So, this fic just sort of happened. I'm not really even in this fandom anymore - I never finished season six - but if nothing else, exam periods give me inspiration to write. Hope you enjoy it!

Okay.

The word is written across the inside of his wrist, blue letters flowing into each other, ending with a small dot. It's been there for as long as Kurt can remember – a birthmark on his skin, uniquely his. Of course, he's not the only one with a birthmark like that. He's the only one with that exact mark (at least, he assumes so, although there are billions of people in the world and it isn't as though he's met every one of them, so, while unlikely, he can't completely rule out the possibility that there might be someone out there with the same mark as him), but everyone has one, somewhere on their body. He's seen flashes of a word on his dad's arm, occasionally peeking out from underneath his sleeve. He's never gotten close enough to read what his dad's says, because he keeps it hidden beneath his shirt sleeves, but his dad has seen his. He traces over it one night when Kurt is only three or four years old; it's one of his earliest memories.

"You know, Kurt," he says, tapping one finger on the word on his son's skin. Kurt's wrists are tiny; his dad's fingers almost completely cover them. "This word is the first word you're ever going to say to your soulmate."

Soulmate. Kurt is too young to understand what that means, really, but something about the word makes him feel fluttery in his chest.

It doesn't take too long before Kurt begins to understand what a soulmate really is. You don't need to find yours to realise how special it is, how much it matters. It's in all the songs, all the movies. Kurt is only a child, but he knows he wants it, wants to feel it. The movies all make it look terribly romantic and beautiful, lacing fingers through the hands of another, seeing the words from your lips on their skin and knowing that they are The One.

Okay. It's such a simple word. Kurt lies awake at night imagining all the possible scenarios in which that word could be used. Is his soulmate a waiter or a worker in a coffee shop, asking if he's ready to order? Does his soulmate meet him on a day when he's feeling down, and ask him how he is? Is the first sentence his soulmate ever says to him a variation of "Would you like to go out to me?"

But these fantasies don't stay beautiful. Not all the movies have happy endings. Kurt starts to wonder what it would be like if the first word he ever says to his soulmate is also the last, if he loses his soulmate before ever really finding them. He wonders what it would be like if he says "Okay" to someone for the first time, before discovering that they're not the one, that he's spend days, months, maybe even years of his life falling for someone who should have never heard that word from his mouth. He wonders if he is one of the unfortunate ones, who has a soulmate whose soulmate is someone else.

Most importantly, he wonders if having the words on his wrist might make him say the word more frequently than he should, or less so; he wonders if he might overthink it, changing his fate, ruining it all.

So Kurt doesn't talk.

OoO

Of course, just because Kurt doesn't talk doesn't mean that he never uses his voice. It doesn't count if he sings. You don't sing to one person, you sing with people, or to a crowd, and so the words don't count even if your soulmate is one of the faces there. Kurt likes singing, he's quick to discover. He likes the way it feels in his chest, a warm, fuzzy feeling that spreads through to his fingers and his toes. He also discovers that he is good at singing. He can hit notes other people can't hit, and while some of the Neanderthals who hear him laugh and tell him that he sings like a girl, some people look at him with this mixture of surprise and wonder, and he likes the way that makes him feel.

So he joins the high school Glee Club, the moment he sees sign-up sheets. There are a small handful of people in the auditorium when he auditions – the teacher, and a small number of other students waiting for their turn, so Kurt doesn't introduce himself verbally, just to be safe. He doesn't need to. He sings, and Mr Schuester welcomes him to the club.

He thinks that maybe, just maybe, he's found a home, a safe haven inside the school of fools who push him into lockers and make him feel small.

OoO

It takes a while for the club to get used to his silence. He knows they don't fully understand it, and he can't blame them for it, especially given he cannot voice the reason why he doesn't like to speak. He knows they find it weird, but at the same time, he finds it weird that they can just talk like it's nothing, ruling out people as potential soulmates with every word they say. They accept it, though, at least more so than the other idiots at the school do, and he starts to feel closer to them, some more so than others. One girl in particular becomes his friend, a girl named Mercedes whose voice gives you goose bumps when she hits high notes, and she does enough talking for the both of them as they walk through the mall arm-in-arm.

He knows she's not his soulmate from the start, because in his head it's only ever been another boy's face, but it takes him a while before he ends up talking to her, because keeping quiet is what he's used to. He also thinks it's safer not to talk to anyone, because one, high school is bad enough without any potential sexuality crises, and two, because he doesn't want to get too used to talking to her and then accidentally talk when she's with someone else, someone who could end up being his soulmate. In the end, however, he's glad when he first says her name, and then his barriers break down and he's suddenly allowed to chatter away openly (and oh, how the floodgates open, like everything he's kept inside for years wants to come out all at once). She becomes his voice, whenever he has something to add to Glee Club meetings (which becomes quite often, now that he has a way to add them), and it's not uncommon to see him whispering in her ear before she speaks.

People would probably assume they were dating, if it weren't for the fact that Kurt is the most stereotypical gay kid in the whole school. Oddly enough, no one suspects a thing.

OoO

By the end of the school year, there are two other people, outside of Mercedes and Kurt's family, who Kurt will speak to.

The first is Finn Hudson. Finn is handsome, the sort that turns everyone's heads as he walks through the halls. He's the quarterback for the school football team and he is everything you'd expect in a stereotypical football player. Sure, he isn't the brightest, but some of the things he says, while often completely inaccurate, are ridiculously endearing.

Deep down, Kurt knows that Finn isn't his soulmate. However, the funny little thing about feelings is that they make you ignore any logical thought in your head. It doesn't matter that Kurt knows this, somewhere in the back of his mind. He wants Finn to be his soulmate. He wants to fantasize about Finn smiling at him like he's the only one in the world, wants to think about spending their lives together, wants to imagine happily ever after. So, when Finn leans back on his seat and slides his paper over in maths one day and hisses "Dude, can you help me with this?", the word on Kurt's wrist is tumbling out of his mouth before he has time to think.

(After that, it takes an unforgivably long time for Kurt to stop dreaming about happily ever after with Finn, but feelings do fade in the end. Hearing certain words come out of Finn's mouth following some drama regarding room decoration speeds along the process.)

The second person who Kurt will talk to is Rachel Berry. She's quite obviously not his soulmate, but he doesn't start talking to her amicably in the same way that he did with Mercedes. No, his first words to Rachel Berry are during a fight, when she informs him, rather loudly, that even if neither of them are ever going to be Finn Hudson's first choice in a partner, she'd still be chosen over Kurt because of her gender, and suddenly Kurt is shouting, "And why would anyone ever choose you?"

If you'd asked him in that moment, he'd have laughed at the idea of ever caring about her. Somehow, however, she ends up becoming one of his best friends.

OoO

It's a year later when Kurt finds himself walking down the steps of Dalton Academy, where he has been sent to scope out the competition. It doesn't feel like he's stepped into another school, it feels like he's stepped into Narnia. He's half-tempted to start referring to Dalton Academy as Hogwarts. He finds himself marvelling at the state of the staircase, and the uniforms, and the rather stunning ceiling, and he finds himself dreaming, wishing he could be here instead, wondering if maybe he might fit in better with these boys.

Then he messes up, because his eyes are on the ceiling and not on the stairs, and of course, of course he has to lose his footing and fall, right into the boy in front of him.

To be fair, the situation could have been much worse. The boy in front could have had much poorer reflexes than he did, and they could have both ended up sprawled on the floor, and that would have been humiliating. However, the boy in front turns out to have very good reflexes, hand tightening on the hand rail to keep his balance, and Kurt grabs onto his back instinctively, and somehow, miraculously, they both manage to stay upright.

Although Kurt can't really feel relieved about that while he's too busy hoping that the staircase might just open up and swallow him.

He releases the boy in front of him the moment that he's able to, one hand flying to his mouth, and he scampers back up a step to put some distance between them. His cheeks feel like they're on fire, and he's wondering if he should just start apologising profusely, because it might be better if his first meeting with his soulmate isn't one where he falls into them and makes a fool of himself. Really, he's not usually like this, he can make better impressions than this.

The boy turns around before Kurt has opened his mouth, and he's looking up at Kurt with a look of concern, of all things, concern for the boy who just tripped over his own feet and fell into him. There's not a hint of annoyance or anger in his gaze, nothing that makes Kurt think he's about to hiss "Watch where you're going" or push Kurt around.

He's also gorgeous.

Damnit.

"Are you all right?" he asks, and Kurt almost wants to laugh, because Kurt is the one who ran into this boy, Kurt should be the one asking if he's all right. Instead, he just nods his head quickly without moving his hand away from his mouth.

And then the boy's concerned look dissolves away and in its place forms a bright smile, one that causes his eyes to crinkle in the corners and he may actually be the most beautiful boy Kurt has ever seen in his life, and Kurt almost, almost wants to just say "Okay. I'm okay" and at least have the chance to consider this boy a potential soulmate.

But Kurt also knows better than to do that, especially after Finn. He doesn't even know this boy. This boy could be as bad as some of his bullies back in high school (although Kurt can't really believe that, not with the look of concern that had flickered over this boy's face). This boy could be in a relationship already (distinctly possible, given the way he looks). This boy could be straight (that would be just Kurt's luck).

The boy, still smiling, says, "A bit too excited to come see the Warblers, are you?" and that brings Kurt out of his head. He can't have heard that correctly; it has to be a joke. There is no way the Warblers, the Dalton Academy Glee Club, could be a cause for excitement. There's no way their Glee Club is popular, is there?

His confusion must show on his face, because the boy then asks, "New kid?"

It's a better excuse than 'No, I'm just here to spy on you for my own school's Glee Club, although I'm kind of also here to spy on the school because I'm getting bullied and it's really unlikely that you're actually a gay school like everyone implies but I'd kind of be okay with that', so Kurt simply nods his head again, and the boy beams.

"I'm Blaine," he introduces, offering a hand to shake, and Kurt clasps it, giving him a smile and hoping that Blaine won't mind the fact that he's not introducing himself back.

He doesn't. He merely gives Kurt a curious look and says, "You don't talk?" and then smiles when Kurt nods his head again. "That's okay. Come on," he says, and he gives a gentle tug on Kurt's hand, still clasped in his own, guiding him down the last few stairs and then through the hallway, and Kurt's heart is doing something funny in his chest that he hasn't felt in the longest time.

OoO

"It was humiliating, Rachel," he says later, as the two of them stand in line, waiting for their coffees. She had been more than eager to meet up with him after his adventure to Dalton, wanting to know what the competition was like, and he had been desperate to tell someone, anyone about what had happened. "He must have thought I was such a clutz! But he was so, so charming and so nice about it, and he can also sing really, really well – we definitely have competition this year, they definitely have a fair chance – and…"

"So why didn't you stay after their performance?" Rachel interrupts. "You could have gotten his number. Texting doesn't count." She gestures to Kurt's wrist, and Kurt instinctively pulls his sleeve over the word (even though Rachel has seen it before).

"I know, but what if I had said something by accident? What if I'd said 'okay', or if I'd said something completely different, or-" He reaches for the cups of coffee as he's talking, taking them from the counter and turning around, and then he abruptly cuts off speech and freezes, because a certain blazer-clad show choir member has just walked up behind them.

Kurt mentally runs through the last thirty seconds of conversation in his head, and wishes for the second time that the floor will open up and swallow him.

"Hey!" Blaine greets. "I didn't expect to see you here. I went to look for you after the show but you'd run off." He glances between Kurt and Rachel, a slight frown on his face, and then he asks, "Sorry, were you talking?"

Rachel, whose confused expression has morphed into a mischievous smile that Kurt definitely does not like the look of, steps forward and opens her mouth before Kurt has the chance to do anything.

"Kurt doesn't talk," she explains, and Kurt feels grateful for her for a second before she continues, "He has this weird thing about wanting to get to know who his soulmate is before he says his first words to them, and he's paranoid that he's going to accidentally say the wrong words to the wrong person." She makes it sound so ridiculous, and Kurt feels himself blushing.

Blaine doesn't say it's ridiculous, though. His eyes light up with understanding and he smiles at Kurt. "Oh, that's okay! That's kind of cute, actually."

Can Kurt's face get any more red?

Rachel is grinning in a way that makes him think she's coming up with either something embarrassing to say or a clever matchmaking ploy and Kurt doesn't know which is worse. Blaine doesn't seem to notice, or, if he does, he doesn't comment on it; his attention is more focussed on Kurt.

"It's... Kurt, did you say?" he asked, gaze flickering over to Rachel and then back to Kurt, and when Kurt nods his head, he smiles. "Nice to put a name to your face." He reaches into his pocket, pulling out his phone, and then continues, "How about I give you my number? Texting doesn't count, right?"

Kurt bites his lip, pointedly ignoring the look that he knows Rachel's giving him, and then he nods his head. He pulls out his phone and he passes it over to Blaine, letting him type his number into Kurt's contact list while Kurt types his own into Blaine's. When they're done, they pass their phones back to one another, and Blaine gives him a bright smile once again.

"Great," he says, pocketing his phone again. "I'm glad I ran into you, Kurt. I'll see you around?"

Kurt nods his head, and Rachel says, "I'm sure he'd say that it's nice to meet you too, if he wasn't worried that you might be his soul-"

Kurt cuts her off with a shove to the shoulder, and Rachel simply giggles at him and rolls her eyes. "Nice to meet you, Blaine," she says, before guiding the still red-faced Kurt out of the coffee shop. She opens her mouth as soon as they're out the door, but Kurt cuts her off before she can speak.

"Shut up."

"But-"

"Shut up!"

"Aw, you're blushing!" she says, and Kurt resists the urge to pull his scarf up around his face.

"Stop it. Come on, let's go before I become overwhelmed with the temptation to pour my drink on your head."

Rachel simply grins at him teasingly and links her arm through his as they walk, and Kurt tries very hard not to keep thinking about the new number now sitting in his contact list.

OoO

So they text.

A lot.

Blaine is the first to text, too, which Kurt thinks about a little more than he should. It's nice. It's reassuring to know that he's not pushing for a friendship that the other party isn't interested in; it's nice to think that Blaine texted him first because Blaine himself wanted to text him, and not because he feels obligated to reply to something Kurt has said.

Blaine tells him that he made a rather terrible spy at Dalton the other day, and asks if that was because spying on their Glee Club wasn't his true motive, and Kurt figures, what the hell, it's not like he's got anything to lose. So he tells him everything; he tells him that he's the only openly gay kid at his school, that he's been treated poorly his whole life by anyone who figured he was an easy target, and that there's this one boy, Karofsky, who has made it his life's mission to make Kurt's life miserable, and Kurt just doesn't know what to do. It ends up taking up two text messages, and when Kurt doesn't get a response for ten minutes he worries and follows it up with "Sorry, I didn't need to tell you all that" and he wonders if he's messed up a friendship before it's started.

Then half an hour later, an even longer text message comes through, with Blaine telling him that he gets it, and he's been there. Blaine tells him about being picked on for the same reason, being bullied, and eventually running away to Dalton, where there zero-tolerance policy made him feel safe and welcomed. He tells Kurt that he knows it's not an option for everyone, nor is it the only option. He tells Kurt to have courage, and that becomes a recurring theme. "COURAGE - Blaine" comes to him at lunch time one day, when Blaine knows he'll have to encounter his bullies, and the same word pops up on his screen again after school, right before Karofsky pushes him up into the locker, just like every other day.

It's the word on the phone, the reminder that there is someone there who is telling him to be strong, looking out for him even though they've only just met, that gives him the courage to stand up, to go after Karofsky and shout – yes, shout, because not in a million years would Karofsky ever be his soulmate – about everything that's on his mind, telling him that Kurt isn't going to just sit down and be his victim anymore, he isn't going to put up with it anymore.

It feels great. It feels like Blaine has given him the key to unlock this strength, and it feels like he's doing what he has wanted to do from the start. He's on fire, he's not going to let Karofsky push him around anymore. Karofsky looks like he might punch Kurt, but it doesn't matter, because it's not going to change anything; this is Kurt, strong and brave and standing up for himself and -

Then Karofsky kisses him, and Kurt feels like he's going to be sick.

OoO

He tells Blaine, of course, over text that night, and Blaine asks him if he's all right and if there's anything he can do and he promises to come to school with Kurt the next day to confront Karofksy – he can do all the talking. It doesn't do any good, of course – did they really fool themselves into believing that they could magically turn Karofksy into someone other than a bully? – and it's only a matter of weeks later when Karofksy starts threatening and Kurt needs to get out of there, and his dad agrees to transfer him to Dalton.

Blaine's there to support him through it all, words of courage on Kurt's phone at night and reassurances that he's not alone, and Kurt feels safe and cared for. When Kurt transfers to Dalton, Blaine shows him around and Kurt stays by his side whenever they have a class together. Blaine talks and Kurt texts his responses, and it's weird, Kurt knows, but Blaine is incredibly nice about all of it, incredibly nice to him, and Kurt is very, very glad he fell into him on the stairs.

He also falls a little bit in love with him.

Whoops.

OoO

A week before Christmas, Kurt is sitting in what he is fairly certain is currently the only quiet common room on campus (really, it might almost be Christmas, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have exams to study for) when his phone vibrates on the desk, and Blaine's name pops up on the screen. Kurt opens up the message and skims his eyes over it with a frown before he texts back.

Singing doesn't count,
right?

You've heard me sing
with the Warblers.

I mean singing without
an audience.

Are you asking me
to sing to you?

The door to the common room opens, startling Kurt slightly, and he looks up to see Blaine walking into the room, carrying a boom box. "With me," he corrects, and when Kurt gives him a questioning look he clarifies, "I'd like you to rehearse with me. I've got a gig singing Baby It's Cold Outside in the King's Island Christmas Spectacular."

Kurt shoots him a grin that he hopes Blaine interprets as congratulation for getting the part and not a result of the fact that Blaine wants to sing one of Kurt's favourite duets with him.

"So, can you help me out here?" Blaine asks, and Kurt wants, very, very, badly, to say 'Okay'. But he doesn't. Instead, he just nods his head, and keeps his mouth shut until the music starts playing, singing words that aren't his own with the boy that he's in love with, and wishing that those flirty little looks with the lyrics of the song really were directed towards him.

OoO

Sometimes, Kurt thinks that maybe, just maybe, Blaine might feel the way he does. Maybe it's just wishful thinking – he worries that that might be the case more often than he would like – but sometimes he could swear that Blaine's gaze lingers on him a little bit longer than it should, or he finds himself wondering if, while the Warblers are rehearsing, the way Blaine leans into him or touches him is a little bit different to the way he does it to everyone else. He knows that Blaine spends more time with him than with any of the other Warblers; they eat lunch together, meet up between and after classes, occasionally they spend time with his friends from McKinley – really, they're basically dating without the label of 'in a relationship', aren't they?

It's the little things, too, like the fact that Blaine knows his coffee order and occasionally insists on shouting him a drink, or that Blaine knows his school schedule well enough to know where to find him before and after class. Kurt has never caught a glimpse of Blaine's soulmate mark – it isn't on any obvious part of his body (and Kurt has most definitely not spent a great deal of time wondering where on Blaine's body it might actually be) – so he lets himself wonder, lets himself dream, that maybe somewhere on Blaine's skin are the words Are you all right?)

So when Valentine's Day comes around, and Blaine tells Kurt about a guy that he hasn't known very long (You haven't known me very long, Kurt thinks) who he might like quite a bit and asks his opinion on serenading this person, Kurt gets caught up in a fantasy and fools himself into believing that Blaine might be interested in a relationship with him.

It's a relief that Kurt still isn't talking by this point, because he might have said something embarrassing, before discovering that the guy that Blaine wants to serenade is not him, but a young man named Jeremiah, a junior manager at The Gap.

Kurt goes back to his room that afternoon feeling rather miserable, and he releases some frustrations tearing out that stupid love heart he drew in his notebook with his and Blaine's names written inside, but unreciprocated feelings aside, Blaine is his best friend and best friends support each other. So he goes to The Gap, with Blaine and the rest of the Warblers, and when Blaine starts to back out he pulls out his phone and types out a message, flashing him the screen.

You're amazing. He's
going to love you. You
can do this.

He deletes the message as soon as Blaine's read it because it feels wrong to tell Blaine to go chase someone else, but at the same time, it's not like he can feel possessive over a boy who isn't and may never be his. It seems to help Blaine, though, because he gets up there and sings like a rock star.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, if you look at it from Kurt's perspective), rock stars do not really belong in shops like The Gap. Jeremiah gets fired, and he explains to Blaine that he's not interested, that Blaine's underage and no one knows about Jeremiah's sexuality, and basically, the whole fiasco goes in the complete opposite direction to the way Blaine would have liked. Kurt feels bad, on the one hand, that Blaine has been embarrassed and upset by someone, but he's also relieved to discover that Blaine isn't about to get into a relationship with someone and Kurt isn't going to lose him – and maybe, Kurt thinks, maybe the fact that he feels like he might lose someone who isn't his might be a good reason to say something (figuratively speaking).

So Kurt pulls out his phone and types 'I thought the person you wanted to sing to was me'.

Blaine seems surprised by the confession (which surprises Kurt, because everyone else could see it and was Blaine really that clueless?) but they talk about it (in their usual, half-speech, half-text kind of way), and Blaine tells Kurt that what they have is really important to him and he doesn't want to mess it up. And that's enough for Kurt, because Blaine is important to him, whether they're best friends or something else. Blaine doesn't need to be is boyfriend to be important.

At a glance, then, it seems like Kurt's confession did nothing – they're still friends, they still meet up and spend time together, and Kurt still doesn't talk. Inside, however, Kurt's chest feels a little bit lighter.

OoO

Of course, life is never simple when it comes to love. If it feels like things are sorted out, then you can almost guarantee that something will come around the corner to mess it all up again. In Kurt's case, this mess came with a party at Rachel Berry's house involving far too much alcohol.

Kurt doesn't drink, of course. To be perfectly honest, he doesn't see the appeal in getting so drunk you can't even remember what you did the next morning, and getting drunk might turn him loose-lipped and then who knows what kind of trouble he might be in. Besides, if he stays sober he can keep an eye on everyone (read: Blaine) and make sure that nothing too dramatic goes on.

He, unfortunately, can't stop Blaine from playing a game of Spin the Bottle which results in him kissing Rachel Berry (and by "kissing", Kurt means "eating the face of" because that goes on far longer than a Spin-the-Bottle-kiss should and really, Blaine is gay, he should not be making heart-eyes at Rachel). This then leads to Blaine singing a duet with Rachel, looking at her as if he actually does want her, and Kurt sits off quietly to the side and tries not to give into the temptation to go up there and say "Okay" just so he has an excuse to feel possessive.

This isn't what makes matters complicated, however. Yes, Blaine potentially being interested in women is complicated, both for Blaine labelling his sexuality and for Kurt feeling like he's lost the person who can understand him, but what brings complication into the matter of feelings is what happens after they get home. Kurt drives, of course, while Blaine chats about whatever is coming into his head – most of it is illogical and none of it makes a lot of sense, so Kurt almost entirely tunes him out.

When they get stopped at a set of traffic lights, Kurt pulls his hand away from the wheel to rub his eyes and then Blaine reaches out suddenly and grabs it, his hand going to the word written on Kurt's skin. His finger traces over it, following the letters, and Kurt almost yanks his hand away, but then decides against it. He's pretty sure Blaine has seen the mark before, because he doesn't hide it as much as he used to, and really, it doesn't matter if Blaine sees it. With how drunk he is, Kurt isn't even sure if he'll remember in the morning. So he lets Blaine look.

"Okay," the boy reads, running his thumb over the skin as if underlying the word. "Okay. That's nice. One day you're going to say okay to someone and they're going to love you."

Kurt purses his lips and gently pulls his hand away – Blaine lets him, thankfully – as the lights turn green. Blaine keeps talking as the car starts to move again, telling stories about the Warblers, about Wes' soulmate mark (it's much more unusual than Kurt's - "What in the world are you doing?" - and Wes is yet to be in a situation in which that is the first thing that he says), and then he starts talking about the Warblers who have found their soulmates (there are only a couple, unsurprisingly – not many people meet their soulmates in high school), and those who thought they had but realised that they were wrong, and so on.

Kurt has decided to take Blaine back to his house – he feels comforted by the thought that he can keep an eye on Blaine and make sure he's all right, given the amount he's had to drink, and Kurt's house is closer anyway. They're only a few minutes away from Kurt's home at this point, so by the time Kurt pulls up in front of his house, Blaine is still blabbering on about soulmate marks. Kurt turns off the car, climbs out and immediately moves around to Blaine's door so that he can help him out and make sure he's not about to collapse onto the footpath.

"Mine's on my hip," Blaine says as Kurt puts an arm around him to help him up, and suddenly Kurt is paying far more attention to Blaine's words than he was. He turns his head to look over at Blaine, and Blaine is looking at him with an expression on his face that makes Kurt's heart flutter, and from this position, their faces are really, really close together.

It's what Blaine says next that really makes Kurt's breath catch.

"It says 'Are you all right?', Kurt. It's what I first said to you."

Kurt can feel himself gaping and he can only imagine how he must look to Blaine, and then Blaine's gaze flickers down, quickly, from Kurt's eyes to Kurt's lips, and this isn't the right time, Blaine is drunk and they can't do this, they really can't–

Kurt turns his head away quickly and jerks it towards the door to wordlessly say 'Come on', and when he starts walking, one arm still around Blaine to support him, Blaine walks too. They reach the front door, and Kurt fishes around for his keys before putting a finger to his lips to tell Blaine to be quiet, and, much to Kurt's relief, Blaine seems to understand the importance of it. He doesn't say a word until they're behind the closed door of Kurt's bedroom, and Kurt has knelt down to undo Blaine's shoes.

"I don't know for sure," Blaine says, his voice soft. "I said it to Jeremiah too, and he's not my soulmate. I don't think. I thought before but now I don't because I'm not his soulmate. But Kurt. Kurt, Kurt, Kurt, do you think that you might be my soulmate?"

Kurt says nothing. He takes off Blaine's shoes and stands, placing a hand gently on his shoulder to push him down onto the bed, before disappearing into the bathroom. When he comes back, Blaine is fast asleep.

In the morning, if Blaine remembers any of it, he doesn't say a word, and Kurt doesn't bring it up.

OoO

Nothing changes. Not straight away.

Kurt thinks about that night more often than he cares to admit. He imagines the words written on Blaine's hip, imagines going up to him and saying 'Okay' and maybe kissing him, imagines being Blaine's soulmate and Blaine being his.

Then he thinks about the fact that Blaine has not said anything after that night – he even went out with Rachel, just to see if he was actually bisexual instead of gay, which just about confirms the fact that he doesn't remember the conversation. He thinks about the fact that Blaine has made no attempt to ask Kurt out or otherwise indicate interest while sober, despite the fact that he knows from the conversation following the situation with Jeremiah that Kurt is interested, and does that mean that Blaine, regardless of what his mark says, doesn't want Kurt to be his soulmate?

Kurt imagines saying 'Okay' and making it real and letting himself fall, only to discover that Blaine's real soulmate is someone else. Kurt imagines the heartbreak and the pain of loss and rejection, and he doesn't know if he can handle that. He weighs pros and cons over in his head and comes to the same conclusion every time – he's not certain enough to take the risk, and there's too much for him to lose.

So they stay best friends. They go out for coffee, they text, they sing together in the Warblers. Kurt's heart still flutters when Blaine touches him, and he can't stop his subconscious from conjuring up images of relationships when he dreams, but it doesn't matter. They're friends, but they're not "just friends"; Kurt doesn't need to understate the importance of their friendship just because it's platonic. It's enough for Kurt, and it's enough for Blaine.

At least, it is for a while.

OoO

It happens on a Tuesday afternoon.

It's wrong, really, to say it like that – it happens on a single day, but it's the result of a chain of events over several days, which eventually lead to Blaine announcing to the Warblers that he would like to sing a duet at their Regional competition, and that he would like to sing that duet with Kurt. It's on Kurt's mind a lot over the next few days, despite the fact that he has a number of other things to think about at the same time. Kurt wants nothing more than to perform on stage, to sing in front of a massive audience as someone in the spotlight instead of someone in the back of a crowd, and the idea of singing with Blaine – because Blaine chose him to sing with – is even more exhilarating.

He has to know why, though. Maybe it's just because Kurt hasn't had a turn at anything close to a solo, or because Kurt's voice sounds good with Blaine's, or maybe because he wants to do a song that requires a countertenor – any number of explanations fit. But Kurt needs to know, needs to know for sure exactly what was going through Blaine's mind when he stood up and said "I want to sing a duet with Kurt", because if Kurt doesn't get an answer his mind is going to run away with the idea and who knows what kind of fantasies he'll come up with then.

So, when Blaine comes in and tells him what song he's chosen (Candles, by Hey Monday, and Kurt can't help but think that that is far more emotional than Blaine's usual choice in songs, and he's not sure what that means), Kurt pulls out his phone and types out a message, quickly.

Why did you pick me
to sing that song with?

Blaine looks at the message, and then meets Kurt's gaze, and Kurt can see the way he seems to be bracing himself, preparing himself for something big, and Kurt tries very hard not to let himself jump to conclusions.

As it turns out, he doesn't need to.

"Kurt," Blaine begins slowly, and Kurt holds his breath. "I think you might be my soulmate."

It feels like the night of Rachel Berry's party, only better, because Blaine is sober this time, very aware of every word he is saying. He's composed as ever, talking slowly as if he's choosing each word with care, but Kurt can see a hint of nervousness in his eyes.

"I know you don't want to talk," Blaine continues, "because you want to be sure and that's okay. I'm not asking you to talk. I know that I might be wrong, and I know that we're both really young, but I care about you, a lot, and whatever happens, I want… I want to be with you, if you want me too." He hesitates for a moment, before leaning forward, covering Kurt's hand with his, and he says, "You move me, Kurt. And this duet would just be an excuse to spend more time with you."

And Kurt hasn't had time to fully comprehend Blaine's words, time to form any coherent thoughts, before Blaine is leaning over and pressing his lips against Kurt's.

Kurt is kissing back, too, before his brain has really caught up with what's going on, and it's gentle and tender but filled with a kind of longing and passion, emotion conveyed in the action, in the touch of lips against lips, hands against cheeks, saying more than words ever could. Kurt's heartbeat is loud in his ears and he's aware of the soft breath of Blaine Anderson against his cheek and if he lowers his hand just a little, to cup Blaine's jaw, and presses his fingers to the point on Blaine's neck, he can feel Blaine's pulse jumping beneath his fingertips. It's everything a first kiss is supposed to be and more, it's the kind of kiss that wipes all else from your mind, because in that moment there is nothing but you and them and nothing else in the world matters.

Blaine pulls back slowly, almost reluctantly, eyes going to Kurt's lips first and then to Kurt's eyes, and the expression on his face is one of raw emotion, chipping away at that calm, collected look, and suddenly, it doesn't matter if this isn't forever. It doesn't matter if one day, they grow up, and they realise that they weren't each other's soulmates. It doesn't matter if this is a risk, because right now, in this moment, this is real and true and right.

"Okay," Kurt breathes, and the expression that comes over Blaine's face gets rid of every flicker of doubt in Kurt's mind.