"I love this place," he said before he could stop himself, "I don't come often, but some weekends I drag Wes and David. They don't really drink coffee, but they also don't go on dates by themselves so they secretly like it."

Kurt listened to him, and made a questioning face at the mention of Wes and David.

"They're bonded," Blaine said, "but they say it's just platonic because neither of them considers themselves the least bit gay."

"Oh," Kurt said.

Blaine opened the door and held it for Kurt to enter first.

"I've never heard of that. I've never wondered about that, to be honest. What do you do if you're not gay but your soul mate is a guy? Hmm. How do they deal with it?"

Blaine regretted mentioning Wes and David. It was great to be having a conversation with Kurt at all – he would have never expected to find his soul mate so young – but he wanted to get to know Kurt better. That was the point of their date.

"They cuddle and hold hands and they are sometimes more attached at the hip than Nick and Jeff who are also bonded and they go on dates with girls from our sister school and I guess the girls don't mind that Wes and David tend to pay more attention to each other. But they've known each other since preschool and they've known they are soul mates since around the same time when their names appeared. They're kind of an anomaly."

Kurt nodded, but he didn't say anything else.

There was a short line towards the counter and they got on it. The Lima Bean was actually the perfect place to take someone for a get to know each other date. It didn't give you the impression that you needed to act a certain way, it left things rather open and easy and yet it also wasn't somewhere too loose.

When they got to the front of the line, Kurt ordered a non fat mocha. Blaine filed the information away while Kurt said something else to the barista.

"Medium drip," he said when prompted.

They walked to sit down after they'd gotten their coffee and Blaine had added cinnamon to his.

"I know something about you now," Blaine said.

"Yes?"

"You drink non fat mochas."

Kurt smiled at him and Blaine grinned back.

Kurt had ordered them assorted cookies, biscotti, and other treats and he had set down between them.

"I wasn't sure what you'd like," he explained, "but a bit of everything is nice anyway."

"It's perfect," Blaine said and then added, "this place is perfect for this."

"I thought so."

They sat in silence for a little while. Blaine stirred his coffee and then brought out the stirrer and due to habit just stuck it in his mouth and licked it off. He paused when he realized Kurt was staring at him.

"Interesting," Kurt said.

Blaine felt his face heat up. He dropped the stirrer on the table. "So, tell me about yourself, Kurt Hummel, let me know you."

"Okay. Well, I'm seventeen. I live with my dad and stepmom. The really tall guy in glee is my stepbrother Finn. Our parents met a little less than a year ago and things happened just really quickly and within like not even a few months they were moving in with us and then about a month ago they got married and we moved to a new house so Finn and I didn't have to share anymore."

Blaine was hit with how weird the story actually was. "What happened to their soul mates? Your mom? Finn's dad?"

"They're dead," Kurt said, "my mom died when I was eight years old. Cancer. And Finn's dad was a soldier."

There were stories of course about what happened to someone that lost their soul mate. They just never recovered from it, but they kept on living on their own or with the children left behind. But some took their own lives from the pain and grief.

"When my mom died," Kurt said and gulped, "my dad was really distraught. He was a mess. But he kept it together for me because that was my mom and not just his wife. And together we dealt with the pain. Over the years her name began to fade and by now you can barely see it.

"My dad met Carole last year at a school thing and they became friends and went out on a few dates and he was happy again and it was great. But it didn't take long for Carole to tell my dad that his name had slowly started appearing on her hand. She doesn't talk much about her first husband but she said his name has been gone a long time. And I don't know when it happened. I've only just noticed it, but her name is appearing on my dad's hand. It's faint and just more visible than my mom's, but it's there."

Blaine didn't know what to make of what Kurt was telling him. He didn't understand the point. He'd never heard of anything like this, but then he'd never gone out looking for the information. It was always just taught and believed that only one person was meant for you.

Kurt reached across the table and took his hand. His thumb ran over his own name. "Blaine, you make me feel like I've never felt before and I guess I understand what the whole big deal is now, but that said, I don't hold a steadfast belief for this whole name soul mate thing. That's why I'm telling you this, because I don't want us to be about fate. I want it to be more than that. I want you to love me for me and not because you have to follow the conventions of our society…and if you don't feel that way about me then that's okay too."

"I will!" Blaine said at once.

Kurt laughed. "Okay," he said, "but you still don't know me."

"What I know is that you're amazing and opinionated, and that you're going to hold onto what you believe in, and that you must have a love for clothes. I know how you like your coffee, I know that the peanut butter cookies are your favorite, and I know that you have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen, and that the blush covering your cheeks right now is absolutely precious."

Kurt ducked his head.

"It's not much to go on, but I love all of that already and, Kurt, I can't wait to know everything about you. This isn't about you being my soul mate even though it is because you are, because I don't think for one moment that I wouldn't have been interested in you if this whole soul mate thing didn't exist."

Kurt's blush did not diminish but he lifted his head to look at Blaine. His lips were quirked up.

"I think I'm going to like how well you compliment me," he said, "but we seriously need to work on your hair."

Things were easier after that. Kurt suggested a question game and soon they were asking for each other's favorite things and telling funny stories that sprung from those questions. Blaine loved every moment of it.

It wasn't until they realized that it was getting dark out that they got up from their table and got rid of their trash.

"Should I drive you back to McKinley?" Kurt asked.

Blaine had forgotten about the car issue. "Um…so, in all the excitement I forgot Wes drove me."

Kurt began to laugh. "Oh, you would. I could take you back to school, then? I'd have to tell my dad, I told him I'll try to come home for dinner, but he'll understand."

"No, no, it's two hours away. I can catch a bus or something."

Kurt fixed him with a glare before pulling out his phone.

"Hey, dad, I'm going to be a few more hours. I'm going to drive Blaine to Dalton. His friend drove him and he forgot he didn't have a way home."

Kurt listened to his dad say something on the phone.

"I know it is, dad, but I can't just…"

"He's my soul mate, dad."

Blaine tried to catch his attention to tell him there were other options.

"Ugh, fine."

Kurt dropped his phone on his lap.

"My dad invited you to dinner," Kurt said, "it's Friday night and we have family dinner on Fridays. He also said you could stay the night. He doesn't want me driving two hours there and two hours back at night and he doesn't want you to ask a friend to come get you."

Kurt looked awkward as he said everything, but Blaine couldn't help but smile because he knew that Kurt was happy his father wanted to include Blaine in something as important as family dinner and because if Blaine was going to be honest he had been dreading the moment he'd have to be away from Kurt.

"Dinner sounds wonderful," he said and then added, "I told you I wanted to meet your dad."

- - -

Kurt found that he really liked Blaine. He wasn't just attracted to him or even just flattered that Blaine seemed to be in awe of him. He did, genuinely like Blaine for everything that he was from the moment they met. Kurt was even beginning to think that maybe there was something to the whole soul mate thing because if ever there was someone that was perfect for him, Blaine was it.

When they got to his house, Kurt parked in his usual spot but didn't get out of the car at once.

"He's going to try to be intimidating, I think," he told Blaine, "but he's really harmless so don't be bothered by it. Also, don't pass him the salt. He'll try to ask you but just don't do it, and…"

Blaine reached over to grab his hands. "Kurt, it'll be fine."

Kurt nodded and he let himself smile a little. He really couldn't stop. Rachel had told him it'd be like this, the one time he asked. She'd told him how it just took over you and changed absolutely everything. Kurt hadn't believed Rachel, not really, because Rachel was a drama queen and she embellished on just about everything.

They got out of the car and Kurt was glad to have Blaine hand back in his as they headed towards the house. The porch light was on, probably in expectation of them, and Kurt had to pause at the door. He turned to give Blaine another warning, but Blaine squeezed his hand.

Kurt opened the door which was for once unlocked and let Blaine enter first. He followed, closing and locking the door behind him.

Their new house was still something Kurt was getting used to. It was newer than the one he and his dad had lived in for years, and it was also much bigger though Kurt still mourned his basement room. He had a room on the second floor now which was spacious enough but still hadn't fit all of his old stuff. Still, Kurt had loved the time he spent decorating it.

Voices came from the kitchen and Kurt almost groaned when he realized that Finn had brought Rachel. It was probably at her insistence and everyone knew Finn couldn't say no to Rachel.

"Rachel's here," he muttered to Blaine, "I apologize in advance for anything she might say."

"Short girl from glee?" He asked.

Kurt glanced at him, "you're hobbit sized too, you know."

He didn't know when during their coffee date they'd gone from awkward to friendly teasing, but he was glad it'd happened. Things were easy with Blaine like they hadn't been with anyone before. Kurt had a hard time making friends, and that had always been the case.

He was the weird kid that didn't like getting his clothes dirty and that had always been more interested in having tea parties than playing soccer or tag. Then, other kids had started to realize that he had a boy's name on his hand and suddenly he wasn't just odd, he was also gay. He was a "fag" or a "fairy" even if he hardly understood the terms or even knew what it meant.

Glee club had been the first time he really made any friends and even then it'd still been hard for him because none of them really understood him. Mercedes had tried, and Tina was always fun to shop with. But those relationships had grown over time, they hadn't just happened.

Maybe there was something to the whole soul mate thing. He was thinking about Blaine's friends. Maybe it wasn't supposed to be romantic. Maybe your soul mate could be your best friend. It could mean that that person was supposed to just understand you and just know you in ways other people couldn't. And the romantic side to it was not just because it was expected. Why wouldn't you fall for the one person that could listen to you and not only really listen but really understand?

They walked in the direction of the kitchen still holding hands. Kurt still marveled at how much he genuinely liked holding hands with Blaine.

"Dad, I'm home," he called out.

"Kitchen, kiddo."

They were all there. Carole kneeling by the oven to peak at whatever she was making, Rachel fixing up a salad, Finn texting away probably at Puck, and his dad seated on a stool with one of his car magazines.

"So um, this is Blaine," Kurt said.

Carole was the first to react. She closed the oven door and stood up. She hugged Kurt first and then Blaine.

"Congratulations to you both," she said and in a whisper to Kurt, "he looks like a good one."

Finn lifted his head long enough say, "hey, dude."

Rachel waved enthusiastically, but luckily didn't speak.

Kurt waited for his father to speak. His opinion mattered more than anyone else's in the room.

"You don't have to impress me, kid," Burt said, "I'm not the one you need to woo. That's Kurt. But, I want you to respect him, listen to him, and I also want you to take care of him and let him take care of you."

Blaine nodded. "I will, Mr. Hummel, I've been…I've been looking for Kurt forever and I won't ever do anything to jeopardize us. I don't love him yet, but I will."

Kurt squeezed his hand and beamed at him. Blaine was absolutely perfect.

His father grunted and nodded in approval.

They stood awkwardly in the entrance to the kitchen for a while. Kurt cleared his throat. "I'm going to show Blaine my room."

"Door open," Burt said.

Kurt snorted, "I've barely known him twenty four hours."

Blaine followed Kurt without a word.

"See, not too bad," Blaine said a while later, when they had gotten up the stairs. Kurt opened his door.

His room was tidy and clean because he hated to have something out of place. His father often told the story of how he'd gotten Kurt tested for OCD when he was younger but he'd been told that Kurt was just a tidy kid. After all, he'd managed to live with Finn for those few months and not killed him for every article of clothing that he threw on the floor, not always just on his side of the room.

"It's nice," Blaine said, "very you. You're a little obsessive with the skin care though, aren't you?"

Kurt hit his shoulder. "If I went to your room, would I find a bunch of gel on every surface?"

"My hair needs it. It's horrible without it."

"I doubt that. Come on, you can sit."

Blaine sat down at the edge of Kurt's bed and continued to look around the room. Kurt in the meanwhile watched Blaine. He'd been doing that a lot – all day really – and he still couldn't get over that he was destined to be forever with such a good looking boy.

"They probably think I'm up here defiling you," Blaine said after a while.

"I don't know," Kurt said, "They know how I feel about jumping into it."

Blaine nodded. "Isn't it different though, than what you expected?"

"What do you mean?"

"You said you didn't really believe in the whole soul mate thing, right? So, once you met me – once you knew who I was it was different, right?"

Kurt nodded slowly. He hadn't expected the intensity that came from it, the need to be around Blaine.

"See that's the thing. You told them before meeting me that you would never be a certain way, but aren't you a little changed by it all?"

Kurt had sat next to Blaine and he dropped his head on Blaine's shoulder. "So, are you saying that you want to just throw me on my own bed right now and – what did you say – defile me?"

Blaine laughed and shook his head. "No. I just think that there's a kind of electricity between us and that some people can't handle it and they just go for it – maybe they've been tired of waiting or something and it's not that far fetched that the physical parts might be just rushed into."

Kurt thought that Blaine had a good point. He lifted his head from Blaine's shoulder. "I get it," he said, "but we're not like that and I would hope that my family would know I'd have the restraint."

For years Kurt hadn't understood why couples were touching all the time, but ever since meeting Blaine he was getting it. It was addicting, if that were possible. He wanted to be as close to Blaine as he could and the best thing about it was how comfortable he was doing so. It had been one of his worries for a long time, to not be able to really connect with someone with those small simply touches.

Kurt wasn't used to being tactile. He hugged his father and sometimes Carole. Mercedes was usually the one to pull him into a hug or link their arms together. Rachel was probably the only other person that he made contact with and only when it was required. But holding hands and leaning against someone else just because, Kurt wasn't used to that.

Blaine wrapped an arm around his shoulders and Kurt let himself just burrow into Blaine's side.

"This is probably as far as you'll get at your attempts at defiling me, Mr. Anderson."

Kurt felt Blaine chuckle and he was surprised when Blaine kissed his forehead. "I think I am perfectly okay with that."

- - -

Dinner with Kurt's family turned out to not be as awkward as Kurt had been painting it to be. Finn and Rachel sat on one side of the table and Kurt and Blaine on the other while Kurt's parents were opposite each other at either end.

He and Kurt had set the table while Finn and Rachel brought out the food from the kitchen. Carole had made something that smelled delicious and there was a bowl of mashed potatoes and salad as well.

"It's chicken," Kurt informed him, "with spinach and cheese. Rachel isn't going to have any, she's vegetarian, but she usually brings her own dinner anyway. Sometimes she forces the rest of us to eat like her but luckily I think her being here tonight was last minute."

Blaine nodded slowly. He spotted Rachel warming something up in the microwave while Carole was bringing in a pitcher of lemonade.

"We also have orange juice, water, and milk in the fridge," she said to Blaine.

"Thank you. This is fine."

The food was delicious, and Kurt's family after a few minutes of awkwardness at the beginning were all actually really nice and likable. The atmosphere around the table was not something Blaine had ever experienced at his own house and it was amazing to just see how they all worked together, as if they just fit effortlessly. Even Rachel had a part in this family. It made him happy to know that one day, he'd be as comfortable around them as she was.

"Tell us a little about yourself, Blaine," Carole said, "what do your parents do?"

"My dad's a lawyer," he said, "he's actually a partner at a firm in Columbus. My mom's an interior decorator. She has her own business. They're both pretty busy. My brother Cooper likes to tell people he raised me."

It wasn't even much of a joke because of how true it was. Cooper was six years older than him, but between he and their maid, Rita, Blaine had been raised. Cooper had never trusted their father with Blaine after the whole name incident when Blaine was six. Blaine's mother had always been too busy for either of her children except for rare days when she'd stay home and pretend that everything was normal.

"My parents weren't too happy that I had a boy's name on my hand," Blaine added because he might as well get that out there too. "Well, I don't know how my mom felt about it. She's never said one way or the other, but my dad didn't take it well at all."

Mr. Hummel stared at him, and Blaine tried not to catch his eye. He probably knew what his father had tried to do. Carole might have understood it too. Blaine was glad neither actually brought it up.

"And you have just the one brother," Carole said.

Blaine nodded. "Yup, just me and Coop."

After that, they only asked a few more questions. Did he do well in school? Yes. Was he thinking about what he might do with himself? Not really.

Eventually Kurt put a stop to it, muttering something about Blaine not eating because he was talking so much and then everyone was eating and talking but it was calmer somehow.

"Well," Rachel said, "I didn't want to bring this up earlier, but I think it's an important thing to mention."

Kurt groaned next to him. "What Rachel?"

"I just want to point out that the two of you are on opposing teams for Sectionals and that I for one do not want this to mean you'll be sharing secrets about set lists and stuff."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "We don't have a set list," he said.

Rachel made a gasping noise. "This is exactly what I'm talking about."

Blaine found Rachel hilarious. He had met never anyone that was so fully committed to something as silly as a club. Wes could have rivaled her, but his crazy was more due to a need to be in constant contact with his gavel and use it as a source of his power over everyone else.

"Rachel, the Warblers have also yet to finalize their set list. Now that we're on equal standing I can assure you that Kurt and I have more important things to talk about than this competition and I'm sure that he'll be happy for me if my team is the one to win and that I will be happy for him if yours does."

The smile that Kurt gave him, then, was one of utmost wonder. "Thank you," he muttered, but in the next minute he was glaring at Rachel again.

Rachel for her part, stared at Blaine as if she didn't know just what to make of him. It was as if she had never considered that someone wouldn't put glee at as important level as she did.

When dinner was over, Blaine helped Kurt pick up the dishes even though he'd protested that he was a guest. Carole had tried to make him sit down as well, but Blaine had insisted. They left them in water in the sink.

"It's Finn's turn to wash them," he told Blaine, which means he won't do it until the last possible minute, or until after Rachel leaves."

Finn and Rachel had already left the table when they got back and Carole was just finishing putting everything back to where it belonged.

"We're going to go back upstairs," Kurt said as if he needed to announce it to them. Carole barely gave a response and Burt grunted as if he expected nothing less on his way to the living room.

Kurt sat down at the head of his bed this time and motioned for Blaine to sit next to him.

"That went better than I thought it would," Kurt said, "and they like you. Which was a given because who wouldn't, but I was a little worried my dad might try to scare you off or something."

Blaine liked rambly Kurt. He liked this Kurt who had gotten comfortable in his own room and was letting Blaine in slowly.

"I liked them too," he said, "I don't think I've had a proper family dinner with my own family since…well, I don't think I can remember the last one."

Kurt got strangely serious then. "What happened to you?" He asked, "when you said your father didn't like that you had my name, what did he do?"

Blaine hadn't spoken to anyone else about the entire thing other than Cooper. He'd come closer tonight to letting someone else know about it than ever before. But he knew if he had to tell someone, it was going to have to be Kurt.

"When I turned five the first letters started appearing. It didn't happen all at once. First there was a K and then one day I saw the E in your last name and all the others started to fill in. My mom and I had a game, guessing at your name. She was a bit of a romantic and she just gave me this amazing image of what my soul mate would be like. But then it turned out that it wasn't a girl's name. It was yours. A boy."

It was easy to tell Kurt this. Hard because of what he was talking about, but easy because it was Kurt and Kurt wouldn't judge him or pity him or any of those things that one might expect from other people.

"What did your mom say?" Kurt asked.

Blaine could remember it all perfectly. He'd been so excited because there was finally a whole name there. All the letters had filled in. He had a soul mate! Cooper had seen it first, but that was only because Blaine ran into Cooper when he left his room, excited to share his news.

His parents had been in the kitchen. Mom waiting for coffee with her usual to go cup and his dad on the phone while he ate a croissant. He'd burst into the room with Cooper at his heels.

"I have a name! I have a name!"

Dad had completely ignored him, but his mom had turned to look at him and Blaine had shown up.

She didn't read it aloud, but she'd smiled tightly at him and pet his head. "Go get breakfast."

"I think she knew my father wasn't going to like it," Blaine told Kurt, "but for her, for someone that believed in this whole thing so much and who made the whole soul mate thing seem like the most amazing thing in the world, I think she understood that there was no changing it and that this was who I would be and that fate had already predetermined that."

Blaine saw, more than felt his hands shake and he was grateful when Kurt reached over and grabbed them.

"Come here," Kurt said. He let go of Blaine's hands, but only to wrap his arms around Blaine.

Blaine's head was on Kurt's collarbone, and Kurt's arms cradled him against his side. One of Blaine's hand had gone to rest over Kurt's heart and he felt how fast Kurt's heart was beating. He did that.

"My dad found out a few days later. He either saw my hand or mom finally told him – she hated keeping anything from him – and from then on he started acting strange around me. Suddenly he wasn't the dad that would pick me up and spin me around in circles, or want to teach me to play sports on the few free days he had. But he was still that way with Cooper and at the age of five, I thought I did something wrong. Cooper told me not to worry about it. I think he saw it coming."

"Saw what coming?"

Kurt's hands ran down Blaine's back, soothingly.

"A couple of months after I turned six, he came home very happy. He and my mom were talking in their room for a while and then during dinner he told me and Cooper. He said he knew how to fix me, how he was going to fix my abnormality."

Kurt gasped and his hold tightened. "He didn't," Kurt whispered. "No. No. Oh, Blaine."

"He tried," Blaine said. "Cooper didn't explain it to me until a few years later, but he had all the intention of taking me and having your name removed somehow. Cooper hid me and he didn't let dad get to me and I think maybe mom helped him – I want to believe she did – but I haven't spoken to them since then, not really. Not about this and certainly not about anything that matters."

"I'm so glad for your brother. So glad. I can't stand the thought that I could have lost you like that," Kurt muttered. "I want to meet him."

"He probably wants to meet you too," Blaine said, "he's the only important person in my life, other than you. I think maybe you'll like him."