This cannot be happening to Bell.

She never thought herself as unlucky. Until now.

Of course she meets her biological father when she is there supporting Liam. Of course Liam’s soulmate’s father is her unknown relative.

Of freaking course.

“Cross, I feel like, like I can’t breathe.”

“Ok, ok, ok, with me.” He lets out an long breath that she attempts to follow. This would be so much easier if he was here. But no, she’s in Jeremiah’s car, hyperventilating like she ran a 12 minute run.

Bell nearly jumps out of her skin when the driver side door opens. Her phone slips from her grasp onto her lap.

“Lo siento,” Jeremiah says. “Cross, mi amigo, is that you?” He asks leaning over the console to get closer to her phone. “Hey, Jeremiah. Can you help her breathe?”

When you ask Jeremiah to do something, he takes it very seriously. Instantly, he puts a comforting hand on her back and exaggerates his own breaths. “In and out, Bell. In for three. Uno. Dos. Tres,” he instructs.

As she is does this, she gets a whiff of a sweet, delicate scent. Opening her eyes, Jeremiah has grown some lavender in his car.

Exhaling, he says, “Out for three.”

She feels herself calming down. The panic is there, but it’s manageable. For now at least.

She really needs Cross. In person.

“She’s breathing better now,” he reports to Cross.

“Bell, do you want to tell us what happened?” Cross gently questions. He always knows when to push and when not to. She used to joke it was his power back when they didn’t know they had any.

“We went to find Liam’s soulmate. I found him on Instagram. His dad is Arlo,” she stumbles into a fragmented explanation, burying her face in her hands, muffling her words.

Peeking up from her hands, she sees Jeremiah’s face contorts in confusion. “Quien is Arlo?”

Bell lets out a whimper. Cross gives her the grace of answering for her. Because she certainly wouldn’t be able to say it. She hasn’t even said it out loud at all yet. “He’s Bell’s bio dad.”

“Dios mío,” Jeremiah mutters. That pretty much sums up her thoughts too.

On the line, she can hear Cross walking, his steps loud and hurried. “Bell, send me your location. I’ll meet you guys.”

His aunt and uncle are visiting which is why he wasn’t at lunch not on this trip with them in the first place. She shakes her head but remembers that he can’t see her. “No, it’s ok Cross.”

She shouldn’t be the reason he leaves his family. Especially when it would be to calm her from her own family drama.

Gosh why can’t her family just be normal?

“You’re kinda stuck with me. I’m coming over,” Cross says.

It warms her whole being that he would drop everything to be there for her. It doesn’t dissuade her guilt though.

Jeremiah might have picked up on that since he proposes a compromise, “If Liam’s bueno, I can drop her off.”

Before she can object, Jeremiah slides her window down. Practically leaning over her, he yells out the open space, “Liam, are you good?”

Liam and Tharen, who had been conversing on the front porch, both turn to look at them.

Waiting a moment, making sure there wouldn’t be an answer, Jeremiah expands on the question, “Can I drop Bell back home and come back for you?”

“Not home,” she mumbles. He winces but doesn’t amend the sentence to Liam.

With his head ducked, typing on his phone, Liam’s phone voice says something but it’s hard to hear from the distance. Tharen helps them out and repeats Liam’s words louder, “I am good. What does that have to do with leaving?”

“Are you comfortable if I leave for a bit?” Jeremiah rephrases the inquiry.

Liam answers this time in sign. Bell knows enough to know his answer is an affirmative.

“I can drive him home,” Tharen shouts back, gesturing to a severely beaten looking Subaru in the driveway.

How does Arlo let him drive that? It looks prehistoric with the amount of dirt and parts that don’t align correctly.

The flowers in the car give a slightly bitter smell, so Bell guesses Jeremiah silently agrees with her thoughts.

“Zac will kill me if I let a stranger drive Liam casa,” Jeremiah says, a polite excuse to not have Liam ride in that death trap.

“I’m his soulmate,” Tharen frowns, so deep that Bell could visualize it from her seat.

Jeremiah lets out a teasing laugh, “More of a reason for me to bring him back.”

Bell can’t even begin to imagine Zac’s reaction would be like if Liam came home, not only with his soulmate but in that car. He would freak. For more than one reason.

Liam appears to type something out to Tharen which gets him to thankfully agree.

Thank goodness. She really needs to get out of here.

Jeremiah waves goodbye in an enthusiac manner that Bell can’t bring herself to muster, and they are off.

The breeze picks up and rain whips at the windshield. Jeremiah, to his credit, keeps driving as if the storm isn’t singularly following his car.

More lavender just springs up.

She appreciates the effort, though she wholeheartedly believes it will take a lot more than lavender to bring down her nerves.

“So, tu padre?” He says, breaking the ice.

“Don’t call him that. He’s not my dad,” she retorts. Her words have a bit more bite than she intended. He doesn’t appear to take offense which makes her feel a bit less guilty.

“Well biologically…” he drawls.

Bell never has had to confront the fact that Hai wasn’t biologically her dad. Yes her mom finally told her the truth, but she never saw Arlo in person or even a picture of him. She could just go pretending that Hai is her father in every single way. Because in her world, he is.

Until she met Arlo today.

Now she can’t avoid it.

He’s a real person. That happens to be half of the reason for her existence.

“Yes, I’m aware. But he didn’t raise me. He didn’t even want me,” she mumbles, concentrating on a single raindrop streaking down the window, collecting others and growing bigger as it descends.

“How do you know that? Maybe he quiere to be a padre to you?”

Bell doesn’t understand why she’s being like this. She has never felt so insecure in her life. Arlo shouldn’t make her world shake and tilt. But it feels like it is.

Even if Bell wants what Jeremiah is suggesting to be true (and that’s a big if), the matter of the fact is that he didn’t care enough. “Because he agreed to my mom passing me off as my actual dad’s child. He didn’t even want to get to know me.” The words out loud taste sour on her tongue.

“Maybe this is his chance to.”

She lets out a huff in frustration. Not at Jeremiah but at Arlo. “He lost 17 years of my life, Jeremiah. He has a family of his own clearly.”

Arlo has Tharen and potentially even more kids if Tharen has siblings. He has his own family. One that never included her or her mom.

After she said that, the lavender in the car wilt and chrysanthemums bloom. Quite rapidly. “You know, I wish I could see my dad,” Jeremiah admits, his tone softening but firm in its evenness.

A different guilt builds in her chest. One that slams into her ribs and squeezes her heart. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I’m being totally insensitive. Here I am with two dads and complaining,” she rambles on, not really sure when to stop.

He waves his hand to dismiss her apology. “You’re not complaining. And it’s fine. It’s been a long tiempo.”

“Doesn’t make it easier,” she points out, a somber tone taking over.

Jeremiah gives her a small smile, a drastic different from his normal bright personality. “All I’m saying is maybe he wants to respect tu madre’s choice. It can be dificil to go against your soulmate.”

“So what should I do now?” Bell asks, not necessarily to him but just generally to the universe.

He answers anyway.

“Well that’s up to you. If you’re even the littlest bit curious, yo digo go for it. Give him a chance.”

She processes his advice. It’s quiet except for the rumble of his car and pitted patter of the rain she is causing.

Tharen appeared to have a good relationship with Arlo. Maybe he’s a good dad to him. She hopes so.

When she had all the conversations with her mom about the secrets, Bell never felt like the picture was complete. Perhaps Arlo is the puzzle piece. The answer to all her questions. At the very least, she owes it to herself to see.

She really needs to talk with Cross and her dad. Meaning Hai. She’s not quite ready to call Arlo her dad yet.

Turning to Jeremiah, whose gaze focuses on the road in front of them, she sees the great friend that he always is.

Gently pushing her to her own realization with all the kindness in the world.

“You know, I am so happy that Roman met you. He needs this in his life,” she says, interrupting the silence.

With a raise of his one eyebrow, he asks, “This?”

“Your outlook. Someone always looking on the bright side,” she answers.

His smile grows into one that is much more regular for him. To Bell, that is what being a soulmate is. Unconsciously smiling when just thinking of your soulmate. “The feeling is mutual. He makes me so happy. The grounding calmness that I need.”

They are quite opposites. Bell never really thought of that since they are just so good together. She sometimes forgets how what they’re like apart.

They balance one another.

“But he also needs more than just his soulmate. He needs friends like you and Cross and everyone,” he divulges, throwing a pointed look in her direction.

Laughing at his lack of subtlety, she gets down to it, “Your point?”

“That you have more than just Cross to lean on through this. We’re all here for you.”

Bell is left speechless, literally so touched that she has no words. In the absence of any verbal response, she just smiles.

The sun finally shines through the clouds.

———

(Tharen’s car is based on my cousin’s car.

Next part will be Liam’s side of this and his first convo with Tharen. Eventually I will get back to the main storyline, but I really like this detour.)