Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A few days later Gina is walking back from campus, her body sore from the intense dance class she just had. The first few days of classes have been pretty straight forward, getting the curriculum for the semester and mostly admin work. However, her dance classes started almost immediately with them up on their feet, stretching and doing splits, she was sore in places she was certain she shouldn’t even be aware of. She walks past a Starbucks but quickly doubles back and heads inside. She’s standing in line when she feels shiver go up her spine. Someone is watching her, but looking around she doesn’t see anyone. Shaking her head at her paranoia she looks up at the drink list. 

“Gina?”

Gina turns to her right and sees someone she wasn’t expecting. Her ex, Jack. They’d dated during her Junior year of high school, when he’d been a Senior. To say they’d ended things on a bad note is an understatement. 

“Jack...hi,” Gina grimaces at him as he reaches for a hug which she reluctantly returns.

“How’ve you been?” He smiles at her widely, as if nothing had changed.

“I’m good, you?” Gina responds evenly, moving forward with the line. 

“I’m good, good,” he says sticking his hands in his pockets and smiling. “What’re you doing here?”

“Getting Starbucks...” Gina frowns at him.

“Yeah I get that, I mean in New York,” Jack laughs as he looks slightly uncomfortable. Gina internally groans, annoyed that he even approached her.

“I’m at NYU, you knew I wanted to go there,” Gina says with raised eyebrows and an angry shrug. Jack grimaces and nods. Luckily Gina has come to the front of the line and says, “Hi, could I please get a grande Vanilla Bean Frappe and a lemon poppyseed loaf.”

“Anything else?” The barista asks looking over at Jack. 

“Nope,” Gina says not even sparing Jack a glance. 

“Can I get a name?”

“Gigi, and I’ll be paying on my Rewards,” Gina scans her card and then puts her wallet back in her bag once she’s done. She goes to stand over by the counter and Jack follows her. She rolls her eyes in annoyance. 

“Uh...congrats on NYU,” he says softly. “You get into Tisch?”

“Yeah.”

Jack nods and Gina continues to freeze him out, arms crossed not looking at him. “Look, Gigi I’m so––”

“Don’t,” Gina finally looks him in the eye and whispers through gritted teeth. “Just don’t, okay? You don’t get to be my friend, you don't get to call me Gigi, and you don’t get to say you’re sorry, not now, not ever. It’s been over a year, and nothing. You wanted to be done, so we’re done.”

Gina turns back to the counter and watches the barista make her drink, he looks familiar but she can’t place him. She focuses on his hands holding the blender in place, waiting for her drink to finish. He glances up at her and throws her a smile, with a subtle look of concern, she returns his smile half-heartedly, feeling a calming sensation come over her. The barista from the till comes over with her lemon loaf and hands it to her and Gina smiles in thanks. 

“I guess...uhm I guess this is goodbye then,” Jack says softly. Gina just nods, staring ahead and not looking at him. “I really am sorry Gina.”

Gina feels hot tears start to form in her eyes as she takes her drink from the counter. She smiles at the barista in thanks and when she turns around she notices Jack is nowhere to be seen. She sighs in relief. Quickly wiping her tears she heads out. Again she feels a slight tingle go up her back, she touches the back of her neck and her soulmark burns. She freezes. What could that mean? Gina glances around to see if Jack is still around but he’s not. But she felt that same sensation right before he came up to her. Could he be her soulmate? Did he get his mark at the same time as her?

By the time Gina gets back to her dorm she's in a daze thinking about Jack and soulmarks and what it all means. She barely acknowledges Ashlyn who’s lying on her bed reading. 

“Gina, you okay?” Ashlyn asks Gina when she doesn’t say anything other than grumble and shrug as she falls face down on her bed. 

Gina screams into her pillow and Ashlyn sits up, worried. “Gina...?”

Gina sits up on her bed and faces Ashlyn, she wipes her cheeks in frustration and sighs. “Soulmates and soulmarks, dating...it’s all so confusing and frustrating, you know?”

“Oookaaay...What happened?” Ashlyn asks coming over to sit beside her, she puts an arm around her roommate. 

“Ugh where to begin,” Gina sighs and laughs sarcastically as she turns to look at Ashlyn. Gina knew talking about soulmates could be a sensitive topic, but she needed to let it out. 

“Wherever you want to,” Ashlyn rubs her back and Gina leans her head on her shoulder.

“I just ran into my ex,” Gina says quietly, tears of frustration falling down her face. “He...we broke up last summer because he was going to be going off to College and he didn’t wanna be held back by a long distance relationship. Even though I told him it would only be for a year, I was definitely gonna be coming to New York. He’s at Columbia by the way.” 

Ashlyn nods and hums that she's following the story. Gina continues, “Anyway, the whole thing started when he turned eighteen and he didn’t get a soulmark, which isn’t that uncommon. Everyone knows that both soulmates have to be eighteen or older in order for the soulmark to appear. So when his didn’t appear I was happy, I told him it could mean I’m his soulmate. He couldn’t believe I was happy he didn’t get a soulmark, it was apparently a “slap in the face”. Because there is a percentage of people who are markless, I told him that wasn’t the case because we were soulmates. Then...then he said he never actually believed we were soulmates and he’d just been dating me to pass the time.” 

“Oh Gina,” Ashlyn says sadly and hugs Gina tightly. 

“We had a huge fight and he said the stuff about a long distance relationship and how waiting for my soulmark was not worth it or whatever,” Gina says pulling back from Ashlyn and wiping her tears. “It ended with me walking away crying and him...well I didn’t really see him much that summer and then he was off to Columbia and I never saw him again, until today.”

“Wow...what an asshole,” Ashlyn says and Gina giggles tearfully. 

“Oh yeah, definitely,” Gina nods with a small smile. “And he had the audacity to come up to me and pretend like nothing happened.”

“What, no!” 

“Yeah! He was all friendly and happy to see me,” Gina says is disgust. “Pretending to care about me getting into Tisch. Then he was all like “Gigi I’m sorry”, Ugh, stupid asshole.”

“I can’t believe him,” Ashlyn frowns in disbelief. “God, imagine if he actually was your soulmate.”

Gina stares at Ashlyn with wides eyes and grimaces. “Actually...”

“No! He is?” Ashlyn asks in shock.

“I don’t know,” Gina sighs letting her head fall into her hands. 

“So...did you get your soulmark?” Ashlyn asks softly, neither had bridged that conversation since they’d become roommates. Now seemed as a good a time as any.

“Yes, on my birthday it appeared,” Gina says looking up at her. “So there definitely is a possibility he’s my soulmate, which would seriously suck.”

“Oh shit,” Ashlyn mutters.

“And to make matters worse my soulmark was acting all funny around him today,” Gina whines. 

“What do you mean?”

“Before he came up to me, I felt this tingling sensation going up my back, that’s where my soulmark is, and then after I told him to get lost and he left I felt it again,” Gina says touching the back of her neck as she recalls the sensation. “This time it was...different though, it felt like it was burning when I touched it.”

“That’s so weird...”Ashlyn says deep in thought. “I mean...that kinda does sound like he’s your soulmate if your soulmark reacted in that way around him.” 

Gina had hoped that wasn’t the case, but she had to agree with Ashlyn, it does seem like he could be the one. 

“That’s what I was afraid of,” Gina says with a sigh. “There goes my happy ending huh?”

Ashlyn pouts and squeezes Gina’s hand. “I’m sorry Gina. It could be worse, eh kinda worse.”

“What do you mean?” Gina frowns looking at Ashlyn.

“Well my cousin had a similar situation to yours with your ex, his soulmark didn’t appear when he turned eighteen, it’s been two years and still nothing,” Ashlyn sighs as she thinks of her cousin. “He was actually dating Nini and they both thought maybe when she turned eighteen his would appear too. Sadly, when hers appeared his didn’t, she actually had the same soulmark as her ex. It was a mess. Nini and my cousin broke up and now her and her ex are trying...they didn’t immediately start dating, they decided to just be friends again first, but they’re official now. I just feel bad for my cousin, the waiting is killing him.”

“That’s really shitty,” Gina sympathises. “I would hate to not have my soulmark. But I guess matching with an ex isn’t that bad, but I just don’t want him back, I may be able to bring myself to be friends with him, someday, but I could never be with him again. He’s not the one for me, I can feel it, now more than ever.” 

“Sometimes people don’t actually end up with their soulmates, my parents didn’t,” Ashlyn says with a shrug. 

Gina looks at her questioningly. “Really, how did that happen?”

“I won’t bore you with all the details, but basically my dad is markless and my mom’s soulmate is gay,” Ashlyn laughs with a shrug. “He’s her best friend though, they tell each other everything. He’s been in my life since I was born, he’s literally like an additional uncle. So what I’m saying is your soulmate doesn’t have to be your life partner, they can just be your friend. And my parents may not be soulmates, but they love each other the same and they're happy.”

Gina smiles at the thought of Ashlyn’s mom and her best friend. When she’d met the Caswells on moving day the thought didn’t even cross her mind that they weren’t soulmates. They had the same love for each other that her parents did, maybe the soulmark was just a guideline. 

“That makes me feel better,” Gina says softly leaning her head on Ashlyn’s shoulder. “Even if jack turns out to be my soulmate, I don’t necessarily need to be with him.”

“Exactly, that’s what I told Nini when Ricky turned out to be her soulmate,” Ashlyn nods. “That’s why they worked on their friendship and built trust and only a few months ago started dating. I’m not saying you and Jack are gonna be similar, but maybe you can still be friends. That is if he’s your soulmate, if not screw him.”

Gina laughs as Ashlyn snaps her fingers in attitude at the last bit. “Thanks Ash, I needed this pep talk.”

“No problem Gi, I’ve got you,” Ash says hugging her tightly. 

“What about you?” Gina asks her as they pull apart. “You don’t have to say anything, but you mentioned something at orientation, do you have a soulmark?” 

Ashlyn blushes and looks down at her hands. “Oh...you remember that huh? Well, I have a soulmark and I know who my soulmate is.”

Gina squeals and grabs Ashlyn’s hands. “That’s so exciting!”

Ashlyn blushes an even deeper shade of pink as she nods and Gina can't contain her smile. “So who is he? Are you dating or just friends for now?”

“Slow down,” Ashlyn giggles. “He’s from Salt Lake, just like me, we actually have been dating for over two years now. Luckily our birthdays are so close to each other that we didn't have to wait too long for our soulmarks. I swear, if I had to wait any longer I would’ve died.”

“Aaw Ash, that’s so awesome,” Gina pouts and squeezes her hands. “I love that you were already together, that just confirms it even more that you’re soulmates.”

“I know, that's what I said,” Ashlyn grins widely. “He goes by Big Red, but I call him Biggie. He was in the Drama Club with me, he was mostly a techie, but he started doing more acting once we started dating. His family has a restaurant and he’s going to eventually run it so he’s back home. I really miss him, but we facetime, and he’s planning to come visit. But it’s only been about a two weeks and it feels like months.”

Gina nods in understanding. “I get that, but it seems like you guys have such a strong bond that you can get through it.”

Ashlyn smiles and nods in agreement. “I think so too.”

“Alright, on that note. Do you wanna have a movie night tonight? I feel like crying, maybe Someone Great?” Gina says getting up and wiping at her face and turning towards Ashlyn who sits on her bed.

“You wanna watch a breakup movie?” Ashlyn asks skeptically.

“I wanna watch a movie about an independent woman who realises she doesn’t need a man...and if she comes to that realisation after a breakup then so be it,” Gina says with a snort.

Ashlyn shakes her and smiles at Gina. “Okay, but next time I’m picking the movie.”

“Deal.”