2075
Jaden's dark eyes were fixed on him, staring at him with something that resembled regret. Alexander held the AgeFinder in hands that were wet with sweat, nervousness fluttering in his stomach.
"How are you feeling?" Alex asked, sitting in the plastic chair next to the bed. It was the first time he'd been able to speak with the other man since the accident. He'd been in the room briefly when he first awoke, but they were made to leave not long after so Jaden could rest. Any other time they'd been allowed in the room, Alexander had let Jaden's parents in to talk to him first. By the time they came out the younger man had gone back to sleep.
"Sore," Jaden said in a quiet voice. He glanced down at Alex's hands. "You brought the AgeFinder?"
"Well, yeah," Alex said, looking down at the device. "You wanted it fixed. I haven't had time to drop it off somewhere. I only just got it back."
"Back from where?"
"I might have left it in the back of the ambulance," Alex said sheepishly. Jaden let out a laugh, the noise causing Alex to relax a little. With a sharp hiss and a groan of pain the laughter cut off. "Sorry, I didn't mean for you to hurt yourself."
"Nah, it's the nurses fault," Jaden said. "They won't give me any more painkillers."
"I can talk to them about it if you want," Alex suggested.
"No, leave it. I think it's some legal thing." With a sigh, Alex let his hand drift along the hospital gown at Jaden's side, the only part of him he could touch without causing pain. The other man sighed, closing his eyes and sinking down into the bed.
"I'm so sorry," Alexander muttered, looking down at the bed. Jaden was covered in bandages and casts, needles hooking him up to IV drips and a heart monitor, the beeping the only constant thing in the room. He couldn't move his arms much due to the fractures, and his leg was hoisted up above the bed. It was ugly and Alex hated seeing him in such a state.
"What the hell for?" Jaden asked, eyes snapping open. "You didn't do this to me."
"You were trying to get to me-"
"And I should have looked where I was going," Jaden interrupted. "Don't you dare blame yourself for my stupidity, you hear me?"
"Yeah, I hear you," Alex muttered.
"What was up with you then, anyway? You looked really upset. Did something happen?" Jaden asked, concern lacing his voice. His shook his head. "Actually, never mind that. I have a more important question. Why the hell are the doctors and nurses calling you my soulmate?"
"Those two questions kind of relate to each other," Alex started.
"Well, could you explain to me, please? Because I am very confused right now," Jaden started. "I mean, obviously I have met my soulmate at some point. I wouldn't be here if I hadn't, but I don't get why they're saying it's you. Didn't you tell me a week ago that you weren't ageing?"
"Yeah, just shush for a second and I'll explain everything," Alex said, looking at him with tired eyes. He hadn't slept much over the last few days and bags had formed under his eyes.
"I swear to God, if you told them we're soulmates so you could come and talk to me, I'm either going to punch you or kiss you, maybe both," Jaden muttered, causing Alexander to chuckle a little. Jaden grinned at him.
"That's not why. I'm pretty sure your parents would murder me if I did that," Alex said with a laugh. "Um, I had your AgeFinder fixed by Saturday morning and was getting Isaac to test it to make sure it worked. Obviously, it said he was ageing-"
"What's this got to do with us, though?"
"Would you hush? I'm getting to it. You're so impatient!"
"You love it."
"Not really," Alex told him, raising an eyebrow at him. Jaden laughed again and Alexander realised how much he loved and missed that sound. "Isaac suggested that I test it on myself so that it wouldn't mess up and say someone was ageing when they weren't. Turns out I've been ageing the last six months and never realised. I double checked with a modern AgeFinder and everything.
"I thought the only person I met six months ago was you unless I briefly said hello to someone on the street and don't remember it. But anyway, Isaac dropped me off at the cafe, where I was planning to tell you and get you to use the stupid device to see if I was right. That's why I looked so stressed."
"And instead, I got hit by a car," Jaden said, hissing when he tried to move his arm.
"Yeah."
"Like an idiot."
"Yeah."
"Hey, you're not meant to agree to that," Jaden said, eyebrows furrowing.
"Well, maybe you should stop being an idiot and I'll stop agreeing," Alex replied, giving him a small smile.
Jaden let out a huff of laughter before his expression turned serious. "You think I'm your soulmate?" he asked.
"Yeah," Alex replied, gaze drifting to the bed again. The butterflies in his stomach had begun to rage, nervousness threatening to take him over. "Do you not think so?"
The other man let out a sigh and Alexander closed his eyes, prepared for the worst. After so long of waiting, after watching Jaden nearly die, he was preparing to be completely rejected, again. "I mean, I did for a little while," Jaden eventually said, the words causing confusion in Alex. "That's why I went on the date with you and started whatever it is we're doing. The dating and kissing and stuff, you know? But then you told me that you weren't ageing and I thought that meant you'd checked recently, which meant we weren't soulmates.
"That's mostly why I needed some time away from you after you told me. I was angry, but not as much as I was making it out to be. I was mostly disappointed, a little heartbroken. I really like you. I was going to tell you what I was thinking on Saturday, but..."
Alexander struggled for a minute, trying to find the right words to say. "I hadn't used an AgeFinder in years," he eventually whispered, wincing at the stupid sentence. Of all the things he could have said, could have addressed, that was what he came out with. "They always brought me bad luck."
"You made it though," Jaden said.
Alex shrugged. "And I grew to hate it," he said.
Jaden took a moment before he spoke again, trying to push himself closer to Alex's still hands. "We're both ageing," he said, laughing at the idea. "Does my AgeFinder work?" Alex nodded, lifting the device up and placing it on the bed.
"Are you sure you want to try it?"
"Are you?"
Alexander shook his head but turned the device on anyway. He grabbed one of Jaden's hands gently, not wanting to cause him anymore pain, and brought it down to the device. Please, he begged within himself, please just let him have this. He'd been alone for so long, searching for so long. He just wanted the search to be over. He just wanted to be happy.
Twenty-two years and six months.
Alexander's food from that morning threatened to come back up as he stared at the words. He let out a strangled curse, not daring to look Jaden in the eye. Even though those were the words he so desperately wanted to see, he was still surprised to see them on the tiny screen between the two of them.
"Holy crap," Jaden muttered. "Alex?"
"Yeah?"
"I think you might be right."
Alexander laughed in response, the joyous sound quickly turning into sobs as tears leaked from his eyes. He pressed his head against the bed to hide from the embarrassment of bawling his eyes out like a child. He heard a confused noise from above him but didn't want to look up at Jaden's face.
"What- Alex, are you okay?" Jaden asked, laughing incredulously. "I would have thought you'd be happy."
"I am!" Alexander cried, his voice muffled by the bed. "I just- I just wasn't ready to see it."
Jaden muttered out something he couldn't quite hear, sounding confused. "I'd try to comfort you but I can't move my arms," he said afterwards. Alexander finally looked up at the other man, wishing he could erase the worry that had come over his features.
"I'm sorry," he said, sitting back. "I'm just overwhelmed. I was so excited that morning and then I thought you were going to die," he took a deep breath to calm himself. "I'm just really happy right now. I didn't mean to cry." He wiped at his face, trying to stop the tears from falling.
"No, no, it's okay, Alex," Jaden replied, tears filling his own eyes. "Oh, God, now you've got me crying."
Alex huffed out a watery laugh, reaching up with his thumb to wipe away the tears as they fell from Jaden's eyes. "I thought this would never happen," he muttered. "I thought I'd be waiting for centuries, it's been so long already. But here you are."
"Here I am."
Ducking forward, Alex pressed a soft kiss to the other man's lip, smiling as he pulled away. Both their faces were wet with tears, but he didn't mind. He was happy, so happy. Jaden was alive and going to be well once his bones healed. They were soulmates.
"I'll find a modern AgeFinder so we can be completely sure," he said as he pulled away, grabbing the old device from his soulmates lap. "I'll get Isaac to bring his in, but uh- I'm already pretty sure without it."
"So am I," Jaden replied, smiling at him. "Get back here. I'd grab you but that would be a bad idea."
"Please don't hurt yourself more, for God's sake," Alex said, leaning forward again. They stayed like that for a while, kissing slowly and gently, Alexander worried that one false move would seriously hurt the other man.
"I'm glad it's you," Jaden said as they pulled away from each other. "I don't know what I would have done with some stranger."
"So am I," he replied with a smile, planting himself back in the uncomfortable chair. "I had thought that maybe... Before Saturday, but I didn't want to get my hopes up again."
"Well, now you don't need to," Jaden told him. "I'll make sure you're as happy as can be."
"I think I already am."
"Wow, that was probably the sappiest thing I've ever heard."
Alex laughed. "Oh, shut up," he said. "I mean it. After so long, I don't think I've ever been this happy."
Jaden's eyebrows furrowed, frustration pulling at his features. "Okay, you need to stop talking before I decide to move my arms. I really want to touch you right now," he said.
"Well, you're going to have to wait until you've healed up," Alex told him, causing the other man to let out an irritated groan and flop his head back against the pillow. In a sudden burst of memory, Alexander remembered the promise he had made Philip almost sixteen years beforehand.
He'd finally found his soulmate, after almost a hundred years of searching, and still, his depression lingered over him. He knew Jaden would help with it, but he'd promised Philip that he wouldn't make Jaden deal with all of it, that he would push through some of it on his own. He was going to stick to that promise as best he could.
When he looked up again, Jaden had fallen back to sleep. The last hours events would have exhausted him. Alex smiled, despite the cuts and bruises on his face, the man looked peaceful in his sleep, completely relaxed. He sat back in the chair, happy enough to watch him sleep, the old AgeFinder clasped tightly in his hands. For the first time since he made it, the device had actually brought him happiness, and he couldn't help but thank it for that.