'Blaine Anderson,' Blaine answered politely, knowing the cat was no longer a threat. 'I didn't know cats had surnames.'

'Lord Smythe was my owner,' explained Sebastian, tail moving from side to side. 'Distinguished older gentleman, filthy rich. I lived in his estate until he passed away. He left me as his beneficiary, but his two brats found out and dumped me at a cat shelter.' His expression changed to a sour one. 'I could have been living my life of luxury, but those greedy, pompous b-'

'So then what happened?' Blaine prompted, trying to get Sebastian away from his rant.

'Then I was picked up by Carole and her giant oaf of a son. Soon after, we moved into this house.' Sebastian paused and observed Blaine with calculating eyes, as if trying to decide something. 'So, I see you're rooming with gayface. Tell me, then,' he said, pointing the end of his tail at him. 'What interest does he have with you?'

Blaine understood that he meant Kurt. 'We're just friends. And you shouldn't call him that,' Blaine added. 'It's not very nice.'

The cat smirked. 'Nice? I don't play nice, sugarpuss. I don't even have to hear his screeching voice to find him annoying. Though I find it kind of fun to piss him off, so-'

'SEBASTIAN!'

Sebastian jumped about foot in the air, as did Blaine, but he seemed to be still airborne. Then he caught on that he had been scooped up and held close to someone's chest, and from his scent Blaine knew instantly that it was Kurt.

'You are not allowed up here,' Kurt continued, directing his anger towards Sebastian. 'Bad cat! Stay away from Blaine!' Blaine felt himself being raised until he was looking into two fearful blue eyes. 'Are you okay? Did he hurt you? I hope you're not bleeding. Are you bleeding?'

'I'm okay, Kurt,' Blaine said, trying to keep his voice calm. 'He's not going to hurt me or eat me. I can trust him.'

'Trust him?' Kurt was almost hysterical. 'How can you trust him, or even me, when you've almost been swallowed by a pillow and nearly eaten by a cat? I should be the one protecting you and I'm doing a lousy job at it!'

'Kurt, calm down,' Blaine said gently, lowering his hands. 'It's okay. Sebastian's not going to eat me. He told me himself. He – oh boy.'

Kurt's eyes widened almost comically. 'Wait – he told you…'

Blaine took a deep breath. 'I can speak to animals. Just…please don't tell anyone. It's kind of my little secret. Well, our little secret now.' He looked up pleadingly at Kurt. 'Please?'

'I, uh…okay,' Kurt replied, hesitating slightly. He didn't seem entirely convinced, but Blaine didn't want to press it any further. 'Just…try to stay away from him, okay?'

'If that's what you want, Kurt,' Blaine replied. 'He may be a little bitter for a cat, but he's not so bad.'

'Yeah, well…' Kurt began, turning back to look at Sebastian, who was staring at them silently. 'I don't like him.' One look at Sebastian confirmed that the feeling was mutual.

'I don't like your face either,' Sebastian shot back, knowing that Kurt wouldn't understand him. Sebastian looked up at Blaine. 'I'll see you around,' he muttered before turning and disappearing down the staircase.

Keeping away from Sebastian didn't prove to be a difficult task; Kurt rarely left Blaine's side and when Sebastian did get the chance to approach Blaine with a sniff or brush of his tail, he was quickly shooed away by the nearest family member.

Blaine became very useful around the house, picking up quarters and dimes for Burt that had fallen underneath the sofa and even retrieving Carole's wedding ring that had wedged itself in a small gap between the washing machine and dryer. He spent an afternoon in his first week helping Finn to retrieve suspicious-looking colored packages from under Finn's bed, until Kurt walked by and promptly put a stop to that activity.

The weekend brought an early morning phone call from Dalton. Blaine sat on the kitchen counter with the phone receiver laying on its side, listening to Trent and the Warblers on the other end and chatting away about his week so far with Kurt's family. It also brought another surprise from Dalton, this time in the form of a person. Kurt, Carole and his father had chosen a tutor, and had invited them over on Saturday afternoon for cookies and tea.

'Mrs Frederick!' Blaine exclaimed as she walked through the door. He was so glad that the family had chosen Mrs Frederick; she wasn't just the office lady who filled in for classes when teachers were absent. She was more like a grandmother to him.

'Hello dearie,' she replied, patting his head with her finger. 'And you must be Kurt, nice to meet you,' she continued, as Kurt shook her hand a little shyly. Mrs Frederick had tutored before, but she wanted to keep an eye on Blaine and work at Dalton on weekends. That way, she could tutor both Kurt and Blaine and keep Blaine informed about what was happening at Dalton.

Classes began the following week over the kitchen table, and while the boys worked together, they would often take breaks and listen to Mrs Frederick recount a story about Blaine, who would try to hide his face whenever she touched on an embarrassing moment. The work was challenging, but in line with Dalton's teachings and while Kurt struggled to keep up at first, they assured him he would be able to catch up in no time. While they only had a week of classes, Mrs Frederick ensured she gave them plenty of holiday homework to last into the new year. For Blaine, this meant a stack of four novels that were no taller than a matchbox.

As classes drew to a close and December rolled in, they were paid another visit by Mrs Frederick, carrying with her a small box covered in Christmas-themed wrapping paper.

'Did you hear the news that our Warblers are through to Regionals?' she gushed, setting the box down on the kitchen table next to Blaine. From Blaine's point of view, it looked like a giant skyscraper wrapped with patterned candy-cane paper.

'Finn told me that New Directions are through as well,' Kurt replied, and Blaine saw that the corners of his mouth had turned up a little. Blaine noticed that it was the first time he had seen Kurt attempt to smile without realizing it. He wished it could have stayed there longer, but it turned into a frown as Kurt eyed the box.

'Is that….for Blaine?' Kurt asked. It did seem a little big for him, but Blaine couldn't help but clap his hands together at the prospect of getting an early present.

'It's a delivery from the Warblers,' Mrs Frederick said. 'They wanted both of you to have it. And I have strict instructions not to let either of you open it until Christmas day. You have a lot of homework to get through and we don't want any distractions.' Blaine sagged his shoulders in disappointment as she gave him a stern look. 'Especially since I know how one of you can get so easily distracted.'

Kurt was a little crestfallen on missing out on Sectionals, but he knew he could not face attending school if it meant getting harassed again. He tried to look to the positives; he had the remainder of December free and if that meant catching up on schoolwork and spending the rest of the time inside watching trashy reality shows, so be it. He put his pajamas on and walked over to the bathroom.

As he stepped up to the faucet to do his nighttime skincare routine, he heard singing from the floor beside him. Blaine liked to bathe at night while Kurt showered in the morning, and it was a pattern they had easily slipped into. Kurt's father had very cleverly created a private en suite for Blaine next to Kurt's standard-size faucet, complete with running water and size-friendly facilities.

Blaine had a lovely voice, but it was muffled by the door leading to the little bathhouse, which was slightly ajar. Kurt crouched down on the bathmat and tried to listen. It sounded very familiar but he couldn't tell for sure unless he peeked in through the door. What he saw was Blaine with his back to the door, drying himself with a fluffy white towel, just having stepped out of the bath. Kurt's cheeks flushed and he tried to move away, but it was too late; Blaine turned around and let out a high pitched squeal. Kurt flung himself back from the tiny door so quickly that he almost hit the towel rack behind him.

'I'm s-sorry, I'm so sorry!' Kurt stammered, wondering how many times he would have to embarrass himself in front of Blaine. He knew Blaine would already be thinking that he was awkward and weird; now he could add perverted to that list. He stared down at the smaller boy with anxious eyes as he emerged from the bathhouse, a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair sticking up in a few different directions after towel-drying it in haste.

'Why are you on the floor, Kurt?' Blaine asked. Kurt was a little afraid to meet Blaine's eyes, but when he did, they only stared back at him curiously.

'I…um…I heard you singing,' Kurt mumbled, feeling shame flood through him again. 'I'm sorry, I didn't-didn't think to-'

'Did I sound okay?'

Kurt fell into shocked silence for a brief moment before finding his voice again. 'Yes…you sounded wonderful, actually.'

He watched Blaine's eyes light up. 'Great!' he exclaimed, placing his hands on his towel. 'I'm just going to put my pajamas on. See you out in a bit.'

'Yeah, okay,' Kurt said as Blaine disappeared back into the en suite. Breathing a little sigh of relief at being spared from further embarrassment, Kurt lifted himself off the floor and trudged over to the faucet. He sighed as he looked at his pale reflection in the mirror. He had almost hit Blaine twice that week, both times from having woken up with a panic and whacking a palm over his alarm clock before realizing that he didn't have school and that his alarm wasn't even on. And he hadn't even thought of respecting Blaine privacy when they were sharing the same bathroom.

Kurt didn't know why Rachel Berry suddenly popped into his head, but he did know she had something that would keep Blaine away from his prying eyes, or at the very least let him forgive Kurt for being such a lousy roommate. And he could really use Finn's help in getting it.