A/N: Still no Kurt but we're getting closer to his arrival - it'll be worth it I promise! Please read & review! Thanks for all the views so far!
Chapter 4
Edinburgh, 1802
Sam stood outside the bar running his hands through his dirty hair. What the hell was that, he thought to himself, lighting his tobacco and inhaling deeply. The door beside him opened and the pale man's head appeared beside him.
The pale man's hand lingered on Sam's chest, toying with the hem of his tunic. Sam exhaled and sighed deeply. He knew he was risking his family's wrath if they found out he was being intimate with another man but something inside him was spurring him on. He hesitated, looking at the hand that was being held out for him. He knew he should walk away, be a good man and go home to his family, continue to care for his elderly parents, continue working in the family publishing business. Sam ran his hands through his hair again, lifting his eyes up to the handsome face staring down at him. Sam should know better, he was 51, he was well respected within the community, what would people think if they found out he'd been behaving in this way with a man?
As his brown eyes stared at the blazing blue ones smiling right back at him, Sam knew he didn't care. Something inside him knew that at that moment he was right where he needed to be.
"Still going strong?" he smirked, as the pale man grabbed his hand and pulled him back inside.
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Ohio, 2010
Blaine lay in his own bed staring at the ceiling. He was thinking about the last 5 months at Dalton. After they lost Regionals in January, the Warblers had returned to their usual fortnightly concerts in local nursing homes and retirement centres. Blaine loved performing and although some of the warblers thought of these shows as just a way to hone their skills, Blaine loved that their songs brought smiles to the faces of the men and women watching them. Blaine smiled as he thought back to their last concert before school had finished for the summer.
The Warblers had been performing at the North Westerville Retirement Home and Adult Education Centre. The centre specialised in helping adults over 30 finish any missing high school credits and also ran short courses which helped their students to apply for local Community College courses. Half of the building also housed an assisted living facility which was home to 30 men & women over the age of 75 who, for various reasons, were unable to live in their own homes anymore. Blaine's favourite part of the concert day was when the Warblers spent time with the residents and students after they'd finished performing.
This year, Blaine had caught the eye of an elderly couple as he stood looking out the window watching raindrops race each other down the pane.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
"Pardon? Oh, hi Mr Wilkinson, Mrs Wilkinson. How are you?" Blaine smiled warmly and held his hand out to shake the one the elderly man offered him.
"You look lost in a world of your own there Blaine. Everything ok?" Mrs Wilkinson rubbed his arm in a caring way. Blaine smiled up at the couple he'd spoken to several times in the last year.
"Yes, I'm ok, thank you Mrs Wilkinson."
"You don't look ok son, if I might say, you look positively heartbroken!"
"Sorry, sir, I'm not heartbroken. Is it ok if I talk openly with you?" Blaine looked at the couple nervously. Glancing at each other, they both nodded and directed Blaine to their usual armchairs in the corner, away from the main throng of conversation.
"This year has been harder for me than usual and I don't understand why." Glancing up, Blaine noticed the Wilkinson's listening quietly. Taking a deep breath, he told his elderly friends about the dreams he'd been having, his worries that he was too sheltered to meet anyone and his frustration that he was never going to meet his soulmate or that it would be too late if he did.
"Did I ever tell you how I met Esther?" Mr Wilkinson asked. Blaine shook his head. "It was raining and I got caught in the downpour. I'd never noticed that Esther and I had lived so close to each other until the moment she handed me a towel to dry myself off." Lifting his wife's hand to his lips he kissed the thin skinned fingers gently. "I was sitting on the front step of the building and she handed me the towel. I looked up at her and couldn't believe the angelic face that was standing right in front me." Esther smiled and took over the story.
"He looked up at me, smiled the biggest smile I've ever seen and said "Oh, there you are. I've been looking for you forever." We were married 6 weeks later and we've never looked back. I don't know what I ever did without Stuart in my life." Esther smiled and kissed her husband lovingly.
"That's such a beautiful story. Your grandchildren must love hearing it." Blaine smiled.
"We don't have grandchildren, Blaine. We were both single when we met, by the time we found each other, starting a family just wasn't an option. That's partly why we love seeing you boys so much!" Esther smiled widely, a touch of sadness in her sparkling blue eyes. Blaine looked confused. "Something wrong?" Esther asked gently.
"I don't mean to be rude or pry, but you said you didn't have time to have a family? I just can't imagine a career being so all-consuming – sorry, I'm speaking out of turn." Blaine blushed, trying to regain his composure, feeling he'd insulted his friends. Esther & Stuart looked at each other, both understanding what Blaine had assumed from their story.
"Blaine, Stuart & I met right here, on those steps outside nearly 18 months ago." Esther explained, "Stuart had just turned 70 and I was 9 months behind him. Yes we'd had amazing careers, friends, lives – but we have only just found each other." Esther looked lovingly at her husband, "My soulmate – I waited all my life for you and I'm so glad I finally found you and that we can spend every minute of the rest of lives getting to know each other."
"It's hard to explain, Blaine, but it's never really felt like we'd never known each other – more like kindred spirits getting reacquainted." Stuart smiled softly. "So you see Blaine, you're only 15, you have the rest of your life to find your soulmate. Enjoy your youth, live your life, love the one you're with but don't waste your years, son. You'll meet him when it's the right time for you both." Blaine smiled and rested his smooth hand on the wrinkled one Stuart held out for him.
"Thanks Mr Wilkinson, Mrs Wilkinson." Looking up, Blaine noticed Roger motioning for the Warblers to make their way back to the bus that would take them back to Dalton. "I really appreciate you listening to me. When the time comes, I won't let you down." Blaine said his farewells and sat quietly on the bus back to Dalton, thinking about the story the Wilkinson's had told him.
Now surrounded by the silence of his room, Blaine remembered the call he'd received from the Resident Co-Ordinator just 3 weeks later. Stuart & Esther Wilkinson had both passed away peacefully in their sleep. It was the day after their 18 month anniversary. Blaine wiped a tear away from his face. This is my destiny, Blaine thought sadly, I'll finally meet my soulmate then we'll die suddenly without getting to spend any real length of time together. Sitting up, Blaine pulled his journal out from underneath his pillow. He'd begun to remember more of his dreams as time had gone on so had taken to writing down as much details has he could. He'd split the journal into sections – one for each of the 16 dreams he'd remembered and a blank section at the back for the most recent dream which hadn't yet made itself clear enough to remember.
Opening his journal to the first page, he ran his fingers down the list he'd carefully written listing the names, ages and dates of the people in his dreams:
1) Stephen & Nicola Owens
37/36 1821 died in a fire 22 months
2) Jacques Belafonte & Estelle Benoit
35/34 1665 plague 6 weeks
3) Phillip Smith & Mark Byrne
50/47 1981 murder 9 months
4) Samuel McIntosh & Erasmus Blair
51/49 1802 pneumonia 17 months
5)
48/48 1600s? 20 months
6)
87/86 1902 6 months
7) Eric & Simone
62/60 influenza 23 months
8)
56/55 13 months
9)
34/31 4 weeks
10)
41/38 7 weeks
11) Paul & Donna
45/42 car accident 2 months
12)
51/50 14 months
13)
70/69 1794 natural causes 21 months
14)
72/72 1956 murder 19 months
15)
34/31 9 weeks
16)
58/54 16 months
Blaine ran his fingers down the list he'd managed to create with the information he'd struggled to retain every time he woke up at 3:23am. The one thing every dream had in common was that no couple lasted more than 2 years before some sort of tragedy claimed their lives. Every morning when he woke up, he wipe the sweat from his face and write down as much as he could in his journal. He'd managed to gather some extra information using online records – family history websites and newspaper archives.
The dream that affected him most was the one about Mark & Phillip. Blaine wasn't sure if it was because they were a gay couple or if it was the brutality in the way they died that made his heart hurt. He'd found a newspaper article from the New York Times in March 1982. The pictures in the article confirmed to Blaine he had found the right couple. They'd been walking home from a night at the theatre with friends when a group of men had noticed them. Although the article didn't go into detail, it did say that Mark & Phillip were the victims of a homophobic attack. Mark had died at the scene after being stabbed in the neck. Phillip had succumbed to his injuries in hospital 3 days later.
It had made Blaine incredibly sad to read the article – especially when a follow up piece a month later stated that the police had not arrested anyone and had no leads, despite a spate of attacks on gay men in the area. Blaine knew that attitudes towards the gay community hadn't turned around completely but they were definitely more accepted now than they used to be. Blaine hated the idea of not being able to show someone how much you loved them just because you might upset someone. That's not what love should be¸ he thought sadly. Closing his journal, Blaine lay back down on his bed and closed his eyes as he heard his parents stirring downstairs.
Only 3 more weeks until the start of his sophomore year at Dalton. He still had the feeling that something was coming for him this year but since it was mid-August and nothing spectacular had happened to him, Blaine had resigned himself to that fact that his was in the clouds. Hearing the birds tweeting outside his window, he sighed heavily and lifted himself out of bed. Washing and dressing quickly he decided to take Wes up on his offer of a day out with him and his cousin. Wes' cousin, Finlay, was a senior in Columbus and was staying with Wes' family for the latter half of the summer break. Finlay had his own car and Wes loved taking advantage of this and was forever making Finlay drive him over to Blaine's house and take them out for a spin. Today's outing was Lima. Blaine had been to Lima a couple of times with his parents and it wasn't really anything special but as Blaine sent a text to Wes asking to join him & Finlay, he felt quite excited about the prospect of a visit to Lima.
3 hours later and the three teenagers were sitting in a coffee house called the "Lima Bean" drinking various coffees and sharing a giant cookie.
"So what now?" Wes asked Finlay.
"I was thinking we could head over to the Allen County Museum?" Finlay said, taking a sip of his coffee as Wes rolled his eyes dramatically. "Hey, a bit of culture won't hurt you little cuz! Besides, my roommate said they've got this giant tank and I want a picture of me on it!" he grinned widely as Wes' jaw dropped.
"I'll take one of you if you take one of me!" he cried loudly, Blaine blushing as the group of teenagers a few tables away glared at them.
"Come on then soldiers!" he stood up, saluting with his tongue hanging out comically, "Let us away to the tanks!" Wes & Finlay stood up and followed behind Blaine as they marched out the coffee shop laughing along the way.
