“That one’s good.”

Kurt sighed. “Blaine, you can’t say that about everything I show you.”

“What do you want me to say? It’s a nice pillow.”

“That’s not going to help the process if all you do is aimlessly agree with everything I suggest!” Kurt threw the pillow back into the bin.

“Look Kurt, you know you know what you’re doing. Just go with whatever you think looks best and I’ll love it, I promise,” Blaine said as he tried to grab Kurt’s hand.

“That’s not the point!” Kurt yelled as he flinched his arm back. “This is our first house; we’re supposed to design this together!”

“Says who? Why are you making such a big deal about this?”

“Oh come off it, Blaine- you know how important this is to me.”

“If it’s so important, just do it yourself like I said!”

“Fine,” snapped Kurt as he snatched the design notes out of Blaine’s hand and stormed around the corner, leaving Blaine with a shopping cart filled with curtains, paint cans, door handles, and candlesticks. He plopped in a nearby chair, the kind that was supposed to feel like you were sitting on a cloud. Blaine had been so excited when he and Kurt closed the deal on their new home, and he still was, really. It was just hard when Kurt was so controlling about every detail and yet still expected Blaine to give his input every step of the way (or rather validate Kurt’s every opinion). It was hard to pretend to be interested when Kurt was having him decide whether this hand towel went better with ‘night vision’ or ‘green soap.’ They were both green, as far as Blaine could tell, but the way Kurt went on and on you’d think they were green and purple.

“Can I help you?” asked a voice that shook Blaine out of his thoughts. It was a young employee, probably no older than sixteen, and she had a surprisingly genuine smile for working in a home design store.

“No thanks, I’m just taking a break.”

“Alright sir, just let me know if you need anything!” she said as she strolled on over to a pair who was trying to reach a trashcan from the top shelf.

Blaine grabbed a catalogue from a nearby stand and flipped through it to hopefully deter other employees from speaking to him. God, when did he get so bitter? He was twenty-nine years old and felt like a cranky old man. Blaine sighed and looked at his wedding ring. Even though he had been the one to propose, Kurt insisted on picking out a ring for him, and Blaine was still awed by its beauty a year later. It was white gold with five tiny diamonds crossing diagonally at the top. It was simple, yet even now Blaine still caught himself making an exaggerated effort to use his left hand so that others would notice it. It was beautiful, paired well with any outfit, and prompted others to ask how long he and his wife had been married (Blaine loved the look of surprise when he dropped the word ‘husband’).

The design of this house meant a lot to Kurt, and even though he could be extraordinarily irritating in the process, that shouldn’t cloud Blaine’s ability to help him. With genuine determination, he started back at the beginning of the catalogue to try and find something he liked. Finally on page 22 he saw a dining room table built out of rich mahogany. It was nothing too fancy but looked like it should fit perfectly into Kurt’s plan for an ‘Old World’ dining room.

Blaine searched for Kurt for several minutes before finding him in a kitchen aisle, comparing two knife sets. He came beside him and wrapped his arm around Kurt’s waist. Kurt cocked his head.

“What’s this?” he asked, his voice ready to forgive or fight again. “I thought you were pissed.”

“Just stressed. I’m sorry,” Blaine replied as he kissed Kurt, who gave a small smile. “Hey, I think I found a table that would work great in the Old World room!”

“Oh don’t worry, I already have one picked out,” Kurt said as he returned his attention to the knives, oblivious to Blaine’s faltered smile. “Now, I think I like the red one, but the black’s design is so much sleeker. What do you think?”

Calm down, Blaine. Breathe in, breathe out.