Chapter Text
Soulmates were something that only came by recently. Nevertheless, it was something that Y/N wasn’t very fond of, unfortunately.
Hopelessly staring at the spider tattoo on her wrist, Y/N bitterly wrapped her black bandana over it.
After careful observation, scientists declared that upon turning 16, teenagers worldwide would discover a mark on their right wrist: an unremovable symbol identical to one single person in the universe. Those already above the age would miraculously receive it on the same day of establishment. This was also, unfortunately, established during the snap. So many who found their soul mark during that time never found their person. Some thought that their soulmate was dead, until people were resurrected.
It wasn’t that Y/N hated her soulmate. She just didn’t like the concept of it. To fall in love with somebody just because you knew they were the one, and nothing else. Where’s the thrill of knowing uncertainty? Where was the risk? And mostly, the reason she grew bitter about it was: what's to say your feelings for the person were genuine rather than a manifestation of the concept?
This came from Y/N’s personal experience, one that she wished she could forget.
She met Peter and Ned two years ago. Being the second most intelligent student in school, she thought they would have had the stereotypical rivalry. However, that wasn’t the case. They got along just fine. The two clicked straight away - too quickly, in fact.
That was the beginning of the trio.
It didn’t take long for her to realize that the boy was Spiderman, either. After all, the signs were clear as day if anybody had looked into it. Especially with her intelligence, it was bound to happen. From then, the three became even closer, to the point where she saw Peter and Ned as family. This meant that things were all great for Y/N. She was living the life she had always dreamt of: an amazing friend group, a well-paid internship, and good grades.
However, everything went downhill that day, and she remembered every detail.
12th October.
Well, hard to forget, really. It was the "Blip" day, known as the resurrection of those who were victims of Thanos' snap.
Y/N remembered lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. One second, the fan above her was spinning. The next, it was standing still and covered in spider webs. Her bedroom felt a lot dustier, too.
It was strange for her because merely seconds had passed. But something felt wrong, so the girl called out to her parents. However, no replies rang through the house.
An itching feeling took over Y/N’s right wrist. She scratched and thought nothing of it until it started to sting. Then Y/N saw it: the tattoo etching on her wrist slowly, forming into something.
Her eyes widened when the formation finished.
"A spider?" she questioned out loud, grimacing at the sound of her scratchy voice.
Just then, she got a text from Ned. Peter's text came a few moments later. She skimmed through them, realizing that the boys were on their way to her house.
"What did you get, Y/N?" Y/N screamed when she heard a voice asking. Upon realizing it was Spiderman on her window, relief took over her.
"Gosh, you have to stop doing that," she complained, fully convinced that she would die from a heart attack caused by Peter someday.
"But "get" what?" the girl asked, slightly confused.
"Your soulmate mark? Apparently, it came about during the five years of me being snapped," Peter took his mask off, climbing fully into her room rather than sitting on the window.
“Snapped?”
“Oh...I didn’t know you were part of it. Right. Long story short, Thanos snapped his fingers and half of the universe vanished...it’s been five years, and we just got back.”
“What the fuc-”
"Look what I got," the boy spoke up, hoping to distract his best friend from panicking.
“Are we just gonna skip over what you s-” Y/N paused mid-sentence when her eyes landed on the mark on her best friend’s wrist.
That was the moment.
Y/N snapped her head from the young hero of Queens's wrist to his face.
Suddenly, those plain brown eyes belonging to Peter Parker seemed to hold a glimmer of autumn firewood warmth in them. They looked prettier and so innocent. Something about it had made her body freeze, but everything within her was melting.
Little things she didn’t notice before, they were made aware of.
But then her heart ached for some reason - it was wrong, but she didn't know. The girl thought her heart was reminding that while, seemingly, her heart was beating for Peter, his was beating for Michelle Jones, the kind-hearted beauty who stole his heart from just a couple of words and exchanges.
So Y/N did what she thought was best then: to step away. If the concept was real, someday, he would realize that MJ was not the one for him.
Oh, how wrong Y/N was. Before she knew it, the class trip had come along. The girl helplessly watched Ned become Peter’s wingman. Of course, she didn’t tell Ned, as much as she adored him. The boy wasn’t really good at keeping secrets. Besides, Ned was Peter’s 'bestest' of friends. There was no doubt where his loyalty would stand if the two turned against each other.
Y/N watched as they attempted again and again for MJ and Peter to get together during the trip. And failed again and again.
Maybe he would give up now?
Oh, how wrong she was, again.
“Peter!” Y/N yelled, concern etching every inch of her face. She ran towards Peter. The battle against Mysterio was now over. Throughout the event, her heart barely had time to rest, always thumping against her chest, worrying about the teenager who wore a superhero costume that attracted him to danger.
Her arms wrapped around his weakened body, breathing heavily.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine Y/N,” and before she could mutter another word, the boy limped towards MJ.
Y/N turned around, thinking that the little pain couldn’t get worse.
That was when she saw it: the sheer look of adoration on Peter's face. It signified something a lot bigger, something that tore Y/N down - love. He was looking at MJ the way she wished her soulmate would look at her.
Peter nodded eagerly at what MJ said. Her hands were on each side of his face. MJ had the same expression of concern that was once on Y/N’s face.
Before Y/N could register the scene in front of her, the two teenagers started kissing amidst the mess. Yet, that wasn't the last strike. All Y/N saw at that moment was the tattoo on MJ's wrist, slowly shifting colour.
Identical to hers, MJ’s wrist also sported a spider tattoo. The only difference then was MJ's ink, which was in a colour Y/N now hated: Red.
As cliché as it was, upon the first kiss with your soulmate, your tattoo would turn red. It signified commitment and love.
Y/N waited.
She waited for the pain, the heartbreak, the sorrow, yet none came.
She stood there. Her heart dull, as if the scene produced no effect. Her brain, however, was screaming and yelling at herself and Peter. It couldn't comprehend the situation - did Peter have two soulmates? Or was he not hers?
That was when she caught onto the small difference between their tattoos, the way hers had two slightly shorter spider legs.
Realization dawned on the girl, as Y/N realized she had just experienced a roller coaster ride called false hope. It shattered her faith in the whole concept. She ridiculed the fact that she fell in love with Peter simply because she thought he was her “the one” instead of, perhaps, actually falling for him. She blamed the concept of soulmate for blinding her.
So she shunned it. The girl bought numerous bandanas, determined to cover away the tattoo that had familiarized itself into her memory.
Peter Parker was her first heartbreak, yet he never knew.
Both him and Ned wondered why Y/N started despising her tattoo. Did she find out who it was and wasn’t pleased with it?
They asked. She shook them off. Either shrugging or brushing the question away seamlessly. Both the boys assumed that perhaps it would be better to stop interrogating the girl. So they stopped, and she was glad.
Days later, the world learnt of Spider-man’s identity. Despite being the smartest person in his school, Peter decided to mess with a time spell to revert the damage.
The result was detrimental.
The next thing Peter knew, he was fighting a man with robot octopus legs on a bridge while trying to convince the 'MIT lady' to give MJ, Ned, and Y/N a fair chance to be considered for MIT. Several days later came the death of Aunt May.
Meanwhile, Y/N was forbidden to associate with her friend group. Her mother was worried upon receiving letter after letter of University rejections.
After taking on the duty of Spiderman, Peter's grades barely slipped, but it was enough for Y/N to surpass him and become the top student at Midtown high school. Despite liking Peter, her mother was delighted with this development. However, right now she couldn't be more disapproving of the young superhero. Because of him, Y/N could potentially not get into any university.
So here Y/N was, sitting on her bed, preparing a speech so she could plead her case to universities who had rejected her - which were all of them. Not long after, she sensed a gush of wind in her room. The girl looked at her window, which was shut.
"Y/N!" she snapped her head at the voice of Ned yell-whispering at her. Standing next to him was MJ, while between Y/N and the other two teenagers was a portal similar to the ones Doctor Strange summoned before.
"Ned?" she matched the same tone, not wanting to catch her mother’s attention in the room next to hers.
"Come, hurry!"
"I can't just leave."
"We really need your help, please. Peter needs us."
She froze at their pleading. It was obvious that they were desperate, but what kind of help did they need her to supply with?
"Alright..." she trailed off, hoping that she would not regret this decision. It was most probable that her mom would ground her for life after this.
Running through the portal, she saw Ned making finger motions which shut the magic circle behind her.
Little did she know the things ahead of her.