Work Text:
Derek Morgan really didn’t understand the need for a soulmate tattoo. It was just a way to find who your soulmate was quicker, and he wanted to experience the adventure and excitement of not knowing. Nevertheless, he didn’t protest when they got him tattooed at just 6 years old.
Unlike his sisters, Derek’s tattoo barely changed. What kind of kid doesn’t have access to the internet, even if it’s just for an online game?
He was 10 when it changed for the first time. It was so slight, he almost missed it, but one day when he was in class, he noticed it starting to change. In the search bar sketched on the skin of his arm appeared, “churches near me that accept abandoned children.” What? How could someone let go of their own child? The text on his arm faded as soon as it had appeared but it didn’t stop Derek from worrying. Was his soulmate being abused? Were they being neglected? Why did they want to get away so bad? He felt himself starting to hyperventilate and panic and his teacher brought him to the nurse’s office. He didn’t calm down until his mom picked him up and took him home.
He forgot about the incident until his senior year of high school, when a new kid moved in at the end of the block.
Derek sat outside in his car, waiting for Desiree to walk out of the house so they could drive to school. That’s when he noticed a new car down the street. It was a white pickup, dented to hell and scratched to heaven. It sat in the driveway of a house that had been vacant since Derek was 7.
“Alright, I’m done, let’s go.” Desiree said as she got in the car.
“Not yet.”
“What? Why- Oh.”
A person, who looked about Derek’s age, walked out of the house. They wore dark, ripped jeans that seemed three sizes too big, black sneakers that looked about ready to break apart, and a tight graphic t-shirt that had a stretched out neck.
“Interesting kid.” Desiree said.
“Do you think he’s gonna go to our school?”
“He has to, it’s the only one close to our neighborhood.”
“Well, let’s hope he’s not a bore.”
And a bore Spencer was not. He walked out the front door, absolutely terrified. He was transferring to a new school in late November. Shit, being the new kid is hard, but around Christmas? That’s a recipe for disaster. He hadn’t celebrated Christmas since he was 12, and his mom realized it was getting near the holidays, so she bought Little Debbie Christmas cakes with some of the little money they had left. He didn’t even know why he had moved. Diana just threw his stuff in a car and they drove for hours. Saying he was scared was an understatement. So was saying he was startled when he bumped into the cute guy he saw in his new neighborhood that morning as he tried to find his homeroom class.
“Hey! Watch where you’re going, dude.”
“I-I’m so sorry, I’m sorry, i, uh, I just, I’m sorry.”
“Woah there kid, calm down. Take a deep breath,” He put a hand on Spencer’s shoulder, “You lost? This place is kind of a maze, and I’ve never seen you around here.”
“It’s that obvious?” Spencer laughed nervously, “I’m trying to get to Mrs. Cope’s class. I’m, uh, I’m Spencer, by the way.”
“I’m Derek. I’d love to give you a tour of the rest of this school during lunch, but after homeroom I regret to inform you that you’re on your own to find the rest of your classes until then.”
“Okay! I guess I’ll see you then.” Spencer hadn’t even realized that they were outside his class until Derek stopped walking.
Spencer found the rest of his classes before lunch fairly well. All of his teachers seemed to like him enough, some did not appreciate his corrections to their lessons, but that was fine by him. He just wanted to get through to lunch.
The cafeteria was right next to his last class before lunch, so he was there extremely early. He didn’t have any money, and the school didn’t give out free lunches, so he just sat at a table, waiting for Derek. When he came in, he was talking to two football players. Spencer debated going up to him, but decided against it because of highschool hierarchies or whatever.
“Hey there, pretty boy.” Derek sat next to Spencer and ruffled his hair.
“Pretty? Really?”
“Yeah, why not? You are pretty, kid.”
“Uh, um, I, o-okay.” Spencer stammered.
“Did you already eat lunch or something?”
“Uh, no, I uh, don’t have money and I didn’t bring anything.”
“Oh, that’s fine. You can share with me,” Derek took a lunchbox out of his backpack. “If you’re lucky, my mom would’ve accidentally packed a second- Yep, she did. I hope you like gumbo.”
Derek took a thermos and crackers out of the lunchbox.
“I keep telling her these things come with spoons, but she doesn’t listen.” Derek laughed as he handed Spencer a plastic spoon after unfolding the metal one that was attached to the thermos.
As they ate they talked. Spencer learned about Derek’s sisters and mom, and Derek learned about Diana.
“You know, once when I was nine, it must’ve been just a week after my dad left, I went to the library, and I searched for churches near me that might’ve taken me in. I cleared the search history right after. I really didn’t know if my mom was gonna be able to take care of me, but I guess she did since I’m here now.” Spencer laughed nervously.
“How old are you?”
“I turned 18 last month.”
Okay, just because he searched up the same thing at the same time it appeared on your arm does not mean he’s your soulmate. Does it?
“What’s your next class after this?” Derek asked.
“I think I have a free period, why?”
“Well, we only have 15 more minutes of lunch and it will definitely take longer than that to give you a tour. Lucky for you, I also have a free period. Would you wanna come with me to the library after that?”
“I’d love to.”
“Alright then, pretty boy, lemme show you around.” Derek took his hand and they started walking together.
Derek only showed Spencer where his last three classes would be and the nurse’s office, which were conveniently right next to the library.
Spencer was in awe when he walked in. The shelves reached almost three times taller than him and all of them were bursting with books.
“Woah, how do you keep track of all of these? None of the shelves are marked alphabetically.” The library back in Las Vegas was very outdated.
“Those computers over there? They have a built-in search engine you can use to find a book and it gives you a code. The codes are printed on the sides of the books and the shelves are numbered. Why don’t you try it out?” Derek led Spencer to the computers, rolling up the sleeve of his jacket to look at his soulmate tattoo.
Spencer typed in “The Book of Margery Kempe” and sure enough, it popped up on Derek’s arm.
Fuck.
Over the next two weeks Derek and Spencer went to the library together every single day during their free period. Derek avoided taking a turn looking up anything in front of Spencer. He didn’t even know if he had gotten the tattoo, but it wasn’t worth the risk. He didn’t miss the quick pace at which Spencer finished each book and he definitely noted his particular interest in 18th century Russian literature.
“What are you, some kind of super genius?” Derek asked one day.
“I don’t think intelligence can be accurately quantified, but I do pass all of my classes fairly easily, and I can read fairly fast.”
“Fairly fast? You read as fast as I can eat!” Derek laughed.
That Wednesday Derek did some research. Spencer had been rambling about how he wanted to read one of the first books that contributed to the blossoming of Russian literature, so Derek looked up where he could find ‘The Minor’ by Denis Fonvizin. Fortunately, they had a copy at a local vintage bookstore.
At the same time, Spencer was getting into the shower. The tattoo on his back changed fairly quickly ever since he had gotten it at 10. It was constantly having it’s history wiped, but Spencer didn’t mind that much. He didn’t pay attention to it in the mirror behind him as he cleaned himself, but when he got out he saw the title of Denis Fonvizin’s play and laughed, how perfect of a soulmate was he gonna have?
The next day Derek used his free period to go to the bookstore, not wanting to be late getting home because his mom was making his favorite dinner, leaving Spencer to read nearly every book in the library.
The next morning Derek knocked on Spencer’s front door.
“Hey! Hi! Hey, Derek. What are you doing here?”
“Well, it’s almost Christmas, and I kinda wanted to give you an early present.”
“Oh, okay, uh, it’s probably not the best to do that inside right now, Mom’s been doing worse, but we can do it in the car!” Spencer took keys off a hook next to the door and unlocked the old pickup. “Mom doesn’t like the idea of me driving, and I don’t have my license anyways.”
“Alright, that’s okay.” Derek said, getting into the passenger seat.
“I, uh, I’m sorry that I don’t have a present to give you.”
“That’s okay, Spencer. I don’t expect anything from you. Just open my gift.” Derek set a green box in his lap, wrapped with a red bow.
“Y-You’re my soulmate?” Spencer looked at Derek with wide eyes after opening the box.
“Wait, how do you know that?”
“I, um, have the tattoo on my back. It said my soulmate was searching for this book two days ago.”
“Well, kid. You caught me.” Derek leaned in and kissed Spencer.
Spencer’s lips fit perfectly into his, even though they had no clue what they were doing. They were soft and puckered awkwardly. Spencer opened his mouth experimentally and tried sticking his tongue into Derek’s mouth.
“Hey, now, we don’t want our first time in your mom’s car before school.” Derek said as he pulled away.
“Okay, fine.” Spencer laughed and gave Derek a peck on the lips.