The next day, Kurt was awoken by Blaine practically bouncing up and down on the bed next to him. With a groan, he rolled on his side, turning his back to Blaine and trying to go back to sleep.

Blaine didn't seem to notice his attempt. "Kuurt!" he whined. "Kurt, wake up! It's Christmas!"

Kurt just hissed at him and curled up further under the warm blankets until only the tips of his ears peeked out.

"Oh come on," Blaine huffed, gently nudging him. "You can't want to go back to sleep on Christmas morning!"

"I can and I will!" Kurt grumbled back. But the knowledge that Blaine was probably giving him his best puppy dog eyes and pout behind his back kept him from falling asleep again. The minutes ticked by in silence until Kurt finally gave up.

"Oh fine!" he groaned, fighting his way out of his little blanket cocoon. "You win. We can go downstairs and eat way too much breakfast and open the rest of the presents."

"Yay!" When Kurt turned to him, Blaine was back to bouncing excitedly on the bed, cheeks rosy with excitement and hair the worst case of bedhead Kurt had ever witnessed. His eyes were sparkling and he looked so happy and excited that Kurt couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Easy there, honey. You're so eager you're probably going to trip down the stairs and break something before you even get to the presents," he chuckled when Blaine made to jump off the bed and pull Kurt with him but ended up tangled in blankets and barely able to avoid an unpleasant encounter with the floor instead.

"Hey, don't laugh at me." Blaine pouted up at him through the mess of twisted blankets and pillows he was buried under. "I just love Christmas. It's one of my favorite holidays!"

"Only one of your favorites?" Kurt asked as he helped Blaine fight his way out of his bedclothes. "So what is your favorite, then?"

"Valentine's Day," Blaine answered with a smile, leaning in closer so that their noses were almost touching. "I'm especially looking forward to the next one." And with that, he crossed the distance between them and pressed his lips to Kurt's. The kiss was gentle and sweet and Kurt just melted into it, forgetting about unimportant details such as morning breath or the possibility of his father appearing in the doorway. Watching them kiss on the couch in the living room and seeing them kiss on Kurt's bed were two very different things, especially for one Burt Hummel. Kurt only pulled away when the kiss started to deepen. It was then that he really started to notice something had been off about it.

"Wait... Why is your breath smelling like candy?" He frowned at Blaine who tried to pass with his best innocent face but failed miserably. He looked more a cross between smug and guilty than anything else. "You ate one of the candy canes from the Christmas tree, didn't you?" Kurt asked, questioning eyebrow raised, silently berating himself because really, he should have seen this coming.

"Maybe?" Blaine murmured, shifting around nervously and blushing a bit under Kurt's gaze. "Okay, yes, I did. It was just too tempting, okay? I mean, I woke up next to the tree and it's Christmas morning and I thought 'when would it be more okay to eat a candy cane for breakfast than on Christmas?' The answer is never, Kurt. And you yet have to complain."

Chuckling fondly, Kurt just rolled his eyes and pushed a stray curl out of Blaine's eyes. "Sure, if you say so. And I didn't complain. I'm just sorry because-" he interrupted himself, cheeks bright pink, to slap a hand over his mouth.

"Oh, that." Now it was Blaine's turn to roll his eyes. "I don't mind, Kurt. Just being allowed to kiss you is an honor and I couldn't care less for a bit morning breath. It's not that bad, darling."

"I love you," Kurt whispered with a smile, letting his hand sink down to fist the blanket when Blaine leaned in for another kiss, whispering "And I love you" back against his lips. They were just getting into it when they had to break apart thanks to Burt loudly clearing his throat from the doorway.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting you lovebirds," he said, not sounding particularly sorry at all. "But I thought you would be a little more excited to open the rest of your presents."

Kurt was just about to remind his father that he wasn't eight years old anymore and didn't get ridiculously impatient on Christmas morning, but then he caught sight of the way Blaine's face lit up at the mention of presents. With a resigned sigh, he elegantly slid off the bed and offered Blaine his hand. Still grinning from ear to ear, Blaine took it and they followed Burt into the living room. On the way downstairs, Blaine repeatedly tried to somewhat tame his bedhead by combing his fingers through his curls, but Kurt batted them away every time he caught him doing so.

The discussion whether they should open the presents right away or wait until after breakfast was quickly ended by Blaine gathering his pile in his arms and giving both Hummel men the most heartbreaking puppy dog eyes until they got theirs as well. The moment Kurt unwrapped the scarf he'd been eyeing every single time he and Blaine had been anywhere near a mall, he nuzzled into it with a content hum - and froze. The whole thing smelled wonderfully of Blaine's cologne, not too much but enough to get Kurt to undeliberately start purring for the first time in quite a while.

"Blaine," Kurt murmured breathlessly, looking up at him through his lashes from where his face was still buried in the soft fabric.

"Do you like the idea?" Blaine asked hesitantly, as if he was sincerely insecure about how his present would be received. "I read about it somewhere and I thought it would be a nice touch but you could always wash it again if you don't like it-"

Caught off guard by the 'again', Kurt shut out the rest of Blaine's rambling in order to bury his nose deeper into the soft folds of the scarf and indeed - underneath the layer of Blaine's delicious smell, there was also the smell of his detergent and Kurt just wanted to melt at Blaine's thoughtfulness.

"Blaine, shut up, please," he murmured, voice thick as he tried to battle the touched tears welling up in his eyes and making his throat tight. Blaine obeyed immediately. "I love the idea and I love that you put enough thought into it to not only spray your cologne onto it but also wash it. And you didn't even destroy the fabric," Kurt uttered, awe in his voice as he held the scarf against the light to look for possible damages and found none. "I knew there was a reason I fell in love with you."

Blaine laughed but Kurt could hear the wetness in his eyes in his voice without even seeing it, knew how much his praise of Blaine's present meant to Blaine by the way he held on tight as he pulled Kurt into his side.

"As if I'd ever treat something of yours with any less than the utmost care," Blaine said fondly and Burt had to clear his throat once more to interrupt the adoring gaze they shared.

The remaining presents were exchanged quickly. Blaine lost no time slipping into the incredibly soft cardigan Kurt had gotten him and overall everyone was happy with their share. Burt finally ushered them into the kitchen to make breakfast shortly after the last bit of wrapping paper hit the floor, claiming he was starving. Kurt was almost sure it was much more about keeping him and Blaine busy so they would stop making hearteyes at each other every few minutes, completely forgetting their surroundings.

The following few days went almost exactly like the ones leading up to Christmas and they were mostly just being lazy and feeding each other cookies and engaging in long, breathtaking kisses whenever Burt was at work. They didn't feel particularly guilty since they didn't actually misuse his trust, they were barely on the brink of making out. Nothing more than the teensiest bit of over-the-clothes groping and a lot of tongues curiously licking into mouths. But time passed way too quickly for their liking and before they knew it, New Year's Eve was right around the corner and they had yet to develop anything resembling a plan.

"Why can't we just stay in!" Kurt whined the afternoon of the 30th, curling up on the couch and giving Blaine his best pout. "So Dad doesn't have to be alone and I don't have to mingle so much."
"Oh, Kurt, come on," Blaine chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Most of the Warblers are back already and a few hours of party at Wes' won't hurt you. I'm sure your dad will survive on his own and we can have some fun with our friends. I know you aren't big on celebrating but we mostly just hung out inside by ourselves ever since the Christmas holidays started, going out for a bit will be a nice change."

"Are you saying you're already getting tired of hanging out with me all day?" Kurt asked with a frown, just the slightest bit of actual insecurity shining through in his voice.

"Kurt!" Blaine glared at him. "That's playing dirty and you know it. As if you're not perfectly aware that I'd prefer sitting on a couch watching awful reality TV with you all day over pretty much everything. I'm just trying to socialize a bit. They're our friends, after all, and I think we owe them a bit of quality time with the way we usually tend to hole up in our dorm every afternoon."

"I guess you're right." Kurt heaved a big sigh, nuzzling his cheek deeper into the pillow. "They do put up with our honeymoon phase. But I don't want to go socializing tomorrow. I want to stay here and play lame board games with Dad and cuddle with you on the couch and kiss you at midnight until he starts obnoxiously clearing his throat. Cats are loners for a reason."

"But I'm your exception?" Blaine grinned, crawling over on all fours and stealing a kiss.

"But you're my exception." Kurt grinned back, pulling Blaine up on his knees by his collar only to swiftly roll off the couch and into his lap, straddling him with a low purr. Blaine almost choked on his next inhale.

"Why, aren't we in a snuggly mood today," he said breathily as Kurt started to nuzzle at his neck, tracing small love bites up the tendon until he got to the especially sensitive spot where his jaw met his neck and sucked.

"Kurt," Blaine groaned, his hands wandering down to Kurt's hips and holding on tight on their own accord. "You're just trying to distract me from texting Wes."

"And it's working perfectly well," Kurt chuckled, nipping on Blaine's earlobe and letting his nails lightly scratch down his chest over the fabric of his shirt, the pressure just enough so that he could feel it. Goosebumps erupted everywhere and Blaine felt like he was on fire wherever Kurt touched him, shivering helplessly and trying not to pull him into his lap and rut up against him and forget all about their promises to keep it slow and his arguments why they should go to Wes' party. It was really hard to remember so much as his name when his cock was already starting to strain against the zipper of his jeans and Kurt was in his lap, purring and lavishing his neck.

Instead of giving the witty reply he'd tried to plan, he just moaned helplessly when Kurt started to press little kisses all over his face, getting closer and closer to his mouth only to pull away and start over at his forehead before their lips could touch. Blaine wanted to cry with frustration, with great difficulty resisting the urge to pull Kurt down and just grab his sweet face and hold it still so he could kiss those soft, delicious lips all he wanted. His fingers dug into Kurt's hips until he was sure his grip was probably painful and would leave bruises but every time he tried to loosen it Kurt would do something else entirely too sinful for Blaine's sanity with his tongue and his hands would flex instictively.

If Blaine had thought it had been bad at this point, he was entirely unprepared for the rush of unearthly pleasure running through him when Kurt finally sealed their lips together, nipping and biting and licking and purring against him until Blaine felt he'd lose his mind any minute. By now he was so hard in his pants it actually hurt and when Kurt moaned into the kiss, the sound broken by the volume of his purrs, Blaine had to push Kurt away for the first time since they'd started dating.

Immediately, the purring stopped and tears started to well in Kurt's eyes. He looked so deeply hurt it broke Blaine's heart to know he'd been the one to put that look there, but he knew it was better for them in the long run to deny Kurt this one time. Because he was pretty sure neither of them was really ready for the things Blaine, hell, both of them by the looks of it, would have done had they continued for even another minute.

"Kurt," he said gently, carefully reaching out to touch Kurt and trying to ignore the boring pain in his chest when he flinched away. "Kurt, darling, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you and it's not because I wouldn't love to continue. But I think you're overestimating my self-control here, love." He chuckled self-deprecatingly, trying to make eye contact with Kurt.

"Really?" he asked, voice quivering, as he finally looked up to meet Blaine's eyes. Blaine had to swallow heavily when he noticed his blown pupils and his erratic breathing. He really didn't trust himself to look down to Kurt's crotch to see if maybe they were suffering from the same problem, but just the idea that maybe Kurt was, in this very second, hard for him, too, had Blaine's breath catching and his heart speeding up. His cock gave an interested twitch where it was straining against the zipper and Blaine jolted a bit in pain, inevitably drawing Kurt's attention down to where his shame was on display for everyone to see.

"Oh," Kurt mouthed tonelessly, his glasz eyes, now almost black, following the hard shape of Blaine's erection. His nostrils were flaring and an involuntary mewl worked its way out of his throat. "God, you smell like sex," Kurt groaned, eyes darkening even further, tail twitching dangerously behind him and ears flat to his head, looking ready to pounce. The purring was starting up again, lower and throatier and not at all the playful, comforting sound Blaine was used to from their cuddling sessions.

"I- I do?" Blaine choked out, unable to avert his gaze from Kurt's face. He almost looked hungry and that probably shouldn't make shivers run up and down his spine in anticipation, but he couldn't help it.

"Yes," Kurt breathed, the sound more purr than word, as he crossed the bit of distance between them, nosing up Blaine's neck as he knelt on all fours right in front of him. His tail flicked to the side and stayed there and he was arching his back. Blaine couldn't suppress the whimper escaping him as he realized what this position meant. Kurt was basically presenting for him and the very thought made him even dizzier than the suddenly very hot room.

"God, I can smell you so clearly," Kurt moaned. "You smell so so good Blaine, you don't even know. I want you so bad right now and it's driving me mad that I can tell just how badly you want me back." Blaine groaned back at him, throwing his head back and baring his throat on instinct, his hips rocking up into nothing but air in desperate search of friction. His head started swimming when he realized the way a little patch of fabric was wetly clinging to the head of his cock, that that was what Kurt had smelled on him. God, for the love of all that was holy, Kurt had smelled his precum and was going mad over it and no one in their right mind could have expected Blaine to resist for another second, so he just reached out and pulled a very pliant Kurt into his lap, rutting his hips up into his thigh, no longer knowing if he cried out because the friction on his aching cock was so heavenly or because he could feel Kurt's equally hard length digging into his hip. There was a keening moan ringing in his ear that wasn't his and it went through Blaine like lightning, setting every last part of him on fire as he thrust his hips up again, Kurt trembling against him with lust and his own deafening purrs.

"Blaine," Kurt mewled on a shuddering exhale, mindlessly rubbing his cock against Blaine, face buried in his neck. "I-I'm close, so close. And I can smell that you're close, too, please, please, please."

Blaine was far from denying it and sweet lord, did he want to just pull Kurt even closer and rut together until they were both coming. But something in the way Kurt's voice was breaking on his words was telling him that it wasn't just breathless lust he was conveying and it was more than enough to get Blaine to think as clearly as he could with his whole body screaming for release. Much to both their chagrin, he pushed Kurt off of him, holding him at arm's length. Tears were starting to run down Kurt's cheeks and Blaine carefully caught them with his thumb, all frustration gone at seeing Kurt so shaken up. His body was still buzzing with how close he'd been but his head was clear again.

"Shhh, it's okay," he whispered, worriedly watching as Kurt nuzzled into his hand.

"I'm sorry," Kurt choked out, voice shaky and thick with tears. "I- I don't- I just wanted to be p-playf-ful and t-then... God, the way you smell, Blaine. I- it was like I was on au-autopilot. I'm so sorry."

"Hey, it's okay, really," Blaine said quietly, keeping his tone soothing and gentle. "I don't mind. I'm not mad at you and I don't think you led me on or anything. I was just as caught up and I should have stopped this before it got this far. I- I don't want us to share this- this experience if we can't even look into each other's eyes when we c-come and not regret it. And we definitely shouldn't do it when we're both trying to avoid the right words and blush like this just thinking them." They giggled slightly hysterically for a minute until Kurt just slumped forward and let himself fall into Blaine's arms. They clung to each other until they had cooled down somewhat, hearts back to their normal rate and no more pressing problems in sight.

"You're right," Kurt muttered into Blaine's cardigan. "I- I don't want this just for the relief and then feel awkward around you because I don't know how to handle this. I think we should wait until we're more at ease with this. But I'm not promising you constant eye contact the first time!"

Laughing, Blaine ran his hand through Kurt's hair in a soothing motion, pulling him even further into his chest. "I think I can live with this. I just- I don't want either of us to regret this. I don't want us taking this step too soon. I want us to be ourselves, to be Kurt and Blaine and not just instincts and hormones when we make the decision to take it. I want to be comfortable doing this with you when we do it and I need you to be comfortable with it, too. I love you, I really, really do but I don't think I'm ready for you to see me come just now, for you to touch me more than we already do, even."

"I know what you mean," Kurt whispered back and Blaine could feel him smile against him. "And I want the same. I love you, so much." They were sitting in silence for a bit, just holding each other and listening to each other breathe until Kurt suddenly gasped.

"Oh God. I just realized I now know what your- your- God, you smelled so much like sex. And you felt so good. This is definitely going on the top of my jerking off-list," he murmured, looking a bit in awe. Or maybe shock. He took a deep breath to calm himself and immediately wound his way out of Blaine's arms, inching away and back towards the couch.

"Kurt?" Blaine frowned, for a second not understanding what was going on. It quickly registered though that he still had to smell like precum and sweat and hormones if Kurt took a deep enough breath and blushing, he retreated into the armchair that was usually reserved for Burt. "I'm sorry. Would it help if I took a shower?"

"I don't know," Kurt sighed, cheeks bright pink and looking mortified. "You always smell so good after you shower and I just- stupid hormones."

"Can I use this to throw in that we definitely shouldn't be hanging around each other all day tomorrow but instead go to Wes' party? Since I smell so irresistibly?" Blaine smirked and though he totally saw the pillow flying his way coming he didn't make a move to dodge it. At least the tension in the room had lessened significantly now.

"Fine," Kurt sighed. "We will go to that party, you win. I wanted Dad to go to that party one of our neighbors is throwing, anyway. He needs to get to know a few people that aren't his son and his boyfriend or his employees."

Grinning triumphantly, Blaine was even in a good enough mood to let Kurt choose the movie they'd watch after dinner even though it had been his turn only yesterday.

A little more than 24 hours later, Blaine honestly regretted ever having felt triumphant about this. The evening had started out nice enough - Kurt had made a fuss about what he was going to wear until Blaine had just left him to it with an eyeroll when his comments about how they were only seeing their friends went ignored. Kurt had still managed to come downstairs in something that made Blaine's mouth go dry and his fingers itch with the desire to touch, distracting him effectively from berating Kurt for taking so long. They'd arrived at Wes' around eight and everyone had been happy to see them. There wasn't much going on since the party was parent-supervised (which was why Burt had even allowed them to go and agreed to take at least a quick look into that neighborhood party), only some games and lots of karaoke but contrary to the first impression Kurt had gained of a Warbler party, they were obviously also capable of entertaining themselves without alcohol.

Blaine and Kurt had sat down with Nick and Jeff and were quickly joined by Wes and David. They had lots of fun and talked for hours on end, not to mention that the food was delicious. Kurt even let himself be dragged to the karaoke machine by an overenthusiastic Jeff and a not much better Blaine. Everything seemed to be going perfectly well and Blaine was just about to give himself a metaphorical pat on the back when, naturally, it all started to go downhill.

He could tell something was off when Kurt went tense as soon as they headed outside to watch the fireworks. He knew for sure when, upon the first few noises going off in the distance, Kurt jumped almost violently, ears pressed as flat to his head as they would go, tail wound around himself and looking like he tried to suppress a pained whimper. It escaped him when the next few went off, much closer this time, and he actually hissed at Blaine and flinched away when he tried to touch him, his hands going up to his ears as Wes' neighbors joined in on the fun. Figuring what was going on, Blaine exchanged a quick look with Wes before grabbing Kurt by the elbow, completely ignoring his protests and dragging him back into the house. As soon as the door fell shut behind them, Kurt let himself sink into the couch with a relieved sigh.

"Why didn't you just tell me that you wanted to stay inside because the fireworks hurt your ears?" Blaine frowned, crossing his arms in front of his chest. There were only five minutes left until midnight and he really didn't want to start the new year with a fight but he also couldn't just let this stand in the room without talking about it.

"I was embarrassed, okay?" Kurt groaned in frustration, covering his face with his hands. "I just don't like being reminded of how abnormal I am, are you happy now?"

"No, I'm not happy unless you're happy," Blaine said quietly, uncrossing his arms and walking over to Kurt to drop onto the couch next to him. "I just- I know I have no right to get upset over this but I want to know this kind of thing. I'm sure you still remember the day I told you that I want to know everything about you as clearly as I do. I just need you to know that I never, for even a second, thought of you as abnormal. I love every part of you, even the things that you hate and even if it annoys me and makes me roll my eyes at you. Never, never feel like you can't tell me something because it's related to your cat nature. I am aware that you're a hybrid and if I didn't think I could accept that or deal with it then I wouldn't be with you. I'd owe you as much as your friend."

"My best friend," Kurt smiled, finally letting his hands sink down into his lap. "I'm really sorry. I hope you know this means that you won't be able to drag me into discos or clubs for an extended period of time. Even with earplugs the volume starts to get uncomfortable after a while."

"If I get to have you? My best friend and boyfriend and soulmate? My love? Well, I guess that might make up for a lack of club nights. I'd be fine with less socializing in that case," Blaine chuckled, leaning in to steal a kiss.

"I love you too," Kurt whispered against his lips. And as the sky lit up with fireworks and everyone was laughing and singing and celebrating outside as the countdown came to zero, their lips met, molding together and moving together until they forgot about everything else.