Blaine had everything prepared. Against all odds, he had united rival glee clubs to come help him propose to the love of his life. Dalton had allowed him to invade their school day after day as he rehearsed and timed and choreographed the whole thing. Burt had agreed to drive Kurt over. Rachel and Santana had arrived from New York earlier today, and they had just finished their final rehearsal before tomorrow's big proposal. There was only one thing left to do.

Blaine found Rachel chatting excitedly with Santana and Mercedes. He waited patiently while their conversation wound down before pulling Rachel aside. "Can I ask you to do me a favor?" he said.

"Flying here from New York to help with your big romantic proposal wasn't enough of a favor?" Rachel teased.

Blaine laughed. "You know you would have been here even if I hadn't asked you."

"That may be true," Rachel replied with a grin. "So what's the favor?"

"I need you to tell Kurt," Blaine answered.

Rachel's brows drew together in confusion. "You do realize that surprise proposals generally involve an element of surprise, right?"

"Ha, ha," Blaine intoned sarcastically. "I'm serious. I need you to tell him."

"Why?" Rachel asked.

"Does it matter why?"

"Yes, it does. I'm not going to ruin what may be the most romantic gesture ever performed without a good explanation," Rachel informed him.

"Even if the person performing the gesture asks you to?" Blaine pleaded.

"Especially not then. You're biased. You need an impartial third party to determine if your reasoning makes sense," she stated matter-of-factly, as if this was a well-known rule in surprise proposal planning.

Blaine gave up. There was no point arguing with Rachel. Worst case scenario, if she didn't agree, he would ask Mercedes. Or maybe Santana. Hell, he'd get Sam to do it if he had to. Kurt had to know.

"I need you to tell him because I don't want him to be blind-sided." Rachel didn't seem convinced, so Blaine continued, "Look, we just got back together a few days ago. I'm sure about this. I know Kurt is the one for me. But maybe he's not so sure. I have hurt him in the past. Maybe he still needs more time to trust me again. Maybe he wants to take it slowly. I don't want him to feel pressured by all the people. I don't want him saying yes just because he feels bad saying no. I want him to know what he's getting into so he can avoid it completely if he really wants."

Rachel had gone from completely expressionless to on the verge of tears. She reached out and wrapped him in a hug. "Blaine Anderson, you are the sweetest guy I have ever met. Okay, I'll tell Kurt."

Blaine squeezed her tight before letting her go. "Thanks, Rachel. You're the best."

"I know," she said smugly as she turned to leave.

As she walked down the hallway, she pulled her phone out of her pocket. The sound of her voice carried through the quiet corridor. "Kurt! You will never believe what I'm about to tell you, but I can't keep it a secret anymore. Promise you won't tell Blaine I told you."

Blaine smiled as he watched her walk out. After she had left, he turned to look at the now-empty halls of Dalton. His eyes lingered on the staircase. If all went according to plan, at this time tomorrow, he'd be standing in this exact spot, sliding a ring onto his new fiancé's finger. He ran his hand over the end of the railing. "Wish me luck," he whispered. Then, with one final glance at the beautiful halls of his old school, he headed for home, to spend one final night in nervous anticipation.