A/N: So this was my real ACITW inspired one-shot, but instead of posting it when it was due for the Kurtbastian Project, I waited for obvious reasons. I hope you enjoy it :) FutureFic, romance
"It might sound strange," Sebastian says thoughtfully, in a way that sounds totally put on, "but I feel like we've done this before." He flips his end of the aging plaid blanket – an heirloom of summers past - to help Kurt straighten out the wrinkles. The blanket domes upward as it catches the air, but when it settles down and he can finally see Kurt's face, Sebastian snickers at the unamused stare aimed his way.
"That's because we have," Kurt says flatly, "for the last eight years, Bas, and you make that same stupid joke every…single…year."
"Then you should have expected it," Sebastian says superiorly, "so don't look so put out, princess." Sebastian kicks off his shoes carelessly, leaving them in a heap in the grass, and crawls across the blanket to where Kurt is carefully untying his own shoes and setting them aside. "Ouch! Fuck!" Sebastian groans, lifting up off his hip.
"What was that?" Kurt asks, irritated at what he assumes is another lame joke at his expense. Frowning, he cranes his head to catch a glimpse of where Sebastian is frantically rubbing his sore ass cheek. "Let me guess…you need me to kiss it and make it better?"
Kurt waits for Sebastian to go after the obvious bait he has dangled in front of his face, but Sebastian seems uncharacteristically flustered all of a sudden - his cheeks coloring beneath Kurt's expectant glare.
"Uh…no...it's nothing," Sebastian says, the reply clipped and plain and slightly uneasy. He readjusts his jeans and curls up beside a befuddled Kurt. "I must have sat on a rock or something."
Kurt hears a muffled wave of laughter in the shadows nearby, and looks around at the other blankets spread out on the nearby. To their left is Charlotte and Gregory – Charlotte resting between her husband's legs and looking at them with a fond, nostalgic smile while Gregory chuckles good-naturedly behind her. Beside them sits Julian and Cooper, who have apparently foregone the formalities of waiting for the fireworks to start and are now engaged in a heated make-out session in full view of God and country, blissfully unconcerned with the discomfort of the family surrounding them.
Of course, there really isn't any discomfort. If there is one thing that Kurt realized about the Smythe family pretty much from the start is that beyond the gates of their extravagant estate, love is always welcome.
Ahead of them, Liv and Brian have set up a blanket with their three children – Charles, Georgia, and Brianna. The family was surprised when such an independent and career driven woman like Olivia had children so quickly after her marriage, but the five made such a perfect fit that after the initial shock no one ever found a reason to complain. Olivia, Brian, and their children were always so happy, almost Norman Rockwell-esque in the picture they made of familial perfection, that it made Sebastian sick to his stomach just looking at them.
At least, that's what he made a point of telling Kurt, protesting his love for the three imps excessively even though when the children came to visit Sebastian could often be found throwing a football with Charles, reading to little Georgia, or resting on the couch with baby Brianna in his arms.
Sebastian is still Kurt's snarky meerkat, but how much that meerkat has grown - from reprehensible rogue to an almost equally reprehensible but undeniable gentleman.
Over to their right sit Kurt's father and Carole, huddled together for warmth beneath a crocheted blanket Kurt's mother had made longer ago than he can remember. It's nice to see it out and about, especially making an appearance at family functions like this one. It makes Kurt feel like she's there with them. Kurt knows she would have loved the Smythes, and he's more than certain that she and Charlotte and Olivia would all have been thick as thieves.
The years are not being kind to Kurt's father, and he thanks the powers that be - whoever they are - for one more year they have together. Kurt looks over at his dad, resting against Carole's shoulder, and when he catches his son's worried gaze, Burt smiles.
It nearly brings a tear to Kurt's eye.
The only empty space on the grass is the spot usually occupied by Finn and Rachel, but they spent this fourth of July in New York, and Kurt knows exactly why. Finn is a private man at heart, regardless of the gregarious and attention-seeking woman that he has for a girlfriend, so he chose to have a private moment alone with her on the day he wanted to ask her to be his wife.
Kurt sighs, thinking about how romantic it will be for her, on a blanket in Central Park, with the fireworks overhead, and Finn down on one knee, asking for her hand. Finn had promised to text Kurt the minute she said yes, and he can't help but fidget, waiting for the text alert on his phone to chime.
"What is it, babe?" Sebastian asks when Kurt squirms for the fifteenth time. "Do you have ants in your pants or something?"
"No," Kurt says, rolling his eyes but snuggling closer.
"Because the ants around here are ruthless," Sebastian jokes. "We should probably take you upstairs and strip you down…"
Kurt doesn't say a word. He reaches beneath his arm and pinches Sebastian on the flank, smirking at his yelp of pain.
"No, really, tell me how you really feel," Sebastian grumbles, yearning to rub the spot but not wanting to move and dislodge Kurt from his side. Tonight is a night for being close, and he has no intention of letting Kurt get away.
Kurt sighs again and looks up into Sebastian's eyes – soft and moss-green beneath the ambient light.
"I'm just thinking about Finn and Rachel," Kurt admits, his voice wistful and dreamy, matching the expression on his face. Sebastian nods. He knows all about Frankenteen (or Frankenadult, he guesses, since they haven't been teenagers for years…Sebastian is going to have to think up a new nickname he decides) and his plans to ask his hobbit girlfriend to marry him. He wants to laugh at the corn syrupiness of it all – the obnoxious sentiment that usually makes Sebastian want to hurl.
He would laugh, if his own plans weren't exactly the same.
The first firework whistles its way into the night sky, exploding with a pop and a brilliant spray of white light. Kurt forgets about Finn and Rachel for the moment and stares star-struck at the gorgeous display, and this year's display promises to be the most lavish ever, but several other pairs of eyes are pinned instead on Kurt and Sebastian's blanket, where a shaking Sebastian fumbles in his back pocket for a tiny black box – a box that holds the culmination of the last eight years of their lives, years filled with insults and banter, difficult college years spent apart, a few not-so-serious breakups, one almost serious one, and then the utter and complete realization that there was nothing in the world that they wanted more than each other.
Kurt feels Sebastian move, feels him pull away and he holds his breath, a small smile slipping onto his lips as he dutifully keeps his eyes glued to the sky.
He bites his lip and waits because he knows.
Sebastian could never keep a secret, at least not from Kurt. Kurt knows everyone is watching them. He knows his dream of the last year and a half is about to come true.
After this evening, he'll spend the night with Sebastian, celebrating the rest of their lives together, but first he'll go to his bucket list and cross out a recent addition #247- get engaged to my boyfriend on a picnic blanket under the fireworks.