"So," Rachel started to ask a few days later, as the two of them exited their dance class. "Do you and Blaine have any plans for your one month anniversary?"
Kurt almost stopped walking. He'd completely forgotten that was this week. "I should ask him about that."
"You and Blaine, captains of dreaming up romance, don't have plans!?" she asked in surprise.
"We've been busy," Kurt sighed, as Rachel hooked her arm through his. "The wedding just happened and we have school. I hadn't thought about it. I'll make reservations somewhere."
"Ooo, there's this little restaurant on 46th Street that looks like such a cute date spot. It's a little pricey but-"
"Text me the name of it?" he asked, pulling away from her as he reached his next class.
"Okay!" she replied cheerily. "Let me know how it is so I can make Finn take me there next time he's in town."
Kurt laughed, skeptical that Finn would have the same taste in date spots as them, "Okay."
He pulled his phone out to text Blaine.
Kurt: Dinner date for our anniversary next week? Rachel recommended a place
He only had to wait a few minutes for a response, settling down in his seat for his next class as he did so.
Blaine: Sure thing!
Blaine: Does it make me a bad husband that I'd forgotten it was going to be our one month anniversary?
Blaine: I feel like a bad husband
Kurt laughed, a little relieved that he wasn't the only one forgetting things like that. He quickly texted back before pulling his notes out: It apparently puts you in the majority as far as our relationship is concerned.
Their anniversary was on Tuesday, which, because of classes and work meant that it made more sense for them to meet at the restaurant instead of getting ready at the apartment together beforehand. That's how Kurt found himself drumming his fingers impatiently on a nice white table cloth. Despite all of his panic about showing up late and rushing through getting ready at NYADA after a dance rehearsal, he'd shown up ten minutes early.
Three rounds of Candy Crush later, and Blaine walked up to the table right on time.
Kurt smiled, putting his phone back in his pocket while giving Blaine's outfit an approving nod. Blaine sat down and Kurt opened the menu for him. "Figure out what you want to eat because I'm starving. I forgot how taxing dance rehearsals could be."
"Why do you do that?" Kurt asked, staring across the dinner table at Blaine a while later once they'd gotten their food, finally taking in the suit and adorable bowtie he'd chosen for their anniversary dinner.
"Do what?" Blaine asked, looking up from his plate.
"That," Kurt laughed, gesturing at his hands. "You cut up your pizza into tiny bite size pieces, but only when we go out to eat."
"Oh," Blaine glanced down at his hands, setting down his silverware before looking up at Kurt. "It's a habit I picked up when I got my tonsils out and had to eat tiny sized bites of food and was really craving pizza. I guess I kind of just continued doing it in public because it saved me from getting my hands greasy or making a fool of myself by dragging all the cheese off while trying to get one bite."
"Why don't you do it at home then?"
"Well, I do if I'm eating at the dinner table, but usually we just get pizza and curl up with a movie, and if I tried to cut it there I'd just end up sending pizza flying everywhere. And, well, I'm fairly certain you'd just kick me out of the apartment if I did that," Blaine teased.
"I would not," Kurt scoffed.
"Okay, you'd probably make me clean it up and then kick me out."
"Oh my god," Kurt laughed, "I would not Blaine. I'd make you clean it up - not that you wouldn't automatically do that anyway - and then pretend to be upset for three seconds before pulling out the catalog that I've been saving because I've been wanting to replace that area rug since you got it and I found the perfect one."
"You're completely ridiculous," Blaine laughed, a twinkle in his eyes as he resumed eating his pizza.
"Says the man who decided to surprise me with tickets to a Broadway show," Kurt deadpanned.
"It's our anniversary!" Blaine exclaimed indignantly.
"Our one month 'wedding' anniversary," Kurt said using air quotes when he reached the word "wedding."
"Are you telling me you don't like my attempts to celebrate our love?" Blaine asked, fluttering his eyelashes at him. "Because when Santana overheard my conversation with Rachel about it she suggested that I just forget about the date and, well, let's just say that it's not an appropriate thing to repeat in public. Or ever really. Your friends are crazy."
Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Well, Santana aside, whatever are you planning for our six month anniversary Mr. Warbler? Because you've already set the bar fairly high."
"I can't tell you my plans," Blaine gasped in mock horror, "that would spoil the surprise."
Kurt rolled his eyes. "I'm not sure if you'll ever be able to surprise me as much as you did that time you asked me to marry you when we weren't even dating."
"Mmm, that's worked out rather well hasn't it," Blaine smirked, although Kurt could see a glimmer of worry in his eyes.
Kurt reached his hand out to grab Blaine's, a little surprised at how easily the action came to him. "Somehow it's worked out surprisingly well. I honestly couldn't ask for a better husband. Although I do wish you'd keep the singing to a minimum when you get up before I do."
"That is a minimum," Blaine insisted. "I know I'm not as bad as Rachel in the morning."
"Well, that's certainly true. I love her voice, but I do not miss waking up to it every morning at 5am when she started her vocal runs. I swear, having her stay over last week gave me horrifying flashbacks. Although that was definitely better than waking up to her and Brody making other noises."
Blaine laughed loudly. "Did I ever mention how glad I am that I was able to get an apartment with no roommates?"
"Is that a hint? Do you want me to move out?" Kurt challenged teasingly.
"What?" Blaine asked, blanching before realizing Kurt was messing with him. "Well, I mean if you want to..." he smiled for a moment before his eyes took on a more serious tone and he leaned across the table a little. "Honestly? Living with you so far has been wonderful. I was a little bit afraid at first that we'd suddenly find a ton of reasons to hate each other, or that we'd be fighting all the time because we'd be spending too much time together. But I haven't started hating you yet." Kurt tried and failed to keep the delighted smile off his face as Blaine spoke. "Besides my singing in the shower when you're sleeping, and you being so busy that I sometimes have to force you to stop working and eat, I'd say it's going perfectly."
"I agree. It's going wonderfully. Much less of a transition than it was moving into the loft with Rachel and then having Santana join us."
Blaine nodded, returning his attention to his food, "Would it be weird if we kept living together after we get divorced?"
"Worried you'll miss me?" Kurt teased, taking a bit of his food, mind whirring through hidden reasons for Blaine's request, even as he tried to stop himself.
"A little bit, yeah," Blaine said as though it were nothing. "Seeing you everyday is bringing me back to our Dalton days."
Kurt cringed. "I can't believe I lasted that long in a uniform."
"I can't believe the Warblers let me serenade a guy at the Gap," Blaine laughed.
I can't believe you weren't serenading me, Kurt thought. "Well, the Warblers were all in love with you. For a while there I thought you might have hypnotized them all or something."
Blaine coughed, some crumbs shooting out of his mouth as he grabbed for his glass of water. "You can't just say things like that when I'm eating," he said after gulping down some water, voice rough. He laughed, eyes a bit watery. "Besides, the existence of Wes should have automatically negated that theory."
Smiling into his water, Kurt shrugged. "I was just trying to figure out how you managed to get all the solos. especially when you never had to fight for them. They were practically handed over." Kurt held up a hand, cutting off what he assumed was going to be Blaine's apology. "You were and are an amazing performer. I do get it. The Warblers were a conservative group back then and your voice is a good vocal fit for pretty much any top 40 song."
"You deserved more from all of us," Blaine said earnestly.
Uncertain how to respond, and unable to brush the comment off with a joke, Kurt fished for a way to change the subject. "At least you never threw fits when someone else wanted a solo. New Directions was a battle."
"It did always surprise me that with all that talent, you guys would typically compete with only two or three people being showcased. Rachel's an amazing performer, but you guys had such a wide range of talents."
Kurt glanced up at Blaine with a small smile on his face. "Schue wasn't always the best teacher, but he did make sure we had a home no matter how toxic it could be sometimes." Blaine raised an eyebrow. "Okay, okay," Kurt acquiesced. "I do wish he'd spread solos around a bit more, especially in competitions, but I've made my peace with it. It didn't stop me from getting into NYADA."
"Speaking of NYADA, I need your help with some song choices," Blaine said, seeming to pick up on Kurt's desire to shift topics. "My voice teacher wants to pick one or two more to help round out my audition go-tos."
Kurt was just leaving his final class of the day on Tuesday a few weeks later when his phone chimed with a new text.
Blaine: Want to come with me to Callbacks Friday night? Some of my friends are going and they're complaining that they haven't gotten to know you that well.
Kurt brushed his thumb across the screen lightly. He had a busy weekend ahead of himself, particularly with a group project to work on, but he could probably squeeze in a few hours at Callbacks.
His phone chimed again.
Blaine: It'll be fun! I promise to sing at least one duet with you and I won't get drunk and try to grope you again.
Kurt laughed.
Kurt: Ok, you have yourself a deal
Blaine: =D
On Thursday, it became clear that Kurt was not in fact going to be able to go to Callbacks.
Class had ended ten minutes ago, but Kurt was stuck in Professor Dunlap's classroom debating with his group mates about when they would work on their project.
"I'm gone all weekend! I can't do Sunday night. I get back Monday," Victoria repeated. "You guys can do the project without me if you really want to and fill me in later, but I'm not cancelling this trip."
Kurt rolled his eyes. This was why he had wanted to work on it during the week. But of course, everyone had insisted that they couldn't move anything in their schedules to find a meeting time, so here they were; last minute and struggling to make things work.
"Well I can't do tonight," Matt declared. "It's my six month anniversary and I can't cancel those plans."
"I have class in twenty minutes," Andrew added, "So now's out. And I have work tomorrow from nine until four thirty."
"I promised my husband he could have my Friday night," Kurt decided to say, despite the fact that he could already feel his chances of going to Callbacks with Blaine slipping through his fingers.
"Well," Martha said, throwing her hands up in the air. "Someone is going to have cancel something because we need to get this project done, and we can't do it all Monday or Tuesday morning."
"Why not?" Matt asked. "We just have to write a stupid script and memorize it. It's not like we really have to rehearse it much. We're all actors."
Martha folded her arms. "I am not playing that fast and loose with my grades. We are meeting before Monday to get most of this done and then rehearsing on Monday so Dunlap doesn't give us a terrible grade."
Victoria sighed. "Fine. If Friday night works for people, I can take the eleven o'clock train. But," she warned. "I will not be guilted into missing my train. If I have to leave before it's done, you can send it to me electronically and I'll edit on the train or something."
"Okay," Andrew agreed while Matt nodded along.
"Kurt?" Martha asked in a tone that suggested if he said no his head might be ripped off.
He sighed, his stomach filling with disappointment. "Whatever," he said with a wave of his hand. "I'll tell Blaine I need a raincheck on our plans. If his friends hate me after this though," he threatened, "I will direct them all to you guys."
"Okay, so I'll see you later tonight?" Kurt said carefully, not wanting to set off an already sulky Blaine.
"Sure," he grunted in response.
Kurt glanced back at Blaine, who was sitting on the couch, staring resolutely at the car commercial playing on the TV. He opened his mouth to say something - anything - that might make Blaine at least talk to him about this but drew a blank. He shrugged it off, pulling the door open. It would sort itself out. Whatever 'it' was. "Bye!" he called, stepping through the door.
Just before he pulled the door closed behind him, he heard Blaine call out a goodbye, and a little bit of the tension drained out of him. Blaine was probably just surly because he'd had a long week.
By the time they finished working, it was nearing midnight - Victoria having bailed on them over an hour ago. They all packed up their things, congratulating each other on a job well done, before stepping out the library doors.
Kurt sighed, pulling his coat around himself more tightly, hands shoved into his pockets as he stood under the protective roof above the door. Of course it was pouring out. Just his luck. The nearest subway station that would get him home quickly was five blocks away.
He dawdled in the entryway as Martha and Matt each made a break for it. They were either braver than Kurt, or they didn't have to travel as far as he did.
"You can stay at my place tonight if you want," Andrew offered as Kurt glared at the torrential downpour. "My dorm's right over there," he said, pointing a few buildings over, "and my roommate's gone for the weekend."
Kurt, who had been ready to agree, raised an eyebrow at the last bit. Andrew looked confused for a moment before seeming to understand what he had implied. He let out a laugh, eyes glinting. "Not like that," he assured Kurt, putting a hand on his arm - which was kind of the opposite of reassuring. "I meant that you could sleep in his bed instead of the floor."
Kurt considered it, staring out at the rain. "I could just grab a cab from here."
"Oh come on, in this weather? From a school?" Andrew said, looking at him incredulously. "This late on a Friday night?" The shadows darkening his face disappeared as Andrew turned to face him more fully. "If you'd rather just go back to your place, that's fine, no offense taken," he continued sincerely. "But it could be fun? We could watch a movie and hangout before crashing?"
Kurt mulled it over. He did actually enjoy spending time with Andrew, and he did keep telling himself that the more friends he made at NYADA the better - both for his career and his social life in general. Plus, Blaine was out with his friends.
"Sure," Kurt agreed. "No horror movies though."
Andrew laughed, gesturing towards hi building and taking a step into the rain. "I was thinking a romantic comedy, or pretty much anything that won't make me terrified of small noises." Kurt hurried to follow after him as he walked. "Perhaps a musical?"
Once he'd gotten to Andrew's and had hastily thrown on the t-shirt and pajama bottoms Andrew had handed to him, Kurt texted Blaine.
Kurt: Spending the night at Andrew's! See you around lunch time?
He looked up from his phone when Andrew entered the room, bowl of popcorn in one hand. "Ready for the movie, Hummel?" he asked, settling on the bed and leaning against the wall next to Kurt.
"What'd you pick?" Kurt asked, setting his phone down next to him, glancing at it briefly to see if he had somehow missed an incoming text from Blaine.
Andrew picked up a blanket and threw it over the two of them. "I'm in a Wizard of Oz mood."
Kurt tucked the blanket around himself. "It's always a Wizard of Oz kind of day."
When they went to bed a few hours later, Kurt still hadn't heard back from Blaine.