Kurt's hand ran idly through Blaine's hair as he lay on the bed, his eyes staring up at the cream coloured ceiling, but his mind wandering elsewhere. His boyfriend of one year was wrapped around him, his legs draping lazily over Kurt's and his arms wrapped tightly around Kurt's side. He glanced at the clock on the wall facing him, and watched as the seconds hand moved slowly around. The clock told him that it was three o'clock, and that Kurt had been eighteen for three hours - that he had had the name of his soulmate on his wrist for three hours.

Kurt had been five when he had first learnt about soulmates, and the huge event in his life that would happen on his eighteenth birthday. He had been curled up on the couch with his mother, learning to read with a book. As his mom had turned a page, Kurt had found his eyes focusing on the black scribbled that had been on his mother's wrist forever. And actually, it was on his dad's too. He squinted as he tried to read it. B... Bi... no, Bu... Bunt? Burt! Like his dad! His mom had his dad's name written on her wrist. That was cool... but kind of weird.

"Are you okay?" His mom had asked.

Kurt had nodded, "Yeah. Why... why do you have daddy's name on your wrist?" He frowned, confused by this fact. His mom smiled, resting her left hand on her back and showing Kurt the name on her other arm's wrist. "Oh, sweetie," his mom had said, smiling down at the name on her wrist, "He's my soulmate."

"Soulmate?" Kurt had heard that word before, being talked about by people in public, and on the TV. His kindergarten teacher had told them in class a few months ago that she was marrying her soulmate. Kurt hadn't thought anything of that word back then, but then he hadn't had the chance to ask either. "He's the love of my life. He and I were meant to be. When you're eighteen, Kurt, you'll get a name on your wrist just like I got one. And your soulmate will make you the happiest you've ever been, Kurt. And you'll love them more than you love anybody else," his mom smiled fondly at Kurt, and Kurt had smiled a toothy grin back at her. "More than you and daddy?" Kurt had found that hard to believe he loved him mommy and daddy more than anything else.

"Yes, more than me and daddy," his mother had smiled, before asking, "Now then, do you want to read The Gruffalo again?"

Thirteen years later, and Kurt's eighteenth birthday had finally arrived. He didn't know why he was so worried. It was obviously going to be Blaine. He'd known as soon as he met Blaine on that staircase at Dalton; the pair had shared that undoubtful connection that his parents and grandparents had always talked fondly about.

It was rare, but not unheard of, for people to find their soulmates before their soulmate's name appeared on their wrists. He and Blaine had been in the fortunate few who had, and every day Kurt was glad that that was so. But he couldn't help but feel apprehensive at the thought of finding out who his soulmate was. Although he was sure it was going to be Blaine, the cynical part of his mind reminded him that it could just as easily be someone else, someone like Karofsky, or Finn, or someone he didn't know - someone other than Blaine. And he hated the thought of that happening.

"Blaine?" he whispered to his boyfriend, looking down and smiling at how adorable he was. Blaine's grip on Kurt got tighter as he replied, "Mmhmm. Sleeping."

"Blaine, I'm eighteen," Kurt shook him, gently enough to wake him up. Blaine rubbed his nose against Kurt's shoulder and mumbled, "Mm," before opening his eyes wide, fixating them onto Kurt's wrist and whispering, "Can we see?"

"Let me first," Kurt said, pulling his right hand wrist from the bed covers, but still hiding it from Blaine. He didn't know why, the act was more instinct than anything else.

"Kurt," Blaine whined, "We know it's going to be my name. I want to see."

"Wait. I just… I want a moment to see myself."

"Okay," Kurt could feel Blaine turn to face away from Kurt, to give him more privacy, "But show me as soon as that's over?"

"Okay," Kurt nodded, before turning around so that he could see his wrist and not Blaine. He covered his wrist with his left hand, before bringing it up to his face and letting go, revealing black, cursive writing ingrained into his skin. Writing which read Sebastian Smythe.

Kurt's eyes watered as he stared at the name.

"Kurt?" Blaine asked cautiously, "Can I see?"

Kurt was frozen, staring at the name. A million thoughts went through his head, memories of that rodent-faced man and his snobby personality, the arguing and the loathing shared between them, when Sebastian threw a rocksalt slushie at Blaine - a slushie that had been for Kurt.

"Kurt?" Blaine's voice was reduced to a whisper, something that in any other situation would have calmed Kurt immediately.

"It's not you," Kurt whispered, his voice squeaking slightly, "You're not my soulmate."

"What? Kurt…" Blaine paused, and Kurt knew him well enough to know that his face would have softened, and he was reaching out to hold Kurt's hand, like he always did. He was right; he felt Blaine's fingers brush against his palm, as Blaine's right hand clutched onto Kurt's left.

Kurt was right. He knew everything about Blaine, from his favourite colour to how he'd always eat cookie dough ice cream when he was sad. How Blaine had only ever been to one Katy Perry concert - which had been two years ago in Columbus - and it was one of the greatest days of his life. He knew that Blaine's first word was his brother's name, that his favourite cheesecake was peanut butter, that he secretly listened to My Chemical Romance whenever he was angry. He knew so, so much about Blaine. Because he loved Blaine. And yet the universe was telling him that he belonged to Sebastian Smythe, the irritable meerkat that had threatened Blaine and Kurt's relationship only months ago.

"Can I see?" Blaine asked, and Kurt finally turned to face him.

"No. I can't…" he paused, attempting to swallow the lump in his throat, "It doesn't matter. It's just a name. It doesn't mean that I don't love you, or that our relationship means nothing. It's just a name."

"But it's your soulmate, Kurt." Blaine paused, pursing his lips and looking down.

Kurt could see his eyes water, and squeezed Blaine's hand gently as he said, "He's not you. And you're much better than any soulmate."

"But I'm not. We're-" Blaine gulped, "We're not meant to be."

Kurt froze, staring at Blaine. He was right, but Kurt was certain they'd get through this. He was never going to be in a relationship with Sebastian Smythe, that much was certain, not while he still hated the man so much. Kurt and Blaine were soulmates in Kurt's eyes, and a different name on his wrist wasn't going to stop that. "Blaine-" Kurt began, but Blaine cut him off.

"Kurt. We're not soulmates. However much I love you, there is someone out there that loves you more than I ever could." Kurt sat up, shaking his head in disbelief. His soulmate was Sebastian Smythe, a man who loved 'em and left 'em - did he even possess the capability to love, somewhere deep down in his small, bird-sized brain?

"Are you- are you breaking up with me?" There was a slight crack in Kurt's voice, one that Kurt hoped Blaine wouldn't notice. He looked at his boyfriend, utterly confused from Blaine's sudden

And it had been sudden. Blaine had always been certain that he and Kurt were soulmates, and any doubt he'd had had been only when he had woken up earlier that morning. All of this, everything Blaine was saying was completely unpredicted - and that made Kurt begin to wonder whether it really was, or whether he really had known Blaine at all.

"I'll help you find him. But… yeah. I'm sorry Kurt."

"What if I want to be with you, Blaine? Not him?"

"You can't. It doesn't work like that."

"Not everybody finds their soulmate, Blaine." This was the truth - while many people did find theres, other's soulmates' died before they could find them, or they were just never able to find each other. Both of which were surprisingly common.

"But you will. You always do the things nobody expects you to do." Blaine sat up, resting the palm of his hand against his lip as he considering what he was going to say. "We both have soulmates, Kurt. People we're supposed to be with. People who will love us in ways that we can't possibly comprehend, people that will fill empty holes in our hearts."

"We?" Kurt's voice became sharper, louder.

Blaine stared at him. There's eyes met, and Kurt narrowed his. "You're not my soulmate either, Kurt. I don't know who he is, but I'll find mine too. And I'll love him more than I ever loved you."

"Blaine. Are you-"

Blaine looked away. "Oh. I didn't mean it like that, I just-"

"Get out." Kurt's voice cracked, a sob breaking through. His throat was dry and his eyes bloodshot, as he slid back down into the covers of his bed.

"Kurt," Blaine pleaded, "I promise you, I didn't-"

"Get out," Kurt yelled, pulling the bed covers over his head, and turning away from Blaine's side. Blaine complied this time, grabbing his things and walking out of the bedroom.

As soon as Kurt heard the door slam, he curled up into a ball and let the tears he'd been holding back free.

A few hours later, he was woken up by a gentle knock at the door. Kurt sat up enough so that he could see the door, and saw that it was slightly ajar, with his father standing on the other side of it, his head poking through. "Hey buddy," Burt said as soon as he was sure Kurt had noticed him, "Can I come in?"

Kurt nodded, sitting up grudgingly, knowing very well that he looked like an absolute wreck.

"So I heard you and Blaine this morning," Burt began as he walked over to Kurt's bed and sat down on the edge, "And I just wanted to tell you, I'm here for you. Whatever you need."

"I need my soulmate to be Blaine," Kurt mumbled.

Burt expression softened. "Listen, Kurt," he began, "I know it seems hard right now, but it'll get better. So your soulmate's not Blaine. The way he just acted? I'm glad. The last thing I want is for my son to be in a relationship with a guy who will ditch him at the first obstacle." Kurt snorted, rolling his eyes at the thought of his soulmate being any different. Burt looked at him, expecting him to share.

Kurt sighed, looking down at his fingernails, "Do you remember Sebastian Smythe?"

"Yeah, that's the guy that threw that slushie at Blaine, right?"

Kurt lifted his arm up gingerly, showing the name written on his wrist to his father.

Burt blinked, before looking back to Kurt. "Kurt, I had a girlfriend around the time of my eighteenth. Her birthday was a few weeks before mine, and when she found out who her soulmate was… she didn't stick around. But it didn't matter. If I had met your mother then, when I was in high school, she wouldn't have liked who I was. I grew up a lot in the four years after I left high school. And by the time I met your mom, I was a decent enough man. You've met Sebastian when he's what, 17?" Kurt nodded, so Burt continued, "He's got a lot of growing up to do. But that doesn't mean that he'll never be yours, Kurt. You just met him too early." Burt stood up, tapping his son's knee as he did so. The touch was familiar to Kurt, something Blaine had always done when he and Kurt had shared nothing more than a friendship. "But if you want to stay at Mercedes's, or whatever, you have my permission," he walked over to the door, and turned around when he reached it, saying, "Happy birthday, son." He smiled at Kurt, and Kurt smiled back weakly.

And with that, Burt was gone.