"Thanks for coming out Carol. It was nice seeing you again." Burt said to the woman in his doorway.

"It's no problem Burt. I was glad to help. Let's just hope he likes it. When is this young man supposed to be arriving anyways?" Carol asked.

"It should be shortly. I didn't think I'd get the room furnished and organized in time. You are a big hep." Burt replied. As he finished, a loud, almost crashing sound came from the roof. Both adults turned their heads upwards towards the ceiling. Burt recovered first.

"I'm sure it's just a tree branch or something hitting it. Anyways, I should finish up in here and you make your way home safely okay?" Burt hastily said. Carol nodded and gave a slight wave and made her way to her car, craning her neck to look at the roof to see what had made the noise. Seeing nothing, she turned on her car and drove away.

Meanwhile inside, Burt went to the garage and opened a door leading up to what seemed to be the attic. Walking up those stairs led to a small room with another door that had cold air coming from it. Quickly, Burt opened it and saw Kurt slowly getting off of the reindeer.

"Wow, that was crazy. Insane flight, never going to do that again. Think of what it did to my clothes!" There was a short pauses, "You okay girl?" A soft neigh came in response to Kurt's question and he gave a short laugh. "That's good to hear." He gave her a pat on snout and turned to face Burt.

"Oh, hi. You must be Burt Hummel. I'm Kurt Celyn. Good to meet you, sir." Kurt introduced and held out his hand. Burt grabbed his hand in a firm handshake and replied,

"No need to call me sir, kid. Burt is fine. Let's get inside and we can get you settled in." Burt said and led Kurt through the way he came up to the roof. Back in the main part of the house, Kurt was led up the stairs and to the second door on the left.

"This here will be your room while you are here. I just got it finished and I hope it's alright for you. I guess you haven't had any dinner yet?" Burt asked Kurt nodded.

"Yeah, I left at about noon, and it was non-stop till I got here." Kurt paused, "What are we going to do about the deer? Won't it be kind of obvious that there is one hanging about the place?" he asked.

"I got that all planed out. I planted some nice pine trees quite a few years ago, and now they are quite tall and should be able to block out the neighbours from the backyard. There is a small shed like stable back there to for her." Burt informed. Kurt nodded,

"Thank you. I'll just be a few minutes unpacking, then I can make us some food." Kurt suggested.

"Nah. You're a guest here. I can order us some Chinese or something." Burt argued. At this, Kurt gave him a Look. The kind of look that says 'you have got to be kidding'.

"No. Absolutely not. I will make us something healthy. Can you make sure Vixen is setting in nicely while I finish here?" Kurt suggested. Burt made a noise of affirmation and went back downstairs, leaving Kurt to his room. It was simple, which was nice. Plain white walls with black and silver accents. Kurt put the few clothes he brought in the dresser and unloaded his skin care products onto the top of said dresser. Now he took a look at his watch.

"An illusion, huh?" He uttered. The time said 6:15pm and on the side was the button Bernard said would cast it. Kurt held his finger above it while thinking of a simple outfit - jean skinnies with a slight rip in them, a three quarter white shirt with a black vest over top. Simple, yet amazing.

'Should see if it will cover my ears as well, for school.' Kurt though. With outfit in mind and eyes closed, Kurt pushed the button.

After a couple of seconds of waiting for something to happen, but feeling nothing, he re-opened his eyes.

"Oh, this is going to be handy." Kurt grinned as he looked at his reflection, that was wearing what he had in mind. He felt the clothes and felt as though they were real and not just an illusion. A closer look in the mirror showed his ears where still pointed. With a sigh, he headed downstairs to where he saw the kitchen to see what there was to cook, as Kurt Celyn was not going to touch greasy take-out.

Two hours later, both him and Burt were stuffed full of a vegetable lasagne and sitting in the living room, Kurt on the couch and Burt on a lazy boy chair. Kurt had that iPad and unlocked to see what was all on it.

"So, tell me about yourself Kurt. What's it like living up in the North Pole?" Burt asked. Kurt looked up from customizing the background and thought about what to say.

"Well, as you know, my name is Kurt Celyn and I'm an 18 years old fashion elf, so we make all the clothes that people ask for for Christmas. I have a best friend Mercedes who is a baker. She makes the most amazing pastries I have tasted." Kurt boasted, "And…well, I guess you could tell but, I'm gay." Kurt looked Burt in the eyes to see his response. Kurt knew that a lot of humans had issues with homosexuals, so he waited to see what Burt would do. A gentle smile came over Burt's face.

"It's alright kid. Who you love doesn't bother me. I had a girl here a couple years ago who liked other girls, and I told her the same things. Love is love. If you happen to find it, then you should be able to be happy." Burt reassured.

"Thank you." Kurt responded.

"What about your parents?" Burt inquired. A sad look came upon Kurt's face at the mention of his parents.

"Well, my mother died in child birth, and I have no idea where or who my father is. I've been told different things about what happened. He's a rouge elf that has been banished, he's a human that Mother left behind, he's dead. I keep hoping that one day I will meet him, because I know somehow that he is alive." Kurt revealed, holding back tears. Burt shifted awkwardly in his chair.

"I know how you feel kid. I had a wife once." Here, Burt gave a barked laugh, "She was an elf too, you know? Almost twenty years ago, I met her. I still was housing those who needed it that where in the area for something, and she was one of them that came to visit. She stayed with me for the whole year. A few weeks in, we fell in love. Months later, we got married. It seemed quick, but what can I say? We where in love. Then before we knew it, she had to leave. I was so devastated. I begged her to take me, but she didn't want to force me away from here, where I belonged." Burt wiped at his face where tears were gathering, "But like I said, that was almost twenty years ago. I haven't heard from yet. I fear something happened to her though."

"How did you even come to do this? Being aware of Santa, the elves, and housing them?" Kurt's curiosity asked. Here Burt smiled.

"I'm sure you are aware of the Polar Express?" Here Kurt nodded. "Well, when I was a kid, I got to take a ride on it. It was amazing. Seeing everything. I have never forgotten. When it was my turn to ask what I wanted for Christmas, I asked Santa, 'I wish I could stay in contact with you and the elves.'. And I did. He said that I could be a shelter for traveling elves if they needed it. He gave me a bell that would ring if there was someone coming. I'm glad I asked for that." Burt spoke, talking as if he was remembering that night. Kurt smiled and went back to his iPad. There was a few apps already on it. There was one called The List, and he clicked on that. Once it opened and loaded, there was names upon names listed. Scrolling down, Kurt saw that there was 734 students names on the list.

'This is going to be a nightmare.' Kurt thought and closed the list. Another app was titled Scanner. Puzzled, he opened that next. Once loaded, he saw that it was a camera app. Holding the iPad up, the camera moved with it until it landed on Burt. It beeped and copied Burt's picture, then a list zoomed by until it landed on Nice.

"Not so nightmare-ish." Kurt muttered, closing the app. The rest of the stuff was the normal stuff it came with.

"Is Vixen settled in well then?" Kurt asked after looking through the music that was loaded on. Burt nodded,

"Yeah, she's fine. When you say Vixen, though, are you talking about like…Vixen Vixen?" Burt pondered. Kurt grinned.

"Yes. Vixen as in one of Nicholas's personal reindeer." Burt shook his head, and a quiet 'amazing' was heard in the closing silence. After a few moments, Burt turned on the television to football.

"Well, I'm going to take this as my leave and get ready for the day ahead of me tomorrow. Good night, and thank you for letting me stay here with you there couple of weeks." Kurt said and headed back up to his room.

"No problem kid! School starts at 8:15 am tomorrow, don't forget!" Burt called up to him. Kurt nodded and closed his door and dropped the illusion and changed into real silk pyjamas and started his nightly moisturizing routine.

"I hope it all goes well tomorrow. Find at least someone to hang out with." Kurt pondered as he went through his regime quickly. In no time he was done and crawled in his bed. The iPad alarm set for 6:45am, he dozed off, listening to the faint hum of cars as they drove by every now and then, and the soft cheers from the television downstairs.