It was morning. Quiet and serene, with no particular time that he needed to get up. He could see this as no shrill alarm clock had woken him up, instead, the numbers just blinked peacefully on the screen.
Sun filtered through the window in the compact dorm, still a little too bright even with the grey clouds that covered the sky. He was in a bed. White sheets, and a light green comforter. It was larger than most dorm beds, just one replacing the usual two. There were, however, duplicates of the bedside tables, and desks which held a variety of books and stationery supplies.
The bed was messed up slightly, just enough to have been considered slept in, and when he looked to the other side of the bed, there was an empty spot.
Someone usually slept there.
He said something but wasn't sure what. They were words, but of no discernible language, tone, or pitch.
The other person pushed open a door that led to a small tiled bathroom with a single shower, still steamy from recent use.
He walked into the room with a smile. A towel was loosely wrapped around his hips, threatening to fall off any moment. He seemed to enjoy it that way, casually showing off, as if just for him.
He was the only other person in the room, after all.
The other person had lengthy blonde hair, falling in soft waves around his face. He often saw him here, in his dorm room, in his bed. He sat on the edge of the bed right beside him and leaned in closer.
They kissed.
Alfred woke to a blaring, piercing alarm with a groan. His alarm clock's glowing red numbers read 3:00 am. It sat on the long table that went from his bed to his brother's, the things sitting on the surface splitting it in half - alarm clocks, lamps, superhero figurines, and the like.
"Ugh, Mattie, why did we get tickets this early again? Not the best idea, bro," he mumbled, sleep still thick in his voice.
A quiet, sleepy voice responded. "Because then once we arrive in London it'll be evening and we can sleep" Matthew explains. "That way we can adjust quicker." It looked to be a logical plan at the time, but waking up this early didn't seem worth it in the moment.
"Fuck time zones, man…" Alfred pushed himself off of the bed and onto the floor, soft carpet hitting his bare feet. He wasn't in the best mood, but then again, between waking up so early and that pesky dream, it was understandable.
"Hm, again?" Alfred has already told Matthew about what he had been seeing in his dreams, and he knows his brother well enough to know what has gotten him in this mood. Matthew never chose to share his dreams with Alfred, but to each their own.
"I don't get why he'd date someone when he knows his soulmate can see it all, it's just not fair!" Alfred runs his hand through his hair, frustrated. Soulmates saw each other's life through their dreams, so it was just cruel to date someone else.
"Well, he might not know you're watching, he might not know your sleep schedule," Matthew argues. More likely, of course, is that he didn't have the same view on soulmates.
Some, like Alfred, truly believed in their soulmates. Others tried to date others, didn't put all their value on the idea of soulmates.
"You can guess from your own dreams... I guess It'll chance now though Mattie, yeah?" Alfred pauses, thinking for a moment. "Oh! Mattie, what if we're gonna be in the same timezone now, how sweet would that be! We could even be in the same country or somethin'!" Quickly, Alfred's attention shifted and his attitude lightened. "Dude, that'd be great," he smiled. "Oh, or yours too, maybe!" He added on, almost an afterthought.
"Hm, that's possible…" Matthew would be lying if he said he hadn't thought about that. "It's possible that you wouldn't see anything in your dreams, then."
"Guess we'll have to find out," Alfred decides. "Ready to leave in a few, bro?" Alfred had his belongings packed already and showered the night before. He shoved a few more video games he'd been debating on taking into his bag, but after that, he was ready to go at a moment's noticed.
"Ready whenever you are!" Matthew had, like Alfred, packed the night before and had laid out everything before sleeping. Alfred nodded in response, bringing his clothes into the bathroom, multitasking between pulling on his clothes and brushing his teeth.
It was practically a miracle that he didn't get toothpaste all over his shirt.
"Okay, let's go!" Alfred said a little too loud with a little too much enthusiasm for the time of day.
Matthew takes that as permission to start loading their stuff into the car, and once he does so he gets behind the wheel. Without anything else to do, the two head to the airport
Alfred drags them to get McDonald's before the flight for breakfast. The whole flight feels endless and uncomfortable - but what Mattie is saying is true. When they get there it's about time to sleep, anyways.
When they arrive, Matthew gets them a cab to take them to the dorm they will be staying at. Once they arrive, Matthew crashes on one of the beds, having not slept well at all on the plane.
"What, bro, no dinner first?" Alfred puts his stuff down - energy from the several cups of coffee his only fuel.
He checks out the dorm. It was simple: two beds with side tables by the window, two desks, an open closet to hang up their clothes, and a door that Alfred assumed lead to a bathroom. Something about the layout seemed familiar, but he was too sleepy to place just what seemed familiar, or why.
A rather small fridge sat by one of the walls. He opened it, but of course, it was empty. "I guess not unless you wanna go out."
"Too tired," Matthew mumbles. He was already half asleep.
Alfred shakes his head but lets his brother sleep. He thinks back - he's pretty sure he saw a vending machine somewhere in the hallway. Making sure he has a room key, Alfred leaves, settling for vending machine chips.
He opened them with a crackle, not minding the noise he made though it was fairly late. Alfred ate them on the way back.
He tosses the empty bag in the trash can in their room and changes. Alfred falls asleep, eventually, curious to see what would happen with his soulmate tonight - if he even saw him.
The next thing Alfred knows, the sun is shining through the dorm window. It was morning. Other than maybe faint memories of his soulmate getting a glass of water, he can't recall any other dreams.
His interest arose, but before any sort of delight could set in, he checks his alarm clock. The blurry numbers read something like 8:00 am.
Well, shit.
His and Mattie's English class starts in only twenty minutes.
"Fuck, Mattie, you up," asks Alfred, turning his gaze from the alarm clock to his sleeping brother, sitting up in his bed, and swinging his feet over the edge.
Matthew groans. Waking him up isn't easy, especially not after a long night like that.
"C'mon dude, we're gonna be late!" This, Alfred shouts. It's pretty clear Matthew is still only partially awake.
"Late…?" Matthew mumbles sleepily. He's beginning to wake up
"For our first class," replies Alfred, scrambling to stand up and get at least somewhat dressed. "Let's go!"
Finally awake and understanding what Alfred is saying, Matthew shoots up and frantically gets dressed as well. "How're we going to get there? Do you even know where the classroom is?"
"Uh, I've got a map? It's close to our building, I think!" Alfred points it out to Matthew on the slightly crumpled looking map that he had printed out a few weeks ago. The building they had classes in had been highlighted.
Matthew looks over at the map as he pulls on a shirt, ready to go in just a minute. "What do we need?"
"Something to write with, it's just syllabus day," replies Alfred, grabbing both of their laptops - with any luck they would even have some charge, too. Matthew nods in response, grabbing a notebook and a pencil pouch with both pencils and pens. "I'm ready when you are," he says.
Alfred rather carelessly tosses Matthew's laptop to him, heading out the door with an almost missed catching his laptop, protesting as he follows his brother out of the dorm.
"Alfred, don't just throw things like that!"
Alfred only continues to laugh, finding amusement in otherwise stressful situations. "Yeah, yeah, 'course dude!"
The two of them walked quickly, luckily finding the classroom rather easily - they were only a few minutes late. Quietly, the two of them slipped into the classroom. Eyes were drawn, but the professor didn't stop talking. Alfred and Matthew were able to find seats relatively quickly; two empty seats were available right next to the door.
It wasn't the best place to sit, and it was a bit cold because of the door, but it would do just fine (and certainly better than standing).
Someone catches Alfred's eye. He stiffened in his seat. He recognized the student sitting in front of him. His wavy blonde hair, long enough to tie up, even the shirt he was wearing.
Matthew notices how Alfred suddenly got tense, and he nudges his brother to get his attention. "What's wrong?" He whispers quietly
"That's him, " Alfred whispers back. "The guy who's dating my soulmate!" Alfred glares at the back of his head - of course, he had reason to dislike him, especially since he was here now, wherever his soulmate might be.
While he was angry, naturally, there was still a part of him that buzzed with excitement. His soulmate was here, somewhere. Maybe they would even run into each other!
Of course, since he chose to date someone who wasn't his soulmate it wouldn't be quite as romantic… but of course, whoever his soulmate was, they would just have to fall for him. It was destiny, after all.
After all, the hero always got the girl (or guy, perhaps, in his case).
"So do you think…?" Matthew doesn't finish his sentence, already knowing the answer, and moves on to the following question. "Would you want to talk to him? After class?"
"I guess I should, I mean… He'd obviously know who my soulmate is, and then they can work things out, yeah?" Alfred hopes it would work out that smoothly, anyways. Someone behind them shushes Alfred before he can speak again, however.
Matthew decides to wait until after the class ends to ask any more questions, not wanting to cause any more disruptions.
Eventually, the class ends. Alfred doesn't manage to pay much attention, but at the very least he has the assignments all written down. The problem is he's too worked up about meeting his soulmate, meeting the person who's dating his soulmate, and figuring out what to say to the said person.
As he's packing away his notebook, Alfred approaches the somewhat stranger.
Noticing someone approach him, he finishes packing his things away and turns to Alfred "Ah, is there something I can help you with?"
"Yeah, dude. Uh… I'm pretty sure you're kinda dating my soulmate," says Alfred, deciding to be blunt about it. He has this mostly planned out, imagining several outcomes of the situation. Hopefully, this will go well?
"Soulmate…?" It takes them a moment to realize what the American is talking about. A glimmer of recognition comes into his eyes - in a way, Alfred comes across as somewhat familiar to him. "Ah, well, if you mean Arthur, I'm afraid that you're right to assume that we are together~!" He chirps, not seeming bothered at all about Alfred's mentioning of soulmates.
He doesn't seem to care at all, let alone be bothered about it, really. "Now, if you don't mind, I have another class to get to," he says. Clearly, he isn't the type of person who considers a soulmate the most important thing, if he's content to brush Alfred off like that!
"But-!" He's gone before Alfred can say anything else.
Well, that clearly didn't go according to plan, or at least not any that he had imagined. The shock of being brushed off so casually soon registers and Alfred turns back to his brother in annoyance.
"Did you hear that guy?!" Alfred immediately complains. "He didn't even care he was dating my soulmate, he just brushed it off! What the hell, dude…"
"Well, people can have more than one opinion about soulmates, Alfred. Perhaps he doesn't believe in them. Did he give a name?" Matthew thought he heard a name, but he was too far to really hear everything clearly.
"Arthur. His name is Arthur," answers Alfred.
A/N: Thanks for sticking through until here! Since I'm writing this one with a friend it should actually update more regularly (you know, more than once a year).
Reviews would be super appreciated!