It's Just A Word (Soulmate AU)

Prologue - The Birthday Gift

nodus tollens
n. the realization that the plot of your life doesn't make sense to you anymore—that although you thought you were following the arc of the story, you keep finding yourself immersed in passages you don't understand, that don't even seem to belong in the same genre—which requires you to go back and reread the chapters you had originally skimmed to get to the good parts, only to learn that all along you were supposed to choose your own adventure.

11:58 pm. 2 minutes. 160 seconds. You continued to stare at the inside of your arms, waiting for the word to appear. The word that will determine what your soulmate thinks of you for the rest of your life, well if you find him that is. You ran your fingers gently over your skin, goosebumps forming at your touch. You bit your lip nervously, a million possible words flying through your mind. You could get anything, and you didn't get a do over.

11:59. In 60 seconds a word is going to appear on your arm, and it sure as hell won't be in sharpie. You will never be able to erase the word of your skin, always a reminder of exactly what you are. Everyone says you can turn the other cheek, not pay any mind to the word, but how. How do you ignore what the cosmic universe thinks of you? You continued gnawing on your bottom lip, a metallic taste soon coating your tongue, but you didn't care.

"Okay Y/N. No matter what this word says, you are a good person. You are too strong to be brought down by a stupid word," you laughed as you continued talking to yourself aloud, "No big deal.. It's just a bunch of letters etched on your skin for eternity and if its bad and you actually luck up and meet your soulmate they could totally disown you and you will live forever alone with 5 cats. Yep. Totally not a big deal." You took a peak at your door, wondering if your dad was waiting outside. You told him you wanted to be alone when the word appeared, but knowing him he would come in and check on you regardless.

__________

Stiles couldn't sit still, his leg bouncing up and down nervously. He had been counting down the minutes, staring at his clock on his nightstand watching the digital numbers continue to get closer to midnight. 45 minutes, he thought to himself. He was brought of his thoughts as his phone started ringing somewhere from under his covers. He aimlessly searched the sheets until his fingers came in contact with a cool metal surface. He brought it up to his face, the light from the screen blinding him slightly as he pressed the green button.

"HAPPY ALMOST BIRTHDAY BRO!" Scott was yelling so loud he had to pull the phone back from his ear before he went deaf. He was fixing to thank him when his best friend since childhood went into a horrible rendition of happy birthday.

"Scotty if I wasn't deaf before the screaming I definitely am after the singing." Stiles heard his friend scoff from the other end, which made him chuckle.

"Ass. That's not how you thank someone for staying up and singing Happy Birthday to you."

"Singing is a strong word Scott." Stiles didn't hide the laugh that escaped his lips this time, and he heard Scott gasp in fake heartbreak.

"I am offended. I'm a fantastic singer." Stiles was practically rolling now, tears threatening to spill from the corner of his eyes as he clenched his stomach.

"Yeah right Scotty. If your shower head could talk, it would probably kill you from all the torture of your so-called singing." Scott laughed this time, and they both sat on the phone giggling like school girls over his comment. Stiles was pulled out of his
conversation by a knock on the door. "I'll call you back bro, my dad wants to talk to me." He didn't wait for a reply, clicking the end call button and putting his phone down as his dad walked in the room in his room, a sad expression on his face.