Kurt was smiling to himself in the mirror of his bedroom, one hand in his pocket twirling the velvet box inside. One year. How had it been a year since that day that Kurt had gone to Blaine's apartment to clarify what was between them once and for all? Neither of them knew it, but the fact is it was.
And what a year. Blaine was engrained into every part of his life now. After Blaine's birthday last year, it had been a whirlwind summer filled with laughter and energy, and they were even closer now. A few weeks later, it was Nate and Dylan's 5 year anniversary, so they both took a trip to Virginia, and they were the picture of happiness. Although there were two guys waiting for them, willing to compete with them about being happy.
Nate and Dylan greeted them with hugs and kisses, and they spent the weekend showing Virginia to Kurt. Blaine felt proud of walking down those streets where he had grown up showing off his boyfriend, and at the same time he felt even closer to Kurt by sharing that part of his life with him.
Blaine had even decided to take Kurt to the club he used to frequent with Nate and Dylan. A few people did recognize Blaine but Kurt was quick to place an arm around him and tell everyone he was Blaine's boyfriend, which made a lot of people back off. But also got a few offers of a threesome.
Blaine's past was still his Achilles heel though, but he no longer had any secrets from Kurt.
The next day was Saturday and they celebrated the impending anniversary with Nate and Dylan's families, at their house. Both sets of their parents were amazingly funny, Nate's dad and Dylan's mother were especially spritely and made Kurt laugh so much. But on the Sunday before they had to go back home, they went out for a special lunch with Nate and Dylan.
But while Nate thought they were going to have lunch before Kurt and Blaine left, they actually ended up at the door of the club he and Dylan were dancing at when they felt the soulmates bond back in college.
Nate didn't understand anything, least of all why a club was open on a Sunday afternoon. Dylan took him inside, followed by Kurt and Blaine, and Nate looked at how the dance floor was covered in lilies, his favorite flower, and when he turned to ask Dylan what was happening, he saw his boyfriend with tear-filled eyes, a knee stuck in the ground and a box with a ring in his hand.
Dylan made a special speech, tears running down his cheeks as he asked Nate to spend the rest of his life with him. And as he was actually saying the words, some of the club staff members appeared with a big cake from the back, on the cake were the words 'Will You Marry Me?' as it was presented to Nate.
Kurt had never seen Nate emotional before, and Blaine had never seen his best friend cry either. That came as a shock to him as he held Kurt's hand so tightly that he thought he might be hurting him, but if so, Kurt didn't complain. He just got even closer to Blaine, and both their minds had only one thought… they were seeing their future.
With a huge smile on his face, Nate screamed 'Yes!' amongst cheering and applause. He grabbed Dylan and smashed their lips together, before Dylan took the ring and with a watery smile, placed it on Nate's finger.
They all cried as they congratulated the ecstatic fiancés, and when Dylan excitedly jumped on Kurt and asked 'what about you?' in his ear, he knew perfectly well what he was referring to, and Kurt's heart answered for him when he said 'soon'.
Once back home in New York, the next few months of the year flew past, they spent Thanksgiving in Ohio with Burt, Carole, Finn, Brooke and the kids. Brooke was getting bigger now, glowing skin and happy smile with a huge baby bump.
Although not everything was good moments. One night, just after New Years, they were curled up on the couch in Blaine's apartment when Kurt told him it was time to go back to his place and Blaine complained, sick of not being able to sleep with his boyfriend every night.
"What's your solution then?" Kurt laughed as he put his shoes on.
"We should live together." Blaine replied seriously.
Kurt snapped his head up and looked at Blaine with a huge grin on his face before throwing himself into his arms and kissing him passionately. Then Blaine laid him down on the couch, he quickly got on top and started devouring his neck.
"I can't wait for you to move in with me." He whispered while sucking Kurt's collarbone lightly.
Kurt moaned, tilting his head and giving Blaine more room to kiss.
"And why don't you move in with me?" He gasped.
Five minutes later, there were no kisses, just two people arguing.
"My apartment is closer to work."
"But we're not going to work on the magazine forever. Mine is bigger, that's the most important thing."
"Now you want to change jobs too? The rooms may be bigger, but the kitchen is tiny."
"You don't like my kitchen? You didn't say that every time we've..."
"Don't even think about using sex against me! Did you hit your head or something?"
"Stop yelling at me!"
"You're yelling at me too! But if we can't agree on this, maybe we shouldn't live together."
"Maybe."
They looked at each other, feeling a sadness inside that they didn't expected. The idea of living together had been on their minds since practically the beginning of their relationship, as far-fetched as that sounded, but now that it seemed a reality, it had barely lasted a few minutes. But those minutes had changed everything, because now living apart didn't seem enough anymore, for either of them.
Blaine closed the distance between them and took Kurt's hands.
"You don't want to live with me anymore?" He questioned him quietly.
"Of course I do." Kurt admitted. He rested his forehead on Blaine's and took a deep breath. "If it's that important to you, I'll move in."
"What if we both move? What if we find a place where we both start from scratch together?"
The next few weeks were spent searching for the perfect apartment. That led to stress and a few more small fights, but nothing that wasn't immediately resolved when one of them held the other in his arms.
Finally, they found the perfect place. The move kept them busy, as did agreeing on which of each of their furniture to keep. Kurt had an insane amount of clothes that didn't leave too much room in the closet for anything else, and Blaine loved what Kurt defined as 'absurd stuff that just take up space'.
However, the day they finally walked through that door together, Blaine's clothes were neatly placed next to Kurt's, just like the rest of his things. They did not lose their smiles, too happy to finally be at their home, where they would begin a new and exciting stage of their relationship.
The cohabitation was surprisingly easy, although since they exchanged the keys to their apartments they had practically lived together, only in two different places.
Sleeping together every night and waking up together every morning was their favorite part. And things had been going really well. They knew each other's morning and nighttime routines by now, having stayed over with each other many times. They were happy with their home. A home together.
They had decided that it was a silly expense to go to work in both their cars, so they went together every day, taking turns. If that brought out any comment about them at work, they didn't hear. Camille and Jonathan knew it and a lot of people seemed to suspect it, but they never said anything directly to them, and that was good enough.
Another advantage of living together is that neither of them felt that need to constantly search for each other at work. They didn't have to have lunch together every day, and Blaine didn't sneak out to Kurt's office as often anymore for moments alone, though these didn't totally disappear, especially the day Blaine was on his way to the dining room and got a text from Kurt.
- I finally remembered to bring one of the lubes from home and keep it carefully in my desk drawer... unless you don't need to have lunch today and want me to take it out ;) -
Blaine didn't hesitate to turn around and almost smashed the door of Kurt's office when he entered.
They spent more time with Brooke and the kids as she got bigger and closer to her due date, Finn had been worried about her being on her feet all day. Kurt and Blaine became staple babysitters in the house, and many times they had picked both children up from pre school and Kindergarten for Brooke because she was so tired.
But Kurt had to be mediator between Blaine and Brooke sometimes, because they would both complain to each other about everything the other did. Blaine would still keep on complaining about his sister's complaining at home as well. Kurt was starting to get a little annoyed with both of them.
Another important moment of that first year together was a Friday night that they had gone out to dinner and watch a movie. Despite sharing an apartment, neither of them wanted to miss their Friday dates and they kept them religiously.
They left the restaurant and started walking to the movies, holding hands.
"On Monday after work we have to do some shopping. We can't keep living without eggs, flour and rice." Kurt said nonchantaly.
"What did we say about not having domestic conversations on date night? It's not romantic." Blaine whined.
"It's also not romantic that I can't make you a decent breakfast tomorrow. Besides, I thought you wanted to try making cupcakes."
"Okay, we'll go to the grocery store on Monday." Blaine sighed.
"And we have to call the power company, we've already had two blackouts this week." Kurt told him then.
"Yes, wifey."
"Go to hell." Kurt growled.
Blaine burst out laughing and Kurt only imitated him. Before he could remind Blaine of the need to do laundry that weekend, Blaine's phone rang.
"Aren't you going to answer that?" Kurt asked.
"It's Brooke, but it's our date night and I don't want to hear how sick she is of lying down all day, how badly she sleeps or how awfully Finn cooks." Blaine said in explanation, wrapping his arm around Kurt's waist and pulling him closer.
Then it was Kurt's phone that rang.
"Don't pick it up."
"Blaine..."
"Don't pick it up, don't pick it up, don't pick it up." Blaine grabbed Kurt by the lapels of his shirt and gently dragged him towards a wall between two closed shops. There weren't many people around them and Blaine didn't hesitate to start kissing him.
"Baby, not on the street..." He said against Blaine's lips. "It was only twice, it won't always work for you... I'm going to pick up the phone."
Kurt chuckled as he finally managed to take his phone and answer the call.
"Finn, hey... oh my!" Kurt yelped when Blaine nibbled on his jaw, and he gave his boyfriend a giggling punch on the shoulder to push him away. "I'm sorry, Finn, I'm listening. What? Where are you? Okay, calm down, we'll go right away."
Kurt hung up the phone and looked at Blaine with wide eyes.
"Brooke is in labor, we have to go to the hospital."
Four hours later, Kurt and Blaine met their new little niece, a beautiful baby with rosy cheeks and huge brown eyes.
Maisie Hudson.
Brooke looked tired but happy, and she cuddled her older children close to her on the bed, Anna and Jack were getting sleepy along with their mother. Finn handed little Maisie to Uncle Blaine first. Blaine held the baby very carefully, as if he feared it would break in his hands. And he was amazed at how tiny she was, and held her close to his chest.
Kurt watched him with a soft smile, imagining exactly what it would be like in the future, seeing Blaine with one of their children some day.
"I couldn't come to the hospital when Anna and Jack were born, I could never hold them when they were so tiny." Blaine said softly, afraid to startle the little girl, who was sleeping peacefully. "Isn't this the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?"
"Totally." Kurt replied, although he wasn't looking at Maisie, but at the image of Blaine with a baby in his arms.
Blaine noticed the emotion in Kurt's words and raised his head.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Blaine asked him with a smile.
"I want one." The words slipped from Kurt's lips.
"One what?" Blaine frowned at him.
Kurt pointed at Maisie, and Blaine's heart skipped a beat. God, he wanted it too. One, two and as many as Kurt wanted.
"Okay, but I have to make you my husband first."
Kurt was still in a bit of love struck shock and awe when it came his turn to hold her, he cradled her close and smelled her hair before placing a small kiss against her soft forehead. He saw Blaine watching him with a grin this time and leaned against his side so they could both watch their new niece sleeping in Kurt's arms.
This was exactly what they both wanted.
Blaine's words had made a dent in Kurt that night, and when their first anniversary came a few months later, he was so happy and everything between them was so natural, as if they were really born to be together, that he had a very clear idea.
During their anniversary dinner date, he would propose to Blaine.
Currently it was 7:04pm, and he was waiting for Blaine to come out of the bathroom, they were both already dressed but Blaine wanted to style his har a certain way tonight, and made Kurt wait in their bedroom.
"Sweetheart? We have to go in 5 minutes." Kurt called out after hearing a crash from the bathroom.
"Yeah i know, one second." Came the muffled reply and Kurt chuckled to himself.
After about 30 seconds the door opened and Kurt's mouth dropped open at the sight. Blaine had only lightly moussed the curls on his head, but over the last couple of months they had grown a little longer, and now they hung over his forehead in a bad boy esque kind of way. Kurt liked it.
"Honey, that looks amazing." He groaned out, fingers itching to touch the curls now and Blaine laughed as he pulled the lapels of his suit jacket into place again.
"Thank you darling. Ready to go?"
"Totally ready."
Blaine grinned at him and reached for Kurt's hand so that they cold walk out together. The apartment they had now, was only a short walk away from their favourite restaurant, so they would walk the two blocks to it. Hand in hand, as they always did now. Kurt still fiddled with the velvet box in his pants pocket along the way, trying to hide his nervousness by taking slow, silent breaths through his nose.
"Can you believe what a crazy year it's been?" Blaine asked as they walked along and Kurt smiled at him.
"Actually no, it's been really crazy," he laughed as Blaine nodded, "but incredible too."
Blaine pulled their joined hands up between them and placed a small kiss on the back of Kurt's.
"Yeah, it's been amazing." he whispered and Kurt could only smile as they rounded the last corner before reaching the front doors of the restaurant.
The host was nice as she led them to a table in the back, a lot more privacy for them and much more comfortable having a booth all to themselves. Blaine pulled Kurt's chair out and Kurt rolled his eyes fondly before sitting, the hostess smiling at them before handing them menus.
"You know Camille's been texting me every night this past week, asking if we can go to that new bar that's opened." Blaine said with a small chuckle as he and Kurt stared over the menus.
"She's been bugging me too." Kurt replied, "oh by the way, Brooke wants us to go round for dinner on Wednesday, but also she and Finn need a date night soon so she wants us to watch the kids again."
"Great. Maisie is so adorable." Blaine sighed lightly, and Kurt laughed.
"Only because you're her favourite Uncle, all she does is cry at me."
Blaine laughed happily and poked his tonuge out at Kurt, recieving a little menacing glare in return. When the hostess came back to take their orders, she brought over a bottle of champagne for them and Kurt raised an eyebrow as he looked between it and Blaine.
"Did we order that?"
"I did." Blaine smiled at him as he took it from her with a 'thank you' and poured out two glasses, handing one to Kurt, "Happy Anniversary baby."
"Happy Anniversary sweetheart." Kurt replied with his own smile, and as Blaine took a sip of his drink, Kurt's hand flew to his pocket where the ring box was.
Before he could bring it out though, he was interrupted by Blaine's phone ringing. The moment he felt crawling up his spine was now gone, so his hand left his pocket as Blaine retrieved his phone and grinned.
"It's your dad..." He said before answering, "Hey Burt."
Kurt looked a little bemused while Blaine happily chatted to his father across the booth, and shook his head lightly as he took a sip of the champagne. Wow, that was good.
"Yes i know," Blaine continued, "there wasn't really any doubt about it."
Kurt raised an eyebrow in curiosity, what could Burt and Blaine possibly be discussing.
"Yes i know, thank you." Blaine laughed at something Burt said on the line, before glancing at Kurt's impatient face and then saying his goodbyes. "He's a wonderful man, your father."
"I know. What was that about?" Kurt asked thoroughly confused.
"Oh nothing." Blaine waved it off and Kurt was about to ask more questions but their food arrived at the table, prompting him to keep his mouth shut for the time being.
The food was delicious, like every time they'd been to that restaurant, and it helped Kurt temper his nerves a bit. But when they both finished eating, and while Blaine was telling him something about a really cute toy store that he had discovered near work where they should go buy Maisie something, Kurt started mentally preparing again.
"Kurt, darling, are you listening to me?" Blaine asked, looking at him with concern.
"Yeah, I'm sorry." Kurt smiled, reaching back into his pocket. "Look, I know we said no anniversary gifts because we both agreed to save money to buy the wonderful couch we saw in that store, but I have something for you tonight."
Kurt took a deep breath before continuing.
"Blaine, I..."
"Blaine?"
Kurt raised his head at the sound of that voice, and saw a guy by their table who was grinning widely at Blaine.
No, not another one of Blaine's fucks, least of all one who interrupted him while he was about to propose.
"James! Good to see you." Blaine smiled at him and turned to Kurt. "Babe, this is James, we worked together before I was in the magazine. James, this is Kurt, my boyfriend."
"Nice to meet you, Kurt."
So he was just a former co-worker, Kurt thought... but he still secretly hated him for his bad timing.
"Nice to meet you too." He said with his best fake smile.
"What a coincidence, I'm here to have dinner with my girlfriend and... I can see her coming now." James said looking out the window that was right next to them, and Kurt and Blaine saw a blonde girl waving at him. "It was great to see you, Blaine. Give me a call one day and we'll catch up, okay?"
"Sure, count on it." Blaine assured him, and James said goodbye to them, leaving them alone again.
"Not even when he said he had a girlfriend you stopped murdering him with your eyes. Do you still feel jealous even if we have been together for a year?" Blaine teased him.
"No, I promise you that is not the case this time." Kurt groaned. He no longer had to hide his discomfort. "It's just that ..."
"Kurt, it was a joke. And I know you wanted to say something before James showed up, but I think I have the solution to that frown. I..."
"Honey, excuse me for a second. I need to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back."
Kurt got up from the table and went quickly to the bathroom, closing the door behind him and looking in the mirror.
Two interruptions... that was fate telling him that this was not a good idea? Was it too early to propose to Blaine?
No. Something inside him just knew that. Time was something subjective when it came to soulmates, and he and Blaine would be together forever. He wasn't going to let fear or inconvenient third-party intervention change his mind.
He refreshed his face and the back of his neck and after making sure that the box was still in his pocket, he returned to the table much calmer and with a great smile again.
"You okay?" Blaine asked as Kurt sat back down, and he reached across the table to grab his hand.
"I'm fine honey."
"I hope you don't mind, i asked for the check." Blaine said with a small smile, "i would rather spend the rest of our anniversary in private. Wouldn't you?"
Kurt mimiced Blaine's smile as he leaned over the table to give him a light kiss.
"I would love to spend the rest of the evening tucked up under a blanket on the couch with you."
When the hostess had brought over the check and Blaine had paid for their meal, they left together hand in hand. Once they were outside and walking back, Blaine slipped his arm through Kurt's and sighed as he leaned against him.
"It's such a beautiful night tonight. Everything feels so perfect and wonderful." Blaine was doing that low soft thing with his voice again and Kurt inwardly groaned before a rushing warmth came over him.
There was no need to wait for a special moment, he could do it right here right now. He paused in his steps, pulling Blaine to a stop beside him about a block from the apartment, his boyfriend giving him a curious gaze.
"Kurt, is everything alright?"
Kurt slipped his arm out of Blaine's and pulled him over to the side of the path, making him stand and face him before taking a deep breath.
"Blaine, you're right. It's a beautiful night tonight and everything feels so perfect and wonderful, but... everything is actually so perfect and wonderful since you came into my life."
Kurt's heart was hammering inside his chest, and he feared it would jump out of his body at any moment.
"I remember being more terrified than ever when it was up to me that we were together, because what I felt for you was so intense that I didn't know how to control it. But I also knew that no one was worth the risk so much. You are amazing, you light up my days and you make me feel so loved and protected. I've never felt so close to someone and I never will, because you are my person, my one true love, my soulmate. And for that..."
Finally, Kurt took the velvet box out of his pocket and he opened it, revealing the ring he had bought weeks ago.
"Blaine Devon Anderson, will you marry me?"
Blaine stared with wide eyes between the ring box and Kurt's face, completely dumbstruck and in awe. His eyes crinkled around the edges as he gave Kurt that same bright sunny smile, that over the past year Kurt had come to know as his extremely happy smile.
He placed a hand over his mouth as a little chuckle came out of it, and shook his head in astonishment.
"Oh baby," he started softly as he walked forward, "I can't believe it...I really can't."
Kurt stared at him confused for a second, before he watched Blaine reach into his pants pocket and pull out a similar looking little black box.
"You win." Blaine said with the same smile on his face as he burst with excitable laughter, "of course, darling...of course i'll marry you."
He dove for Kurt then, his boyfriend just turned fiancé, having to catch him as he melded their lips together.
Kurt allowed himself to be carried away by the kiss until a few seconds later he pulled away, trying to understand what was happening.
"You... you were you going to propose to me too?" He asked, his eyes full of happy tears and his hands on Blaine's shoulders.
"Yeah. I was about to do it after we finished dinner, but you got up to go to the bathroom and...
"I went to the bathroom because I was going to propose to you before your friend interrupted me. By the way, when you talk to him, apologize for me. I was rude and he must think your boyfriend is a jerk."
"Fiancé. You're not my boyfriend anymore, you're my fiancé." Blaine corrected him with a watery smile.
"Right, fiancé." Kurt smiled, letting the word settle inside him. "Whatever, the thing is that I got mad because it was the second time i tried and was interrupted. The first one was when my dad called you, and..." Kurt cut him off, and then he realized something. "What did my dad call you for?"
"I spoke with him weeks ago. I told him that I wanted to propose to you and asked for his blessing. After laughing at me for that, he said that of course I had his blessing, and asked when I was planning to do it and I told him at our anniversary dinner, so he called me to see if I had already done it or if I had changed my mind, and to repeat what would happen to me if I screwed things up."
"I can't believe it..." Kurt murmured, shaking his head. "We both had the same idea."
"And it still pains me to admit it, but you said you would do it first and you got it." Blaine leaned in to kiss him again, but Kurt stopped him.
"Wait, wait, I haven't even put the ring on you!" Kurt exclaimed. "Ugh, and I forgot to kneel, and... did I really propose to you on the street? I wanted it to be special, I..."
"Wow, Kurt, darling, stop." Blaine cupped Kurt's face in his hands to cut off his chatter and force him to look at him. "You, the love of my life, just asked me to marry you on our anniversary night, after spending the best year of my life together with you. Do you really think I need something special? You are that special something and I already have you, so I don't need more. Although I would appreciate it if you could put that ring on me, because I want to put yours on too."
Kurt laughed, and wiping a couple of tears from his cheeks, he took his ring with shaking fingers and slid it over Blaine's finger, and seconds later, Blaine did the same.
They looked into each other's eyes and the rest of the world didn't exist around them. There was only them and what they had.
"I love you so much, Blaine."
"I love you too, Kurt."
Blaine kissed him again, grabbing him by the waist and lifting him off the ground as Kurt giggled without separating his lips from Blaine's.
Blaine was right. It was them, so it had been special.