Waiting for You // Phan

--- 1 ---

Dan's POV

2 weeks
3 days
4 hours
13 minutes
27 seconds

Dan sat staring into the space in front of him, as he sat on the hard plastic of his desk chair. Slowly, he ran his fingers along the worn wood edge of his desk he had owned for so long.

The feeling of the wood was a familiar and comforting one, as he had been doing this for many years, after he had been starting to feel as if he had anxiety. Today was his last day at the place he called home. Tomorrow, he would be getting the train to a new apartment he would be sharing with his best friend PJ, as they were both starting sixth form college together in a few weeks.

Dan was scared. New people, new teachers... new life. He didn't like change and unfamiliarity. But he had no choice. He had to go to this college. Had to. After all, it was he who had suggested it to his parents. They were downstairs.

His parents. Both of their watches useless, permanently on zero, still lived on their wrists. It was because of these watches, that they were so happy. That they had found love. That Dan himself was alive. It was because of these watches, that they had found their soulmate.

On every child's 5th birthday, they were given a plain white digital watch which they were required to wear until they found their soulmate. Some people had to wait hardly any time to find their soulmate, others had to wait almost a lifetime. Dan had to wait almost 13 years. He was 17 now. He only had a few weeks left.

The idea that somebody's watch was identical to his own, that somebody's heart beated with his heart, that there was somebody out there who was destined to be with Dan, thrilled him. Years had been spent in earlier life imagining the perfect person for him. Yet he couldn't imagine the perfect soulmate. He guessed he would find out soon. Two weeks. Two agonizingly long weeks he had to wait until he could finally meet his partner for life.

His parents had been reluctant to let him leave home to go to college, but Dan had wanted to go. Especially since he found out PJ, and his other best friend Louise, would be going too.

His wall clock showed that it was 10.00pm. He should probably rest. After all, he needed it. Butterflies had started to return to his stomach. He imagined them, deep azure blues, fresh crisp greens and stunning reds, swooping and looping inside him, them imagined him opening his mouth and letting each butterfly fly out, calming his nerves.

Sighing inwardly, Dan lay back on the black and white duvet and closed his eyes, letting the peaceful land of sleep take him away from this world.

Dan stood alone on a raised platform in front of a faceless crowd, who were all pointing and jeering at him. He caught a few whispers that were audible in the heavy silence around him.

"That's him isn't it? The one without a soulmate."

"Yeah that's him, forever alone, loved by nobody..."

Dan cried out to say that he did have a soulmate, that his watch was counting down like everyone else's. But when he looked down at it, it wasn't counting down. It had frozen. Dan stumbled back in horror as laughs echoed around him, fingers pointing at him, the Unloved One. Desperately, he tried to rip the watch from his wrist, but when he took it off, it left branded letters scorched into his skin.

Unloved

Dan screamed and fell back off the podium, laughs ringing in his ears, falling, falling into nothing, just darkness, forever, swallowing darkness...