Well, this is it. Chapter 30. I have been wanting to write this for longer than you could possibly imagine. And I finally have.
For once, I think I might actually be happy with this.
As I said last week, I'm going on hiatus now for at least a month. GMS and 2013 will continue, and I might even upload a couple of snapshots, but I won't be uploading T&C for at least another month. Next time I upload this it'll be after 4x14... AND WE KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS! Sorry, no spoilers, I know, I'm awful. But, yeah, I'm sorry to abandon you over the Glee hiatus, but I have always wanted to go on a break after this chapter. It just works. Plus, I have my mocks next week which I should probably start revising for...
I'm not going to continue this author's note at the tail; I'm going to leave you on the last line. As a result, I need to say this up here:
My friends have saved me numerous times over. I owe my life to paddyofurniture, IThinkILeftMyCoatOutside, DrUnderscore and many more besides. These guys have been my shoulders when I need to cry, my ears when I need to talk, and my strength when I need to fight. They've been with me through the worst. January is difficult for me, but because of them I'm going to get through it. This is probably the most personal I have ever been in an A/N, but for a good purpose.
Yesterday, a member of our family took her own life. #RIPJuls was a trending topic. Bullies can shove you down, push you around. But no matter what, you are NOT alone. Now, I may not have the most time in the world, but what little I do I would gladly spend on you. I love you all so, so much. So if you ever need someone; an ear to talk to, a pillar for advice, a shoulder to cry on; I'm here. Whether you feel like there's no one else, or you feel like you can't speak about something to anyone closer, whatever it is I can help you. I keep the best secrets in the world. And I dread the thought of any of you feeling as lost as Juls and ignoring this offer. Because I mean it. And because I love each and every single one of you. Remember that.
Okay, that bit is over. I'm sorry if I got a bit heavy, but I feel like it needed to be said.
I love you all. If you want updates while T&C is on hiatus, follow me on Twiter RainySunnyLu or on my blog luspeak. wordpress. com
And now I shall leave you. I'll talk to you again next month. I hope you enjoy this chapter... The proposal...
Story so far...
Nationals happened in New York after a week of crammed rehearsals, and some confusion about Gina's new boyfriend/Greg's new girlfriend, and the Warblers sang their three songs under the topic of 'Discrimination'. The top three were called back, and the Warblers ended up beating Lullaby League but coming second to Purple Hibiscus. Blaine, exhausted on the Sunday, took up Kurt's offer of driving them back to Ohio and then they went to bed, Blaine planning what he was going to say to Kurt...
-*T&C*-
They woke up a little before seven o'clock, at around about the same time.
Blaine brushed hair off of Kurt's face and kissed him softly. The older man kissed him back for a few blissful minutes.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
"Are you still okay with us going out?"
Kurt nodded awkwardly, Blaine's palm on his cheek. "Where did you want to go?"
"I was thinking we could go out for a meal or something. Celebrate coming second at Nationals, the boys making so much progress," he paused, "us."
Kurt pressed his lips into Blaine's neck with a smile. "Us? Like our Sunday Treat?"
Blaine let the question hang for a few seconds. "Yes, in a way."
"Okay." Kurt continued to kiss and nibble at his boyfriend's neck. He reached his hands up to cup his face, fingers stroking his ears. Then he ran the hands up his face, reaching his hair, the tender curls which had hardly seen gel at all in the past few weeks. And then he tugged gently.
Blaine let out a moan. "Kurt."
Kurt smiled, changing his position and straddling Blaine, still kissing his neck. "Or we could just stay in?"
Blaine seriously considered the proposal, his mind turning to mush from underneath his devilishly sexy boyfriend, soon to be fiancé, as his body was now being exposed and praised.
But then once more the overwhelming desire get rid of the 'soon to be' overtook him. He couldn't. As nice as here was, it'd be nicer later...
"No, let's go out."
The meal was nice. Blaine had let Kurt chose, resulting in him being dragged around for a good twenty minutes while looking at the menus to everywhere he had wanted to go to but had never had the time to go to. They eventually settled on a nice Italian by the river. Kurt thought it was perfect. Blaine thought it even more so.
The view from their table was so romantic, the lights reflecting against the sheen of the water, bouncing and rippling with the passage of boats. It was so beautiful, serene. Even the noise of the outside life didn't affect the acoustics inside the room. And Blaine couldn't've wished for the evening to have been off to a better start.
There he was, in a beautiful restaurant with his beautiful boyfriend on a beautiful evening. And he couldn't stop constantly gazing across the table. Every so often, Kurt would catch him staring and look up, like a rabbit in the headlights. And Blaine would just smile to put him at ease. At which Kurt would smile back and continue eating.
The conversation was limited. They'd had enough of sound and noise over the course of the weekend, be it from practising at the hotel, to nervous chattering backstage, to watching other groups perform, to watching the Warblers perform, to waiting for the results, to getting the final result, to the bus journey back home. For now, silence was just what they needed. And they weren't wasting a second of it.
They finished eating and now held hands above the table. Columbus had a huge LGBT community, but they were still usually nervous about people judging them. Now, neither could care less. They were together and they were happy. And Blaine knew that it was the night.
"I love you, Kurt."
The glasz eyed man smiled. "I love you too, Blaine." His eyes watered as he tried to cover up a yawn, failing. He looked back at Blaine, embarrassed, to find him grinning manically. "What?"
"That was adorable."
Kurt blushed. "Shut up," he mumbled, trying to draw his hands away from his boyfriend's.
Blaine held on to them tightly. "No, I mean it. Everything you do just... it takes my breath away. I'm so happy, Kurt. I mean, look at us. Here we are, five years on and still going strong. I'm never happier than in moments like this. With you. Just being together." Except for maybe when I'm asking you to marry me, he added silently, but trying to convey the message with his eyes. "I love you so much."
Kurt nodded, still smiling. He squeezed his boyfriend's hands. "I know." He felt another yawn coming and this time let it. "But can we go home now?"
Blaine grinned and squeezed back, before dropping the hands and standing to go to the bar to pay for their meal. Kurt watched him go. Okay, watched his backside. Could anyone blame him?
When Blaine returned he took his boyfriend's hand in his and pulled him up. They walked to the cloakroom where Blaine took Kurt's jacket first and helped him into it before taking his own. Then they reconnected their hands; palm to palm, heart to heart, love to love.
They walked outside and the warm evening air hit them, still cold enough for Kurt to curl into Blaine's side, under his arm. They walked along with Kurt's head resting on Blaine's shoulder, the younger man's arm around the taller's shoulders, Kurt's right hand going up to meet Blaine's right. It may have looked uncomfortable, but it was darn comfy!
When they reached the park, Blaine walked into it.
"Mm, wanna go home..."
"And we will," Blaine kissed his boyfriend's cheek. "But can we just sit here for a little while? Please?"
Kurt would do anything for his boyfriend. "Of course."
Blaine found a tree near the middle of the park and sat down under it. He patted his lap and Kurt wasted no time in crawling onto it, arms around his boyfriend's neck, face buried in it. He was tired, and he just wanted to feel some love and body warmth. Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist, pulling him closer.
They sat there for about ten minutes, life not really continuing as they enjoyed being with the other in the dark of the park.
"What is all this for, Bl-"
"Shhhh..." Blaine held a finger to Kurt's lips as he strained his ears. And there it was again. The sweet sound of a strumming guitar, with vocals floating above it. Someone was busking.
And suddenly an idea fell into place.
Blaine kissed Kurt softly. "Wait here," he whispered against his lips.
Kurt mumbled in protest as his seat disappeared from beneath him, curling instead into the tree, which didn't have quite the same feeling as his boyfriend. He felt his eyes fall shut as his boyfriend walked away from him. Where was he going? What was he doing? He forced his eyes open and saw Blaine walk up to the busking girl as she finished her song. He clapped and dug into his pocket for a note. Then he started a conversation with her. What was he doing? The girl smiled warmly, and glanced to where Blaine was now looking. At Kurt. She smiled more brightly and nodded to Kurt's boyfriend. Blaine hugged her quickly and made his way back over to Kurt.
"Sorry about that." He knelt on the ground in front of Kurt, taking both his hands. Kurt moved into a cross legged position, confusion written on his face.
Then the soft notes of guitar playing carried on the breeze. A voice followed.
"Heart beats fast
Colours and promises
How to be brave
How can I love when I'm afraid to fall
But watching you stand alone
All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow."
Blaine took a breath before he began, giving Kurt's hand a soft squeeze, more to give himself confidence than anything else.
"Remember when you walked down that staircase all those years ago, confused as to what was going on? You stopped someone in front of you. You weren't aware that he was the lead singer of the group you had come to spy on. You weren't aware that he knew you weren't a new student, that he knew you were spying. You weren't aware that, in that first glance, he could see his whole future with you laid out in front of him."
Kurt gasped. Blaine had told him before that he'd liked him for a long time before Blackbird, but this long? He wanted to ask him about this, to learn more, but sensed that Blaine just wanted to continue, with no interruptions. He kept quiet and decided to let it pass.
"It has to be said, however, that after getting to know you, he convinced himself to stop thinking about you romantically in the fear of harming the friendship which he knew was far more important, and it took him until you opened your delicious mouth for him let himself have those thoughts again. And when you did, it hit hard. You gave him a new lease of life, Kurt. You gave me life."
Slow tears began to fall down both of their faces. Kurt's fatigue evaporated quickly as he began to realise what was happening, eyes wide with shock. A moment passed while they simply gazed at each other, watching the shadows of the fading light pass over their faces. Then Blaine continued.
"I love you Kurt. I have ever since I turned around on that staircase before Teenage Dream. I know it is clichéd to talk about love at first sight, and how you can't love someone without knowing them, but I think it was the same for you. As always, my darling, you are the exception that proves the rule. You're my only exception." He swallowed. "We've been together for five years now, but it feels like a lifetime. A long lifetime. A good lifetime. One that I wouldn't spend any other way; wouldn't want to. And I want that to continue, for as long as I live. Kurt, I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I've known that since we sang Candles. This will never be a solo. Wewill never be a solo. I want you to be mine forever. I want to show you off to everyone. I want to make love to you on our wedding night. Kurt..."
Kurt choked, his face even more ghostly pale than usual. His eyes were settled, gaze unwavering as they looked into the cookie coloured eyes opposite. But he remained silent. Blaine paused, collecting his thoughts.
"I have died everyday
Waiting for you
Darlin' don't be afraid
I have loved you for a
Thousand years
I'll love you for a
Thousand more."
"We have shared so much together, and I want to continue sharing new things with you. I was the first person you said 'I love you' to. I want to be the last. You were the first person I ever loved. I know you'll be the last. We were the first openly gay couple at McKinley. We are certainly not the last."
Kurt giggled, thinking of Santana and Brittany, and the Perfect duet that they'd sung to the Latina, tears dripping down his face.
"I want the rest of my firsts with you, Kurt. I want you to be my last. I want to be the man standing, watching you enter the room, waiting to make you my husband. Kurt, I want to marry you."
The older man stayed silent. So many emotions were flying around his head and he didn't know which ones to grab onto and concentrate on. He just sat, speechless, watching as the man opposite him let go of his hands to reach into his pocket and pull out a small, black box. He brought it between them, ready to open it. Kurt's gaze flicked down to it, and then back up into Blaine's eyes.
"Will you marry me?"
Time slowed down. Kurt saw his boyfriend's hands moving to open the box. The box which contained the engagement ring. Hisengagement ring. This was real. This was actually happening. Someone wanted to marry him. Blaine was asking him to marry him.
Suddenly, Kurt shot his hand out, forcing the box to remain closed. He didn't want to see it. He didn't need to. He already knew his answer, and seeing the ring wouldn't make any difference.
"I have loved you for a
Thousand years
I'll love you for a
Thousand more."
The song came to its peaceful end and the park was left in silence. All Kurt could hear was the beating of his own heart. He looked at Blaine's face and eyes. And he replied. He replied with the one thing that made any sense.
"No."
Please review? I'll talk to you in T&C in a month's time...
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! - last chapter that I'll be doing this for (you can still go back and review past chapters)
I never feel like I do enough for charities. Sure, all my old stuff goes to Cancer Research and I am always in the charity shops in my town. But I want to just go up to collection pots and put money in. So, for every signed review I get for this story, I will donate 10p to a charity. If you have a favourite, please let me know in your review and I'll see what I can do. Let's see how much we can donate, eh?
Everything has a fandom name now. Be creative and think of one for me, both for RainySunnyEnding and Tears & Cookies...