Tattoos ➳ 𝓜𝓲𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓾𝓵𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓢𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓶𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓐𝓤

Hallway of uncertainty

The hallway was empty. It was just Adrien and myself. 

As I stood there, I watched distantly as the boy slowly slid down the wall, his fluffy hair covering his miserable face. My body told me to move, but I was frozen in my tracks.

I pulled my sleeve up, making sure it really was the same tattoo. And without a doubt, it was. Lila had my tattoo on her arm. Life was punishing me for something. What a cruel world. There was no way I could possibly be Lila's soulmate. Absolutely impossible. No chance in hell. But Adrien reacted the same way I did.

Could it be possible that she... 

I grasp my wrist again. This whole situation, there had to be a misunderstanding. I need the truth. Why did he react that way? 

My feet moved before I think to do so, and I began to make my way over to Adrien. The once silent atmosphere was filled with nothing but the echoing steps I made in the empty desolate halls.

I approached him slowly. I couldn't help but admire him as he was. Slumped up against the wall, his head hung and his shoulders drooped. I almost had to cover my eyes and shield them from the warm aura of sunlight that reflected of his shiny hair. Small dust particles were visible in the light, dancing around him while he sat unmoving. It was like time stopped. 

"Adrien?"

Usually his head would shoot up to pay me a glance, but this time I had received no response. I inched closer, only a meter or so from the boy. I crouched down to his level, still unable to see his face that was hidden behind golden hair. I waited a moment longer, unsure whether I should place a hand on his shoulder or not. Before I had the chance to make an act, he shuffled a little, taking me by surprise. His voice was soft and flat, pausing in between words to gather his shattered thoughts. 

"I knew I wouldn't be fated with the one I love, but Lila?" 

I felt my stomach plummet. 

Fated with Lila? What? What does he mean? Why would he be fated with her?

I didn't know what to say, my voice had been taken from me. I could only stand beside him trying to process this information. Suddenly I could make out less and less, my brain deciding to pick and choose random sentences that came from his mouth.

"...tattoo. We're fated," I heard part of a sentence he said in a miserable tone. 

Fated? Who? Him and Lila? That's not right, the tattoo on Lila's wrist was the same as my own. There's no way Adrien could have a matching...

"Your-" I stop for a moment, squeezing my eyes shut in confusion. "Your tattoo?" I continue.

He slowly looked up, his teary eyes meeting mine as he clenched his wrist. I reached out for him, expecting him to flinch or back away, but he's as still as the unmoving air. I slowly trail my eyes from his face down to his hand, then back to his face. He seemed to understand through my actions what my intentions were. He had trusted me enough. All this time, not once had I pried or made him uncomfortable by peering at his covered tattoo. The one he loathed with all his being. But now here we were. 

"Can I see your arm?" I questioned softly. Though I wanted nothing more than to see the symbol right then as I said it. I prevented myself from leaping onto him and pulling his sleeve up with force. That's the one thing I could never bring myself to do. To my disbelief, he meekly brought his arm forward, pausing before offering it to me.

"...Did you see Lila's tattoo?" He uttered flatly. 

"I saw it." I admitted, my thoughts still jumbled. But this was the moment I would find out. The moment my questions would be answered. Maybe it's a coincidence. Maybe I didn't see Lila's tattoo correctly. Maybe there's another reason Adrien is upset. Or maybe Adrien's tattoo does match Lila's tattoo. My tattoo. 

His arm bumped my hand, startling me from disordered reasoning. I placed my shaky fingers on the sleeves of his soft cotton hoodie. He didn't move, not a bit. I stared deeply into his distressed emerald eyes as I slowly slid it up. I don't know what I expected. Nor what I wanted to expect. But by the time the anticipation was almost killing me, by the time I had flipped his wrist over and revealed his wrist to my own eyes, I ceased functioning. 

Is this even real?

I gaped at the tattoo on his wrist. He let me gaze upon it, allowing my eyes to pierce his wrist in bewilderment. 

What do I do? What do I say?

I rotated his wrist left and right slightly, waiting for it to change.

But- Lila. Why did she-

I open my mouth, then shut it again. Inching forward in desperation, I clasped his arm tightly with both of my hands.

A yin and yang symbol. 

My tattoo- his tattoo. 

He soon took it from me, and rolled his sleeve back down his arm in shame. 

"Sorry Mari, I need to go. I can't- I just need a quick breather," he said dismissively. He no longer bore a reassuring yet fake smile. Just an empty expression slipped from my view as he walked away. 

I shot my head to the ground, raising my hands to my head. My brain was screaming, my heart was aching. The anger and confusion that had gathered inside of me had spilled out, my mouth opened without my permission as I reached for Adrien, who was already disappearing from my grasp. 

"Wait, please! Adrien, look-" I begged, my throat dry. I was shaking profusely as I swiftly rolled up my sleeve.

"See, I-"

But he was already gone. 

I stood there in the empty hall huffing and puffing in isolation, bracing my tattooed wrist to the ghost of a boy who had dissolved into mid air. 

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A/N: Vote for more     ⭐      (It motivates me :'>)