A/N: Yes, it's been a while. Really sorry, we've been so busy. I(Caitlyn) have been in a really awful funk and writers block lately, but hopefully we're back on track! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Sigh, same as always.

Read, review, enjoy! :D

Chapter 4

Blaine was at the mall with Rachel one Thursday afternoon right before his and Kurt's one year anniversary. He had known for a while what he was going to get his boyfriend, and it was finally ready to be picked up after about a month of waiting. They walked, arms linked, into the mall discussing what was planned for the celebration.

"Kurt refuses to tell me what we're doing. He says that I've planned and done so much for him over the past year that it's his turn to give me this in return. He says he has the whole day figured out and I'm not allowed to guess or lift a finger. I'm kind of nervous, actually." Blaine commented as the two strolled into H&M to look for an appropriate outfit for the big day.

"I think that whatever he has arranged will be magnificent, Blaine. I mean, it's Kurt Hummel. I'm sure it's going to be something ridiculous and extravagant and utterly, completely perfect." Rachel replied, picking up a shirt for Blaine to look at.

Blaine shook his head and she put the shirt back on the rack. "I know it's going to be perfect. That's what I'm worried about. I just feel like I'm never going to be able to live up to whatever he's done." Blaine worried his bottom lip and continued to browse the racks.

After about an hour of shopping and finding nothing that appealed to him, Blaine decided he'd find something at home to wear and they made their way to the jewelry store to pick up Kurt's gift.

Blaine awoke on Saturday morning hugging...emptiness. The space where Kurt had been laying when he closed his eyes was significantly cooler than his own, telling him his boyfriend had been gone for a while. Frowning slightly, he rolled out of bed and pulled on sweats and a t-shirt and made his way into the bathroom. No Kurt there, either. Odd, Blaine thought as he grabbed his towel off the hook and made his way into the shower. He knew that Kurt had a busy day planned for them and probably got up early to get himself ready for the day. It just wasn't like him to not say goodbye.

He walked out of the shower, toweling his curly hair as he went to the closet to pull out his outfit for the day: a purple button-down shirt and Kurt's favorite cuffed jeans. He smiled to himself as he got dressed for the day, and almost didn't notice the flower sitting on his pillow. Walking over to the bed, he picked up the flower, dead but perfectly pressed and preserved, reading the note taped to it.

"Sorry I left before you got up, I had to get our day sorted. Come down to the Senior Commons room when you're ready. Bring your coat and scarf! xoxo Kurt." Blaine couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. He always loved when Kurt planned out little scavenger hunts for him. He held the flower to his chest and tried to place the meaning of it, but couldn't, though he was sure that there had to be a reason. Why else would Kurt press a single daisy? He grabbed his peacoat and matching scarf and made his way out of the dormitory hall.

Blaine walked into the Senior Commons to find it completely empty. He looked over to the table and there was two breakfast plates set up, filled with eggs, bacon, and toast. His stomach gave an unattractive grumble as he got closer to the food. Looking around for his elusive boyfriend he pulled out the chair and sat down, reaching in his pocket for his phone. Before he got a chance to dial Kurt, two arms slipped around his neck from behind.

"Happy anniversary, Blaine Anderson." Kurt whispered into his ear before pressing a light kiss to his neck. Blaine grinned as Kurt tightened his hold around his neck, squeezing briefly before letting go and making his way to the empty seat across from Blaine.

"Hello to you, too." Blaine smiled as he picked up his fork and began digging into his eggs. "Thank you for breakfast by the way, this is perfect, Kurt."

Kurt nodded and smiled and began eating his breakfast as well. The two ate in silence for a little before Kurt noticed that Blaine had brought down the flower from his bed.

"You brought the flower with you?"

"Yes, I figured it was an important part of the day so I thought I'd bring it with me." Blaine replied, reaching over and grabbing Kurt's hand.

Squeezing gently, he let it go to take a sip from his orange juice when his eye caught the napkin underneath the glass, emblazoned with the Breadstix logo.

"Breadstix napkin?" Blaine questioned and Kurt just nodded and smiled.

"Come on, time to finish up. Grab your napkin, flower, and let's go. I have the rest of the day planned!" Blaine was slightly confused but kept his mouth shut. Pulling on his coat, he carefully slipped the napkin and flower into his breast pocket. Kurt stood waiting and smiling. Suddenly overcome with love for his boyfriend, Blaine stuck his hand out and Kurt took it silently. Blaine pulled his boyfriend in so they were chest to chest and leaned in to kiss Kurt, full of love and passion. Blaine sucked Kurt's lip in between his own before pulling away and smiling wryly.

"I almost forgot; Happy Anniversary, Kurt." Kurt grinned, full of teeth and leaned in for another chaste kiss.

"Come on," he whispered on Blaine's lips, "I really do have plans."

"Then lead the way, good sir." Blaine gestured with his arm and Kurt just laughed and grabbed Blaine's hand as they made their way out to the parking lot.

"Ice skating?" Blaine exclaimed, more than excited, remembering how much fun they had last time.

"Well how could I forget how much you loved it, silly?" Kurt smiled as he rented the two of them skates. "Unfortunately, I couldn't sneak your skates out of your room in time, so you'll have to deal with these." Blaine just shook his head and smiled.

"I love you, Kurt Hummel." He smiled, kissing Kurt's cheek before pulling away and plopping on the bench to put on his skates.

The two skated hand in hand and enjoyed the gorgeous day. They shared hot chocolate on an empty bench and stole kisses when nobody else was looking. It was a perfect day. They were both so happy and in love and Blaine still couldn't get over the fact that his boy was his, had been his for the last year.

After their ice skating journey, Kurt took Blaine out to dinner to a little restaurant outside of Westerville. They ate slowly, enjoying their time together. Admittedly, over the last few weeks it hadn't been easy to get alone time. Between colleges and Finn and hanging out with their friends, they were just so busy. Here they were at this cute little restaurant and everything was perfect. Blaine hadn't been this happy in such a long time and the night wasn't even close to being over yet.

Once the two boys were settled back in Kurt's Navigator, Blaine turned to look at Kurt.

"Thank you so much for today, Kurt. It was perfect, really." Kurt smiled and leaned over the console to press a kiss to Blaine's lips.

"You're very welcome. It was kind of perfect, wasn't it?" Blaine nodded and smiled, leaning his forehead against Kurt's. Kurt pressed another quick kiss to the corner of Blaine's mouth before pulling away.

"Let's go home, shall we?"

The two boys made their way into their residence hall and up the stairs to Blaine's room. When they walked in, Kurt opened up his messenger bag and pulled out two things. One appeared to be a ticket stub, and the other a small jar of sand and seashells. Blaine was taking off his coat and getting situated when Kurt placed both items onto the bed.

"Come sit. I have to show you these things." Blaine looked curious and sat against the headboard, waiting for Kurt to start speaking.

"Do you know how earlier today I had you save the flower and the napkin?" Blaine just nodded and Kurt continued. "Well, I don't know if you caught the meaning behind the two of those things, but there is a reason. I know it may be corny or whatever, but ever since our first date at Breadstix, I've been saving little mementos. The Breadstix napkin was the actual napkin from our first date, and the daisy I pressed and left on your pillow was from the restaurant in Columbus; the night when you first asked me out." Blaine was full on grinning now, but remained silent.

"This," Kurt continued, picking up the ticket stub, "this is from when we went to go see Rocky Horror. It was also the night of our first kiss. And then we have the jar of seashells, which I hope is fairly obvious." Kurt blushed slightly, and Blaine chuckled.

"The point is, I saved all these things as reminders. Reminders of where we started. Reminders of how much I love you. Reminders of how much more we have to experience." Kurt finished, and Blaine practically jumped across the bed and surged his mouth to Kurt's in a heated, sizzling kiss. Blaine immediately stuck his tongue into Kurt's mouth, earning a guttural moan from the boy underneath him. They kissed hot and wet for a long time before Blaine pulled away, trying to catch his breath. Dropping his head into the crook of Kurt's neck, he finally regained coherent thought.

"I just, I love you so much, Kurt. I hope you know that. Today was amazing. All this stuff you saved, and everything you told me, it just solidified my love for you. It just makes me so happy that I can call you my own and experience life with you. Because that's what I want, Kurt. I want to experience life with you. My whole life. Forever." Blaine sat up and reached into his pocket to pull out the tiny box that had taken residence there all night.

"Blaine.." Kurt began cautiously, "Blaine, this sounds awfully like a proposal."

Blaine's eyes grew wide and immediately he started backtracking. "No, no. This isn't a proposal Kurt, oh my god. Not that I don't want to marry you, because god, I do. I really, really do. But not right now. I think we can both agree that after a year together it's just not time. I mean we're only seniors in high school." Blaine rambled and Kurt put a finger over his lips to quiet him.

"I get it, Blaine. Please, open the box. I'm dying in anticipation over here." Kurt smiled and removed his finger from Blaine's mouth, who smiled sheepishly and opened the box slowly.

"Blaine, oh my god, it's beautiful." Kurt whispered, looking down into the box where there was a beautiful ring with a topaz stone situated in the center. The ring itself was a gorgeous silver with intricate vine-like detailing. Kurt was breathless.

"Every since you gave me my ring on my birthday last summer," Blaine started, and Kurt looked up at his face, both of them welling up with tears, "I had this idea to get the same thing for you. Whenever we're busy or lonely or fighting I always look down at the ring you gave me and I think of you. I think of you and your brilliant blue eyes and I think of how much I love you. I want you to be able to do the same thing. I want this ring to remind you of me, Kurt. Even when I can't be there, even when we're both being stubborn." Kurt smiled, really smiled, tears streaming down his face, and Blaine knew that he got this right.

"Blaine, this is beautiful. Oh my god, I love it! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Blaine laughed as Kurt let out a shaky breath and hesitantly reached into the box to take the ring out. He slipped it on his slender ring finger.

"It's perfect," Kurt commented, "It's perfect. Like you."

Blaine leaned over and kissed him soundly. "Like us."

That night, the two of them made love, and as Blaine leaned down over Kurt to press a kiss to his temple before the haze of their impending orgasms overcame both of them, their fingers slotted perfectly together with the soft clank of metal where their rings touched. Afterward, they held each other, limbs intertwined in comfortable silence, taking a moment to steal a kiss now and then.

Blaine fell asleep first, Kurt grinning as he saw the boy next to him slip away.

Kurt grinned as he watched Blaine drift asleep. Looking down at his body, he knew he wouldn't be able to join his boyfriend in slumber until he cleaned off at least a little bit, so he trudged off to the bathroom. After washing his face and chest quickly, he smiled at his reflection. He realized, in that second, that he was completely happy-and not just because of what had just happened on Blaine's bed. He had his boyfriend and for the past year, they had managed to become a perfect couple. Other than a few minor snags, their relationship was everything Kurt had ever dreamed of. He reminisced for a few more minutes, playing absently with the ring situated on his finger, before hitting the light and tiptoeing back to the bedroom.

It was impossible to see in the dark room, but Kurt was determined to not wake Blaine back up. Stumbling across the wood, he accidentally knocked his hand into Blaine's mouse, causing the display to light up. Wincing, Kurt hurriedly tried to lower the brightness, but Blaine's Dell shortcuts were nothing like his Mac's. Luckily his boyfriend slept like a rock, Kurt mused as he struggled to figure out how to put the computer back asleep. Finally finding the right menu, Kurt dragged the cursor across the screen, realizing there was an internet window open.

Kurt never considered himself to be a snoop, but with Blaine snoring behind him, he figured he could use this to his advantage. Opening up Blaine's history, Kurt decided to browse around and maybe get a few early Christmas ideas. After all, Black Friday was just around the corner.

Checking Blaine's favorites next, Kurt snickered at the amount of bow-tie pictures his boyfriend had stashed in the folder. Moving the mouse to open one, Kurt accidentally clicked the bookmark for Blaine's Dalton email, which automatically logged him in and brought him to the inbox, which had a new message waiting.

With a reflex Kurt didn't realize he had, his eyes locked on the new message. Checking the subject, which read "Your application has been received!" Kurt moved to close out the window and go back to finding a Christmas gift for Blaine. It wasn't until he was hovering the red button that curiosity overcame him and he glanced back to see which college had responded to his boyfriend, considering he'd received all his confirmations already. His eyes widened as they read "UCLA Admissions" over and over again.

He heard Blaine stirring behind him, but his eyes were glued to the screen. He felt hands slide across his naked shoulders and chest, felt his boyfriend's warm torso pressed against his own bare skin. The gentle touch of lips to his neck, a hot breath ghosting in his ear, a nip at his earlobe-nothing Blaine did garnered a reaction from Kurt.

It wasn't until he heard Blaine softly ask "What are you doing, babe?" that Kurt managed to drag his eyes away from the screen. When they met Blaine's, they were filled with confusion and betrayal.

"You applied to UCLA without telling me?" Kurt said quietly, trying to keep his voice even. He didn't miss the quick swallow of his boyfriend's throat as he combed his messy curls with his fingers, trying to keep his cool.

"You went through my email?" Blaine finally answered.

"I washed up in the bathroom and went on your computer after, Blaine, and the page popped up. But you didn't answer my question," Kurt replied coolly.

Blaine huffed. "Yes, Kurt, I applied to UCLA."

"Blaine, that's in California."

"Yes."

"I thought we'd decided to go away to the East Coast together? New York, Boston? You know how much Manhattan means to me, how badly I need it."

"Well, Kurt, what matters more? Being with me or being in New York?"

Even in the darkness, Blaine saw Kurt's eyes flash with the hint of tears and knew he'd gone too far, even if Kurt had crossed a line by opening his inbox.

"Baby, don't answer that, I'm sorry."

"But, Blaine," Kurt exhaled. "The whole point of us sitting down together is so I could have both. So we could have both." Kurt sighed heavily, "Just...why did you apply to a school in California?"

Blaine sighed.

"Ask my sister, my mom: ever since I was little, I had this big pipe dream of going to school in California. When Sophia was doing college stuff, I started going through it with her, and I stumbled across UCLA. I don't know why, it just kind of sucked me in. At the time, my life was just me and Rachel; I wasn't performing, I didn't have other friends. I wanted an escape; I was dying to get away. Then I found music and figured being in Los Angeles wouldn't hurt that career should I ever choose to follow it.

"You and Rachel are a lot alike with your skyscraper-sized dreams and plans. God, nothing I had ever compared to that, except this thought—this dream- that one day I'd be out in California, away from this hell that had sort of built up around me like a cage, this cage I needed to break out of.

"But then-then I met you, Kurt. And you just exude talent and brilliance and I know you're going to be magic. When I'm with you, I can see an apartment with framed pictures on the walls and fighting over whose turn it is to do the dishes and I just-it's so comfortable, so perfect. It's something I never thought I'd get to have. And I want it, I want it so bad. But this UCLA idea, it's been my dream for so long. I don't know if it's just because I didn't have anyone else to plan my life around or any reason to end up anywhere else, but it always seemed like it'd be in the cards for me.

"But now, I want to be with you, Kurt, I do, more than you can imagine. This California dream, I just couldn't let it go though. And when we were picking out schools, I could see myself at each of them, but only if I was with you. When I explained all that to Sophia, she told me that she thought I should still apply to UCLA. She hadn't heard me shut up about it for years, she didn't want me to abandon it.

"So I spent the half an hour filling out the form and sending it in. To see if my crazy ambition could actually happen. I'm not saying that if I get in I'd definitely go, because I love the schools on the East Coast too, and I couldn't imagine being thousands of miles away from you. We could barely manage being a few hours away. I want forever with you Kurt, I do. I meant every word I said to you before, and I know you feel that way too. I just had to see if I'd even get accepted-I knew that if I didn't apply, I'd spend the rest of my life wondering if I could have had my dream."

Blaine finally finished, looking up at his boyfriend. His fingers intertwined with Kurt's slender pale ones as he watched a lone tear drop. Kissing the wet spot on his cheek, Blaine offered a smile in Kurt's direction.

Kurt nodded back silently, leaning in to kiss Blaine.

"You know I love you, right?" Kurt said. Blaine nodded, pulling Kurt into a standing position. Reaching to close the laptop behind them, Blaine led Kurt toward his bed again, laying him down. Sliding behind him, Blaine became the big spoon, wrapping his arms around Kurt.

"I love you too, Kurt. And who knows, I probably won't even get accepted."

Kurt sighed. "You're so silly. You're amazing, you're definitely going to get in. And I want you to get in, it's your dream. It's just-"

Blaine waited in the silence after Kurt trailed off.

"What, baby?" he prompted after a minute or so.

"A long distance relationship between Boston and New York is one thing, baby. We'd still get to see each other relatively easily and cheaply. I don't know how long distance between California and New York would work. If you'd told me you had this idea, I could have maybe applied to a fashion institute in Los Angeles. It wouldn't be Parson's or FIT but it would have worked."

"Well," Blaine began. "I wouldn't want you to turn your back on your dream to follow me to California, Kurt, just like I hope you don't want me to abandon mine. Besides, it's November. I'm not going to even know if I'm into UCLA for a while. We have plenty of time."

"Blaine," Kurt murmured, "All the time in the world wouldn't change my mind about long-distance. I just don't think it works." Lifting Blaine's hand to his lips, he kissed it as he drifted off to sleep.

Blaine stayed awake a few minutes longer, thinking over the conversation they'd just had.

Would he end up having to choose between his dream and Kurt?

And ultimately, what would he choose?