*Horatio's PoV*

The bell rang and I shoved my books into my backpack as fast as I could. I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the window as I walked out, the jet-black handprint on my right cheek stark against my pale skin. I just know that my soulmate's going to slap me, and I've known it ever since I was born. It's mortifying.

People like to pick on me anyways, but I think the mark made it worse.

I tucked my head down as I walked across the back parking lot, staring at the asphalt surrounding me. Ophelia's bright blue Converse weren't beside me like they usually were. That wasn't good.

"Hey look, it's the fag! Aw damn, looks like he hasn't gotten slapped yet! Such a shame, since he deserves it!" Someone snickered, pushing me backwards. my palms burned as they came in contact with the ground.

"P-please stop," I whispered, cheeks burning. Rosencrantz's face loomed over mine.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say to me? Did you tell me to do something, bitch?" Rosencrantz snarled, grabbing the front of my shirt and pulling me upwards.

"No," I whispered. Guildenstern walked over, chuckling darkly.

"Looks like the little guy's feeling strong today," he remarked, threading a rough hand through my hair and pulling my head up. I was staring directly into his eyes.

"That mark on your face is a mistake," he hissed.

"You will never, ever find love, you hear me?" Guild said. Ros stepped back, watching his friend.

"You are nothing. You should just jump off a bridge!"

Guildenstern pushed me against the wall of the school. Before I could say anything, he grabbed my wrists and held them tightly in one hand.

"Guild, what a-are you doing?" I stuttered, dread building in my stomach.

"Did I say you could talk?" I shook my head frantically. I hoped I was wrong about where this was going.

"Who knows, maybe your stupid soulmate is Ros," he
mused, beckoning his friend over.

"Kiss him."

"Ros, please, d-don't do this."

Rosencrantz bent down in front of me, eyes filled with hate. Part of me expected him to spit in my face, or even punch me, but he didn't.

"Don't tell me what to do, you little shit," he whispered.

"You deserve everything I'm about to do to you, fag. Now shut up and take it like the bitch you are."

Shame clogged my throat, and my senses were screaming for me to run. Everything seemed dramatized and too saturated. Surely this was just some horrible nightmare. They wouldn't actually be doing this to me, right?

Ros pressed his lips to mine, startling me, and bit my bottom lip, hard. Before I could react, he slapped me so hard that white spots danced across my field of vision and stepped back, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

"Guess not. That's too bad, we could have had a lot more fun with you, Horatio," Guild sneered.

I knew Ros wasn't my soulmate, but this was humiliating. My heart seemed to shred itself in my chest, sinking to my stomach like lead. This was worse than most of the other times the guys had tormented me.

Guild let go of my wrists, and I slid to the ground. Dimly, I realized that this was a much worse position to be in, but my ears were ringing and it was hard to concentrate.

Did I hit my head when he slapped me?

Guildenstern kicked my in the side, and I groaned. It hurt like hell.

"Please," I whined. I wasn't quite sure what I was begging for in the moment, maybe for them to stop? Someone to help me? For me to stop being such a baby and actually fight back? I had no clue.

"What did we say about talking?" It was Rosencrantz's turn to kick me.

"S-sorry," I breathed. My entire side was burning and the air had been knocked out of me. I wheezed an unsteady breath, horrified at the constricted feeling that was all too familiar. It was eerily similar to a panic attack.

God, Horatio, you can't have a fucking panic attack in front of your bullies, they'll beat the shit further out of you. Breathe, you moron.

My inner monologue did little to aid the situation. Everything was so loud, so bright. And, god did it hurt. The ever-present panic rose in my chest, and I squeezed my eyes shut, ignoring my stomach as it pitched a fit inside of me. Fear practically rolled off my skin, I was almost positive that Ros and Guild could feel it.

Before my anxiety could turn into a full-fledged panic attack, footsteps echoed through the alleyway.

"Ros, Guild! I need to tell yo-" a new voice yelled.

"What the hell are you doing?" The voice sounded familiar, but in my fuzzy state I couldn't place it.

"Good lord, what did you do?" The voice demanded, yanking my bullies out of view.

"Give me one good reason why you were beating the shit out of that kid?" The voice lashed.

It sounded like Hamlet. But that surely couldn't be the case.

Sure, he wasn't exactly like his friends. He didn't beat me up every time he had a bad day, and he wasn't homophobic, at least that I knew of. But he didn't ever go out of his way to be nice to me. I wasn't even sure he knew who I was.

"Christ, Hamlet, cool it. We were just having some fun with the guy. Relax, would you?" Rosencrantz snarled, raking a hand through his hair.

"Relax? Relax? You told me you were done with this, Ros! You could have killed him!" Hamlet seethed.

"We weren't going to kill him, just smack some sense into him. I mean, the guy thinks he actually has a soulmate, Ham. Come on. He's gay. It's a mistake. " Ros said.

"He's unnatural, no woman would ever love him." Guild argued, glaring at me angrily.

"Unnatural? That's real fucking hilarious, guys. It's the twenty first century, gay people exist!" Hamlet spat.

"It doesn't matter if a girl would love him, either!" Hamlet continued. Their conversation was really not helping my self esteem.

"Why the hell not?" Guild growled, arms crossed.

"Because I do!"

Wait what?  I'm dreaming. That doesn't really make a lot of sense, because my entire body hurt like hell, but that was the only reasonable conclusion for what he said.

"You're a freak, just like him! I should have known!" Ros said, walking away. Guild followed, flipping Hamlet off over his shoulder.

Hamlet walked over, hands in his pockets. He looked nervous.

"Hey," he said gently, bending down. Hamlet smiled sheepishly, but didn't say anything. This guy and his anxious little smiles, honestly.

"You know I could hear you guys talking, right?" I asked Hamlet. He shrugged, a blush evident on his cheeks.

"Sort of. I just wasn't sure exactly how much of that you heard," he told me.

"Pretty much all of it."

Hamlet groaned.

"This wasn't meant to go this way," he confessed, sinking down beside me.

"Oh yeah? And how's that?" I glanced at Hamlet, who had buried his face in his hands. He mumbled something unintelligible.

"Oh yeah, that's much better," I quipped, looking over towards him. Face still hidden, I caught a glimpse of a black smudge on his shoulder, nearly hidden by his shirt.

"How can you be in love with me if we're not even soulmates? I mean, we've touched before, right?" I asked, ignoring the pain that flared in my side when I spoke. Hamlet pulled his head up, confused.

"How can you be so sure? I think I'd remember if we touched," Hamlet asked. I shrugged.

"I'm sorry, i-it's just that those guys are always telling m-me that... well, that I'd never find anyone-" I ducked my head, ashamed.

"Anyone who'd love a freak like me," I whispered. A tear fell onto my cheek and I wiped it away angrily. Hamlet was silent for a beat.

"You can't listen to those guys, okay? They don't know what they're talking about," Hamlet said, turning towards me suddenly. I raised an eyebrow.

"You're the most amazing person I've ever seen, Horatio. Those guys have it all wrong."

"I-I've been secretly in love with you since freshman year!" I blurted. Hamlet smiled cheekily.

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" He said. I pulled him forward by the shoulder, effectively closing the gap between us. Hamlet placed his hand on my cheek gently and kissed me.

When I opened my eyes, Hamlet was staring at me, amazed. I gasped. There was a set of rainbow fingerprints blazing on his shoulder.

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A/N: I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love soulmate AU's.
I don't know why, I just do.

Another thing to address, because I'm sure you're all wondering: Ros and Guild are my babies, and making them mean is probably never happening again. It hurt my soul a little to write them as the bullies.

Hope you enjoyed reading this one, because I enjoyed writing it! Until next time! Love ya humans.

Peace.