beta squad ♡ bxb ♡ FLUFFEBRUARY 2024

Day 16 [soulmate]

Prompt fill: soulmate
[AU-setting: soulmates]
(Pre-)Romantic pairing
AJ x Niko

Niko couldn't dream.

He couldn't dream, and that would have been fine, that could happen sometimes, except- it meant his soulmate wasn't sleeping, and they had only started seeing glimpses of each other in their dreams.

When you and your soulmate were sleeping at the same time, you'd start seeing each other in your dreams. Only glimpses like eyes or hands, a shadow or a silhouette. It was different for everyone, and there was no specific age where it started.

Once you met in real life for the first time since the start of the dreams, the picture would be a clear image once before the dreams of your soulmate would stop. That also meant your soulmate could be someone you already know and just haven't seen in person for the duration of the 'dreaming', as it was called.

That's how it worked, Niko knew that. He had been gassed when, for the first time, he had suddenly seen the shadowy profile of a young man in his dreams.

Since then, he had been going to bed considerably early, hoping to find out more about his soulmate. But whoever he was, he wouldn't go to bed and let Niko dream about him.

Maybe, Niko's brain advised, he had figured out Niko's secret somehow and didn't want to be his soulmate anymore.

Should that be the case, Niko supposed he couldn't actually be mad about it. After all, who wanted a soulmate who was already in love with someone else?

Niko stared at his bedroom ceiling and sighed. He really hadn't meant to fall so irrevocable in love with his best friend and roommate. Aj was just. so. perfect.

It wasn't fair that Niko didn't care about soulmates anymore when Aj was in the room. It was like an invisible force, pointing the spotlight at Aj wherever he was, like he was made just for him. But thinking that wasn't fair on himself, it wasn't fair on Aj who didn't even know about Niko's feelings, and it certainly wasn't fair on whoever Niko's soulmate was supposed to be.

He knew that sometimes, people rejected their soulmate bond to be with the person they truly loved, but it broke Niko's heart, knowing he'd have to do that to someone. Probably for nothing as well because Aj surely wanted to be with whoever his soulmate was.

So maybe his soulmate had realised what was going on and had decided to punish Niko with hiding his identity from him and refusing to sleep. Since that first glimpse, he hadn't had any more dreams, which also meant he hadn't told anyone about it, in case something went wrong.

In his bed, he turned on his side, glaring at the bedroom wall, as if he could look through the walls into Aj's room. Aj's empty room, because Aj had flown to Australia for the next week.

Something for a video, and it sucked and Niko didn't care, and he wanted his Aj back and cuddle him, and the hug goodbye had been too short and -

Shit, he missed Aj, okay? So what if it was only for a week. They lived together, they were basically codependent.

Sometimes, he let himself dream about what could've been. When Aj hugged him tightly and hid his face in Niko's chest, breathing in deeply. When Niko stroked his back and Aj sighed contently.

He had lost count over how many times he looked into Aj's eyes, memorising every detail and hoping to see them in his dreams again. How many times he kissed Aj's hands as a joke, traitorous heart skipping a beat when Aj held his hand over his heart afterwards, giggling softly.

His fantasy was a horrible thing to get lost in, but Aj did that thing where he threw his head back when he laughed and any day Niko was the reason for that sound was a day worth living.