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Blaine patted his blazer pocket to make sure the ring box was still there; while his boyfriend, Kurt, cleared the table of their lunch dishes. He and Kurt had been together for almost three years now. They had been through a lot together, both good and bad, but they always came out stronger than before. Kurt was his everything; and he just couldn’t picture his life without him.
Blaine was extremely nervous about proposing to Kurt. This wasn’t the first time he attempted to do so. Originally, he had made some very elaborate plans for his proposal. About three months ago Blaine had gotten the two of them tickets to Kurt’s favorite Broadway musical, and arranged for him and Kurt to get a private backstage tour after the show. They were to meet the entire cast and crew, and the tour would end with Blaine proposing center stage. However, a few hours before they were supposed to leave for the theatre, Kurt came down with food poisoning. Blaine rushed over to Kurt’s apartment to take care of him, not caring that their tickets were going to waste and their tour/meet & greet unable to be rescheduled.
A few weeks after that, Blaine had decided to try proposing again. He called up one of his and Kurt’s favorite restaurants and rented out the entire veranda. He had arranged to have it decorated with tons of fresh flowers and candles; he even scheduled to have a string quartet play while they ate and danced.
Unfortunately, disaster struck once again. Kurt was asked to stay late at work. And because Kurt was hoping to get a promotion into a recently vacated position, he didn’t even try to get out of it. He called up Blaine and apologized for having to miss their dinner reservation. Blaine was devastated and begged Kurt to talk to his boss about leaving the meeting just a little bit early, so they would only have to push their reservation back, instead of miss it completely. But Kurt insisted he needed to stay the entire time to show his loyalty to the company so that he would be considered for the promotion he wanted. Blaine understood that Kurt’s job was extremely important to him, and this promotion would be a huge step forward in his career; and since Kurt knew nothing of Blaine’s plans, and just assumed it to be an ordinary date, Blaine knew he couldn’t hold anything against him.
The next time that Blaine had set himself on proposing to Kurt, he’d managed to get reservations to a hot, new restaurant that had been getting fabulous reviews. The waitlist was a little long and their reservation had to be booked two weeks in advance, but both he and Kurt had been anxious to try the place out. Blaine was going to take Kurt on a romantic walk through the park after dinner and propose over a surprise picnic of homemade desserts. Blaine knew he’d be working a little later than normal that night, so he and Kurt decided to meet up at the restaurant, instead of arriving together.
When Blaine showed up a few minutes past their 7 o’clock reservation, and didn’t see Kurt anywhere, he became a little worried. He somehow sweet-talked the hostess into holding their reservation for just a little longer. But after a few more minutes, with no sign of Kurt, he finally called Kurt up in a panic. It turned out that Rachel had called Kurt in near hysterics a few hours prior, because she received a callback for the lead of a new musical, and she needed his advice on what to wear. The callback was scheduled for the following afternoon, and since Kurt deemed her entire wardrobe unacceptable, he took her out shopping. Unfortunately, he’d lost track of time. Kurt was all the way across town and there was no way the restaurant would hold their reservation an additional 30+ minutes until he got there. So Blaine thanked the hostess for her time and left to go home.
Instead of getting dinner someplace else and continuing his plans as intended, Rachel had convinced Kurt that since their dinner plans had been cancelled, and he was already out with her, that he should stay and continue shopping with her until they found not only the perfect outfit for her callback but sheet music for the perfect song for her to audition with. By the time Kurt reached Blaine’s apartment that night, Blaine had already showered, changed into his pajamas, and was curled up in bed watching a movie with a giant bowl of popcorn. Kurt apologized profusely, frustrated with himself for losing track of time the way he did. Blaine calmed him down, telling him it was just dinner, and that they could always try the restaurant out at another time. He told Kurt that he understood how difficult it is to say no to Rachel when she gets crazy like that. He also joked that he was surprised that she’d allowed Kurt to come over at all; that he figured she’d need his help running lines or critiquing her rehearsal of her audition song. But he promised Kurt that, although he was slightly disappointed, he wasn’t angry. As long as nothing serious happened and Kurt wasn’t hurt, that’s all Blaine cared about.
Two weeks ago, Blaine was the one that needed to cancel his plans at the last minute. He and Kurt were just going to have a quiet night in, consisting of a home cooked dinner and a movie at Kurt’s apartment. He figured he’d propose during dinner that night. However, Blaine’s coworker had gotten sick and needed to leave work early. All of her unfinished work was dumped onto Blaine, and needed to be completed by the end of the night. He called Kurt to explain, and said he’d swing by Kurt’s place when he was done, so they could still spend the night together.
Blaine had shown up at Kurt’s around 8:30pm. Kurt had reheated a small plate of dinner for him to eat while they watched their movie; before the movie was halfway over, Blaine had fallen asleep on Kurt’s shoulder. He had awoken a few hours later when Rachel came home and insisted that they both listen as she talked about her date that evening. He and Kurt had spent the rest of the evening with Rachel entertaining her as she went over all the details and giving her advice until all three of them were too tired to stay awake any longer.
Now, here they were in Blaine’s apartment, and he was once again determined to propose to Kurt. “Just leave those in the sink. I’ll get to them later,” Blaine said, indicating the dishes that Kurt just cleared. “Come sit in the living room with me. I have something important I want to talk to you about.” He takes Kurt’s hand walks them over to the couch.
“Is everything alright? You look a little pale. Oh my god! You’re not dying, are you? ‘Cause you’re not allowed to die. I forbid it!” Kurt replied anxiously.
Blaine chuckled quietly. “No, Kurt. I’m not dying. As far as I know I’m perfectly healthy,” he said, calming Kurt’s fears. “I am a little nervous though. But this isn’t a bad conversation. Or at least I don’t think it is,” he added quickly.
“Well, if it’s not bad, then you have no reason to be nervous. You know you can tell me anything,” he reminded Blaine affectionately.
Blaine drew in a deep breath, and let it out slowly, centering himself. “Okay,” he said.
Before Blaine could say another word, Kurt’s phone started ringing. “Shoot! It’s my boss. Hold that thought. I’ll just be two seconds,” Kurt told him, just before answering the call.
Blaine smiled and nodded as Kurt stood up and walked into Blaine’s bedroom for a little privacy. Once Kurt was out of sight Blaine took the ring box out of his pocket. He opened it up and stared at the ring inside. It was a very simple platinum band with a single diamond inset. It was the perfect ring for Kurt; elegant and classy with just a touch of sparkle. He knew this ring belonged on Kurt’s finger and he was determined to see this proposal through.
He could hear snippets of Kurt’s conversation through the doorway and knew this was not going to be a quick conversation. Blaine absentmindedly placed the open ring box on the coffee table in front of him and walked into the kitchen. He started washing the dishes just so he could keep his hands and thoughts occupied.
Just as he picked up the last pan in the sink, Kurt walked up behind him wrapping his arms around Blaine’s waist and hooking his chin over Blaine’s shoulder. “Hey. I have to go into work for a few hours. Somehow a few of the designs got messed up and I need to go in to fix them,” Kurt said, sadly.
Blaine quickly rinsed and dried his hands, then turned around in Kurt’s embrace. “But it’s your day off,” he whined, pulling Kurt closer.
“I know. But it’s just for a few hours. I’ll be back before dinner. I promise,” Kurt told him.
“Okay,” Blaine said, dejectedly. “Hurry back. I miss you already,” he pouted.
“I love you,” Kurt replied, walking into the other room to gather his things.
“Love you too,” Blaine said. He sighed deeply and turned his attention back to the dishes. After he finished washing the last pan, he cleaned up the kitchen a little bit, then washed and dried his hands, before heading into the living room so he could watch a movie to pass the time while Kurt was at work.
Walking into the living room Blaine was confused to see Kurt hadn’t left yet. Kurt was standing very still with his back toward Blaine. “Kurt? Honey? Everything ok? I thought you left already?” Blaine asked concerned.
Kurt turned around very slowly, and with a slight tremor in his voice asked, “Wha…what is this?” he stuttered.
That’s when Blaine noticed that Kurt was holding the open ring box he’d accidentally left out on the coffee table. “It’s um…it’s n-nothing…just, uh, just forget you saw that, ok?” Blaine said, nervously, and reached out to take the box back.
Kurt moved the box just out of his reach. “I will not forget that I saw this because it’s obviously not nothing,” he said. “Is…is this…for me?” Kurt asked. All Blaine could do was nod. “Is…is this what you wanted to talk to me about?” he continued. Once again Blaine answered in just a nod. “Oh, sweetheart. It’s gorgeous.”
“Gorgeous ring for a gorgeous man,” Blaine said, shyly.
“My answer is yes!” Kurt said, excitedly.
Blaine let out a relieved giggle. “I haven’t asked you anything yet,” he teased.
“So ask me already!” Kurt replied, impatiently.
“Okay,” he carefully extracted the ring box from Kurt’s hand and got down on one knee. “Kurt Hummel, will you marry me?”
“Yes! Yes, of course I will! Now gimme my shiny,” he said thrusting his left hand at Blaine.
Blaine removed the ring from its box and slid it onto Kurt’s finger. Kurt admired it for a few seconds before pulling Blaine into a heated kiss, forgetting all about heading into the office.