Soulmates & the In-Between
This is a follow up to an anon question regarding Patch’s quote about Tessa and Scott being somewhere in-between a couple and work colleagues. That they are soulmates.
Don’t mind me as I write an essay here. I have so much to say… Maybe someone will read it, maybe not.
Lets first off remember what we are starting out with: 2 people who were destined to be by each others side. 2 people with a natural connection and a history of perfecting it. Soulmates, as Patch said.
Today, I think them being in the middle maybe makes the most sense. A relationship in the middle doesn’t have a label you can assign to it, which is why Scott and Tessa claim that they don’t have a name for it. And, because its complicated, they cant totally say that they aren’t a romantic couple either, because in so many ways, they are. But in so many other ways… maybe they are not.
What does in the middle look like? Maybe it looks a lot like what we have seen. Scott holding Tessa like she belongs to him. Caring for her, comforting her, supporting her, showering her with affection, relying on her because that’s all he knows. Tessa, habituated to him being there to care for her and love her and make her laugh. Trust. Respect. All of that. On the ice, off the ice, in everything they produce, because its all founded in love, including their art. They are comfortable loving each other and apparently want to love each other, in so many ways.
But even so, maybe they do go to their own homes at night.. maybe they push away anything and everything that threatens that world they so privately own. They know that what they have is rare and that many wouldn’t understand it. Maybe they don’t talk about “real” life as a couple because that real life doesn’t even exist- it hasn’t needed to exist- because skating IS their real life. The rink is their world… so who cares about the world outside of it?
They essentially have been married these past 2 years, and happily so. They essentially have been a couple these past 2 years, and happily so. But yes, it was grounded in work because it lived at the rink, because it was grounded in a goal- to win gold. But I beg to ask them, how is that any different from any other couple? All couples have goals- a family, a home, happiness… all goals, just painted differently.
So what is missing between S and T that keeps them from just being a public couple? Real life? Real life goals? Fear? Commitment? Sex? Let me tell you, nothing in life feels like the touch alone of a soulmate. One needs intimacy, and they have that, every day, in such a pure form. What will happen when they cant wrap their arms around each others bodies everyday? What will happen when they lose that outlet? What will happen when they don’t have the strict schedule to put them in the same place each day, together? Well… we saw that already, I guess, a couple years back. And what happened is that they ran back to each other because that’s where they needed to be. Together. Together in the only world they’ve ever actually known. And they said all of this, themselves. Maybe that time a part and back again came with realizations, confessions, of the past and what it meant. Maybe it finally hit them that they didn’t need to play by the rules others had placed on them for so long… for the first time in their entire lives, it could be just about them- they could be together, feel together, be honest in ways their world never allowed before, pushing themselves closer to the couple end of the sphere in a way they were never ready to do before. Again, words they have used.
But we don’t know. Maybe we are all dead on with our hopes, or maybe we are way off. Maybe they both are deeply in-love, or maybe they are not. Maybe, its just Scott. Maybe its always been Tessa. Maybe their differences are larger than can be managed. Maybe the word platonic is far more real than we could even begin to think. We don’t know! But what we do know, is that they are soulmates.
Its hard not to recognize soulmates, especially twin souls, which they likely are. Words match, actions match, looks match, the rhythm of their hearts match- even without the hug. So yeah… their coach realizes that they ARE soulmates… feels it in their presence… we feel it, watching them on the ice… and, maybe, what he is telling us, is that they really are somewhere in-between. That Scott and Tessa aren’t lying to us when they say the things they say, even if not entirely honest, and even if not entirely sure.
I’m playing the game, like everybody else, searching for confirmation one way or the other- hoping that a kiss was shared in privacy behind a curtain moments after their win. Hoping that maybe they both do understand what they have and decided to thread carefully, knowing they had nothing to lose because they would never lose each other. Maybe they really are ‘waiting to see’ what the next chapter may mean for that part of their life (singular form, hopefully intentional). I just hope they are fearless when it comes to this gift that they have. I want them to win, not just medals, but the deepest version of love that exists. Because they have the chance to… and not everybody does.
