November 2012

Their bodies were tangled together, spent, in Kurt’s bed on his first night home from New York for Thanksgiving break. Kurt and Blaine were both exhausted, but unwilling to fall asleep and miss a single second of being together. Not while there was still enough energy left for soft little kisses, small movements of hands, sweet whispers in each other’s ears. It was heaven, being together again after all those months apart.

“I love you so much,” Blaine said for the millionth time that night.

“I love you too,” Kurt said. “I can’t live without you.”

“You’ll never have to,” Blaine said.

“I didn’t realize it until I saw you again, but I can’t fully relax without you,” Kurt said, gently stroking Blaine’s back. “It’s like a part of me is missing. I’m just not complete if you’re not there.”

“Yeah,” Blaine said. “I feel it too. It’s such a relief to be together again, like lifting a heavy burden I didn’t even realize I was carrying. I didn’t know how much it was really affecting me until it was gone. Until you were back.”

“Let’s always be together, Blaine,” Kurt said impulsively. “Let’s get married and never be apart again.”

Blaine smiled. “We’re too young, Kurt. You know that.”

“Yeah,” Kurt sighed. “But I wish we weren’t.”

“Besides,” Blaine said, “I want to propose to you, not the other way around.”

“Why?”

“You know how you’ve been planning the perfect wedding since you were like six years old?”

“Five, actually,” Kurt said.

“Well, I’ve been planning the perfect marriage proposal,” Blaine said. He reached up and ran his finger softly along Kurt’s cheek, to his lips. “Since way before I met you. Since I was a little kid. I always wanted to be the perfect boyfriend and come up with this beautiful, epic, earth-shattering marriage proposal that you’ll remember for the rest of your life.”

“How long am I going to have to wait for this earth-shattering proposal?” Kurt asked, smiling.

“I’m not sure,” Blaine said. “But I promise, it will be totally worth it.”

June 2013

“Welcome home,” Kurt said as they walked through the door of their apartment.

There had been no reason for Blaine to spend the summer in Ohio. Kurt signed the lease on a one-bedroom apartment just after his freshman year finals. He spent the next few weeks setting things up while Blaine took his last final exams of high school, and Blaine flew to New York just two days after graduation.

“Home,” Blaine echoed, looking around the living room. “I can’t believe it.”

“Believe it, love,” Kurt said, giddy with excitement. “We’ll never have to spend another night apart, for the rest of our lives. This is the beginning of forever.”

Blaine kissed Kurt hard on the mouth, desperate after the two months of separation since spring break. But Kurt pulled away and picked up a small box from the kitchen counter. 

“Will you marry me?” he asked teasingly, without opening the box.

“Kurt, come on, we’ve talked about this,” Blaine whined. “I wanted to ask you.”

“Just open it,” Kurt said, winking. He handed the box to Blaine.

“Oh my god, Kurt,” Blaine choked. “Is this a cock ring?”

Kurt grinned at him.

“Which one of us is wearing it?” Blaine asked.

“Up to you,” Kurt said. 

Blaine’s eyes were blown wide with desire. “Where’s the bedroom? We need to consummate this right now.”

April 2015

Kurt was having the closest thing to a religious experience he’d ever had. The medieval Gothic building was like something out of a fairy tale. Its vaulted roof soared to impossible heights, with dangerously thin stone supports making way for what seemed like miles of stained glass windows. The day was bright and sunny, bathing the interior in a kaleidoscope of colored light. It felt like floating in a rainbow, surrounded by hundreds of flitting butterflies. Kurt lifted his eyes to the ceiling and turned absently in slow circles. Spring break in Paris had been the best idea ever.

“Will you marry me?” he asked, eyes still on the ceiling.

“Kurt,” Blaine said. “You realize we’re in a Catholic church, right? That’s maybe kind of inappropriate?”

“It’s not a church, just a chapel,” Kurt said, bringing his eyes to meet his boyfriend’s. “And I don’t care. I’m in the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen, with the most beautiful man I’ve ever met, and that’s the most beautiful thing I can think of to say.”

“I love you,” Blaine said. “And it is absolutely stunning.”

Kurt leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

Blaine glanced around furtively. “Some nun is probably going to come running out of one of those doors and smack you on the hand with a ruler.”

Kurt raised an eyebrow. “Kinky.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Blaine said. “And wonderful.”

May 2016

Blaine’s class let out in five minutes, and Kurt was waiting outside the door, bouncing up and down with excitement he could not contain. It was the longest five minutes in the history of the world.

“Blaine!” Kurt shouted when he saw his boyfriend walk out the door. “Blaine! They did it!”

“What are you doing here?” Blaine asked. “Who did what?”

“The Supreme Court! They decided the marriage equality case and we won!”

“What?” Blaine’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “They did? Really?”

“Would I joke about something like that?” Kurt threw his arms around Blaine and kissed him, right in the middle of the crowded hallway. “Blaine let’s get married. Today. Right now.”

“Kurt, honey, I would so love to, but we can’t.” Blaine hugged him again and then let go.

“Don’t you want to be part of history?” Kurt asked.

“It’s definitely tempting,” said Blaine. “But it’s not the right time for us. We’re still poor college students, we can’t afford the kind of wedding you’ve always wanted. And we don’t want to elope and not have our families here to see us get married.”

“You’re so practical and boring,” Kurt said, pouting.

“Wait, wait,” Blaine said. “I want to give you the most romantic marriage proposal ever, followed by a fairy-tale wedding, and you’re calling that practical and boring?”

“I suppose it doesn’t make much sense when you put it that way,” Kurt admitted.

“Come on,” Blaine said, throwing his arm around Kurt’s shoulders. “There’s probably a huge spontaneous party starting on the quad by now. Let’s go celebrate.”

June 2017

Kurt swelled with pride as Blaine walked across the stage at his college graduation. It wasn’t just that Blaine was graduating near the top of his class, with a great job already lined up. It was also the end of an era. The end of their lives as students, and the beginning of being real grown-ups. Of course, Kurt had been out of school for a year already, but living with Blaine had kept him tied to the academic schedule and the student mindset.

Blaine somehow found their group in the giant crowd after the ceremony ended. He hugged his parents and Burt and Carole, then finally Kurt.

“Will you marry me now?” Kurt asked impatiently.

“Soon, Kurt. Very soon,” Blaine said. 

Kurt blinked, startled by this response.

“Earth-shattering, Kurt,” Blaine said, his eyes twinkling. “And even though I warned you, you’re never going to see it coming.”

September 2017

The applause was thunderous, a standing ovation, just as Blaine had always known it would be. Kurt played himself as the lead in a musical he’d written, based on his own life, about growing up gay in Ohio. It was opening night, off-off-Broadway but at a very respectable theater, and the audience was packed with critics who would be writing glowing reviews for tomorrow’s papers. Kurt took another bow, beaming from ear to ear. 

The director came out for a bow and a wave, holding a microphone. “Thank you all! Can I ask you to please return to your seats for a special announcement?”

That was Blaine’s cue. He hopped up from his seat in the front row and hurried up the steps onto the stage. The director handed him the microphone and clapped him on the shoulder, whispering “good luck” into Blaine’s ear as he left the stage. Kurt was completely bewildered. “What are you doing?” he mouthed at Blaine, silent because his microphone was still on. Blaine ignored him for the time being.

“Hello everyone!” Blaine grinned nervously. “I’m Blaine Anderson.”

The crowd applauded again, recognizing his name as a character in the play. 

“I’m so glad you enjoyed the show,” Blaine said. “I must admit, it’s not easy to sit out there in the audience and watch another guy pretending to be me and kissing my boyfriend.” The crowd erupted in laughter as Blaine turned to Mike, the actor who played him, and gave him a fist-bump and then a friendly hug. “When Kurt asked if I had any opinion on who should play me, I told him my only requirement was the guy had to be straight.” The crowd laughed again. Blaine had always been a master of putting the audience under his spell. “But seriously, I love Mike, and he did an incredible job tonight.” More applause.

He gazed lovingly at Kurt, who looked like he was trying to decide between wanting to die and wanting to kill Blaine. 

“Kurt, your play is amazing,” Blaine said. “But I’m about to rewrite the end of it.” He moved to stand next to Kurt and took one of his hands. “Everyone who was here tonight knows how madly in love with you I am. We have been through so much together, and every moment of it, every step of the way, I fell more and more in love with you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, so here, now, tonight, in your moment of glory, I’m going to ask you …” In one smooth motion, Blaine let go of Kurt’s hand, pulled a small box out of his pocket, and dropped to one knee.

The crowd was on its feet, roaring its approval so loudly that none of them could even hear the question. Only Kurt heard it. “Kurt Hummel, will you marry me?” And there was no answer to hear, because Kurt was crying too much to speak. He nodded, dropped to his knees alongside this man he loved, and let him slip the ring onto his finger. Their kiss was embarrassed and messy with tears but also heartbreakingly sweet. The director signaled the stagehand to drop the curtain before they pulled apart. 

“Earth-shattering,” Kurt whispered into his fiance’s ear. “Totally worth the wait.”