With white sand stretching as far as the eye could see and the gentle, rhythmic crashes of the ocean, the beach was beautiful and serene under the velvety sky scattered with countless stars like handfuls of diamond dust that had been tossed to the heavens. Blaine loved coming to the beach at night when there were no shouting sunbathers and no blazing sun bouncing off the blindingly white sand and dazzling ocean, when there was no need to wince when walking barefoot as the sand wasn't scorching hot, but cool and soft. At night the beach was quiet and peaceful, the warm air with its cool breeze carrying the scent of salt gently caressing his face as he looked out to sea. Small lights on top of buoys winked lazily at him from atop the blackness of the ocean and the silvery moonlight gilded the ruffled surface of the water and the edges of small waves breaking against some rocks further out to sea.

He let out a small, happy sigh as he swung his and Kurt's clasped hands between them and tilted his head to look over at the man whom he had promised to love for the rest of his days, the man he would marry one day.

Kurt flashed a soft smile at him, the moonlight catching in his hair and along curves of his face, turning him into a study in black and white. He looked so beautiful that it made Blaine's heart squeeze. There was no one else Blaine would rather wake up next to every day.

"I wish it were possible for me to get as much time off as this more often," Kurt said wistfully. "I love my show, but it sucks only getting decent vacation time in early summer and over Christmas."

Blaine hummed in agreement; he didn't like sometimes going weeks without ever seeing Kurt because he was out of town and Kurt was too busy taping shows to come visit him, but he never allowed himself to become too hurt or lonely about it with the thought of how successful Kurt was always managing to stop him from slipping and causing tension between them. They'd had enough troubles between them to last a lifetime as far as he was concerned.

Sure, they still had their fair share of little, petty arguments that most couples had - Rachel had marvelled over how little they fought and how quickly they made up after they did, but he and Kurt thought it was too much and too long. They knew they couldn't never argue, but any time an argument threatened to become more than just a few frustrated eye rolls, some grumbling under their breaths, and a few minutes of shouting, the memory of the time they had almost split up and had both ended up in Ohio a sobbing, shattered mess swam to the forefront of their minds and they were able to settle things quickly and amicably after that.

Blaine smiled fondly as Kurt daintily avoided stepping on a small pile of seaweed. "It could be worse and at least you can fly out and see me on weekends sometimes." His smile widened and became more mischievous as he remembered a particularly passionate night when Kurt had surprised him in Chicago a few weeks ago.

Kurt grinned and shook his head at him, knowing what was on his mind.

"At least I won't be touring again for a while after this," Blaine continued as they drifted onto the firm, damp sand near the water's edge where the stronger waves spilled over their bare feet and they left footprints behind them in a wavering line.

"Have you decided which of those two guys is going to produce your album yet?"

"Charlie and I are going to meet with them both once more when I'm back in New York and we'll make the final decision after that, but I'm leaning more towards one than the other; I prefer his style and I know he'll give me more freedom as well as offering some good ideas. I've heard good things about him from those who have worked with him in the past," Blaine said. He rubbed his jaw with his free hand musingly. "I'm glad I'm using a new producer for this album, it will have a different sound and I'd hate to just churn out albums that sound similar all the time, people will bore of me."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "As if they would; you're the loveable, dapper, pretty-boy of the music industry," he reminded him lightly. He bumped his shoulder against Blaine's.

Blaine nudged Kurt's hip with his own. "It's working out for the best in all ways anyway: I get to work with someone new and I get to stay in New York to do so." He stopped walking and dropped Kurt's hand to wrap his arm around his boyfriend's waist and tug him closer.  "Which means," he leant in closer until their lips were only an inch or two apart, "I get to see you every day and every night for months - no touring, no making do with Skype and phone calls, just us together every day." He closed the space between them and placed a lingering kiss on Kurt's lips.

Kurt was smiling when they parted, still remaining close enough that their breaths intermingled between them. "You still thinking about last night?" he inquired in a soft voice, more certainty than curiosity in his tone.

Blaine's smile stretched wider. "Can't get it out of my head," he replied. He slipped one of his hands from Kurt's lower back and reached for Kurt's hand where it rested on his shoulder, bringing it down to chest height and linking their fingers together. In unison they both lowered their gazes to their entwined hands where Kurt's pale skin was almost glowing in the silvery moonlight which also caused their identical rings to gleam. A pleasant, fluttering warmth filled Blaine's stomach when Kurt rubbed his thumb across Blaine's ring.

As he lifted his gaze to Kurt's face to see his boyfriend's eyes lowered as he continued to look at their linked hands - the lashes fanned against his cheeks and his expression soft - the memory of last night filled his head once more...

Kurt's laugh filled the hotel room, sounding like music to Blaine's ears, music far sweeter and wondrous than any musical instrument could produce. Blaine rolled onto his back, holding Kurt in his arms so he was pulled with him and ended up hovering over him, their bodies pressed together and legs tangled. He reached up and brushed a lock of hair that had escaped Kurt's carefully styled coif. The look in Kurt's blue eyes made him feel like he was stripped naked of everything and his soul was bared to the taller man; nobody could ever see him like Kurt did, nobody else would ever know, understand, and love absolutely everything about him from his difficult past that still haunted him to his little ticks and habits.

Kurt sighed happily and dropped his head down so his forehead rested against Blaine's shoulder. "I love you," he said against his collarbone. He nudged the neck of Blaine's t-shirt aside with his nose and pressed a soft kiss to the skin near his shoulder.

Turning his head to the side, Blaine kissed Kurt's temple. "Love you, too."

Kurt lifted his head and rested his chin on Blaine's chest. "I had such a good time today," he said, gazing up at Blaine.

Blaine smiled and opened his mouth to respond but before he got the chance to say anything, Kurt spoke again.

"I have something for you."

Curiosity sparking through him, Blaine tilted his head a little to one side and watched as Kurt rolled off him. "I'll just be a second," Kurt told him, dropping to his knees by his suitcase and unzipping an inner pocket. He shot a quick look back over his shoulder at where Blaine had propped himself up on his elbows as he pulled something out the pocket before standing up again and re-joining Blaine on the bed.

Sitting up and crossing his legs in front of him, Blaine peered curiously down at Kurt's hand as his boyfriend sat opposite him, but whatever he had fetched from his suitcase was so small that it was hidden from view.

Kurt met his gaze and Blaine felt his heart begin to pound rapidly. "I was going to wait and write a speech about how much you mean to me and have a big romantic evening with dinner and everything, but now felt like the right moment." He shifted closer until their knees were pressed together and Blaine swallowed as his mind ran through all the possibilities of what Kurt was about to do.

"Remember the day after you asked me to move in with you when you told me that you had originally wanted to do a grand romantic gesture to ask me, but realised that everything was perfect already and all you had to do was ask?"

Blaine nodded, his mouth quirking up into a smile as he remembered that night with the snow, the glittering Eiffel Tower, and the surge of happiness and love he'd felt when Kurt had said yes and thrown himself into his arms with a passionate kiss.

Kurt rested his hands on his lap and glanced briefly down at them before returning his gaze to Blaine's face. "This is one of those moments for me," he said softly. "A hotel room isn't really as romantic a setting as the Eiffel Tower," his gaze ran briefly around the room, "but after today and just being here with you now, it feels like the right time. I'm so happy right now and so in love with you," he said, his voice choking up a little with emotion. "So," he continued, taking Blaine's hand and pressing something small, square, and hard into it, "I want to give you this." He curled Blaine's fingers around the object. "Open it," he whispered.

Dropping his gaze to look at his hands, Blaine's heart skipped a beat and his breath froze in his throat when he saw the small box. He opened it with trembling fingers and stared speechlessly at the silver ring nestled inside.

"It's a promise ring," Kurt explained after several seconds of silence had gone by where Blaine stared mutely at the open box cradled in his hand. "Something you'll be able to wear all the time and look at when we're apart and know how much I love you and remember all the promises I've made to you."

Blaine lightly skimmed over the silver band with two of his fingers. "What are you promising?" he asked as he looked up at Kurt again.

Kurt took hold of his free hand and gazed into his eyes with an intensity that made bursts of pleasure and love sing through his veins. "I promise to always love you, to always be your best friend, to try and resolve any stupid fights we have before they last longer than a day, to support you through the good days and the bad, to understand that there will be times when you're away on tour and I can't make it out to see you, to never let a day go by without spending time with you no matter how busy we both are, to do something ridiculously romantic for you at least twice a year..." He paused then and cupped Blaine's face with his free hand, softly caressing his cheekbone with his thumb. "And I promise to marry you some day because there is no one else I want to spend the rest of my life with." He smiled affectionately at Blaine, his eyes glossy with tears.

Blaine stared at him for a second, before darting forward and pressing their lips together, putting everything he felt into the kiss: love, overwhelming happiness, and his confirmation that he was promising all the same things.

"I love you, Kurt," Blaine breathed against his boyfriend's mouth. "You have my heart for life."

Kurt kissed him again, his hand still cradling Blaine's face as their mouths moved together in a long, slow kiss.

When they finally parted, Kurt moved back and removed the ring from its box before sliding it onto Blaine's finger. He smiled radiantly down at Blaine's hand as he stroked his thumb over the silver band on his finger.

"I'll get you a matching one," Blaine said as he watched Kurt trail his fingers over his hand and ring. "I'm promising all the same things after all."

Kurt stopped caressing his hand and smiled at him a little sheepishly. "I already have another one for me," he admitted. "Rachel was with me when I was choosing the ring from my shortlist and she practically forced me to get a second one for myself, saying that she knew you would want to buy it for me anyway."

Smiling at Rachel's antics, Blaine said, "Well, she was right." He glanced briefly over at Kurt's suitcase. "Where's your one? Do you have it with you?"

Nodding, Kurt started to get up. "Yeah, it's in the top inside pocket."

Blaine placed a hand on Kurt's shoulder to stop him getting up. "Stay there, I want to get it."

He scrambled off the bed, knelt down by the case, unzipped the pocket, and fumbled around inside it until his fingers enclosed around the box. Pulling it out, he let the lid of the case fall shut with a soft thump as he leapt back onto the bed again where he knelt in front of Kurt and held the open box out towards him.

"Kurt Hummel, will you promise to marry me someday?" he asked in a quiet and serious voice.

"I hope that's not how you plan on proposing to me," he said with a laugh. "You sound like you're asking me if I want to know how terrible my new outfit looked on TV. And I already promised to marry you, dork."

Blaine raised an eyebrow at him. "Am I the one that's going to propose, then?"

"If I don't do it, then yes," Kurt replied brightly.

Blaine removed the ring from the box. "Well, until that moment comes here are all my promises and love to you," he said, sliding the ring onto Kurt's finger.

Kurt smiled down at it and linked their hands together again. They were both quiet for a moment as they admired their joined hands with the matching rings, then Blaine lifted their hands and held them up in the space between them level with their hearts and leant in to kiss the man he would spend the rest of his life with...

Kurt lifted their joined hands and kissed Blaine's knuckles. "Rachel freaked out when she found out I was looking at rings," he said, his thumb still skimming over the metal band on Blaine's finger. "She immediately jumped to conclusions and started trying to plan everything from how long a speech I should give before popping the big question to what sort of food we should serve at the reception."

Blaine chuckled as Kurt shook his head fondly at his friend's antics. Rachel wasn't the only one who had been jumping to conclusions about their relationship lately: Ethan had thought Kurt had proposed a few weeks ago in Chicago when he learned that Kurt had flown in for a surprise visit. Blaine could see why their friends felt that way: with the exception of a couple of horrible bumps in the road thanks to George, he and Kurt had been in a solid relationship for almost a year and had been living together for almost six months of that. Despite all of this, he and Kurt both felt it was still a little early to get engaged, they could definitely see marriage in their future - hence, the promise rings - but they didn't want to rush into one of the most important moments of their lives.

"We should give Rachel's number to Cooper," Blaine said, remembering his older brother's enthusiasm when he heard about Kurt.

Kurt let their hands fall down. "Oh no, don't tell me he's going to be embarrassingly overinvolved tomorrow?" he asked in dismay. "I don't know if I can handle having another Rachel in my life."

"He's not like Rachel, but he has always been extremely interested in my love life. I think he's trying to make up for how our parents treat me, he's certainly been more of a parent to me than they have." Blaine gazed out over the dark ocean, his eyes distant as memories of his brother enveloped him. "He always came to as many of my music performances at school that he could, including most of my Warbler competitions, along with many of my shows I played in small clubs around New York. He was there at all my early shows after I was signed and has attended as many of my shows through the years as he could make it to.

"When he left for college he was more upset at leaving me than he was at leaving our parents, and that's with him being the much favoured child. He called me a lot more than he really needed to just to check that I was ok and how my music was coming along. He encouraged me to follow my dream of studying music." He smiled and turned to face Kurt again to find his boyfriend watching him with a soft smile. "Cooper's great, I'm sure you'll like him."

"I'm sure I will," Kurt replied. He paused. "As long as he doesn't ask questions about private matters like Rachel sometimes does, we should get along just fine."

"I'll tell him to behave himself," Blaine promised, casually letting go of Kurt's hand.

Kurt noticed his glance at the ocean and realised what he was about to do. "Blaine Anderson, don't you dare!"

Laughing, Blaine darted away from him and ran into the ocean where waves washed over his feet and swirled around his ankles. He kicked his foot up out of the water so a fine spray splashed over Kurt, causing his boyfriend to shriek and jump away.

"Blaine!" he protested, his light laugh and wide smile making his complaints futile. "Stop it, you'll ruin my outfit!"

Blaine just shook his head at him and laughed at the adorable little pout on his boyfriend's face. He looked away, grinning, planning to kick another spray of water over him when something caught his eye. His smile widened as he bent to scoop up the small clump of seaweed floating nearby.

Kurt's eyes widened and he began to back away, his hands raised in front of him in surrender. "Blaine..." he whined.

Grinning mischievously, Blaine held the seaweed higher and shook it teasingly in Kurt's direction.

Kurt took another step backwards, his eyes fixed on the seaweed in Blaine's hands which was dripping a gentle stream of salt water. With a laugh, Blaine ran out of the ocean towards his boyfriend, chasing after him with the clump of seaweed in his hand as Kurt shrieked and ran away from him, ducking and jumping to the side to try and avoid the water Blaine was flinging at him off the seaweed.

"Stop," Kurt gasped after a moment and Blaine skidded to a halt a few feet away from him, breathless from running and laughing.

Smiling innocently at him, Blaine lowered the hand that was holding the seaweed. "I'll stop," he promised him, "if-" He paused dramatically and Kurt raised an eyebrow, trying to look poised but losing his composure slightly as the corners of his mouth twitched with a smile. "If you give me a kiss," Blaine finished.

"That's an awfully high price you're asking," Kurt remarked, taking a cautious step towards Blaine. He pretended to consider it for a moment. "Just for you," he sighed in resignation. He closed the final space between them and pecked Blaine lightly on the lips. "There's your kiss, so ditch the seaweed."

Narrowing his eyes at his boyfriend, Blaine tossed the seaweed back in the ocean, hearing a small splash as it landed, and leapt towards Kurt, grabbing him around the waist from behind.

"Blaine!" Kurt protested with a laugh as Blaine spun him around in his arms and pulled him closer. His laughter soon died off as Blaine pressed their lips together, kissing Kurt until he was breathless and clutching at the shorter man. Kurt sighed as Blaine smoothed his tongue over his bottom lip before slipping it inside his mouth.

"You're evil," Kurt breathed as Blaine began pressing kisses to his jawline.

Blaine smiled against Kurt's skin. "You love me for it."

"Unfortunately," Kurt murmured with a soft groan as Blaine sucked lightly at the skin below his ear. He whined quietly as Blaine began pressing feather-light kisses along the underside of his jaw. He grabbed Blaine's chin and brought his mouth back up to his own. "Quit being such a tease."

Smirking at how easy Kurt was to tease, Blaine returned his kisses, heated pleasure swirling through his belly as they became more and more passionate.

When Kurt went to tug him down onto the sand, he pulled his mouth away from Kurt's. "Isn't sand bad for your clothes?" he asked between pants for air.

A mischievous grin flitted across Kurt's face. "Don't' care," he announced, pulling Blaine down with him by the front of his shirt and crashing their lips together again.

"That's him over there, the one standing by the bench." Blaine nodded at a tall, dark-haired man wearing a dark grey t-shirt and sunglasses.

Kurt couldn't help but comment on the height difference. "You clearly didn't get the same height genes as he did."

Scowling, Blaine playfully smacked his boyfriend's arm. "I thought you liked that I was shorter than you? In fact, I distinctly remember you saying something about loving the way my face nuzzles into the side of your neck when we hug - several times," Blaine said with a smug smirk.

"Yes, sweetie," Kurt said with mock exasperation as he patted Blaine on the arm. "I also like putting the cookies I bake on a high shelf and watching you try and reach them." His face split into a wide smile at the many memories of seeing a pouting Blaine struggling to reach the top shelves of the kitchen cupboards.

Blaine, however, didn't look so happy. "That's cruel when you do that. I almost broke a leg once!"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "You did not."

"I did!" Blaine argued. "I fell when I was trying to grab those orange cookies you made!"

"Because you were using one of the breakfast bar stools to reach them," Kurt reminded him with a laugh.

"Which I wouldn't have needed to do if you weren't-" But Blaine was tackled in a hug before he could finish his sentence.

"If it isn't my favourite brother!" Cooper exclaimed as he freed Blaine from his tight embrace and tried to ruffle his brother's hair, pulling a face when he saw how much gel Blaine was wearing.

Tugging at the hem of his shirt to straighten it, Blaine said, "I'm your only brother, Coop."

Cooper quickly examined the hand that had been on Blaine's hair. "Doesn't stop you from being my favourite," he replied, unfazed. He dropped his hand back to his side, apparently deciding it was free from gel. "And you must be the famous Kurt!" he said when his gaze shifted from Blaine to the man at his side. He pulled Kurt into a hug, too. "Famous for being the one my brother always gushes about whenever I speak to him."

Kurt returned Cooper's hug, years of being a talk show host making him good at coping with this much enthusiasm. He glanced over Cooper's shoulder at Blaine with a smile and was amused to see a light blush on his boyfriend's face, though he was smiling fondly as his brother and boyfriend hugged.

"It's great to finally meet you," Kurt said sincerely when he stepped back from Cooper.

Cooper nodded. "Likewise. I'm still annoyed I had to cancel my trip to New York in March; trust a big case to start up when I plan to come visit you guys." He rolled his eyes as he turned to grin at Kurt. "So, Kurt, I've heard Blaine's version of how you two met and how it was love at first sight and you were perfect and he'd been looking for you forever or whatever other sappy stuff he was saying - I sort of switched off after the second ‘he's just everything, Cooper'," Cooper imitated Blaine's voice and Blaine scowled at him, "but I want to hear how someone as sophisticated as you fell for my dorky brother."

As Kurt described his version of the day he and Blaine met he took in the similarities and differences between Blaine and his older brother. They had the same dark hair, though while Blaine's was curly when it wasn't slicked down with gel, Cooper's was straight, and they also had the same skin tone. Cooper's eyes were a startlingly bright blue, similar to that of his father but without any of the icy coldness. Cooper also had more of his father's build: tall and slim, whereas Blaine was shorter like his mother. As Cooper laughed at something he said and reached out to sling an arm around Blaine's shoulders and pull him against his side, Kurt smiled fondly. Blaine had told him how Cooper was the only one who accepted him and didn't treat him any differently after he came out, and how if it hadn't been for Cooper he probably wouldn't have pursued music as his career and wouldn't be where he is today.

"Aww, well isn't that just the cutest love story?" Cooper beamed at them as Blaine shuffled back to Kurt's side again.

"Speaking of love stories," Blaine said as he looked up at his brother, "how's Lisa?"

Cooper's smile widened and his eyes lit up. "She's great!" he replied enthusiastically. "We've been living together for a while now and I think-" his smile widened even further until his eyes were crinkled at the corners just like Blaine's did when he smiled like that. "I think she may be the one."

"That's great, Coop! I'm so happy for you!" Blaine told him, swinging his and Kurt's joined hands in his delight.

"Yeah, she-" Cooper broke off, his eyes on Kurt and Blaine's linked hands. He suddenly grabbed Kurt's hand, tugging it from Blaine's grasp. "Is that a ring?" he demanded, his wide eyes taking in the silver band on Kurt's finger.

Kurt smiled at the ring. "Yeah, Blaine-"

"You got engaged without telling me you were proposing?!" Cooper cut across him, sounding aghast as he stared at his brother.

Blaine shook his head at him. "No, it's not-"

"Oh." Cooper had suddenly realised which hand the ring was on. "Oh, it's not- You're not- Ok." He let go of Kurt's hand. "But you gave him the ring?" he asked Blaine.

Nodding, Blaine held up his own hand to show Cooper the matching ring he was wearing. "They're promise rings," he explained. "We exchanged them last night."

Cooper glanced between them for a moment. "Aren't you two just adorable?"

Kurt lifted his shoulders in a little half-shrug while Blaine ducked his head, a light blush on his cheeks and with a small smile that Kurt couldn't resist leaning down and kissing.

Cooper watched them with an affectionate smile. "I don't think I've ever seen you this happy before, Blaine, not even when you got your record deal." He grabbed Kurt's shoulders and pulled him in for another hug. "Thank you for making him so happy," he said in a voice slightly choked with emotion. "After seeing him so miserable for all those years, it means so much to me that he's happy and got someone like you in his life."

Kurt couldn't find the words to respond to that, so he just returned Cooper's embrace and smiled at the older man when he let go.

"Let's go get some coffee," Cooper said, emotional moment over, as he turned to head down the street to the café just behind them.

Over coffee they discussed their respective careers, life in both New York and Los Angeles, and friends they shared. They were discussing Blaine working towards writing a new album when Cooper mentioned someone both Kurt and Blaine would rather not hear of again.

"So, who is going to drum for you since you no longer have that George asshole?"

Kurt tensed and anger fizzled through him at the mention of the man who had tried to tear apart his and Blaine's relationship.

Blaine was also looking strained at the new topic of conversation. "Kurt's step-brother Finn has been doing a fair bit of drumming for me since December and whenever he's been busy I've had another guy who has drummed for some other bands and artists drum for me." He shrugged and fidgeted absently with the corner of a paper napkin. "Once I'm closer to the stage where I need a drummer I'll talk to Finn and the other guy and see how their schedules are and go from there."

Cooper nodded contemplatively and took a sip of his coffee. "You know, I wanted to come out to New York and beat that little shit George to a pulp when I found out what he did, but Blaine took the high road and told me not to and that he just wanted to put it behind him." He scowled down at his coffee. "I never liked that George; he always seemed false and smarmy."

Kurt's jaw tightened as he remembered everything he and Blaine had gone through thanks to George. Thankfully, they hadn't seen him since the day they had confronted him in a coffee shop, much to Kurt's relief; he had worried for a while afterwards that George would seek revenge of some form or continue to send fake stories about himself or Blaine to the press.

"You haven't heard from him again, have you?" Cooper asked, his eyes flicking between Kurt and Blaine where they sat next to each other across the table from him.

Blaine shook his head. "No, thankfully. If I ever see him again it will be too soon."

Cooper nodded stiffly and shifted in his chair, looking a little uncomfortable. He opened his mouth, hesitated, and then said, "Speaking of assholes, have you heard from the parents since-?" He broke off, looking both uncomfortable and a little angry.

"Since the day they told me they wished I had never been born?" Blaine finished darkly. "No, and I'd rather it stayed that way. They aren't going to change their behaviour or their views and I don't know if I could accept their apologies if they did try to reconcile with me."

Seeing the pain that flickered beneath the anger in his boyfriend's eyes, Kurt took hold of the hand that Blaine was resting in his lap, linking their fingers together and stroking his knuckles soothingly.

Cooper's jaw was clenched as he watched his brother glare down at his coffee. "I don't know if I could speak to them again either," he admitted. "I called them as soon as I got off the phone with you after you told me what had happened and mom was being all falsely bright and friendly as she usually is with me and then I yelled at them for how they've treated you over the years and told them how disappointed I was in them and how disgusted I was at how they treated you." He shook his head bitterly. "Mom said nothing, but dad tried to get me to see his side and then got angry when I told him what I thought of him." He reached across the table for Blaine's free hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "We don't need them in our lives, Blaine; we've got each other, that's all the family we need."

Kurt watched Blaine apprehensively as he swallowed and nodded at his brother, giving his hand a squeeze in return. Kurt knew Blaine no longer sought the approval of his parents or wished they would keep in contact with him anymore, but he knew Blaine was still hurting a bit from it all and seeing Cooper today had brought that remaining pain to the surface. Blaine was getting better with time and the support and love from Kurt, the rest of the Hummel-Hudson family, and his friends, but even with all of this, Kurt knew Blaine would never completely recover from being disowned from his family - that wasn't something anyone could get over - and it pained him to know that, but he knew Blaine was happier this way.

Leaning over, Kurt kissed Blaine on the cheek and smoothed his thumb over his cheekbone affectionately. He was happy to see the pain had lifted from his boyfriend's eyes when the shorter man turned to smile softly at him.

Smiling at them, Cooper drained the last of his coffee. "I need to plan with you guys to come out to New York sometime soon, I need to see your apartment now that Kurt has moved in and most likely changed all the décor."

A small smile inched onto Kurt's face. "I did change a few things, but your brother has pretty good taste so I didn't have to do that much."

"Oh, of course, because interior design is a gay thing, isn't it?"

Blaine threw a balled-up napkin at his laughing brother. His phone rang then and he fished it out of his pocket, looking annoyed at the interruption. He blinked down at the screen. "Why is Rachel calling me?" he wondered aloud, sounding perplexed.

Kurt pulled his phone out of his pocket to see if she'd been trying to phone him but had been unable to get through, but his phone showed no missed calls or texts.

Shrugging, Blaine answered the call. "Hey, Rachel." He frowned and pressed the phone closer to his ear as loud laughter rang out from a nearby table. "Hold on a second," he said into the phone. He stood up. "Be right back," he told Kurt and Cooper, brushing his fingers lightly through the ends of Kurt's styled hair on his way to the café door.

Kurt completely forgot Cooper was still at the table with him as he watched Blaine talking on the phone and leaning against a nearby brick wall, looking a little exasperated at whatever Rachel was saying, but fondly so, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Kurt couldn't help but smile at the sight of Blaine laughing and then ducking his head, a small curl that had broken free of the gel tumbling over his forehead.

"Look more in-love, I dare you."

Kurt started slightly and looked away from Blaine to find Cooper watching him closely. Kurt sighed happily and shot another glance at Blaine. "I'm going to marry him one day, Cooper."

Cooper took in the look in his eyes, his thumb smoothing over the ring on his finger, and the love and certainty in his voice. "I'd better start looking at suits, that proposal is coming soon, isn't it?" He surveyed Kurt thoughtfully. "If you want to be the one to propose then you'd better get on it because you'll have to race Blaine to be the one to do it."

Shrugging, Kurt looked back over at Blaine just as he lowered his phone and began walking back into the coffee shop, sliding his phone back into his pocket. "It doesn't matter which one of us does it," he replied. "It will happen when the right moment arises."

Blaine dropped back into his chair next to Kurt. "Do you believe that was Rachel asking about last night?"

Kurt frowned in confusion. "Why did she phone you and not me? I was the one with the rings."

"That's what I said to her," Blaine responded, still looking a little baffled by his conversation with her. "She said she wanted to hear the details from the one being given the ring or something." He shrugged. "She wasn't making much sense to be honest; she kept switching between asking about last night and suggesting different ways I could propose and venues we could have the wedding at. She started rambling after a while and I lost track of what she was saying."

Kurt snorted. "Sometimes I wonder why she bothers actually calling people, she might as well be talking into a phone that's switched off." He suddenly noticed Cooper was listening curiously to their conversation. "Rachel's been my best friend since high school and we were roommates until I moved in with your brother," he explained. "She's a Broadway actress, very ambitious and confident, could talk the stripes of a zebra, and loves to be the one in control so she can prepare for things months in advance." He smirked as a thought suddenly occurred to him. "She'll want to talk wedding plans with you after Blaine and I are engaged."

Nodding slowly, Cooper pulled out his phone. "What's her number?"

Kurt and Blaine exchanged a look. "Are you serious?" Kurt asked. "She won't stop pestering you until we're married and we're not even engaged yet! I've been dreaming of planning my wedding since I was a kid, but even I'm dreading wedding planning with Rachel."

"I want to help plan my brother's wedding," Cooper said firmly. "I don't care how much work it is or how annoying Rachel is, I want to make sure the wedding is the happiest day of Blaine's life - and yours too, Kurt. Blaine, you've been through so much shit and I haven't been there to help with all of it, so you deserve this."

Blaine blinked, looking a little emotional, but pleased. "I- thank you. That's really generous of you, but can you and Rachel please save it until after we are engaged? It's a bit weird otherwise."

"Oh, please," Cooper scoffed, waving aside Blaine's comment. "You two act married anyway, so I think I'm safe to start looking at caterers."

Kurt met Blaine's eyes and Blaine gave him a crooked smile. "Just the early planning," he agreed, turning back to face Cooper. "Save the rest until we're engaged."

As Cooper grinned and got Rachel's number off of Blaine, Kurt shook his head fondly and rested his head on Blaine's shoulder, his smile widening when Blaine put an arm around him and held him closer, pressing a kiss to his head. It was maybe weird and possibly even a bit pointless that they had already said they would marry each other and yet they weren't engaged, but it worked for them, it hadn't even been a year since they met and started dating and the last thing either of them wanted to do was rush into marriage and mess it up. Their proposal maybe wouldn't be as much of a surprise as others were, but it would still be perfect for them. And unlike when they started dating, they both wanted to announce their engagement to the press rather than have it leaked, though the reason for that was more than just the risk of it being leaked: neither of them wanted to keep quiet about something that would make them the happiest they had ever been, in fact, Kurt would have a hard time not shouting it from the rooftops.