulmate with affection, lust, and love in his chest. But it was so much more than that.

As the bond sealed itself completely, Calum stopped holding onto Aka so hard, though he didn’t let go completely. He didn’t think he could have even if he wanted to. Calum raised his head, looking at Aka with a new lens. His chest burst with love as he stared at his soulmate. He thought Aka was handsome before, but now the siren was absolutely breathtaking to Calum. Every little detail in the siren, every crevice, every blemish, every flawed part of him Calum loved. “Can I--Can I hug you?” Calum asked, looking away sheepishly with pink cheeks.

Aka smiled, nodding his head at Calum. With permission granted, Calum wrapped his arms around the siren’s strong torso, Aka doing the same to Calum. Aka nuzzled his nose into Calum’s neck, breathing in his scent. Calum was much smaller than Aka so the siren had to lean down a bit. But Aka loved how small his soulmate was and Calum loved how tall Aka was.

They stayed there for a couple of minutes, relishing in the other’s presence. When they pulled back, they were still only inches from each other. Aka shivered when Calum’s hand skimmed the scales on his tail. Calum grinned, watching Aka turn to float on his back, showing Calum his tail.

The human swam closer to the tail, watching as the scales glittered in the moonlight. He dragged two fingers against the scales, surprised at the transition between colors on his tail. Aka tried to resist grabbing the boy and taking him. He knew that, as much as he wanted to move faster, he had to take it slow. Especially with Calum.

Calum lifted his hand off of the tail, allowing Aka to float upright and split his tail back into legs. Calum giggles, getting out of the water to grab Aka’s pants. He raced back to his soulmate quickly, Calum couldn’t be away from Aka for long. Aka slips on his pants and then grabs Calum’s waist, pulling his chest against his soulmates. “I’m so glad you decided to be my soulmate,” Aka whispered in Calum’s ear, pulling a giggle from the smaller boy.

“I am too,” Calum said, still giggling. “If I had known having a soulmate would make me feel this way, I would’ve done it the moment you told me.” Aka grinned, happy to hear something like that come out of his soulmate’s mouth. They felt like they had been dating for years when really they’ve only known each other for a little more than a day.

“I can’t believe you’re a siren. That’s amazing. Your species is so cool.” Calum hugged Aka, letting the two of them drift in the water peacefully. “Do you have any magic powers or anything?” Calum yawned, feeling sleep struggling to take over him. Now that they shared a soul, Aka knew exactly how Calum felt. He too was fighting off sleep.

“I’ll show you another day. But for now, let’s just go to sleep.” Aka said, picking up Calum, who was already falling asleep against his chest and got out of the water to head to Calum’s house.

Aka got to his room and laid him down in his bed. He curiously looked around Calum’s room. This is where his soulmate had spent most of his life. The siren smiled, planning to leave his soulmate be, but a hand wrapped around his wrist. “Stay,” Calum said sleepily, eyes still closed. “Please.”

Aka tried to stifle a smile. He climbed into the other side of the bed, hugging Calum against his side. Aka fell asleep to his soulmate’s breathing.

~~~~~~~~

“YOU DIDN’T TELL ME?!” Cora basically screamed as she burst into Calum’s room, jolting the two awake. She had her wavy red hair up in a high ponytail and looked at the two with wide eyes.

Since the siren and the human had stayed up much longer than they intended to become soulmates, they were annoyed at Cora for waking them at two in the morning. Aka groaned, covering his eyes with his arm. “Sorry, Cora. But we bonded in the middle of the night last night. You would’ve been pissed at us if we had woken you up. Besides, Cal and myself were exhausted.” Aka explained. Calum didn’t even try to open his eyes. He just rolled onto his side and snuggled into Aka’s chest, letting sleep overtake him again.

Cora’s mouth made an ‘O’ shape, somehow she was able to keep herself from freaking out. Aka glared at her, unconsciously letting his fingers comb through Calum’s dirty blonde hair. She raised her hands in surrender, quietly backing out of the room. When Cora closed the door, Aka’s glare softened and he looked down at his soulmate. My soulmate, Aka thought, letting himself break into a grin. He never would’ve thought for a million years that Calum would become his soulmate. He swore that Calum would have rejected him.

But he didn’t.

And Aka was eternally grateful for that.

~~~~~~~~

Calum’s eyes fluttered open. He looked around his dark bedroom, reaching over to the bedside table to grab his phone. Half-past six. He groaned but stopped when he felt something warm against his back.

Who was laying next to him?

He turned around to come face to face with one of the sirens he met yesterday. Aka.

Then it all came flooding back to him. The talk at midnight, deciding he wanted to be Aka’s soulmate, everything. He grinned, snuggling closer to the siren he’s begun to fall for. He was content for now. Especially now that Aka was in his life.