This is a soulmate AU where if one's soulmate listens to music that they really like, the other person will either A: Simply get the song stuck in their head for HOURS (if they don't like the song) or B: Start singing the lyrics no matter what they're doing (if they like the song). This can only be countered by the other person if they listen to a song that they like (in which case the soulmate will have the same reaction as examples A and B). If one soulmate turns on a song and the other soulmate plays a different song, the first soulmate would have to change his/her original song to counter the effects of the second soulmate's song. If the soulmate that isn't playing the song is singing the song the other soulmate is playing, the other soulmate will know (soulmate bond, I can't explain it). If the other soulmate is suffering from example B and isn't changing the song, the first soulmate will immediately get a sense of "something is seriously wrong" (even if there is nothing wrong, it's just a soulmate-preservation instinct).  If you find your soulmate and realize that this person is in fact your soulmate, the words "Soulmate of (soulmate's name)" will appear on your collarbone - right or left, doesn't matter. This is for the two part update - I've been working hard on both one-shots, and this idea popped into my head so I scrapped everything and wrote this instead!!!

Oh - y'alls are in your sophomore year. So maybe it's a High School!Soulmate! AU? I dunno. *shrug*

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this way long one-shot! ^-^

"...That boy knows I hate that song!" you grumbled to yourself as your unknown soulmate listened to his favorite song YET AGAIN.

And you knew that he knew that you absolutely DESPISED that song because every time he started playing it, you would immediately become distracted until the song was changed. Luckily, it was noon on a Sunday, so you could play as much of your music as you wanted without any pesky teachers telling you to take your earbuds out of your ears and pay attention (which was nearly impossible with that blasted song ricocheting around your head). You reached out to change the song that you had been playing, when-

-THWACK! Snapping out of your thoughts (and jerking your arm back from your phone), you realized that your annoying neighbor, Pidge, was at it again - she was working on one of her "projects".

Okay, so Pidge wasn't that annoying - usually. Unless she was working on a project of hers outside or she was belting out the lyrics to Africa by Toto (her soulmate's favorite song, and because she didn't mind it, she was constantly singing it).

THWACK! Her hammer smacked down again, forcing a wooden stake into the ground. "What the heck is she doing?" you wondered out loud. THWACK! You shook your head once, closing your previously open window and sitting on your bed.

Then the song in your head changed. You grinned, hoping that for once in his life your soulmate would choose something remotely alright with you.

Instead he chose a Taylor Swift song. You grimaced. Some of Taylor Swift's songs were alright, but this particular song was one of the ones from when Taylor Swift sang country. You weren't the biggest fan of country... It was not what you'd choose to listen to on a daily basis.

So you did the only logical thing. You grabbed your phone, connected it to your speaker, and turned the volume on both your phone and your speaker all the way up. Smirking, you clicked your favorite song - (favorite song) by (song artist) (A/N: If you'd like to use any of these songs, here: Lovely by Twenty One Pilots, Ain't It Fun by Paramore, Castle by Halsey, Missing by Evanescence, Holy by PVRIS). "Let's see what the he does now..." You mentally smirked, waiting for your soulmate to play a different song, one of his that would stick in your head for hours.

He was absolutely against any and all of your songs. Sometimes, he would ignore them for a few minutes (making you worry out of your mind) and then change the song, and sometimes he would play No by Meghan Trainor (that was your song for NO! ANY SONG BUT THAT SONG. You didn't know how it happened, but it did - you two had a mutual understand through music) and change the song immediately after.

You were absolutely against any and all of his songs. It was partly because he had absolutely horrible taste in music - the literal worst taste in the entire world - and partly because he was against any and all of your songs. Really, some of his songs weren't bad (you may or may not have found yourself humming ONE of his songs ONCE), but you were not going to stand for him not liking any of your songs! It just wasn't fair!

So you assumed that your soulmate would change the song quickly.

But he didn't. So you waited... And waited... And put the song on loop... And none of the annoying, stupid songs your soulmate liked popped into your head.

Now you were worried. You had listened to this song before, and every time your soulmate had changed the song to one of his songs. You tried a different song, one that you didn't like as much, but it was a song that you enjoyed and had played before. You waited for a while longer, getting more worried by the second. Your soulmate had always played a different song before. But no Taylor Swift got stuck in your head; no Beyonce implanted itself in your brain.

His taste in music may have been annoying, but that didn't mean that you didn't like your soulmate. In fact, you rather enjoyed the time you both spent fighting over whose song you would play/have stuck in your head for the rest of the day (until you grew tired of it).

You kept trying songs, even the songs that you knew he absolutely hated with a burning passion (a new song would appear in your head in thirty seconds or less after you started playing these hated songs of his). All of them played through without any interruptions. "MOM!" you screamed, finally breaking after playing "Baby" by Justin Bieber (your friend had played it to torture you and less than five seconds into the song, a different song was blaring in your head).

"Y/N!! What's the matter?!" your mom burst into your room.

"M-mom! He's n-not changing t-the s-song!" The wall that had been keeping your tears at bay finally broke, and sobs shuddered throughout your entire body. "My s-soulmate! H-he's not ch-changing the song! He h-hates this s-song!" You shoved your phone in your mother's face, showing her the song that was currently playing.

Your mom gently brushed your hair back from your sweaty forehead. "Sweetheart, I'm going to go grab some (favorite food). I'll be right back, okay?"

You shakily nodded, bursting into yet another round of tears once your mom exited the room. Your mom returned with the food you'd requested, sitting down on your bed and exhaling. "Is there anything I can do...?"

Shaking your head, you flopped down onto your pillow face-first. Right after shutting your phone off, you slept for hours, only occasionally waking up to go to the bathroom and eat.

When you woke up fully, it was 3:00 am. "Great..." you groaned. Even if you were mentally exhausted, your body was awake, so there was no falling asleep now. Silently escaping the confines of your now-depressing room, you padded out to your kitchen in your slippers, grabbing three waffles, a cup, and the milk jug from your fridge. You sighed, rubbing at your face. You toasted and ate the waffles and drank a cup of milk. Once you were done, you took a short, quiet shower and brushed your teeth.

What? You were going to school. Even if it was hard, you wanted to get a good job when you became an adult, so going to school was happening today (even if your soulmate was possibly horribly injured or in a life-threatening situation).

After getting dressed, you packed everything for school in your backpack. You didn't feel like going to your locker. Or really going to school for that matter, but you did want a good job. If you couldn't have kids with your soulmate, you were going to adopt. You wanted kids, having always heard from your parents what lovable creatures they were.

Shaking your head, you looked at the clock. 5:29 am. "And Dad'll be up in 3... 2... 1..." You could hear the sounds of your bleary father gently getting out of bed. Looking at the clock, you saw that it was exactly 5:30. You smiled, a small, bittersweet smile full of sadness. You would never have a husband that would get up earlier than you, who would make you breakfast like your dad inevitably would every morning for you and your mom. You walked to your parent's room and poked your head in the door, saying "Dad?"

"Yeah, Y/N?" your dad responded, looking at you, eyes full of confusion. "Why're you up this early, kiddo?"

"I accidentally woke up too early and I couldn't get back to bed, so I figured that I'd get ready for school early today. Can I read for a while, then walk to school? I'll be safe and all, I just... I need some time to think."

Your dad's blank, confounded eyes stared at you before realization finally dawned on his bemused brain. "Yeah, yeah. Of course sweetheart. I'll tell your mom, alright?"

You nodded, trying not to let your tears create a river down your already tear-stained face. "Love you bye, Dad. Tell Mom I love her too, bye." After you knew you were out of your father's worried sight, your straight-backed posture immediately became a slump. "Buck up, Y/N. You got this. Just keep going." You stood up straight once more and walked out of the door to your house.

You were mulling over your choices - take the long way to school and get to school about ten minutes before the bell rang, or take the short way to school and get to school thirty minutes early and wait outside in the grass.

It was a no-brainer for you, really. Long way. More time to think without people bothering you and asking what was wrong.

You started walking, ambling along at a pace just below brisk. Suddenly, you thought about your soulmate not changing the song, and you burst into tears. "NO! Snap OUT OF IT, Y/N! You need to get to school!" You scrubbed at your face with your shirt, refusing to stop moving. You had taken the long way, after all.

When you finally made it to school (with much difficulty and quite a few stops), there was a crowd of your classmates all gathered around somebody. It was Shiro, a japanese senior and the top of his class.

He had actually been kidnapped by a gang or something like that before he escaped. His story was all over the news for ages, and when it finally died down, he had told some his friend, Keith, that he was glad. He hated the publicity. You weren't meant to hear it, of course, but you had accidentally left your book in the classroom that they were helping to clean (well, Shiro mainly) and you had returned to retrieve it after school.

Shiro was saying something about an accident, but you were too distraught to care. Leaving all of the kids outside, you made your way inside.

"Y/N," a warm voice called from behind you.

You jumped. "Um... Yeah?" you replied, doing your best not to sniffle and trying to wipe your eyes discreetly as you turned around.

"Did you hear about the accident?" Hunk asked. He was looking at you strangely, as if he was curious as to why there were tear marks covering your face.

You almost screamed at him. If he wasn't the literal nicest person in the school, you would've screamed at him. You didn't need people to notice the fact that you had tear stains covering your face, and if they did notice, you didn't need them making a big hullabaloo about it. "No. I don't care," you retorted, your voice short and snappish.

"Well, Lance and Keith got hit by an out-of-control car, and they're both in the hospital... I just thought you should know. They were working together on that big science project we have, and they were walking to the library - more eco-friendly, you know. Poor Lance got it worse. Now he's compl-"

"Hunk, just shut up! I don't want to hear about accidents! I can't... I can't..." you ran off to the girl's bathroom, sobbing your heart out.

"Y/N, wait! What's wrong? Maybe I can help you!" Hunk yelped, doing his best to chase after you. Luckily, you were more athletic than he was and the girl's bathrooms were close. You were pretty sure that Hunk, being a good student and a rule-follower, wouldn't follow you in.

"It hurts!" was your only cry as you disappeared into the smallest stall. "It hurts..." you murmured to yourself, sitting on the seat and hugging your knees to your chest.

You cried, losing track of everything, including time. Eventually, you heard a bell ring for the first time that day - and when you checked your clock, school was half-way over. "Skipped part of it, might as well skip all of it," you muttered, quietly walking out of the stall, out of the girl's bathroom, and out of the school.

Then you thought about Lance and Keith, both injured and in the hospital. "Dang it!" you screamed, kicking at the ground. "Why does everybody have to get hurt?!"

Okay, so it was three people. Your soulmate, Lance, and Keith, but really - in your grief-torn mind, the world had collapsed.

Lance may have been the school flirt and a total playboy in most people's minds, but you two had worked on multiple projects together, and you both had a bond of some sort. Lance had even told you that he hadn't had any girlfriends because he said that he was waiting for his soulmate. He was a good friend - not as good as a friend as Allura (Shiro's girlfriend - his soulmate, Adam, had died in a car accident, and Allura's soulmate, Lotor [A/N What? I'm running out of ideas!], had been sat down on the electric chair for being a traitor to the government), but you two were pretty good friends. You argued and bickered constantly, but it was a nice sort of homey arguing that wasn't real arguing.

Keith was also nice to you. And he was cute. He was normally pretty grumpy, but as you had smacked somebody for bullying Shiro because of his funky hair... You two were cool. Even if Shiro had protested and said that he didn't need somebody to stand up for him, he was thankful for your moral support (afterwards you had told him that his hair was absolutely adorable and that you loved the tiny white "floof" in front of his head). Keith often sat with you at lunch and you two were tight. He had trusted you with his secret - he had always (secretly) found Lance funny. You laughed your head off, but you swore not to tell anybody. "Not even Shiro!" Keith had yelped when you said "Shiro probably laughed at that..."

And now they were both in the hospital. "And I told Hunk that I didn't care!" you screeched.

That was it. Your soulmate was probably dead, at least according to the fact that he hadn't changed "Baby" by Justin Bieber (and we all know we would change that song, no matter how much of a die-hard Canadian Bieber fan you were) and two of your classmates and good friends were in the hospital.

You couldn't take it.

You couldn't take it.

You couldn't take it.

Dropping all of your stuff, you raced to the only hospital in town, the one where Keith and Lance would surely be at.

Once you reached the welcome desk, you bent over, clearly out of breath.

"How may I help you, Miss?" the receptionist asked, a smile on her face.

How could she? How could she smile when your world was falling apart?

"What room are Lance and Keith in? I need to see them, I'm a friend of theirs from school." You could see her face, it was a face of rejection, and pity for the one being rejected. "Please, miss! I'm..." you struggled to think of a lie, blanking out for a second. "I'm Keith's soulmate! Please let me in, please! I thought I'd lost him, and..."

You didn't need to fake tears - they were already in your eyes, thinking of your dead soulmate. Dead. The one you were to be with forever. Surely he wouldn't mind you pretending that your injured friend was your soulmate... Surely he was a good person who wouldn't mind.

Was.

The receptionist hesitated, blinking a few times, before she relented and asked "You're Keith's soulmate? Fine, I'll let you in to see them."

You couldn't stop the grin that wormed its way onto your face, thanking the woman multiple times as she told you the room number. "They're in Room 3785. I hope that your soulmate gets better!" she called after you, and you waved back in response.

But the word "soulmate" made your smile disappear. But for some reason, you couldn't seem to cry. It was as if you had lost all ability in your tear ducts, as if you had run out of tears.

At least you wouldn't go to school tomorrow with the threat of crying in front of others. You finally reached their room and knocked softly. "Um... Guys?" you softly called, opening the door and poking your head in.

"Y/N? Is that you?" Keith said.

You quietly stepped in and shut the door behind you. "Yeah, it's me you guys. How are you? God, I'm so sorry this happened."

"Shhh, don't wake Lance up. He's been complaining nonstop about the loss of his phone, and I'm getting kind of sick of it."

You giggled softly, careful to not wake the Cuban boy up. "Poor baby Lancey."

"He whines. All the time. 24/7. It gets really, really, really tiring sometimes." Keith ran a hand through his mullet and reached for the glass of water that was sitting by his bedside.

"So... How are you two holding up? You're both gonna live, right?" You tried hiding your worry, but you felt your voice crack and you knew that it wouldn't go unheard.

You thought you saw Keith smirk at Lance. But then he looked back up at you with a hint of sadness on his face before saying, in all seriousness, "Y/N... I'm sorry, but Lance... they told us his heart was gonna stop in a few days."

"WHAT?!" you shrieked, forgetting that Lance was snoozing.

But... He wasn't? You were looking into laughing ocean blue eyes. That were open. And lucid. And fine. "Y/N! You should've seen your face, it was priceless!" Lance snorted.

"Why you..." you glared first at Lance, then at Keith, who was holding back chuckles of his own. "I would smack the living daylights out of both of you if you weren't injured!"

Then Lance straightened up, which obviously took a strain on him. His face twisted into a grimace of pain before you stopped him and started stacking up pillows under his back. "It's my ribs..." he hissed a breath in before continuing, "they're broken. Not all of them, of course, but some of them."

You nodded in sympathy. "That sucks. I'm sorry, Lance."

He waved it off, instead staring straight into your eyes and asking, "Did you bring your phone?"

You glared at him. "And why exactly do you want that? It better not be for anything dirty! Or for checking how many followers you have on Instant Chat or whatever it is. Besides, I'm fairly sure I dropped everything to run here."

Keith popped in with "Well, you are wearing (clothes item with pockets). Is your phone in there?"

You looked down at the pocket. "Oh. I forgot about that." You reached into the pocket, and lo and behold, your phone was in your hand when you drew it out. "Anyway, Lance McClain, if you do anything bad with my phone..." you left the rest of your threat unsaid - usually, threats worked better that way.

"I won't! I just gotta..." he yanked your phone from your hands and clicked on some things. You had already unlocked your phone (force of habit), so he was probably doing some horrible thing that a Lance was bound to do.

So you were surprised when (random Beyonce song) started playing. "Dang it Lance, I get enough of that from my-" you cut yourself off.

Lance looked up at you, curious.  "My stupid soulmate left this horrible song on, and my phone was wrecked when that stupid driver hit me.  Thank you for letting me use your phone, Y/N."

You started to tear up.  "My... He...  Excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom."  You sharply turned around and escaped the room, walking to the bathroom.  You still had some shreds of dignity.  As you reached the bathroom, something bigger than your thoughts exploded in your head.  "Dang it boy-" you started to snap, but then you realized something - your soulmate had finally changed the song.  At least, a song had popped up in your head.  Something or other by Beyonce, or so you were fairly sure.

You raced back to the hospital room, barely restraining yourself from attacking Lance.  You yanked your phone out of your hands and started playing (random song of your choice).  That's when you freaked.  "He finally changed it!  My soulmate, he... He changed the song!"

You burst into tears, and just when you'd thought there were no more to cry.  But these tears were happy, happier than any tears you'd ever shed.  "Dang it Y/N, gimme the phone!  That song sucks, and-" Lance cut himself off, staring wide-eyed at you.

You were too busy choking back sobs and waiting for your soulmate to reply when you felt a hand on your arm.  "What do you want, Keith?" you snapped, glaring at him.  "The one who I'm meant to be with - I thought he was dead.  I thought he was dead!  And now he changed the song, it's horrible and it's Beyonce and it's him!  He's okay!  Keith, do you know how much this means to me?  If he doesn't respond, I will find him and kill him myself for scaring me like this.  Did you know how much it-" but Keith wordlessly spun you around, where your (e/c) eyes met Lance's blue ones.

"(Y/N)... What's your favorite song?" Lance asked you, and Keith gently removed his hand from your arm.

"Lance, I don't-" but you stopped talking.  Lance's emotions were usually shown in his eyes, and you could usually see everything he was thinking.  Usually.

Now, however, his eyes were filled with an emotion you couldn't describe.  It seemed to be one big, overpowering emotion filled with many tinier emotions.  You didn't think that Lance himself could've told you how he was feeling at that moment.

"It's (favorite song)," you said as Lance said the same thing at the exact same time.  "Lance, unless you stalk me, you wouldn't know that.  My favorite song changes-"

"Every few weeks or so?"

You slowly nodded.  "Yeah...?  Seriously bro, if you stalk me...  That's creepy, dude."

"Y/N," Lance snorted, but tears were in his eyes.  You couldn't tell if they were happy or sad.  "I don't stalk you.  We're soulmates."

Your eyes went to his collarbone, and written there, in your hand, were the words "Soulmate of Y/N L/N."

You hurriedly put your phone on selfie mode and snapped a picture of your collarbone, which said "Soulmate of Lance McClain."  It was written in Lance's messy scrawl.

"YOU'RE NOT DEAD!!!" were your first words after a nice, long, awkward period of silence.

Keith (who had conveniently made himself as invisible as possible until this moment) said "Y/N.  No.  Lance is not dead.  Neither am I."

"You guys are alive!  My soulmate is alive!  My soulmate is Lance McClain!  And y'all're alive!"

Lance nodded sagely, while Keith scowled.  "We are alive.  And I am your soulmate.  And Keith is a grumpy grump who's all jealous because he hasn't found his soulmate yet.  Poor Keith.  Now come give your soulmate a hug.  I've been living with that horrible Justin Bieber stuck in my head for days.  Really, Y/N."

You shook your head, no matter how much it hurt you to refuse your soulmate's wishes.  "You're hurt, Lance.  I can't hug you, not with your ribs.  Once your out of the hospital..."

"Once I'm out of the hospital," Lance agreed.

Keith grunted, saying "I'm trying to sleep.  Shuddup."  He turned over onto his side, facing the wall and stuffing his pillow over his ears.

"Maybe we should kiss, just to give the old grump a reason to cover his ears."

You snickered, sneaking a peek towards Keith.  "Hmm..."  You made a kissing noise, then said "Oh, Lance, I just love you oh-so-much!  Oh, you're such a good kisser and all.  Mwah, mwah, mwah!"

Lance cracked up, and you gently put a hand on his head.

--//time skip thanks to a flying bunny\\--

--//a green flying bunny\\--

--//oh and they're all out of the hospital and Lance is surprising you, Y/N\\--

--//don't tell yourself, alright?\\--

--//thanks!\\--

"I'll get it, Mom!"  You called to your mom.

The day you had gotten home from the hospital, you proudly showed your collarbone to your parents, who were wary of Lance at first (his reputation as a flirt hadn't escaped them), but you were able to reassure them that Lance was a good guy.

Your parents were happy for you, and Allura was overjoyed.  Pidge found out too (*cough cough* MOM *cough cough*), and she was really excited for you - she even showed you her own mark, saying "Soulmate of Rover."

You had no idea who Rover was, but he must've been somebody important to Pidge, because she got stars in her eyes whenever she talked about him.

"Yeah?" you said, opening the door.

"Hey, Y/N!  Guess who gets a hug?"  Lance opened his arms, and you jumped into them, careful not to be too rough on his ribs.  "Did you miss me?"

"Yes, dork," you grinned as you bravely kissed him on the cheek.

What?  You hadn't ever kissed anybody before, and you wanted your first kiss to be special.

"I missed you too, Y/N," Lance replied, and before you could say anything back, his lips had captured yours.

Yeah, this first kiss was pretty darn special.

Okay, I hope you liked it!  I didn't know quite how to end it, so it it's cruddy, it's because I felt like it was already too long (although I'll gladly write longer one-shots if you'd like) and I need to sleep sometime.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this oneshot!

Did anybody think it was Lance?  Was I too obvious?

I tried not to be; I tried to make all the clues point to Keith.

Anyway, have a good day/night!

~unicornhorse160