He would be turning eighteen soon, when the name of his soulmate would appear on his hand. A lot of the people he knew had found their soulmates within a year of their eighteenth birthday.

It seemed ridiculous to believe that this time next year he could have a soulmate. No one had ever been interested in him before, why now? Nothing would have changed besides his age. He couldn't believe that he could go from nothing to true love that fast.

Years of bullying had taken its toll on Kurt. He really doubted his self worth and found it impossible to believe that he could ever find someone who would love him, and only him, forever.

He would like to be proven wrong, but he didn't want to get his hopes up even though soulmates were seen as a sure thing, and there was apparently someone for everyone.

*o*~*o*~*o*

The morning of his eighteenth birthday, he woke up and immediately searched his hands for a name. Although he was skeptical, he was still curious to see what it said. But he couldn't see anything, there was nothing there.

His first thought was that maybe he got the date wrong. He took his phone off the night stand to check the date. No, it was definitely his birthday, his eighteenth birthday, and still nothing.

He may not have had a lot of faith in soulmates, but everyone he knew over eighteen had a name on their hand.

Kurt was heartbroken. Even though he had never let himself get excited about getting a soulmate, he was still crushed. He had been so lonely for years now, would that last forever?

This was just the final blow, like the universe was telling him that he was never meant to be loved. He couldn't stop the tears from coming; he buried his face in his pillow and cried.

*o*~*o*~*o*

After 1pm Kurt still hadn't left his room. Burt was tired of waiting for him to get up; this was a very important day. Surely Kurt didn't want to sleep away the most important birthday of his life.

This was a day Burt had been looking forward to for years. Even though Kurt was skeptical about the whole soulmate thing, Burt knew how wonderful having a soulmate was, and how great it would be for Kurt. He really needed something going for him now, a light at the end of the tunnel.

Burt could remember how happy he had been on his eighteenth birthday waking up to find Elizabeth's name written on his hand. It was the happiest day of his life up until the day he actually met her.

Burt decided to wake Kurt and wish him a happy birthday. The last thing he was expecting to find when he entered Kurt's room was Kurt awake and crying uncontrollably into his pillow.

“Kurt, what's wrong?” Burt asked, suddenly worried. He sat on the edge of the bed, resting a comforting hand on Kurt's trembling back.

“Nothing,” Kurt sobbed.

“Well it's obviously not nothing.”

Kurt reluctantly sat up and held out his hands for Burt to see. “There's n-nothing...” was all he could get out before breaking into uncontrollable sobs again.

“Come here,” Burt said, pulling his inconsolable son into his arms. He could feel Kurt's tears soaking through the shoulder of his shirt.

Burt didn't know what he could say to comfort him, he'd never heard of this happening before. He just held Kurt as he cried. It was just so unfair, it seemed like everything always went wrong for him, even a sure thing like having a soulmate.

*o*~*o*~*o*

Kurt eventually stopped crying and just wanted to be left alone.

“I'll be downstairs if you need me,” Burt said, as he left Kurt with his thoughts.

Kurt lay in bed all day thinking, trying to make the most of his seemingly hopeless situation. He would often come across thoughts like 'There's no one in the world who will ever love me' which would set him off crying again.

He had to stop thinking like that; he needed to find the positive in this. For one, he wouldn't have to be tied down to one person for the rest of his life. He needed to convince himself that this wasn't a bad thing, and think of it as freedom.

Who knows, maybe someday he would even find someone else like him, someone without a designated soulmate. He'd have to go looking. There was no point waiting around for someone to find him when no one was even looking for him.

He didn't have a soulmate, so what. It didn't mean he couldn't still have fun.