A/N: For those who aren't British:
In the first year of university, people tend to live in houses or flats on campus with other students.
Pres = pre-drinks - there is a big drinking culture in British universities, but instead of paying a lot of money at a club to buy drinks, they'll get mostly drunk at home and then go out.
There was something magical about the idea of soulmates. Knowing that there was someone out there who was supposed to be so important to you that the universe would go out of its way to ensure you knew you were supposed to be in one another's lives? It was such a beautiful idea.
It was said, however, that when your soulmate died, you'd feel it. It would cut you so deep it would feel like it cut your soul too. Like there was a part of you that died with that person.
Jane knew that this was likely true. Though her mother put on a brave face and remained the same, kind, wonderful person she'd always been, Jane knew that she'd felt this pain. Jane's parents had been soulmates, but her father was taken from them far too early. Jane was only four at the time so she barely remembered her dad. But she remembered her mother's grief.
For a long time, this had made Jane slightly afraid of having a soulmate. She had no mark, so she had no idea what to expect when she met them. When she confessed this fear to her mum though, her mum had taken her into her arms and told her that while losing them was so painful, it was worth it to have lived a life with them.
"Losing someone is always part of the risk of having them," she'd said. "But it's a risk worth taking. You'll miss out on so much more if you avoid being with people because you're afraid of losing them."
Jane was fifteen when they had this conversation. She took those words that her mother said and held them close to her heart. She knew her mum was right. As she continued through her final years of school, she found herself growing in confidence and in her friendships.
This had made the move to university a lot harder than it would've been previously, but her mother had been right. She'd enjoyed her time at school a lot more when she had friends who made her day just that much better.
She was still nervous about the concept of soulmates though. While she missed her friends dearly, she knew it wasn't nearly the same as the deep cut that she would feel if she loses him (she was pretty sure that her connection would be romantic).
She didn't want to let that stop her though. She decided that it wasn't worth thinking too much about, because her mark would appear at the right time and she likely know that he would be worth the risk.
She had more important things to worry about anyhow. Like how long she would spend at the flat party her flatmates were hosting before she could slip away, without seeming like the no-fun housemate who just studied all day.
-Connected to You-
Only three people in the world knew how much Carlos hated not knowing his mark. He'd confessed to them once that he was jealous that they all did know theirs. But then the girls, Evie and Mal, would point out that Jay was the only one who'd known since birth and that their marks appeared over time. They reminded him that his would too.
He still had no idea what his mark was by the time he went to university, but by this time he'd learned to push these thoughts to the back of his mind. His friends had told him that the mark would come at the right time and until then, it was better that he just live his life without worrying about it. Evie was especially helpful with this. She was the only one to have met her soulmate and she pointed out that he'd come into her head when she needed him most when she was a child and that he came into her life at exactly the right time.
However, even though he managed to put it to the back of his mind most of the time, he couldn't help but think about it occasionally. To have the kind of connection so profound that the universe thought it was important that they meet filled him with a strong desire. He so badly wanted that kind of connection.
He was, admittedly, thinking about this when there was a knock on his bedroom door, followed by the voice of his flatmate reminding him that they were going to the flat in the building across the courtyard for pres in ten minutes.
Thanking his flatmate, Carlos shook the thoughts of soulmates from his head and grabbed his favourite leather jacket (lovingly painted red, white and black by Evie), and headed into the kitchen, where his flat was gathering to get ready to go.
Once everyone arrived, they made their way across the courtyard, talking and laughing as they went.
The kitchen where the pre-drinks were being held was crowded and loud. Some of Carlos' flatmates stuck together while a couple of them wandered off to talk to others. Originally, Carlos was going to stay with the people he knew until out of the corner of his eye, he spotted someone.
She had long brown hair and was wearing a frock that was a little old-fashioned but seemed to suit her really well. She seemed to be hovering in the corner, avoiding all eye contact, fiddling with a little charm that was around her neck. She was also holding a mug, and considering that it was steaming, it likely didn't have much, if any, alcohol in it.
Carlos wasn't sure exactly what it was that drew him to this girl. It wasn't just that he found her attractive – he'd found plenty of people attractive while he was at school, he was just more comfortable with dogs and with computers than he was with people. But with this girl, he only knew that he wanted to talk to her.
So, he slowly went over to her, attempting to catch her eye before he got to her, hoping that he wouldn't startle her.
She looked at him when he was just a few steps away and so he quickly finished his journey to her little corner.
"Hey," he said quietly. "You look like you feel out of place here."
The girl blushed, glancing down at her mug. "That obvious?"
"It's pres and you're drinking…" He glanced into her mug. "Hot chocolate."
The girl's blush deepened. "Yeah, I just...I'm not a fan of alcohol, really? At least, not of getting drunk. I don't mind a drink with a meal or something but...yeah, not big on drinking. Which, I know, puts me very out of place in uni culture."
Carlos shrugged. "Nothing wrong with being different. I'm Carlos, by the way."
The girl smiled. "Jane."
Carlos grinned a little in return. Jane. Simple name but pretty nonetheless. "Well, Jane," he said, liking the way her name felt in his mouth, "If you're not big on drinking, why are you here?"
Jane laughed. "I live here. And I don't want to be the anti-social housemate, you know? I may not drink but I can still spend time with them."
"Oh, okay," Carlos replied in understanding. "That makes sense."
From there they fell into a conversation. It was stilted and awkward at times, but it seemed that that was only because both of them were a little shy. Carlos had honestly been surprised that he'd managed to start a conversation with her at all. Soon, though, the conversation began flowing a little more naturally and Carlos found himself really enjoying it.
-Connected to You-
Jane and Carlos ended up chatting for what felt like ages and suddenly people were leaving to go hit the clubs. Carlos's flatmates called out to him, but he just waved them off. He explained to them that he was tired and didn't fancy going to the club that night after all.
Soon it was just Carlos and Jane left in her kitchen, surrounded by dirty glasses and empty bottles.
"I guess you probably want to go home and sleep," Jane said, once the flat door closed.
Carlos shrugged. "I mean, if you don't want me around any longer, I will. I'm not that tired though. Just didn't feel like going to the club. Not really my scene."
"Oh," Jane replied, smiling a little. "Well, I could make you a hot chocolate, if you like? Or tea. I don't have any coffee, though, I'm afraid."
"You sure you want me to stick around?"
Jane nodded, pleased that he seemed to want to stay. "Yeah. For a bit. I'll probably be tired in like half an hour or so, but for now, I'd like that."
So, Carlos stayed for a little while longer, sharing a hot chocolate with her, before heading back to his flat. When Jane settled down to sleep that night, the smile on her face was wider than it had been in a long while.
From then, Carlos and Jane ended up spending quite a bit of time together. It wasn't uncommon for them to share a meal (usually cooked by Carlos) or a drink. Their departments were quite close to each other, so if their schedules coincided, Carlos would walk Jane to her lectures. On weekends, they took to exploring the town, usually in larger groups of people, but even then, they would eventually gravitate towards each other.
Jane loved spending time with Carlos. He quickly became a fast friend of hers. They could talk about anything and he was so kind, sweet and funny. She'd mentioned wanting to join the gymnastics club a few days after meeting him and he'd encouraged her to give it a go. His encouragement seemed to be all she needed to gain the confidence in herself she required.
He turned up to as many gymnastics competitions as he could manage, while she did the same with his lacrosse games. He was so supportive of her and she loved being able to be the same to him.
Jane had to admit that she was going to miss Carlos over Christmas, but knowing she was going to get to see him (and all of her other friends, of course) made the end of the break something to look forward to.
-Connected to You-
Carlos had never had a connection like this before. He was extremely close to Evie, Mal and Jay, of course. Heck, he saw them as his siblings. But this connection he had with Jane? It was different.
As months passed and seasons changed, Carlos realised that he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. He knew, of course, that he also had a crush on her, but she was an amazing, brilliant young woman, so it was only natural. He was sure it would pass.
Christmas came and went, and then it was January and they were back at university. It was snowing soon after they returned, so naturally, the two of them decided to ditch their studies for a couple hours and go play in the snow.
It was after pelting each other with snowballs and hearing Jane's laughter when he slipped and fell (though she'd made sure he was alright before laughing) that Carlos realised that maybe this crush wouldn't be going away any time soon. But it was just a crush. He could manage it. He was pretty sure that Jane wouldn't feel the same way about him and he wasn't going to wreck his friendship with her for the sake of a few pesky feelings.
He managed to convince himself of this for a few more months.
It was almost time to go home for Easter and the two of them sat in a cafe, eating pastries as they had hot chocolate together one more time before heading back to their respective hometowns.
At some point in the conversation, Carlos picked up his hot chocolate to drink and accidentally got a dollop of cream on his nose. This, unfortunately, wasn't too unusual, nor was Jane's giggles as he reached up to wipe it off. But even so, it seemed to be the trigger to breaking the dam where Carlos had been holding all of his feelings locked up tight, not willing to examine them.
Goodness, I love her.
The thoughts simultaneously surprised him and didn't. Of course he loved her. It made complete sense. They'd been friends for five months but his crush hadn't gone away, it'd just grown into something so much more.
He was in love. He was in love with Jane.
As the smile on his face grew a little, he suddenly noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He looked down and attached to his left pinky was a red string. Not only that but as Carlos's eyes followed the string to the other end of it, it was attached to Jane's right pinky.
He began to frown in confusion but he very quickly realised what this could mean. His soulmark. He'd received his soulmark. And better yet, it was attached to the girl he had fallen in love with. It was attached to Jane!
"Carlos, are you okay?" Jane asked.
Carlos looked up and nodded. "Yeah. Do you...do you see it?" He brought his hand up, the string lengthening and lifting as he did so.
"Your hand?" Jane inquired, giving him a bemused look.
"No, I mean…" His smile faded. If she could see it, she would've realised what he meant straight away. She wouldn't play games with him or pretend she couldn't. He knew that. Which meant that she couldn't see it. And if she couldn't see it…were they really soulmates? "Um, never mind. I thought...that a bug or something had landed on my hand. Must've been a trick of the light."
Jane didn't look less confused but accepted what he said before carrying on the conversation they had earlier.
Carlos continued to chat with her, though his mind kept trailing off, staring at the string between them. Supposedly, the universe had wanted them to be connected. So why could only he see it? What could it mean that he has a mark that his supposed soulmate couldn't see? Were unrequited soulmates possible? His heart shattered at the thought but he couldn't help but think it. Maybe that was it. Maybe he had an unrequited soulmate.
I hope you guys enjoyed this!
Thanks for reading!
SparkyGurly