It was a bit of a shock to the system to be back home in New York for both Kurt and Blaine. Kurt had to go back to work within a few days while Blaine had the entire summer break off. He had taken to consulting at Anderson and Sons, which he did every summer break to keep busy and Kurt was thrust straight back into the deep end of the Vogue swimming pool. Not that he didn't love it, of course, but there was nothing like work to burst your bubble.

Isabelle had been ecstatic at the news of Kurt's engagement and she had demanded that they celebrate together at some point at the end of the week.

Kurt had already had his fair share of celebrations since getting back from Paris, the girls and Sam had been excitable when Kurt and Blaine had got back with the news. Kurt felt like his head still hurt from all of the alcohol he had consumed that night.

Rachel had been a little put out that he was engaged before she was but she had firmly stated that she wasn't going to give up hope. Kurt had secretly feared for Santana's safety then. Rachel was a determined being and often got her way, no matter what the consequences were. Kurt just hoped that Santana was up to the task.

All celebrations and excitement aside, Kurt was glad to be back home. He missed Paris and he hoped that Blaine would want to go back there for their honeymoon but it was nice to be back in New York and feel like he was a contributing member of society again.

Summer was always a busy time at Vogue and Kurt had been working twelve or more hours a day because they were that busy. He didn't mind it too much – the work was great and the pay was better but he missed Blaine a lot. They had reached a new level of intimacy in their relationship while they were on holiday and it wasn't just the engagement. Kurt felt a physical ache in his chest when he was away from Blaine for so long. Just crawling into bed with him when he got home from work wasn't enough.

He was really going to have to speak to Isabelle about reducing his hours to a normal timeframe if he wanted to spend time with his fianc� and start planning his wedding. There was a lot to do, especially if they were going to be married the following year. He could do it, though. If he could plan his own father's wedding in less than a week, he could certainly plan his and Blaine's in the space of a year.

As Kurt crawled into bed next to Blaine, who was already fast asleep, he decided that yes, he definitely needed to talk to Isabelle about reducing his work hours down. He didn't mind the occasional longer shift – the perks usually more than often made up for it – but having Blaine in bed before him was something that he didn't want to come home to every night.

"You're home," Blaine mumbled as he rolled into Kurt's arms, snuggling close. He was already warm all over and another pang of guilt shot through Kurt. Blaine was soft with sleep and the moment he was curled into Kurt's arms, he fell back asleep.

"Yeah," Kurt whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of Blaine's head. He closed his eyes and settled down to sleep himself.

Kurt woke slowly the next morning, torn between just staying in bed or getting up. He opened his eyes and looked at the digital clock sitting on Blaine's bedside table and he bolted upright. It was noon. He had no idea how he had slept so long but Isabelle was going to kill him. He scrambled out of the bed, rushing around to pull on clothes.

"Fuck!" he exclaimed as he tripped over the corner of the bed in his jump/shimmy to get his pants on.

"Kurt?" Blaine's concerned voice rang out. Blaine opened the bedroom door a moment later, concern etched on his face. "Are you okay?"

"No!" Kurt exclaimed. "I'm late for work. How could you let me sleep so late, Blaine?"

"Kurt..." Blaine started. "It's Saturday. You don't have work today."

"..." Kurt glanced up at Blaine. "I don't?"

Blaine chuckled and crossed over to Kurt, cupping Kurt's face with both of his hands. "Nope," he replied. "I checked your schedule. You've got the weekend off."

Kurt sighed heavily in relief and tilted his head up to accept Blaine's kiss. "Clocks should come with dates on them so people don't freak out," he said after the kiss had broken.

Blaine laughed again and tugged on Kurt's half done up pants. "C'mon," he said. "Out of these. Dress comfortably and I'll make you an omelette for breakfast."

"Okay," Kurt agreed with a nod. He stripped of the offending pants and headed into their closet to dress in something a little more comfortable, choosing a pair of well-loved jeans that he owned and a t-shirt.

He exited the bedroom with a yawn, scratching one hand through his hair. If they were going out anywhere, he would have to fix it up but right then, he couldn't be bothered even thinking about fixing his hair. Which said a lot about how tired he was.

"Here you go," Blaine said, placing a plate in front of Kurt and kissing him gently on the lips. "One omelette a la Blaine."

"You're a god," Kurt replied, picking up his knife and fork. Blaine beamed at him and sat down next to him at the breakfast bar to eat his own omelette.

"What time did you get in last night?" Blaine asked between bites of his omelette.

"About midnight," Kurt replied.

Blaine made a noise around his mouthful of food but Kurt could tell that it was a little annoyed sound.

"I'm going to talk to Isabelle about reducing my hours," Kurt started. "I'm going to need it so we can plan this wedding before next year. I don't want any mishaps."

Blaine nodded. "That sounds good," he replied. "Plus, I'd like to see you at least a little bit during this summer."

Kurt shoved another forkful of omelette in his mouth and just nodded in response. He knew Blaine didn't mean anything by it and it was just the stress in his own mind that was making things seem differently but he couldn't help but feel like the quip was made to feel him guilty.

Kurt picked up his glass of orange juice to wash down his breakfast and set it down on the counter top. "I'll do the dishes," he said, collecting his and Blaine's empty plates. He stacked the dishwasher and turned it on before turning around to find Blaine right in his space.

"So," Blaine said, dipping his head to pepper kisses along Kurt's neck. "I was thinking we could go down to the stables this afternoon while it's nice outside."

"...When?" Kurt asked, trying not to let Blaine's kisses distract him.

"We could head out about one or two o'clock and spend a few hours down there. I know that Daisy would love to see you again," Blaine said, sucking on the pulse point on Kurt's neck. Kurt's knees weakened at the touch and he gripped at Blaine's hips to keep himself upright.

"I have work to do," he said. "I wanted to get some sketches done this afternoon since we're spending tomorrow with your brother."

"How long will that take?" Blaine asked, pulling back to lock gazes with Kurt.

Kurt sucked his bottom lip into his mouth. "A few hours, maybe?" He sighed. "No, it's okay, we'll go to the stables. I can work on my sketches when we get home."

Blaine shot him a dubious look but nodded. "Okay," he said. "I promise we won't be out there too long. It's just I haven't seen my horses since before we went to Paris and I miss them."

Kurt nodded. "I know," he replied. "It's okay. I'm just going to go take a shower and then we can go, okay?"

"Okay."

Kurt headed to their bathroom and shut the door firmly behind him, hoping that a nice, long shower would help get rid of his sullen mood.

~*~

There were two weeks left of the summer break and Blaine felt like he had barely seen his fianc� at all. There were moments, of course, where they were together for longer than ten minutes and could actually have a proper conversation and enjoy each other's company but lately, Blaine felt like those moments were few and far between.

He didn't want to say anything to Kurt, knowing that his fianc� was already stressed and he didn't want to add to it. He missed Kurt. It sounded silly when he thought about it. He still went to sleep every night with Kurt in his arms, and he mostly woke up with Kurt in his arms, but those mornings were becoming less and less often.

Kurt had talked to Isabelle about cutting down his hours and she promised him that in September she would hire another assistant to cope with the workload. Blaine couldn't wait for September to come; even though he would be back at the school by then, hopefully he would be able to see his fianc� for a block of time at once rather than just random moments.

"...Bee? Bee. Squirt, hey, are you there?"

Blaine glanced up from the case file in front of him to see Cooper snapping his fingers in front of Blaine's face.

"Hey, where were you?"

Blaine blinked and shook his head. "Sorry," he said. "Just thinking about wedding stuff."

Cooper grinned. "Kurt giving you headaches over that already?" he asked, a teasing air to his voice.

"Not really," Blaine replied. "He kind of hasn't been around much this summer. He's been working a lot of long hours."

"Still?" Cooper asked, perching on the table, facing Blaine.

Blaine nodded. "Yeah, still," he replied, tiredly rubbing at his eyes behind his glasses. He took them off and set them on the table to rub at his eyes properly before slipping them back onto his face. "I love that Kurt is independent and has an amazing job but I miss him a lot. I feel like I've barely seen him this summer."

"Talk to him, Blainey," Cooper said. "You've got to tell him these things or your marriage is doomed before it starts. How do you think I've survived been married for so long already?"

Blaine chuckled. "You're right," he said. "Which is a scary thing to admit." Cooper threw his pen at Blaine in retaliation and Blaine just grinned. "I think I'm going to go home, call Kurt and ask him if he'll be home in time for dinner and then make something so good that he'll just want to stay home with me forever."

"A little creepy but that's the spirit!" Cooper said cheerfully. "Go, make your man some irresistible dinner and don't forget the cheesecake, you know how much Kurt loves cheesecake."

"I'll stop by the bakery on the way home," Blaine said as he stood up, slipping the paperwork in front of him back into the folder. "Thanks, Coop."

"Anytime, little bro, anytime."

Blaine re-filed the folder and left the Anderson and Sons building, feeling a little better. Cooper was right, he just needed to talk to Kurt, maybe see if there was anything in the wedding planning that Kurt wanted Blaine to get started on at all. Plus, making dinner and having the cheesecake would be an automatic bonus in Blaine's favour. He couldn't really go wrong.

Blaine stopped by Kurt's favourite bakery on the way home and picked up a raspberry and caramel cheesecake for dessert. He knew Kurt had a soft spot for that specific dessert after Blaine had made it for him one time and Blaine hoped that Kurt enjoyed a bought one instead.

Blaine arrived a home a short while later. He set down the groceries and cake from his travels before heading back down to the lobby to collect his and Kurt's mail. He turned the stack of envelopes over in his hand and his heart started to thud harder in his chest when he saw a thick, heavy envelope with Kurt's name on it and the Marc Jacobs logo and stamp up in the top right hand corner.

Something that big could only be a positive thing.

Blaine placed it on the coffee table in the living room on top of Kurt's other mail and resisted the urge to open it himself. He shook his head and made his way into the kitchen instead so that he could start preparing his and Kurt's dinner.

Half way through the preparations, Blaine's phone chimed with a text message from Kurt saying that he would be home for dinner and Blaine sighed in relief. It was one thing to start preparing dinner for them both but it always left him with a twinge of sadness when he had to wrap Kurt's dinner up and put it in the refrigerator for him to heat up when he got home.

In the last few weeks alone, Kurt had been home on time for dinner maybe three times. Blaine hadn't brought it up; knowing how stressed it made Kurt. He found other things to occupy himself, like his consultation work at Anderson and Sons as well as catching up on all of the books he hadn't read throughout the year. It was a win-win situation. It wasn't really, his mind told him, but it was better than not having Kurt in his life at all.

"Hey."

Blaine glanced up to see Kurt walking into the kitchen, a tired but happy smile on his face. "Hi," he said, setting down the utensils in his hands to pull Kurt in for a cuddle. He kissed Kurt on the lips, slowly deepening it until Kurt pulled back, flushed and out of breath.

"Well," Kurt said with a smile. "That was some hello kiss. I should come home on time more often."

Blaine grinned and nodded. "Mmhmm," he agreed. "You should see me when I'm home alone. I just parade around the apartment naked."

Kurt chuckled and grabbed Blaine's ass over his pants. "Well, I may just have to surprise you one day to see if that's true."

They kissed again and Blaine sighed contently. "Dinner will be ready soon," he said.

Kurt nodded and pressed one more quick kiss to Blaine's lips before pulling back completely. "I'm just going to go get changed."

"Okay," Blaine replied. Kurt left the room and Blaine turned back to the pan on the stove top.

"I like that you take care of me like this," Kurt said as he re-entered the kitchen, wrapping his arms around Blaine from behind him and kissing the back of Blaine's neck. "I don't think I tell you enough."

Blaine smiled, a giddy feeling settling in his stomach at Kurt's words. "Thank you," he said. "I like to take care of you. It's... nice."

Kurt's lips touched the back of Blaine's neck one more time before he pulled back, walking across the kitchen to choose a bottle of wine from the rack.

Blaine served up their dinner and set the plates on the table. He paused when he realised that Kurt was wearing his old Harvard hoodie. Blaine bit his lip as he let his gaze rake over Kurt's back which was facing him. He was wearing looser jeans, a pair that Blaine had come to love because even though they weren't the skin tight jeans that Kurt normally wore, they still made his ass look great and Blaine loved Kurt's ass.

The hoodie was big on Blaine, which is how he liked it, but it fit perfectly on Kurt. He looked snug inside of the grey material and Blaine's stomach flipped at the sight. He wasn't sure when he had developed a thing for Kurt wearing his clothes but it was definitely something he appreciated.

"Here we go," Kurt said, setting the two glasses of wine on the table.

Blaine snapped back to attention and sat down across from Kurt at the small table. They chatted about their day as they ate dinner and Blaine was happy to note that Isabelle had started advertising for a new assistant. With any luck, they would have another assistant and Kurt would be able to work less hours and they could plan their wedding together.

Blaine's foot rubbed gently against Kurt's under the table, glad to just have the contact with him while they ate.

"I have a surprise for you," Blaine said once they had finished dinner and were just sitting, drinking wine and enjoying each other's company.

"A surprise?" Kurt asked. "Colour me intrigued."

Blaine grinned and stood. Kurt cleared the table while Blaine cut one large slice of cheesecake and set it on a plate. He took two cake forks from the utensil drawer and refilled their wine glasses before sitting back down.

"Oh, raspberry caramel cheesecake!" Kurt exclaimed happily. "My favourite!"

Blaine beamed at him and handed Kurt a fork. He waited for Kurt to have the first bite before taking some for himself. He had to admit, Kurt had amazing taste when it came to cheesecakes; he couldn't get enough of this particular one. It was delicious.

"So, what's all this for?" Kurt wondered as he scooped off another piece of cake and popped it into his mouth.

"No particular reason," Blaine replied. "I just wanted to have a nice, home cooked meal with my fianc� before relaxing in front of the television together while hate watching Treme."

Kurt chuckled. "It sounds pretty good to me," he replied.

Blaine let Kurt finish off the cake while he drank some more of his wine. "You go set it up and I'll meet you on the couch in a minute."

"Okay," Kurt agreed.

Blaine cleared away their dessert plates and switched the dishwasher on. He put the cheesecake back into the refrigerator for later and switched off the kitchen light as he walked into the living room. He sat down next to Kurt on the couch, who had a large envelope in his hands.

"Blaine, what's this?" Kurt asked.

Blaine frowned before realising it was the Marc Jacobs envelope. "It's mail..." he said with a grin.

"Why am I getting mail from Marc Jacobs?" Kurt asked, turning to face Blaine as he slid his thumb underneath the seal to break it.

"Open it and find out!"

Kurt's face went from disbelief to shock and then settled on an expression that Blaine hadn't ever seen before.

"Dear Mister Hummel," Kurt started. "We thank you for your portfolio submission and are pleased to offer you a paid internship at Marc Jacobs. Please find enclosed a package of Marc Jacobs history and a comprehensive list of the things you will need to bring to orientation... Blaine, do you know how I have an internship – a paid internship – to Marc Jacobs when I've never applied? Did someone steal my portfolio? Was it Santana? Is this a late April Fools prank?" Kurt sounded panicked as he spoke, his hands shaking a little as he clutched the letter between them.

Blaine grabbed Kurt's hands between his own and instructed Kurt to focus on him. "It's not a prank," he said. "I submitted your portfolio a few months ago. Marc Jacobs really want you to work for them!"

Kurt froze in his grip and he turned to look at Blaine with another expression Blaine hadn't seen before. "You what?" he asked slowly.

"I submitted it for you," Blaine repeated. "It was a while ago, I had kind of forgotten about it. It was before we went to Paris. You were so stressed with Vogue and every time I asked you if you were going to submit your sketches, you just kept saying you weren't good enough so I wanted to do this for you. To prove that you are good enough. And see, they want you, Kurt!"

"Blaine," Kurt said, not looking at Blaine at all. "How could you do this?"

Blaine blinked. "Sorry?"

Kurt stood, letting the envelope fall from his lap, the contents spilling out onto the carpeted floor. "You submitted my portfolio? Without asking me?"

Blaine licked his lips and nodded, keeping his gaze on Kurt's face.

"Why on Earth would you think that it's okay to violate my privacy like that?" Kurt snapped. "Did I say you could take my sketches and submit them? Blaine, that... I just..." Kurt let out a frustrated scream and stormed from the room.

Blaine hastily followed him to the bedroom where Kurt was angrily rifling through drawers in their bedroom. "Kurt!" he exclaimed, worry clawing its way up his throat. "What are you doing?"

"How would you like it if I just handed in your resignation to the school, huh, Blaine?" Kurt asked. "And just told Cooper without your permission that you were going to go back and work at Anderson and Sons full time? You... You can't just. You just can't do things like this without my permission! This is my work and I might not have wanted to submit it to Marc Jacobs, Blaine! I thought you, as my fianc�, would respect me a little more than that."

Blaine blinked and a moment later, Kurt had stormed from the room, leaving Blaine standing alone in their bedroom, wondering how a simple act of what he thought was kindness had gone so wrong.

~*~