"The other freshman are complaining that they never see me," Blaine said over dinner in the tiny, cramped eating area in their apartment one night in mid-September.

"That's ridiculous. They see you every day in class," Kurt said.

"But they all live in the dorms, so they hang out and do homework together and sing ridiculous songs late at night and all that stuff. And I'm never there for that."

"True," Kurt said thoughtfully. "But neither am I, and nobody ever complained." He popped a piece of roast chicken in his mouth. "And don't say it's because I'm unpopular," he said with his mouth full.

"It's probably because you started mid-year," Blaine said. "You were already kind of an outsider. Didn't meet people at orientation and stuff.

Kurt clapped his hands excitedly. "I know! Let's throw a party! It can be sort of like a housewarming, now that the place is starting to come together. Something classy, like a wine and cheese party. Ooh! Can we do a Great Gatsby theme?"

"Everyone is doing Great Gatsby these days. How about Star Trek instead?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Nerd," he said affectionately.

"No, with the new movies, it's all cool now!" Blaine insisted.

"Ooh, how about a Star Trek / Great Gatsby mashup? Gilded age space travel ... it could work ..."

"What, like steampunk?" Blaine asked.

"Close but not quite," Kurt said without further explanation. "Hmm, maybe we could define it more broadly. Retro-futuristic."

"That sounds exciting."

Kurt's eyes shone with the thrill of party planning. "I'll design some evites."

---------------------------------

"I love what you've done with the place!" Rachel shrieked as she entered their apartment two hours before the scheduled start of the party. "I thought I'd come early and help you set up. But wow! It looks so grown up in here! I mean, aside from the party decorations, which are quite tasteful and interesting. The underlying décor of the place, it's ... what happened to all that quirky stuff you had in the loft?"

Kurt smiled, too flattered to be annoyed at Rachel's unannounced early arrival. "I sold most of it on eBay. It didn't exactly fit the look of this place. Less industrial, more ... preppy. But in a good way. Tasteful, creative preppy, with sophisticated, eclectic flairs."

"I mostly just nod and smile when he starts talking like this," Blaine stage whispered.

Kurt swatted playfully at his shoulder. "You picked out all the vintage maps."

"It's true, I did," Blaine admitted.

Rachel laughed. "You're like an old married couple already."

"A fabulous old married couple," Kurt insisted.

Blaine winked at Kurt as soon as her back was turned.

--------------------------------------------

"Dude, this is, like, the most grown-up college party I've ever been to."

"I had no idea there were this many kinds of cheese in existence."

"Someday I want to be mature and responsible like you guys."

"This is practically a different world from the dorms. Are we still in New York? Are you sure?"

Everyone had a great time, but the comments came in a steady stream all night long. Kurt was surprised at first, but he had to admit that their friends had a point. Even just one month into living together, their lives were miles different from anything an ordinary college student in the dorms would experience. Even one with a serious significant other.

"Thank you so much for inviting us," a slightly tipsy girl said to Blaine as she was getting ready to leave with the last small group of stragglers. "It was great to finally meet your partner. The two of you are adorable together!"

"Thank you," Blaine managed to stammer. He closed the door gently behind her and her friends as they left.

"Partner," Kurt said, arching an eyebrow. "Is that what you've been calling me around all your new NYADA friends?"

Blaine shook his head. "No ... I try to use your name as much as possible because I can't say 'husband,' but 'boyfriend' isn't very accurate either."

Kurt pulled Blaine closer to him and slid his arms around his waist. "So she just made up 'partner' all by herself?"

"It kind of fits..." Blaine said.

"This is fantastic," Kurt said. "Nobody's going to blink an eye when we tell them we're getting married."

"Hey wait a minute," Blaine said jokingly. "I haven't even proposed yet."

In answer, Kurt kissed him.