I don't know if you take prompts but picture this: a soulmate au where David and Matteo aren't 'soulmates' but choose each other
anon !!! this is such a good idea!! ❤️
i kind of used it for an au i had been thinking about. i couldn’t figure out what could make them break up and then !! this ask gave me the idea, so thank uuu! i don’t know if this is what you wanted, but i hope you will like it :’))
this went into a very weird direction, it’s basically an outsider pov, because I was thinking about how their ‘real’ soulmates would react. I hope it’s not too bad, I thought it would be interesting to write it like this!
Noah had never been someone who liked to listen to others. Ever since he was younger, he had always done whatever he wanted. His parents were one of the kindest and most patient and understanding people he knew, they never got angry, but he had really given them a hard time when he was a child. But, they weren’t the only ones that had suffered from his terrible attitude. He had lost count of how many times he had been sent to the principal’s office. Though, he had always found it funny how done Mr. Schneider looked when he saw Noah entering his office.
He grew out of it, of course. By the time he was sixteen he stopped being as troubling. Or, maybe, his parents and teachers had just given up on him. Whatever, the point was, he didn’t like being told what to do.
So, the whole soulmate thing – yeah, he wasn’t a fan. While everyone around him was thrilled to find out who they were destined to be with, he couldn’t have cared less. When the name appeared on his sister’s wrist she had cried. His parents had cried. His other siblings had cried. Everyone had been so happy, as if this was the best thing that could happen to them.
Noah didn’t agree. There was so much more to life than this.
So, when the name Matteo appeared on his wrist, he hadn’t thought much of it.
Noah met Matteo on his twentieth birthday. He had been out with his friends, celebrating in a bar, when on the tiny stage appeared a boy around his age, with messy hair and sad eyes, a guitar hanging off his shoulder. Noah knew then. He knew even before Matteo had opened his mouth to introduce himself, that this was his soulmate.
He hadn’t felt like the world had stopped spinning, or that there were explosions in his chest or any other shit people said when they described the moment they found their soulmate. Noah hadn’t felt like something big had happened. It just felt like something in him settled, like he had found something he hadn’t been necessarily searching for, but was happy to find anyway.
Noah wasn’t sure if he wanted to approach him. But, when Matteo started singing, he felt his heart breaking a bit. There was this profound sadness in his songs that really tugged on his heartstrings and made him want to walk up to that stage and hug him. He wondered what could have happened to make Matteo feel like this. Maybe it was because of the stupid soulmate connection, but Noah couldn’t just leave.
After Matteo’s performance ended, he made up his mind.
“Hey”, he approached, smiling charmingly. Matteo looked at him, his cheeks flushing. He dropped the bottle he was holding, before he even said anything back. Noah was terribly endeared.
“Uh, hi”, Matteo offered him a small smile, trying to get over his initial awkwardness.
“I’m Noah”, he had never been one to beat around the bush, “You are Matteo, right?”
Matteo’s eyes widened, his jaw dropping. Noah laughed.
Noah could say that having a soulmate wasn’t bad. He was enjoying this actually. He loved Matteo. But, he thought, it wasn’t really hard to love him. He had never met anyone who had such a big heart. It was like Matteo was making up for the empathy Noah was lacking.
Matteo was so different from him – he was introverted, a bit shy even, soft-spoken and sensitive. He was the opposite of what Noah imagined his soulmate would be, but they worked. Matteo could be so sweet and gentle with him, it made Noah’s heart swell. (“I dedicate this song to Noah”, Matteo said in the microphone. Then, he grinned, searching for him in the crowd as he started strumming his guitar. When he caught Noah’s gaze, he started singing, “You are my peach, you are my plum”. Noah burst out laughing.) But, at the same time, he could be so goddamn annoying (“Did you just fucking bite me?” Matteo tried to bite his hand again.). Matteo liked to be annoying most of the time, but it was fine, Noah loved it all the same.
Noah liked to think he was a self-sufficient person. He had never thought about his soulmate as his other half. He was a whole person on his own, thank you very much. But, he couldn’t lie and say it wasn’t nice to have someone to come home to, someone that understood what you needed and gave it to you.
Matteo was that someone for him. He loved Matteo so much, he wondered what he had been doing for the last twenty years of his life without him. He loved the way Matteo always leaned on him, when they were standing close together. He loved the way Matteo sang as he cooked. He loved the way Matteo would send him a meme if they hadn’t seen each other during the day, just to let Noah know he was thinking about him. Maybe people were onto something with this whole soulmate thing. He really loved Matteo.
But, he wasn’t in love with him.
It was fine, though, because he knew Matteo wasn’t in love with him either.
Sometimes Matteo would subtly press with his thumb the spot where Noah’s name was written on the inside of his left wrist. He had said it was comforting to him, but Noah didn’t think that was the truth. Because, when Matteo traced his fingers across the letters, he had this regretful expression on his face, as if he was wishing it was somebody else’s name written there.
Noah knew something was off from the beginning. He had always been good at reading people. Plus, he wasn’t stupid. He knew Matteo has had his heart broken. All he ever sang about was heartbreak. And his songs were always weirdly specific, which was what made him stand out, what made him famous in the first place, but still. It didn’t take a genius to know.
(“C’mon, baby, speak a little French to me”, Noah read out. Matteo turned to him so quickly, he was afraid he had snapped his neck. But, Noah continued, before Matteo came to snatch his notebook away from him, “I heard you spent two whole semesters drinking wine. While I was stuck in-”
“Don’t”, Matteo frowned, snapping the notebook close, “It’s not done, yet”. Noah just raised his eyebrows at him. The last line Matteo had written was ‘I’m still in love with you’. It looked done to Noah.)
It took a lot of alcohol to get him to start talking about it.
“We had a deal”, Matteo sobbed, “He said he didn’t care about soulmates.”
Noah just hummed, as he pressed a small kiss to the top of Matteo’s head.
“I prayed, you know?”, he looked up at him, his eyes red, “I hadn’t prayed since I was seven, but before my birthday, I... I spent the whole day praying that he was my soulmate.”
Noah didn’t know if the pain in his chest was because Matteo just confirmed he loved someone else, or because Matteo looked so sad.
“But, then, he said this wasn’t going to work out”, Matteo huffed, “And, he just left. He just fucked off. I-”, another sob, and Noah hugged him tighter.
Noah understood it was probably hard to get over your first love, but, fuck, two years had passed since then. He wasn’t even saying it because he was jealous or anything, this shit just wasn’t healthy.
“Setting fire to our insides for fun”, Matteo sang, his eyes closed, “Collecting names of the lovers that went wrong”.
Jonas looked back at him, nervously. Noah glared at him.
“Damn, all his songs are so sad”, Carlos commented. Noah closed his eyes, trying to keep his irritation at bay, “Is everything okay with you two?”. It was question that he got a lot. He was tired of it.
“Carlos, I love you”, Noah said, “But, please shut the fuck up.”
He met David right after the release of Matteo’s first album and suddenly it all made sense. David was gorgeous. Noah would have wanted him for a soulmate, too.
“So, that’s him?”, Noah asked, as he was watching the girls greet David. They all took turns hugging him, “That’s Matteo’s ex, David?”
The boys averted their eyes. They didn’t say anything. Noah pushed himself off the wall and walked to stand in front of Abdi.
“Uhh”, Abdi looked at the other two for help, but they were stubbornly not looking at him. Noah didn’t get it. It wasn’t like he was going to start a fight with David, no need to be so worried. He was just curious if this was the guy Matteo had dedicated a whole album to.
“We don’t know what happened between them”, Jonas came to Abdi’s rescue, “But, Luigi said they had a thing.”
Noah could understand why they kept it a secret. Usually, relationships with people who weren’t your soulmate weren’t something accepted. They weren’t seen as something normal.
But, this didn’t look like just a thing.
David finally made his way to them to say hi. He looked nervous, but as he took them in, the tension started leaving his body. Maybe because Matteo wasn’t here.
The boys were also excited to see him, hugging him and clapping him on the back, congratulating him for wining 3rd prize Cannes Cinéfondation.
Then, David looked at him, extending his hand.
“I’m David”, his voice was nice, deep and smooth. His face was nice, too. Everything about this guy was nice.
“Noah”, he almost laughed at how big David’s eyes got when he heard his name.
David was, apparently, back for good. Or, that was what Amira told Hanna. Matteo was pretending he wasn’t listening to them, but Noah could see right through him. He could see it in the way his shoulders tensed and the way he would curl his hands into fists to stop them from shaking.
It was fascinating to see them interact. Noah couldn’t speak from experience, but he supposed it was awkward to have to see your ex so often, because you had the same friendship circle, that didn’t know about the history between you two.
They were actively avoiding each other.
It was amusing how Matteo would agree to hang out with the boys, but the second he heard David was also coming, he would make up an excuse. Most of the time it was Noah who was used as the excuse, and the boys were starting to give him weird looks. Noah wanted to protest, since he didn’t appreciate being painted as the ‘controlling, jealous boyfriend’, but it took one look at Matteo’s sad face to make him keep his mouth shut.
The amount of times Noah had seen him come into a room, all smiley and relaxed, just to walk right back out, because he had seen Matteo, was getting ridiculous. While Matteo could bare being in the same room as him, David couldn’t even do that.
But, when they were forced to be together, they were so careful with each other, it made Noah’s heart ache. They didn’t keep eye contact for more than three seconds, never exchanging more than four sentences at a time.
(“Na?”, David was forcing himself to smile.
“Na. Is everything good?”, Matteo glanced at him, the corners of his mouth curling.
Noah would have found it funny, if Matteo wasn’t his soulmate and if he didn’t look so heartbroken after.
Matteo wasn’t coping well with having David back into his life.
Noah had lost count of the amount of times Matteo would come to him, hugging him tight and burying his face into his neck, trying to find comfort. Noah couldn’t really do much, but wrap his hands around him and squeeze him back, remind him that he was fine, and he wasn’t alone.
Matteo was usually clingy. But, this was different. This wasn’t a ‘hey, I missed you’ hug or an ‘I want to be close to you’ hug. No, this was Matteo trying to keep it together, to remind himself of the fact that he had a soulmate and he wasn’t supposed to need anything else.
Having a soulmate meant to know someone better than you knew yourself. Noah knew that two years later Matteo still loved David.
And, he was sure, David loved him back. Noah didn’t have to be his soulmate to know that David was just as heartbroken as Matteo, and the fact that he had to be in the same country as him was troubling him.
Sure, it got better as time went by, but there was still this weird atmosphere between them.
At least they could stay in the same room now.
Noah was searching for Matteo to tell him they were leaving. He found him in the living room, curled up on the couch, sleeping. Noah didn’t go to him, instead deciding to go for a smoke before waking him up, so they could go home.
When he came back, he saw David putting a blanket on Matteo. Then, very gently, cradling his fingers through Matteo’s hair, before leaving.
“Why did you get a milkshake?”, Noah asked as he took one of the trays from Matteo.
“For David”, Matteo answered with a sigh, “He likes dipping his fries in it. I know, it’s weird.”
David hadn’t ordered a milkshake. Still, he was happy to get one.
Noah didn’t know what he was supposed to do anymore.
His mother had always told him that just because you had a soulmate, that didn’t meant that it was easy. No, you still had to put the work in. You had to be kind and patient with your soulmate.
Noah was trying to be understanding, but he had never been as nice as Matteo, so, he wasn’t afraid to admit that he was getting very fucking tired from all the sad and lingering gazes and the deep sighs.
“But I have to learn that this love will never be convenient”, Matteo sang as the audience screamed the words back at him. But, he had his eyes on one particular person.
David was looking at him, too.
Noah let out a deep sigh that was drowned out by the music and Matteo’s voice. He took a sip from his beer and decided that maybe they should all stop lying to each other.
“So, David”, Noah dropped on the coach next to him. Matteo threw him a warning look.
“Noah”, he greeted, politely, and smiled at him. Despite everything, Noah actually really liked David. He was cool. It almost made him feel bad for what he was about to do. Almost.
“I bet your soulmate is devastated”, he said, pointing at David’s wrist. A few days ago he had noticed that David had a tattoo over his soulmate’s name – a black rectangle over it. Matteo stared at David’s hands.
Usually, it was considered very rude to talk about those things, especially in the careless manner Noah did. He could tell David was a bit irritated with him.
“She’s fine”, David answered after a few minutes, “It was her idea anyway.”
This was enough evidence for him to know that the universe had messed up. Noah had spent his whole life around soulmates. Yet, none of them looked as in love as Matteo and David did, which was fucked, if you asked him.
“Having a soulmate sucks”, Noah said, one night, after they had gone to bed. He knew Matteo wasn’t sleeping. He hadn’t been sleeping well since David came back.
“Thanks”, Matteo answered, dryly, as he shuffled closer to him, burying his face in his neck.
“No, I mean. It’s dumb that you have to be told who to spend your life with”.
Matteo sighed into his skin, then he moved back again, so he could see Noah’s face.
“But, if it works out, it’s fine, right?”, his voice was quiet. Noah knew he was probably thinking of his parents, “I mean”, he added, Noah could see the small smile on his face, “We are good”.
“Are we really?”, Noah asked, closing his eyes so he didn’t have to see Matteo’s face falling, “If you had the choice you wouldn’t be with me”.
He could feel Matteo slipping away from his arms and sitting up, “What are you talking about? Is this about David, again?”, he sounded like he was preparing for an argument. They’ve been having a lot of arguments the past few weeks.
“I’m just saying”, Noah slowly opened his eyes, but he wasn’t looking at Matteo, “I think choosing to be with someone is more… I don’t know? Noble? Real? Than staying with your soulmate just because you are supposed to.”
“Would you be with me if you had the choice?”, Matteo asked.
Noah looked at him then. He loved Matteo. He loved him so much, he couldn’t imagine his life without him. But, Noah couldn’t imagine his life without a lot of people. He loved Matteo like he loved his family.
And, he knew Matteo loved him, too. But, he didn’t love him the same way he loved David.
“Did you write Peach for David?”, Noah asked. It was one of the few happy songs Matteo has written. Matteo raised his eyebrows at him, confused by the change of subject.
“No!”, he huffed, “I told you, it’s for you”.
It made Noah smile. So, he had a song. Well, David had a whole album dedicated to him, but still. He had a song.
“We are breaking up”, Noah said, and he felt like a weight was lifted off his chest.
“This is weird”, Matteo said, “Can we not do this? It’s weird.”
“Baby”, Noah started, “If it isn’t for me, you will keep writing sad songs about someone who loves you back. And, frankly, you both are getting on my nerves.”
“But”, Matteo paused, trying to gather his thoughts, “you are my soulmate.”
“So?”, Noah grinned at him, “It doesn’t change anything, does it? It’s because I’m your soulmate that I want you to be happy.”
Matteo stared at him for a few minutes, before pulling him into a hug. Noah hugged him back, of course.
“What if”, Matteo stopped in front of the door, “What if he doesn’t lo-”
“Don’t even finish that sentence”, Noah glared, “Come on, he just texted you he’s outside.”
Matteo bit his lip, still looking unsure.
“Dude!“, Noah huffed, “Go! Go get your man“, he started pushing him. As he closed the door, he heard Matteo laugh more freely than he had the last few months. Noah couldn’t help, but laugh, too.
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