"Do you feel like dancing?" Kurt asked, leaning in to be heard over the sounds of chairs scraping against the floor as several couples made their way back to the dance floor.
Wordlessly, Blaine shook his head. "Two more Mai Tais," he called to the bartender. As the first few piano chords of Only You from Dear Evan Hansen came through the speakers, the biggest grin lit up Blaine's face. He clapped excitedly and clutched at Kurt's arm for a moment before he began to sing.
"I don't need you to sell me on reasons to want you
I don't need you to search for the proof that I should"
Kurt watched the boy across from him as he closed his eyes, his beautiful, show stopping voice soaring as he sang the open lines to the song. Then, much to the boy's surprise, Kurt joined him.
"You don't have to convince me
You don't have to be scared you're not enough
'Cause what we've got going is good"
Blaine opened his eyes when Kurt began to sing. Despite singing to one another on the dance floor, there was far less background noise here at the bar to cover up Kurt's voice, and Blaine couldn't believe his ears. Kurt had an amazing voice. It was so sweet and clear, a perfect countertenor range. So, when the song reached the next verse, Blaine joined in, harmonizing with Kurt on the first few lines as he sang the melody.
"I don't need more reminders of all that's been broken
I don't need you to fix what I'd rather forget"
Surprised, Kurt stopped singing, staring in awe at Blaine's face as he let the boy finish out the verse on his own. He has an amazing talent! Kurt thought. He just sang with me effortlessly. And I loved it! He closed his eyes, not wanting to lose any moment of that beautiful voice to the business around them. In the darkness behind his own eyelids, Kurt could pretend that it was just the two of them, alone, peaceful.
With a furrowed brow, Blaine reached out his hand, placing it lightly against Kurt's cheek as he sang through the rest of the verse.
"Clear the slate and start over
Try to quiet the noises in your head
We can't compete with all that"
Blaine could tell that Kurt was thinking about something, and he wanted to bring him back to the present. He wanted to see those gorgeous blue eyes stare into his own. He had to get him to sing again. The sound of Kurt's voice had made Blaine feel a spark of...something.
Kurt's face heated immediately at Blaine's touch. He loved the feel of this smooth, soft hand against his cheek, Blaine's thumb caressing his skin gently. He felt something stir in the pit of his stomach at the touch, and his eyes flitted open to take in Blaine's piercing gaze.
Together, they sang the chorus, and Kurt was struck by how fitting this song seemed to be for their moment. It almost felt, the more that they sang together, like this song was more than just a tune they both knew and loved. This song was more than a beautiful piece from an award-winning musical. It was almost an anthem about them, their situation. Kurt allowed himself to imagine, for just a moment, that he did believe that soulmates existed for common people. What if Blaine believes in it? he thought. What if he could be my soulmate? The more he thought about it, the more he could begin to see the picture this song could paint for them as destined-by-Fate soulmates, if he believed in that nonsense of course.
"So what if it's us?
What if it's us
And only us
And what came before won't count anymore or matter?
Can we try that?"
It would be a dream come true if this boy, Blaine, was it for Kurt. It would be better than a dream because this whole night seemed like a dream to Kurt. He'd almost given up on finding anything. Past relationships had failed time and again, past blind dates had been nothing but a nightmare, and conversations with Mercedes always turned to the topic of finding someone for Kurt to be with. Blaine could solve all of those problems, but better than that, Kurt was beginning to let himself imagine a future with just Blaine in it. Even knowing nothing about this boy, it was easy to imagine the kind of life they could have, the type of romantic fairytale love life that the movies always put on a pedestal.
"What if it's you
And what if it's me
And what if that's all that we need it to be
And the rest of the world falls away?
What do you say?"
As Kurt finished out the chorus with Blaine, he could feel something happening to him. It was as if that little moment of imagination was changing his entire stance on romance and love. That one second of letting himself see a bright, glowing band around each of their wrists as they stood facing one another, hand in hand, a gorgeous blue sky behind them on their wedding day was starting a spark of feelings and desires running to every nerve in his body. That one small second was causing the idea of a soulmate match between himself and stunning Blaine to seem like it could be a reality. We just need to kiss, Kurt thought. Then, I'll know. But, I don't know how to do this. I don't know anything about him. What if he doesn't feel the way that I do? As if Blaine could read his mind, the other boy reached out and grasped both of Kurt's hands in his own as Ben Platt's voice sounded through the speaker.
"I never thought there'd be someone like you who would want me
Well…
So I give you ten thousand reasons to not let me go
But if you really see me
If you like me for me and nothing else
Well, that's all that I've wanted for longer than you could possibly know"
Blaine's voice fell away as he listened to Kurt sing the next verse. Something was changing between the two of them; Blaine could feel it like a physical connection through their clasped hands. Some force, Fate perhaps, was sending sparks of emotion and feeling zooming through his every cell. Kurt was like a drug, and Blaine could not get enough of him.
"So it can be us
It can be us
And only us
And what came before won't count anymore or matter
We can try that"
As if he was answering Kurt's questions, Blaine jumped back in at the chorus, staring into Kurt's eyes as he sang. It can be us, Kurt thought. It can be only us. Is he trying to tell me something? He was almost certain that he was. Blaine was singing with such purpose, looking at him with such certainty in his gaze that Kurt was almost positive this was his way of affirming everything that Kurt had been wondering. Still, he needed a verbal answer. And despite that deep conviction, Kurt let himself say the words for the first time, even if it was only in his head: I believe in soulmates.
"It's not so impossible
Nobody else but the two of us here
'Cause you're saying it's possible
We can just watch the whole world disappear"
The two boys leaned in closer as if they were trying to shut the whole world out. Their voices rose and fell together as they sang the words of the song, the melody and lyrics taking on a whole new meaning. The song was becoming more than just a song to them, and they both knew it.
"'Til you're the only one
I still know how to see
It's just you and me
It'll be us
It'll be us
And only us
And what came before won't count anymore"
Kurt could feel all the hurt and pain from his past relationships disappearing as they sang, the song nearing its end. Those relationships didn't matter anymore. Mark wasn't important, his past dates weren't important, and no one on his dating app was important anymore. Wherever Adam and Blaine's date were, they didn't matter. The only that mattered was the expressive face, sexy body, and undoubtedly perfect personality of the boy sitting across from him, clutching his hands tightly.
."We can try that
You and me
That's all that we need it to be
And the rest of the world falls away
And the rest of the world falls away
The world falls away
The world falls away
And it's only us"
The end of the song felt like a promise, each boy knowing that the other was singing it to them, just for them; they meant it. And as the song ended, the music fading away, neither of them knew or cared what the DJ said as he announced the next song. They hadn't let go of each other; their hands were still clasped tightly between them. They hadn't broken eye contact; they were still looking at one another as if there was no one else in the world.
For a moment, Kurt thought they would kiss and end his wondering about soulmates for good. But, just as he was about to close the final distance between them, Blaine sat back, panting, reaching for their waiting Mai Tais on the bar.