The world's black and white. It's always monochromatic, like an old movie from the fifties, except, when you're touching your soulmate.

~

Logan grew up in a world without colors. Honestly, he didn't mind it that much. It's not like he knew what he was missing; only people with soulmates knew what colors even looked like. The main focus of his life wasn't love. It was education.

He wanted a career. He wanted to be an intelligent young man and a successful chemical engineer. Call him a buzzkill, but he'd rather read a textbook than a fantasy novel.

Everyone always said that he'd change his mind about his priorities when he got to college and started meeting new people. He didn't think so as he headed into his dorm room. It was his first day at his new college and classes were starting in a week. Many students decided to move onto campus before the classes actually started to get a feel for their new living space.

Logan wasn't looking forward to sharing his living space with a roommate, but it was required as part of the boarding rules. If he was lucky, he'd be rooming with an extreme introvert like himself who didn't want to talk.

He wasn't lucky.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Patton Valentine!!" his roommate exclaimed as soon as he stepped into the dorm. He was sticking his hand out and smiling so bright he rivaled the sun shining outside. Logan just stared at the hand in shock, having not even been able to set his bags down. The other young man eventually spoke again as he pulled it back. "Oh, you're not a touchy person, I get it! What's your name?"

"Uh, Logan Sharp," he replied in his most monotone voice.

He was hoping he could break this kid's spirit to socialize with him early on. Pushing past him, he refused to watch his face drop in disappointment. It wouldn't have mattered if he'd looked anyway because Patton's face didn't drop.

"Oh! That's a cool name!" the young man gushed. "You look like a Logan, you know?"

"Not really," he muttered to himself with a sigh.

This was going to be a long year.

~

Logan hoped that he didn't share any classes with Patton Valentine, but unfortunately for him, they had English together at the same time. His roommate was so happy the first morning of classes that he insisted they walk together.

He couldn't bring himself to kick the puppy.

That's how he found himself walking along the sidewalk toward the building they had their English class in with Patton bouncing next to him. Logan was a morning person, but not in the way that his roommate was. He liked to get up and get working, but the young man next to him liked to get up and start socializing immediately.

"Are you excited? I'm excited. What are you studying by the way?" he asked as they walked along.

"I'm studying to be a chemical engineer," Logan supplied. He nodded and made a comment about that being cool without saying anything else. Feeling like a jerk, he decided to talk a little. "What about you?"

Patton looked astounded that he actually asked. "Oh, I'm studying to be an animal trainer! I love animals so much, so I figured that would a great career for me."

"Seems fitting," he said, offering a half smile.

They continued to walk toward their class and then something strange happened. Patton's hand brushed his own, and for a split second, the world wasn't black and white anymore. The grass was a bright green, the sky was blinding blue, and when he glanced at the boy beside him, his hair was a soft brown. The colors were then just gone.

He blinked, wondering if Patton had noticed too. When he said nothing about it, he assumed it was a trick of his imagination.

~

As much as Logan didn't want to admit it, he and Patton were getting along really well. He hated being wrong but it turned out that his dorm mate was actually a precious person who just wanted to make friends with him. He enjoyed listening to him ramble about science, which was something he couldn't find in a lot of people. There was something to be said about how adorable Patton himself got when he gushed about animals. They had also established a "no touching" rule because he was not one for physical affection, which his dorm mate had come to respect.

There was one thing that he couldn't explain. Every once in a while, he'd see those colors again. In some cases, he was fairly certain he hadn't touched anyone. His answers came one afternoon when his good friend Patton decided to break their "no touching" rule.

"Hey Logan!" he called from behind him as he walked through the campus on the way back to his dorm.

The intellectual young man turned and smiled at him as he approached. "Afternoon Patton, I hope you had a pleasant day," he said. "Hows the training of that golden retriever going? Last time you talked about it, you said that you were having a little trouble with her?"

"Oh, yeah, making some progress, but she's just super energetic," Patton explained. He then giggled. "I guess we're meant for each other then!"

As he laughed, he grabbed Logan's hand, making his eyes go wide. He froze in his tracks. The colors were back, clear as the sky above them. Patton stopped to when he noticed he'd stopped, and a gasp escaped his lips as he saw the colors too. They met each other's eyes and realization dawned on them.

"We're-" Logan began to say.

"Shh..." Patton interrupted, smiling at him brightly. "We can talk about it later, let's just enjoy this moment here."

Tugging on his hand, they began to walk hand-in-hand through the campus. They gaze in wonder at all the colors and thought to themselves how much more wonderful the world was going to be now that they could see the colors.