Thanks again to by wonderful beta gottriplets.

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.

…Meanwhile, casting is underway for the latest show from hotshot scribe Gavin Patrick, which was ordered directly to series by ABC after a hard-fought bidding war with both NBC and FOX. Kaylen Jones, a Tony nominee last year for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, is already attached to the project, an ensemble musical drama set in New York City. Due to its high profile and guarantee for the new season, rumors are already flying about who might fill out the rest of the major roles. Some names being mentioned are Lily Collins and Oscar and Tony winner Kurt Hummel, who is already in town starring in Toy Story, the Musical…— ReportingHollywood, December 4th, 2020

=^..^=

December

By the time December rolled around, Blaine finally felt like he was in the swing of things. He was really enjoying his work and, though he hated to admit it, liked that his students didn't know who Kurt was, or if they did they only knew him as Northstar or Woody in the Toy Story musical and didn't really associate him with Blaine. It was kind of nice going a whole day without someone asking him for Kurt's autograph.

The month passed quickly and finally it was almost time to break for the holidays. As the final days ticked away, the kids got more restless and a little hard to control, until finally he decided to distract them with an art project.

He'd never been a particularly crafty kid, so the other teachers had been a big help in re-introducing him to the world of paint, glitter, and crayons. One of the projects they'd suggested involved photocopied octopus bodies and legs. The kids would cut the pieces out (with dull, child-proof scissors, of course) after coloring and decorating them and then connect them with a fastener that would allow the legs to swing and swivel.

Supplies were passed out and he gave simple instructions, asking them to put their cut out legs into piles to their right to avoid confusion. The kids were immediately engrossed in their work and a quiet settled over the room, broken only by excited whispers as the young artists got into their work.

This art things was easier than he thought.

He probably should have knocked on wood.

Blaine was rummaging through the art supply cabinet for the extra box of glue sticks that he knew was in there somewhere when a scream so loud and piercing that it wouldn't be amiss in any Hollywood horror movie split the air.

Siobhan.

Of course.

Hurrying just in case she'd really hurt herself and it wasn't just another girl-who-cried-wolf situation, Blaine got to the long craft table just in time to see Siobhan and Hazy (full name: Hazy Lovesong Hooper. Her mother was a pop star and her father an eccentric B-list actor. Enough said) tussling over a pile of octopus legs, tears streaming down each of their faces.

"Those are my legs!" Siobhan sobbed.

"He said put the legs on the right!" Hazy cried as she leaned back out of the way of Siobhan's flailing hands. "You put your legs on my pile. They're mixed up. We just need to—"

"Mr. A, she's trying to steal my legs and I worked so hard on them." Siobhan has hard to understand through her sobs, but Blaine had gotten to be quite the expert over the past two months, so he was able to get the gist. "Tell her to take her ugly hands off my octopus."

Blaine winced at her choice of words. "That is not how we talk in this classroom, Siobhan. Please apologize to Hazy."

"No. She is ugly. I just tell it like it is." Siobhan thrust her hip out in perfect mimicry of the extremely well-dressed, snobby mom that dropped her off twice a week.

He sighed and tried a different tactic. "Art time is a reward, Siobhan, and you aren't acting like you deserve a reward right now."

"I don't care. Those are my octopus legs and she's ruining them by getting her stinky germs on them." She punctuated her petulant statement by reaching out and pushing Hazy away, causing her to stumble.

With a reluctance born more out of not wanting to deal with Siobhan's sure-to-be-coming temper tantrum than out of not wanting to dole out a punishment, Blaine asked her to leave the art table and go to the other side of the room, where a quiet spot was set up for the kids to "think" after they'd behaved badly. As she wandered off with a exaggerated wail, he swept the contested legs into a pile and counted them, finding twelve. He handed eight similarly colored legs to Hazy, who smirked across the room at Siobhan, glorying in her vindication, and put the rest on his desk, unsure if he was going to send them home with Siobhan so that she could finish at home or just throw them out the with other scraps as part of the punishment.

Siobhan, who had dramatically flung herself onto the floor and was crying into an oversized stuffed animal, lifted up her face and glared at him. "I hate you, Mr. A. I don't want you to be my teacher anymore."

Now, Blaine knew that Siobhan was (to put it nicely) a challenging child with a penchant for drop-of-the-hat crying jags who would probably be drawing pictures of happy rainbows before the hour was up, but her words still cut him to the quick.

He couldn't help but feel like he'd failed, somehow. Failed at teaching, failed at providing a safe place for his students, failed at being a friend. Just failed. He knew it wasn't possible to make everyone like him every second of every day, but he'd kind of made it a life-long mission to at least try. The idea that one of his young charges could hate him, if even for a hyperbolic second, stung him to the core. He was going soft. Two years ago he would have shrugged such a thing off. Where was the big (okay, not so big), tough bodyguard now?

The fun of the art project drained away (at least for him, Hazy and the other kids had returned to their attentions to their octopi after Siobhan stomped off) and he had to paste a smile on his face as he walked around the table, offering little bits of advice and helping with stubborn scissors. He made a conscious effort to ignore the pile of theatrically crying Upper East Side princess in the corner.

He'd been kind of right about Siobhan and by the end of the day her hatred seemed to have softened into a light disdain, but the dark cloud caused by her declaration still hung over him. Kurt had already left for a photo shoot by the time he got home, so there was no one to tease and comfort him into a better mood, to remind him that kids (and yeah, adults, too) threw around the word "hate" easily and unthinkingly.

Taking a page from Kurt's book, he had a cheesecake delivered from the local deli and sat on the couch wrapped up in a blanket burrito while he ate a huge slice and watched the latest episode of Haute off the Press (he'd have to pretend he hadn't already seen it when he and Kurt had their usual lazy Sunday morning TV catch up while snuggled up in bed).

Alas, the behind-the-scenes look at the publishing of Vogue magazine wasn't the same without Kurt's snarky remarks, so he snapped off the TV and stared at the clock, counting the minutes until Kurt got home.

=^..^=

The next morning dawned cold and grey and Blaine wanted nothing more than to turn off the alarm and stay snuggled deep in Kurt's arms. He lingered for a few extra minutes, seriously toying with the idea of calling in sick and hiding like a coward, but it was the last day before winter break and he couldn't miss his chance to say goodbye to all the kids before vacation.

"Why don't you grab a long, hot shower while I make the coffee?" Kurt murmured roughly against his hair. Blaine could feel Kurt's nose give him a nuzzle and he turned into the familiar touch, his lips placing a careful kiss on Kurt's chest.

Kurt rolled out of bed and slid his feet into his waiting slippers before reaching over and sweeping the covers aside with a teasing smile. The rush of cold air spurred Blaine to action and within minutes he was standing under the invigorating rainfall showerhead that they'd had installed soon after moving in.

After an almost personal record breaking long shower (at least for a solo shower. He and Kurt took much, much longer when they showered together) he headed towards the closet to pick out his clothes, stumbling to a stop when we saw that Kurt had laid out a whole outfit on the bed for him.

"It's my favorite," Kurt said from the doorway. Blaine looked over at him, a red sweater in one hand and a white bow tie with reindeer faces on it clutched in the other. "You look heart stoppingly gorgeous in red."

"Oh yeah?"

"And Blue. And Yellow. And green. And—"

Blaine silenced Kurt with a kiss. He sighed happily when Kurt's arms settled over his shoulders, his hands clasping his elbows to pull them closer together.

"I love you," Blaine whispered as they broke apart.

Kurt's face lit up. "I love you, too, but you're going to be late if we keep this up much longer."

"Rain check for," Blaine tilted his head back so that he could see the clock on the bedside table, "four hours? It's a short day today."

"You've got yourself a deal, mister. Just remember where you were."

"Oh, I'll remember, don't you worry."

=^..^=

The school was having an assembly that morning, so the afternoon kindergartners had come in early, meaning that Blaine had thirty kids to corral instead of just the normal fifteen. He had two volunteer parents to help him out, but it was still a hectic day.

He'd greeted Siobhan with a smile as always, but her usual exuberant "Morning, Mr. A!" was absent, replaced by an almost inaudible "Hi." Hopes that she'd forget about her anger at him faded as the day went on. In fact, she got sadder and quieter as time passed. Blaine tried to ignore his aching heart, smiling brightly for his other students as he tried to keep their focus on the speaker and not on the fact that vacation was just around the corner.

Finally, the bell signaling the end of the assembly rang and he gathered the kids together, leading them in a conga line back to the classroom, backed by music blaring out of the speakers of his phone. The other students stopped and stared as the kindergartners danced by, smirking and shaking their heads, but Blaine could see that they were just jealous that they were no longer young enough to have such silly, unbridled fun.

Several of the parents were already waiting for them when they returned so Blaine said some quick goodbyes, baffling several students with his promise to see them next year. Blaine saw Siobhan's nanny standing out in the hallway talking to someone, so he called her over to the door, holding up her little coat so that she could slip her arms inside.

She still looked like she was about to cry, so he searched for something to say, not wanting to leave things on such a bad note. "I'm sorry if you're still angry about yesterday, but—" Blaine broke off with surprise when Siobhan threw herself at him, her tiny arms flung around his legs.

"I don't want to go, Mr. A! Don't make me go!"

"What?" Blaine pulled back and knelt in front of her, reaching out a finger to wipe away a tear that rolled down her cheek. "What's wrong?"

"Mommy said it'll be three whole weeks before I come to school again. Do you know how many days that is? Almost a hundred! If I'm gone for that long you'll forget me!"

Blaine suppressed a chuckle. Siobhan looked so heartbroken there was no way he wanted to belittle her feelings by laughing. "It's actually only twenty two days until school starts again and there's no way I'll forget you. And even if I started to I've got a whole album of pictures and that drawing you made me last week to remind me."

Siobhan narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "Really?"

"Really. In fact, you're more likely to forget me. You're going to have so much fun over break that you won't even remember my name. Your mom tells me you guys are going to Disneyworld for Christmas."

Her sad little face brightened at the reminder that she'd be seeing Mickey Mouse very soon. "I'd have more fun if you came with us. I bet my mommy and daddy would let you come." She leaned closer and put her lips to his ear. "We're quite wealthy, you know."

This time he couldn't contain his laugh. "Thank you for the invitation, that is very generous of you, but I think it's best if I stay here. I have family coming into town and they'd be sad if they got here and I wasn't there to meet them. You'll have to take lots of pictures, though, and tell me all about the characters you meet and the rides you go on." Siobhan's face began to scrunch up mutinously, so he tried to head off a full-fledged meltdown. "Maybe you could even do a show-and-tell when school starts again," he said, playing to her deep-seated need for attention.

"We could make a video!" she cried, bouncing up and down on her toes. "And I could bring everyone back presents." She jumped at him in excitement and hugged him tightly. "You are the bestest teacher ever, Mr. A. I love you."

Blaine patted her back lightly, his throat too tight to say anything more than "Aw, I love you, too, sweetheart."

A happy smile back on her face one again, Siobhan ran out to excitedly tell her nanny about the upcoming show-and-tell. Blaine waved goodbye and smiled at the adorable sight of her Tinkerbell backpack bouncing up and down on her back as she skipped down the hall.

The rest of the kids cleared out quickly and before he knew it, Blaine was alone in a still and silent classroom. He pulled out his phone and dialed Kurt as he tidied the room up a little, knowing that he wouldn't want to deal with it on the first morning back after New Year's.

"How did it go?" Kurt asked, not even bothering to say hello. "Was your little drama queen all smiles or plotting your downfall like a tiny Eve Harrington?"

Blaine folded in the legs of an easel and slid it into the back of the storage closet, careful to hold it away from his clothes in case there was any lingering wet paint from the day before. "She seemed upset all day, but I don't think it was about yesterday at all."

"No? What, did daddy tell her he wouldn't buy the pony farm she wanted for Christmas?"

"Actually, I think the family already has a horse farm in Kentucky."

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. "Of course they do."

"Reverse snob," Blaine teased.

"Private school sell-out," Kurt retorted, their playful exchange a common one ever since school had begun. "So why was the little princess troubled today?"

Finished with the room, Blaine gathered up his bag and coat and headed for the door. "She didn't want to go on winter break. Said it was going to last a hundred days and that she'd miss me," he sighed happily.

"That kid's pretty smart. I might just have to meet her someday."

Blaine came to an abrupt halt halfway down the stairs. "I'm pretty sure that's a recipe for disaster. You'd either end up loathing each other or come away with plans for a revival of Gypsy with her as baby June and you as Papa Rose."

"Well, now that you mention it…"