16 years later
"Kurt!"
Kurt closed his eyes tightly and groaned, not wanting to wake up quite just yet. He had been sleeping peacefully and was just in the middle of one of the best dreams he had ever had (he was performing 'Something's Coming' on opening night of 'West Wide Story'), and it was just a little too early for the beckoning voice of Rachel Berry calling to him from the kitchen in the apartment they shared in New York. They had been living together for nearly four years now, since they had graduated high school and gone through NYADA together. They lived in a moderately sized, three-bedroomed apartment in a block of flats that bordered a small green, which Kurt would often go down to and relax whenever Rachel was starting to push her luck.
"Kurt! Kurt, open this door, right now! I have something important to tell you."
Kurt groaned again. Rachel was now banging against his door and rattling the door handle in aggravation. Kurt smiled to himself, relieved that he'd remembered to get Finn to mount a lock on his door for him. The first month of moving in with Rachel had been full of late-night-idea talks and early-morning singing practices, and she hadn't been bothered about just walking into his room without his permission. Just because they had been best friends all through high school, it didn't mean that Kurt wasn't grateful to have his own private space from her every now and again.
"KURT!" Rachel's harsh tone was something to fear, even on the other side of the wood.
Kurt's eyes snapped open and he practically jumped out of bed, suddenly wide awake. He didn't know what could be so important that it meant having to wake Kurt on a Sunday morning – the one day Rachel had been given strict instructions to leave him alone on.
'Sunday's are rest days,' he had told her on numerous occasions, 'and they are not to be awoken early on.'
"What do you want, Rachel?" Kurt grumbled moodily as he slowly unlocked the door. He glanced over at his alarm clock on his bedside table, and saw that it was 11:27am. Rachel had probably been up for around five and a half hours already, and Kurt was surprised that he hadn't been woken up sooner. He opened the door a crack and looked through it to see Rachel's face right in front of him, making him jump back slightly.
"What do you want, Rachel?" Kurt repeated, this time through gritted teeth. But instead of replying, she burst into his room, pushing him back onto his bed and letting his door fly wide open, knocking against his wardrobe and leaving the tiniest of dents. But still, Kurt noticed it, and it got on his last, short nerve.
"RACHEL!" Kurt stood and stamped his foot on the floor, making Rachel stop short of whatever she was saying. Kurt hadn't even noticed her high-pitched gibbering before, but now that he'd realised that she was obviously happy about something, and wanted to tell him about it, he felt a deep sense of regret.
"I'm sorry, Rachel." He sighed, rubbing his temples in circular motions and slowly sitting down on his bed again. Rachel was stood by his window with an expression of shock on her face, the morning light shining on her features and making her hair shimmer golden brown when she slowly sat down on Kurt's bed.
It was only now, when he was watching her in the sunlight in his room, that Kurt realised that Rachel was wearing her red coat, black beret and black boots. She must have gone out while I was asleep, thought Kurt, probably to get the groceries or something. But… why is she still wearing her coat? And what could have happened at the supermarket that is so goddamn interesting?
Kurt regained his composure, and looked over to his best friend. He smiled at her, and she smiled, a little uneasily, back at him.
"So, what did you want to tell me?" Kurt patted the bed beside him, inviting her to come and sit next to him. Rachel jumped up and bounced down next to him, making them both laugh slightly as the mattress springs made them both bounce.
"Okay, so, don't freak out, okay?" Rachel turned to him, her grin returning and her eyes lighting up once more. Kurt watched her closely, raised his eyebrow and smiled in a way that said, 'Go on…'
Rachel let out a small squeak of excitement, and flashed her hand in front of Kurt's face. Kurt jumped back to avoid getting slapped, and tried to focus on the glinting that appeared to be emanating from somewhere within the blur that was Rachel Berry's left hand. In frustration, Kurt grasped Rachel's wrist and inspected her hand more closely.
As Kurt took in all 1.25 carats of diamond that was sat on Rachel's ring finger, he started to put the pieces of that morning together…
Rachel had been out with Finn, her long-term boyfriend, last night, and Kurt remembered that she hadn't come home, either. And then, this morning, still in her coat and boots, she had pounded on his door so hard that Kurt was sure there was an imprint of her fist in it, until he had let her in. She had then proceeded to twitter along happily around his room, most likely giving him all the details of the night before, and now she was presenting him with a diamond engagement ring smacked on her finger.
Rachel Berry was going to marry Finn Hudson.
In the space of exactly six seconds, Kurt went through shock, amazement, delight, confusion, anger and dread. His shock, amazement and delight were all positive reactions to the news, and he enveloped Rachel in a tight hug. He was confused, and angry, as to why Finn hadn't confided in him that he was planning on proposing to his best friend and roommate. And the dread, well, he was going to have to deal with Rachel Berry on wedding-planner mode, and he was not looking forward to it.
"Wine!" Kurt exclaimed as he ran from his bedroom to the kitchen, pulling Rachel along by the hand. "We need wine! We have to celebrate this!" Rachel was laughing as he twirled her around in the kitchen, and when she opened the cupboard to get two glasses out, Kurt pulled her away and sat her down at the table. "No, Miss Berry. We are celebrating you! So, you just sit there and look beautiful like you always do and let me get the wine – Ooh, champagne!" Kurt exclaimed as he found a bottle of champagne left over from Christmas hidden at the back of the cupboard where the alcohol was kept.
He brought the champagne, and two glasses, over to the table, handed a glass to Rachel and set his own down in front of him. He popped the cork on the champagne bottle, relishing the loud 'pop' it made, and made sure he didn't aim for the lights above the table. The champagne bubbled out of the neck of the bottle and overflowed onto Kurt's hand, down the bottle and onto the floor. Luckily, the kitchen floor was tiled and so any spilt champagne could easily be cleaned up later. Kurt poured champagne into both glasses and placed the bottle down.
"To Rachel and Finn, even though he's not here." Kurt raised his glass as he made his toast, and Rachel laughed as they clinked their glasses together. "So," Kurt began as he sat down at the table next to Rachel. "How did he do it?"
"Oh, Kurt! It was so romantic!" Rachel began. "He took me out to Breadstix, which I know doesn't sound romantic but it totally was, and we had a really amazing dinner, and then Finn took me to see Wicked, and he even learnt some of the songs so that he could sing along with me!" Kurt raised his eyebrows at Finn's dedication. He really must love Rachel, as he had often expressed his distaste of musicals whenever Kurt had been talking about going to see one. "And then," Rachel continued. "We went back to his as he said he had bought me a gift and he wanted to give it to me in private, and then he proposed!" Rachel squeaked in excitement again and gazed at her ring lovingly. "I didn't want to leave this morning, but Finn insisted I came home and told you." She said, still staring at her ring. She then looked up at Kurt, then at the clock, and then back to Kurt.
"What's wrong?" Kurt asked, turning to look at the clock on the wall. "Has the clock stopped again?"
No." Rachel replied. "Finn's coming round at half twelve, I forgot to tell you."
"Oh, thank God! I thought something dreadful was happening!" Kurt laughed, topping up his glass with champagne and sitting back in his chair. If Finn wasn't coming until twelve thirty, that left him and Rachel 40 minutes to discuss wedding details. But Rachel wasn't smiling; she was looking at Kurt uneasily and biting her lip. Kurt stared back at her, suddenly terrified. "What's wrong?"
"Kurt, you know I love you no matter what and we have lived together for years and so I have seen you plenty of times on a Sunday morning-"
"Rachel…" Kurt's heart was pounding quicker and quicker by the second.
Rachel leant forward, took Kurt's hand in hers and whispered "You look a mess. And you still have bed hair."
As soon as the words were uttered, Kurt ran to his room and his door slammed shut. Rachel smiled to herself and slowly walked over to Kurt's bedroom door. She knocked lightly this time, and found that, in his haste, Kurt had forgotten to lock his door. She walked in slowly to find Kurt sat at his dressing table brushing his hair, his hair wax and beauty products all laid out ready in front of him. She smiled again, and then slowly shut the door behind her, leaving Kurt to his skin regime.
