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Soulmates. The people that are designed, by the universe of course, to be the people that make you the happiest and the person that you spend the rest of your life with. Everyone has two soulmate marks. There are a few ways people learn of their soulmate, some people get writing on their skin when their soulmate writes on themselves, sometimes their favorite things will appear on their skin, sometimes their initials will appear on their skin, but the mark that every person has is the first words ever spoken to them by their soulmate etched into their skin. No one can see these words until they are spoken. It’s a rule that was put in place at the beginning of mankind.
Most people’s soulmarks were around ten words at most, but Lydia Martin? She got ninety words. Ninety. When she told people, they never believed her, because why should they? No one has ever gotten ninety words. The words have been there since she can remember, of course they were in a smaller font when she was younger, but as she got older, the words became bigger as she grew and had more skin for the words to be displayed on, that’s what happened to everyone though, she wasn’t special in that way.
What did make her special though was that Lydia and her soulmate had the ability to write to each other by writing on their skin. It was the rarest form of soul communication and sometimes the two would have conversations well into the night. Sometimes they’d play games together. He was the reason that Lydia didn’t always feel alone when she didn’t have any friends.
Their favorite game to play was tic tac toe. Lydia was currently winning 87/3/10. Her soulmate sucked at tic tac toe.
She was sitting in her third block, AP Calculus. She was the only junior in the class and it was easy so she wasn’t paying attention. She was playing tic tac toe with her soulmate. They’d just finished another game increasing their record to 88/3/10. She was looking at her wrist fondly with a smile when the tic tac toe board and the Os disappeared meaning that her soulmate erased it from their arm, so, she erased the Xs from her arm. Soon words started to appear across her wrist.
How can you miss someone you've never met?
'Cause I need you now but I don't know you yet,
But can you find me soon because I'm in my head?
Yeah, I need you now but I don't know you yet.
Lydia almost laughed before remembering that she was still in class.
You did not just quote a Tik Tok song.
And what if I did? What would you say?
Lydia flushed and quickly looked up to make sure that no one around her noticed.
I would say:
How can you miss someone you've never seen?
Oh, tell me are your eyes brown, blue, or green?
And do you like it with sugar and cream?
Or do you take it straight, oh, just like me?
Oh, now who’s quoting a Tik Tok song? And it’s the same one, I expected better from you soulmate.
We hardly know each other, how can you expect better from me?
I do to know you, thank you very much.
Oh really?
Yes, really.
Alright, lover boy, go ahead. What do you know about me?
I know that you’re an only child and that your parents are divorced. I know that you used to be popular but you got tired of being fake so now you just kinda blend into the shadows. Your words, not mine. I know that you don’t trust easily due to an event that you have not told me about. I also know that I love talking to you and don’t know what I would do without you.
If Lydia wasn’t completely flushed earlier, she was now.
Ok, you know a pretty good amount.
What do you know about me?
I know that you’re also an only child. I know that your mom died when you were younger and that you love your dad to your very being. I know that your best friend is your life line and that you’d probably be dead without them. I know that you drive a beat up car and you probably shouldn’t be driving anymore. I know that you used to be a nobody but now you’re popular, I think. Some of your problems sound like popular kid problems. I also know that I’d probably would’ve given up on life if I didn’t have you. You’ve helped me survive my teenage years. And I can’t wait to meet you one day.
Okay. Wow. You definitely beat me. I’m also blushing in the middle of my bio class and I’m praying that my friend doesn’t notice… and he noticed.
Ha.
---
If I was smarter, I could probably figure out who you are.
Keep thinking that, bud.
I will.
---
Lydia stared into her reflection in the mirror that sat in her room. She traced over the words that she had memorized long ago. She couldn’t show anyone the words. And that’s all she wanted to do. She wanted to call Allison, her best friend, over and show her the words, to prove that she wasn’t crazy. But she knew she couldn’t and it killed her. So she lowered the shirt over the words and grabbed her backpack making her way out to her car.
She pulled into the school parking lot not long after and saw the jocks pushing each other as they walked in the front doors of the school. The leader being Stiles Stilinski, the co-captain of the lacrosse team and a total babe. Every girl in school wishes that he was their soulmate. Next to him was his best friend, Scott McCall, the other co-captain of the lacrosse team and although he was also a babe, it was more of a cute babe and not a hot babe. And everyone knew who his soulmate was. One of Lydia’s good friends, Kira. They had met when Kira moved to Beacon Hills at the beginning of their Sophomore Year. They were a cute couple, both extremely shy and kind that it took them months after finding out to go on a date.
Lydia looked over at Stiles and was almost ashamed to admit that she had a crush on him. Almost. She knew that she wasn’t his soulmate because there was never going to be a time where he talked to her unless he was forced to.
That’s her thought as she makes her way to her locker to meet up with Allison. Allison also didn’t know who her soulmate was but was optimistic that they were in Beacon Hills. She had moved to Beacon Hills at the beginning of their freshman year and was charmed by Scott. They obviously knew they weren’t soulmates, but they dated nonetheless. They eventually broke up though for reasons that Lydia still does not know. But that doesn’t matter because now Scott is extremely happy with Kira and Allison is happy waiting.
At this moment Lydia and Allison were standing by Lydia’s locker because it was the end of the day and Lydia just wanted to go home. Lydia shoved her books into her locker in exasperation.
“I hate group projects, they’re the worst. The rest of the people in my group just assume that I’m going to do all the work so I eventually do all of the work which is exhausting.”
“Alright, Lyds, breathe,” Allison said with a laugh in her throat. “It’ll be okay. Just talk to the teacher. I'm sure you can do it by yourself and not have to worry about dragging around dead weight.”
“You’re probably right, all of my teachers love me.”
“I’m sure they do.”
They both close their lockers laughing between themselves when someone comes running up to them.
“Hi, how are you?” It was THE Stiles Stilinski. “I hope you’re doing good. I don’t know you but I’ve seen you in the hallways and I think that you’re really pretty and that your hair is gorgeous and that you look good in anything you wear. Especially this dress. Wow. You look really beautiful. Sorry, I got distracted. Can you hide me? I’m trying to hide from my best friend, you probably know who he is. I’m going to take your silence as a yes and I’m just going to hide behind you. Thank you.”
Lydia stood with her mouth gaping open in shock like an idiot as Stiles hurried behind her using her body as a shield as Scott came running down the hall.
“Hey, Allison. Hey, Lydia. Have you seen Stiles? I’m looking for him,” he asks out of breath.
“Nope, haven’t seen him,” Allison said with a smile on her face.
“Okay, thanks. I’ll see you around,” Scott walks the rest of the hallway and turns the corner.
“Is he gone?” Stiles asks his head popping out from behind Lydia.
“Yeah, he’s gone, you can come out,” Allison said laughing.
“Thanks, guys, I owe you one.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Allison called after him as he went the opposite way that Scott went. “Hey, are you okay?” Allison asked as she turned to Lydia who’s mouth was still open in shock. Lydia slowly turned to Allison.
“No. Stiles Stilinski is my soulmate.”
---
“You can’t know that for sure.”
“No, I can,” Lydia said as she paced back and forth in her room. “ I memorized those words the minute they were large enough for me to read. I know them like the back of my hand and he said every since word that is on my stomach.”
Lydia lifted up her shirt and showed Allison the words. Now that her soulmate has actually said them out loud, they’re visible to everyone.
“Oh, you weren’t kidding.”
“You said you believed me!”
“Yeah but when someone tells you that they have ninety words on their stomach, you doubt.”
“Fair.”
Lydia sunk onto her bed with her head in her hands. She was so close to tears. She knew that her soulmate was popular, but she didn’t think that he was Stiles Stilinski popular.
“He told me that I look beautiful. Stiles Stilinski told me that I look beautiful.”
“Yeah, he did,” Allison said sitting down next to Lydia rubbing her back. “And, you know that he was lying.” Allison paused for a second. “About knowing your name. He’s always known your name. I’m pretty sure that he had a crush on you, you know. I don’t know if he still has the crush on you. Now that I think about it, I don’t think it was a crush, I think that he was in love with you. Huh. Who would’ve guessed.”
“Not me,” Lydia squeaked out her face completely red now.
“Oh, sweetie,” Allison said before pulling Lydia into a hug holding her close to her chest. Allison pulled out of the hug and held Lydia’s face in her hands. “Here’s what we’ll do. You’ll change into some sweatpants and a comfortable sweatshirt, I’ll go and get some ice cream and when I get back we’ll have a rom-com marathon. Okay?”
“Okay.”
And that’s what they did. Lydia fell asleep during Little Italy. Allison looked at her best friend whose face was swollen from crying. Lydia’s sleeve was pulled up a little and Allison could see what remained of a tic tac toe game and she came up with a plan. She quickly got up and got a dry erase marker from Lydia’s desk and started a note to Lydia’s soulmate, Stiles Stilinski.
---
“I got a note from her friend yesterday.”
“Really?” Scott asked, looking up startled. They were sitting in the library. It was their free period and they didn’t know what to do with their life, so they were sitting there just enjoying each other’s company.
“Yeah.”
“What did it say?”
Stiles lifted up his sleeve and showed Scott the words that were written on his arm. The handwriting was different than Scott was used to seeing. This handwriting he recognized. He read it anyway.
Fuck you. You caused her to have a panic attack. Do you realize that? She was beside herself when she found out who you were. You and your stupid ramble is burned into her skin. She was absolutely shocked when she found out. Me, not that much, it wasn’t that shocking that you’re her soulmate given your history of secretly liking each other. But that’s beside the point okay. It took me almost 30 minutes to stop the hyperventilating alone. Then for her to start speaking coherent sentences took another 20 minutes. She’s asleep now. I hope you’re fucking proud of yourself, Stilinski.
Sincerely, her best friend.
P.S. I will fuck you up if you hurt her. Kisses.
Scott lets out a laugh.
“First, very aggressive. Second, I love whoever wrote this, she is not afraid of you and I admire that. And third, I know that handwriting. And if I’m right, I know who your soulmate is,” Scott said with the most shit-eating grin on his face.
“Who?!” Stiles practically yelled earning him a very aggressive shush from an agitated person across the aisle from them. Scott got up still laughing and hurriedly left the library leaving Stiles behind.
Scott basically ran down the hallway straight into the very person that he was looking for, Allison Argent.
“Allison!” Scott said grabbing her arms and looking her in the face. “That was brilliant. Amazing. I loved it. It was also very aggressive, which I applaud you for.”
“I’m sorry,” Allison said with wide eyes and a slightly confused look. “What are we talking about?”
“I think that you know what I’m talking about
Allison thought for a second before a look of recognition came over her face. “Oh, you’re talking about that,” A blush came rushin to her face. “I wrote that when I was very angry. I feel like I need to go and apologize to him.”
“No.” Scott said sternly. “If you apologize, he’ll figure out who his soulmate is and I want him to agonise for a little before he finds out.”
“I like your style, McCall,” She held out her hand and they high fived. “How did you figure out it was me?”
“Come on, Allison. I’ve seen your handwriting enough to know what it looks like, even if it’s written on my friend’s skin.”
“Touche.”
---
Stiles had tried to talk to her all day but she hadn’t responded to a single one of his attempts. She had washed off the aggressive letter from her friend and she hadn’t written anything. Stiles was worried. He sat in Econ and just stared at his arm waiting. Waiting for any evidence that she had gotten his messages. But nothing came.
He didn’t notice the girl in the back of the classroom staring longingly at him, wanting him to turn around and make eye contact with her just once.
---
He didn’t hear from her for almost a week. But when he did, it was only four words:
one day tate mcrae
Stiles looked at the words with confusion but soon realized that it was a song. So he looked it up and listened to it. He listened like his life depended on it. The words that stuck to him the most was the chorus.
Oh, it's impossible
to get you off my mind.
I think about a hundred thoughts
and you are 99.
I've understood
that you will never be mine.
So Stiles responded with:
make you mine public
And waited.
---
It had been a month. A full month since Lydia found out, but she didn’t do anything. She left the words unreturned.
Lydia was sitting in her econ class not paying attention as she normally doesn’t. She looked down and saw the unanswered tic tac toe board from Stiles and quickly pulled her sleeve down to cover it. She focused her attention to the front of the classroom at her teacher but the attention didn’t last long. She felt a sharp burning pain on her abdomen where the words were. She let out a strangled noise, just loud enough for the people around her to hear her. Soon sweat started to roll down her face and she turned pale. She bent over her desk and hugged her stomach in pain.
“Lydia Martin!” A voice called out. She looked up and saw coach’s face looking back at her with concern. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me,” Lydia said trying to put on a brave face but failed and her face soon turned into one of pain. “Actually, can I go to the nurse? I’m not feeling so good.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty obvious sweetheart,” Coach said while helping Lydia out of her chair. As soon as she stood up she crumpled onto the floor.
“Stilinski! McCall! Help me get her to the nurse!” Coach yelled out right before Lydia lost consciousness.
---
She woke up in a hospital room. She was in a hospital gown with an iv in her arm. She shifted a little and winced in pain. She grazed her hand over her abdomen and felt a wrap around it. She melted back into the bed and sighed. She saw the untouched tic tac toe board on her wrist and looked at it sad.
Suddenly the door opened and Lydia quickly tucked her arm under the blanket. She looked up and saw Melissa McCall. She looked at Lydia for a full minute, the tension building.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before, Lydia,” She said with a sigh. She opened the folder in her arms. “You have a serious infection, Lydia. How could you let it get so bad? You know that people get infections when they have an unreturned soulmark. Lydia, sweetie, your soulmate can’t be so bad that you don’t speak your first words to them.”
Lydia looked down in almost shame. “He’s not. He’s too good. I don’t deserve him and that’s why I haven’t talked to him.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, who is it?”
“Stiles,” Lydia mumbled back.
“Stiles? As in Stiles Stilinski?”
“Yes.”
“Why haven’t you told him? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“I’m scared. What if he doesn’t want me. What if he finds out who I am and decides that I’m not what he wants? What do I do then? I’ve fallen in love with him without even speaking to him. If he decides he doesn’t want me then my heart breaks and I don’t know if I could ever mend it.”
“That’s ridiculous, Lydia. Have you not seen the way he looks at you? You might be a genius Lydia, but you’re very stupid when it comes to somethings.”
Lydia laid there for a while while Melissa checked her vitals. When she went to leave the room Lydia spoke up.
“Can I borrow your pen?”
A smile came to Melissa’s face. “Of course.” She handed the pen to Lydia and quickly left the room.
Lydia watched her leave and then pulled her arm from under the blanket and placed an X on the board smiling. She watched as words appeared below the board.
don’t give up on me andy grammar
She wrote back.
Someone to you banners
---
Today was the day. It was the day that Lydia was going to talk to Stiles, tell him that she was his soulmate.
She was standing by her locker hyping herself up and Allison standing next to her hyping her up. Stiles was walking down the hallway towards the two girls. Lydia decided to go for it and started walking directly for him. She makes eye contact with Scott who was walking next to Stiles and his eyes brighten and his smile becomes wider. Lydia rolls her eyes and keeps walking but right before she makes it to Stiles, she gets self conscious and veers off track and around Stiles.
“Lydia!” She hears Scott scoff as she hurries down the hall. She walks to the bathrooms and locks herself in a stall.
---
“Lydia!” Scott scoffs from next to Stiles. He turns back around to Stiles who looks confused from the events that just unfolded in front of him. The two look at each other for a second before Scott turns to face forward and sees Allison standing in front of him looking irritated.
“I thought she was going to do it,” Scott says to Allison.
Allison sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. “She was. She was so confident but I think that she started to second guess herself and that’s why she swerved.”
“She’s playing chicken with herself,” Scott said with a sigh.
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry,” Stiles said, butting into the conversation. “Could you tell me what is happening? Because I’m very confused.”
“I’m sure you are, Stilinski. But that’s something that Lydia needs to tell you not me. Not Scott. But Lydia.”
Stiles stood there confused as Scott and Allison started walking down the hall. He stood thinking about what they said.
“Wait! Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a second,” Stiles said as he ran to catch up to them. “Are you saying what I think that you’re saying?”
They didn’t respond.
---
Lydia emerged from the bathroom and went to her fourth period, which happened to be econ with one other than Stiles Stilinski. She did all that she could to avoid him but that didn’t stop Stiles from approaching her desk and slamming his hands down on it. She looked up at him with squinted eyes and pursed lips.
“Lydia Martin.” is all he said.
They stared at each other for a solid two minutes before the bell rang signifying the beginning of class.
“STILINSKI! Get to your seat,” Coach yelled at him causing Stiles to break eye contact and walk to his desk.
Seconds later, Lydia felt the familiar tingle on her forearm, but she refused to look down. She refused to look at the words.
She felt more tingles as the class went on signifying that Stiles wanted her attention, but she refused to give it to him. She kept her eyes to the front of the classroom and tried to focus on Coach’s lesson.
As soon as the bell rang, Lydia shot out of her seat and instead of heading to her locker like she would normally do at the end of the day, she ran to the bathroom to try and avoid Stiles. She stayed in the bathroom until about twenty minutes after the bell rang. The halls should be clear by now meaning that she could get to her locker, get her stuff, and go home.
She slowly exited the bathroom making sure that no one was in the hallway to see her. She quickly hurried to her locker only to find someone standing and waiting.
Stiles.
She begrudgingly walked to her locker and opened it, ignoring Stiles’s presence.
“Okay, Lydia. You have to talk to me eventually. I know that you’re in pain because you haven’t returned words to me,” Stiles grabbed her hand. She quickly pulled her hand back grabbing the rest of her stuff out of her locker. She glared at Stiles as she shut her locker. She santured away from Stiles and toward the exit to her car.
When she got to the door, she turned around and looked at Stiles who was still standing next to her locker with a shocked expression. She smiled and winked at him before going through the door.
---
“I can’t believe I winked at him!”
“I know! Isn’t it great?!”
“You’re so not helping Allison!”
“I know, but it’s so much fun seeing Stilinski agonising the way he is right now.”
“I guess?” Lydia said while shrugging.
“You guess?”
“Yes, I guess!” Lydia threw her heads up in the arms before flopping down onto her bed facing her ceiling. She sighed before putting her arms over her eyes, blocking out the light. “I just... don’t know why I’m fighting it. You know? Like if you found out the guy you have a crush on is actually your soulmate, wouldn’t you run and jump into his arms? Why am I pulling away?”
Lydia moved her arms off her arms and turned to look at Allison as she laid down next to her.
“Because you’re scared, sweetie,” Allison said in a soft and gentle voice. “And when people are scared, they do stupid things. Like runaway from their crush when he’s also their soulmate.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“Of course I am!” Allison said while sitting up. “Now, it’s time to get up and face the facts! Stiles Stilinski is your soulmate and you need to tell him!”
“He already knows…”
“Yeah, but you need to talk to him, confirm what he already knows. Kiss him. Hug him. Be with him. I know you want to.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Lydia said sitting up from her lying position. “Okay, so tomorrow…”
---
The next day, Lydia wore what she used to wear, back when she was the it girl. She wore a nice blouse with a skirt that stopped mid thigh, and her killer stilettos that she could kill someone with. Obviously her outfit was not within the dress code, but no one cared. She had her makeup done accompanied with her signature bright red lipstick. She had her purse tucked in the crook of her arm as she strutted to her locker, very aware of how many eyes were watching her.
When she got there, she began to put in her code as Allison walked up and stood next to, a smile on her face.
“You look good!”
“I know I do,” Lydia said, turning to Allison. “It’s me.”
“Oh, I love that confidence! Who knew that it would take talking to your super popular soulmate to get that mean girl Lydia with the confidence of a god to come back. I love it. I love you. Take that confidence and use it. You got this, babe, I believe in you! Do you know what you;re going to say?”
“Of course I do, the comment is stupid and meaningless to anyone but him. I hope he’s alone when I do it. Or else it’ll be super awkward for what I have planned.”
“When are you going to do it?”
“After school. So if it doesn’t go well I can just run to my car and hide at my house.”
“Good plan.”
“Thank you.”
---
She had waited all day. She got looks all day. People stared as she walked past them. And she loved it. She originally sunk into the background because she didn’t like being stared at all the time, but now that she had a break from it and she has come back from it, she was loving it. It was as if she had never not been popular.
After the last bell of the day rang, she got up from her desk and walked to her locker quickly but slowly. As she stuffed her stuff into her locker she could hear him walking down the hallway to his locker, which was across the hall from her’s, which was perfect for her plan. She closed the door to her locker and leaned her forehead against for a second. Then she straightened herself and put the fake look of confidence on. She whipped around and found Stiles surrounded by lacrosse players all laughing and talking about different things. She looked to her right and found Allison standing there. She gave her a big smile and two thumbs up before she motioned with her hands to move. Lydia nodded. She turned her head to face forward and started to march across the halls.
“Excuse me, boys,” Lydia said to the back of three lacrosse players. They turned around with confused looks on their face. When they saw who it was, they immediately turned sheepish and moved over to let her through to the boy leaning against his locker. She marched up to him and grabbed him by the collar and dragged him down to her face. A stunned expression danced on his face.
Lydia smirked and brought their faces together, lips almost touching. She looked at his eyes, then at lips, then back to his eyes.
“You suck at tic tac toe.”
A smirk came to his face. She smashed her lips to his, closing the gap. He wrapped his arm around her waist and brought her as close as physically possible.
They were vaguely aware of the cheering coming from behind them.