· · ──── ·𖥸· ──── · ·

Joshua was silent the whole way home from the pub, and he could tell Amelia was finding it awkward. She drove home while he composed a text, one he hoped not to send, but one he needed to. Josh had secured a contact before the Declaration happened, much like Christian in his old world, who knew a lot about Drifting and Segregation. He'd given Joshua's contact details should they ever need each other. He'd hoped not to; he wanted to enjoy his life, but it seemed it was not over.

Joshua had also divulged very little information to Amelia about the conditions Rejected people had in every world because she didn't need to know it. Once you knew, you couldn't un-imagine it. He knew she'd ask though, and that was what worried him. Her heart was too big; she wouldn't be able to imagine it. Well, she would, and that's what worried him.

"Okay, speak," Amelia said when they'd closed the front door at home.

He sighed. "I need a beer. Then we can talk about it."

She glided across the floor, fumbled in the fridge, took out a beer, undid the top and passed it to him in record time. He was impressed with her speed for a woman who notably took three weeks to write a three-thousand-word essay. He knew because he'd been asking her progress for the past three weeks; not that he was allowed to mark it or see it. The rules, because they had no other lecturer, was that someone higher up would be marking her essays, but he had to teach her in the presence of another teacher. It made him roll his eyes; did they think they would have sex in front of other students? But those were the rules, and he'd be gone in three more weeks.

"You noticed the mark on her Knot, right?" Amelia asked.

"Okay, so when I was in the other world, my friend, Christian, told me a lot of shit. A new Drifter will have a noticeable difference in their mark. Do you remember how mine looked like a white burn mark? Well, a new Drifter will have it in a dark purple. It's kind of this subtle way inside the confines of the black ink so you'll never see it unless you know. But I saw it on her arm, in purple," Joshua explained before he took a long sip from his beer.

She slumped in the armchair and groaned. "I thought the drama was nearly over."

Joshua smirked. "Yeah, you're telling me. She's new to this life. She's nineteen, she's got her Fated One, even if it was paid to change. Technically, she shouldn't be a Drifter, so something must have happened. Drifters are usually that because, like with me, the strongest Fated One are in a different world. Josh left me a contact of the leader of the Drifters here in this world, so I've messaged him. I'm hoping for some answers."

Amelia knew he had a theory; she could sense his mind as it went into overdrive. "What's your theory?"

"Sophia's fate is wrapped up in ours, sort of. She's linked to us through Owen. I've heard... rumours that when someone Declares and gets fixed in their world, it sort of sets off a reaction. Sort of like an eye for an eye, but a Drifter for a Drifter. A Rejected or Segregated person will become a Drifter. My theory is that Josh and I have Declared and settled for good, so because I have a sort-of link to Sophia, she's become a Drifter. Her tattoo means she's Rejected, but she's not really, so it's made her wrongly a Drifter."

Amelia nodded and sipped her drink. He could feel her confusion, and he hated it. It made sense, and they both knew it. The girl wasn't Rejected, not really. Owen had screwed her over, and though Joshua didn't really care, it still made him frustrated.

He knew in a way; it was his fault. Selfishly, he didn't even care about the potential ramifications of Declaring. He just wanted to settle with Amelia and be done with it all, but he'd wrongly sent a girl into the life of a Drifter. But he knew she wouldn't give up because, in a way, Sophia's Fate linked to hers because of Owen.

It left a sour aftertaste in his throat.

"So... how do you stop that? She has her Fated One. Owen. Where would she be going? Your old universe? A different one?" Amelia asked.

"I don't know anything, Amelia. There could be lots of answers, and I don't know any of them. You also need to realise that there might be nothing you can do—"

"If he doesn't meet her, then he might continue—"

He kept her quiet by putting one hand on her shoulder, and the other on her Knot. Instantly, everything around them calmed like a tide taking debris away.

"I understand that you want to see this through, my angel, but this might just be one thing you cannot control. They will – hopefully – meet tomorrow, but that's all you can do. Even if they do, Owen might not stop. They might reject each other anyway. I'm not saying don't get involved—"

"Joshua, that is literally what you're saying," she retorted.

"All right, I'm asking you to leave it alone. It is drama you have zero involvement in, and there's nothing anyone besides her can do. All I can do is get the answers from this guy and put him in contact with her to help. That's it. Then, I say we back off and let them get on with it. Owen will give up eventually. If all else fails, we go to the authorities over it. That's the last resort," Joshua said.

"The man forced her into this, Joshua."

"I'm aware of that. But it's beyond—" He stopped. He knew that there was no talking her around; she was stubborn. It was one of the things he loved about her, but now it was just pure irritating.

"Don't think I can't feel your annoyance, because not only is it seeping into my brain, it's written all over your face," she teased. A sly grin spread on her mouth.

"You're a stubborn child," he pointed out.

"You back out of drama too easily because you want a quiet life," she retorted.

He scoffed dramatically. "I've done this dance; I know what it's like to go through being a Drifter and just wanting to settle down. Of course, I want a quiet life now. I fought hard to be here with you, I fought – literally – for you."

She cocked her head and grinned before she said, "In a fight to not be a stubborn child, I will indulge you. I'll go to this meeting thing tomorrow to see what happens and then I will leave it alone. But you have to contact this guy and give her his number if she is a Drifter. It's only fair she has a chance. She's not chosen this."

He chuckled, sipped his beer and perched on the side of the table. "Fine. But you're still a stubborn child."

"You're an annoying piece of shit."

"Yeah, maybe, but I'm annoying because I have to try and deal with you," he retorted.

"I love you."

"Love you too."

· · ──── ·𖥸· ──── · ·

Joshua heard from the guy – Reece – and agreed to meet him in the morning just before he had to lecture. From the little information they could message about, it sounded like Joshua's theory was correct. He showed Amelia the string of messages as she finished up her university work. It took everything in his power not to interfere and tell her the answers; not that he was exactly in possession of the answers, or what would get her a mark. He'd already flipped her world upside down more than once; he didn't want to start threatening her degree as well.

"Tell me something," she said.

"The sky is blue," he answered.

She snorted. "You idiot, I was following up with a question! But thanks for the new information! I'm amazed! Anyway, I was going to ask; what is Rejected life like? Or at least, Segregated life?"

He knew the question would come. He braced himself by pausing the TV and gesturing her towards him. She sat beside him on the sofa.

"If I tell you, you won't like it," Joshua said.

She looked into her lap. He'd noticed a few times since she broke up with Owen how she would try and rotate something invisible on her ring finger, where her engagement ring used to sit. It made him sad because it was still a habit for her, and he knew it set off a sadness inside her brain. It had crossed his mind a couple of times.

He also knew she needed to deal with the crap from Owen and Sophia before they even began talking long term. That was where Joshua knew the age difference would come back to bite them both. He was twenty-seven, back to ageing, and ready to settle down. He had two job interviews the next day – with a CV of Josh's experience on it – and he was in love with her enough to know he wanted it all. Yet she was nineteen and fresh out of an engagement, not even in her twenties yet.

But he had walked past a ring he liked a few days before. But he couldn't bring himself to do it, he knew it was far too early, despite the way he stared at her finger and wished he could put a ring there.

He would deal with that emotion another day.

"But I need to know," she said. She rested her legs over his lap and got comfortable.

He nodded. "All right. My friend, Christian, from my home-world—"

"This is your home-world."

He chuckled and ran his hand up and down her leg; an attempt to soften the blow with some comfort, but he knew it wouldn't work. "Fine, back in the other world, my friend Christian, he's the leader of the Drifters. He knows all about the underground; you know, Rejected, Segregated, Drifters... all the stuff the government doesn't want people knowing about. Years ago, he told me about it because I was intrigued. The Rejected are the people who just don't get a Fated One. Whether the government just don't want them to, or whether like Sophia, they were screwed over, or because they were born from Rejected people before they were made infertile. Some Rejected are also children who were born from people who weren't Fated, so most teenage pregnancies, or you know, assault or people just cheating on their Fated One."

She was uncomfortable, he could feel it rattling around in his brain.

"Rejected people are kind of... imagine them like subordinate people. The government shoo them away to run down towns or places. Sophia lives in the New Forest, right? They have a shanty-type town out there just for the Rejected people. Segregated people are separated into groups. People who chose that life, people who were pushed into it because they were pushed away by their Fated One, and Rejected. The funny thing is, people with money can just pay their way out of it, a bit like Owen did."

Amelia glanced up. "Shanty town?"

Joshua nodded. "Rejected can't get a job like you or I can. They can work, but they'll never be lawyers or doctors, nurses, teachers, CEOs. Sophia for example will probably work as a cleaner, for less than our minimum wage. They'll be the people cleaning cars or toilets. They'll never get promoted; they'll never be allowed to have a university education. Everyone in your lectures? They'll all have Fated Ones, not one of them will be Rejected. That's why university education starts at eighteen, so they can weed out who is Rejected."

She grabbed his hand. He ran his thumb over the back of her hand. She was disgusted and sad.

"They can choose who they want to be with, so Sophia can have a boyfriend. But they have to choose another Segregated person. While they can have any kind of Segregated person, the Rejected people are forced to become infertile. Women have their wombs and ovaries removed; men have vasectomies. They're not allowed to marry, because they won't have legal rights, like for example, you and I would, so the government doesn't see the point in allowing an institution like marriage for them."

"What the fuck?"

"I know some underground movements that deal with Segregation marriage. It's not technically legal, but you know, they do the white dress and exchange vows," Joshua explained. "The Segregated made a dating app for each other. I remember seeing it, you put up a profile and swipe yes or no. Imagine having something like that for people with Fated Ones, it'd make finding each other so much easier, huh?"

She chuckled, but the sadness shone through like the sun when it created a rainbow. It broke his heart to see her so sad for others, but that was also what he admired about her. Her empathy knew no bounds. She spoke about how much she hated what Owen did, for example, but she also said how she understood it at the same time.

"You're the qualified sociologist here, is there nothing we can do? This is awful," she exclaimed.

He smiled. Just like an angel, she wanted to do something to better others even though it didn't directly affect her. He swore there was magic within the Fated Ones concept; she was everything he ever wanted in a partner, she was everything he admired and wanted beside him to make him a better person. She was nineteen yet she had the maturity of someone worldly.

"It's just the way society is, Amelia. The best thing we can do is try to help Sophia, and the way we do that is what we're doing already," he answered.

She wiped a stray tear from her eye. He leaned over and kissed her forehead.

"I just hate that he did that to her. It's one thing to keep me in the dark and away from my Fated One, but to do that to her. She's been gone for a year and she... she's completely different to how she was before. She's... she's Drifting, Joshua. All because he couldn't bear to just let life work out. It's cruel."

"I know, I know. But it's just something that happened. We have to try and move on now," he whispered.

"I've never been so grateful to have you," she said.

He laughed into her skin. "You wouldn't have said that a month ago."

"No, you're right, but I don't think I ever really hated you. You just irritate the hell out of me," she retorted. "Thank you for telling me the truth."

"I was thinking... how about our second date... maybe tomorrow night, if it all goes okay, or if not the day after?" he asked.

She smiled at him, her dark eyes glowing like glitter. They were full of sadness and happiness at the same time. Her emotions were like a rollercoaster, and it made him dizzy, but after a moment they evened out because his hand fell to her Knot.

"I'd like that," she whispered.

He sat back, and they fell into silence. The truth was uncomfortable, and he knew she was brooding and angry. He was as well; despite not really being connected to Sophia, the situation made him riled up.

Amelia suddenly moved onto his lap. She grabbed his left hand and raised it to her face. He was unsure what was going on, but she suddenly grinned and pressed a kiss onto his Knot.

The sensation was something he'd never experienced before. He wondered while she kept her lips on his Knot if euphoria was a real thing; if it wasn't, he was sure it had been invented at that moment. He thought the connection couldn't get stronger between them than it was, but as she pressed another three kisses into his wrist, he realised it was now solidified into something cement, eternal, other-worldly.

"Shit," he exclaimed. It was like back-to-back orgasms, like glitter being thrown and rained on you, like the moment you get into a bath after a long day.

Amelia giggled on top of him as he came to. "Better?"

"What the...?"

"Well, I was thinking if touching it makes everything better, what would kissing it do? Like true love's kiss and whatever," she explained.

"It worked; holy shit."

She kissed his lips. "I've come up with my own theory, right."

"Right."

"Before, I used to think all of this was random, like some computer-generated crap. Even when I thought my Fated One was Owen, I just thought it was dumb luck, and I thought love was as well," she said.

He kissed her cheek. "I can see why."

"But now, I don't think so. I think we're chosen. I don't know, divine intervention or God or I don't know, something. I think I believe in it all. I was chosen to be with Owen because he taught me cliché crap about myself and life. But I was chosen to be Fated with you because we belong together. It's literal Fate, right?"

He pulled her to him. "I think so, too. There's no way I deserve someone like you without Fate being involved."

"Shut up, now who's being the brat?" she joked. They both chuckled, but she quickly turned serious. "It will all be okay, right?"

He smiled at her and grabbed her left wrist. "It will, I promise." He kissed her Knot, and together, they both realised that it would all be okay because they had each other.

· · ──── ·𖥸· ──── · ·