It’s the day of Christmas Eve, and their tree is still undecorated. Blaine finds this absolutely unacceptable.

Kurt can’t quite understand Blaine’s indignation. He’s never really been much of a Christmas person – yes, it’s a very cozy holiday and it’s fun to spend time with the family, but neither of them are even going home this year. They’re spending it in their apartment, and Kurt’s fairly sure they won’t be doing anything special on Christmas. Maybe skating in Central Park or going to see the Rockefeller tree(for the fourth time), but nothing like it’s shown on television. Still… Kurt smiles happily to himself. He does have a good present for Blaine.

Blaine, on the other hand, loves Christmas. Which is strange, honestly, because his family was never really big on celebrating it. But something about the meaning behind it, and the love and affection and pure joy of giving that it stands for – it warms Blaine up like few other things can. And so he always convinces Kurt to put up Christmas decorations with him. But this year, they’d both been incredibly busy and hadn’t gotten around to any sort of decorating – indeed, Blaine only bought the tree the previous day. It is a slightly sorry specimen, with a battered air about it, but Blaine firmly believes that they will be able to make it beautiful.

And besides, he has something extra special planned for today.

Blaine goes to search for the box of ornaments while Kurt busies himself in preparing popcorn to thread. He’s already started on his second popcorn chain by the time Blaine re-enters the living room, huffing slightly because of the weight of the box. Kurt notes, with slight irritation, that the lights are tangled up and damn, that’s going to take a while to sort out. Blaine sets the box on the dining table and begins to rifle through it, setting the string of lights aside to tackle later. Kurt scrunches up his nose and returns to threading popcorn.

A few seconds later, Kurt feels warm arms wrap around his waist, and soft lips pressing at his neck. “I have a sharp object in my hand, you know,” he informs Blaine. His boyfriend laughs gently, the vibrations sending a pleasant shiver up Kurt’s spine.

“You wouldn’t prick me.” Blaine sounds far too amused, and Kurt turns in his embrace to glare at him. Blaine grins cheekily and presses a kiss to Kurt’s grumpy mouth. Kurt’s irritated expression quickly melts, and he wraps his arms around Blaine’s neck, forgetting about the needle until – 

“Ow. You really did prick me.” Blaine jerks away, but he sounds far more entertained than annoyed. Kurt blushes.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

Blaine’s holding the hand that doesn’t have a popcorn chain dangling from it, and Kurt wonders how the simple stroking of his knuckles can still produce such a spark. “I know. Hey, I’m gonna untangle the Christmas lights now, okay? And then we’ll get started!”

Kurt laughs and surprises Blaine by cupping his face and kissing him. Blaine lets out an adorable squeak when Kurt deepens the kiss, his hands settling on Kurt’s hips. After a few seconds, Kurt draws away to smile widely at his boyfriend’s dazed expression. “I love you.”

Blaine smiles. “I love you too. Bring those chains over once you’re done, yeah?”

They actually start the decoration an hour later, and it’s already starting to get dark outside. Blaine first arranges the flashing lights on the branches of the tree and then watches fondly as Kurt decorates with his popcorn chains, his pretty blue eyes narrowed in concentration as he shifts the chains fractionally in order to achieve the most aesthetically pleasing arrangement. And once that is done, they begin putting up the ornaments – the giant, colorful globes, a few candycane-shaped ones, even some that resembled Santa himself. And then come the more non-traditional ornaments – the one Kurt made in elementary school, just a simple paper snowman. A star Blaine crafted out of paperclips when he was eleven. A funny little golden cat that Carole’s mother had given her a long time ago, and various other knickknacks.

There are only a few ornaments left when Blaine suddenly announces that he has to go to the bathroom. Kurt arches his eyebrows and shrugs, adding a “not really something I needed to know, honey” as Blaine sprints down the hallway. Kurt stares after him quizzically, wondering what the rush is about. He smiles to himself and steps back to admire their handiwork. He’ll wait for Blaine to come back first.

Blaine reappears surprisingly quickly, and they resume their decorating. Kurt notices how Blaine’s suddenly so much more – well, touchy. Blaine makes sure to maintain physical contact with Kurt whenever possible, and while Kurt isn’t complaining at all, he wonders why. Blaine’s never been afraid of showing physical affection, but this is an entirely new level. It’s probably the Christmas in the air, Kurt concludes.

“Hey Kurt, I think I left one or two ornaments in the back cupboard. Could you go grab them for me?” Kurt shakes his head and smiles affectionately at his boyfriend. Blaine’s not usually so scatterbrained, but he is a huge Christmas fan, so it makes sense that he’s more excited than usual. Kurt leaves Blaine alone in the living room and goes to investigate the back cupboard.

He doesn’t find anything there, and returns to the Christmas tree feeling exasperated. “Blaine, there was nothing there,” he snaps. Blaine doesn’t flinch – he looks so utterly serene, his dark eyes alight with happiness.

“My mistake,” Blaine responds blissfully, noting Kurt’s irritated tone. But he has plans to change that – oh yes, he does. Blaine grins excitedly to himself and reaches out to tug Kurt to his side, kissing his cheek. Kurt softens, and the irritation in his eyes melts. But suddenly, Kurt frowns.

“Wait – look, this branch over here looks so empty. The lights and popcorn aren’t on it! And it just has this tiny little ornament. We need to spruce it up, it’s just throwing the entire arrangement off.” Kurt leans closer to inspect the lone ornament, and Blaine has to bite his lower lip to keep from laughing out loud in delight. “Hey, wait… I’ve never seen…”

It’s not an ornament. It’s a ring.

A diamond ring.

Kurt gapes at the beautiful ring hanging innocently from the Christmas tree and slowly turns to his boyfriend. Blaine’s cheeks are flushed, and his eyes are sparkling – and Kurt’s never, ever seen something so beautiful. Yet the first thing that escapes his mouth is –

“Oh my god, you are such a sap.”

Blaine’s been with Kurt long enough to realize how his boyfriend becomes defensive and snappy when something affects him deeply. So Blaine reaches over and plucks the ring off the tree, getting down on one knee and looking up at the beautiful man in front of him. Kurt’s speechless, his eyes wide and glossy with unshed tears. Blaine offers the ring up to him, his heart leaping into his throat.

“Kurt Hummel, will you –?”

“Blaine!” And Kurt actually groans and drops to one knee in front of him. Blaine’s so confused – this isn’t making any sense, why did Kurt interrupt his proposal? But then he notices Kurt slipping his hand into one of the enormous pockets of his vest, and Blaine is utterly shocked when Kurt pulls out a velvet box.

“You – are you serious?” Blaine splutters, his own ring still clasped in his hand. “I – you were – what?”

“You beat me to it.” Kurt looks supremely amused. “I was going to do it at midnight.” His eyes are soft. “I know you love stuff like that.”

“Says the hopeless romantic,” Blaine teases, holding his breath as Kurt flips open the lid of the box to display the ring inside. It’s very similar to the one he bought – but all engagement rings probably look the same, Blaine reasons. And then he realizes that neither of them have actually said it yet.

He clears his throat. “Kurt Hummel,” he says, just as Kurt says “Blaine Anderson”. They both stop and grin sheepishly at each other, nervous as hell but so incredibly comfortable at the same time. Blaine reaches out and clasps Kurt’s hand, the one that isn’t holding the box. They’re both on one knee, gazing at each other, and Kurt’s mouth is slightly parted and Blaine just wants to kiss him.

“Will you marry me?” Blaine asks gently. Kurt shifts his hand so that his fingers are intertwined with Blaine’s.

“As long as you marry me,” he responds, leaning forward. Blaine can’t help but laugh at Kurt’s emphasis as he meets him half-way, kissing him hungrily and tenderly at the same time.

“This is the best Christmas Eve ever.”