I just felt a bit introspective today.

"Blaine? Do you ever wonder what life would've been like if we hadn't met on that staircase at Dalton when we were in high school?"

Kurt didn't know why that question had come to him at midnight on a Tuesday, or what had prompted it. He and Blaine had just settled into bed, Blaine taking his turn as big spoon, and it had slipped out of nowhere, passing his lips before he'd even processed what he was thinking.

"Well that was unexpected," Blaine said. "But to answer your question, yeah, sometimes. I wonder if you still would have made it to the commons where the Warblers were singing and if I still would have serenaded you – because honestly, I was trying to serenade you a little bit – or if I wouldn't have seen you until we were at Sectionals and then spent the rest of the competition having Wes and David smack me around for getting distracted by a cute boy."

"I knew you were flirting with me during Teenage Dream," Kurt said, crowing slightly in triumph. "And during Baby, It's Cold Outside. Even a little during Hey, Soul Sister-"

"Yeah, yeah, okay, I get it, my subconscious was hitting on you for ages before I finally got my act together," Blaine said, huffing out a soft laugh. "I told you, my soul knew you were the one I was looking for long before I actually realized it."

"You figured it out eventually," Kurt said, rolling over and snuggling into Blaine's chest. "That counts for something. And you still figured it out at a pretty young age – if we hadn't met so soon, I may have died before you figured it out."

"I'd like to hope I wouldn't need that kind of a push to realize my feelings for you, although I guess the situation with Pav doesn't help my track record," Blaine said. He began to stroke down Blaine's back. "Any reason you're pondering all the 'what ifs' tonight?"

"I don't know, honestly," Kurt said. He took a moment to think about it. "It just hit me all of a sudden that I'm so lucky to have this – this little chunk of life with someone who loves me, a space of our own in the city of our dreams, the means for us to be successful and do what we love. I guess I'm just wondering how much of this would be different if we hadn't met when we did, or if we'd never met, or if either of our families had been different. You changed my life, you know."

"You changed mine, too, Kurt," Blaine said. His voice lost some of the teasing quality it had taken on as they'd bantered. "Dalton was good for me at first, but it was slowly shaping me into becoming someone who just got handed things – I never had to re-audition for lead soloist once I got it, you know. You helped me realize that I need to share the wealth sometimes."

"I don't know if that was helping you so much as selfishly wanting my own turn in the spotlight," Kurt said, laughing a little. "But I'll definitely take the credit for it if you're offering. And you know that you pushed me to start speaking up and fighting back even more than I already was."

"Yeah, because that turned out so well, if I recall-"

"Shhh. Not today. I've made my peace with Karofsky, and I really don't want to invite him into our bed," Kurt said, scooting up to put his head on Blaine's pillow and his finger over Blaine's lips as Blaine snorted at Kurt's joke. "I know it hasn't always worked out well for me, but you've always reminded me that I should have courage and face my fears. Knowing that someone else thought that speaking up was the right thing to do really helped me out, Blaine. Accept that as the compliment it is."

"You make a compelling argument," Blaine said, eyes sparkling happily in the moonlight. "I knew there was a good reason I proposed to you."

"My smokin' hot bod?"

"Okay, two good reasons," Blaine teased. They lay there in companionable silence for a moment before Blaine spoke again.

"I know that it hasn't been easy, getting to where we are now, but I wouldn't trade any of the journey for a minute. Maybe I'd keep myself from cheating on you again, but even then, I learned that McKinley didn't have to be just about you for me, so I can't say I didn't gain anything out of it."

"Excuse me, I'm pretty sure you also gained a fiance out of that fiasco," Kurt teased, angling his hand upward to make his ring glint in the low light. "And I figured out that there is literally no one else for me but you, B. I spent a night crying on my quasi-almost-sort-of boyfriend because our wedding song came on and all I could think about was dancing with you again – I think that means you're my one and only."

"That explains those weird texts I got from Santana telling me to have condoms handy the next time you were back in Ohio," Blaine said. Kurt could almost see the lightbulb click on over his head. "I thought she was going to claim she had some magical Latina way of making you fall back onto my di-"

"Okay, that's officially enough digression for one night," Kurt interrupted. "I didn't realize my spontaneous musings were going to expose a Santana Lopez matchmaking plot."

"You brought it up, not me," Blaine said, prompting Kurt to hit him gently on the arm. "Hey, like I was saying: we got to this good place we're in now because everything worked out like it did. I'm just going to try to be grateful that whatever forces are out there pushed us together at the right moment, and then be excited that I get to spend every day of the rest of my life with the one I love."

"Fearlessly and forever?" Kurt asked, feeling himself succumbing to sleep all of a sudden.

"Fearlessly and forever."

Kurt felt a face bury into his hair with an accompanying kiss before he nodded off, a warm bubble of safety and contentment filling his chest.