"Right, right, okay, Fenton, you can do this." Taking a breath to steady himself, Danny walked into the kitchen with as much courage as he could possibly find. "Hey, Mom, hey, Dad."

"Hey there, Danny boy!" Jack didn't look up from where he was scribbling across a set of blueprints, Danny trying not to laugh at seeing they were upside down. He had a feeling that somehow, even with that, the new invention that he was designing would work. Somewhat. "How was school?"

"Oh, uh, good. School was good." Wait. How was school? Danny vaguely remembered homework, Dash tormenting him, and a B on a pop quiz, so, yeah. Good day at school. "So, uh, what's up with you guys?"

"We're fine." Oh, jeez, Danny could hear the raised eyebrow in his mom's voice. A second later and he could see it, too. "Alright, Danny, what are you up to today?"

"Rude," Danny huffed, feeling a bit of a smile on his face. "It's not like I'm up to something every day, just, you know, most days." Maddie smiled at him and Danny felt himself relax a little bit more, and, right. His parents loved him. Time to test that. "Actually, I… I wanted to ask you guys something."

"Danny? Everything alright?" Maddie was turning the stove off and putting her apron aside before walking over to him, looking worried already. "Are you in any trouble?"

"No, no, I'm not in any trouble." At least, he wasn't in any more trouble than he normally was. "I…" Okay, Fenton. Take it slow. He had to approach this topic carefully. "Why did you try so hard to keep me from my soulmate?"

For a heartbeat, the kitchen was utterly silent as his parents exchanged a look. It was a parental look that had Danny wondering how fast he could get to his room, change, and fly away as quickly as possible. "You know what, forget it, that's probably a dumb question, I think I'll just go to my room, get some rest, do a bit of homework-"

"Danny." It wasn't Maddie saying his name that got his attention, but it was the tone. It was… Jeez, Danny didn't know how to describe it. Pained? "Danny, sweetie, why are you asking about your soulmate? I thought you weren't curious."

"Oh, uh, well, I- You know, all the kids at school are starting to get curious and find their soulmates and I was just-"

"Did." Jack startled Maddie and Danny both, Danny looking at him and, uh, what? What was that supposed to- "You asked why did we keep you from your soulmate."

"Ah." Shit. He forgot that for as much as his dad was his dad, he was also a scientist who had helped create a portal into the Ghost Zone. Really, Danny shouldn't be so surprised, at this point. "I, um… I might've accidentally maybe sort of kind of wrote something down on my hand? And then I may have answered back when I saw a hello."

Danny really didn't want to say that his parents looked at him with dread, but… Yeah, no, there was no better word than dread to describe the looks on their faces. "Danny- Danny, you have to understand that we were just trying to protect you."

"I mean, yeah, I figured that much, but from what? What was so bad that you had me keep my skin covered for fifteen years?" It had to be big, right? Something huge and important that would explain away the pain he had lied to himself to hide, right? Something huge.

"Oh, Danny." Maddie moved forward to pull him into a tight hug, Danny startling a little, but carefully hugging her back. "Danny, you were- You weren't even an hour old and words were appearing on your skin."

"What?" That- That wasn't right, was it? Yeah, okay, words could appear on the skin of newborns, but not even an hour old and words appeared? That was near unheard of, as far as he knew. "What do you mean words?"

"Sentences." At Jack's admission, Danny darted his gaze to his arms. They were covered now, but he could still remember the words that had wrapped around them in all sorts of shapes. "Sentences, paragraphs, and words that were far beyond a child."

"That were beyond a teenager." Oh. Oh. The writing had led them to believe that his soulmate was old, then. "We were trying to keep you safe, Danny. If people saw your skin or found out, then…" Maddie pulled back, cupping Danny's cheeks and looking at him with near tears in her eyes. "I just wanted you safe."

"I…" People would have mocked him because that's what people did. They were mean and cruel and heartless. He knew that. He understood it. "I understand, but…" He understood, but he was still- They had never even bothered to tell him. Did they expect him to keep his skin covered for the rest of his life? Did they just expect that he'd never get curious- They didn't even hint at anything like this!

"But you're upset." Upset was a very mild word at the moment, but Danny gave a nod, anyways. "I won't lie to you. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat." Heh. Guess Danny knew where he got his hero complex from. "Even if you hate me, I just want you to know that we were doing our best to keep you safe. I won't apologize for that."

"Yeah- Yeah, I get it." He got it, but that hello that had appeared on his skin had been small, and cramped, and written as if the holder of the pen had been terrified of silence. How long had his soulmate been alone? "I'm gonna go take a shower."

Pushing away from his mom, Danny was grateful they didn't try to stop him as he ran up the stairs. He was willing to bet his limited allowance that he would have said some very nasty things if they tried to 'explain' anymore. That was one good thing about scientist parents, at least. They knew the value of giving someone time to think.

It just- Why?! Near everyone else grew up seeing words and drawings appear on their skin, but Danny had to keep his hidden as if it was something shameful. Apparently, it was. God, Danny couldn't even fathom the idea of someone writing on their skin day after day, always waiting for a response and never getting one. He, at least, had known he had a soulmate. He hadn't been allowed to 'talk' to them, but he had known. His soulmate probably thought he had been born without anyone. That… That was sad. It was sad enough that it was pissing Danny off.

Glaring down at his skin as he got in the shower, Danny huffed as only his words washed away. "You came into the world too soon." It wasn't fair. He should have been able to grow up being able to write on his skin and getting to know his soulmate. His soulmate should have been able to grow up knowing there was someone out there for them. God, how old even was his soulmate? How many years had they been alone if what his parents said were true?

"Fenton luck strikes again." Fentons, he had found, never had very good luck with things. Danny thought the ghost powers and portal had been bad enough, but this? This was just cruel. This was nothing but cruel. Tearing his gaze away, Danny tried to avoid looking at his skin as much as possible as he showered, finally coming out and starting to get dressed. Maybe his soulmate would ignore him, now. It'd only be… His skin was clean.

Yeah, okay, shower, yeah, but his skin was clean. As in everything - every word, every story, every trace of ink - had been wiped away and there was nothing but bare skin. It was something that Danny had never seen before because even when seeing quick glimpses of his arms while growing up, there had always been something written there. To see it blank-

Seeing words, Danny quickly turned his left wrist around and there, in small letters, were the words, 'My name is Andrew.' Andrew. His soulmate's name was Andrew.

Rushing into his room, and near tripping half a dozen times, Danny finally found one of his pens and tore the cap off and okay- Okay. His mate's name was Andrew. Guy. That- He was going to be honest, that was not that big of a surprise and he had a soulmate. Okay. He couldn't lose this chance. Not again.

'Danny. My name is Danny. Nice to meet you Andrew. Well I mean I say or uh write meet but I guess really its more like' Danny was cut off from continuing as the word like was covered up with scribbles in a pen that wasn't his own, Andrew's words appearing under his own quick, clean, and precise.

'I had a feeling that if I didn't stop you there, then you would have never stopped writing.' Wha- Okay- No- Dammit. It was not fair that his mate already knew him so well. That was cheating. He had to be cheating.

'Probably not.' He was so rude- Heh. Andrew. His name was Andrew, he was rude, and he was right handed. Right. He could- Danny could ask Andrew anything and he had no doubt Andrew would tell him. He could ask anything. 'Whats your favorite color?'

Danny watched as a 'u' was squeezed into the word favorite, and, what? A single word followed that was written in shining purple ink. 'Guess.' Staring for a long moment, Danny slowly laughed, not stopping until he realized his chest was hurting and there were tears on his face, but…

He had a soulmate. He, Danny Fenton, had a soulmate. His soulmate's name was Andrew and he was rude and funny, and he was right-handed, and his favorite color was purple, and god. Danny never thought he would care so much about someone's favorite color, but here he was, absolutely naked from a shower and not even managing to care as he cried on the floor of his bedroom.

'I don't know if I have a favorite but I like blue.' Biting his lip, Danny looked around before quickly finding a blue pen, doodling a set of three stars next to where he had written.

'Blue is a good colour. You like stars, I'm guessing?' Pausing at the words, Danny narrowed his eyes and wait. Favourite. Colour. Ah, crap, was his soulmate someone obsessed with all the British stuff?

'A stupid amount yeah.' Scribbling out the u in color, Danny grinned as there was a little frowny face drawn above it and okay, yeah, Dany was crying again, but- But come on. This was incredible. 'Nerd.'

'And you, dear mate, seem to be a brat.' Fuck. He and Andrew were going to get along great and Danny didn't even care anymore about how old Andrew might be because he was talking to his mate and oh… Oh, this was going to be amazing.

::

Andrew didn't stop writing back until Danny - his soulmate's name was Danny and he was male and thank god - admitted that he needed to get some sleep where he had school tomorrow and, yes, right. School. That- That part was tripping Andrew up a bit. His mate was in school- College? High school? Hopefully, if it was high school, it was the other's senior year.

Goodness, he still had so much to learn about his mate and he had a mate. Years and years of wishing and hoping and praying and he had a mate. It… Andrew could read the words on his arms and it was handwriting that wasn't his own, and yet it still all felt too good to be true. Andrew had a feeling that he wasn't going to be believing this one until he met Danny in person- Mate. Randy. He needed to tell- Oh.

Andrew had shot up to rush to the kitchen and tell Randy about his mate, and perhaps brag just a touch, but it seemed Randy was already in the room with Andrew. He also seemed to be asleep on the couch next to him and snoring. Trying not to laugh, Andrew looked around before grabbing a blanket and throwing it over the man, pleased when he didn't even twitch.

"I'm very glad you're asleep, because I'm only going to be saying this once. You were right." Andrew gently pet Randy's hair down, easily picturing the blank arms underneath the blanket. "Oh, Randy." He knew that no matter what his brother claimed otherwise, a part of him would always wish that writing not his own would appear on his skin. He also knew, without a doubt, that Randy would be nothing but happy for him.

Bending down, Andrew pressed a quick kiss to Randy's forehead, just like he used to do when they were little. "Thank you, Randy, for being such a great brother." Standing up, Andrew paused when he saw a slip of blue and oh. Oh, no.

"Someone has to keep you out of trouble, yeah?" He was awake. "You say such sweet words, little brother."

"I'm glad you think so, because soon you won't remember them." Grabbing a pillow, Andrew stepped forward with the intention to smother his brother into a final afterlife, huffing when Randy was up and dodging the attack at once. "You're far too cruel."

"Maybe, but it seems my cruelty works, yeah?" Randy looked to where Andrew's arms were filled with words - and only half of them were his. "Good talk?"

"He's absolutely perfect." Andrew sighed and collapsed back on the couch, trying not to grin like an idiot. "His name is Danny, he seems to be in school, his favorite color is blue, he loves the stars, he wants to be an astronaut when he grows up, he has two best friends who he shares everything with, and-"

"How long have you two been talking?" Randy cut him off with laughter, tugging at Andrew's shirt before Andrew could swat him away. "What did you two do, write wherever there was some blank skin?"

"Oh, hush." Andrew phased out of the grip and headed towards the kitchen, full of energy and he should bake- Baking sounded great. He would make some cookies. "He's perfect, Randy, absolutely perfect."

"And you almost didn't want to talk to him." Yes, yes. Andrew supposed he could allow Randy to be smug just this once- Only this once. "What do you mean seems to be in school?"

"Hm? Oh." Andrew paused from where he was gathering ingredients, the pile in his arm tilting sideways and oh, there went the flour. Mm, Randy would catch it. "He wrote that he had to go to sleep where he had school tomorrow. I didn't get to ask what his level of education was, yet."

"For your sake, let's hope it's college or very late high school." One could only pray. "Did he tell you, then?"

"Tell me? Tell me what?" Andrew set all his things down at the kitchen counter, accepting the bag of flour from Randy with a frown. Randy's own frown was a lot more serious.

"Did he tell you why he never wrote back." Ah… That didn't sound like much of a question. Turning back around, Andrew swallowed as he grabbed a bowl, ordering his supplies by when he would need them and trying to distract himself as much as possible. Maybe Randy would just forget what they were talking about and- "Andrew."

"I'm rather afraid it slipped my mind to ask." Andrew hated himself for the way his hands shook as he poured ingredients into the bowl. He could see some of Danny's stars peeking out in various places where words near covered them up. "I'll have plenty of time to ask tomorrow, I'm certain." After all, Andrew had all the time in the world to talk to his soulmate, now. He didn't have to worry. Right?

"Oh, Andy." Randy's voice was soft and quiet and so much like their mother's that Randy had to steady Andrew's hands before he could drop anything. "It's okay to be scared, you know."

"I'm not scared." He wasn't. He was terrified. What reason would his mate have to hide from him for years. No matter how old he was, he was obviously old enough that he should have known what the words on his arms meant, so what had kept him from writing back? What had kept him from writing anything back? He had mentioned the code was a password he had to write down before he forgot, but was that… Was that really it? If Danny hadn't needed to write that password down, would they have ever talked like they had?

"No, you're not." Ah, Randy knew. Of course Randy knew. Randy had always known the emotions of others and he had always known Andrew's emotions the best of all. "You're going to be okay, Andy."

"I don't know if I am." Did Danny truly care about mates? If he didn't, was he just going to disappear again when he got bored? As for Andrew… He was dead. He was dead. He was a ghost who wasn't meant to come back and he would never age again. What if his soulmate was already older than him? It would just get worse as time went by.

"You will be, though." Randy slowly let his hands go, Andrew noticing that his own were steady again. "I'd offer to take over, but I could never make that recipe the way you two did."

"That's because you always add too much chocolate," Andrew laughed, bumping his shoulder against Randy's. "You can stay and help, though."

"Oh? I just knew you liked my clever humor." Throwing an egg at Randy's head, Andrew was entirely unsurprised when it was quickly caught, cracked, and added to the mix. "Where do you keep getting all these ingredients, anyways?"

"Who do you think does all the shopping?" Strictly speaking, ghosts didn't need to eat, but if Andrew suppressed his aura, then he could usually get away looking like a sick human when the sun was out. He made sure to shop outside of Amity Park, though. "Besides, I refuse to substitute ingredients with that trash you bring home."

"No need to be so rude." Ha! He didn't even deny it was trash. "You know, Vidya probably shouldn't be able to have electricity like she does."

"Magic." Really it was most likely the properties of the Ghost Zone, as Randy should well know, but it seemed to be a favorite subject of his to complain about how physics and logic didn't work in the Ghost Zone. It was too fun to play devil's advocate. "Now grab the pans."

"So bossy." Randy ruffled Andrew's hair and Andrew let him without a fight just this once. Randy's presence, for as annoying as he was, really was helpful and normal after he had just discovered his mate. As for finding out why he was only just now learning of him…

Andrew glanced to a patch of Danny's stars right over his left wrist and smiled softly to himself. He had all the time in the world to find the answer to that question.

::

Stumbling through his morning routine, Danny wasn't sure if he was honestly awake until he started getting dressed - mostly because he had been about to put his long-sleeve shirt and coat on and then realized the biggest thing in his entire life had just happened to him. Dropping the clothes, Danny held his arms out, staring at where faded words of his own were pressed against his skin next to the sharp, clear words of his soulmate.

"Okay. Not a dream." He half thought it might be one, actually, all things considered. Looking back to his clothes, he stared at them for a long few moments because… Because he didn't need them. Well, no, okay, he obviously needed clothes, but he didn't need ones that covered his arms and every scrap of skin he had. He- He could talk to his soulmate and not have to worry about hiding from him, anymore, and oh, man, that was going to take some getting used to.

He had a soulmate. He had a mate named Andrew. Andrew loved baking and writing, he wrote like an English person, he was rude, he was right-handed, he had an older brother who worried far too much over him, his favorite color was purple, and he was funny. That- He already knew so much. He already knew more than he ever thought he would know.

Grabbing and throwing on a short-sleeve shirt he just barely remembered owning, Danny threw one of his pen necklaces on and uncapped the pen only to see his arms were near bare. Twisting his left arm around for a moment, he paused when he saw a scribbled out 'Good morning.' written across his arm in writing that was much neater and better than his own.

"Oh, yeah, I could get used to this." Trying not to bounce with what felt like glee, Danny scribbled out his own good morning before rushing downstairs, just remembering to grab his backpack and toss his coat back into his closet. "Hi, good morning, bye, gotta get to school, love you!"

"Danny- At least eat something before you go!" Heeding the unsaid warning lurking in Maddie's voice, Danny tore through the kitchen before emerging successfully with a slice of toast, a few pieces of bacon, and a cereal bar. "That is not a meal, young man-"

"I'll eat a big lunch at school, promise, love you, bye!" Danny rushed out of the kitchen just as Jazz entered, Danny hearing her speak even as he was halfway out the door.

"Was that Danny up and early without complaining? Were his arms uncovered? What- Mom! Wait- Danny!" Aaand that was when Danny shut the door and started thinking about running.

"Well, someone looks happy this morning. Should I worry about the world ending?" Hopping down the stairs and gathering Sam up in a hug before spinning her around, Danny quickly started munching on his hard-won breakfast.

"What's there not to be happy about? It's nice and warm, it's getting close to summer, Mom somehow made it so the bacon didn't burn, and I have a soulmate. It's a great day, so far!"

"Should I be worry about my best friend being replaced by a Skrill?" Staring at Tucker for a moment, Danny offered a slice of bacon. It was snatched up in a heartbeat. "Skrills are cool."

"So, Danny." Sam threw an arm around his shoulder as they walked, smile teasing, but happy. "How's your soulmate doing?"

"His name is Andrew," Danny grinned, finishing off his toast before pausing as the taste sunk in. "Ugh, I hate toast."

"Then why did you eat all of it?"

"Sam," Tucker frowned. "We're teenage boys and it's food. We'll eat anything."

"Very true," Danny agreed, ducking away from Sam as the two started an argument about… Something. They were arguing about something. Danny didn't care. 'Note to self I hate toast why do I do this to myself and holy shit have you even slept?'

'Define sleep.' Oh, wow, his soulmate was even worse than him when it came to sleep. That was great. 'It's possible I lost consciousness at one point. Does that count?'

'Was it in a bed?' There was a little frowny face drawn next to his question, Danny choking on laughter. 'No it didnt count. Hows the story?'

'Well, I seem to have written an additional 20 pages, but I have no memory of actually WRITING those 20 pages.' Oh, man, Andrew was an absolute wreck and Danny loved it.

"Dude." Startling as Tucker's arm was thrown over his shoulder, Danny looked up to see his friends on either side of him. "Don't get me wrong, we're happy for you and all, but…"

"You look like you were given some experimental drug with how happy you look right now." Oh. Cool. "Seriously, Danny. You look stupidly happy."

"Stupidly happy," Tucker agreed, hugging Danny close for a second. "It's a good look on you." Danny stuck his tongue out, trying not to beam. Most friends, he was pretty sure, would tell him to be careful considering he had spent fifteen years never speaking to his soulmate. Sam and Tucker? They probably wanted to write a hello on his skin themselves.

"I'll have you oh holy shit." Danny paused, looking down at his arm before looking back to his friends. "I don't even know where my soulmate lives yet- I should get his number! That'd be easier than writing on skin all the time, yeah- Can I do that? Can I ask for a number?"

"Aw, it's like watching him try to ask someone out," Sam cooed, Danny making a face as she near cuddled against him. It was great. "Do you think you can do that?"

"I mean- Yeah? No? I don't- Help. I need a lot of help in this area." He had fifteen years to make up for, after all. "Do you think he'd even tell me where he lives? Like- Like a town, or city, or something."

"I think that you have plenty of time to find out." Yeah… Yeah, that was definitely true. He had what seemed like all the time in the world to find out more about his soulmate.

::

Andrew had always thought that he wrote on his skin more than the average person with a soulmate, but that was nothing compared to how much he wrote, now. Before it had been stories, ideas, or even little reminders to himself to do something before he forgot. Now, though? Now his skin was filled with so much more.

There were entire conversations written down on his arms that he had to keep washing away so more space could be made, there were doodles and drawings that filled up every blank space between those conversations, and each idea he jotted down usually had a patch of stars next to it. The ones Danny liked, he had found, were usually stars that were colored in.

The fun part, he had found, was seeing how many places he could write his ideas and timing how long it took Danny to find them. He was still trying to figure out how the other had found the idea he had written on his ankle in only ten minutes. He was positive that his friends had helped him with that one.

The only problem with all of this writing was that sometimes he had to be… Well, he had to be careful with what he wrote, or, really, what he didn't write. It wasn't like he could tell Danny how old he really was. The other would run off in terror in a heartbeat- Ah. Right. There was also the fact that Andrew was dead and a ghost. That would put a damper on any kind of meeting, he was certain.

Then there was the fact that no one outside of Amity Park even knew ghosts to be real. At least, sane people didn't believe in the physical formation of ghosts. Perhaps if Danny lived in Amity Park it might be different, but the chances of that were slim to none.

So, yes, maybe lying to his soulmate wasn't the best way to start a relationship, but he wasn't technically lying. At least, that's what he kept using as an excuse to justify it. Vidya was humming along in his head in sheer delight at his suffering, the sadistic little thing- Or, wait. Vidya was Andrew's lair, so would that make him a masochist? Maybe-

Oh, dear, Danny was asking for a phone number. "Do you think Randy could find a way to get me a working phone?" The trilling notes in his head held as much faith in that as Andrew held in the idea. "Yes, I'm aware it's a stupid idea, thank you." Okay, alright, no phone- Email address. He didn't- Oh, goodness.

"Why did no one warn me how difficult relationships would be?" Andrew chewed his lip to near shreds as he stared down at the words and while he technically had an email address, it wasn't exactly like he had internet within the Ghost Zone. He could check it in the human world, but that would require getting to a library, and he didn't have an address to get a library card, and he wouldn't be able to talk to Danny all the time anyways, and-

'I don't believe in technology.' Staring at the words and trying to fathom why anyone would write something like that, Andrew slowly realized that he had written those words and, right. Aha. Because that was a good lie.

Collapsing onto the nearest soft surface, Andrew groaned as he looked up to the ceiling. "Do you think he'll believe that?" Vidya's notes were as close to laughter as they could be, Andrew whining as he threw an arm over his eyes.

He had a feeling that having a soulmate was going to be very, very difficult.