Kurt flies between the oven and the fridge, between blending and mixing, trying to get all the cookies done as soon as possible. The Andersons are due to arrive in just over an hour and he wants to get the actual dinner in the oven soon. His dad is out doing some last minute Christmas shopping, something that enraged Kurt because really, Christmas is tomorrow. Kurt had done most of his shopping weeks ago, although he did wait a while to get Blaine's present. Finally, he decided on a book with the chords for a bunch of Katy Perry songs. Blaine doesn't play the guitar yet, but he's recently expressed some interest in learning so a guitar is his big present from his mom this year.

Kurt sighs as he puts in the second-to-last batch of cookies and leans against the counter to rest for a few minutes. Despite not being religious, Christmas is one of his favorite times of the year. The coziness of his house, people's willingness to look on the bright side of things (something Kurt wishes he was better at), and the emphasis on family and friends. This year it also brings the relief in knowing that his NYADA application is completed and in some admissions office in New York City. He's sure the nervousness will hit later but for now, he's just glad he finished it in time.

The timer dings, so Kurt takes the batch of sugar cookies out and is reaching for the batch of chocolate chip cookies ready to go in when two arms encircle his waist and a kiss is planted on the back of his neck. He jumps slightly and hears the low chuckle of Blaine in his ear. Kurt turns around, staying in Blaine's arms, and tilts his head down to kiss him. Then he detangles himself, making sure to keep his hands, which are flour and dough covered, from touching any part of Blaine's clothing. Blaine pouts until he notices all the cookies surrounding him but before he can do more than widen his eyes, Kurt makes a noise of disapproval and shakes his head.

"Oh no you don't. None of these are being eaten until after dinner."

Blaine, ignoring Kurt, walks over to a plate sitting next to the stove and asks, "What are these?"

"Uh," Kurt hesitates, "I don't know the actual name for them, I just call them treats. My mom taugh- Blaine!" he hisses as Blaine pops one into his mouth.

Blaine moans long and low as he finishes chewing the treat. "Those are so good, what are the made from?"

Kurt stomps over and grabs Blaine's wrist as he reaches for another one, using his other hand to snatch the plate away and move it to the fridge. "You put a Hershey kiss on a square pretzel and put it in the oven so the Hershey kiss softens and then you take an M&M and push it into the Hershey kiss." Kurt moves back to stand next to Blaine and is in the process of giving him a dirty look when Blaine suddenly crowds into Kurt's space and pushes him up against the side of the fridge, kissing him fiercely. Kurt's hands reflexively move to Blaine's ass to pull him closer, and he immediately curses himself because now there are two very distinct flour hand prints on the back of his black jeans. Kurt pulls back from the kiss because he needs air, as well as the fact that his dad will be home any minute.

"How soon until-"

"Any time now," Kurt says before he can finish.

Blaine growls in frustration but doesn't kiss him again. Instead he rests his forehead against Kurt's, and they stand there, breathing in the same air, until they hear the front door open. Reluctantly, they break apart, and Kurt goes to put in that last batch of cookies as Burt walks into the kitchen.

"Oh hey Blaine, is your mom here?"

"Not yet, they should be here in a half hour or so, I just came over early," he answers.

"Okay I'm going to go put away…" Burt trails off, causing Kurt to look up. His throat goes dry because Blaine turned around to grab a cup from the cabinet, and Burt is staring at the handprints, his eyes wide.

"I- uh- Blaine was helping me cook early!" Kurt blurts out, his cheeks reddening.

Blaine, still completely oblivious, turns around, shooting Kurt a curiously look, and opens his mouth to, Kurt guesses, dispute what he just said, so he cuts him off. "He refused to wear an apron so things got a little messy," he says shrugging, glad that Blaine is now facing his dad again so he can't examine what would be impossible to disguise as random cooking mess.

Burt's expression tells Kurt he isn't buying any of it, and he knows he's going to be questioned later but thankfully, for now he says he's going upstairs to wrap his last couple of presents.

"What was that all about?" Blaine asks once he leaves.

Kurt swallows the lump in his throat and mumbles "Look at your butt."

Blaine gives Kurt a bewildered look but glances over his shoulder, and his face morphs into one of terror. "Do you think he saw?"

"No," Kurt lies. "I'm almost positive he believed me when I said it was just from you helping me out earlier." Kurt feels bad about lying, but it's not like he has a choice. Blaine would freak if he found out Burt saw, and Kurt will do damage control with his dad later so it will all be fine.

Blaine sighs in relief, and Kurt manages a smile. "You know," Blaine says, looking over his shoulder again, "if this wasn't so poorly timed, that would actually be really hot."

Kurt grins and swoops in to give him a quick peck before instructing Blaine to wipe it off and wash his hands so he can help him out with dinner.

&&&&&

Dinner passes by in a blur of happy chatter and good food. No longer are there awkward silences or forced conversations when the Andersons and Hummels have dinner together. They talk about colleges and how, hopefully, they'll both be in New York by next time this year.

"It's so nice that both of you will be there, you can carpool when coming home," Sally says with a huge smile. "Thank goodness Maria will still be here for a while, I'm not ready for an empty nest yet," she laughs and rubs Maria's head. Maria dodges her hand, grumbling something about not being a little kid anymore.

"Yeah," Burt agrees, "I'm not ready either, but it's coming whether I want it to or not."

Kurt shoots his dad a sad smile and feels a little guilt tugging at his chest. Since high school started Kurt's been talking and dreaming about getting out of Lima and to New York without ever stopping to think how it would affect his dad. He hoped Sally would solve all of those problems, that it would stop him from being lonely, but Kurt's coming to realize it's still going to be extremely hard on him.

The kids go into the family room after dinner to watch Christmas specials while the adults deal with the kitchen. Maria chooses Frosty the Snowman over Rudolph even after vehement complaints from Kurt. Although he'd never admit it, he likes both of them well enough despite being cheesy and clich�, but the Frosty theme song gets stuck in his head every year. He goes up to grab a blanket from a neighboring chair but before he can return to the couch, Burt pulls him aside. Once they are out of earshot of the kitchen and the family room, Burt stops and wrings his hands together, giving Kurt an appraising look.

"What?" Kurt asks, unsuccessfully feigning ignorance.

"Don't make me say it," Burt warns, looking far more comfortable with the whole situation than Kurt imagined.

"I-we were just fooling around." Kurt tries to keep the whine out of his voice, but he doesn't quite manage it.

Burt huffs out a humorless laugh and asks, "Is that why you looked like your favorite got kicked off America's Next Top Runway when I saw it?"

Kurt decides this isn't the best time to correct his dad's mistake and instead, struggles to find something to tell him that would make this normal. If he had more time, he knows he would have been able to come up with something, but this conversation came sooner than he expected.

"If you and Blaine are… involved in that way-" Burt starts, but Kurt is quick to shake his head.

"No, we're just friends." Kurt cringes as he says it because it sounds weak even to his own ears. And the worst part it, Burt won't question it. He trusts Kurt to tell him the truth because that's the kind of relationship they have. In a week, when Burt finds out Kurt was lying to him this whole time, shit is going to hit the fan. What had seemed like a reasonable idea at the time is now becoming the cause of a lot of stress. Kurt might not be an expert on relationships, but he's pretty sure that's not how they're suppose to work. He's entirely thankful there's only a week left of secrecy because he's unsure he could handle much more.

Kurt returns to the couch to find Blaine staring off into the distance with a disgusted look on his face. Kurt elbows him and asks, "What's wrong?"

"Your tree," he states, as if it's obvious.

"What's wrong with the tree?" Kurt asks defensively. He had put a lot of time and energy into making sure that tree was perfect. It's strung up with white lights and has red and white checked ornaments evenly spaced out all over the tree with small gold ornament interspersed between them. There's a star on the top of the tree, but it's neither big nor bright because he doesn't want it overpowering the rest of the decorations.

"It's fake!" Blaine exclaims, looking completely distraught.

"Well yeah," Kurt replies, "there's no way I'm going to deal with all the pine needles a live tree leaves behind. I did stick a couple of pine scented air fresheners on the tree, way far back towards the middle so nobody can see them of course, so it still smells like a real one."

"You disgust me," he says, but there's no venom in his voice.

They continue watching the show until their parents come into the room, and Maria starts jumping around yelling about presents. Even though Kurt knows it's something all kids do, it annoys him, because gift giving is the one thing he doesn't like about Christmas. It's not that he doesn't like getting presents, he just hates how that's the main focus during Christmas now. People try to show their love and affection towards one another with material possession; the bigger the better. Kurt tries to be, as he calls it, a practical gift giver, so he only gets things for people he knows they will use.

To calm Maria down, the first gift is presented to her from Kurt and Burt. They got her a small bathtub doll that has a removable mermaid tale and long blond hair.

"The hair turns blue when it comes in contact with warm water," Kurt informs her as she reads the back of the box excitedly.

"Oh thank you!" she says and jumps up to give both of them big hugs.

Next, Sally gives Burt an envelope that contains two tickets to a Buckeyes basketball game in a few weeks. As soon as Burt sees what they are, he turns to point at Blaine and asks, "Hey bud, you coming with?"

Kurt feels a twinge of jealousy even though he hates basketball, but it disappears once he sees the look on Blaine's face. The utter surprise that turns into a broad smile which he quickly tries to tone down before saying yes. Kurt's happy to share his dad with Blaine because god knows he needs a better father figure than the last one. Then, Burt gives Sally a pair of pretty opal earrings that Kurt, of course, helped pick out. She thanks him profusely and even leans over to give him a quick peck on the lips. Burt colors at the public display, and Kurt looks the other way busying himself with helping Maria get her doll out of the package.

After the moment passes, Kurt stands up to get his present for Blaine, and he's about to hand it over when he realizes shit, Blaine doesn't actually have his guitar yet. The inner family present exchanges aren't happening until tomorrow, Christmas day, so if Kurt gives his present it will ruin the surprise. Kurt turns around to catch Sally's eye and looks pointedly between the box in his hands and Blaine until she gets it.

"Oh," she gasps softly but then shrugs her shoulders and motions for Kurt to give it to him anyway.

Blaine takes the package with a puzzled look on his face and rips off the wrapping carefully. It takes him a moment to process what it is but when he does, his faces lights up, and he looks excitedly between Sally and Kurt.

"Does this mean…" he asks, trailing off. When Sally nods, he jumps to his feet and pulls Kurt into a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he exclaims in his ear. "This is perfect!"

Normally, Kurt loves getting hugs from Blaine, but right now he just wants him to let go. He can practically feel Burt's eyes boring into his back and the last thing he wants is another awkward conversation about his relationship with Blaine. Blaine does stop a second later and moves over to his mom who he also hugs tightly. Once all the excitement is over, Blaine really can act like a puppy sometimes, he gives Kurt his own present.

"You remembered?" Kurt asks softly when he sees the emerald green broach that is almost identical to the one Kurt was complaining he lost a few weeks ago.

"Of course I did," Blaine replies with smile.

With all the gift giving over, Kurt runs up to his room and grabs his iPod so he can put on his Christmas playlist in the family room. They spend the rest of the evening singing, laughing, drinking, and generally enjoying each other's company. Burt looks mighty uncomfortable when the singing first starts but by the end of the night, with the help of some alcohol, he is belting out the songs along with everyone else. The Anderson's leave with promises of meeting up with them in two days, as they are going back to Westerville tomorrow to spend Christmas day with Sally's mom. When they're gone, Kurt thinks the house feel strangely empty, and judging by the look on Burt's face, he feels the same way.

&&&&&

"You think it's been long enough?" Blaine asks breathlessly. Without waiting for an answer, he pushes Kurt up against the front door and ghosts his lips up and down his neck teasingly.

"I-uh, yes," Kurt stutters, "it's been ten minutes I think we're fine."

"Then let's go," Blaine says, grabbing Kurt's hand and tugging towards the stairs as if it's his own house.

The arousal fades slightly as they walk to Kurt's room, and it's replaced by a sense of nervous excitement. Kurt closes the door behind him as they enter the room and turns to face Blaine, taking a deep breath.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Blaine asks, the sense of urgency having completely evaporated.

"Yes," Kurt assures him, and he moves to sit next to Blaine on the bed. He kisses him, and they slowly shift downwards so they are lying on their sides with their legs still hanging off the edge. It's a little uncomfortable, but Kurt isn't quite ready to make the move to be completely on the bed. The kiss slowly intensifies, and the want and desperation present when Blaine first arrived is back and taking over.

When it gets to be not enough, Kurt breaks the kiss and scrambles farther up onto the bed, tugging at Blaine's shirt to get him to follow. Once Blaine settles himself back on Kurt and reattaches his lips, Kurt reaches for the hem of his shirt. He drags it up almost all the way but has to stop when it reaches his head because Blaine's lips are still planted firmly on his. Blaine pulls it the rest of the way off and starts to dive back into the kiss but then stops and brings his hands to Kurt's own shirt. He looks at him to make sure this is okay and when Kurt nods, he shucks it off in one quick motion.

"Oh Kurt," Blaine groans when he lets his weight drop back on Kurt, and their bare skin touches. Kurt kind of wishes he could see Blaine shirtless, really take his time and map out his entire chest, but there's no time for that. He's hard as a rock and although Blaine is holding his hips back, Kurt knows he is too.

"Come on Blaine," Kurt growls and puts both hands on his ass, forcing his hips downward. They both moan loudly as their erections rub against each other through the thick denim of their jeans. Now that Blaine has let himself go, he is grinding down against Kurt hard and fast. Kurt bucks up to meet his thrusts, trying to keep his cries to a minimum despite being home alone. Blaine reaches his hands up above his body to grab the headboard and uses it to further push himself into Kurt. Kurt feels the heat pooling dangerously fast and is about to suggest they remove their pants because he really doesn't want to stain them when he hears a far away voice. By the time he sorts through the lust clouding his brain and processes what that means, it's too late.

"Hey Kurt," Burt says, knocking once before barging through the door, "have you… what the hell?"

Kurt shoves Blaine off him and sits up, but there's no hiding what he just walked in on.

"Burt!" Blaine squeaks when he sees the cause of Kurt's sudden actions.

Burt stands there in shock for a few seconds then shakes his head. "Kid," he directs at Blaine, sounding resigned, "I think you better go. But uh, put a shirt on will yeah?"

Blaine nods quickly and begins to scurry around the room looking for his clothes.

"Kurt, I want you downstairs in five minutes. We're having a serious talk." And with that, Burt leaves the room, making sure the door is wide open.

Once he leaves, Blaine stops running around to look at Kurt, raw fear in his eyes.

"Look Blaine, I know this is going to be uncomfortable, but it's not the end of the world," he reasons.

"Not the end of the world?" Blaine hisses. "Your dad just walked in on us… having sex," he continues, whispering the last two words.

"All my dad knows is that we were kissing, and that's all he's going to know okay? I agree this isn't an ideal way for him to find out about us but-"

"But nothing!" Blaine snaps, and Kurt looks up at him in shock. "This is going to ruin everything!" he barks in the same angry voice.

Kurt shakes his head. "I don't-"

"Burt is going to hate me now," he explains, his voice softening slightly, "and he's the closest thing I have to a dad right now." Kurt feels like his heart is breaking but Blaine still has more to say. "And that's not the worst of it. I'm ruining my mom's life, again. My dad left because of me; he couldn't handle having a 'faggot' for a son. I made my mom's husband leave, I made Maria's dad leave, and now Burt's probably going to leave, and it's all my fault."

"No Blaine-" Kurt tries to protest, but Blaine keeps on talking as if he didn't say anything.

"And even if it doesn't happen now, what if they end it because they think it's weird their children are dating or what if we get in a fight down the road and they have to choose sides and it cause tension between them and oh god," Blaine babbles. Tears come to his eyes, and he turns to face Kurt.

"Kurt, we can't do this anymore," he says quietly.

"What, no!" Kurt gasps, starting to cry as well.

"I just-I just can't risk it." And with that Blaine is running out the door, pulling his shirt over his head as he goes.