Tossing the last of the chopped vegetables into a dish, Kurt hummed under his breath. He slid the dish into the oven on the shelf beneath the roasting turkey as Blaine cleared away the chopping board and knife he had been using. It was nice, in the kitchen with Blaine finishing up the preparation for Thanksgiving dinner while the rest of his family sat watching TV in the living room. Lunch with Blaine's family yesterday seemed months ago, almost like it had happened in another life.

Stepping over to the sink, he washed his hands as Blaine finished wiping down the counter and tossed the cloth in the sink before leaning against the counter beside him.

"You know that tour I'm doing in Europe next month?" he asked lightly.

Turning off the water, Kurt nodded and accepted the towel Blaine handed him. Blaine was leaving for Europe at the beginning of December to play shows across a number of countries there before returning to New York in time for Christmas. Blaine had been busy with his band and manager lately preparing for the tour and had finished main rehearsals just before they had come to Lima; he had one final rehearsal before he left for Europe.

Blaine shifted slightly, one corner of his mouth pulling up into a lopsided smile. "Well, I've been talking to Taylor and your other producers about it."

Kurt set the towel down on the counter and turned his body so he was facing Blaine fully. He had a strong inkling of where this was going and felt excitement building and a smile fighting to light up his face, but he wanted to hear Blaine say the words to him, so he forced his face to remain politely curious.

Blaine's crooked smile widened a little. "You finish taping your final show for the year on the afternoon of the fifteenth, so I've arranged for you to fly out to Italy afterwards to join me for the rest of the tour," he announced, his voice rising slightly with excitement. "Only if you want to, of course," he added as an afterthought.

Kurt took a step closer to him, deliberately keeping his expression neutral, though a small smile inched onto his face when he saw Blaine search his face impatiently for a response. "I do want," he said, finally allowing his smile to widen and his eyes to light up with excitement as Blaine's face split into a huge grin, his eyes crinkling at the corners. He laughed with delight as Blaine picked him up and spun him around the kitchen.

"I wasn't completely sure you would want to come because I know spending Christmas with your family is important to you and I know you love Christmastime in New York as well," Blaine rambled excitedly, letting his hands rest on Kurt's hips as he set him back down on the ground. "I thought you might want to spend some of your holiday in New York before coming here, so-"

Kurt pressed his lips to Blaine's, cutting him off mid-ramble. Blaine pulled him closer and stroked his hips and waist with his thumbs.

"Of course I want to come with you," Kurt told him when they broke apart. "I've always wanted to see Paris and London and Milan." He grinned excitedly at the thought. "Oh, and I would love to visit them with you and would miss you while you were gone if I couldn't go," he added, trying to sound offhanded.

"I see how it is; you're only agreeing to come so you can travel around Europe."

Kurt let his finger trace the curve of Blaine's neck. "That's exactly how it is." He squeaked as Blaine suddenly lunged forwards and crashed their lips together with such force that Kurt stumbled backwards. He threw out a hand to steady himself as he fetched up against the counter, sending several cooking utensils clattering to the floor. He laughed softly against his boyfriend's mouth as one of Blaine's feet kicked a large metal serving spoon aside and continued to kiss Kurt eagerly. "I think we're destroying the kitchen."

Burt's voice called through from the living room at that moment. "You ok in there, boys?"

"We're fine!" Blaine shouted in the direction of the door. "Kurt just dropped something."

Kurt slapped his arm, but Blaine just laughed softly and brushed his mouth against his once more. He stepped away from Kurt. "Better stop before you actually smash something."

Kurt bent to pick up the utensils. "It was your fault," he argued. Heading to the sink to wash the utensils he'd collected from the floor, he said, "Seriously though, I don't mind not doing my usual Christmas things in New York or coming here a little later than normal. We'll still spend most of Christmas here and I'd love to spend the lead-up to Christmas in Europe."

"We'll spend Christmas here?" Blaine questioned hopefully.

Kurt rolled his eyes affectionately at him. "You're spending Christmas here too, silly. I told you yesterday, you're part of this family now and there's no way I'm letting my boyfriend be alone for Christmas."

Blaine smiled widely at him again as he dried off the utensils Kurt had just washed. "Thank you." He kissed Kurt's cheek swiftly when he reached for the spatula.

Kurt dried his hands on the towel. "There's nothing to thank me for."

‘Paris,' Kurt thought with a thrill, ‘next month I'll be in Paris, one of the most romantic cities of the world, with Blaine.'

Though Blaine would be playing a show on a lot of the nights when Kurt would be there, he still had days off and he had assured him that they would spend those days exploring the cities. Kurt sighed happily and rolled onto his back on his bed, staring unseeingly up at his bedroom ceiling, daydreaming about touring around Europe with Blaine.

It was evening and Thanksgiving dinner had finished a few hours ago. Blaine was currently taking a shower and the sounds of water running and Blaine softly singing snatches of songs added background music to his thoughts of Paris, London, and Milan. He had always wanted to visit those cities, but his busy work schedule hadn't ever allowed for it; any time off he did get was spent with his family. He could barely wait to go. He closed his eyes and imagined sitting at a tiny restaurant in a beautiful square in Milan; strolling hand-in-hand down the snowy Champs-Élysées, café lights twinkling in the clear, cold night; cuddling into Blaine's warm body and sipping hot chocolate as they gazed out over the glittering lights of London; kissing by the brilliantly lit Eiffel Tower; winding their way through the side streets of Milan past beautiful old buildings; Blaine nuzzling his cheek softly as they watched darkness settle over London like a spell, Big Ben and the London Eye lit up and the Thames flowing silently beneath the bridge they stood on...

His daydreams blurred together in his mind until he and Blaine were in one big beautiful city: the twisting streets of Paris lined with softly lit Italian restaurants and cafes suddenly opening out into Hyde Park with its snow-filled trees.

A loud, shrill sound suddenly blared from the nightstand, wrenching Kurt from his dreaming. Glaring over at Blaine's phone, he sat up with a groan and swiped it off the cabinet, taking note of the name on the screen: George.

Wondering what he could possibly be calling about, Kurt answered the call.

"Hey, Kurt! I just called to say I hope you had a good Thanksgiving," George said once Kurt had greeted him.

Kurt blinked. "Yeah, it was great, thanks. How was yours?"

"Pretty good," he replied brightly. "It's nice to see the family again." He paused for a beat. "What did you and Blaine get up to today?"

That feeling stirred in Kurt again, the strange one of suspicion; why was George so interested in his and Blaine's lives all the time? None of Blaine's other friends had called today to wish them a happy Thanksgiving. Even Rachel, who had been Kurt's best friend for years, longer than George and Blaine had known each other, had only sent him a brief text that morning wishing them a good day. It was strange.

"Oh, you know," he said carefully, "just the usual things: making dinner, spending time with my family, eating."

George hummed softly in response, sounding almost a little distracted. "How was the visit to see Blaine's parents? I know Blaine was a little worried about it."

Blaine hadn't been that worried when he'd told George about the visit, but maybe George just knew about Blaine's history with his parents and assumed he was. The memory from months ago of Blaine standing in his kitchen in New York and telling him that he hadn't told anyone the whole story of his problems with his parents for years prodded at him insistently, but he forcibly shrugged it off despite his mounting suspicion - maybe Blaine had told George; they'd been friends for a number of years now. The feeling still nagged at him, though.

"Well, it wasn't the most enjoyable experience I've ever had," he replied cautiously.

"How come?" George asked curiously. "What happened?"

The suspicious feeling prodded at Kurt again; there was definitely something off about George's tone. Kurt decided to only give him the bare minimum of details about Blaine's parents. "His parents just spent most of the time stiff and not really saying much," he hedged. Ok, so that was stretching the truth a bit, but there wasn't much he could say without revealing how bad it had been and inducing more questions.

George still pressed for more information. "Did his parents not like you?"

Kurt frowned; George had sounded almost impatient, as if he were desperate for more details, as if he relied on them for something. That was definitely not normal. "It was hard to tell really," he replied levelly. Sensing he was about to be questioned further, he resorted to lying. "Sorry, George, but I have to go, my family is shouting on me. I'll let Blaine know that you called."

"Right," George said, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "I suppose I'll see you when we're back in New York."

"I suppose we will," Kurt replied with feigned brightness. "Bye!"

"See you, Kurt."

Setting the phone back on the nightstand, Kurt lay back on the bed, thinking about all the articles published featuring quotes or information from a source. The first one was after Rachel's first workshop performance where a source had made false implications about his and Blaine's relationship, which had started all the rumours that they were dating. Until now, Kurt had just assumed that they were spotted by chance leaving the theatre and that the rest was just the media stirring up stories to get more people to buy their magazines and visit their websites. But maybe it was something more, though he had no idea if George had known that he and Blaine were going to that show.

Then there was the article about that day in Central Park when someone had been watching them and taking pictures from behind a tree. He absently picked at the bedspread as he thought carefully about that day; George had phoned Blaine, he remembered. He frowned, his hand stilling against the bed. Blaine had told George that he and Kurt were going to Central Park that day; he was the only person they told. There was still a chance that they were spotted by luck and it had nothing to do with George, but Kurt really doubted it. George had known he had gone to LA to visit Blaine while he had been on tour, he knew where their favourite coffee shops were, he knew that he and Blaine were coming to Lima for Thanksgiving.

He continued to mull it all over, focusing so hard on it that he didn't notice Blaine entering the room until he dropped down on the bed next to him, smelling of body wash and with his hair still damp from the shower.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" he asked, smiling. "Planning a hot new outfit to wear on your show to tease everyone with?"

Kurt turned his head to look at him. "I don't do that to tease everyone," he objected distractedly, "just you."

Blaine noticed his distraction. "What are you really thinking about?" he asked, gently brushing a loose eyelash off Kurt's face with his thumb.

Kurt hesitated for a moment; George and Blaine had been friends for years now and he was the drummer in Blaine's band, so he didn't want to sound too accusatory, especially since he still wasn't completely sure it was George that was leaking details of their private lives to the media, he just had a strong feeling it was.

"George called while you were in the shower. He hoped we had a good Thanksgiving and asked how our day was." He met Blaine's eyes. "He also asked about our visit to your parent's house," he continued while Blaine watched him, looking slightly puzzled. "He's always very interested in our lives," he said in a voice loaded with meaning.

Blaine stared at him in silence, a small frown on his face and his eyes slightly unfocused as he thought about what Kurt had just said. Kurt just waited patiently for him to think it all through.

"Yeah, I guess he is," Blaine said slowly. His frown deepened and he stared unseeingly at Kurt, clearly thinking hard.

"Has he always been like this?" Kurt asked casually a minute or so later. "Even Rachel doesn't ask that many questions about us and she can be extremely nosy at times."

Blaine shook his head, his eyes still glazed. "It's weird, he never used to be like that, but you're right, lately he has been calling me up a lot and asking about my plans and what I've been up to."

"Weird," Kurt mumbled, his suspicion building.

He wondered if he should tell Blaine about his suspicions, but he decided it might be better if he got more evidence first. It wasn't that he thought Blaine would be angry with him for suggesting it or be too blinded by his friendship with George to believe him, he just wanted to be more certain before he told him as this was a big thing to accuse a friend of doing.

"Maybe it's just because we're in a steady relationship and don't go out drinking and picking up guys in bars most nights and he's fascinated with our strange lifestyle," Kurt said.

Blaine let out a small chuckle, but it sounded a little forced. "Maybe."

He lapsed into silence again after that, the frown line still between his eyebrows and Kurt could see he'd given Blaine a lot to think about.

Over the following days Kurt awaited news that an article had been written about his and Blaine's visit to Blaine's parents. Although he hadn't given much away to George, if he was right in thinking that it was him doing all the leaking to the media, then he had managed to stretch the truth enough in the past or just lie outright to allow an article to be written. One thing Kurt was pleased about was that he and Blaine had managed to evade the paparazzi the entire time they were in Lima, mostly thanks to the help of his dad and Finn. Whoever this source was, they were bound to have been frustrated by that.

Just like he expected, the day after their return to New York Blaine called him saying that his publicist had just stopped an article from being published about him having a disagreement with his family over Thanksgiving.

"How did they even find out about that?" Blaine asked him in confusion. "I didn't tell anyone about it other than your parents and it's not like my parents would ever mention it to anyone."

Kurt nodded with a grim satisfaction. Outside of his dad and Carole, only two other people had known that the meeting with Blaine's parents hadn't gone well: Rachel and George. Rachel, though gossipy at times, knew when to keep things to herself and Kurt knew she would never tell anyone about something like that. Which left...

"Blaine," Kurt said seriously, "I think I know who told the reporters."

"What? Who?" Blaine demanded.

"George," Kurt told him firmly.

Silence.

Kurt listened to his racing heartbeat and the humming of the phone connection as he waited with bated breath for Blaine's response.

"How did you figure out it was him?" Blaine asked eventually.

Kurt was relieved; he had expected Blaine to express disbelief and say there was no way his friend would do something like that, but Blaine believed him. He was probably also remembering their conversation on Thanksgiving and had maybe even started to feel a little suspicious himself.

Kurt explained to him the reasoning behind his suspicions: how George had known they were going to Central Park that day, how he had known they were going to Lima for Thanksgiving, the close interest in their lives, and how Kurt had given him a few, brief details about their visit to Blaine's parents.

"Whenever one of those articles mentioning a source was published, George had always known the details about the article's content beforehand. He had either asked us about it or actually been there like that time I visited you in LA," Kurt finished. "Of course, sometimes he just lied to them," he added.

"I can't believe he's been doing that, he's been my friend since our first year of college. Why would he do that?" Blaine sounded hurt and betrayed.

Kurt wished he were with Blaine instead of at the studios so he could offer his boyfriend some comfort. His anger at George rose, but he also felt heartbroken because George was now another person in Blaine's life who had turned against him and caused him pain. First his parents and now his friend - what did Blaine ever do to deserve this?

"I don't know why he did it, but we're going to find out," Kurt said determinedly, setting his jaw. He sat up straighter in his chair, a plan forming in his head. "Here's what we're going to do. We'll ask George and the other guys out one night and while we're there I'll let it slip that I'm meeting with Rachel for coffee the next day to discuss something to do with our relationship - I'll hint at something big, like moving in together or something - and then hopefully he'll come to the coffee shop to try and overhear. You can disguise yourself and hide somewhere to see if you can spot him lurking around and then we can catch him red-handed." He smiled as he finished talking, feeling quite proud of his plan.

"That sounds good," Blaine agreed. "But what if he doesn't take the bait?"

Kurt nibbled on the inside of his bottom lip for a moment, thinking. "Then we take more drastic measures."

"Like what?" Blaine wondered.

"I'm not exactly sure yet," Kurt admitted. "But it will be something big; Kurt Hummel knows how to make a scene if one is needed."

Blaine chuckled softly and Kurt smiled, glad that his friend's betrayal wasn't getting his boyfriend down too much. "I'm sure he does."

Glancing at his watch, Kurt stood up. "I've got to go, but you phone George and the other guys and invite them out for tomorrow night or something and I'll call Rachel later and fill her in."

"Will do."

"I'm staying over at your place tonight," Kurt told him as he headed for the door of his dressing room, "you need some cuddling."

"Ok," Blaine said happily.

Pausing with his hand on the door handle, Kurt said softly, "I'm sorry it was George who did this."

Blaine sighed. "Me too, I really thought he was a decent guy. I really don't know why he did this, I wouldn't have thought money would have driven him to betraying his friend, but clearly I don't know him as well as I thought, so maybe it was that."

Kurt ran his finger over the door handle contemplatively. "Maybe."

"I'd better go or you'll be late for your show."

Kurt glanced at his watch again and turned the handle but didn't open the door. "I love you, Blaine."

"Love you, too." Kurt could hear the smile in Blaine's voice.

"I'll be straight over after work," he added, before saying goodbye and ending the call.