Aug. 28, 2013, 9:54 p.m.
Hearts We Hid Up Our Sleeves: Chaos
E - Words: 4,115 - Last Updated: Aug 28, 2013 Story: Complete - Chapters: 27/27 - Created: Jun 08, 2013 - Updated: Aug 28, 2013 145 0 0 0 2
Blaine helps Kurt as he begins hunting for an apartment as soon as he returns to living with Finn and Rachel. Kurt had called him in the middle of the night a few times over the last few weeks asking if he could sleeping at Blaine's, and he ends up spending more time continuing on as though they lived together anyway than he would ever admit. They spend one Saturday visiting all the potential apartments that Kurt had on his list.
The first apartment, though it fits the bill of being one bedroom and close to Blaine's current apartment, is also incredibly damp, is decorated in mostly beige without the permission to redecorate and has an awful smell that Kurt knows he could never completely get rid of. Kurt makes it clear that he would prefer to stay living where he is with a soundtrack of sex 24/7 than in the apartment. Blaine doesn't blame him.
The second apartment is worse, though they struggle to believe that it could be a possibility. It's small and dark and horribly overpriced, and although this time he would be allowed to decorate, it seems like the landlord simply doesn't want to pay for the new carpet or wallpaper that it so desperately needs.
So when they finally reach the third, it seems impossibly perfect. It's a little bit further from Blaine's place, but it's light and airy, Kurt doesn't have an insane urge to clean everything and redecorate it all- not that it needs it anyway- and everything seems to be in satisfactory condition. The only issue is that it isn't really in the right price range for him.
"It's... amazing. Nowhere else is possibly going to be better than this one for what I need," Kurt says.
"But you need two incomes to fund it," Blaine thinks aloud. Kurt nods. "Why don't I just live with you? It's perfect, Kurt. Everything we could ever hope for in an apartment is right here." Kurt laughs uncomfortably.
"Blaine, we just talked about this the other week. We can't live together while we're working in the same place and spending that much time invading each other's space." Blaine bites his lip in thought for a moment.
"I didn't want to say this, but I suppose I need to get better at separating home and office anyway... I think it's time for me to move on from Mode D'Etoiles."
"What? I love working with you, Blaine! Who is going to book appointments with me to have sex in my office now?" Kurt complains, folding his arms, "And don't say 'Fabien', I'm sick of reminding you that I don't actually find him attractive."
"But the thing is, Kurt, I love living with you more, and it's not like I'll be unemployed."
"Won't you?"
"I have a standing offer at Jay's company. You know how much I love his design stuff, right? Well, his boss loves the Mode D'Etoiles campaign that I worked on. It's a perfect fit for me. The boss wants me to work as part of Jay's team, which means that he can help me to improve my graphic work, while he can also send me to do all the photography, which he isn't so fond of."
"And you didn't think to tell me about this?"
"I... I didn't think you would be upset, Kurt..."
"I'm thrilled, Blaine! That's great news! Especially since I wasn't really sure what I was meant to get you to do at work anyway..." Kurt takes Blaine's hand and dramatically gets down on one knee. "Blaine Anderson, will you," Kurt pulls his set of keys from his pocket and fumbles with them for a moment before turning Blaine's hand over and pressing the whole set into his palm, "move in with me?"
Blaine pulls Kurt to his feet and wraps his arms around him. "Of course I will." They don't even notice the way that the landlord watches them, rolling his eyes.
"Would you guys flash mob for my proposal?" Blaine asks his group of friends (all of whom know that he plans to propose already) casually in Kurt's absence one Friday evening. None of his friends seem enthusiastic. "Come on, you know how popular the best ones get. Especially the gay proposals, you know. You could go viral."
"And because I'm a dancer you would want me to make it up, right?" Santana says. Blaine shrugs.
"I don't think you have enough connections to pull one off," Sebastian says.
"You mean I don't know anyone who works somewhere good enough? Because I can be very charming."
"You prep school boys and your charm," Adam says fondly.
"No, I mean, you need what, thirty people? There are four of us here, Blaine. Literally all of your friends are in the room."
Blaine crosses his arms. "And Dave and Jay and Rachel and Finn, and I'm sure I could get people from work involved."
"Just telling it like it is, Killer."
"Besides, it would take months of prep to get everyone up to standard. And you're wanting to be engaged pronto, right?" Adam checks. Blaine nods. "Thought so. The moment will come, I'm sure."
"I hope so," Blaine says, met with supportive smiles from all of his friends, right down to Brittany who, as always, just seems blissfully unaware of their conversation, instead whispering softly with her girlfriend.
Blaine A. New thought re proposal.
Sebastian S. Do you want me to get Adam?
Blaine A. You aren't interested? Curious?
Sebastian S. Not at all. It should have just happened by now.
Blaine A. I know, I'm dragging it out and being perfectionisty.
Sebastian S. That you are. Romance is more up my boyfriend's street though. He'll be more useful.
Blaine A. Fine. Are you together?
Sebastian S. He's calling you in approximately two minutes.
Blaine A. Thanks. Sorry for interrupting ;)
Sebastian S. I appreciate the challenge. Turns out I'm great at multitasking and it's a huge turn on for him.
Blaine A. Um, thanks for sharing?
Sebastian S. You're welcome. Two minutes.
"Hey Adam," Blaine answers his phone without even looking, putting his guitar down. He had been messing around with some songs that could make nice proposal preludes, but he hadn't found anything that he was happy enough with to commit to.
"Sorry to disappoint," Kurt's easily identifiable voice chimes, "Is now a bad time?"
"No, not at all. I was just expecting a call from him to talk about some stuff."
"How very specific."
"Top secret plans, honey. What were you after?"
"I'm just really bored; I was wondering if you would let me come over?" Kurt says in an audibly flirtatious way.
"Yeah, of course," Blaine says, slightly taken aback, "Just give it another ten minutes or so before you leave your place?"
"Your phone call is that sort of secret, I see. I might go and buy a cheesecake."
"Okay. See you soon." Kurt hangs up, and Blaine barely has time to run his fingers through his hair before Adam's call flashes on the screen. "Take two," he mutters to himself before hitting the accept button. "Adam, hi."
"Hey Blaine, Seb said to call you?"
"'Seb'? That's a first. He hates being called Seb. That's why we go with Bas," Blaine challenges. It really is quite unusual.
"Yeah, but he loves me more than you. What did you want to talk to me about?"
"I was going to talk to Bas, but he wasn't interested. I just thought of another proposal idea."
"Do tell."
"We go to that really fancy restaurant that Kurt always looks longingly at when we walk past on the way to the Italian place- you know the one? And I can pull the classic ring-in-the-champagne move. I can't get all nervous and chicken out that way."
"Don't you think that maybe it's a little impersonal? You don't even give him the ring, the waiter does," Adam points out.
"Hmm, you're right. I guess I just like the set up? To be able to have the romantic atmosphere."
"There's a difference between romantic atmosphere and tragically clichéd. But sweetie, Kurt is going to say yes, no matter how you do it. You could be naked save for a pair of red cowboy boots playing the accordion in his apartment and he still wouldn't turn you down. And no, I absolutely cannot allow you to get red cowboy boots, don't even think that that's a viable option. It was an exaggerated example on purpose. But the big deal here is that you are you, and Kurt loves you. You can't mess it up."
"Thanks, Adam."
"Just relax. When it happens it will happen, and you'll know exactly when the right time is."
When Kurt walks into his apartment fifteen minutes later with a cake box in his hands, Blaine takes Adam's advice to heart and barely stops himself from proposing on the spot, relishing in the pure joy that Kurt's presence brings him. To think that they will be moving in together in just a couple of weeks is thrilling, and sitting on the floor eating cheesecake with his boyfriend, Blaine knows that there is nowhere else he could possibly prefer to be in the world.
When they return to work on Monday Blaine officially resigns, but spends some time sitting down with Kurt to discuss what they will do with his last two weeks in the office. Everything they come up with is busy work more than anything else, but he needs an assignment to show for his last efforts at the company.
Kurt knocks on the door to the office that was formerly his, before Blaine took it over completely. His office on the other side of the elevators is still barely used, and it had seemed silly at the time of Kurt's promotion to move all of Blaine's things back to the other, smaller room, when they hadn't filled Kurt's position and were making no plans to as so that he had a job to return to, should Quinn decide to shorten her maternity leave or something. Blaine calls out from inside the office to let him in.
"Hey," Kurt says, "busy?"
"Not really, why?"
"How would you feel about taking an extended lunch break to visit Quinn with me? She's been texting me all morning- I think she's lonely- and if there's two of us then one can keep her entertained while the other sorts some stuff out."
"Okay, why not? Just let me shut everything down." Blaine saves all his files and closes everything, just as he had told Kurt that he would, and then they head on their way out. When they arrive at Quinn's apartment she is thrilled to see them and hugs them both warmly. The apartment is impeccably tidy and when Kurt and Blaine look around and at the nursery that Quinn has furnished they are blown away by how much she has achieved by herself since Kurt has filled her position.
"I've spent a lot of time here alone," Quinn explains to Blaine, while Kurt begins unpacking groceries that she had asked him to bring along, "my mom is staying until after the baby arrives so that I'm not by myself, but she has other business that she is attending to while she's in the city. It means so much to me that you two are here, honestly. I don't have all that many friends."
"It's our pleasure. There's not all that much happening in the office," Blaine replies.
"Ha!" comes Kurt's voice from the kitchen, "Maybe from your end, Anderson."
"Tougher than it looks, huh, Kurt?" Quinn says.
"Mm, definitely. I'm only leading a team of designers; I have no clue what's going on at the factory, idiots."
"The warehouse guy called you? He used to just flirt with me endlessly. It was tiring."
"Well, unless talking to me for over an hour about how I was running a business unsatisfactorily was flirting, I didn't get that."
"Good thing, too," Blaine mumbles. Quinn flicks her feet up onto the couch and Blaine begins to rub them without thinking about it.
They stay with Quinn for about an hour, mostly being there to keep her entertained for a little while and moving things for her which she can't do herself (she is desperate to vacuum under her couch, but can't move the couch or do that much vacuuming on her own), before she gets up and goes to the bathroom and on return hovers in the doorway, saying, "guys, I'm pretty sure that my water just broke," in an impossibly calm manor. Blaine promptly begins to freak out.
"Do you have a bag prepared?" Kurt asks, and Quinn nods.
"By the door. Would you mind taking me to the hospital? It's kind of important that I get there." Kurt picks up Quinn's hospital bag and hands it to Blaine, while he takes Quinn and leads them both from the apartment.
"Aren't you meant to have had some contractions or something already?" Blaine asks, somewhere between excited and terrified.
"Early contractions can feel like Braxton Hicks contractions and not true labour, and I didn't want to freak you out about it... but it looks like I failed there," Quinn explains, "You can drive, right?" Blaine nods, but Quinn looks to Kurt. Blaine realises that in his jitters he isn't going to be trusted in the driver's seat.
"Yeah, why?" Kurt replies.
"My mom drove in last week, so her car is in the parking garage next door, she didn't take it today. That's probably better than taking a cab or calling for an ambulance, right?"
"Traffic will be the same whether we go with a cab or the car, so if you give me the keys I'll go get it and meet you downstairs, okay? Blaine will wait with you." Quinn hands Kurt the keys and a slip of paper with some instructions on it.
"My mom told me not to trust my pregnancy brain when it came to retrieving a car. So there you go." Minutes later, Blaine sits with Quinn in the back of the car, Blaine a ball of nervous energy and Quinn mostly calm and blissfully at ease, save for the odd contraction. Blaine calls Quinn's mom from her phone and she agrees to meet them at the hospital. Once they park and get into the hospital Quinn is calmly but hurriedly admitted and Kurt and Blaine follow as she is whisked away by a nurse.
"Are you the father?" A nurse asks Blaine, as everything surrounding Quinn's labour seems to fall into place. Kurt sits next to Quinn and she holds his hand.
"Oh, no, no. Quinn's just our friend and we were around at an unfortunate time, or maybe a really fortunate time, depending how you look at it. We wouldn't be here otherwise, I suppose."
"So is he the father, then?" she asks, looking over to Kurt and Quinn.
"Um, not him, either. Her late husband is the father; she's not having a child by herself by donor or anything," Blaine says, thinking he is just answering the next question that she may have to ask. People tend to think that Blaine must be their female friends' boyfriend, and he is more used than he would honestly like to being assumed to be straight. However, the nurse didn't mean it like that.
"So she isn't your surrogate?" Blaine would have done a spit take if his mouth had been full.
"No, no."
"Alright. That's just the most common set up when two men come in here this flustered with a pregnant woman. Not to mention the way that you've been looking at him for the past ten minutes."
Blaine gets lost in the chaos after that, with a torrent of questions thrown at Quinn and then her mom, when she arrives. Eventually Kurt gets forced to the side and the two of them stay for moral support but don't get too involved as Quinn clearly doesn't need yet more people to crowd around her. They fetch coffee for Mrs Fabray, they talk to the medical professionals about anything that they are actually able to answer (which is very, very little), and they try to keep out of the way.
When the baby finally arrives, Blaine is surprised to find that both he and Kurt cry along with Quinn and her mom. Though the baby does, in all fairness, look like a humanoid alien, Blaine gets it. He suddenly realises why all the clichés about childbirth and its beauty exist. Quinn asks if they would like to hold her, and Blaine takes the small bundle and holds her while Kurt stands with one arm wrapped around his waist, looking down at the tiny girl fondly. "I have you to thank for my job, you know?" Kurt tells the baby, and Blaine giggles.
"I want one, Kurt," he says up at his boyfriend.
"One day," Kurt replies, before the staff members insist that they take the (still nameless) baby to the nursery.
"Promise me that you'll come and visit tomorrow," Quinn says, "and then again once I get home. Thank you so much for everything."
"You're welcome," Blaine says.
Quinn looks at Kurt. "I didn't mean to make your boyfriend clucky."
"It was bound to happen sooner or later."
"You can be there when we have our baby," Blaine offers.
"Right, and whose uterus will be you using?" Quinn quips.
"I'll have the first one, right, Kurt?"
"Whatever makes you happy, babe."
"You guys are too cute."
"But it's also time they were leaving," Mrs Fabray prompts, turning to the nurse that is left sorting out the room for backup.
"You can stay a minute or two, but it's probably best that you head on the way," the nurse says, winking at Kurt and Blaine over Mrs Fabray's shoulder.
"Thanks again for putting up with the chaos today, boys," Quinn says as Kurt crosses the room to hug her. Blaine follows and hugs her too. Kurt waits by the door as Blaine whispers to Quinn, who nods in response.
"Coming?" Kurt asks.
"Wait a minute, Kurt," Blaine hands his phone to Quinn and takes a few steps away from the bed. Kurt drops his hand from the door handle in uncertainty and steps further into the room, throwing a questioning look to Quinn. Blaine lowers himself onto one knee and Kurt doesn't hold back on his surprise. "Everyone kept telling me that the perfect moment for all this would arrive, that I didn't need to plan a fancy restaurant with a string quartet and a ring in a champagne flute, that I didn't need to persuade everyone I know to dance in a flash mob like the viral proposals, that I didn't have to outdo myself every time I tried to surprise you in any way. They told me that I wouldn't ever have to prepare a lengthy speech the way I wanted to, because some of my 'prep school boy charm' would kick in when I needed it. Today I realised really what makes us such a good match, what makes us so obviously soulmates. We can be such perfect opposites- when I freak out, you manage to be completely calm- and we still can be wonderfully similar about other things- when I say I want a baby, you just answer 'one day' as if we have talked about it before in more than passing. It's so much more than that you're a designer and I'm a photographer and we're in the same business. It's the way you know when I need nothing more than a hug, the way I know when you need someone to listen and genuinely care and take your side when your day has gone wrong. It's the way that we can look for an apartment together without ever admitting that we would both live there. But most importantly, it's the unconditional love I feel when I'm around you, as though your sole purpose in life has been to support and protect me and love me with all your heart. Which is why, Kurt Elizabeth Hummel, I want it to be you that I share my chaos with every day for the rest of my life, starting today. So, without any huge gesture, sans bolt of lightning; will you marry me?" Blaine pulls the ring box from his pocket and holds it open to Kurt, who closes the space between them and drops to his own knees, pulling Blaine into a tight hug before even thinking about accepting.
"Yeah. Yes. I can't believe this is happening." Kurt finally releases Blaine enough for him to slip the ring on his finger, though both stay on the floor. They stand up and Blaine pulls Kurt in for a deep kiss while Mrs Fabray does her best to avert her eyes. The nurse seems thrilled, and Quinn watches happily over Blaine's phone. Kurt leaves his arm around Blaine's waist as he takes his phone back from Quinn.
"Thanks. Santana would have killed me if I didn't catch that on video."
"You're welcome, Blaine. It's such a tiny thing for me to do after everything," Quinn says.
"Congratulations," the nurse says, "but I think that's enough drama for the one hospital room for the day. Time to head off now, right?" they agree and quickly leave, staying physically connected in some way for the whole trip back to Blaine's apartment.
"I thought you got caught up at the hospital with Quinn, and yet you're both positively glowing," Santana observes. Blaine and Kurt grin at one another. Santana looks at Blaine, who looks at Kurt.
"We're engaged!" Kurt shares. Santana gets up to hug them both, offering her congratulations.
"And how many weeks were you carrying the ring around for again?"
"Too many," Blaine answers.
"I suppose I should clear out so you can fuck now, right?"
"No, no, you should stay," Kurt insists.
"Wanky," Santana smirks. Blaine rolls his eyes.
"Shut up! I just need to make some calls and then we thought we could all go out for dinner to celebrate," Kurt says.
"I'd love to. I'll let Britt know for you." Kurt and Blaine dart off towards Blaine's bedroom, both of them with a cell phone in hand. Santana's sigh is audible from the other room, and they know that it clearly means disappointment in their sex life.
"Dad! You're probably wondering why I called so suddenly... Blaine and I are engaged! I know, I'm so happy right now... yeah, if you could let her know that would be great, I have a few more calls to make. Apart from Santana, and Quinn and her mom and the nurse, you're the first person to know. Yeah, it was all sort of spontaneous, but his speech could have had you fooled, I'm telling you. Quinn videoed it for him, you could see it and everything!" Kurt babbles to his dad over the phone, and Blaine just sits by him for a minute or two, marvelling at how gorgeous Kurt is and how lucky he is to call him his fiancé.
Blaine calls around their friends- Adam and Sebastian, Rachel and Finn, Dave and Jay- and invites them all to dinner, announcing the engagement, accepting the congratulations (and finally comments), and sparing them the details. Once everyone knows (or a promise has been made from their significant other to let them know), Blaine looks at his phone. Kurt excuses himself to his dad and lowers the phone from his mouth. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I just remembered that the next calls I need to make are to my family. Keep going with your dad. Tell him I say hi, and thank you."
"Okay." Kurt leans across and kisses his new fiancé quickly before picking the phone up again. "Blaine says hi and thank you..."
Blaine finally hits the dial button next to his mother's name, deciding that she is the easiest of the three to start with. "Blaine, darling! What a surprise!" his mom answers.
"Hello, mom, I- we- have news."
"Do tell."
"Kurt and I are engaged," he says hesitantly, testing the waters.
"Oh, darling! That's wonderful news! Can I tell your father?"
"Yeah. Actually, please do, that saves me another call."
"In that case, can you let me know what's going on with you a little bit more?"
"Well, I'm about to leave my job at Mode D'Etoiles, to take up a new position at my friend's advertising company, and I'll be moving in with Kurt in a couple of weeks. Santana is moving on, too, she says that she can't live here without me," Blaine summarises.
"Ah. So, did you propose?"
"Yes, I did. My friend videoed it, if you would like to see it at some point."
"Oh, that would be delightful! I'm sure you're busy, I'll let you go. Love you!"
"I love you too, mom." And with that, Blaine's brother is the last call that needs to be made. He goes straight to voicemail and Blaine leaves a message, expecting Cooper to call at the worst possible time. But finally, everyone on his list has been made aware of the engagement, and he is free to celebrate, starting with wrapping himself around his boyfriend while Santana watches the proposal, and it's like Blaine manages to fall in love with Kurt all over again.