LGBT Oneshots ✅

An L and An E

It started off as a smudge on his wrist, a small piece of dirt that wouldn't come off no matter how hard he rubbed at it, and Scotty remembered vividly being scared that mummy might look at him disapprovingly and not let him eat till he washed his hands. She wasn't strict with them, and least of all him as the youngest, but she kept a tidy home and she expected them all at the dinner table to eat as a family. It meant dad came home from work to arrive at seven every evening and his brothers would drag themselves away from the TV for long enough to set the cutlery down and talk about their day. Scotty had the least to say and all he had to do was turn up clean and seven year old him had been so irrationally terrified because he'd failed that.

So he'd worn his big sweater with the long sleeves and hidden his wrists under it.

Callum looked at him when he sat down, frowning a little, "Where'd you find that one, Scotty? Don't you have any clothes that fit you better?"

His bottom lip jutted out in a pout, "But I like this one, it's warm and fluffy."

"Well, I can't fault that logic. Go ahead and sit down, me and Nate will bring the dishes out so you fix yourself a drink or something, okay?"

By the time he'd poured himself a glass of water, the twins had brought out a big serving bowl of pasta carbonara and placed the plates and forks on each placemat neatly. Their parents came along soon enough with another bowl and, with them all there, they sat down to eat, taking turns to fill their plates. Scotty went last because he always took the longest but he was getting more independent and he was adamant that he could do it by himself.

"Lift your arms," Nate said, reaching over and pulling his sleeves up, "you don't want to get it dirty with sauce."

"Why are you wearing such a big jumper anyway?" Mummy asked. "I know you have smaller jumpers in your closet, I laundered two only the other day."

"He likes it," Callum said, "besides, it's no problem if he just rolls his sleeves up, right?"

Nate was sitting closest to him and, used to his role of older brother, he was leaning over and folding them back for him before Scotty could move away. It would be helpful apart from the fact that it almost immediately drew everyone's attention to his left wrist.

Callum frowned, turning Scotty's wrist over to look at it properly, "Is that a mark?"

"No," Scotty said, trying to wriggle his way out of his hold. "It's nothing."

"Dude, it's a soulmark! What are the odds that Scotty would get one before either of us?"

Scotty looked over at him, "What's a soulmark?"

"It's the name of your soulmate, the one person in the world who's absolutely perfect for you," Nate licked his thumb, rubbing at the skin, "huh, it is real."

If he was being honest, he didn't really understand what it meant but his parents seemed glad and his dad smiled at him like he'd done something right. It felt good. His brothers tried to tell him more about it but it was different for each person, never a set age or time for when the soulmark would appear or fully fill in. His parents weren't soulmates and didn't remember much about their own so Scotty had just waited and, slowly, the blur had begun to sharpen and become something more.

"It's a D!" Nate said, holding his arm up like he was a winner. "What do you think it could be, maybe Daisy or Diana?"

"Demi?"

"Desdemona?

"Maybe," he said, because none of them sounded right, "I don't know, we'll find out soon."

It took another six months for his soulmark to become a name, the first few months only producing an 'a' and then the rest of it coming alarmingly fast. And then it just stopped at six letters and, for all he stared and waited, nothing more appeared. It was stuck on Daniel and, suddenly, his father wasn't smiling anymore and his soulmark wasn't an appropriate topic of conversation. He stopped showing it to his friends and teachers and he stopped wearing short sleeves because he'd grown out of his old ones and his parents hadn't bought him anymore. He wasn't stupid, even if he was a kid, and he knew how to read the mood in the room, knew without his father saying that having a boy's name on his wrist wasn't a good thing.

They started learning about soulmarks in school and he felt fidgety and anxious when the teacher asked the class who had theirs already. A few kids looked at him but no one paid that much attention to be sure he had one so, when he didn't out his hand up, they didn't say anything. Scotty hated the class but he did learn one thing: some soulmates never met each other, some soulmates hated each other and some of them weren't perfect for each other after all. He dug his nails into his wrist and knew that was him.

He tried hard, though, not to be bitter and angry and, for the most part, he succeeded. It wasn't a big deal, though, until Callum and Nate got their marks a year later, at the age of twelve, and Scotty was genuinely excited for them because he loved his brothers. But he hated the burning shame he got every time their father mentioned their soulmarks, considering he wouldn't even acknowledge that Scotty had one.

"You know he just wants you to be happy," Callum said, bringing his arm around Scotty. "Having a boy's name on your wrist is going to make your life harder and, dad, he loves you but he just doesn't know how to show it properly."

Nate came around on the other side of him, making it a twin sandwich, "He doesn't get feelings and he doesn't know how to make it better so he just tries to ignore it. When he meets your Daniel, he'll love him, I promise."

"I don't even think I'll love him."

"Hey," Callum said, bringing him in closer, "don't say that. He's your perfect match and meeting him will be one of the best experiences of your life."

"I hope I never meet him."

Callum frowned and Scotty could feel them, more than hear them, communicating above his head. It was a thing they did often, talking to each other without words or practicing synchronised speech, and he understood that they would always be closer because they were twins. It made him feel lonely, though, and this soulmark thing was just another reminder of how different he was. Because the twins had girls' names and he had their father's disappointment.

So, when Scotty was sixteen, he added an l and an e to his soulmark.

The tattoo parlour was in one of the rougher parts of town and the guy behind the counter had frowned a little when Scotty came in but he was tall for his age and he was filling out his frame. It didn't matter anyway, anywhere that would alter a soulmark was hardly the kind of place that held stringent checks on IDs, and he left half an hour later with a bandage and a smile.

His father was proud.

The twins weren't as pleased, and neither was his mother, but they didn't understand. They couldn't understand.

Everything was different with a girl's name on his wrist. He didn't have to hide, for one, didn't have to worry that his bracelets or, in his later years, his watch would fall off and expose the name and it changed how he held himself, how he interacted. Scotty with Danielle's name was confident, throwing himself into football and flirting with all the girls, and sixth form was everything he had wanted.

By the time he went to university, Scotty had almost forgotten the name before the tattoo.

At least, until he met Daniel Costanza.

Check the comments below for my thoughts :)