The cup of tea sitting in front of him on the polished table begins to cool, as was the recent norm. His dull eyes stare out the window of the coffee shop, remembering. He remembers what could have been. He remembers what he used to have. He remembers the flash of colors, the blazing crimson that stared at him for only a few mere seconds before they were gone. And he knew he could never see them again...
"Arthur...Arthur, we're closing the shop now," A voice drifts into his hearing range as he finally detracts his gaze from the darkening sky, directing his gaze to the sympathetic waitress. His throat dries as he stiffly nods. Without speaking, he reaches into his pocket and presses a ten dollar bill into her palm. Her jaw opens in protest, since his tab only amounted to four dollars, but he smiles and shakes his head. A bit of kindness in the world couldn't hurt, especially when he wasn't so happy himself. Making other people happy was one of the only things he could do now.
"Thank you," His voice is raspy as he finally speaks, his voice softer and meeker than it had ever been before his life had went tumbling down the drain. The waitress tilts her head, her eyes reflecting the pain he felt as he rises to his trembling feet. She reaches over to grasp his cold palm, rubbing her own hand against it in what he thought was supposed to be a reassuring fashion.
"I'm sorry about your loss... I - I never thought anything like that would happen right in front of the shop. It's been months, and yet the culprit hasn't been found, have they?"
He shifts, his face warping into a vaguely uncomfortable expression, "No," He says at last, "They still haven't found whoever ruined my life with just one motion... Just one motion, and my life was ruined. Is that even supposed to be possible?"
The waitress frowns, a few tears escaping the corners of her fluttering eyes,"I don't know," She finally manages, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand, "Gilbert meant a lot to me, you know. W - we were friends since we were toddlers. And when I saw you at the funeral, I knew you were the one. I just wish...you two had gotten to know eachother before he..."
"I'm sorry, Elizaveta. For your loss, as well as mine," He murmurs, casting his gaze to the ticking clock,"And I'm also sorry about wasting your time. You ought to close up the shop, as you were supposed to close twenty minutes ago."
She offers him a wide smile, but he notices that it quite doesn't reach the sorrowful eyes that greet his own dull ones. Without speaking, she leans forward and wraps her arms around him in a tight embrace. He grips her shoulders, his body shaking with unreleased emotion, before pulling away and offering her a pained smile.
"You'll be back tomorrow?" She murmurs, and he nods before whisking out of the door and into the darkness of the night.
"You're dying."
"I know."
"Just like father, after mother..."
"I know."
"I don't want that to happen to you."
Arthur sits in the rickety chair, not quite meeting the sorrowful gaze of his eldest brother. Allistor stares at his younger brother and can't help but wonder if it would be the last time he ever saw the sarcastic, yet kind man he had watched over ever since they were children. A cup of cold tea sits in front of the scowling Englishman, while Allistor lounges back in his chair with a coffee cup balanced in one hand.
"I just want you all to stop pitying me," Arthur speaks with a hint of irritation in his voice, shifting one leg so that it was crossed over the other, "And don't try to deny it, either. You, Dylan, Seamus...You're all looking at me as if I'm a kicked puppy."
"Arthur, that's not the point. Y - you're dying. You're dying and you're acting as if it's normal and that's not okay. I just want you to be okay. We all want you to be okay," Allistor stares at his younger brother, mentally urging him to meet his gaze. However, Arthur angles his gaze away from Allistor's, instead scoffing with anger flashing in his gaze.
"I'm not okay, Allistor. I'm not okay now, and I won't be okay ever again. Y - you don't know what it's like to be in a world where everyone else has found their soulmate. They've found their soulmate and seen the reds, blues, greens, yellows, purples...But all I ever saw was the crimson of his eyes and the crimson of his blood as it splattered onto the ground and he fell and he was dying Allistor and I can't do this anymore!" Arthur's composure crumbles, his eyes glistening with unshed tears, "He died and he's not coming back and it's so unfair that everyone else around me has had a conversation with their soulmate but I never even got to say a word because he was dead not even a minute after I met him!"
"I know," Is all Allistor can muster, casting a pitiful look at his brother. Arthur stands, knocking over his chair in his haste to get away because he was so tired of them looking at him like he had lost his world. In reality, he knew he had lost his universe.
So when he had fallen asleep one evening and been met with curious crimson eyes, he smiled and took the offered hand.
"My name is Gilbert Beilschmidt, and I'm your soulmate," the albino says, and Arthur smiles.
"My name is Arthur Kirkland, and you're my soulmate," Arthur says, and Gilbert smiles. Their fingers twine messily together before Gilbert pulls him off into the blinding light and eternal happiness. Together.
I wrote a soulmate AU. I wrote a sad soulmate AU. I am near crying right now. I am slowly dying right now, ahhhh.
Please leave constructive criticism, I always enjoy it! :D
At this point I'm fishing through documents and finding almost completed fanfictions. I just add a few words and edit them before they're done. I'm so surprised. xD