"I never want to leave," Kurt was saying as he and Blaine walked hand in hand down the Champ de Mars in Paris, France toward the Eiffel Tower. "It's absolutely wonderful."

"I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get you here," Blaine replied. "I wanted to bring you here for your twenty first birthday last year. But I know how much you wanted to visit Mercedes in California so I had to postpone."

"Well, it's almost my twenty second," Kurt shrugged. "So I guess this can be an early birthday present. It's so…it's beautiful."

Blaine smiled and they fell silent, their feet crunching the gravel on their path as they neared closer to the tower itself. The sun had set on the city of love, the air around them beginning to get just a touch chillier and Blaine stopped them, turning to Kurt so he could button up his boyfriend's coat.

"It gets a bit cold at night," Blaine explained as he slid the buttons through their holes, "even in early summer."

"Yeah," Kurt breathed, his cheeks going red not only from the cold but Blaine's proximity to him. Their noses were nearly touching and Kurt shuddered when Blaine lifted his hand to stroke Kurt's pale neck. Kurt's eyes fell shut when Blaine cupped his cheek with a gentle hand and leaned in for a sweet, slow kiss. They'd been together for so long, for so many years, and even now, Blaine's touch and Blaine's lips never failed to make him shiver just a tiny bit.

When Blaine pulled away from him, Kurt's eyes darted to the side because the Eiffel Tower was lighting up the night sky, flashing bulbs going off all over the structure.

"It looks like it's glittering," Kurt whispered. "It's amazing."

"Yeah," Blaine agreed, though his eyes were locked on Kurt's entranced face rather than the flashing lights, "it really is." He slid his arm around Kurt's waist, pulling him closer into his warmth and began walking toward the tower once more, forcing Kurt along with him.

Other lovers walked the paths as well, some spellbound by the sight of the tower that seemed to sparkle, others ignoring everything around them as their lips met in kisses while they stood under the trees. It was a remarkable atmosphere, one Blaine had been immersed into before but never had it felt like this. He'd never had someone to walk hand in hand with down the Champ de Mars. He'd never had a boyfriend to sit on bench in a park in the middle of this city. He'd never had someone to lie next to on the grass, someone he could read to or someone who would read to him as he strummed his guitar on a warm, lazy day in Paris,. They'd been here for only three days and already the trip was proving to be the best one yet.

"Can we get some?" Kurt asked, pointing to a small gelato stand.

"After we stand underneath," Blaine said as he continued to pull Kurt along with him, making their way underneath the glittering tower. "Here," Blaine gestured to a certain spot on the ground. "Now look up."

Kurt did, looking directly up through the center of the Eiffel Tower. The lights were still flashing and though you couldn't see them as well as you could if you were standing a bit farther away, it was still mesmerizing and it was still one of those experiences he'd always hoped to have. He'd never been happier to have Blaine beside him to show him something so lovely.

When he looked back down, Blaine was on one knee, a tiny velvet box in his hand.

Oh my god.

Oh my god.

Was this…was this really happening?

Kurt's heart began to race and he was pretty sure he stopped breathing for a couple of seconds. He tried to speak, but ha, no, his throat was not working right now because ohmygod, Blaine was on one knee and they were standing under the Eiffel Tower in Paris freaking France and this was insanely surreal and Kurt could not handle how perfect this moment already was.

And then Blaine started speaking.

"When we were sixteen, I fell in love with you," he began. "I didn't even really know what love meant, not then. I just knew that I wanted to spend every second I possibly could with you. I wanted to walk you to class and I wanted to hold your hand in the halls and I wanted to talk to you on the phone every night until we fell asleep. When I was seventeen, I gave you a promise ring."

At those words, Blaine reached out to take Kurt's left hand in his and brushed his thumb over the promise ring in question.

"I promised that I'd always love you and that I'd always be faithful to you."

He slid the ring off of Kurt's finger and tucked it away into his pocket.

"When we were seventeen, we had quite a few rough patches but we always got through them and we always got through them together. And I fell even more in love with you," Blaine told Kurt with a dazzling smile. "When I turned eighteen, I finally realized what love was…it was you. It was always you. I wanted to make you my world and I wanted to be your everything. I wanted us to fight and I wanted us to make up and I wanted us to smile at each other when we thought no one was looking. I wanted live in your heart because you were already so, so much in mine."

Tears were already streaming down Kurt's face at this point and Blaine still had a gentle grip on his left hand.

"The day before we graduated high school, I asked your father for permission to marry you one day. I've had that permission for four years now. So I'm making good on that promise. I want to marry you, Kurt Hummel. I want to love you for as long as this universe will grant me life and I want to walk you around Paris and I want to go home and call all of our friends and tell them you're my fiancé. I want to sing you silly songs and I want to watch you plan our wedding because there is no one on the face of this earth that is more perfect for me than you. There is no one who will ever hold my heart with the same loving, tender hands as you do. I found you when I was sixteen and I never want to let you go."

With the hand that wasn't holding Kurt's, Blaine snapped open the little velvet box to reveal a perfect silver band, a slight swirl on the top that was embedded with five diamonds, one snug against the other.

Kurt gasped at the sight because, good lord, look at that gorgeous piece of jewelry, and then his teary eyes returned to Blaine's.

"This trip wasn't just an early birthday present. I came here with this intention above all others. So the only thing I need now is your answer," Blaine said softly. "Kurt…will you marry me?"

And then tears began to pour down Kurt's flushed cheeks like a water fall and he gave the slightest, shaky nod of his head.

"Y-yes," he breathed. "Of course I'll marry you."

Blaine's smile widened even more as he plucked the ring out of its box with one hand, dropping the little velvet case in the pocket of his coat. He slid the band onto the finger that Kurt's promise ring had only just vacated and then he pulled Kurt's hand to his lips and Blaine kissed his knuckles.

Kurt's breathing was coming in happy gasps and he tugged Blaine up to him and pressed a fierce kiss to his fiancé's (fiancé!) lips, dry and warm and oh so soft beneath his own. He framed Blaine's scruffy cheeks and jaw in his shaking hands as Blaine wound his arms around Kurt's thin frame, flat chests and stomachs heaving against one another through their coats. Kurt could vaguely hear a few strangers clapping and cheering around them. Even if no one understood what Blaine had said, the action in itself was universal and spoke so many volumes.

"I love you," Blaine exhaled against Kurt's lips. He planted tiny kisses all over Kurt's face and Kurt laughed breathlessly. "I love you, I love you."

"I love you too, Blaine, I've always loved you," Kurt's replied, emotion stuck in his throat. "I can't believe you did this."

"I can't believe I was so cliché," Blaine laughed as he pressed their foreheads together. "So cliché."

"If this is what cliché gets me, you can keep it up," Kurt grinned, finally bringing his hand up to gaze at his new ring. "It's stunning."

"I thought you'd like it," Blaine said, finally pulling away from Kurt slightly and sliding their hands together as they turned to head back out from under the tower. "It is Dior, after all."

Kurt's head whipped around to stare, wide-eyed and shocked at Blaine and he almost fell down because Blaine kept walking and their hands were still linked. Instead, he stumbled just a bit but skipped back to his fiancé's side.

"I'm sorry," Kurt said. "Did you just say Dior?"

"Maybe," Blaine teased, leading them over to the gelato stand Kurt had been admiring earlier. "One scoop or two?"

Kurt's jaw dropped open and he had to force himself to snap in shut, swallowing audibly.

"I thought you wanted some gelato?" Blaine asked with a slight quirk of his eyebrow. "Did you change your mind?"

"N-no."

"Good," Blaine stated, turning back to look at the small menu. "Because if you changed your mind about that, you could always change your mind about other things."

"What is it with you and metaphors?" Kurt had to ask.

"Metaphors are important," Blaine shrugged. "They can tell you a lot about a person."

"Yes, because a fern speaks so highly about us."

"Don't you start on Herman again."

"I only mention him because it seems like he's the one that started the entire metaphor obsession you seem to have developed," Kurt pointed out.

"We've been good to Herman," Blaine defended.

"Blaine, we're on Herman the Second."

"I didn't mean to forget about him when we went home that one summer!"

"You neglected our love," Kurt said, patting Blaine on the arm. "But it's okay. This ring makes up for that."

"I miss Herman," Blaine pouted.

"I got you another fern," Kurt reminded him. "He looks exactly the same."

"I know," Blaine nodded. "But Herman the First was there for a lot of things."

Kurt leaned over and pressed a soft, comforting kiss to Blaine's hair. Kurt had grown slightly (though not much) within the past four years. Blaine had not. It was often a point of hilarity between Kurt and their friends.

"Well, Herman the Second gets to live to see our engagement. And probably our wedding. We'll make new memories with him."

Blaine tilted his head up to look at Kurt with hopeful, hazel eyes. "Yeah. You're right."

Kurt kissed Blaine's pleased, soft lips and smiled. "And to answer your previous question, I would like only one scoop."

Blaine laughed, a beautiful sound in the cool, night air of Paris and placed his hand on the small of Kurt's back. They'd been together for so long; one might find it difficult to grasp the concept of even more memories to be made in their lives.

But they were Kurt and Blaine.

And they were just like that.

End.