-Mal-

Soulmates. Everybody had them. That one person who was destined to be in your life and destined to be important in your life. Soulmates could be platonic or romantic, didn't matter. Everyone had them.

But not everyone wanted them. The idea of soulmates was heavily romanticised. It was seen as an important part of your identity, even if it was something you kept private. Some people, however, didn't want their bond with someone else being one of the defining aspects of their identity.

However, that was just how it was. Especially as soulmarks, for reasons that scientists who had studied the phenomenons couldn't explain, were not only highly varied between people but they also seemed to be linked to the fundamental basis of the relationship – people who were willing to be patient and wait for each other to appear often had a timer of some kind that would count down usually until they met their soulmates. If two people were expressive emotionally or brought out the emotional and vulnerable side of each other, they were likely to have some kind of empathic ability. If your soulmate would be someone who taught you to see the world from a different perspective, there was a chance that you would be able to see the world literally from their perspective (sometimes dreaming their memories, or seeing through their eyes at random).

Mal, it seemed, would bring colour into her soulmates life and vice versa. Because she was colour-blind and according to doctors, it was due to a soulbond.

Could it get any more cheesy? She'd bring colour into their lives and they'd bring colour into hers? Her flatmate and best friend, Evie, thought something very different about Mal's soulbond.

"But it's so romantic!" she argued one morning, as they were sharing breakfast and Mal was stewing over the ridiculous idea of soulmates. "Think about it, you live in a world devoid of colour and life and beauty and then you meet that one person who is destined to be in your life and suddenly you start seeing colours. You see the world in a whole new way. It's such a beautiful idea!"

Mal sighed as she looked at her best friend, "E, come on! It's dumb. Why should the universe decide who is destined to be in my life?"

"Hey, come on," Evie reprimanded her, "We all know that the people destined to be one of the most important people in your life are people you'd choose anyway!"

Mal raised an eyebrow at Evie, "Really, E? You're telling me that you would've spared Doug a second glance if you hadn't realised that it was each other's thoughts you'd been hearing your whole life?"

"It may have taken longer than it did, but yes," Evie argued. "Doug was one of the few people who believed that I was more than a pretty face and he told me that before we realised it was each other's thoughts we were hearing. That was how I realised that he was my soulmate."

Doug and Evie had met when Evie was considering applying for a cosmetic science course at university so that she could work with makeup if her fashion business didn't grow the way she hoped it would. She knew she needed good grades in chemistry and so was recommended to get a tutor, as she and her teacher believed that she would never be able to get there on her own. Doug was the one hired and he had been one of the first to see through her 'dumb girl' act. When he'd told her that she was smart enough, with a bit of studying, to pass with flying colours, Evie realised that her soulmates thoughts were occurring in perfect timing with Doug's silences – Doug told her that she was smart, then her soulmate's thoughts said: "I can't believe that she doesn't believe that. Why does she try to act like she's dumb?"

They'd been together ever since, finding that hearing each other's thoughts made the long-distance easier when they were both at university.

Over the course of university, Evie's fashion business grew until it was booming and she now owned her own small fashion empire.

"Okay, I get it. You found your soulmate and he ended up being your perfect romantic partner," Mal replied, jamming her spoon into her porridge, "But you're a romantic, I'm not. This is why I hate soulmates because the universe clearly doesn't always know what it's doing. I don't want a perfect romantic match and we both know that if my soulmate had been platonic, it should've been you!"

Evie grinned at her, "Aww, M! You'd be my platonic soulmate too. But we have gotten way off track here."

Mal rolled her eyes as she stirred her spoon around her bowl, "Look, I'm just saying that while I'm really happy that you and Doug are getting married, I do not need a soulmate. So trying to convince me to come to your fashion show by saying 'you might meet your soulmate' is going to put me off."

Evie sighed at her as she scraped out the last of her yoghurt from her bowl, "I just worry that you'll be lonely once I move in with Doug."

Mal reached out her free hand and squeezed Evie's arm, "Evie, I'll be okay. I'll have you, even if you're married. I'll move into a smaller flat or I'll move in with the guys or I'll try to get a new flatmate. I don't need colours in my life."

"But wouldn't it be nice to actually see how great your hair looks purple?"

Mal laughed, "E, come on. My hair just looks darker to me and I prefer that over it being light like it was. Besides, I have you to tell me how great I look, and you've made sure that all of my clothing is either purple, pink or green so it's not like I'll ever go out in mismatching colours."

Evie sighed, "I just think it would be nice for you, that's all. Having a soulmate...it's wonderful, M. It really is."

"So you and Carlos keep telling me," Mal replied, shaking her head fondly, "Look, I will be at your fashion show, of course, I will, but please don't go setting me up with any person you think may be colour-blind again."

Evie sighed gently. "Fine. Fine, I won't." She stood from the table. "I'm going to go get ready for work. I'll see you at the show?"

"I'll be there and I'll wear the dress I know you're putting out for me. I'm still coming in combat boots though."

Evie smiled, "Yes, you are. And I'm laying out a leather jacket for you."

"Yes!" Mal exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air, "I love you!"

The two girls shared a laugh and then went about their morning routine.

-Ben-

"Hi, Benny-Boo," Audrey greeted when Ben answered his phone.

Ben handed a folder to his assistant with a nod of thanks as he responded to his girlfriend. "Hey, Audrey. Is this important? As much as I enjoy talking to you, I'm really busy at the moment."

"I just wanted to make sure that you remembered that we're going to that fashion show tonight? You know how important it is to my parents that we support up-and-coming entrepreneurs."

"Yes, of course," Ben replied, leaning back in his chair as the door to his office closed, "It's important to my parents and to me too. I'll be there, I promise."

His assistant opened the door again and held up five fingers to indicate that his meeting was in five minutes. Ben raised his hand in acknowledgement and thanks.

"Oh, good. And make sure that you wear something appropriate? It can be more casual but still need to look nice. Like your white slacks and that cobalt blue dress-shirt!"

Ben couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this. "Sounds like a great idea, Audrey. Except for the fact that I have no idea what blue looks like, let alone that specific shade of it."

He'd meant it to come across as a teasing reminder but Audrey huffed, clearly frustrated, "Oh, all of your clothes are blue, white or yellow. Get someone to help you find it."

"Yeah, I will do," Ben replied, resisting a sigh. "Look, I've got to go, okay? I'll see you tonight."

"Okay, fine. I'll see you tonight." She hung up on him and that was the end of that.

Ben released the sigh he'd resisted and gently rubbed his temple.

He cared about Audrey a lot but recently she'd become more and more agitated at any mention of Ben's colour-blindness. Ben couldn't help but wonder if she was coming to a similar conclusion that he was. That maybe his soulmate, as he knew his colour-blindness was due to a soulbond, may not be platonic.

When they'd first gotten together, Audrey was insistent that maybe their soulmark was one that would turn up when one or the other died. She argued that it made sense because the two of them were very much 'til death do us part' kind of people. However, Ben had always known that he couldn't see colours because it was his soulmate who was meant to show them to him. He kept this from Audrey for the first few weeks of their budding relationship, until the guilt overwhelmed him and he confessed. Audrey had then immediately decided that their soulbonds were just platonic ones, and as he was sixteen and fancied himself in love, Ben had believed her and agreed to it.

His parents, however, hadn't been convinced. When he came to them about the difficulties he and Audrey were having that could no longer be blamed on long-distance (which had caused them to have a bit of an on-again-off-again relationship because Audrey was persistent and Ben was nothing if not loyal), his mother had told him that she believed his soulbond was a romantic one, as Ben had always been very much a romantic and was the kind of person to put his significant other first.

That had been a few months ago, and now, six months after graduating university and a girlfriend who was dropping big hints about a ring and a wedding, Ben was definitely beginning to believe the truth in his mother's words. However, he felt it was now too late. He didn't want to hurt Audrey and he didn't know how to break it off with her. He'd tried a few times but something had always either interrupted him or made him rethink his decision.

"Sir, they're waiting for you," Deborah said, poking her head into the office.

Ben sighed and nodded, "Yeah, I'm on my way." He stood up and went about the rest of his day, ready to go to this meeting.

-Mal-

Mal checked her appearance in the mirror and as she did, she felt the familiar aching sensation. All she saw when she looked in the mirror were various shades of dark and light – Evie was pretty sure that the 'colours' she was seeing were probably black, white and grey. Mal had never admitted to anyone how much she longed to see colours. It was agonising, knowing that she was meant to see them too but she had no idea if she was ever going to find that person who was meant to make her see them. She just wished that she didn't have to meet her soulmate for it to happen.

Evie had asked if she could do Mal's make-up when she got to the venue and Mal had agreed because she knew how important it was to Evie that Mal looked her best. She'd never deny her best friend that. Which was another thing that made Mal so annoyed about the soulmates thing. If her soulmate would really be a person she would choose anyway then why wasn't it Evie? Evie was currently the most important person in her life. The idea that there would be someone more important? More special? Mal didn't believe that. Especially as she had no interest in a romantic partner.

Mal looked at her dress in the mirror once more and sighed. She wished that she could say more than it was dark like her hair was dark. Evie told her that she looked great in purple so Mal had chosen it as a favourite colour so that people wouldn't suspect her being colour-blind and then ask if she had a soulmate. She just wished she knew what it looked like. She couldn't even tell you if purple was dark or light because Evie had made her a really fancy light dress once, that was also purple apparently. Evie had explained that all colours had different shades of dark and light, which just frustrated Mal more.

It was also a reason why she mostly drew in pencil. She had paints and colours that were all labelled and she'd studied and understood colour theory, but it hurt her sometimes to paint with colour without even really knowing what those colours truly looked like. The universe definitely had something against her.

She shook herself out of her thoughts and grabbed the handbag Evie had asked her to bring, locking the door behind her as she left the flat.

-Ben-

"She said something about white slacks and a cobalt blue dress shirt?" Ben said, unsure as he looked at the closet of dress shirts in front of him. "She keeps telling me I should label their hangers but I'd end up mixing them all up on laundry day anyway."

Belle gave a small laugh as he turned his tablet screen to point at his open wardrobe. "She has good intentions, I'm sure. Now, I know which shirt she means. It's the...fifth one from the left."

Ben grabbed the shirt his mother had pointed out. "This one?"

"That's the one, dear." She hesitated for a second before speaking up again. "Look, I know you've been on-and-off with Audrey for a long time but don't you think it's time you broke it off with her?"

Ben sighed and turned the tablet back to face him. "Sometimes I think so. But I don't want to hurt her. And what if you were wrong and she was right? What if my soulmate is just meant to be my best friend and not the love of my life?"

"Ben, I'm not asking you that because of your soulbond. You're not happy with her. Not the way you could be. Not the way you used to be."

"I know," Ben admitted, "But relationships aren't meant to be easy."

"They're also not meant to be a constant fight to just feel content with one another nor should either person really simply be settling for the other."

"I'm not…" The retort died on his lips. "I don't know. Maybe I'll wait until after the show tonight. Just show up, all smiles. It's better for this woman's business if Audrey and I don't look miserable or worse don't show up despite RSVPing."

Belle sighed, "There will always be another event like that."

"Look, I get that you're worried about me, but this isn't really your business," Ben said, as gently as he could, "I know you want me to be happy but I think you need to let me figure this out myself."

Belle nodded, "You're right, of course. Can you find your white slacks on your own?"

"Yeah, no problem. The white ones are the lightest ones."

"That's my boy," Belle encouraged. "I'll see you tonight. Love you!"

"I love you too." And with that, Ben hung up on his mother then went to locate his slacks and get dressed.

-Mal-

The show had been a huge success. Mal looked around as she saw people walking around after the show, admiring the outfits on display and talking about the genius of Evie's designs.

"Can you believe it?" Evie said as she grabbed her hands. "There are all sorts of big business people here!"

"I have to admit, when Doug said he had friends in high places in the business world, I didn't realise he had this many friends in high places."

"Doug says one of his friends from childhood is set to inherit his father's business soon but his mother is very supportive of small businesses and his girlfriend is also an heiress, so I guess Doug just had to contact the one friend and then he spread the word."

Mal raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Really? And this guy just...did that happily?"

"Apparently he's a really great guy," Evie told her. "Huge heart for people."

Just then Doug appeared with a young-looking man stood next to him, who in turn had his arm linked with a pretty, young woman.

"Evie, Mal, I'd like you to meet my friend, Ben King, and his girlfriend, Audrey Rey."

-Ben-

Ben smiled as he looked around at the many people milling around the venue. He'd enjoyed the fashion show and Audrey had seemed to enjoy it too – she even admitted that she'd bought a few things from Evie's 4 Hearts when it was just an Etsy shop.

Afterwards, they had walked around, making conversation with people. Soon though, his friend, Doug, who had sent him the invitation to this event, approached them. He and Doug weren't close but he also knew that Doug wouldn't try to use any influence he had like that unless he really believed in someone.

"Hey, guys. How about I introduce you to Evie? I'm sure she'd love to hear what you guys think of her designs, especially seeing as you are the reason that we have a lot of big names here."

Ben laughed, "Well, you seemed to believe in her and you asked me to extend the invitation to others who might do the same. I think you can take the credit for this one, Doug."

"Don't be so modest, Benny-Boo," Audrey said, leaning against his arm.

Ben smiled at her. He knew he was going to break it off with her later that night, but until then, he was happy to keep up appearances, for this designers sake more than anything. He then turned to Doug. "Well, let's meet this girl. I can't believe that you're engaged to her and I've never met her."

Doug happily led the way and they came upon two girls standing close together. They were both very beautiful, but Ben couldn't help but be drawn to the shorter of the two.

"Evie, Mal, I'd like you to meet my friend, Ben King, and his girlfriend, Audrey Rey."

-Both-

As the introduction left Doug's lips, Mal and Ben's eyes met and all of a sudden, the world around them changed. It was suddenly vibrant and confusing and colourful.

At that moment, if anyone had been able to read their minds as they realised what had happened, they would've realised that their minds were exactly in sync.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh no.

Here you go Kate cheese! I have been so, so, so excited about this one! Ahh! (Hence why I wrote it in a few hours XD). I love soulmate AUs so much and I just adored writing this one!

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