Prompt I found on Pinterest: You have seen in shades of grey your entire life. One day you come across a stranger that appears in total color (so I made it a soulmate AU) ~825 words "It's a whole new experience," Artie said, "learning how to match things to appeal to the eyes of all the lovers around me. Before I could get away with purple pants and a red shirt. People knew I hadn't found her yet, but now I have and I have to dress like I have." Kurt found himself sitting, once again, at a table with all of his color-seeing friends. The difference was that last time he wasn't the only one. Now Artie had found his soulmate and Kurt was the only person in his friend group that didn't understand why purple and red couldn't be together, or what the blue sky he had heard of since birth really looked like. "We'll all help you," Rachel gave a supportive smile to Artie. "Finn and I both had a hard time. Some of us more than others. He got it eventually, and so will you." Since the class of 2012 had graduated from McKinley, the original glee club students had made a point to get together for coffee as often as they could. The afternoon was always spent catching up, and while Kurt enjoyed hearing what was going on in his friends lives, considering how often he felt like he was surrounded by a room that he didn't understand, he had a hard time understanding why he continued to show up. The conversation droned on as Kurt stirred his dark-grey cappuccino. He wanted Artie to stop complaining. He had met his soulmate-that is something Kurt had wanted more than anything in high school. He often wondered if that would have made high school any easier-and he often concluded that yes, it would have. To his liking, Kurt left early with Rachel and began walking back to their apartment in Bushwick. "Are you okay, Kurt? You seem a little down, and I know you didn't get the grade you wanted on that assignment, but Professor Manning said he'd give you a redo, and I'll help you." She held his arm and walked with him through the city. "It's not about the assignment, Rachel. Honestly, I'm over it." "Then what's bothering you?" "Honestly, I'm feeling a little lonely." "You're not alone, Kurt. You have me." And Rachel was his best friend-she had been since day one. So he didn't want to invalidate her friendship, but you don't get to see color from meeting your best friend. "You know what I mean, Rach. I just wish I'd meet the one already. I want to see the actual color of coffee." "No you don't," Rachel promised. "It's brown, and not a vintage brown, a poop brown." "A what?," he asked. Kurt had never pondered the color of his own shit before, but it upset him to hear that it was comparable to the color of his favorite drink. Rachel sighed, sad that she couldn't explain any more to Kurt. "You'll meet him when the time is right. For now it's you, me, and a re-watching of Funny Girl against the world," she smiled and hurried back to their apartment with her best friend to watch her favorite movie. That night after pizza and Funny Girl, Kurt laid in bed and opened Grindr. He got over the idea of saving himself for the one in his first year in New York, when it seemed like everyone but him had done it, and he was grateful to see that plenty of other guys in New York had a similar mindset. Rachel had fallen asleep during the movie, so he didn't think it would be hard to sneak out for the night. He'd be home before she knew he was gone. He scrolled through the app for what felt like a while before something caught his eye. "Actor, Singer, Composer," was the bolded title over a picture of a dark-haired man with his guitar. "NYU student, studying music. Free most nights," read the description, hooking Kurt. He got up to position himself into a comfortable face-only photo, shot it, and sent it to "Blaine," who quickly responded. Within an hour, Kurt was on the subway on his way to Blaine's apartment. He had done this plenty of times, enough to for sure be used to it by now, but this time he had butterflies in his stomach. He considered turning around, judging it as a sign that something was about to go wrong. But before he could make up his mind, Blaine opened his door. He had messy curls that could not pick a direction and was wearing a red shirt and blue jeans. Oh. "Woah," Blaine responded, quicker than Kurt could. Kurt's only response was a nod-he was not able to form words. Blaine was gorgeous, but so was understanding the world the way that all of Kurt's friends could. He understood blue, the calm sea and peaceful sky. He understood green, nature and envy. But he understood violet, love and passion, the most.
