- Ghosts of Christmas Past-

It seemed like Thanksgiving was barely behind him when the Christmas holidays came rushing toward Kurt. Between Regionals, the fight with Blaine and their subsequent reconciliation, and the Hudsons moving into the Hummel household, Kurt barely had time to register that it was the holiday season. But there it was - the school and town were covered in Christmas decorations.  To top it all off, Quinn and Rachel had decided that the glee club needed to go caroling the last day of the semester to collect money for charity.

When the song list was put to a vote, Kurt was the only nay-sayer. And it only served to remind Kurt of his growing alienation from the people in his life. Romances, relationships, and friendships seemed to develop right under his nose and he was always out of the loop. He felt like everything he did was just slightly out of step from everyone else – as if they were part of his life, but in a blink of an eye he could be gone and they wouldn’t even notice.

Kurt despised Christmas even though it had once been his favorite holiday season. Some of his happiest memories were of baking cookies, decorating the Christmas tree, shopping for presents, but all of those memories were from before his mom died and were tainted with his sorrow. Together, Kurt and Burt had managed to make new memories over the years, but Kurt still found it easier to keep new traditions completely separate from the ones shared with his mother.

Christmas was harder than usual as he had to deal with a new family moving in. His father and Carole had wasted no time moving the Hudsons into their home once Finn and Kurt had officially given their blessings. 

Kurt had little time for anything but family in days leading up to the school break. Carole was intent on making their first Christmas together a perfect family affair so they went Christmas tree shopping together, decorated the house, and started an intensive baking regimen that rivaled Kurt’s most ambitious efforts. He found her boldness more than a little disconcerting given the newness of the relationship. He wondered it was a werewolf thing or just her personality. 

The demonic activity seemed to be nearly non-existent as the holiday approached, so Kurt focused shopping more than anything else to pass the time. Kurt was proud of his shopping prowess and finding the sweet spot of price and appropriateness was his special talent. Nearly everyone, including Carole and Finn, had been easily crossed off of his list. He had the perfect presents for everyone except for Blaine.  Blaine, unfortunately, was trickier to shop for. Kurt wanted to give him a present, but the ideal gift eluded him.  He wasn’t sure that he should even give the vampire a present given how confusing their relationship was, but he searched anyway. 

-Even Watchers Get the Blues at Christmas-

Mr. Shue had recently received a shipment of his reference volumes from England and had asked Kurt and his friends to help him sort and shelve them in a special section of the McKinley’s library. Due to budget cuts, the full time librarian had been let go and Mr. Shue had managed to get the part time post that the school had made available to any of the full time teachers who wished to pick up extra hours. 

It was a fortuitous turn of events because Will’s office was cramped and disorganized and not conducive to a Watcher and four teens doing research.

A few days before the end of the semester, Quinn and Rachel sat next to each other in the library with piles of books on the table between them. Paper with hand written categories were arranged along the middle of the table. Mercedes sat across from them typing on a lap top while Kurt sat at the end of the table flipping through a book. 

“Mr. Shue, I don’t undertand your system,” commented Mercedes.

“It’s alphabetical,” Will answered in a condescending tone.

Mercedes made an exasperated noise. 

“I know,” she said patiently. “That’s the problem. Let’s say for example, Kurt comes back from patrolling,” Mercedes paused and looked pointedly at Kurt. The Slayer was oblivious as he apparently looked intently at one of Will’s ancient tomes. He was actually looking at the latest GQ cleverly hidden in the pages. Will was the only one fooled by the trick. “Kurt describes a stone statue about eight feet tall with horns on its head and runes all over the body. It has a big wide open frog like mouth-”

“The demon Acathla,” Will interrupted excitedly. 

“Which I would find under ‘A’ for Acathla?” Mercedes asked skeptically.

“No,” Will corrected. “It would be under “D for Dramius. The demon Acathla is extensively described in “The Writings of Dramius” along with some very helpful information about hell dimensions.”

“I would know to look there how?” Mercedes prompted.

“Well, you wouldn’t,” Will admitted. “I have a PhD in demonology.”

Mercedes looked over at Rachel and Quinn for some help, but the two girls were writing notes and giving each other little smiles instead of paying attention.

“If you used the Watcher’s database to index and cross reference all of the information in your books, you could search on physical characteristics and abilities instead of needing to know the names of both the demon and the author of the book to find the information,” Mercedes explained. “Let’s say someone was collecting specific ingredients but you didn’t know why - like an evil blond substitute teacher for example - you could look up all the rituals that involve those ingredients and find out what she was up to.

“Mercedes, that’s all well and fine in theory, but that database is incomprehensible and I don’t have the authority to add to it,” Will replied with an impatient edge.

“You do. Not only that you are supposed to,” Mercedes explained patiently and turned her laptop toward Will so that he could see the entry she was working on. “I’ve entered a report on the whole Dave Karofsky incident and cross referenced all the ingredients in the potion Ms. Holiday gave him along with all of the physical characteristics of the monster he turned into. I also linked the entire incident to the order of Jai and entered Holly as a confirmed member.”

“How did you do that?” Will asked taken aback.

Mercedes shrugged and said, “I set you up with a user name and password. It was really easy since they were expecting you to and you never did it. Here’s your password by the way,” She added sliding a piece of paper toward him.

Will looked at the paper and then back at Mercedes.

“You impersonated me?” he asked in a shocked voice.

“It’s no wonder Ms. Holiday was able to impersonate a Watcher; security is really lax,” Mercedes answered.  “You’re in charge of the Slayer - didn’t you know you were supposed to send progress reports?” Mercedes asked, changing the subject.

“I do!” Will huffed. “I sent have sent very thorough reports of everything that has happened since I arrived in Lima,” he continued defensively.

“How?” Mercedes prodded.

“I typed them up and mailed them,” Will answered.

“Well, I’m sure someone would have gotten around to reading them,” Mercedes quipped. “This will be so much faster,” she added smugly pointing to the screen.

“Alright, but you have to admit that stupid thing doesn’t have all the information in these,” Will said sweeping his hands in the direction of all the books.

“We’ll reference the sources,” Mercedes answered. “It might take months…” Her eyes swept across the stacks and she amended her comment. “Maybe years, but if we start now then it will make research so much easier in the future. In the mean time, we’ll prioritize based on usefulness of the texts.”

Kurt picked up a leather bound book that seemed different from anything he had seen that afternoon. First, there was no title or author on the front cover. Second, instead of arcane writing on demons, the pages were filled with sketches. He opened the book to the first page and saw a handwritten inscription in French. Roughly translated it said ‘my adventures in Paris, James Everett Johnson.’

As Kurt perused the unusual journal, he discovered that it was mostly sketches interspersed with very short entries in French. The entries didn’t hint much about the artist but it was apparent that he had discovered vampires. The earliest sketches were ordinary portraits of people and some landscapes but about a third of the way through the journal, pictures of vampires were depicted with accurate detail. Some were black and white charcoal sketches and others had been drawn in vivid colors. 

“Oh you needn’t bother with that one, Kurt,” Will insisted when he noticed the journal in Kurt’s hands.  “It’s a useless volume. I inherited it from my father and I’m not even sure why he kept it. It’s just some ramblings of an artist who became enamored with vampires. He was too besotted with the romantic idea of them to have recorded anything useful.”

“Your father was a Watcher too?” Kurt asked curiously as he continued to flip through the pages of the journal, stopping to read the few hand written entries that appeared between the sketches.

“Yes, he was,” Will replied with a tight smile.

“So is that why you are one? Did you always want to be a Watcher?” Kurt asked.

“No,” Will answered looking off in thought. “I meant yes, I became a Watcher because of my father,” he corrected. “But no, I didn’t always want to be. I wanted to be a performer on Broadway,” Will continued wistfully. “Back when I was in the glee club here at McKinley, I thought I would go to New York and become a star. That was foolish, of course. When I graduated, my father sent me to England to study and this is, of course, an important role I’m fulfilling,” Will insisted as if reciting something he had been told. “We’re saving the world after all.”

Kurt snorted at that idea.

“Hardly,” he sniped. “Sure I’ve saved a few people, but the world? I feel more like an exterminator than a superhero. The whole system seems wonky to me. I mean, why just one Slayer? Why not enlist more help? I can only be in one place at a time. And what do all those Watchers that don’t have a Slayer do with their time?”

“Train potentials, mostly. I told you that. I grew up with one, you know.”

“One what?” Kurt asked having lost track of Will thought thread.

“Potential. She was my father’s charge and we grew up together. She was like a sister to me,” Will said wistfully. “She turned eighteen and moved away when it was clear she wouldn’t become the Slayer.” Sadness crossed Will’s face as he uttered the words. “I thought we would stay in touch,” he said softly.

Kurt let the conversation go and focused on the increasingly frequent entries in the journal. It told the story of a man who came to Paris for the art and culture and discovered a secret world of ‘night dwellers’ as he referred to the vampires.

As he read the next excited entry it became apparent that the artist had fallen in love with one of the vampires. There was a series drawings of beautiful woman depicted in several poses, the last one displaying her vampire face and fangs. The name ‘Giselle’ was printed under one of them.

“What happened to this artist?” Kurt asked holding up the journal to remind Will.

“The same thing that happens to all humans who fall into their trap. He disappeared so I imagine he was eventually killed,” answered Will without a thought.

“You don’t know that. Maybe he fell in love and was turned. Maybe they are still together today,” Kurt mused in a dreamy voice as he pictured the romantic story.

“Nonsense,” Will said emphatically, snapping Kurt out of his reverie. “Vampires cannot love. Of course, they spin romantic tales like that for the gullible humans they set their sights on, but it is all a lie. They don’t turn people, they kill them. Occasionally, they create minions, but there is nothing romantic about it. The person is dead and they have merely commandeered the dead body for their own evil purposes.” 

“Mr. Shue, have you ever even known any vampires? That sounds like a whole lot of prejudice to me. Blaine told me-” Kurt tried to reason before his Watcher cut him off.

“Blaine?” Will interrupted. “I’ll admit that the creature has proven useful but that is no reason to trust it. Don’t get too attached; eventually you will have to destroy it.”

“That ‘creature’ as you call him is my friend, Mr. Shue,” Kurt retorted angrily. “He, not ‘it’. Maybe you don’t know nearly so much about vampires as you think you do. Maybe you even know some of them and don’t even realize it,” Kurt continued vehemently.

“Kurt, I assure you, while a vampire can pass as a human for a short while, it is merely a trick to lure its prey. There is no way a vampire can maintain the fiction that it is human for very long,” Will insisted calmly and patiently as if he thought Kurt was a little slow or perhaps delusional.

“That sounds an awful lot like some things Ms. Holiday said to me,” Kurt sniped. 

“Just because Ms. Holiday is an evil sorceress doesn’t mean that everything she said was incorrect,” Will replied defensively.

Kurt looked at Rachel, Quinn, and Mercedes for support but none of them seemed inclined to counter Mr.  Schuester’s  prejudice. 

Kurt didn’t bother to answer; he just gave Mr. Shue a scathing look. He couldn’t very well tell the Watcher that he had been harboring a vampire in his glee club for months. Then it struck Kurt. Brittany was a vampire and he hadn’t even told his Watcher. He realized that he should have told Mr. Schuester, but he hadn’t even considered it. It felt too much like outing someone gay. Despite how upsetting it had been for Blaine to keep the very same thing from him, Kurt realized that he couldn’t do it. At least, not to someone who still maintained that all vampires needed to be slain. Kurt had believed that too just a few months before, but knowing Blaine had changed everything for him. 

With that thought, the other shoe dropped in Kurt’s mind. He trusted Blaine more than he trusted his Watcher. Kurt wasn’t sure what to do with that revelation.

“Fine,” Kurt muttered as he stood up and put his books in his bag. He was about to close the sketch book and put it away when he noticed a very familiar face on the page. He stared at it trying to convince himself that he was wrong then he looked around the room to see if anyone was noticing his actions. Everyone was involved in their own activities. He looked down again and there was no mistaking the young girl. She had her hair piled high on her head in a complicated French style, but it was unmistakably Brittany S. Pierce. Kurt carefully closed the journal and slipped it into his bag unsure what he would do, but he figured he could decide later. 

“I need to go now,” Kurt said pulling strap of his bag to his shoulder. 

“Sure, sure, I’ll see you tomorrow, Kurt,” Will answered absent-mindedly.

“Don’t forget, the glee club is caroling tomorrow,” Quinn called as he headed for the door. “It’s for charity, so be there.”

“Fine,” Kurt grumbled. “We’ll sing religious Christian songs for charity and no one is going to object.” The fight had already been won so he was just grumbling for show. Even Rachel had been for it, claiming that all the best Christmas carols had been written by Jews and that there was nothing wrong with celebrating the pageantry of holiday. 

He gave one last look back and sighed at how disconnected from it all he felt. Sometimes Kurt thought he might as well be a ghost for all the influence he had. Even his Watcher ignored him.

-Your Girlfriend is a Vampire-

Kurt walked into the gym looking for Santana and Brittany. He’d talked to Coach Sylvester and found out that they were practicing some advanced dance moves together. Apparently they were done with that, because they we sitting on the floor together. Santana’s foot was in Brittany’s lap and the tall blond vampire was rubbing her calf.

Both girls were in their Cheerios uniforms, as usual. Sometimes Kurt wondered if their wore them simply to avoid making style decisions or if they really loved dressing in the same outfit day in and day out.

“Hey, Santana, I need to talk to you,” Kurt said awkwardly when he was close to them. 

“What about, Gelfling?” Santana quipped suspiciously. “We never talk.”

Brittany stood and helped Santana to her feet. With her arm over Brittany’s shoulder, the small Latina cheerleader limped over to the bleachers and sat down.

“Did you hurt yourself?” Kurt asked as he followed them.

“Duh,” Santana replied with an eye roll. “It’s no big deal. Just a pulled muscle.”

“She got dizzy and fell,” Brittany admitted.

Santana shot her an annoyed look but softened at the first sign of a hurt look on Brittany’s face. 

“You don’t look so good, Santana,” Kurt mentioned carefully. She looked pale and too thin even for a cheerleader.

“Thanks, but if I need to be insulted I’ll talk to Coach Sylvester,” Santana snapped but her comeback had lost some its edge.

“Santana, I need to tell you something for your own good. It’s going to be hard for you to believe, but you need to hear it.  Brittany,” Kurt said looking at the blond, “maybe you could help me out. Just tell her the truth and save me the trouble of outing you.”

“What are you talking about?” Santana snapped.

“I’m talking about what you girlfriend is.”

“You mean bi-sexual? Duh, I know. So am I,” Santana admitted. “If you tell anyone else I’ll deny it and your life will be a living hell,” she threatened.

“We’re monotonous, now,” Brittany said proudly.

“Monogamous, sweetie,” Santana corrected.

“That’s sweet,” Kurt deadpanned, “But I was trying to tell you that Brittany is a vampire. If you don’t already know that, then you need to. If she’s feeding off of you that might explain why you are so tired.”

“What are you talking about? Are you one of those Twihards? I can assure you that Brittany doesn’t sparkle,” Santana said dismissively.

“Real vampires don’t sparkle,” Brittany said.

“Don't you feel bad using Santana like that?” snapped Kurt, feeling panic seize him as he considered why Santana looked so pale. He wasn’t sure how much blood a vampire needed, but if Santana was Brittany’s only source of blood, she might be dangerously anemic. “She’s your friend and you are using her for a juice box!”

“I never feel guilty; I forgot how,” Brittany answered. 

Brittany had that matter of fact tone that Kurt had become accustomed to. She had a way of saying outrageous things in the same way most people said ‘it looks like it might rain today.’ Without her cooperation, Kurt wasn’t sure that he would get Santana to believe him. 

Santana smiled sweetly at her girlfriend, patted her hand, and mouthed silently ‘that’s okay, sweetie.’

“Santana, have you seen Brittany in the sun?” Kurt asked pointedly. He wanted to try reason a little longer before resorting to more extreme measures. He wouldn’t hurt Brittany, of course, but he thought he could provoke her to show her fangs if he tried.

“She’s allergic,” Santana insisted. “It’s a medical condition.  There’s no such thing as vampires, Kurt.” Santana stood up and limped over to Kurt, glaring at him. 

“Rumors like that could get a person staked, Kurt,” Santana growled menacingly. “If you start telling people that Brittany is a vampire, the hell you’ve been through at this school will seem like a gay pride parade compared to the world of hurt that I will reign down on you, are we clear, lady lips?” 

“You know,” Kurt whispered. “You know that she’s a vampire and you’re protecting her,” Kurt said a little louder. The entire conversation shifted in his mind when he realized that Santana had actually been trying to convince him that Brittany wasn’t a vampire the entire time.

“I’m not admitting to anything,” Santana insisted. “Besides it isn’t any concern of yours. Why do you even care?”

“I’m only concerned for your safety, Santana. You’re right; what you do in a consensual relationship doesn’t concern me, but it isn’t consensual if you don’t know. I’m not going to tell anyone. I promise.” 

“You’d better not,” Santana said, her continence softening with the realization that Kurt wasn’t a threat. She smiled and shrugged. “I’m not stupid. Did you really think I wouldn’t know that my girlfriend is a vampire?”

“I don’t know; surprisingly no one else seems to have caught on. Are you sure you are okay? What about the dizziness?” He decided to refrain from pointing out the other indications for fear of the hotheaded cheerleader’s wrath.

“We had a little misunderstanding about the definition of monogamy at first, but we’ve worked that out,” Santana admitted wryly, shooting a little smile to Brittany.

“It’s not cheating if it’s feeding,” Brittany said with a nod. “Sucking blood from a boy’s penis is not sex.”

“Oh my god, TMI, Brittany,” Kurt said with a shutter. He resisted the urge to cover his groin at the thought of vampire teeth anywhere near the region.

“You live in a giant ball of ice and you ruined my perfect kissing record,” Brittany said petulantly as if that made perfect sense. 

Kurt just shook his head and wondered if anything Brittany said would ever make sense to him.

“I’ll leave you two to whatever you were doing. Sorry to have bothered you,” Kurt said as he walked away from the pair.

Santana followed him and caught his arm.

“Wait, how did you know about Brittany?” Santana asked. 

“Blaine told me. He’s Brittany’s sire. Hasn’t she ever mentioned him?”

“Blaine? The prep school pretty boy you have a crush on? ” Santana asked. “He’s Brittany’s sire?” Santana looked back at Brittany for confirmation. “Kurt, stay away from him. He’s seriously bad news. She’s never mentioned him by name, but Brittany’s sire is…well, I don’t use this word lightly; he’s evil. She hasn’t been able to talk about it much, but I swear you do not want to mess with him.”

“Blaine? That can’t be right, Santana. You know how confused Brittany can get. She must be talking about a different vampire,” Kurt insisted vehemently. 

Brittany walked up and put her chin on Santana’s shoulder. 

“When the door opens, Kurt, just jump. Everything will be fine. Blaine will catch you.”

Kurt looked at Brittany with renewed curiosity. 

Even Santana was taken aback by the strange proclamation. She turned and stared at Brittany a bit before visibly shaking it off.

“Okay, Twinkle Toes, I’ve had enough of this,” Santana said to Kurt as she  tugged on Brittany’s arm. “Britts and I be goin’ to Breadstix now. I’m going to have my doctor ordered steak and try to forget all of this nonsense,” she said as she emphasized her words with her index finger. “Come on sweetie.”

“If you want to get involved with short, dark, and evil, it’s none of my business,” Santana said to Kurt with a dismissive shrug.

“Once, I put my phone in the dishwasher and now it doesn’t work,” Brittany said sagely before turning to leave.

Kurt couldn’t leave it at that so he caught her arm and pleaded with her.

“Brittany, please just give me a straightforward answer. Can I trust Blaine?”

She smiled sweetly and answered, “He was very mean because he forgot how to love. He remembers now and I forgive him.”

“That will have to do,” Kurt said softly as he watched the cheerleaders leave. 

-A Perfect Present for the Vampire who Needs Nothing-

Kurt sat on his bed, alone in his room after school. He took the sketch book out of his bag and carefully turned the pages, examining each page and reading the short entries. He started from the beginning again, but by the time he reached the end(,) he didn’t have the answer to his questions about the mysterious artist. It was a sketch book, not a diary and even though it was clear that the man had fallen for the vampire Giselle, there was no clue as to his eventual fate. Not even a hint as Giselle’s feelings or if he had been turned. The last quarter of the book was blank which could mean anything. Kurt thought he must have died or been turned, but maybe he simply lost the sketch book. It had fallen into Watcher hands somehow.

He sighed and laid the book on his vanity, open to the page with Brittany’s sketch. He studied the beautifully detailed portrait. It was a black and white charcoal sketch, but the artist had been so fascinated with her eyes that he had added a vivid blue to focus attention to them.  She wore a plunging neckline and around her neck was an intricate necklace with a rose pendant. In the fancy hairstyle, she seemed more mature than the cheerleader he knew but her blue eyes were unmistakable. They had an otherworldly quality to them that he had never really bother to study before. He had always thought she looked vacant, but now he realized that her eyes were non-human in a strangely indefinable way. Not like vampires when they had their full demon aspect showing - those demon eyes were yellow, orange, or even red sometimes with a cat like quality to them. When he looked into Blaine’s eyes, he seemed very human, warm even, so Kurt was at a loss to explain why Brittany’s seemed strange to him.

Kurt pulled his crafting supplies out of his closet and located an Exacto knife. He carefully sliced the page out of the journal and when he was done he examined the pages for evidence of the missing portrait. He was fairly sure that even under close scrutiny it would never be missed. The pages weren’t numbered and Mr. Schuester wasn’t likely to even look in the book anyway. He probably could have kept the whole thing, but he thought it would be safer to return it minus the damning sketch.

He stared at the extracted page, wondering what he should do. It would be a shame to destroy it. Then it hit him. He knew exactly what to do, finally. It was perfect.

-Christmas Tinsel-

Burt finished securing the tall green fir in the stand before standing back and admiring his handiwork.

“Perfect,” he declared to Carole with a grin.

Kurt and Finn set the boxes of ornaments and other tree decorations on the floor next to the tree.

“We never had a real tree before,” Finn declared with grin.

“We always had this silver artificial thing,” Carole explained. “It was sad, really.”

“Like that Charlie Brown Christmas one,” Finn added.

Carole stepped closer and breathed in the scent of the live tree. She closed her eyes and sighed. 

“It reminds me of running,” she said. She stood still, imaging running through a wild scented forest with her pack - a pleasure she hadn’t had since marrying Finn’s father. She opened her eyes and looked around a little chagrined at having been caught up in the moment. 

“Let’s get this thing decorated!” she exclaimed with a clap of her hands.

Burt put his arm around Carole and grinned fondly at the two teen-aged boys.

“Let’s let the youngsters do it,” Burt suggested. “Come on, Carole.” 

The two adults sat on the couch snuggling and chuckling occasionally as the boys sorted out who would place which ornaments on the tree. Kurt examined each box of ornaments before deciding which ones he could trust with Finn. They had to make a show of getting along for their parents, but that didn’t mean he had to let the oaf ruin his most prized ornaments.

Kurt became so caught up in the precise placement of the decorative globes that he forgot about Finn. When he emptied the final box, he stepped back to admire his handiwork and immediately scowled when he saw the placement of Finn’s decorations. They were too clustered and not even coordinated for proper color coordination.

He was about to snap something about it when he glanced at his father grinning and laughing at something Carole had just said. He bit back the cutting remark and willed himself to let it go. They were just tree ornaments. Ornaments that would show up in the background of the Christmas portrait. He shoved the annoying argument aside and promised himself that he could compose the shot to hide Finn’s unsightly mess.

“Dad, help me put the garland on,” Kurt called. “You can’t get out of all the work.”

“OK, buddy, but Finn here is going to put the star on top. We have to put that height to good use.”

Father and son finished wrapping the gold and silver garland around the now very festive tree.

“And now for the tinsel,” Burt chimed excitedly. Kurt smiled fondly at his father. The man was much more in love with the holiday than the boy. Burt handed a package of tinsel to each of the boys.

“Wow, red, green, silver, and gold?” Finn exclaimed with wonder. “I thought it only came in silver!”

“Oh, Finn. You are such a philistine,” Kurt muttered. “Of course, we have to have all the colors. It’s not festive if you only have silver.”

Finn shrugged and tore open the package.

Kurt pull out one strand and carefully placed it on a branch. He tilted his head, lips pursed in thought for a second before adding another. He had completed one small area when he chanced to glance up at Finn. Kurt jaw dropped in horror at the sight. Finn threw a huge wad of shiny strands at the tree where they struck to a random branch. Half the tree was covered in similar chaotic clumps.

“No! No, no, no,” Kurt scolded. “You can’t just throw the stuff randomly all over the tree, Finn. You’re doing it all wrong!” Kurt let out all of his frustration at once unable to contain himself any more. 

Finn looked back at Kurt in surprise and confusion. He looked at the tree then back to Kurt and shrugged as if to say he didn’t see the problem.

Burt threw his arm around Kurt and said quietly, “Come on, buddy. There is no right or wrong way to decorate a tree, right? It’s about the fun. Okay?”

“There is a wrong way,” Kurt said through clinched teeth and a fake smile. “And Finn is doing it. Dad, please,” Kurt pleaded. 

He looked at his father silently pleading with his eyes for his father to take his side. He knew very well that his dad didn’t get it, but he wanted him to take his side anyway. Just because Kurt was his son. Kurt thought that should be enough, but he could see it wasn’t going to happen. He had a sinking feeling that this was the beginning of a long journey of being told to take the high road; to compromise; to make nice in order to make the Hudsons welcome in their home. Kurt could see his whole life unfold before his eyes and this was it. Clumps of disorganized Christmas tinsel.

Kurt sighed and turned to Finn with a huge insincere smile.

“It’s alright, Finn. I’m pretty sure that I read in Vogue that haphazard, careless unkempt is the new debonair,” Kurt smirked sarcastically. 

“Well, there you go,” Burt beamed, either ignoring or completely missing Kurt’s sarcasm.  Kurt was never sure if his father just didn’t get it or simply chose to take Kurt’s cutting remarks in the most positive light possible.

Finn, on the other hand, was clearly completely, unmistakably oblivious. He was like a five year old in his excitement for Christmas.

They placed the star on top, the presents underneath, then the family sat down to watch a Christmas themed movie marathon. By the time, Kurt climbed wearily up the stairs to his bed, he was exhausted from the effort of acting cheerful.

He texted Blaine before he went to sleep asking for a meeting. He didn’t tell the vampire why, but assured him it was personal not Slayer business. Blaine suggested that Kurt meet him at Dalton and he reluctantly agreed.