Blaine's 17th birthday was a nerve-wracking experience for Kurt. It shouldn't have been because it was Blaine's birthday, yet Kurt found himself pulling into the school parking lot trying to convince himself that he wasn't going to vomit. Whatever happened, happened. If Kurt's name appeared on Blaine, that would be wonderful, magical, a dream come true, but if it didn't? Well, Kurt would manage. Somehow. He'd already spent the better part of a year quietly crushing on Blaine. Hopefully he'd get over it when his own soulmates name appeared.

Kurt took a deep breath and stepped out of his car. he could do this. He was Kurt Hummel and he was going to make it through this day without throwing up on anyone. Or maybe not, he thought as he walked past Finn and Rachel shoving their tongues down each others throats. If he had to see much more of that today he definitely wasn't going to be ok.

Blaine was sitting nervously on the edge of his bed fiddling with one of his robots. Today was his 17th birthday. If he were a wizard he would be excitedly using magic outside of school for the first time. Instead his 17th birthday meant hoping that he would feel the burn of someone's name being inked into his skin somewhere at the moment of his birth. He was born at 7:52 am, which meant he had two whole minutes to wait. An incredibly long two minutes of wondering if he'd know the person, when he would meet him, what he would look like... He was pretty much wondering about everything, because this was his soulmate, and it was driving him insane. Oh god. Twenty more seconds.

Blaine dropped the robot and fell backwards onto his bed. He threw his arm over his eyes and attempted to breath normally. It would be okay. He would know the name of his soulmate soon. It was fine. As the clock by his bed ticked loudly in announcement of reaching 7:52 Blaine let out one last plea to whomever determined one's soulmate. Please don't let the writing appear on my face. It's been known to happen occasionally, and well it didn't cause people to judge, Blaine didn't want his soulmates name presented out to the world at all times in such a forceful way.

Blaine jolted up moments later, yanking his shirt over his head and tripping over his feet to reach the mirror. The name. He could feel it burning into him on his rib cage - right below his heart. He let out a slight sigh of relief before looking in the mirror.

For a moment, Blaine stared at the writing on his chest, it was clearly written, but he had no idea what it meant. The letters seemed... oh. Blaine laughed at himself before tilting his head in order to decipher the letters that were being reflect to him backwards because he was looking in the mirror.
"Ku.. r... t... H...umm... el" Blaine read to himself slowly. As Blaine stared in shock at the name, he heard his phone alarm buzz, letting him know that it was now 8 am and he was officially late for school. He ignored it though. His soulmate was Kurt Hummel. Kurt. His best friend. His soulmate was Kurt.

By the time 8:30 rolled around, Blaine had managed to screw his head on straight. He wasn't sure what to do in the long run, but for now he just wouldn't tell Kurt what his mark said. he could do that, right? He'd just go to school, silently probe at his feelings for Kurt, and just tell him that he wanted to keep the name to himself. he could do this. Probably. Maybe. Blaine pulled into a parking space and gulped. Well, no time like the present to see if he could keep this a secret.

Kurt didn't see Blaine until lunch. It wasn't all that unusual as they only had two classes together, but it wasn't helping Kurt's nerves any. Kurt was already sitting down and picking at his salad when he saw Blaine paying for his lunch. he had been pretending to listen to Mercedes and Sam's discussion about their history test the next day, but he honestly couldn't care less. He just wanted to know what Blaine's mark said.

Two minutes later Blaine set down his sandwich and slid into the seat next to Kurt. "Hi" Blaine said, sounding somewhat nervous and not even bothering to greet anyone at the table except Kurt.

"Happy birthday Kurt replied, heart in his throat with nerves, turning to give Blaine a small hug. Pulling away, Kurt forced a cheery smile onto his face. "Has you-"

Kurt's question was cut off by a group of people suddenly surrounding Blaine, Rachel leading them in a round of "Happy Birthday" causing the entire cafeteria to join in. It seemed that no matter where in the high school hierarchy a person may be, people would join in to sing Happy Birthday to you.

Rachel sat down in the vacant chair next to Blaine and began hurling questions at him. "Did you get your name? What is it? Where is it? Can I see? Do you know him? When do you think you'll meet? Do you think finn and I will get each others names?"
"RACHEL!" Kurt shouted at her, noting Blaine's somewhat panicked expression "calm down. Let him breath." Kurt glared at her. He both wanted to know everything and wanted to pretend that none of this had ever happened, or would ever happen.

Once Blaine had gotten over his shock at the sudden barrage, he finally spoke, glancing at Kurt but focusing his attention on Rachel. "Yes I got my mark. It appeared this morning, so I was late to school." Kurt pretended to eat his salad as Blaine quickly glanced over at him before taking a deep breath and straightening his posture. "The name" Kurt held his breath in anticipation "I got is between me and... and my soulmate."

Kurt let out his breath and tried to blink away the tears forming in his eyes, ignoring the pit in his stomach. Blaine must not be his. Blaine was somebody else's. It would be okay. he could forget about his crush. Just because he wasn't Blaine's soulmate didn't mean he didn't have one at all. he just had to wait three weeks to find out. It would be ok. He would be ok.

Kurt finally zoned back into the conversation to hear Rachel badgering Blaine about where the name was "is it on your arm? You leg maybe? Your stomach? Is it... is it somewhere more delicate?"

"RACHEL!" he hissed. "Leave Blaine alone. If he doesn't want to tell you, he doesn't have to. It's none of your business."

Rachel huffed in annoyance, standing up as the bell rang but not asking any more questions. "Fine. I was just curious." Rachel flounced away to meet up with Finn while Kurt and Blaine threw out their meals and slowly made their way to history.

They walked silently down the hallway next to each other, both lost in their own thoughts. When they sat down next to each other in their usual seats, Kurt finally broke the silence. "How does being marked feel? Good?"

Blaine glanced up at him, pulling his books out of his bag. "Yeah," Blaine finished putting his things on his desk as he spoke "Yeah. It was really terrifying the moment it was happening, because it commits you to this potentially unknown person for life, but I think... I think it's going to be okay. I'm happy." Kurt noticed the blush that tinged Blaine's cheeks as he trailed off. he was about to tease him about it, but the teacher chose that moment to call the class to order.

Two Days Left
Blaine had been spending a lot of time at the Lima Bean as of late. Two days after his birthday, Kurt had gotten up and sung Blackbird. Blaine had no idea why he'd chosen that song - and Kurt had ignored him when he'd asked - but while Kurt sang Blaine had realized that he was in love with Kurt. He knew it wasn't just because of his mark. It was something that he'd buried within himself since day one. he had just finally allowed himself to feel it.

Since then however, things had been off between the two of them. Blaine was pretty sure that Kurt was avoiding him. Both in and out of school. During school he always seemed to be absurdly focused on class, or always talking to Mercedes. Outside of school, he kept making up excuses to not see Blaine, no matter what he proposed they do. It was frustrating. Blaine just wanted to find a moment to tell Kurt. Preferably the perfect moment, but by now there were only three days until Kurt's birthday. he was out of time to wait. He needed to tell Kurt before Kurt himself was marked.
Blaine sighed, letting his head fall onto the table with a dull thunk. He had to come up with a foolproof plan.

Kurt ducked down a different hallway at the sight of Blaine standing by his locker. He wanted to talk to Blaine, he really did, but every time he saw Blaine, he would invite him to dinner, or to see a play, or even to the old movie theater in the next town over. In the past this wouldn't have been a problem. Kurt would have been beyond excited to get to spend more time with Blaine, not that they didn't spend time together, it was just nice to break out of routine and do something new. It was a problem now though. Ever since Blaine's 17th birthday, Kurt had been trying to rid himself of the ache in his chest every time he saw Blaine. He had even tried to sing out his loss during glee club a few days after Blaine was marked, but it hadn't worked. He couldn't get his heart to stop pining for Blaine.

This was why he was now avoiding one on one situations with Blaine. He just couldn't handle it. He wanted to be happy for his best friend, but he couldn't stand the thought of having to smile as Blaine talked about his mark. He just couldn't. So he was now spending an exorbitant amount of time avoiding Blaine. He'd even persuaded Mercedes to help him out.

Kurt honestly just could not wait for his birthday. Once he was marked he would know for sure that he was meant for someone who wasn't Blaine. Then, and only then, would he be able to forget about his crush on Blaine and move on. They would be able to go back to being best friends and everything would be okay. He just had to make it through two more days.

One Day Left

Blaine sank down against his locker in defeat. His foolproof plan apparently wasn't foolproof. He'd gone into glee rehearsal that day planning to sing to Kurt. He had a dedication planned out and everything in order to ensure success. He was going to tell everyone that he was singing Silly Love Songs by Wings because he'd recently fallen in love with his soulmate *dramatic pause, then gaze not straying from Kurt* Kurt Hummel. Instead he'd gone to the classroom only to be informed by Mr. Schuester that rehearsal had been cancelled for the afternoon because he had a faculty meeting.
Blaine sighed. Time to come up with a Plan B.

Plan B

Blaine pulled up in front of the Hummel household at 10pm he turned off the car and took his phone out of his pocket. He pulled up the speed dial and pressed number 2, holding the phone to his ear and hoping Kurt would answer. To his dismay however, Kurt ignored his call. Blaine's heart sank. Why was Kurt so keen on avoiding him lately? If he hadn't known that Kurt would kill him if Blaine didn't speak up before his mark appeared, Blaine would've given up right then and left. As this wasn't an option however, Blaine got out of the car and closed the door quietly behind himself.
Blaine scooped up some pebbles for the yard as he mentally ran through the floorplan of the house. He wanted to make sure he was positive which window was Kurts before he began throwing things at it. He began gently throwing the stones at the window, praying that he didn't break it. Finally, after Blaine's second handful of stones, Kurt appeared at the window.

He watched as Kurt spotted him and then waited while he opened the window. "What?" Kurt demanded, not looking the least bit pleased to see him. Blaine's smile faltered. Kurt really didn't want to be near him lately did he? Blaine tried to stick to his plane while his heart sank. What if Kurt didn't want him? Blaine quickly pushed his doubts aside in favor of carrying out his plan. He needed to do this.

"Kurt" he half yelled "just give me four minutes? I've been trying to tell you this for three weeks now, and I need to tell you before you find out on your own."

"Find out what?" Kurt shouted back, glaring at Blaine suspiciously, although, Blaine noted, the tension in his shoulders had ebbed away slightly.

"I'm going to sing it for you" he said matter-of-factly. Blaine opened his mouth to start singing Crazy for this Girl (with the lyrics changed to "boy" of course)by Evan and Jaron when he heard the front door opening. Before he could see who it was, Blaine heard Burt start talking and gulped.

"Will you two stop shouting? Just get in the damn house already and have this conversation face to face." Blaine scrambled inside, apologizing profusely to Burt. Burt waved off his apologies and headed for the stairs as Kurt entered the living room.

"What's going on Blaine?" he asked in a bored tone that seemed to be masking the curiosity Blaine could see in his eyes.

Blaine had every intention of answering Kurt, he really, really did. But then he looked at Kurt, and all coherent thought flew out of his mind. Kurt was dressed in just an undershirt and pajama bottoms. his arms and his shoulders and even his neck. Wow they were mesmerizing. Blaine wanted to kiss them, or lick them, or gently bit them. Really he just wanted to touch them in anyway he could. Blaine was jolted out of his reverie by the sound of Kurt clearing his throat and tapping his floor impatiently. Still not entirely with it, Blaine met Kurt's gaze and breathed out "your name."

"What?" Kurt asked, visibly confused. "Blaine, my birthday isn't for two more hours. Besides," he glared as though Blaine was being stupid on purpose. "I wasn't born until 2 pm so I've got, like, 16 more hours before a name appears."

Blaine blinked at him. "No, not your mark. You name. It" Blaine groaned in frustration as Kurt moved toward the kitchen, presumably to get a drink. "Kurt will you just listen to me for five seconds?!"

"I am listening to you." Kurt's voice floated out of the kitchen, interrupted slightly by the opening and closing of a cabinet.

"Kurt" Blaine dragged his hand through his loosened curls in aggravation. "I want your full attention. Not just a fragment of it."

"Can't it wait until tomorrow?" Kurt asked. Blaine heard the sound of the faucet being turned on and then off again ten seconds later. "I'm tired and I have a test first period tomorrow."

"No it can't-" Blaine cut himself off as Kurt returned to the living room, standing by the front door, arms folded over his chest. "Wait. Are you mad at me? IS that why you've been avoiding me since..." Kurt glared more fiercely at him, but Blaine ignored the glare, having finally figured something out. "Kurt, why have you been avoiding me since my birthday?" he asked carefully.

"I haven't been avoiding you" Kurt scoffed, a bit of fear flaring up in his eyes. "I've been busy."

"No," Blaine said slowly, walking towards Kurt. "You've been blowing me off for no reason and clinging to Mercedes since the day after I got my mark." Kurt flinched minutely at the word "mark." Blaine, who had been watching Kurt's face carefully as he spoke, in hopes that Kurt would give him some more clues as to what was going on in his head, felt relief flood through him at the response. So this was about his mark then. Blaine finally came to a halt when he was less than a foot away from Kurt, who appeared rooted to the spot under Blaine's gaze. "Care to explain?"

"I-" kurt stuttered, unable to look away from Blaine. "N-nothing. It's nothing. i'm being stupid really. Nothing to worry about. I'm sorry," Kurt rambled. "Coffee tomorrow after school. We can catch up."
"I would like that very much" Blaine grinned. He took one last step forward and heard Kurt draw in a breath rather sharply as Blaine cupped his cheek and kissed him lightly on the lips. "It's a date" he whispered against his lips before turning around and heading out the door.

He'd done it. Well, kind of. He hadn't exactly shown Kurt his mark or even told him that it said "Kurt Hummel," but he'd made his intentions clear. Now he just had to wait until tomorrow. 3pm couldn't come fast enough.

Blaine reached his car just as he heard a screen door bang shut behind him. There were running footsteps and then Kurt's hands were on him, turning him around.

"Blaine." Kurt panted slightly, holding Blaine at arms length with hope in his eres. "By 'your name' you meant - did you" Kurt pulled himself together. "What did you mean by that if you weren't talking about my mark?"

Blaine regained conscious control of his arms and wrapped them around kurt's waist, tugging him forwards slightly, forcing Kurt to bend his elbows and wrap his arms around Blaine's neck. "I meant" Blaine angled his head towards Kurt's lips (Kurt's actions seemed to be indicating that he was open to this whole relationship thing, so Blaine figured he could try for another kiss) "your name, my mark. My mark is your name." At this, Blaine closed the gap between them and captured Kurt's lips in his.

It took a moment, but suddenly, Kurt was responding to the kiss, stepping in closer and forcing Blaine up against his car. After a few moments, Kurt pulled away. Blaine whined at the loss, but after pressing one last kiss to Blaine's lips, Kurt began speaking. "Your mark is really my name? Because in the cafeteria- You didn't say anything - I thought- Is that the only reason- ?" Kurt rambled, continuously interrupting himself with new questions until Blaine tangled their fingers together and shushed him, putting a finger to Kurt's lips.

Blaine pulled his finger away slowly. "I just had my first kiss while dressed in my pajamas" Kurt whispered in shock, seeming to only just realize what he was wearing. "Blaine Anderson. This is not what I had imagined wearing during my first kiss. You of all people should know this."

Blaine chuckled, burying his face in the soft space where Kurt's neck and shoulder meet, tugging Kurt to him and kissing his shoulder gently before speaking. "I assure you that the only resemblance Plan A had to this was the kissing. It's not my fault I had to show up in the middle of the night and be yelled at by-" Blaine looked over Kurt's shoulder as movement in the Hummel house caught his attention. "Your dad is definitely about ten seconds away from dragging you back inside and banning me from your house."

Kurt snorted. "My dad loves you Blaine, he would never..." Kurt stiffened slighlty, blushing, "wait. Do you think he saw us kissing?"

"Do you think he's going to kill me?"

"Blaine."

"Kurt."

Blaine hugged Kurt tightly for a moment before releasing him. "You should go in. We'll talk tomorrow."

"Ok, meet me by my locker before class?"

"I'll be there. I'll even bring you a coffee for your birthday."

"A grande-"

"-nonfat mocha. I've got it, don't worry."

"You know my order."

"Of course I do." Blaine scoffed, looking offended at the suggestion that he wouldn't know it.

Kurt turned to walk into his house where he saw his dad waiting in the doorway with his arms crossed. He only got two steps before he turned around and kissed Blaine quickly on the lips, whispering "now there's no question whether my dad saw us kiss or not." he then skipped back up the walkway, waving to Blaine.

Blaine stood by his car in shock for a moment before giving a wave to Kurt and Burt (...who was smiling). Burt appeared to be happy for them, albeit slightly confused. When the door closed behind Kurt, he climbed into his car and drove off, giddy laughter bubbling out of him.

1:55 the next day found Kurt ducking out of class to go to the bathroom. He had 5 minutes until his mark appeared. He was giddy and nervous, but mostly just could not handle sitting in a classroom while it happened. He needed to be able to see it as soon as it appeared. He needed to be sure that it said Blaine Anderson.

From Kurt: Blaine.
From Kurt: BlaineBlaineBlaineBlaineBlai ne.
From Kurt: BLAINE.
From Blaine: Kurt? Is everything ok?
From Blaine: OH CRAP YOU GOT YOUR MARK DIDN'T YOU?!
From Kurt: Yes.
From Kurt: Get over here. History hallway. Girls bathroom.
From Blaine: ?
From Kurt: ...old habits die hard."Kurt?" Blaine's voice floated around the corner to Kurt, who was standing in front of the mirror trying to see the name that had appeared on the back of his left shoulder. "You in here?"
"Yeah. Yeah, come into the handicap stall."

Blaine walked in and immediately stopped in his tracks. Kurt was standing there, and once again he was only wearing an undershirt and pants. Really, really tight pants. Blaine had seen Kurt wearing them just this morning, but now they were alone and the only other thing Kurt was wearing was an undershirt. Blaine gulped. "Hi" he squeaked.

Kurt, not seeming to notice, continued trying to see his mark in the mirror. "Can you, can you come over here and tell me what my mark says?"

"Yeah, sure." Blaine tried to get a hold on himself as he walked the few steps over to Kurt. He turned him lightly to peer over at his shoulder. He gasped as he saw the boxy letters of his name, in his handwriting, on Kurt's shoulder. Before he could stop himself, Blaine bent down and brushed his lips over the name.

"Blaine?" Kurt gasped.

"It's- it's my name."

"What were you expecting?" Kurt laughed, teasing Blaine, but still a bit giddy that it actually was Blaine's name on his shoulder. Something in his life was finally going right.

"I don't really know, I thought that maybe I had dreamed this whole thing up." Kurt turned himself around so that he was facing Blaine now.

"Can I see your mark now? You never actually showed me..." Kurt trailed off, looking slightly nervous about making his request.

"Oh! Yeah, yeah, of course you can see it. Um, hold on." Much to Kurt's dismay, Blaine took a step back, releasing his grip on Kurt. Kurt watched, slightly slack jawed as Blaine undid his bow tie and then proceeded to pull his sweater over his head (which was hung carefully on the little jacket hook on the back of the door) and then he began unbuttoning his shirt. He didn't remember giving himself permission to do so, but Kurt suddenly found himself reaching out and pushing Blaine's hands away before starting to undo the buttons himself. Blaine let Kurt take over, hands dropping limply to his sides as he watched. When Kurt reached the last button, he pushed the shirt off of Blaine's shoulders. Blaine caught the shirt when it reached his wrists and proceeded to take it off completely before he reached down and pulled his undershirt over his head in one swift motion.

Kurt gasped at the action, eyes roving over Blaine's chest before zeroing in on the name written directly below Blaine pec. Tentatively, Kurt reached out his hand. He let it brush lightly over the golden letters of his name before lifting his gaze to meet Blaine's. They both stood there staring at each other for a long moment before Kurt slid his hands down and around Blaine's back, tugging him closer while leaning in to kiss him.

Kurt wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, kissing each other with increasingly less nerves and more passion, but suddenly the bathroom door was banging open and a voice reached their ears.

"Kurt? Are you in here?" The boys sprung apart at the sound of Tina's worried voice. "Hello?"

"Yeah," Kurt panted. "I'm here." Kurt stepped away from Blaine and scrambled to find his shirt, throwing Blaine's clothes to him.

"Are you okay? You disappeared from class. Can I come in?" Tina's questioned, her footsteps approaching the stall. "...Kurt? Is someone in there with you?"

Kurt blushed a bright red. "Why would you-" Blaine sneezed, giving himself away as he fumbled with the buttons on his shirt. Fuck.

"Kurt?" Tina's feet came to a halt outside the stall door.

"I- One second." Kurt finished piling his layers on just as Blaine straightened his bow tie. He gripped Blaine's hand in his for a moment, squeezing it once before letting go and reaching out to unlock the door. "Hey Tina, what's up?" he asked, doing his best to sound nonchalant.

Tina's eyebrows rose in surprise when her eyes landed on Blaine before she started laughing loudly.

"What?" Kurt demanded indignantly.

"It's just" Tina giggled, fighting to get her words out. "You- You both look so utterly wrecked. Just yesterday you were barely talking and now I find you locked up in a bathroom stall together. Care to explain?" Tina attempted to keep a straight face, but finally broke down laughing again as Kurt and Blaine looked at each other somewhat guiltily.

"We, umm" Blaine started to say, glancing at Kurt with a plea for help.

Kurt sighed in mock exasperation before threading his fingers through Blaine's. "Tina, I'd like you to meet my soulmate, Blaine Anderson. Blaine, this is my friend Tina, who was sweet enough to worry about my well-being, so I'll let her laughter slide for a moment."

Tina's jaw dropped. "Wait. Seriously!?" she squealed. "I mean, we all hoped and suspected that you guys were soulmates, but when nothing happened after Blaine's birthday we thought..." Tina bounced in excitement for a moment longer before diving towards them and pulling them both into a hug.

After a moment Tina backed away again. "I'll just tell Mr. Peterson that you weren't feeling well and went home and I'll grab your stuff for you and meet you by your car with it when school gets out?"

"I- yeah Tina, that would be great. Thank you." Kurt said, somewhat surprised by her immediate willingness to help instead of demanding answers about their status and the last three weeks.

"Call me later so we can talk about this?" Tina asked Kurt.

"Yes. Yes I can definitely do that" Kurt replied with a grin.

Tina left the bathroom, waving to them both. Once the door swung shut behind her, Kurt and Blaine returned their attention to each other. Blaine moved onto his tip toes, kissing Kurt softly on the lips before he spoke. "So I'll just grab my stuff from study hall and we can go wait in your car until school gets out?" he asked hopefully, struggling to keep his eyes on Kurt's and not on his lips.

"Yes, definitely. Let's do that. I know I promised you a date last night but could we um," Kurt blushed, glancing away from Blaine as he spoke. He took a deep breath, steeling himself to ask the question. "Do you want to come over to my house instead? We can go on a date tomorrow or something I just really want to enjoy you without being interrupted..."

Blaine made a slightly strangled noise and his face turned pink. "I- I-"

"NOT LIKE THAT" Kurt quickly said, waving his hands around in a panic. "I just meant that I was hoping to get to spend some time kissing on the couch or something and cuddling with you while watching a movie. Not. Not that." Blaine's return to normal breathing was short lived however as Kurt then muttered "not yet anyways" while turning to pull Blaine towards the door.

They walked down the hallway, stopping to grab Blaine's stuff and then heading out the door. As they reached Blaine's car (which was parked closer to the school) the bell rang. Moments later, Tina came trotting out of the school carrying Kurt's bag. "Here you are. Have fun boys" she said, winking and walking away from them and over to her own car.

"So I guess I'll see you in a few minutes at your house?" Blaine asked, shifting his weight nervously.

"Yes you will" Kurt smiled. They both stood motionless for a few moments, clearly wanting to kiss each other. The sound of a car door closing knocked them both out of their revery. Blushing, Blaine climbed into his car, with a wave to Kurt before he started the engine.

Things were going to be okay between them.