One Hundred & One Shades of Solangelo

I - Soulmate AU (PART ONE)

AN: Am I doing this because it's the first chapter? Yes.
(Isn't that picture just absolutely adorable?) 

Nico

In this world, your 16th birthday was one of the most important days of your life. Well, to Nico it was. It was the day you got your soulmate mark, a roman numeral on your left wrist. It could be anything, from one digit numbers to 7 digit ones, to ones that took hours to read, but your soulmate's number mirrored your own.

Usually, soulmates would be in the same school or institution, since soulmate magic had a way that attracted each other, but there were exceptions.

Nico had always been slightly obsessed with the topic of soulmates. Bianca tended to laugh at him, telling him to wait until he turned 16, but that didn't stop him from spending hours staring dreamily at his wrist, wondering what his number could possibly be.

So when his 16th birthday finally arrived, well, to say he was excited would be an understatement. He couldn't fall asleep, and was pacing around his room close to midnight when Hazel - who's room was directly below Nico's - finally threw the door open and threatened to tie him to the post for a week if he didn't stop pacing and go to sleep.

Nico woke, blinking and confused, wondering why he was this worked up so early in the morning. It took him less than 5 seconds to remember what day it was, and he promptly sat up, throwing the covers off as he brought his wrist up to his face.

Nico's heart sank.

No no no. This couldn't be happening.

Nico glared at his hand, willing the number to change, but it simply twinkled up at him in dark glory, contrasting against his pale skin.

After he realised that the number would not, in fact, change, he got up and rummaged through his drawer until he found a bead bracelet - a gift from Bianca 6 years ago, which he hadn't bothered to take out until then. He slipped it onto his wrist.

It fitted perfectly.

Not even a hint of ink could be seen.

Then he dug out a black denim long sleeve jacket which he had definitely never used before, and tried it on, making sure it covered his arms completely.

When he went downstairs, his parents and sisters were waiting with presents and a freshly baked cake. Bianca demanded to see his wrist, but Nico refused. Then Hazel asked. He refused again. They asked a couple more times, but eventually, they dropped the subject, sensing that Nico didn't want to talk about it.

Oh, and the bracelet?

He never took it off again.

Will

His 16th birthday had come way to fast.

Don't get him wrong, Will was super excited and stuff...but he was just nervous. Like, a lot. Okay, more than a lot. Like, really, really, really nervous for his number.

He had been awake for more than 10 minutes by now, but he still refused to look at his number until Kayla and Austin could check and confirm that no one they knew had it.

Eventually, Will realised that he would have to get up, or he'd miss school. He rolled out of bed, sighing, and went downstairs, detecting the scent of waffles - no doubt his mother's wonderful creation of a birthday breakfast. Will had barely stepped into the kitchen when Kayla and Austin cornered him.

"Well?" Kayla demanded. "Did you look yet?"

Will shook his head, so she held out a hand expectantly, and he cautiously let her take his wrist and inspect it. Austin was looking over her shoulder.