"...and have a Merry Christmas, everyone! Enjoy the holiday, because when we get back we'll have toworkextra hard!"

Finn dismissed the New Directions, and everyone began chatting excitedly about their Christmas plans. Marley and her mom were going to spend a quiet Christmas, just the two of them, and she was bubbling excitedly about her mother's homemade gifts. Ryder and his family were taking a trip up north to Canada, where they would be visiting family and skiing. Tina, Brittany, and Artie were all discussing Christmases of the past and how this one was going to be the best yet. Sam was chattering excitedly to Blaine about how he was going to get to spend a real Christmas with his family, with a tree and presents and everything.

Blaine listened with half an ear, feeling an ever growing hole in his heart. Four words kept echoing in his ears.The first of many...

How could he have been so stupid? He broke every promise he made to Kurt last year... If Blaine was honest with himself, he wasn't looking forward to Christmas at all.

"Dude, are you okay?"

Sam was suddenly waving his hand in front of Blaine's eyes.

"I'm fine Sam..." Blaine pushed the blonde's hand out of the way and walked out of the choir room, he didn't really feel like talking. He had only just opened his locker when Sam came running up and tapped his shoulder.

"Dude! You're not okay, what's up?" Sam gave his friend a concerned look.

"Sam don't..."

"Blaine... is this about Kurt again?" Sam knew Kurt had meant a lot to Blaine, but sometimes, Blaine's depression over the thing was a little too much to bear. It was almost Christmas, for God's sake... Blaine should be more cheerful.

"Last year I promised I'd spend every Christmas with him..."

"You can't keep dwelling on the past, bro. You gotta move on... at least you'll have your family, right?" The look on Blaine's face made Sam wish he hadn't opened his mouth at all.

"No Sam! I don't have my family, Cooper's stuck in LA and my parents haven't been home for Christmas in years! I'm alone! Just like every other year before Kurt!" Blaine slammed his locker shut. "Have a Merry Christmas, Sam... I'll see you after break."

Sam watched as Blaine hurried down the hallway toward the doors. He wasn't totally sure, but he thought he got Blaine's shoulder twitch in what could only be cause by a sob. He knew what it was like to spend Christmas without your family. Blaine had never exactly considered his parents to be family, and Sam knew that. He didn't know the whole situation, just something about the Andersons not having a lot of time for Blaine because he wasn't exactly a planned child. It wasn't too hard to figure out, what with Cooper being nearly ten years older. If only there was a way Sam could help Blaine out, like he helped Rory last year...

Then it hit him. It was perfect... but he needed a little help. He pulled out his phone and began dialling. Sam's Christmas gift to Blaine this year, would be at least a full day of happiness.

~*~

Blaine was sitting in his parent's living room on December 23rd, when a knock sounded loudly at the door. Assuming it was carollers or people collecting for charity, he ignored it. He was not in the mood for any annoying Christmas cheer. He looked disdainfully around the room, he didn't feel at home here. His parents hadn't even bothered to do any holiday decorating before they left on their annual Christmas vacation. This year, they were in Hawaii.

The knock sounded again. Blaine sighed, figuring carollers or charity people wouldn't bother knocking twice, he stood and made his way to the front door. He undid the bolt and opened it, his breath catching as he realized who was standing on the front step.

"Hello Blaine."

"Mr. Hummel...?" Blaine was confused, Burt hadn't spoken to him at all after he and Kurt broke up, was he finally coming to give Blaine what he deserved? That was the only explanation... it was inevitable, he should have known this was coming. After all, Burt had warned him of the consequences of breaking Kurt's heart.

Burt took in the appearance of the boy before him. His hair was ungelled, he was wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt, there were dark circles under dull eyes and he was a lot skinnier than Burt remembered. Blaine seemed to be unable to make eye contact and.... Was he trembling?

"I-I'm so sorry... I know I d-deserve t-to be punished but p-please... please just know that I'm so. Sorry. For everything..."

Wait... was Blaine being serious? Did he actually think Burt had come there to punish him?

"Blaine, stop talking."

Blaine swallowed and went quiet, silent tears making their way down his cheeks.

"I didn't come here to punish you... Sam told me you were doing a pretty good job of punishing yourself."

"Sam told you...?"

"He said you were spending Christmas alone."

"I... well, yeah..."

"Go pack yourself a bag."

"Sir?"

"Go pack a bag! And make sure you pack warm clothes." The tone of Burt's voice made Blaine turn and ascend the staircase to his room without arguing or questioning.

Burt took the opportunity to step inside and take a look around the house. It was clean, too clean. Almost museum like, with the old style hardwood floors and expensive artwork on the walls. Burt noticed a lack of family photographs, there wasn't a photo of Blaine or his brother in sight. Except... was that a photo of the free-credit commercial guy on the mantle? Why was there a picture of him here? Oh yeah... Burt remembered now, Kurt had mentioned who Blaine's brother was once or twice.

Other than that one photo, there didn't seem to be anything else that indicated a family lived here. No Christmas decorations, no tree, no photos... Burt recalled a moment in time when Blaine alluded to an incident where his father had tried to make him straight by rebuilding a car with him. Briefly, Burt wondered if perhaps Blaine's parents were not fulfilling their role as parents at all.

At that moment, Blaine reappeared at the base of the stairs. Burt turned to him, "You ready to go?"

"I guess... it would help if I knew where you were taking me though... "

"I'll tell you when we get there." Burt brushed past the teenager and opened the door. "Let's go."

Sighing, Blaine walked through the door. He didn't bother leaving a note, no one would be around to miss him anyway.

~*~
A couple hours later, Burt pulled into the Cincinnati Airport.

"Mr. Hummel? What are we doing at the airport?" Blaine asked, fearing the answer he knew was coming.

"We're going to New York to surprise Kurt. Don't give me that look! Sam said you promised you'd spend every Christmas with him, in our family, promisesmeansomething Blaine."

"B-"

"No excuses, kiddo. I know things are rough between you and Kurt right now, and by no means to I condone what you did at all. But you're still family to me Blaine, and I'm here for you. I know Kurt can be stubborn, but he'll come around. So you are coming with me to New York, no exceptions. Understood?"

Blaine just nodded as tears filled his eyes. Family... the concept was still slightly foreign to him, it was only recently he had made a reconnection with Cooper, and his parents certainly never fit the description of family. In the past couple years, family had started to mean Kurt, and he thought he'd lost it when he lost Kurt, but now, here Burt was... telling him he was still family, even after he broke Kurt's heart. It was almost too much. Almost.

It didn't take long to get through customs and onto the plane. The flight itself was only a couple of hours, which Blaine spent most of with his eyes closed listening to music to block out the sensation of flying, something he didn't like very much at all.

When they finally landed, Burt hailed a cab and told the driver the name of the hotel they were staying at. Blaine was a little confused, why weren't they going straight to Kurt's? Burt noticed his confusion, "I have a plan for tomorrow. We're not going to see him right away. He knows I'm here, but he doesn't know about you, so you'll be staying in a hotel tonight, I'll be going to Kurt's, is that okay?"

Blaine just nodded numbly.Good,he thought,more time to prepare for it...

~*~

After getting Blaine settled into the hotel, ordering him a decent meal and watching him eat to make sure he at least gotsomefood down, Burt was knocking at Kurt and Rachel's apartment door.

"DAD!" The door opened and immediately, Burt's arms were full of Kurt.

"Hey kiddo! I missed you!"

"I missed you too Dad..."

The two of them remained in a tight embrace for a couple of minutes, before Kurt pulled back. "Come inside."

~*~

Late that night, after catching up with his father on everything in their lives in the past few months, Kurt lay awake in bed.

Four words kept ringing in his ears.The first of many...

Almost immediately, it was followed by more words.

To always love you...

To defend you even if I know you're wrong...

To surprise you...

To always pick up your phone call, no matter what I'm doing.

To bake you cookies, at least twice a year.

And to kiss you, wherever, and whenever, you want.

But mostly, just to remind you how perfectly imperfect you are.

Kurt had tears rolling down his face now. Sitting up, he reached for the drawer of his nightstand, he pulled it open and rummaged around in it until he found what he was looking for. A little red box.

He opened it, and stared at the homemade ring.How perfectly imperfect you are...

He snapped the box shut and went to make himself a calming cup of tea.

~*~

When Blaine awoke the next morning, the first thing he noticed was he was not in his own bed. It took him a couple seconds to remember where he was, but even less time to feel sick to his stomach when he remembered the reason. He was going to see Kurt today... He was going to have to face the man who's heart he broke. Blaine wasn't sure if he was strong enough to handle this.

The door opened. "Rise and shine, kiddo!" Burt crossed to the other side of the room and pull back the curtains, causing Blaine to groan. Burt tossed the teen's bag at him. "I'd pick out and outfit for you, but I learned the hard way with Kurt not to do that, so there you go."

Blaine rolled his eyes as he sat up, remembering several incidents where Kurt did not appreciate his father's style. He almost smiled, but when he remembered how he threw all that away, he felt the ache in his chest returning.

"Hurry up, kiddo, Kurt's only going to be at work for a couple of hours this morning."

Blaine frowned, opening his bag and pulling out his clothes. "He's at work...?"

Burt nodded. Blaine untangled himself from the bed and went into the bathroom to change, still frowning. What kind of boss does Kurt have that makes him work on Christmas Eve?The same boss that apparently kept him so busy he couldn't call you...Blaine thought bitterly. He shook his head, no, he couldn't think like that. Blaine knew his actions were entirely his own fault.

After changing, carefully gelling his hair, and making a light effort to hide the shadows under his eyes, Blaine stepped out.

"Put on your coat, Blaine. Where we're going , it's going to be cold."

~*~

"So... remind me why we're at an ice rink?" Kurt asked.

"I thought you might like to have some winter fun!" Burt responded.

"But Dad, you can't skate... especially not with your heart in it's condition..."

"Oh I won't be doing any skating."

"But I don't want to..."

"You won't be skating alone."

Kurt looked momentarily confused, before a voice called out over the speakers. "Surprise for Kurt Hummel!"

Kurt turned around wildly, looking for where the voice had come from. Suddenly he heard a small voice whisper from next to Burt.

"Surprise!"

Kurt froze when he turned and saw the owner of the voice.

"Blaine..." he whispered, breathless. He quickly composed himself. "Blaine, what are you doing here?"

"I promised I'd always surprise you... remember? I may have ruined our relationship, Kurt... but I still promised, and so I'm keeping those promises."

Kurt threw himself into Blaine's arms, shocking the shorter boy. "I'm so glad you're here..."

Burt smiled at the two. "I'll pick you guys up in an hour and a half, have fun!"

With that, Burt was gone, and the two boys were left standing a few feet apart, staring at each other.

"Kurt I..."

"Blaine, shh. We can talk about it later... Let's just enjoy ourselves tonight, okay?"

"Okay..."

About ten minutes later found Kurt wavering on the edge, with Blaine already on the ice and facing him. "Come on, Kurt. It's not bad at all! It's easy."

"Blaine, I'm scared..."

"It'll be okay! I promise! Look." Blaine skated around in a wide circle and end with a small spin. "See? Not hard at all. Come on, take my hand, I'll teach you."

Kurt was hesitant.

"It's okay Kurt... just trust me." The words were out of his mouth before Blaine realized what he was asking. "I mean...."

"Okay."

"What?"

"Okay... I trust you..." Kurt reached out and took Blaine's outstretched hand. Blaine smile, half in relief and half in disbelief. Choosing not to dwell on it, he slowly pulled Kurt onto the ice.

"Okay take my other hand. Great, now just move along with me, it's just like walking.... That's it! See? It's not so hard!"

Kurt smiled as he awkwardly moved his legs, trying to keep up with Blaine.

"Okay, I'm going to let go now."

"What?!"

"Relax! You'll be fine!" Blaine let go of Kurt's hands and the taller boy glided across the ice by himself, slowly gaining control. He began to laugh.

"Look Blaine! I'm doing it!" He called, suddenly another skater appeared from nowhere and Kurt tried to make a sharp turn, ending in his eventual collision with the hard ice below.

"Kurt!" Blaine was at his side in seconds. "Kurt are you okay!?"

Kurt was laughing. "I'm fine!" He choked out between giggles. "That was fun!"

Blaine laughed and took his hands, helping him up. They stood for a moment, faces inches apart. For a brief second, they both felt the urge to kiss the other, but Blaine broke eye contact and skated away, calling over his shoulder, "Catch me if you can!"

~*~

That evening found, Kurt, Blaine and Burt huddled in the apartment with warm mugs of hot cocoa and cookies. Rachel had flown back to Lima late the night before, so they had the place to themselves. They spent most of the evening chattering about nothing and everything, until Burt announced he was tired, and that he was going to bed. He gave Kurt and Blaine each a pat on the shoulder before making his way to Rachel's room, where he was spending the night.

When the door closed, Kurt looked at Blaine. "So..."

"Kurt, I..."

"Blaine, why did you do it?"

"I... I don't know... I was lonely and... God Kurt I have no excuses for what I did... Just know that I'm so, so sorry... and... I dunno, I guess it just... it seemed like you were moving on with your life and that you didn't want me to be a part of it... I ended up thinking "what if we weren't meant to be together?" You know how pessimistic I can get... It's like a disease, it just takes over my mind... I met Eli by accident on Facebook, and he invited me over and..." Blaine paused, looking into Kurt's eyes. "I didn't go with the intention of sleeping with him, I swear. It just sort of... happened... one minute we were just having a friendly conversation, the next he was all over me and... and I didn't do anything to stop him. I'm so sorry Kurt..." Tears were rolling down Blaine's face now.

"The worst part is... I knew, right after it happened... that you and Iaremeant to be together forever Kurt... And I understand if you don't want that now, I ruined it... but you're the only one I want Kurt. It's you or no one..."
Blaine stood up, walking a few feet away from the couch to breathe. Kurt watched him, without saying a word before silently going to his room.

Blaine sighed, he knew Kurt would never accept his apology, he hadn't expected him to... but it still hurt a lot. Not more than a minute later, Kurt was back, something enclosed in is hand.

"Blaine?"

"Yeah...?" Blaine winced as his voice cracked. Kurt closed the distance between them and presented Blaine with the item in his hand.

"Kurt..." Blaine's breath hitched as he took the small, red box with Kurt's delicate hands.

"To always love you..." Kurt started, and Blaine immediately felt the tears build up.

"To defend you even if I know you're wrong..." Kurt continued.

"To surprise you..." Blaine choked out.

"To always pick up your phone call, no matter what I'm doing." Said Kurt.

"To bake you cookies, at least twice a year." Blaine smiled as he said it.

"And to kiss you, wherever, and whenever, you want." Kurt returned the smile.

"But mostly, just to remind you how perfectly imperfect you are." They both said at the same time.

Kurt's eyes shone with tears, Blaine's entire face was covered.

"Blaine, I've been a horrible boyfriend... Last year, you promised me all these great things, and I haven't been keeping them either... I should have made more time to answer your calls, I could have done it! I was just so worried about making a good impression at work... Blaine, I want to re-instate these promises... You're not perfect, I'm not perfect... but we're perfect for each other. I can forgive you for cheating... if you can forgive me for ignoring you."

Blaine stared into Kurt's eyes, letting the tears fall freely. "What.... What have I ever done to deserve you Kurt Hummel?"

"You gave me courage, Blaine... and you taught me to live again."

Blaine smiled, his eyes drawing to something above him. "Mistletoe..." He whispered.

They closed the gap between their faces, as soon as their lips met, their love was rekindled, it had never fully been extinguished.

Pulling away for air, Kurt rested his forehead against Blaine's. "Merry Christmas, Blaine..."

"Merry Christmas, Kurt."

~*~