A/N: Thanks for all the great feedback on this, it's been so much fun to write. A few questions people have asked were regarding Wes and Thad's soulmates. Wes' soulmate is a girl who he hasn't met yet, and Thad's is yet to be determined. Someone else asked about the tattoo/mark on their wrist and how they get it – in this AU everyone wakes up on their 13th birthday with their soulmate's name written on their wrist, almost like a late-blooming birthmark. I hope that satisfied your questions for now and I hope you enjoy this chapter, there's more Klaine and a bit of Huntbastian, but still plenty of Niff.
"You guys got a cake?" Blaine asked, incredulous, after coming offstage that night.
"We sold out Irving Plaza, so we thought how better to celebrate than cake?" Sebastian shrugged.
"And after how awesome you were out there tonight, you definitely earned it," Thad agreed.
"You guys are amazing," Blaine grinned, pulling them all into a group hug. "We need to do group hugs more often."
"And now the moment's passed," Thad laughed from underneath Jeff's armpit.
The hug dispersed and Blaine turned, grinning, to his cake. "Someone tweet a photo of me and this awesome cake."
Jeff took the phone Blaine was holding out and snapped a photo of Blaine posing with his cake.
"Can we trust you with the knife to cut it up?" Jeff asked Blaine, laughing.
Blaine grumbled and started slicing the cake, passing it around the room.
"D'you guys object if Nick stays the night at ours tonight?" Jeff asked his housemates.
"As long as he doesn't eat all the leftover cake, go nuts," Blaine said between mouthfuls of the aforementioned cake.
"Do I need to have the talk with you?" Sebastian said in a mock-motherly tone.
"Shut up," Jeff blushed.
"Blaine, you might want to take another look at that photo you tweeted," Wes said, looking concernedly at his phone.
"What? Why?" Blaine grabbed his phone and opened twitter. "Shit. Shit, shit, shit."
"What's wrong?" Jeff asked. Blaine showed him the photo. If someone were to squint really hard at Blaine's right wrist they would be able to read the name on his skin: Kurt Hummel.
OoOoOoO
Kurt woke the next morning to the sound of his phone ringing. Seeing that it was Tina, his publicist, he sat up and answered. Before he could even get out a hello, she was speaking far too loudly for the early hours of the morning.
"Have you been on twitter this morning? How could you not tell me your soulmate was Blaine Anderson? So many people are asking for interviews, I'm swamped. I'm coming over, put some coffee on."
"Wait, slow down," Kurt said, slowly comprehending everything she was saying. "How do you know who my soulmate is? And why do you want to know if I've been on twitter this morning?"
"I'm hanging up now to get a taxi but I'll text you a link to explain," she said, and then she was gone.
Kurt pulled his phone away from his face and clicked on the link when the text came through. He hadn't put a cuff on yet so he could clearly see the name on his wrist – the same name in the headline on his phone.
Looks like singer-songwriter Blaine Anderson (23) wasn't too careful when he tweeted a picture from his latest gig at Irving Plaza. The picture has been deleted since then, but it looks like everyone knows by now that the young musician's soulmate is none other than the famous fashion designer, Kurt Hummel (25).
Well, shit.
OoOoOoO
"Wes, fix it!" Blaine demanded when Wes arrived at his house the morning after he posted the photo.
"How am I supposed to fix it? Why am I supposed to fix it? You're the one that posted the damn photo."
"But you're Wes, you always fix everything," Blaine pouted.
"I'm not sure there's much I can do here, Blaine," Wes shrugged. "I can try getting in contact with Kurt's management to see what their view on the situation is."
"I'm an idiot for not checking the photo before I tweeted it," Blaine grumbled.
"You're not an idiot, the cake was just very distracting."
Blaine sighed and sat down onto the couch, his face in his hands.
"Where are the others?" Wes asked. The apartment seemed quieter than usual.
"Sebastian didn't come home last night – something about a gay bar one of the AV guys wanted to take him to – and Jeff's still asleep with Nick," Blaine explained. "I checked on them before and they're adorable. Jeff's the little spoon."
"Maybe you should tweet a picture of them to distract your fans for a little while," Wes suggested, half joking. Blaine had his phone in his hands and had cracked the door open before Wes could speak again. "I was kind of kidding, Blaine… wow they are adorable together."
"Told you," Blaine smirked, pressing the upload button.
JeffSterling6 will probably hate me for posting this but how can I not? The amount of adorable in that room is overwhelming
"And now Jeff will be twitter-spammed about his soulmate, you're great at deflecting, Blaine," Wes laughed.
"At least they've actually met! Can you see if you can arrange for me to meet Kurt? Everyone knows we're soulmates so I suppose it's time we finally met in person," Blaine asked his manager.
"I'll make some calls and see what I can do," he nodded, disappearing into the office of the apartment.
OoOoOoO
Jeff woke up feeling warm and content, with a pair of strong arms wrapped around his body. He could see his phone on his bedside table and the message light was blinking. He moved slowly and gently, trying not to wake Nick, and picked it up to check the messages.
There were three new messages, all from his sister, and each sent 10 minutes apart.
Why didn't you tell me you met your soulmate?!
He's cute, when do I get to meet him?
Jeff, if you don't reply I'm coming to find you and I'll tell him about the time when you were three and pooped at the beach.
He sent back a quick reply, wondering how she found out but more worried that she would follow through and embarrass him.
Sorry I didn't tell you, I only met him on Thursday and it's been a hectic couple of days. How did you find out?
She replied within a few minutes sending him nothing more than a link to a tweet. He clicked it and saw Blaine's latest tweet. The timestamp said it had been posted about an hour and a half ago, while he was still asleep.
Still moving not to wake Nick up, Jeff got out of bed to find Blaine. He smiled as Nick made a small whimper of protest when he stood up, and he tucked the blankets closer around the other boy.
Blaine was standing in the living room so Jeff gently shut his bedroom door behind himself before shouting at Blaine. "Blaine Devon Anderson what were you thinking posting that photo of me and Nick? I haven't told anyone about him yet and my sister found out over twitter rather than me telling her! How is that fair?"
Blaine looked like a deer caught in headlights. He and Jeff stared at each other for a moment before Sebastian stumbled through the front door, looking as hung over as they had ever seen him.
"I heard shouting from the other side of the door and if either of you speak that loudly for the next 24 hours I will rip off your testicles," he deadpanned. Blaine opened his mouth to speak but Sebastian held up a silencing finger and cut him off. "And no, you don't get to hear the story."
Blaine and Jeff resumed staring at each other once the door to Sebastian's room closed behind him.
"I'm sorry for posting the photo without telling you. I forgot you hadn't told anyone yet, but I needed a distraction to get people to stop thinking about me and Kurt," Blaine apologised.
"I get it, but ask next time," Jeff said.
Blaine nodded. "So how are we going to find out what happened with Sebastian? I need to hear this."
"Agreed," Jeff nodded.
"I'd love to know which guy it was at least," Blaine said. "We're going to have to formulate a plan to get him to talk."
"Does this plan involve drinking shots until he'll tell us anything? I don't think I've recovered from the last time we did that," Jeff shuddered at the memory.
Blaine's phone beeped and he scooped it up. "I think we both need to go take care of our twitter situations," he said. "Go wake him up and introduce him to the fans, they're dying to know who he is."
"Will do, good luck with all of your stuff," Jeff said, walking back to his room. He smiled at Blaine's thanks and quietly closed the door behind himself.
"Wake up, Nick," he said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. He planted a kiss on the other boy's forehead and heard a faint grumble. "Come on, it's morning, I'll make you breakfast."
"Mmm, food," Nick mumbled sleepily, his eyes still closed.
"Come on, wake up," Jeff laughed, gently pressing his lips to Nick's.
"Kay, I'm awake," Nick said with a yawn, blinking his eyes open.
"Do you want to shower? I'll start some breakfast," Jeff offered.
"Sure," he nodded.
OoOoOoO
Jeff had cooked up bacon and eggs and toast when Nick emerged from the bathroom 10 minutes later. They sat at the table in the dining room and Jeff began the conversation.
"I keep thinking of all these questions I need to ask you, really basic things that I keep forgetting to talk about."
"Same," Nick nodded. "Something tells me you've got one now?"
"What do you do for a living? You know what I do, but are you still studying or looking for work or–"
"I'm a teacher," Nick answered. "I graduated earlier this year and I start my first day on Monday, teaching English and directing the show choir at a middle school."
"Show choir?" Jeff raised his eyebrows. "You sing?"
"I was in show choir in high school," Nick shrugged.
"I'd ask for a demonstration but we only sound-proofed one room and Blaine's in there. Sebastian came home very hung over this morning and I'd like to keep my testicles."
Nick looked thoroughly confused and slightly disturbed by that but tried to ignore the oddness of what his soulmate just said.
"Do you have twitter?" Jeff asked and got an affirmative nod in reply. "Blaine tweeted a photo of us asleep this morning so I suppose I should formally introduce you to the fans. They can be pretty intense but they seem to like you so far, from what I can see based around that photo."
Jeff pulled up the photo and Nick smiled when he saw it. "You're adorable when you're asleep," he said.
"So are you," Jeff grinned. "Mind if I tag you in a tweet?"
"Go ahead."
If you didn't guess from the photo Blaine posted, I have indeed met my soulmate. His name's Nick, be nice and give him a few more followers? NickDuval3
OoOoOoO
Kurt was lucky Rachel slept in on Saturday mornings otherwise he would have had to deal with her as well as Tina haranguing him about his soulmate all morning. He finally got some peace when Blaine's manager got Tina's number and they were talking, discussing how to deal with the press and the paparazzi.
His peace was short lived when Rachel knocked on his door late that morning.
"I would have called ahead but I couldn't yell at you over the phone," she explained. "How could you not tell me that Blaine Anderson was your soulmate? How could you keep that to yourself?"
"I didn't tell anyone, my soulmate's my own business," he shrugged. "I didn't even know it was that Blaine Anderson until this morning."
"You honestly didn't know it was him?"
"I thought it might have been–"
"Kurt! Have you met him yet? Is Tina arranging something now?" Rachel had her usual high levels of enthusiasm about this new situation.
"She's talking to his manager now, I'm assuming they're trying to organise something," he shrugged.
"Why are you not excited about of all this?" she asked, almost bouncing with her excitement. "Blaine is hot, he's insanely talented and he seems like a really nice guy."
"I know," Kurt nodded. "And I am excited, but all the publicity is just kind of crazy."
"Stop thinking about all of that and just keep your mind on the fact that you know who your soulmate is, and that he is really hot."
"Once Tina tells me she's got everything under control, then I will," Kurt reasoned.
"Fine, but remember stressing will give you frown lines."
"Don't you have rehearsals or something else you could be doing besides bugging me about this?" Kurt asked exasperatedly.
"It's a Saturday, I'm free for a few more hours," she said, ignoring the impatience in his voice.
Kurt was about to make a snarky remark – as he was prone to doing when stressed – when Tina entered the room, pocketing her phone. Kurt looked up at his publicist expectantly and she smiled at him.
"I spoke to Blaine's manager, Wes, and he gave me Blaine's address," she began. "We haven't worked out exactly what we're doing with the press, but I'm meeting with him later this afternoon."
"He gave you Blaine's address? Like so I can go there and meet him?" Kurt clarified.
"We can head over now if you want, Wes said Blaine would be home all afternoon," Tina answered.
"Give me half an hour to get ready, I'm not meeting my soulmate for the first time looking like this," he gestured to his un-styled hair and the hoodie he was wearing.
"I'll call a car to get us in half an hour," Tina said, disappearing into another room.
"Rachel, get out, I'll tell you how it goes tomorrow," Kurt evicted his friend from his house.
"Good luck," she called to him as he all but pushed her out.
OoOoOoO
Kurt and Tina arrived at the apartment – 45 minutes later – at the address Wes had given them and rang the doorbell.
A tall blonde man who Kurt recognised from some live footage as the bassist in The Warblers answered the door. "Kurt Hummel?"
"Yes," he nodded.
"We spoke to Wes and he said Blaine was here," Tina explained.
"Yeah, come in," the bassist showed them inside the flat. "Sorry it's a bit of a mess, but it always is. Blaine's in the office, the door on the right over there."
Kurt thanked him and went to the door he had pointed out. He entered the office and saw Blaine sitting at the desk, a guitar in his hands. Blaine was more handsome than the photos showed, and there was a sense of charm that videos couldn't quite capture. When their eyes met, everything else disappeared for a moment and all they could see was each other. Any doubts about which Blaine Anderson the name on Kurt's wrist referred to were gone – this was his Blaine.
"Kurt." Hearing Blaine say his name in that breathless tone almost made his knees wobble with how perfect it sounded.
"Blaine," the name rolled off his tongue perfectly.
"I'll leave you two to it," Tina said, smirking slightly and leaving them alone.
Kurt sat down beside Blaine, who replaced his guitar to its stand.
"I had my doubts as to if it was really you but–"
"Me too," Blaine cut him off. "Not anymore."
"Wow," Kurt breathed. "It feels like I've been waiting a million years to meet you."
"I hope I don't disappoint," Blaine said with a half-smile.
"I would have waited a million more, you're perfect." Kurt locked eyes with Blaine again and they both leaned forward, their lips meeting softly in their first kiss.
OoOoOoO
It was mid-afternoon when Sebastian resurfaced from his room, looking slightly better but still thoroughly hung over. Jeff was cuddled up on the couch with Nick, and the sounds of voices coming from the office meant that Blaine was in there with Kurt.
He thought back to what he could remember of the night before and grinned to himself. The club Hunter had taken him to had been awesome and they had had a great time together. Sebastian had been hooking up with Hunter for the past few months but he was yet to tell anyone about him – not even his band-mates knew that the name on his wrist read Hunter Clarington. It was easier to pretend that he was hooking up with strangers than explain to his everyone the details of his relationship with his soulmate.
He couldn't imagine curling with up with Hunter to watch a movie like Jeff and Nick were, their relationship was more of a friends-with-benefits situation for the moment. They were great friends and the benefits were great, so why should they mess that up?
Jeff looked up when Sebastian's bedroom door open and he smirked slightly at his dishevelled appearance. "He's alive!"
"Barely," Sebastian grumbled. "How long's Kurt been in there with Blaine?"
"All afternoon," Jeff answered. "They're either telling each other every detail about themselves or making out or both."
"I kind of don't care, but call me if they start fucking so I can watch," Sebastian said, taking a bottle of water and disappearing back into his room.
"Is he always so…" Nick trailed off, unsure of how best to describe his behaviour.
"Yeah, pretty much," Jeff nodded. "You get used to him after a while."
OoOoOoO
"You're lucky Tina is so nice, otherwise today would have been hell for me and I would have hated you all for putting me through this." Wes had called a band meeting and invited Kurt, Tina and Nick to join as well. They were gathered in Blaine, Sebastian and Jeff's living room with Wes pacing in front of them.
"We've released a statement and booked a few interviews for Kurt and Blaine to do," Tina summarised their day's work. "It wouldn't hurt to tweet about all of this and give the fans something to appease them."
"I believe I have some revenge-tweeting to do if either of you fall asleep," Jeff grinned mischievously.
Tina looked at him curiously before turning to Kurt. "We should get going soon, the deadline for the next set of sketches is Monday."
Kurt bade his farewells and Nick followed Jeff back to the blonde's bedroom.
"Staying another night?" he asked.
"If I can," Nick replied, almost as a question.
"My bed would seem too empty without you in it," Jeff said in affirmation.
"I don't know if I'd be able to sleep without you there with me," Nick confessed, "even if it has only been two nights."
"Same," Jeff smiled, reaching for Nick's hand to bring him closer before pressing a kiss to his lips.