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“We all born with a colorless tattoo with a particular design that will only get color if you meet your soulmate, before that you’re available to talk with your soulmate through your thoughts. It’s a bond that will never be broken.” Y/N read out loud, looking at his friend's eyes.
They were at the public library doing some research for an essay. And of course, her friend had to choose a topic as silly as “Soulmates: real life or just a state of mind?” Seriously it is awful.
“Continue please,” he said smiling kindly at her.
Her friend did believe in all the soulmate thing, he really did. Even if he was one of the rare cases that their tattoos were half colored, he had a small colorless rose with a blue sky above. From that moment he was researching to death.
Y/N on the other hand had a colorless snowflake with small stars around on her inter wrist, colorless since the day that she was born, many moons ago. But she did hear someone in her head, a raspy voice that once in a while talked to her, mostly in hard times. Like that time that her cat got ill and she was devastated, that was the first time that it happened. A small voice telling her to calm down, that everything will be okay. She was ten years at that moment and fell in love with the calm voice. But she never thought that it was a soulmate, she just thought that It was her own mind, something created by her.
“I’m talking to you Y/N!” Blake said to her and she looked up exhausted.
“I’m sorry. I just can’t believe that you’re really researching all of this. I don’t believe in that.”
“That’s why our essay it’s called Real life or a state of mind”
She laughed out loud, gaining a ‘shh’ from a few people around.
“You know what? I’m really tired of reading this. Can we go to get a coffee or something?”
She thought ‘please say yes to a coffee’. And there it was, the raspy voice again:
“Coffee? At this hour? Shouldn’t be dinner?”
“Don’t tell me what to do and get out” she answered in her mind.
She touched her head and then shake the voice away. It’s been a month since that damn voice appeared again, but it was different from before. Now it talked way more than before, in moments that she wasn’t even expecting it.
Her friend took his stuff and nodded silently at her, accepting the coffee offer.
“She has a nice voice,” he said and Y/N stopped her feet.
The night sky was a starry one and she was enjoying it while walking to the coffee shop, she looked at her friend and smiled. He never spoke about the voice in his head before, and she could feel that he was happy to hear it.
“I bet she does. Even if I don’t believe in that shit.”
“It’s not shit.” The voice, again.
“Oh come on. Soulmates aren’t real” she said, forgetting that she was speaking out loud.
Blake looked at her surprised and opened the door of the coffee shop. He knew about a voice in her head, but also knew that she thought that she invented it.
“I didn’t say anything. For me they’re real… don’t be rude Y/N” He said and laughed.
The girl blushed a little bit and nodded, he was right. She was being rude. But he didn’t have that freaking voice talking to him every time now. She was going mad, that was it. It wasn’t her damn soulmate, she was losing her fucking mind. Of course, every doctor would say that it was in fact her soulmate, but oh no. They were so wrong.
“You’re not losing your mind doll.”
“Oh no, don’t ‘doll’ me buddy,” she said in her head.
“Almost close.”
“To what?!”
And he laughed, there was a laugh in her head. And oh dear boy, it was a beautiful one. Her heart began to beat faster.
She sat down at the nearest table and drank the coffee once Blake handed it to her.
“You look tired darling,” he said “Why don’t you go get some sleep and I’ll wake you up tomorrow morning early and we get to finish this. What do you say?”
Y/N smiled. She did need some sleep. “You’re the best.”
That night was one of the most awful nights she had in a long time. Falling asleep? Let’s sing a Frank Sinatra song. Getting a shower so she can sleep? Let’s talk about someplace on Earth that she’s never been to. Trying to get a comfortable position to sleep? Sure thing, let’s talk about the benefits of plums.
“Plums? Are you serious? You’re weird as hell.” Y/N said and rolled to her side on the bed.
“I’m not weird, well yes I am. But plums are really good, and they help to your memory.”
She laughed and patted her bed so her cat will lay by her side. Purring while she scratched his ears.
“I’ll take note. Don’t you ever sleep? Shouldn’t the voice I create sleep at some point?” At the second that the words appeared in her head, she retracted. It sounded really rude. Even for her.
“I don’t get much sleep… I’m not something that you created.”
Tears started to fill her eyes and her breath was now heavy, but she wasn’t breathing at all. A pressure in her chest didn’t let her breathe all the air that she was trying to catch. Y/N closed her eyes, trying to set the panic away. Focusing on the cat by her side, the hair of the animal between her fingers, the noises outside her building…
“Please, breathe. Focus on my voice doll. Breathe, slowly. Let the air enter into your system. Calm down. Breathe, in and out. Focus on my voice.” The voice was worried, but calmly at the same time. Just like that first time.
Her breathing started to become normal once again, and a few meowings after she fell asleep, with the sound of that damn voice in her head.
It was really cold when the doorbell of her apartment rang, with the blanket around her body she stood outside of the bed and peeked through her window. Blake was outside, looking up to her, pointing at a bag of the coffee shop in his hand.
“I’ll be down in a sec” she mouthed to him. Put some clothes over her pj’s and a pair of boots, a beanie on her hair and after giving her cat food she went outside.
“It’s freezing,” Her friend said and kissed her cheek. Grabbed her arm and started to walk to the library.
She didn’t say anything about the voice in her head, or what happened last night. Nothing at all.
Once they both stood outside of the Public Library the door opened and a girl with bright black hair ran out of the place, crashing with her friend.
“I’m so so sorry!” The girl talked and after that, she was looking right into Blake’s eyes.
Everything happened fast. His colorless rose, which matched the girl’s one, was now in a vibrant red. His tattoo was full of colors.
The connection between them was right there, in front of her. And all that she could do was smile at them and enter into the library. She knew that Blake wouldn’t be joining her that day.
“Now that I’m alone and with no one to talk to, you, the damn voice in here isn’t.” She said in her head and smiled at the guy behind the counter of the coffee shop.
It was around eleven and she didn’t want to go to sleep, she couldn’t. Not after what she saw. All this time she thought that soulmates weren’t real, but after she saw that her best friend found his own… she wasn’t so sure of what to think now.
And the voice in her head, well, let’s just say that it wasn’t there that night.
A week after her friend had found his soulmate the essay was now finished and with a bright high note. Everyone saying that they were right, it wasn’t just a state of mind. But she didn’t care about that essay anymore, or about the fact that the biological research that had done to that essay got her a job at the Stark tower. She was missing the voice, she was really missing it.
Standing outside of the big tower she took a deep breath, she was nervous. But unfocused, the good thing was that she was just a few blocks from her home, she could run away. The doors opened for her and a woman’s voice sounded in the place.
“Hello, Mrs. I’m FRIDAY, the A.I that helps in the Stark Tower. Please take the elevator to the third floor, where Mr. Stark will meet you.”
Smiling at the A.I she walked to the elevator. Once that the metallic doors closed in front of her she noticed something unusual in her intern wrist, the stars around the snowflake were slowly turning into blue and red stars. She panicked, once again.
“Breath, come on. Don’t panic. It’s nothing. It isn’t real. Breathe.” She spoke to herself and the metallic doors opened.
Tony Stark was standing right there, in all of his glory with a big smile planted on his face.
“You must be the bright brain that doesn’t believe that soulmates are real.” He said and she nodded. “Pleasure to meet you, Y/N. Come, come I’ll introduce you to Dr. Banner and the rest of the team.”
She breathed out. The rest of the team. Holy crap, she totally forgot that the fucking Avengers were there, in the building.
Dr. Banner smiled big at her and gave her compliments about the research. All the time looking at her wrist, looking at the design on her.
“Yeah” she started “it’s half colored. I think it’s bullshit.”
He laughed “I believe in the chemical process that leads the two humans together it’s fascinating. But I understand your point of view. But I’m looking at the design, it’s a nice one”
Y/N looked confused at the man but didn’t say a thing because Tony was now shouting to the bloody Captain America and two more guys. One with a metal arm and the other with a really young face.
She scratched her wrist when the rest of the stars turned blue and the snowflake slowly became silver.
“Holy shit,” Said Dr. Banner looking down and grabbing her wrist.
“it-it’s nothing.” She said without looking at the guys that were now looking at her. “Probably the damn fate is messing around with me. Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“It’s more than that Y/N”
“Y/N?” The voice said in her head and she turned around with her eyes wide opened. The man standing by Captain America was looking at her right in the eyes.
“What the actual fuck” she thought.
“I’m Steve and these two are…”
“Hi!” said the kid that was with them. “I’m Peter! You must be the chick that doesn’t believe in soulmates. I read your essay it was amazing.”
“Oh trust me, she does believe in soulmates.” The other one, the one with the metal arm, the one that was the owner of the damn voice in her head, spoke. “Hi, doll.”
He was smirking at her, making everyone there looking at the two of them.
“Hm, you two know each other?” Tony asked.
“No,” she said quickly.
“We’re soulmates”
Her heart started to pump faster than ever, it was definitely his voice. Soulmates were real. Holy crap, holy crap.
“Cap? Did you know about this?” Stark asked again.
“No… I did notice that Bucky’s tattoo started to get colors today.”
“Bucky?” Y/N said in a breath. “Your name is Bucky?”
“And yours is Y/N”
She nodded.
“This is wicked, you two are soulmates!? This is so cool!!!” Peter said smiling and looking from the girl to Bucky.
“No, this can’t be happening. This isn’t real.” She said.
Bucky laughed and Steve smiled at him. And that was the laugh that she heard in her head a few weeks ago.
“Oh well, it is happening. I’m real, you’re real. And we’re soulmates. Do you have a snowflake and stars? Because I do.”
“I do have them.”
Bucky walked towards her and grabbed her arm, exposing her tattoo and showing his own. Matching every single one of the lines and colors. It was real. All the air escaped from her.
He looked worried.
“No, no. Breathe, please. Come on, breathe with me.” His arms were now around her shoulders, obliging her to look at his eyes. “Focus on my voice, Y/N, focus.” She did as he said “Good, inhale” he breathed with her “and exhale, that’s right. Good.”
“You’re fucking real.”
“As a heart attack.”
Without even thinking about what she was doing she smashed her lips into his. Their lips were made for each other and every part of their bodies felt in the same way.
“Still thinking that soulmates aren’t real?” He asked heavy breathing and resting his forehead on hers.
She smiled and licked her lips.
“I think I may need another proof.”
That’s all he needed to connect their lips once again. Knowing that from now on that would be his favorite thing to do.