Ethan thinks that the idea of soul mates is stupid. Who needs a soul mate, a person to share half their soul with? It would be like having a roommate, except you wouldn't be able to divide spaces, mark boundaries and decide what belongs to who. Ethan doesn't want to be shut in so closely with anyone, doesn't want to be one entity.

Except, when you're one with someone you don't have to be afraid of losing them. They're attached to you, securely in place. There is no distance, no chasm to drift across. With Ethan and Xuan, there's always a gap, no matter how small. It's the space that delineates their differences and makes them two people, two wholes instead of two halves. Which is good, really, except sometimes that gap gets bigger, driving Ethan and Xuan apart.

It can be the little things, like Ethan's taste in movies (comedy or action, imaybe/i a chick flick if it's not too sappy) and Xuan's (documentaries and a foreign film, for variety). Or it can be the bigger things, like Ethan's circle of acquaintances (party boys, the occasional drag queen, and a guy Ethan is pretty sure deals drugs) and Xuan's (uptight overachievers, Ethan thinks, all of them). It's not those things that bother Ethan; it's the thought that maybe the distance will grow and grow, until they can no longer see each other across the chasm.

But then there are moments when Ethan reaches out to Xuan, or Xuan reaches out to Ethan, like when they share music. Ethan introduces Coldplay and Elliott Smith to Xuan; Xuan introduces Chopin and Beethoven to Ethan. In music they find some common ground, something they can use to bridge their differences. In music they can come together, as lyrics and melodies meld. Look at the stars, Ethan sings, look how they shine for you.

Ethan doesn't need to be one with Xuan. He doesn't need to stitch their souls together. Even when they drift apart, they will come together again. The chasm will narrow enough, filled with music and a hundred other moments of music, until, across the distance, their fingers touch.

*

Author's note: I know it's been a long time since I've updated OTL. Sorry. I promise to be more productive ;;;