→ THEN.

Kurt is late. He's so incredibly late, and he already had to skip half of his skin-care routine and Rachel used all the hot water again and he's having a very bad hair day – and he should basically be at the Vogue offices already, briefing Isabelle about today's meetings.

Stupid alarm clock and stupid roommate who couldn't wake him up on time.

He grabs a slice of toast from the kitchen and is already halfway out the door, pulling on his coat with just one hand, when he remembers that he had run out of paper yesterday. He turns around, jogs back to his side of the apartment and grabs a random notebook from his desk, shoving it into his satchel without another look.

Isabelle would probably gladly provide him with paper, but Kurt has several half-empty notebooks left from high school, and he figured he should use them first. Saving paper and all that – and this way he can get rid of all those old notebooks without feeling bad about throwing away completely usable paper. And he can also get more room for his scarves.

He makes it to work eventually, apologizing profusely to Isabelle who just waves her hand with a smile and tells him that it's fine and that if he can dress that well when he's late for work, he should consider being late more often.

Kurt stops. He can feel a blush creeping up on his cheeks, but Isabelle only laughs and ushers him back to his desk.

"Take a breath, get yourself a cup of coffee from the break room, and then we can go through my schedule for today," she says with a wink. "And don't worry about being late. Just don't make it a habit."

Kurt gives her a grateful smile and slumps on his chair. Thank god Isabelle is his boss, and not one of those awful editors he has heard the other interns complain about. He takes a few deep breaths, makes sure his hair is still impeccable and then bends down to pull out the worn-out notebook from his satchel.

He flips it open, deciding to make sure that there aren't any embarrassing conversation between him and Mercedes left on the pages. Instead his eyes fall on a familiar red heart with the words "Blaine + Kurt" written inside it.

("Hey, what are you doing?"

"Nothing! Just, ah, daydreaming. Plotting weekend outfits.")

It feels like all the memories come rushing back, hitting him all at once – from Dalton, from McKinley, from the Lima Bean, from everywhere. The moments in Kurt's bedroom back in Lima, watching movies and sitting so close to each other that Blaine's feet were practically in his lap; the moments in Blaine's bedroom when his parents weren't at home, all that skin and heat and Blaine gasping when Kurt mouths at his skin. Blaine taking his hand, Blaine kissing him without a care in the world, Blaine bumping his shoulder to Kurt's with a playful smile, Blaine standing on a stage and performing like there's no tomorrow, Blaine being so proud and supportive, no matter what. Blaine with tears in his eyes, Blaine hunching his shoulders and looking so small, Blaine shutting down and Kurt being the only one who can get him to open up again. The first thought in Kurt's mind when anything happens being "I have to tell Blaine".

Kurt swallows, shutting his eyes. He has tried to move on, he really has. He has ignored Blaine's calls and texts (well, he has read them all, but he hasn't answered them), has tried to stay away from his Facebook and throw himself into his work, but all that so-called progress flies out of the window the moment he sees or hears Blaine's name. It still hurts, he's still upset, and it's still completely hopeless - but he still loves Blaine. Just as much as he did at Dalton or at McKinley. Just as much as he probably always has and always will.

Kurt takes another deep breath and keeps his eyes closed as he shuts the notebook. The red heart is hidden under the covers when he opens his eyes again, but he still knows that it's there, still bright and silly (a bit like Blaine, just the way Blaine is always there, in the back of his mind, no matter how hard he tries to shut him out).

Isabelle pokes her head into his small office space. "Are you ready to go through my schedule now? There's no rush, but I... Kurt?" Her cheery voice turns unsure, and she takes a step towards Kurt. "Is everything alright?"

Kurt blinks his eyes a few times, pushes the feelings to the back of his mind again, as far away from his everyday life as he can. It's not very far, but it'll do.

"Y-yeah." His voice breaks, and he clears his throat. "I'm fine, I just... Just lost in my thoughts, I suppose."

Isabelle tilts her head, her eyes bright and worried. "You sure?"

Kurt smiles at her. "Yes. I'm fine." He shoves the notebook back into his satchel. "I just... Do you have a notepad I could borrow?"

"Oh! Sure." Isabelle's eyes still look worried, but she gives him an encouraging smile, and Kurt smiles back, trying to forget everything about the red heart, about the doodle he made when he was young and silly and in love, about the boy that still holds his heart in his hands.

(A part of him already knows that he will never throw that notebook away. He can't. He just can't.)

————————————————————————————-

→ NOW.

"I can't wait to live in an apartment that has an actual walk-in closet," Kurt groans, taping shut another box of his clothes.

Blaine laughs from the other side of the room where he's packing away his books and sheet music. "Are you absolutely sure that our clothes are going to fit in that closet?"

"You saw it, Blaine," Kurt answers. "Ugh, all that space and light and... We can have an entire shelf for our bowties alone. Aren't you excited about that?"

A pair of arms wrap themselves around Kurt from behind, and Kurt leans into the touch with a grin. "I'm moving into our new apartment with you," Blaine murmurs into his ear and presses a quick kiss on Kurt's neck. "Into our big and spacious and bright apartment that has a walk-in closet and a lovely living room and enough space for my piano and your designs and two bedrooms for..." He pauses, tightening his hold on Kurt. "One for us, and one for..."

"I know, Blaine," Kurt laughs, ecstatic and breathless, seeing diapers and a cradle with his mind's eye. A bigger family. "I know all of that, so is there a point to all this?"

Blaine starts mouthing on his skin, sending shivers down Kurt's spine. "There is. There is definitely a point." His mouth moves to Kurt's earlobe, nibbling on it, tenderly and playfully, but Kurt knows that the playfulness could very easily turn into a full-blown heat and urgency to rip off each other's clothes.

"And... What exactly is that point?" he asks, unconsciously moving closer to Blaine.

Blaine's mouth stops abruptly. "I... I forgot it."

Kurt blinks his eyes open. "You forgot it?"

"I was distracted! You're distracting," Blaine exclaims, pressing another messy kiss on Kurt's neck. "It was probably something about how excited I am about anything that involves you and –"

Kurt giggles and disentangles himself from Blaine, turning to face him. "Okay, okay. It's okay. But we seriously need to get this packing done, so... No more distractions."

Blaine pouts at him, and Kurt huffs out a laugh.

"Blaine. Seriously." He leans in and gives his fiancé a peck on the lips. "There'll be time for distractions later..." he whispers against Blaine's skin.

Blaine grins and takes a step away from Kurt. "Alright, alright. Back to packing it is, then. I was actually wondering if you had any spare notebooks I could borrow? I have to write a list of all the comic books I need to get back from Sam before we move."

Kurt shakes his head in amusement. "Sure." He turns around and fishes out a worn-out notebook that he noticed earlier on one of the shelves of his closet, hidden behind his shirts. "Here, you can use this one."

Blaine takes the notebook from him. "Thanks." He gives Kurt a goofy smile and dances back to his books, making Kurt giggle again.

They work quietly for a while, Kurt humming a random tune under his breath as he folds his jeans. He can't wait to move into their new apartment. As much as this place means to him, to them – their first own apartment together, the cramped closets and the windows that only open when you push them in just the right angle, all the memories that they have made in here – he really is looking forward to more space, more light, more... everything. New rooms that are theirs and theirs alone.

"Um, Kurt?"

Blaine's voice breaks him from his thoughts, and Kurt turns around to look at him. Blaine is staring at the open notebook in his hands, looking a bit amused, his eyebrows scrunched and his mouth twitching like he's trying to suppress a smile.

"What now?" Kurt asks, taking a few steps towards Blaine. "Don't tell there are some embarrassing conversations between me and Mercedes hidden in there..."

Blaine shakes his head and turns the notebook around, lifting it up so Kurt can see the page he was staring at. "I think this is just you and not Mercedes?" he says with a slight lilt in his voice.

Kurt blinks. There is a large red heart drawn on the notebook page, an arrow going through it and the words "Blaine + Kurt" written inside it with obvious care. Kurt can feel his cheeks turn bright red.

"When did you draw this?" Blaine asks, grinning a little.

Kurt ducks his head. "A... A few days before the Gap attack."

"... Oh."

"I was so sure that you were going to sing to me," Kurt starts, laughing a little, "and I basically started acting like a teenage girl with a crush, and apparently my inner teenage girl wanted to draw silly little hearts around our names and find out what our last names would sound like together and –"

Blaine crosses the distance between them, lifts Kurt's chin up with his finger and presses a sweet, lingering kiss on his lips. "I think it's adorable. I think you're adorable." He looks down at the notebook still in his hands and furrows his brows. "And I'm sorry I was such an idiot back then."

Kurt laughs and wraps his arms around Blaine. "Let's face it, you're still kind of an idiot," he teases, glad that Blaine doesn't think he was creepy when they were younger and not yet together.

Blaine shrugs with a smile. "I can't help it."

"You're my idiot, though," Kurt adds, kissing Blaine's nose. "Always have been and always will be."

"I think I like that," Blaine whispers, his voice low in a way that makes heat pool in Kurt's stomach. "What happened to getting all this packing done?"

"Packing can wait," Kurt grins and starts kissing his way down Blaine's neck, paying special attention to the curve of his jaw.

Blaine gasps, his breathing heavier already. "We... We should get this framed."

Kurt stops sucking on Blaine's neck. "What?"

"We should get this heart framed. It's cute," Blaine explains, shifting restlessly against Kurt, obviously trying to get him to continue what he was doing a few second ago.

"Blaine Devon Anderson, we are not framing a silly little doodle I made when I was in high school and hopelessly in love with my best friend."

"But it all worked out in the end, didn't it?" Blaine tries, his voice turning a little ridiculous like it always does when he's teasing Kurt. "And like I said, it's cute. I think it would look really great on our new kitchen wall where everyone could see it."

Kurt mock-gasps and reaches for the notebook, but Blaine is prepared for it and dodges his hands effortlessly. "Blaine..." Kurt warns, narrowing his eyes. It doesn't probably look that threatening, what with the silly smile still curling the corners of his lips upwards.

"You're going to have to catch me," Blaine sing-songs, dancing away from Kurt and waving the notebook in front of him.

"Idiot," Kurt murmurs – and then he suddenly pounces on Blaine, tackling him to their bed and grabbing at his sides, his fingers immediately starting to move quickly over the spots that he knows are the most ticklish.

"Kurt!" Blaine shrieks, kicking his feet and squirming underneath him. His voice is breathless and giggly, and he barely manages to get the words out between the laughter. "S-stop that, that's not f-fair!"

Kurt stops his hands, still straddling Blaine's waist and looking down at him with a smirk. "Give me the notebook." He moves his fingers slowly down Blaine's sides as a warning.

Blaine huffs, extending the hand that's still holding on to the notebook. "Fine, fine. You win. Here, take it. I was just teasing you."

Kurt leans down to kiss Blaine's smile as he takes the notebook. "I know. But I still win." He throws the notebook over his shoulder, hearing the soft thud it makes as it hits the floor, but he's already more focused on Blaine's lips, on the way Blaine is breathing heavily under him and looking so goddamn beautiful, his cheeks flushed and his hair a mess.

"You can win as often as you want to if it means this," Blaine mumbles against his lips, straining his neck to get even closer to him. "Can it please be distraction time already?" he whines, shifting his hips under Kurt's legs.

Kurt grins. "Like I said: packing can wait." He sucks Blaine's lower lip into his mouth and rolls his hips down, swallowing the moan that makes its way through Blaine's lips at the movement.

He forgot one important word from that heart doodle all those years ago, one little addition that he knows to be true:

Blaine + Kurt = Eternity.