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Courfeyrac stared at his wrist, watching the numbers ticking down.
04:14:45:19....18....17....16
It was calming to him, watching the minutes tick down. He wondered what his soul mate would be like. Who were they? What was their name? Did they like kittens? It always brought a smile to face. He looked around his university, wondering if any of the people he saw were his soul mate. Sometimes he tried to catch a gimps of their wrist, hoping he would find someone who's countdown was identical to his.
He first saw the numbers when he was fourteen. He was sitting in class, feeling horrible after being rejected by the love of his life, when he saw it:
09:25:15:58
He grinned. That wasn't his true love after all. The rest of the day he was in a good mood. He started staring at his wrist anytime he was stressed. He dated often, loving love and wanting to be the best boyfriend he could for when he met his soul mate.
Courfeyrac had stopped staring at people's wrists (about the same time as the bartender threw him out of the bar his junior year for being creepy), but he was just as excited about his soul mate as ever. Grantaire got tired of hearing about it, though he kept it to himself. He'd met his five years ago. Both he and Enjolras' countdowns reached zero as Grantaire stumbled into the Musain the first time. Even now they still had trouble. They were not an item, despite Grantaire being in love with Enjolras even before he noticed the zeros on his wrist. Still, he could not rain on Courfeyrac's parade, so he kept (most of) his cynical comments to himself.
Jehan, who's countdown had suddenly stopped a year before, was always happy to listen. He tried not to be sad about suddenly not having a soul mate, but Courfeyrac assured him that it was because Jehan had found someone better. Today was no different.
"It's at 02:23:23:35." Courfeyrac said, beaming. "So close I can feel it!"
"You still have two more years, kid." Bahorel said, drinking his coffee quickly. He and Grantaire had a late night and hangovers were not good for morning classes.
"Don't be a Debby Downer." Jehan said. Grantaire laughed.
"That's what happens when the perennial student tries to drink me under the table. His usually bubbly personality takes a sabbatical."
"Fuck you." Bahorel grumbled.
"No thanks, Enjolras and I just managed to go a day with out shouting, I'd rather not mess that up."
Jehan giggled. "He's just sore that we all finished before him."
Bahorel punched him playfully. "I'm finishing in December."
"Finally!" Courfeyrac said. "Anyways, I'm only two years away! What if I know them already?"
"Then your countdown would be zero." Grantaire said, pulling his sleeves down over the zeros.
Courfeyrac was sitting in the same cafe, with Grantaire, Jehan, and Enjolras about a week later, absentmindedly staring at his wrist when the numbers suddenly stopped.
02:17:53:19
His eyes widened and he tapped his wrist, willing the numbers to start ticking down again. He started to panic. Tears welled up in his eyes. No, this wasn't happening. Not to him. He had been dreaming about his soul mate for years. YEARS. He tapped his wrist again.
"What's wrong?" Enjolras asked. "Are you having spasms?"
"My... stopped....no...." he stammered, furiously rubbing his wrist. "It stopped. This.... no...." he sprinted from the cafe, tears streaming down his face.
Jehan bolted after him. "Courf! Stop, talk to me!" he followed Courfeyrac all the way to his apartment. "Courf. Talk to me."
Courfeyrac turned around, eyes red and puffy. "It stopped." He showed Jehan his wrist 02:17:53:19 still there, not counting down.
Jehan pulled him into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry." he whispered, taking Courfeyrac's keys and letting them into the apartment. "I know how this feels." he pulled Courfeyrac down onto the couch. "But maybe it means you've fallen in love with someone else? Remember how Musichetta's stopped after she met Joly and Bossuet? Eventually all of there's just ticked to zero when they all realized they were really in love. You just have to figure out who it is." Courfeyrac nodded, slowly relaxing.
"What was that about?" Enjolras asked.
"His counter stopped." Grantaire replied, scrolling through his phone. His face fell suddenly.
"What is it?"
"There was a car accident an hour ago. The driver didn't make it." Grantaire showed Enjolras the breaking news story that had popped up.
"You don't think....?" Enjolras trailed off, biting his lip.
"Well, the timing is perfect, given the times they list here. And it was someone who worked in the same building as Courf. It would make sense."
"Let's not tell him. Like he told Jehan last year- maybe he just fell in love with someone else." Enjolras said. Grantaire nodded in agreement.
"Yes. Especially since it's pretty obvious that Jehan's froze when he became friends with Courfeyrac. We all know the countdown isn't set in stone."
"What about ours?" Enjolras asked.
Grantaire did not know how to answer.
Jehan held Courfeyrac tightly, running a hand through his hair. "You changed your soulmate, Courf, that's what this is. Just like me." he whispered. "Don't read too much into this."
Courfeyrac nodded. Perhaps he had? Perhaps he'd have to learn how to love a real person instead of a phantom person that his wrist said he would meet in two years. He hoped he would, at least.