Author's Note: This is the part where I explicitly state that I do not own Kurt, Blaine, Jesse, Rachel or any other Glee characters that make their way into this story of mine. I'm not entirely sure how long or short this is going to be; I guess it depends on how often my words get away from me. Also, for the record, this story was inspired by a 2009 film called TiMER, though it does get away from that plot a pretty great deal as well. Also, future chapters may be longer than this one.

Enjoy. Oh, and I like reviews a whole lot.

Part I: If This Storm Ends

Just for a minute
The silver forked sky
Lit you up like a star
That I will follow

Now it's found us
Like I have found you
I don't want to run
Just overwhelm me

Chapter One

The Timers started developing in the seventies. No one knows why, not for sure anyway, or for how long the trait had been slowly blooming on the evolutionary clock. Some say that it was a conspiracy, a technology somehow planted by the government in attempt to reign in overpopulation and illegitimate children. Others say it was the hand of God, a tender touch on His children, to lead them safely to love (or something overly ridiculous like that).

There's nothing natural looking about them, either. It's like being born with a tattoo – a white backdrop against the flesh of the wrist, with numbers carefully scrawled across the thin line just above the jugular. The Timers are readable by anyone, like a promise that's demanding to be kept. The numbers tick away like a mileage clock, counting down to the most important moment in a person's life: that moment that they meet their soul mate. The tattoo is even complete down to the seconds, silently changing, like a well-hidden bomb. Everyone has one, which means that everyone has a soul mate. No one's sure why or how or what even determines who their mate is, but the moment the two who are destined meet, their timers ring out like a musical bell – and there's no denying it. The moment you hear the sound, you know. It's destiny… and just like that, the Earth moves beneath your feet and you feel it. Fate, moving its twisted strings.

Wherever it came from, Blaine Anderson doesn't like it one bit.

When he was younger, he would stare at the numbers for any given time, just watching the clock on his wrist slowly tick, as if somehow it would make time go faster. His mother eventually put a stop to it, though, buying him a band that covered it and demanding that he didn't take it off. She warned him that people had gone mad, staring at it, just waiting – and Blaine didn't want that. Though, he did desperately want love – so much that he was anxious for it… so, every once and a while, he'd check in, just to see… It was hard to resist, you know.

Of course, that all came to a halt on the day he met Kurt Hummel. His timer was not at zero (yes, he checked just in case). The Earth did not move beneath his feet. But he fell in love the natural way… and Blaine didn't want to know when the person who would ruin it all would come along.

Fast forward two years, and Blaine's almost forgotten all about the bomb on his wrist (key word: almost). Though, both he and Kurt generally avoid any discussion of it, or at least as much as they can. To help that along, Kurt wears a band over his wrist now, while Blaine keeps his perfectly hidden too, just like he always has; Kurt tells him that it's because the numbers don't matter, because they love each other now and that's what counts.

Blaine loves the sound of that. Really, he doesn't even peek anymore.

(Kurt doesn't tell Blaine that he felt the Earth shake the second they shook hands the first time. He doesn't tell him that his timer switched to zero, but the clock was as silent as the thrum of the pulse against the numbers – as if the hidden music needed a partner to sing.)

"So, who am I meeting again?"

It's the third time he's asked, this time while Kurt leans over to adjust his tie for him. Blaine tries to stand perfectly still, but he can't help but shift his weight from one leg to the other, bouncing a bit impatiently. He's not entirely sure why his boyfriend (which truly seems to be such a light word, these days) insists upon going all formal for something that should be perfectly casual, but he supposes that's just the man he fell in love with. It's a reoccurring thing, with them – Blaine wants things to be simple and fun, and Kurt prefers to be pressed and designer (which, really, was quite ironic, considering the fact that they met in blazers at a private school).

"Rachel and Jesse," Kurt answers, and Blaine mouths the names as if that will help commit them to memory. "Rachel is an old friend and Jesse is her… uh," he stops, seemingly unsure of the appropriate word.

Blaine fills in, "soul mate?" and in that moment realizes their proximity. There's a pang in his chest as he looks up into Kurt's eyes and wills fate to kick in. Sometimes it hurts, looking at Kurt and knowing that one day, this sort of thing won't be happening. Sooner or later, what they have now will completely vanish in favor of something neither of them wants (at the moment). Blaine tries not to think about which of them will run out of time, first…

"That term is pretty cliched, don't you think?"

Kurt's sudden reply breaks Blaine's train of thought, as does the way that Kurt ducks his head to place a gentle kiss on Blaine's lips. It's in these moments that he's able to forget everything that he's supposed to be dreading. Come to think of it, it's also in these moments that their kisses are most passionate, kind of like they're both trying to set the Timers off themselves.

Pulling away, Kurt says, "We're going to be late."

"We can stay, if you want to," Blaine tells him, wrapping his arms around Kurt's waist and holding him there. It was going to be weird, spending time around two people tied together by the very string that Blaine and Kurt were trying to ignore.

"No, it's fine," Kurt replies, gently pulling himself out of Blaine's arms and taking his hand instead. With a smile, he started tugging Blaine towards the door, and he followed without protest. "We can't cancel on them, not on such short notice. Besides, you're going to love Rachel."

Blaine smiles. "I'm sure I will," he says, because he loves most of the people that Kurt does. "Did she tell you anything about her… uh…" He remembers the name. "Jesse?"

"Her Jesse," Kurt mocks with a smile, twisting the knob, "is apparently one hell of a catch."

Blaine follows Kurt out the door with a laugh, and the woes from before are temporarily forgotten.

Kurt and Blaine arrive at the restaurant a few minutes late, the hostess pointing them to an already occupied table in the back as quickly as possible, more anxious to take the names of new customers. As they walk, Kurt rolls his eyes and says, "Of course they're right on time," which earns him a questioning look from Blaine. Kurt adds, "Rachel is very… particular."

This makes Blaine a little nervous, but he doesn't say so, instead focusing on the back of the couple's heads at the table a few feet ahead. "Last chance to bail," he whispers, but Kurt gives him a nudge that he takes as a no. More like a no-way-in-Hell, really.

However, as soon as they're close enough for Kurt to announce their presence, Blaine understands why.

"Miss Berry, as I live and breathe," Kurt says dramatically, and the brunette turns her head, along with her date. She (Rachel, Blaine reminds himself) breaks out into an absolutely radiant smile and stands up, wrapping Kurt in a hug that, quite honestly, almost looks painful. Despite that, Kurt says, "It's so good to see you!"

When she pulls away, she's still smiling; Blaine can't help but wonder if she's always this cheerful, or if it's just the novelty of seeing an old friend that's got her so excited. When she says, "You too," Blaine can tell she means it, and the light doesn't slip from her eyes as she seems to look Kurt over. "You look fabulous, as usual."

Kurt shifts his weight to one leg and laughs. "Don't sound so surprised," he says, and Blaine can't help but enjoy the way the two interact, so comfortable with themselves and each other. Kurt adds, "And you, just as beautiful as ever."

Suddenly, the man beside Rachel clears his throat, and Blaine remembers that the stunning young woman isn't the only one they're supposed to be meeting. He shifts his gaze and there stands the one Blaine presumes to be Jesse. Immediately, something strange tugs in his chest, like the strumming of a chord. For some reason, Blaine is immediately drawn to his eyes, which are a blue unlike any he's ever seen before. It's weird - the way Blaine's stomach drops when their gazes meet - kind of like some altered form of deja vu, and he finds himself trying to figure out where he's seen him before. Actually, Blaine has to blink in order to bring himself back to Earth and prevent himself from comparing them to Kurt's eyes.

The guilt hits him in the chest like a wave and he has to quickly move his gaze back to Rachel.

Suddenly remembering that she and Kurt were not the only two in the room, the girl actually jumps. "Oh, right!" she says, laughing a bit at herself. "This is Jesse St. James," she introduces, placing a dainty hand on his shoulder (almost as if to deliberately draw attention to the ring on her finger), "my fiancé."

Fiancé. The word that sends a pang of jealousy into Blaine's heart. Were things to be different, that would be exactly what he'd be calling Kurt right now. Unfortunately, people like him and Kurt - that was, those that weren't sealed by some, predestined arrangement - weren't legally allowed to get married. After all, the divorce rate would be through the roof, were couples like Kurt and Blaine to walk down the aisle. It was, after all, only a matter of time before they were shoved onto another course.

Kurt's hand is then on Blaine's shoulder, mirroring Rachel's pose (how theatrical they are). "This is Blaine," he says, "my… uh…" he chuckles a little, clearly stumbling over the word to use. "Well, my Blaine."

A grin crosses Blaine's face at the introduction (of course) and he reaches out to Rachel, deliberately shaking the hand that wasn't perched so precariously on her fiance's shoulder. However, the second Blaine turns his attention and clasps his hand around Jesse's, things get a little weird.

They say that when that last zero turns, the Earth moves beneath you. Yet, Blaine suddenly observes that it's so much more than that. The phrase is way too cliche and empty to describe the way that everything shifts under his feet, like the whole world is suddenly re-centering itself. What he feels is not just a jolt, but it's more like a pull that's impossible to ignore. Actually, it kind of reminds him of that time that he got caught in a rip-tide when he visited his uncle on the shore. One minute, everything was fine, and the next, he was being tugged under the surface and being dragged far away from the shore. Shaking Jesse's hand felt exactly like that, except he was tumbling towards something that - at least for a moment - didn't totally petrify him. Somehow, it feels like everything is going black, except for those two, blue and silver pools.

And Blaine's wrist sings, its mate returning the hollow call.