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I saw 'Soulmates' somewhere and was like welp gotta spend 4 hours writing a new one shot. So, here it is and I hope you like it!

A couple of you commented as a guest on Epiphanies which sucks because I almost cried and wanted to reply. Also, the girl who remembers me from The Secret Life side of fan fiction, thank you for warming my heart because that's where my whole writing kick started from, so it means a lot.

If you like it, review and favorite and tell me! I love hearing from you guys and it gives me inspiration and brings joy to my miserable life! x

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She's 17 when Riley shoves her-literally shoves her- into the bathroom with frantic eyes. She can hear the bell go off and rolls her eyes to the ceiling, praying this was important. She half-assed promised her English teacher that she wouldn't be late again. 13 times in a row was a new record, really. But the last time Riley looked this worried was when Farkle caught his shirt on fire in Chemistry, so she lets herself be dragged into one of the stalls.

Riley locks it and leans back against it. "Maya something's happening to me." She says under her breath and pulls her left sleeve up.

Maya pauses for a moment and grabs the brunette's wrist in her hand.

Riley looks down at the tattoo before raising her eyes up to Maya's. "What's happening?!" She hisses.

Maya stares at the letters and runs her thumb across the ink. "It's fading." She whispers and swallows hard. She's read about this before, but she's never seen it actually happen. It's barely possible.

Riley grinds her teeth and rips her wrist out of Maya's grip. "Don't you think I know that? I wanna know why."

Maya looks up at her, hitching her breath. She couldn't tell her, she didn't want to. Call her selfish but she really couldn't watch the life fade from her best friend's eyes, and rip away the hope in her sparkly personality, she couldn't do that do her.

Because she knows how that feels, but it's worse for Riley. She had the name right on her wrist, she found her soulmate and fell in love. The fact that you could find your soulmate and have to watch the color drain from their name before your feelings do, it had to be unbearable. Maya never had that. Despite countless nights praying to every god she didn't believe in. Despite feeling her laptop burning her thighs with endless nights searching for reasons why she was different. Despite telling everyone she was fine and she didn't want a soulmate anyways because she didn't believe in true love. But Riley did and this had to be so much more painful than never having hope in the first place.

"Riles-"

She watches her best friend's eyes fill up with tears and hatred. "No. You do this stuff, you-you research everything about it. Tell me why Lucas's name is fading, Maya!"

She doesn't question how Riley even knows about that. She went to great lengths to make sure nobody knew. She deleted history, hid the books in a box under the sink. Took all the articles and saved them on a locked file on her laptop. She made sure no one knew that she actually cared about all this shit.

"Riley," She clears her throat to hold back her own tears. "You don't need research to know what that means."

Riley's lip quivers and she stares at her like it's her fault. Like she did this to her. And she falls to her knees and lets the tears pour out. "But, why?"

"It's rare, Riles, it's so rare. I'm so...sorry. I'm so sorry." She wipes her own tears away quickly. "1 in 500,000 claim their soulmates name fades." She whispers and drops down beside her, grabbing the brunette's face in her hands. "Riley, look at me."

Riley shakes her head, not bothering to rid her tears and closes her eyes. "I can't."

Maya tilts her head up. "Everyone talks about the chase. They talk about the excitement and the rush. But no one tells you how to keep the love. No one...tells you how hard it is to keep the balance. Riles, some people fall out of love as quickly as they fell in it." Riley sniffles and looks down and Maya lets go of her slowly. "There's been cases. One last year, actually, about this guy. He was married, happily married, when his tattoo of his wife's name started to fade. For years he was just this blank canvas-"

"Like you."

Maya bites her lip. "Yeah. Like me, I guess." She pauses. "Riley, a couple years later he wakes up with a new name on the back of his neck. Couple days later he meets a girl in the supermarket who pulls the back of his shirt down and claims that her name is on his body and that she's had his on her hand since she was 14. So just because his name is fading, I don't want you to give up hope that another won't appear. You're too good, and intelligent and beautiful to not have someone out there that will love you with everything he has."

"I'm sorry you never got one, Maya."

"Don't worry about me. You don't need to ever worry about me. I'm always okay." She never liked to lie to Riley, and she almost never did. But this was one thing she really couldn't handle being truthful about.

"Did his wife's tattoo disappear too?"

Maya sighs. She knows Riley doesn't care about the guy, or the wife, or anything about the story. She wanted to know if Lucas's tattoo was fading too. "I can't."

"Can't what?"

"I can't tell you...because I don't know."

.

She stares down at her blank paper for a few more seconds, tapping her pen against her desk. This doesn't make any sense. Riley's tattoo was fading out of nowhere and last time she checked, the girl was head over heels for the cowboy. What is she missing?

She starts tapping her pen again when she her's someone 'pssst' behind her and whips around in her seat to face Farkle with a glare.

"Have something to say, Farkle?"

He rolls his eyes and leans forward in his seat. "If you don't stop tapping your pen against your desk I'm going to smack you with it." He says casually and leans back in his chair, satisfied. "Now tell me what's on your mind."

Maya sneers at him and turns back around. She has better things to be doing. Her mind wonders back to Riley when a mop of brown hair leans over her shoulder.

"Farkle." She warns.

"Is this because you haven't gotten your soulmate tattoo yet? Because I've heard-"

With a growl, she turns back around. "I don't care what you've heard Farkle." Besides, she's read everything there is to know on this, he wouldn't tell her anything that she didn't already have stored in a box somewhere.

"Maya, maybe you're too resistant. I've heard legions about some people denying feelings so that the tattoo doesn't show up because they refuse to accept it."

She purses her lips. "Where did you hear about that? I've search everything there is-" Her eyes widen. "I mean, I've never heard about it."

Farkle's eyes sparkle as he smirks. "I knew it. I knew you weren't this cold hearted soul with no emo-"

"Watch it."

"Maybe your soulmate refuses to accept the feelings too, so they're not showing up."

"That's not possible. Some people just don't find a soulmate. The same way as some lose their soulmate because- Oh my god." She pauses and looks at the clock.

She knows why Riley's tattoo is fading.

She glances back at Farkle. "What class does Lucas have right now?" She asks.

He gives her a look. "Why?"

.

"FRIAR!" Her voice bounces off the walls of the hallway and watches heads turn towards her. She keeps her gaze focused on the blond who looks over his shoulder and meets her eyes with a sigh. She stalks towards him with a scowl and grabs him by the front of his shirt, pulling him into the supply closet.

"What in the hell, Maya?" Lucas yells and reaches for the door handle but she slaps at his hand.

"You have something you're not telling me, Huckleberry." She fans his face with her breath and steps closer.

Lucas clenches his jaw, wrapping his hand around her fist. "Let go of my shirt." He whispers and sighs. "And what do you want?"

He's never been so rude and dismissive with her before. She drops her hand. It got her all hot and bothered and this wasn't okay. "Show me your tattoo." Her voice cracks. She clears her throat as a look of horror flashed across his eyes for a millisecond before he scoffs.

"Goodbye." He deadpans and takes a step towards the door, sighing when she throws herself in front of it. "Maya." He snaps.

She leans back against the door, biting her tongue in anger. "See here's the thing, Sundance." She starts, pushing him back. He stumbles a bit but catches himself, red flushing his cheeks in embarrassment.

And no, she didn't think it was cute. She didn't have time for it.

"Did you know Riley's tattoo is fading?"

His gaze dropped but he didn't look too surprised.

"See, names only fade when, one-"She holds a finger up, stepping closer to him. "-the opposite spouse doesn't have the other person's name on their body." He glances away from her. "Or, two, the opposite spouse doesn't have a tattoo at all."

Lucas lets out a dry laugh, his brows stitching together. "Wait, you actually research this stuff?"

Maya crosses her arms over her chest, dropping her head. "Show me the tattoo, or admit what I already know."

He stares at her for a good minute, none of them saying a word. He looks like he's having a mental debate in his head.

She couldn't believe Riley was naive enough to not even check if her name was on him. She was too gullible, believing him without a second thought. All the gods better hope Riley gets a new name before she starts wrecking havoc.

Lucas runs a hand through his hair. "I...don't have one." He breaths out.

"For fuck sake, Lucas!" She raises her voice and punches him in the chest. "You're a god damn idiot. No! You're so much worse than that." She continues, "Were you scared you weren't gonna find somebody? So you chose Riley as a way out? How long did you think you were gonna get away with that for, you..."

"Maya, I'm sorry." He sighs again.

"Don't play the innocent Texas Ranger 'i had like 14 horses and love the earth' type shit right now. I'm so furious with you, I can't even come up with a good threat!"

"Maya." He steps closer but she doesn't notice.

"I mean, I don't have a tattoo either but do you see me running around picking on innocent souls you dumb-" She only stops when he grabs her face in his hands. They stare at each other in silence for a few moments before the bell goes off, tearing her eyes away from his.

"Get your beautiful eyes away from me, I'm mad at you." Is the last thing she says before she storms out of the supply closet.

.

She's 18 when she wakes up one morning to a burning sensation on the inside of her thigh. She shoots up from her bed, wiping at her damp forehead. She throws the sheets off her body as the burning gets worse and she hisses in pain and pulls her shorts down. She watches the words sketching into her skin in black writing and she'd be laughing in relief if it wasn't causing her to go into cardiac arrest. Her thigh turns a darker shade of red around the words as they get darker and she gasps.

LUCAS

No.

The burning fades away and her leg turns back to a pale white. She sits back on the bed slowly and runs her fingers over the words. No. No, no, no, no, no.

Okay. This is reasonable. How many Lucas's are there in the world? Plenty. There's fucking thousands. She grips her thigh and leans her head back against the headboard. It was the darkest shade of black she's ever seen. The darker it is, the stronger the bond. Names that dark rarely fade.

But then again, she's a rare case in itself. Everyone get's theirs before they turn 16, some get them on their first birthday. She took 2 extra YEARS to get her's.
Anything is possible. Which means this can fade. Which means it will. It has to.

So she waits.

.

She's 18 and half when she hears, "Maya. You're not gonna believe this."

Maya's eyes flutter open and her gaze focuses as Riley climbs through her window. She glances at the clock. 1am. Okay, totally normal for Riley. No sarcasm at all.
And then Riley's ripping her shirt off and Maya sits up cautiously.

"Is this the part where you confess your undying love for me because I have a test tomorrow and I need to catch some Z's. But we can totally reschedule." She says sarcastically.

Riley rolls her eyes and turns her back to her. Maya's eyes fall to the dark letters on her lower back like a tramp stamp.

ZAY

Maya pauses. "I..oh."

Riley flings herself on the bed beside her, the shirt left abandoned on the floor. Maya lays down beside her as Riley turns her head towards her. "Is this some kind of sick joke? Because I get straight A's, Maya. I've missed one day of school in my entire life because I broke my toe and Dad wouldn't let me wheel to school in my wheelchair. I volunteer instead of watching Supernatural like I want to. I'm a good person, Maya. So, why the heck is Zay's name tattooed onto my body forever? He literally drives me insane. Up the wall! Not to mention, when was the last time he even showed up for Gym class? Do you know why? Because he's too busy like doing cocaine or something."

Maya lets out a small laugh. "Zay doesn't do cocaine."

Riley huffs, rolling onto her side to face her completely. "Might as well, my life is over anyways."

Maya sighs and rolls over, mirroring Riley. "Riles, you know that tattoos come before the feelings. So, give it time. Opposites attract, so maybe you'll learn to actually like his qualities. Differences give you something to talk about at dinner. If you were the same, life would be boring, you know? I heard this saying once. It was something like, loving someone isn't jumping off the bridge with them, it's telling them to get their stupid ass off the ledge."

Riley rolls back onto her back, starring up at the ceiling. She lets out a breathy laugh. "Well if that's that case, you and Lucas should already be married then."

Maya purses her lips and pulls at her shorts.

She thought the worst thing about soulmates was watching the love of your life's name fade away before your eyes. But she thinks, maybe, the worst thing is having a name embedded on your body and knowing deep down that your soulmate isn't carrying yours. Knowing Lucas couldn't receprocate her feelings because he's a lost soul. She wishes she could go back to being a lost soul.

.

She's 19 when she see's it. Farkle thought everyone was too busy nowadays and they needed a reunion. So that's why she finds herself sitting on a picnic bench in the middle of this grassy park. Farkle, Lucas and Riley were throwing water balloons at each other. She smiles slightly as Lucas laughs after Farkle trips over his own feet and lands on his own water balloon.

Zay laughs beside her, looking over at Riley who had jumped on Lucas's back. "She hated me, you know?" He breathes out and she glances at him. He had a faint smile on his face.

"I know." She laughs and turns towards him, tucking her feet under her legs. "You can thank me at the wedding."

He looks at her with an amused expression. "Oh, really? Because I'm pretty sure it was my obvious good looks."

She shakes her head and glances back at Lucas who was struggling to get Riley off his back. She looks over at Farkle and spots the tattoo on his ankle. A girl he has yet to meet, before her eyes land back on Lucas.

"So, when did your tattoo show up?" He blurts out, and her eyes widen in surprised.

"Excuse me?"

He laughs, scratching the side of his face. He spares her a glance and looks back out at the goofballs. "I see the way you look at him. It's the same way I look at Rye. Uncontrollable, full of admiration. It's also the same way he looks at you." He says quietly and turns his whole body to face her. "Sure, Maya, you were a late bloomer, but-"

She hits him in the shoulder.

"Ok, ow. But." He scowls at her. "Unless two lost souls can fall in love, I know you have one. So where is it?"

She doesn't have time to respond-and she thanks god for that- because Lucas is jogging towards the picnic table.

"Riley just kicked my ass, I'm out." He says out of breath and reaches over the table for one of the water bottles and she see's it.

The water caused his jeans to ride way lower than usual and his shirt wasn't covering it since it was stuck to his chest. It's right under his hip bone.

MAYA

And she grabs onto Zay's shoulder because she's gonna sink six feet under if nothing supports her weight right now.

"Ok, ow. Again."

Lucas sits down across from her as Farkle and Riley head back to the table. They're chattering but she blocks everyone out because all she see's is Maya.

Maya.

MAYA.

"Right, My?" She looks up at Riley in confusion.

"What?"

Riley giggles. "I was telling Zay that it wasn't his good looks that reeled me in. It's all on you."

And yeah, okay. She'll brag about it later.

.

She's laying in bed that night and the etched words on his hipbone won't leave her brain. She's being driven fucking insane. How long did he have it? Why did he not tell her? But then again, he'll ask her the same questions. Maybe he thought she never did get her tattoo, the same way she thought he never got his.

Huffing, she flings the blankets off and pulls her shirt off before slipping out of her shorts. She changes into the only matching lingerie set she has, which is black. Because her whole wardrobe is black, and who doesn't love black?

She digs into the back of her closet to find her trench coat and slips it on.

Here's a note. Don't go outside in the nude with only a trench coat in the start of winter. A hat doesn't keep your cave of wonders warm.

And god forbid, she didn't take in the fact that she needed to climb the fire escape to get to the window. She prays no one is walking by while she climbs because they'll be getting a great view of her goods. She flings her leg over the railing and jumps onto the balcony and taps on the window.

Nothing.

She taps again.

Nothing.

She bangs on the window and jumps back as the glass shatters around her.

Oh. Fuck.

The curtains slide open and Lucas comes out with a bat.

"Calm down, Batman. It's just me."

His eyes land on hers and he lowers the bat, his eyes turning from fear, to relief, to annoyance. "You broke my damn window?" He snaps.

She lifts her arms up in surrender. "In my defense, I didn't know I was that strong." She saves the part where she's actually proud of the fact, and steps over the glass with her combat boots.

Lucas steps back and she crawls inside before he takes in her appearance. "Were you in the middle of a heist? What the hell are you wearing?"

She ignores his comment and drops her trench coat, letting it pool at her feet. She watches his gaze drop to her barely clothed body.

"I..."

She purses her lips, looking around the room awkwardly. If she really had to point the tattoo out to him herself, she was gonna be very disappointing in him.

His gaze reaches her eyes again after a few moments. "You know, I've pictured this moment before. I just didn't include the breaking my window and maybe a fair share of swear words thrown around and I'm really confused right now." He starts mumbling, closing his eyes and running a hand over his face.

She rolls her eyes and decides on not telling him how fucking adorable he is when he's nervous. "Save it, Huckleberry. Look at my legs."

He pauses, his eyes still closed. "I'd rather not, as this is awkward enough."

She takes the few paces to get to him and smashes her lips against his. His eyes shoot open in surprise before he kisses back. Once he's completely out of shock, he grabs the side of her face with one hand and she feels the other snake around her waist, making their bodies crash against each other. She uses her own hands to grab the sides of his face, deepening the kiss. His tongue runs across her bottom lip and she opens her mouth slightly as his tongue slid into her mouth.

And no, she's not gonna say she see's fireworks, explosions, volcano's, firecrackers or whatever the fuck.

But her body feels warm and her lips are tingling and his hand slides into her hair and she thinks this is enough.

He pulls away suddenly, shaking his head. His mouth was opening and closing but he couldn't find any words.

A ghost of a smile creeps onto her face and she drops one of her hands down to the waistband of his flannel pajama pants. She pulls them down a bit, her name starring back at her. The ink was a darker black than this morning.

"How long?" She whispers.

He steps back, letting her hand fall. "I...sorry. I should have covered it up better, I know you don't have one, so you don't feel the same way, and I shouldn't have even-"

She scoffs. "Do you think I drop my clothes for anybody?"

Lucas rolls his eyes. "That's not what I mean, Maya."

"Then enlighten me."

"Can we not do this right now?"

"Just tell me how long you've had it, Lucas."

He growls before sitting on the edge of his bed, putting his head in his hands. "Sixteen. I was sixteen."

So when he told her that he didn't have one, he really had her name. That's why Riley's was fading.

She walked over to him as he raised his head. "Look." She moves her legs apart and his eyes fall on his name across her inner thigh.

She expect him to start declaring his love, or get angry that she never told him, or even throw her out the window she just broke. But she takes a sharp breath when he grabs her waist and pulls her on top of him, falling back into the bed. She sits up, knees on either side of him, straddling him. How the hell was she gonna explain this one to Riley? He leans back up and brushes his lips against hers slowly, pulling her back down with him. She wraps her arms around his neck and he flips them over so he's hovering over her.

"I hope you don't think just because you seduced me, that you're getting out of paying for that window." He mumbles into the kiss and she laughs