The Not-So-Big Book Of Soulmate AUs (and Other One-Shots)

Black and White (NovaHD)

PARDON THE SHITTY WRITING, I DON'T NORMALLY WRITE IN FIRST PERSON BUT I FEEL THAT IT'S NECESSARY FOR THIS OK, OK. BEAR WITH ME. (And just fyi, I'm not doing the second part with the death because TwilightHayley requested fluff only. :3)

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James's POV

Still black and white.
After 24 goddamned years.
I'm still seeing in fucking black and white.

I want to know what colors are. They always tell us that yes, colors do exist, but we won't be able to see them until we find our soulmates. I mean, I guess it'll be nice to experience color for the first time with the person I'm destined to be with because it'll be romantic and shit, but I just wish they'd hurry their ass up and meet me already. I don't like living in the dark when I know there's light out there somewhere.

I need a pick-me-up. Being all depressed isn't good for my sanity. C'mon, let's get up. Hot chocolate sounds nice right about now, considering the sky is filled with clouds and I can see the rain hitting the window. Man, I'm fucking freezing. Alright, now that I've acknowledged the fact that I'm cold, I'll just keep getting colder. Guess I really do need to get up and get that hot chocolate now.

I throw on the first pair of jeans I see, and I can't tell what color they are. They're darker than the rest of the gray things around them, so I assume they're a dark color of some sort. Maybe I'll get to find out today. I grab a black t-shirt from the laundry hamper and throw on a (maybe gray, who knows?) hoodie, slipping a beanie over my head to trap my unruly hair. The coffee shop isn't a long walk, so I don't think I'll get too wet from the rain.

After I grab my keys and my wallet and put on my shoes, I'm off onto the dirty city sidewalk. The sky looks gray, nothing new there, but it's filled with clouds. I put my hood up to stop what little water there was; thankfully it had lightened to a drizzle as I was getting dressed.

I finally made it to the coffee shop, wondering what was the point of having flowers on the counter if a majority of people couldn't even see what color they were. They're just fancy pieces of grass that serve no purpose. As I wait for the line to move towards the cashier, I glance quickly around the small shop. And all I see are couples. Well, maybe those flowers aren't pointless then, to these customers at least.

The man at the register asks me what I'd like to drink, and I tell him I want a large hot chocolate. Because I'm sad and because fuck the sugar content, I want to make myself happy for a little while at least. As he presses buttons to ring up my order, I ask him what color the flowers on the counter are.

"They're red. It's a shame you can't see them," the young man says. His look holds a bit of sympathy, and I immediately turn my neutrally passive face into a small frown. I don't want this man's pity. I don't want anyone's pity, for that matter. I'm not the only 24-year-old who hasn't found their soulmate yet, fuck you if you think you're going to pity me.

He sees my sullen expression and his face goes blank, and he gives a small "sorry" as we exchange dollar bills for a receipt. I just turn and walk away without replying, waiting for my drink at the small counter off to the right. Once I get it, I see an open seat by the window and decide to sit and enjoy my drink for a while before walking home to be lonely in my gray house with my gray walls and my gray blankets.

The sun has started to peek from behind the clouds, making everything look washed out and even more colorless, if that's even possible. I continue to stare out the window before a flash of movement pulls my gaze to the left to follow the arm of some passing man. It's covered in black ink drawings, something so intricate that's made of so many smaller details that it makes me want to stare at it up close. And maybe trace my hands along the arm that belongs to the beautiful boy currently passing in front of the window in slow motion. Damn he's cute. His tattoo is so cool, like the way the blue's and green's and red's all swirl together....wait am I...is that color? Is he my...oh my fuck he is! Shit!

Everything that had been going slow starts to happen at normal speed, and as I jump up from the table, I spill my hot chocolate all over the front of my jeans and curse loudly at the pain. My burned dick could wait though, I had to go stop the man that I was destined to spend the rest of my life with.

I grab his pale, peach colored wrist and when he turned around I could see surprise on his beautiful face and slight anger in his coffee-colored eyes. But they widen as he experiences the same slow spread of color that I did just moments ago when I saw his tattoo. I look down and see that my jeans are dark blue, and my hoodie that seemed gray was actually a bright purple color. I laugh out loud at the absurdly bright color, hugging the man that just gave me the light in my life and spinning him around in my arms. I could hear his bright laughter as well, and I found myself smiling at how wonderful it sounded. Can you hear colors? Because everything sounds so much better than it has in a long time.

We pull apart, smiles still lingering. Damn his lips are so pink and look so soft...okay whoa James take it down a couple notches. I know the guy is your soulmate but you don't even know his name yet. I hear mumbling that pulls me from my thoughts and I find the man staring at me intently, as if waiting for something.

"I asked you what your name was, dude."

I laugh a little, embarrassed at not paying attention. I tell him my name is James, and in return he tells me his name is Aleksandr, with a ks and an r. But he says I should call him Aleks. I say the name a few times, testing it out on my tongue, and I'm pleased to find that his name fits him perfectly.

"So, James, I assume no one has ever told you how mesmerizing your eyes are. I could get lost in them - there's so many different shades of brown."

I feel a warmth creeping along my cheeks and over my ears, and hear Aleks's golden laugh again. He looks down quickly, and asks, "James, did you piss yourself? Were you just too excited to see me finally?"

"Shut up asshole," I grumble as I offer him my hand hesitantly, fearing that I might be taking it too fast. Luckily, he offers a cheeky grin and he grabs my hand without any hesitation at all, and
I start to love this man even more than I did at first sight as I return his smile with a sly grin of my own.

We start to walk slowly down the street, and I love the feel of his soft, smaller hand being held in my own.

"So, Aleksandr, where were you off to before I stopped you?" I love so many things about this man already, especially the way his name gets stuck in the back of my throat before rolling off my tongue, like it was made to be said by me and me alone.

"Oh, nowhere in particular."

"Well," I say softly, squeezing his hand a little, "would you like to accompany me to the art store down the street? I kinda want to go see all the colors that I haven't seen for the past 24 years of my life."

Aleks laughs, high and lilting, and I can tell it will soon become my favorite melody. "I'd like to see all the colors I've been missing for the past 22 years."

We share a small smile, and continue on the sidewalk until we reach the store, watching as the world around us both blossoms into color.

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Yay, first one! Hope you all enjoyed. Look forward to more sometime in the future maybe. :3

Thanks in advance for all of you who decide to read this, you're all special snowflakes.

-Abbi <3