Starstruck II: Saruman's Curse

The Red Mark (Soulmate AU)

On Sam's fourteenth birthday, he got his mark. The Winchester family was throwing a small party for a few of his school friends and family members. That same day, a family moved in next door with their daughter who was Sam's age. They were introduced to each other, the girl, Ezri, was set to attend Sam's high school in the coming year. But that night, after everyone had left, Sam found Dean in his room and told him that his mark had appeared.

That was three months ago, but Dean still hasn't gotten over it. That was the first time he actually saw someone have the mark in real life. He knew they were real, but it was so rare for someone to get it. Now that Ezri and Sam were together and their marks were both red, Dean was rethinking his original ideas of not believing in the whole soulmate thing.

But none of that made him believe that he would ever get the mark. He just didn't consider himself soulmate material. He was already in his senior year of high school, about to turn eighteen, and he still never had any traces of a mark. He figured if he ever did get a mark, it would be black.

Sam getting his mark wasn't the only thing strange about that school year. After that, Dean noticed a lot of other people in his classes getting marks. Harry and Kevin, the only two cello players in the band, got together just this year after revealing that they both had red marks for years before figuring out it was for the two of them. Dean's friends, Steve, who was the worst member of the color guard, and Jimmy K., the drum major, both got red marks for each other. Now, they were the poster gay couple for the school. All they ever did now was make out with each other against Steve's locker, which was unfortunately next to Dean's locker.

"Guys, come on! Get a room!" Dean exclaimed as he tried to get to his locker. The couple stopped long enough to move over and greet Dean.

"Hey Dean!" said Jimmy. "You ready for the football game tonight?"

"Yeah, I guess," Dean said. He wasn't feeling up to the game. But he had to go. He was one out of only two tenors and also, this was Sammy's first game he'd be playing at.

"Dean!" a voice yelled from behind. Dean turned and saw his friend, Charlie, who was on mallets in the band, running through the crowded hallway to him. "Dean, you gotta come to the band hall, there's someone I want you to meet!"

She dragged him to the band hall, which wasn't far from where his locker was. The band hall was always crowded before classes started. It was mostly filled with the band geeks and their friends. When they got there, the usual groups were sitting around, chatting.

The band was split into four groups: The Rhythm Fusions, The Heat Seekers, The Crazy 8's, and Team Free Will. The Rhythm Fusions consisted of Ashley, a senior flute, Gacé, a junior base five, Kara, a sophomore flute, Matt, a sophomore on mallets, Colleen, a freshman flute, Kaia, a freshman marimba, and Paris, a senior who was not actually in band. Paris usually hung out back there because her friends, her sister, Kaia, and her brother, Nathan, were all in band.

Beyond them, sat the Crazy 8's. Dean didn't know where they got that name, but it was kind of stupid. He didn't know a lot of the people in that group, but he knew that Nathan, a sophomore snare, led it and that caused a lot of trouble with the Rhythm Fusions.

The Heat Seekers contained a lot of the gothic, emo kids in band. Most of them were bullies and super-seniors.

Team Free Will was the group that Dean belonged to, along with Charlie, Sam, who played trumpet, Steve, Jimmy, Harry, Kevin, and Ezri, who was on flute.

Other miscellaneous students flitted around between these four groups, talking and being overall obnoxious like how band kids are.

"There's a new student who just came in today," Charlie explained as she dragged Dean to the back of the hall where Team Free Will hung out. Dean spotted an extra member who he had never seen before. He had dark hair and the bluest eyes Dean had ever seen. The boy looked a little out of place. Charlie stopped in front of this new person and said, "This is Castiel. He just moved here about a week ago. Castiel, this is Dean. He's on tenors."

Dean shook hands with Castiel, unable to look away from those deep eyes.

"It's nice to meet you, Dean," said Castiel.

"Yeah, you too Cas," Dean said. He didn't know where that nickname came from, but Cas didn't seem to mind it. In fact, Dean was sure he caught a small smile at the corner of the boy's lips. "What do you play?"

"Clarinet," said Cas. "Tenor looks really hard."

"Naw, it's not that bad. Snare is harder," he said.

"You've played snare?" he asked.

"Yeah, I used to."

"He tried out for it this year," said Charlie. "But, see that kid over there with the curly blonde hair? That's Nathan. He's a sophomore. He tried out for snare too and snatched the spot right out from under Dean."

"Okay, see, that was something he didn't need to know," said Dean, glaring at Charlie. She smirked. "It's fine though, I don't mind. I like tenors."

Just then, the warning bell rang, signaling that class was about to start. Dean said goodbye to everyone and left, the people still in the halls dispersing to their classes.

Dean's first class was algebra...which he hated. With a passion. Somehow, it was one of the few classes he was getting a good grade in though. The teacher began rambling on about algorithms or some shit and Dean zoned out. He thought about the boy he had just met. Castiel. He couldn't seem to get those blue eyes out of his head. His friends all knew he was bi, but he hoped for Cas's sake that he wasn't blushing too bad while talking to him.

Dean scratched at his forearm absently.

The teacher handed out a worksheet to work on for the rest of the hour. Dean took his and glared at the equations that leered at him from the page.

He scratched at his arm again and reached for his pencil, regretfully starting on the assignment. His arm started itching again, like a dull annoyance that ached to be looked at. Dean scoffed and pulled up his sleeve to check for a spider bite or something. What he found instead, though, made his face pale and his blood run cold.

Staring back at him from his arm was a single, scar-like, mark. There was no mistaking what it was. Dean's gut twisted and dropped to his feet. He felt panic bubbling up inside of him, threatening to burst.

He raised his hand. "Can I go to the restroom?" he asked, trying to keep his voice steady. The teacher nodded and he went to grab the pass. When he got to the bathroom, he made sure it was empty. It was. He stared at himself in the mirror above the sink. This can't be happening...this can't be happening... he thought. He looked at his wrist again. It was still there. He tried washing it off under water, but it wouldn't leave. He tried scrubbing it with paper towel. He scrubbed at it until his skin was red and raw. This can't be happening...... His breathing started coming in ragged breaths and his eyes burned. He stared at the mark, waiting for it to turn black. There was no doubt in his mind it would turn black. Eventually. Why wasn't it turning black?

Castiel just met him. Of course it wouldn't turn black right away...assuming it was Cas. It had to be. Who else could it be? He gulped down the lump in his throat and looked back at the mirror. He loathed the thought that his mark will turn black, but he was sure that that was his fate. Why did I have to get a mark?

The bathroom door opened and another student walked in. Dean hurriedly pulled his sleeve down to cover his arm. He splashed some water on his face and left, knowing he had just blown off the rest of his class.

By: Father