Written for Prompt #4 Proposal at Seblaine Sunday Challenge on Tumblr.
One
The first time that Sebastian proposes to Blaine he's drunk. It's their first night out in New York and they're out with a big group of NYADA and future NYADA students. Blaine fits right in considering that's where he'll be going to school. Sebastian just sticks with Blaine and, reluctantly, Kurt. After everything that happened between the three of them, Sebastian and Kurt can almost get along. Almost. Enough so that Sebastian actually buys Kurt an alcoholic beverage when he gets them drinks and he can have a decent conversation with him while he watches Blaine dance.
It's hours later when the proposal happens and it's barely a proposal. Sebastian's hands are firm on Blaine's hips as Blaine thrusts his ass back against Sebastian. His entire back is pressed to Sebastian's front, one of Sebastian's arms wrapped loosely around Blaine's waist to hold him close. His other hand is tangled with Blaine's, squeezing gently. "Fuck, you look so good," Sebastian mutters, his words slurred. He's had quite a bit more to drink than Blaine as they agreed. Sebastian won't let loose unless he knows somebody he trusts won't be drunk and Blaine doesn't like drinking too much anyway.
"Just imagine how good I'm going to look later when we're in this position without clothes," Blaine turns his head to tease, his lips just brushing across Sebastian's jaw.
"Tease. I want you forever," Sebastian says under his breath. He's barely even aware of what he's saying, the alcohol forcing words out of his mouth that he'd never say otherwise. Blaine hums, leaning further back into him. "You should marry me."
Blaine freezes at that though, pulling away from Sebastian with a frown that makes Sebastian blink. "Excuse me?"
"What did I say?" Sebastian asks and his words are still slurred.
With how much he drank, Blaine knows that he can't really be mad at Sebastian. Except of course Sebastian would half propose marriage while they're drinking on the dance floor. "You're such an idiot, Sebastian Smythe," he settles on saying, rolling his eyes and stalking off to where Kurt is sitting and flirting with somebody at the bar.
Sebastian stands there alone and blinking. They'll go home together, of course. Blaine promised Sebastian earlier that he wouldn't let Sebastian get into trouble and he won't. Right now, though, he needs a moment of whining about his idiot boyfriend to his best friend.
Two
The second time that Sebastian proposes to Blaine is in the middle of Dalton. They've been invited back for a special Warblers performance. Blaine is having fun talking to the students beforehand, giving them hints and complimenting all the students, even the ones that Sebastian could tell by their voices in the warm-up don't sound so good. Once all the students are called away to prepare for their performances, Sebastian grabs Blaine's arm, keeping him standing in front of him. "This is where we met, do you remember?"
"Of course I remember. I had a boyfriend but couldn't help but be completely intrigued by the cute boy who was undressing me with his eyes."
Sebastian laughs at the description, slipping an arm around Blaine's waist and Blaine leans up on his toes to press a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. "I knew you were attractive as hell then but I never knew just how much I'd fall in love with you."
Blaine melts, the same way that he always does when Sebastian says something romantic and he wraps his arms around Sebastian's neck, resting his head on his shoulder. "I wouldn't change anything. It's all made us who we are and I love you all the more for it."
"We should get married," Sebastian throws out, knowing that he made a horrible mistake when Blaine pulls back and smacks his arm hard enough that it starts to sting.
"I didn't mean to hit you that hard," Blaine says immediately which makes Sebastian roll his eyes because honestly he's pretty sure that bugs have flown into him harder than Blaine just hit him. "You're such an asshole."
Again, Blaine walks away and Sebastian just stands there, wondering what in the world that he did wrong. A ring, he realizes immediately. Next time he's going to have a ring.
Three
The third time that Sebastian proposes is at Blaine's birthday party. It's a surprise party, carefully planned jointly by Sebastian, Kurt, Tina and Sam (if Sebastian had ever been asked before if he thought that he would be civil with them enough to plan a party he'd have laughed). Kurt takes Blaine out for some shopping and Sebastian and Blaine's apartment is filled to the brim with friends when they get back.
There's plenty of food and alcohol and music and Sebastian enjoys himself, actually managing to socialize with a lot of Blaine's friends. Blaine's told him that he likes when Sebastian shows his 'mature side' as Blaine had called it one moment when he'd been particularly annoyed and so Sebastian makes an effort, especially for Blaine's birthday.
Blaine, of course, is the social butterfly, talking to friends that he knows and friends of friends that he doesn't. There's always a drink in his hand but Sebastian thinks he's one of the few who realize that Blaine's had the same drink all night, taking only a few sips off of it.
The party takes hours to clear out and eventually it's just a few friends who'll probably pass out in various places of the apartment. Kurt gives them a wave and Blaine a kiss on the cheek before he's out the door and Blaine turns to Sebastian. "Dance with me?"
Sebastian nods and they make their way to the center of the living room. The couch and coffee table were moved to the side, leaving a place that's nice enough to dance on. Blaine presses close as they wrap around each other. The music has long since been turned down and it feels so intimate. "So, was your birthday everything you hoped for?"
"Better. The party was amazing, Sebastian. Thank you for helping plan it," Blaine says quietly, muffling a yawn in Sebastian's neck, eyes falling closed, and Sebastian can hear how tired Blaine is in his voice.
His feelings for Blaine sometimes still surprise him. He had never thought that he'd be truly happy with somebody the way he is with Blaine. He'd never thought that he'd be content just lazily stripping off clothes, giving a goodnight kiss and curling up together. "Of course. Only the best for you." It feels like the perfect moment and so Sebastian pulls out the ring that he has in his back pocket. "Marry me?"
This time Blaine doesn't walk away but he does laugh softly, eyes still closed. Sebastian doesn't even realize that Blaine can't see the ring considering. "Funny, Seb." There's no explanation but Sebastian puts the ring away anyway. Blaine doesn't seem to be upset or disappointed or angry and so Sebastian lets it go. Another time.
Interlude
The last thing that Sebastian expects when he opens the door to their apartment is Kurt, looking simultaneously annoyed and amused. "Okay, look. I'm really getting tired of listening to Blaine. If you don't want to marry him that's fine but if you'd stop screwing with him that'd be fantastic."
"What?" Sebastian asks, unsure of what even to say. He closes the door behind Kurt as Kurt moves past him into the apartment. "Huh?"
Kurt turns to Sebastian, his hands on his hips and Sebastian has to physically bite his cheek to keep in some sort of comment that he's sure would get back to Blaine and have him sleeping on the couch that night. "I know that we don't always get along but we're trying to be civil for Blaine's sakes. Unfortunately for me, he's still my best friend and I get to listen to him talking about you. I get that you didn't want commitment in the first place and all this stuff about how this is a big deal for you. But it's a big deal for Blaine too. He wants to spend the rest of his life with you. He wants to get married to you someday and have kids with you and that white picket fence and-"
"Does this have a point?" Sebastian crosses his arms, unsure why he suddenly feels defensive now. It could be partly because he has no idea exactly what Blaine has shared with Kurt and he's not sure how he feels about that.
"Anyway, the little taunts about marriage are-"
Furrowing his brows, Sebastian watches as Kurt paces around the living room. "Taunts about marriage? What the hell are you even talking about?"
Kurt stops then, raising an eyebrow. "You might've been drunk the first time but he's sure you weren't drunk the other two times. You can't tell me you don't remember. So why do you do it? Why do you mess with him like that if you don't want to get married? I mean, I guess I can grudgingly admit that you obviously love him. So why do you do it?"
"You think- Fuck, he thinks that I'm not serious? Kurt, I'm deadly serious. I even have a ring!" Sebastian goes to the bedroom, digging through the closet before he finds the coat that has the ring box in it.
When he has the ring, he comes back out, opening the box and practically waving it in the air, stopping when Kurt grabs his wrist to look at it. "Wow. That's actually really nice. Wait, so you're really trying to propose to Blaine?"
Sebastian groans, dropping the ring into Kurt's hand and going to sit down on the couch, pressing his face into his hands. "I suck at this. Help?"
"I'm sorry, did I just hear that right? Care to repeat it?"
Sebastian flips him off but he looks at Kurt somewhat desperately as Kurt sits down next to him. "Help?"
One
The only time that Sebastian proposes that matters is on their four year anniversary. It's been a long four years for them full of fights and make-ups, moving in together in New York, Blaine moving out and moving in with Sam after a particularly bad fight and then moving back in with Sebastian after they made up. Sebastian plans something nice, without the help of one Kurt Hummel thank you very much. He simply listened to all of Kurt's suggestions and then threw his own thing together.
It's simple because Blaine doesn't like big, romantic gestures when they're aimed at him. Sebastian learned that well and he also knows that Blaine will never admit that out loud simply out of fear of disappointing him. They finish dessert and Blaine sits back in his chair. Their toes are touching under their too small dining room table (neither one of them taking any more money from their parents than was absolutely necessary to not spend every waking minute at work) and Blaine has that giddy smile on his face that Sebastian loves to see.
"I admit that I'm surprised. When you specifically called to get me out of work I was thinking that you had planned something big. I'm really glad that it was this, though. This was nice to be able to play footsie under the table and kiss and stuff without having to worry about an audience."
Sebastian smiles back softly, the love that he feels for the boy in front of him nearly overwhelming him. He'd never have imagined that he could feel this way and he's shaky as he moves around the table, getting down on one knee in front of him. Blaine looks surprised, almost wary and Sebastian displays the box for Blaine to see, not quite opening it yet.
"So, Kurt came and kicked some sense into me. Apparently you don't realize just how much I really want to be with you. When I tell you that I love you forever I really do mean it. When I met you, I wanted a quick fuck." Sebastian ignores Blaine's snort of laughter, continuing on and thankful that this isn't being recorded because this is not the most romantic proposal ever apparently." You were probably the most attractive boy that I'd ever met and I want to pursue you. Obviously, you were with Kurt at the time but it didn't stop me. I think part of what really attracted me to you was that you didn't let me affect you. Your love is just so deep and so amazing and it's amazing to see.
"Blaine, I never thought that I could love like this. I thought that I'd be completely content with just one night stands for the rest of my life. Then you forced your way completely into my life, a whirlwind of heartbreak, fresh of what you considered a rejected proposal by the love of your life." Blaine tries to interject there but Sebastian shakes his head. "It's okay. I know that he's not and we all know that. It's fine. God, this isn't going the way that I planned on it.
"I love you, Blaine. For the rest of my life I'm going to love you. I'm going to want to be with you. You're it for me. I've never even wanted anybody else since I fell in love with you and that's such a strange thought for me. You're the perfect guy and I'd like to spend the rest of my life making you happy. Will you marry me?"
Blaine doesn't hesitate as he moves out of the chair and pushes himself into Sebastian's arms fast enough that Sebastian half falls backwards before managing to catch him. "You really want to marry me? That's a really big commitment."
Sebastian shakes his head, completely serious as he looks into Blaine's eyes. "There's no kind of commitment that's too big for you. I love you."
"Then yes. I'd love to marry you," Blaine whispers, accepting the ring as Sebastian pulls it out of the box, placing it on his finger. "I love you too."
Later, Sebastian will tell Blaine when he got the ring, about how he'd been serious those previous times as well. It's a funny story that they tell although Sebastian is embarrassed about it for years. It doesn't matter. All that matters is the engagement ring that finally ends up on Blaine's ring finger (even if it is replaced by a wedding band nearly two years later). But Sebastian thinks that that's even better.