Today was the day.
Castiel hummed absently as he tied his shoes, excited and energetic. It was finally happening today, the most important day in his life. He checked his wrist for the thousandth time since he woke up that morning, just to check just this once more that it was true and not an illusion of his mind. It wasn’t. The timer was ticking away, counting down just like before and Castiel grinned, showing teeth and all.
Time till meeting:
0:0:0:8:19:16
His mom wanted him to dress nice today, you’re finally meeting her honey, and had almost stuffed him into a Polo and dress pants until his twin sister, Anna, protested, telling their mom that the girl would want to see the true Castiel Milton, not some dressed up prep version. Anna hadn’t even gotten her timer yet, and Castiel figured that since she was horrifically late and had probably given up hope of ever finding the one, she was trying to make it the best for Castiel.
Everyone got their timer by the age of 20, but mostly everyone got theirs around 16 or 17, or you could become lucky and be like Anna’s 4th grade classmate, Garth Fitzgerald, whose timer appeared when he was only 9 and was so startled by it, it counting down from 10 seconds, that he screamed and tripped in the cafeteria and landed right at the feet of Bess Myers as his timer clicked to 0 seconds. Needless to say, they were married young. Anna was 7 months shy of 20, and there was no sign of any timer, which was extraordinarily late.
Castiel had gotten his timer when he was 15, early, magically appearing on his wrist at 4 years, 2 months, 6 days, 2 hours, 18 minutes, and 47 seconds. It had happened in the middle of his Geometry class, and felt great, like Anna’s laughter when she laughed so hard her stomach hurt, and when his dad made horrible tasting pancakes for the whole family every Sunday morning, and everyone was too happy with the feeling of love and family in the air to tell him how much they sucked. Castiel had fell out of his chair in the middle of class and nearly had a huge asthma attack, which was also impossible because you couldn’t have an attack on being too excited, and when he got home he had yelled about it and his mom and sister and even his dad, had cried.
His dad ruffled Castiel’s hair on his way out, making his dark hair stick up even more than usual at all odds and ends, and he desperately tried to smooth it out to no avail, as usual, leaving the house with shouts of encouragement from his family, such as “good luck baby!” and “go get ‘em kiddo!” and his particularly favorite one from his sister: “Use protection Cassy!”
Castiel knew that it was gonna happen at seven seconds after 4:02, and it was only 8:00 in the morning, but he was on his toes and his heart raced faster than those race cars his cousin, Gabe, was obsessed with on TV. It is happening today he told himself, emphasizing each word, and adrenaline coursed through his veins faster and faster, until he was almost unable to breathe and he told himself he had to stop or he would be late to his class.
The day dragged on what seemed like to be forever, the seconds and minutes tripping over themselves in a massive effort to run backwards, to move as slowly as possible. Castiel felt like he was holding his breath in the entire day, his lungs refusing to work in anxiety of the upcoming occasion, and of course there was no point in concentrating because what the hell, he was finally meeting her today. He wondered what she would be like, tall or short, brunette or blonde, funny or serious. He pondered over the small things, what her laugh sounded like, what kind of eyes she had, if she preferred chocolate or vanilla. Whoever she was, Castiel decided, she was going to be perfect.
The end of his classes finally rolled around, strolling by to casually wave hello at him, then grab him by the ear and awaken him from his trance. Castiel checked his timer. 27 minutes and 39 seconds.
It was getting close now. Just a little time left. He could practically hear the clicks as the timer rolled down by each second, even though there were none. He felt as if they were a part of him, vibrating through his body, and pulsating through every inch of his bones.
It’s going to happen.
He didn’t know what to do next when his Biology class finally ended, just blinked his eyes blearily and looked around. What if he accidentally did something wrong and he never met her? Although he knew that whatever happened to him, fate would find a way and he would always somehow end up looking into her eyes, Castiel started to panic a little. What if he was the only exception to fate? What if his timer was wrong? What if the time he accidentally poured coffee all over it when he was 17 caused something to break and mess it up? Through all the haze of his oncoming anxious thoughts, Castiel simply decided to just do what he did everyday after class. Get a coffee from the little old place on Main and review what he had learned in his classes that day.
Castiel didn’t quite know why, but that one thought suddenly seemed like it was the only thing worth doing, the most smartest yet obvious urge he had ever felt in his life. He rose from his seat, knocking his books over, taking each step slowly and carefully, each one taking him closer to his fate. The one thing he had been waiting for his entire life was coming.
The coffee tasted sweet as Castiel stared at his notes intently, a swirl of letters and bullet points in his messy scrawl, unreadable and boring. The waitress had given him a weird look as she had set his coffee down on the table, his heavy breathing, sweat, and wide eyes looked to be the demeanor of a crazy person. A quick glance down at his wrist changed the waitress’s expression to an understanding one, and with a pat on the back and smile, she was gone. Castiel peeked down at his wrist, half scared and half excited to see the answer.
Time till meeting:
0:0:0:0:1:09
Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God
Castiel swirled at his coffee, his heart pounding with shaky breaths, and he was so sure that he was going to pass out with anxiety any second now, and he would never meet his soulmate.
Time till meeting:
0:0:0:0:0:37
Castiel cursed out loud and his lungs felt like they stopped working, his breath caught in his throat, and he tasted bile. He must’ve looked absolutely ridiculous, curled up in a weird half sort of fetal position, bent over where his nose was about a centimeter above his coffee.
Time till meeting:
0:0:0:0:0:13
What was he going to say when he finally met her? What was he going to do? What if he made a complete fool of himself?
Time till meeting:
0:0:0:0:0:06
Before he could think anymore panicked thoughts, Castiel reached for his coffee to sooth himself. And dropped it. On the floor. Hard. It went down with a defining crash that swiveled heads around the shop and the waitress rushed with a cloth to clean up. Muttering out apologies, Castiel went down on the floor on his hands and knees to frantically clean his mess up, sure he had screwed everything up this time. He could feel other people’s stares on his back, and the waitress standing above him and trying to get him up so she could clean up his stupid coffee. Before he could stand up and get the heck out of that shop, to the hell with his stupid soulmate, he felt a strong grip on his wrist, and a faint consistent beeping noise coming from his timer.
Time till meeting:
0:0:0:0:0:0
Oh. My. God.
Peeking down at the hand on his wrist, heart nearly stopping, Castiel registered one small thought. That’s weird, my soulmate’s hand looks like a-
Slowly looking up, time stopped completely as Castiel stared into the most greenest eyes of his soulmate. Into the very beautiful face of his soulmate. There was just one problem, Castiel thought as he glanced down at this soulmate’s wrist, the timer at 0 seconds just like his own.
Oh hell no, Castiel heard the other whisper, and his eyes were as wide as the sun.
Castiel’s soulmate, with his light brownish dark blonde hair, leather jacket, and shocked face, was a 21 year old man.