Kurt has never been a fan of dingy bars frequented by college students, especially ones with pool tables and cheap beer and too many frat boys, but he made an exception for Rigby’s. Brody had taken him and Rachel there one Friday last fall on the promise that they would love it and that it would be fun. As it turned out, they did and it was. Fridays were open-mic/karaoke night and NYADA students liked to dominate the small stage - with the occasional group of tone deaf girls or frat boys. The bar itself was far too dark and the air think and heavy. But the booths were large and comfortable, the drinks were cheap, and they had a decent enough music selection.

At first it was just Kurt, Rachel, and Brody going every couple of weeks. Then that November Santana moved to New York and she started to bring her roommate Claire - another new transplant to New York with mousey brown hair and the softest voice Kurt’s ever heard. The first week into the new year, Brody brought his new girlfriend Penny; Rachel brought her new scene partner Ben; and Kurt brought Allison, another intern at Vogue. That spring Kurt and Rachel run into a significantly less arrogant Jesse St. James at a music store and invite him to come along to the next night out. Sometimes people don’t come and sometimes they bring others along with them. Kurt finds he gets a great amount of joy from the ever evolving group that commandeers a large corner of the bar, laughing too loud and sometimes drinking too much. That summer Blaine finally moves to New York and Kurt feels like the best piece of his life is sliding into place.

Some are definitely better than others, and Rachel is always quick to say that she is the most talented of them all, but everyone in the group is willing to sing. The first time Claire sings she gets herself a little drunk before working her way through an old Christina Aguilera song. Penny is gone for a while after she and Brody break up, but makes a smashing return by performing a Motown duet with Jesse that knocks them all off their feet. Kurt would never turn down a chance to solo, but he soon realizes he has more fun when he sigs with Blaine or Rachel, and he’s surprised by how much he enjoys singing with Santana. And sometimes, Kurt and Blaine decide to pass on the noise of the bar - much to the chagrin of their friends - and instead take full advantage of Rachel being out of the apartment for a night.

***

Come fall their group has dwindled. Claire, not being able to handle the city as well as she thought, moves back to Delaware, Penny gets a touring gig and hightails it out of time without a second thought or a look back, and Ben stops coming because Santana insulted his boyfriend in a particularly creative fashion and he didn’t think her apology was sincere enough. As September moves into October, Blaine starts bringing a couple of his friends from Columbia; a petite redhead named Maggie and a genuinely sweet cellist with the unfortunate coincidence of being named Sebastien (with an ‘e’ and not an ‘a’; “My mother is French.” and Kurt tries to pretend he doesn’t wince every time he hears the name.)

*

Columbus Day weekend brings dual joy when Quinn makes a surprise visit to the city and Mike gets a well-earned part dancing Off-Broadway. The mood that Friday night is entirely celebratory. New friends are there but it feels very much like a New Directions reunion. Taking a moment to watch the group, Kurt notes that karaoke at Rigby’s is definitely a step up from the drinking adventures of their high school days - like a certain game of spin the bottle in the Berrys’ basement. It’s still early and the bar is still relatively quiet, so their group mostly dominates the small stage. The more they all drink, the more reminiscent their song selections get. Kurt, floating on nostalgia and a shot glass full of something alarmingly blue on Santana’s insistence, is content just cheering for his friends, giggling and catcalling at the stage when Rachel pulls Santana up to sing their old Whitney Houston duet. The whole table erupts into laughter when Santana playfully smacks Rachel’s butt, causing Rachel to squeak in the middle of a line.

Blaine spends a lot of time singing that night; taking advantage of both the piano and Mike’s presence. Blaine and Mike had become fast and close friends after Blaine transferred to McKinley, and they hadn’t spent this much time together in far too long. Blaine sings backup alongside Rachel and Quinn during Santana’s flawless rendition of “Valerie”, a song Blaine hasn’t heard her sing since they were in competing high school show choirs. It takes very little work on Rachel’s part to coerce Blaine into singing a handful of terrible pop songs - some that Kurt desperately wished Blaine would forget existed. At one point, Blaine and Mike monopolize the stage for a good twenty minutes, seamlessly transitioning from Hall & Oates to RENT to The Beatles to Michael Jackson. Kurt should have been surprised by it (and honestly, he suspects someone kept Rachel in enough alcohol to not realize she hadn’t sang anything in a while) but there was a reason his boyfriend was studying music at one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the country. Kurt is glad he’s lucky enough to be watching it in action.

When the bar starts to fill up, their very drunk and wonderful little group retreats to their booths, orders more pitchers of beer than they need, and somehow ends up in the past. When Sebastien (“With an ‘e’ and not with an ‘a’,” Kurt reminds himself) asks how they met, all hell breaks loose. Rachel launches into the most dramatic telling of how in freshman year she had recognized Kurt’s name from the glee club signup sheet during their Geography class attendance call, then after class she approached his locker and suggested they become friends and that hopefully their voices would be compatible.

“Actually,” Kurt interrupts, “She accosted me in the hallway and told me that if we were going to be friends, our voices had better be compatible and I had better not compete with her for solos.”

Rachel rolls her eyes and pushes at Kurt’s shoulder but joins in on the playful laughter of their table.

Kurt, whose arm is draped over Blaine’s shoulder as he plays with the loose curls at the back of his boyfriend’s head, tells Blaine’s new friends all about a dapper boy with a pocket watch, a terrible spy, and a spiral staircase. Sure enough, they lovingly poked fun at Blaine when Kurt recounts how self-assured sixteen year old Blaine Anderson had been.

“He stated, ‘The Warblers are like rockstars!’ and then promptly grabbed my hand and pulled me through a ‘short-cut’ to the senior commons. Which, might I add, was not even close to a short-cut,” Kurt laughs fondly before placing a kiss to Blaine’s temple.

“In my defense, there was this tall guy with the bluest eyes I’d ever seen, and even back then he had creamy skin and perfect hair, so I wanted to prolong my exposure to him. He was the most beautiful boy I’d ever seen.” Blaine looks a Kurt, his eyes shining, “He’s still the most beautiful boy I’ve ever seen.”

“God, Kurt was so smitten!” Rachel says. “He spent weeks with his face buried in his cell phone!”

“So you two got together right away then?” Maggie asks.

“God no! I had a disastrous crush on another guy. Then even after Kurt told me he had feelings for me it took weeks before I got my act together and kissed him.”

“You guys are going to make me sick,” Santana says, rolling her eyes. Which Blaine responds to by throwing a balled-up bar napkin at her across the table as Kurt - and everyone else - watches on amused.

It had taken some time for Kurt and Santana to really become friends, even after Santana had finally made it to New York, but they were getting there. Kurt had eventually come to appreciate her often brash behaviour. She wasn’t without her faults, but Kurt was starting to realize that they were a lot more alike than he would have thought in high school. She’d come a long way from dating football players and pretending she and Brittany were just friends. He was glad they were friends now and it made him happy to see how good New York was for her.

After that, the conversations break up. Blaine moves to the other side of the tables where Mike is so that they can more properly catch up. Rachel and Brody begin telling Quinn all about NYADA’s winter showcase. Sebastien leaves on account of having to work the next morning. Allison, Maggie, and Jesse talking are about something in the far corner and Kurt knows there is nothing Jesse could have said to merit Allison laughing that hard. Kurt recognizes the look on her face and makes a mental note to talk to her about her doomed crush - and he thinks that maybe he should leave out the part about Jesse and Rachel being and inevitability. When Santana returns from the ladies’ room, she and Kurt fall into easy conversation about her new job at a record store (“It’s okay I guess. The nerd who works in the stock room is really terrible at pretending he’s not staring at my chest.”) and her new roommate.

“Has she moved in yet?”

“Yes,” Santana hisses. “On Tuesday. She tried to set up her ferret habitat in the living room. A habitat for the three ferrets she just conveniently forgot to mention when I interviewed her.”

“What are you going to do?” Kurt asks, taking a sip of his coconut rum and pineapple juice.

“Nothing. The building doesn’t have any rules against pets and J.J. and I need someone to pay that part of the rent. We told her she needed to keep them in her bedroom and if the apartment ever started to smell more like those dirty rodents than people that she’d be finding a new place to live.”

Kurt looks up in time to catch Blaine and smile before Blaine turns back to his conversation with Mike.. Kurt becomes only vaguely aware that Santana is saying something about J.J and burnt eggplant because when he’s watching Blaine everything else always seems to just falls away. The air in the bar is thick, heavy, and the curls on Blaine’s head are almost as loose as they were at Prom and only become more so when Blaine moves his hand through them before scratching the back of his head. Blaine’s whole body is loose and relaxed, his cardigan thrown over the back of his chair and the sleeves of his shirt rolled to his elbows, and Kurt knows his boyfriend is drunk.

Blaine is talking animatedly with his hands, his face open and his eyes a little glossy. Kurt is helpless to do anything but watch. Mike says something Kurt can’t hear and suddenly Blaine is throwing his head back and laughing, big and loud andthat Kurt can hear. It’s Kurt’s favourite of all of Blaine’s laughs. It comes from his gut, a little hysterical and scrunching up his whole face; it’s honest. In that moment it hits Kurt just how happy and gloriously in love he is with the boy from the staircase. The boy with a voice like a dream and impossibly earnest eyes who still knocks the wind right out of him.

“That’s nice Santana, really great,” Kurt says absentmindedly as he gets up and moves away from the table; Santana eyeing him questioningly.

Kurt makes his way over to the small stage where a few frat boys are currently loudly working their way through a Matchbox 20 song. Really, they’re just shouting, but the bar is loud with chatter and no one really notices. Kurt spends the remainder of the song making sure they have the right track for the song he wants to sing and then arranges it with the bored looking guy with a soundboard and a makeshift DJ station.

After having abandoned the stage to drink and reminisce, no one had really been paying all that much attention to the music. Aside from Santana, none of them even notice Kurt leave the table for the stage. When the song starts, it’s jazzy and noticeably different from most of the night’s “entertainment”. Quinn is the first to look, but when Kurt opens his mouth and begins to sing, Blaine’s head snaps toward the stage, a smile of recognition for the song spread across his face. Kurt’s voice is smooth and clear and his eyes never leave Blaine’s. Kurt’s a little drunk and his body and mind are loose, making the performance a little silly, a lot flirty, and entirely sincere. His friends are cheering and Blaine is laughing and looking a little bashful.

”Lover, never never change. Keep that breathless charm, wont you please arrange it ‘cause I love you, just the way you look tonight.”

As the instrumental break hits, Blaine quickly weaves is way through a few tables and Kurt takes his hand as he jumps onto the small stage. In one swift movement, Blaine rights himself and pulls Kurt hard into his body, eliciting a squeak from Kurt as Blaine dips him. When he pulls Kurt up, Blaine hugs him close to his chest as they dance and giggle - honest to goodness giggling! - and Kurt nearly misses his cue back into the song. ”And that laugh,” he sings before Blaine joins him,”that wrinkles your nose, it touches my foolish heart.”

When the song finishes, Kurt kisses Blaine’s nose (if he kisses him on the mouth he knows he might not be able to stop - they are standing on a stage in a room full of strangers and Kurt is not that drunk) before they both take a little bow and head back to their table. When they get back to their friends, everyone is cheering and Blaine kisses Kurt for real, which makes Mike whistle and Kurt smiles into the kiss. When the table settles down, Kurt and Blaine break apart and Kurt rests his head on Blaine’s shoulder while his fingers rub small circles on Blaine’s thigh. They sit quietly, content to just observe the conversations their friends are having, until Blaine stills Kurt’s hand with his own. When Kurt lifts his head, Blaine whispers in his ear, ”Let’s go home.” All Kurt can do to answer is nod.

Kurt sends a quick text to Santana asking her to take Rachel back to her place for the night and as he’s pulling on his coat, his phone buzzes in his pocket. Wanky. Before he has time to respond, it buzzes again, You owe me. They say a quick goodbye to their friends, with a promise to see Quinn again before she goes back to Connecticut, before leaving the bar and heading for the subway. They spend the next forty-five minutes in comfortable silence, holding hands on the subway and occasionally bumping shoulders as they walk the rest of the way to their apartment.

Kurt just barely gets the door closed and locked before Blaine is pushing him up against it and sealing their mouths together. Kurt lets out a surprised gasp before setting into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Blaine’s neck and running his tongue along Blaine’s bottom lip before Blaine opens his mouth to him. They stumble over to their bed all the while trying to remove as many pieces of clothing as possible without breaking their lips apart. They manage to get down to undershirts and unbuttoned jeans before they separate. Blaine quickly pulls off his undershirt and kicks off his loafers and jeans while Kurt unzips his boots and peels the skin tight denim from his legs.

It never fails to make Blaine lose his breath a little when he seems Kurt like this; mostly naked and still a little bashful after almost three years together. Kurt rests his hands on Blaine’s shoulders first, kissing him softly before sliding his hands down Blaine’s chest and lightly pushing him onto the bed. Blaine laughs a little, soft and low, as he moves up the bed and Kurt crawls over him, but his eyes are blown wide. Blaine secretly loves when Kurt gets a little bit dominating. Kurt stops with his hands resting on the bed on either side of Blaine’s head and stretching his legs out between Blaine’s. Kurt kisses him softly as preamble before grinding his hips down, making Blaine arch underneath him, cocks slotting together through the fabric of their underwear.

When Kurt responds in kind, Blaine wraps his legs around Kurt’s waist, keeping their cocks together as Blaine moves his hips up to meet Kurt’s. Blaine’s eyes roll back in his head a little before he allows his hips to move again, his hands resting at the base of Kurt’s spine. Kurt moans as their hips moved together, unmatched and awkward at first until they settle into a rhythm. When Kurt kisses down Blaine’s neck, all teeth and tongue, Blaine answers by grinding his hips up harder. Blaine whines when Kurt sucks at his pulse point and then pulls Kurt’s mouth back up to his, nipping at Kurt’s bottom lip before soothing it over with his tongue and kissing him again.

Kurt moans and bucks his hips, burying his head in Blaine’s neck; ghosting kisses along Blaine’s shoulder and whispering “I love you” into his skin so softly Blaine almost doesn’t hear him. Blaine’s breathing is ragged and after that it doesn’t take more than a few rolls of his hips before he’s coming in his boxer-briefs, squeezing his legs tighter around Kurt’s waist and holding him in place. Blaine let’s out a sputtering half moan-half sigh and that’s what does Kurt in. He pushes his hips down onto Blaine’s one last time, kissing him deeply as he rocks through his orgasm and rolls onto the bed on his back. They both shed their underwear, Kurt getting up momentarily to get a damp cloth to clean them up with, before cuddling together under the covers, their faces inches apart and legs tangled together.

“I love you so much,”Blaine whispers, placing a light kiss on Kurt’s forehead.

“I want to marry you.”

“God, me too Kurt. I want everything with you.”

“No I mean, now. Let’s just do it,” Kurt says, eyes searching and never leaving Blaine’s. “After Christmas or ...or in the spring! Soon.”

Kurt’s whole body is buzzing from the sex and partly, he suspects, from the alcohol. He watches Blaine’s face as he processes what Kurt just said before he smiles and says, “Okay.”

“So ...I’ll take that as a yes?”

“Yes!”

Kurt surges forward and kisses Blaine until he can’t breathe. Pulling back, he places his forehead against Blaine’s and just breathes him in. Closing their eyes, they stay like that, silent and sated, until they fall asleep.

---

Kurt wakes up a few hours later, his mouth dry and his head pounding. But his body is warm, Blaine curled into his side, head resting over Kurt’s heart and his arm draped over his abdomen. Kurt watches the rise and fall of Blaine’s chest and how his eye lashes fan over his cheeks for a moment before kissing the top of Blaine’s head and willing his body back into sleep. The last thought he has before drifting off to dream land is that he hopes he isn’t too hungover in the morning.

***

Late the next morning Blaine wakes up to the sound and smell of bacon, a clear sign that Kurt is hungover - Kurt only ever made bacon when he already felt disgusting. Rolling out of bed, Blaine pulls on a pair of pajama pants and a worn out henley. When he wanders over to the kitchen area, he finds Kurt standing at the stove in plaid pajama pants and Blaine’s old Dalton Academy Fencing Club t-shirt. Loving seeing his boyfriend in his clothing, Blaine smiles as he walks over and wraps his arms around Kurt from behind and hooking his chin over Kurt’s shoulder.

“‘Morning,” his voice rough from a dry throat. Kurt turns in Blaine’s arms, careful not to hit him with the greasy tongs in his hand, and places a kiss to his sleep rumpled head.

“Good morning sleepy head. Hungry?” Blaine’s stomach grumbles, making Kurt laugh. “Guess so. I made coffee already. You want to get the plates?”

The next moments pass in silence as Blaine goes about setting the small table and pouring two mugs of coffee as Kurt unloads bacon, eggs, and toast onto their plates. Sitting down to eat, Kurt smiles into his bite of bacon as he watches Blaine drink down half a mug of coffee and rub the sleep from his eyes. They eat in silence, watching the other and looking away sheepishly when their gazes met.

“So,” Blaine starts after swallowing a mouthful of egg. “You were a little drunk last night.”

“Hmm, yes. Santana kept me in shots. So were you,” Kurt notes.

“Very much so, yes. You sang me a very flirty song.”

“I did.”

“And you proposed,” Blaine says in nearly a mumble before quickly looking down at his eggs instead of looking at Kurt.

“Yes.”

After what feels like a few moments but is really barely fifteen seconds, Blaine finally looks back and Kurt and speaks. “Look Kurt, it’s okay if you didn’t mean it. I mean, if it was just a heat of the moment thing or if ...we’re young you know and if ...wait, why are you laughing?”

Kurt’s face is still flush and he looks a little nervous, but there is a soft smile on his face and his shoulders are shaking a little as he tries to hold back the laughter.

“I mean it, Blaine. Fuck, I meant it so bad ...still mean it. I mean it.”

“Really?” This time it was Blaine’s turn to sound nervous, his voice shaking a little.

“Yes. I want to marry you! Now! Next week ...or well, not next week because that’s really soon and I’ll never be able to find something perfect to wear in a week, but after Christmas maybe? Or this spring. March is our month after all. Or we could wait until the summer if you want. Or longer. Or unless you don’t want to ...” Kurt is babbling now and it’s Blaine’s turn to let out a soft chuckle.

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“Yes, I want to marry you. Today; next week; March; every summer for the rest of our lives. Any day of forever, I will be there.”

Kurt simply says “Okay” and Blaine echoes with his own “Okay” and they go back to eating breakfast in silence, the last ten minutes not hitting either of them until Kurt drops his fork into his plate with a clink.

“Did we just get engaged?!”

“I think we did!”

Kurt nearly knocks over the small table jumping up to wrap his arms around Blaine and kiss him hard. They each take turns whispering ‘I love you’ to the other between kisses before Kurt finally buries his head in Blaine’s neck and holds him as tight as he can.

“We’re engaged!” Blaine whispers before pulling back and looking at Kurt with the biggest smile on his face. “We should call your parents. And my parents. What are our friends going to say?! Oh god ...your dad is going to kill me ...”

Blaine’s face falls and blanches as he tries to wiggle free from Kurt, who is now holding him tighter with a big mischievous smile on his face.

“Don’t you even think of touching the phone, mister! We have plans right now.”

“Oh really?”

“Oh yes,” Kurt laughs. “I think you’re wearing far too many clothes Mister Hummel-Anderson.”

“That’s Mister Anderson-Hummel.”

“We’ll see.”