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Change is weird, right? You need change to progress, to learn, to grow, but it's also this big, dark, unknown. Change can throw you off, make you confused, stress you out. This is all this situation is: a change. It's different, it's new, it's like trying to navigate a new city without a map or someone to guide you. Except this isn't a well-known city, this is like Atlantis: buried underground and hidden. I can't ask anyone for help because not only will no one hold the answers, I don't know if this is something I can get hauled into the government for. If they knew I had two Fated Ones, I can only imagine what they'd do. Maybe some weird-arse testing, or Segregation, or worse.

But I need to know what this change is. Why is Joshua being weird? Why didn't he feel me, why didn't he touch his Knot at the same time as me?

I stare at the time on my phone: I'm ten minutes early for the stupid appointment I'd booked with Joshua. I need some one-to-one time with him, and not for university reasons. I'd felt him one more time only an hour ago when I was walking around the shop to get the bits in the bag. It was different than before; it was far more intense, and I swear I could hear him saying my name, telling someone he wanted to be with me. But he wasn't near me, and I'm still cut off from his emotions.

So, I bought him his favourite food and coffee; maybe food will help. They say that's the way to a man's heart, right? Through his stomach. That's what Owen says anyway.

"Amelia, come in, I suppose the quicker we start, the sooner we finish, right?" He appears and unlocks his office door.

I spot it, then. The Knot.

I don't feel anything towards it. It's not the one.

What the fuck?

"I, uh, I bought these for you," I mention, not taking my eyes off his Knot. He notices me looking, so he pulls his jumper sleeve down.

"I'm your tutor, you shouldn't be buying me anything. This won't bribe me—"

"I know that." I cut him off. "Your favourite things, right? Salt and sweet popcorn, and a caramel latte?"

He pauses for thought. I stare at his sleeve. Why didn't I feel that same pull?

"I will accept these, but please do not do it again. Thank you," he says blandly. He takes the coffee as I hold it out to him.

Our fingers brush for the briefest of seconds...

Nothing.

Pure, silent, deafening, all-encompassing nothing. No emotions, no fireworks, no tether, no connection. He's like any other man off the street and not my Fated One anymore.

"What did you want to discuss, Amelia?" Joshua asks.

"I... um, I... what's going on?" I manage. If you rip the plaster off quick, it hurts less, right? And this is absolutely something I need to confront whether I like it or not. My heart is pounding twice as hard because as much I don't want to admit it, it's snapped.

I hate him, but I miss him.

I'm attracted to him, but I loathe him.

I admitted it.

How could I not? The man is good looking. If he'd stayed the same as he was two days ago when we were in the café together, even when we were messaging that night, I might have succumbed to the connection. But this cold, calculated, arsehole that's appeared over the past two days? I cannot stand him like this.

But something isn't right, because I don't feel anything for him; our connection is severed, but I can still touch my Knot and feel Joshua.

My brain can't even contemplate this without getting in a swirling black hole of confusion.

"What do you mean?" he asks. "With your assignment? Because you failed once—"

"No, Joshua, the Knot. We both keep avoiding the discussion since it happened, but it's... it's weird. Why can't I feel you anymore—"

"Amelia, I think you need to stop," Joshua interrupts.

I narrow my eyes at him. His expression is unreadable, his eyebrows knit together but I don't know whether it's a good thing or a bad thing.

"Whatever is going on with you, whatever you're angry with me about... if this is not about your work then you are wasting your time here," he says.

"Don't give me that shit," I retort, the anger bubbling away like a witch's cauldron on Halloween. "We both know about the Knot—"

He sighs. I notice him flexing his hands as if he's in pain or trying to stop pins and needles or something. "I have a lot to do today, Amelia. If this really isn't about your work, then please let me get on. In fact, I have something important in a few minutes so, please, I will see you in our next lecture."

The thing about a cauldron is that eventually, it must stop boiling at some point. If it stays on the fire, it'll evaporate and if you take it off the heat then it'll cool down. Either way, it'll somehow stop being hot.

Even if I stay here, he won't give me the answer I desperately need, and even if he did, it won't bring him back to me.

The one thing I can't deny any longer is that no matter how much he makes me angry, no matter how cold he is, I don't care about why this has happened. I just want to find a way to keep him as my Fated One. But he's slipped away like a thief in the night.

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The moment a light is switched on, it brightens up the whole room, it provides comfort and a homely feel. Even if you turn it on in the middle of the night, it might hurt your eyes for a moment, but it's still a comfort because you can see. Everything is illuminated and better.

My light isn't on, and it hasn't been for a couple of days. It's made me realise two things: Owen, for some reason, and somehow, isn't my Fated One. We might have the same tattoo and we might have each other's name written on our card, but somehow, we don't have the connection that makes us Fated. The second thing I realised is that something weird is going on with Joshua, well, I didn't need to realise that, I just need to know what that weird thing is.

I stare at my empty phone and wonder why Joshua didn't even message me back. I messaged him yesterday and he hasn't even read the message, let alone reply. I guess whatever is going on, I'll soon find out.

"What're you thinking about, my Amelia Camellia?" Owen asks. He puts a pot of tea in front of me.

"Thanks. Oh, uh, nothing. Just tired," I lie.

He smiles. "Bed early tonight, then, huh?"

I smile at him, and I know it doesn't reach my eyes. I know he can probably sense something is off. He touches my shoulder before walking through the door into his office and leaving me to mope.

But then the light flicks on. It illuminates the whole world around me like a glittery disco ball when you're five years old and everything is magical.

The relief floods my bloodstream, warming my brain and I realise I can feel him again. Happiness warms my insides; a mixture of his and mine, combining to make the light fill the room on its own.

My phone buzzes. 'Amelia, I need to see you urgently. Joshua.'

I feel the desperation seeping into my nerve endings, setting them alight and fanning flames through my blood. He's nervous and desperate, and it sets off a relief in me I never knew possible.

Just like the witch's cauldron, the need fuels me as I message back to meet me, but the anger is what is bubbling. Anger mixed with relief.

I want his connection, but I'm angry that he's been gone, and I don't know why. I make up an excuse for Owen and drop him a text to let him know I'd gone and take off.

A witch uses a cauldron to make a spell because they want something: love, healing, transfiguration. But they have to mix ingredients and boil the potion first, maybe say a spell or two.

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The moment I walk into Joshua's office, and he looks at me, it's like a spell has been cast over us. Merely six hours ago, I was stood in this exact spot and was cast out like a witch, I was boiling a potion of anger because I couldn't feel him, and he wasn't the same. But now... I'm boiling a potion of connection, a chemical potion of sorts. I can feel him, I see the Knot Art and feel drawn to it immediately, his eyes stare at me differently, he looks exhausted, he looks different.

"What happened?" is all I can manage.

"I... I need to explain," he whispers. "But I can't. I just need you to trust me... Amelia, please trust me. There is so much—"

"You shut me out for two days, Joshua, but something wasn't right!" I rant. The door of his office is closed, and I noticed the other rooms were locked, so my rage can explode like a reaction gone so terribly right.

The anger potion boils within, and I know he can feel me. It mixes with his concern in my veins.

"I couldn't feel you, but I could feel the connection when we touched Knots but you weren't touching it." I step closer to him, the potion simmering over. "I couldn't feel you and you were so cold."

"Amelia, please," he pleads.

It's only when I take an unsteady breath in to continue that I notice the tears streaming down my cheeks, because I know that whatever did happen, it's over. It's relief.

"I hate you so much, you were so cold to me. After everything, I trusted you and you pushed me out. What the hell happened?" I rant. "I let you in, I felt things and you broke it, Joshua! I thought we were—"

"We are! Look." He shows me his Knot. "I'm back."

"Back?"

"I... I can't tell you, Amelia. I know how confusing it must be, I understand how... insane this must have been for the past few days, but... please just trust me when I say, it's over for now. This is me, I'm me again," he insists.

I scoff and push his shoulders out of anger. "Trust you? I hate you! I hate you so much! You—"

"Amelia," he pleads.

It overloads my brain: the loathing, the hurt, the confusion, the weird way my heart flutters when I look at his Knot or into his eyes.

"I missed you like fucking crazy, Joshua! I didn't know what to think, I didn't know what to do, I don't know what this means, where the hell were you?" I yell.

I push his shoulders again, but I don't mean to, I don't even want to. He moves back towards the desk, so I push him again. The overwhelming urge to bury myself in his arms is the only other thing I have, and I don't know if it's appropriate.

He sniffs, and I stop short, realising through all my anger that he's crying.

"I'm sorry, I... I didn't ask for this, I didn't even... I don't like this either. But... I can't... sometimes I have to leave. I can tell you, but I cannot tell you now. I have to tell you in private—"

I stare into his dark eyes, the way his breath is jagged, the tears that fall every so often, he looks genuine. I can feel the pressure, stress and absolute conviction in my veins and take over my brain.

"So, who is...?" I whisper.

"For now, all I can tell you is that it's not been me here for the past few days. Please, Amelia, I promise you, the person you hate? It's not me. I'm here now, I'm back," he says quietly.

I believe him.

I'm so angry and frustrated, and so fucking confused right now, I don't know what to think. But I believe him.

"Can I?" I ask.

He nods and sniffs as he shows me his left wrist.

I hold his arm in my left hand, and immediately the sparks fly between us. I can feel everything. Stress, frustration, anger, desperation, relief, love. It's all flying between us, floating up like a butterfly escaping its cocoon and flying off into its new life.

Whatever has happened just melts away and this is almost like a new life.

I take my index finger from my right hand and trace the lines of his Knot Art. I don't need to look as I do it, because I know this ink, I know where it goes, how it goes, where it curves and straightens.

Our eyes meet and my heart thumps beneath my chest, missing a few beats so it can work harder.

"I believe you. Whatever it is, I believe you," I say.

"I will tell you everything tomorrow. I promise," he responds.

I don't reply.

He moves his arm from mine, and we swap roles. My left wrist fits perfectly in his hand because it's bigger than mine. His eyes meet mine in question and I nod gently.

His finger swirls across my Knot Art and as he does, all the negative emotions, all the hatred, the worry is erased like he's painting over everything bad in my life.

I can't take it for one more second.

When a magnet is near its opposite pole, the only thing it can do is attract to it. There's no stopping it, there's no pulling it apart, they just fix together.

I grab the collar of his shirt and pull him to me like the south pole to my north until our lips finally meet.

His lips are smooth, and after the shock settles, he moulds our mouths together deeper. His hands fall around my waist, kneading my body like a kitten. My brain doesn't react because the tether between us is going haywire; all I can feel is satisfaction, shock, enough fireworks to make New Year, Bonfire Night, Halloween, and the Fourth of July all feel like nothing. There's an orgasmic satisfaction flowing through me as he pushes me against the wall behind me.

The only thing keeping me rooted in reality is the weight of my engagement ring on my finger and an image of Owen filling my brain. But as Joshua's tongue fills my mouth, the only thing stopping me from drowning in guilt is the fact that magnets don't mean to attract each other, they just do, because it's electricity. Electricity is science. Science is rooted in reality, and though the Fated Ones might not be a science, it feels like it right now. Science has its right and wrongs, and though morally it might be wrong, the force and chemicals have absolutely made a reaction that is very much right.

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