This Soulmate AU is inspired by the one used in "The Grey Spectrum" by LittleAngryHammy. Go check out their work, because I personally love it!

Alexander Hamilton has never seen color. Never has, never will. His world was just varying shades of gray. And he was fine with that, maybe even happy about it. It was stable, and he knew he'd spend days studying every color and sightseeing if he let it go to his head.

So he didn't. He never got his hopes up when he shook people's hands, no matter how hopeful the other person looked. Piles of paperwork and keyboard keys were the only company he let himself touch freely. Any other person got the cold side of him, the side of him that never got too excited or fiery.

Despite that, he knew almost everything about soulmates. Some people had just one, some people had more than one. Some soulmates were across the world and some are people you bump into on the street. All it took to find out was a single touch to see if any colors appeared.

One day, Alexander had the urge for some coffee. Not like that was a huge deal, he found it necessary for long nights. There was only one problem that was getting on his nerves. The coffee machine was broken yet again. He supposed there was a silver lining. He wouldn't have to deal with the other people that lived in his building.

But when there were silver linings, they were on the darkest of clouds. That cloud being him having to interact with strangers. He grabbed his bag and let the strap rest on his shoulder. He put his gloves on, ready for the brush of the barista's hand against his. He exited the apartment building and headed to the nearest coffee shop.

He entered, the tiny jingle of the bell above alerting the staff members a little. He welcomed the air conditioner, knowing that gloves and a coat weren't appropiate for late summer. The counter was a few feet in front of him, and he closed the gap between him and the cool surface.

"Hey, how may I help you?" a staff member greeted him. Darker shades of gray dots sprinkled across his cheeks seemed to be lively just by his sly smile alone. He looked like someone completely satisfied with his life, even though he was merely taking someone's order. "Are you okay?" he said, taking notice of Alexander's blank stare.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Alexander apologized, stuffing his hands back in his pockets, "I'm just... not sure what half of these menu items are. My coffee machine broke, and..." He didn't know how to explain he just wanted a normal coffee.

The man's smile didn't falter as he said, "That's all right, I can give you a recommendation. My personal favorite is just a plain latte, I don't quite understand the menu either."

"I guess I'll take that to go, thank you," Alexander replied, taking out a five dollar bill. At least there were no other people in the line to be annoyed at Alexander's confusion. He looked down at the man's uniform to find his name tag. His name was John Laurens, so it seemed. Laurens put the money in the register and gave him his change. "So what should I write on your cup?" he asked, taking a permanent marker out.

"Alexander Hamilton," the other answered. Alexander didn't think ordering a coffee would take this much interaction, but that was the price of having a caffeine addiction. He waited in his spot, tugging off his gloves to use his phone. He scrolled through his social media. As he got to his older posts, he started to see how much his sense of humor was dwindling to this day.

"Here's your order, made to the best of my ability," Laurens said, snapping Alexander out of his trance. He held the cup out for Alexander to grab. Alexander put his gloves back on. Only then, he took the cup. "If it's not too intrusive, I was wondering why you're wearing a coat in the middle of a heat wave."

Alexander faltered. He wondered if it would be rude to say he didn't want to meet his soulmate. To most people, this would be the indicator that he would be an unpleasant friend. "I... I just got back from the ice rink," he said. He wasn't even sure there was an ice rink in his city.

"Huh. Not everyday you meet an ice skater," Laurens commented. Alexander figured the shop never got too busy, as Laurens was at ease and clearly not having any thought of working.

Alexander's mind was spouting a million curses per minute. Backing out of his blatant lie, he said, "Oh no, don't call me a skater. I can barely even stand on the ice." Unfortunately, this was true. He never had any interest in skating, so he missed out on learning while he was in the age group where nobody criticized you for failing.

"Well, I do hope I can see you again," Laurens concluded the conversation when a girl approached the counter, "But I have a thing called a job." Though the wording was harsh, his tone was more playful than anything. It was a weird contrast for Alexander, who was used to monotone speech and the droning voice in his head that read documents.

He was glad he brought his gloves. If he didn't, that brush of his hand against John's would've destroyed his productivity. If Laurens wasn't his soulmate, he'd just obsess about how every time he let someone into his life, it wasn't what fate wanted. If he was, he wasn't sure what he'd do with himself.

But Laurens was just a barista. He didn't have to have this mental conflict everytime he talked with a stranger, but he did anyway. He unlocked his phone and went to his trusted source of information, the internet. He sighed when he searched the same question again. "How can I find my soulmate easily?" He knew it was unhealthy to obsess over it, but it was a neverending cycle of hoping and despairing.

The same guides popped up. Meet lots of strangers, don't be afraid to try new things, and don't be judgmental. Alexander rolled his eyes. It wasn't that easy, to just lay everything on the line in hopes of finding that one person. He'd rather spend his days in monochrome than risk everything for a person that might not even find him pleasant.

As for the coffee, it was what Alexander expected but a little more creamy and rich. What was also rich was a fleeting thought of his about getting another tomorrow. He glanced at his color wheel poster and compared the liquid to the labeled colors. Apparently his coffee was closest to the shade of gray called brown.

While he was on one of his breaks, he remembered to close the curtains. The sunlight irritated his eyes, and it had gotten to the point where he was seriously considering wearing sunglasses indoors.

He dimmed the laptop screen a little then resumed working. Like nothing before that moment happened, he found it easy to not miss his break because he was kept busy. No thoughts of soulmates would distract him again, and he never broke a promise to himself.

Until night came and he was lying in bed with no work to occupy him, that was when the thoughts would creep him. Daydreams of touching someone's hand would never lead to anything but bursts of gray color exploding in his mind. He didn't know how he was missing something he never had.

He took that thought to sleep with him. Tomorrow would be another day of working, wouldn't it?

The next day, Alexander's alarm clock blared in his apartment space. "Ah, god, I'm up. Be quiet," he said to nobody, tiredly placing his hands on the off button. "Why did I even set that alarm? It's not like anything's happening." He checked his calender for anything. Today, he was apparently scheduled to be at a meeting for a client in an hour, and the drive there would take thirty minutes. Alexander internally panicked.

First impressions mattered, so Alexander took a little more than five minutes to comb his hair. He looked in the mirror and wondered what kind of dark cave he stumbled out of to look this messy. He sighed, knowing his appearance didn't matter after today. He'd get the editing job, work on it, and send it back to them. He put his coat and gloves on, nothing new there.

Once he was there, he looked around the floor he was on. It was a stereotypical office, with the water cooler in the corner that had workers gathered around it. He didn't know what he expected. Alexander pulled his gloves higher and walked to the room reserved for the boss.

A man's waited outside the room. He saw Alexander and said, "You're the editor? Step on in, don't worry. He only looks scary. I'm Thomas, by the way." They both stepped inside and stood in front of the desk.

"You're Alexander Hamilton?" the boss said, "I'm George. You can sit down if you want. I trust you brought some of your work?" Alexander paused. He forgot it at home, didn't he? "Well, I'm getting ahead of myself," George said, "The job is being a part-time editor for our dear marketer, Thomas Jefferson. His writing is a nightmare to read. I honestly would prefer to read aloud a list of slang words from the 90's than his average blog post."

Thomas looked a bit offended, but he let George continue. "Basically, all you need to know is how to format text and spell words like Pennsylvania." Alexander wasn't going to tell George he had thought Pennsylvania was spelled with only one N until he was informed differently a few days ago. He just nodded and smiled. "I'm going to go check up on a few workers. Thomas, you can see for yourself if he's right for the job."

As soon as George left, Thomas asked, "What's up with the winter attire? You're lucky we just fixed the air conditioner yesterday."

"Well, I just..." Alexander began saying, "I'm a huge germaphobe. I don't touch strangers, like, at all." That excuse was terrible. Why did he always have to mess things up?

Thomas was silent until a smirk crept onto his face. "Wait a minute... Mismatched clothes, the insistence on that outfit... And that excuse I've heard a million times before. You're clearly still looking."

"And do you have a problem with that?" Alexander asked, afraid of getting too ugly with him. Stable income was on the line here.

Thomas laughed. "I don't, really. It's just strange. If I were you, I'd be flaunting that fact. Make things quicker." He poked Alexander's nose. Alexander was relieved when nothing happened. He wouldn't know what to do if that was the moment. "See? Easy as that. If you're wondering, nothing happened." He already knew that, he'd never heard of a case of only one person experiencing color. Fate wasn't that into messing with people, contrary to popular belief.

But Alexander knew it'd be a waste of time to explain why it wasn't that easy. He froze, not knowing how to say it. He had all these words firing off in his head, but they couldn't make it out into the real world. So he kept his mouth shut as Thomas examined him.

"Hey, are you okay?" Thomas said, but it was too late. Alexander was already convinced his concern was fake. He even still had that grin. "Did you forget your resume? It's not a problem, I really don't want to do another one of these interviews. Which means you're basically hired. Aren't you happy?"

Alexander just smiled and nodded. He was fine. Nothing needed to be heard from him. Absolutely nothing at all.