beta squad ♡ bxb ♡ FLUFFEBRUARY 2024

Day 16 [soulmate]

He sighed again in self-pity and dialled a number on his phone. After a few rings, a disgruntled voice was heard. "Nikolas it's fuck early in the morning."

He sighed long-suffering. "Ken, I can't dream."

Kenny paused before, "I was sleeping."

"I'm awake so you can wake up as well. I have a dilemma, so listen." Niko closed his eyes, breathed out, opened them to glare at the ceiling again and finally started to explain. "Remember when I told you about how nice Aj's back looked? And you said nothing, so I told you about all the other nice things Aj does and you forced me to admitt I may be a tinie-tiny bit in love with him?"

"M-hm", Kenny's voice sounded sleepy but the single sound conveyed how vividly he rememberd Niko's hour long rant about Aj's eyes.

"I started my dreaming", Niko mumbled miserably. Rustling was heard over the phone as Kenny sat up. "Oh shit and he's not it?"

"I don't know anything", Niko sniffed. "I only started the night right after I brought Aj to the airport and I only saw a silhouette. But since then it has stopped. My soulmate already refuses sleep because of me and I can't even be mad about it."

"So just to recap." Kenny interjected. "You start your dreaming. Aj leaves for Australia for a week and is in a different timezone than you. Your dreaming stops."

"Yes," Niko acknowledged, "it means we couldn't even really chat properly cause he's sleeping when I'm awake!"

"I'm not doing that." Kenny grunted. "Aj's coming back this evening. I'll be checking up on both of you tomorrow."

Niko spluttered as Kenny hung up with a last "idiot", but ultimately it was too late. Great friends he had, he thought annoyed.

The day went by as slowly as the ones before without Aj. His thoughts kept circling around him and his soulmate and nothing would distract him from spiralling into staring in the void in self-pity for the whole day.

He jolted from the couch, when he heard the key turning in the lock. "Heyy, I'm home!" Aj called out and Niko sprinted towards the door to greet him.

Aj barely had time to put down his bags before he was swept up in a hug. "How was your trip?" Niko mumbled into his neck. Aj was tensed for about a second before he melted into the embrace and stuffed his face into Niko's shoulder.

"I slept on the first flight and it was really weird because-" Aj paused and sighed into Niko's skin, trying a different approach. "But then the whole week, I couldn't-" He breathed out defeated and curled his body more into Niko. "I really fucking missed you."

Niko smiled wobbly and let his arms snake around Aj's waist, pushing their foreheads together. "I missed you, too. So much."

They stayed like that for a few minutes before Aj suppressed a yawn. Niko grinned and pulled him along to his room. "Yeah, you're done for, come on let's go to sleep. You can borrow something from me." He led Aj towards his bed, snagging off a NDL hoodie off his chair and helping the smaller man to take off his shirt and joggers he wore on the plane.

Swaddled up in his hoodie and his blankets in his bed, Niko couldn't help but notice that Aj just looked right like this. Climbing in alongside him, he didn't even spare a thought towards the dreaming as he closed his eyes.

Brown eyes. Why were they so familiar? They were beautiful as well. Most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen.

He tried concentrating on them, but the image changed to hands, hands he knew from somewhere.

Then feet, spine, chest, the neck. He was so close and Niko reached out to touch his cheek. Aj looked up at him through his lashes and smiled.

Opening his eyes he sat up abruptly and turned to the body next to him in bed. Aj was staring wide eyed at him, whispering hopeful, "it's you!"

~the end

[1338 words]

[Kenny calls them the next morning while they're "celebrating" and is scarred for life. Sharky almost dies laughing when he hears how stupid they were but jokes on him, he and Kenny are like two days from finding out they're soulmates as well. Chunkz knows all of this and wants to cry because why are all his brothers so dumb where did he go wrong??]

[I love this prompt and I really like making them clueless idiots in love. We're more than halfway done with Fluffebruary btw and I'm having so much fun with the plots it's amazing. Also first time semi AU writing I approve.]