Work Text:
Kurt held the keys up to the door at the same time his phone started vibrating. He sighed, balancing the folders he’d brought home to try and fish the phone out of his pocket. The name flashing across his screen caused an even deeper sigh to escape him and he let the phone slide back into his pocket to let it ring. Moving the folders over to the other arm to try, again, and open the door, he overcompensated on the balance and the majority of the folders slipped out of his hold and clattered onto the floor. Another sigh resounded through the corridor but he decided on putting the key in the lock and opening the door to the apartment first.
He pushed the door open, letting his bag drop to the floor inside before returning to the folders spread all across the hallway. The papers had managed to stay inside of them though, so he only had to gather the folders and not put them back together.
“Thank Gaga for small mercies…” Kurt muttered to himself, taking the last folder and getting back to his feet. It had been a trying day; his assistant had double-booked him with two brides at different ends of the city, the bakery that he’d hired for a wedding the upcoming weekend had been flooded; all cakes had been ruined and there was no chance for them to make new ones. On top of that, one bride had moved up the date of her ceremony so he now only had half the amount of time to plan than he’d originally thought. And of course, he had all of the regular planning with upcoming ceremonies that were still running smoothly, but still deserved the same amount of attention. He’d decided after lunch to just take work home with him instead of staying in his cramped office.
As soon as he’d managed to carry and unload all the folders onto the kitchen table, his phone started ringing in his pocket again. He pulled it out while walking back through the hallway to grab his bag and close the apartment door. Seeing the same name as before, he put it back in his pocket with an eyeroll. He stepped out of his shoes and hung his jacket up on a hanger, leaving the phone in the pocket when he returned to the kitchen with his bag.
He settled down at the kitchen table, organising the folders, taking his computer out and setting it up before getting to work. He started with making a list of what he needed to fix, who he needed to contact and what he needed to do before actually turning to any of his folders. Then he took out his work phone and started making calls. Kurt was nothing if not efficient; which was why he was so very good at his job.
Halfway through his education at NYADA he’d realised that while he did love performance and drama, his true love lay in fashion, organizing and, surprisingly, the happiness of others. Becoming a wedding planner actually rather fell into his lap when one day Isabelle had complained about the way her sister had been running her, as the maid of honour, and the rest of the family ragged ever since her wedding planner quit because she wouldn’t compromise on the colour scheme of the wedding. Kurt had mentioned in passing how he’d planned two wedding ceremonies when he was younger (how hard could it be, just make sure the bride was happy) and Isabelle had immediately jumped on the chance to have him help. Her sister had agreed and he’d been brought in to help, for which he was generously (almost ashamedly so) compensated. He’d ended up being so successful that another girl in the office had asked him for his services as well, after hearing Isabelle raving about it, and his career was pretty much cemented right there.
He'd been working as a wedding planner for 5 years now, and didn’t think there was much that could make him happier. Of course, trying to find a bakery willing to create what he needed for that upcoming Saturday with almost no forewarning and have them not ramp up the prices to inaccessible was not really his idea of fun and did definitely not make him happy. Just as he put his work phone down after his last call for the afternoon, he heard the door to the apartment open and his boyfriend stepping inside.
“Babe? You home?” he called from the hallway and Kurt smiled reflexively.
“I’m in here.” He called back, putting his folders back together, stopping for the day.
“I figured I’d find you here.” His boyfriend said, stepping through the doorway to the kitchen just as Kurt got to his feet. He leaned down to peck Kurt lightly before handing over his personal phone, and walking over to put down two large paper bags on the counter by the sink.
“Thanks. What’s in the bags?” Kurt lifted his phone, unlocking it with a few swipes of his thumb.
“Well, since you didn’t pick up your phone, I figured maybe you were in need of some proper Strawberry Cheesecake B&J. So I got that, and I bought your favourite from that Italian place around the corner from work.” He replied and Kurt’s face lit up with a grin, moving forward to press a soft but insistent kiss on his boyfriends lips.
“Thank you.” He whispered sincerely.
“No problem, babe.” His boyfriend replied, grinning back. “Why don’t you set the table and I’ll go change out of this suit. I’ll be right back!”
Kurt nodded and pressed a small kiss to the side of his mouth before walking over to the counter to start unpacking the bags. In the meantime he dialled the voice-message inbox on his phone; he knew there would be messages solely based on the amount of missed calls he had. He put it on speaker and put it down on the bench beside him to start pulling groceries out to be put away. The first message was from his dad.
“Hey Kurt! Just wanted to check in. Haven’t heard from you in a while, kiddo. Tell your boyfriend to check his email too – apparently Carole sent him something. Love you, bye!”
Kurt did feel a pinch of guilt for not having called his dad in a while. But he also knew that his dad understood the pressure he was under and the amount of work he had to do right now. The next message was from Elliott.
“Darling, it’s been too long since I saw your fine butt grace my apartment. Call me!”
Kurt chuckled. The next message was from Rachel, very similar to Elliott’s, although without the underlying flirty tone that Elliott somehow could not escape to save his life. Kurt knew that few understood his friendship with the man, because they were so different, but he was glad his boyfriend took Elliott for who he was didn’t let the flirty way he acted affect him. The last few messages, 4 in total, were all from the same person. Kurt sighed as the fourth message started playing at him.
“Kuuuuuuuuurt. It’s Blaine. Kurt, don’t you love me? We would be so good… we were so good. Come on Kurtie! Haven’t you missed me? I just-“
“Haven’t is the key word here.” Kurt muttered and jabbed the end button before the message could finish.
“Ah, phone calls again.” Kurt heard behind him, jumping a little.
“Sebastian!” he admonished, swirling around with the cutlery he’d been putting out on the table. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.”
“Sorry babe, didn’t mean to.” Sebastian smiled and pressed a kiss to Kurt’s forehead before walking past him to grab the plates Kurt had taken out of the cabinets. “So, I’m assuming Blanderson broke up with, what’s his face, James?” Kurt frowned, getting the food boxes out.
“I thought his name was Gregory?” he protested lamely – he didn’t really care –
putting the boxes on the table. It wasn’t a fancy setup, but it worked and it felt fancier than it looked.
“Whatever. Have you tried just answering the phone?” Sebastian asked, pulling out a glass bottle that he filled with water, putting it on the table.
The men worked around each other, putting groceries away and preparing their dinner. It was an oddly domestic scene that Kurt knew Sebastian hadn’t ever imagined himself in. Granted, Kurt had never seen himself in any kind of relationship with Sebastian Smythe of all people, least of all a domestic one. They’d met again almost 3 years ago when Kurt had been hired by Sebastian’s sister to plan her wedding. They’d both been oddly cordial and polite at the beginning, all of which had gone completely to hell just a few months later when Kurt had run into Sebastian at a gay club in downtown New York. They’d started off spouting insults at each other, which had eventually ended in them both naked together in Sebastian’s bed.
The incident sparked off an awkward period of 3 weeks, before Sebastian’s sister had, honest to god, locked them in a supply closet in the Smythe’s family mansion and not let them out until they’d talked. They had, after a lot of hawing and hemming, decided to go on a date and the rest, as they say, was history. They’d now been official boyfriends for 2 years and had been living together for 1.
“I have. Twice.” Kurt replied with a sigh, lifting the ice cream and frozen peas out of the bag, the last two items to be put away. “First time I told him he needed help with his alcohol-problem, which he denied. Second time I reminded him of my boyfriend - you. Next time he called he explained that he’d wait until you and I “inevitably fell through”, so that he could have me back.” Kurt shook his head, gripping the back of peas, getting annoyed. “It’s like, deep down, he’s still stuck in high school and thinks that none of us have changed; he’s expecting me to come running back and be his supporter once again, or that you’re going to slut it up in the club and I’ll leave you or something equally ridiculous.”
“Babe, he’s a little drunk and delusional, and I will never understand why you haven’t told him to go back into hiding under whatever rock he crawled out from, but no need to take it out on the peas.” Kurt looked down at his boyfriends words and loosened the tight grip he had on the vegetables.
“Sorry.” He mumbled. “I just- it makes me angry, because he’s not like this on the good days. And he refuses a therapist for what happened to his brother, so- I still care and I don’t want to see him hurt. That’s all.”
“It’s alright, I know why. I don’t really understand it, but I know. You’re a good friend, Kurt.” Sebastian said sincerely, tilting Kurt’s head up to be able to look into his eyes.
“Thank you…” Kurt mumbled and smiled softly, nodded once as Sebastian took the peas to put them in the freezer.
“What if you told Blaine you were engaged?” Sebastian asked suddenly. Kurt frowned, turning to pick up the ice cream so that it could be put in the freezer as well.
“I don’t know…” he started doubtingly. “I don’t really want to lie to him, and besides he- Sebastian!” Kurt gaped at the sight he was met with when he turned around, ice cream falling from his grip. Sebastian was poised on one knee in the middle of their kitchen, a box in his hands and a smirk on his face. “Wha-what?”
“I know. I was planning to wait until after dinner, when we were all snuggled up together on the couch with the ice cream and your favourite movie running in the background but… I couldn’t wait.” Sebastian took a deep breath, searching Kurt’s eyes for a few moments. “Ever since you came back into my life, I’ve been thanking a higher power for giving me a second chance. You taught me that love doesn’t have to be ridiculous and cliché, and that even if it is, it’s not that bad. You showed me that even someone with my- background,” Kurt chuckled brokenly at that, “can have that beauty. Can have you. I love you, Kurt Hummel. Will you marry me?”
“YES!” the word exploded from Kurt and he threw himself at Sebastian, causing them both to fall over and crash to the floor. The laughter erupted from them both as Kurt pressed continuous kisses to Sebastian’s face, tears running down his cheeks. Sebastian was loath to admit he had tears in his own eyes as well.
“You gonna let me up long enough to put a ring on it, Hummel, or what?” he asked gently and Kurt pulled off him just enough to bring them both up into sitting positions. Sebastian chuckled, but pulled the box, that had closed in their excitement, open and brought out the ring to slide it on Kurt’s finger.
“Oh, Bastian…” Kurt murmured reverently, in that breathless way he sometimes said Sebastian’s name when he surprised him, as he looked down at the ring. “It’s beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful.” Sebastian muttered lovingly, bringing his hands up to cup his fiancés face. “I love you, future Mr. Hummel-Smythe.” He mumbled with a wide smile.
“I love you too, Sebastian.” Kurt grinned equally as wide. “More than anything.” And then they embraced tightly, losing themselves in kisses and touches, ice cream lying forgotten not far from them. And in their joy, Kurt missed as his phone rang again, the person on the other end attempting to record a message to leave in his inbox.
“-he’s going to propose to you. He told me. I want you to say no, Kurt. Say no, please… please… Kurt don’t say yes to Sebastian. I love you… still love you.”
“We’re sorry, but the recipients inbox seems to be full and cannot accept another message at this time. Do you wish to call back and try again?”