Ashton: You stared at your wrist, brushing the pad of your thumb over the soft skin. Ashton. The word was simple, the name so powerful. He was your soulmate. Everyone had a name on their wrist. Some little reminder that one day, you would find that person and they were out in the big, vast world waiting to be found. But you truly believed you would never find yours. Every time you saw someone, you imagined it being them, defeated when you learnt that their name wasn’t the one you stared at for as long as you had lived. Tracing the lettering with the tip of your nail you stared out into the busy crowded street. You were sitting on a bench, your bag beside you as you leaned your head back against the wall. Your music was playing too loudly, surely your Mother would yell at you, but right now you needed to just hear your music, and not the hustle and bustle of the crowds as they moved about their life. You often wondered how many people had actually found their soul mate. How many people had actually had that thrill when they found that name, something they had stared at for so long. You felt nothing, your parents had found their special someone, but you felt like everyone else’s life was moving on around them, and that yours was just at a stand still. Maybe you weren’t looking hard enough, or maybe you were looking in the wrong places. But where does one look for their soulmate? They could be anywhere. They could be halfway across the world for all you knew. Or they could be down the road. You leaned back and closed your eyes, just willing yourself to forget about this thought that had plagued you for as long as you could remember. You sighed, packing up your bag and slinging it over your shoulder. You stood up, lowering your music so you could hear your surroundings, and walking at a steady pace. You dodged around people, apologizing when you clipped shoulders, and smiling at people who gave you a curt smile. It was a normal day, nothing unordinary about it. Suddenly, without any warning, a guy ran right into you, knocking you and causing you to stumble. You would have fallen if it weren’t for a strangers strong arms catching you. Your body was almost electrified when the stranger caught you, as you yelped in surprise. “Watch where you’re going,” The stranger spat at you, turning his shoulder and brushing past you. You shook your head, regaining your balance and turning around to face the stranger who had caught you. “People, huh?” He asked, shaking his head. “Thanks,” You said a little sheepishly. You were moderately embarrassed that you had to be caught in the middle of public. It was different for some reason, people were milling around the two of you, as if you were in your own little bubble. “Don’t worry about it,” He said flashing you a dimpled smile. You smiled sheepishly at the ground. “I don’t think I got a chance to introduce myself,” He said, itching the back of his neck. You could tell he was nervous, but you kept your composure. “I’m Ashton,” And with that small sentence, your heart stopped, and your eyes grew wide. You swallowed slowly, before meeting his eyes. “Is something wrong?” He asked, your reaction going noticed. “I’m (Y/N)” You blurted out. He too, had the same reaction. His hazel eyes grew wide, his expression was startled, and you even saw him tense. Surely his heart was beating as fast as yours was in your chest, thunderous to the point where it drowned out other sounds. You wordlessly grabbed your jacket sleeve and pulled it up to reveal the small inscription. Ashton. Following suit, Ashton grabbed his long sleeve shirt and pulled it up, moving some of the brackets he wore to reveal your name spread across the blue veins on his wrist. You two looked up, meeting eyes and not being able to say anything. You tried to form some coherent sentence, but words wouldn’t form. You wanted to ask him if this was true, but maybe the pounding in your chest was solidifying the notion that perhaps you had found him. Suddenly, Ashton broke out into a smile so large you thought he would hurt himself. And before you realized what was happening, you were laughing. Not a ‘thats so funny laugh’ but more of a startled, confused laugh. Ashton joined in, and you could feel yourself smiling, and Ashton was smiling. He was gorgeous, almost too gorgeous. Surely this was some kind of joke, maybe he had covered it up and wrote your name on his wrist for some kind of sick jest. But how would he know? You had never seen him before, because if you had you would have known. It wasn’t so much a feeling of this is most certainly him. But more of a feeling of finding comfort when you’re scared, or finding home. You thought for a moment, and realized that was what you were feeling. You had found home. He grabbed your hand suddenly, and brushed his thumb over your wrist, his touch warm. “I can’t believe it,” He murmured to himself more than to you. You relished the feeling of his touch, the way he gently ran his thumb over the thin skin of your wrist. He broke his gaze from your wrist to look at you, and studied your face. “If you’re not busy, I was wondering if I could possibly take my potential soulmate out for a coffee?” You laughed, and nodded. “I would love that,” You said, allowing him to take your hand, his thumb brushing once more over your wrist before intertwining his fingers with yours - as if you found the missing piece to your puzzle.
Calum: When a certain band grew in stature, getting to big it made your heart pound, you began to think that you would never meet your soulmate. Maybe it was a fantasy of yours, and maybe it would never happen but you had the name Calum tattooed on your wrist. And with the rising power of the new band 5 Seconds of Summer you hoped with all of your being that he was your soulmate. But the band never revealed who’s names were on their wrists. It was a privacy thing they said, that when they found her, the world would know. In countless interviews interviewers would ask, plead, and basically grovel for them to show but they refused. It was one aspect of their lives they kept a secret. But with the rising popularity of the band, you felt like your chance to meet Calum was almost impossible. Unless you ran into them on the street, but really what was the likely chance of that? Highly unlikely. And what are the chances they would stop to talk to you, especially Calum? They were famous, living their lives, and having the time of their life. But you tried endlessly. You wanted to meet them, so badly. You never told anybody this notion, because lets be honest. How many Calum’s were out in the world? And the one that rose to fame was yours? The probability of it was so unlikely. But today you felt it, maybe today would be the day that you would meet Calum and see if it was true. What could it hurt? You wanted to know, and then you could finally move on. So you tried to look your nicest, hearing that they were around the area that you lived in. It was strange, realizing that their band was possibly down the street from where you lived. You ventured out into the warm sunshine, yelling to your Mum that you would be back later. You strolled carelessly down the street, making your way to the main road. That was when you heard the shrieking of girls, and the call of band names. Your heart stilled in your chest, and then without warning picked up to beat at a pace that was surely not healthy or likely to send you into cardiac arrest. You picked up your pace, determined to see if your hearing proved true. So when you rounded the corner and saw a small group of girls smiling around four boys you couldn’t believe your luck. You went up to the circle, spotting Calum a little off to the side talking to a beautiful girl. Your confidence was shattered. He would be so disappointed if he found out that you were his soulmate. You tried to hold your head high as you walked to where Calum was standing, and standing a little off to the side. “It was lovely meeting you,” He said, turning towards you. He smiled, a real genuine smile, as you smiled back at him. “Hello,” You said nervously tucking your hair behind your ear. “Hello love, how are you?” He asked you. You could only smile, but you resumed yourself and remembered to answer him. “Great, thanks. How are you?” You asked. “Same old, better now that I’ve met you!” He said. You laughed, before pulling out your camera, trying to seem normal. “Would you mind if I got a picture with you?” You asked hesitantly. “Not at all,” He said coming up beside you. You held the camera, smiling. On the screen you saw Calum smiling at the screen before his smile faltered and you saw him looking at your wrist. It wasn’t intentional to show it this early, but it was your dominant hand and you were wearing a t-shirt. You put the camera down without taking the picture, and nervously putting a hand over your wrist. “Um, would you mind if I saw your wrist?” He asked, and you bit your lip. You let go of your wrist, your hand shaking as you held it out in front of him. He stared at the small inscription before looking at you. “What’s your name?” He asked, suddenly. “(Y/N).” You said, in a small voice. The fans were dissipating and you saw Luke begin to walk towards you. Calum looked away and at Luke, before pointing to his wrist. Luke cocked his head to the side before staring at you. His eyes grew wide and his eyes went back to Calum’s wrist. “Excuse me,” He said, skiing softly at you. He walked a little farther away from you, talking in a hushed tone to Luke. You saw them both look at you, before Luke shake his head. You were defeated, that was it. It wasn’t true, and he probably thought you were crazy. Calum came back to you, his face somber. He grabbed your hand suddenly and pulled you a little aways from the remaining girls. He looked from side to side and suddenly it felt like a drug deal. He pushed back the bracelets on his wrist, and wiped his thumb over his plain wrist. There was no name, but the more he rubbed the more the, what you assumed to be foundation, came off. “I have to hide it so fans won’t see or the media,” He said. Slowly the letters came into view, with the elegant inscription of your name. Your eyes grew wide as you stared at his wrist and met his eyes. “Crazy,” He whispered. “How do we know its true though? Our names are so common…” You said, wondering if it was just some crazy coincidence. The more you stared at each other the more Calum began to smile. “Its the eyes. I know those eyes.” He said, and you could feel yourself blushing. “I think its true.” He said, staring at your face. “I just have a feeling.” He said. “I do too.” You said. He smiled shaking his head. “Who would have thought,” He said. You laughed shaking your head. “Come on, might as well introduce you to the rest of the boys. I’m sure they’re interested in meeting my soulmate.” He said, grabbing your hand. And instantly, a warmth, a knowing spread through your hand, and your tattoo tingled. You gasped slightly, and he smiled, squeezing your hand. “Told you,” He said, leading you towards the boys that were sitting with their backs to the road, staring at the wall. You squeezed Calum’s hand back, feeling the warm pulsing of the tattoo on your wrist, but also an instant warmth spread through your chest.
Luke: This was the problem with being famous. Every face in the crowd may or may not be your soulmate. When Luke looked out into the excited, eager crowd he wondered if she was out there, staring at him and wondering the same thing. It drove him nuts to be honest. He had to cover the name up on his wrist, because the media would assume it was anyone with that name. Everyone in the band had to. They used bracelets, new foundations and make up cover ups to hide the black ink. But after a show, Luke would sit down and rub off the make up, staring at the name and wondering if she was out in the audience. It was hard, Ashton and Calum had already found their girls. They had found their soul mates and their searches were over. Luke however wanted to find her as if that was his only job. He wanted that special someone, he was tired of being played by other girls. There had been a time where he thought he had found her but there wasn’t those sparks. It was dead, he had no reaction to her other than the name on his wrist matching. She was devastated, and to be honest so was he. He had thought it was over, that he could finally relax and just enjoy the company of his soulmate. But of course it wasn’t that easy, and as soon as the media caught wind of it, it blew up to be something so outlandish the story wasn’t even true. From then on in, Luke tried his hardest to keep it a secret. The only good thing was that the media changed the names around so many times nobody knew his true match. The inscription on his wrist was still a secret. But here he was, going for a walk in a foreign town to him, only to clear his head. The boys had insisted that they go with him, but he needed time to think. He wanted just to be alone and be alone with his thoughts. He shouldn’t even be fretting about this situation, he had his entire life ahead of him to find that special lady. But he had heard of rare cases that when you find your soulmate, your tattoo would glow faintly or even tingle. He heard Calum say that when he met his soulmate his tattoo had tingled. He was jealous to be honest, but then again Ashton’s hadn’t. He just felt an electrifying touch. But that was something special too, that they’re love was that much stronger. What if he had walked by here and there wasn’t that cosmic sign saying that there she was? What if that was his one chance and that it wouldn’t happen again? Stuffing his hands in his pockets he scuffed his heels, hurrying his pace. He tried to just listen to his music but it wasn’t doing much. He sighed, stopping abruptly, deciding to go and sit down on a bench, just to rest. He had walked so fast and furiously that he had to take a break. He sat down, sticking his long legs out in front of him, and leaning his head back against the bench. He closed his eyes, just for a moment to feel the cool night air brush his cheek. He opened them to see a girl, maybe around his age sit down on the opposite side of the bench, scooting as far away from him as she could. You looked at him, his appearance familiar but intimidating. His lip piercing and clothing screamed bad boy, and on an nearly empty street at night made you a little skittish. Luke tried to smile at you, and you meekly returned it, going back to looking for your bus. Luke looked up and realized that he was sitting in front of a bus stop, that was why you had sat down beside him. He was suddenly very nervous, because well, you were gorgeous. He was startled at how beautiful you looked with the soft light of the lamp shining on you. You caught him staring and quickly blushed and looked down. Your heart was hammering, and you didn’t know why. Maybe nerves. It had to be nerves. But the more you studied him out of the corner of your eye the more you were drawn to him. “Cold tonight huh?” Luke asked, and he cringed. How stupid did that sound? You looked up and nodded. “It is the fall,” You said. “This is true,” He said, nodding his head dumbly. “So ugh, how are you?” He asked, willing the conversation to go farther. “Good thanks,” You said. “You?” You asked, remembering to be polite. “Good thanks,” He said. There was an awkward silence before Luke shifted in his seat. “I’m Luke,” He said outstretching his hand. You stopped, frozen for a moment before turning to him. You stared at him, really stared, and looked to his wrist. There was no name because the bracelets were covering it. “Is everything okay?” He questioned, a little unsure. “(Y/N),” You said slowly, hoping the same reaction crossed his face. And you were greeted with a stunned silence. His eyes opened wider than usual, and you could see him visibly swallow. “Thats a beautiful name,” He said, his voice a little unsure. You ran your thumb across the tattoo. How could this be true? You traced the lettering, without even looking at it, before meeting his eyes. “Can I see your tattoo?” He asked suddenly. You felt vulnerable, as if he asked you to take off your clothes in front of him. You hesitantly held out your arm, seeing his eyes leave your face and look at the thin skin of your wrist. You heard him hold his breath, and let it out in one long drawn out sigh. Without a word, he rolled up his sleeve, pushing away the bracelets and showing you his wrist, your name elegantly tattooed. Your heart stilled, stopped and restarted at a lightning speed. There was a silence, and you saw the lights of the oncoming bus come your way. You snapped your head towards the bus, as it approached faster and faster. Luke looked at you, expecting you to stand up but you still sat down. The bus parked, opening its doors as some people got off, chatting and laughing. You didn’t move though, you were frozen in place. “Are you getting on kids?” The bus driver asked. “Next bus,” You heard yourself say. You even surprised yourself. The next bus wasn’t for another three hours. “Do you think…” You said, to Luke as the bus drove away. “I don’t know,” He said, running a hand through his hair. You scooted a little closer to him, a little nervous as you held your hand over his knee. You wanted to see if it was true. There had to be some way that this would work. You had heard stories of people getting electric jolts, of peoples tattoos tingling, a sense of knowing, or even the tattoo glowing faintly. He nodded his head, not touching you but allowing you to touch him. You placed your hand on his knee and your head went light. It was as if you had taken a drug because for a fleeting moment you felt light and airy. Luke too gasped, as he placed his hand over yours. You knew he was probably feeling the same lingering, drug like effects of finding your soulmate. Taking your hand away you saw Luke’s wrist glowing faintly. You looked at yours and saw a small blue light emanating from the cursive writing, and you looked up. He was smiling, and you started to laugh, unable to contain it any longer. “What are the chances?” You asked, shaking your head. “One in a million. But you’re my one.” He said, and you smiled at him, feeling the lingering effects of love run through your veins.
Michael: Michael was such a common name. A name that so many men had, which made finding your particular soulmate such a challenge you thought you would give up. It wasn’t supposed to be this hard. But you would have gotten stuck with a name that was one of the most popular names in the 21st century. You flopped down on your couch, grabbing your phone and texting your friend. “Surprise, surprise. Its a no go.” You typed, sending the message and tossing your phone on the cushion beside you. Moments later your phone vibrated and you picked it up. “Come to a party tonight, my friends throwing one. It will be fun!” You pondered the thought. What could it hurt right? But at the same time, you didn’t want to deal with people. Because whenever there was a party, everyone always was more intrigued about the name on each others wrists than the actual person. It was more a social event of finding that certain person rather than actually socializing. Of course there were the people who literally didn’t give a shit, and just wanted to have a good time. You wanted to be one of those people, but you were sure you couldn’t escape the questions, and the people just grabbing your wrist to look at the name. You traced the delicate inscription, frustrated about it. Why, your friend had such a unique name on her wrist that you were sure that when she found him, it would be it. But you had to sift through how many Michaels until you found one with your name on his wrist, and that could take ages. Who knows, maybe out of sheer coincidence you would find a match, but not actually be soul mates. It had happened to a ton of people, and with your luck you were waiting for it to happen to yourself. Shaking your head, and biting your lip, your fingers hovered above the keyboard of your phone. It would be nice to go out and meet people but also netflix was calling you. You sighed, running a hand through your hair and deciding. “I’m going with you, no way am I walking in alone.” You replied. You decided you had best shower, and begin to get ready. About two hours later you were presentable, already having your water bottle full of vodka and mix. If it was a kegger you hated the cheap beer that was always warm, and you didn’t want to even imagine what it looked like. You were more keen on settling on your own mix than trying whatever piss they decided to serve. You left your house, telling your Mum that you were going to crash at your friends house that evening. Leaving, you looked at your wrist, sliding your bracelet down to cover it, before arriving at her house. You left about an hour later, already slightly buzzed from her gracious liquor cabinet. Laughing and hailing a cab to the party, you two giggled as you thought of all the cute guys that may be at the party. “I want to meet my soulmate,” Your friend whined, as you agreed. “Everyone is, and its just so depressing not.” You added. She nodded her head, taking a sip from her water bottle. She leaned back against the seat and looked out the window. “What if he’s half way across the world and I just don’t know that. What if I never get to the other side of the world to see him?” She questioned, and you thought about it. That was something you pondered for a long time. But people always said there was some driving force that made you want to do things. For a brief instant you wondered if there was some force driving you to go to this party, but you shook your head. That would be way too weird. You arrived, hearing the loud bass shake the house as a lot of people milled around outside and inside the house. You two linked arms, walking up the driveway and just opening the door. You were met with a hard wall of smells. Beer, sweat, perfume, too much cologne, hormones, and spilled alcohol. You wound your way through people, following your friend until you found yourself in the kitchen. You had lost your friend, she was surely off being her flamboyant self and wooing everyone to talk to her. You leaned against the kitchen counter taking a sip from your water bottle. “That doesn’t look like water,” You heard a voice beside you say. “Doesn’t taste like it either,” You replied, smiling at you took another sip. “This doesn’t look like a place you’d be,” He said leaning against the counter next to you. You turned your head to look t him and realized how attractive he was. He had multicoloured hair, really dark eyes, and a body that you wanted to tackle. “My friend encouraged me to come,” You said, smiling. “Lost her?” He asked. “She’s somewhere,” You said, looking through the throngs of people. “How about you?” You asked, screwing the lid on your bottle. “I came because my friend dragged me here.” He said, raising his voice a little to be able to be heard over the rise of the bass. “Lets step outside,” He said, leaning a little closer to you to speak in your ear. You shivered, but nodded anyways. You followed him, weaving between people and noticing people staring. You shook your head ignoring them as you made your way to the backyard. There were a few scattered people but you sat down on the grass in front of him regardless. “So tell me about yourself.” He questioned, taking a bottle out of his coat pocket and taking a sip. “What do you want to know?” You teased, toying with the lid of your own bottle. “Name,” He said, smirking. “(Y/N).” You said simply. He stopped, his bottle dropping with a hard thud. You looked at him, his face resuming composure. “Interesting.” Was all he said. There was an uncomfortable silence and you wanted to say something but you didn’t. For some reason, you had an odd feeling about this situation. “Whats your name?” Your voice was small and hesitant. He breathed out through his nose, the anticipation killing you. “Michael.” You saw black dots dance in front of your vision but you disregarded them. You stared at him, wide eyed. “What’s on your wrist?” He asked. And you were almost too eager to roll it up. When he saw it, his eyes grew wider if that was possible before he grabbed his shirt sleeve and pulled it up. You saw your own name engraved in his skin. You had to put your hand on the ground to steady yourself. Maybe the alcohol was making this situation a lot more intense than what it should be but you were amazed. Or maybe you were sobering up. You didn’t know which one, you just knew that you had potentially met your soul mate. “Isn’t there more ways that you know?” You asked. He reached out to caress your face, and you felt warmth spread through your face, down to your fingertips. It was something you hadn’t felt before. It was if his palm was warm, but there was no way to describe the way the sensation ran through your body. He must have felt it too because his eyelashes fluttered gently. “What happens if we kiss?” You asked. He grinned wickedly at you as he leaned in, pressing his lips gently to yours. It was if it was every holiday, every celebration, every best moment in your life was squished together to make the happiest, warmest feeling in the entire world. You broke apart, smiling and blushing. “Look at that, but just to be sure I think we should try again,” He said. You nodded your head, laughing as he reached in to kiss you again, and the feeling started all over again. And best of all, there was a warm and fluttery sensation in your stomach. Something that said that this was meant to be.
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A/N
Not mine :)