COMPATIBLE [Unedited]

I

Betelgeuse321 prompt: LGBTQIA+ romance

I have never seen such a beautiful deathplace.

The smooth white walls reach far up into the sky, further than any I've seen before. Thousands of tinted blue windows sprawl up one side of the building, reflecting the orange that spills through the purple evening sky, as well as the swarm of people pouring in through the doorways. I am one of them. I'm another eager face, another fiddling hand, and another sweaty palm. But I'm not another true smile. I'm not another feverishly excited heart.

Buzzing chatter swells around me, so much so that I don't hear Via call my name until she pushes her way to my side through the crowd. She forces a smile, but we both know that it's a lie. Neither of us feel any remote happiness at how today will play out.

"Are you ready?" she asks.

I'm not, and I never will be. "Yeah."

Via nods. We both listen to the hum of the crowd as we walk on.

"You know," she starts, staring up at the building before us, "I've always waited for this. The moment when I could meet my true love." She pauses to take a deep breath. "But - not this way. This won't work."

It's my turn to nod sympathetically. She now stares at the ground. "You look stunning tonight."

I glance at my dress not for the first time that night, feeling an unexpectedly comforting warmth spread through my cheeks. Then I turn to examine Via's. It's long, black, flowy, made of some sort of chiffon. A lot fancier than mine. Paired with her mid-calf lace-up boots and fishnets, she looks breath-takingly pretty; I can't help but think that her match will be the luckiest boy there tonight. My eyes float back up to her face and meet hers, two gorgeous rich browns. She smiles and I swear my heart skips a beat.

Then I remember why she's so dressed up tonight, and my happiness withers away to nothing. Via senses it. She offers a small smile, but it doesn't stop my hands from shaking.

"Hey," she says. "Arch. It's okay. Whatever happens tonight, we're still us, right? Still you and me. Still a team."

I force a nod, scared I might cry, focusing on her face and not my surroundings. Us. You and me. Smiling weakly, I let Via take my hand in hers and try my very best not to freak out for another reason now. She's right. We are a team. A duo, a pair. Together. Us against the world. And no matter what comes between us tonight, they can't take that away from us.

My mini surge of confidence is shattered when someone shoves roughly into the back of Via, and she goes stumbling into a different part of the crowd, yanking her hand out of mine unintentionally. The warmth leaves my body and the only thing left is pure fear. I meet her eyes one last time before she's swept away, my own ones prickled by scratching tears trying to fight their way out, and she gives me one last bittersweet look. Then she's gone.

Lips pressed shut so as not to yell Via's name, I turn back to the building before me, and the true horror of tonight dawns upon me. I'm trapped.

••••••••

"Welcome everyone to this year's Official Soulmate Search!"

The lights dim, and the packed-out gallery falls as silent as if someone pressed a mute button. All heads turn to watch the slick-haired man whose sickening beam is plastered across the wall we all face. I recognise him as one of the officials who runs this whole nightmare programme - Xander something.

"My name is Zyler du Harpe -" close enough, I think, I mean, they're both dead common names - "and I work for the Soulmate Corporation, the body who have organised this magnificent night for you."