Kurt worked through his morning routine systematically, filing his nails, cleansing his skin, working product through his hair until it was styled to perfection. For some reason, he felt good about today. The sun was shining through his open bedroom windows, he could hear birds chirping in a tree very near his apartment that weren’t drowned out by car noises and this was to be the second day where there wasn’t a mention about Liam Phillips.

He’d planned what to wear for the Marie Claire press event already and was thinking about what he’d get Blaine to wear. In his mind, Kurt could already see the outfit; beige suit pants, white shirt and black tie, but he had wanted to make a jacket with the tartan-like checked fabric he’d seen the other day. Although, the event was still a week away so he had plenty of time and the press were bound to slow down in their vendetta to discover what was the name on the palm of his hand know that he’d said, in polite but no uncertain terms, that Liam Phillips was not it.

He sent a quick text to Blaine before climbing into the car and speeding away to the factor that produced all the fabric he was using this time round. Kurt opened his sketchbook to a blank page and started to sketch the outline of the jacket he would have to make for Blaine, giving up when the car drove over a large manhole cover and jerked, making his pencil skid across the page to leave an unsightly line right across the face of the jacket.

Instead his mind turned to his upcoming line. It was months away from being released but one thing that was needed was the name. The whole line was based on the clothes that Blaine wore and dedicated to Blaine as well. After all, without his soul mate, the third line Kurt would be producing wouldn’t contain the clothes that it did. So one thing was certain: it would be named after Blaine.

“Anderson by Kurt Hummel,” Kurt said out loud, testing the potential name. He shook his head. “B. Anderson by Kurt Hummel.” That didn’t work either. Feeling the road and the drive was far smoother, Kurt rubbed out the errant pencil line and continued with drawing Blaine’s outfit.

They pulled up outside the factory and the owner was standing outside, hands in his pockets and a -falsely happy smile on his face. They shook hands and immediately headed towards the large stock room, where any type of fabric was found. Kurt switched his phone onto silent as he wandered round the factory, pointing out rolls of fabric that he liked and would consider for his line.

“Do you have any thinner stripes?” He asked after he was shown the fourth sample piece of fabric with large stripes that you couldn’t pay Kurt to use on a piece of his clothes. Blaine owned a cardigan with black and grey stripes that looked good but those stripes were just a little thicker than pinstripes. If any clothes were going to contain stripes, they had to be stripes no thicker than the ones on Blaine’s cardigan.

Kurt’s phone vibrated on top of the sketchbook and pile of papers in his arm. He looked down, saw the number was unrecognised and ignored the call.

He was showed a few more patches where the stripes were thinner but not what he was looking for. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Kurt asked to see even thinner stripes. The owner’s false smile grew even more false and he trundled off to find more samples.

His phone buzzed again. This time Kurt frowned when he saw another unrecognised number but this was different to the first one. Again, this call was ignored and when the owner came back to Kurt carrying more patches, he forgot about the call.

“No I’m not using wool or a jersey knit for this cardigan. I wanted more of a cashmere feel.” Kurt said, a little while later. The owner was arguing one type of fabric over another and he and Kurt were sat on opposite sides of the table, elbows rested on the table top and were beginning to lean in towards each as the argument grew heated although not loud. The buzzing noise sounded again and Kurt looked at his phone for the sixth time. This call was from someone he recognised and he took great pleasure in excusing himself from the conversation with the fabric factory owner to answer the call.

“Hi Mercedes,” He said brightly, happy to take a break from his disagreement with the other man, “How is everything? When are you next coming to New York-”

“Kurt-”

“- because I want you to meet Blaine. I know that you are really busy with your music videos, which I saw by the way and you look fantastic-”

“Kurt-”

“- but I’d really like you to meet him. If you and Sam could come together then that would be even better! We could go out and it wouldn’t be a third wheel situation like it’s been for years because I’ve got my-”

“Kurt!”

Mercedes never raised her voice, especially not to her oldest friend. Kurt immediately stopped talking and he frowned, staring into space with a confused expression. He did, however, fall silent.

“You haven’t seen the internet this morning have you?” There was no anger in Mercedes’ voice, only worry.

“No. I’ve been looking at fabrics since I left my apartment this morning.” Kurt’s confused expression melted away and now he started to panic. “Why? What’s going on?”

“You need to check the gossip websites. E!, TMZ, Us Weekly. You need to see them.”

Keeping Mercedes on the phone line, Kurt walked back to where his pile of papers was left on the desk. Caught between an order for silk and an order for cotton, both for the bow ties, was Kurt’s iPad and he searched one of the gossip websites Mercedes had mentioned.

The page took its time loading up but when it did Kurt clapped a hand over his mouth and swallowed a shout of dismay. On the front page, clear as day, was a picture of Blaine, Blaine’s hand and his mark displayed for the world to see. The headline written over the picture read: ‘Confirmed: NYU student Blaine Anderson is Kurt Hummel’s soul mate’.

He quickly opened up a few more tabs and selected other gossip websites. The front page of all of them was the same picture, something from a different angle, and the main article was about him and Blaine.

“Oh my dear g-d.” He mumbled. He heard Mercedes sending words of encouragement from LA but he didn’t listen to anything she was really saying. His eyes were wide as they were fixed on the picture, on the proof that had been torn from his and Blaine’s private lives and spread across the gossip world like it was something a celebrity had worn on the red carpet.

“Mercedes, I need to go.” He said, cutting her off in her attempt to help, “I need to find Blaine.”

--

Blaine had finished gelling his hair down when his phone rang and Nick burst into the room, Jennifer and Sugar a pace behind him. They were all staring at him like he had stuck a dead animal to the top of his head in the gel and he turned around to check what was behind him just in case someone had stolen something in the night.

His bookshelf remained intact so he raised an eyebrow when he looked at his friends again. “What?”

Sugar burst to the front of the pack and passed him his computer. She seemed to have forgotten that she was meant to be ignoring him. “Google search your name, Blainey.”

“Wait, what?”

“Just do it.” Nick’s voice was hard and left no option for arguing.

The time it took his computer to turn on and load up the internet was far too long. The hairs on the back of Blaine’s neck were rising as his three closest friends crowded around his chair. Sugar was too impatient and she kept tapping her long nails on the back of Blaine’s shoulder.

Eventually, he typed his own name into Google and waited for the page to load. Previously a few links to pages had been returned on a search for Blaine Anderson. He, Wes and David would search each other’s names just for curiosity and the return search for the correct Blaine Anderson had only turned up after he’d signed up for Facebook. He hadn’t Google searched himself recently but he guessed there were a few more articles because of all the links the press had put together between him and Kurt.

“That one. That one.” Sugar pointed at the website for E! and Blaine dutifully clicked the link. He immediately frowned at the page while it was loading but Sugar took the mouse literally out of his hands and selected news. The front page looked like a picture of Kurt and a headline about his soul mate.

Then he gasped and understood the looks his friends had been giving him when they burst into the room. He also guessed why his phone hadn’t stopped vibrating since they’d pushed their way into the room.

The top story was indeed about Kurt but the main picture on the article was of him. Or, more specifically, of his hand. Blaine remembered that moment when he turned his face into the camera flashes and had flinched, bringing his hand up to shield his eyes from the lights.

“Oh my g-d I used my left hand.” He covered his mouth with his hand and the words came out muffled. He hadn’t realised at the time, hadn’t thought about which hand he was using to protect his eyes. He hadn’t considered that by sticking his left hand into the path of the lights he would be showing the world his mark. Showing the world his mark while the world was equipped with cameras.

“Well your secret’s out, Blaine.” Nick said unnecessarily. He clapped a hand on Blaine’s shoulder and squeezed in what he hoped was a reassuring way. “And not in the way Kurt wanted, with whatever that event was he mentioned in the article in Marie Claire.”

“And I bet Kurt’s way would have been far less explosive than this.” Jennifer finished Nick’s sentence, again speaking the unnecessary.

Blaine could barely breathe. This was it. He’d be known as the idiot who had his mark photographed by a hundred paparazzi. And before he stood with Kurt, arm in arm, and proudly declared that this man was his soul mate. He hadn’t known what the event was or what the plan was to release that information to the public but it would be classy and special if he knew Kurt.

Not like this. This was more like the grand gestures Blaine could have used if he’d failed to have his mark taken seriously the first time. This was more like something Liam Phillips would have done if it had been planned.

And that classy and special way to announce to the world that Kurt Hummel had found his soul mate, and Blaine was that man? That plan had to be thrown into the bin now.

His phone hadn’t stopped vibrating. Blindly, Blaine reached out and accepted the call without looking at the caller ID.

“Hello?” His voice was weak and shaking, his heart still pounding from shock and despair.

“Blaine, can we get a statement from you about your recent photos? We’d like an exclusive that tells us about how you and Kurt met and-”

Blaine cut the conversation off robotically. His phone immediately started vibrating in his hand but he didn’t need to look at the screen this time. Sugar did it for him.

“Oh it’s Cooper!” She sounded far too bright for the situation. “Say hi to him from me. I’m still waiting to hear from him about that commercial, you know.”

“Priorities Sugar!” Nick snapped, sounding much more like what Blaine needed at that moment: worried and shocked.

Sugar regarded her friend with a raised eyebrow and a totally unimpressed look on her face. “That is a priority.” She said, sounding more affronted this time, “And I was going to ask my daddy to buy all the websites and pay them not to write about Blaine. Maybe that will help make this go away.”

Blaine missed Nick’s answer to that by accepting Cooper’s call. He had barely put the phone to his ear and hadn’t greeted his brother when Cooper started talking.

“Blaine, what happened? Why are there pictures of your hand all over the internet and the gossip columns?” He was happy to hear that Cooper sounded as worried as Nick did.

“Um, I don’t know what happened Coop. I was just leaving my exam and they ambushed me and I didn’t know what to do-”

“So you let them photograph your hand! What were you thinking? The public like the guessing games: you should have kept your hand closed, or worn a glove, or something other than this.”

“I didn’t do on purpose, Coop.” Blaine snapped. “They surprised me and the lights were really bright and I was just shielding my eyes from the flash.”

Cooper was silent for a moment but when he spoke his voice was still worried but a little gentler. “That was an accident?” Blaine nodded and made sounds of agreement. “Oh, g-d. That’s bad little brother.”

“I know.” He moaned and rested his head in his free hand. He could still hear his friends behind him, talking about some way to help Blaine with what was sure to be an interesting next few days.

“It was like you guys were on the edge of a cliff and this was the push to send you over. The fallout is huge, Blaine. I’m looking at all the comments on this site and I think Heather is out buying all the magazines she can. Most of the stores won’t even be open yet but she’s looking. Blaine, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s paparazzi camped outside your dorm. No one’s mark has ever been caught on film like that before, revealing who their soul mate is without a shadow of doubt.”

“Camped outside?” Blaine sucked in a huge breath and sped out of the room in his socks, one hand still holding the phone close to his ear. He raced passed his peers, who had come out of their dorms and were pointing after him, talking loudly about what they’d heard or seen.

When Blaine reached the bottom floor and ran to the glass doors and pushed the inner one open. Cold concrete beneath his socks and a flush over his face, Blaine stared at the sea of photographers outside the main door. He had seen a crowd this large outside movie premiers and at the fashion show he and Nick had gone to a few weeks ago. It was nearly double the size that had ambushed him yesterday and all of the people standing there were holding microphones and cameras, some video cameras and some photography cameras.

“The crowd is huge isn’t it?” Cooper asked.

“Yep.”

“I’m sorry Blaine. You deserve everything but not to be harassed by the press. They won’t go away. They are like a bad smell that no amount of air freshener will get rid of.” An involuntary laugh spilled out of Blaine and he heard the smile in his brother’s voice.

Cooper’s voice then turned serious. “Are you going to be ok?”

“Probably.” Blaine shrugged even though his brother couldn’t see him. Luckily, none of the paparazzi had seen him just yet. “I have to be, right?”

“Have you spoken to Kurt yet? He’s probably being mobbed as well.”

“Not yet.” Blaine rubbed the back of his neck and turned away from the door, walking back inside the warm dorms. “Cooper, what do I do?”

His brother was hardly an expert at how to deal with the paparazzi. Cooper had never been photographed while revising in Central Park and he certainly hadn’t accidentally shown his mark to the media and had a hundred or more journalists camped outside his house the day after.

“Ring Kurt and let him know what’s going on your end.” Cooper said in a very matter-of-fact manner. “Then I’d go to your lectures and try and forget this. Have you got any classes today?”

“One revision seminar for my next exam. In an hour or so actually.”

“Leave now and hide in the seminar room for as long as possible. And then go to Kurt’s tonight because they might not know where that is. Not that I’m advocating my baby brother spending the night with his soul mate. I want no funny business.”

“Don’t call me that, Coop.” He replied, referring to ‘baby brother’, “But thanks.”

“Good luck, squirt.”

Before Blaine could reply that Cooper shouldn’t call him that either, he had hung up the phone. Blaine raced back upstairs, ignoring any and all of the people calling out his name. Sugar and Jennifer had left the room but Nick was perched on Blaine’s bed, wading through the numerous gossip websites that featured Blaine as the main story.

“Where are you going?” Nick asked when he saw Blaine slipping on some shoes, grab a cardigan from his closet and swing his bag onto his shoulder.

“The American history seminar.” Nick checked his watch and Blaine pre-empted the question. “I know it’s not for a little while, but if I can make my escape now then the huge crowd of photographers might not see me sneak out and I can hide in the seminar room for a little bit.”

“You know there’s only one way out of this building, Blaine.” Nick stood up and hurried out of the room with his friend, Sugar following when she saw Blaine walk passed her open door like he was on a mission, “How will you sneak out passed all those people?”

Blaine shrugged and bounded down the stairs. With Nick and Sugar following, he had an audience and people on the lower floors crowded round the staircase to see the boy in the news run passed.

When he got down to the front doors however, he saw that his plan wouldn’t work. In the time he’d been upstairs grabbing the last minute things he needed to leave the safety and warmth of his dorm, one of the photographers had noticed he had been standing in the tiny porch. And one person was all it took to get the crowd of photographers to turn around and face the building.

So when Blaine walked into the porch again, Nick and Sugar right behind him, flashes went off like a conductor had started the symphony. All three paused and stared at the crowd, not knowing that many cameras even existed in New York. Then Nick and Sugar grabbed one of Blaine’s arms each and pulled him back inside the dorms.

“Sorry, Blaine,” Nick said after he’d withdrawn his head from round the door frame as he’d taken a second look at the crowd, “I don’t think you’re leaving the dorm.”

--

Kurt had stopped at hummels to briefly pick up Tina and dumped the majority of what he’d taken to the fabric factory in his office. Now he just carried his phone which he’d stuck to his ear to try and get hold of Blaine. Every time he rang his soul mate’s number, the line was engaged so Kurt would end the call and try again.

He had a pretty good idea of what was happening. Friends, family member and the paparazzi would be calling Blaine, trying to talk to him to find out what was happening or get a statement to release to the public. They were all calling and thus were blocking his call.

Tina was also on the phone but she was ringing the PR department, telling them in no uncertain terms not to answer any questions about Blaine, Blaine’s mark, Kurt or Kurt’s mark. Not until Kurt gave the ok: which would only come after he saw Blaine.

“Any luck?” She asked, typing an email to a nosy shareholder who felt that just because he owned a few shares that he had a say in how Kurt’s soul mate was revealed.

Kurt shook his head. “Not yet.” He tapped Blaine’s number again and held his cell up to his ear again. Engaged tone again.

His phone started ringing in his hands and an unknown number filled the screen. Kurt rejected the call and rang Blaine again. Still engaged.

“How close are we?” He asked, looking round to see if he could spot any recognisable landmarks.

“Close.”

Kurt had demanded they drive straight to Blaine’s dorms and Tina had agreed. The outside of hummels had been mobbed. Customers could barely push their way through the crowd of journalists to get inside the store and that was no place to deal with the likelihood that Blaine, inexperienced with the press as he was, would be swarmed as well.

Currently they were driving through the busy streets of New York, getting closer and closer to the NYU dorms with each passing moment. Kurt wanted to get as close as possible. He’d probably have to run through the crowd of reporters to get to Blaine so he wanted to at least be prepared first.

His phone rang again, an unknown number but the same as the one that had rang the time before. Kurt ignored the call again and tried Blaine. Still engaged.

“How are you going to handle this, Kurt?” Tina asked. She’d finished her emails and was perusing the gossip sites to find out what people were saying. Some were annoyed that their business had been splashed around the tabloids like that while others were very amused that Blaine and Kurt’s relationship had been revealed in such a way.

“First I’ll get to Blaine.” Kurt peered out the window, still not recognising the buildings, and held the phone up to his ear again. Still engaged. “Then I guess I’ll have to make a statement. Although I still might wait for that Marie Claire event. Just because everybody knows that Blaine’s my soul mate doesn’t mean it’s their business.”

His phone rang with the same number for a third time and now Kurt answered it.

“Listen, I am not taking any questions at the present time. Thank-”

“Kurt, it’s me.” Blaine said quickly.

Kurt took the phone away from his ear and stared at the unknown number. “Where are you ringing me from?”

“Nick’s phone. Mine hasn’t stopped ringing so I’ve put it on silent and buried it in my bed.”

“Blaine.” Tina’s gasp told Kurt that she hadn’t realised who he had been talking to. “What happened? Where are those pictures from?”

“Um,” Blaine went silent for a moment, “well, I got cornered after my exam yesterday evening. And the lights were really bright and I was already disorientated after my exam so when a camera flash went right into my eyes I brought my hand up to shield my eyes from the flashes.”

Kurt understood what had happened and sunk his head into his free hand. “Blaine.”

“I know, I know!” Blaine sounded distressed but not defensive. There was nothing that could be done anyway. “I didn’t think about which hand I was using and I didn’t think I was showing them my palm or your name on my hand and I just, I don’t know-”

“It’s ok.” Kurt and Tina exchanged glances. It wasn’t ok but there was nothing that could be done now.

“There are all these photographers outside my dorms, Kurt. I can’t even leave. I don’t know if anyone can leave, for that matter.” A voice was heard from the other end of the line, high and sugary and Blaine corrected himself. “Actually, no one can leave. The hall reps have had to call the university to explain why people can’t get to exams. G-d Kurt this is all my fault.”

“Stop it. This isn’t your fault. You made a mistake but you didn’t ask for those pictures to be printed.” He glanced at the streets again. Finally a landmark he recognised: they were close.

“But it’s my hand. You don’t get more proof of who someone’s soul mate is than the writing on their hand. You can’t argue against that. And what if people don’t like that I’m your soul mate? Like who-”

“Who wouldn’t like that you’re my soul mate, Blaine?” What had Blaine been hearing? “It’s not anyone’s business. Soul mates aren’t chosen randomly, you know that. We’re each other’s perfect match. How can anyone argue with that?”

“Well I’m not anyone famous or special. Like there’s this poster who commented saying he always hoped you’d be with Chandler Kiehl. And another one who said that they wished you-”

“Forget about who my fans want me to be with, Blaine!” Kurt said with a laugh. They finally pulled up to a curb just round the corner from Blaine’s dorm rooms. They’d have to get even closer if Kurt was going to run through the crowd of photographers to get to Blaine.

“And don’t think you aren’t special just because you’re not famous.” Kurt insisted. Edward killed the engine and twisted in his seat to talk to Tina, who slid closer to their driver. It gave Kurt some semblance of privacy in the car with two others. “You’re my soul mate, what’s more special than that?”

Blaine fell silent and Kurt imagined that he was trying to hide a small bashful smile on his otherwise worried face.

“I don’t understand what the big deal is though,” Blaine said after a moment. Kurt heard him rustle around the room he was sitting in. “I mean, I think there are more of them that have turned up. Just for a picture of me leaving my dorm? I don’t understand what’s so special about that?”

That was the question every celerity wanted to know the answer to. What was so special about then leaving their house in the morning, or going for a run or walking their dog? What was so special about whom they were dating, or sleeping with or the name on the palm of their hands?

“That’s a good question, Blaine, but no one knows the answer to it.” Kurt settled for saying. He too had seen a new van of reporters drive up to add to the horde of people standing outside.

Suddenly Blaine laughed. “I just saw two people just try and break through the crowd. They probably have an exam they don’t want to miss.” Then his voice turned guilty again. “I can’t believe they nearly missed their exam because of all the paparazzi waiting for me.”

Sure enough, two frazzled students pushed through the crowd of photographers. Kurt watched them shake their heads at the people, who looked ready to climb over each other to get close to the doors and closer to Blaine, and then hurry away towards the subway a few blocks from there.

“Stop it Blaine. It is not your fault they are outside.” Kurt’s voice was firm but he kept it light. Blaine was doing enough worrying for the both of them.

“What are we going to do about this?” His voice was quiet and muffled, his face still pressed against the glass of the window he’d been looking out of.

Kurt ran a hand over his face and rubbed a little at his tired eyes. And to think: he’d woken up feeling good about today. “We’ll go to the press event Jane is putting on next week and talk about this then. Not a second before. No questions, no statements; nothing.”

“What is that event? I saw it mentioned in the article but I don’t remember you saying anything about it.”

“Jane is just putting on a black tie event, an evening to show off what Marie Claire can do and to get more high profile people to agree to do photoshoots and interviews with them.” Kurt explained. “But the press have been invited and there will be a red carpet, so she came up with the idea that we go together and tell a reporter there that we are soul mates.”

“That was planned before I decided to have a photo taken of my left hand.”

Kurt gave a small laugh, seemingly inappropriate given the circumstance. “Yes, that’s true. But we can still make the official announcement there. Until you or I say something specifically about whether we’re soul mates or not, believe it or not, it’s still just speculation.”

Now Blaine laughed at the absurdity of what Kurt was saying. “Speculation? About whose name is scarred onto my hand? There’s pretty much all the proof the world needs.”

“But we can still make the announcement romantic.”

Blaine fell silent for a moment and Kurt waited patiently. “Ok. We’ll announce it then. But you have to talk; I don’t have a good past with talking to people with cameras.”

“Deal.” Kurt fell silent and something he’d been thinking about for a while flitted through his mind again.

“I wish I’d met you earlier. Before all this.” He said. He kept his voice low and Tina and Edward diplomatically put their heads together to talk a little more about what was going to happen next for hummels.

“What do you mean?”

“Back when we were in high school.” Kurt traced a line down his jeans with his perfectly filed finger nail. “When we were younger and still competing in Glee, worrying about which cheerleader was dating the quarterback and how lucky our friends were to have connected in high school.”

Blaine gave a small laugh and a sound of agreement but he didn’t interrupt.

“That way, we’d have gone through this together. My move to New York, becoming famous, you following me to go to NYU. I’d have had my soul mate by my side this whole time. And you’d have had me as well: no questions about my name and yours, and definitely no press camping outside your dorms for hours.”

He fell silent and both of them pictured what their lives could have been like if they’d connected earlier. Maybe they’d have met at Sectionals, a romantic connection across the stage that they’d have hidden because Ohio wasn’t the friendliest to gay soul mates. Or they’d have connected beforehand and Kurt might have moved to Dalton rather than North Lima High during his junior year when Karofsky’s bullying became unbearable.

“I might be majoring in music right now.” Blaine quietly admitted. There was a truth Kurt had known for a while but finally heard being admitted. History was a subject Blaine enjoyed but not his passion.

“We could have both been famous.”

Blaine laughed again. “I doubt that. You would have always made it Kurt. You’re just so special the world deserves to have you working for it in such a powerful way.”

“Saving the world one fashion victim at a time?” Kurt asked with a smile on his face.

“Exactly. Me, I’d have been content with small shows or teaching music at a music college. I wouldn’t be famous, except for carrying your jacket on the red carpet.”

Another van pulled up at the curb just outside the dorms and Kurt watched three more photographers pour out and join the crowd pushing to get closer to the doors. From the phone he heard Blaine sigh loudly.

“G-d, more people have just turned up. Is there nothing going on elsewhere? The elections? Some other scandal that’s actually a scandal.” Blaine made an exasperated noise. “I really wish you were here Kurt.”

“I am.”

“What?” Even through his confusion, Kurt heard Blaine’s excitement.

“I’m here. I’m outside.”

--

Blaine was standing next to the window in Nick’s dorm, the borrowed phone held to his ear and one side of his face pressed against the glass. He heard what Kurt said the first time but it didn’t register but then when Kurt had told him that he was sitting outside, Blaine had eagerly pressed his whole face against the glass as if trying to crawl through it to get to him.

“Where are you?” He asked. He looked up and down the street to try and spot a car that he recognised.

“A street or so away but I can still see the horde of followers you’ve got. I can move closer if I need to come inside.”

Blaine just about resisted crying out for joy and asking Kurt to do just that in a voice that would have squeaked in his excitement. He tried to peer round the window pane, through wood and brick, to see where Kurt was sat.

“You were going to brave the crowd of paparazzi just to get inside the dorms?” Blaine asked. He couldn’t keep the hope out of his voice. He hadn’t seen Kurt since before the article in Marie Claire had been published because of his exam. So seeing his soul mate was wonderful news. And in the middle of this mess, a mess of his own creation no matter how many times Kurt said it wasn’t his fault, seeing Kurt was like the first ray of sunshine after a monsoon that devastated a town.

“Of course.” Kurt gave a tiny laugh. “I’m not dressed for it, but I’ll walk right through that crowd if they won’t part.”

“Now?” This time he sounded too eager but Blaine couldn’t bear it. A black car moved into his vision and the smile that grew on Blaine’s face was wide and joyous. He knew that was Kurt. He watched the car halt just opposite the entrance to the dorms.

Blaine tore himself away from the window and threw himself down the hall, speeding passed his open door and seeing Nick, Jennifer and Sugar fly out into the hallway. Other people he passed called his name to try and get his attention but he ignored them all, not even stopping to apologise if he ran right into them.

“I’m at the door.” He said to Kurt when he reached the double doors leading to the outside world, to the paparazzi and to Kurt. He was grateful now that the inner door was of thick wood because he could loiter here until Kurt made it through the paparazzi.

“Ok. Prepare for this run.”

Kurt kept the line open and through the phones, Blaine heard the car door open and then slam shut. He heard Kurt mumble to someone and then heard more footsteps as Kurt crossed the busy road. He bounced on his toes for a moment longer before he could stand it no more. Blaine opened the inner door and stepped out onto the concrete porch to watch Kurt.

Photographers started snapping pictures but many had turned around and were aiming their cameras in the opposite direction to Blaine. To where Kurt was obviously coming from. Blaine watched from behind the frosty glass, standing on tiptoes and ignoring the cold seeping through his body from his feet as he strained for a glimpse of Kurt.

Then Kurt broke free from the main body of paparazzi and the last few stragglers parted like the Red Sea to allow Kurt to pass. They didn’t stop taking photographs of the pair of them however. Kurt was holding his head high, hair coiffed perfectly even after pushing through a crowd and scarf only a little askew. Edward was walking a step behind him, his arms outstretched and keeping a small distance between his boss and the overeager paparazzi. Blaine could see that they were shouting questions but Kurt ignored them all, looking down his nose at a few who were too enthusiastic with their questions.

If Blaine had been outside, he would have seen a hundred faces of his peers pressed against the windows of all floors of the dorms. Nick, Sugar and Jennifer were in the room Blaine had been in but were smiling with happiness: at least Nick was, Sugar had taken to straightening her outfit so she could give Kurt a good first impression. All hundred peers had their mouths open and their camera phones out, documenting every step Kurt made towards their dorms.

Kurt was only a few steps away and Blaine pushed the outer door open, a wide smile on his face. One hand he kept on the door to hold it open while he held out the other for Kurt to take once he reached him. A cacophony of sound hit him like a tidal wave when he removed the last barrier between him and the outside world. The noise of the traffic, the paparazzi, the questions, the cameras snapping nonstop. But Blaine ignored it all and kept his eyes on Kurt.

The feel of Kurt’s hand in his was almost like coming home after a long trip away. They immediately interlocked their fingers and Kurt paused for a moment before crossing the threshold.

“Good luck, Mr H.” Edward said, a Bronx accent sounding strange after the familiarity of Kurt’s Ohio one. Then the driver turned to Blaine. “You too Blaine.”

“Thanks, Edward.” Kurt said sincerely. Photographs were being taken to document every second and questions were still being shouted. They ignored them all and Kurt stepped inside Blaine’s halls for only the second time, Blaine quickly closing the door this time.

Kurt was completely aware of the glass surrounding them so he gestured towards the inside door. Blaine led him over that threshold without looking away from his soul mate, almost like a man who’d lived in the dark was seeing the sun for the first time in his life. Once the inner door closed out the paparazzi for the time being, Blaine pulled Kurt in an embrace that had him burying his face in Kurt’s neck.

“I’m so glad you’re here.” He mumbled.

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” Kurt whispered. The repetition of the words Blaine had said only a few days ago wasn’t lost to either boy and they separated only when the creak of a staircase alerted them to their audience inside. Blaine’s NYU peers were crowded on the staircase and staring down at the couple like they were new animals in the zoo.

“Come on. My dorm’s on the third floor.” Blaine took Kurt’s hand and pulled him down the corridor, quickly climbing the three flights of stairs and ignoring every single staring face. They could have run down the third floor corridor, hand in hand and smiling at each other but they didn’t: Kurt’s shoes weren’t made to run in and Blaine would have slid all across the floor in his socks. Instead they walked together and Kurt looked from side to side to take in what the inside of college halls looked like.

Nick, Sugar and Jennifer were standing outside Nick’s room when they passed it and Blaine saw Nick clap his hand over Sugar’s mouth as she tried to step forward to talk to Kurt. The look of outrage on her face made Blaine chuckle but he didn’t stop walking towards his own room even though Kurt turned to see what was so funny.

The loud slam of the door to his room was satisfying, separating him and Kurt from the outside world. It left just the two of them in the small room that Blaine called home, pictures from his Dalton days on the bookshelves and a framed photograph of his family on his desk, posters of musicians on the wall and his cupboard door wide open showing the world the state of his clothes. Kurt hadn’t noticed the many bundled up sweaters and Blaine quickly closed the door before his soul mate could spot them.

Kurt had perched himself on the bed having straightened up the rumpled covers. They could both hear the vibrations of Blaine’s phone that had been hastily stuffed under his pillow and they shared a small laugh.

“Thank you for coming here.” Blaine said once he’d taken a seat next to Kurt. He reached out and covered Kurt’s hand with his own. “How you took today off work, especially with your new line, just to come here…”

“Blaine I’m the boss: I don’t need to worry about being fired if I take a day off work.” Kurt nudged Blaine’s arm with his own and gave a smile when he saw one spread across Blaine’s face.

“Besides,” Kurt said, his tone leaving no room for argument, “I don’t care about a crowd of sweaty vultures who are swooping for the newest scoop. They want a picture of you and me but I’d rather make sure you were ok. You came and stayed with me while you should have been revising for your exam. Skipping a day of work to be here for you is nothing.”

Maybe it was the emotional twists and turns of the past few days. Maybe it was the fact that through whatever had happened with the media to the two of them, and had been going on for weeks with the speculation now, they had been there for each other. But Blaine was sat on his bed, watching Kurt as he talked about the scavengers circling below and feeling his soft hand below Blaine’s own and he had never felt more perfect.

“I love you.” He said, his mouth moving and speaking his mind without conscious thought. As soon as he said it, he realised it was a hundred percent true.

Kurt had fallen silent in the moment that Blaine spoke and he turned his head to look, not staring but just looking. A small smile grew on his lips and he flipped his hand so that the back was against Blaine’s bed and he could hold their palms together.

“I love you too.” He said, quickly and almost in shock that he was saying those words.

They smiled at each other for a moment, silent but completely comfortable, before leaning together for a kiss. The sound of people walking up and down the hall outside didn’t disturb them. The sound of the paparazzi outside, some leaving as there was nothing happening here for the moment and other shouting for Blaine and Kurt, didn’t distract them. Public and popular opinions were ignored. Instead they were just soul mates who had come together and confessed their love.

--

There was a torrent of sound outside the press event put on by Jane Goodman the following week. A large red carpet was laid out on the ground and it led into a hotel with its doors wide open, an event hall with tables set up and a large area for speeches where Jane and other high ranking editors of Marie Claire would promote their magazine and the newest fashion showcased by them.

The media stood outside alongside screaming fans, shouting the names of their heroes, designers and models alike waving happily to people who called their names. There was a schedule for people to arrive at the event and currently four designers and three models were stood on the red carpet, slowly making their way up its long length towards the hotel.

Inside the car just three from the beginning of the red carpet, Blaine was sat with his knee bouncing up and down with nerves. He kept tugging at his checked, multi-coloured jacket, made especially for him for this event by Kurt. Kurt who, sat in the back of the car next to him, looked like they were on their way to buy a cup of coffee.

“Are you not nervous at all?” Blaine asked. One car had moved away and Edward followed the line of cars as they moved up. From outside the front window, Blaine watched as a woman was helped out of the car, her legs going on for miles.

Kurt shook his head but he reached out and straightened Blaine’s tie, rearranged the lapels on his jacket and brush off some imaginary lint from the shoulder. The car moved up again and now they were due to be the next ones out.

“We’ll be fine.” Kurt assured him. He took a moment to straighten his own clothes, a black suit jacket with silver buttons and silver embellishments on the shoulders, black waistcoat with the same silver buttons and black suit pants, complete with his own bow tie. He peered into the rear view mirror to straighten the bow tie, silver and eye catching, while the car crawled the last few metres.

Edward finally pulled up at the start of the red carpet. The door opened and Kurt stepped out of the car first, a blinding smile on his face as he swept his eyes over the scene. Blaine quickly scooted over the seats and took Kurt’s hand before he left the safety of Edward’s car.

The sound could have knocked him back and the lights left searing spots on his vision but he kept his composure and stuck to Kurt’s side like they were glued. He closed the door gently and felt it leave. For a moment he wanted to run from this crowd of people, lights and noise and dive back into the moving vehicle but he squeezed Kurt’s hand instead and together they stepped out onto the red carpet.

Fans were cheering Kurt’s name and Blaine raised one eyebrow when he heard his own name being shouted a few times. Kurt simply waved at a few people but didn’t give any autographs: this was a press event so the people with cameras and microphones standing a little further down the red carpet were more important.

Kurt chose one seemingly at random and headed their way, tugging Blaine along behind him while his eyes continued to wander over the scene in front of him. Lights were still flashing and his ears were still buzzing from the sheer amount of noise out there but this time Blaine could see the other people on the carpet with them. Models who towered over everyone in beautiful dresses and high heels were posing for pictures. Fashion designers were talking with the press about their newest designs or an upcoming fashion show. Fashion editors were also being interviewed, laughing loudly about how they were on the other side of the notebook this time.

A tug on his hand made Blaine focus on the conversation that had just begun in front of him. Kurt was still smiling widely, a smile that Blaine knew was one of the ones he put on especially for an event like this. It wasn’t genuine but still beautiful.

“I hear you’ve recently connected, Kurt, congratulations.” The journalist was saying, holding the microphone close to her mouth. “You had us guessing for a while but recent developments have shown us that you have found the one.”

A blush bloomed on Blaine’s cheeks. Recent developments like the picture of his mark circling the gossip tabloids for days.

Kurt, however, only laughed and said: “Yes. Thank you. We were keeping it out of the public eye for a while but no more.”

The interviewer reclaimed her microphone but turned to look at Blaine. She spoke again, still directing her words at Kurt. “This is him?” She winked exaggeratedly at Kurt, making sure the camera caught it too. “He’s cute.”

“Thank you.” Kurt repeated with an accompanying laugh. “This is my soul mate, Blaine Anderson.”

The roaring that had settled in Blaine’s ears but it seemed to grow in pitch when Kurt said the fateful words. He smiled at her and the camera, his blush still high on his face from his mistake and the reporter’s compliment.

“Can we confirm a few things then?” She asked with a cheeky smile. Kurt shrugged one shoulder so she took that as a ‘go ahead’. “The article that had you connected with someone else…?”

“That was false, but I do wish him luck in finding his real Kurt Hummel.” Kurt said quickly, actually leaning towards the microphone in his haste to answer the question.

“And what’s in store for hummels? I hear rumours about a new line on its way.” She prodded, seeking all the scoop she could get.

Again Kurt laughed. “Yes. My new line. But that’s all I’ll say about it for the moment.”

“Can we have the name of it?”

Kurt looked at Blaine with a far smaller and far more genuine smile. “B.A.” He said simply and Blaine’s blush bloomed again. Kurt’s new line was based on and named after him?

“Isn’t that romantic.” The reporter said into her camera. She turned back to Kurt and Blaine, nodding her head at both of them in turn. “Well congratulations Kurt, congratulations Blaine.” She turned to the camera again. “That was Kurt Hummel and his lovely soul mate, a face we’ve seen before but can now put a name to.”

“You’re naming your line after me?” Blaine asked in a quiet voice as they moved away from the journalist and walked a little further down the red carpet.

Kurt nodded, a little bashful. “It’s based on what you wear and you’re so important to me so I thought it would be appropriate.” He halted and brought their joined hands up between their bodies. “Is that ok?”

For a reply, Blaine leant forward, raised himself slightly off the ground and pressed a small kiss to Kurt’s lips. The increased flashing of cameras catching on of the first romantic moments between them wasn’t lost to either boy. They just didn’t react.

“So ok.” Blaine replied when he’d settled on the floor again. “Was that alright? Not too much?”

“Not too much.” Kurt repeated. He jerked his head towards the hotel. “Come on.”

They walked towards the hotel down the rest of the red carpet, hands tightly clasped together and smiles on their faces. Cameras flashed to take a picture of every step they took but that was fine. Blaine would get used to that. He squeezed Kurt’s hand again. For the first time at a public event, Kurt wasn’t wearing gloves. They could both get used to that too.

It wasn’t like the camera and the people behind the camera knowing who they were to each other would change anything, after all.