He walked hand in hand with Blaine to the hotel after their last class of the day. Kurt was nearly bouncing with excitement to see his friends, but more importantly to see his friends in his new home. As they entered the lobby a wave of noise greeted them as the glee club noticed them enter. Kurt and Blaine were soon swept up in hugs and pats on the back by the excited group. After a few minutes Kurt called out to the group, “Okay, okay… I missed you too, but if we don’t leave now we won’t have time for a tour of campus before we have to be at Tisch.”

The tour was mainly a brief over view of the campus since only Rachel of the group would be attending NYU in the Fall. Mercedes surprised Kurt with the announcement that she had been accepted to the design program at Parson’s. Kurt was excited at the idea of his two best friends moving to New York soon.

Nick and Jeff joined them at Tisch to offer support and critique before the competition the following day. Once rehearsal was over, the four NYU students lead the group back to their hotel.

The next morning, Kurt and Blaine for the first time skipped class to support their friends. Of course being the responsible students they were, they had already cleared the absence with their professors before hand, receiving their assignments early.

Kurt thought the performance would be bittersweet, but really he was just happy to see his friends onstage having fun and doing an impressive job. Watching them was only marginally better than watching the other groups, he just knew that the New Directions part of his life was over. He was proud of them, but not really a part of them anymore. His life was now here in New York, with Blaine beside him.

The group won, to the surprise of all. Kurt and Blaine offered to take them out so they could celebrate. Kurt found a nice cheap restaurant to take the group to. They sat around laughing and talking as they ate. When the meal was finished Kurt was not at all surprised to see Rachel stand ready to address the group.

“I just have a couple of things to say. First of all, I am glad that the show choir world has finally recognized my… I mean our talent. Second, Kurt,” Kurt’s eyes widened at the mention of his name. “We all wanted to let you know that even though you have left us, you are still apart of us. Now Finn told us that you would be staying in New York for the summer and we were all upset that you would not make it home for our graduation so… we all pitched in to buy round trip tickets for you and Blaine to come home for the weekend of McKinley’s graduation. This is our birthday present to you. We all started together and it just wouldn’t be right for you not to be there in the end. Please accept them.”

Kurt sat in stunned silence looking at his old high school friends. It took a moment for everything to sink in before he spoke. “Thank you guys, it means a lot to me to be there for you.”

After another day of sightseeing on Saturday led by Kurt and Blaine, the New Directions made it back to Lima.

In a whirlwind the last two weeks of school came and went, leaving Kurt in a daze that it was all done. He had no idea how it could possibly be May already. He couldn’t believe he had been in New York almost 10 months. He couldn’t believe that in just one short day it would be his birthday.

Eighteen, the landmark age where you are magically an adult, the age where you have to take responsibility, finally after over a year of acting the part, Kurt was going to really be it. Rather than surprise Kurt, Blaine talked with him about what he wanted to do for his birthday. The Jazz club, the one Blaine had first invited him to join, that was where he wanted to go.

So Friday night found Kurt making his way to the dimly lit Jazz Club with Blaine, Nick and Jeff. They would be meeting a few of Kurt’s friends from his classes and Kurt was giddy with excitement. They stood in line waiting for the bouncer to check ID’s and let people into the club, Kurt squeezed his boyfriend’s hand bouncing on his heels.

“Excited?” Blaine asked, returning the squeeze.

“Very.” Kurt almost squealed, “It’s my birthday, I get to go out with some great friends, and I get to spend it with my amazing boyfriend!”

As they reached the door, the bouncer eyed Kurt up and down, “ID please.” He said in a rough voice, clearly thinking he was about to catch some high schooler trying to sneak in for a little fun. Kurt whipped out his IDs, both his Driver’s license and his NYU student ID and showed them to the large man in front of him.

The bouncer eyed the two cards for a moment before giving a deep chuckle, “Happy birthday kid, enjoy your night.”

And Kurt did, the music was fantastic and Kurt get to talk to all his friends. Blaine was by his side almost the entire time. Kurt was practically glowing his was so happy. Blythe brought a birthday cake for them to share, and while the band took a break they all sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to Kurt as the candles burned lower and lower dripping multicolored wax on top to the cake. Kurt leaned over to blow out the candles, thinking hard about what to wish for. Right then, he was surrounded by friends, he would be going home to visit in a week, and he has found what he knew was the love of his life. He took a deep breath and thought, ‘Please let life always be this perfect’, and then blew the candles out in one breath.

As Kurt was taking the last bite of his cake, arms wrap around his waist. Feeling the familiar weight of Blaine, Kurt leaned back into the embrace. “Dance with me.” Blaine whispered in his ear just as the band finished an upbeat number.

Blaine led Kurt to the dance floor right in front of the band, as the singer stepped back up to the mic. “This next song is a special request. Today Kurt is celebrating his birthday with us, Happy Birthday Kurt, and this song goes out to you, from Blaine.”

Music started again, piano joined by horns slow but bouncy. Blaine placed his chin on Kurt shoulder singing quietly in his ear, his voice soft but clear. Moving gracefully to the music, tears sprang to Kurt eyes as he listened to Blaine sing as they danced.

I can only give you love that last forever
And a promise to be near each time you call,
And the only heart I own
For you and you alone,
That’s all, that’s all

They continued to move, Blaine’s voice never faltering in Kurt’s ear, oblivious to the world around them. Kurt felt, not for the first time, that he was right where he belonged. Kurt didn’t hear the woman singing on stage, he didn’t feel the other bodies moving around them, he only heard and saw Blaine. They were the only ones that mattered in that moment.

If you’re wondering what I’m asking in return dear,
You’ll be glad to know that my demands are small
Say it’s me that you’ll adore
For now and ever more
That’s all, that’s all

The song ended, but the two boys did not move from their position. They stood held in their dancing embrace as the crowd around them clapped for the band. They did not move as the band moved on to another song. Kurt held tightly to Blaine as he whispered in his ear, “God I adore you, I love you forever.”

Their lips met in a slow passionate kiss, as the room danced around them, mindless of their friends catcalls and cheers.

When they made it back to the dorms, they parted from their friends for the night, and went back to Blaine’s room, ready to shower each other with love and affection.