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Blaine Anderson loves music and has since he was little. From an early age, he was making music—whether it be babbling along to a tune he would here, or tapping out a beat on his toys, music has always been a part of him.
He wonders if his soulmate will have the same love of music.
He wonders if he even has a soulmate.
It’s not unusual to be born without a soulmate. Some of his friend’s parents aren’t soulmates, just people who settled for each other. Maybe they didn’t have a soulmate, or maybe they never found them, or maybe they just didn’t love their soulmate. A soulmate doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be together or will even work out—it just means that they’re a part of you to have if you want them.
Blaine is the only person in his social circle to not have a soulmate by choice. All of his friends have heard their noise that caused them to discover their soulmate; His best friend Wes heard his soulmate’s laugh and felt at peace, meanwhile his brother Cooper was in the middle of a one night stand when the girl moaned and it made him feel like he got the air knocked out of his lungs. While both Wes and Cooper decide to stay with their soulmate, some may prefer freedom. But both men found their other halves years ago, and the chance of finding them decreased at age 21.
Blaine is 23 nearing 24, and pretty much felt hopeless when it came to finding his soulmate. He’s always been a bit of a romantic at heart, serenading boys despite knowing they’re not his soulmate and pursuing crushes that would lead nowhere but he couldn’t help but feel a bit discouraged. He’s happy otherwise, works as a music teacher at a local elementary school despite being basically fresh out of college. He lives in an apartment down the street from his job with his dog, Sunny, a yellow lab.
But he still feels like something’s missing.
Still, he does his best to ignore the pang of emptiness in his chest and continues on with his life. He has students to teach and a dog to walk and bills to pay.
“Blainey, have you even tried finding your soulmate?” His mother, Pamela, has good intentions but Blaine rolled his eyes, tired of being pitied and constantly asked about his soulmate search. “Join one of those apps I always see advertised to meet un-matched people. Maybe your soulmate isn’t even a man, sweetie, maybe it’s—“
Blaine groaned, running the hand that didn’t hold his phone to his ear through his hair. “Mom, I’ve told you a million times. I’m gay, I know I’m gay, and I know that if I do have a soulmate, he is a man.”
“I know, Blaine, but have you ever—“ Pamela started to say, a tad of desperation in her voice.
“I need to take Sunny for a walk. I’ll talk to you later, love you, bye,” Blaine said in a rushed sentence, pressing the red ‘end call’ button on his phone and tossing it onto the couch before plopping down next to it. He huffed, running a hand down his face in exhaustion.
Blaine loves his parents but they just don’t understand. They found each other early, when they were kids and heard each other talk, which is the simplest noise someone could get. They’ve accepted him being gay for the most part, but are still ignorant when it comes to being gay and having a soulmate. Blaine thinks that his parents believe that since he’s gay that he’ll never find a soulmate, but Blaine knows plenty of gay men and women who have soulmates.
He sighs, and looks at his dog resting on the floor.
“Wanna go for a walk?” Blaine says to Sunny, and his dog perks up, getting up and barking. Blaine stands up and goes to his bedroom to change, changing into workout clothes before putting Sunny on a leash and heading out.
Their walk, as usual, turns more into a run because of Sunny’s energy and Blaine’s need to get his frustration out. When they get back to the apartment, Blaine unhooks Sunny who immediately runs to his water bowl and then heads into the bathroom for a shower.
It’s a Saturday so Blaine needs to plan his lessons for the week. Usually, he likes to focus on musicians old and new or some genre of music to teach his students the diversity and timelessness of music. Once in a while he’ll break out the school’s supply of drums and triangles and xylophones and tambourines and various other instruments to teach an easy song, but that’s only when his lessons get repetitive.
Blaine thinks about his lesson plan while he showers, going through his options; It’s only a few weeks into the school year and he already taught about musicals, Billy Joel, pop music, and lead a few singalongs. Maybe this week he’ll take the kid’s favorite music and focus on what they like…
“Blackbird singing in the dead of night,” a voice singing interrupted Blaine’s thoughts, and suddenly he found himself backing away from the stream of water from the shower and bracing one hand on the wall to keep himself upright, “Take these sunken eyes and learn to see.”
That voice. The person’s voice was high and they sang with such emotion, so beautifully and as if they were feeling the lyrics themselves. They eventually settled into humming, and Blaine eventually heard the sound of water against the wall stop and a door open and close. Blaine felt like his heart was about to beat out of his chest, he felt—whole. There was no doubt in his mind that whoever that the voice on the other side of the wall belonged to his soulmate. Blaine composed himself, finished his shower in record time, and threw on a pair of flannel pajama pants and a t-shirt before slipping on slippers and making his way next door.
He knocked, and waited a few seconds before someone opened the door.
And it was a woman, with tan skin and long dark hair.
Blaine’s heart sank.
“Hi, I’m Blaine, I live next door,” Blaine smiled, the one he uses to charm his parent’s friends at the parties he used to be forced to attend. When he didn’t get an answer from the woman, he continued. “I was wondering if that was you just singing.”
The woman leaned against the doorframe and groaned. “Sorry, Blaze, that was my new roommate. I know, he’s tone deaf, but I can’t stop him no matter how many times I tell him to save everyone’s ears and keep his gay boy mouth shut. I’ll tell him again when he gets home from work.”
Blaine fought off the feeling to look shocked before answering. “Um, no, I thought he sounded amaz-“
A phone rang in the apartment, and the woman turned toward it before shrugging. “Sorry about Lady Face again, I’ll tell him. See you around, Billy!” She shuts the door, leaving Blaine wide-eyed and gaping, staring at the closed door.
Well, at least he knows that his soulmate, whoever they are, is a man.