Work Text:
(Joe's POV)
My wristband.
It read, "0 days, 0 hours, 50 minutes, 37 seconds."
According to my countdown watch, I would be meeting my soul mate in less than an hour. I wondered what she looked like, or even he. All of these images were running through my head, and all of them were flashes of this perfect person, someone made just for me. I imagined their face, their hairline, even how their nose was shaped. I thought of all the different small details they would possess. I even thought of their voice, their laugh. What it would sound like, what their face would look like when they talked or laughed.
"0 days, 0 hours, 46 minutes, 18 seconds."
I was getting closer. I was on my way to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I had always been fascinated with the city, from its gorgeous architecture, to its local concert venue that attracted various bands from various genres. It was called The Rave, and in fact, that's where I was headed. I was going to meet up with my friend Patrick, and we were to see a concert together. We hadn't been in contact for quite sometime, and once we found each other again, we agreed that we had to meet up.
"0 days, 0 hours, 40 minutes, 28 seconds."
I kept glancing at my watch, nearly every ten seconds. I was still a half hour away from Milwaukee, and it was nearing 6:30 in the evening. The concert was due to start at 7:30, and I was to meet Patrick outside the venue across the street, at a small gas station. With every passing minute, my mind drifted from the concert to my watch. Soon, that's all that filled my head. I had to know who I was going to meet, and I assumed I would meet them at the venue. Or at least near the gas station. I wasn't sure, but the closer I got to Milwaukee, my heart started beating faster and faster. With every passing mile, my grip on the steering wheel got tighter and tighter.
"0 days, 0 hours, 12 minutes, 45 seconds."
I had arrived in Milwaukee. There was barely anywhere to park, so I was forced to park in a church parking lot a good block and a half from the venue. I locked my vehicle and started walking down the street. I soon arrived in front of the small gas station and walked inside. "Joe!" a familiar voice rang through my ears. I turned my head, my eyes meeting Patrick's. "Oh my god!" I said, engulfing him in a hug. "You're lookin' good man!" He simply smiled at me, nodding and telling me the same. "So, you ready for the concert?" I didn't answer. "Joe?" he waved his hand in front of my face. "What? Shit, sorry man," I shrugged. "Hey, if you don't want to go, just tell me ... We can go grab dinner or something!" "No, no, I want to go! But-" "But?" he asked. "T-This," I stuttered, showing him my watch.
"0 days, 0 hours, 5 minutes, 16 seconds."
"I haven't checked mine in days!" Patrick said, rolling his sleeve up and flicking his watch on. "Oh crap," he said, his face going white. "What?" I asked. "My watch, it says 0 days, 0 hours, 10 minutes, 27 seconds." His face slowly regained its color as we walked outside. "Looks like you and I are in for the night of our lives..." He simply nodded, then motioned towards the building across the street. I nodded and followed him across the busy street, then we walked inside the venue and ran up the stairs. "Tickets!" a woman said, sitting in a chair with a scanner in her lap. Patrick and I handed her our tickets. She smiled, then motioned us up the stairs into the ballroom, which wasn't too full. The band Patrick and I were seeing were more of an upcoming band, so their name wasn't really out there yet.
"Dude ... 0 days, 0 hours, 6 minutes, 18 seconds," I said, running a shaky hand through my hair.
Patrick's eyes grew wide, then he glanced at his. "Mine went up!" he practically shouted. "0 days, 0 hours, 8 minutes, 55 seconds." I shrugged, "Maybe something happened with whoever your person is." He nodded, unsure of what to think. We walked over to the crowd of people who were forming a perfect oval starting at the barricade, going back. We didn't bother pushing through people, since we could see perfectly fine from the back of the crowd, given there weren't many people.
"0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes, 10 seconds," I read, my voice breaking.
Patrick's eyes grew wide again, and he watched my watch as it counted down ... "9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 - 2 - 1." My heart nearly stopped, and my watch started beeping quietly. I picked my head up when I heard footsteps running on the floor. My eyes met a shorter man, his hair short and combed back neatly. He was wearing basketball shorts and a Mis Sig shirt. He stopped five feet in front of me, and that's when I heard the beeping of his watch too. The shorter man let a small chuckle escape from his lips.
We both glanced down at our watches, "0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds," we read out loud, together. He looked back up at me, a small tear forming in the corner of his eye, and at that moment, it felt like I had known him forever. Like we had been friends since we were still in diapers, like we were best friends through high school, and still kept in contact through college once we went our separate ways.
I ran the small distance to him and wrapped my arms around him, not being able to hold myself back. He wrapped his arms around my torso, hiding his face in the crook of my neck. I knew he had felt the same, like we were old friends meeting up again after months of not seeing each other, kind of like Patrick and I.
That's when I heard a shriek from behind me. "0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes, 15 seconds," Patrick said, covering his mouth. He picked his head up and began looking all around him. He locked eyes with a stranger coming out of the men's room, who was gazing at his watch on his wrist. He face got tighter as his watch counted down, and soon, we heard his watch beep as the man finally looked up, locking onto Patrick's gaze.
The man stood a good ten feet away, his feet seemingly cemented to the floor. Patrick began slowly walking towards the man, who had an old, ripped up Metallica shirt on. "Master of Puppets," Patrick chuckled lightly. "Nice." The man smiled, it growing bigger with every passing second. Soon, the man wrapped his arms around Patrick, and Patrick seemingly melted into his touch. Just then, cheers started from the crowd and the curtain opened as the opening band came onstage. We all walked back down the small flight of stairs we came up, back into a small bar area.
"What's your name?" I was the first to ask my shorter 'soul mate.' "Andy," he said, sticking his hand out. I laughed at his pristine gesture, but shook his hand anyway. "Joe," I replied. Patrick turned to the man in front of him. "Patrick," he introduced himself. "Peter, but please, call me Pete," the man said, shaking Patrick's hand. We all smiled at our respected partners, letting a small laugh escape our lips. "Whaddaya say we get out of here...?" Pete asked. "I mean, after all, I'd like to get to know my soul mate ..."
We all smiled at him. Patrick interlocked his hand with Pete's, and Andy did the same to me. It seemed as though we had all forgotten why we were at this venue in the first place, but I don't think either of us really cared anymore. There were other concert opportunities, even though we were all out $30, but meeting your soul mate? We all knew that only happened once in a lifetime. So, we walked down more stairs, receiving odd looks from workers talking by the bar downstairs.
We left the building, still hand in hand with our soul mates, ready to start something new in each of our lives ...
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Hey, not the greatest, but I've always wanted to write a oneshot about this 'soul mate watch' concept c: