Soulmates AU: Made for You

Summary: Grayson and Laurel see each other and meet for the first time. A soulmates AU, set when they’re in college.

The first time Grayson sees her is on a snowy Monday afternoon. She’s walking into one of the campus coffee shops as he’s on his way out. He holds the door open for her, and she smiles and thanks him. She’s beautiful, in a quiet, unassuming way. Her hair is long and blonde, her eyes a brilliant blue-green. Her looks aren’t what strike him most though.

There’s just something about her, something that makes her feel familiar, even though Grayson is certain they’ve never met before. As he walks to class, trying to sort this feeling out, he realizes his forearm has suddenly grown warm. He pulls his coat sleeve up, and sees that the start of a faintest mark has appeared just under his skin.

Behind him, the woman he held the door open for is staring at her own forearm in wonder.

~~~~~~~~~~

Poppy insists the blonde man has to be Laurel’s soulmate when she shows her friend the start of her soulmark. It’s small and still undefined, but it’s definitely there.

“I’ve seen other new people today, Poppy,” Laurel says as they order their coffee and grab a table. “It could be anyone.”

She has to admit she’s intrigued by the man who held the door for her. He was handsome, without question, and had given her a friendly, warm smile as he walked out. But more than that, she feels like she knows him, even though they’ve never met before.

Poppy shakes her head. “You said you noticed the mark as soon as he walked out, Laurel. And you said you feel like you know him. All the tell-tale signs that you’ve met your soulmate.”

Poppy sighs. “I’m so jealous. He was really hot.”

“Poppy! Looks have nothing to do with meeting your soulmate,” Laurel protests.

“What? Are you saying he wasn’t hot?” Poppy teases her.

Rolling her eyes, Laurel can’t help but laugh. “I’m not saying he wasn’t good-looking. But what if he’s a jerk?”

“There is no way the universe paired you with a jerk,” Poppy insists.

Laurel really hopes Poppy’s right. And deep down, as she glances down at the mark, Laurel really hopes she’ll see him again soon.

~~~~~~~~~~

The next time Grayson sees her is that same week, early on Thursday morning. She’s walking across campus and heads into one of the buildings before he can get close enough to even contemplate saying anything to her.

“Who’s that? She’s cute,” one of his friends says, following Grayson’s gaze.

Grayson hasn’t told anyone about his soulmark starting to form. It’s something he wants to keep to himself, until he knows for sure. Most of his friends have waved off their soulmarks, dismissing them as silly notions that they won’t let determine their lives, but Grayson rather likes the idea of the universe having someone in mind for him. His arm tingles, just for a moment, until the woman vanishes from sight.

“I’m not sure,” Grayson answers. “I don’t know her name. I just saw her the other day.”

His friend insists Grayson should find out and ask her out. “Maybe she’s even your soulmate,” he teases.

“Maybe,” Grayson says casually, even as his heart starts racing a little faster at the thought of it.

~~~~~~~~~~

It’s Saturday morning when Laurel sees the man from the coffee shop again. She’s in the library, studying for a test on Monday, despite Poppy’s protests that it’s Saturday and they should go out and do something. As she flips through her textbook, Laurel absentmindedly rubs at her arm. It’s warm, and tingling, and when she glances down, she sees that her soulmark is bigger than it was when she woke up, and more colorful, a complex swirl of blue and red lines.

She stares at it for a second, then looks up. Whoever her soulmate is, he must be nearby. Glancing around the library, Laurel doesn’t see anyone at first. It’s quiet on Saturday mornings. Her arm tingles insistently when she looks back down at her book with a sigh, as if it’s telling her to look again. She does, this time spotting a glimpse of a man with short blond hair through one of the shelves.

He turns around, his eyes meeting hers, and her arm nearly throbs. It’s the man from the coffee shop.

~~~~~~~~~~

Almost as soon as he steps into the library, Grayson feels his soulmark grow warm under his sleeve. His soulmate is somewhere in this building, he realizes, and he finds himself looking hopefully for the woman from the coffee shop. The warmth in his arm remains steady as he makes his way up to the second floor. It remains the same as he absentmindedly peruses the shelves for a book his professor had recommended.

When Grayson gets up to the third floor, and is looking for another book, his soulmark turns warmer.

Something in him tells him to turn around. He does, and he sees her. The woman from the coffee shop is seated at a table not far away. Grayson sees her cheeks flush a little when his gaze meets hers.

She’s even more stunning than he remembers, and that nagging feeling that he knows her comes back full force.

It’s her, Grayson thinks. It has to be. He wants it to be, for reasons he can’t quite put into words, other than a certainty that this is who he’s meant for, who’s meant for him.

He makes his way over to her table. The woman smiles at him, a little shyly, and his soulmark flashes hot.

~~~~~~~~~~

Laurel knows this man is her soulmate as soon as he’s standing in front of the table she’s sitting at and greets her.

“I’m Grayson,” he says, smiling at her warmly.

“I’m Laurel.”

Grayson reaches his hand out, and Laurel nearly jumps when she places her hand in his. The tingling increases, and the colors intensify when his skin touches hers.

“Oh,” she says, nearly a whisper as she looks down at her arm.

Grayson’s fingers gently squeeze hers. With his free hand, he rolls his sleeve up until his soulmark is exposed, and her gaze flickers over it. Laurel releases a breath she hadn’t even known she was holding. His soulmark matches her, the same intricate design, the same red and blue lines on his skin.

“It is you,” she says, looking up at him again.

His eyes are a beautiful blue shade, soft and warm as they meet hers. He’s still holding on to her hand, though he lets go to pull a chair up next to her.

“I wondered if it was you,” Grayson says. “I thought it might be when I saw you in the coffee shop. You just seemed…so familiar. I felt like I knew you,” he confesses.

“I felt the same way,” she replies.

Laurel’s not entirely sure where they go from here. Logically, she knows the next step. The final step, to cementing the soulmate bond, is to bring the marks together. But the library feels decidedly less than fitting for such an intense, intimate moment.

Grayson seems to read her mind.

“Do you want to go get a coffee?”

He glances around the library. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t really want to do…this, here.”

Laurel laughs quietly. “I’d love that. I don’t really want to do this here either.”

~~~~~~~~~~

They head back to the coffee shop where Grayson first saw her. When they’re both holding cups of coffee, Grayson hesitates. The library hadn’t felt right for joining their marks, but this doesn’t either. Truthfully, he’d much prefer the quiet privacy of her dorm room or his apartment, but he doesn’t know how to bring it up without sounding too forward.

“It’s crowded,” Laurel comments, surveying the coffee shop and clutching her cup.

“It is,” he agrees.

Laurel glances at him, then says, “My roommate is home this weekend. We could…go to my dorm.”

The way her cheeks turn pink when she says it is incredible endearing. Grayson reaches out, gently taking her hand and squeezing reassuringly.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she says softly, squeezing back.

Holding her hand comes easily, naturally, as they make their way through campus to her dorm. She unlocks the door and lets him in, setting her bag on one of the desk chairs. He follows her lead, sitting next to her on the futon.

“I don’t really know what to do here,” Laurel confesses with a nervous laugh.

“I really don’t either,” he comforts her.

He hears a door slam down the hall, then a burst of laughter. Otherwise, her room is quiet. After a moment, he says, “We don’t have to do this right now. There’s no time limit.”

“Oh. Right,” she says immediately.

He can almost feel the disappointment in her voice, and it makes him ache a little. Grayson takes her hand again.

“Laurel. I just mean that we can get to know each other. We can talk and spend time together. I want to know you,” he murmurs.

He hesitates, then gently cups her cheek with his free hand. He can feel some of her tension melt away when she leans into his touch.

“Is that…okay?” she asks.

“Of course it’s okay,” he replies. “We have our whole lives ahead of us. We’ll do this when we’re ready. Okay?”

“Okay.”

~~~~~~~~~~

On the day she graduates, Laurel waits, impatiently, for everyone to leave her apartment. When at last they do, leaving only her and Grayson, she breathes a sigh of relief.

“Finally,” she says.

Grayson chuckles. “Impatient?”

“A little,” she admits, her lips quirking up.

He sits next to her on the couch, threading one of his hands in her hair and kissing her sweetly.

“I love you,” he murmurs.

“I love you, too.”

“You ready?” he asks.

Laurel kisses him again. “So ready.”

He leans back just enough to bring their forearms together, close but not quite touching. He’s waiting for her, Laurel knows. She takes a long, deep breath, then turns her hand over and brings her mark to his.

“Oh!” she gasps.

The feelings that roll through her are like nothing she’s ever felt. They’re instantaneous, intense in the most pleasurable way. They make her eyes squeeze shut briefly, then fly back open. Her entire body is warm, almost hot. She’s hyperaware of Grayson’s skin pressed to hers, his breath puffing warmly against her cheek, his free hand gripping hers before he gently tilts her chin up and brushes his lips over hers.

He softly says her name, in a way she’s never heard him say it before. He’s looking at her with so much love and devotion in his eyes that it makes her breath catch. As she lets herself sink into him, Laurel knows that everything she’s feeling, this powerful, unwavering certainty that this is who she’s meant to be with, Grayson is feeling too.