Misty rolled her eyes at the continued innocence, but didn't say anything. They both knew it for the lie it was. Neither of them were really innocent all the way through and could even boast it. They had too much for for that. As Jae revealed her mark, Misty completely refocused her attention. "Oh. I didn't realized what it was before. I saw you had something there and wondered if it might be your mark, but now I see it's...a..." She trailed off as she lightly touched Jae's arm, holding it in place to observe the little peach design set on the other girl's arm. And I just called myself a peach. A peach. It's really a peach. For a second, Misty stared at the mark before recoiling her arm, holding it against her heart with a shocked expression.

"Your mark is a peach." Voice high, she half stated, half questioned. Because she thought the reality might be crashing down on her now and something, someone needed to stop it.

"Uh, yeah it is? Why do you look like your world is ending?" Jae asked, she didn't want to think about why Misty was looking like that, but she couldn't help it because really a look like that only meant one thing. And she didn't want to believe that. Her eyes flicked down to Misty's mark on her collarbone, the firework standing out to her even more now, and she shook her head. She didn't want to think it. If Misty was her soulmate, what was she going to do? She didn't want to stop talking to the girl, which really maybe that was the biggest hint, but she just wanted read to be mated. It felt too soon.

"Isn't it too strange!" Misty exclaimed. How could Jae not see it? Or did she just not want to? She couldn't tell right now. "What with Raz always calling me a peach. Peach this, peach that, until I start to think I'm a peach too. It's a sign!" Taking in a deep breath, she continued to look right into Jae's eyes, leaning even closer so she almost sat on the chair arm instead of in the seat. "What if that mark is me?"

Jae continued to stare at Misty's mark, not wanting to believe it, but knowing she was going to have to. There was coincidence and then there was fate. And honestly the easiness with which the two of them had melded together; maybe, they should have believed her friends earlier. They obviously saw something, being mated themselves. She shook her head. Not sure wanted to do, she felt like she couldn't breath, breathing shallow and gasping. She didn't want to reject Misty because it wasn't like she didn't want to be mated someday, but not now. Why did fate have to bring her to her now. "I-I...." she gasped not able to get any words out, frozen.

Misty looked on with worry and fear, not even sure what might be going on in Jae's mind. Even though she didn't feel ready for this day, a part of her felt a thrill of happiness. A part of her wanted to touch the other girl's mark and feel that confirmation that this was real. Just to know. Just to act on later, because that was a proper thing to do should they choose it. But Jae just looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Shifting forward so she slipped over onto the couch finally, Misty reached for the other girl. "H-hey, are you alright? We can talk about this, you know."

Jae unconsciously leaned backwards away from Misty, another gasping breath shaking out of her, certain at this point she was having a panic attack. She took a couple of deep breaths, deliberately trying to get herself back on track exactly so they could actually talk about it. She knew they needed to talk about it, but she didn't know what to say. "I don't know what to do..." she murmured, finally when she felt at least a little in control of her body, "I'm not ready for this," she said, her voice slightly pleading.

Misty felt her heart shudder. This wasn't working. Even if they were soulmates, something wasn't working. Her hand hesitated inches for Jae, wanting to grab hold of her and say everything would be alright. A funny thing, considering she didn't know that it would. For a second, she flashed back to those little pillow forts and flashlights under the covers with her sisters as they dreamed about their soulmates. Knights in armor, a foreign prince, the boy next door you grew up with but never knew. Or a stranger, whose eyes you met one day and it was right. "I hope it's like a falling star," she'd said. "And we just crash into each other that it doesn't matter who we are, just two stars, who are really fragments of the same star."

She certainly felt like she was falling. Misty pulled back her hand, unable to say those things after all. "I-I'm sorry. Maybe we should just pretend this conversation didn't happen. I should go..." She pulled back, getting to her feet with difficulty. It was hard though. She didn't want to leave even if she should because she couldn't watch Jae fall apart. Not over this.

With a sudden burst of movement, Jae reached out and grabbed at Misty's wrist, stopping her from stepping away. She wasn't ready for this, but she didn't want Misty to leave, at least not with a look like that on her face. It broke something inside of her to see Misty looking so defeated or almost scared. It didn't matter whether she was ready to be mated or not in that moment. "No," she gasped out, pulling her hand back, looking almost guilty.

She ran a hand through her pink hair, sighing, "I just...." she paused, words still seeming impossible. Like she couldn't really figure out what she was feeling. The need to run conflicting with the need to hug the girl closer to here and comfort her. She sighed, "I'm sorry." she eventually said, pausing momentarily before continuing again. "I don't want to be the reason you look like that, but I am and I'm going to be. I just can't turn around and in one day and be like all my friends. I just can't. I still feel so unprepared, but just because I'm not ready now. Doesn't mean I won't be someday?" she said, the last sentence a question, partially asking if that was okay, but also trying to say, but she didn't have any clue just how long that would be.

Misty froze, halfway through a step. Every part of her brain seemed honed onto the feel of Jae's hand around her wrist. Even without a strong grip, she couldn't break it any better than an iron chain. Jae's words controlled her to that degree. She didn't want her to go? It seemed impossible, but it left hope bubbling up in Misty again, even if hesitantly, like she didn't know if she should trust this feeling.

Slowly, she turned to face Jae once again. The girl's words continued to wash over her and Misty couldn't say a thing to interrupt it. No matter how much Jae struggled to speak, Misty couldn't cut in. Couldn't tell her she didn't need to say all these things. As Jae finished, a sad looked passed over her face before she turned away, a smile on her face. "You don't have to apologize. I understand. I don't mind if we don't do anything, so let's just be friends. Didn't I say I wasn't ready either?" she asked, her voice quiet and careful, hiding the part of her that wanted to quake. Misty did want to be friends now, let the rest come as it would, when they wanted. But, she wasn't quite sure how long she could wait. Already, she felt so close to the other girl and she only wanted to get closer.

"You're more ready than me," Jae said, because it was the simple truth. That while Misty may not be ready and was maybe in many ways just as scared, she was more willing to face this head on, while Jae would still rather run, but the more she looked at the other girl the more she knew that wasn't really an option. You didn't run away from you soulmate, not unless you wanted to break both your hearts in the process. "So I think I should be apologizing, but I guess I can also promise I won't keep you waiting for forever."

Misty nodded her head once, a sharp gesture that left her hair bouncing. It was the most she could give now. She felt torn between rushing toward Jae and hugging her and running away. Perhaps not all for the same reasons that Jae wanted to run for though. No, perhaps not much at all. She just didn't want to let herself get hurt even if Jae kept breathing hope back into her, like she should be losing hope in the first place. It didn't make much sense considering how much she wanted a hold on their relationship too. That was always what she wanted. "Thanks. I still think I should go though. We need....to think. Both of us."

Jae nodded, though reluctantly, recognizing that perhaps it was for the best, to let their emotions settle before either of them did or said something they regretted, "Yeah, okay, just let's make a promise to keep in touch. Both of us can't back out because we're scared. I promise that if you will." Jae said, because the longer she looked at Misty, the less she wanted her to ever leave. And maybe she could understand it a little bit, the magnetic pull. The need to be as near as possible to your mate, your heart not always agreeing with your head, for better or worse.

"Promise," Misty answered after a second, swallowing past the lump in her throat. She held out a pinky finger and let the two of them promise it in gesture as much word, as silly and childish as a pinky swear was. It meant something to her after years of crossed pinkys as a child, whispering secrets only for her and her sisters. After a second, she pulled in for a hug to, holding Jae stiff and awkwardly, ending the hug before either of them could relax into it. But the gesture still counted, still felt needed. "I'll call when I can. Maybe give you a run at Rock Band or a free coffee. I don't know. I'll see you though." She hesitated after a step toward the door, almost not wanting to go, but needing to. "Bye." She breathed the last word then grabbed her purse and slipped away.

Jae locked fingers with Misty, chuckling despite herself before she was suddenly pulled into a hug that she didn't dare let herself relax into but kinda wanted to, though it didn't matter in the long wrong because Misty pulled back from it quickly, "Bye..." Jae breathed right after Misty, so simple and yet so startling. After the other girl had slipped out of the door, she collapsed on the couch staring wordlessly after her. Had that really just happened? She couldn't believe it. But maybe that was because the other girl being her soulmate made a sort of sense she couldn't even deny. Jae was friendly, but had she really ever connected with someone as instantly as she had with Misty. But that didn't really take away the fear, and this feeling of she wasn't ready to take that step into adulthood. Not yet, but apparently fate decided it didn't care if she was ready. And Jae didn't really know what to do with that.

Misty fell back against her car door, unable to drive home until she calmed her breathing. She could barely make the walk to her car she wanted to collapse so bad. This was a nightmare. She never imagined meeting her soulmate would go like this. She felt hope and despair and fear and happiness all mixed together in a lethal mixture that made her weak to her knees. Only after minutes with her eyes closed could she get into her car and just like that, she drove home and hopped into the shower like nothing happened. She regained her calm and it stayed. Besides, she didn't know how this would turn out. She had a lifelong friend still and that was good enough.

Jae continued to lay there staring at her ceiling, not really even moving as she lay there. All motivation for her to do anything for the rest of the day, or really the week, vanishing. Distantly, she heard her phone pinging with a notification, but she didn't move to even look at it. She didn't want to talk to anybody right now. Because talking to them would mean she'd have to somehow face the truth that Misty was her soulmate since her friends would definitely notice something was off in her voice. So she just ignored them. And honestly that's how most of the next couple days went for her. She went to work and went home and just existed, circling over and over again around the firework on Misty's collarbone, partially thinking she'd imagined it but really knowing that it was actual reality and that eventually she'd have to deal with that.

Misty woke early the next day and went to work. Time moved on, but she still felt in a daze. Everything felt on standstill, so after sighing for the tenth time during lunch, she gave Grey a quick call, wondering if they could arrange that little hang out session they wanted sooner rather than later. It wasn't that she felt overly anxious or tense still. It just felt too unreal. If she didn't talk about it, the conversation with Jae might disappear into the netherworld. So, on Saturday, the two of them arranged to meet for lunch and a walk in the local park. It was their usual jam spot where they could talk and play music somewhere other than home and not get in trouble for it. And really, Misty walked to talk this out before their practice the next day in case it affected her and heaven forbid, their band dynamic. Because that was volatile as it were, though mostly in a good way. Their productivity did not need to suffer though.

Grey could tell there was something wrong with Misty when she called to request the hangout, so he agreed readily but waited for the agreed day to hear what was wrong, aware that Misty probably wasn't ready to talk about it yet. On Saturday, he arrived at the entrance of the park a bit early, wanting to get there before Misty so she didn't have to wait for him.

He didn't wait to long before he saw her walking up and he frowned slightly. It wasn't that Misty looked bad, but that feeling of offness seemed to radiate from her as much as it did in her voice when she called. He wondered what could have happened to cause this, and hoped it was nothing too serious but he knew it probably was.

"Hey Grey!" Misty called as she saw his figure just past the park's entrance. She'd fallen asleep early the night before and woke up multiple times around dawn before she just got up. Even with her coffee shop job, that wasn't that normal for her, considering how much she liked to sleep in general. She'd spent the time being meticulous about her image and her home, fighting with inane things like the angles of her pictures on the wall or the symmetry of the lines of tape on her drumsticks. She thought her smile now looked genuine, but she was on the verge of one of her moods and it appeared Grey could tell.

"Want to hang out by the lake for a while," she sighed, giving in to the fact that she couldn't pretend to be normal. More than anything though, she just wanted to talk. The sooner the better.

"Yeah the lake sounds good, we can sit on one of the benches and talk," Grey said with a significant look at Misty, saying without words that he really expected her to talk, but he wouldn't push her until she was ready to spit it out. Which knowing the girl probably wouldn't take to long. They walked through the park towards the lake in relative silence, commenting on some of the people they saw ,but both weren't really focused on conversation at the moment. And it was easier to wait until they could sit on one of the benches surrounding the lake to really talk.

Misty fiddled with her purse strap the entire walk, which was strange enough for her. She kept smoothing out the strap that twisted as it swung, forcing the little brown colored cord to look pristine. "I'm sorry if I seem a little upset," she started with as they reached a bench well away from anyone else wandering through the park. "It's not that I am. Oh, but Grey! It's awful! I'm going to go completely insane and if I don't, I'll go insane because I haven't!" She groaned and nearly dragged her nails down her tights as if to destroy the star studded pattern. "If I tell you something, will you make sure not to tell the others. Even if they pester you about it tomorrow?"

"You know I won't tell them Misty, not if you don't want them to. They're my friends too, but you're my best friend, and you always come first," he muttered, the last part, looking down at the ground shy at the force of his words, but they were true. He trusted Misty with everything and wanted to take care of her in what ways he could, just like she took care of him. "I just want to know what's wrong, and if you'll be okay. I don't like seeing you like this."

Misty shook her head, smiling slightly at him. Grey's words really did encourage her and if she felt more like herself, she'd sweep the boy up into her arms for a hug he'd no doubt wince at. And really, the situation wasn't like she was dying. "Nothing is really wrong, you see. Actually, something quite amazing happened but...it just got a little strange..." She sighed, straightening up against and forcing herself to relax. "Everyone joked about it, but it was true ya know. Jae is my soulmate. I know it even if I never touched her mark and felt it. It's just...we're not dating is all. Like I said, it's a little strange."

Grey's eyes widened as he stared at Misty for a few seconds processing her words, "Wait... tell me what happened? How'd you figure it out? and why aren't you dating?" He asked, not really understand. He'd heard the other tea sings, but he really had expected it to be just that, though maybe the instant connection between the girls made a bit more sense. "You two seem to get along so well." He pondered, maybe they were just waiting, but Misty seemed upset about the fact that they weren't really making any progress, so maybe that wasn't it. Grey couldn't imagine, the thought of meeting his soulmate still scared him, but mainly cuz it was this new person who was apparently supposed to just consume your world and that honestly sounded overwhelming to him, but Misty liked to tackle things head on, so this seemed unlike her and really unlike Jae of what he knew of the pink-haired girl.

Misty huffed, rolling her eyes at Grey. "Oh really. We're not idiots!" she exclaimed. "Of course we figured it out when I got Jae to show me her mark. It's a peach ya know. A peach. I'm not so dense that I can't recognize myself." She didn't understand why some people didn't get it, but she thought a mark like that looked a little too obvious. It made her wonder where Raz got the nickname from and why it had to fit so perfectly.

Sighing, she deflated again and just looked down at her hands. She'd been twisting her purse strap without realizing it and now smoothed the leather back into place. "But I've never really been looking for my mate. Of course I wanted to meet them and I'm so happy it's Jae. She's perfect and we'll be great; I know it." She breathed out. "But not yet. Just....not yet."