Don't Keep Your Distance: Christmas Pt.1

Kurt woke up on Christmas morning to the feeling of the air being unceremoniously knocked from his lungs by the weight of a gigantic, over-excited, pyjama-clad teenage boy who apparently thought that Kurt would appreciate being jumped on in his bed at 7am.

"Finn!" Kurt groaned, clutching at his stomach and gasping for air as Finn bounced happily on the mattress next to him, his signature goofy grin firmly in place.

"Dude, wake up, it's Christmas!" Finn said with a happy laugh, jostling Kurt's elbow in an effort to get him out of bed faster. Kurt shrugged his brother's hand off and glared at him as viciously as he could through unfocused, sleep-filled eyes.

"Kuuu-uuuurt," Finn whined, tugging on his brother's blankets, "get up, I want to have breakfast so then we can open presents!"

Despite his best efforts, Kurt found it difficult to remain angry at Finn, who really was quite lucky to have retained his child-like excitement over Christmas even after learning that Santa wasn't real. "You are five years old," Kurt mumbled, throwing his blankets off his body in the most dramatic way possible before clambering out of bed in an uncharacteristically awkward fashion.

I'm gonna go wake Blaine up now," Finn declared, leaping off the bed and dashing towards the door. Kurt lunged forwards and grabbed Finn by the back of his pyjamas, stopping him in his tracks.

"I will wake up Blaine," Kurt said sternly. "I don't think he's used to your sort of wake-up call. Why don't you go help C with breakfast?"

Finn shrugged. "Okay," he said. His face lit up. "Maybe she'll let me lick the bowl when she's done making the waffle batter!"

As Finn tore from the room, Kurt smiled fondly, and then remembered that he was supposed to wake up Blaine and Finn would no doubt be back upstairs in 10 minutes to ensure that he had done so.

Kurt rushed into his ensuite bathroom and began fixing his hair. Although he usually preferred a fully-styled, elegant coif, after years of experimentation he had also learned the art of creating a 'just-woke-up' style that looked stylish and effortless and could be perfected in approximately 5.2 minutes with the right hairspray (which of course, he always had on hand).

After styling his hair, a quick smell-check revealed that he could put off his morning shower for a couple of hours. Kurt debated whether or not to change his clothes, but he knew that the rest of his family would all be in their pyjamas. He felt slightly self-conscious in the loose-fitting sweatpants and white undershirt that he usually wore to bed, but he also didn't want to look like he was trying too hard. After a quick once-over in the mirror, he determined that the undershirt did, admittedly, make his arms look quite good, and that sealed his decision.

After hastily dabbing on a little cream to lighten the circles under his eyes, Kurt made his way down to Blaine's room, a twist of nervousness in his stomach.

Kurt knew exactly why he was feeling so anxious. During his lifetime, Kurt had had to deal with losing two of the people that he loved with all his heart, and last year, when his dad had that heart attack – for a couple of very long days, while his dad was in a coma, Kurt had started to believe that he may have to live the rest of his life completely and utterly alone.

But then, Kurt's dad had woken up, and life had gotten back to how it was before. But Kurt remembered what it felt like when he thought that he had no-one he could count on, and he knew that he would never be able to forget that feeling. And then Blaine had come back.

The re-appearance of Blaine had tilted Kurt's world on its axis. It was so sudden and unexpected and glorious and horrible and it brought back so many feelings of love and betrayal and friendship and abandonment and family, and it hurt so much to not know what might happen next. When he was a child, Kurt would never have believed that Blaine – beautiful, perfect, wonderful Blaine – would ever abandon him. But he knew better now. Blaine was capable of breaking his heart, he'd done it before, and it had left Kurt damaged in a way that he hadn't been able to fully comprehend until very recently. He knew that he couldn't go through that again, so now he was faced with two choices. He could either keep up his defences and refuse to let Blaine in again – or, he could open his heart to the man, and run the risk of being completely and utterly crushed if Blaine decided that he wasn't enough.

The problem was, every time Blaine smiled or laughed or spoke to Kurt in his smooth, perfect voice, Kurt found it harder and harder to keep him at a distance. He wasn't sure how much longer to keep it up, and in case in his walls decided came crashing down around him – Kurt needed to do his best to make sure that Blaine stayed.

Despite all his doubts and insecurities, doubts, Kurt couldn't help but hope that maybe, if today was perfect – if Blaine could really see how much everyone in this family loved him…he just might choose to stay.

Kurt realised that he had been standing in front of the door to Blaine's room for several minutes. He took a deep breath, steeling himself before reaching out and gently easing open the door.

Kurt's eyes fell on Blaine's sleeping figure. His head of thick, tousled curls was poking up out of the blankets which were pulled tightly around his body. His long, curved lashes fanned out beautifully across his cheek, and his full lips were slightly parted, curled up in just the barest hint of a smile.

Kurt felt a swell of emotion in his chest and – damn it – a lump beginning to form in his throat.

It had been so long since he had had one of those moments – those moments where you see something that's just so beautiful you want to cry. Of course it would be Blaine that would make him feel that way. Of course.

Kurt hated the amount of power that Blaine had over him, just by existing. Being around Blaine constantly made him feel so alive, but so vulnerable. It was both exhilarating and exhausting, and Kurt didn't want to think about what that meant. Not right now, while things were still so fragile.

Letting out a long, shuddering breath, Kurt approached the bed, and reached out a hand to rouse Blaine. His hand lingered over Blaine's form for a moment. The desire to run his fingers through Blaine's curls was startling, but Kurt pushed the impulse away, instead settling his hand on Blaine's shoulder and shaking gently.

"Blaine," Kurt whispered. "Blaine, wake up."

Blaine let out a soft, adorable snort as he blinked his eyes open blearily. "Kurrrr…?" He mumbled, nuzzling the pillow under his face. "Wazzup?"

Kurt's heard skipped a beat in his chest.

"It's Christmas," Kurt said with a smile.

That information seemed to rouse Blaine pretty quickly, and he let out a happy snuffle as he rolled over onto his bed and grinned up at Kurt from under the blankets. "Merry Christmas," he said, an excited twinkle in his eyes.

"Merry Christmas, Blaine," he chuckled. "You better get up, Carole's made waffles and they smell delicious. You should get them while they're hot."

"I'm up!" Blaine exclaimed, immediately pushing the blankets off his body and struggling to his feet. Kurt smiled softly to himself as Blaine followed him out of the room and down the stairs.

Breakfast was delicious, as always.

Carole's waffles were the thing of legend, and she had laid out a rich spread of toppings including fruit, syrups, ice-cream, and bacon (at Finn's insistence).

Kurt could feel his stomach expanding as he polished off his fourth helping of waffles, his pyjama bottoms feeling a little snugger than they had earlier. He wiped syrup from the corner of his mouth, and looked up to see Blaine staring at him from across the table, eyebrows raised.

Kurt raised his own eyebrow in response. "What?" He asked. "Do I still have syrup on my face?"

"No, no," Blaine said with a smile. "I'm just impressed. You managed to eat almost as much as Finn."

"Well, Christmas is the day for indulgence," Kurt responded, reaching across the table and plucking a raspberry from the bowl on the table, and popping it between his lips. Blaine stared for a moment before blushing and averting his gaze.

"Oh, by the way, Kurt," Burt said, "your aunt and grandmother called. Your aunt's on her way, and the weather's cleared up in California so your grandmother managed to get a flight. They'll both be here in time for a late lunch." Kurt perked up immediately. He got along amazingly well with both his aunt Kathy (his dad's sister) and his grandmother Evelyn (his mom's mother). Kathy was definitely more laid-back and playful than his grandmother, but Evelyn was kind and elegant and her skin was practically wrinkle-free at age 75, and he aspired to one day be as fabulous a senior citizen as her.

"Oh my god, I'm so glad they're coming!" Kurt said, resisting the urge to jump up and down in his seat in excitement.

"I like Kathy," Finn said with a grin, and Kurt glared at him across the table.

"You're disgusting."

"What?" Finn asked, affronted. "I just said I like her!"

"You like her because she wears shorts and crop tops all year 'round and calls you 'hot stuff'. You do realise that she's a lesbian, right?"

"Yeah," Finn sighed wistfully. "She's still awesome though."

Kurt threw a blueberry at him.

Blaine and Carole watched the exchange with matching amused expressions. "Okay, Is everyone finished?" Burt asked. "I think it's time to open presents now."

"YES! PRESENTS!" Finn yelled, bolting out of his seat and into the living room.

As much as Kurt loved the emphasis on family at Christmas time, he'd be lying if he said that he didn't love the presents.

Not just receiving presents, either, although that was also pretty great – Kurt also loved giving presents. He loved shopping for people and picking out what they'd like, and seeing the happy look on their faces when they opened their gift.

And he was a pretty fantastic gift giver, if he did say so himself.

As the family settled in the living room to open their gifts, Kurt sat next to Blaine and leaned over into his space to whisper in his ear.

"Where are yours?" He asked, seeing only the familiar pile of gifts under the Christmas tree, no new ones in sight.

"They're, ummm…kind of hard to wrap," Blaine whispered. Kurt scrunched up his nose in confusion, his curiosity piqued by what Blaine could have gotten him that would be 'hard to wrap'.

Finn was quick to dive into the pile of Christmas presents, taking it upon himself to divide the packages up into individual piles and hand them out to their recipients.

"Alright," Burt said, addressing the entire family, "As always, the youngest person in the room gets to open the first present."

Finn grinned happily as he grabbed a large and heavy-looking parcel, before tearing into the wrapping paper enthusiastically.

The gift ended up being a mini-fridge for Finn's bedroom, from Carole. Finn let out an excited whoop, looking overly chuffed at the idea at the idea that he wouldn't have to walk all the way to the kitchen to get sodas anymore.

"I knew I'd end up regretting that one," Carole muttered, as Finn hugged her enthusiastically.

The present-opening soon continued, and Kurt was very pleased to see that everyone seemed to have put quite a lot of thought into the gifts this year – including Finn.

Finn also received a new fishing rod from Burt, as Burt and Finn had recently started going on fishing trips together. They got along really well, and Kurt had been a little jealous at first, but he'd changed his mind as soon as they first came home smelling like fish and dirt.

Kurt had gotten Finn a large pile of new X-box games, when he had chosen based on how violent they appeared (the more violent, the better). Finn seemed to be more than pleased with Kurt's selection if the enthusiastic bro-hug he received was any indication.

Kurt himself ended up receiving a year's subscription to Vogue from his father, and a large box of his favourite skin-care products from Carole. Kurt had been dropping hints about those gifts for the last month, and he was glad that his family had picked up on them.

Finn's gift, however, had made Kurt laugh out loud when he opened the lid of the box to reveal several ninja stars and a large dartboard.

"Are those…ninja stars?" Blaine asked, eyes wide as he peered into the box over Kurt's shoulder.

"Mhm," Kurt hummed, a slightly smug grin on his face. "I've been meaning to try these out for a while now. Thanks, Finn," he said, and Finn raised his hand for a fist-bump which Kurt obliged.

"But…why?" Blaine asked, still looking adorably confused.

"Dude, Kurt's a total ninja," Finn said, as if stating the obvious. "You should see him with his Sai swords. He could kick some serious ass."

Blaine's eyebrows shot up into his forehead. "Seriously?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Finn's exaggerating. I'm no Jackie Chan, but I can handle Sai Swords, yes. And I've been looking to expand on my 'ninja skills'. I'll give you a demonstration later, if you want?"

Blaine nodded his head enthusiastically, and Kurt blushed.

Kurt was a little nervous when it was his dad's turn to open presents. He had found his dad particularly difficult to shop for, mostly because he knew that his dad would love whatever he got him, as he was a big sentimental sap. You'd think this would make the whole ordeal easier, but Kurt liked having some boundaries to work with.

Deciding to appeal to his dad's sentimental side while still giving him something he could use, Kurt had decided to make his dad's gift from scratch. After rummaging through his closet he managed to find an old brown leather shoulder-bag that he no longer used. He cut up the bag to save the perfectly good leather and, using his sewing machine and creative skills, Kurt managed to put together a functional (and very fashionable, if he did say so himself) wallet, as his dad's old wallet was falling apart (and had a Velcro strap, for God's sake). As a final touch, Kurt embroidered his initials inside the wallet in gold thread, which he knew his dad would appreciate.

Predictably, his dad loved the wallet, and he examined it thoroughly, commenting on how talented Kurt was and how he would keep the wallet forever even when Kurt was a famous designer and it was worth thousands of dollars. Kurt accepted his dad's hug with a proud smile on his face, and he didn't even protest when his dad ruffled his hair, completely ruining his earlier efforts.

As well as the wallet, Burt also received a new watch from Finn (as his old one was caked in grease and always ran a few minutes slow), and season tickets to the Buckeyes from Carole. Burt and Finn high-fived when the tickets were revealed, already anticipating attending the games together.

Finding a gift for Carole had been comparatively easy. Kurt had found a pair of gorgeous red designer heels on Roux La La for a very reasonable price. He knew that they would match at least two of Carole's nicest dresses, and make her legs look fantastic. Carole squealed when she opened the shoebox and decided that she she wanted to wear the heels immediately, despite the fact that she was still in her pyjamas.

Much to Kurt's surprise, Finn got his mom a bottle of beautiful designer perfume that he had picked out all on his own. Carole hugged Finn and kissed him on the cheek, and he grinned proudly when Kurt gave him a nod of approval.

When it was time for Burt to give Carole her gift, Kurt expected him to present her with a jewellery box of some kind – but the actual box was much bigger. Carole looked surprised, obviously thinking along the same lines as Kurt. When she opened the box and peered inside, she let out a soft gasp before pulling out a gorgeous antique porcelain doll.

"Burt," she said, her voice filled with awe as she held the doll in front of her. "Where did you find this?"

Burt laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "It wasn't easy," he mumbled. "Frank from work is friends with a guy whose wife collects them. She said that she bought this one for $10 in a garage sale a couple of years ago, even though it's probably worth thousands. I showed her the picture and explained the situation, and she was very understanding, and sold her to me for a pretty decent price. "

"Wait, what am I missing here?" Kurt asked, gesturing from the doll to Carole.

"I had a doll just like this one when I was a little girl," Carole explained. "Her name was Lily. She'd been in the family for generations. My grandmother and I were very close, and on my 5th birthday, she gave me the doll. Lily was one of my most prized possessions throughout my childhood, and she meant even more to me after my grandmother passed away. But when I was 18, our house was broken into, and a bunch of stuff was stolen, including Lily." She looked down at the doll that was resting in her arms. "I had a picture of her that I showed your father." She looked up at Burt with pure love and adoration in her eyes, which were shining with unshed tears. "This doll looks just like her."

"You know," Kurt said thoughtfully. "This doll might actually be Lily. I mean, she was stolen in Lima, right? And that's where you found her again. Besides, I've heard that it's rare to find two antique dolls like that that are exactly the same. I think that's probably Lily that you're holding right there."

Carole looked down at the doll with wide eyes, running her fingers over her hair gently before letting out a soft sniffle. Burt reached over to wipe a tear off Carole's cheek before tilting her head up for a soft kiss. Kurt smiled at the sight.

When Burt pulled back, Finn asked Carole if he could take a closer look at the doll. Finn, Blaine and Burt were soon sufficiently distracted and Carole took the opportunity to lean over and whisper in Kurt's ear.

"Just goes to show," Carole said, "sometimes the things you love come back to you, even when you think you've lost them forever." She glanced over at Blaine knowingly, and Kurt's heart lurched in his chest. He drew in a shuddering breath. "Yeah," he whispered, "but what if they get lost again?"

Carole smiled sadly. "You can't love something without running the risk of losing it. But if you live your life in fear, you will never know what could have been."

Kurt looked over at Blaine, watching the way his golden eyes widened as he examined the doll in his hands. He looked up and caught Kurt's eye, and grinned happily. Kurt blushed slightly, smiling shyly in return.

"Well, dad," Kurt said, tearing his gaze away from Blaine, "I'm impressed. Finding the doll that Carole lost as a child, just from an old picture? Ridiculously romantic."

"Hey, I can be romantic!" Burt insisted. "I used to bring your mom flowers every day after work."

Kurt's eyes widened. "You did? I can't believe I don't remember that."

"I remember," Blaine interjected, smiling at Kurt. "I always thought it was wonderful. My parents were never really the cute, romantic kind."

"Well, Burt's just a big old teddy bear inside, even though he likes to appear tough with his grease stains," Carole giggled.

"Hey, I'm tough!" Burt protested, puffing out his chest exaggeratedly.

Kurt glanced pointedly down at his dad's reindeer-covered pyjamas, and everybody burst into laughter while Burt glared.

"Hey, Kurt," Finn said, pointing at Burt, "that's where you got your bitch glare from."

"Hey!" Burt and Kurt protested in unison, and everyone broke into giggles once again.

"Yeah, yeah, let's just open the rest of the presents," Burt grumbled, smiling despite himself.

Blaine had yet to open any of his presents. The first one that he opened was from Finn, who had bought him a Gollum mask and 5 tickets to see The Hobbit in 3D. Blaine stared at the presents in surprise when he opened them.

"Dude, I know it's kind of weird," Finn said, "but I didn't know what to get you because have loads of money. But then you said how much you wanted to see The Hobbit, and I know that you have stay hidden and not let the media know that you're in Lima, so I figured we could all go see it and you could wear the Gollum mask and nobody would be able to recognize you, they'll just think you're a really big fan."

"Oh my god, Finn, are you kidding me?!" Blaine said. "This is AWESOME!" He pulled the mask over his head, and proceeded to do a scarily accurate impersonation of Gollum's voice which made Kurt shudder and beg Blaine to take it off.

Next up was Burt and Carole's turn to give Blaine a present.

"Well, Blaine," Burt said, handing him a small box, "Carole and I had a hard time thinking of what to get you. Like Finn said, you pretty much have everything. But we hope that this will be something that will make you happy."

Blaine's eyes were wide and curious, and he carefully opened the box in his hands, pulling out a silver key. "A key…?" He asked, brow furrowing in confusion.

"To the house," Burt explained. "We wanted you to have it so you always know that this is your home. Don't ever feel like we don't want you here, because we always will."

Kurt noticed the way that Blaine's eyes started to glisten at Burt's words, and he felt his own throat beginning to tighten.

"Thank you," Blaine whispered, stepping forward to accept a hug from both Burt and Carole. "Thank you both so much. You don't know how much this means to me."

"You're very welcome, honey," Carole said, planting a kiss on Blaine's cheek.

"GROUP HUG!" Burt yelled, and Kurt and Finn both threw themselves at Blaine with more force than necessary, doing their best to squish him. Blaine let out a surprised squawk, and Kurt muffled his laughter in somebody's shoulder.

"Okay, okay, let the poor boy go," Carole said with a chuckle. "He still hasn't opened Kurt's gift."

Kurt found himself feeling anxious as everybody broke apart. Finding a good gift for Blaine had been to next to impossible. The guy could afford everything, and so once again, Kurt decided that maybe he ought to opt for the sentimental route and make something with his own two hands.

The only problem was, Blaine had professional, world-renowned fashion designers lining up to design clothes for his events, of which there were many. All his clothes were worth thousands of dollars, Kurt wouldn't be surprised if one pair of Blaine's underwear was worth more than Kurt's entire wardrobe. He was always meticulously dressed for public appearances, his outfits perfectly colour-coordinated and marketing Blaine as the suave, sexy young artist that the record label was trying to sell.

And, therein lay the secret. Because Kurt, and the rest of the Hummels, knew the truth about Blaine. They were the only ones clued in to his secret identity as a closet dork with an unshakable love of cheesy bowties.

And so, Kurt had got to designing the cheesiest bowties he could possibly come up with, while still making them sort of awesome in a completely Blaine kind of way. In the end he ended up with 5 bowties designed specifically for Blaine. The first was red and green and patterned with Christmas trees, for the occasion. The second was red and yellow and covered in little lightning bolts, because Kurt remembered how much Blaine loved Harry Potter. The third was pink, and covered in tiny little candy canes and ice-creams and pieces of cake, because Kurt knew all about Blaine's sweet tooth. The fourth was mint green and covered in little replicas of the Lima Bean coffee cup, because Kurt remembered how much Blaine loved coffee and how he would always show up after school with a Lima Bean cup in hand.

The final bowtie was the one Kurt was most nervous about, and he wasn't even sure that Blaine would understand the reference. When Kurt was 6 years old, he came home from his first day of school crying because a couple of boys had thrown mud on his favourite Disney princess scarf and called him a girl. Burt had comforted him, letting him know that there was nothing wrong with his scarf and that those boys were just being mean. After Kurt stopped crying, Burt went into the kitchen to make him a cup of warm milk, and Blaine, who had come over to play, came and sat next to Kurt. Kurt remembered the way Blaine had tilted his chin up and wiped away the last of his tears from his face, before pulling him into his lap for a cuddle and whispering the word 'courage' into his ear.

That word had stuck with Kurt for his whole life. The very next day at school, the boys had tried to pick on him again for his sparkly shoes, and Kurt had put on his best glare and yelled that there was nothing wrong with his shoes, and that they were mean, stupid boys with bad haircuts. The girls nearby had laughed at the mean boys who then left in an embarrassed huff, and not only did the boys never pick on Kurt again, but the girls, Mercedes and Rachel, asked him to play with them – which was the beginning of two very long friendships.

When Kurt's mom got sick, he remembered that word – 'courage'. When she died, and he missed her like crazy, he remembered that word. When Blaine himself left, Kurt still remembered that word, and clung to it like a lifeline. It got him through the more persistent brand of bullies that he encountered in high school, and it got him through his dad's heart attack.

Which is why the final bowtie was a plain, crisp white, with the word courage embroidered in burgundy thread in the corner. Kurt knew what sort of struggles Blaine was likely to face in the future and he hoped that he could also be helped by the very advice that he gave Kurt all those years ago.

When Blaine opened the perfectly wrapped box of bowties, his face lit up. "Kurt," he whispered, drawing out the r sound, conveying so much in that one word. "Kurt, these are amazing. They're perfect. Thank you so much."

When he reached the last bowtie, he stared at it for a long moment before looking up and meeting Kurt's eye. He gave a barely perceptible nod, letting Kurt know that he understood. Kurt opened his arms to offer a hug, which Blaine returned with great enthusiasm, squeezing Kurt tightly until Burt interrupted with "Geez kid, you must really love bowties."

Once all the gifts under the Christmas tree had been opened, Blaine cleared his throat. "I have some gifts for you guys, too," he said, "but they aren't wrapped."

"Oh, you didn't have to, Blaine," Carole said. "It know this was all very short-notice for you."

"No, no, I wanted to," Blaine said. "I mean, I really wanted to. You guys have just done so much for me, and I could never repay you for your kindness. But I just…hope that this might be a start."

Blaine paused for a moment. "Umm…I left some stuff in my room, I'll be right back."

Blaine left the room in a hurry, and Kurt smiled at the sight of Finn practically vibrating with excitement. He could tell that Burt and Carole were excited too, although they seemed to be trying to hide it. Kurt couldn't wait to see their reactions when they found out about the honeymoon.

"Your present should be here any minute now, Finn," Blaine said, and Finn cocked his head in confusion. As soon as the words were out of Blaine's mouth, his cellphone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket and answered it.

"Hello…yes, this is him…oh, that's great, thanks! Yeah, just leave it there. The payment's all taken care of, right? Awesome, thank you very much. Okay. Bye!"

Blaine hung up and reached into the small cloth bag, pulling out a set of keys and holding them out.

Finn stared at the keys in Blaine's hand for a moment before reaching out and tentatively plucking them from his fingers. "Blaine…" he said, staring with wide eyes at the keys, "Are these…?"

Blaine grinned. "You should take a look outside."

Finn's eyes widened and he immediately turned on his heel and sprinted from the room. Kurt heard the front door open, followed by a shrill squeal that he didn't think Finn was actually capable of producing. He made a mental note to tease him about it later.

At the sound of Finn's excited cry, Burt dashed out of the room behind him, and Kurt quickly followed him, eager to see Finn's new car - which is obviously what the gift was. Kurt had worked at Hummel Tires & Lube in the summer for several years, and he had recognised the Mercedes-Benz logo on the keys as soon as he saw them. Kurt heard Blaine and Carole following behind as he burst out of the front door, letting out a gasp of excitement when he saw the shining, steel-grey SUV that was parked in the driveway.

"This is amazing!" Finn shouted from where he was standing near the car. He had a hand reaching out delicately over the door, but not touching; as if he was afraid that he might break it. "Oh my god, Blaine, this is the coolest car…truck…thing, ever. What is it exactly?"

Blaine grinned happily as he observed Finn's enthusiasm. "Well," he said, "I don't really know anything about cars, but I saw a picture of this one in a magazine and I thought it looked like something you might drive…? So, I scanned the picture and sent it to my friend Sebastian, who organized everything. It's an SUV, I think."

"It's a Mercedes Benz," Kurt interjected. "A G550, to be exact. It's worth about $120,000, Finn." Kurt knew, of course, because he had seen pictures of it in magazines himself. It was usually being driven by celebrities, and he was maybe a little – okay, a lot – jealous right now. He'd definitely be asking Finn if he could drive it at some point in the near future.

Kurt took a step back in shock as Finn suddenly bounded past him, pouncing onto Blaine and pulling him into a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Finn exclaimed, jumping up and down, sounding like a twelve-year-old girl whose daddy had just bought her a pony. Kurt snorted, and Finn released a surprised Blaine, running back to the SUV and this time actually opening the door and jumping into the driver's seat.

"Do we need to drive anywhere?" Finn called. "Mom, do we need any more milk? I can go to the store! Or, Kurt, do you wanna go to the mall? I'll drive you to the mall! I'll -"

"Finn, relax!" Carole called out. "It's your car now, you'll have plenty of chances to drive it. Come back inside."

Finn reluctantly clambered out of his new car, sidling up to Blaine and throwing his arm over his shoulders, and Kurt followed them as they headed back inside.

"I seriously can't believe that you spent 120 grand on me, man," Finn said seriously. "That's like…a lot of money. You've known me for less a month, dude."

Blaine shrugged. "I'm rich, remember?" he said nonchalantly, and Finn burst out laughing.

"I like having a rich brother."

Kurt's head snapped up to stare at Blaine at the same time as Blaine's head snapped up to stare at Finn. Kurt saw Blaine's Addams apple bob as he swallowed, his eyes wide. Finn seemed completely oblivious to the fact that he had just inadvertently adopted Blaine.

"Boys!" Burt called out from the living room, poking his head out into the hall, "hurry up. The sooner we're done here, the sooner we can go for a drive in Finn's new car."

As they entered the living room, Kurt noticed Blaine glance up at the clock above the fireplace, which read 9:40am.

"Okay," Blaine said, pulling out an envelope from his bag and turning to Burt and Carole. "This is for you two," he said. "You guys deserve it more than anybody I can think of. I really hope that you like it."

He handed the envelope to Carole, and Burt peered over her shoulder as she carefully opened it and pulled out the piece of paper inside. Her eyes scanned over it quickly before she gasped, a hand flying to cover her mouth, her eyes wide in surprise.

"Blaine," Carole gasped, "this is a receipt for tickets for a 2-week Caribbean cruise."

Blaine nodded, smiling nervously. "Do you…like it?"

"Of course we like it, you idiot!" Burt bellowed, stepping forward and pulling Blaine into an enthusiastic hug.

"B-but it's so much," Carole stammered, looking conflicted. "How can we possibly accept this?"

Burt let out a long, pathetic whine as he released Blaine from the hug and turned to Carole, pouting like a child.

Carole regarded Burt for a moment, and Kurt could see her resolve crumble. "Oh, alright," she conceded, rolling her eyes and fixing Burt with a playful glare. "But that's the last time I'm falling for your dirty tricks, Burt Hummel."

Burt let out a whoop of joy before grabbing Carole and pulling her into a tight embrace. "I love you!"

Kurt stole a glance at Blaine, and was shocked by the expression on his face. He looked even happier than Burt and Carole at that moment, as he took in their excitement. It was as though he couldn't even believe that he could bring someone so much happiness.

Kurt was determined to show Blaine that he didn't need money in order to do that. Just being there was enough.

Kurt's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Finn squawking in excitement.

"Hey, mom! Burt!" Finn said, "I just realised…if you're gonna be on a ship in the Caribbean, will that make you guys pirates of the Caribbean?"

Burt went still, his eyes widening as he took in Finn's words. His face split into a grin as he began to sing. "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!"

"Hmmm," Carole said with an amused smile, "as much as I enjoy a good pirate ballad, I think pirates have to be thieves, honey."

Burt turned to Carole with a serious expression on his face. "So I'll steal a towel from our room, and then I'll officially be a pirate of the Caribbean."

Carole giggled. "Okay, sweetie."

"Captain Burt Hummel."

"Aye aye, Captain."

"Now, where's me booty?" Burt reached around Carole in an effort to grab her butt, but she squealed and ducked out of the way just as Kurt and Finn let out matching groans of protest, and Blaine buried his face in his hands.

Suddenly, they were interrupted by the sound of Blaine's phone buzzing loudly in his pocket. Blaine grabbed the phone and glanced quickly at the screen. His hands were shaking slightly as he typed out a reply.

"Blaine?" Kurt asked, concerned. "Is everything okay?"

Blaine smiled nervously at him. "Yeah…yes," he said, fumbling as he pushed the phone back into his pocket. "Everything's fine. Umm…it's time for me to give you your present now, if that's okay with you?"

"Oh," Kurt said, smiling eagerly. "Yes, of course."

"Okay," Blaine said, grabbing his laptop from a nearby coffee table and sitting on the couch. "You might want to come and sit next to me."

Kurt raised his eyebrows, taking a seat next to Blaine as he opened the laptop and signed into Skype. Kurt's confusion was growing by the second, and it just made him all the more eager to find out what Blaine had planned for him.

A ringing sounded from Blaine's computer, and Kurt saw that he had a Skype call from 'GG'. Whoever 'GG' was, they clearly had fantastic taste in shoes, as their icon displayed a truly incredible pair of diamond-studded, spiked pumps with some of the highest heels he'd ever seen. Blaine picked up the laptop and placed it in Kurt's lap. Kurt glanced at him in confusion.

"Blaine, what…?"

"Answer the call."

"Wait, what? Why?"

"It's a surprise."

"Blaine, I don't want to video-chat with a random person, I'm in my pyjamas -"

"Trust me, Kurt. You want to answer this call."

"But -"

"KURT!"

"Alright, alright, don't get your panties in a twist," Kurt snapped, shooting Blaine an irritated glare. "I'll answer it."

He hit the 'answer' button, and 2 seconds later, released an ear-splitting screech.