Archive of Our Own ^beta

Two years ago, the simple turn of a night changed Blaine Anderson's life forever.

It was the night he finally turned sixteen, the night his life would change, and he hoped it was for the better.

At the age of sixteen you discover the name of your soul mate. The person who is supposed to be with you for the rest of your life, who will love you unconditionally. But Blaine didn't had that lucky.

As soon as the clock struck midnight, Blaine went to check his wrist. Hoping to see the name that awaited him and see its color. We can say that what happened next was one of the worst, if not the worst, moments in Blaine's life.

He was in the presence of his mother, his father and his older brother, Cooper. Everyone was eagerly waiting for Blaine to receive his mark. When they saw that the boy was paralyzed staring at his wrist and saw that tears were starting to well up in his eyes, they knew that something very wrong had happened. And unfortunately, it really did.

On Blaine's wrist was the name of a boy, a boy now deceased.

Unsurprisingly, Blaine was heartbroken. He spent the rest of the week locked in his room, only going out to eat when his mother forced him to. Every day he lay in bed, running his fingers over the red name on his wrist and wondering what would happen to him.

But Blaine was always a very strong boy, and soon he was improving, going back to being the happy and kind boy he always was.

Sure, the fact that he'd never experience true love haunted him some nights, but he had his whole life ahead of him. Soulmate is just a detail, no matter how big it is.

Today, Blaine Anderson is eighteen years old and moving to New York to start college. He is more excited than ever. Sad to have to leave his family behind, but happy to start a new chapter.

(...)

Blaine smiles, looking out his window and enjoying the view, getting an affordable apartment in Brooklyn wasn't easy. But Blaine did it. Of course, it wasn't him who paid, but his parents. Ever since his mark appeared red on his wrist, Blaine has been very spoiled by his parents. It bothered him most of the time, but he knew his parents were doing this with the best of intentions.

Blaine turns, looking around the living room, which is still full of moving boxes. The apartment was ready, but some of Blaine's belongings were still unpacked. So many things were still missing. Blaine sighs, and looks at his mark. As strange as it sounds, Blaine finds a certain kind of comfort looking at his mark, every time he looks at the name in red he feels like he has to keep going strong. For himself and for his late soulmate.

He's the one Blaine looks to for refuge when he needs it. The name engraved on his wrist.

Kurt Hummel, his late soul mate. The person Blaine was supposed to love unconditionally and spend the rest of his life with. Fate sometimes is not fair.

Blaine sighs again, smiling shortly after. Kurt would be scarred into his body forever one way or another.

Slowly, he reached his room. Amazingly, the apartment was intact when Blaine's parents bought it. All the rooms were tidied up and ready, with the previous occupant's decor, presumably. Blaine didn't want to mess with anything and left everything in its place. What surprised Blaine the most was his room. It had a large double bed, a huge wardrobe and a large bookcase, full by the way. Blaine wondered why the previous owner didn't remove it.

He took advantage of the fact that he wasn't sleepy at all and tidied up his wardrobe, putting there everything he needed and then placed his books next to the former resident's books. After a few hours he finished the job, took a shower and went to bed. It was two in the morning, Blaine was still sleepless, all the adrenaline from moving was making the boy's sleep impossible. He got up again and stopped in front of the bookshelf. He wanted to discover every secret in every book and find out why they were still there.

He looked to the side, and saw an armchair, the former resident certainly loved this place. After carefully looking over each book, Blaine chose a classic to read. Returned to his bed and starting to read it. From time to time, looking at his red mark as usual, always hoping that somehow the color will change, even though he knows it's completely impossible, he can't help but hope that this was all just a mistake of the universe.

The book he had chosen was really interesting. It was an old novel, a classic. It was huge too, it would certainly take a while to read it all. But Blaine has plenty of time for that.

As sleep overtakes Blaine, the boy removes his reading glasses, placing them on top of the bedside table along with the book. Settling in bed, he looks one last time at the red mark on his wrist that night, before turning off the lamp and falling asleep.

(...)

Blaine's classes would start in about a month, he took advantage of that and took time off from moving to explore the city before he was too busy with college to do that, even though he still had plenty of time to do it the city's still huge.

Blaine will study English Literature in college. His dream since he was little is to be a writer, to create an art so spectacular that it makes people distract themselves from the real world and find comfort is his biggest goal, and he won't give up on achieving it anytime soon.

Blaine spent all morning and part of the afternoon touring the city and finding places to hang out, satisfied with his findings he returned to his apartment.

He still had to unpack some things and he took advantage of the free time to do that, the work was hard and tiring, but nothing that Blaine couldn't handle.

However, when he was finishing unpacking the kitchen belongings, a strong pain hit his arm, more specifically his wrist where his red mark was located. Confused, Blaine went towards his room and opened the door that led to the bathroom, getting there the boy put his wrist in the water to see if the burning stopped.

After not having the expected results, Blaine left the bathroom and returned to his room. Paralyzing right away.

His eyes immediately widened and he was ready to scream. However, he didn't.

There was a person in his apartment.

It was a boy apparently, sitting cross-legged in the armchair next to the bookshelf. Blaine is pretty sure he didn't see him when he passed his room less than five minutes ago.

Walking slowly backwards he finally found his voice.

"Who are you"- His voice came out more shaky than he expected.

This seemed to get the stranger's attention who also widened his eyes as he looked at the brunette. When the stranger didn't respond, Blaine decided to repeat his question.

"Who are you?" This time, his voice came out with a little more firmness.

"Can you see me?!"

"Of course I can see you, now tell me what you're doing in my apartment, or I'll call the police." Blaine says, already putting his hand in his pocket, where his cell phone was located.

"I-I don't understand, how is that possible?" The boy got up from the armchair and walked towards Blaine who walked away a little more.

"Don't come near me!"

"I can't hurt you, I'm not a thief or anything like that."

When the stranger noticed that Blaine was shaking he walked away, apparently not wanting to cause trouble.

"You're not a thief but you break into my apartment in the middle of the night and act like crazy? Right."

"This apartment has a manager, don't you think he would call you through the intercom if he saw someone suspicious breaking in your apartment?"

"I'll ask you once again to leave before I call the police."

"Why the hell do you not believe me? I don't mean to hurt you and I don't understand why you can see me!"

"Of course, invisible man, maybe your invisibility cloak is failing, now get out of here."

"Give me your hand."

"No way, you might as well hold my hand, pull out a gun and kill me."

The stranger rolls his eyes and still grabs Blaine's hand. The boy was about to scream, but realized that even though he was aware that his hand was being held by someone else, he couldn't feel that touch.

An expression of confusion came over his face, and Blaine looked up, staring into the now-perceivable lifeless eyes of the boy in front of him.

"I can't feel you. How- Why can't I feel you?"

"Because I'm dead."

A laugh settles in Blaine's throat.

"That's an awful lie. Ghosts don't exist." Blaine removes his hand from the stranger's. "This must be some trick to kill me."

"For the thousandth time: I neither want nor will I hurt you."

"Why are you here then?"

"Because this is where I live, or used to."

"Okay, I'm done."

Blaine says, pulling away and heading towards the kitchen.

"Hey, where are you going?"

Blaine is silent as he walks around the kitchen getting a glass of water.

"Can we talk? Please."

"Of course we can, we can talk about how you broke into my apartment, tried to convince me that you are a living dead and you don't want to leave my apartment. And we can also talk about how stupid I was not to get the NYPD number."

"I knew that you had the police number you would have called them by now." The stranger whispers, more to himself than to Blaine. "I don't know what to do to convince you that I'm telling the truth."

"I can't believe there's a stranger in my apartment, and he hasn't killed me yet."

The stranger paces back and forth in Blaine's kitchen, until he again looks at the boy, and shifts his gaze to his bare wrist.

"Your mark."

Blaine also diverts his gaze there.

"Now you want to talk about my mark?"

"I's red. I'm really sorry."

"Yeah, me too. Now can you leave my house?"

The stranger rolls his eyes.

"I'm leaving. But first let me see your mark."

"No way."

"Then I'm not leaving."

"And I'll call the police."

"You don't have its number."

Letting out an angry sigh, Blaine holds out his wrist, showing his red mark to the annoying stranger.

Blaine watches as the boy's lifeless blue eyes widen.

"Is there a-any chance your name is B-Bla-Blaine?" The boy stutters.

"How do you know that?"

Without taking his eyes off Blaine's wrist, the stranger lifts his sleeve and holds out his wrist to Blaine, frowning Blaine looks down at the boy's wrist.

It was written: Blaine D. Anderson in a black color.

"What?"

"I told you I wouldn't hurt you and that I was dead."

"No, no, no. That's not possible. Tell me this is a lie and it's more of a trick to kill me, please don't do this to me, it's so cruel.

"I'm not lying, I'm as shocked as you are. For three years now I've wandered around this world trying to figure out why I'm still here when my body no longer has life. And now, literally out of nowhere, you appear and you can see me. How do you think I am?

"I can't believe it." His voice comes out as a whisper.

The stranger - Kurt - holds his hand in Blaine's, Blaine's body shivers not feeling the boy's touch again. Slowly, Kurt guides Blaine's hand to where his heart is and then places it there. A shoking sigh escapes Blaine's mouth as he realizes the boy's heart isn't beating. With tears in his eyes, Blaine takes his hand to Kurt's wrist, under the black name tag and searches for the boy's pulse beatings, he doesn't find pleasant results.

"Your heart doesn't beat. You're dead."

"My heart doesn't beat. I'm dead." Kurt repeats, his voice shaky.

"You are Kurt Hummel, my soulmate."

With it becoming too much, Blaine loses control of his tears, causing them to spill out. He cries over the death of his soulmate for the first time in a long time.

"I'm really sorry."

"Please go away. You said if I showed you my mark you would go."

'You can not be serious! I just found you. I can't leave you.'

"You already left me." Blaine whispers. "Please go away, I can't take this. Please."

"I can't."

Blaine runs his hand over his face, and avoids looking at the boy in front of him as he goes towards his room and locks himself in there.

For the next hour, Blaine remains locked in his room. Hugging a pillow and thinking about everything that had happened in the past hour.

His soulmate is dead, however, Blaine can see and touch him. After two years of thinking he would never meet his soulmate, he finally appears in front of him.

Kurt is nothing like Blaine's image of the boy, no, he was better. Much better.

Blaine wonders what Kurt was like when he was alive, what his eyes were like before they lost any shred of life, what his skin was like before it turned completely pale and icy. How his touch felt.

Blaine wonders how long it will take him to wake up from this dream, if this is a dream. The idea that someone whose life no longer exists is right now in his living room is extremely frightening.

Before he can continue creating questions in his head, something, or rather someone, bursts through his door causing Blaine to sit down quickly on the bed.

"How you did it?"

"How do you think I got into this apartment with the doors being locked?"

Wiping the tears that continued to fall from his eyes, Blaine faces Kurt.

"Are you better?"

"No, just worse."

"I'm so sorry."

Kurt is silent for a few seconds before sitting down opposite Blaine on the bed and speaking again:

"What do you think about asking us some questions to get to know each other better? I have so many questions for you and I imagine you do too."

"Sure, sure. It's a good idea," Blaine says, wiping a few more tears away with his hand.

Smiling weakly, Kurt looks at the boy.

Feeling a little too bold, Kurt gropes the bed in search of Blaine's hand, even though he didn't feel it, he liked knowing that his soul mate was so close, Blaine himself squeezes the boy's hand tightly, trying desperately to feel something.

"I think I'd like to know your full name and your age. I always wondered what the "E" in my mark stood for."

"My full name is Kurt Elizabeth Hummel, Elizabeth was my mother's name, my parents decided that would be my middle name because of that. I like it, it makes me feel closer to her."

Blaine smiles weakly, not missing the way Kurt mentions his mother in the past tense.

"And well, I would be twenty-three today."

Blaine does a quick math in his head.

"I was fifteen when you died" Blaine whispers looking down. "I never had a chance with you."

"Blaine, I'm really sorry."

"No. It's not your fault. It's not your fault."

Kurt sighs.

"You're eighteen?"

Blaine nods in agreement.

"The "D" in your name...?"

"Devon. Blaine Devon Anderson."

"It's a beautiful name." Blaine smiles at that."

"What were you doing in New York before... three years ago?" Blaine alters his question a bit.

"I was studying medicine at Columbia."

"Were you going to be a doctor? This is amazing."

''Yeah, I intended to be a neurological surgeon, but you know, things didn't go according to plan. What about you? What are you doing in town?"

"I'm going to start my college in a few weeks. I want to be an author."

"Blaine! This is amazing."

"It's been my dream since I was a kid. I imagine you like to read, I inevitably saw your bookshelf."

"Oh yes. My bookshelf. I've collected books for so long. Most are antiques, all given to me by my grandma. She loved to read and it was her who encouraged me to read." Kurt gives a small laugh.

"Hey, now that I realize it, it's your apartment and you've been here the whole time, right?"

"Yeah"

"You had already seen me!"

"Many times, when you were packing your things I would talk to you telling you where to put everything, You never listened to me." Kurt says the last part in a playful tone. "It was nice to know that someone finally bought my old apartment. This place is amazing." Kurt finishes, looking around his old room.

He turns his gaze to Blaine, whose gaze is focused on his clasped hands, his eyes filled with tears. Kurt knew there was a question lodged in Blaine's throat and so he decided to speak again.

"I know what you want to ask. Go on. I won't be offended."

Blaine looks back at Kurt.

"How did you died?" He asks directly, not wanting to stall a second longer.

Kurt, even though he was ready for this question, needed a few seconds to say the answer, wondering if he was really going to say it.

"I committed suicide. "

Kurt notices when Blaine's hands slip from his, and when his tears suddenly stop falling, and he slowly pulls away from Kurt, freezing for a moment to finish.

"No."

Blaine began to repeatedly say the word "no", trying to convince himself that it was a lie.

"Blaine, please."

"Leave me alone. We shouldn't have talked."

"Blaine."

"Go away."

Kurt reluctantly pushes himself away from the bed and walks towards the door, glancing at Blaine and taking in the state of the boy before he walks through the door still closed.

Now knowing the real reason for his soulmate's death, everything got worse. It had never crossed his mind that Kurt would have taken his own life.

Blaine, above the pain and sadness is feeling anger, anger that Kurt was so selfish by taking his own life, that he didn't wait for the bad phase of his life to pass, that he didn't wait for Blaine, for destroying the future they were supposed to have builded together. He's feeling angry, and he's feeling terrible about it.

(...)

The next morning, Blaine wakes up feeling the air colder than usual, but Blaine feels calmer than the night before, the disastrous night before.

After minutes of struggling to get out of bed, he gets up and does what he needs to do before heading to the living room. The air was again cooler than usual.

He finds Kurt, sitting in an armchair, the boy seemed lost in his thoughts, so much so that he didn't even realize he had company.

Blaine goes to the kitchen to make some coffee and when the machine starts to make noise that's when Kurt finally notices Blaine's presence.

"I didn't see you," he says.

His countenance was more downcast, unlike yesterday he looked happy and relieved.

"I know." Is all Blaine can answer, soon turning his attention to the machine.

"Are you okay?"

"When I told you to go away I was saying to get out of here."

"You're acting cold. I know you're upset with me, but give me a chance to explain."

Blaine was silent for a while, picking up his coffee and heading towards the couch, facing the armchair where Kurt was.

"You have nothing to explain, you were probably in a bad phase in your life, you couldn't take it anymore and decided to end it."

"It was not like that. I didn't wanted to die, Blaine, I never did. But I didn't have a choice."

"You sure did."

"Believe me, I haven't."

"You didn't even waited for me," Blaine whispers, just watching the smoke rise from his cup.

"I waited for you, Blaine, I waited for you for five years and you never showed up, and I can't even get mad at you because that's not your fault."

"But, you knew that I was destined to find you, your mark never went red. I was there for you."

"I know, I dreamed of what I imagined of you since I received my mark, of course it was an older version of you. I've always wondered what it would be like to find you and fall in love with you." Kurt lowers his gaze to his wrist, running his fingers over Blaine's name. "And as much as I am immeasurably happy to have finally found you, it hurts so much. Because now that I know you and I know that our future together is impossible... I just, I don't know, I don't know what will become of us now. I have never heard reports of people meeting their soulmates even though they have a red mark on their wrist. It's just, so weird."

Blaine again falls silent, absorbing every word he hears from Kurt. As he holds back his tears, his coffee was half full when he placed it on top of the coffee table.

"My life's now an hell." Kurt continues when he realizes that Blaine wasn't about to speak. "I watched my friends grieving my death, I saw my father hoping I would survive in the hospital, my friends, everyone. And I couldn't do anything. Please, I don't want you to hate me, I can't take this anymore.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been mad, I don't know what means took you to that end, just know that I'm sorry. You deserved better. I just hate the fact that you're gone and I have to stay."

"I know, Blaine, I know, but I'm here now, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon." Kurt gives Blaine a half smile, causing the brunette to give a shy smile back.

"What are you going to do now?" Kurt asks, trying to change the subject.

"I need to finish some moving stuff. And what will you do?"

"Well, I don't have many options but to watch you doing all that, so yeah."

Blaine laughs, getting up and picking up his cup to take to the sink. He notices that Kurt was standing in the room with his gaze unfocused, his sad look still etched on his face.

Even knowing Kurt for just one day, he already feels strong feelings for him, not love or anything like that, of course, but a need to protect him, a feeling of care, he knows that this should be his life duty, but it's strange that he feels that with his soulmate far from being his completely.

"Hey? Are you coming?" Blaine asks, trying to snap Kurt out of his trance.

"I, yeah, sure, sure." Kurt plasters a quick smile on his face.

A detail that doesn't go unnoticed by Blaine is that Kurt is always lost in his thoughts, probably sad by the change in expressions on his face, but then tries to lighten the situation by putting a smile on his face, a fake smile.

Arriving in the room, Blaine goes to a corner where he had some boxes with his belongings. Kurt goes straight to the armchair next to the bookshelf.

The next twenty minutes pass in silence, with Blaine pacing back and forth packing his things and Kurt sitting there, sometimes looking at the brunette and other times lost in his own thoughts.

"Is there something you want to talk about?" Blaine asks, when he finally sits down on his bed to get some rest.

Kurt remains silent, looking away and letting tears form in his eyes.

"Kurt?"

Suddenly, Kurt looks at Blaine, confusion taking over his face, when he feels the first tear slip from his eyes he quickly wipes it away.

"Sorry, were you talking to me?"

''Are you okay?"

"Yes of course. I am. Yes."

"You are crying."

"No. It's just that I haven't blinked for a long time, no big deal. You have nothing to worry about."

"Kurt, is there something you're hiding from me?"

"What? No, of course not." Kurt says, starting to get nervous.

"Are you sure? Sounds like you have something you wanted to share."

"There is so many things I want to tell you, and I hope I have time for it."

"Hey, you said you didn't plan to leave. You have all the time you want to tell me anything. It's okay." Blaine reassures, giving a small smile.

"Yeah. You're right. It's all right."

Blaine, still suspicious, decides to leave the subject aside so as not to make the brown one uncomfortable.

Settling down on the bed, Blaine puts on his reading glasses and picks up the book on top of the nightstand, returning to his reading from a few days ago.

"You look adorable in glasses," Kurt says.

Blaine doesn't answer, just smiles shyly and hides his face with the book so Kurt doesn't see his cheeks turning red.

Kurt smiles at the embarrassed boy, and that's when he notices the book he's been reading.

"This book is the only one I haven't read from the shelf."

Blaine stops his reading, putting the book down and looking at Kurt, when silence settles in Kurt decides to go back to talking.

"I never had the courage to start. It was my grandma's favorite and also the last one she gave me before she died. I tried so many times to read this book, but I just couldn't. I'm glad this one caught your attention, it was very important to her and consequently to me too."

"If you want, I'll stop reading, it's not a..."

"No." Kurt hurries to interrupt him. "Continue, it is very important for me that you are reading this one. Amazing as it sounds, this is my favorite, even if I've never read it. I don't care about the content of it, but the value."

Blaine smiled at his soulmate as he listened to him talk.

"I'll keep reading, Kurt, for you."

The boys face each other and smile, they don't know how long they were trapped in that haze, they just know that they didn't want to get out of it.

(...)

"Stop looking at me like that," Blaine says, in a serious tone, even though he's smiling.

"Like what?" Kurt asks, also smiling.

"As if I am the most interesting thing you've ever seen."

"Well, you are very interesting."

Blaine looks down to hide his smile.

"You're not that boring either."

"It doesn't even look like you wanted me to disappear from your sight when you saw me for the first time"

"Oh please, it's not every day that I find someone I don't know inside my room."

"There's always a first time for everything." Kurt gives Blaine a quick wink.

"Hey" Kurt continues "As much as I'm loving this conversation, I think we need to talk about something serious."

"What do you want to talk about?"

Kurt gets up from the armchair and slowly walks over to the couch where Blaine was and sits down next to him.

"I feel like I can't stay here forever."

"What are you talking about?"

"I never believed in life after death. But apparently it exists, or something like that. The soulmate system is something confusing and complex so I believe there is an exact reason why I am here. In case you didn't know I'm visible only to you, these three years I tried to communicate with my friends and relatives and it was like talking to a wall. So I believe I have a purpose? And with that I can finally rest in peace.

"That makes a lot of sense. But I don't want to let you go, that's selfish I know, but I just found you, I don't want to be forced to leave you. You said you weren't going to leave me so soon."

"And I won't, I want to stay by your side as long as I can. And I will, but I don't know how much time I have."

"I don't want to have to say goodbye to you. I can't."

"I don't want to either, Blaine, but you have a whole life ahead of you, I'm unfortunately your past Blaine. I can't leave you glued to me, my journey is over but yours hasn't even started.

Blaine's tears come back.

"Damn, you have to stop making me cry."

"Sorry.  Let's change the subject, how about that? And we'll get back to this conversation another time.

'Yes please."

"How about we continue with the questions?"

"Yes yes. Um, let me see" Blaine stalls a bit to give his tears time to dry.  "I wanted to know why your apartment still had your things, your books for example."

Kurt turns, facing the window now.

"My father didn't have the courage to empty that part. As much as he wanted to keep it, he couldn't. He also, as far as I know, wasn't planning to sell that apartment. He wanted to keep it as a memory. It was a shock when I saw that he put the apartment up for sale."

Blaine feels even worse for Kurt, having to see his father destroyed over losing his son and not being able to do anything for him.

"Was you the one who bought it or someone else?"

"My parents. I told them that I was looking for an apartment in a good area and a few days later they told me they found this one and just bought it."

"So you had no contact with my father? The seller in the case."

"I don't even know his name."

"Blaine."

"Kurt?"

"Do you want to meet my father?"

Blaine freezes.

"Me? Your father? Meet?"

"Yeah, hee could tell you stories about me, even the most embarrassing ones and you could create a friendship, you've been in my family since you were eleven, Blaine, my dad always wanted to meet you and I think it would be a great idea."

"Kurt."

"Please, I just want him to know who you are."

"Okay. I'll meet him."

"Thanks! You are awesome."

In the blink of an eye, Kurt is in Blaine's arms, the brunette returns the hug immediately, squeezing him tightly, again trying his best to feel something and failing miserably.

"That's good."

"Very."

It was their first hug, and both would give anything for to feel each other.

(...)

"So, you're from Ohio?"

"Yes, we lived very close to each other, it sucks that we didn't know each other."

"I agree. What school did you study at?"

Blaine and Kurt were in the car, it was weird for Kurt to be there but he wanted to see his dad again and catch up on the conversation so the two of them are together on a long drive back with the question game. They loved each other's company. It's strange that the two of them have known each other for only six days and still feel such a strong connection with each other, but that's how soulmates work, right?

"William McKinley. One of the worst times of my life, I was bullied so much that I almost moved to another school, Dalton Academy was the name, do you know it?"

''I used to study there! I love that place so much, it's so welcoming. I assume you intended to go there for the zero bullying tolerance policy?"

"Exactly. I can't believe I almost went to the same school as you. It's such a coincidence.

Kurt and Blaine had big smiles on their faces, the sadness was buried for the moment, and in their worlds they were one of a kind.

"It is. Why didn't you go there?"

"I refused to let my father and stepmother spend their honeymoon money on me. But in the end everything was fine, even with the teasing and pushing I graduated and studied medicine for a few years. In the end I did better than them for a certain period of time, after all, nowadays they are bank tellers or supermarket tellers."

Kurt and Blaine share a moment of laughter.

"Your turn. Tell me about your Dalton days"

"It was simply incredible, I was the lead singer of our choral group, the warblers, we won one national and two regionals together."

"I didn't know you were from the choir, do you believe I was too?"

"How much we have in common scares me."

"It's a good thing, I assure you."

"Well, my group of friends was formed by the choir boys, I still keep in touch with everyone and I would kill for you to meet them. I graduated at the top of my class and then came here to start college."

"Amazing. I'm really proud of you."

Blaine and Kurt smile at each other and get on with the game and the trip.

(...)

"No, I can't do that."

"Blaine, my father is not a monster with seven heads, everything will be fine."

"I don't know, I barely know you, I don't know if I'm ready to meet your father."

"Knowing my father you will know me better, go on."

"Only for you."

Kurt smiles at Blaine before the brunette rings the bell. It doesn't take long for a man to appear and open the door.

"Yes?"

"Um, hi." Is all Blaine manages to reply.

"Do I know you?"

"No, I mean not personally. My name is Blaine Anderson, and... your son is my soulmate, well, he was."

The man in front of Blaine freezes for long seconds, his eyes analyzed Blaine from top to bottom, passing by Blaine's wrist to try to see his mark, which he couldn't because Blaine wore a long sleeved shirt.

:Can I see your mark?" Is what the man asks, it was the second time in less than a week that Blaine showed his red mark to someone else.

Blaine nods in agreement and rolls up his sleeve. Kurt forces himself to look away, he didn't want to see his name in red, it hurted too much.

The man looks at his son's name on Blaine's arm and tears well up in his eyes.

"I'm really sorry."

"It's okay, it's been a while since I got used to it."

Blaine smiles weakly at the man and he looks away from the mark, allowing Blaine to lower his sleeve.

"Come on in. I think you wanted to talk."

Blaine nods and the man makes way for the boy, Blaine looks back before going inside to see Kurt walking into the house with his head down and a sad look on his face.

"Are you okay?" Blaine whispers, in the lowest voice possible as he walks away from Burt towards the living room.

"No," Kurt replies, in the same tone as Blaine even though he didn't need to keep his voice low.

"You can sit down." Burt says as he enters the room. Blaine sits down and Kurt stands beside him, his icy body too far away for Blaine's liking.

"Sorry to come in like this," Blaine says, as Burt takes a seat on a couch across from Blaine.

"No problem, actually, I was waiting for you."

"I'm sorry, I don't think I understood."

"I knew you'd come. I thought it would take a little longer but I knew you would show up."

"Can you explain this to me better?" Blaine asks, and when Burt lowers his head he takes the opportunity to quickly look to the side, only to see that Kurt had the same expression of confusion as Blaine.

"I recognized your parents' last name when they called me to negotiate the apartment. How could I not recognize?  Kurt was always speaking you name. When I found out the apartment was going to be for his son I asked they the name, and well, it was Blaine Anderson.  Your name. I didn't plan on selling his apartment, it's one of the only remaining memories of him, I wanted to keep it but I couldn't afford to keep an apartment and put it up for sale. I was going to take it off, I gave myself a month to sell it, if I couldn't do it I would take it off the sale, and a week before that your mother called me to negotiate the apartment. And you already know the outcome. Kurt would be happy. I know it would.

"So you've knew all along, sir?" Blaine says, the shadow of a smile on his lips.

"Yes, and please call me Burt. You are technically family."

The smile that appears on Blaine's face is a sad one.

"I'm so sorry, for the mark and for you never getting the chance to meet the wonderful person Kurt was. I know you guys would get along right from the start. Kurt had your wedding prepared since he was six years old and prepared weddings for his dolls."

Blaine smiles thinking of a small Kurt preparing his marriage to his soulmate. With Blaine.

"I am also sorry for the death of your son. I can't imagine how bad you must have felt."

"Thanks. It was impossible at first, but I know Kurt would hate for me to get down and out because of it. This may sound silly but sometimes I can feel him, like he's here."

"I know how you feel." Blaine smiles, trying to welcome Burt.

He hears a sniffle coming from beside him and it takes all his self-control not to turn away.

"I'm glad you came, Blaine, I've been wanting to meet you for seven years. It is a shame that the circumstances are not the best. I would love to see you and my son together. You seem like a great person."

"The day I received my mark was one of the worst days of my life. I would give anything to get it off my wrist so I wouldn't have to remember that I would never live my life with him, but as time passed the mark became my comfort point, I knew I would have to go on for myself and for him, and that's what I do.

"Is it possible for me to be so proud of you even knowing you minutes ago?"

Blaine lets out a short laugh.

"I think it's normal."

"You've got your whole life ahead of you, Blaine, and I must say you've shown yourself pretty strong so far."

"I try. Like I said, I'm not doing it all for myself."

"Can I ask you a kind of intimate question?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Do you intend to build a life with someone else?"

Blaine is silent and a pain intensifies throughout his body. And Blaine forces himself not to look at his shoulder when he sees the reflection of something on it. it was Kurt's hand.

"You know, Kurt's mother, my soulmate, died when Kurt was eight years old.  But the mark on my wrist never changed, it's still blue, we were best friends when I received my mark, i was in love with her without even knowing she would be mine." Burt lifts his sleeve, making the blue name visible on his wrist." But a few years later, I met a woman who is now my wife, and as much as I still love Elizabeth, I managed to fall in love with Carole, and it's true, not true soulmate love, but it is love. And even though Elizabeth's name is still on my body and Carole's ex-husband's on hers, we both love each other, even though we were never intended for each other."

Blaine remains silent, now looking sadly at the man in front of him.

"What I mean is that it's okay for you to fall in love with someone else. And that I will understand and that you will always have my support. Like I said, you have your whole life ahead of you."

A few lonely tears start to slide down Blaine's face.

He can see out of the corner of his eye Kurt walking away and then footsteps on the stairs. Maybe it was too much for him.

"Thank you, I really needed to hear that. My parents are amazing, but they spend way too much time trying to make me forget about the red mark that they forget to try to talk to me about it.

"I'll be here whenever you need, no matter the circumstances you're family."

For three hours straight, Burt and Blaine talk about everything from Kurt's childhood to his last day. Never touching the word 'death' so as not to make either one sad. Burt told funny stories about Kurt and showed pictures of him, pictures of Kurt during his childhood and adolescence. He was so much prettier that way.  Full of color, full of... life.  Burt gave Blaine some pictures for the boy to keep as a souvenir.

Kurt didn't give a sign since he went upstairs, Blaine only went to see him again when Burt showed Kurt's room, where the brown one was, lying on the bed and with tears streaming down his face. Blaine had to look away and take a deep breath, hearing Burt's words was easing the pain in his chest.

The day ended with Burt and Blaine exchanging numbers and saying goodbye, promising a next meeting.

Kurt was already in the car when Blaine got in. They didn't exchange a word the entire way. The only thing you could hear was their sobs.

(...)

When they arrived in New York, just the next morning and went to the apartment the situation remained the same, Kurt didn't speak just looked at the nothing and let tears form in his eyes. Blaine didn't direct a word at the boy, not wanting to make him uncomfortable. Instead he went straight to his room and then into the bathroom to take a shower. And he lay down, falling asleep soon after, and didn't wake up for the next few hours.

When Blaine woke up, Kurt is nowhere to be found.

(...)

Blaine doesn't see Kurt for the next seven days straight.

During this time, Blaine thinks that Kurt has abandoned him and broken his promise. During the week, his free time was spent with Blaine curled up in bed, hugging his pillow, and crying. Burt's words echoing in his head, all the memories of his fateful sixteenth birthday running through his mind and all the moments spent with the boy of his dreams.

When he wasn't crying, Blaine was reading Kurt's favorite book. By the end of the week, Blaine was already halfway through.

On Tuesday, around dusk, Blaine feels the weather change. It was only then that he connected some dots. When Kurt was around, the air turned chilly.  Like the morning after their first date, and at Burt's house, and at this very moment.

Blaine slowly turns, pulling his eyes away from the window and meeting Kurt's lifeless eyes.

And the first reaction that the brunette has is to run towards the brown one and hug him with all the strength he had, after all, no matter how much strength each one put into the hug, neither of them would feel anything but the cold air.

"You promised you wouldn't leave me," Blaine says, hiding his face on Kurt's chest.

"Sorry, I needed to organize my thoughts."

"Did you needed a week? Or disappear without telling me where you were going, when you came back or if you came back?" Blaine walks away. "You promised not to leave my side, you can't disappear like that. I felt abandoned, and broken you can't do this. Not again. Not again."

Kurt puts his arms around Blaine again and pulls him back to where he was, and Blaine allows himself to collapse in his arms, Kurt is silent, those would not be the first much less the last tears Blaine would shed that night.

"If I told you I was taking time for myself I probably wouldn't be able to go, I couldn't bear to leave after seeing your face one last time. I needed it, Blaine."

"Why did you take so long?"

"Because I hid things from you, Blaine, things that I should have told you since we met and that I never had the courage, but after seeing you talking to my father I decided it was time to tell you."

Blaine again breaks out of the hug, looking at Kurt like he's the craziest person in the world.

"What do you have to tell me?"

"Please, sit down, it's a lot to handle."

Afraid, Blaine walks over to the couch and sits down, followed by Kurt.

Minutes pass with the two of them in silence. Kurt looked down at his trembling hands and Blaine looked at him, eager for what Kurt had to say but never pressing him.

"Blaine, I didn't commit suicide, I was murdered."

Blaine is paralyzed for who knows how long. His eyes locked onto Kurt's.  There were no tears in his eyes, only pain.

"How... what?" Blaine asks, in a whisper, fixing his gaze on his lap.

"I didn't want to tell you that the night we met, I couldn't, it would hurt you too much, I made up the suicide story because it wouldn't cause you so much pain. It would be better for you to have thought that I took my own life than to know that someone else took my life from me. Someone else took me from you".

Blaine remains paralyzed looking down at his lap. Hearing all this was like being completely shattered. Knowing that Kurt had his life taken from him was the worst pain he had ever felt, Kurt didn't stand a chance. He never had a chance.

"Every time you saw me lost in my thoughts it was just me trying to decide how I would tell you this, or if I would tell you. I wanted to spare you this, I know it's been too much for you, but you deserve the truth. I'm sorry I made you think that I screwed up our life together and that I didn't wait for you, but you should know that every day of my life I've looked forward to meeting you, it's like my father said, I've been planning our life since I found out about the soulmate system. The day your name appeared on my body in black was the best day of my life, I would give anything to be with you in that moment, alive."

"Kurt..."

"You don't have to say anything, Blaine."

"I need. I'm sorry, you didn't deserve this. God, I judged you so much when you told me you took your life, I judged you because I thought you didn't wait for me, and that you ruined our future, and part of my life. I had no idea it was a lie, I, I don't know what to say. I didn't tell you, but I blamed you for dying, I was so mad, you were here in front of me but at the same time you weren't, I couldn't feel you, I didn't have a chance. It was unfair because your time with me is finite, I know you're going to leave sometime and I'm going to have to stay. But now, knowing that they actually took it from us, it's so much worse. I'm so sorry."

And with that, Blaine again breaks down in tears, hiding his face in his hands, Kurt puts his arms around the brunette, trying his best to give comfort to the boy, while trying to control his own tears.

"Why did they did this to you?" That's what Blaine asks when he finally calms down.

"There are very bad people in this world, Blaine. And there's nothing we can do about it."

Blaine rests his head in the crook of Kurt's neck, and Kurt tightens his arms around Blaine, trying his best to comfort him in this moment.

"Did it hurt?"

"No, it was fast. One second I was on the ground and the next standing next to my body. The most painful thing was seeing the reaction of my friends and family."

Blaine sniffles, burying his head in Kurt's neck and hugging his chest.

"You didn't deserved this."

"I know."

Another minute of silence settled between the boys.

"When you were with my father and he asked you if you would ever try to fall in love with someone else it was too much for me. I can't bear to think about the possibility of seeing you fall in love with someone else when I should be falling in love with you, and just because someone took our life together I have to see you with someone else."

"Kurt, I don't know if you know, but even though I know this shouldn't happen, I fall in love with you every day."

"I also fall in love with you every day."

(...)

"Kurt, I've reached the final stretch of the book. It's just amazing, you have to give it a try."

"Who knows one of these days."

Blaine smiles at Kurt.

It had been four weeks since the revelation of the real reason for Kurt's death, the boys closer than ever. As much as they were both in love with each other - as it was meant to be - they couldn't start a romance, so they decided to strengthen their strong and somewhat strange friendship.

Blaine's college had started two weeks ago, Kurt goes out on the town when Blaine is out of the apartment like he used to before the brunette came into his life.

(...)

Two years ago, the simple turn of a night changed Blaine Anderson's life forever.

It was the night he finally turned sixteen, the night his life changed for the better.

At the age of sixteen you discover the name of your soul mate. The person who is supposed to be with you for the rest of your life, who will love you unconditionally. And fortunately, Blaine managed to get that lucky.

As soon as the clock struck midnight, Blaine went to check his wrist. Hoping to see the name that awaited him and see its color. We can say that what happened next was one of the best, if not the best, moments of his life.

He was in the presence of his mother, his father and his older brother, Cooper. Everyone was eagerly waiting for Blaine to receive his mark. When they saw that the boy was smiling looking at his wrist, they knew that everything had worked out, and it really had.

Blaine received his soulmate name in the color red.

As expected, Blaine was happy for the rest of the week, every time the boy was seen he had a smile on his face. When he went to bed, he would trace his fingers over the mark on her wrist and think about what it would be like when he met him.

Every day Blaine woke up excited for the day he would finally meet his soulmate managed.

Soulmates had always been a crucial detail in Blaine's life. The biggest one.

Today, Blaine Anderson is eighteen years old and moving to New York to start college. He is more excited than ever. Sad to have to leave his family behind, but happy to start a new chapter.

(...)

"Blaine? Are you okay? You look pale."

"My mark."

"Whats wrong? Is it burning like the night we met?"

"No. It's... it's... fading."

"What do you mean by fading?"

"Take a look yourself."

Kurt slowly grips Blaine's wrist, noticing that instead of the vibrant red with his name there is a faint, almost pink, mark.

"And that's not all. Please don't freak out."

"Blaine, what's going on?" Kurt asks, fighting the urge to cry, he didn't know what was going on and it was making him desperate.

"Kurt, I'm forgetting many of our moments. I thought it was just because I was focusing too much on college, but it's so often that I'm forgetting about you, it started with simple moments, but I just forgot about the day at Burt's house. I know I went there, but I don't remember what happened that day, and I replayed that day in my head all the time, it's an important moment for me."

"What? How? That's not possible. This wasn't supposed to be happening."

"I didn't mean to worry you, Kurt, I really wanted to make sure what was going on before I told you."

"Blaine..."

"I am afraid. I don't want to forget you."

"No, no. You won't forget me."

"But the mark is fading and-'

"I know, it's confusing but we'll find out what's wrong. We'll find out."

"Kurt."

''It's going to be alright, it's going to be alright.''

(...)

"I know that face, Blaine, what happened?"

The brunette was standing in front of Kurt, his eyes were fixed on the brunette's face.

"Your name is no longer on my wrist," Blaine whispers, each word shattering the brunette.

It's Kurt's turn to be speechless. Slowly he sits down on the sofa.

"Um" Blaine speaks again. "Someone else's name is being written. I can't read it, so far it's just the shadow of the name, it's very faint, like a scar."

"How is this possible? There are no cases of people who had a second soul mate."

"Nor that they know their soulmate after their death."

They are silent absorbing information.

"Kurt, I think I'm losing you."

"Don't say that. Please, don't say that."

(...)

"It's been weeks, can you read the name yet?"

"No, a few letters appeared, but it seems to be a big name. And, well, the color is black."

Kurt glances at his wrist. Seeing that his black mark with Blaine's name was still perfectly complete, his own on Blaine's wrist had turned into an almost invisible scar. It didn't disappear, but someone else's name covered it.

There was no escape, it was really happening. Blaine was gaining a new soulmate and he was slowly forgetting details about Kurt. The brown one knew it wasn't his fault, but he couldn't help but feel afraid to be close to the brunette. 

Like now.

"Kurt, don't go away."

"I'm just going to take a walk around town. I'll be here at dusk."

"Please come back."

"I will." Kurt says approaching Blaine. "But, you know, I need the outdoors, this is too much for me."

"I didn't want this to be happening."

"Neither do I, Blaine, but we can't change fate."

He moves a little closer, pressing his icy lips to Blaine's forehead and then pulling away.

Later that same day, at dusk, Kurt was returning to the apartment to fulfill what he had said to Blaine, however, something disturbed his plans, a simple and impossible bump on his shoulder.

At first he thought it was just an accident, after all, he couldn't touch another person, and Blaine hadn't followed him.

He looked up and noticed that next to him was a man, who looked to be only a few years older than him and who was also looking at him in confusion.

"Hello?" he says, looking directly at Kurt.

The brown one quickly looks down at his wrist, sighing with relief to see that Blaine's name remained there.

"Can you see me?"

"I'm asking you the same question."

"Yes, I can see you, but how is that possible?"

The boy keeps looking at Kurt like he's the most confusing thing in the world, until he decides to speak.

"This may be a strange question, but, are you dead?"

Kurt frowns before answering.

" Yes, there's three years"

Relief floods the other boy's face.

"Two. Nice to meet you, my name is Elliott Gilbert.

"Kurt Hummel. That's weird, you're the first person who can see me other than Blaine."

"Blaine?"

"My soulmate." Kurt smiles at the mention.

"You are also the first person I see besides mine."

"Wait, do you only see your soulmate too?"

"Yes, I can do it for a few months. I also found it strange at first."

"I thought this couldn't happen, that I was a separate case? Damn, I should have known the soulmate system had something behind it."

"I thought the same, I always knew that it was not possible for this to happen only to me."

"So this is... normal?"

"I don't know, but it's weird."

"How is this possible? I shouldn't even be surprised actually. There are so many weird things going on with me."

"Also with me. My soulmate is getting a new name, and slowly forgetting about me. And I think that's so unfair. I was supposed to be with him."

Kurt's face changes completely when he realizes what he just heard.

"Elliott, these same things are happening with Blaine. Our meeting must mean something. A connection?  Look, I have to get back, but can you meet me tomorrow at this same time here?"

"Umm, sure? Yes, yes. Tomorrow."

"Thanks. I, um. See you tomorrow."

With that Kurt leaves a confused Elliott behind and hurries to his apartment.

He expected to find Blaine asleep when he got there, but instead, Blaine had the covers covering his entire body from the neck down, his eyes open and staring into space, his gaze empty.

"Took you long enough to come back."

"And you should be sleeping." Kurt says taking off his shoes and heading towards the bed.

"I didn't want to sleep without you being here. I don't know when I'm going to wake up and not remember you anymore, so any minute we spend together, even if it's the smallest of the smallest, makes a difference."

Kurt gives the brunette a sad smile and joins him on the bed, putting his arms around him.

Sleeping together was something they started doing the day Kurt revealed the true cause of his death, Blaine needed extra comfort and this was the way he found to give him that comfort. Since then, Blaine refuses to sleep without knowing that Kurt is on his side.

Kurt doesn't need to sleep, so every night he stays up, admiring his soulmate and enjoying his time with him, or sometimes organizing his thoughts.

Kurt hasn't told Blaine, but he had started to read the book Blaine is reading. This makes him miss the brunette less when he's away, as the book has become a certain kind of comfort for both of them.

Blaine tightens the brown man's arms around him, settling himself against the boy.

"Even though I'm getting a new name and slowly forgetting about you, I want you to know that you are my true soulmate. And I know that a part of me will never forget you and the way you not only marked my wrist but the whole of me."

"I know, Blaine, and as much as it's destroying me inside, none of this is your fault and I know that one way or another I'll still be with you. From an early time we knew that our time was finite, we are only reaching the final line."

"I'm not ready to lose you. I want you, just you. This is so unfair. I get a new name and forget about you like you never existed. This should not happen.  I should be with you forever. You should be mine like I should be yours."

Kurt buries his head in the crook of Blaine's neck, leaving it there for several minutes.

"We'll be fine, Blaine, we will."

(...)

"It started with my name disappearing from his wrist, the red color getting weaker and fainter, until my name was just an almost invisible scar. And then he began to receive a new name, in black, you can only see a few letters: e, a, t, n, h and lastly, y. And he also started forgetting moments we spent together, he says he completely forgets me every time he's away from me, but he only realizes that when he sees me again. And this is scary, he is forgetting me, I am afraid of becoming invisible again."

Kurt and Elliott met again the following night just as they had agreed. This time they decided to walk around the city, talking about how it was possible for them to be able to see each other even if this was totally impossible from their point of view.

"With my soul mate it's different, he seems to be more advanced in this, he doesn't remember any moment we spent together, he knows who I am and what we are, but he can't remember how he knows. And as for the mark, he has already received the full last name, and my name remains as a small scar, I hope this stays, so that somehow I will be there with him."

"What's his name? Of your soulmate?  And how did you meet?" Kurt asks, giving a slight smile. Elliott smiles back.

"Sebastian Smythe. We met a little over six months ago when we bumped into each other in Central Park, I was confused by what had happened and followed him for the rest of the day, until he stopped at the door of his house and realized that I was behind him, we confronted each other, and in the end he saw his name on my wrist and well, I explained everything to him and after a while he recovered. Your turn."

"I met Blaine at the apartment that used to be mine, he thought I was there to kill him and tried to kick me out of there at any cost, but I saw the red mark on his wrist and wanted to see it, and my name was written there so I connected the dots. It was difficult at first but we managed to get closer. And his name is Blaine Anderson."

Elliott was smiling as he listened to Kurt talk about his soulmate, but his smile disappeared completely from his face when he heard the last name.

"Kurt?"

"Yeah?"

"What are the visible letters on his wrist?"

"Um, e, a, t, n, h, y."

"Kurt, the name that is appearing on his wrist is Sebastian's. Your soulmate is becoming Sebastian's soulmate."

Kurt frowns and does some quick thinking in his head, separating Sebastian's name and realizing the letters fit together.

"The last name on his wrist is Anderson, right?" Kurt whispers.

"Yeah."

Kurt sits on the floor, leaning against the wall of some house. Elliott sits down next to him.

"I think we found out why we can see each other. They're destined to fall in love with each other now, and then we're going to disappear from their lives, maybe really disappear."

"Disappear for real? What do you mean by that?"

"I think we accomplished our purpose.  Get to know them, and let them overcome us. I mean, why take in a soulmate you'll never meet? We entered a short afterlife so we could have a chance to meet who was supposed to be with us for life, and we did. But now? Now they're still alive, still having a chance to love and live with someone. They are following their journey, ours is already over. They are getting a second chance. And we had ours, death is something irreversible. Meeting them was more than we could have asked for."

Kurt looked at Elliott, realizing that just like him, Elliott was crying too.

"So this is how it ends? Us disappearing and them forgetting they ever knew us?"

"They still have our name marked on their wrists, no matter how invisible it is. We will forever be with them no matter what. Maybe in another life we'll be their boys."

(...)

"Kurt?"

"Yeah."

"All the letters appeared. I know his name now."

Kurt sighs out of habit.

"I'm happy for you, Blaine. You deserve to be happy."

"You deserved it too."

"But I was happy, Blaine."

"I know."

"It's your turn."

(...)

"Hello, cute thing."

Confused Blaine looks at the boy in front of him.

"Sorry, are you talking with me?"

"And do you see any other cute thing around here?" The boy asks, taking a seat at the same table as Blaine.

It had been a week since Blaine got his new name, it was black in color. Blaine keeps forgetting about Kurt every time he is without the brown one, like now.

Right now, he's sitting in a coffee shop, doing his college work.

"Actually, I am." He smirks, making the brown man in front of him smile a little more.

"Do you mind if I stay here? All other seats are taken."

"Of course, no problem."

The boy in front of him ooked at him, and for long seconds, until he decided to use his voice again.

"What are you studying at college?"

"English Literature."

"Writer? Good choice."

"Thanks. You?"

"Administration to be able to inherit my father's company."

Blaine smiles at the boy and looks at him for a few seconds, he really was breathtaking.

"What is your name?"

"Why would you want to know?"

"I'm hoping it's the same one on my wrist."

"You met me less than two minutes ago and you already want me to be your soulmate? How many people have you done this with?"

"Until now? One, just the ones that appeal to me."

"I'm pretty sure that's not your name on my wrist."

"On three?"

Blaine rolls his eyes but remains with a smile on his face, dropping his pen on the table.

"On three."

The two put their arms on top of the table.

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

Finally, the two boys lift their sleeves at the wrist, showing their wrists with the names in black.

Seconds, or minutes pass and the boys just stare at each other's wrists.

"I found you." Sebastian whispers.

(...)

"He's cool. I mean, he's amazing, and I've only had one date with him, not counting the day we met. I think he and I will get along well."

"I hope so, Blaine. You two will be amazing together."

Blaine smiles at his former soul mate and puts his arms around Kurt.

"I'm sorry we didn't get our chance."

"One way or another we had, after all, we met even when I didn't have the chance, right?"

"Right."

Blaine smiles.

"Can I see your wrist?"

Blaine nods in agreement, showing Kurt his wrist.

Kurt smiles in relief when he sees that his name is still there, under Sebastian's name. Elliott was right, Kurt will always be with Blaine one way or another.

(...)

"I like how we're taking things slowly.  That you chose to wait for us to seal our relationship and chose to get to know each other better. Even if I can't wait to make you mine."

Sebastian and Blaine have been seeing each other for just over a month, and so far they've done nothing but hold hands. Blaine still gets to see Kurt and even though he only remembers him when he sees him, he feels he still can't seal his relationship with Sebastian. It's like every time he's feeling ready and about to, he feels like he's betraying someone or doing the wrong thing.

When you and your soulmate kiss for the first time, your fates are officially sealed and cannot be undone. That's why Kurt and Blaine could never kiss, of course, that Kurt being dead didn't make things any easier, but a person's first kiss should only be exchanged with their soul mate.

"Thank you for supporting my decision."

"You're my soulmate, Blaine, that's my duty." The brown man smiles at Blaine, and kisses his hand, holding it again as they walk through Central Park.

(...)

"They are each day more in love with each other." Elliott comments.

"But they didn't seal the relationship."

"Blaine is still afraid, he can feel you when he's with Sebastian. Your bond is still very strong, and that prevents anything between them."

"I have to go.'

"You don't have to do that today."

"I have to. I know my time is running out. I don't know if I'll see the sun rise one more time. And I'm tired too, Elliott, there's nothing left for me in this world. I lost my life, my friends and family and now Blaine."

"This shouldn't have happened to you.  With none of us."

"In another life, who knows?"

"Do you believe in that?"

"I force myself to believe. I force myself to believe that this is just one of the hundreds I'm going to live with Blaine.  And I hope to meet you in several of them. You've been a great friend, Elliott, and I would have loved to have known you sooner."

"Come here."

Elliott opens his arms and Kurt fits right in. There were no tears in his eyes. He was ready to go. It was his time.

"I'm going home, I want to be with Blaine when that happens. You should do the same with Sebastian."

"I will."

"See you in another life?"

"See you in another life."

The two smile at each other as soon as they end the hug and each one goes their way into the dark night.

Before arriving at Blaine's apartment, Kurt thinks about everything, his life, his father, his mother, his friends, Blaine, college, the bullying, his death.  All he's experienced is realizes that even though he had his ups and downs, his life was amazing, and he doesn't regret anything.

But one thing remains on his mind. Something that hurts him more than it should.

Is that he's seen Blaine's pain and happiness, been with him in his saddest and darkest moments, but slowly Blaine has fallen in love with someone else, while Kurt just watched from afar. Not that Blaine could blame him, after all Sebastian was alive, he could touch and feel him and he could have him. Even if its not the case, it seems that Blaine was so selfish, being with Sebastian and not Kurt. It's ridiculous... it's painful.

Kurt is there, just watching the brunette fall in love with someone else the same way he once fell in love with Kurt, smiles and looks that were once dedicated to Kurt are now just Sebastian who receives them. Blaine is moving on and Kirt is disappearing in the worst way possible. Watching Blaine fall in love with someone else completely destroyed Kurt. He slowly and very painfully forgot about Kurt and everything the two of them had lived through. Kurt isn't even someone Blaine can call from the past, after all, in a few hours - maybe less - he will disappear.  But Kurt is not afraid of non-existence, after seeing Blaine fall in love with someone else right in front of him, nothing scares or even hurts anymore.

Kurt arrives at Blaine's apartment. It was dark, but he knew Blaine was awake, he always was.

He arrived at the brunette's room and saw him with the book in his hands, looking at it with a smile.

"Did you finish it?"

"Yeah. It's such a beautiful and so moving story, it's just a shame it ended, I didn't know how much I would miss this story and how good it made me feel."

"You will always have a chance to reread."

"Come here, lie down with me."

Kurt and Blaine smile at each other and Kurt kicks off his shoes and joins Blaine on the bed, settling into his usual position. Kurt behind Blaine with his arms around the brunette's waist.

"Thank you for showing me that there's light even in darkness. I don't know what would be like if I never had the chance meet you. You saved me when I thought I had no more chances. I just really wanted us to belong together.

"We will still live our life together. You know what I think? I think we will meet in every life we live, in some of them we might not end up together. And do you know why I think this? Because the universe wouldn't be so mean to us, it wouldn't make us find each other after so long thinking we weren't going to, make us fall in love with each other, only to tear us apart again. In this life we might be a soulmate that who wasn't meant to be, but in the next life who knows? I'm not afraid to go, my time has come, and I'm grateful that I got to meet you."

"I love you, Kurt Hummel. And I can't wait to live all the lives we have to live."

"I love you too, Blaine Anderson, and I will love you in this and every lifetime to come."

Blaine fell asleep minutes later, a hint of a smile on his lips. Kurt allowed himself one more look at Blaine, and then he took a deep breath - even though it wasn't necessary.

And with that, Kurt was gone, finally able to rest in peace. Knowing that the last thing he saw was the boy he loves so much and will love so much, and that who was with him at that moment was his eternal soulmate in his arms.