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Cory Monteith Was Planning Birthday Surprise for Lea Michele Before Death

Lea Michele and Cory Monteith
Prior to his July 13 death at the age of 31, Cory Monteith had been planning a surprise for girlfriend Lea Michele's 27th birthday in August

Lea Michele's world came crashing down around her on the night of Saturday, July 13, when she learned that her boyfriend and Glee costar Cory Monteith had died at the age of 31 from a fatal mix of heroin and alcohol. Just days earlier, the future had never looked brighter — Michele even told friends that Monteith was planning a surprise for her 27th birthday in August.

Related: PHOTOS: Lea and Cory's romance

"She didn't know what," a source tells Us Weekly of the 26-year-old actress. "But she thought it could be a party and possibly a trip somewhere."

The couple also had more long-term plans for the future. As Us Weekly previously revealed, the Glee costars were ready to take things to the next level. In fact, Michele told one pal, "Cory is the One."

Related: PHOTOS: Stars we've lost in 2013

"Lea and Cory were planning on moving in together after he got back from Vancouver," another source told Us. Dating since early 2012, the duo "weren't talking engagement or marriage yet, but it was heading that way," the source explained. "The first step was [that] Cory was going to move in [to Michele's L.A. home] completely. He was already there all the time."

Related: PHOTOS: Stars gone too soon

"They were 100 percent happy and together and in love at the time of his death," the insider added. "They never broke up."

Indeed, that love is evident in Michele's last interview prior to Monteith's death. Speaking to Marie Claire Mexico about their relationship just one month before the actor was found dead in his Vancouver hotel room, she gushed that her beau of more than a year had enriched her life in every way.

Related: PHOTOS: Behind the scenes of Glee

"It's more interesting having a relationship with someone you work with because we get more attention because we play boyfriend and girlfriend on the show and we are also in real life," she told the magazine (via Popsugar). "But he is the best person I know, he has made my life so incredible, and I am so thankful for him and not only to have him as a partner but also as a co-worker."

She went on to say, "It is important to have someone that supports you and encourage you, someone that makes you feel that you are unstoppable, that you can do anything in the world because you have him."

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