aru shah fan fiction

soulmate au: eight

"Catch."

Aru extended her arm and caught the red bag flying out of Aiden's hand. She scanned the front of the packaging: Doritos. "Where'd you get this?"

"From my bag," Aiden opened his own Doritos with a loud pop and plopped down next to her on the floor.

Aru nodded in understanding. "Ah, that man purse you have, right?"

Aiden rolled his eyes. "It's a satchel, for your information."

A giggle allowed itself to escape Aru's mouth, but her mind was elsewhere.

She kept replaying that strange incident.

Over and over again.

Like, seriously, what kind of reaction was that? Aru's inner voice pondered. Who says you look "fine" in such a 'I don't care' tone when it's clearly a joke? He could've at least sounded like he cared.

Did she say something to upset him?

"Earth to Aru," Aiden waved his hand over her eyes, concern etched on his face. "You there?"

Aru looked up, slightly startled. "Oh, um, yeah. 'Sup?"

"I was asking you if you believe in soulmates."

Um . . . what da heck? What kind of question is that?

Aru squinted at him. "Why?"

"Just curious."

Aru exhaled loudly and popped a chip in her mouth. "Before, I didn't believe in them. Mini would talk about them a lot and try to convince me they were real, but I didn't believe her. I mean, it sounds weird and kind of, like, impossible, right? That two people were made for each other and have the marks to prove it. Well, I thought it was weird. But not that long ago, I got my soulmate tattoo. I was like, 'Well, crap. They're real,'" Aiden laughed at that. "So, now I believe in them. Well, maybe not believe in them, but I know they're real. What about you? Do you believe in soulmates?"

Aru attempted for nonchalance but she was, internally, sitting at the edge of her seat. Did he believe in soulmates? Does he actually have tattoos or was that just a stupid rumor?

Aiden ran a hand through his hair. "I've always believed in soulmates, but I didn't care about them until I actually got my tattoos. Look."

Aiden rolled up the sleeve of his hoodie and held out his wrist. Etched on his cinnamon-brown skin was a red fish laying on its side, the word Swedish printed on its scales.

Suddenly Mini's words, from a conversation so long ago, rang through Aru's head. Aiden's soulmate tattoo is apparently a fish . . . I overheard Poppy saying it looked like a Swedish fish.

"O-oh," Aru pretended to examine the tattoo closely. "Is that, um, a Swedish Fish?"

Aiden shrugged. "I'm pretty sure it is. There's this one too."

Aiden lowered the hood on his sweater, revealing another tattoo. This one rested on the base of his neck, almost touching his collarbone. It was a drawing of the sun, only more beautiful. Surrounding the yellow rays were stars, shining bright and white.

Aru frowned. Did she have any connection to the sun? Or stars? Maybe his soulmate's a planet that has alien Swedish Fish living on it.

Without realizing it, in an attempt to get a clearer view of the neck tattoo, Aru inched closer to Aiden's warm body and touched his wrist. The wrist with the Swedish Fish. A sudden shock of energy coursed through her body, waking up every sense, but in a bad way.

You know that feeling when you get shocked and it feels like small sparks are flying off your body?

Multiply that by fifty and now you have an idea of how Aru felt.

It appeared that Aiden felt that same shock, because he violently flinched and clutched his wrist, staring at Aru.

She scrambled away from him, mouth forming a perfect O.

"What the--" Aru glared at her now-throbbing wrist.

The two looked at each other, their faces mirroring the same confusion and shock.

What the actual heck is happening?

THE NEXT DAY

Aru furiously brushed her hair, trying to get rid of a stubborn tangle.

Mornings are not fun.

She pushed her hair to one side of her face, and that's when she saw it.

On her neck.

Another tattoo.

a/n  hey guys! fun fact: if you didn't know already, aru's name means "sun" or "morning star"

reread the chapter with that new information :)

also, yay for City of Gold! just a few more weeks of waiting guys, we can do it!

question: fictional crushes? ;) 

lots of love,

abbizzzz <3