Soulmates. Everyone had one, no matter who you were. A handprint was placed where they would first touch you, as well as one of their nicknames on the palm of it. People traveled far and wide to find their soulmate, trying to find who it was. Most people had their handprint on their hand, meaning they would shake hands and would know if it was their soulmate or not.

Some feel a heated sensation spread through their hand and arm; some get a cooling sensation. Somehow, though, you would always know if it was your soulmate, no matter if it was in the same place as where a lot of people touched.

People say the universe made soulmates to complete each other, being two halves of a whole. There were plenty of other stories as well. Some believe that having kids with your soulmate will make them stronger, happier, and healthier, but it didn't always happen.

Sometimes, the universe makes mistakes, and I was sure the universe had to have made a mistake with my soulmate.

I glared into the mirror, staring hard at the handprint. It was wrapped around my neck, and the name written in my soulmate's somewhat messy handwriting said 'Hoody'. It didn't matter how I tried to cover up the mark with concealer or foundation; it showed through, or at least the nickname did.

The bathroom door opening caught my attention as someone stepped into the dorm's bathroom. Upon seeing the face of my roommate, I sighed in relief. I grabbed my scarf and quickly wrapped it around my neck in order to hide the mark that I strongly disliked.

"Glaring at it in the mirror again, (Y/n)?" She said in amusement as she walked up to the sink next to mine.

"It makes me feel a bit better about it, Katie. Plus, you know I hate the damn thing." I huffed as I watched her apply some light makeup to her tanned skin.

A laugh bubbled from her throat in response to my words. "Yeah, yeah. I know how much you hate it, and I can see why. I mean, your soulmate must be a bad person because the first thing they literally do is strangle you."

"Yeah, and who goes by the nickname 'Hoody'? Like, what kinda nickname is that? It's literally an article of clothing." I groaned as I messed with the scarf, making sure the mark was fully hidden.

"You never know, babes." She smiled, blue eyes trailing to my neck for a second before focusing on applying her makeup once more. "You should wear your scarf less than what you do. I understand you might be a bit insecure about the mark or something, but people might find it cool that you have a mark in a different place than just your hand."

I deadpanned at her as I tightened the scarf. "Of course I'm insecure about it. My soulmate is literally going to strangle me." Katie's face twisted up a bit, but I just ignored it.

"I don't think they'll straight up kill you." She tried to reason as she began to pack up her makeup.

"I feel like being left alive would just be even worse. They'd probably kidnap me, torture me, threaten to kill me if I don't listen to them, and more."

She bristled through her teeth before smiling at me. "We should best get to class, right? Don't wanna be late for another one of Mr. Harrington's long and dreadful lectures." I sighed and nodded at her, loosening my scarf so it wasn't so tight against my neck before we left the bathroom.

Katie smiled at the sight before seemingly remembering something. "Oh, I just remembered. A few of our friends and myself are going out to a café later to hangout and eat. Do you want to join us?"

I thought about my schedule for a moment before nodding at her question. "Yeah, I should be free to tag along."

"(Y/n)! Over here!" I heard the call of my friend Stacy, who was sitting with four other people. I quickly walked over to them, a small smile on my face as I sat down. "How was the walk here? I hope it wasn't too far!" The peppy girl asked, grinning as her warm brown eyes settled onto me.

"It was fine; don't worry about it. A ten minute walk won't kill me." I earned a laugh from the girl before a waiter came over to us.

"So what can I get for you guys today?" He asked cheerfully as a bright smile placed itself onto his lips. His soulmate mark was quite obvious on his cheek, making me feel a bit more confident about showing mine.

Everyone began to order their drinks and food. I ended the ordering process and once he left, Stacy spoke up. "I see you aren't wearing your scarf! That's awesome." I smiled sheepishly and placed my hand over the mark.

My hand was smaller than the one that slightly darkened/lightened the skin there. Katie made eye contact with me and smiled. "I encouraged her to do so earlier and I suppose she listened." I nodded as my hand fell from my neck.

Hunter slung his arm around my shoulders and grinned at me. "Star is becoming more confident! That's great!." My cheeks warmed up as the mark on my neck reminded me that I would never be able to choose my own lover.

His blond hair was cut into a curtain hairstyle and his bright blue eyes shined with happiness. Freckles dusted his tanned cheeks and his body was lean. He was basically the definition of every woman's dream man.

Katie raised a brow at her best friend before ignoring him and continuing her conversation with her brother Camryn. Stacy smiled at us before turning to her soulmate Lukas and grabbed his hand where her nickname was placed.

One thing that made soulmates feel even more comfortable around each other was placing their hands where the handprint previously existed. It made comfort flow through both parties, and they understood each other's feelings and thoughts with ease.

It made me feel even more lonely as I watched their hands. I took my attention off of it as I saw the waiter returning to us with drinks in his hands.

I walked outside after saying goodbye to my friends and began to walk back to campus quietly. The roads were silent and barren as I looked around uneasily. Something seemed off because normally the town was livelier than this.

As I began to walk past an alleyway, a hand took its place on my neck and dragged me in, shoving me up against the wall in the shadows. My feet couldn't touch the ground, and my breath was leaving me quickly. I gripped the wrist and forearm that belonged to the hand squeezing my neck.

A cooling sensation flowed through my body, starting from my neck as soon as we touched. I stared into the red eyes of the mask with a frown stitched into it. The gloved hand blocking off my air pipes loosened in surprise as he seemed to look at the hands gripping his yellow hoodie.

He dropped me to the ground and pulled out a gun once I let go. He pointed it at me and cleared his throat. "I'm going to shoot you if you say anything, Starlight. Now, the reason you aren't dead at this moment in time is because you are my soulmate, understand?" I nodded at his quiet question as I touched my pained neck.

Breathing hurt as I stared up at him from my place on the ground. The gun made me nervous about what he could do as I assumed the worst. "Um, it's nice to meet you, I guess. Hoody, right?"

The hooded man nodded as he put the gun away, probably sensing I wasn't going to try anything. He pulled me up by my arm and began dragging me the way I was originally going. It made me wonder where he was taking me.

"Where are we going?" I rasped out, struggling to keep up with his fast pace. Thoughts raced through my head as I worried about my safety.

He slowed a bit, but it was just enough for me to be able to keep up next to him. "Your dorm." Was his quiet, simple answer. It was obvious he didn't speak much by how raspy his voice sounds. It seemed that if he did use it, it was going to be quiet and hard to hear.

My brows furrowed as I stopped out of confusion. "How do you know where my dorm is?" I demanded to know, earning a sigh from him as he stopped.

"You were walking this way, Starlight, so I assumed you went to the nearby college." He began walking again as his hand went from my arm to my hand.

"Why do you keep calling me 'Starlight'?"

A groan emitted from his throat as he turned over his right hand, so his wrist faced me. He raised the sleeve of his hoodie up enough, so that I could see the name 'Starlight' there, written in my hand writing.

I hummed before he pulled his sleeve down and began walking again. Meeting him only placed more questions into my mind. What does he look like? Who is he under that mask? What is he actually like?

He probably wouldn't answer my questions when I asked, so I didn't bother asking them. My eyes spotted someone walking down the sidewalk across the street. I wanted to yell for them, but didn't get the chance because Hoody moved, so his arm was wrapped around my shoulders with our hands still connected.

I glared at him for doing so, tempted to pull away. His body was tense, and didn't smell the best. He kept his head towards me and avoided any sort of contact he could have with the person across the street.

"I hate that guy." The hooded man grumbled as he pushed me to walk a bit faster. I kept my gaze trained on the sidewalk as I frowned deeply.

I almost winced as I swallowed some of the excess spit in my mouth, my throat hurting quite a bit. "Why?" The question came out of my mouth before I could stop it.

"Bastard has tried to kill me on multiple occasions. We may have the same enemy, but that traitor wants me dead." He answered before pushing me forward, making me land on the concrete.

I winced in pain at the rough ground scraping against my hands and covered knees. "What the hell was that for?" I growled as I shakily stood up.

He tilted his head at me before gesturing to the side with his hand. "Your campus is right here, Starlight." There was a hint of a grin in his voice as I huffed and entered the campus. "No goodbye? How sad." He mused before taking off in the opposite direction.

I huffed before heading back to my dorm, one of my scraped hands reaching up to pace itself over where the handprint used to be. The nickname still resided; I knew that, but I was also sure the handprint had disappeared, seeing as how we had finally met.

Even though he seemed like an asshole, I smiled. I had finally found my soulmate.