The day of the rehearsal dinner, Kurt was up early drinking coffee while triple checking all of the plans for the day. Relatives and out of town friends were going to start showing up in a few hours, possibly wanting to say hello before the dinner, and he needed to be prepared to act his part for an audience.
As he was just beginning to truly appreciate his coffee, there was a loud banging on the door, causing Kurt to jump, coffee almost spilling everywhere.
He blinked at the door in confusion for a moment. It was 8am, no one was supposed to be awake right now, let alone attempting to bust down his door. He got up, walking briskly towards it because Blaine was asleep and seriously who was the rude asshole outside their door. He hadn't buzzed anyone into the building.
He reached the door and flung it open, "What do you want?" he demanded. He looked the man up and down, now completely confused because he had never seen him before in his life, although something about his nose looked familiar.
"Well that's no way to greet someone," the man said, glaring pointedly down at Kurt.
Kurt refused to feel guilty. "Well what else would you expect when you show up without any warning, pounding on my door at 8am? I still have no idea who you are."
"I'm Blaine's Uncle John," he said, before pushing past Kurt and into the apartment.
Kurt quickly closed the door, following along behind him and grabbing his arm. "Well, in that case, have a seat in the living room and I'll see if your loud knocking woke him up."
As he turned to knock on Blaine's door, he glanced towards his room and was glad to see that in his mostly pre-coffee state he had remembered to make the bed and put his things in the nightstand drawer.
Just as he was about to poke his head in, the door swung open and Blaine appeared, hair a mess, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "What's goin' on?" he slurred, glancing around the living room. Kurt could see the moment when he spotted John, eyes widening and hand dropping away from his face. John for his part, was watching them critically from where he had been looking through one of the photo albums on the table. "What are you doing here?" he asked, straightening up.
John raised an eyebrow. "Is that anyway to great your uncle?"
"Normally I would say no," Blaine said, still standing by his door. "But seeing as how you basically threatened me last time I saw you and now you're here at eight am, yeah I'm going to greet you that way. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get some coffee before dealing with this."
Blaine walked into the kitchen, leaving Kurt to deal with John who continued poking through their stuff.
"Where'd he find you?" He picked up a photo of the two of them at Dalton. "I must admit, I'm impressed that he went through the trouble of photoshopping you into some of his pictures."
Kurt crossed his arms, trying to will Blaine back into the living room before he punched this man. "He didn't 'find' me anywhere. We started dating a few months ago, and we knew we were going to get married at some point - even had a venue picked out - so we thought, what the hell, let's do it now."
"Just like that, after dating for a few months, you're prepared to promise yourselves to each other?" he asked skeptically.
Kurt raised an eyebrow, attempting to come across as confident as he heard Blaine reenter the room. "Blaine and I have been best friends since we were 16. The day we decided to become romantically involved was the day we both decided we were in it for the long haul, because you don't just date your best friend on a whim. You do it because you've thought about it, and you know that it will be difficult, but you're both planning on being in it for a long, long time."
He felt Blaine come over next to him, wrapping an arm around his waist and resting his head against Kurt's shoulder. "So yes, Blaine and I might be jumping into the whole marriage thing faster than planned because of this stupid inheritance, but we would have ended up here anyway. Any meddling you attempt to do is going to fall on its face because we know exactly what we're doing and we love each other. Now. If you would kindly leave, so that we can deal with last minute rehearsal dinner and wedding needs, that would be lovely."
John stared at him, clearly not having expected that little rant. "Well," he said, turning to look at Blaine. "I must say that I'm rather surprised you didn't mention him last month. He seems so sure of you, while you just looked panicked and asked the lawyer if there was an alternative way for you to get the inheritance because you claimed not to have a boyfriend. What changed?"
Blaine rolled his eyes, clearly having woken up a bit from the coffee. "Nothing changed. At the time I was hoping that there was some loophole so I wouldn't have to ask Kurt to marry me way sooner than planned, but there wasn't, so I asked him. And so far it's worked out wonderfully, and I'm positive our marriage will continue on the same trend." Blaine took a step forward, unwinding himself from Kurt in order to grab John's arm. "Now, I do believe my fiancé asked you to leave because there's a lot that needs to get done today and we don't need any extra people underfoot." Blaine led him to the door, pausing briefly to open it before lightly pushing John outside. "See you around, bye!" Blaine said with a false cheerfulness before slamming the door closed.
He turned to look back at Kurt who was closing the photo album John had pulled out. "Well that was not how I expected to start my morning," Blaine said, walking towards the kitchen, presumably to get breakfast.
Kurt followed him, wanting to get back to his abandoned bagel. "I'm actually a little bit surprised that he didn't show up sooner. I thought for sure he was going to come by once he heard about our engagement."
"He was probably just trying to lull us into a false sense of security," Kurt replied. "I bet he'll spend the next two days trying to stir up trouble for us or stop the wedding or something."
Blaine sighed, staring at the toaster and waiting for his bagel to finish. "He is going to be such a pain to deal with."
"We made it through Cassandra July's class and the respective homophobic shit we both encountered in Ohio. We can handle him. Just - if someone knocks on the door while I'm asleep, make sure you wake me up or something before you answer it so they don't find us sleeping in separate beds."
Just as Kurt was putting his plate in the sink, the buzzer at their door went off, causing him to drop the plate and let out a small scream.
"We have got to put a do not disturb sign up."
Blaine nodded in agreement before plucking his bagel out of the toaster. "After the wedding we should just tell everyone that they're not allowed to come by for a week because we'll be celebrating our newly wedded bliss."
The buzzer went off again and Kurt rolled his eyes. He stomped over to the door, pushing the answer button. "This better be good," he said, beyond caring who it was.
"Hello?" replied an unfamiliar voice. "This is Janet, the executor of Mary and George Anderson's will. I'm here for a check in."
Kurt turned around to gape open mouthed at Blaine, who stood frozen in the kitchen, bagel halfway to his mouth.
"Is now a good time for me to come up?"
"Uh- sure. I mean. We don't have much time right now what with the rehearsal dinner and the wedding, but if it won't take too long…" Kurt said into the intercom.
"It shouldn't take too long, and I'm supposed to talk to you before the wedding."
"Alright, come on up," Kurt said, trying to infuse some enthusiasm into his voice while hitting the button to unlock the door.
"What do we do?" Blaine asked from across the room, still standing there with his bagel halfway to his mouth.
"I don't know!" Kurt squeaked. "Umm, I mean, we're kind of set already? I don't know! I'm going to make sure my room's set, you check your room and make sure it looks like both of us slept there?"
"Bed's already made," Blaine replied, finally setting down his bagel as Kurt rushed past. "Habit." He glanced around the room as Kurt's eyes darted around the bedroom. "We just need to be in couple mode I think."
Kurt threw on a nicer shirt before he came hurtling back into the living room in time to hear a knock on their door. Blaine approached it, hands resting on the knob and lock for a second before he turned to look at Kurt.
"Ready?"
Kurt took a breath and nodded, relaxing his posture as he did so. He could do this. Just another tiny little hurdle to keep up the charade.
Blaine opened the door to reveal a woman who was a little bit shorter than himself. She had blond hair and a suit that screamed Professional Lawyer.
She held out her hand to Blaine who stared at it for a moment before reaching his right hand out to shake hers. "It's good to see you again Mr. Anderson." She released his hand and turned to look at Kurt. "And this must be your fiance."
She stepped back again, glancing around the apartment and then at the two of them. "Let's start with a tour of the place. Then I have some questions to ask before I get out of your hair. I'm sure you have a lot to do."
The tour was brief and clearly perfunctory - they had a two bedroom apartment, how much could they possibly be hiding? Janet walked into every room, opened the closets, and then sat down with them in the living room.
"I noticed that there are a lot of clothes in the guest room closet."
"Blaine and I are both really bad at sharing closet space," Kurt started, a little bit too quickly. Blaine put a hand on his thigh, somehow managing to help him focus. "The closets in this place are tiny and we haven't had time to put our summer wardrobes in the guest closet and our winter stuff in our bedroom." He mentally patted himself on the back for remembering to call it 'our' bedroom.
Janet seemed to accept his answer, writing something down before asking her next one. "How long have the two of you been together?" she directed the question at Blaine.
"We started dating about three months ago," he said, moving to grasp Kurt's hand. Janet raised an eyebrow at his words, clearly believing that this marriage was all about the money. Blaine rushed to explain, "We've been best friends since we were sixteen - we didn't just meet a few months ago and then decide to get married."
She made a skeptical noise but continued on. "When we met last month you told me you didn't have a boyfriend." Kurt snorted, and Blaine shot a glare at him. "Yes, Mr. Hummel?"
"He was trying to get out of the marriage clause," Kurt explained. "Normally I'd be upset that my own boyfriend was denying my existence, but I made an exception for that. I mean, I think we all know that the two of us aren't getting married at twenty-one of our volition. When he told me about the will however, we decided that we might as well get married now, because it was going to happen eventually."
"Actually, that reminds me," Blaine interrupted. "You're interviewing our friends at some point, right?" Janet nodded. "Can you- We didn't tell them about the will. We didn't want them treating our impending nuptials like a joke. So if you could not mention it, we'd be grateful."
Janet set her clipboard down. "What do you want me to tell them then?"
"I was thinking..." Blaine fiddled with his bowtie. "I was thinking you could tell them that my family is very protective of its assets and keeps tabs on every marriage for the first year?"
"That's essentially what I am doing. Your friends won't find that weird?" she said quizzically.
Blaine shrugged. "Most of them will assume it's a rich family thing, and the ones that come from rich families know how weird 'old money' can be. The important part is leaving out the inheritance and the marriage clause and everything. I don't want anyone belittling our marriage."
"And what if I say no to this?"
Blaine blinked, eyebrows raising in surprise. "I hadn't really considered that outcome... you are my family's lawyer though, you're here to help protect us. And aren't wills private?"
"They become public record after the testator dies and the executor of the will files with probate court. However," she added, "I can neglect to mention the marriage clause."
"Thank you," Blaine sighed, slumping back on the couch.
"We appreciate it," Kurt added, before glancing at the clock and realizing how much time had gone by.
Luckily, Janet chose that moment to stand up. "Well, everything appears to be in order here," Janet said, making a final mark on her clipboard. "I will see you both at the dinner tonight."
"The dinner?" Blaine asked dumbly, the two of them standing up and walking with her to the door.
"Your rehearsal dinner," she said, raising an eyebrow. "I sent you an email after the wedding announcement." At both of their blank looks, she continued. "I'm required to attend the dinner and wedding to help verify the legitimacy of your marriage."
Kurt pushed aside the fear that shot through him at this in order to play his part. He rolled his eyes, stepping forward to slip his hand into Blaine's. "We've been so busy with the wedding planning that Blaine must have missed the email."
"I hope adding me to the festivities won't be a problem," she inquired, tone making it clear that she was to be added no matter what.
"Of course not." Kurt said, trying to smile easily at her. "My cousin Wren actually had to cancel a few days ago, so we won't even have to struggle to find you a place." Thank god he wouldn't have to move everyone around and order another dinner to fit her in. The table his cousin would have been at would actually be a great place for Janet to sit. His family would probably tell her all about how his parents had had a whirlwind relationship that had quickly culminated in a wedding. Although Kurt was now setting a new record.
"Good," she said with curt nod to them both. "I'll see you at six," and with that she was out the door, leaving Kurt and Blaine inside, hands still clasped together.
Blaine noisily let out a breath, shooting Kurt a guilty look. "I'm sorry I forgot that she had to stop by and do a check in and come to the wedding."
Kurt tamped down the urge to scold him. There wasn't enough time for that, and they'd survived the encounter seemingly unscathed this time. "It's alright." He glanced down at his watch, "We need to get going though, we're already an hour behind schedule."
The rest of the day leading up to the rehearsal dinner was a whirlwind of activity that left Kurt with very little time to breath. Between making sure that out of town guests' flights had landed safely and they were checked into their hotels okay, and that in-town guests hadn't tried to stage a hostile takeover of the dinner (Rachel), Kurt had had no time to himself, so the fact that he was getting married in less than twenty four hours didn't fully hit him until he showed up at the restaurant they'd booked for the evening.
He was just about to start his second lap around the block when Blaine arrived. "My family's flight finally got in, and they're stopping at the hotel first but they should be- hey," Blaine froze, grin sliding off his face. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"
For a moment, Kurt attempted to pretend that everything was alright, but he knew Blaine would see right through the smile he'd hastily pasted on his face. "It's nothing, I'm just- freaking out a bit."
Blaine led him gently around the corner, away from the entrance to the restaurant. "The reality of all of this is hitting you, too," he said sympathetically.
"I don't know why!" Kurt let out loudly. "Well, I know why obviously, but I know the whole thing has been planned as meticulously as possible, and it's not as though we're going to end up getting a divorce filled with bitterness and hate. I don't know why I'm suddenly panicking." He sniffed and blinked back a few rogue tears.
Blaine grabbed Kurt's hands and pulled them towards his heart. "I'm freaking out, too. I think it's normal. Pretty much everyone gets nervous before their wedding, and even if ours doesn't have the same set of fears attached to it, it's still a big commitment. I mean," Blaine lowered his voice conspiratorially. "Neither of us can date anyone for a year. Do you want to know the last time I managed to go that long without a date?"
Kurt smiled despite himself. "When?"
"Eons ago. High school," he said, throwing his arms into the air dramatically.
Kurt rolled his eyes, biting back a laugh. "Well Mr. Dramatic, I think we'll be able to make it. At least this way neither of us will have to go on dead end dates for a while. And," he started to say, voice going up in excitement. "Neither of us will have to worry about blind dates or secret setups!"
"Yes!" Blaine cheered.
They both grinned, and Kurt pulled Blaine into a hug. "Thank you. I don't know how you do it, but somehow you always manage to break through my freak out vortex."
"That's what best friends are for."
Kurt pulled back, moving to hold Blaine's hand as they started walking back to the restaurant. "I thought best friends were for sham marriages," he teased.
Blaine playfully shoved him into a wall, earning a reproving glare from one of his relatives who had just arrived. "You are such an ass, Hummel."
"Ooo tell me more about Hummel's ass," Santana said, walking up behind them.
Kurt glanced over his shoulder at her. "I'm ignoring you now."
Kurt automatically reached out to squeeze Blaine's hand nervously as Rachel loudly clanged her spoon against her glass an hour into the festivities and stood up. "Can I have everyone's attention please?" She paused, waiting until most of the room had gone quiet. "Thank you. "I'm going to start off the speeches for the evening, and we have a few because these two insisted that there only be four tomorrow." She shot the two of them a glare, before turning back around to face the twenty or so people turned in their seats to look at her.
"I've known Kurt since we were in high school, which as you know, wasn't all that long ago, but I digress. We met because of Glee Club. At first we were almost enemies - he was the only one with the talent to match mine -"
"Excuse me?" Mercedes scoffed, tilting her chair back to smack Rachel's elbow.
"Okay, fine, he was the only one with the talent and drive to reach Broadway that matched mine. As I was saying, we were able to set that aside once Kurt transferred to Dalton. When that happened, he became one of my first real friends. I didn't understand what friendship was until he came along.
"I always thought I couldn't worry about friendships until I had my first Tony in the bag. As much as I would like to say that I had the honor of being Kurt's first friend, Mercedes gets that award. However she does owe me ten dollars, because the day Kurt first told us about Blaine I bet her that the two of them would get married." She held out her hand expectantly while Blaine leaned over and nudged Kurt's shoulder.
"Are we responsible for making sure she gets her money back if they find out?" Blaine whispered, breath warm on Kurt's ear as he leaned close.
"I'm not sure about the money, but we'll definitely be responsible for her wrath," Kurt replied before returning his attention to Rachel, who was now discussing her future Broadway triumphs. Or, more accurately, the two callbacks she'd gotten that she could (understandably) talk about for days. Kurt almost sighed in relief when Mercedes interrupted her, claiming it was time for her own speech.
"Sophomore year of high school, Kurt and I would often talk about our weddings. Everyone else in Glee Club had someone they were coupled with, or someone they were trying to be coupled with. The two of us pretended that this didn't bother us, we tried to play it off as though we were above all of that. I'm not sure how successful we were, but it did lead to us each only having one low drama, very brief, relationship that year.
"In case you don't know about it, Kurt dated Brit-"
"You swore you wouldn't bring this up!" Kurt groaned loudly. "We made a pinky promise."
Blaine glanced between the two of them. "Did you not tell me this story Kurt? You said you didn't date anyone before Chandler."
Kurt banged his head against the table before remembering that this wasn't just a group of their friends - both of their extended families were there as well. "I may have lied. Sort of."
"As I was saying," Mercedes interjected, with a pointed but playful glare at the two of them. "Kurt dated our friend Brittany for a week sophomore year in an attempt to pretend he was straight. It was short lived, but it is important to mention.
"Neither of us thought we would find someone in high school. Kurt especially, because there weren't any out gay guys at our school aside from him. Of course, the moment he resigned himself to this fate, he met Blaine," she paused in her speech to smile fondly at the two of them. "Once I got over my initial jealousy that Blaine was stealing Kurt's attention, I began to see how great they really were together.
"So all of us back in the McKinley Glee Club waited. And waited. And waited for them to get their acts together and start dating. But it never happened. Kurt transferred back to McKinley before our Junior year was up, and him and Blaine remained best friends. They went to proms together, and we waited some more, but for some reason they both insisted they were just friends and that was it.
"This past November was the five year mark of them becoming friends, and a lot of us decided it was time to give up on it. Perhaps we were wrong and they really were just going to remain friends for the rest of their lives. Of course, Kurt being Kurt, he had to pull one over on all of us.
"I don't know about any of you guys, but I found out they were dating because Kurt called me to say he was engaged," laughter rang through the room, as a few people nodded their heads. "Like most of you, I was shocked. And then I thought about it for a minute, and realized that I really should have expected it. Regardless of relationship status, these two have been dating for years. They may not have known it, and they may not have crossed into the friends-with-benefits category, but there have been times when I've felt as though these two were more of a couple than me and my own boyfriend. So if any two people can pull off a whirlwind relationship that immediately morphs into a marriage? It's these two." She turned back towards Kurt and Blaine, raising her glass in the air. "To Kurt and Blaine."
To Kurt's complete shock, Puck stood up next.
"I know I don't have any formal designation in this wedding, so I'm not expected to give a speech, but I just want to say that I was the reason Kurt and Blaine met in the first place."
Kurt set his glass down loudly. "Noah." He said with a raised eyebrow. "Are you of all people really trying to make this about you? Do I need to remind you about why you were the reason I met Blaine?"
Puck grinned at him. "Okay, fine." He turned back to the small crowd. "Kurt and Blaine meeting was a complete accident. While I'm sure it would have happened eventually, I'm incredibly grateful I got to play a part in them meeting at a time when they both needed each other." He turned to look over at Kurt for a moment. "Even if it was because I was being an ass. I'm not condoning crappy behavior, but I must say, that was probably the one time that it paid off. And getting to celebrate these two finally getting their acts together and admitting they're more than friends has been a wonderful bonus." With a nod to both of them, Puck sat back down.
"Well," Jeff said, standing up and straightening his jacket while glaring at Blaine. "Blaine told us that only one of us could give a speech because the two of them wanted time to eat and talk to people. But apparently that rule doesn't apply to Kurt's people. I see how it is."
"I didn't know three of them would give speeches!" Kurt exclaimed. "I told them only one of them could, and sort of expected two, but Puck was a complete surprise."
"Well, if Wes were in charge of this wedding he wouldn't stand for it."
"Here, here!" Nick cheered from where he was sitting.
"As the delegate from Blaine's half of the wedding party," Jeff started, settling into speech mode. "I want to start off by saying two things. First of all, it's about damn time. And: seriously, we have been waiting for you two to get together since Blaine first serenaded Kurt with Teenage Dream, and it would have been nice for you to, at the very least, have done us the courtesy of telling us you were dating before you up and got married. Of course, we really should have expected something like this because neither of you are ones to take the normal route if you can help it. But Blaine's always so proper, that I expected a handwritten note or a text at the very least, notifying me that you were dating. Apparently not though.
"When I first met Blaine, I thought he was the most normal, conforming person I had ever met. Including Wes. As I got to know him however, it became very clear that I was completely wrong. Blaine is one of the most driven, loyal, and talented people that I've ever met. Don't let that fool you though, Blaine is also a complete goof. He jumps on furniture, throws homework all over the place solely because 'it looks cool,' and is willing to spend hours helping anyone with anything, even if it means more competition for him.
"In our Junior year of high school he shocked us all by insisting on doing a duet with Kurt. We all thought it meant he'd finally gotten his shit together and realized him and Kurt were definitely not just platonic. Unfortunately for us, he hadn't, and we had to wait … four more years?" Jeff looked over to Wes for confirmation before continuing. "Yeah. These two idiots made us wait four more years for them to get together," he said with an angry glare at them both. "I'll forgive them both though because they at least waited until we were all 21 to get married so we can drink. They also saved us all the awkwardness of watching them try to marry someone else while we all pretended it would last. Anyway, I want to wish you both the best. I know you'll blow this marriage thing out of the water."
Jeff raised a glass to the two of them, and the rest of the room followed suit. Once everyone began talking once more, Blaine leaned close to Kurt's ear. "I'm sorry about Jeff," he said quietly. "Although I didn't realize that everyone apparently had bets placed on us."
Kurt attempted a laugh. He'd known. His New Direction friends were not the best secret keepers. "Apparently we're fulfilling some dreams for all of them."
Blaine laughed, "It seems so."
Just then, Kurt felt a hand clap him on the shoulder. "How are you two doing?" his dad asked, pulling up a chair to sit close to the two of them.
Blaine glanced around to make sure no one else was paying attention before leaning closer. "We're doing alright now." He moved to hold Kurt's hand in his, as Burt looked at Kurt.
Kurt sighed. "I had a little bit of a freak out before dinner, but I'm good now. Blaine and I talked about it."
Burt looked like he wanted to say something, but the arrival of Mercedes and Santana stopped him. "As long as the two of you keep talking to each other, openly and honestly, you'll make it." With a final squeeze of Kurt's shoulder, he left to go find Carole once more.
"And how is my favorite couple doing?" Mercedes asked as Santana stood beside her, arms folded and a glare firmly in place.
"Why is there a lawyer woman who keeps asking us questions?"
Blaine straightened up, still holding Kurt's hand. "Sorry about her. She's one of my family's lawyers. She's going to be hanging around for the next year or so."
"Why?" Santana asked impatiently, throwing an angry look across the room to where Janet was talking to Brittany. Mercedes elbowed her, but she didn't change her stance.
"Blaine's family is rather paranoid about people marrying into the family for money. They investigate every marriage."
"My Uncle John accidentally got married to a money grubber a while back," Blaine offered. "They started investigating everyone after that."
Santana raised an eyebrow skeptically, but Mercedes simply said, "We didn't mean to bother you with touchy family subjects. We just wanted to congratulate you. And apologize about Puck - none of us told him he could give a speech."
Kurt laughed. "It's alright. His speech was oddly sweet actually. If anyone requires an apology for it, it's some of Blaine's crew," he added.
"Don't you dare give them the satisfaction of an apology," Blaine said firmly.
"Is there something you'd like to share, Warbler?" Santana asked, stepping forward in interest and letting her arms fall to her sides.
Blaine leaned towards her, letting go of Kurt's hand. "If you apologize, they'll think it means all of them now have permission to give a speech tomorrow. We do not need Cooper and Wes to get in a fist fight over speeches."
As if he had just heard his name, Cooper suddenly walked over, joining their little circle. "Well little brother," he said, clearly not caring whether or not he was interrupting. "I can't believe you," he pointed at Blaine, "are getting married before I do," he pointed at himself.
Kurt stifled a laugh at this, while Blaine merely sighed long sufferingly. "Sometimes you just luck out and find the one at a young age. And sometimes," he added with a smirk, pointing at Cooper, "you're too busy sleeping around to try for something serious."
"Shh," Cooper said, suddenly looking alarmed. "Don't let Mom and Dad hear you. I don't need another lecture."
"Oh my God," Santana laughed. "I can see that your parents did a number on you both." Her laughter subsided as her eyes seemed to catch on something going on across the room. "Excuse me," she said, straightening up, demeanor snapping back to serious. "I need to go rescue Brittany."
"I'm going to go catch up with Sam before he heads out," Mercedes said. "Let me know when you're ready to go, Kurt?"
Kurt nodded, and Mercedes got up, heading for a circle of New Directions boys.
"You two abiding by tradition then?" Cooper asked.
"I hardly think anything about our relationship is 'abiding by tradition,'" Blaine replied, taking a sip of his drink.
Copper shrugged. "The whole 'don't see the bride before the wedding thing' - only the more modern version of it that's a bit less heteronormative."
"Oh," Blaine said, looking a little surprised. "Yes we are."
Cooper stayed and chatted with them for a while longer, only getting up when Blaine's groomsmen descended upon them.
"So," Jeff said, leaning back in the chair he'd just sat down in. "Your family lawyer seems pretty nice. She turned me down for a date though."
"I don't think asking her if she would meet you in the coat room in five minutes qualifies as a date she turned down."
"It was perfectly innocent!"
"You licked your lips and winked at her," Nick said incredulously. "If you think that's innocent then you're going to have to go to etiquette school."
Wes turned to Blaine, "I'm going to get you back for saddling me with these two."
"Yeah," Blaine said apologetically as Jeff and Nick started bickering. "I definitely didn't think that one through."
This caught Nick's attention. "You should be nice to us. There's still time to give Cooper some more anecdotes about you," he threatened.
"Ooo," Kurt leaned forward. "You should share some with me."
At some point, Blaine's parents - "Please, call us Pam and Mark" - pulled Kurt aside, out of earshot of everyone else. "We wanted to thank you for doing all of this," Pam said, hand warm on his arm.
"You're okay with it though, right?" Mark's brow furrowed in concern. "We told Blaine that he doesn't need to inherit."
The corner of Kurt's mouth twitched up. "I'm committed to this." He paused, contemplating how to phrase what he wanted to say next. "It would be… nice, if you could try to make it out here more often though. See some of Blaine's performances. I know he would really love that."
"Yes, of course sweetie," Pam said, surprising Kurt by pulling him into a hug. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around her, touching her back gently. She pulled back, looking him squarely in the eyes. "You - with or without Blaine - are welcome at our house anytime."
An hour later, there were only a few guests remaining, all of whom were at the bar together. Kurt bid them all a farewell, and stepped out of the conversation so he could grab his coat and head home with Mercedes.
Blaine, who had probably had one or two more drinks than he should have, turned around when Kurt stepped away.
Kurt felt a hand wrap around his wrist and was pulled back to the bar. "Oh!" He blinked, and found himself standing between Blaine's legs, Blaine's hands holding his waist. "Hello there," he said, his own hands landing uncertainly on Blaine's shoulders.
"Hi future husband," Blaine grinned.
There was wolf whistle and then a shout of "kiss!" Kurt rolled his eyes.
Boys.
Blaine didn't seem phased however, because he merely beamed up at Kurt. His eyes shining brightly, and his breath smelling of beer. He tilted his head up, pulling Kurt closer, before he paused.
"Come on," Mike said from somewhere to Kurt's right. "Just kiss already! I have things to do!"
Kurt glanced at Mike, "You do not," he said icily. "It's midnight on a Friday and you go to school in Chicago. Plus, you're drunk so it's not as though you're going to go back to the hotel and do homework."
Mike laughed, "Kiss! Tina wants a picture for her scrapbook."
Kurt was formulating what was surely going to be a spectacular retort, when he felt a tug on his tie. Turning, he was met with a questioning gaze that was quickly followed by lips meeting his own. He sucked a breath in sharply through his nose before his eyes fluttered shut and he returned the kiss.
Pulling away from the kiss a few moments later, they were met with cheers. Kurt rested his forehead against Blaine's for a moment. He was not used to the surge of emotions that inevitably came from kissing Blaine without warning.
"Okay," Mercedes called from the door. "You two love birds will have plenty of time for that later." Kurt blushed, pulling away from Blaine as Mercedes continued. "Right now I need to take Kurt with me. I expect you boys," she looked around at the guys still at the bar, "to make sure Blaine here gets home safely. This is not The Hangover. Wes, you're in charge."
Wes straightened up a bit, saluting Mercedes with a shot glass.
Mercedes groaned. "I can't trust anyone." She seemed to decide pursuing the subject wouldn't be worth it however, and turned her attention back to Kurt. "Come on Boo, let's go."
The two of them stayed up late in Mercedes' hotel room talking. He was tempted to just tell Mercedes the truth. It would at least save him from having to spend the rest of the night gushing about Blaine and the wedding and getting married. Psyching himself up while acting as though it was all real? It was hard. He couldn't tell her though. He loved Mercedes, but she was far more likely to spill the beans than his or Blaine's parents. So he said nothing and instead talked about Blaine as though it was all real. It was therefore a relief when Mercedes started discussing the wedding itself, and he was able to feign tiredness before "falling asleep." In reality, he was lying awake an hour later, mind whizzing around non stop thinking about how upset people were going to be when they found out the truth.
When he finally fell asleep, his dreams were filled with long hallways and shadowy darkness.