A Thousand Years- Snowbarry Soulmate AU

Chapter 6

As time went on, Barry's condition only got worse and worse. He spent all his time in bed now with a kind of sweating sickness. He was eternally pale as a ghost and seemed to be in constant pain though he tried his best not to show it. Still, he hardly ate or drank anything, just enough to keep him alive at the doctor at his parents' insistence. Everyone knew now that he was certainly going to die and there was nothing more they could do but try to make it as painless as possible.

His parents spent most of their time praying to The Evergreen to save their only child and wept at every sight of him struggling through life. How were they supposed to cope with losing their son? It wasn't fair that they would lose him just because he didn't have a soulmate who loved him back. 

Though Barry did not feel much more than pain these days. As much as he wished that things could be different, that he could live, in some ways he didn't want to live a life with so much pain and hurt. Perhaps things would be easier if he died not just for himself but for his parents too. Though, of course, his death would hurt them, this whole thing was putting them through hell so perhaps it would just be easier to let himself go and free himself and them from all this. 

Then again, he wasn't sure of his own feelings anymore. He'd learnt not to trust his own senses recently. Sometimes when he opened his eyes, he saw her, just standing there in front of him. Sometimes she would say something to him and once or twice she even leant down and kissed him. But right as their lips touched, before he could know what kissing her really felt like, she would disappear entirely like she was never there at all. Of course, she wasn't there, she never was- it was merely a figment of his imagination, his mind playing tricks on him and he knew it. 

But Caitlin always felt so real even though he knew full well that she wasn't. His marks tricked him every time and now he wasn't sure what was real and what was not. What feelings were true and which were false. Everything was so confusing and he just wanted it all to be over even if it did mean his death. Death would be merciful compared to this sweet torture. 

As Barry grew closer to the end, he couldn't help but wonder what a life with her would have bee like. If she truly was his soulmate and he was hers. If that day, when Caitlin saw his mark, she had recognised it. She would have looked up at him incredulously with surprise on her face but happiness too. She would've kissed him right there and she would have forgotten all about Ronnie. After all, that would happen naturally if he was truly her soulmate. 

Then they would've bonded and fallen in love... she would whisper sweet nothings in his ear and they would fall asleep in each other's arms. The two of them would never be parted, the happiest of all couples... they could have been so happy. 

Barry's heart squeezed at the thought. He could've made her happy if that was their destiny... but it wasn't. He wasn't sure how long he had left but he hoped that he would be remembered fondly by someone other than his parents, though he was sure that he wouldn't be. No one else at school seemed to know who he was let alone anything about him. His professors knew him but no more than his name and his papers and exams- they didn't know him, not really.

He'd always postponed his plans, all the things he wanted to do for the future. But now he realised that he had no future and in turn, his present is as disappointing and inconsequential as the rest of his life. He had nothing that anyone would remember him by, no stamp he'd left on this world other than pain and heartbreak. He had no one to remember him so he would die as if he never existed at all. That was the worst thing of all not even that Caitlin did not know him but that no one knew him. 

Now he had very little time left, no time to do anything worthwhile. Almost as if he wasn't worthwhile, his existence was pointless. 

...

Meanwhile, Caitlin had all but forgotten the boy who had collapsed over a week and a half ago. She couldn't recall his name but there was still some ongoing chatter about him going around the campus. She wanted to find out who he was, she did recognise him as a boy in her Soulmate Science class, but nobody else seemed to know when she asked. She couldn't help but feel sorry for him, he was clearly going through something horrible with his marks and no one even knew who he was. 

It wasn't until she heard the rumour about him being an unrequited soulmate that she really started to pay attention. She knew enough about it to know how painful it was and truly sympathised with the boy. She even went to her Soulmate Science professor to ask him about it though he gave her a rather odd look when she mentioned it to him. When he told her about the whole thing, she felt like he was hiding something though she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Then one afternoon she was in the library when her mark suddenly began to burn with the pain of million needles in her wrist. She cried out and fell to the floor, rubbing her wrist as she rolled up her sleeve. As she did so her mark, despite being covered with makeup, glowed bright red like a burning hot poker. She screamed as the pain became more intense then suddenly died down to be stone cold. 

The makeup had faded by now and instead of her usual bright mark, all Caitlin could see was a dull and cold grey etching on her skin. Before she knew it, she was sat in her Soulmate Science professor's office with a Soulmate specialist doctor. As she begrudgingly showed him her mark, she heard him gasp.

"What? What is it?" she asked worriedly though he suddenly seemed overcome" with joy.

"Your Soulmate mark... it matches Barry's perfectly. He was wrong... he is your soulmate. Because he believed it his body must've believed it too. I must take you to him now" he replied quickly, a huge smile on his smile, though his answer only created more questions in her mind.

"What? What's going on?"

"I'm sure you've heard of the boy with the unrequited soulmate. His name is Barry and he saw your ID mark and realised that you were his soulmate a few weeks ago. He's had a bit of a crush on you for a while now but was too shy to act on it, the poor boy, and so he was terrified that he was unrequited because you had no idea who he even was. So he did a test by showing you his mark in plain sight to see whether you would recognise it but you didn't... I'm not sure how but then he was convinced you were unrequited. He loves you and he is going to die if you don't go to him. If you two can bond then you can save his life. He is your soulmate, you must go to him" he explained as briefly as he could.

Caitlin felt as if her head was spinning, she couldn't believe this. All this time, that boy who she didn't know was her soulmate. She could hardly believe it but somehow deep down she knew it to be true. But what would she tell Ronnie? Oh, that doesn't matter right now, she can think about that later. She has to go to him, Barry, and save him. She couldn't have him die because of her- she'd never forgive herself for it.

Before she knew it, she was sat in the doctor's car driving her to his parents' house. Her stomach was in knots and she was light-headed but she knew that there was no other choice. 

"What will happen if we don't get there in time? To him? To... to me?" she asked, her voice trembling as she spoke. If he died... will she die too?

"If we don't get there in time, he will surely die. He has been on the brink of death for the last two days. I doubt he has much longer left at all. As for you, if he dies then the two of you will not be bonded so you will not die too. You will live. But I doubt it will be a particularly happy life without a soulmate. But have hope, your touch once bonded will be all it'll take"