Letting his friends help is so much better than shutting them out. Blaine still has no plan. No idea how to approach the soulmate situation and Kurt’s appointment. But at least he has people to talk to and bounce ideas off now.

“Stand in front of a mirror with a rose?” Thad asks.

Blaine considers it. “Maybe.”

“Sing to him?” offers David.

“Won’t be able to hear it.”

Jeff leans back in the desk chair in David’s room. “Jump out of a plane?”

Blaine stares. “I’m – what? Out of a plane? What good would that do? And what does that say? You’re my soulmate so I’ve decided to put my life at risk?”

“No, I’m falling for you.”

“Yeah, no, that’s not happening.”

What makes it more difficult is that Kurt isn’t talking to him; Jeff says he’s still upset about Finn. Blaine made Jeff promise not to say anything about it to Kurt, nothing to correct Blaine’s unbelievable screw-up. Jeff’s response is to institute a “cone of silence,” meaning that he won’t share any of Blaine’s information or thoughts with Kurt and vice versa.

Blaine doesn’t want Kurt to know yet. Well, he would love for Kurt to stop thinking Blaine thinks Finn is his soulmate, because he doesn’t anymore, not really. The more he considers it, thinks back on it, the more he’s convinced that his soulmate really is Kurt. There are too many reasons for it not to be him. So while he’d be over the moon to tell Kurt that Finn probably isn’t his soulmate, Blaine knows he’d then have to explain or try to explain what’s really going on.

The thing is, he wants Kurt to go into his appointment not knowing what to expect and then realize it’s been Blaine all along. There’s a part of Blaine that wants the big, romantic gesture – for Kurt, because he deserves that and so much more, but also for himself because his own Finder appointment turned out to be such a … disaster might be too strong a word, but it still wasn’t good.

And okay, that may not be the most truthful thing Blaine’s ever done, letting Kurt continue to believe that Blaine’s soulmate is Finn. It’s only for another week and a half, though, and then Kurt will know everything. It’s like when you let someone believe that you’ve forgotten their birthday, only to have them walk into a surprise party the day before. He just hopes Kurt sees it the same way.

Speaking of Kurt…

“Hey David,” he says, entering David’s room, “do you have the notes from Dr. Parikh’s lecture? I must’ve missed…” Kurt halts, just now seeing Blaine in the corner of the room. “Nevermind, I’ll get them from you later,” he says as he turns around to leave.

“Kurt!” Blaine jumps up to follow him.

Kurt looks to the side, away from Blaine. “No.”

“But we have to talk about this. I know I screwed up.”

“Yes, you did. And one day, hopefully soon, I’ll be able to look at you and listen to what you have to say without wanting to cry or scream.” And with that he walks out of the room, never looking at Blaine.

Blaine watches him go then turns back to the other guys in the room. “I can’t afford to get this wrong,” he says pleadingly. “Help me think of something.”

* * * * * * * * *

Two days later, Blaine finally has his brainstorm.

“Jeff! I need your help!” Blaine shouts, running to him in the hallway.

“Excellent,” Jeff responds. “What are we breaking into?”

“Kurt’s phone.”

Jeff stares at him. “Wait, what? I was kidding. You want to break into Kurt’s phone? I don’t really know how to feel about … okay let’s do it.”

“Really? You don’t need to know why?”

“Um, no?”

“Jeff, I would hug you if you weren’t covered in blue paint, and on that note, why are you covered in blue paint?”

Jeff just shakes his head. “You made me promise once never to involve you in illegal activity, Blaine.”

“Good point. On to breaking into Kurt’s phone.”

“That’s my boy.”

* * * * * * * * *

Blaine stirs cinnamon into his coffee, waiting for the person he’d once thought he might be connected to his whole life. Well, he hopes they will be connected for life, but in a completely different way. Assuming, of course, this goes according to plan.

Before he can start to worry for the hundredth time, he hears, “Sorry dude, b-ball practice ran over.”

“No problem,” Blaine answers. “Can I get you something to drink? I hope it’s okay, but I already got us several cookies and pastries.” He knows Finn loves to eat.

“Whoa, thanks! I’m gonna get a soda or something, but I can get it. Be right back.”

Blaine nods as Finn leaves to purchase a drink at The Lima Bean’s counter. He’s nervous about this meeting, but he knows that in order to really make an honest start with Kurt (which he desperately hopes he’ll be allowed to do), he has to be truthful with everyone. And that includes Finn.

After Finn returns, he doesn’t waste any time.

“You said on the phone it was important. Are you sure Kurt’s okay?” Finn questions. “I mean, he’s been in a bad mood the last few days, but he said it’s just stress about school.”

“Well, I guess it depends on how you define okay.” Blaine closes his eyes briefly, and when he opens them he sees Finn has gone rigid in his chair.

“I’ll take care of whoever it is, man. Kurt’s my brother, and I’ll protect him. You just tell me who.”

Blaine has to take a beat to realize what Finn means. “No, it’s – there’s nothing physical, no bullying or anything.”

Finn relaxes in his chair and nods before tilting his head in confusion. “Then why’s he unhappy?”

“Me. And in a roundabout way, you.”

“What? I didn’t do anything!” Finn denies, eyes wide.

“I know. Trust me, I know. The whole thing is messy and complicated and ridiculous, now that I really look at it, but it means that I upset Kurt. I hurt him. I didn’t mean to, I swear, but I did.” Blaine fidgets with his coffee cup for a second, gathering his courage. “And I need to tell you why, because… Well, it involves you, but also because I need your help.”

“I’m not helping you if you hurt my brother.”

Blaine smiles sadly, strangely proud of how far Finn has come in such a short time. “I wouldn’t expect you to. I hope, though, that after you hear me out you’ll change your mind.”

Finn stares at him for a minute, and Blaine can figuratively see the gears turning in his head. Finally he nods slowly and sits back in his chair. “Go ahead.”

So Blaine tells him. All about his appointment in Lima and what he saw in The Lima Bean, the same place they’re sitting now. He explains about where Finn was when Blaine came back and what Blaine thought that meant.

“But, dude, I’m not gay!”

“I know, trust me, I figured that out pretty quickly.” Blaine tells him. “I assumed it meant that we were platonic soulmates.”

“But we’re not,” Finn says, shaking his head.

“I’m pretty sure we’re not, no.”

Finn looks at him curiously. “So who was it you really saw through?”

“I can’t be certain right now, but I think it was Kurt.”

Finn’s eyes grow huge. “Kurt! Yes! I bet it was! Oh my God, he’s gonna flip, he’s had like this crush on you, and…” He stops when he notices Blaine’s jaw drop. “Uh, oh, I, uh, I don’t think I was supposed to say that.”

“Probably not, but it’s okay. I mean, I didn’t have it confirmed or anything, but I sort of thought maybe, or sort of hoped.”

“Oh, good.” Finn looks relieved that he hasn’t completely betrayed Kurt’s trust. “So wait, if you figured out it’s Kurt, why’s he mad?”

“Because I didn’t figure it out until it was too late, and I’d already accidently told him my suspicions about you.”

Finn doesn’t say anything for several moments then suddenly starts laughing. “I thought private school guys were supposed to be really smart.”

“Yeah, well, not all the time it seems.” He waits another few seconds for Finn to stop chuckling and then says, “But that brings me to the part where I’m going to need your help, if you’re willing. I know Kurt has his Finder appointment coming up.”

“Oh, right, he had his pre-stuff last week.”

Blaine nods. “Exactly.”

“So, wait, isn’t he going to figure out that you got it wrong then?”

“I’m counting on it, and this where you can help me.” Blaine lays out his plan for when Kurt goes through with his Finder appointment, explaining everything in detail so Finn will understand exactly what he’s asking. And also so he can relay the message.

Finn holds out a fist to bump, which Blaine does. “Dude, that’s awesome! Like, really awesome. He’ll love it for sure. And don’t worry about the other stuff. I got your back, and Burt’s going to the appointment with him. I can tell him about it. He’ll help, I know it.”

Blaine breathes easily for the first time in the conversation. “Really, you think he’ll be okay with it?”

“Yeah, of course. I mean, all he really wants his for Kurt to be happy, and I think this’ll do it.”

“Good. Thank you, Finn.”

“Yeah.” Finn glances at his watch. “Look, I gotta get home, but uh, one last thing. I – okay, you can’t ever tell anyone what I’m gonna tell you, okay?”

Blaine considers it for a moment. “Whatever you’re going to say, it isn’t something I’m going to feel badly about keeping from Kurt, is it? Because I’ve already –”

“No! It’s nothing, like, bad or anything,” Finn interrupts, waving his hands. “It’s just – uh, if you’d told me about all this back at the beginning I coulda told you that you aren’t my soulmate.”

“What?!? No, Kurt mentioned about your appointment and that all you saw was someone reading a book. He said you spent half the time trying to figure out what book it was. That easily could’ve been me.”

Finn shifts in his chair and won’t meet Blaine’s eyes. “Uh, well, that’s not completely right.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like I said, you can’t tell anyone, but I – I wasn’t trying to figure out what book the person was reading. Or at least,” Finn continues hurriedly, “not the whole time I said I was.”

“Did you see who it was?” Blaine questions him. “Why wouldn’t you say something?”

Finn hesitates. “No, I didn’t see who. But… God, okay, I didn’t see who it was, but I saw enough to know it wasn’t a guy.”

“It wasn’t a … oh.”

“Yeah, like,” Finn lowers his voice to a whisper. “I could see boobs. She was sitting up, reading, and I could see her boobs.”

Blaine just stares at Finn for a beat then lets his head fall to the table with a thunk. He repeatedly pounds his forehead on the table.

“Hey, hey Blaine, stop it, man. People are starting to look over here.”

“I really am an idiot,” Blaine says, laying his forehead on the table completely. “People say this to me, I even think it sometimes, but I never realized until right this second just how big of an idiot I really am.”

Finn shrugs. “Well, you didn’t know or anything.”

“Why doesn’t anyone know about this? Why hide that?” Blaine asks, looking back up.

“I never thought it would matter, and, uh, I sort of, you know…”

Blaine looks at Finn incredulously. “Finn Hudson,” he hisses, “did you check out your soulmate’s breasts?”

“NO!” Finn shouts. He looks around and sees people definitely staring. “Not like check her out, but you know, I mean, they were right there and okay, she was wearing clothes and everything, but haven’t you ever wondered what it would be like to have those things on your chest, like, all the time, man? I mean that’s gotta be weird, right? And –”

“So you’re saying you weren’t checking her out, you were using it as an opportunity to see what it would be like if you had breasts?” Blaine asks, not knowing if that makes it better or worse.

“Uh…”

“Finn, don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m really, really glad we’re not soulmates.”

“Hey!”

* * * * * * * * *

A week later, Blaine is just about ready. Wes and Nick have been giving him pep talks every time he starts to slip into an anxiety attack. Finn comes through on his end, and Burt is on board.

Kurt has slowly thawed and at least talks to him now, although their conversation is sometimes stilted and awkward. Anytime Blaine tries to bring up Finn or soulmates, Kurt refuses to listen, which is probably just as well since Blaine isn’t entirely certain what he’d say. Jeff breaks his “cone of silence” just enough to tell Blaine that Kurt is focusing on his own Finder’s appointment and procedure. He thinks Kurt plans to deal with Blaine after that.

Which works just fine for Blaine.