Soulmates... Because The World Wasn't Crazy Enough

Simultaneously, at 12:01 am eastern standard time May 31st, 2021, everyone on the planet felt a burn. Some interrupted at work, some while doing chores, some while watching Netflix (because what else was there to do in a pandemic?), and some were awoken from sleep. It was a searing, agonizing sixty seconds until the burning stopped. The burning didn't occur in the same place for everyone, though the wrist, forearm, inner thigh, and ankle seemed to be the most common locations. After it was over and everyone was finally able to get their bearings, they all looked at the tattoos, the name or names, that had spontaneously been written on their skin in thick black, dark grey, and/or navy blue ink. The fanfiction writers had been the first to figure it out, soulmates, but the scientific community and governments wanted a more thorough explanation.

The information was out within forty-eight hours, via the fanfiction writers who had been deemed something of experts on this matter. The placement of the tattoo didn't hold any relevance other than that the location was mirrored on your soulmate, if your tattoo was on your left inner thigh, theirs was on their right inner thigh. The colours were pretty easy to figure out. Navy blue was familial soulmates, dark grey was platonic soulmates, and black was romantic soulmates.

Even though science backed up the theories, Sarah couldn't help but look at her tattoo on her right hip, the name is written in her own handwriting in deep black ink. 

Charlie H. 

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Going to work the days following what was being dubbed 'burn day' was... Not ideal. Everyone was speculating and asking intrusive questions that Sarah really just didn't want to answer. She tried focusing on her work, crimes didn't stop just because soulmates suddenly exist, but it didn't work. Not when her assistant Kelly spent the entire day hyperventilating because she has Jesse M. written on her left forearm in black, or one of her lab techs Jason was on the verge of tears because his wife's romantic soulmate was his brother and he was her platonic soulmate, and hers honestly felt like it was still burning, but not from being created, from being ignored. She'd met him at Rex's favourite dog park the day after it happened to talk, but when she got there he was on the phone with Julia, talking about how his name was on her wrist in black ink. She'd hid behind a tree until they were done, and even then took a few more moments to herself so that she wouldn't have an audience as her heart finished breaking. On a normal day, Sarah would have usually seen Charlie at least twice by now, and she was putting a draining amount of energy into wondering who was avoiding who. 

"Hi, Sarah." Her entire body went rigid, she'd been so distracted she hadn't finished her analysis let alone be aware that Charlie had come to the lab. "H-hi Charlie, you're here for the blood analysis right?" 

"That too, I guess. I was just wondering how you're doing... You know with the whole soulmate thing. It's been a few days since it happened and you've just been acting a little off. The last time you were like this you and Thomas had broken up."

"I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me Charlie, I'm fine." He looked doubtful, and something akin to despair sunk into his eyes briefly, before changing back to the 

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Thomas was the last person Sarah expected to call her. Their breakup hadn't exactly been antagonistic but it certainly hadn't been amicable either. They'd been together for years, Thomas was the most serious significant other she'd ever had... Until he wasn't. The move out to St. John's was supposed to be temporary, it was supposed to give her a boost in her resume for a job in Toronto. But not everything turns out how it was supposed to. So when his number lit up her screen she was confused but didn't hesitate to take the call, closing the door to the lab to have some privacy. "Thomas?"