Kurt Hummel never took his shirt off. Ever.
It wasn't that he was ashamed of his body, he really wasn't. He was actually quite proud of it. An hour and a half of aerobics every morning with Mercedes really paid off.
He wasn't ashamed of his body, oh no. He never took his shirt off for a different reason. A reason that happened on his eighteenth birthday.
It was a stupid decision. The result of a late night out with the girls.
Tonight, five years later, he was in his little apartment, washing dishes with his boyfriend Blaine after they had shared a romantic dinner of eggplant parmesan. Blaine was washing, and Kurt was drying, the two laughing and singing show tunes in harmony.
"So," Blaine said, as he handed Kurt the final dish. "We should do something fun tomorrow."
"Sure," Kurt said, taking the dish and drying it off. "What did you have in mind?"
"I was thinking maybe we could go swimming or something. Swimming is always my kick-off to summer."
Kurt immediately tensed at the proposition. "No, I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why not?" Blaine asked. "You can swim, can't you Kurt?"
"Yes, Blaine, I can swim. I just don't think it's a good idea." He stood on his tiptoes to try and put away the final plate. Stupid high cabinets!
"Kurt, what's that?" his boyfriend asked, peering at the patch of skin appearing from under Kurt's shirt, a result of his efforts trying to put away the dish.
"What's what Blaine?" the taller boy asked, oblivious to what was going on, almost reaching the cabinet.
"On the side of your stomach."
Kurt immediately dropped off his tiptoes, the plate crashing to the floor beside him. Thankfully, it was plastic and nothing broke. "Whoops," he said sheepishly, bending to pick up the dish. Blaine took it from him when he stood up, setting it down on the counter.
"Kurt," he said sternly. "What is on your side?"
"Um…"
"Kurt." This time he said it with more ferocity, and the brunette looked up at him. Blaine lifted the edge of the other boy's shirt just a little, revealing rock hard abs that made him shiver a little bit.
"I don't understand, I saw it just…" Blaine trailed off when Kurt turned slightly, obviously not being able to hide it anymore, and he caught a glimpse of the half-rainbow tattooed on his side. "Kurt?" Blaine asked. "Why do you have a rainbow tattooed on the side of your stomach?"
"Uh…" Kurt stuttered, licking his lips like he always did when he was nervous. "Pass?"
Blaine gave him a stern look. "Kurt…"
"It's stupid," Kurt interrupted, laughing nervously. "I was stupid for getting it done. It…seemed like a good idea at the time." He thought that was a good enough explanation for now, but Blaine kept looking at him, wanting him to go on. "It was my eighteenth birthday and Rachel, Mercedes and I all decided to get tattoos."
Blaine raised one eyebrow. "Really?"
"Well it was kind of a symbolic thing," Kurt explained. "We each got half of something, and told each other that we would ask our future husbands to get the other half. Rachel got half a treble clef on her thumb, Mercedes got half the lyrics to her favorite song on her shoulder and I got half a rainbow on my side."
"I see that," Blaine replied, suppressing a laugh. "Why?"
Kurt sighed heavily. "I thought it could be a gay pride thing. Stupid, I know. What guy would want to get half a rainbow tattooed on his side?"
"I don't think it's stupid," Blaine replied.
"Really?"
"Yeah, I think it's cool. In fact…" the former Warbler dug around in his pockets for a minute, sliding to one knee and pulling out a ring box. Kurt's heart stopped as Blaine opened the box to reveal a gold band with three small diamonds in the middle. "When can I get mine?"
Ecstatic. That was the only word that could be used to describe Kurt's mood. More than that, if it were possible. Following Blaine's proposal, there had been a trip to the closest tattoo parlor. The name had drawn them in, as well as the llama painted in the shop window.
"Hi," they were greeted by a smiling blonde with a nametag that read Kellie. "Welcome to the Fat Lard tattoo parlor. My name is Kellie, how can I help you today?"
"Well I was looking to get…" Blaine began, but was interrupted by a brunette coming in from the back. "Kellie! Geena took my…woah." She looked pointedly at Blaine. "You're hot."
"Summer, stop hitting on the customers!" another blonde exclaimed, coming out from the back of the store with a spunky redhead by her side.
"How can we help you today?"
An hour and a half later, Blaine's tattoo was done. Getting out of the chair to look at it, he admired the work. "Wait a minute," he said. "Why is there a unicorn?"
Everyone looked at Geena, who replied sheepishly, "What? I thought it'd be fun!"
"I like it," Kurt giggled, kissing his boyfriend on the cheek, standing beside him in the mirror, lifting up his own shirt to see how the entire rainbow looked together.
"Perfect," Blaine mused, as if reading Kurt's mind, reaching up to kiss him.
"Why are all the cute ones gay?" the brunette, who's name was Summer asked and the two boys let out a giggle.
The next morning, Kurt made excited calls to half of the former New Directions, ending with a three way call between him, Rachel and Mercedes.
"I am so happy for you Kurt," Mercedes said.
"As am I," said Rachel. "May I suggest a Broadway star singer for your wedding?"
"Rachel, give it a rest," laughed Mercedes. "So, did you tell him about the tattoo?"
"I did," Kurt replied happily.
"And?"
"He got it last night!" The two girls squealed and the group talked excitedly for another few minutes.
"Well I've got to go," Kurt said. "Blaine and I have plans."
"Oh, cool, what are you doing?"
"We're going swimming."
A/N: Reviews are greatly adored :)