A/N: So, this story has been in my head for quite a while. I had a large chunk of it written before, but at some point all of my documents on FFN disappeared, and I couldn't find my backup for this anywhere. It took a while to get my motivation back. This was originally going to be a one-shot, but I've decided to make it a multi-chap. I'm going to try to make the chapters a bit shorter than usual, which will hopefully help me make updates more frequent. Anyway - I hope you enjoy!

The glass was cold against her forehead, fogged with her every breath. She'd started out counting raindrops, but the sprinkling had long since turned into a storm, and her eyes had long since grown unfocused.

"I'm sorry," came a voice from behind her. It wavered, a rare but not unfamiliar occurrence.

Rose wiped the tears from her eyes. He was crying, she could tell without looking; and if Lorcan was crying, she certainly couldn't be. Not now. Not until he stopped.
She forced the corners of her mouth to turn upward, and hoped that in the darkness he would believe them. "Don't be," she told him as she turned. "I understand."

"I didn't mean for this to happen." He sounded like he was begging her for something, although for what she wasn't quite sure. It couldn't (or rather, shouldn't) be her forgiveness. He already had that. "It's just that we're... Well, we've decided to... Elspeth, she's-"

"Your Soulmate," she finished for him, standing. "I know." He stepped out of the shadows, and the look on his face broke her heart all over again. It was like she could see the cracks in his eyes. "Oh, Lore..." she sighed, her feet rushing forward before she could bother telling them to. She palmed his cheek, brushed his tears away with her thumb. He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. "It's not your fault. Your Marks match, it's no secret what that means. I understand. I don't blame you-" she shook her head, both hands holding his face now, "-promise. I'm..." She licked her lips and swallowed. Don't cry. Not now. Not yet. Can't. "I'm happy for you."

Lorcan's eyes opened, crystal blue and stormy grey, swirling just as dizzily as the rain outside. She wondered if the weather made his eyes more striking, or if it was just her. His gaze made it difficult to breathe, nevermind articulate small comforts. "Rose, I love you," he insisted. She wished he wouldn't. It just made it harder, made her chest feel too small and her stomach clench all that much tighter. "You know I do. And that hasn't changed- won't change. It's just..."

When he paused, she looked down to steel herself and reaffirm the smile she'd plastered on. It softened into something half real when she met his eyes again. "It's just not the same." She brushed her fingers through his satin-soft hair and her eyelids fluttered against her will. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him close; to hide her face, to hide her heart, to force her lungs into doing their damn job. "I know. It's alright, Lore, really. We knew when we started this that it would never last."

Lorcan's hands pressed to her back, rubbed up and down her spine. She hoped he couldn't feel her heartbeat. She'd never been able to count on her pulse for backup. "Please tell me this won't change everything. Please tell me we can stay friends, at least. I'm not ready to- I don't want you to disappear from my life."

"Always," she whispered. At that moment, she didn't trust herself with more than two syllables.

With a long inhale, Lorcan pulled back to press his lips to her forehead. "I love you," he breathed.

"I love you, too," she managed, although she wasn't sure how. Perhaps because it was habit. The words felt as natural to her as breathing; moreso, sometimes. Her hands left his hair to straighten his collar and wipe the remaining tears from his cheeks. With each one that fell in their place, she held her breath. "And I wish you two all the happiness in the world." One corner of her mouth was higher than the other. Evidently out of words, their eyes closed in the same second, and their foreheads pressed together. His thumb brushed over her ribs. He nodded forward, brushing their lips together twice before a shaky exhale that rocked them both. She meant to tell him not to, but couldn't quite muster the willpower needed; just this once, she made herself promise. I can have this, just this once.

His lips met hers with enough power to empty her lungs of air, her mind of protests, her stomach of twists; but filled her chest with ache right to the brim. He tasted of saltwater and fairy floss, and if she didn't let go now, she wasn't sure she ever could. With one last hug, one last brush against his cheeks, and one last comb through his hair, Rose broke away from her one last kiss with Lorcan, and turned away before he could stop her.

"You'll find your match, Ro," he called out just before she disappeared into the shadows. "I hope it's soon. You deserve that, more than anyone."

It was probably meant to be comforting. It wasn't.

Left empty, cold, and cracked in his absence, Rose ran. She was antique china left out on the table, and those words... those words were an earthquake. Each step she took echoed into the dark, became part of the thunder, shook her broken pieces loose. It was all she could do to find an abandoned classroom to hide away in before she fell apart.

She wasn't going to find her Match, her Soulmate. Lorcan had no way of knowing it, of course, but such a thing would be impossible.

Because Rose Weasley didn't have a Mark.

The "Old Fanfiction Tropes" Competition II - Soulmate AU
The 'Convince Me' Challenge - Plot Prompt: Write about something involving a thunderstorm.
If You Dare Challenge - 98. We're Splitting Up...
OTP Bootcamp - 16. Thundering