"At birth, everyone has the date they will die tattooed on their arm. I was supposed to die yesterday."
~
24 years. 364 days. 14 hours. 41 minutes.
The clock on your wrist had been there since the moment you were born, letting you – and everyone around you – know that you were going to die the day before your 25th birthday.
It was a blessing and a curse, really – knowing the date of your death down to the last minute. You weren't particularly thrilled to know that you were only going to live to be almost 25, but on the bright side, it eased your anxiety – if only a little – that you knew when it was coming.
You were prepared for it – as prepared as you could be anyway – as the day got closer and closer, making sure you called your parents at least once a day and telling your friends every single thing you loved about them and the memories you made together. And sure, maybe it did get painfully sappy, but you couldn't just die without telling everyone what you needed to beforehand.
Of course, it didn't go exactly the way you expected.
To be quite honest, you'd totally forgotten about the clock when you woke up on your last day – your 'death day' as it was so lovingly titled – and you just went about your day as you normally would: going to work, enjoying a dinner date with three of your closest friends, and then going home. It wasn't until you made it home and took off your jacket that you realized something felt off... You quickly snapped your wrist face-up so you could see it, your eyes widening at what you saw.
Nothing.
There was nothing on your wrist – no freckles, no scratches, no bruises... No clock.
You had no idea who to go to for help, so you turned to the only place that could give you answers: Google. You stared at the homepage for a solid 5 minutes, unsure of what exactly to search for. You were sure that this had never happened to anyone before, and even if it had, were you really sure you wanted to know why it happened to you...?
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You took a deep breath before hitting the enter key, your eyes closed tightly as the results popped up onscreen. You forced yourself to work up the courage to open your eyes, and the first thing you saw was an article title: "Man's Death Clock Disappears – But He's Still Alive!"
And you knew in that moment you had to find him.
~
Five days later
If anyone passing you had asked you if you were alright, you'd swear you could feel every bone in your body shaking. You were so beyond the state of nervousness, there wasn't even a word for it anymore.
The exact moment you read who the man from the article was – Calum was his name – you managed to find his Facebook and sent him a message. You truthfully didn't think he'd ever see it – and if he did, he'd probably think it was a joke – but he did, and he didn't.
Calum was the one who suggested meeting in person, saying he thought this wasn't really something to discuss through social media. You immediately agreed, and discovered he was only living a couple hours away from you.
You understandably didn't get much sleep that night – not that you had been since your clock disappeared, constantly afraid you'd just never wake up. And honestly, when you woke up the day of the meeting, you didn't feel much better.
Calum offered to make the two-hour drive to your town, so you sent him the address of your favorite park to meet at, as well as directions to where you'd be once he got there.
You were sitting on a bench in an area of the park you knew not many people went so you and Calum could talk in private. You'd arrived half an hour early, incredibly nervous and not knowing what the day would bring. Your leg was bouncing in anticipation, only to stop when you jumped at the voice behind you.
"Y/N?" Your head snapped over to find the man you'd been anxiously waiting to meet for the last four days.
"Ca-" you cleared your throat, "Calum...?"
"Hi," he breathed with a small smile, sitting down on the bench next to you, "It's nice to meet you. Though, I do wish the circumstances were different." You finally relaxed for the first time in nearly a week, letting yourself laugh softly.
"Sorry..." you murmured, "I'm not usually this out of it..."
"I understand," he nodded, "I'm sure you have a lot of questions. My clock only disappeared a couple weeks ago, but I'm hoping I'm able to help you."
And that was exactly what he did.
~
Three hours later
By the time you and Calum finished talking about your clocks and getting to know each other, the sun was starting to set in front of you. You hadn't even realized you'd been talking that long until a comfortable silence fell over you and you finally heard the crickets chirping around you. You sat quietly for a couple minutes, admiring the orange and pink sky, before Calum spoke again.
"Hey, Y/N..." he trailed off.
"Yeah?" you replied just as softly.
"How crazy does something have to sound before you start to feel like it might not be realistic?" he asked you.
"I don't know," you shrugged, "Pretty damn crazy, I guess. Why?"
"Ever since you first messaged me, I've been thinking..." he murmured, making you look at him while he just kept staring at the sky, "Do you think that...maybe our clocks disappeared because we were meant to find each other...?"
"You mean, you think we're..."
"Soulmates," he swallowed, finally turning his head to look at you.
"I'd like to think that," you whispered, never taking your eyes off of his, "And if that's not the case, then I don't want to know."
Calum barely grinned, his eyes glancing down at your lips before leaning forward. He seemed to be testing the waters – not sure whether or not you actually wanted to kiss him – but when you immediately closed the gap and your lips came crashing into his, neither of you could keep yourselves from smiling.
There was something oddly freeing about not knowing when you would die.
