tratie one shots, vol. i

[ skin au pt. 2 ]

this took a turn i didn't expect until i typed it out, but my gut told me to go with it. i feel like this suits their characters better than just falling in love right off the bat.

words: 1048

. . .

Your place or mine?

Travis pulled on the strings of his hoodie as he stood against the rails overlooking the Statue of Liberty. He couldn't deny that he was nervous and, dare he say it, looking forward to meet his soulmate. It was a rare sunny day in New York, and he got about two hours of sleep the night prior due to today.

They'd planned it all over their forearms: Katie said she always wanted to see the statue, and Travis drew a sun setting to signal around what time they should meet. He was supposed to color in his entire pointer finger so that they'd both have something to look for. He'd spent the day wringing his hands and pacing his apartment until it was around 5 o'clock. It was way too early for the sun to be setting, but he wanted to make sure he got there before Katie did.

So there he was, a blue inked finger and a racing heart, standing in front of the Statue of Liberty and waiting for his "one true love" to arrive.

Baloney.

Now that he was there, he was having second thoughts about the whole thing. What if the soulmate idea was just a stupid rig for desperate people who had no other hope of finding love? He certainly wasn't that. Why was he here? There were plenty of girls just waiting to get a hold of Travis Stoll. He didn't need to meet up with some soulmate to prove that he could get someone.

He should leave.

When he turned around to hail a cab, however, she was there.

She was much shorter than him, though there wasn't a crazy height difference. Her hair hung in long french braids, as dark brown as chocolate chips but streaked with a natural highlight. A pair of sharp green eyes pierced him, gutting his very essence with their intense stare. Freckles dotted her rosy cheeks and button nose, and her lips were upturned and full. She wore a white tee with cacti on the front of it, jean shorts, and a green flannel around her waist. Her perfectly-shaped eyebrows quirked when she looked at his blue finger.

She was gorgeous.

The most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.

There was no way she was...

He dared a peek at her hand.

Yup, there was a blue pointer finger.

"Katie Gardner." She extended her hand.

"Travis Stoll." He shook it.

The stifling awkwardness drowned them as Travis leaned up against the railing and Katie stood in front of him, gazing at her converse. He had absolutely no idea how to go about this - he'd only ever heard of soulmates meeting and sparks flying, but he didn't see any magical gusts of wind or glowing hearts floating above their heads.

He told himself it wouldn't be that awkward if they weren't really meant for each other.

"So... what now?" Katie folded her arms over her chest and sat on one hip. "Are we supposed to kiss and make sparks fly or something?"

Travis decided to ignore the fact that he had just been thinking about that. "Dunno. We met. Does that mean your stupid plant drawings will stop showing up on me?"

"Stupid plant drawings?" Her mouth twitched downward. "Uh, those are for my botany class at the Hunt Institute."

"Why are they on your arm though? I've had to wear those dumb daisies and crap for two years!" He whined, holding up his elbow. It was branding a misshapen floral figure.

She shook her head. "That's a coreopsis. Major difference. If we're gonna be soulmates, you'd better start learning your main plant groups."

"We don't have a choice in being soulmates, you know."

Katie sighed, joining him in leaning up against the rails and looking at the statue overhead. "Yeah, I guess. Did you have to be this insufferable though?"

"Insufferable?" He was taken aback. "Any girl would be lucky to be my soulmate!"

"Uh-huh, I'm sure." She rolled her beautiful eyes.

It irritated him that he was so starstruck over her. Usually, girls didn't have that effect on him. Pushing that away, he inched closer to her and casually put his arm around her. "I've been told I'm a guy fit for a goddess."

"I'm sure your mom only told you that to make you feel better about yourself." She slipped out of his grasp, though not in a offstandish way. "Besides, if that's true, how come you're not snatched up by some other girl?"

Attempting to be smooth - and also to forget that she just tried to insult him - he leaned into her and whispered, "I was waiting for you."

She laughed. It was a clean, joyous sound; even if it was a dry chuckle, Travis found himself feeling lighter after he heard it. Her mysterious irises found his. "Good to know. So you weren't just turning around to grab a taxi and blow this joint when I got here?"

How'd she know that? Travis gulped and managed a smirk. "Nope. Totally didn't think about bailing."

Katie shook her head. "Yup." She looked at the ground, twisting her shoe on the ground. 

Great, it got more awkward.

"...So..." He started, but he was interrupted by her clearing her throat.

"I don't expect to fall in love with you instantly, or vice verse. Just because Mother Nature, or the universe, or whoever says we're right for each other doesn't automatically make us the perfect couple. So what if we took this thing one step at a time, see where it goes? Like we're just some regular people who met randomly and decided to start dating."

Travis squinted. "Did my soulmate just ask me out?"

She nodded.

He'd only ever heard of soulmates meeting and practically moving in together the day after. It was strange for soulmates to meet and take it slow. But he really liked how that sounded. Going easy on things would make this thing feel a lot more normal, a lot more real. He was actually okay with that plan.

Travis grinned and mustered all the smoothness he could. "Hey, I'm Travis. You're pretty cute, would you like to meet for coffee sometime?"

Her radiant smile already answered his question. "I hate coffee. How about dinner?"

"Your place or mine?"