Tragic Kingdom (80s/90s imagines)

80: Duckie Dale (Pretty In Pink)

For Ravenpuffhere

Soulmate AU

You spent years staring at the words outlined on your arm. It was so sweet, and you always felt warm inside thinking that one day someone would say those words to you.

May I admire you again today?

You didn't know who spoke that way, but you had your wishes. It was pure and heartfelt, and you couldn't wait for the day those words would turn green. It would mean you had successfully built a relationship with the right person. Your person. You often wondered what your soulmate's tattoo said.

You met Duckie Dale when you were a little girl. He was utterly adorable, and you hoped with all your heart that maybe he was the one. He had been one of the first people to introduce themselves to you in kindergarten, and at the end of the day, you had noticed the tattoo had become tinged red, meaning you had met them. Of course, you had met so many people that day, there was no telling, especially when you hadn't watched it change. But... something told you it was him. Or maybe that was just what you wanted.

You watched from afar for next few years. He had interests elsewhere, and you made your own friends soon enough. The red never changed. And you knew deep down, that there was a small pool of people you had met on your first day that it could be.

You thought it was cruel that you could still build affections for someone that may not be your soulmate. You had seen friends harbor crushes for people that had long found their soulmates, and it hurt to watch. You hoped you weren't one of the unfortunates.

By your senior year of high school, you and Duckie were practically strangers again. Then by a stroke of luck, divine intervention, or whatever, you found yourself in the same classroom as one Mr. Duckie Dale several times through your first day back.

You had half of your classes with him. Maybe...

As days past, you finally pulled on your big kid pants and spoke to him for the first time in years. Sure, you had each exchanged a few hellos through your years of going to the same school, but nothing more.

"Hey, Duckie," you whispered. You had struck out and he was sitting right in front of you.

He turned and smiled. "Hey, Y/n. How may I be of service?"

You could feel your smile well up from somewhere deep down inside of you. "I was just wondering if you wanted to help me study for this test."

"Sounds good," he answered, nodding emphatically.

You agreed to study the next day, and your heart hardly rested until then. You felt like it was going to burst out of your chest by the time you met him in the library. A gory thought, really, but you had bigger things to focus on when you saw him waiting for you at a table.

You tried to think of him as an old friend. Maybe then, this would be easier. Establish a friendship. Then you would know.

"Well, this was fun, Y/n," Duckie sighed, after a couple of hours of quizzing and getting to know each other. "But I have other engagements for the day, though I would much rather stay with you and learn more about..." he picked up one of the notecards, "the causes of World War I."

You giggled. "It's fine. I need to head out too."

When you left, you could have sworn the deep red on your arm had begun to soften into an orange, but it could have just been the light.

You wished you were able to see other people's soulmate phrase. It would make everything so much easier, but you know that would be like cheating. The soulmate phrase was for them to know, and for you to eventually say.

As weeks passed, you tried to worry less about the colored letters on your skin and more about just building a new friendship. You found any excuse to talk to Duckie and just crossed your fingers that he didn't find you obnoxious.

Then one day, you saw it. It wasn't the lighting.

May I admire you again today blazed sunset orange across your forearm. You clutched you're arm against your chest.

Could it-

Did that mean-

You exhaled and tried to relax. No big deal. People do this every day. Some people had known their soulmate for years now. But you couldn't help the butterflies in your stomach when you thought about it. The butterflies returned every time Duckie greeted you in the hall and smiled to you in class.

You would have keeled over if you knew that he gushed about you to his best friend, Andie, who watched on and hoped you both would just hurry it up. It was so difficult watching people that belong together skirt around the issue.

When you walked into school the next Monday, Duckie was waiting by your locker.

"Hey, Duck," you greeted. "How are you this morning?"

"Not half bad now that you're here," he said with a wink.

You felt blood rush to your face. "Oh hush."

"No really," he insisted, smiling like a goofball, "I think you're swell."

"Gee, thanks," you laughed. You closed your locker and headed to your first class, one of the classes you didn't share with him. You turned to him and smiled. "I'll see you in a little while."

But at the same time, he inquired, "May I admire you again today?"

Your breathing hitched, and his eyes widened.

"I knew it," you murmured.

Suddenly, he sank to his knees, clutching his heart. "Y/n, my soulmate." He looked at his arm, the words only he could see, fading into a yellow as he grabbed at your hands. "Could I steal a kiss from my cosmically gifted true love?"

You could feel the eyes on you, but all you cared about were the brown ones staring up at you with adoration. Everything you had ever hoped for was right here. "I would like nothing better."

He got back to his feet, and your lips met in a soft embrace.

Jskakdmdksjekd I have never written a soulmate ah before but I always wanted to so thank youuu for trusting me to write this!! I'm officially soft 🥺 M'kay.

~Mariah