Kurt knew he should be exhausted. He should be sound asleep, thanks to jet lag and the tiring day of traveling they’d had.

He wasn’t – he was wide awake because Blaine was across the hall and Kurt wasn’t allowed to go near him. That wasn’t about to stop him though. He padded quietly on bare feet to the door of his room and peered out into the hallway. He saw the hallway was empty with all the doors shut, so he slipped out of the room, closing the door silently behind him. He crossed the three steps to Blaine’s door and twisted the handle, opening it and slinking inside as quickly as he could.

“Kurt?” he heard Blaine’s voice in the darkness.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Kurt whispered, feeling breathless and exhilarated. He kind of got off on sneaking around, it seemed.

“What are you doing?”

“Couldn’t sleep without you,” Kurt replied, reaching the bed and climbing in next to Blaine as Blaine slid over to make room for him.

“Me either,” Blaine murmured. “It’s torture with you being just across the hall.”

“Set your alarm for early and I’ll go back to my room before everyone wakes up.” Blaine leaned over and messed with the clock before turning back to Kurt. Kurt smiled as Blaine pulled him in close and the two of them fell into a deep sleep, wrapped up in each other.

*

“Dude, wake up!” Kurt registered Finn’s voice.

“Go ‘way, Finn,” he muttered.

“You’re asleep in Blaine’s room and it’s Christmas morning. I figure you’ve got about ten minutes before my mom is up to start working on dinner,” Finn replied.

“Oh, crap,” Kurt groaned, and Blaine shifted beside him, slowly waking.

“What’s going on?” Blaine asked, his words slurring a little with sleep.

“We missed the alarm,” Kurt huffed. “Carole’s going to be up any second.”

“You told me to turn it off,” Blaine reminded Kurt.

“I did?”

“Yes, after you smacked me in your sleep and ordered me to kill it.”

His mouth fell open and his face turned red. “Well, okay then. Since Finn’s in here, it won’t look like I slept in here – it’ll look like the two of us came to wake you up.”

“Will she buy that? It’s still early.”

“Finn’s like a five-year-old on Christmas. It’s the only day he willing gets out of bed before the sun comes up,” Kurt told him.

“Which is why we should get this show on the road; we’ve got presents waiting,” Finn reminded them. Kurt started to get out of the bed. “Wait,” Finn stopped him, looking uncomfortable. “You guys are dressed under there, right?”

“Oh, my God, Finn. Get out. We’ll meet you in the living room.” Finn sighed in relief and went out into the hall, shutting the door. Kurt groaned again. “This is going to be the longest week ever, isn’t it?”

*

The condo was full of good smells by the time everyone else came out for breakfast. The Andersons were in matching dressing gowns, while Kurt was in his matching pajamas set. Blaine was still clad in his lounge pants and Dalton t-shirt. His dad and Carole were wearing their robes. Finn had come out shirtless, a pair of pajama bottoms on, until Carole had marched him back to his room and demanded he wear a shirt.

They all sat down to eat, passing plates of whole-wheat pancakes around, as well as turkey bacon and fresh fruit. Blaine’s father turned to Carole halfway through the meal.

“This is delicious,” Carl said. “My compliments to the chef.”

“Oh,” Carole laughed. “Thank you, but Kurt actually made breakfast. He stepped in so I could work on getting the ham into the oven.”

Carl Anderson’s head snapped in his direction. Kurt just smiled. “It’s one of my many talents.”

“Honed out of necessity,” Burt added. “I’m hopeless in the kitchen. We’d have eaten nothing but take out after your mom passed if it wasn’t for you learning to cook.”

“This is true,” Kurt replied. “I was very intimately acquainted with the staff at Kentucky Fried Chicken for several years.” He took a bite of his pancake. “No more bacon, Dad. Three pieces are enough,” Kurt admonished, seeing his father reaching for a fourth piece.

Burt grunted in reply and reached for his coffee.

Breakfast was finished in relative silence, Grace offering to clear the table since Carole and Kurt had been cooking all morning. They took her up on her offer, heading for the living room. There was no tree, but Carole made up for that by turning the radio to a Christmas station while his dad and Blaine’s father went to work on starting a fire in the fireplace.

Presents came next, once Blaine’s mother had joined them. He, Blaine and Finn were seated on the floor, the parents taking the couches and the end chair in the room. His dad and Carole went first, handing him and Finn envelopes. “We decided to keep it simple this year, since we weren’t going to be home,” Burt explained. Kurt opened his to find a cheesy Christmas card. He pulled it out and opened the card, a Visa gift card falling into his lap. He picked it up and looked at his Dad, seeing Finn do the same out of the corner of his eye.

“Each of you has five hundred dollars to spend,” Carole told him. “On whatever you want here in New York.”

He gaped at his father, and then grinned excitedly. “Blaine. Do you know what this means?”

“No,” Blaine replied, smiling. “What does it mean?”

“Shopping, Blaine. Think of the shopping I can do,” Kurt gushed. “One or two really great pieces would be a huge bolster to my winter wardrobe.”

“You’ll have something to do while I’m working,” Blaine encouraged.

Kurt nodded. “Tomorrow we should go have breakfast at Tiffany’s to celebrate your first day.”

Blaine lit up, laughing his agreement. Kurt gave his parents and Finn their presents (OSU bowl game tickets for his father and Finn for the football game in January, and a silk scarf for Carole). Blaine’s father cleared his throat and then directed Blaine’s attention to the corner of the room. There was a large box in with a bow on it. Blaine went over to it, looking at it. Kurt could see how forced his smile was when he turned around.

“A display case?” he asked.

“It was my idea,” his father answered “For your Emmy, and all the other awards you’re going to win.” Kurt knew Blaine could care less about his Emmy in the grand scheme of things and his heart hurt for his boyfriend. Blaine made it through, though, giving his mother a certificate for an art gallery in LA to buy a new painting she had her eye on and he gave his father a first edition of Hamlet. Kurt could only imagine how much those gifts must have cost him.

Finally, only he and Blaine were left to exchange presents. Kurt handed Blaine his, and Blaine’s face when he opened it was worth the shipping he’d paid. “A vintage Polaroid camera? This is amazing, Kurt, thank you!” Blaine exclaimed, leaning over and kissing Kurt on the cheek.

Kurt watched as Blaine picked up a small box from the coffee table in front of them and handed it to Kurt.

Kurt felt like he couldn’t breathe for a second. It was a small box - a very small box. “Blaine,” Kurt exhaled loudly. “What –" Blaine put his hand on top of Kurt’s.

“Just open it, Kurt,” Blaine murmured. Kurt lifted the lid with shaking fingers. He stared down at silver circle nestled in the box. There were three small diamonds inlaid across the top. “Breathe,” Blaine teased, taking the box from Kurt’s hand and lifted the ring out. “It’s a promise ring.” A lone tear had was slowly making its way down Kurt’s cheek, but he couldn’t look away as Blaine took his hand and slid the ring on onto his left ring finger.

“I think you and I need to have a talk, son,” Kurt’s dad leaned forward, teasing. Blaine laughed, meeting Kurt’s gaze.

“Say something,” Blaine urged.

Kurt settled for kissing him instead.