Disclaimer:

The 39 Clues Series does not belong to me, it belongs to Scholastic and authors including but not limited to Rick Riordan, Gordon Kormon, Judy Blundell, Peter Lerangis, Patrick Karman and others. I don't make money from this, and all characters are of legal age.

AN: Hey guys! Here's a story I made as a farewell gift to 39addict101. She's leaving at the end of August 2017, and as a goodbye gift, I had decided to get everyone together to each write a story with her soulmate AU.

The AU was (quoted from her):

"I just got this idea for a Soulmate!AU.
It's so cheesy, but whatever.
So I was looking at this little bouncy ball with a heart on it...and yeah, that's how...
So, I guess its somewhere along the lines of, you throw your ball, and whoever catches it...
I told you its cheesy.
But I tried."

The basic guidelines was that you could pick the ship and the plot, as long as it has her soulmate idea incorporated into it. So here I am, with a story that started off as a strangers to lovers, then slowly evolved into strangers to enemies to lovers, and then finally strangers to enemies to lovers + fake dating!

My life is hell.

Warnings: Slash, Shounen Ai, BL, Dan-centric, terrible writing skills, typos, author without beta, strong language, writing in third person limited that head hops a few times randomly, slow burn etc.

Beyond this is some basic info about the universe that you could skip but I'd recommend not to.

The ball's origin story is 100% made by me (I'm so sorry for ruining your wonderful idea with my backstory, Addict). So yeah don't hate her for this trash. She's great.

This is soulmate AU where the Cahill family have a tradition of throwing a ball to meet their soulmate. The person can take as long as they want to get ready to throw it, some people opting to not throw it at all in fear. The ball will then bounce to where their soulmate is, and whoever picks it up will complete the bond. That means if your soulmate lives halfway across the world, it will bounce to them. It's not uncommon to lose your ball after chasing it, however sad. Many counter measures were taken during modern times, like writing a phone number or address on the ball before throwing it, or packing for a long journey. Putting a tracker was attempted before, but not only is it very hard to pierce outside of the ball, but any technology is rendered useless next to the heart.

Anyway, so when a baby of Cahill blood is born, they're born with a small ball, the size of a marble maybe, in their hands. The ball is clear with a heart in the center that glows a pure golden color, and it beats in tune with the baby's for 7 days, after which it's removed and put into safe keeping. There, the heart slowly fades to white, signifying dormancy. It slowly grows along with the person, like a fruit ripening. It stays like that until the person reaches 18, when the heart starts to glow a shade of pink, and is given to them. If the soulmate dies, the heart will turn into a black color and breaks in half inside the ball. If the person dies, the same thing happens, except the entire ball crumbles into dust, which is then buried with the body.

This is an AU (like the world itself) similar to the ones in my other stories. An AU where no one is related to each other. No cousins, no incest, there's no blood relations between family.

The clue hunt never happened, so most characters have never met. Hope and Arthur are alive and normal parents to normal children. Vikram and Isabel are also alive and are just rich people with rich kids. One thing I have to say is that the Wizards and the Kabras are family friends, due to their wealthy status. I just love imagining them as childhood friends. Personal indulgence.

See End Of Chapter For More Notes

-10 Days Prior-

It was a chilly autumn day, trees that were flourishing green with life only weeks earlier were already peppered with leaves that were gilded with gold, yet the leaves still hadn't yet started to fall. It was picture book perfect, like a dream that you're not truly sure is reality, but cannot deny the realism. Dan raised his eyes to gaze at the leaves above him that were so stark against the cloudless sky. Perhaps tomorrow there would be some scattered over the sidewalk, hiding some of the grey asphalt. He sucked in the air with a deep breath, realizing how he had missed the moistness after the dry summer heat.

Jumping to his feet, he stretched, brushing off the dirt that accumulated on his pants. Pulling a ball out of his pocket, he continued on his relentless assault on the innocent tree he had been resting under moments before. Throwing the blue rubber ball in his hand harshly against the trunk, he grabbed it out of the air as it rebounded back against him with lightning speed, hitting his hand with a solid "THWACK", leaving a dull sting echoing through his palm. Repeating the process again and again, he bitterly thought back to the events that had unfolded earlier that day.

He was woken up by a notification on his phone. It wasn't unnatural, as Dan was heavily reliant on the piece of technology. The unnatural thing was what the phone was notifying him about. Staring dumbly at the words surrounded with sparse digital confetti on the bright screen, his heart began speeding up till he was nearly vibrating with excitement on his bed. Jumping up, he started to let out a holler of joy, before catching himself and clapping his hands over his mouth.

It was his birthday!

He wasn't the type of person to be aware of the passing days, so he hadn't bothered either reminding the others everyday until now. But of course his parents would remember! Getting ready for the day, he began jubilantly skipping down he steps to the dining room, already imagining the cake that was bound to be on the table.

Only to see it empty, with only the normal breakfast materials instead. Frowning, blinked several times, as if what he wanted would suddenly appear.

When it failed to do so, he turned to his mother questioningly. "Mom?"

Hope Cahill was humming along to a calming tune on the radio while attending to the stove. The scent of pancakes was in the air, and he could see the telltale syrup on the table. The long, ginger hair swished from side to side in a high ponytail as she swayed her hips to the song. Hearing the footsteps entering the room, the forest green eyes turned to him as her face changed from a smile to pleasant surprise. "Dan! What's gotten you up so early?"

He shifted from foot to foot awkwardly, glancing around instead of maintaining eyes contact. He took in the regular appearance of the kitchen, there seemed to be no streamers, balloons, or decorations anywhere. Coughing lightly to get his mother's attention from where it strayed back to cooking, he spoke "Umm.. it's my birthday..." He finished, trailing off.

Hope Cahill seemed to process the sentence with a thoughtful smile, before realizing what he had said, her expression growing more and more shocked, as she covered her open mouth with her hand. Dropping the spatula and turning off the stove, she ran over to Dan and pulled him into a hug. "I'm so sorry!" She cried "I totally forgot! Wait wait, I'm going to buy you a present right now!" And she was gone, off to get her purse and keys, leaving Dan standing in the kitchen with his father's attention too immersed in the newspaper to even notice his wife's absence.

Going over to the stove, he took a plate and helped himself to the still warm pancakes that were piled high on the plate next to the griddle. He sat down at the wooden table, grabbing the syrup and starting to eat. For a while, the only sounds were the sound of flipping pages and chewing. Dan pondered on how his mother had reacted. She didn't seem to be faking it, had she really forgotten his birthday? Perhaps it was his fault for not constantly badgering them about it.

Glancing up, he took in the figure of his father, hidden behind the voluminous pages of the newspaper. Snorting ruefully, he pulled out his phone and began flicking though his messages. Leave it to their family to still read the newspaper at the breakfast table instead of watching TV like a normal family did.

'Though,' Dan thought as he closed his mouth around another bite, 'this feels good too.'

The kitchen was warm from all the cooking, and the tiles were cool under his feet. Sunlight streamed through the left window, illuminating the sink and making the little streams of water that were dripping from plate to plate sparkle like a small waterfalls. In front of him, the sunlight shone through a large window, lying on the tiled floor like sweet honey. The beacon of sunlight pierced through the mullioned panes of glass, bathing the black and white tiled floor in a crisscross of iridescent colour; illuminating the otherwise darkened room with a warm glow. The wind blew, the rustling of leaves carrying through the window as the curtains fluttered in the cold breeze, making Dan shiver and bringing him back to earth as he gazed at his half finished plate.

He glanced back at his father, who seemed to finally have finished reading and was moving to get up.

"Ah, dad?" He called out the the older man. Hazel eyes turned to him in askance as Dan's question died in his throat. Swallowing against the lump, he started up again. "You didn't.. Did you forget it was my birthday too?"

Arthur's eyes widened imperceptibly, but Dan noticed it and dropped his eyes down in disappointment. "No! Of course not!" His father rushed to cover his mistake "I remembered. I actually have a present waited for you!" He laughed guiltily, avoiding eye contact with Dan. "I'll go get it right now!" He gave Dan a sheepish grin before rushing out, no doubt to buy the present that was "waiting for him"

Dan's forehead hit the salt shaker when he attempted to drop his head onto the table. 'That's clearly a premonition of sorts' he thought.

The rest of the day faired no better. Amy had forgotten the day, but had prepared a present beforehand and gave it to him with an air of indifferent impatience, probably waiting to get back to her boyfriend. When she left, Dan opened it only to find one of Amy's favorite genre of books, encyclopedias. It did have "For Ninjas" emblazoned on the front, so she had thought of him a little bit.

Malcontent and a tad bit bitter, he spent the rest of the day in the groove of trees behind the backyard, bouncing the ball his dad bought for him three months ago. It was given to him in preparation for throwing his soulball, after Amy had finally found her soulmate.

The soulball. According to legend, or actually, according to his mother (which wasn't a very reliable source, Dan mused, given her fascination for topics relating to love), there was once a time where two people were one. They had two heads, two arms, two legs, but one heart (whenever Dan brought up the topic on how that was physically impossible, she admonished him on ruining the romance). The gods were afraid of the power they had, and separated to two, placing them on two different places of the world. They continues their separate lives for a year, floundering and looking for each other, always looking for the other half of their heart. One half finally couldn't take it any longer, committing a dark art where they put their soul into a ball. Throwing it so that it would roll towards its other half, they followed it for days, through rain, sun, snow, and hunger. Finally, as if the gods took pity on them, they met their other half and were happily reunited. Ever since then, their descendants were blessed (Cursed, more like, Dan thought grimly.) with being born with a part of their soul in a ball, which would be attracted their quote unquote "soulmate".

Growling at his blue replacement, he threw it again and again at the tree, tiring himself out. Which led him to now. Looking forlornly at the ball, he dropped into the grass, where it bounced once on a strange sandy patch that seemed to be deprived of grass, kicking up some dust and rocking to a stop. Sitting down heavily next it, his mind began to wander to his actual soulball, then to his future soulmate.

Maybe it was against some sort of moral code to imagine your soulmate and set a standard for what you expect of them, but Dan was all about breaking rules. He began compiling a mental list of what he'd look for in a significant other, excluding facial and body attraction. In his opinion, as long as a person was good at heart, they were beautiful.

God, he was such a sap.

He got up to seven different characteristics, the first ones being a tie between having a good sense of humor and having a fascination with ninjas, when he heard his name being called faintly from the direction of the house. Opting not to reply, he raised his hand to signal where he was, before dropping it back to his side and laying down. They could find him on their own if they really needed him.

Seconds, or maybe minutes (he never was really good at telling how much time passed when he's relaxed) later, he listened to the sound of footsteps approaching, but couldn't bring himself to be bothered to get up.

"Dan!" Came the exasperated voice of none other than his older sister. "We were looking everywhere for you! Come inside."

Dan cracked an eye open, looking at how her hair cascaded around her face, locks falling off her shoulders and trailing down and fluttering in the light breeze as she stood right over him, looking down imperiously. She was shading him against the hot glare of the sun, which was high in the sky and heating everything to uncomfortable temperatures. Dan felt the grass poking and scraping at his bare back where his shirt had rode up, and decided to get up.

Sitting up, he squinted and turned to look at Amy, who was already walking back. Not bothering to pick up the ball and leaving it where it was, he started shuffling back to the house, hands in his pockets. He began wondering why they would need him, before his thoughts wandered back to his birthday and his heartbeat quickened. Had they made him a surprise party? Maybe they were just pretending about not having gifts so he'd leave the house. Taking his hand out of his pocket, he started walking faster, reaching up to Amy quickly.

Hearing her sound of surprise as he passed her, he started sprinting across the yard and playfully sticking out his tongue when Amy complained about him being ahead.

They were racing now, pushing each other to reach the door first. Amy pulled the door open, but Dan rushed past while she was still closing it. The fought in the hallway, but Dan beat her, bursting into the living room with a shout, only to shock his unprepared parents.

Arthur wobbled on his place high on the stepladder, yelling as he fell off, dragging the streamers he was putting up down with him and tearing them off the wall. Dan winced as he fell, looking around at the rest of the room. With the resounding bang of the stepladder falling down as well, one sad balloon flew off the wall, whooshing around the room with a "PBFTTTTH" sound before plopping down on Dan's head. He pulled it off, holding it between two fingers while examining the ruined party.

At least, he thought it was a party.

Far from the huge surprise party he was expecting, what he saw looked like a "oh shit we forgot" party that was pulled together in twenty minutes using clearance supplies from the dollar store. The streamers were only partly on, stretched out to the floor and torn where its other half lay crumpled next to Arthur. There were only 4 balloons, the 5th being in Dan's hand. Hope seemed to be in the process of blowing another one, but hadn't yet stuck it up.

The table had a remarkably fancy tablecloth, better than Dan anticipated from seeing the quality of the rest of the party, but the things on it were meager. Coming closer, Dan observed two hastily wrapped presents, and one slightly squashed cake that had his name in smudged blue icing next to what looked like a fairy covered in black icing to look like a ninja. The pink icing of the dress was bleeding though the black covering, and the wand that was changed to look like a sword seemed to be the best thing about it.

The blue sparkling wings that stuck out from the "ninja's" back were unmoved.

He didn't know why he got his hopes up in the first place.

Amy way in the room right now, and his father had stood up next to his mother. They all looked at Dan, and they all looked so tentatively hopeful that he wouldn't be disappointed that Dan didn't want to rain on their parade by saying he was expecting more. Giving them all a strained smile, he motioned to the rest of the party, exclaiming in faux happiness "Wow! You guys did this for me?! Thanks!"

The relief on their face was eminent, and Dan felt proud of himself for acting mature.

Amy headed so the kitchen and returned with nine candles. Noticing the confused looks, she sheepishly informed them that they only had ten candles. When asked how she would put it as eighteen, she brandished a butter knife with enthusiasm. Slowly scraping off icing below Dan's smudged name, she made an 1 and an 8 by showing the chocolate cake through the white buttercream icing, sticking one candle on the 1 and the other eight on the 8, she gave herself a pat on the back and looked around with a self satisfied smile.

Noticing their dubious expressions, she rolled her eyes and pointed. "Look! One, eight! Eighteen!"

Reluctantly accepting the explanation, they settled around the table as Amy pulled out the lighter. Watching her light the candles, Dan ignored the dull throbbing in his chest in favor of taking an a word for time consuming amount of time pretending to be thinking about his wish.

His mother urged him on by saying the wax was melting, making him panic and blow out the candles before even fully gauging his actual wish. Looking mournfully at the melted candles, he pulled them out and tossed them to the trash.

Taking pity on him, Amy cut a generous helping of cake, getting his attention. "Hey! Who is that for?"

Amy rolled her eyes, sarcasm rolling off her tongue even before she was aware of it "Me, obviously. Wouldn't want the birthday boy getting fat on such a special day, now do we?"

After chastisement from their mother, she meekly corrected herself. "Sorry Dan, I didn't mean it. It's for you. Why else do you think I cut out a piece with the entire ninja?"

Dan gave her a relived grin, and reached for the piece, pulling the chocolate-vanilla cake marble towards him. Stabbing his fork into it, he bit into it with as much gusto he could over exaggerate. When Amy gave him a turned up nose at the fake moans of delight emanating from Dan's mouth and moved to finish her relatively small slice.

Once the cake was done, the family gathered in a tight circle and encouraged Dan to open his presents. He gave them a tight smile and pulled his mother's present to him. She gave a squeal of delight, obviously pleased he was going to open hers first.

Her enthusiasm rubbing off him, he tore open the package with zeal, only to see the very present he wanted staring up at him.

The present he wanted when he was six.

Opening the box and pulling out the remote controlled helicopter, he looked at the huge sticker on the box bragging about the solar powered batteries. Grinning, he looked at them "Thanks mom! I love it!"

He was actually loving all the things he could turn the helicopter into for his more modern interests, like a miniature drone or something along the lines of that. Arthur pushed his present to him and raised his eyebrows.

" Okay okay! I get it, you're jealous!" He said laughing, ripping the starry wrapping paper off. "Oh! A skateboard!" 'Not like I have seventeen of those or anything' "Thanks dad!"

The family talked about meaningless things, like if Dan was going to into college fresh out high school, what Amy was planning to major in, what they were going to have for dinner. The conversation strayed to stranger topics, like whether or not corgis knew they were small, or if cats liked peanut butter, or if caterpillars knew what they were doing while making a cocoon. As time passed, Arthur walked out saying he had to get back to work, and Amy left without a word. Hope gave Dan an apologetic look and said she had to get back to cooking, leaving to the kitchen.

Until he was alone.

Heaving a heavy sigh, he got to his feet and gathered up his presents. He wandered up and around the house until he got to his room. Pulling the door shut with his foot and stumbling slightly as it pushed him, he dropped the presents onto his bed. Picking up the helicopter, he settled in front of his computer with some tools he got from his father and pulled up some tabs to try and start dissecting the toy.

It was well into the evening when Amy finally called him down. He didn't make much progress towards what he was trying to make, and Dan had a feeling he wasn't using the right tutorials. A call came up again and replied that he'd come down immediately, but just went back to work without even looking up. It happened another three times before Amy got fed up and burst into the room.

"Mom is calling you!" She yelled as the door slammed open, making Dan drop the small screw he was holding. With a sinking feeling in his stomach, he tried to convince himself that it was insignificant, but knew somewhere in his heart that the tiny thing probably held a very important part together.

Getting up, he followed Amy down to where she had disappeared downstairs. Heading down the hall, he noted with a frown that it was dark in the hallway. Making his way towards the living room he almost tripped on something in the hall but caught himself, holding onto the wall the rest of the way.

Once inside the living room, he felt around for a switch. He flicked the light on, closing his eyes for a moment as the light blinded him for a second. Once it withdrew, he stared in silence at the room.

The room that was filled to the brim with people. Dan blinked silently as he saw the homeroom teacher, the bakery owners, his friends from school, it looked like the entire town was here. And at the center of the gigantic group was none other than his family. They blinked owlishly at him, silence stretching across the room until Amy elbowed his father. Arthur snapped out of his muteness, motioning to the feast of the group.

They got the signal, and yelled "SURP-" before stopping short. The concept of surprise was spoiled now, wasn't it? Unanimously reaching an agreement, they started up the chant again. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAN!"

Dan felt the corners of his eyes prickle dangerously and moved in to give a big hug to the family, rubbing his tears away on his mother's dress. Everyone soon joined in, and soon he was being smothered in the hugest group hug he had ever been part of. The hug broke apart, and the party started.

Dan chatted with his friends as the younger kids played the typical party games, pitching in only when the piñata came out. The rest of the games, like beanbag toss or pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, were happily sat out. There was a time when the musical chairs got a little rough, but they children were easily placated with candy.

No one acknowledged the sun sinking below the horizon, stars coming out as the house remained rowdy with people eating and laughing, playing and running. Dan was confronted several times with people congratulating him and placing their presents on the ever growing pile. The games drew to an end as everyone gathered around the table, the baker bringing out the cake.

It was glorious, with three layers of cake and two ninjas fighting on the top. On the sides and scattered throughout the cake were countless shurikens, nunchucks, and scrolls as well as more 2D ninjas. There was eighteen candles this time, blended into the battle scenes as flaming katanas, or stacks of dynamite. The lights were off, and the shadows flickered as the candle fire swayed from the heavy breathing.

The group sung the song slowly as Dan gathered his wits and made a wish, blowing out the candles in one shot.

'I wish that-'

After that, everyone had cake and talked, the heat of the party over. People slowly began to trickle out, saying goodbyes and complementing the party, until only the family was left.

Dan yawned, weariness suddenly seeping though his body as he nodded to his parents. "I'm going to sleep."

Hope stopped him, her eyes glinting. "Dan, isn't there something you forgot?"

Dan blinked in confusion, before slapping his forehead in realization. Turning to them, he bowed his head low, "Thank you for throwing this wonderful party for me." He looked back up at where his parents were hiving him a bemused look. "No? Oh. I'll unwrap the presents tomorrow, don't-"

"Dan, no!" His mother said, laughing. "Isn't there something special that happens on your eighteenth birthday?"

Dan frowned in confusion, then widened his eyes as the cogs in his head slowly began to move. "The soulball" he whispered, as Hope nodded with mirth in her eyes.

Motioning them to follow, the filed to the master bedroom, where Amy pulled the door shut behind them. They stood in silence as she went to the closet, pulling out what looked like a music box. There was a sharp inhale as she wound up the key as far as it could go, then a slow exhale as she let go. A clear melody began playing, and the cover slowly began to open, spilling out a beam on light. As the cover opened more, the light grew bigger, until they all saw where it was originally from.

Nested snugly in a cushion was a sparkling clear ball, with a pale colored heart at the center. Dan touched it with hesitant fingers, gasping as an electric shock was sent up his arm and down his spine. Cupping it in his hand, he marveled at how the pale pink began growing into a more healthier shade as he held it. He felt his heart skip a beat, and looked up just in time for his mother to finish her lecture.

"-have to throw it as hard as you can. Don't half ass it, you have to put your soul into it" No one commented on her cuss, and she barreled on. "Shout "Amor" after it, and follow it. Remember to write your address on the back with sharpie, as an extra precaution. Well, if your soulmate is far away and the ball has to go through rough weather to get to them, then it's essentially useless, but it's fine to go the extra length. You can take as long as you want to get ready, Dan, don't stress yourself."

"I'm going to go this month," he whispered, clutching the ball closer, "I'm going to pack now."

"Wait, Dan-" his father started, but Dan was already headed towards his room to get prepared.

It look him week to convince his family to let him go, and another three days to finish packing everything. He was set, and he was going to do it. Putting his stuff onto his motorcycle, he waved to his teary parents, reassuring them as best as he could. Amy was adamant about his waiting longer, but he retorted that this was what he wanted to do, and she had given up.

Finally, he was ready.

Present:

Dan gripped the ball with all his might, squeezing it to reassure himself. Cupping it in his hands, he stared down at the heart glowing warmly in the center of the clear ball. His heart was thumping wildly, and he took some deep breaths to calm himself down.

He turned the ball over just to make sure his address was scribbled on the back. There were so many things that could go wrong, he worried. Shaking his head, he made up his mind to do it. Steeling himself and opening his eyes wide to follow the ball wherever it went, he threw the ball as hard as he could, shouting "Amor!" after it, just as his mother had directed him to.

Clicking the screen of his helmet into place, he revved up his motorcycle immediately, shooting down the road. His eyes followed the ball as he drove after it, trailing it as it soared down, leaving a pink glowing arc originating from the heart in the ball. Accelerating towards where it would hit the ground, he looked towards the road. Almost grazing a pedestrian walking along, he sped up, before tossining his to look back to the ball.

It was floating down slowly, as if willfully making the arc smaller. Dan squinted, trying to follow the ball's shine against the sun's glare. He saw it drop downwards, slowly at first, then gathering speed at it hurtled closer to the ground.

Dan followed it downwards, trying to predict where it would fall. Clearly his soulmate was somewhere near, or else it would have flown the entire arc before bouncing. That was a relief. His eyes widened as he saw where it was headed, flinching as it made contact.

"OWWWW!" A scream echoed through the street as the ball hit the head of the pedestrian he had passed just moments ago. Dan cracked an eye open and turned his head slowly to see if the ball had landed anywhere. Sure enough, the ball was glinting in the middle of the road.

Dan slowly rolled back, stopping behind where the ball had landed at the strangers feet. "Sorry!" He called out "That's my ball!"

Pulling the motorcycle to a stop, he stepped off, pulling off his helmet and shaking the sweat out of his hair. He went to get the ball, walking up to the person's back.

The man turned around with a snarl on his face. "I think you owe me a little more than an apology, seeing as your ball just gave me a fucking concussion."

All of Dan's apologetic feelings flew out the window and his mood turned sour. Sure, it did hit his head, but did he have to be such an asshole about it? The ball was made not to cause any material damage, which meant he wasn't physically hurt very much.

Scrunching up his nose, he glared at the person while moving to get the ball. "Nah, I'm pretty sure I only needed to give you an apology." Under his breath, he added "Twat."

The man must have somehow miraculously heard the insult, judging from the scandalized expression on his face. Dan pulled a smug grin at seeing the emotion, already feeling happy from his petty win.

"How dare you!" The man said, outraged, as he bent to pick up the ball.

Dan's smug face dropped quickly into horror as he noticed the hand nearing the the ball. "Wait!" He yelled, heart jumping as the man stilled from the sound, looking at him curiously "You can't pick that up!" He looked around wildly for another person, preferably a girl, to suddenly waltz in a pick up the ball.

Distressingly enough, the road seemed desolate and empty save for them two. Dan's eyes flicked from side to side peering for any place where someone could be hiding, before snapping back to see what the man was doing. Noticing Dan's attention on him, he smirked.

The man gave him a pompous look and practically crowed "I can do whatever I want!", before scooping up the ball.

Dan's momentary dislike towards the stranger grew even bigger until it was a deep burning hatred, already holding a grudge against the man. Whispering and calling him every curse word he had ever learned, his eyes moved down from the stupid expression on the guy's face. Staring aghast at the ball that was beating warmly in the man's hands, he let out a deep groan.

"This cannot be happening to me!" He yelled, snatching the ball from the stranger. Amber eyes stared back at him, probably wondering if he was insane. "You are definitely not the person who's supposed to pick this up, you fucking douchebag."

The outraged gasp might have put Dan in a better mood had he been paying attention, but he was too busy winding up his arm to throw the ball as hard as he could in the opposite direction. Closing his eyes, he hurled it towards the sun, waiting a few seconds before opening his eyes.

The ball sailed a couple meters before stopping dead in the air and dropping down, rolling back till it stopped at the man's feet.

"Looks like your ball decided to like me." The man said in a conceited voice, bending over to pick up the ball.

Dan just continued staring, dismayed, at the man's expensive dress shoes. His eyes slowly scrolled upwards, taking in the expensive suit and overcoat, before finally resting on the man's face.

His face must have been substantially distressed, because whatever gloating speech the guy was going to give seemed to die in his throat as he gave Dan a slightly worried look. He opened his mouth once, as if to say something, then snapped it shut, opting to just stand awkwardly. Slowly shuffling forward to hand Dan the ball, he turned and started walking away, glancing once over his shoulder.

Dan just stared at the heart inside the ball, which was glowing a cheery shade of pink, before heaving a heavy, despairing sigh. Taking two large steps to reach him, he grabbed the man by the arm before he had gone to far, starting to drag him back towards the house. Dan ignored the questions and sounds of protest in favor of wallowing in his own self pity.

Slamming door open, he pulled the man inside. Realizing that just calling him "the man" wasn't going to suffice with his parents, he turned sullenly to him.

"What'syourname." He mumbled.

"What?"

"What'syour name." He pronounced more clearly. The person probably still couldn't hear him, seeing as he leaned closer and asked again.

"What?" He repeated, bringing his ears close to Dan's face.

Dan felt a flash or irritation and compulsively reacted on the negative feelings, yelling at the man. "I SAID... WHAT'S. YOUR. NAME!?"

The man grabbed his head and reeled back with a scream, groaning and holding his head as he glared at Dan with disbelief in his eyes. "What the FUCK?!" Dan smirked at him, before turning away and rolling his eyes at the over dramatization.

Heading to the stairs, he stuck his head out and called out "Mom?!" Hearing no reply, he sighed, before calling again "I found my... MY BALL CAME BACK!" Immediately, he heard the sound of thumping feet, followed by a crash.

"Ah! I'm coming!" A muffled voice replied, then started talking in a muted discussion behind the doors.

Exhaling heavily, he turned back to the man, who had finally straightened out from his hunched position before. He looked at the wrinkles in his clothes where Dan had grabbed him with some sort of subdued acceptance, before brushing off any imaginary dirt, flicking off a piece of lint with a manicured nail.

Glancing up at Dan, he said "My name is Ian Kabra. To who do I owe the absolute pleasure of meeting?" The word pleasure was said almost in a snarl, but Dan didn't rise to the bait.

"My mother." He replied monotonously while studying the ma-Ian.

He hadn't noticed it earlier, but Ian had a significant British accent when he spoke. Snorting, and then looking away when the golden eyes flicked to him, he imagined Ian in a posh mansion, servants waiting on his every whim. That explained his snooty personality. What a little bitch. He couldn't believe this was the person he was going to stay with, forever. It just wasn't possible. Maybe the ball had made a mistake.

Hope Cahill poked her head out from the top of the staircase, noticing Dan and beaming. "You got it back already? How lucky! Mine took almost a year!"

Dan nodded mutely, already having heard the story thousands of times before. Hope Cahill was famous for having followed the ball the longest in the entire family, besting the last record by 4 months. Most of the others either gave up by then and let it go, or already met their other half.

Ian gave him a curious look at the strange confession, not understanding the context, but Dan didn't bother giving him any clarifications. Or rather, he didn't want to. Morosely following his mother to the kitchen, he motioned for Ian to follow. Ian did so with little encouragement, seemingly interested in the man who had randomly dragged a stranger into his house with no previous warning.

Once in the kitchen, the three faced each other. Dan motioned to Ian while looking at his mother, speaking vaguely in attempt not to specify anything to Ian. "Mother, meet Ian. The person who... the person who caught my ball." Hope raised her eyebrows at the international ambiguity, and in reply, Dan very pointedly looked at her, before turning to Ian.

Waving at his mother, he explained to Ian "Uhh... Kabra?" Bristling at the snort he got in response to using Ian's last name, he continued speaking through gritted teeth "This is my mother, Hope Cahill."

Ian gave her a beaming smile, and Dan shivered at the sheer iciness beneath the warm exterior, but Hope seemed absolutely taken. "Pleasure to meet you, madam." Ian bowed down, doing a smart little bow and taking Hope's hand to his lips. Dan gagged as Hope let out a little giggle and looked at Dan with mirth in her eyes.

"Looks like you brought in quite the gentleMAN Dan!" She stressed on the fact that Ian was male and Dan groaned.

They settled down around the table, Ian sitting ramrod straight, Dan slumping sadly over the table, burying his head in his arms. At the reprimand of his mother, he pulled into a slouch, still unwilling to sit up straight. The red haired female sighed at the hopeless case, instead walking over and clinking sparkling glasses of ice water in front of both males.

She sat down primly, eyes flicking from either majorly different postures of the men at the table to the stairs, waiting for Arthur to come down. They sat quietly, listening to the ticks of the clock, which in Dan's mind, seemed to be slowed down, each tick dragging out and lasting hours. In the quietness of them softly breathing, they could hear the cracks of the ice popping and the splashes as the ices shifted in the water, melting. Each sound seemed to be amplified a thousand times, ringing in his ears like thunder.

He leaned onto the table again, turning his head to look at the embarrassing stranger he had pulled into his house. Laying his heads onto his arms, he gave Ian a look of intense concentration, wondering what the British man was thinking.

And then Ian had to notice his staring and smirked back. "Already falling for my looks?"

That insufferable pompous pretentious stuck up asshole.

Dan growled and turned away, flushing at Hope's giggling and coos about "Oh it was perfect" and "How adorable" they were.

Ian coughed lightly, drawing their attention. "I'm apologize for being so curt, but is there a specific reason I'm here?"

Whoops, there go the widened eyes from his mom and Dan gave a long drawn out groan. "Oh Dan! You didn't tell him?! Why?"

Dan blushed again, turning away. "I didn't believe it picked this asshole."

Hope gasped and stood up. Pulling him away from the table and leaving a confused Kabra behind, she admonished him. "Dan! This is who picked it up, right?"

"Yes."

"Then he's the one!" She whispered reverently as Dan scrunched up his face in horrified denial. "Oh, you're not disgusted that he's a guy, are you?"

Dan rolled his eyes at the disappointed tone. "No! It's not his gender, it's him, he's a huuuuge douch-JERK!" He yelled at the dangerous glint that showed up in Hope's eyes at the almost cuss. At his yell, Ian looked over as he shouted the rest. "THERE'S NO WAY HE'S MY SOULMATE!"

Cue silence from around the room, including from his father who suddenly appeared in the doorway. Fuck his life.

(AN: Okay so this was actually supposed to be a huuuuuuge oneshot but ended up having to be a multichapter story because I couldn't finish it in time. :/ I mean on the upside if Addict is interested to see how it'll end she'd have to stay longer, so... huzzah?)