December 19

“Blaine, I swear, if you don’t tell me where we’re going soon I’m going to die from curiosity.  I’ve been asking you all morning.  We’re about to check in.  PLEASE will you tell me?”

“I’m not telling you yet.  Just be patient, Grasshopper.”

“You’re a horrible President, killing your Grasshopper like this.  And if I’m gone, then who would replace you if something happened to you?”

“Mmm... I’m naming that best dressed little girl with the dark curly hair as the heir to my throne.”

“I still melt at the thought of that little girl.”

“So do I.  Oh, look, we’re next.”

Blaine steps up to the counter with his suitcase and gives the clerk his name.

“Okay, Mr. Anderson, I’ve got two tickets for you and a Mr. Kurt Hummel from here to Marathon, with one stopover.  Is that correct?”

Blaine glances sideways at Kurt, wondering if he knows where Marathon is.

“That’s correct.”

Kurt blinks.

“Marathon?”

“Kurt, they need your ID.”

Blaine hands his ID over the counter to the clerk, and she hands it back, looking expectantly at Kurt.

“Oh, right, uh...”

Kurt hands over his ID.

The clerk checks his ID and hands it back to him, smiling pleasantly.

“Any checked baggage?”

Kurt indicates his suitcase.

Blaine puts his own suitcase on the lower part of the counter, and as she removes it, he lifts Kurts and puts his there.  She removes that one too, and gathers boarding passes for both Kurt and Blaine.

“Here you are, enjoy your flight.”

Blaine takes the boarding passes, and finds the one with Kurt’s name, handing it over, knowing that the first pass will say that their stopover is in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

“Florida?  FLORIDA?!”

“Sort of.”

“Ohmigosh, it’s going to be warm there, isn’t it?”

Blaine grins as they head toward security.

“It’s definitely going to be warm where we’re going.”

“So where exactly is Marathon?”

“Marathon is the closest airport to where we’re going.  Well, I mean, I guess it’s a town too, but that’s just the airport.”

“... And... where are we going?”

“I think I should wait to tell you till you can see it from the plane.”

“Blaaaaaaaaaine...”

“We could play truth or hippo over it.”

“We could.”

“Let’s.”

Blaine smirks at Kurt as they move through the line for security.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Hippo, silly.”

“Darnit.  I... hm... Where would be your dream vacation?”

“My dream vacation?  Hmm... Probably someplace with mountains.  Or.. Oooh, Seattle.  I think.  Stateside.  Overseas? Maybe Italy or something.”

“Interesting...”

“Where’s your dream vacation?”

“Paris.  Or any place warm.”

“Interesting.”

Blaine smirks.

“Will you ever tell me where we’re going?  Or do I have to wait?”

“I’ll give you some hints, how’s that?”

“That works perfectly.”

“Okay, let’s see.  Well, I don’t know if you’ve ever been there before.  I’ve been there a couple of times, when I was a kid.  Kind of.  It’s a good place if you like sand.”

“Sand...? So, coastal?”

“You could say that.”

“Any more hints?”

“There are palm trees.  And it’s warm.  And the second flight is a short one.”

“Ooooh.”

“And really clear water.  Probably dolphins in it, too.”

“I can’t wait!”

“I know you can’t.”

Blaine slips his shoes off and puts them into the bin with his other things, making sure to take his belt off to avoid a scene similar to yesterday.

Kurt examines his outfit, making sure to remove anything with metal and puts everything in the bin.

Blaine cautiously walks through the arch, the security office hardly paying any attention to him at all.  He glances at Kurt and goes for his bin to put himself back together.

“There’s nothing like getting undressed with an airport full of people.”

Kurt makes it through security with no problems.

“Oh, definitely.”

“Okay, so the gate is that way.  We should probably hurry.”

“Let’s go.  Don’t want to miss our flight after all.”

“Oh yeah.  This flight is non refundable too.  It’s weird, I noticed when I was booking them, that all of the flights to the Keys were nonrefundable.”

Blaine’s eyes go wide and he hopes that Kurt didn’t notice his slip up.

“The Keys?  That’s where we’re going?  Ohmigosh, Blaine!”

“Oops.”

“I’ve always wanted to go there!”

“Well, at least you don’t know where we’re staying.”

“Where are we staying?”

“At a hotel...”

“How nice is the room?”

Blaine clears his throat and watches the ground as he walks.

“Nice is an understatement.”

“Blaine.  How much are you spending, exactly?”

“Oh, I’m not sure of the exact amount.”

“What type of room is it?”

“A good one.  Okay, a really good one.”

“Blaine...”

“What?!”

“You... it’s too much...”

“Should we go back to Ohio instead?”

“No.  I love it.  I love that I’m going to spend time with you.”

“No phones.  No roommates.  No parents.  No anything, but us.”

“Just us.”

After boarding the plane, the flight goes off without a hitch, and the landing in Fort Lauderdale is smooth, as is the transition to their next plane and the flight to Marathon.  Blaine holds Kurt’s hand as they land, and points out the window at the open crystal clear turquoise water.

Kurt stares out the window in awe.

“I can’t believe we’re here!”

“I hope you like it.”

“I know I’ll love it.”

After the plane touches down, they head to baggage claim and pick up their bags and head outside to get a shuttle to the hotel.

“Parrot Key Hotel and Resort, please.”

The driver starts down the road.

As soon as Blaine speaks, Kurt tries to discreetly pull out his phone and search the name of the hotel on the internet.

Blaine is looking out the window at a palm tree with coconuts on it and smirking to himself when he turns back to Kurt to find that he’s on his phone.

“Hey.  What are you doing?”

“Uh, nothing, I’m, uh...”

“Kurt, let me give you some kind of surprise.  It is a Christmas present...”

“Oh, fine.”

Kurt slips his phone back in his pocket, ignoring the countless texts from Rachel and missed calls from his father.

“Thank you.”

“Blaine, I just thought of something.”

“Hmm?”

“What if my dad called the police?  I mean, I did sort of just disappear...”

“Maybe, um, just let someone know where we are?  I don’t want it to look like I kidnapped you.”

“Yeah... just one second.”

Rachel, don’t freak out

I have been texting you nigh constantly for the past 24 hours

Where have you been?

Your dad’s worried sick

Last time he saw you, you were walking into the airport

WHERE ARE YOU?

Rach, calm down.  I’m with Blaine.  We cleared things up.  We’re going on vacation together for Christmas

NO!  You can’t just do that!  Where are you?
Florida

WHAT?!?!?

Just tell my dad I’m okay and I’ll talk to him later.  We’re making this a phone’less vacation

Kurt Hummel, you listen to me

[silence]

Don’t you dare ignore me

[silence]

*Incoming call*

~”Hi, you’ve reached Kurt Hummel, Stylist for Vogue.com.  I can’t answer my phone right now, so leave a message and I’ll get back to you.  No, Rachel, you can’t cook me dinner.  Thanks.  Bye.”~

~”KURT HUMMEL YOU LISTEN TO ME RIGHT NOW!  YOUR FATHER IS SITTING NEXT TO ME AND YOU ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE YOU WOULDN’T BELIEVE IT!  YOU GET BACK TO OHIO NOW!  Sorry?  Oh, here Burt.”~

~”Kurt.  You don’t just take off like that.  You had me worried sick.  You’re an adult now, I know, but you’ve got to let me know what’s going on.  You haven’t answered me at all since you went into that airport.  Just let me know where you are so I can stop worrying.  Alright?”~

“They know where I am now.  Rachel’s not happy.  I’ll listen to that voice mail another time.”

“We should have told them.  I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s okay.  It’s the most spontaneous thing I’ve ever done and I love it.  I’m an adult.  I can do these things.”

“I hope we can do more of them.  Because so far, this has been pretty fun.”

The car stops in front of a large white hotel entrance, either side of a shiny brick walkway lined with palm trees lit from beneath.  It’s dark outside now, and Blaine opens the door for Kurt before tipping the driver and attempting to take both suitcases.

“Oh, no.  I’m taking my own suitcase.”

“Come on, pretend it’s a date and I’m being chivalrous.”

“But my suitcase is really heavy with all my clothes.  I’d feel much better if I took it myself.”

“I don’t know if you noticed or anything, but I work out.”

“I.  Am.  Taking.  My.  Own.  Suitcase.”

“I don’t even get a comment about how beautifully ripped I am?  I’m disappointed.”

“You have an incredible body, Blaine.  But I’m determined to take my own suitcase, and this conversation is over.  Lead the way!”

Kurt’s tone is joking.

Blaine makes a face and carries just his own suitcase up the shiny brick walkway.  The ocean can be heard fairly close by, and it’s warm enough that Blaine is uncomfortable in his long sleeved shirt.  Once they get to the door, they’re given the keys to their room.

“Here you go, two keys for your waterfront king guestroom.  Head down the walk to the very end, first floor.  Enjoy your stay.”

Blaine thanks the clerk and takes the keys, smiling at Kurt.

Kurt nearly dies when he hears what type of room they have.

“I can’t wait to see it!”

“I really hope you like it.  I worry about your fashion sense getting in the way sometimes.”

Blaine leads the way down the path between the two buildings that make up the hotel, all the way to the end.

“I’m sure I’ll love it.  I love it already and I haven’t even seen the room.  I love this place.  It’s so warm!”

Beaming to himself, Blaine steps up to unlock the door to their room, turning the knob and pushing the door open.  It’s dark inside until he steps just inside the door and turns on the switch.

When Kurt walks in, the first thing he notices is the blue colour scheme in the room.  Everything looks like it goes well together, to his fashion trained eye.  Walking in further, he takes note of how the bed is situated right next to the door to the patio and a huge smile spreads across his face.  The room looks well thought out, and comfortable.

“Blaine... it’s incredible.  Look at the bed, those colours are beautiful.  And the view...”

“I like that the view is right there when we wake up in the morning.  So, I picked an okay place?”

“Okay?  This place isn’t okay.”

“It’s not?  But, you just said-”

“It’s perfect!”

Kurt turns and throws his arms around Blaine, hugging him close.

Blaine grins and hugs Kurt in return, entirely too excited about being here alone with Kurt.”

“I’m glad you like it.  Now.  What do you want to do first?”

“Collapse on that bed and hold you close.”

“That sounds perfect to me.”

Kurt leaves his suitcase by the door and walks quickly to the bed, literally almost collapsing on it.

Blaine locks the door and leaves his own suitcase there, following after Kurt with a dorky smile on his face.  He practically leaps onto the bed next to Kurt, and lets out a huge sigh.

Kurt drapes an arm over Blaine, smiling.

“This is the best Christmas gift ever...”

“I hope you don’t get used to extravagance very easily, because I’m going to be broke for a while.”

Blaine laughs into the down comforter.

Kurt is already dozing off.

Kicking his shoes off, Blaine cuddles close to Kurt.