Imagines and One-Shots (Book Two)

Who to Love (Marshall Traver)

You didn't understand why the world was so against you. You'd done everything right – you went through school, got a decent job, bought a nice apartment...

But something, as with all the other winning streaks in your life, just had to go wrong.

And you must have totally fucked up this time – you must have cursed every single god known to man a thousand times over – because this was the worst thing that possibly could have happened.

Okay, maybe it wasn't the worst thing that could happen and maybe you were being a bit dramatic. But it might as well be the end of the world now.

Everyone was born with this tattoo – a unique symbol that perfectly matched only one other person's in the entire world. You were as excited as ever when you finally found your person after 24 years...

Until you actually got to know him.

It wasn't that Tyler wasn't a good guy, he just...wasn't who you imagined your soulmate would be. You always pictured someone strong and adventurous and not afraid of anything life had to throw at him.

But Tyler...

Tyler was the kind of guy that movies made fun of. And sure, maybe he had his own apartment, but don't let that fool you – his parents were paying for it.

Now, there was nothing wrong with getting a little help every now and then when you could barely make rent, but to have your parents be your sole source of income at the age of 27 because he didn't have a job and was never searching for one? He might as well still be living with them – you know, be a decent person and save them a few hundred bucks a month.

Your only solace in this whole situation – your one source of laughter when you were having a bad day – was your best friend.

You and Marshall had known each other for a while – he would come into the coffee shop you worked at every now and then, becoming a regular once you both started talking. He was your comedic relief for everything in life, really. No matter what mood you were in, Marshall always seemed to make it a hundred times better.

You learned very early on into the friendship that Marshall had never had a soulmate tattoo. You'd heard about it happening before – people being born without one – but you'd never actually met anyone who didn't have one until him. You never went too much into it though, knowing it made Marshall uncomfortable and even sad at times to think about not having a soulmate for himself.

But that didn't mean you never talked about yours with him. And that also didn't mean he was never willing to listen.

It was one such night – you were at Marshall's apartment watching movies as you two did every Saturday night. It was your turn to pick the movie, but you hadn't been paying attention to any of it, finding yourself lost in your thoughts. But by the time he noticed and went to ask you, you could already see him watching you out of the corner of your eye. So you started speaking.

"Maybe I'm not meant to have that 'lifetime of happiness' everyone keeps whining about," you sighed, more to yourself than to Marshall.

"Why don't you just end it then?" he asked, muting the television to give you his undivided attention.

"Ty's my soulmate," you shook your head, "I'm supposed to be with him."

"But you don't love him, Y/N," he told you.

"You don't even have a soulmate," you murmured, "You wouldn't understand."

"No, I understand," he said firmly, "I understand that you don't love him and you don't look forward to spending time with him anymore and you don't want to leave because you're 'meant to be with him' or whatever. But not everything in life was meant to be easy – not everything is going to make sense. And, to be honest, it's kind of stupid that you're throwing away your potential of finding someone you're truly happy with all because one little mark on your body is trying to tell you who to love."

~

One week later

Marshall's speech had really been eating away at you for the last six days. You knew he was right – you'd known for a long time that he was right – but for whatever reason, you just couldn't make yourself break up with Tyler.

Until one day, you did.

It was the Thursday after movie night that you found yourself at Tyler's apartment with the intent on breaking up with him. He refused to acknowledge what you were saying at first, giving you the soulmate excuse, but you pushed through and ended things anyway.

But that wasn't why you were storming into Marshall's own apartment the following morning.

"This is such bullshit!" you exclaimed, making Marshall raise an eyebrow as you came into the kitchen with him.

"What is?" he asked when you walked over to where he was standing at the counter waiting for his coffee to finish brewing.

"I broke up with Tyler last night, right?" you huffed, sitting yourself down on the counter top, "And he started whining about the whole soulmate thing and how 'we're supposed to be together forever', but I still did it anyway! And when I left his apartment, my tattoo was gone! And it was nice to know that I wasn't destined to be with Tyler, but can you guess what I found when I woke up this morning?! Just guess, Marshall! You know what?! Don't even worry about it! I'll tell you right now! It was a new fucking tattoo right where the other one was!"

You angrily pulled the sleeve of your jacket down to show Marshall the brand new tattoo on your wrist. You didn't even notice his eyes widen as you continued on your rant.

"Maybe I won't ever meet this new person," you said, leaning back against the cabinet, "Maybe I'll just barricade myself in my apartment for the rest of my life and have one of those subscription boxes of international foods be my meals and sign up for one of those sites that pays you for having opinions be my source of income. Soulmates are bullshit and so is this damn tattoo. I never want to meet this person." Marshall didn't say anything for a moment, but when he finally did, to say you were shocked was an understatement.

"What if you've already met him?" he asked simply.

"How could I have already met him?" you rolled your eyes, "You're the only person I've seen since it showed up."

Marshall didn't say anything – he just put his forearm down on the counter beside your thigh, his wrist up so you could see the brand new tattoo that perfectly matched yours. Your heart skipped a beat and you had to force yourself to look away and back up at him.

"When did you get that...?" you whispered.

"This morning," he said lowly, his thumb running over it, "I tried washing it off in the shower, but it wouldn't budge. Didn't even realize it was a soulmate tattoo until I saw yours." He then looked at you once again, "Guess that means we're soulmates then, huh?"

"What happened to that 'one little mark can't tell you who to love' speech?" you asked, a small smile pulling at the corner of your mouth. Marshall simply grinned brightly at you.

"I've loved you long before this thing this ever showed up," he said, making your heart skip a beat, "I guess it was just what I needed to finally be brave enough to tell you."

"Yeah?" you murmured, "So what do we do now?"

"Well, I can tell you what I'd like to do," he replied, smirking slightly.

"Maybe just showing me would be easier though," you suggested.

Marshall let out a soft chuckle before moving to stand between your legs. His hands landed on your hips while his forearms rested on top of your thighs. Your own hands automatically went to his cheeks as both of you just stared at each other for a moment.

"I really do love you, Y/N," he swallowed thickly, almost as if he was nervous you wouldn't say it back.

"I love you too, Marshall," you whispered, pulling his face to yours and kissing him like this was all a dream you'd wake up from at any moment.

~

inspiration: http://my-imagines-moonlight53.tumblr.com/post/147261517857/i-can-make-you-happier-bucky-barnes-x-reader