Bucky and Steve made a pact when they were young, that if they were both still single when they were thirty, they’d marry each other. Bucky could think of a lot of worse things than being married to his best friend. They already live together, the tax benefits would be pretty awesome, and he could stop worrying about growing old alone. That is, until he met Tony Stark. Yes, that Tony Stark. Rich, gorgeous, smart, fun, great in bed, and... actually interested in Bucky?
Tony didn’t really do dating. It was too depressing to waste his time with borderline stalkers, fortune hunters, people just crossing off their bucket lists, and worse. He’d pretty much resigned himself to a lifetime of one-night stands. And then he met Bucky. Hot, nerdy, relaxed, and utterly nonchalant about the whole “Tony Stark” package in an extremely appealing way. There was just one problem: Bucky was engaged to someone else.
In a universe where you can make contact with your soulmate by drawing onto your skin, Bucky's soulmate immediately stands out. It doesn't bother Bucky too much his soulmate puts them in places where only they can see, the drawings are for him, and that's enough. They are so much more complicated, more detailed, more beautiful than the ones others get, after all.
One day the marks on his skin are not drawings, and they mark a pivotal change in their relationship. A change that ends with Bucky being disillusioned and enlisting. The loss of his arm overseas is just a step above the rock bottom they must reach before it gets better.
This is a story about two soulmates, lost and broken. But aren't broken things more beautiful for the cracks?