Sun Splashed Ink Wells (SnowBaz Soulmate AU)

Chapter 1

Baz

     I’m going to be late for class. I’ve never been late to class in all my time at University yet here we are. All this because I’ve been staring at my arm blankly for the past ten minutes. This is the first time they’ve ever written to me, I’d started to believe I didn’t even have a soulmate. It’s got to be my soulmate, I didn’t write this on myself. Moreover my handwriting is not whatever this chicken scratch is. My soulmate finally writes to me and I can’t even bloody read it. Crowley what the hell does this even say?
   
Right, I’m going to be late for class. I shake my head and stand up, throwing the covers off of my legs. Perhaps if I hurry I can still make in on time. Thank Merlin that I splurged on getting a single dorm this year. Getting ready in the morning is much easier without having a roommate to trip over. No, it’s much easier without having Simon Snow to trip over. I’m sure if I’d been stuck with anyone else they wouldn’t have been up at six am banging around the room like a bloody elephant. It was a whole song and dance trying to get around him every morning. Or at least trying to get around him every morning without sneaking glances his way when he wasn’t paying attention.
   
Anyways, I left my room and speed walked to class. I attempted to hurry without looking as rushed as I really was. I certainly wasn’t going to look desperate by running. Despite my best efforts, I was still two minutes late. I ignored the stares of my classmates and made my way up to my usual spot. Fourth row, sixth seat down the left side. Directly behind Snow. Of course, he couldn’t just leave me alone even if we weren’t roommates this year. We’re in the same major, ecology, which is small at Watford University. Meaning that Snow and I shared most of our classes. Maybe it was a bad idea to sit behind him in every class. Though I see it as my own personal reward because I’ll never get anything more than this. 

Besides, I guess I have a soulmate now. Well, I suppose technically I’ve always had one. I suppose I know I have a soulmate now. I tug at the cuff of my sleeve to hide the scribbles on my wrist. It was bad enough that I had to know. I didn’t want anyone else to know about my soulmate. I couldn’t be bothered with questions about it. If I were to get into a relationship I’d wanted it to be natural. Not something I feel forced into by the universe.

Besides, if I were to date I’ve been hopelessly in love with the same person for the past three years. I guess it doesn’t matter that I was late because I’m distracted anyway. Whatever my professor is jabbering on about is drowned out by that sea of golden curls. There’s morning sun streaming in through one of the huge windows in the wall and landing perfectly in Snow’s hair, making it shimmer. It’s almost enough for me to forget about the writing.

Simon

Agatha wants to meet me after my first class today. I think I know what this is about. I was hanging out with her and Penny in my dorm last night when I had an idea. It was probably an idiotic one but I had just been so curious. While Ag and Penny were distracted playing Mario Kart I grabbed a pen and wrote on my wrist. I hope it’s you. It was a stupid thing to write. Of course it would be Agatha, we’re right for each other, I know we are. Even if the writing doesn’t appear on her arm, it probably just means that neither of us have soulmates. That’s fine with me, I’d be glad to settle down with Agatha even if the universe didn’t bother to match us up. We’re right together, we’re endgame.

I think she noticed the writing before she left last night. That’s probably why she wants to see me. The thought crosses my mind for just a moment that she might leave me if there’s not writing on her arm. I just as quickly dismiss it. If Agatha isn’t my soulmate then I don’t have a soulmate, and we’ll stay together and get a flat after Uni.

Agatha

There was writing on Simon’s arm last night. I don’t know when it got there, Penelope had me pretty locked into racing her in Mario Kart. She’d bet me that I couldn’t win because she was more competitive. She was right, but only because she snatched the controller away to make me lose.

Either way, that’s not the point. I noticed the writing on Simon’s arm just before I left his dorm. My own arm was blank. I guess I didn’t really expect Simon to be my soulmate. We haven’t been right for eachother in . . . a long time. I’m still not sure whether he wrote on himself or if it was a message from his soulmate. I suppose it doesn’t matter either way. I’ve been putting this off for too long, this was just the final push I needed to call it off with him. I love Simon, I really do, but I don’t think I love him the right way. 

The door to the greek classroom finally creaks open and he’s there.
“Good morning, Aggie,” he greets me. I wish he wouldn’t do that. Him being nice is going to make this harder.

Simon

Agatha is waiting for me when I walk into the greek classroom. I tell her good morning but she doesn’t say it back. She’s just staring at me. She’s not staring in a good way though, I can tell. She’s frowning, like she’s nervous.
“What’s wrong, Ags?” I ask. That gets a reaction. Agatha sighs and walks toward me, taking my left wrist up in her hand.
“You wrote on yourself,” her voice is quiet, just barely above a whisper so it doesn’t sound like an accusation. I nod. Agatha bite her lip and lets my arm drop. 
“Have they written back?”
“Who?”
“Your soulmate, Simon!” She exhales with much more emphasis. She pushes her arms out as she says it, giving me a full view of her arms. They’re blank. That’s alright, all that means is that I don’t have a soul mate. I was going to stay with Agatha even if we weren’t soulmates. I shake my head.
“I don’t think I have one,” I tell her. Agatha sighs.
“That means we aren’t supposed to be together,” she says. I look up, meeting her eyes. Agatha’s a bit taller than me.
“What do you mean? We’re still right for each other, even if neither of us have soulmates,” I argue. Now it’s Agatha’s turn to shake her head.
“We’re not,” her voice goes quiet again.
“What?”
“No, we’re not, Simon.” Now I’m just confused. Of course Agatha and I are right for each other. We’ve been together for almost six years, we had everything sorted out! We’d go to Uni, then get a flat together out in the country. Agatha’s always wanted to live in the country. Maybe we’d even get married right after college, that’s what her parents did. Then we’d spend Christmas at their house and someday we’d get a little dog.

“We’re just not, Simon,” she says again. I don’t know what to say so I just nod. I don’t know why I’m nodding, that’s almost like agreeing that we’re not right together.
“I just don’t think we should keep this up.” Agatha mutters. It strikes me dumb, well dumber than I’ve been this whole time. I can’t argue with her now, I don’t want to force her to be with me. I just thought she was happy, I thought we were both happy! I don’t want to agree with her either. I don’t agree with her. So I just backed away. I keep backing away until I realize I’ve pressed myself against the door. Agatha is staring at me and I half expect her to take it back. She doesn’t. So I bring my hand up behind me to the knob and creep out the door. Then I run.

I don’t know where I’m running exactly, but I find myself out of the building before I can think. Then I’m on the paved walkway. Then the grass. Then I trip and fall on my face. As if this day wasn’t bad enough. My mind is whirling but I don’t know what it’s whirling with. Adrenaline? Disappointment? Anger? I think I’m crying. Fuck, I think I’m crying. In plain sight in the middle of the courtyard. I start to push myself up, maybe I’ll go back to my dorm. That’s probably the best idea I’ve had all morning.

I push myself up on my elbows then stop dead. Blue ink is scrawling across my left arm, just under what I wrote. The new words appearing on my arm are much neater. The writing curves and swirls like some medieval text. It’s like cursive but fancier. I think there’s a word for this type of writing but I can’t remember what it is. Crowley I have a soulmate. I have a soulmate and it’s not Agatha. I think for a moment that she’s going to be angry when she sees, then I remember that she’s just broken up with me. Then I realize that I should probably actually read the pretty words that just appeared on my arm.
You write like an animal, it says. Well that’s rude. In fact, it’s familiar. Last year when I had the worst roommate on earth he used to say that to me. He’d look over my shoulder at my homework and say, “Crowley Snow, you write like an animal.” Great not only did my girlfriend just dump me but now my soulmate reminds me of my mortal enemy.