dailyau

When you see your soulmate the date is tattooed on your wrist, I went into town today and it was busy. When I got home the date was on my wrist. How do I find you? AU

- ( imeanwhiskermeup)

Chapter 2: Soulmate AU (PruCan)

Matthew never really cared about this 'soulmate' business. On one hand it was a benefit because one person would not waste their entire life with the wrong one while on the other hand, it feels like a cheat code created for the entire human race. It was like a game where all you need to do was to constantly make eye contact, even a brief glance, to everyone you meet. Another reason was that Matthew was not as outgoing as his younger brother.

"Bro! You really need to spend some time outside!" speaking of his dearly beloved brother who did not know most of the time when to tone down his voice, "I mean, you've been cooped up in your room for what? Three days now?" his younger brother continued to rant after he had slammed the door open.

"Four, actually. I need to finish my thesis. The final defense is in two weeks and I still need to finish chapter 5. Alfred, what are the common environmental factors that affects the life cycle of bivalves?"

"Hm…pH levels, saltiness of the water, amount of oxidation…" Alfred started to list down revealing his inner genius that left most people with their mouths hanging open, "Wait a minute! You're distracting me!"

"Tch." Why did when Matthew needed his brother's short attention span was when it was never present?

"Really, Bro, you need to go out. Come on! Walk around the park or something!"

"I'm not a dog, Alfred. And I said before that I am still not finish writing chapter 5."

Matthew was already in his last year of college, he was taking Biology and the thesis was one of the requirements for him to graduate. So it was really a big deal for him to be able to finish it and send it to his professor for some proof reading and checking of facts. That way he would not make an idiot of himself. Goodness only knows that he was a stuttering mess during the proposal defense and he didn't want to have a repeat of that. Correction, he didn't want to have a repeat of his stuttering and always laughing attitude during the proposal defense.

"Nope!" Alfred declared and pushed his brother forcefully away from his computer. He pushed the buttons ctrl+S following by an alt+F4 before finally shutting the device down. Alfred unplugged it and cradled it carefully on his chest before jumping away from his older brother.

Matthew was just gaping like a goldfish from witnessing what his little brother had done.

"You will not get this off of me! Not until you spend some time outside to get some fresh air!" and with those words, Alfred bolted out of the room and went straight to their parents' room.

"Alfred! You…maple! Give me back my laptop!"

"Nope! And no destroying the door or else Mom will be very angry!"

"You little shit…" Matthew muttered under his breath, "Fine! I'm going out! Happy!"

"Ecstatic! Now shoo! Take your walk and relaxed those nerves of yours!"

"One of these days…one of these days I'm really going to kill you accidentally." Matthew took his jacket, wallet, and phone before slamming the door loud enough for Alfred to hear.

It's the third week of October, which means that Halloween was already near. No wonder that most of the houses he passed through were already starting their scary decorations. Great, Matthew was very sure that Alfred would drag him here and there just to see how scary they could decorate their own house.

Matthew bought himself a cup of cappuccino before settling himself on one of the benches seen in the park. Maybe…Alfred as right, he really did need to relax for a few hours. Also, his chapter 5 was already on its last paragraph so there were would be only minimum data to add.

He contentedly sipped his cappuccino as he watched the kids played around. The park was sure busy at this time. Until someone caught Matthew's eyes, actually the man could be easily spotted by anyone due to his unique appearance.

"Big brother! Hurry up, Feliciano is waiting for us!" the little kid that was pouting towards his brother put his hands on the sides of his waist.

"Calm down, Lud. I'm sure they will wait for us."

Matthew made eye contact with a few people ever since he stepped out of their house. This guy's eyes though, they were a mesmerizing color of red…just like a red wine. For him, it seemed it was minutes and not seconds when their eyes met each other before it was over.

Huh…

Matthew just shrugged his shoulders and finished his drink. A few stretches and steps towards home, he was ready again to finally finish his thesis and if Alfred would be so kind again to interrupt then he would not be responsible if the police would find his younger brother dangling under the bridge.

Okay, maybe that was too much but Matthew would surely find a way to make Alfred to stop interrupting him whenever he was doing something very important.

Matthew sighed and took off his jacket. He was about to yell that he was already home and that he really need his laptop or else someone would surely be choked to death when his eyes landed on his wrist. His right wrist to be specific.

He blinked a few times. Matthew was now in state of shock level 1. He moved his wrist in different angles just for the light to illuminate the part where his eyes were fixated. Something was wrong…

Matthew walked over the sink and opened the faucet. He scrubbed his wrist with soap and cleaned it with water. He stared up at it again and the writing was still there. The date of today was written on his wrist.

This only meant one thing and one thing alone.

"Maple…I don't know who they are."

A week later and Matthew still had no idea who this 'soulmate' could have been. Still occupied with his thesis, but a lot more distracted than he should have been, Matthew often found himself in the park, a cup of cappuccino in hand and looking about at passerby, trying to recreate the day he had missed the one person that one's universe supposedly revolved around.

Matthew couldn't stop looking down at his wrist at the most random of times to see if the tattoo had mysteriously disappeared. He would try to scrub it off under hot water and soap, thinking that maybe he had been imagining it. Then he would pull up his sleeve to see the messy script of the date: October 19, and find himself bewildered and slightly giddy all over again. Matthew had never been into the whole 'soulmate' thing, sure, but the fact that it was now happening to him was exhilarating in some way.

Exhilarating was not the only emotion present though. Puzzlement. Anxiety. Who would be soulmates with Matthew? How well does the soulmate process work anyway? Would the person even like him? Would he even like them? Matthew had always been told he would one day find this other person but… he had never put much thought into it actually happening. He had always been so focused on the more straightforward things in life like his education or family. How would he act around this new person? Were they just supposed to magically click once they found each other?

Would Matthew ever even find them?

This was perhaps what Matthew was afraid of the most. He kept the tattoo hidden under long sleeves so that his family couldn't see it and that he wasn't staring at it constantly. If his family were to know about the tattoo it would become real and Matthew wasn't ready for that.

If he himself looked at it too much…. it would start to look like a promise. Matthew hated broken promises.

So his sweaters were the best for the time being. Besides, the weather was starting to turn anyway, so the warmer clothing felt nice to Matthew. If only he found this person before the weather warmed again. He would find them before spring, right? He would find them sooner than that.

"Mattieeeeee!" Matthew heard from outside his door and snapped himself out of his trance. He had been staring at the screen of his computer, lost in space, before Alfred had started banging on his door.

"Not again…" Matthew grumbled, pushing away from the desk and talking to the door from his chair. "Yeah, Alfred?"

"Oh great! You aren't busy! Bro, let's decorate for Halloween!"

Matthew rolled his eyes. "And what makes you think I'm not busy? Remember, I have this thesis to finish?"

"You're talking to me, that's why! If you were working on your paper you wouldn't have even heard me."

Matthew frowned. Curse how well his brother knew him. Matthew stood up and walked toward the door, opening it to find one overly excited brother on the other side, holding an overflowing box of seasonal decorations. He was wearing a black witch's hat covered in cheap cobwebs.

Matthew's response was simple. "No."

"I was thinking that I could hang some of these orange lights outside on the porch railings and you would put up the cobwebs." Alfred continued on, having ignored his brother's response.

"No." Matthew said again, trying to drill the answer into Alfred's thick head.

"We also have some of those arts and crafts we made in grade school that mom kept to decorate inside the house."

"N-o."

"I mean, you're tall, so the cobwebs shouldn't be a problem, right? I could do it, but I want to do the lights."

"You aren't listening to me, are you?"

"And then we can both put the little plastic spiders on it."

At this point, Matthew only sighed.

"So what do you think?" Alfred was now looking at Matthew for a response. One would think Matthew would have given up.

"Alfred, am I allowed to say no?"

Alfred's grin grew devious. "Nope."

Matthew groaned as his brother managed to grab his arm, somehow not dropping his box, and pulled him away from his room.

"Nooooooo."

"Note to self," Matthew said as he hung cotton webs along the columns of their porch, "Cobwebs get very dirty after multiple years of use." Then he raised his voice a bit to get his brother's input, "Didn't we just get these webs last year, Al? There are leaves and bugs everywhere in his thing."

"Yep." His brother answered just a few feet away, twirling fairy lights around the stair railings that led up to the main part of the porch. They looked like the kind made for Christmas but Alfred said they flashed orange instead. "But that's always how those things are. It's part of the Halloween spirit to hang up cheap webs that look like they've been used since the nineteen eighties. It just felt wrong last year when they were brand new."

"I'm beginning to figure out why you didn't want to be the one to hang these up." Matthew grumbled as he continued to hang the decorations. Finally, he stepped away as he examined his creation, a mess of what looked like a bunch of cotton balls stretched between two wooden pillars. It looked horrible but Matthew didn't much care. "Hey, Alfred. I think Mom brought some candy home for the trick-or-treaters. Want to dig into it?"

"You bet! Could you find me some Twizzlers? Like, all of it. Those kids shall get none of it!"

"I'll try my best." Matthew said over his shoulder as he opened the door to go inside.

While Matthew was inside, Alfred continued winding the lights, humming to himself what vaguely sounded like the "Monster Mash". Then, from the sidewalk in front of their house, Alfred heard a, "Woah…" It was the voice of a little kid, softly spoken and somewhat in awe.

Alfred turned around to see two people facing their house, one a kid who couldn't have been older than six and another much older, possibly in their twenties and probably the kid's older brother though Alfred had no reason to believe that. Sometimes Alfred just got the feel for these things even when the two looked nothing alike.

"Heya." Alfred greeted them, waving one arm and still holding part of the string of lights with the other.

"Oh, sorry man. My brother just saw the decorations and wanted to stop." The guy speaking had white hair and was holding the boy's hand. When Alfred had spoken, the blonde boy had shifted to hide behind his brother.

"No problem. Welcome to the Jones' House of Fright!" He was now addressing the kid, "So what's your name?"

The kid made a display of hiding behind his brother again, showing he was not going to talk. The older brother laughed. "Ludwig, he won't bite. Unless he's a vampire, they're out a lot this time of year." The kid's eyes went wide at this and the older brother laughed and ruffled his hair.

"Awesome decorations though." The older brother turned his attention back to Alfred, "Ludwig would say the same, but he seems to have turned mute at the moment."

"Nah, that's alright. Actually, my brother was much the same when he was younger." Alfred laughed good-naturedly.

"Yeah, well Ludwig and I should probably be getting back, but thanks for letting us stop to look at your decorations." The man waved and, for a brief moment, Alfred saw a line of dark ink on his wrist. He smirked to himself. Already found his soulmate at that age? Lucky man…

The man and his little brother left and, not a moment after, Matthew came back out with a handful of candy that he threw onto the metal table that always sat on the porch.

"No Twizzlers. Sorry, Al." Matthew said as he went back to work, the stick of a lollipop poking from his lips.

Alfred was still thinking though, looking down at his own wrist.

I wonder when Mattie and I will find ours…

Then Alfred looked over at his brother who was adjusting the spider web again and noticed that his sleeve had come down just a smidge as his hands were suspended in the air. Matthew was startled by his brother's deep gasp.

"Matthew, you didn't tell me you found your soulmate!"

Matthew had known this would happen eventually. He was just upset by the fact that it had only taken a few days for his brother to figure it out. Was Matthew really that bad at keeping secrets?

"And now he won't leave me alone about it…" Matthew grumbled to himself, pushing his cart along throughout the grocery store. It was a few days after Alfred had gone full fangirl mode at seeing Matthew's tattoo, insisting on knowing every detail and acting horrified at the lack thereof. Matthew was going about life as usual, despite hearing every two seconds about Alfred's excitement that "Little Mattie's finally found the one he'll spend his life with," in which Matthew would exclaim back, "I'm older than you, Al."

Apart from the embarrassing comments from his brother, Matthew pretended nothing was different. One could not just set down everything in life just because some magical ink had appeared on their wrist. Hence, why Matthew was currently picking up things at random as he glided his cart through the grocery store's aisles. Alfred hadn't given him an actual list of groceries like a normal person might, so Matthew selected the items that made the most sense in his mind. Rice? Sure, why not. A lot of things go with rice. Chili powder? He supposed they could find some use for it. It was Alfred's turn to go to the store, but he had promised to cook for rest of the week if Matthew did it for him, and Matthew took this as a great opportunity. Whatever he picked here would be of no consequence to him since he would not be the one doing the cooking.

Though it did factor into what he would be eating...

"Cheese? Ugh, just an excuse for Alfred to make hamburgers." Matthew grabbed the cheese anyway and planned on getting ground beef to go with it. He was a nice brother… just not to Alfred's face.

Then, just as Matthew was spinning his cart around to go the other way, a loud clang of metal on metal sounded to alert Matthew he had collided with another cart. "Oh, I'm sorry. I-"

"Entschuldigung!" A loud voice interrupted him and hastily the cart was backed up and bolted in the other direction. It seemed the man was in a hurry, but the whole rest of the way down the aisle he was apologizing as he ran off.

Matthew merely stood in place, watching aghast as the other disappeared. He caught sight of a pair of red eyes that seemed almost familiar in a way, but, before Matthew could piece together where he had seen them before, the man was gone.

Matthew continued to stand there, looking at the end of the aisle where the man had disappeared until another cart appeared behind him and an impatient customer yelled at him for taking up the whole aisle.

"Oh…" Matthew startled and began to move his cart out of the way, "Sorry…"

Matthew shook his head and continued with his shopping. For some reason though, he could not get the red-eyed man out of his head.

"Are you lost?" Matthew asked the boy, worry lining his features as they both stood in the park. Matthew was back in the same place he had first seen his soulmate… or at least he thought he had seen them. The bench he had been about to sit in before the boy had appeared out of nowhere had became a regular spot for Matthew when he needed to clear his cloudy thoughts.

The boy's clear blue eyes continued to stare up at Matthew, serious but slightly curious as well. His blonde hair covered his forehead, reaching down to touch the tips of his eyelashes. Matthew smiled kindly at the boy who had still said not a word. Matthew tried again, "Where are your parents?"

Suddenly the boy reached out his hand so that his wrist was lying face up. Ink lined his skin right atop the blue veins easily seen through the arm's pale skin. It read: February 4.

This little boy had already met his soulmate? Was it even possible to meet one's soulmate when they're that young?

"Show me yours." The quiet young voice asked -no, commanded- him.

"Um…" Matthew had no clue what he could say to this boy. Did he think that everyone met their soulmates as early as he apparently had or did he know Matthew already had somehow? The boy continued to watch him patiently, waiting for him to offer up his wrist. Finally, Matthew didn't know what else to do but give in. He kneeled down and held out his wrist.

October 19, the script still said. Of course it did. Matthew had checked those same numbers at least once every two minutes. The little boy smiled a little at seeing this date.

"Ludwig, what are you doing?" Suddenly a man appeared, looking almost frantic in searching for the boy. Matthew looked up and froze. Wait, wasn't that the man he had seen in the store the other day?

Just as the red-eyed man approached, he too seemed to freeze. He was looking down at his brother in confusion. Wait- No, not at his brother. At what his brother held in his hand. The wrist that lay face up, brandishing the most important date in some random person's life.

"You…" The man started before his younger brother interrupted.

"Look, Gilbert! I found it! I found your Feli!" The boy named Ludwig held up the wrist as if showing his brother a special rock he had found in the yard. Matthew laughed, not quite understanding, yet knowing something definitely a little fishy was going on.

"Um, hey." Matthew looked up from where he was kneeling next to Ludwig. "I guess you're the boy's guardian?"

The man- Gilbert, it had been- remained stunned. He walked forward slowly and knelt down next to the two. Matthew's eyes followed him the whole way, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Tentatively, Gilbert picked up Matthew's hand and held it between his own two, looking down at the letters and numbers etched into the wrist tenderly. Matthew's mind was slowly piecing together the situation, but not quickly enough.

It wasn't until Gilbert offered his own wrist that it all finally made sense to Matthew, who's voice let out a shocking gasp when he saw it.

October 19. The dark ink looked new and the script looked just like Matthew's own tiny, light handwriting.

"Oh." Was all Matthew could say to this sudden realization. He looked up into those familiar red eyes.

"Um," Gilbert started, "I don't really know what to do. I guess I'm kind of new to this... thing."

Matthew laughed. "Me too. What about this," Matthew put his hand over the other's wrist, "My name's Matthew Williams."

"Gilbert Beilschmidt." Gilbert scratched his head and laughed a little, "I guess we're soulmates."

Gilbert was really happy for his little brother when he met his soulmate. It was only a week ago when Gilbert explained to Ludwig about this whole soulmate business because he deemed that his little brother was old enough to understand it. You think a eight year old could not understand this heavy stuff? Well, not Ludwig. Gilbert had some suspicion that the body of his little brother was occupied by some old soul. He wouldn't erase the reincarnation theory because it was not unheard of, rare maybe but never impossible.

Well, it was just that while Gilbert was minding their store (which sells an assortment of threads, needles, buttons, cloths and stuff) and letting Ludwig answer his homework on the table just beside the cash register when a sour looking Italian, who seemed to share the same age with Gilbert, entered with a child beside him. The kid was probably a younger brother of the man because of the shared physical traits. The two adults were surprised when their younger brothers stared at each other, started talking, and the tell tale mark appeared on their wrists indicating the date of the day.

"Unbelievable," Lovino, as what Gilbert had learned after that day, mumbled under his breath to avoid from being heard by the children because he was cursing a lot, "I can't believe my brother is stuck with a potato bastard."

"Hey! Watch your mouth! That's my brother you are insulting! And he is a kid!"

"Sorry! It's a habit, okay? Bastard…" Lovino whispered the last word and Gilbert realized that the guy was telling the truth when he had said it was a habit, though a bad habit in his opinion.

From there they made a routine where Ludwig would visit Feliciano every other week and vice versa for the Italian brothers. Gilbert and Lovino somehow became friends though most of the times they were bickering. Gilbert also shortened Lovino's name to 'Lovi' much to the older Italian's annoyance.

It was on October 19 that things went a little bit chaotic for Gilbert.

The two of them was once again on their way to the Vargas house when a certain blond got his attention for a few seconds. Why that guy did tug something in his senses? Gilbert was confused how he was able to pinpoint the guy when there were a lot of blond people lingering around the park. Gilbert just shrugged internally and followed his impatient brother.

Gilbert knocked on the door when they reached their destination and it was opened by a very enthusiastic little Italian.

"Luddy!" Feli greeted his soulmate with his usual vigor and tackled him with a hug. No matter how many times Ludwig received a lot of affections from Feliciano, Gilbert noted that his little brother was always a blushing mess. It was a little bit confusing since Gilbert usually gave Ludwig hugs and kisses.

Feliciano dragged Ludwig inside to show something and Gilbert was left standing just beside the door and followed the children with his eyes and a soft smile on his face. He was really happy that Ludwig met his soulmate at such a young age…and maybe he was a little bit jealous.

"Ugh, get that creepy smile off your face, bastard. Halloween is a few days away." And Lovino interrupted his internal musings, "What are you doing standing there? Help me in the kitchen already. Our little brothers are still hyper active children that need a lot of food."

"Kesese, but no sugar?" Gilbert snickered when he saw a grimace flashed at Lovino's face before taking off his jacket and pulling his sleeves up as a silent agreement that, yes, Gilbert would help him cooking for the day.

"Maybe a plate of cookies will not hurt…" Lovino mumbled. The older Italian might act gruff and had a potty mouth but he was still a soft brother towards Feliciano and other children. What could Gilbert say? The children had this charisma to melt the hearts of adults. Well…adults with a heart that was.

He gave a soft chuckle for the scowling Italian before going to the sink in order to wash his hands (proper hygiene and all). He frowned, that's…that's weird…he didn't remember writing anything on his hands. Hell, no matter how much he had the habit of writing stuff on his hands as a reminder he never wrote on his wrists. So why was there a scribbled date on his left wrist? Maybe he put it there? But what was so important today? Gilbert scrubbed his wrist over running water but the ink was still there, stuck on his skin. He didn't know how many times he repeated his actions. It was only when Lovino snatched his hands away from the sink he realized that he was slowly entering a panic attack.

"Calm down." Lovino ordered but his voice was soft and laced with concern, "Breathe, Gilbert. I need you to breathe. Come on, inhale then exhale. Follow my breathing pattern." Lovino put Gilbert's hands on top of his chest, never minding that it was soaking his shirt, "Calm down, breathe." Lovino repeated this mantra until he was sure that his friend was finally having a normal intake of oxygen for his lungs.

"Now…" Lovino stared on the wrist, "Why were you scrubbing yourself raw a few minutes ago? Aren't you happy that you finally met your soulmate?"

"That's…that's the problem Lovi…"

Lovino just raised an eyebrow and didn't retaliate from the annoying nickname that Gilbert had given to him.

"I…I don't know who they are."

So the hunt began. Lovino promised Gilbert that he would help him but how could they even know who was the right person? There were a lot of people having 'October 19' on their wrists. And how would they even approach them? Were they going to ask 'Oh, may I see your wrist for a second? I'm looking for my (friend's) soulmate you see.' That would be very pathetic and embarrassing for both Gilbert and Lovino. His Italian friend advised him to walk frequently in places he had been during that day. He could even leave Ludwig in their house and accompany Feliciano while he was doing the hunt.

Of course, Ludwig being Ludwig got wind of what was happening around and made it his mission to help his brother in finding his own 'Feli'.

So a trip to the grocery turned out to be a disaster when Ludwig strayed too far away from him. He was too worried to remember that he could just asked the staff to help him or make an announcement for him. Ludwig was too methodical even for a young child that he was sure his little brother would notice he was being called through the speakers. Sadly, Gilbert's rationality was thrown out of the window when he realized that he had lost Ludwig. He had even hit other people's cart on his way of finding Ludwig! He then found his little brother asking strangers to show them their wrists. When they got home, Gilbert gave Ludwig a stern lecture on how it was rude in asking strangers to show their soulmate mark.

He thought that would be the end of it but no, Ludwig ran away from him again when they took a walk around the park.

Gilbert was about to buy some drinks for the both of them when he realized that Ludwig was not beside him, again. With a long suffering groan, Gilbert abandoned his line to search for the young one. He finally found the child and saw that he was asking random strangers for their soulmate marks. Gilbert was ready to yell when he saw a glimpse of the date on the guy's wrists.

October 19

The exact same date on his own. At first Gilbert was trying to make rational thoughts. That there were a lot of people having the same date and this one might not even be the one destined for him. But when the blond guy looked up a sudden feeling enveloped Gilbert's mind and heart. A feeling that told him that this was the one he was looking for.

His eternity, now and forever.

"My name's Matthew Williams."

"Gilbert Beilschmidt."

Forever and ever, until the end of time.

CV: Hope this was fluffy and tooth-rotting enough! Sand, the soulmate!AU was so much fun to write for! Thank you Anon for the request and you have a great day too!

GDS: I don't how to make fluff so I hope I do this some justice even a little. Oh! We are still accepting requests!