Kurt entered the apartment, expecting it to be empty, only to find two people on his couch and a third in the armchair.
He glanced around, looking for Blaine before he was spotted by their guests.
"Oh wow, you weren't just saying that to get Luke off your back," he heard one of them call in the general direction of the kitchen.
"What?" came Blaine's muffled response, followed quickly by him exiting the kitchen with snacks for everyone. Blaine glanced at his friend in confusion for a moment before his eyes landed on Kurt. "Oh!" He set the bowl down on the coffee table before approaching Kurt. "Of course I wasn't making my marriage up," he kissed Kurt lightly on the check. "Guys, this is Kurt. Kurt, this is Paul, Luke, and Steve."
"It's nice to meet you all," Kurt smiled at them politely, trying to refrain from glaring at Luke, who he'd certainly heard about before. He was not going to act crazy about this. They were clearly just here for a project. Just because Blaine had hooked up -not even sex, just made out as far as Kurt was aware - with Luke one time did not mean he was a danger. "What're you all working on?" he asked, in an attempt to make polite conversation.
"We're writing a script for a class project," Luke chimed in.
"We should be done for the night in like an hour?" Blaine added.
"Okay, I'm going to go work on my own homework," Kurt said. He waved to them all, attempting to smile, before heading to the guest room and closing the door.
Apparently they were going to have to review their guest policy.
"Why didn't you tell me you were having people over?" Kurt snapped at Blaine after everyone had left, knowing even as he spoke that he was being harsh. "I'm sorry-" he sighed, noting Blaine's alarmed expression. "The essay I'm working on is a pain. I'm not in a good mood." And I don't like hearing about guys hitting on you. He plunked himself down on the couch.
"I should have texted you a warning," Blaine said apologetically, surprising Kurt. Usually Kurt being confrontational was met with Blaine looking like a kicked puppy. "I didn't think it would be a big deal."
'It's- it's not," Kurt said feeling the fight drain out of him completely as he made eye contact with Blaine, knowing he was being a bit unfair. "I just didn't expect anyone but you to be here, and it threw me off. Plus I have this awful paper…"
Blaine squeezed Kurt's shoulders lightly. "I'll be sure to tell you next time. It's a reasonable thing to ask of anyone you live with, husband or not." A smile tugged at the corner of Kurt's mouth. "Now, since make up sex is off the table, how about I make you some dinner?"
Kurt laughed, ducking his heads in a fruitless attempt to hide his flaming cheeks. "As long as it's a good dinner. If you make frozen pizza, I'm filing for divorce."
Blaine gasped in mock horror. "Anything but that!"
They sat on the couch. sides pressed together, for a long moment before Blaine put a hand on Kurt's leg. "Okay, I'm getting up now. And I'm thinking chicken pesto?"
Blaine stood up, turning to look at Kurt. "You spoil me."
"Just fulfilling my husbandly duties," Blaine chimed with a teasing grin.
"I'm banishing you to the kitchen until you're done making my dinner," Kurt laughed. Blaine stood motionless for a minute, only moving when Kurt pointed to the kitchen, still smiling. "Go!"
"Kurt!" Blaine called from the living room. "Come on, we need to get these done," Kurt jumped guiltily, closing his laptop.
"Do we have to?" he asked, entering the living room. "Are you sure we can't just use the fill in the blank thank you cards? Why do we even have to thank them for presents? They should be thanking us for inviting them to our wedding."
"It certainly seemed to be some of their lifelong dreams to see us be wedded in holy matrimony."
Kurt rolled his eyes, heart twinging a bit at the reminder of some of the speeches and congratulations. "Don't remind me," he sank down on the couch next to Blaine, staring at the mound of wedding gifts.
"We never actually registered for gifts. I bet half of them are duplicates or things we don't need."
"What's wrong with a good old Amazon giftcard?" Kurt moaned.
Blaine chuckled. "I don't think half of my relatives even know what Amazon is, let alone that you can get giftcards."
Kurt let his head fall back on the couch. He sighed. "Okay, I'll open them, you write the cards?"
"How's that fair!" Blaine protested, pulling the cards towards himself as he spoke.
"Your handwriting is prettier," Kurt insisted. "Besides, I won't be whizzing through the presents, I'll help you with the wording on them." He let his head roll towards Blaine. "We can switch when you get tired."
"Slave driver," Blaine teased.
"My evil scheme worked," Kurt reached for a present with shiny gold wrapping.
"Evil scheme?"
"Yeah, the one where I tricked you into marrying me." Kurt slit the card open, missing the smile that spread across Blaine's face. "Becca Shiller?"
"Cousin."
When Kurt arrived at work mid-morning on Thursday, it was to find a giant bouquet of flowers on his desk with a smaller bouquet of cookies next to it. Kurt's eyebrows rose in surprise.
"Now I understand why you married him," Chase said dryly, walking by.
Kurt ignored him, heart fluttering at the sight of the beautiful mix of flowers. Sitting down at his desk, he picked up the card propped up on the vase.
Dear Husband,
Happy Valentine's Day!
Love,
Blaine
xoxo
Kurt cringed. Somehow he'd completely forgotten about Valentine's Day. Probably because his perpetual singledom combined with Blaine serenading Jeremiah at the Gap instead of him all those years ago had made him try to block it out every year.
Kurt grinned despite himself, making a mental note to buy Blaine a card on his way home. Maybe a box of chocolates as well.
He allowed himself to stare at the flowers for another minute before deciding it was time to dig into his work. Pulling out his phone, he quickly took a picture of the bouquets. He sent the picture to Blaine, adding the caption "Everyone's jealous!" at the bottom and then quickly posted it on Instagram, tagging Blaine and merely adding a heart.
"Kurt?" Isabelle called from her office, startling Kurt as he quickly stuck his phone in a drawer.
"Yeah?" he called back, turning towards her door once his phone was away.
"We need to have a little pow-wow before the meeting," she said as Kurt headed towards her office. "I'm also going to require one of those cookies Blaine gave you," she added with a wink.
Kurt laughed turning back to his desk for a cookie, "As long as you let me leave a little early to find something extra," - aka an entire present- "for Blaine."
"Deal," she laughed. "It's not like we pay you anyways."
Kurt saved his work, and turned off his laptop when he heard Blaine enter the apartment around six that night. He listened as Blaine's bag hit the floor, followed by his shoes thudding down next to it. He'd left a lamp on in the living room to draw Blaine's attention before he headed off to the kitchen for a snack like he normally did.
There was a momentary silence and then- "Kurt?" Kurt sucked in a breath before standing up and joining Blaine in the living room, where he was staring at the presents on the coffee table. "What's all this?" Kurt fidgeted nervously, doubting himself a for a second. Should he not have gotten Blaine anything? Blaine looked up at him, a delighted little smile crossing his face. "Are these for me?"
"Yes," Kurt laughed, forcing aside his doubts and channeling his self-confidence. "Happy Valentine's Day." Blaine slowly sank down on the couch, Kurt hesitating for a moment before joining him.
Blaine continued to just stare at the presents, Kurt missing the awed look on his face because he was too busy staring at them as well. "You better like them, because I spent far too long trying to wrap that heart shaped box," he attempted to tease.
It seemed to have an effect on Blaine because he finally reached for a present, a pleased smile on his face. "Aww a heart shaped box filled with chocolates," he cooed, nudging Kurt's shoulder. "How creative."
"Shut up," Kurt laughed, trying to stop his blush from spreading. "That's rich coming from the guy who sent me flowers."
"There were cookies too!" Blaine protested.
"Shut up and open the other present."
"Pushy!" Blaine laughed, reaching for the box. "Ooo what'd you get me?" he asked, shaking the box.
"You're going to break it!" Kurt scolded.
"Okay, okay," he put the box down, flipping it over and carefully unwrapping it. He pulled the box out, opening it to reveal a bowtie with a heart pattern. "I couldn't have broken this," he said absentmindedly while he ran his fingers over the fabric.
Kurt glanced between Blaine and bowtie, "It was half off and I thought you might want another to add to your collection."
Blaine squeezed Kurt's knee. "Thank you, Kurt."
A few days after Valentine's Day, Kurt walked into the apartment, shaking snow off his bag and annoyed that he was home an hour later than he'd planned. "I know it's my turn to cook, but I'm ordering pizza," Kurt called.
"Well hello to you too," Blaine said, entering the hall.
Kurt glanced down at Blaine's pajama bottoms, unlacing his boots. "You're in pajamas and I got stuck working late in the library on a stupid project. And it's snowing. Again." He griped. He finally managed to get his boots off, straightening up as he unbuttoned his jacket. "But hello Blaine, how are you this evening?"
Blaine laughed. "I'll order the pizza okay? You go warm up." Blaine grabbed Kurt's jacket from him, holding his hand out for his scarf. "Hawaiian?"
"Any chance we can go to Hawaii and eat it?" Kurt asked, voice lilting upwards hopefully.
Blaine pulled him into a brief hug, kissing his cheek lightly before pushing him gently down the hall. "Go change!"
Kurt's phone buzzed, a welcome interruption from homework.
Rachel: I'm sleeping over tonight.
He sighed.
A new message appeared.
Rachel: I'll be there in a half hour.
Kurt stood up, blanket falling to the floor while he texted her back.
Kurt: What's wrong?
Rachel: I'll explain when I get there
Kurt let his phone fall onto the couch before heading to his room. "Blaine!" he called as he went. There was a thud followed by a curse. "You okay in there?" Kurt asked as he threw the contents of his nightstand into a bag along with pajamas and an outfit for tomorrow.
"'m fine! You startled me and I dropped my textbook," he called back. "What's up?"
Kurt knocked on Blaine's door before entering the room, bag slung over his shoulder.
"Rachel's sleeping over tonight, so I'm bunking with you."
Blaine took his reading glasses off and rubbed one of his eyes. "I'm not going to get these notes done tonight, am I?"
"I won't be that much of a distraction," Kurt jokingly flirted back.
Blaine laughed, snapping his textbook shut. "Did she say why she had a sudden hankering to sleepover on a weeknight?"
Kurt couldn't help but smile at how relaxed Blaine was despite the impending disruption.
"She didn't say," he sighed, unloading his stuff. "She texted me saying she'd be here in a half hour and would explain then."
Blaine raised an eyebrow. "That sounds like another fight with Santana."
"Probably," Kurt shrugged, shutting the nightstand drawer. "I'm honestly surprised they haven't torn each other apart yet."
"It's barely been a month," Blaine shrugged noncommittally as Kurt flopped back onto the bed. He stared up at the ceiling for a moment before Blaine interrupted, diving onto the bed next to him.
Once Blaine had settled, Kurt rolled over to face him, putting a pillow under his head. "Are you going to come hang out when she gets here?"
Blaine wiggled closer, groping behind him before throwing a blanket on top of them.
"She's just going to want to talk to you and I have textbook reading to do," Blaine pouted. "Plus, it's so nice and warm here," he said, tugging the blanket around himself more securely as though Kurt needed the added visual effect.
"No one actually does all the textbook reading Blaine," he tried to explain, struggling not to melt under Blaine's gaze. Although truth be told, Rachel probably would want to just talk to Kurt after a while.
"I do all the reading. I'm not just anyone, Kurt Hummel," he teased. He snuck an arm around Kurt's waist, pulling him closer. Kurt's breath froze in his lungs for a moment. "I mean, I'm your husband, I make you breakfast all the time, I don't take pictures of you marathoning TV shows, I only snuck into the bathroom one time while you were showering to record you singi- ahh!" he shrieked.
Thud.
"Ow," came Blaine's muffled voice.
Kurt burst out laughing so hard he almost rolled off the other side of the bed.
"Mean." Kurt heard Blaine say from the floor, as he regained control of his breathing.
"That'll teach you not to sneak into the bathroom while I'm showering."
There was a knock on their front door, causing Kurt to look at the clock, frowning. "Rachel needs to learn how to tell time. That was not a half hour."
Blaine got up from the floor, holding a hand out to Kurt. "Come on, let's go," he said, making grabby hands at Kurt.
There was another knock on the door, and Kurt grabbed onto Blaine's hand. "Okay. Let's do this."
The moment Kurt opened the door, Rachel stomped inside."I hate her," she declared, handing her bag to Blaine before taking her coat and hat off. "Why did I ever decide to let her be my friend?"
"What'd she do?" Kurt asked, repressing a sigh as Blaine moved to put Rachel's bag in the guest room. Kurt took a seat on the couch so that Rachel could pace and rage without him getting in the way.
"She met a girl in her dance class," Rachel explained as Blaine reentered the room, immediately heading for the kitchen. "Apparently they've decided to try the friends with benefits thing because she's always at the loft now. I've overheard them having sex at least three times this week. I haven't even formally met her!"
"Did you talk to her about it?" Blaine asked, exiting the kitchen and joining Kurt on the couch.
"Yes!" Rachel practically shrieked, hands on hips. "I told her that she couldn't have guests over so often unless she had my approval. And then she just laughed!"
"I'm sure she just-" Blaine tried to placate before stopping abruptly when Kurt kicked him. "Would you like some tea?" he asked instead, glaring at Kurt. "I started heating some water."
"That would be lovely," Rachel beamed. As Blaine got up to finish making it, Rachel perched on the couch next to Kurt. "Your husband is so polite, Kurt." She patted his knee while Kurt tried not to roll his eyes.
"My number one requirement," he quipped.
"It's too bad he didn't turn out to be bi," Rachel sighed. "We would have had quite the whirlwind romance."
"You're dating Finn!" Kurt exclaimed, jealousy flashing through him. "I'll tell him you're trying to make a move on my husband," he threatened.
Rachel laughed, leaning against his shoulder. "I'm just saying, you lucked out."
"Who lucked out?" Blaine asked, re-entering the living room with two mugs of tea.
"Kurt."
"Did he now?" Blaine asked, settling down in a chair.
"Yes," Rachel said primly. "He married a gentleman."
Blaine blushed. "If one of us lucked out, it was me," he glanced shyly at Kurt before returning his focus to Rachel.
"See! He just proved my point," she said to Kurt. "Thank you, Blaine."
"Rachelll," Kurt whined.
Blaine rolled his eyes, standing up. "I'm going to leave you two to talk. I have some homework to finish up."
To Kurt's relief, sometime around eleven Rachel decided it was time for bed. Kurt loved Rachel a lot, but there was only so much complaining about Santana that he could handle in one sitting. Plus, he didn't want to lose out on the extra sleep Tuesday nights typically provided him.
Entering Blaine's room, he found Blaine already curled up in bed, book in hand.
"Time for bed?" Blaine asked, looking up as Kurt walked in.
"Yeah," Kurt replied, a smile flitting across his face at how nestled in Blaine was. He gathered his pajamas before heading back out to the bathroom.
Halfway to the door he came to a halt. "What's up?" Blaine asked, eyebrows raised when he didn't move.
Kurt turned around, rolling his eyes at himself. "I just realized I should probably change in here in case I run into Rachel out there."
Blaine laughed, "I promise not to wolf whistle when you take your shirt off."
Kurt stuck his tongue out before walking over to the dresser. "I would hope that you learned your lesson last time you did that."
"I said I was sorry!" Blaine protested. "Okay, okay," he relented at Kurt's raised eyebrow. "I'm reading my book."
Kurt watched as he very deliberating put the book really close to his face. Smiling, Kurt changed into his pajamas.
After a trip to the bathroom, Kurt returned to the bedroom to find Blaine closing his book.
Kurt gestured at it, "Did you finish your notes?" he asked, walking to his side of the bed.
"Yup!" Blaine rolled over to face Kurt as he joined him. "I had to crank some music to block most of your conversation out. I may have shortened the lifespan of my ears, but it did help me focus on note-taking. Hence Gone With the Wind."
Kurt turned onto his side, facing Blaine. "I didn't get any homework done, but as much as I hate all the complaints about Santana that were involved, it was rather nice to catch up with Rachel."
Blaine beamed. "I'm glad. This whole mov- Hey!" he exclaimed pulling his legs away from Kurt. "I am not your personal footwarmer, mister."
"I thought the guest was always supposed to come first?" Kurt asked innocently.
"I didn't realize it was that kind of visit," Blaine said with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows before he burst out laughing.
Kurt turned pink. "Blaine!" he shrieked, shoving Blaine's pillow in his face. "You know that's not what I meant."
"Truce! Truce!" Blaine said around his laughter. "I had to. I'm sorry."
Kurt pulled the pillow off his face, but continued glaring.
Blaine sighed. "You can put your feet back." He rolled his eyes, "I did implicitly accept that duty when I agreed to marry you."
Shuffling his feet over to Blaine's calves again, Kurt yawned. "I married you for your money and your warm calves."
"You had my warm calves even when we weren't married," Blaine said fondly, turning out his light.
"I won myself a year of guaranteed first dibs to your calves though. I didn't have that when we weren't married."
"I knew it!" Blaine declared, faux dramatic. "You married me for my body."
Kurt giggled, rolling over onto his back. "Every week you're making a new claim about why I married you."
Blaine's laugh died out and the air grew more serious. "I still can't believe you actually did it."
Kurt shrugged, an attempt at nonchalance. "You'd do the same for me."
"Mmm," there was a rustle of sheets and the mattress moved under Kurt. "That doesn't stop me from being a little shocked that you actually did it. Saying I would do the same for you is very different than actually doing it."
Kurt pulled his feet back to his side of the bed, the contact a little too much for their conversation. "I guess that's true."
The silence stretched between them for several minutes before Blaine rolled over, yawing. "Goodnight, Kurt."
"Goodnigh'."
At 5:30 the next morning, Kurt woke with a start to the sound of Rachel singing loudly in the shower, followed by Blaine sitting bolt upright in bed.
"Why?" Blaine groaned, falling back into his pillows. Kurt merely covered his head with his pillow, unfortunately used to being woken up this way. "We're soundproofing the place before she sleeps over again."
Kurt lifted his arm off his pillow to give Blaine a thumbs up. In return, Blaine grabbed his hand, kissing it lightly before he swung his legs out of bed. "I'm going to get started on my day I guess."
Five minutes later, after he heard the bedroom door close behind Blaine, Kurt rolled over. He stared up at the ceiling. He was so close to having the relationship he'd always dreamed of having with Blaine. But he'd never been so far from actually having it. And it was probably time to let go of the idea.