Sterek One Shots (boyxboy)

Countdown

Countdown by actingup
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7758d 08h 57m 26s or 21 years and 93 days

For the longest time Stiles has been looking at a dark forest green strip that has years left on it. It's this tiny little clock that's attached to his skinny wrist right next to that one mole that kind of looks like a face if you squint hard enough. It's been there since birth just like everyone else's in the world and he ignores it almost as much as everyone else does too. See, when everyone in the world has one, it isn't that big of a deal when the clock runs out. It's usually very simple, when the clock reaches zero, you meet your soul mate. Everyone's family and friends may get ridiculously excited and congratulate you when you meet them because they want you to be happy. But it isn't rare; it doesn't make the news unless maybe you're already famous. People try not to make it a big deal, they still date even if they realize that the person they're with won't always be theirs. They still sleep around, they still cheat, and some don't even want to meet their soul mate. Some soul mates relationships necessarily don't get a happy ending, but that doesn't mean that each person is doomed for life.

For example, his Dad's clock. It hit zero when was a deputy and had to pull over a beautiful young lady for speeding, a woman who later became Stiles' mom. But Claudia Stilinski was diagnosed with cancer a little too late and passed away a year later. So it's not like soul mates only die together, and the still living half is definitely affected. But that doesn't mean they can't move past it. Stiles had seen the clock on the Sheriff's wrist go dark when his mother had passed away, but he also saw the Sheriff start dating Ms. McCall Stiles' freshman year of college. They even had dating websites made especially for people who had lost their loved ones. While it wasn't common to lose your other half early, normally you both lived to raise a family and grow old, it still wasn't unheard of.

3743d 16h 03m 59s

That means, not all soul mates have the same story. Most people meet their soul mate at a very young age, but some don't meet them until they're in their 60's, some aren't ready for a relationship and are only friends even though they met early; it's different for everyone. Like, Lydia who met Jackson in middle school. Now Stiles knew she wasn't his soul mate, no matter how much he wanted her to be, because he had caught a glimpse of her wrist one day when they were both up at the chalkboard in math on the second day of school. (Stiles would have just asked her, but you don't normally ask to see someone's wrist, it's a little taboo unless you're really good friends or you're actually meeting your soul mate.) Stiles had been trying to sneak glances at her wrist because he had been so sure she was his soul mate. She wasn't. The day he checked her wrist she had 2 days, 3 hours, 2 minutes, 47 seconds left; Stiles was crushed. Two days later he saw her walk straight up to the new kid, Jackson, and demand to see his wrist. Stiles didn't watch anymore because he knew they were meant to be. He had seen Jackson looking around frantically right before she walked up to him, he didn't need to see the clock light up for proof. For years they were off and on for different, stupid reasons. It was something that happened a lot to couples who met early; they needed to experience life before they settled down. But eventually, like most soul mates, they became permanently "on". And while it had crushed Stiles at the time, he eventually got over it. He actually became really good friends with Lydia after he had stopped obsessing over her and their mutual friends had gotten together.

2658d 21h 33m 21s

Isaac had been really quiet and shy growing up. He, like Stiles and Stiles' best friend/brother/partner in crime Scott, was kind of a social outcast. Scott met Isaac their freshman year of high school when some senior had "accidently" spilled milk all over Isaac's clothes. Scott, always playing the hero, had taken Isaac to his locker to give him some spare clothes. From that day on, Isaac had looked up to Scott, and Scott had made Isaac sit with him and Stiles at lunch until all three became friends. But it wasn't until their sophomore year that Isaac met his soul mate. Scott had convinced Isaac and Stiles to join the lacrosse team with him (an idea that Stiles was exceedingly against, but Stiles couldn't, and still can't, resist Scott's puppy dog eyes) to gain popularity and get girls or something like that. Stiles really only joined for moral support. After all, he had no chance with Lydia.