Your hair is so pretty! I wish my hair was red like yours.
His words were bright green, scrawled right below his collarbone in messy cursive. He had first noticed the words when he was around four, running to his maman wondering why the words wouldn't come off his skin, no matter how much he scrubbed. She had sat him down and explained how soulmates worked, and how the words on his skin would be the first thing his soulmate said to him, and somewhere out there, his soulmate would have the first words he would ever say to them on their skin.
He had been excited at the news, always keeping an ear out in hopes that the words would come quickly. Of course, when they finally did come, he was less than prepared.
He was only six (and a half!) at the time, playing on the swings at his favorite park when the blond boy had run up, narrowly avoiding getting kicked as Nathaniel swung. When he stopped himself, the blond had grinned and pointed at his hair, which had been pulled into a small ponytail.
"Your hair is so pretty! I wish my hair was red like yours."
He had frozen, staring in awe as the other boy simply smiled at him. He had then opened his mouth to respond, knowing that whatever came out of his mouth would be marked on this boy's skin, but it seemed wasn't meant to be.
"Adrien! What did I tell you about running off?" A woman interrupted, grabbing the boy, Adrien's, arm and dragging him away. Nathaniel had practically thrown himself from his swing in an attempt to catch up with the boy, with his soulmate. He had landed in the gravel hard, knees scraped and ankle throbbing, but he still tried to get up and run after the boy, who was staring back at him sadly.
His maman had seen his fall and rushed over to check on him, looking over his bloody knees with a frown.
He had tried to explain, but he was unable to get the words out, instead stuck watching as his soulmate was dragged away from him.
It was the biggest regret of his life.
He thought back to it every once in a while, and every time, his chest would tighten and he'd have to fight off tears. He had seen his soulmate and the boy was so close and as quick as he arrived, he disappeared. Some days he found himself angry at the woman who had dragged his soulmate away, bitter that she had practically ripped the boy away from him.
When he had finally explained what happened to his maman, she had given him a look of pity and told him that sadly, sometimes a person would meet their soulmate once and never again. Just because they were your soulmate didn't mean you would end up together.
He had been bitter and angry for a while afterwards, so much so that his parents signed him up for specialized counseling, which helped him accept his lost soulmate and move on, although he did find himself wondering every once in a while what the other boy's soulmate mark said, especially since he hadn't gotten the chance to say anything.
It had been hard through the years, watching as the people around him found their soulmates and got together. It started with Ivan and Mylene, then Rose and Juleka, Kim and Max, and most recently, Alya and Marinette. It hurt sometimes, knowing that he had technically met his soulmate before any of them, and yet he was still alone.
Of course, fate tends to work in the ways we least expect them to.
When Adrien Agreste had shown up on the second day of school, his heart seemed to flicker in his chest, but he simply attributed it to the fact that the boy was cute and famous, which was a combination guaranteed to make him anxious if the boy tried to talk to him.
He noticed after a couple of days that the boy seemed to be working his way through the classroom and introducing himself to each student individually. He quickly became friends with Nino, Alya, and Marinette, so he skipped them, and he was supposedly already friends with Chloe, so he skipped her too, starting the introductions with Sabrina and snaking around the classroom. After Sabrina went Alix, Mylene, Ivan, Kim and Max, and had just gotten to Juleka and Rose. Nathaniel had been nervous enough, but after talking to Juleka and Rose, Adrien seemed hyperfocused on him. Nathaniel had caught the boy staring at him more than once, and though every time the blond was smiling, it didn't make him any less anxious.
The day the model had finally approached him, he felt about ready to explode. Not only were his thoughts about Adrien stressing him out, Rose and Juleka had been acting odd ever since Adrien had talked to them, whispering to each other while staring in his direction, giggling every time he turned and looked at them.
"Hey, Nath right?" The blond had spoken, startling the redhead out of his thoughts and causing him to nearly slam his fingers shut in his locker, "I wanted to introduce myself to everyone in class individually. I'm Adrien Agreste!"
Nathaniel looked up from where he was grabbing his books, raising an eyebrow at the blond who seemed even more anxious than Nathaniel currently was.
"Uh, yeah. It's Nathaniel, but Rose likes to call me Nath," He said, squeaking in surprise when the boy before him beamed before grabbing him by the waist and swinging him around.
"It's you! I found you!" He shouted, beaming as Nathaniel steadied himself by setting his hands on the blond's shoulders.
He was too confused to ask for answers, so he waited for the boy to finish swinging him around gleefully, finally setting him down and grabbing his shoulders excitedly.
"I'm so glad I finally found you! I knew it was you as soon as I saw you, but I wanted to introduce myself to everyone first so I had an excuse to talk to you," Adrien beamed, seemingly not noticing how confused Nathaniel was.
"I'm sorry, what's going on?" He finally asked, chest tightening at how fast the other boy's smile fell.
"We're soulmates," He answered, letting go of Nathaniel's shoulders and letting his arms drop to his side, looking more and more distraught as Nathaniel continued to look confused, "See, I have your words!"
Twisting around, Adrien shrugged his white overshirt down to his elbows and reached up to pull the edge of his black T-Shirt down, showing off the messy red scrawl right over his shoulder blade.
Uh, yeah. It's Nathaniel, but Rose likes to call me Nath.
Nathaniel stared at the words, lifting one hand so his fingers could trace the words. He had just said those words, and that was his handwriting, but his brain seemed to have shut down, leaving him floundering as Adrien turned to look over his shoulder at the redhead.
"Nath? Are you okay?" Adrien asked, adjusting his shirts back to normal before turning back to the frozen artist.
"This doesn't make any sense," Nathaniel whispered, tearing up as the frustration finally broke through, "I don't understand. I already met my soulmate, and they left. I'm supposed to be alone"
Adrien looked slightly horrified, holding his hands out as if to pacify the boy, trying to comfort him without invading his space.
"Are...are you sure you've already met your soulmate? You don't have my words?" Adrien asked, fidgeting as the redhead pulled his shirt aside to show off his mark, too choked up to try explaining.
Your hair is so pretty! I wish my hair was red like yours.
Adrien paused, reaching one hand up to run his thumb over the words as his brow furrowed. Nathaniel scrubbed at his face as the blond inspected his mark, guilt causing his gut to twist painfully. He knew it wasn't exactly his fault that their marks didn't match, a not entirely rare experience, but it didn't make him feel any better.
"I remember you," Adrien whispered, straightening to look Nathaniel in the eye, "You were on the swings, and your hair was in a ponytail that day. Nathalie dragged me away right after I said that because I had snuck out of the house to go to the park. I had seen you at that park everyday for weeks, and I wanted to be your friend, so I crawled out a window when my dad called her aside."
Nathaniel froze, brain short circuiting as he tried to figure out if Adrien was saying what he thought the boy was saying. His mind went back to the day he had met his soulmate, trying to summon the blurry image and connect it to the model standing in front of him. He remembered blond hair, green eyes, and the name Adrien, all of which fit the boy standing in front of him.
The dam finally broke and Nathaniel let go, sobbing as Adrien pulled him into a hug. His soulmate was hugging ten years late
"You jerk!" He yelled, burying his face in the boy's neck as the blond ran his fingers through the bright red hair, "It's been nine years!"
"I know Nath, I'm so sorry," The blond whispered, holding him close and swaying gently as Nathaniel freely cried, "I didn't know you would be my soulmate, but I'm so, so sorry I left, but I'm here now. I found you Nathaniel, and you're stuck with me now."
Laughing, Nathaniel finally got his tears under control, sighing as he relaxed in Adrien's arms before finally pulling away and wiping his face with his sleeve.
"Now that you've found me, how about dinner this weekend? My treat." Adrien spoke, wiping a final tear off Nathaniel's cheek. "Seems only fair that I pay for the first date."
Nathaniel laughed, and the second he started, he was unable to stop. He hadn't actually ever thought that he'd run into his soulmate again, sure that he'd be alone, and now that he had met them, and it was Adrien Agreste no less, his chest felt fit to burst with happiness that he couldn't help but express.
"It better be the best date ever Agreste. You have almost ten years of soulmate stuff to catch up on," Nathaniel grinned, bending over to grab his books from where he dropped them and putting them in his locker.
"Well, I guess I better get started now hm?" Adrien smirked, wrapping an arm around Nathaniel's waist, pulling the redhead in close as his other hand cupped the redhead's cheek and finally, finally kissed his soulmate.
And as he did, Nathaniel remembered the words his mère had told him the day he first saw Adrien.
"Oh sweetie, what's meant to be will always find a way. Even if you don't expect it to."
And Nathaniel realized that she had been completely right.