Disclaimer – I do not own Glee

Chapter 1

Blaine Anderson was perfect. He was handsome, smart and talented with an infectious smile. He was everything Kurt had ever dreamed his soul mate would be. But they were just friends.

After meeting and getting to know one another a little better, Kurt had learned that Blaine didn't yet know the name of his soul mate. For now, the younger boy's skin was name-free. Although Kurt flirted with the idea of showing Blaine his hip and revealing that they were soul mates, he always stopped himself. He thought telling Blaine might scare the other boy away and that it would be better if Blaine learned of their soul mate status the usual way, by the name appearing on his skin whenever fate deemed it to be the right time.

So, friendship it was, until Blaine kissed him. Then they became boyfriends, Blaine's skin still void of Kurt's name and the Dalton boy being unaware that his boyfriend was also his soul mate.

They held hands, they hugged, they read Vogue together and they shared many kisses but Kurt never let it go further than that. He couldn't risk Blaine seeing his name across his hip so clothes remained on at all times when in each other's company. Kurt just hoped that his name would appear somewhere on Blaine's skin soon.

XXX

"And that's why soul mates are a big giant ball of suck," Puck concluded his rant to an unimpressed Santana. The name of Puck's soul mate had recently appeared around his right nipple and he was none too pleased with the idea of having to commit to just one woman. "Stupid thing," he grumbled pulling at his shirt to frown at the marking surrounding his nipple. "I should be with someone's hot mum or a group of sexy sorority sisters not whoever the hell this is," he glared at the name, not having any idea who Harmony Hamilton might be. "She could be a nerd, or some heinous beast, or a massive prude who won't put out."

"Are you done with your whining?" Santana asked impatiently.

"Screw you, Lopez," Puck huffed in annoyance. "You were a lot cooler before Britt's name appeared you know."

"Say a word against Brittany and I will end you," Santana threatened as she placed a hand to the back of her neck protectively. "You may have got a shitty deal with the soul mate thing," she acknowledged. "But maybe not. The least you can do is try to look this Harmony chick up. She might be a total hottie with plenty of money and no gag reflex. But you won't know until you man up enough to grow a pair and actually try to find her."

"Whatever," Puck grumbled and Santana rolled her eyes at him, muttered 'loser' under her breath, then sashayed over to Brittany, placing her hand on the blonde's leg where she knew her own name to be marked across her soul mate's thigh, the elegant lettering barely concealed by the pleats of the Cheerio skirt. "Soul mate's suck," he muttered to himself again and Rachel offered a sympathetic smile from a couple of seats down. He patted the chair next to him, indicating for her to join him.

"Hey, Noah," she said sitting down beside him.

Puck felt comfortable with Rachel beside him. She always seemed to understand him in a way a lot of other people didn't. They seemed to have their own special bond. Not a soul mates bond of course, something different. Maybe it was because they were both Jewish, or because Rachel had a negative opinion on the whole soul mate concept too. She hadn't always felt that way though.

For a time, Rachel got all moon-eyed over the idea of soul mates, fully believing in all the fairytales her dads had read to her when she was a little girl. The Glee Club had often listened to her perform her own rendition of all the classic soul mate love songs. They had also been subjected to a number of intense duets between Rachel and Finn, the girl convinced that his name was destined to appear on her skin.

It hadn't. Not that anyone other than Puck actually knew that fact. Rachel hadn't even confided in her dads about the name that had appeared on her lower back. Finn Hudson was not Rachel Berry's soul mate. As it happened, Lucy Fabray was the name on Rachel's skin. These days, Lucy was better known as Quinn. She was the head cheerleader and made it no secret that she despised Rachel. The blonde didn't yet know that Rachel was her soul mate and Rachel had no desire to tell her that fact.

"Hey, man-hands, can you sit back?" Quinn asked. "Your nose is blocking the light."

"Ignore her," Puck murmured putting his arm across the back of Rachel's chair and shooting Quinn a half-hearted glare.

"Noah, tell me more about how soul mates suck," Rachel requested and Puck was more than eager to indulge her.

"Do you think he means it?" Blaine asked Kurt as Puck's words carried over to the other side of the Choir Room.

"Probably," Kurt answered. "Puck's always been very bitter about soul mates even before the name appeared. Not that he has any reason to be so bitter," Kurt added. "Nobody is as bitter about soul mates as Coach Sylvester though."

"For good reason," Artie chipped in fairly. "I don't know of anybody with a rougher soul mate deal than Coach Sylvester."

"If the rumours are even true that is," Mercedes chimed in.

"Rumours?" Blaine asked curiously and Mercedes leaned towards him, eager to share gossip.

"People say she was so enraged by the person allocated as her soul mate that she tried to carve the name out of her skin," Mercedes revealed and Blaine looked horrified. "But the name couldn't be removed. It just reappeared somewhere else so she tried cutting the name away again and again but the name kept showing up on another part of her skin. Rumour has it that's why she always keeps her body covered from head-to-toe in a tracksuit; so nobody can see her mutilated flesh."

"Could that really be true?" Blaine asked his eyes wide.

"Of course not," Kurt scoffed. "Nobody would be crazy enough to try and cut their soul mate's name out of their skin. Not even Sue Sylvester."

"I heard she always wears tracksuits to hide the fact that no name has ever appeared on her skin and there is no possibility that one ever will. Instead the word 'alone' appeared," Tina said having been listening in on their discussion. "She's doomed to go through life alone and unloved because it is just impossible for anybody to love her."

"That can't be true, that's just horrible. Even Coach Sylvester deserves to find love and happiness with her soul mate," Blaine insisted.

"Maybe she's like one of the unlucky one's we learn about in History class," Artie suggested. "Maybe her soul mate lived and died long before she was even born. That would explain why she's so angry all the time."

"Or maybe her soul mate is Mr. Schuester," Mercedes sniggered.

"Well we know that's not true," Tina replied. "Mr. Schue and Miss Pillsbury are soul mates."

"Poor Terri Schuester," Artie said. "Can you imagine marrying your high school sweetheart and then years later they meet their soul mate and just leave you?"

"That does sound heartbreaking," Blaine acknowledged.

"Personally I don't think Mr. Schuester should have ever married Terri in the first place," Kurt declared. "He knew they weren't soul mates."

"Plus Terri was kind of a psycho," Tina added. "If I ever start behaving like that I want you all to slap me."

"Ok, everybody," Mr. Schue called for their attention before excitedly launching into his latest idea for the week's Glee assignment.

"Soul mate ballads, again?" Puck sneered, Rachel backing up his sentiment with an audible groan.

"Soul mate inspired songs always go down well with audiences and judges," Mr. Schue said. "We should definitely consider having one in our set-list for Regionals. Now, I thought we could get some song ideas by doing duets."

"I pick Kurt," Blaine grinned and Kurt smiled back at him.

"It doesn't work that way, Blaine," Mr. Schue replied. "Your soul mates are decided by fate and as we're doing soul mate songs your duet partners will be decided by fate also." He made a show of bringing out the 'hat of fate'. "Who would like to go first?"

"I'll go," Santana offered getting up and moving to the piano and blindly sticking her hand in the hat to pull out a slip of paper with somebody's name. "Urgh, no way," she scoffed after reading Finn's name. She dropped the paper back in the hat and picked out another. "Absolutely not," she drawled seeing Rachel's name. "That's better," she grinned as she pulled out Brittany's name. "Me and Britt's are so gonna do the best duet. We're gonna kill it."

"Nice try, Santana," Mr. Schue said taking the paper with Brittany's name away and placing it back in the hat. "But the 'hat of fate' has paired you with Finn."

"Damn it," Santana groaned before slumping into a seat beside Finn and glaring at him.

"Who's next?" Mr. Schue asked and Rachel moved up to select Quinn as her partner.

"Oh yuck," the blonde commented.

"Just shut it, Q," Puck told her. He awkwardly patted Rachel on the back in a gesture of comfort as she sat down beside him. He himself was then paired with Mercedes while Kurt was set to work with Tina and Blaine was partnered up with Artie leaving Brittany to work with Mike.

XXX

After Glee, Kurt linked his arm with Blaine's and led him to his car so he could drive his boyfriend home.

"Now, I don't want to sound overconfident," Kurt said excitedly. "But Tina and I have planned costumes for our duet number and it is just going to be fabulous."

"Well I look forward to seeing it," Blaine replied supportively. "But somehow I don't think I can convince Artie to go all out and get dressed up. We've decided to keep it low-key and understated. He's going to play guitar and I'm going to play piano."

"That's great, you don't show off your piano skills nearly enough," Kurt told him. "And you're especially wonderful with soul mate songs so I'm sure you and Artie will give a breathtaking performance."

"I hope so," Blaine smiled though he sounded somewhat insecure as they climbed into Kurt's car.

"Are you nervous?" Kurt asked him. "Because, Blaine, every performance you give is magical."

"I'm glad you think so," Blaine answered. "I'm just not sure everyone agrees."

"What do you mean?" Kurt furrowed his brow. "Did Artie say something? Because I'm sure he didn't mean anything offensive. In fact, he's one of the only straight guys I know who doesn't freak out about gays and…"

"No, no, Artie's great," Blaine interrupted. "I just… being in New Directions, its great, its fun but…"

"But it's not The Warblers," Kurt finished for him. "And McKinley isn't Dalton."

"I know it's just a school," Blaine said. "I know it's silly to miss it."

"It's not silly at all," Kurt told him. "I know you miss it. And I can't tell you how much it means to me that you left Dalton to spend more time with me. It's the most romantic thing I can imagine anybody doing. To know that you did that for me, it really makes me feel special."

"You are special," Blaine smiled leaning in to kiss him. "Oh Kurt," he sighed resting their foreheads together, his eyes closed. "I'd give anything to have your name appear on my body."

"Maybe one day it will," Kurt whispered, sub-consciously placing his hand over his left hip where Blaine's name rested on his own skin.

"Maybe," Blaine said longingly and Kurt found himself wrestling with the idea of telling Blaine that they were in fact soul mates.

"Blaine," Kurt began to lift his shirt when the other boy's cell phone started to ring.

"Sorry, one second," Blaine apologised answering his phone and Kurt tucked his shirt back into the waistband of his pants. "Trent, hey," Blaine greeted warmly and Kurt started up the engine. "Guess what?" Blaine grinned once he had hung up the phone and they were driving down the road. "The Warblers are working on soul mate duets too."

"That probably means they're planning on a soul mate number for Regionals," Kurt guessed. "Mr. Schue's right. Soul mate songs go down great with audiences and judges. Plus they're a lot of fun. Soul mate songs are my favourite."

"Trent's too," Blaine said. "He was really looking forward to this assignment."

"But?" Kurt prompted sensing that things weren't going quite to plan for Trent.

"His partner isn't quite as enthusiastic," Blaine revealed. "He's a new transfer student. Apparently he's really anti-soul mate."

"Sounds like Puckerman," Kurt stated. "I guess there's a Puck in every Show Choir."

"Anyway," Blaine continued sounding a little tentative. "I was thinking, maybe the New Directions and The Warblers could get together for a little friendly competition before Regionals. We don't even necessarily have to sing as two separate groups. We could all join in together and that way Trent could get to enjoy the soul mate songs a little more."

"And you could see your friends again," Kurt added knowingly.

"I really do miss them," Blaine admitted.

"I know," Kurt replied. "I miss them too. And I think a friendly singing session sounds fun."

"Do you think the others would agree to it?" Blaine asked.

"Leave that to me," Kurt told his boyfriend. "I'll talk to Finn and he'll convince everyone else to get on board."

"What exactly do you have on Finn?" Blaine wondered.

"Just enough to get him to do what I want," Kurt smiled wickedly and Blaine laughed as he gazed at his boyfriend in adoration.

XXX

True to his word, Kurt had coerced his step-brother into convincing the rest of the New Directions to agree to a friendly singing session with The Warblers. He even got Puck to agree, not that the mohawked teen seemed overjoyed at the prospect of more soul mate songs.

It had been agreed for the session to take place in a neutral location to ensure nobody became territorial. Fortunately it was a nice day so the two Glee Clubs met up at a park between Lima and Westerville. The Warblers had been kind enough to bring food and drink for everybody while the Glee girls had thoughtfully brought along blankets and cushions to spread out on the ground and Puck had brought his guitar.

"Ladies, gentlemen," Nick greeted. "Welcome," he smiled at them all. "In honour of this little event the boys and I threw together this soul mate number to start things off."

"I admit, this is kind of lovely," Rachel said coming to sit beside Quinn as The Warblers performed.

"Urgh, please don't speak to me in public," Quinn complained as she shifted away from the brunette.

"Forget her," Puck whispered in Rachel's ear. "She doesn't know."

As The Warblers performed, Blaine couldn't contain himself and he was soon up on his feet and joining in with their choreography. Watching on, Kurt found himself approached by a boy he didn't recognise. The boy extended his hand to him and pulled him to his feet and into the performance. Much like Blaine, Kurt was unable to resist and soon fell in to step with The Warblers.

"I wanna be a Warbler so bad," Brittany stated leading the applause when the song was over.

While Blaine talked animatedly with a few of The Warblers, Kurt looked curiously at the boy who had pulled him up to join the performance.

"Great to see you again, Kurt," Trent smiled. "Any chance you and Blaine will come back to Dalton and rejoin The Warblers. Please?" he begged.

"Sorry," Kurt shrugged. "McKinley is where I belong. Um, Trent," he lowered his voice. "Who is that?" he gestured discreetly.

"Oh, that's Sebastian Smythe," Trent said. "New transfer student from a very wealthy family. He's my duet partner for the soul mate assignment. Don't get me wrong, he's very talented but he hates the whole soul mate concept."

"Is there a tragic back story?" Kurt asked.

"Well I heard from Kyle on the swim team that…" Trent began only to stop mid-sentence when Sebastian slung an arm around him.

"Gossip and rumours, Trent?" Sebastian asked. "Well that just isn't polite now, is it?"

"I, um, see you Kurt," Trent took his leave and struck up a conversation with Mercedes and Tina on one of the blankets.

"Kurt?" Sebastian repeated. "Pretty name," he complimented. "Pretty face too."

"Um," Kurt blushed, unsure how to respond as he looked around for Blaine.

"Yeah, your boyfriend's not bad either," Sebastian approved. "I've heard about you."

"I, um," Kurt stammered and Sebastian smirked as he eyed him up and down.

"You and Blaine are legends at Dalton Academy," Sebastian claimed. "Why'd you leave? Oh, let me guess… those eyes, that face, your ass in those skin-tight jeans… you must have broken too many hearts to stay."

"I didn't… it wasn't… that's not…" Kurt failed to string a complete sentence together.

"So what's the deal with you and Blaine?" Sebastian asked.

"I'm faithful to him," Kurt answered finally able to say something coherent.

"Faithful to him," Sebastian echoed placing his hand over his heart. "How cute," he remarked sarcastically. "Let me guess, you believe in soul mates. Probably hoping your names will appear on each other's skin one day. I'll bet you're even the type who's saving his virginity for his soul mate."

"Does that mean you're the type who whores himself out for anyone?" Kurt asked with a snap and Sebastian smirked.

"Not just anyone," Sebastian replied. "They have to be pretty."

"I feel truly sorry for whoever is unfortunate enough to have their name appear on your skin," Kurt commented. Instantly, he regretted his words. There was no wince or bristle from Sebastian. No look of hurt pride, anger or upset. No roll of the eyes or snort of derision. It was the complete lack of any kind of reaction that made Kurt think he'd taken a step too far. "That was… that was too harsh," Kurt said casting his eyes to the ground. "I don't even know you. I had no right to say something like that. I'm sorry."

"Yes, I imagine you are," Sebastian said. "If you'll excuse me, I'll think I'll go and talk to your boy right now. I wonder how faithful he is," he winked before sauntering up to Blaine who was soon laughing at something Sebastian whispered into his ear and Kurt clenched his hands into fists as his blood boiled.

To Be Continued…

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