Chapter 1

Manchester 1821

"I just don't know how much longer I can take it." Stephen dropped into the worn chair in the living room. The fire flickered in the grate as Nicola tried to stir it back to life with the cast iron poker. Looking up at her husband, she smiled gently.

"We nearly have enough money to emigrate. I can always go back to the mills." Nicola pulled herself up from the cold stone floor and walked over to her husband. Curling up on his lap, she snuggled into his neck and wrapped her arms around his neck. Kissing the corner of his jaw, she wiped a touch of soot from his cheek as he turned to face her, eyes shining.

"You know I don't want you working there. It's too dangerous and I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you. Especially now that we're so close to our dreams finally coming true." Stephen kissed the tip of Nicola's nose gently. "Do you remember the day we met?"

"How could I forget!" Nicola smiled, "You saved me from Mr Smythe's runaway cart – even if I did end up in a puddle." She giggled.

"I prefer to think of it as sweeping you off your feet." Stephen pouted, knowing his wife couldn't resist. "I still can't believe I found my soulmate and she was living in the next village over all this time. It may have taken 37 years to find you, but I'm never letting you go - even if it did take me to realise what was right in front of me." Stephen smiled.

"All those wasted months we could have been loving each other but instead we were both too scared to admit our feelings first." Nicola spoke softly, remembering the first few weeks they were getting to know each other.

"I still remember hearing you sing to yourself in the garden when I came to call for you. That's when I knew I could never bear to be without you. That's why, " Stephen stood and pulled Nicola up with him and caught her in a gentle embrace, "we're going to sail to America, we're going to find ourselves a nice little ranch, raise some cattle and give our child the life we could only dream of." Stephen rubbed his hand gently over Nicola's swollen belly. She was due to give birth within weeks and Stephen hoped they could be on a ship before that happened.

"Do you think our child will find their soulmate earlier than we did?" Nicola asked, smiling as she felt her baby kick.

"I hope so. Come on, I've got an early start at the mine tomorrow, let's get to bed before the fire dies completely." Stephen kissed his wife gently and led her across the tiny one roomed cottage and let her climb into the makeshift bed first. As he sat down to take his shoes off, he felt the firmness of the straw mattress and smiled to himself. Even in her heavily pregnant condition, Nicola continued to keep up with all the household chores so that Stephen could relax when his 14 hour shift down the mines was over. Laying down beside her, he stroked Nicola's raven coloured hair as they drifted off to sleep, both unaware that a stray piece of cloth had blown into the fire.

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Ohio 2009

Blaine woke suddenly, sweat dripping down his back. Rubbing at his eyes, he tried to remember what woken him up. Looking over at his alarm clock he saw the red digits taunting him, 3:23am, you have got to be kidding me. Throwing himself back onto his pillow, Blaine tried to remember what had caused him to wake up so sharply. No images came into his mind and he felt as though the harder he tried to remember, the harder the images were to solidify. Sighing heavily, he flung his forearm across his face in an effort to force himself back to sleep. After half an hour of wriggling to get comfortable, his body finally succumbed.

When the alarm finally buzzed loudly at 6:45am, Blaine had already been lying awake for 15 minutes. Reaching over blindly, he managed to silence the alarm without knocking it off his nightstand. He tried to ease his mind by remember his schedule for the day. It was Tuesday which meant double maths followed by French, English, US history, Spanish and gym class. Blaine groaned as he remembered that it was lacrosse today for gym class. His current school was nothing like his old one where a lacrosse session would have resulted in bruised legs and swollen ankles caused by "accidental" hits from his classmates but he still didn't enjoy gym class. Blaine loved sports – he loved football and was a talented boxer but he just didn't enjoy standing outside in the playing fields for an hour while the temporary coach tried to explain the rules rather than letting the class try the game for themselves. Still, at least he had Warbler practice that afternoon.

He was halfway through the Pythagoras theory when his phone buzzed silently in his pocket. He managed to get the phone from his pocket and under his textbook.

"warblers, senior commons, 3pm, HnC"

Rolling his eyes, he deleted the text as was protocol. He caught the eye of his friend, Nick, across the classroom who was smiling at him and appeared to be laughing to himself. Blaine smiled back, shook his head and turned back to his work. It was common for the Warblers to throw impromptu performances in the senior commons and the council would decide which of the previously rehearsed songs would be performed. The council would send a text to all the Warblers who were expected to maintain the code of secrecy and not discuss any performance details with non-Warblers or within earshot of them. Blaine sometimes wondered how it would look to someone who didn't know this – an a cappella show choir bursting into song complete with a perfectly choreographed routine. He shook his head to himself and tried to focus on the triangles in front of him whilst quietly practising the routine with his feet under his desk.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully and as the final bell went at 2:45pm, Blaine dutifully made his way towards the senior common room which also doubled as the Warbler's rehearsal space. As he walked through the lush hallways, Blaine thanked his lucky stars he'd been transferred to Dalton Academy once the bullying at his previous school turned physical. He shivered as he recalled the night of the Sadie Hawkins dance the year before when he'd finally come out and taken his friend as his date. It was the first "real" date for both of them after they'd both come out as gay. The last thing they'd expected was to be assaulted whilst waiting on their ride home. His friend, Paul, had transferred out of state and Blaine's parents had arranged for him to attend Dalton. Even though he missed the small circle of friends he'd made at his old school, Dalton's zero-tolerance policy had ensured a warm welcome waited for Blaine from the minute he set foot inside the grounds. The school was definitely aimed towards those who had money. Aside from the high tuition costs, the crystal chandeliers, mahogany tables and Italian marble staircases made it clear that Dalton expected high standards.

However, with Blaine boarding at Dalton during the week and not very many gay students, Blaine began to wonder if he'd ever be able to meet someone. He loved his school and had many friends and although his parents didn't understand why Blaine couldn't just fall in love with Mrs Crawford's gorgeous blonde daughter they had told him they wouldn't stand in his way if he found someone he wanted to be with. His friends and family were supportive but for some reason the universe seemed against him. Still, he was only 15 – there was still time. After all, his parents hadn't met each other until they were in their 30's – Blaine was their miracle child.

Blaine let his hand drag along the iron railing as he walked down the main staircase in the atrium, nearing the senior commons. He smiled as students rushed passed him – word about the performance had finally broken! Blaine smiled as he thought back to when his parents had told him the story of how they'd met, fallen in love and married within 6 months, had his big brother cooper less than a year later then struggled to provide him with a sibling for the next 10 years. When Blaine had made his way into the world, he quickly became the favourite – "our little miracle" his parents called him. His parents were nearing their 60s now but continued to surprise Blaine with the depth of their love for each other. Blaine knew they were soulmates and had spent his youth dreaming of when he'd meet his own soulmate. He rounded the corner and heard the tell-tale intro to the Katy Perry hit "Hot n Cold". Dropping bag by the door, Blaine took his place at the front of the group.

You change your mind like a girl changes clothes

Yeah, you PMS like a bitch, I would know

And you overthink, always speak

Critically

I should know

That you're no good for me

Before he knew it, the song was over and the Warblers were being applauded loudly by their classmates. Blaine blushed, still not used to the attention he received as the lead singer. Before long, the day students had left and the boarders were being called to the dining room. They were lucky really, as the teachers all left by 5pm which meant the boarders were only monitored by the night staff who were usually not as strict as the day staff. Blaine, Nick & Wes were all lying in Nick's room finishing off their maths homework when Blaine broke the silence.

"Wes, do you believe in soulmates?" he asked, not lifting his head from his book.

Nick rolled his eyes and threw himself back on his bed.

"Not this again, dude!" he sighed. Wes, new to the soulmate question, looked puzzled. "Just ignore him Wes," Nick teased, "he's feeling lonely and is convinced there's one special person out there for him so he obsesses over whether or not he'll find his one true love before he's grey and wrinkly"

"Ok," Wes said slowly. He looked over at Blaine, who was now blushing and unnaturally focussed on his maths book. "Blaine, I'm not sure I believe in soulmates but I do believe there's someone out there for everyone. You just need to be patient and who know – maybe he'll come to you!" Blaine looked up and smiled at Wes gratefully.

"Thanks Wes, unlikely that's ever gonna happen but thanks anyway!" he smiled, put his pencil down and closed his books. "I'm done guys so I'm going to bed, hopefully I'll actually sleep tonight! See you tomorrow."

Wes & Nick said their goodnights as they returned to their own homework. Blaine made his way back to his own room two doors away. Closing the door and locking it behind him, he put his books on his desk and got himself ready for bed. A quick shower was all he needed as he'd showered properly after gym class. He sighed as he caught sight of his tangled curls in his bathroom mirror. Dalton policy prohibited excessive styling so he was never able to smooth his wild hair completely but now that it was wet and product-free it looked wilder than ever. Combing quickly, he managed to settle it down slightly. Pulling back his covers, he climbed into bed weary and hoping for sleep to come quickly.

Sleep came for Blaine but didn't plan on staying for long – which Blaine found out when he woke up sharply at 3:23am.