2034

Carole waltzed into the dining room with a basket of dinner rolls in her arms. "Here you go, everyone," she chirped, "I can't believe I almost forgot to put these out!"

Finn shot up from his seat at the table. "Mom's home baked dinner rolls! YES!" He rushed to his mother's side, took the basket from her and set it on the table before grabbing a dinner roll for himself.

"Ava, darling, are you doing anything with your friends for the holidays?" Carole asked when she sat down at the table.

Ava nodded. "We're going ice skating with my glee club just after the New Year. It'll be great because I just got new skates!"

Kurt added, "I wanted to be a chaperone, but Ava said no. I'm apparently 'too old' to tag along on Ava's school trips." He sighed. He looked at Blaine adoringly. "I do love skating though...B, remember that first time we went skating?"

Finn grimaced. "Seriously, Kurt? Do we need to relive that disaster?"

Blaine grinned. "Come on, Finn, it wasn't THAT embarrassing, and if it makes you feel any better, I made just as big an idiot of myself. You at least, knew how to put your skates on..."

2011

"I don't know, Kurt," Blaine leaned over and whispered to Kurt. "I'm still just the new guy here, I don't want to step on anyone's toes with my ideas and stuff. You've seen how Finn gets."

Kurt patted Blaine gently on the arm, savoring the feel of the soft material of Blaine's grey cashmere sweater and his muscular forearm. "B, don't worry. They'll love it. And remember, I've got your back. Okay?"

Kurt's reassuring smile was all that was needed to reduce Blaine to a messy pool of emotion. He pressed his forehead into Kurt's. "Have I told you lately how much I love you?"

The boys were sitting next to each other at the back of the festively decorated classroom along with the other members of the New Directions. Lively chatter filled the room as the students excitedly told each other about their plans for the upcoming winter holidays. It was the last day of school before the holiday break, and all the students were eager to begin their winter adventures.

"Okay guys," Mr. Schuester announced his arrival in the choir room cheerfully. "Last day of school! You guys excited?"

"Hell yeah!" Artie shouted, pumping his fist into the air. "I'm going to a Dungeons and Dragons convention in Columbus. This is going to be awesome!"

Mr. Schuester skipped over to the chalkboard at the front of the room. "Well," he said, "there's even MORE to be excited about. This," he paused as he picked up a piece of chalk and scribbled something on the board, "is how much money we raised during our charity caroling week."

Twelve sets of jaws dropped as they read the figure on the chalkboard.

"Eleven hundred and fifty dollars?" Mike exclaimed. "Wow, that's awesome!"

"This is great!" Kurt said excitedly. "We're donating this money to the Lima School Board Special Education Fund! That'll show coach Sylvester the power of the arts!"

Schuester beamed at his students. "Guys, I am so proud of you for doing this. You guys deserve your holiday break!"

Kurt glanced over at Blaine and mouthed the word, "Now." He linked arms with Blaine.

"Mr. Schue? Blaine has something to say to everyone," Kurt said loudly.

The chattered diminished, and one by one, the New Directions turned to look at Kurt and Blaine in the back corner.

"Go on," Kurt nudged Blaine gently. "Let's drop the bashful schoolboy thing and show everyone who Alpha-Blaine is!"

Blaine gave Kurt a knowing glance, rose from his seat and moved tentatively toward the front of the room.

"Well guys, first I just wanted to say, thank you for including me in your group this year. I know it was hard for some of you to trust me," Blaine locked eyes with Finn, who had his arm around Rachel. "And I gotta say, New Directions was quite a culture shock for me, compared to my experience with the Warblers."

Blaine's knees began to tremble when he saw the scowl on Finn's face. He loved being able to spend all his time with Kurt, but moments like these always made him wonder, just a little, what things would have been like if he had stayed at Dalton. No, this isn't the time to back down, he told himself. The more hostile Finn got, the more he was determined to be a model team member. He fixed his gaze at Kurt, regained his composure and continued speaking. "But here we are, last day of school before the holiday break, and we've gone through so much. We've survived a few defections, but we managed to pull through. I think we need to end 2011 with a bang and start the New Year on the right note. So, what do you guys say to a team building activity during the break? I was thinking we'd go ice skating the day before Christmas Eve. What do you think?"

Blaine surveyed the room, scanning faces for reactions. He immediately noticed Tina's ear-to-ear grin. Mike beamed back at Tina, bouncing restlessly in his chair. Artie looked contemplative, while Puck's eyes flew wide open. Finally, Blaine turned to Finn and Rachel.

"Fantastic!" Rachel squealed, clapping her hands together. "That sounds like fun."

"No!" Finn exclaimed, his face beet red. He wore a surly scowl. "Why do we need to do a team building event over the holidays? I've already organized the caroling."

The hulking athlete rose from his seat, hopped up to the front of the room and stood facing Blaine. "We already have a leader, and we don't need you chiming in with your ideas every week. Besides, I can give you a handful of reasons why this little team spirit skate or whatever is a bad idea."

Blaine instinctively pushed his shoulders back and thrust his chest out. "And, what would those be? Care to enlighten us?"

"Well, first off, half of us can't even skate," Finn's chest heaved as he spoke hurriedly. "What's the point in a team building exercise that most of us can't actually do? In case you haven't noticed, Artie's in awheelchair and last I heard wheelchairs on icy surfaces isn't exactly safe. And this isn't Dalton with its little zero-tolerance bubble. Those Puckheads are going to crush us if we start hanging out on their turf."

Kurt stood up in his spot at the back of the room. "Finn, WHAT is your problem? Blaine's just trying to help out the team. You're not the only one who's allowed to have great ideas, you know. Back off my man, will you?

Artie waved his arms wildly, trying to get everyone's attention. "Uh, guys?" he spoke timidly.

"What is it Artie?" Tina prompted.

"Finn, I appreciate your concern," he said with a little more confidence. "But I know this guy who's on the Paralympic sledge hockey team, and he says that any time I want to try getting out on the ice he'd lend me his sled. I think it might be fun. Something different, you know."

"See?" Kurt proclaimed loudly, gesturing at Artie. "Even Artie thinks it's a good idea. Stop being such a party pooper, Finn."

Blaine looked around the room again. "How about it guys? Should we put it to a vote?"

Rachel spoke. "Let's vote. But to make it fair, let's do it by secret ballot." She pulled out a stack of gold star note cards from her bag and began walking around the room, handing one card to each person. "Write down your decision, and Mr. Schue can count the ballots, right?" She looked at her teacher.

Mr. Schuester nodded. "That sounds like a sensible solution."

Each member scribbled their response on the note cards and threw it into a hat that Puck had passed around the room. Mike, who was the last to cast his ballot, passed the hat to Mr. Schuester, who then read each note card.

"Well," Mr. Schuester announced after a few minutes, "we have 10 people for skating and two against. So, looks like we're going skating!"

Kurt yelped and tackle-hugged his boyfriend. "YES! See, Blaine? I told you your idea was great!"

Finn snarled. "Fine," he mumbled, "we'll go skating. The Puckheads are going to destroy us, but hey, who cares about that, right?"

Kurt glared at him. "If you're such a good leader, you should help everyone find a solution, not complain about it!"

Blaine tugged at Kurt excitedly, ignoring the negative energy coming from Finn. "Come on, honey, let's go home so we can start planning." It may have been tough to break the ice with New Directions, but being able to plan skating parties with the love of his life was well worth the trouble.

"Finn! Finn! Are you okay? Please say something!" Kurt heard Rachel's shriek even before he approached the rinkside boards. He rushed down the corridor of the ice rink building from the manager's office to the ice. When he approached the rink, he saw the members of New Directions crowded around in one spot near center ice. He found Finn sprawled face down. Rachel was kneeling next to him, shaking him by the shoulders. Finn groaned and rolled over.

"Wow, the klutzy giant lives," Santana smirked, hovering over Finn.

Finn sat up. "Shut up, Santana," he yelled. "And Rachel, I'm okay, will you get off me so I can get up? And Blaine, that's cheating! No touching the boards! That was your rule, remember? Or are you into making your own rules so you win all the time now?" Finn gestured wildly in Blaine's direction. Kurt looked in the same direction a few yards behind where the group gathered. He saw a dark haired mass in a bulky blue parka clinging on to the edge of the boards for dear life, huffing and puffing as he tried to inch his way toward the group.

"Hate to say it Hobbit," Santana shouted, "but the Skulking Giant has a point there. You did make your own rules to the skate-off so…" Kurt shot her a puzzled look.

"Oh yeah, Hummel," Santana said nonchalantly, "Finn challenged your boy toy to a skate-off for New Directions captaincy. This is the- best- entertainment – EVER. I mean, I have never seen two people so incompetent on skates." She giggled as she skated away.

"What! I leave for 20 minutes to settle accounts with the rink manager, and all the stakes for New Directions leadership is on…a skate off? Have your five-year-old selves suddenly taken over?" Kurt's eyes bulged with incredulity.

He wasn't quite sure whether to laugh or cry, since he knew for a fact that neither Finn nor Blaine could skate if their lives depended on it. He observed Finn, who was failing miserably in his attempt to scramble to his feet. Judging from the amount of snow caked on Finn's jeans, Kurt figured that the massive quarterback had spent more time on his bottom than on his feet. Finn had just managed to pull himself to a standing position when he toppled over again, hitting the ice with a resounding thud. Hmmm, serves you right,Kurt thought,what the hell were you thinking, challenging MY man to a skate-off?

Kurt glanced over at Blaine, who was still clinging to the boards, only this time, the boy wasn't moving at all. His feet were barely touching the ice, as his knees had buckled underneath him.

"Oh, babe, you're going to hurt yourself," Kurt cooed as he stepped onto the ice and skated towards Blaine in a few short, powerful glides. He pried Blaine's arms off the boards and draped them around his own shoulders.

"Kurt!" Blaine protested loudly. "It's okay, you don't have to help! I want to do this on my own! Those are the rules – no help."

Kurt shot his boyfriend a disapproving look. "Look, Blaine," Kurt sighed, "as much as I can't stand Finn being so openly hostile to you, a skate-off isn't exactly the best way to contest leadership reigns, don't you think?"

Blaine pouted. "But…"

Kurt leaned his forehead against Blaine's. "You know everyone in New Directions, well almost everyone anyway, likes you just fine; you don't have to accept any of Finn's dumb, infantile challenges."

"I know…but…"

"And besides," Kurt whispered into Blaine's ear, "you're always number one in my eyes." He pecked Blaine on his cheek. "Come on, up you get. Your skates are on the wrong feet, and someone needs to fix that." He scooped Blaine up into his arms in one swift motion and skated back toward the door leading to the benches. He carried Blaine off the ice and set him down on the warm-up bench. Kurt knelt down in front of Blaine and began unlacing his skates.

"You know Blaine," Kurt chuckled softly, "you should at least figure out how to put your skates on before you accept a challenge to a skate-off."

Blaine blushed and looked down at Kurt rather sheepishly. "I thought this skating thing would be easy. I mean, l see little kids do it all the time. How hard could it possibly be? I guess maybe it's harder than it looks…"

Kurt looked up into Blaine's eyes. "Hey babe?"

"Hmmmm?"

"I'm proud of you," Kurt said tenderly, gently massaging Blaine's swollen ankles. "And I'm proud to be with you. No matter what, don't forget that, okay? I know it's been a rough transition for you, coming here from Dalton. New Directions is pretty much run by crazies, but you've still stuck with me through thick and thin. I'm just really sorry that Finn is being such an ass to you, and no matter how many times I've talked to him he still insists on being stubborn. But I'm proud of how you've always stood your ground. You're amazing, you know that? You don't need to win a skate-off to prove that to me."

Blaine looked down adoringly at the radiant boy kneeling in front of him, and all he saw was a halo of light. A year ago he never imagined it would be possible for him to go skating with a boy he loved more than anything in the world, and that this boy would be doting over him, giving him all the care and attention he has ever wanted. When he thought about the grand scheme of things, Finn's challenge seemed silly and trite. He leaned forward and pulled Kurt's face towards him until their lips met. It was barely above freezing in the rink, but Blaine could fell the warmth surge from Kurt's supple lips through his whole body. He shuddered as he slowly broke away from the kiss.

"It's all because of you," Blaine said breathlessly. "Watching you stand up to all those bullies at prom last year, I knew that I wanted to do the same for myself. I just never had that courage until you gave me that extra push. Being with you every day gives me the strength. That makes you pretty amazing too…" Kurt pulled Blaine into another kiss even before Blaine had a chance to finish speaking.

"Urm, ahem."

The boys pulled away abruptly and saw Puck standing in front of them. "You care to join the rest of us on the ice? Quarterback's given up, so no chance of us getting crushed by him when he falls again. Or would you rather get a room?" He raised his eyebrow at them before walking towards the ice.

"How about it, hon?" Blaine said. "You look like you know what you're doing out there. Why don't you give me a private lesson?"

Kurt winked as he pulled his boyfriend to his feet. "Sure, but you'll owe me later!"

"Okay, Blaine, you're doing great," Kurt said encouragingly. He was standing behind Blaine in the center of the ice, with his arms placed gently on his boyfriend's hips. "Do it just like I taught you earlier: keep your head up, bend your knees, and push off, one foot at a time." Blaine drew a deep breath and did as instructed.

"Oh, and don't forget to tuck your butt in," Kurt swatted playfully at Blaine's rear end. "There you go!" He moved along as Blaine began to take tentative, wobbly strides. Kurt felt the pair accelerate as Blaine became more steady on his feet.

"You're doing great! Keep it up!" Kurt let go after the pair had gained a few yards on the ice. Blaine continued to glide along the ice with his short strides.

"Wow, I'm doing it! I'm skating!" Blaine yelped excitedly, "Oh, YEAH!"

Kurt skated to the other end of the rink and waited as Blaine approached him. He pulled Blaine into a hug when the boy had reached him. "Great job, Blaine!"

"Well I do have an awesome teacher to thank," Blaine winked.

Rachel floated up to the pair, squealing in delight. "Oooh Kurt," she tugged at Kurt's arms, "you used to do figure skating, didn't you? Can you show us some tricks? Maybe do a routine for us?"

Kurt frowned at the petite brunette. "Rachel, it's been years…"

Blaine looked at Kurt pleadingly. "I've never seen you skate before, Kurt. I'm sure you're brilliant. Please?" He pouted, his lower lip protruding.

Kurt glanced around. It seemed that the New Directions had formed a crowd around him, including Artie, who had just pushed himself towards them in his sled.

"Come on, Kurt," Artie insisted. "I've got the music. I'll put a tune on and you can show us some moves!"

"There's no way out of this, is there?" Kurt raised his eyebrows at the group.

Artie grinned at him like the Cheshire Cat. "Nope."

"Fine. Have it your way." Kurt skated toward center ice as the group scurried off to the side and Mike and Artie hurried to the AV system booth.

Christmas time is here,

Happiness and cheer,

Fun for all that children call

Their favorite time of the year.

As the familiar strains of the music echoed through the building, Kurt drifted gracefully across the ice surface, spinning and defying gravity with his powerful jumps. When the music ended and Kurt stopped with his final pose, his audience stood silent, mesmerized by the beauty and prowess of what they just witnessed. Blaine never forgot that feeling of awe, and every trip to the rink reminded him of that first time he saw the love of his life skate.

2034

"So, Uncle Finn," Ava asked, eyes gleaming with curiosity, "what ever happened to that skate-off?"

Finn chuckled as he took a bit from his dinner roll. He responded when he had gobbled down that bite of bread. "Oh, I just called it quits. I mean, you've heard stories from everyone about how I'm such a bad dancer. Skating was just, well, let's just say it was a disaster and I've learned my lesson. But yeah, off the record, I suppose your Baba won the skate off, since he did make it around the rink before I could even scrape my butt off the ice."

Blaine giggled. "Well, not really, since I broke my own rule and got my own skating teacher. The very best, in fact." He smiled as he recalled another reason why he remembered that first skating trip so fondly.

2011

"So…I didn't know you were a star figure skater," Blaine teased playfully, sitting down next to Kurt on the bench and sipping on a cup of steaming hot cocoa. "How come you never told me?"

Kurt shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, you never asked." He rubbed the small of Blaine's back, trying to knead out the tension in his boyfriend's body.

Blaine let his gaze pass over Kurt's body. Hot cocoa seeped from the corner of his mouth.

"What?" Kurt said, a tone of suspicion in his voice. "Why are you looking at me like that all of a sudden? We are in public, you know, even if it's just New Directions."

Blaine shot his boyfriend a devilish grin. "Well, you being a world class figure skater, that explains a lot of things now."

"Huh?"

"Well, that would explain why you're so flexible," Blaine said in a husky voice. He leaned over, cupped his hands around Kurt's ear. "In bed," he whispered hoarsely.

2034

"Baba, Baba," Ava's insistent voice brought Blaine back to reality. "There you are Baba, you looked like you were having an out of body experience for a second there. Could you please pass the potatoes?"

Blaine glanced around the table, now registering where he was and realizing he was thinking unwholesome thoughts at a family gathering. He blushed.

"Sure honey," he grabbed the bowl of potatoes in front of him, "here you go. Did you like the skating story?"

Ava nodded vigorously.

"And your daddy took me skating the next year at Rockefeller Plaza when I went to visit him in New York for the holidays. Good thing he taught me how to stay on my feet, because I would have looked like an idiot in the best city in the world!"

"Well anyway," Kurt said as he scooped a spoonful of potatoes onto his plate, "that was the story of the first time we all went skating together..."