Kurt and Blaine spent the rest of their little adventure on four subway lines talking about Blaine's potential setlist opening for Florence + the Machine. The tenor was obviously really excited about the opportunity, talking about a mix of popular cover songs and his own songs (none of which Kurt had heard. He would have to ask about Blaine's music at some point… or just look him up). They almost missed their train at Grand Central Station because Blaine was too focused on what he was saying to pay attention to his feet, but after that their trip was smooth.

They arrived on a pretty busy corner that looked like any other area of Manhattan, but as they headed down 34th, it became less urban and more high-rise. There were more people driving than walking around, which really said something about the area. They took a left onto 10th Ave, and the most urban thing within sight was a McDonald's. They passed through the intersection with 33rd, and they were in the Hudson Yards district when Blaine stopped Kurt. "Here." He stopped in front of what was at least a fifteen story high-rise, with a double door that proclaimed it was in fact 404 10th Avenue in letters that looked like they lit up at night. It wasn't exactly what Kurt had expected. "Come on." Blaine still sounded excited, so Kurt decided not to pass judgment yet.

He had definitely made a good call. 404 was gorgeous inside, completely modern, all chrome and colored lighting. Even the white reception desk had a purple backlit 404 logo on it. "Go right ahead, Mr. Holloway-Anderson," the receptionist said absentmindedly, barely looking up from her job.

"I'm guessing you've been here a lot?"

"I get nervous. Shut up. Come on." Blaine took Kurt's hand and led him to a chrome elevator that took them up to the tenth floor. "This is where the reception will be."

Kurt's jaw dropped. They had emerged onto a balcony, but Kurt was staring downwards. Two sets of stairs on opposite sides of the balcony led down to a bar area, which then had a set of half-stairs leading down to a wide open space Kurt assumed would be the dance floor, which was partially underneath the balcony. Admittedly, the room wasn't set up yet, all white rounded stairs and banisters, and a small black and white wall of glass that made the bar area feel slightly separate from the dance floor. The medium-dark wood of the bar and the forest green wall it was set against were the only things in the room not white or black. The wall of the ballroom that didn't look out onto the rest of the space was solid windows, and Kurt didn't think the view would be all that pretty until he realized they were high enough to see the river. As polluted as the Hudson River was, it still sparkled in the sunlight.

The place was absolutely stunning. "Wow," was all Kurt could bring himself to say, and Blaine smiled.

"The balcony will hold most of the tables, with some lining the railing of the bar area that looks out over the dance floor. I love that it's all white and glass and stone," Kurt hadn't even realized the floor they were standing on was white stone, as were the stairs, "it's so... modern and brilliant and perfect."

"I would say."

"The glass screens will be lit up with that stereotypical babies to wedding collage, as will these windows when it gets dark, backlit with blue or purple I was thinking. I have a bunch of ideas for table designs, but those will all be finalized when the place gets set up on Friday morning-"

"Make sure you have Friday evening free," Kurt remembered to remind him. "We're stealing you for your bachelor party."

"I'm equal parts excited and terrified. Anyway, as we stand here talking, there is a gaggle of interested singers standing on where the dance floor will be placed, made of gray slip-resistant tiles grouted with green light." Blaine was making his reception sound amazing. They were getting their rings resized at Tiffany's, married at St. Patrick's, and having the reception here. The couple had really gone all out.

"I don't even want to think about how much this is costing you," Kurt muttered.

"No, you really don't," Blaine said with a laugh. "It's not like we don't have the money for it, especially with the support of both our families." The Andersons too? Why was Jonathan good enough for Blaine when Kurt wasn't?

He wasn't supposed to be thinking thoughts like that.

"Anyway, shall we go audition them?" Blaine asked, waiting patiently while Kurt had an internal debate about his place in the wedding.

"Absolutely," Kurt said, resolving to get out of his own head and having a feeling it would go as well for him as it normally did for J.D. It might last about twelve hours. If that.

"Hey, everyone." Blaine must have just picked struggling artists of the street, because there was no better explanation for the smorgasbord of people that were standing in front of people. There were full bands and boy bands and solo acts with and without instruments, girls and boys and every race that could be found in New York City. It was exactly what Kurt expected of Blaine, created by Blaine. "So, we're just going to power through everyone as fast as possible. Please try to streamline your song to less than three minutes. First up, Carolyn Caverly."

In the three hours that had been spent auditioning various acts, Kurt had yet to see someone they would let into their high school Glee club, never mind sing at Blaine's wedding. No wonder there were so many starving artists in New York City, some of them just shouldn't be artists. Kurt had so far heard everything from pop to hip-hop to Broadway to classics be massacred at the hands of Blaine's smorgasbord. Where had he even found these people?

"Is that everyone?" Blaine finally asked. Several acts had already left, having played, and Kurt was almost asleep in his seat (thankfully, Blaine had pulled two of those director's chairs from somewhere, and a clipboard. He was definitely prepared).

"Wait!" A girl practically tripped down the stairs to the dance floor, and she reminded Kurt a little of that girl Spencer from Pretty Little Liars, which he had stopped watching because he didn't feel like working out all the story lines in his head. "I'm sorry I'm late, but I had class... is this the wedding auditions?" she asked, looking around, and it didn't surprise Kurt that she was amazed by the people Blaine had given try-outs.

"Yeah, step right up," Blaine said, gesturing to the little make-shift stage of boxes that had been there when Blaine and Kurt arrived.

"Hi, I'm Stephanie Berlanga, and I will be singing Enchanted, by Taylor Swift."

"Are you cutting it down any? I love the song, but it's six minutes long."

"Um, I can," she said hesitantly. She pulled out a fairly beautiful acoustic guitar and was clearly rearranging the song in her head as she started to play the introduction.

Kurt and Blaine probably spent a few good minutes after her performance just staring at her in shock, until she was so uncomfortable that she said, "Thank you," and exited the stage. Blaine literally fell out of his chair he was in such a rush to get to her.

"You are amazing," he complimented her. "This is going to be my wedding, and I would love it if you sang that song in the beginning."

"You're auditioning acts for your own wedding?" she asked with a smile. "That's very… unusual."

"He's a very unusual person," Kurt commented, having followed Blaine at a much more reasonable place.

"Well, I would be more than happy to play this song at your wedding, and I hope you two are very happy together." She was still smiling, but the room had kind of frozen as both of them processed what she had just said.

"No-"

"We're not getting married-"

"I'm not his-"

"He's not my-" They both floundered for words simultaneously. Stephanie blushed.

"Oh. I'm so sorry. I just assumed with the fact that you're auditioning people together, and the way you just... I don't know. I'm terribly sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine," Blaine cut her off, apparently having just realized that Stephanie was babbling because she was afraid she had just lost her gig. "Anyway, my wedding is at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Madison at four o'clock, and the reception is here at six."

"Will I be singing any other songs?"

"I have to talk set lists with my fiancé, who is not Kurt," Blaine stressed again, "but I will call you by..." Blaine looked at his watch. "Damn, it's late. I'll call you early on Wednesday to let you know about any other potential songs. And if you don't know it, don't worry, our set list is completely malleable. Also, our first dance is going to be Halo, if you want to sing that."

"I will definitely learn that on the piano," she said with a nod. "Here's my business card, and thanks so much for the opportunity."

"No problem," Blaine said, shoving her card in his pocket. "You're the best performer we've seen all day."

"Not that that's a high bar," Kurt muttered, and Blaine elbowed him.

"We, and by we I mean me and my not-Kurt fiancé, will be in touch shortly."

"Thank you," she said again, and all of the acts were starting to clear out as she left, clearly realizing they had been upstaged.

"And that is why open auditions are awesome," Blaine said with a smile as soon as Stephanie was out of earshot. "I'll have a ton of music contacts at my reception, which she'll sing at, and she may be able to start a career from that imaginary stage." He pointed towards the boxes.

"You must be the farthest from a groomzilla that I've ever met," Kurt said with a laugh. "Even while planning your own wedding, you're thinking about everybody else first."

Blaine shrugged. "It's my nature. Besides, I'm sure when you get married you'll be enough of a groomzilla for the both of us… and the history books."

"If, and thanks for the optimism."

"When, and it's my strong suit."

Blaine would be taking the E north to Lexington Avenue, and getting on the 4 at 51st Street headed for home, but Kurt would be taking the A south to West 4th Street and onto the M into Brooklyn, so they didn't have any time to talk except the short walk to Penn Station.

"I'm dying to know what Jonathan had to say about hiding you from Elizabeth," Kurt said finally as they turned onto 10th Avenue.

"Could your question be any more biased if you tried?" Blaine asked, and shoot. He had finally figured it out. "You don't like Jonathan, do you?"

"I like what you've told me about him, about the proposal and how sweet he is," Kurt hedged, "but I know you always see the best in people, even when there isn't that much to see, and I don't like what I've seen of Jonathan."

"Kurt, you've known him for less than a week." Blaine was getting defensive, Kurt could tell. "I've known him for four years, and I love him."

"I know that, and that's why I decided not to pass judgment." Kurt decided not to bring up Elizabeth's rather harsh description of her own brother.

"Why did you lie to me?"

"I didn't. All I said when you asked was that I didn't like him lying to you, and I still don't. And you're pointedly avoiding that topic, so what happened?"

Blaine sighed. "I don't… I still don't really know. He started by telling me he didn't know she had moved, which was another lie, because she never lived in California. Then he started apologizing to me and telling me he shouldn't have done what he did and…" Blaine's cheeks pinked a tiny bit, but Kurt noticed. "He still never told me why, and I don't think he ever will. He can be a little private."

Kurt could picture the scene. Jonathan trying to wriggle his way out of troubles with false innocence and then fake apologies, begging and groveling, grabbing a wavering Blaine in a kiss before he could ask anymore questions, kissing him and unbuttoning his top, pushing him towards the bedroom... okay, Kurt needed to stop that line of thought.

"The reasons he lied to you shouldn't be something he's private about."

"Well, he is," Blaine snapped, then sighed. "I'm sorry. It's not really you I'm mad at."

"I got that."

"But it's five days before our wedding and I don't want the little things to tear us apart in such a high-stress time. It's so easy for a little fight to get way out of control."

"I don't see how this is a little thing."

"Marriage, finances, children, moving, death, and sickness… those are all the big things. Everything else is little by comparison." Blaine was being terribly logical for someone so emotionally invested.

"Fine," Kurt said. "It's none of my business."

"We'll talk about it after the wedding and the honeymoon. I promise. We have a whole list of things, big and little, to talk about. His parents made us read four harsh conversations you should have before getting married, which is a Cracked article, and that's what we've been mostly focusing on. Everything else is kind of being way-laid while we focus on our upcoming nuptials." That sounded… ridiculous, but Kurt was working hard not to pass judgment.

"What are the four conversations?" Kurt asked as they turned onto 34th Street, not walking particularly fast to draw out the conversation they were having.

"Exposing your ugly past, which we actually did drunkenly before we started dating, though there were a few most stories we exchanged in the process of our relationship, like family propensities towards disease, food allergies, things like that." Kurt knew all of Blaine's past so well he could write Blaine's biography up to age eighteen, so he could imagine exactly how much fun that had been. "The next one was figuring out what to tell the kids on subjects you bitterly disagree on, like politics and religion and things like that. Jonathan's a little more religious, but we agreed on whatever the best schooling is for the child, regardless of religious affiliations. I mean, we went to Dalton and didn't come out rip-roaring Catholics. He's not insistent about taking the kids to Church, though he wants to teach them a little at home about the Christian faith, which doesn't bother me. They can believe whatever they please, he's not trying to brain-wash them or anything, and we're obviously a huge lesson in tolerance as parents. We're both fairly liberal, but Jonathan's more fiscally conservative, which we figure is something we really won't have to worry about until the kids are old enough to decide for themselves, though we made a promise to never try to convince them one way or another." Why was Blaine telling him all of this? Trying to get him to like Jonathan?

"Seems very logical." They were almost at the station.

"The next one is planning for death, which was... a really hard conversation, especially as young as we both are, but we both made wills, and we can both theoretically provide for children in the event of-We can both cook and clean and do errands, we've been doing our finances together for a while, which will be even easier when all of our finances are joint, etc." Blaine didn't even pause when refusing to actually use the word death in any form again. "In reality this is planning for a divorce, but neither of us want to think about it that way, because death is much more likely." Blaine was making a joke of it, Kurt twist that joke into the idea that Blaine was already considering divorce. He knew it wasn't true.

"The last one was preparing for awkward conversations before they happen, like… well, the example the writer of the article uses is weight gain, like if one spouse gets so fat it turns the other one off." Kurt tried not to laugh picturing Jonathan fat. He couldn't even begin to picture Blaine fat, but it wouldn't bother him anyway. "It's just telling your spouse-to-be how you would want them to handle any serious issue that comes up. That one was pretty fun, actually, we had a lot of laughs about bizarre habits we could both take up." Blaine was smiling again, and it was the first time Blaine had talked for long periods of time about Jonathan and the wedding without rubbing his ring. Maybe having just been in the reception hall made it more real, or maybe Blaine was more used to the idea. Either way, Kurt was happy for him.

"That does sound silly… I can see you being a naturalist at some point." Blaine stared at him for a long moment. "What?"

"That's exactly what Jonathan said." And with that, they both cracked up laughing.

They had both calmed down by the time they reached the station, but they still had a few minutes before the train arrived, time for one last conversation. "You haven't told me anything about the honeymoon," Kurt said, realizing Blaine hadn't mentioned it before.

"Well, that's naughty," Blaine muttered, and Kurt elbowed him. "Sorry, I had to. Anyway, I didn't tell you anything about the honeymoon because I didn't know anything about it. I still don't know much. Jonathan's making it a complete surprise. All I know is we're taking a limo to the Wow Suite at the W Times Square for the night, and then we take another limo to La Guardia at noon to leave on a mysterious flight. Jonathan's even packing my bag for me so I won't know what climate it's in, and he managed all of my appointments for two months after our wedding, so I have no idea how long we'll be there, since I doubt it's actually the full two months." Blaine sounded a mixture of excited and a little annoyed, and completely in love. It was very romantic, Kurt had to give Jonathan that one.

"Wow." And once again, dollar signs swum around Kurt's head.

"Yeah," Blaine said with a smile. "He's being really sweet, but he can also be very stubborn when he decides to, and I have no idea where the reservations or the tickets are hidden. They're definitely not in our apartment."

"They might be at Elizabeth's," Kurt said before he thought about it.

"Kurt…" Blaine started speaking, but whatever he was going to say to chastise Kurt was drowned out by the sound of their trains arriving. "I'll see you on Wednesday," was all he said as he got on the E, abandoning his little lecture.

Kurt's stomach was grumbling at him as he got on the F train during his lunch hour. The train was crowded with people that wanted to escape their jobs while they could, so he couldn't get a seat, clinging to the bar. Thankfully, 57th Street was only two stops away.

He emerged from the subway right near Starbucks, and his stomach complained again as he walked right past it. The reason Breakfast at Tiffany's was set outside of Tiffany's is that they didn't let people have food in there. He would pick up the rings, and then get lunch. He had plenty of time.

Walking into Tiffany's was always amazing. Everything in there strained even his budget, but it was fun to look at the intricate jewelry, sparkling under the lights designed to create exactly that effect. Kurt walked up to the customer service desk.

"Hello, how may I help you?" the man working the desk asked immediately with a bright smile. Apparently customer service at Tiffany's didn't fool around.

"I'm here to pick up rings that have been resized."

"Name?"

"Holloway-Anderson," Kurt said as someone got in line behind him. Hopefully, those wouldn't take very long.

"Stealing our wedding rings?" The person behind him asked, and he turned around, looking up to find Jonathan. Kurt had been right. He had blue eyes… icy ones.

"Blaine asked me to pick up these rings because he was so stressed about his appointment on the West Coast."

"I am perfectly capable of picking up my own wedding rings on my lunch hour," Jonathan said coldly, and Kurt didn't care what Blaine's fiancé had told the tenor: he was obviously not okay with Kurt's increasing involvement in their wedding.

"Blaine didn't seem to want you to." That came out cruelly, and Kurt was aware of that, but Jonathan made him mad, and being angry made him loquacious. "He also didn't want to use the wedding song you picked out because our friends used to joke that would be our wedding song, and he came to me for suggestions. He also didn't want you auditioning acts for the wedding because you're supposedly tone deaf, so I did that with him last night. He also didn't want to have a bachelor party thrown by your sister, whom you had been hiding from him for four years and lying to him about, might I add, so I planned one with Elizabeth, who was very surprised that you had managed to hook someone as great as Blaine with your Scotch-soaked personality!" Kurt snapped, taking the wedding rings from the confused customer service person's hand and rushing out of the store. Hopefully there was no payment involved. Well, that was the part Jonathan could do.

Stupid Jonathan. Everything Kurt had heard about him made the countertenor dislike him, and he wasn't exactly trying to win favors by being cold to Kurt. It's an unspoken rule of engagement (as far as Kurt can tell from sit-coms) that if one's fiancé invites someone one doesn't want at the wedding, you suck it up and be civil to them. That went for exes too, right? It wasn't like Kurt was some stranger. He had been the guy who knew Blaine better than anyone else, for a while.

Stupid Jonathan, Kurt was still thinking to himself as he went through the long line at Starbuck's and got back on the subway, making sure to hide the Tiffany's boxes from wandering eyes. He really wasn't in the mood to get mugged and lose Blaine's wedding rings. Maybe he should have taken a cab.

By the time Kurt got back to work, he had already eaten his panini and had drunk his coffee, but he was still fuming about Jonathan's attitude. Still having about fifteen minutes left of his lunch hour (which now that he was an assistant, really was an hour. When he was an intern, it had been about three minutes), he opened the boxes, since they weren't wrapped and Blaine wouldn't know he did.

The ring box he opened was Jonathan's, the ring inside too big to fit on Blaine's finger. The engraving on the inside of the band went as such: amo te, ad infinitum et ultra. It was equal parts romantic and nerdy (to infinity and beyond? Really, Blaine?), which is exactly what Kurt expected from his ex.

Then he opened the ring that would be Blaine's, because he had a sneaking feeling that Jonathan's engraving wouldn't quite match up to Blaine's. And it didn't. The engraving was: Property of Jonathan Holloway-Anderson 9/15/2018. It was supposed to be cute, but to Kurt it came off as possessive, and it wasn't sweet like Blaine always claimed Jonathan was. And Jonathan, the dick, couldn't even blame this one on Kurt, because they had probably done the engravings long before Blaine and Kurt bumped into each other on the subway.

Stupid Jonathan.

Since Kurt was more than annoyed with Jonathan and rather concerned about Blaine's stress level, he quickly went on the web and found a wedding checklist to go through, to make sure Blaine wouldn't have any last minute panics. Besides, he didn't have any work anyway. Blaine had covered almost everything, though Kurt wasn't sure about a photographer/videographer, the wedding wardrobe, a day-of timeline for all the vendors, drivers, and wedding party, rehearsal dinner, the marriage license, seating, vows, wedding party gifts, etc. No wonder Blaine was nervous. Although, getting married as a woman seemed a lot more stressful, with hair and makeup appointments and dress fittings and such. Kurt focused mostly on the week of the wedding checklist.

Reconfirm arrival times with vendors. Check, Blaine had done that when they had auditioned acts at 404, and at St. Patrick's on his way home.

Delegate small wedding-day tasks: gift-handler, tipper, point-person, etc. Blaine would have to do that.

Send a timeline to the bridal party. Kurt wasn't sure.

Pick up your wardrobe. Wasn't sure about that either.

Check in one last time with the photographer. Wasn't even sure they had one.

Set aside checks and tips for the vendors. Done.

Book a spa treatment. Blaine might actually want one, considering how stressed he is.

Sent the final guest list to the caterer and venues. Check.

Break in your shoes. Kurt wasn't worried.

Assemble and distribute the welcome baskets? Kurt was almost entirely sure they weren't doing that at all, considering how large the wedding was.

Pack for your honeymoon. Semi-check. Jonathan seemed more on the ball than Kurt had originally given him credit for being.

Now Kurt was getting anxious. He understood how Blaine felt.

"Hey, Elizabeth."

"Don't you have anything better to do than bother me?"

"If I did, would I have called?"

"Shouldn't you be at work?"

"I am at work."

"Of course. What do you want?"

"I just wanted to go over some of the details I'm not sure about with you. I'm trying to make this as stress-free for Blaine as possible."

"Of course you do." Her sigh came across as a rush of static. "Hit me."

"I've honestly considered it, despite your gender."

"Very funny."

"I try." Kurt looked down at the list he had been making while going over all the wedding planning Blaine should have been doing for the last nine months. "Photographer?"

"And videographer, both consulted with and paid for, ready to cover the rehearsal dinner, ceremony, and reception."

"So there is a rehearsal dinner?"

"Thursday night. What, you weren't invited?" She sounded a mix of sassy and honestly surprised.

"Shut up. I just wanted to make sure Blaine didn't overlook it. He tends to have faith that everything will go right."

"That's a terrible attitude to have heading into a wedding."

"Exactly. Marriage license, wardrobe, and vows?"

"Taken care of, already fitted, and I don't know about Blaine, but Jonathan's done his. They're doing original ones." That didn't surprise Kurt at all.

"Small wedding-day tasks: gift-handler, tipper, point-person, etc., and, for that matter, seating?"

"I'm gift-handler, Cooper's doing all the tipping, and Rachel is point-person, and she already has a finalized seating chart that will ensure no bloodshed. You do realize, of course, that most of these details are my job?"

"I'm just checking." Kurt continued down his list, making sure not to ask Elizabeth about wedding party gifts. She shouldn't know about those, he would have to talk to Blaine. "Day-of timeline for the venders, drivers, and wedding party?"

"I… I'm not sure," Elizabeth said, and by the sound of her voice she was regretting her sass just a few seconds ago about being excellent at her job as maid of honor. "I certainly don't have one… I would suggest that to Blaine."

"I will." Kurt didn't bother to gloat. "Are they doing welcome baskets?"

"No."

"When will the tuxes be picked up?"

"That's my job on Saturday morning, along with Cooper."

"Speaking of Saturday morning, do you think it would be a good idea for me to get Blaine a spa treatment the morning of the wedding, so he's all de-stressed and groomed for the ceremony?"

"Sounds perfect. I'll come up with some excuse to ask him if he's doing anything last minute that morning, though he shouldn't be, and you can make it a surprise. I'm sure he'll appreciate it."

"Excellent."

"You really do care about him, don't you? Blaine, I mean. I know you don't give a fuck about Jonathan."

"Is it really that obvious?"

"I may have just gotten some angry texts from him about you stealing their wedding rings… I just assumed he was being overly dramatic and Blaine asked you to pick them up. It seems like the kind of thing he would do."

"Figures," Kurt muttered.

"Don't take it too personally, Jonathan's like this. He's… he's frustrating, to say the least."

"I already got that, thank you."

"He can be a good person, sometimes."

"Now you're just conflicting yourself."

"Do you think Blaine deserves better?" How the hell was he supposed to answer that?

"Diplomacy kind of dictates my answer." Elizabeth sighed over the line.

"Mine, too. I can't believe my baby brother is getting married on Saturday." He had always assumed Elizabeth to be younger (she looked younger), but he didn't comment. "I guess I'll see you on Friday then?"

"Yeah."

"Don't do anything stupid, Kurt, no matter how tempting it may be." Elizabeth hung up before Kurt could tell her how much she sounded like Rachel.

A/N: Oh, look at me, completely forgetting to post this on Friday. I am terribly sorry, I was away from home and forgot my obligation. I promise this will not affect the schedule for the rest of the story, and Chapter 5 will be posted on Friday!

Songs used/mentioned:
'Enchanted' by Taylor Swift
'Halo' by Beyoncé

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