Christmas was upon them. It seemed that everywhere Blaine looked decorations adorned shelves, walls, and ceilings. The McKinley High choir room was no exception to this. In fact, Blaine was currently trying to untangle a roll of silver garland. Kurt was seated next to him, wrapping a faux present in silver paper. He couldn’t remember who’d started singing, but soon the entire room had launched into Christmas carols, one after the other, including Puck and Rachel, which Blaine thought was strange as they were both Jewish. Still, he let it go, figuring it was the public school influence.

“What’s going on in here?” Mr. Schue’s voice interrupted them in the middle of “The Island of Misfit Toys” from Rudolph, and fourteen heads turned to face their teacher.

“Just getting into the Christmas spirit, Mr. Schue.” Finn replied, gesturing to the tree they’d set up in the middle of the room. They group proceeded to fill Mr. Schue in on the details, including Puck, who admitted the decorations were stolen off the back of a truck. Blaine was once again thankful that Puck liked him now – he was truly afraid of what Puck was capable of, especially since Kurt had filled him in on Puck’s ATM incident.

Watching Rachel as Finn went into his “I love Christmas” speech, Blaine knew why she was suddenly into the holiday. She and Finn had broken up over Santana and then Puck, and it was a big mess. It looked like Rachel was trying to get Finn back, though Blaine wasn’t sure Finn was going to take her back. He hoped Finn did though, because he was tired of hearing Rachel complain.

“Well, it’s a good thing you guys are into it, because now that we’ve won sectionals,” Blaine forced down a pang of guilt at the Warbler’s loss. “, we need to start raising money for Regionals, and hopefully Nationals.” Mr. Schue paused. “And we’re going to start with caroling.”

“Caroling?” The word was out of Blaine’s mouth before he could stop himself. Even though he was pretty much accepted among the group now, he still tried to keep a low profile in the choir room.

“Yes, Blaine,” Mr. Schue continued. “Caroling. We’ll go around to all the classrooms as a group, sing a song, and watch the money roll in.”

As far as ideas went, it wasn’t horrible, but Blaine had his doubts about how successful it would be. Still, he was one of the first to put on the snowflake sweaters Mr. Schue had dug out of storage.

~**~

“Who throws a shoe?” Blaine ranted, as they walked down the hallway. He was livid. They’d just come from singing for one of the classes, and not only had they been heckled, but the teacher had thrown her shoe at them. She had good aim, and the loafer had hit Blaine in the head.

“Do you need to go to the nurse?” Kurt asked, holding Blaine’s arm.

“No.” Blaine muttered. “What I need to do is go see the principal and have her ass fired.” Kurt stared at him in surprise, unused to hearing Blaine talk that way. Blaine didn’t like it much either, but enough was enough. He’d been slushied; pushed into lockers; teased, mocked, bullied…he was done. Time for some action.

“What’s the point?” Tina asked from behind him. “Principal Figgins will just rule it an accident and nothing will change.”

“How is that possible?”

“That’s McKinley.” Kurt murmured, pressing a kiss to the red area of Blaine’s forehead.

“Look at it this way, Bro,” Puck moved up on his other side, throwing an arm around Blaine’s shoulders. “At least you didn’t get slushied.”

~**~

The next morning, Blaine had significantly less Christmas spirit. It was hard to be cheerful after taking a shoe to the head.

“Mr. Schue?” Puck’s hand was in the air the moment the bell rang for homeroom.

“Yes, Puck?”

“I was just wondering, not that Christmas ain’t great and everything, but could we do a Chanukah song?” Silence filled the room for a moment.

“I know that Dreidel song,” Artie offered after a second. “I didn’t know there were Chanukah songs.”

“Me neither,” Tina chimed in.

“The floor is yours, Puck.” Mr. Schue gestured, taking a seat among them as Puck moved to the front of the room, and picked up his guitar.

“Luckily, I have the perfect song for this occasion,” Puck said, strumming his guitar and launching into the song.

The shocked faces of the rest of New Directions as Puck sang Adam Sandler’s “Hanukkah Song” were classic. Blaine couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed that hard.

~**~

Blaine's parents weren't the most festive people during the holiday season (three stockings over the fireplace, a small tree in the living room with standard bulb ornaments, lamb for dinner), but Blaine always enjoyed the excitement and preparation that came with Christmas. Everyone seemed to be more cheerful as soon as Thanksgiving ended and there was a certain buzz to the air that filled him with an energy that only caffeine could mimic.

So when he was at the new Hummel-Hudson residence, helping Kurt decorate the Christmas tree with homemade ornaments, he couldn't keep the bounce out of his step or quiet his happy humming to the radio, which had been playing holiday music all day.

However, it took Blaine a few songs to realize that Kurt wasn't matching his level of enthusiasm. In fact, Kurt seemed rather subdued, unloading ornaments from the boxes with a hint of a frown or pursing of the lips during a certain lyric. Blaine had just finished belting out the last words to "O Holy Night", when he noticed Kurt frowning again.

“What's up?” he asked, looking over at Kurt. Kurt didn't answer Blaine, his focus firmly on putting the decorations on the Christmas tree.

“You've got two reds together,” Kurt said after a moment, pointing to the tree.

“That's what's bothering you?” Blaine replied, picking up one of the ornaments and moving it.

“It's nothing.”

“It's not nothing,” Blaine protested. “You've been kinda down all day.” He gave Kurt a hard look. “It's not Karofsky, is it?”

Kurt shook his head quickly. "No, it's not that." He sighed, picking off the ornament Blaine just moved and placing it somewhere else on the tree. "I'm just…not the biggest celebrator of Christmas," he finishes in a light tone of voice, turning on his heel to grab another ornament.

Blaine's eyes widen at Kurt's back. He never would've guessed that Kurt would not like Christmas – there was great music, fun decorations, fun shopping…what didn't Kurt like about it?

"May I ask why?" Blaine inquired, going over to join him by the box.

Kurt glanced over to Blaine and smiled. "Always the gentleman," he half-teased Blaine as he hung up an ornament with a picture of himself as a baby, Baby's First Christmas written on it. Blaine resisted his first impulse to comment on how cute Kurt had been as a baby, instead waiting for Kurt to explain himself.

“I'm...an atheist,” Kurt finally mumbled. “I don't believe in God...and Christmas is a celebration of faith in a deity I don't believe exists.”

“I had no idea,” Blaine breathed out quietly. “I'm sorry; I can turn the music off if you want.”

“No. You're enjoying it,” Kurt told him. “And they're not all bad.” The familiar strains of a song started to play, and Kurt smiled. “Like this one. This is one of my favorites.”

"I had to sing this at King's Island last year. The girl I sang with was…" Blaine trailed off, cringing a little at the painful memory of their voices clashing, but still causing the audience members to swoon.

Kurt smirked. "It's okay, you can admit she was awful."

"She was just sharp. Often," Blaine admitted, grinning for a moment before blurting, "We should sing it together," without much thought, blushing a little. But once the words were out, he began to crave the idea of their singing a proper duet together.

Kurt's eyebrows rose in surprise before he settled on smiling in a somewhat coy manner. "Alright. Do you still remember your part?"

With that smile, Blaine wasn't sure if he'd be able to make his cues without getting distracted. "Yeah," he said, licking his suddenly too-dry lips.

Blaine reached over to turn up the sound on the radio just as Kurt began to sing. He barely managed to chime in for his line as Kurt gave him a flirty look. Blaine moved closer as he sang, reaching for Kurt's hand as he sang about them being just like ice, but Kurt backed away, biting his lip in a way that made Blaine want to forget the song and just kiss him already. Kurt perched on the arm of the couch, and Blaine followed him, sitting on the opposite chair. They sang for a moment, staring at each other, and Blaine nearly lost his place in the song by losing himself in Kurt's eyes.

Kurt's face was flushed, but Blaine wasn't sure of the reason. It made him want Kurt just a little more, and he got up, sitting next to Kurt and sliding next to him (mind if I move in closer?). Kurt shrugged his shoulders up, and an adorable smile spread over his face.

But then he flounced away, leaving Blaine to trail after him as they harmonized again. During the piano solo, Blaine started to “play” on the back of the couch, making Kurt chuckle with bright eyes as his closeness filled Blaine's chest with so much warmth that he didn't think the heaters were necessary anymore. As soon as Kurt started singing again, he skipped around the couch.

"Oh, your lips are delicious," Blaine half-spoke the lyric the second time around, his eyes blatantly lingering on Kurt's mouth. Kurt's lips parted under the scrutiny and Blaine was pretty sure he saw his eyes darken, but then Kurt twirled around so he was face-to-face with Blaine, the couch separating them.

"You've really been grand," Kurt sang as Blaine walked around to close the distance between them.

"I thrill when you touch my hand." Blaine held out a hand for Kurt to take, which he did with flushed cheeks, his eyes glued to Blaine's thumb lightly grazing against his fingers. Kurt allowed Blaine to keep holding his hand as the song continued, pulling away as Blaine sang “How can you do this thing to me?”

Kurt blushed and Blaine itched to reach out his hand to stroke his cheek. They kept singing, Blaine leaning forward, his eyes on Kurt's mouth, and then Kurt whirled away. The song wound down, and Blaine gestured for Kurt to sit on the couch. Kurt nodded and together they sat down, harmonizing the last line of the song.

Then, silence. Blaine couldn't take his eyes off Kurt.

His pulse was thrumming just under his skin, making the palms of his hands sweat, his gaze dropping to his lap out of the overwhelming need to do�something. But like a magnet, Blaine was drawn again to Kurt's face, focusing on Kurt's mouth again.

The tip of Kurt's tongue darted out to wet his bottom lip as his eyes watched Blaine's. Blaine tried to say something, anything, but words got stuck in his throat. Instead, he leaned in just a little, leaving Kurt the space and opening to end the tension. Kurt sat still not even for a second before he leaned in as well, cueing Blaine to meet him halfway.

Blaine closed his eyes when his forehead met Kurt's, his breathing shallow and his heart beating inside his chest at a ridiculously fast pace. This is it, he somehow managed to think as he felt Kurt's breath ghost across his lips.

Kurt inhaled, as if preparing to say Blaine's name, but Blaine lost his self control (or was it patience?) and pressed his mouth to Kurt's.

They breathed loudly through their noses (Blaine wasn't even sure if> he was getting oxygen to his brain, he was so dizzy) and it took Kurt a moment or two to respond, but once he kissed back, he immediately brought a hand to Blaine's jaw, no doubt feeling the spot Blaine missed shaving that morning.

They distanced themselves after a few seconds; Kurt's eyes were alight with what Blaine hoped was happiness. Kurt's fingers curled a little onto Blaine's cheek, as if trying to feel that the moment was real.

Blaine smiled a little and the corners of Kurt's mouth began to quirk upwards when suddenly the doorbell rang, scaring them to the point where Kurt's hand on Blaine's face immediately dropped and Blaine straightened himself to a proper sitting position.

“I should…get that,” Kurt muttered after a moment of silence, in which the doorbell rang again. He got up, still looking kind of shell shocked, and pulled the door open. “Mr. Schue?” Blaine could hear the confusion in Kurt’s voice, and got up. Sure enough, Mr. Schue was standing on the porch.

“Hi, Kurt,” Mr. Schue said. “I’m sorry to just drop by, but I needed your help with something.”

“I should go,” Blaine interrupted, grabbing his coat from the hook near the door and slipping his shoes on as Kurt pointed Mr. Schue to the living room. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Blaine told Kurt once they were alone.

“Yeah,” Kurt breathed, staring at him with wide eyes. Blaine couldn’t help but look at Kurt’s mouth again, and then he stepped forward, kissing Kurt a second time. He pulled away after a moment, Kurt’s face almost as startled as before. “Tomorrow,” Kurt managed.

Blaine headed out to his car, and drove himself home, feeling like he was flying.

~**~

Blaine was practically vibrating out of his skin, he was so excited to go to school the next day…until he got to the choir room that is. He’d anticipated seeing Kurt in the halls, maybe dragging him off somewhere and kissing him senseless. Because now that Blaine had finally, finally kissed Kurt, he planned on doing it as often as possible.

Instead, he’d walked into the choir room to find everyone standing around staring. The room was a mess: tree parts, decorations, and tinsel everywhere.

Someone had come in and trashed it.

Hopelessness settled over Blaine, and he turned around and walked out.

*

“Here you are.” Kurt announced himself, sitting down next to Blaine. “I was worried about you.”

“Here I am,” Blaine stared out at the empty courtyard from his seat on the cement steps.

“Are you okay?” Kurt reached over and took his hand.

“No,” Blaine said quietly. “How are we supposed to survive here when there’s no hope for anything? I mean, we can’t even have Christmas.” Kurt sighed, resting his head on Blaine’s shoulder.

“We have each other,” Kurt finally replied. Blaine shifted a little, gripping Kurt’s hand tighter as he turned. Kurt lifted his head, and met Blaine’s gaze.

“Do we?” Blaine asked softly, willing Kurt to understand what he was asking. He wanted Kurt to be his boyfriend. Kurt placed a gloved hand on Blaine’s cheek, then leaned over and kissed him softly.

“Does that answer your question?” Blaine smiled, then moved in for another kiss.

*

“We don’t have to do this,” Blaine said, staring up at his house. “We could go next door and irritate Rachel by ‘throwing our newfound love’ in her face,” he quoted her, making Kurt laugh. After they’d come in from the courtyard, they’d found it hard to keep their hands off of each other – holding hands, linking arms, arms around shoulders, etc – and Rachel had basically accused them of rubbing salt in her wounds.

“I’m good, thanks,” Kurt told him. “I’m pretty sure that dinner with your parents still comes out ahead in that scenario.” Blaine sighed.

“Can’t say I didn’t warn you,” he replied as they got out of the car and went up the front walk. Blaine had no idea why he’d thought inviting Kurt to meet his parents over dinner was a good idea. It wasn’t. It was a bad idea….a crazy, bad idea.

He was kind of freaking out a little.

Please, please, please – don’t let them say anything insulting.

Blaine led Kurt into the house, by passing the still ill-used living room (it seemed they were destined to avoid that room, no matter what house they were residing in), and heading into the kitchen. His mother was arranging food on plates, and it took Blaine three tries before he got her attention.

“Mother, this is Kurt Hummel, my…boyfriend.” Blaine quietly introduced, wondering what her reaction would be. She smiled faintly, her attention partially on the meal she was serving up. “Kurt, this is my mother.”

“It’s lovely to meet you, Mrs. Anderson.” Kurt held out his hand to shake, speaking in a slightly breathy tone that gave away his nerves. His mother wiped her hands on a dish towel, and shook Kurt’s hand daintily.

“You as well, Kurt,” his mother replied. “It’s so nice that one of Blaine’s friends could join us for dinner.”

“He’s my boyfriend, Mother,” Blaine reiterated.

“Of course, dear.” She let go of Kurt’s hand and patted Blaine on the cheek. “Why don’t you two seat yourselves at the table? Your father should be home at any moment, and we’ll get started.”

Unsure of what to think of his mother’s outright disregard of his and Kurt’s relationship, he took Kurt by the hand and did as she asked. He wanted to talk to Kurt about it, ask him what he thought, but his father chose that moment to come home.

And the same thing happened - only his father called him ‘Son’ instead of ‘Dear’, and did not pat Blaine on the cheek.

Blaine didn’t know what to do or what to think. He wondered if it would be worse for his parents to scream hurtful things. Because even though they were accepting, their disinterest was like a knife to the gut.

Kurt was more than a friend, damn it.

Needless to say, he was angry when he took Kurt home that night, and they made the drive in a tense, awkward silence. Kurt was the first one to speak.

“It’s okay, Blaine,” Kurt tried to cheer him up. “They could have done a lot worse.”

“You don’t…get it,” Blaine replied slowly, but he wasn’t sure he could explain it. How did you tell someone that you’d spent your whole life as an afterthought?

“Then explain it to me,” Kurt touched his face, his hand cold. Blaine tried not to flinch away, remembering his mother’s hand from earlier.

“Let’s just forget about it,” Blaine finally suggested. “You’re right, it could have been worse.” Kurt’s doubt showed on his face, and Blaine leaned in, kissing it away.

They were getting better at the kissing thing, but still taking it slow. After all, there were only so many places two gay boys in Lima, Ohio could make out without interruption (or worse). Kurt pulled away first, and Blaine let him.

“Thank you for coming tonight.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” Kurt breathed, kissing him one last time, and then getting out.

Blaine stared up at the Hummel-Hudson house for a long time afterward; wishing with all his might that his parents would magically turn into Burt and Carole.

He drove home hating himself.

~**~

The next few days passed in relative peace, and suddenly it was Christmas Eve. Blaine was picking up Kurt, and they were going to exchange Christmas presents before ending up at Mr. Schuster’s place, to surprise their teacher with a party.

It was shocking to realize that Mr. Schuester was having a worse holiday season than Blaine was. It was downright scary that the entire party was set in motion by Coach Sylvester.

Even if she hadn’t threatened him and Kurt into going, he still would have. No one deserved to be alone at Christmas.

Kurt dashed out to the car, and got in, the chilly Ohio air blowing in with him. It felt like snow, and Blaine hoped they could get home before that started.

“So are we going to do this or what?” Kurt asked, getting his attention.

“Sure,” Blaine smiled, reaching into the backseat, and pulling Kurt’s present up front. He handed the box to Kurt, who handed him a box as well. Kurt went first, opening up his present to find the sweater he’d been wanting, and in his excitement, he rewarded Blaine with a kiss.

Blaine opened his slowly, surprised to find an electronic photo album inside the box. “Turn it on,” Kurt urged. Tears nearly sprang to Blaine’s eyes as he did so – the first image in the album was of him and Warblers. They were laughing at something, Blaine couldn’t remember what.

“How?” He sniffled, still fighting tears as the pictures changed – there were more pictures of him and various Warblers, of him and Kurt, of him and New Directions.

“I called up Wes and David for pictures,” Kurt bit his lip. “I just wanted you to know that you’re not alone.”

“I love you,” Blaine murmured, staring into Kurt’s eyes. He blushed, flustered after a second. He hadn’t meant to say that, but he couldn’t hold it back any longer.

He loved Kurt so much more than he thought it was possible to love another person. “You don’t have to say it back,” Blaine added hastily, and Kurt’s deer-in-the-headlights look relaxed. “I just wanted you to know.”

“Merry Christmas, Blaine,” Kurt said instead, and Blaine smiled. It would be, because he had the best friends, and most of all, because he had Kurt.

And if he caught Kurt under the mistletoe later on at Mr. Schuester’s, well, that would just be the perfect ending to the day.