All My Heart

3rd May 2013
Chicago, IL

"There is a string that connects us that is not visible to the eye. Maybe every person has more than one soul they are connected to, and all over the world there are these invisible strings. Maybe the chances that you'll find each and every one of your soulmates is slim. But sometimes you're lucky enough to stumble across one. And you feel a tug. And it's not so much a choice to love them through their flaws and through your differences, but rather you love them without even trying. You love their flaws." – Tarryn Fisher.

Dan always knew that he loved her. Maybe even if he didn't want to ever admit to himself, he knew. He knew that he loved her and that he would always love her. He thought it was just a friend type of love – since she was his first best friend and all. But as they both grew older and found out more about each other, more than they'd ever find out about each other whilst only children, he realised that he still loved her – imperfections and weird quirks and flaws and all.

Soul mates. The term was foreign to him, simply because he didn't believe he would ever find his.

But she'd been there all along. Ever since he was a little kid.

He often wondered: what was the difference between a 'love of his life' and a 'soul mate'. Only then did he realise what it was. One was a choice, while the other was not. He chose to love her whole-heartedly. But he was always drawn to her, because he was convinced that she was his soul mate.

Aria and Dan never broke their eye contact while they stared at each other, still in the back lounge of the bus, chests heaving up and down as they tried to catch their breaths. The longer she stayed silent, the more Dan beat himself up. Why did he have to say it? Why did he do that? Why was he so dumb?

"You're not in love with me," Aria finally spoke, her voice small as she shook her head and took a small step back.

Dan frowned. "How would you know what I feel?"

"You're not in love with me." She repeated, and though her voice was firmer this time, it was still soft.

"You don't have the right to tell me how I feel," he practically seethed, eyebrows knotting even tighter together in the middle of his forehead. "This is my feelings we're talking about. You don't have the right to tell me what I don't or do feel. That is mine. And I'm telling you that I am in love with you."

"But you can't be!" Aria finally exclaimed, taking another step back as she threw her hands up in the air in exasperation.

"Why the hell not?" He questioned lowly, the only emotion coursing through his veins being anger.

"Because," she started, shaking her head. "Because you're... You."

"What are you on about?" Dan asked, tugging at his hair. Seemed to be a good day to not wear a snapback.

Aria shook her head once more, subconsciously mirroring his actions as she ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm not, – " she shook her head, voice cracking. "I'm not good enough for you. You're not in love with me. You can't be."

"Fucking hell, Ari. I'm telling you right now that I am in love with you. No ifs, ands or buts. I am completely and utterly, head over heels, fuckin' in love with you and you're telling me that just because you think you're not good enough for me that it's not true? I think that's fucking bullshit, that's what it is." He scoffed, finally taking a step forward so that the distance between them was diminished. Dan's normally light blue eyes were darker as he stared down at her, narrowing his eyes and pressing his chest right against hers. "I just basically admitted that you're the love of my life and you haven't said anything apart from how I'm not in love with you. Are you not going to say anything about that?" He asked bravely, finally voicing his thoughts.

"Love of your life?" Aria repeated softly, almost in a mocking tone that made Dan's lips quirk up into the tiniest of smiles.

"The absolute love of my life," he nodded confidently, though his heart was pounding so furiously against his chest that he feared she might've been able to hear and/or feel it whilst they were pressed up against each other. "My soul mate." He smiled slightly as she bit down on her bottom lip, staring up at him, eyes darting to stare at one iris to the other. "The key to my lock. The shore for my ship. The war for my soldier. The seed for my soil. The puzzle to my piece."

She blinked then she raised an eyebrow. "The puzzle to your piece?" She repeated with a confused frown as he frowned, too. "That didn't make sense at all."

"Yeah... Just... Give me a minute..." Dan trailed off, eyebrows furrowing as he started to mouth something.

"You're quoting Shapeshifters, aren't you?" She deadpanned and his eyes darted down to her with a sheepish grin and uncaring shrug.

"I was trying to, but then I messed up."

"I think it's... If I'm the puzzle, then you're the piece that completes the picture," she quoted the song, eyes staring off a distance as she did so.

Dan pursed his lips, eyes narrowing slightly. "Huh. Probably. So that would make it... Um," he cleared his throat, "You're the missing puzzle piece to my... Jigsaw puzzle..." He blinked. "That was weird."

"You don't do this often, do you?"

He shook his head, "Never thought I'd fall in love, let alone with my best friend." They were silent then, just looking at each other. Dan, back to freaking out internally whilst Aria was probably thinking of ways to reject him. And that honestly scared the crap out of him. "Aria?" He spoke, and she blinked at him. He gulped, a hand reaching out to cup her cheek. "I love you."

Her tongue darted out, dampening her top and bottom lip as she did so. "Can you do something for me?" She asked quietly.

"Anything," was his immediate reply.

"Kiss me."

So he did. He leaned down and he kissed her. And God, it was the best feeling that he'd ever felt before. He'd been with plenty of women before – plenty of women – but none of those times compared to how kissing her felt. Just kissing. It had started out as something innocent, just the two of them kissing like two young teenagers who'd just got together would kiss whilst in a crowded place and they simply wanted to kiss each other.

Then it turned into something so much more. The kiss was complex. It was simple, but complicated. Soft, but fiery. It was a mixture of so many different emotions that neither Dan nor Aria could pinpoint which was the strongest and most dominant of the kiss they were sharing. There was passion, lust, need, love and everything else in between that erupted between them. Soon enough Dan was moving, then gently pushing her back so that she was laying on the leather cushion of the sofa in the back lounge; the older boy hovering over her with his elbows and forearms propped up by either side of her head so that he wouldn't crush the girl underneath him.

A hand was then moved to rest on the side of her hip, eventually a thumb going to rub at the exposed skin that was on display because of how her top had ridden up. Then when Dan thought he was feeling pure bliss as his fingers lay upon her skin, her hands slipped under his t-shirt, fingers dancing lightly across his back – making him groan in content.

It was like a slap to the face as he realised just what they were doing. He couldn't. So he pulled back, chest heaving up and down quickly as he tried to breathe in as much oxygen as possible. His eyes were clouded over with want but no matter how much he wanted her right then and there, he couldn't. Not while she was practically emotionally unstable and probably using him just to distract herself from her self-destructive thoughts.

"We can't," he spoke in between deep breaths, looking down at her whilst she, too, tried to catch her breath; though Dan didn't make a single move to get off of her.

"Why not?" She breathed out, genuine confusion in her tone as she looked up at him – blinking her beautiful, beautiful eyes at him.

He started shaking his head, mouth open and closing as though trying to find the right words to say. Dan moved off of her finally, not looking at her as she, too, sat up – both of them still trying to catch their breath. "You don't," he stared, shaking his head once more. "You're not – "

"I love you," Aria interrupted him quietly, biting on her bottom lip immediately afterwards. "And I'm not just saying that. I... I love you. In a more complex way than a best friend should love their best friend."

Dan's eyes widened as he looked at her, the girl already looking back at him. His mouth opened again, but he didn't know what to say. A part of him was doubting that she meant it, but at the same time: a very large part of him was telling him that she loved him – so why the fuck was he just looking at her with his mouth opening and closing like a bloody goldfish?

Her pink and now kiss-swollen lips quirked up into a small smile. "I'm not lying," Aria spoke. "I really am in love with you. I probably always have been, but I kept pushing it aside because I thought it was just a phase, and I'm not good enough for you."

"You're wrong," Dan finally whispered, lifting a hand to cup her cheek once more. His thumb drew small circles against the smooth skin of her face as she almost unconsciously leaned into his touch, "You're more than enough for me. You always have been," he spoke, eyes darting across her face to memorise each curve and dent.

"Good God," he mumbled softly, more to himself than to her.

He leaned down then, capturing her top lip in between both of his. Then he moved, sucking lightly on her bottom lip. Then he couldn't take it anymore and he really kissed her, one hand still cupping her cheek whilst the other was buried in her hair – keeping her head close to his own. He started to lean forward and she caught his movement; moving so that she was laying on her back while he hovered over her once more. His calloused fingers drew little shapes on her exposed skin; the hand daringly moving further up her skin with each open-mouthed kissed they exchanged.

She bunched up his shirt at his back, prompting him to break the connection between their mouths to pull the fabric over his head, throwing it to the ground without a care of where it landed before he was kissing her again. He didn't like that she still had a top on, either, so he pulled her shirt over her head; gulping as he took in the sight of her half-naked body before him.

Aria blinked at him, chest rising and falling as she tried to catch her breath. Dan diverted his eyes right back to her own, smiling softly as he brushed a lock of hair out of her face.

"Beautiful," he mumbled before kissing her again.

God. The taste of her lips would be enough to keep him content forever.

He would kiss her forever if his body allowed it. But he had to breathe, so he couldn't do that. He didn't want to stop touching and/or kissing her, so his lips worked their way down her jawline and then her neck. His lips lingered over to her collarbone, his hands selfishly salivated every inch of her exposed skin as his mouth lingered on her skin – stopping on a specific spot when she stilled and then simultaneously relaxed her body, a small moan escaping her perfect lips. Her hands tugged gently at his hair as he found her sweet spot; sucking and nibbling on her skin, fully intent on leaving a mark. Staking his claim.

"Are you sure about this?" Dan's voice was breathy as he voiced his question – lips still lingering on her collarbone.

His fingers gently danced across the side of her body as he finally moved his head upwards, moving his kisses from her collarbone to her neck, then to her cheek and the corner of her mouth. She breathed a quiet moan, it was so quiet, but Dan revelled in the sound.

"Shut up," she breathed out, bringing his head back to hers, kissing him fiercely; their lips dancing against each other like they were always meant to meet. Their heads titled to the sides naturally, accommodating each other's features perfectly while their hands greedily explored the skin of the other.

He started to tug at the pyjama shorts she was clad in, the younger gladly lifting her hips up so that he could tug them off and chuck them onto the floor somewhere near his own discarded top. Then he was pulling off her bra – his hands eagerly moving up to touch her. A small groan left his lips from the back of his throat, making her lips curl up into a tiny grin. He made a move to pull off the only other flimsy material on her body, and she started tugging at his shorts.

"Off," she mumbled into his ear as they broke away for a breath – his mouth leaving a trail of kisses down her skin, to her shoulder. He complied easily, tugging off his shorts. She let out a shaky breath, "Both," she mumbled again; tugging at the waistband of his briefs this time.

"Wait," he murmured quickly, pulling away to reach down for his discarded shorts on the ground.

Dan turned his shorts, going straight to his back pocket. Then he pulled out his wallet, flipping it open and taking out a small square packet that made her stifle a laugh, even if she was literally lying naked underneath her best mate. He practically threw the shorts back onto the ground as he looked back at her with a raised eyebrow and a smile that so desperately tried to stay hidden.

"What?"

"Just causally got condoms on hand, yeah?"

He shrugged his shoulders casually; as though they were just having normal banter. "Yeah. Used to be a bit of a slut," he admitted shamelessly.

"Used to?" she echoed, blinking at him.

His tongue darted out to run along his lips. "Used to," he repeated with an affirmative nod. "I have you now," he spoke softly, staring down at her lovingly as his hand moved to brush her hair out of her face again. "I don't need anyone else."

They stared at each other, then. Two sets of blue eyes; both darker than normal, taking each other in – completely disregarding the fact that they were both stark naked and about to do something that would change their friendship forever. There were things that Dan never realised about her, because he saw her so often that he stopped paying close attention to the little details. How she had a little scar above her eyebrow, how she had a little hole in her bottom lip from how she'd pierced her lip whilst with her mates and ended up hating the piercing, how she had mismatched earrings of the same shape but different colour, how she had two spots on (what usually seemed like) her flawless skin. Little things that he would normally not notice on a girl.

But this wasn't just any girl. This was the girl.

Her hand, that was on the back of his neck, pushed him down towards her; kissing him with such a fierce passion that Dan groaned just at the feel of that. His lips left hers in favour of placing kisses all over her skin as he slid the protection over himself, positioning himself and then going back to kiss her lips once more.

"I love you, to the stars and above," he mumbled in between hungry and desperate kisses, hands still constantly roaming her skin as he did so.

"I love you, to the moon and – "

The sentence was never completed, for he slid right into her and a single sound of pure pleasure that made his heart race even faster escaped her lips. His mouthed moved against her skin as their two separate bodies perfectly moulded together to form one whole – only one thought running through his mind. Aria McAllister, his best friend, now his lover was hopefully, his forever.