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Blaine sighed as he picked up yet another box and set it on top of the rest of the pile before stepping back to examine his stack, deciding it was ready to go. The dolly was outside with Kurt, who was delivering another pile to Finn and Burt so they could pack it into the truck. He looked around himself and smiled.
The apartment was almost empty. The furniture was gone, the walls were bare, the cabinets were empty, and only a few small boxes remained. In a matter of hours, Kurt and Blaine would live in their new apartment. It was nicer than this one; bigger too. And with the money they made because the building was bought by a new owner, ending their lease, it was an easy step up. Kurt would have an official sewing area, and Blaine could finally take his instruments out of his parent's house back in Westerville.
While he waited for Kurt to ride the elevator back up with the dolly, leaving Finn and Burt to pack, Blaine did a final sweep of the apartment for any remaining boxes.
A small box sitting where Kurt's dresser used to be caught his eye. It was only about the size of half a loaf of bread. Blaine bent down to grab it, but as soon as he'd lifted it off the ground, the bottom opened up. The contents of the box splayed out on the floor and Blaine jumped back to avoid the tiny avalanche. There was an old red bouncy ball that rolled into the corner of the room, a broken heart made of clay that had been glued back together, a RENT theatre ticket, a small wooden box locked shut with the key a few inches away, and a red and white striped bowtie.
Blaine knelt down and set the broken box on the floor, away from its contents. He reached forward and picked up the bowtie with uncertain fingers, enjoying its velvety feel. Blaine turned it over in his hands, knowing it looked familiar, but unsure how. And then his eyes caught on the gold band on his left ring finger.
"Oh."
...
...
He was seven and his parents were going away for a week during the summer before he entered third grade, leaving Blaine in the care of his older brother Cooper. Every morning, Cooper drove Blaine to Happy Acres Day Care before heading to some school function: practice for a play or the band or something. Blaine neither knew nor cared. All he knew was that he'd been left there five days in a row now, and he hated it. He had no friends!
"Hi!" a smiling little boy greeted almost as soon as Cooper was out of the door.
Blaine didn't know how to respond at first. The boy had light brown hair and blue eyes. He wore a little vest and a long sleeved shirt. He was cute. He was also the first person to try and talk to Blaine all week. When Blaine found his voice, he meant to say "Hello." Instead, what came out was, "You have the prettiest eyes I've ever seen!"
The boy smiled. "Yours are like golden sun rays. I like them."
Blaine laughed. "Do you want to play ball with me?" he asked. He played soccer at school, and he'd seen a soccer ball in the bin on his first day, but it was hard to play soccer all by yourself.
The boy frowned. "I don't like sports much," he admitted. "I like bowties, though," he said as he adjusted the tie around his neck with pride. His eyes lit up. "Do you want to have a tea party?"
Blaine couldn't have said 'No' if he wanted to. He couldn't take the light from those eyes. Besides, he liked tea parties.
The next day, Blaine had Cooper tie a red and white bowtie around his neck. He wanted to make his new friend happy. He said he liked bowties, so this bowtie would make him happy. Right? Blaine really wanted to make him smile. He was beautiful when he smiled.
He saw the boy first this time. Blaine ran over and tapped him on the shoulder. The boy turned and dropped his doll bride in surprise. "Your bowtie is awesome!" he cheered, clapping his hands.
Blaine preened. He pointed at the bowtie around the other boy's neck. It was blue. "Yours is nice too. I love blue."
The boy closed the space between them in an instant and gave Blaine the biggest hug he could muster. Blaine hugged him back. It felt really nice, better than hugs he'd gotten from anyone else, ever. Even his mom.
"I wanted to make you smile," Blaine admitted into the other boy's shoulder.
"You did."
They pulled back from each other with matching blushes high on their cheeks. The boy reached out to right Blaine's crooked bowtie and Blaine's chest felt full of butterflies. He watched his friend's eyelashes and his lips as he fiddled with Blaine's clothes. With a deep swallow, Blaine cast his eyes away, and saw the doll in the wedding dress.
"Oh!" Blaine gasped. His new friend snapped his hands back as if burned. "I really like you," Blaine declared, looking his new friend in the eyes. "Do you really like me too?"
The other boy's face was bright red. He barely managed a nod, his eyes frightened. Blaine beamed at him. He bent down to pick up the doll and showed it to his friend.
"Then," he bounced in place, "we should get married."
"What? We just met! And besides, boys can't get married!" his friend challenged, eyes sad.
Blaine shook his head. "Not without rings, they can't," he admitted. "But...I like you, and I could get you a ring! With hearts on it! No, butterflies!"
"Butterflies?" the boy asked.
Blaine blushed and shifted where he stood. "That's how my chest feels around you. Like butterflies."
The expression on the other boy's face was so besotted, so moved, and Blaine's chest felt tight, like there wasn't enough room in his body for his heart anymore. Like the Grinch on Christmas.
"But we don't have rings now," the boy murmured.
Blaine frowned. He couldn't marry anyone without a ring, and he really wanted to be with this boy forever!
Suddenly, blue eyes sparkled. "I know!" He reached over and untied Blaine's bowtie. Before Blaine could react, he was untying his own tie as well. He held his tie out to Blaine. "Here. For you."
Blaine accepted it with furrowed eyebrows. "Our bowties?" The boy nodded before tying Blaine's bowtie around his own neck. Blaine's eyes widened. "You can tie a bowtie?!"
"Huh?" He looked up. "You can't?" Blaine flushed in embarrassment and got a sweet smile in return. "I can tie it for you!"
In just a matter of moments, Blaine was wearing the blue tie and his own red and white one was around the neck of another boy. It felt like a momentous occasion.
"We can't get married without rings," the other boy reminded him, knocking Blaine out of his own thoughts, "but...at least this way we're engaged. We can get married when we grow up and you give me a ring."
Blaine smiled. "You're so smart," he complimented. "I'm gonna have the smartest husband."
...
...
"Blaine?"
Blaine blinked out of his memory and looked up just as he heard Kurt reenter the apartment with the dolly. He stood up and walked out into the living room where Kurt was trying to figure out the best way to get the boxes onto the dolly, with his hands on his hips and facing away from Blaine. Blaine smiled, walking up behind his new husband. Kurt squeaked when Blaine wrapped his arms around him.
"Blaine?" he asked again, much quieter this time.
"Mmm," Blaine hummed. "I married a smart husband."
Kurt covered Blaine's hands with his own. "What are you talking about?" he asked lightly, turning his head to look at Blaine over his shoulder.
Blaine shrugged. "We had the longest engagement of anyone ever in history," he said. He turned his right hand over under Kurt's, letting him feel the bowtie. Kurt looked down at the bowtie and let out a soft gasp. Blaine kissed the side of his neck. "But you waited for me."
Kurt shuddered in his arms for a moment before he started laughing quietly. He took the bowtie from Blaine and turned around in his arms. Kurt cupped Blaine's face in his hands, the cloth of the bowtie brushing against his left cheek, and smiled. He locked eyes with Blaine briefly before locking their lips together instead. Blaine used his hands around Kurt's waist to pull Kurt closer, and Kurt deepened the kiss for a second before he pulled away. He leaned his forehead against Blaine's and they just breathed each other's air for several quiet minutes.
Kurt swallowed and smiled again. "You took long enough getting me a ring," he teased, looking like he'd finally gotten the final piece of a puzzle to fit and saw the whole picture.
Blaine frowned. "I know. And it doesn't have butterflies on it either. I'm sorry," he apologized, just as teasingly.
Kurt kissed him again. "I forgive you."
"You know," Blaine murmured against Kurt's lips in the following quiet. "What are the odds that the boy I proposed to when I was seven and the man I married at twenty-one are the same person?"
A shrug. "Astronomical. But I'm glad that I'm your only one."
Blaine smiled warmly at Kurt. "In a thousand lifetimes, you'll always be my only one."
Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's shoulders and hugged him tightly to him. "I love you."
"I love you too," Blaine whispered, holding Kurt just as close. "Forever."