Work Text:
Three hours
Three hours until Lance would meet his soulmate.
Ever since Lance turned five, he had had a timer on his wrist counting down. Twelve years, five months, twenty eight days, ten hours, three minutes, and seven seconds.
When he turned ten, he was taught what his timer meant. And of course he already knew what it was counting down to, his mom had been telling him bedtime stories about how he would meet his prince or princess for as long as he could remember.
When he turned thirteen, he was repeatedly told how lucky he was to be able to spend so much of his life with his soulmate! Most people found their soulmate later in life, but he would spend a long and prosperous life with his significant other.
When he turned fourteen, he was warned by his family that he might not like his soulmate. This worried Lance, and being the young teen that he was, he started doubting the whole timer nonsense.
When he turned fifteen, he began to care less and less about his soulmate until his feelings slowly started to evolve into an unexplainable hatred.
When he turned sixteen, he wanted nothing to do with his supposed "soulmate". Sure, people had found who they wanted to spend the rest of their life with, but no scientist had ever been able to explain the timers. In fact, they were miffed by them. Who was to say that the person you met when your timer ran out was your soulmate? They could just be a random person you were then supposed to spend the rest of your life with. Lance didn't believe it. Not anymore.
He called bullshit.
When Lance turned seventeen, he vaguely remembered he would be meeting his soulmate this year. He had been sitting in his favorite cafe, studying and sipping a coffee when his interest had been piqued by two people; a man with light blonde hair and skin paler than Lance had thought possible and a woman with pitch black hair -- the same color as her skin. They caught each other's eye, did a double take, glanced at their wrists, dropped their things in the middle of the sidewalk, and proceeded to run towards each other. There was clapping from inside the cafe and some people even went out to congratulate the two newly found soulmates. The people who hadn't found their soulmate yet rolled their eyes or grumbled and looked back to what they had been doing.
When Hunk began freaking out over his timer, Lance could see his best friend since they were little believed wholeheartedly in these timers. Lance still had his suspicions but he could admit he was also curious about who his best friend would be spending his life with. Three hours to go. As Hunk left for a walk to try to get his nerves under control, Lance caught himself daydreaming about what his soulmate would look like. Three hours later, on the dot, he received a call and an abundance of screaming from the other line. After three years of doubt and hate, Lance let himself entertain the possibility that maybe the stupid timers could work.
Now his own timer was at three hours. It was a warm and rainy Saturday in May, Lance made sure to clear his day and turn off his phone so he couldn't fidget with it. He had begun to get nervous. The night before, he had been able to psych himself into believing that everything would be okay. Now that he had only three hours to go until he met the love of his life, all that false-calm came crashing down. In three hours, his life would turn upside down. Lance began having last minute thoughts such as, What if I'm in public but no one's timer runs out except mine? What if I have to live alone with no soulmate? He forced himself to push these thoughts aside. He was being stupid. It would all be fine.
Two hours.
In a last ditch effort to calm himself down, he finished the rest of his math homework that he had been procrastinating to finish in a mad dash on Sunday. After he completed that, he drove to his favorite cafe, the same one he had seen the two people realize they were meant to spend their lives together. He went inside, sat down, pulled out the book he was currently reading, and huddled deeper into his unzipped hoodie.
Thirty minutes.
Thirty minutes until he would meet his significant other. He was beginning to get jittery. Lance willed himself to calm down and continued reading, setting a goal of finishing two chapters before he would let himself worry about his soulmate.
Five minutes.
Lance had five minutes until he would meet the love of his life. He played around with his hair and clothes until he decided he looked presentable enough. He popped a piece of gum into his mouth to make extra sure. Lance checked his timer and saw he had ten seconds to prepare.
Ten seconds.
In the ten seconds Lance had to flick his eyes between the doors and the windows, he realized he was shaking.
Ten.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
Lance saw a car coming down the street. He also saw a boy. He was no older than himself, and he knew right then that this boy was his soulmate. The black haired boy began walking across the street. Lance took in the sight. He was beautiful. He had broad shoulders and a trim waist. Where his tank top sleeves ended, Lance could see toned arms. The boy was pretty pale. But in a good way, not a sickly, ugly way. He didn't think anything about this boy could be described as ugly. Lance could feel his lips stretch into a grin at the thought of getting to know this boy. And then it hit him, he was going to spend the rest of his life with this boy. The teen seemed to be walking towards the cafe. If only the traffic would slow down so Lance could run into his arms faster.
Four.
The boy looked up from the street and made eye contact with Lance. As soon as they made eye contact he looked back down. Holy shit he's adorable. Lance began to stand from his seat to make his way towards the door as to open it for his soulmate. The excitement was building inside of him. As he gave his brightest smile to the teen, he felt his smile, heart, and stomach drop all at the same time as the car smashed into the boy. The boy's dark eyes widened as his body slammed to the ground, and his eye contact with Lance was lost as he closed his eyes for what Lance would later learn to be the last time.
Three.
Two.
One.
Well, Lance's mother did always say love was hard.