Chapter 33

December 24, 2012

Blaine was worried and Kurt could see it. Even Burt told Blaine not to worry after his son told him about their encounter with Rachel. Nevertheless, the slave boy was fidgety and it was driving Kurt insane but he knew Blaine couldn't control what he was feeling.

On Monday morning Kurt got up uncharacteristically early because he had a lot to cook for the Christmas Eve dinner. Not to mention that their tradition to decorate the house the day before Christmas meant that half of their evening would be spent trying to figure out the nicest way to make the house look festive. At least this year there were three of them so things would go much more quickly.

While the boys worked in the kitchen (Blaine had earned his permission to be in the kitchen, which couldn't be said about Burt) the man raided their garage and found various tree ornaments as well as some old Christmas lights. When Kurt saw them it finally started to feel like the holiday season.

It was nearing four when Burt came into the kitchen to find Kurt feeding Blaine the cranberry sauce he had made in the morning and kept in the fridge.

"Mm, this is really good, Kurt," Blaine praised him.

"How is it going, boys?" Burt announced his presence.

"Great, dad," Kurt said. "We were just finishing with the turkey. Another fifteen minutes or so and it will be ready to go into the oven. Another three or so hours and it will be done."

"You two did great today," the man said appreciatively. "So, I was thinking we should get going soon if we still want to get a nice tree. Actually, if we want to get any."

"I totally forgot..."

"You two go and I will finish with the turkey," Blaine offered.

"Are you sure?" Kurt asked with an apologetic smile.

The other boy nodded immediately. "Yeah. Also, I think it liked me better than you anyway..."

"It's dead."

"Doesn't change the fact," Blaine shrugged, making the Hummel men laugh.

"Alright, I'll go change then," Kurt said and left.

He changed in a record time and soon they were at the mall where there was a Christmas tree sale in the parking lot. There were still rows and rows of various sized trees standing in pots.

"Let's find the prettiest one," Burt said and they started walking around, checking every tree to find the perfect one.

A few minutes later something else caught Kurt's attention – a familiar voice coming from a few rows away from them.

"I'm giving you a permission to choose," a female voice said.

"Hey, dad, I think I hear a friend," Kurt said. "You keep looking and I'll go say hi, okay?"

"Sure thing, kiddo," Burt said and continued walking while Kurt went back to where they had come from.

"I don't understand, Mistress," a boy said with his head lowered just when Kurt finally saw the duo.

"I order you to look around this place and choose the tree you like the best and I'll buy it," the girl said in an authoritative voice. "So go do that and come back when you find one."

"Yes, Mistress," the boy bowed and walked away.

When he left Kurt approached the girl. "Hey, Rachel," he said. Normally he wouldn't have come to talk to her but he wanted to make amends with the girl – if she knew who Blaine was after all, it would be smart to be on her good side.

"Oh, hi, Kurt," she greeted the boy warily. "Did you want something?"

"No, not really... I overheard you and wanted to say hi. Also, I wanted to apologise for yelling at you," he said, the words coming out reluctantly.

"You were right," the girl sighed. "I had absolutely no right to order around your slave, especially when you don't like slavery."

"I'd say it's okay but it kind of isn't," Kurt laughed awkwardly. "I just thought I could make peace with you. It's Christmas after all."

"All forgotten," Rachel said and readjusted her bag on her shoulder. "Um, I'm here with my slave..."

"Yeah, I saw," the teen looked at her quizzically, wondering why she was suddenly so unsure of herself.

"I let it choose a tree, you know," she said, for whatever reason proud of herself. "My family is Jewish but I thought Jesse might like having a Christmas tree around."

"Who is Jesse?"

"My slave," Rachel gestured towards where the boy had disappeared to. "After... um, when I came back home on Saturday I thought about what you said. I talked to Jesse and it told me it was sold by its parents because it refused to go to a business school. It wanted to go to NYADA. That's where I want to go. What if my dads didn't understand my passion? I know they would never sell me but it still scared me. A lot."

"Wow," Kurt managed to utter through his shock. "I didn't see that one coming..."

"Just like you said, I started imagining myself in Jesse's place and I felt really bad for it. I try to treat it nicely but honestly I have no idea what I'm doing," the girl bit her bottom lip, looking lost.

"For starters, you could lose the 'it' pronoun when talking about him," Kurt advised her. "It's already a step forward that you call him by his name so I'll give you that. It will take time to break the habit but you should try. The only other advice I can give you is fairly simple – treat him as a friend."

"Just like that?"

"Yeah. He is no different than any of your friends except that he lives with you. Learn to say 'please' to him and actually let him choose what he wants to do and what he doesn't."

"Do you treat your slave like that?" the girl asked.

She doesn't know, relax and don't make her suspicious...

"I do. He is my best friend. We watch movies together, do homework, cook, sing when we feel like it... Sometimes it feels like we are just having one long sleepover."

"How long exactly have you had it... him?"

"Not very long but we bonded very quickly," he said and it wasn't a lie, not really. "He is a nice person so it was easy to become friends."

"And he is very cute," Rachel winked at him.

Kurt blushed at that. "I won't deny it," he said and his phone went off. "Um, it's my dad, he probably found a nice tree."

"Oh, well, you should get going then," the girl said. "I guess I'll see you at school after the break."

"Yeah, Happy Hanukkah, Rachel," Kurt said with a genuine smile.

"Merry Christmas, Kurt," the girl said as he walked away.

Burt wasn't very far so the boy found him easily. The man was standing next to a medium size tree, just up to Kurt's chest. It was thick but not too thick so the ornaments would hang nicely. In the end Kurt approved and they brought it home where Blaine was waiting for them while cleaning up the kitchen.

"Mm, smells good," Burt said once they went inside, the man carrying the tree.

"Hey, guys," Blaine said once he joined them in the living room. "The tree is beautiful."

"All thanks to my dad. He has a good taste," Kurt said and went to take off his coat.

Burt placed the tree in the corner. "Yeah, I did all the work while Kurt chatted with some friend," he mock complained.

"Oh, wait until you hear this," Kurt said when he came back. "I met Rachel. She was there to buy a Christmas tree for her slave. Apparently my words got to her and she is trying to be nicer. It's hard to believe I actually had such effect on her."

"She is probably good at heart, she just needed a nudge towards the right direction," Blaine smiled.

"I don't know, I wouldn't say she is good at heart, unless she is hiding it very well," Kurt snorted. "It also gave me hope that even if she recognised you, maybe she wouldn't say anything now that she is trying to understand slaves."

"Don't go ahead of yourself, buddy," Burt warned him. "I'm glad she is trying but wait until you see some progress. She might change her mind in a day or two."

"Don't rain on my parade, dad," Kurt said, persistent to keep his joyous mood. "Come on, Blaine, this tree won't decorate itself."

"Let's go downstairs, presents are waiting to be unwrapped," he said joyfully, suddenly very excited.

Blaine looked at him and from his posture Kurt could see he was uncomfortable about the matter.

"What's wrong?"

"Um, well, I didn't... get anything for you... or your dad," he said with a blush.

Decorating the tree wasn't as fun for Blaine as it was for Kurt. Probably because Kurt had a clear vision of how the tree was supposed to look like. More than once Blaine heard 'don't put the red one there, it will clash with the orange one' and 'Blaine, careful, you are putting that too close to the other blue and we can't have them next to each other'. After a few minutes the slave boy gave up.

"How about I hand you the ornaments and you put them where it seems right?" he offered after yet another comment.

"Why? Don't you like decorating the tree?" the teen asked confused.

"I like it but you are better at this," he said sheepishly.

It finally dawned on Kurt what he was doing. He was so used to decorating the tree alone (his dad hadn't earned that permission either) that he didn't even realised that he started criticising Blaine while they were supposed to be enjoying this activity together.

"Shit, I'm sorry, I can get pretty crazy when it comes to colours and shapes," he laughed at himself. "How about we finish this together but I'll keep my mouth shut?"

"Are you sure?"

"Definitely," Kurt assured him.

"Alright," Blaine smirked deviously at him. He took a bright yellow ornament and carried it towards an identical one already on the tree, slowly getting closer and closer. "I'm having loads of fun, Kurt."

Kurt looked nervously as Blaine put the ornament on a small branch and let it hang there. "Don't– I just... maybe it could... I mean, we could still have fun coordinating the colours nicely, don't you think? Just a thought, we can leave it there, it's up to you, I'm fine with it there."

"Kurt, come one, I know you are not fine with it. I'm sure you want to strangle me for putting it there," Blaine laughed.

"Well, maybe not strangle, just gently massage your neck..."

"You know what," Blaine said and took the ornament off the tree, "how about you tell me where each ornament has to go. Then we will be decorating the tree together and you won't get a stroke."

"I wasn't about to have a stroke. You are being dramatic, my good sir," Kurt joked.

"At least I'm not the one, who paled after seeing two clashing colours. That was end of the world kind of dramatic," Blaine teased him back.

"I may have expected a little bit more from a gay guy."

"I'm sorry I don't have gay super powers."

"We are lucky I do."

"Full of yourself much, Hummel?"

"Just calling things by their true names."

"What would be my true name then?"

They didn't even notice how close they got. Teasing each other with an easy smile, daring with a playful spark in their eyes. They got so close that Kurt could feel Blaine's breathing on his skin and it made him shiver. He forgot what Blaine had asked him, the proximity so intense like never before. It would be so easy to lean forward and taste those full lips that were coming closer.

What...

"Hey, guys," Burt's voice came from the kitchen, "I think the turkey is burning!"

The boys immediately stepped back, not really looking at each other. "We should... um, go," Blaine said and they ran into the kitchen.

In there they found out that Burt was the most dramatic of all the three because apparently it was a false alarm and their dinner was perfectly fine. Afterwards the boys went back to decorating the tree, Blaine making sure to ask Kurt where he was supposed to put each ornament. When they put the Christmas lights on the tree it looked like those from postcards.

The dinner was not ready until much later. When it was finally ready they ate chatting about random things. They all had a glass of wine to go with food, that being one of the Hummels' traditions. The boys had very little while Burt poured himself a full glass.

"What are you two going to do now?" the man asked the boys when they were clearing up the table after dinner.

"I was thinking that some Christmas movies would be in order," Kurt said when he put the dirty dishes in the sink. "I'll make some hot cocoa to go with them. Do you want some, dad?"

"Not tonight, thanks," Burt said. "Go to sleep early, otherwise Santa won't come."

"Of course," Kurt laughed and Blaine looked at them confused.

After they were done the boys changed into their pyjamas, and met in Kurt's room. Blaine brought his pillow and they made themselves comfortable under the duvet with the laptop on their knees. They watched a couple of typical Christmas movies that they already knew by heart and afterwards watched a few specials on youtube. In the middle of 'Shrek the Halls' Blaine dozed off with his head placed on Kurt's chest. The teen turned his laptop off, put it on the nightstand careful not to wake up the other boy, and turned off the light.

Blaine woke up when Kurt lifted himself up a little but didn't show it. He revelled at the sound of Kurt's heart beating underneath him. The boy was everything he had ever wanted in another person. He had a huge heart that was beating with love and kindness, he was funny and talented, confident and caring. Not to mention gorgeous. He was everything that Blaine ever wanted and couldn't have.