Eyyyy.... I made this as a random one-shot from a really popular post on tumblr. Idk if any of you know it, but it's the one about timers and what if there was an invention that counted down the days until you met your soulmate? Yeah, so, because I can, I'm making it gratsu. If you spot the name Evan/Reese, ignore it, because that was what their names were before. I think I fixed them all but yeah. 

As for another one shot I'm writing, it's taking a really long time and I'm only updating it when I feel like it. Sorry, Totto. Here, have a cookie.

Purely fan-made, I don't own shit, blah blah. Enjoy. 

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I was never good at love.

That's why I kept my timer hidden from myself and those around me with an assortment of bracelets. I hadn't seen the number since I got this stupid, worthless piece of technology implanted on my wrist.

I didn't want to see the number.

I didn't need to find my so-called "soul mate".

No one liked me anyways.

I guess the fact I was shading myself from knowing when I would meet the one I was supposed to be with forever made people think I was an outcast, a social reject. Like I had something to hide and I sealed it away with rubber  wristbands to keep it under wraps. 

That wasn't the case, really. No one bothered to just ask me the truth. I simply wanted to choose my own partner and not have the government do it for me. But until that time came, I was stuck living in a world full of morons who looked at me like I had a giant target painted on my back.

"Move out of the way, freak," An asshole who I fairly recognize shoves me off the locker I am leaning on. Disgusted and pissed off, I bite my tongue to refrain from shouting something that'd get me suspended and exhale.

Just a few more months, I remind myself. Three more months and you'll be out of this horrible, horrible school.

I rub my shoulder from where the prick pushed me so rudely and head to my class. As I pass through the hallways, I feel stares on me from all around. Whispers and laughter echo around me like demons, filling my head and taunting me, trying to make me give into their harsh gossip. I duck my head down and pick up the pace.

I enter my first period, taking my assigned seat in the back, just where I like it. I'm the only one in the row, so I was able to shy away and do assignments individually when it's supposed to be partnered. Seeing the board was a bitch, however.

I figure this class will just be like usual, and I drop my bag by my feet as I take my seat and glance down at my bracelets, picking at them, adjusting them, knowing what is underneath quite literally would change my life. 

Five minutes into the lecture of the wonders of chemical balancing, the door is slammed open, startling everyone out of their mindless daze. A boy with flushed cheeks and blonde, all-American-boy fringe is in the doorway, panting heavily. His face reddens more when he realizes he's disrupted the lecture.

"Uh, hi," He turns to the professor shyly. "I'm new and I've just been transferred into this class?" He explains to her meekly. 

"Yes, alright. Please shut the door and take one of the empty seats in the back," The teacher tells him sternly, pointing to the back row. I sunk down in my chair, not able to look away but still dreading the idea of making eye-contact with the cute stranger.

The boy nods, closes the door softly, and rushes to the seats, ducking his head down. He nearly trips over one girl's book bag and half of the class snorts out a laugh. The boy blushes and takes the seat next to me, taking out his pencil case and staring straight ahead.

After confirming he isn't looking, I shift my gaze to take in his features. From close up, I can see dots of acne lining his hairline, a dusting of freckles across his nose and cheeks, and the inhumane length of his thick eyelashes caressing his cheeks as he blinks. Seriously- it should be illegal to have eyelashes that long.

My eyes travel down to his hands. He wrote with his right hand, and the mechanical pencil he's holding is trembling as he begins to take notes. That part didn't faze me. What really surprised me were the assortment of bangle bracelets trailing up his right wrist, completely covering his timer.

Oh my God, I can't help but think. There's someone out there, just like me. Someone who covers their timer. I'm not alone. I cough as a way to cover up my gasp of utter surprise, and he whirls around to look at me, biting his lip. 

I do the only thing that can come to mind in my befuddled state. I raise my wrist up, shaking my bangles ever so slightly as I wave. He seems to catch on immediately and waves back, grinning like an idiot. Our eyes make contact and I feel my face growing warm with overwhelming excitement and shyness. I inconspicuously pull out a page of my notebook and scribble out a quick note to the stranger who just got a whole lot more interesting. 

You cover your timer too? I ask him silently through the lined paper, briefly making sure the teacher isn't looking before passing him the sheet. 

Yes! I can't believe I'm not the only one! He scrawls out back. His handwriting is neat and loopy, connecting his vowels with the next letter in a semi-cursived fashion. 

Why do you cover yours up? I ask him curiously. Does he have the same reason as me? Or an alternate one?

Because I think I can find a better soul mate right for me than some dinky piece of metal can. He answers, giving me a flat look to show his thought.

Exactly like me! Society can't tell me who to love, I write back.

Finally someone who understands, He admits, beaming. I nod happily, agreeing completely with that. Finally, indeed. 

Yeah, but watch out. I'm not exactly liked for covering up my timer, and I don't think you'll be too. :/

Ugh, here too? At my old school everyone hated me. :(

Well, I'm definitely not the upcoming candidate for prom king, I'll tell you that.

Who cares about that plastic crown, anyways? 

I bite back a laugh at that. This kid is really funny and honest. I feel some sort of bigger connection that is blooming between us. Smiling fondly, I write out something new.

Have you ever considered taking off your bracelets?

Yeah, obviously. My timer never started counting down when I first put my bracelets on, He explains. Apparently the system jams and your timer won't count down until the blocking force is removed.

I've never looked at mine, but honestly, I kind of want to sometimes, you know? I admit. Just to see what idiot I'd be stuck with if I actually listened to the piece of crap.

Someday, we should take them off together, just for kicks, He suggests gently. 

Someday, I agree. By the way, what's your name? Sorry I haven't asked before, haha!

It's fine, I was just thinking the same thing! I'm Natsu, how about you?

Gray :D

Nice to meet you, Gray. I hope we could possibly become friends, Natsu grins. I grin back and give him a thumbs-up, my bracelets rattling. We both turn back to the lecture, realizing we missed half of it. 

Ah, screw chemical balancing. I just made my first friend in a really long time.

Every day in chemistry class, Natsu and I would pass notes. It became sort of a tradition, I guess, considering it was how our first conversation went. We'd block out the immature haters of the school together, finally enjoying company during lunch and free period. We'd study after school, roll our eyes when we saw people meeting their soul mates for the first time in public and making a big, dramatic deal about it, and trade our bracelets from time to time.

Time flies by, and before I know it, it's the night of prom. Natsu's date had cancelled on him at the last moment, and begged for me to accompany him so he wouldn't look like a loser on the most important night for any senior. Irritated I wouldn't get to have my ice cream movie marathon, I pull out the tuxedo hanging in the back of my closet.

"Thanks for doing this for me, Gray," Natsu says from around the corner as  I adjust my tie. I loop it around and secure it in a knot, not exactly knowing how I remembered how to tie a tie.

"Yeah, whatever. Anything for you," I retort, exiting my bathroom and flopping on the bed next to him, not really caring if my suit gets crumpled. Natsu's tie was a total mess around his neck, and I roll my eyes. "You don't know to tie a tie, do you?"

"Ah- not particularly," He admits as I chuckle. "Hey! The last time I had to tie one of these neck killers was at my sister's middle school graduation!" 

I make a mocking 'tsk' sound with my tongue and unravel the tie off his neck, starting clean. Completely aware of the extreme proximity between us, I fight to keep a blush down as I hastily knot the tie. Natsu coughs awkwardly when I finish, both of us shooting back a good foot away. 

"So, I've been thinking..." Natsu trails off, staring at his hands.

"Alert the presses! Natsu has had a cogent thought! Oh, it's a miracle!" I slap my hands to my cheek in surprise, announcing to no one in a sarcastic manner.

"Really funny. Ha. No, but seriously. I think we should-"

"Natsu is being serious! This is breaking news people!" I continue on, not catching the social cue.

"Gray! Would you just listen to me for a second?" Natsu pleads in a tone I had never heard him use before. I nod, shutting myself up.

He clears his throat. "I think we should take off our bracelets."

My jaw nearly falls to the floor. "Are you crazy?"

"No..." He frowns. "I just think we're altering the universe or something by jamming the timers."

"Since when do you give a shit about the altercation of the universe?" I command angrily, feeling a sense of betrayal burning inside of me. Was he really suggesting what we had been fighting for our entire individual lives?

"I don't, it's just-"

"Tell me the real reason," I narrow my eyes. "I know you, and whenever you fiddle with your bracelets, it means you're lying."

Natsu looked back up at me, putting his hands in his lap. "I just want to know..." He mumbles to himself.

"Okay."

"What?" He looks at me with utter disbelief in his eyes.

"I said okay. We'll rip them off right here, right now," I repeat firmly, taking his wrist. "But remember, there's no going back. Whatever happens, we have to deal with it, okay?"

"I know," He lowers his voice. I feel the awkward tension cloud around us in my cluttered room as we look down at our multicolored, beaded wrists. "On three?"

"On three," He agrees. "One..."

"Two..." I say.

"Three," We announce together, taking off each bracelet one by one. A tiny mountain of rubber and beaded bracelets is between us as we stare at the blank monitors of the tiny strip on our wrists. My breath hitches as I wait for each second to fail to tick by as we wait for our timers to reboot.

It was probably only four seconds, but it felt like a life time until they simultaneously turned on. They begin to emit a quiet, generic beep. The beep, which I had recognized from peoples' timers around town, meant the timer had just reached zero.

Sure enough, I look down and my timer has counted down to 0000d 00h 00m 00s. That's when I hear an offset, identical beep that isn't mine. My eyes slowly wander to Natsu's wrist, where he too is sporting the same arrangement of zeros.

Our eyes meet, and that's when we know.