Every Year A Wish
"Happy birthday Blaine!" There seemed to be a hundred people in the Anderson's backyard, although that wasn't possible. That wasn't possible because Blaine had specifically said he wanted a small affair, on multiple occasions. He'd even made his parents swear not to have some huge blow out because the disaster that was his twenty-second birthday. Now it was his twenty-seventh and he really didn't need a repeat.
A closer look told Blaine that this time it wasn't various members of his father's company but actually people that he knew. It was still a large group, a lot more than he expected, but he didn't mind. It was friends that he hadn't seen in a few years, although he kept in touch with most of them.
It was strange to see the members of his glee club mingled with family and family friends waiting around a table piled high with different foods, since he had also made his parents swear not to get him a cake. The last time he'd let his parents get candles, they'd gotten him the trick candles. Honestly though, it shouldn't have taken him as long as it had to figured out what they were. That was probably his fault.
"Thanks everyone." Maria Anderson was first to her son's side, wrapping him up in a hug and kissing his temple. Jacob Anderson was next, giving him a quick hug and a strong pat on the back. Next should have been his sister but their brother beat her to him, wrapping an arm around Blaine's shoulders and slapping one of those ridiculous pointed birthday hats on his head. Lauren came up behind him, snatching the hat away and hugging her brother around the waist tightly.
Jeffrey was the oldest, followed by Lauren and then Blaine. Despite their ages, ranging from thirty two to twenty seven, they were very close. In fact, if it hadn't been for his siblings, there is a good chance Blaine would have been a very different person. They had both been very accepting of his sexuality, being present when he finally found the courage to tell his parents.
"Happy birthday Anderson." As Puck reached out to shake Blaine's hand, Blaine found himself engulfed by Brittany and Santana. The two girls, still in a committed relationship if Blaine's memory served him right, kept their arms tight around him, nearly cutting off his oxygen.
"Ugh, let me breathe ladies." Brittany pulled away first, pressing a kiss to Blaine's cheek. Santana held on for a second longer before pulling back, smiling in the open way she didn't do until she left Lima. He was close to all of his glee club members, but there was something different about his friendship with Santana. Always had been.
"Happy b-day Warbler." Even though he'd been at McKinley just as long as he'd been at Dalton, Santana had taken to calling him 'Warbler' at every given chance. Of course it was a lot better than some of the other nicknames she had called him over the years. Especially since his parents and siblings were standing just a few feet away.
Finn and Rachel were next, with Finn giving him a manly hug and Rachel giving him as tight of a hug as she could manage. She no longer dressed older than she was; she seemed to have finally found her style. Or maybe her stylist had found it. Sam and Mike were after Finn and Rachel, with Mike explaining that Tina would have loved to come but someone had to stay home with their newborn. Blaine made a mental note to call and check in on Tina, since he hadn't spoken to her since her baby shower. Pushing Artie was Mercedes, who both offered fist bumps before Mercedes engulfed Blaine in a hug.
"Quinn has a case but she's threatened most of us for photos of the birthday boy and his new boy." Lauren slinked up between the old glee club members, asserting herself in the way she did whenever they were in school, her smirk stretched wide and evil enough to rival some of Santana's best.
"Yes, where is this mystery man? If mom and dad didn't swear he was real, I'd think that you had made him up." Blaine smiled, rolling his eyes at his sister's playfulness as he turned to look at the door he'd come through.
"He had to go get some ice."
Blaine was actually starting to not believe that Kurt was out getting ice. He had kept whispering to Blaine's mom over the few days they'd been in town before the party. Would laugh and quickly change the subject if Blaine asked why. Had gone to some pretty serious lengths to distract Blaine when he'd tried to ask one night. Not that Blaine necessarily minded. He was glad that Kurt had won over both of his parents. It pleased him beyond a shadow of a doubt.
However it did not please him to know that his mom and boyfriend were conspiring, probably against Blaine. His mom was smiling definitely-not-innocently at him, making him think that his belief that there was something going on was doubled. He opened his mouth, maybe to call her out on it, but was cut off by his boyfriend voice coming from behind him.
"Okay, here we go." The sight that Kurt made, carrying a tray with a large sheet cake with thankfully only three candles, was one that made Blaine okay with the blatant betrayal. He was smiling, holding the tray with one arm while the other covered the candles from being blown out.
They started singing almost at once, everyone's voices mixing together the way that Blaine remembered from high school. His mom quickly moved the fruit trays to another area of the table so that Kurt could set the tray down, decorated subtly with 'Happy Birthday Blaine' written in red icing in the middle. Blaine made a show of rolling his eyes as he made to approach the table, ducking his brother's arms and dodging a fake jab from Puck as he stared down at the cake. Once they were finished singing, they watched him expectantly. Strangely enough, it was Kurt's voice that spoke.
"Make a wish Blaine." Blaine made eye contact with Kurt, wondering what was going through his mind as he bent down to blow out the candles.
Having been faced with this prospect before, knowing that his wish would come true, Blaine had spent a lot of thought on it. However today Blaine made the same wish that he wished for every year that he could remember.
I wish that my loved ones and I will always be together.
With eyes closed, Blaine blew out the candles and smiled at the laughter and applause that came through. There were a few jokes about age, since there were only three candles on the cake, but Blaine's mom said that it was her suggestion. One for the past, one for the present, and one for the future. Blaine's father took over the cake cutting, having been fairly anal about the act since the three Anderson siblings were younger. The rest of the group spread out, mingling being the best word for what they were doing, as Blaine greeted his old friends with Kurt by his side.
Lauren slinked through, with Santana at her heels, to peer at Kurt. Blaine knew the other man probably felt a little uncomfortable, but he didn't show it. He smiled brightly, shook their hands, and told them he'd heard all about them. He was charming everyone at the party, which made Blaine happy. They'd been together a little less than a year but hadn't been able to take a trip and visit family and friends since the first trip out to see Blaine's parents, so it was great to see him outside of their usual area, good to see him interacting with Blaine's friends.
It didn't take long before Kurt was cornered by Lauren and Santana, probably the two people present besides Blaine's parents that needed to approve the most over Blaine's choice. They didn't seem to be terrifying Kurt yet, seemingly having a friendly conversation. Every now and then one of the three would glance over to Blaine, who was starting to suspect they were trading stories, but he refused to be worried. He didn't feel really curious until he saw Kurt's head tilt the slightest bit to the side before he answered whatever question had been posed.
It wasn't often that Blaine saw that little trick anymore. Whether Kurt consciously stopped tilting his head but kept gathering information or if he just didn't feel the need to do it in front of Blaine, he wasn't sure, but it was nice to see him do it. Kurt still used his magic sometimes, although very rarely, but it didn't bother Blaine anymore. He didn't think that Kurt would realize what he had given up; he wasn't worried that he would lose Kurt like that. And telling Kurt to never use magic wasn't realistic, wasn't fair. It was something that was part of Kurt, something Kurt had offered to get rid of for Blaine.
"He seems like a nice guy." Rachel's voice in Blaine's ear made him jerk out of his thoughts, tearing his eyes away from where Kurt was standing with Lauren and Santana, and now Brittany, Artie, and Mercedes, to look down at the girl. She was watching Kurt with a strange, but not unpleasant, look on her face.
"He is. He's great. I'm a lucky guy." She smiled at that, leaning up to kiss Blaine's cheek.
"You're both lucky guys." She turned away, accepting a paper plate with a piece of cake on it from Blaine's father. Everyone seemed to be breaking off into small groups, since this was probably the first time they'd gotten together in a while. Mike came up to Blaine next, showing him pictures of the three kids that him and Tina had together, while not so subtly asking if Kurt was good to him.
It warmed Blaine to the core how much his friends cared about him. Even though he didn't see them half as much as he would have liked, it was good to see them all together like this.
"He's different." This time it was Lauren and Jeffrey, giving Blaine the older sibling looks they had perfected over the years. Blaine glanced over to where Kurt was talking to Finn and Sam, head tilted to the side as they spoke. Most likely discussing football, if they way Finn was gesturing had anything to do with it.
"Is that a bad thing?" Jeffrey shook his head, patting Blaine on the shoulder before rejoining his parents and their discussion with Puck and Mercedes. Lauren stayed watching Blaine for a few moments before looking back to where Kurt was, laughing along with something that Finn had said.
"I'm just glad that you're happy Blaine. You know that we could all care less about who you're with, as long as they make you happy. You are happy, aren't you?" Blaine didn't even have to think about the question before he answered.
"Yes. I love him." They had only stumbled onto that little confession about a month ago. It had been strange saying it the first time; Blaine wasn't sure if Kurt felt the same way or if even he could. But Kurt had smiled, pressed a kiss to Blaine's mouth and repeated the words back to him.
"If he's going to be a permanent feature, Blaine, you might want to bring him around more often." Blaine laughed, hugging his sister tightly to him with a smile.
"Thanks Lo." Lauren smiled at the old nickname and hugged her brother tightly before pulling back and going back to the group.
Spending most of the rest of the party watching his loved ones together was better than Blaine could have imagined. Someone had hooked up their iPod so there was light music and some dancing, everyone catcalling when Blaine and Kurt started to slow dance in the middle of the group. He wasn't shy; they were surrounded by his family and closest friends, so he allowed himself to press a little closer to Kurt, to press a kiss to his lips at the end of the song. It wasn't met with applause or another round of catcalls; it was treated as just a kiss, which made Blaine very happy.
After everyone left, with a round of hugs and kisses for everyone, Maria and Jacob excused themselves to the far side of the house while Blaine and Kurt retired to Blaine's old room. They undressed in the same room, having lost the shyness from their first trip here. Once they were both in their pajamas, they slid under the blanket together, wrapped around one another loosely. Blaine hadn't been sure he'd be able to sleep like that, since he wasn't used to doing more than just sleeping beside someone, but he had gotten used to sleeping that way with Kurt. On the few times in the past that one or the other had slept on the couch, Blaine found himself unable to get more than a little sleep, arms wrapped around a pillow like it was a person.
Kurt skimmed his fingers over the little expanse of skin shown on Blaine's hip, dipping his fingers under the hem of his tshirt every few passes. It wasn't sexual, because they were in Blaine's parents' house and there were some things not on his bucket list. It was a soothing touch that had Blaine's muscles relaxing and his head resting more heavily on the pillow than before.
"What's on your mind?" Blaine glanced down at where Kurt had perched his head, propped up on his hand and staring from only a couple of inches away.
"What are we going to do about your birthday?" Kurt sat up, staring down at Blaine confusedly.
"What are you talking about? We celebrated my faux-birthday a few months ago. You insisted on dinner and you brought me flowers. Don't tell me you've already forgotten?" Blaine shook his head, sitting up and pulling Kurt to lean against him, linking their fingers between them.
It didn't take Kurt's magic to realize that this was important to Blaine so he sat back and waited, letting Blaine dictate the tempo of the conversation.
"I meant... well, are you going to age? Are you going to be this age forever? Will you have to watch me get older, get sick, eventually die?" He kept his voice low, even though he knew his parents were asleep. He had briefly considered telling his family about Kurt, about how they really met. Kurt could prove it; it wasn't like he was worried they wouldn't believe him. He wanted to keep it to himself though, especially because his mom would probably find out that he'd wished her cancer away. He wasn't sure he was ready to face that.
"I'll age outwardly. My insides aren't much different from yours I imagine, but I should just try not to put myself in a situation where someone will have to take a look." Feeling a weight off of his shoulders, Blaine sighed and leaned against Kurt, pressing a kiss to the side of his neck.
"You don't have to worry Blaine, I'm not going to leave me and you're not going to leave me." Blaine opened his mouth to say something, to say anything, but was interrupted by Kurt leaning forward and pressing their lips together. They kissed for a while, shifting so that they were lying side by side once more, still wrapped up in one another.
"I haven't told you happy birthday, have I?"
Blaine laughed because Kurt had told him happy birthday multiple times throughout the night, whispering it to him and saying it out loud, written in the card he gave him when they'd woken up that morning. He knew that Kurt was changing the subject for a specific reason, he rarely did things otherwise. Blaine leaned up on his elbow to look at Kurt, eyebrow raised while Kurt tried his hardest to look completely innocent.
"What'd you do?" Kurt placed a hand to his chest as if Blaine's accusation truly wounded him. He waited for a moment before sitting up, rolling over so that he was effectively straddling Blaine against the bed. Blaine tilted his head to look up at Kurt, licking his lips as he took in their new position. He had expressed on multiple occasions before flying to Ohio that they were not to do anything in his childhood home, but in this position... Blaine was pretty sure he could be persuaded.
"I haven't given you your present yet." Kurt leaned down, pressing a kiss to Blaine's collarbone before pulling back, not bothering to hide the smile that came with it. Blaine nodded, leaning up to capture Kurt's lips once more, placing a hand on the back of his neck to pull him down further.
"Yes, okay, this is good." With a laugh, Kurt pressed down for one more kiss before hopping off of Blaine and moving to where is suitcase was.
"You better be grabbing condoms and lube, Kurt, because I- Kurt! I told you no gifts!" The box in Kurt's hands wasn't big, just a little larger than Kurt's hand. Mind still on what they could be doing instead of this, Blaine sat up and crossed his arms over his chest.
"No, if I recall, you told me I could not buy you anything. I didn't buy this for you." This made Blaine sigh, not taking the box that Kurt was offering him. He didn't make a reach for it for so long that Kurt sat down, still holding it out.
"I didn't want you to buy something, make something, magic something for me. I just wanted you here with me."
He continued to neglect the box that Kurt had finally dropped on his lap. It wasn't that he didn't want to open it, because the thought that Kurt had used the magic he so often forgets about to make something for Blaine was a little too tempting to ignore. He just didn't want Kurt to feel like he had to get something for him, that he had to do it. All Blaine wanted was Kurt. Everything else was a pleasant extra.
"I wanted to give this to you because... well, if you would open the damn thing, you'd understand." Blaine laughed, unable to continue his childish pouting at Kurt's tone of affectionate frustration. It was a tone that Kurt took on regarding Blaine often.
Blaine slowly pulled on the wrapping paper, not being one to rip it open and tear it to pieces. He set that aside and checked the box for tape before lifting the lid. Inside the box, surrounded by crunched up wrapping paper, was Kurt's trejule. Only in seeing it did Blaine realize he hadn't seen it on the bedside table before they left, but he hadn't thought on it for too long. Kurt sometimes wanted it with him, a reminder of what he was before most likely, so Blaine had chalked it up to that.
He glanced up, about to ask Kurt what the significance was, but Kurt gestured for him to look at it again. He did, this time pulling it out of the box and turning it over in his hands. He remembered how the trejule was when Kurt unbound himself to it, the top sliding out. Now the top was sealed again. Blaine was about to ask what that meant when he saw a series of etchings on the top.
You are mine and I am yours.
It felt warm to the touch, but that was probably just Blaine's mind. He held it tightly in his hands, glancing up at Kurt and seeing to complete love there. Without dropping the trejule, Blaine leaned forward to capture Kurt's lips.
"This is the perfect gift." Kurt smiled into the kiss, pressing one of his hands against the back of Blaine's head and the other to his hip, angling him closer.
"Perhaps now we could work on my other gift."
Blaine pulled his head back, to say that one gift was enough, but Kurt snapped and a condom and lubed appeared in his hand. He arched an eyebrow and Blaine smiled, placing the trejule back in the box and putting them on the floor, rolling over so that he was on top of Kurt.
"This is the second most perfect gift you could have given me." Laughing, Kurt wrapped his arms tightly around Blaine's waist and holding them together.
"I love you." Blaine smiled, pressing his lips to Kurt's neck before whispering the words back. As he moved to claim Kurt's lips again, Kurt pulled away to whisper one last thing.
"And happy birthday."
A/N: So I'm glad I was able to finish this when I did. I'm leaving for family vacation back home to New Orleans, so I won't be able to respond to reviews or messages until after the 22nd. I have a tentative plan for another oneshot, but I have to make sure it makes sense before I try it. When I get home, I'll start working on the finale for the EHo verse.
Happy belated Valentine's day and happy early Mardi Gras!
Thank you for reading this. I hope you enjoyed it.