Chapter 15

Kurt walked into the cafeteria, quickly grabbed some lunch, and began to walk towards his usual table. He had a bit of a smile on his face, a smile that quickly faded when he saw Rachel and Mercedes turn to look at him.

The pair had huge grins, obviously about to start questioning Kurt about his 'new man' and the closer Kurt got to the table, the more his smile disappeared, and the more he realized that he could not handle their crazy today.

He was almost to the table when Rachel opened her mouth, ready to ask yet another insane question.

"So, Kurt…"

The second he heard her voice he immediately made a sharp right, shaking his head 'Nope' and going straight for the Cheerios table.

There is something seriously wrong with those girls.

Kurt slipped into an open space right next to Brittany, giving a small, quick smile to Blaine, who was seated across the table from him along with a few other Jocks. Nobody else had noticed his arrival yet and Kurt took this chance to lean forward slightly and whisper so only Blaine could hear.

"This morning they kept asking how far I've gone!"

Blaine, unable to control himself, let out a booming laugh, only realizing how loud it was when literally every single person sitting at the table stopped what they were doing to turn and look at him. Blaine awkwardly stared back, frozen in place. Finally he let out a nervous cough and quickly changed the subject.

"So…um…how about that pop quiz in Ms. Johnson's class…crazy, right?"

He gave a meager chuckle, calming down a bit when he noticed people going back to their own business.

Kurt let out an exasperated sigh and shook his head.

"Oh my god! That was terrible!"

Sam had a huge bite of sandwich in his mouth and was chewing when he tried to speak, still somehow managing a bummed frown even though there was roast beef hanging out of his mouth.

"Aww man. You guys had a pop quiz?"

Blaine crossed his arms, a pout appearing on his face.

"Yeah I know. The day before winter break."

His eyebrows scrunched up as he remembered something and he turned to Kurt for confirmation.

"Did you notice how she looked straight at me when she announced it?"

Kurt quickly finished his bite of salad and then held up his fork, pointing it at Blaine as he spoke.

"I swear, that lady has some serious vendetta with you."

Blaine just smirked and rolled his eyes.

"She's just mad because I could teach that class better than she can."

Quinn leaned over to speak, absentmindedly placing a hand on Sam's arm as she did so.

"I'm surprised you haven't tried. You're already practically teaching our English class."

Brittany chimed in, one hand twirling around her ponytail and the other patting Artie on the knee.

"Yeah, you're like those annoying people who know everything except, like, super cool. Kinda like Artie."

He stared at the hand on his knee before looking up at Brittany, not really sure what to make of her comment.

"Thanks…?"

Blaine turned the conversation back onto Kurt, a sly Cheshire cat's smile on his face.

"Well, Kurt's way better at English than I am."

Kurt shrugged and he reached for his water, taking a small sip. Blaine waited for the perfect moment. Right as Kurt had a mouthful of liquid, he spoke.

"And French."

Kurt's eyes bulged out of his head and he nearly choked on his water. Meanwhile, Finn, completely oblivious to what he was saying, turned to face Blaine.

"Oh yeah. How's the tutoring going?"

By this point, Kurt was really starting to choke on his water, but Blaine didn't stop there.

"It's going great. I'm learning a lot. Kurt's a great teacher."

Kurt had so much water down his throat that he began to bang his hands on the table, trying to get some air into his windpipe. Santana, who had been unusually quiet throughout the whole ordeal, now chose this moment to speak, glancing over at Blaine suspiciously.

"I didn't know you were taking French, Blaine."

But her comment was lost in all the commotion as Quinn began patting Kurt on the back and Brittany turned to him, piece of bread in hand.

"Oh my god! Kurt! Quick! Shove this piece of bread down your throat. It will soak up the water."

Kurt's coughing slowed, allowing him the chance to give her a confused glance. Quinn began to shake her head slowly, puzzled by Brittan's unhelpful advice.

"No…"

Kurt cleared his throat a few times, now able to breathe normally, but his voice still sounded a bit weird from choking.

"I'm good. It's fine."

Brittany shrugged and popped the piece of bread into her mouth. Kurt took a small drink of water to help his breathing and glared at Blaine, who had to hold in laughter as he gave Kurt a cheeky grin. The whole table was slowly going back to normal; people returned to their own conversations and went back to eating their lunch.

Finn looked like he suddenly remembered something and caught Blaine's attention.

"Oh so Blaine, every year they have this festival-like thing called 'Lights of Lima' and I know you're not in Glee Club but all of us are gonna be hanging out over there tonight. Wanna come?"

Blaine slightly shrugged his shoulders, unsure of what he would be getting himself into and fearing that he might feel out of place.

"Um…I dunno…"

Kurt jumped in, hoping he could be more convincing.

"You should go! It's loads of fun. They decorate the park downtown with a bunch of Christmas lights and they put up little lit up displays everywhere! They also play music and you can get food and-"

Blaine gave Kurt a little wink before nodding to Finn.

"Food? I'm sold."

Finn smiled broadly, glad that Blaine was slowly becoming part of their group.

"Great! We'll meet up around nine."

"Sounds perfect."

Blaine smiled brightly, throwing a quick glance towards Kurt before they both became engulfed with their own conversations.

With every passing second he became more and more anxious. He was nervous, for sure. After all, he wasn't really part of the Glee Club. But they thought of being able to be with Kurt, out in public, no worries; it made everything else seem a lot less terrifying.

There was a nip in the air as Blaine stepped out of his car into the parking lot. He gripped tighter onto his letterman jacket, suddenly glad for the scarf he had decided to bring as he quickly wrapped it around his neck.

He made his way over to a small booth at the entrance, quickly paying the few dollars it cost, and stepped into the park.

Blaine noticed some of the football team grouped together awaiting his and a few others' arrivals, but they all had their backs turned to him. Everyone was talking and laughing, just joking around and Blaine wasn't really sure what to do; approach them? Wait for them to take notice? He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked around nervously, not having any idea what to do. But before long Sam saw him and Finn turned around with a huge smile on his face, waving a hand in the air in greeting.

"Hey Blaine! We're over here!"

Blaine's face lit up, thankful to be recognized, and he made his way over to his friends. They exchanged a few fist bumps and a couple bro hugs, making small talk and patiently waiting for the rest of the group to arrive.

They didn't even have the chance to really start chatting before Karofsky and his cronies decided to butt their badly groomed heads into the conversation.

"Dammit. Can't I go anywhere without having to see these dumb ass losers?"

Blaine practically cringed at the sound of his voice.

Sam turned to the jock, looking tired of having to deal with his half-witted insults.

"Dude, it's Christmas. Don't you ever take a break?"

Azimio came up behind Karofsky, clapping him on the shoulder.

"You know, Justine Bieber has a point. It's Christmas and we almost forgot to give these gleeks their presents!"

Finn and Blaine exchanged a few worried looks, watching as some of the jocks bent down gathering some unknown objects up into their hands.

"What are they-"

"I have no idea."

But they soon found out what when the other guys immediately stood and began pelting hard, icy snowballs at them.

They were thrown with amazing accuracy, delivering painful blows every time they made contact with someone, and everyone was too busy trying to block themselves from being hit to actually try and retaliate.

"What the-"

Kurt could barely make out what was going on in front of him. He, Santana, Brittany, Quinn and Tina had just shown up and finished paying when they noticed the commotion.

"Is that-"

Tina looked worried as she watched someone, who she thought was Mike, take a snowball to the face. The group took a few steps forward and they knew for sure.

"It is."

They began to run towards the guys, Kurt leading the way and giving Karofsky a glare that could melt the ice he was throwing. Karofsky smirked back, but still signaled the rest of the team to leave.

"Merry Christmas, freaks!"

He threw one last snowball in Blaine's face before taking off.

Santana headed towards Puck, reaching a hand up and batting snow off of what little hair he had. She was leaning towards him and he couldn't help but try to grab her ass, only for her to slap his hand away.

"Mira, Puckerman. Sé que soy caliente como el infierno, pero no puedes jugar agarrar culo cuando lo desee. Inténtelo de nuevo y voy a abofetear tu cara, no con la mano."

Quinn just rolled her eyes, used to Santana's Latino fury by now. She ran right past a disgruntled Finn to get to Sam, immediately checking him for any serious injuries – of which there were none, these were just snowballs, after all.

While Brittany maneuvered Artie's chair into an upright position, Kurt made his way towards Blaine, whispering a small,

"Are you okay?"

Kurt looked almost frantic, he was biting his lip and he couldn't help but think what else Karofsky had in store. But Blaine quickly put his fears to rest with a reassuring smile.

"Kurt, I'm fine. Don't worry so much…it's cute, but I'm okay."

The cheerleader blushed a bit and brushed the snow off of Blaine's shoulder.

Tina was busy getting some snow out of Mike's collar, only giving a fleeting glance to the last of the letterman jackets disappearing around the corner.

"What creeps."

Brittany was unconcerned, though, as she reassured the group.

"It's okay. I wrote to Santa making sure they would be on his naughty list."

Everyone seemed to pause what they were doing, quickly looking up and sharing a concerned glance before dismissing the comment.

Mike brushed the last bit of snow off his sleeve and then wrapped Tina in his arms, placing a kiss on her cheek.

"Forget them. It's a great night; we won't let them ruin it."

Tine smiled up at Mike, pulling herself closer towards him.

Blaine spoke as he attempted to straighten out his scarf, Kurt batting his hands away and quickly fixing the fabric himself.

"So who else are we waiting for?"

Finn glanced around, taking a quick inventory of who was here.

"Uh…Rachel and Mercedes. They should be here really soon, but I said we would meet them over by that first light display down there."

There was a general murmur of agreement and the group began to walk down the path, quickly striking up conversations and unintentionally allowing Kurt and Blaine a quick moment to really acknowledge each other without trying to brush off snow or straighten clothes.

Everyone else's voices got quieter and quieter the farther away they got from the couple.

Kurt turned towards Blaine with a warm smile spread across his face, his nose and cheeks a rosy shade of pink from the cold.

Blaine smiled back, resisting the urge to take Kurt's hand in his own and they stood for a second, light grins playing on their lips as the gazed at each other.

Kurt took a deep breath and turned his head to look up at the stars.

"It's so beautiful here, I think you're really gonna love it."

Kurt looked back over to see Blaine still gazing at him.

"I know I am."

Kurt smiled and nudged Blaine with his shoulder.

"C'mon, let's go catch up with them."

They were still grinning as theu both walked over to the rest of the group, Christmas music lightly playing through the strategically placed stereos all around the park.

"Blaine!"

Blaine's head shot over in Rachel's direction, who looked overly excited to see him, her arm in the air as she waved wildly at him.

Oh no.

Rachel's face turned a bright pink, a shade that perfectly matched her winter coat, as she made her way over to Blaine.

"I didn't realize you were coming."

"Uh…yep, I did."

Blaine used all his power not to look into her wide, deranged, brown eyes as she gripped onto his arm while Kurt and Mercedes stood there snickering.

"Isn't this place so romantic?"

She latched herself onto Blaine, trying to fit her head into the crook of his neck.

"I mean, despite the stunning lack of Jewish décor. It's the perfect place for two rather attractive people to stroll along…"

Rachel looked away; trying to be what she thought was 'bashful'.

"…maybe even…"

She suddenly looked back up at Blaine, staring into his eyes and looking like a borderline lunatic.

"…fall in love."

Rachel was grasping onto Blaine's arms, pointedly staring at Finn, trying to make him jealous. But his attention was turned on Quinn and Sam, watching them with a frown on his face.

Kurt and Mercedes were nearly doubled over in laughter, barely able to contain themselves as they watched the insanity playing out in front of them. Blaine was struggling to remove himself from Rachel, glancing over to Kurt in desperation.

Kurt smiled at Blaine as he walked over to the pair, taking Rachel by the arms and pulling her away, shouting as he did so.

"Alright guys! Everyone is officially here so we can get started!"

The whole group let out small cheers, glad they could finally enjoy the night. They began down the main path of the park, stopping every once in a while to look at a particularly amazing light display before continuing on. Mercedes and Blaine were strolling down the path together, having a nice conversation and feeling very comfortable with each other, their friendship really beginning to show.

Rachel and Kurt were a few steps behind, walking arm in arm.

"So, Kurt."

The second Rachel said that, Kurt knew he was about to get bombarded by insane questions about his 'Mystery Man' so he immediately cut her off.

"Nope. I'm not going to talk about this."

Rachel took a dramatic sigh.

"Fine, don't tell me anything."

Kurt smiled at her theatrics and gently bumped her with his hip as they walked. She grinned back at him, and when she looked forwards something caught her eye and an idea popped into her head.

"Rachel….I know that look…what are you doing."

She quickly answered back.

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

She just turned and smiled at him, then began to pick up the pace, walking faster until she had nudged her way in-between Mercedes and Blaine, releasing her grip on Kurt and linking arms with him instead. Kurt began protesting, but she wasn't listening at all.

"Rachel, don't! Really? I thought we were done with this!"

Blaine immediately tensed up, getting ready to cut and run. But then he saw the look on her face. It was a familiar smile, full of mischief and very well-known to Blaine. He still had no idea what was going on but for some reason he decided to go with it. She gave him a small nod when he relaxed and she grinned as she spoke.

"So, Blaine."

Kurt's eyes went wide.

Oh god no.

"Have you heard about Kurt's new man?"

Kurt let out a loud groan and Mercedes laughed. Blaine realized that, at least at this moment, he and Rachel were on the same team. He put a hand on his cheek in mock delight.

"Kurt has a 'man'? Do tell!"

Rachel giggled, holding tighter to Blaine's arm.

"Well, apparently, he is a very good kisser and Kurt has been taking full advantage of it. In case you couldn't tell by the various hickeys that have been dotting Kurt's neck recently."

Blaine gasped.

"Kurt, I didn't realize you were so scandalous!"

Kurt could still be heard complaining.

"It was just one hickey, guys."

Blaine smirked, knowing just how much of a lie that statement was; he could think of plenty of other hickeys, all of them strategically placed in well hidden spots. Blaine leaned forwards a bit, looking over to Kurt.

"Kurt, tell us all about your new man!"

Kurt lifted an eyebrow at Blaine

You really want to play this game?

Blaine smiled even bigger and Kurt shrugged.

"Fine. I'll tell you all about him."

Mercedes, who had been silent until now, turned to Kurt.

"Wait, really."

"Really, really."

Rachel squealed, her little hands clapping together in excitement.

"He is extremely attractive. Well, actually, he's gorgeous. He has beautiful eyes and great hair. Very adorable, almost puppy-like sometimes. He's sweet, and yes, Rachel, he is an amazing kisser."

He looked over to the girls, taking in their reactions before looking Blaine straight in the eye.

"An. Amazing. Kisser."

Blaine's already pink cheeks turned scarlet when Kurt gave him a wink. A small noise came out of Blaine's mouth, and Rachel was too busy giggling to even notice. Kurt began laughing, slowly starting to enjoy this more than Blaine was.

As the night went on, small groups began to break off and explore. Sam and Quinn went strolling down a path lined with light-filled pines, known as 'Star-Light Lane', Finn looking extremely off-put as he watched them walk away hand in hand.

Mike and Tina also ran off, heading towards a forty-foot tall Christmas tree covered in sparkling ornaments and wanting some alone time as well.

Santana and Brittany had disappeared a while back and were nowhere to be found, probably in some hidden spot where they could safely enjoy a little make out session with little to no danger of being seen.

Rachel decided to drag Kurt and Mercedes off to see 'the most amazing lighting display in here' which was really only an oversized menorah covered in twinkling lights, but even so she still insisted it was 'heartbreakingly beautiful'.

This left Blaine, Finn, Puck and Artie as the only ones still standing there. They walked around for a bit until Puck decided to start throwing snowballs at a group of middle schoolers. Artie tried to stop him, only to get hit with one himself.

"Two times in one night? Uh-uh these kids are going down!"

Finn and Blaine jumped in, all of them getting into a friendly, more enjoyable, snowball fight. The younger kids left, but that didn't stop them. The four boys continued pelting balls of ice at each other until they got yelled at by a park official. They laughed it off, Blaine falling into the snow and making a snow angel. Artie moved his wheels back and forth, making what he called a 'chair angel' while Puck sculpted a half-assed, lopsided snowman who he named "Finn". Finn rolled his eyes, pushing Puck into his snow buddy and causing it to turn into a pile of mush.

"Now it really looks like you!"

They laughed for a while, all of them deciding that now would be the perfect time to go find one of those stands selling snacks so they would have something to do while they waited for the rest of the group to come back.

They bought some salted pretzels, hot dogs, and various other greasy junk food items and settled into one of the tables near a huge display of lights.

Blaine grabbed a hot dog and set it on his plate.

"Did you guys happen to see the way that Rachel was, oh, I don't know, latching onto me and trying to suck my soul out through her eyes when she first got here?"

Finn gave him thumbs up.

"You have fun with that. I had to deal with her insanity all last year and now it's your turn."

Blaine raised an eyebrow.

"So how exactly did you get rid of her?"

Finn set down his slice of pizza, wiping his mouth off with a napkin.

"If you've noticed, I still haven't."

"True…"

Blaine went to button up his jacket when Artie shrugged his shoulders.

"Well at least she hasn't sung to you yet."

Blaine's hands froze on the first button.

"…What…She actually does that?"

Finn's mouth turned into a sour frown.

"All the time. Like, all the time. Don't be surprised if you start getting emails of her singing."

The look of horror on Blaine's face was almost comical. By now he was really starting to regret his little moment of teamwork with Rachel earlier that night.

"Seriously?"

Artie nodded, gesturing with his hands while he spoke.

"Yeah, thing about Rachel is that she likes to sing her feelings."

Puck shrugged.

"I don't know what you guys are so worked up about. Yeah she's a little crazy but she's hot. I'd tap it."

The other three guys stopped mid-chew to gape at Puck.

"Well I would. Almost did, actually."

Finn rolled his eyes while Blaine slowly shook his head.

"She's all yours then."

Finn was about to take another bite of pizza when a strange look appeared on his face.

"Hey, Artie, I know this is random, but where did Brittany go?"

Artie looked completely unalarmed when he replied.

"Oh, she and Santana already left, they said they wanted to have a girls' night in."

Finn nodded and Puck shook his head.

"Dude, you don't see what's going on?"

Artie was genuinely confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"Really. A 'girls' night in'?"

Blaine shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, what? Mercedes and Rachel have those all the time."

Puck was close to face-palming, instead just letting out a quiet whisper 'You guys are idiots.'

Blaine went to take another bite of his hot dog when he heard a voice behind him.

"Looks like you're really enjoying that sausage, Blaine."

The smile dropped off his face and his mouth formed a tight line.

Can't I just have one day where Karofsky doesn't ruin every single thing? Is that really too much to ask?

He slowly turned his head to the side, watching as Karofsky and a few other jocks walked by the group, all of them now silent and ready to attack.

Once Karofsky had passed in front of them he turned around and delivered the punch line as he walked backwards.

"Because we all know just how much you love meat."

"Goddamn it, Karofsky-"

Blaine threw his hot dog down onto the ground, nearly leaping out of his seat, but Puck was holding him back, keeping him from destroying a simple night.

"Dude, he's not worth it."

Karofsky walked away from the group, a smirk on his face.

Blaine shook Puck's arm from him and sat back down in his seat, grimacing over his lost appetite.

Finn spoke up.

"Ignore him. He's just butt hurt that he's not on top anymore."

Blaine released a long, frustrated breath out of his noise, trying to calm himself.

A smile instantly reappeared on his face as he looked to the left and spotted Mercedes and Kurt walking towards them, Rachel in between them as she practically skipped down that path, holding both of their hands.

"Wasn't that just magical?"

Mercedes glanced over at Kurt, both of them speaking in the same, unenthused voice.

"Yes, Rachel. Truly magical."

The little brunette grinned from ear to ear, giggling all the way over to the guys.

Her laughter was loud and Finn's eyes went wide the second he heard it. He turned to Puck and Artie.

"So I think now would be a good time to head back to Artie's for some Halo?"

Artie nodded his head quickly and Finn got out of his seat, roughly grabbing Puck by the collar even though he kept complaining that,

"I really don't think she's that bad. You know, if you just mute out her voice."

Finn glanced over at Blaine,

"You coming?"

Blaine laughed.

"I think I'll stay for a little bit longer, they have a gift shop and I still need to get a present for my brother."

Finn shrugged, but didn't waste any time in leaving, getting out of there as fast as possible to avoid any time with Rachel.

Blaine watched them practically run down the path, only turning when he heard footsteps behind him and Rachel's unmistakable voice.

"Where are they running off to?"

Blaine got up from his seat, glancing back at the guys as he stood while making up the least convincing excuse ever.

"Uh, curfew?"

He turned to face Kurt before Rachel could comment back, a grin on his face while he asked a question he clearly knew the answer to.

"So how was the menorah?"

Kurt and Mercedes quickly spoke,

"Mediocre."

"Unimpressive."

But their voices were drowned out by Rachel's.

"I almost cried."

Blaine raised an eyebrow at Kurt and he nodded in reply.

"It's true, I have the mascara stained tissues to prove it."

Mercedes smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Anyways, Rachel and I were going to head back to my house and watch 'La Cage Aux Folles', do you want to join?"

Blaine had to stifle his laughter when he remembered that that movie was in French. Kurt quickly elbowed him in the ribs to wipe that grin off his face. Blaine looked over at Rachel, who seemed way too excited at the prospect of spending time with him. He tore his eyes away, mildly terrified when he turned his attention back to Mercedes.

"Uh, I'd love to, but I'm already pushing it with my parents by being out this late."

Rachel then looked to Kurt, hoping to drill him with more questions to make up for the dissatisfaction of not having Blaine to cuddle with. Kurt immediately caught on and quickly supplied them with an answer.

"Thanks but I already asked Tina for a ride home. Another time."

Blaine looked really confused when he heard that, but Rachel just pouted, clearly disappointed that she wouldn't be getting more about his 'Mystery Man' out of him tonight.

"Fineee. I'll text you later."

Both girls gave little waves, quickly giving their goodbyes, Mercedes saying

"Merry Christmas."

And Rachel immediately correcting her with a,

"Happy Holidays."

As they left the park.

Once they were out of earshot, Blaine gave Kurt a puzzled glance.

"I thought Tina and Mike were going on a double date with Quinn and Sam to Breadstix?"

Kurt nodded slowly, waiting for him to understand.

"They are…"

"But haven't they already left?"

"They have…"

Suddenly it dawned on him.

"Oh…"

Blaine grinned.

"Sneaky."

Kurt laughed and then became serious, examining his nails and feigning disinterest in Blaine.

"So, everyone else is gone."

Blaine crossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders, looking off into the distance and playing along with Kurt's little game.

"Oh, really? I hadn't noticed..."

They paused for a second, both of them turning to look at each other, breaking into laughter at their sarcasm.

"Let's go."

Blaine grabbed Kurt's hand and began leading him over to the hot cocoa stand.

"Blaine, I thought we were going to Star-Light Lane! Quinn said it was amazing!"

He looked over at Kurt, eyes like a pleading puppy's as he grabbed both of Kurt's hands in his.

"Pleaseee, I didn't get you anything for Christmas, the least I can do is buy you some hot cocoa."

Kurt rolled his eyes but smiled, sighing as he 'reluctantly' agreed.

"Fine, let's go get some cocoa."

"Yay!"

Blaine nearly jumped in the air and dragged him, arm in arm, over to the stand. There was no line, the park was almost empty now that it was so late and they quickly got their drinks.

"Two hot cocoas, please."

Blaine spotted a box of candy canes and quickly turned to Kurt.

"Do you want one?"

"Umm, do I want one? Uhh, yes, oh well, no, they're so bad for you. No, no candy cane."

Blaine nodded and reached into his pocket for a few more dollars.

"And one candy cane, please."

Kurt laughed and shook his head at Blaine, but smiled as he accepted the drink and the sweet.

"Come on, you goofball, let's go."

" 'kay."

They began to walk over to the entrance for the Star-Light Lane. Blaine took a drink of his cocoa, getting whipped cream on his nose in the process. He began to stick out his tongue, desperately trying to get to the bit of cream stuck there, his eyes going crossed as he did so.

Kurt noticed what was going on and giggled.

"What are you doing?"

Blaine scrunched his eyebrows and mumbled, tongue still sticking out of his mouth and making his words come out all jumbled.

"Tryin' tuh get thu whip cweam."

"Here, let me-"

Kurt laughed and lifted his finger to Blaine's nose, wiping away the cream. Blaine's face lit up and he suddenly leaned forwards to lick it off in one swipe. Kurt's eyes went wide and he began blushing furiously.

Blaine laughed at the sight.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself."

Kurt lifted and eyebrow and nodded, cheeks still a bit red. He repositioned his body so he was facing the tree lined path.

"Shall we?"

Blaine gave him a cheesy smile.

"We shall."

Blaine kissed Kurt on the cheek and put an arm around his waist, pulling him in close to his side as they began to walk forwards. The trees around them were filled with twinkling, white lights, like little stars shining just for them, casting a soft glow over everything and making the whole night look enchanting.

There was a pause in the Christmas music as songs changed and Blaine quietly whispered in his ear.

"Did you really mean what you said before?"

Kurt gave him a funny smile before letting his head rest against Blaine.

"Of course I did, you're perfect."

"No, I'm not."

Kurt turned his head to look at Blaine. He spoke softly, his voice tired but full of sincerity.

"You may not see it, but you are."

Blaine gave Kurt a sweet kiss.

"Thank you."

Kurt smiled at him, a peaceful smile full of affection.

"Any time."

The next song came on and a relaxed silence settled over the couple, the only other noise the crunch of fallen leaves underneath their feet. They walked on, footsteps in time and heartbeats in sync, Blaine softly humming along with the song. Kurt absentmindedly began to sing quietly, unintentionally catching Blaine's attention and making him stop humming so he could hear better.

He was glancing over, watching Kurt's face and the tranquil expression it held. A bit of wind blew down the lane and they immediately held each other tighter, not so much needing the warmth that the other provided, but just needing to be closer, because in that moment, with Kurt softly singing and the lights all around them they needed nothing more.

The couple reached the end of the lane, the path splitting off into a few different ways, but they didn't stop walking. Kurt guided Blaine down the left path, further into the park, until they came upon a Cinderella-like carriage covered in twinkling lights.

"I walked passed this with Rachel and Mercedes earlier. I thought you might like it."

Blaine looked at Kurt and smiled, quickly breaking free from his arm and running towards the carriage. He put out a hand and bowed slightly.

"Your carriage awaits, Monsieur."

Kurt grinned, but played along, taking Blaine's hand as he stepped inside. Blaine crawled in after him, immediately snuggling into Kurt as they sat on the wooden bench.

He looked up in wonder at the Christmas lights, whispering to Kurt.

"I feel like royalty."

Kurt laughed a bit, swirling his candy cane in his hot cocoa,

"Please, I am royalty."

Kurt slid the length of the candy cane into his mouth, slowly sucking on it as he bobbed it in and out, innocently savoring the flavor.

Blaine stared at Kurt's unintentional action, his mouth slightly hanging open and the taller boy gave him a quizzical look, letting his tongue slip away from the candy.

"What?"

Blaine tried in vain to regain focus as words stumbled out of his mouth.

"That was…just…really…"

Blaine was so distracted that his drink tipped in his hands, spilling cocoa on his pant leg.

"HOT, Hot! Oh my god, really hot."

Kurt began laughing, quickly reaching into his pockets for some napkins and wiping away the drink from his leg.

He smiled up at Blaine,

"Very smooth."

And the shorter boy let out a little laugh, stuffing the used napkins into his now empty cup and setting it on the floor of the carriage, Kurt did the same with his cup, not even bothering to finish the drink.

When they sat back up Kurt felt Blaine's hand on the sleeve of his Cheerio jacket.

"Have I ever told you how much I love your Cheerios uniform?"

"Blaine!"

Kurt blushed and ducked his head in that adorable way that Blaine loved so much. He brought his hand up to rest on Kurt's chest, fiddling with the material of his jacket.

"I'm serious! You should wear it more often. Not that I don't love the outfits you usually wear. I don't know, seeing you in it just…it kinda makes this whole thing more cliché. I-in a good way. You know, the whole cheerleader and football player thing."

Kurt laughed a little and ran a hand down Blaine's arm

"Well…you do look pretty cute in that letterman jacket."

Blaine beamed at Kurt, a huge smile lighting up his face.

Kurt sat back in his seat and Blaine cuddled into his side, arms wrapping around Kurt and head lying on his shoulder. Kurt let his eyes drift shut for a second, taking in the soft music that filled his ears.

"Mmm, I love this song."

Blaine took hold of Kurt's hand, laying it flat with his palm facing up.

"Me too."

He began to trace the pattern of lines on Kurt's hand, music slowly lulling them into a deep relaxation.

After a little bit, Blaine spoke, his voice barely above a whisper.

"You know, this was all an accident."

Kurt smiled, his eyes still closed.

"Of course it was an accident. No one spills hot cocoa on themselves on purpose."

Blaine let out a small laugh, his fingers still toying with Kurt's hand.

"No, no that's not what I'm talking about."

Kurt's eyes opened and he stared at their hands in curiosity as Blaine continued on.

"I mean this. You. Me…Us. I never meant to…find anyone…when I came here. I just, you know, figured I'd pretend to be straight and get through high school as quickly as possible. But, you kinda ruined that plan on my first day."

Kurt looked down at Blaine.

"What? The first day? Blaine, we met at my house. That was like, a whole week in."

Blaine returned Kurt's gaze, clasping their hands together as he did so.

"But I saw you that first day, during football practice. I knew there was no way I could ever forget about you. And believe me, I tried."

Blaine gave a small laugh and Kurt returned the smile.

"Same."

Every feature on Blaine's face softened and he immediately brought his free hand up to Kurt's cheek, leaning up to give him a kiss. The kiss was so simple, so sweet; the couple never wanted it to end. But they finally broke free, and no words were said, no words needed to be said.

Blaine blinked a few times, glancing down at their clasped hands, speaking as he rubbed his thumb back and forth over Kurt's fingers.

"I- I wanted to ask you something. And I don't really…know how to, but I want to."

Blaine sat up a bit straighter so he could look Kurt straight in the eyes.

"Kurt Hummel, w- will you be my boyfriend?"

Kurt broke out into happy laughter, a smile filling up his face.

Blaine looked confused.

"Is that a yes?"

"Yes! Yes, of course it's a yes!"

Blaine was now smiling too, as Kurt pointed up at the ceiling of the carriage.

"Mistletoe."

Blaine looked up and then smiled, leaning forwards for a quick kiss. He placed a hand on Kurt's cheek, eyes closed as he spoke.

"Merry Christmas, Kurt."

"Merry Christmas, Blaine."