As it happened, Blaine was sitting in the yard when August showed up with two mules alongside his own. They were the same mules that had come to Kurt's rescue so many months ago, and Blaine smiled. He loved any kind of animal, but he was very fond of these particular mules.

"Maximus, Caesar, Claudius!" Blaine shouted and all the mules put their ears up. Blaine grinned and turned to Kurt to see if he was happy to see them.

"Ah...Blaine? Are you sure I can ride one of those? I mean last time I was on with you," he said, looking rather apprehensive. "And to tell you the truth? I don't remember much of it."

"You'll be fine. They are all gentle as kittens," Blaine assured him.

"Hello, August!" Kurt greeted the man, smiling at him when he was closer.

"Good morning, Kurt...Blaine. I trust you two are back on the same page now?" he assessed from Blaine's arm around Kurt's waist and Kurt's around Blaine's shoulders.

"Yes, thank you. Everything is always clearer in the light of day. I hope we didn't intrude too much last night," Blaine said, looking contrite.

"Not at all. I went to your cabin, had a great night's sleep and caught the mules from the corral this morning. They didn't have any work, so it was a good day to come joyriding with you," he laughed. "They get too fat just moseying around the corral with Shannon feeding them apples and such. She spoils these guys."

The three mules were kept at the base camp for times when a piece of equipment wasn't able to get a job done, the mules were all broken to harness and had dragged their fair share of logs from difficult places or expensive vehicles out of the mud. It was good to have someone ride them once in a while because they could get lazy if left idle for too long.

"Well, I'm going to put Maximus in the shed and rub him down, then I have to go have a look at a small project north of here. Are you two okay to ride Caesar and Claudius back to the camp?" August asked.

"Sure, and thank you again, August. You're a good friend. I don't have to ask you not to mention this to Cooper, he is a great brother, but he doesn't need any more reasons to kid me, you know?" Blaine asked.

"No problem, kid, it's just between us. Are you doing okay this morning, Kurt?" August asked.

"Yeah, tired and my leg is achy, but on the whole I'm feeling pretty good. Thanks," Kurt said and went to hug August. Auggie was a bit surprised, he didn't often get hugs from men, but he hugged Kurt back with equal fervor. He really did like the kid.

The mules were already saddled, so August helped Kurt climb up on Claudius and Blaine hopped on Caesar and off they went, waving goodbye to August.

"Blaine?" Kurt asked after maybe half a mile.

"Yes?" Blaine stopped daydreaming and pulled his mule up close to Kurt's.

"Ah...which mule did you have when you brought me back last time?" Kurt asked.

"Ummm....oh, it was Caesar. He had the steadiest gait and calmest temper. Why?"

"Well, I don't want to complain, but...my butt hurts. It was sore yesterday and I'm not used to riding...with my legs all spread wide like this," Kurt looked down. "I don't want to seem ungrateful or cause you any more trouble, but I don't think I'll make it back to the cabin."

"Oh, Kurt, you should have said something sooner! Let me think. We could walk and lead the mules, but with your leg so sore we don't want to damage it....." Blaine said, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he thought.

"I was thinking, maybe I could ride with you? Caesar didn't mind last time and if I was across your lap like I was then - -maybe it wouldn't hurt so much?" Kurt asked in a small voice. He was embarrassed to cause any more problems, but the pain was getting bad.

"Oh, that should work. Okay, let's try it," Blaine smiled.

With a bit of adjusting and the help of Caesar, Blaine hefted Kurt into the saddle, then climbed up behind him. There was no saddle horn, these were not Western saddles, so Kurt fit in front. Kurt was able to sit between Blaine's legs where they had folded a jacket to act as a pad, his legs dangling down on the left side and Blaine's arms supporting him.

"How's that?" Blaine asked, making sure Claudius' reins were tied securely to Caesar's saddle.

"Oh, that works perfectly. I feel better already, Blaine. Thank you," Kurt said, giving his fiancé a kiss.

The rest of the ride home was like a page from a book. The rain made everything smell so fresh and there were so many flowers to smell, little animals to see. Kurt pointed out a flying squirrel in a tree they passed by and Blaine reined the mule in so they could stop and watch the little guy gliding from branch to branch. Kurt had never really seen a flying squirrel before, other than JayJay, so he was enchanted. Blaine watched as Kurt's grin stretched across his face and lit up his eyes. All he could think was how lucky he was to have Kurt.

They moved on, still watching the trees as different species of birds flew and perched on the branches of the trees. Some were feeding their babies or catching some dinner, some just singing their hearts out.

"I can see a black-capped chickadee! Oh, they have those in Ohio. I always think they're so cute," Kurt said, pointing out the fat little bird as it tried to pick a bug from under the bark of a tree.

"I know the names of some, but there must be hundreds of species here. There, look over there...see the yellow bird? It's a magnolia warbler. Can you hear it singing?"

"Oh! I knew a warbler was a songbird – remember the show choir from Dalton was named The Warblers? I always wondered what they really sounded like," Kurt said, enchanted by its lovely song.

"Oh! Look at that one!" Kurt pointed to a dusky pink bird trying to get a seed out of a pine cone. The bird pulled back it's head and Kurt gasped. "Aww. Something is wrong with it's beak. Poor thing," He looked so sad.

Blaine chuckled. "No, it's fine, baby, That is a crossbill. It's beak was made to cross at the end like that, it's perfectly natural." Kurt looked at the unusual bird for a while, then leaned over to kiss Blaine.

"I love that you know so much about wild things, Blaine. I feel like I see something new every day here. This truly is Eden, isn't it?"

"As long as I have you, it's heaven to me," Blaine said.

They rode along for a while, seeing birds and animals, some otters by the stream, a porcupine in a lodgepole pine, more small mice like creatures and a fox chasing them.

"What kinds of animals have you seen in your lifetime here?" Kurt asked, wondering.

"Oh, I can't remember them all, this is a pretty wild area. Let's see. I've seen deer and elk, sometimes a black bear, lots of raccoons, possums, skunks. There is a beaver dam down the canyon. Oh, I have seen both a cougar and a bobcat! Neither one near here, though. I was with my dad both times and he was hunting way back in the woods. Farther west closer to the coast there are all kinds of beautiful ducks: redheads, Harlequins, Green-winged Teals, cinnamon teals, tufted ducks, wood ducks...even a whistling duck that makes this great sound like it's whistling. Oh, and a white one with black tips called a Smew." Blaine said.

Kurt grinned. They were talking, just riding slowly when Blaine stopped the mule again.

"You remember on Snow White there is a family of quail with the silly black plume above their heads?" he asked.

"Yeah..."

"Look over there," Blaine said, pointing. There, walking down a path in the grass was a family of quail. Kurt tried hard to keep quiet, but his high-pitched giggle finally sounded in the quiet forest and the quail family faded into the brush.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Blaine. But they really looked like a cartoon drawing, didn't they?" he grinned.

"That they did. It's okay. We need to get home, I'm hungry, but we have one more place to stop," Blaine said, turning Caesar's head a bit to the west as he picked his way over the grassy path.

They rode for a ways, Blaine still holding Kurt and Kurt's arms wrapped around Blaine. The mule came around a bend in the trail and there in front of them was a large patch of ripe raspberries.

Kurt's eyes lit up at the sight. With the exception of blackberries, raspberries were his favorite food.

Blaine helped him down and they banged on a tin plate from Blaine's pack for a few minutes to warn any bears before they started into the patch. They picked enough for several meals and some to make jam with, placing them in a bucket attached to Claudius' saddle. When they were done, Kurt gathered Blaine close to himself and began kissing him, licking at his hands and fingers which were covered with berry juice. Blaine kissed Kurt's mouth, licking over his lips and chin where the juice of dozens of raspberries had left tiny droplets as Kurt ate mouthful after mouthful of the sweet treat.

"Blaine, I'm sorry we fought, but this has been one of the best days of my life, and it's because I was in this Eden and because I got to spend it with you," Kurt said so earnestly, Blaine blushed.

"It was for me, too, Kurt. It was wonderful."

They rode the rest of the way to the cook house, singing to each other and smiling, joking and pointing out things they saw along the way. They unsaddled the mules, rubbed them down and Blaine gave them a few forkfuls of hay. Hand in hand, the boys went back to the cabin.

"Blaine, do you mind if I take a short nap? I'm so tired. It was exhausting yesterday and even though I was riding home, it just made me so sleepy," Kurt whined, his swollen knee giving him a lot of pain.

"Okay, baby. Here, let me help you get those clothes off and I'll tuck you in," Blaine said. He got Kurt ready and then went to the outhouse down the path and by the time he got back, Kurt was sound asleep.

Making sure Kurt didn't turn over in his sleep, Blaine went to the cupboard and pulled out his mysterious paper bag and left the cabin, walking a short ways to the top of a hill and stopped. He was in the clearing where they had watched the stars that night so long ago when they kissed for the first time. Well, they kissed lying in the muck of the goat pen, but this was the night they fell in love. It would be perfect. He got out some tools and got to work.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Blaine took off his clothes down to his underwear and poured some heated water from the back of the stove into the basin, then added cool water from the pitcher until the temperature was just right. He stripped the rest of the way down, standing in front of the stove naked as he soaped up a washcloth and started scrubbing. He was covered in dirt and mud and sweat, and he certainly did not want Kurt to be subjected to that. No, his surprise was so good this time he thought he might get a lapfull of Kurt and wanted to look .... and smell...his best.

He smiled in anticipation of the gifts he had brought from Philomath. He had no way to hide the first one except the paper sack, and he hoped the argument they had yesterday wouldn't put a damper on the gift. It had been a spur of the moment thing, and sometimes impetuous gifts weren't as welcomed as one might plan, but he was pretty sure Kurt would like it.

He had finished scrubbing now and was rinsing the soap off of his skin. He looked down, assessing how he might look to Kurt. He had the same golden skin as his mother, and had inherited her curls. At least that's what his father used to tell him. He remembered a photograph of his mother that his dad used to have in a frame, but he had no idea of where that picture was now.

Blaine leaned over and picked up his clothes from the puncheon floor of the cabin and tossed them into a basket he kept for laundry. He would need to wash his clothes and linens this week. Taking clean things out of his trunk, he got dressed. Well, he got his boxers and a T-shirt on, not fully dressed, but he did have on socks.

Walking over to the stove and cupboard, he got out some things to have for a picnic later. There was a trout that Cookie had smoked, nice and spicy with pepper, and some red bell peppers he cut into strips. He took some of the cookies that he and Kurt had baked last week – walnut and brown sugar, one of his favorites – and then put a large amount of the fresh raspberries in a container for them to feed to each other. He smiled at the thought of that and the way Kurt had licked his face and fingers when he had raspberry juice on them. One of the things he loved so much about Kurt was that he was unpredictable.

Cookie had given him some sparkling apple juice when Blaine told him his plan for this evening, Blaine couldn't keep everything a secret and needed some advice on the present he had brought from Philomath.

All the food was packed in the picnic basket along with a cloth to set out and sit on, some napkins, flatware to eat with, two bottles of water, and Blaine thought it was going to be a great time. He knew Kurt loved picnics, so Blaine was determined to give him one.

Tired after his errand in the clearing and the packing of the baskets, Blaine wiped his hands on a kitchen towel, smiled to himself at the idea of how Kurt was going to react, and sat on the side of the bed. He was careful not to jostle Kurt as he got into bed, but he was in a hurry and his arms were around Kurt as soon as he touched the pillow. He climbed under the covers next to Kurt. Kurt turned in his sleep, snuggling into Blaine like a baby koala and Blaine was soon sound asleep beside him.

The sun streaming in the west window in the late afternoon woke the boys. Kurt blinked and hid his face in Blaine's shoulder to avoid having it in his eyes. He whined a little, not fully awake and feeling his knee aching. He fussed a bit, pulling the blanket so it blocked the sun.

"Hey, baby, what's wrong? Are you having a nightmare?" Blaine asked, kissing Kurt's shoulder.

"No, the sun was in my eyes and my leg is aching a lot," Kurt said, turning so his back was to both the sun and Blaine. He stuck out his butt and snuggled it into Blaine's crotch as he got comfortable, scrunching his pillow and falling back asleep.

Blaine had no objections to having Kurt's perfectly round arse shoved into his crotch if Kurt didn't mind he acted on it. He smoothed his hands across the taut skin, rubbing and squeezing gently. He was very sorry he'd spanked Kurt now. It must have hurt and Blaine wasn't someone who hurt other people – or at least he didn't think he was. Then he remembered last night in August's cabin. He smiled. It seemed all might have been forgiven. He gave the plump cheek one more squeeze and settled his head on the pillow next to Kurt, kissing his neck and listening to all the little noises Kurt emitted when he was happy in bed. Blaine closed his eyes once again, drifting to sleep for a little while longer before he'd have to get up and cook supper.

Kurt sat up abruptly.

"What is that smell?" he demanded, taking Blaine by surprise.

"What smell? I have some stew on the back of the stove." Blaine said.

"No. I can smell the stew...smells good by the way...but no. It's like too strong perfume, but not something I've ever smelled before this week. I smelled it on the helicopter and again in August's cabin last night," Kurt said in an agitated voice. He pulled Blaine's hands close to his face and took in a big breath.

"There! I can smell it on your hands! What the hell is it?" Kurt demanded.

"Kurt...I don't know. I think you're hallucinating, though I've heard of aural and visual I've never heard of olfactory hallucinations."

Kurt gave him a stare, then shook his head.

"Maybe it was something you touched? Maybe something at August's cabin? No, that wouldn't account for my smelling it in the helicopter. Damn, this is going to drive me nuts, Do you have any ideas?" Kurt asked, but Blaine shook his head no.

"Let's worry about that later. I have a picnic planned. Most of it is packed, so let's get dressed. Look, it isn't raining, so we can have a good time," Blaine grinned as he pulled on his jeans.

They were ready and out the door, picnic basket between them as they walked the path to the clearing at the top of the hill. Blaine spread out the blanket and set down the basket, getting out the contents. Kurt helped him set out some baked things: muffins and cookies for later. Then the fruit: fresh raspberries, and a cold trout for them to split. It had been smoked and had a delicious flavor on crackers. They were lying together on the blanket, Kurt on his tummy with his legs in the air in a comfortable position, watching the birds in the trees down at the end of the path. He suddenly stared at Blaine.

"I can smell it again. Honestly, Blaine, I think I'm going crazy. There it is again! But so much stronger here."

"Look behind you, Kurt. Maybe that's where it's coming from?"

Kurt turned. There, a few dozen feet away was the most beautiful lily Kurt had ever seen. It was pinkish purple fading to white with dots of magenta on the petals. It had a few blooms on it, but the top one was spectacular. It was indeed where the scent was coming from, and Kurt sniffed to get more.

"Oh, Blaine! You planted that there, didn't you?" he asked, though he knew the answer.

"I did. I bought it in town at a flower shop when we were getting ready to come home. I saw it in the shop and loved it, but I knew it was fate when I read the name of the lily on its tag. Kurt, this is a 'Stargazer Lily'."

Kurt's eyebrows went up to his hairline and the smile on his face seemed to break him.

"It's beautiful, Blaine. Thank you." Kurt said, looking at the lily and smiling.

"That's not all, baby, look closer," Blaine suggested. Kurt scooted over close and studied the lily. His eyes opened wide when he saw it. He lifted his fingers to his lips, and he had a look of amazement on his beautiful face. Blaine's eyes moved from Kurt's face to the flower and back. Finally, with trembling hands, Kurt reached forward to touch the center of the flower and the ring that was sitting on the open bloom.

It was a white-gold band, seven small sapphires embedded at intervals around the ring and stars etched in the gold. It was resting on the Stargazer Lily. Blaine picked it up and, taking Kurt's hand, he pushed the ring on Kurt's finger, kissing his fiancé with everything inside of him. Kurt kissed back, telling Blaine everything he needed to know in that one kiss, in that one moment.

"The blue sapphires are for your eyes, my love, and the stars are for the day I realized I never wanted to live a single day without you by my side. Will you marry me, Kurt Hummel?" Blaine asked, looking deep into Kurt's eyes.

"Yes, Blaine Anderson."

And they kissed and rolled over to touch each other, tangling their legs together and they wrapped their arms together and kissed for a good long while. Then suddenly Kurt could not contain his joy as he shouted into the air, I LOVE BLAINE ANDERSON!!!"

And Blaine shouted "I LOVE KURT HUMMEL!!!"

And it echoed over the mountain.

Later that night, after Kurt insisted that they build a small protective fence around his new Stargazer Lily, they were in bed lying next to each other and just smiling. Kurt was smiling and looking at the ring on his left hand, humming a tune. Blaine finished stripping down to his underwear and climbed into bed next to Kurt.

"Do you like it?" Blaine asked again. He had been so scared that Kurt would think it was too girly or too sentimental.

"It's perfect, Blaine. Now, I have a small surprise for you," Kurt grinned, slipping something out from under his pillow and placing it in Blaine's hand.

It was a black velvet box, just the right size. Blaine smiled at Kurt and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you, baby."

He opened it and inside was a ring. It was platinum with intertwining gold ribbons around the center.

"The gold lines are to symbolize us. Two lives, never too far apart, always coming together and touching each other, never ending," Kurt explained. He took the ring and placed it on Blaine's finger and kissed it. His eyes looked up to find Blaine's and he saw the tears begin in the golden hazel eyes he loved so much with the mossy green sparkling and tears came into his own eyes.

"Oh, my god, Blaine...those are not happy tears! What's wrong?" Kurt asked, staring at his fiancé and Blaine fell down on the bed, curled into himself. Kurt put his hand on Blaine's hip, soothing him as best he could but the sobbing only got worse and Blaine turned his face away so Kurt couldn't see him cry anymore.

"Blaine? Blaine! What's wrong, what did I do?" Kurt whispered, his skin turning cold as he sat and watched his fiancé fall apart.