This has been mostly written since November, and I do believe it's the cheesiest thing I've ever put to paper. Also, I know, everyone throws future!Klaine in Brooklyn now, but like I said: November. I based the brownstone off a friend's and didn't want to change it. Thanks to everyone for all of the support you've given me in this crazy adventure! I fail at this website, but there's a PDF at my fic journal on LJ, which is theonewithfics, and the journal is linked in my profile I believe.

Furious was too mild of a word for how Kurt was feeling currently.

He'd requested off New Year's Eve and the day after months ago. It was his and Blaine's third anniversary and he knew Blaine had planned something special, even though Blaine told him not to worry about it when Kurt told him he had to work New Year's Eve. Kurt had seen it in his eyes when he told Blaine his boss, Gretchen, had fallen on a patch of ice and broke three ribs and her arm. He'd worked it out with the others to have the first and second off, at least. The New Year's Eve concert was a big draw though, and Gretchen begged him to come in. Normally, it would have been comforting to know Gretchen trusted him with so many of her responsibilities, but Kurt had really been looking forward to spending some time off with Blaine. He'd had to work the concert last year, since he'd only been working for NYFA a few weeks at that point, and hadn't made it home until almost two am.

It also might have had something to do with the fact that Kurt had planned something a little special of his own, too.

Kurt's plans of performing hadn't worked out as he'd thought. He'd fallen into a job at the New York Foundation for the Arts, which was similar to what he'd done at the OSU arts center just with the added perk of being in New York City and having over thirty theaters to juggle instead of one. He'd earned a raise and a promotion after a year and he really did enjoy his work - just not when he wasn't supposed to be there.

Getting home to Brooklyn was going to be a bitch in the New Year's insanity, so he'd sent the rest of the staff home, walking around and making sure all of the doors were locked and trying to figure out the quickest way to get home to Blaine. He didn't want to call him quite yet, not until he had a better handle on what time he'd be there (plus, he'd be infinitely less irritated once he actually left). It was already pushing ten and he really, really just wanted to be home before midnight. He shoved his hands in his pockets, feeling the circular metal still safe in its jacquard pouch. Blaine had seemed antsy before he left, rearranging his half of the drawers, so Kurt had brought his anniversary present with him just in case.

As Kurt wandered around, he heard someone playing the piano, which was odd. He figured a window must be open somewhere and sounds were traveling from a nearby building - he was supposed to be alone. He finally recognized the song as Teenage Dream, and he smiled to himself. Teenage Dream always made Kurt think of Blaine. Just hearing a few strands brightened his mood considerably - he needed to finish up and call Blaine and get home.

Not long after they'd moved to New York, when they were still unpacking the never ending boxes late one night, Kurt had come across a box of old CDs and DVDs labeled Warblers with various dates and he went searching for his New Directions ones for good measure before pulling out a bottle of wine and telling Blaine they should call it a night. They alternated between the two, and Kurt's favorite Blaine performance had been Teenage Dream by far. "If I'd seen that at sixteen, I would have fallen in love with you on the spot," he'd whispered hot in Blaine's ear and they never did get through the rest of the performances after that.

Kurt paused by one of the back doors, grinning at the memory when he realized - no, the piano playing was coming from inside. He had a momentary bout of panic before he calmed down and realized it had to be Blaine.

He walked into the hall and sure enough, there was Blaine sitting behind the piano, eyes concentrating on his hands moving swiftly over the keys until he heard Kurt's footsteps. "You sure take a long time to catch on. I'm almost done with the song." Blaine smiled warmly at him as he climbed on stage, but didn't stop playing.

"I figured it was either you or a creepy serial killer who'd be stalking me," Kurt teased sliding onto the piano bench next to Blaine. "You're way better than the group that performed tonight," he added, leaning his head against Blaine's shoulder.

"I think you might be a tad biased," Blaine said, staring at Kurt pointedly before finishing the song and turning back towards him. "Hi," he said softly, twisting to kiss Kurt's forehead where it was resting against his neck.

"Hi," Kurt repeated, sitting up straighter so he could kiss Blaine properly. He was expecting a chaste kiss like the one Blaine had given him on his forehead; he wasn't expecting Blaine to kiss him as intensely or as passionately as he did and he couldn't help whining a bit against Blaine's lips. "I'm a lucky man, you came all this way just to serenade me and kiss the wind out of me." Kurt sighed happily and nuzzled back against Blaine's neck, not really caring why Blaine was there; just happy to have him and glad he had the next two days off to spend with him.

Okay, wait, he might have cared a little.

"Why are you here?" Kurt asked, sitting back up so they were face to face. "You could have serenaded and kissed me when I got home, even if our piano isn't a baby Grand."

"Rachel and Finn invited me to dinner, they were worried about me being alone or something, and she – well, she might have let something slip." Blaine looked at Kurt for a moment, his eyes shining a little in the bright overhead lights, and Kurt was going to kill Rachel at the next available opportunity. Blaine reached for Kurt's hands with his and clasped them together. "I just - I wanted tonight to be special too," he said quietly, smiling at Kurt even though his voice cracked a bit on the tail end.

"Blaine!" Kurt exclaimed with a laugh, probably a tad too loud, his voice bouncing off the walls. "I knew you'd planned something even though you said it was fine. You shouldn't lie to me, Dr. Anderson," he said, smiling coyly at Blaine, ignoring the whole 'Rachel had let something slip' bit for the time being. That caused Blaine to laugh himself, squeezing at Kurt's hands.

"I would never lie to you, Kurt Hummel," Blaine replied, playing along. He was speaking in that breathy tone that turned Kurt on instantly and if he didn't want to desperately see where Blaine was going with everything, he'd have half a mind to throw Blaine on top of the piano and ravish him. Hey, maybe by some stroke of genius, those were Blaine's plans. "I never said I didn't have plans. I just said I wouldn't be crushed if you had to work. And it turns out you had plans of your own that got messed up, so see, here I am, improvising for both of us."

"That you are," Kurt said with a half-nod, leaning in to kiss Blaine again, slower this time, letting his tongue explore Blaine's mouth even though after three years together, it had mapped out every last spot. "I'm sorry, I'm distracting you from your newfound plans, aren't I?" Kurt asked, kissing his way up Blaine's jaw. He nipped at Blaine's earlobe before pulling back and saying, "You better share these plans before I make some of my own that involve none of our original ones."

"Okay, okay," Blaine said, laughing. "So, I have some things I wanted to say since it's our anniversary." The look on Blaine's face was so open and earnest; Kurt was curious what he was going to say. Kurt had been planning to use the subway ride home to reevaluate his strategy.

"God, this is the part where you get all cheesy on me, isn't it," he teased, squeezing Blaine's hands back, because he knew his boyfriend far too well.

"You love it and you know it," Blaine retaliated, grinning. "You know I love you very much," he started, placing a finger on Kurt's lips when he opened them to answer. Kurt nodded instead and Blaine continued. "I love waking up every morning to you sleeping next to me, in our brownstone that's ours even if the hallways are narrow and the floors are creaky and lopsided and it is in Brooklyn, because I love the home we've created there together with the two dogs you pretend to hate." Kurt chuckled at that and blinked his eyes, because damnit, he wasn't going to cry.

Blaine turned around to grab his jacket that was hanging over the other end of the piano bench and fished out a small wrapped box. "Happy anniversary, Kurt. I saw this and thought of you, and I really hope you like it." He placed the box in Kurt's hands and Kurt just stared at it for a moment. "Go on," Blaine said, grinning, pushing it further into his hands.

Kurt shook the small box, making a big show of shaking it, even though he had no doubt what was inside. He unwrapped the blue and green paper gingerly, opening it to find a plain brown box with a plain ivory pouch inside. Kurt looked back up a Blaine for a moment, who was biting his lip and watching intently. He pulled out the pouch and undid the drawstring to find a ring inside.

"Blaine," Kurt said, his voice thick with emotion, as he pulled out the ring (so much for not crying). It was a thick, flat gold band with something engraved on the outside of it. Kurt brought the ring closer to his eyes to read. The strongest and sweetest songs yet remain to be sung.

"I'd been looking for something for a while," Blaine started, watching as Kurt read the inscription. "I couldn't find anything that was perfect, and then I saw this and the quote -"

"Walt Whitman. It was on your syllabus, at the end," Kurt supplied, looking up to face Blaine. "I always liked that quote. It stuck with me."

Blaine grinned. "Well, it was on my syllabi. The quarter after we got together, I accidentally deleted it from the document. Probably because I spent the last bit of my vacation with you instead of working on them. Ever since I realized it, I started associating the quote with you." Blaine reached between them and took the ring out of Kurt's hand. "If the best is yet to come and the strongest and sweetest songs haven't been sung yet, I want them all to be with you, Kurt."

Blaine was tearing up at this point too and Kurt let out a laugh and wiped at Blaine's face with his thumb. "Thanks," Blaine said, letting out a shaky laugh. "Okay." A long breath escaped his lips before he finally asked, "Kurt Hummel, will you marry me?"

Kurt just couldn't wait any longer to kiss Blaine, so he threw himself across the piano bench, pressing his lips to Blaine's. He kissed him once, twice, three times for good measure before pulling back and saying, "Of course I'll marry you, Blaine Anderson," and diving back in to kiss Blaine some more.

"So, I stole your thunder, Kurt Hummel, will you ever forgive me?" Blaine said, grinning as he pulled away from Kurt's lips to slip the ring on Kurt's left hand.

"You, yes. Rachel, no." Kurt pressed their foreheads together and sighed deeply. He could feel Blaine's ring pressing against his thigh, and he pulled back just far enough to fetch it from his pocket. "Do I want to know what she said? No, wait, don't answer that," Kurt decided, shaking his head. "Tell me tomorrow when I don't have feelings of rage towards her." He offered Blaine a small smile so he knew he was joking.

Kurt placed the pouch in Blaine's hands and watched as he unsnapped and unzipped it. "I've had it since we left Ohio – I don't know what I was waiting for, exactly, but today felt right. And then I got called in …" He shook his head, because he was rambling, because Blaine had thrown him for quite the loop, and decided to let Blaine discover the inscription on his own.

Blaine pulled the ring out of the pouch – it was also gold, but thinner and more rounded, a few surface scratches showing its age. Blaine twirled the ring between his fingers, the inscription finally catching his eye. "B.A. to K.H," he read slowly. "January 1, 1915." Blaine looked up and met Kurt's eyes, questioning.

"Meredeth from the consignment shop bought some bags of jewelry at a flea market, and this was inside. She called me because of the initials – she had no idea the date meant anything. It was the last thing I bought before we left Ohio since you picked up the first round of gas," he said, smiling at the memory. "I'm sure some old couple is rolling in their graves, me using their wedding ring to propose to my boyfriend –"

"Oh, is that what this is? I wasn't sure," Blaine interrupted and Kurt shoved at his shoulder.

"Shut up. I should have gone first. You flustered me. I'm – flusterable today." Kurt could feel the flush rise in his cheeks. "Don't ruin this for me," Kurt added, poking a finger at Blaine's chest. His cheesy, stupid Blaine.

Blaine made a motion with his fingers, as if he was locking his lips shut. Kurt resisted an eye roll. "I've known I wanted to marry you for a while," he continued, getting back on track. "Since that Fourth of July in Lima – that's the first time I let myself really think it, even if I knew deep down before then. Since you went on your interview with Aggie that spring break and you told her I was your family – you have been my family for the past eighteen months we've been here, probably longer, but I really don't know what I would have done without you. I'm so happy and proud to be with you, and I don't know how you put up with me the first few months we were here. All of my dreams were crashing down around me, and that's when it hit me – my dreams aren't just about me anymore. Isn't that what growing up is all about?" he said with a laugh, and Blaine was getting teary again.

"Blaine Anderson, all of my dreams involve you. Every single one of them. So, this seems extremely silly, since you've already asked me, but I'm going to ask anyways. Blaine, will you marry me?"

"Mmm-hmm, I think I will," Blaine said the second Kurt slipped the ring on his finger, and then his lips were on Kurt's again, and it felt like all of the air had been sucked from Kurt's lungs, because he almost couldn't believe everything was really happening.

An hour later, when they sat on a cramped J train to Brooklyn, Blaine ran his finger over the gold band on Kurt's finger. "Was I too cheesy?" he whispered.

"You were just perfect," Kurt answered, voice quiet as he ran his finger over Blaine's ring. "So was I, of course," he added airly, making Blaine smile and laugh, and there was no denying he was right.

Everything was just perfect.