AN: Happy Holidays everyone! I was hit with the Holiday spirit a little late this year, but deiced to make up for it with some short Christmas fics. This one is part of my Folaigh verse, because I sometime miss fics when I'm done with them and wanted to revisit this verse.
Also, this story was written for my sweet friend Charleyangel - I hope you have a wonderful holiday season!
And a huge thanks to dont-stop-believin-in-klaine who volunteered to beta this chapter for me. You were a huge help and I so appreciate it!
Enjoy everyone!
Everything was almost perfect. The pies were out of the oven and cooling on a rack in the kitchen, soft Christmas music was playing from the sound system in the living room, and decorations covered the apartment – from the holly hanging in the small foyer to the paper snowflakes in the kitchen nook and the big Douglas Fur tree in the living room.
Blaine hadn't decorated the tree, he and Kurt had gone out last night to pick one out together and he knew Kurt would want to decorate it with him once he got home. Right now Blaine was sitting on the floor near the tree with a tangled ball of Christmas lights, trying to find the one light that was missing or broken that was causing the whole strand to not light up.
"Crap." Blaine hissed and stuck his finger in his mouth as a little spark of electricity zapped his finger while he tried to remove a tiny bulb. Yes, doing this while the lights were plugged in was not the greatest idea, but how else would he know if he fixed the problem? He sucked on his burnt index finger for a moment, wondering if he had time to run out and buy a new strand of lights, when there was a knock on the door and then someone was walking into the apartment.
Blaine jumped up from the ground, anxiously looking over at the clock. It was too early for Kurt to be home! He wasn't ready.
"Kurt?" A deep and familiar voice called out, "Blaine?"
Blaine sighed in relief as Burt turned the corner and entered the living room.
"Oh, thank goodness."
Burt raised an eyebrow in question, looking amazingly like his son for a moment. "Glad to see me, huh?"
"Glad you aren't Kurt." Blaine said with a smile, walking towards him, "But yes, always glad to see you. What's all this?" Blaine asked, indicating the black plastic trash bag Burt was toting.
"Christmas gifts of course." Burt said, handing it off, "Not quite Santa's gift bag, but it works."
Blaine took the bag and peeked inside, finding several wrapped gifts.
"For you and Kurt." Blaine looked up in surprise, "For me?"
"Of course, you're family." Burt said, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder and then walking past as his eyes landed on the pile of Christmas lights on the ground.
Blaine took a moment with his back turned to let a smile cover his face. Family. He knew Burt thought of him as family, but still, it warmed his heart to hear him say it.
"You're still coming over tomorrow though, right?" Blaine asked, turning to face Burt who was crouched down and holding a strand of lights. "You have to come tomorrow, it's Christmas!"
"Of course, bud." Burt said, not looking up, "I was just in the area and thought I'd drop the gifts by before heading out to see Carole." He stood, hands in his jacket pockets.
"Carole?" Blaine teased, "Things are going well with that then?"
Burt cleared his throat, taking off his cap and rolling it in his hands and Blaine could almost swear he saw a blush on his cheeks. "Well enough."
"Uh huh."
"It seems you didn't hear me when I rang the doorbell." Burt said, nodding towards the front of the apartment, "Could that have something to do with what's going on here?" He nudged the ball of lights with the toe of his boot.
"The doorbell isn't working?" Blaine placed the bag of gifts on the coffee table and groaned, "The electricity in this old building is going to be the death of me. Maybe literally, I've already electrocuted myself once today."
Burt chuckled and picked up the lights again, "It's this one here." He said pulling out a light and replacing it with a new one. Suddenly the whole strand lit up, bright reds and greens and golds.
"I'm still amazed every time you do something like that." Blaine said, eyes wide as Burt handed him the pile of lights.
Burt looked around the living room as if just now noticing it looked different with all the holly and the bells and the garland and strings of popcorn Blaine had spent all afternoon decorating the apartment with.
"That's a lot of decorations."
Blaine glanced around and his stomach dropped. Oh god, it was a lot of decorations! Too many decorations. "I… I was just trying to make is special, I started with Holiday décor that you might have had back in the early 1900s, the holly, the popcorn, but then it wasn't enough so I added lights and those cut out snowflakes, and the ribbons and… oh my god, it looks like Christmas threw up in here!"
Burt chuckled and shook his head, "Why are you going to so much trouble?"
"For Kurt." Blaine said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Mostly everything he did was for Kurt. "This is his first real Christmas since you left Folaigh. I mean, last year we were still in Ireland and you were living out of the backroom of the pub and Cooper and I were in a hotel and… it... it was a really good Christmas." Blaine said smiling wistfully thinking of sitting by the fire in the backroom with Kurt sipping hot cocoa and planning their future together. Now that they knew they could have a future…
Blaine blinked and looked around the gaudily decorated room, "I just wanted this first Christmas in New York to be perfect… I think I took it too far."
"You know what, kid?" Burt said with a serious expression and Blaine bit his lip, feeling young and foolish, "I think Kurt is going to love it." Burt smiled and winked at him as he headed towards to front door.
"Thanks, Burt."
"Anytime. Oh, and I'll take a look at the doorbell tomorrow. Say hello to my son for me. See you both in the morning!"
Blaine shut the door and then turned around to survey his handy work. Burt was being too nice, this was awful.
He started taking things down in the foyer, the thick green garland, and the big bright red bows. It was just a lot. He was reaching for some mistletoe hung from the ceiling when he heard the latch click behind him, he turned quickly and froze in place as the door opened and Kurt walked in.
"Blaine! I'm home ea-" He stopped midsentence and smiled brightly as his eyes met Blaine's, "I got off early."
Blaine stared at him, eyes wide and jaw hanging open. So much for everything being perfect for when Kurt got home.
Kurt's eyes flitted from Blaine's dismayed face to the decorations around the entry and then down to the mistletoe in Blaine's hands.
"Are you decorating?" He asked softly.
"Um… undecorating actually."
Kurt's eyes snapped up, "Why?"
Blaine sighed and his shoulders slumped, "I wanted the apartment to be perfect, I've spent hours on it, but I never stopped to really look at it and god, Kurt, it is a tacky mess."
Kurt's lips quirked up in a momentary smile before he schooled his expression with a grave look. He walked forward and grabbed Blaine's free hand, tugging him towards the living room, "I'll be the judge of that, thank you very much."
They stopped in the living room where Kurt's eyes scanned the myriad of decorations. Then he pulled a mortified Blaine into the kitchen nook which was plastered with paper snowflakes and then to the kitchen, pies filling the space with the scent of nutmeg and glittering sliver garland looped over everything.
Kurt looked at everything as if he was very seriously considering it. Then he pulled Blaine back into the living room.
"The tree is bare." Was the only thing he said.
"I…" Blaine blushed and rubbed the back of his neck, "I wanted us to do that together."
Kurt nodded, but a smile tipped the corners of his mouth like he couldn't hold it back any longer. Then he was grinning broadly and throwing his arms around Blaine's shoulders. "I love it."
Blaine stood still for a stunned moment before wrapping his arms around Kurt's back. "You love it?"
Kurt pulled back just enough to look Blaine in the eyes. "It is tacky. And colorful. And glittering and perfect, Blaine. It's just… it is so perfect." His eyes looked a little misty and that made a lump form in Blaine's throat.
"Really?"
"Blaine, you did this all for me?"
"Yes."
"How could I not adore it?"
Blaine chuckled, the worried knots in his stomach unfurling. Why had he been nervous about any of this? Any Christmas with Kurt would be the best Christmas ever.
"Wait, it needs one more thing." Kurt pulled out of Blaine's embrace and held onto his wrist lifting the hand that was still holding mistletoe up so it was over their heads. "There, now it's perfect." He said and leaned in for a kiss, his soft warm lips pressed ever so lightly against Blaine's until Blaine let out a sweet sigh, dropped his arm and wrapped Kurt in a tight clasp, kissing him soundly.
As they pulled back, both of them were breathing heavily and Kurt's cheeks and the tips of his ears were tinged a rosy pink.
"I love you." Kurt whispered.
Blaine closed his eyes letting those words wash over him, it didn't matter how many times Kurt said them, they still made Blaine feel weak in the knees. "I love you too." He answered, opening his eyes again to see Kurt beaming at him, blue eyes sparkling.
"Do we get to decorate the tree now?"
"Yes."
Kurt grinned cheesily and bounced on his toes. "What are we using?" He asked, looking around.
"Um…" Blaine moved to the couch and pulled a big Tupperware box from under the coffee table. "I have ornaments and tinsel and ropes of wooden cranberries. Oh! And the lights!" Blaine straightened up, smirking when he caught Kurt glancing at his ass. "Your dad had to fix them for me. I was electrocuting myself and getting nowhere before he got here."
"What?" Kurt asked the joyful expression on his face falling. "You electrocuted yourself?"
"It's nothing, Kurt. Just a little jolt."
"Blaine." Kurt hurried to him.
Blaine sometimes forgot that electricity was a somewhat new concept to Kurt. He had let out a startled shout of surprise the first time he heard a telephone ring. Spent days watching TV when Blaine explained Netflix to him. And liked to stand in the kitchen, dimming and brightening the lights with the dimmer as if it was the most fun he had ever had. So Blaine could understand how just a small zap of electricity might seem like a big deal.
"Where are you hurt?"
"It was just my finger." Blaine said holding up his index finger, "It barely even hurts now."
Kurt looked at Blaine's face with wide eyes and then wrapped a hand around Blaine's hand as he moved in close. He leaned in and very gently brushed his lips against the pad of Blaine's finger, a faint blue glow sparkling from his lips. Any pain Blaine was feeling was immediately gone – his throat felt a little dry and his stomach swooped.
"Better?" Kurt breathed, pulling back.
Blaine just nodded.
"You're not allowed to electrocute yourself." Kurt stated as if it had been something Blaine had done on purpose.
"Got it."
Kurt smiled and Blaine leaned up to peck him on the cheek.
They strung the lights around the tree and then the faux cranberries and hung glass ornaments, finishing it off with a bright glittering star on top.
"It's beautiful." Kurt said when they finished, hands on his hips and a satisfied smile on his face.
"Best Christmas tree I've ever seen."
"I know we haven't had dinner yet, but what if we went straight for that pie I saw in the kitchen. I mean it is Christmas."
"I'll go grab two plates." Blaine said hurrying to the kitchen and looking back to find Kurt standing by the tree, holding up his hands as a pale blue light swirled in the air.
When Blaine got back to the living room he gasped loudly and almost dropped the plates of pie he was carrying. Kurt had dimmed the lights so they were almost completely off and he was sitting on the couch snuggled under a blanket and waiting for Blaine with a sweet smile on his face. He was illuminated by the twinkling strands of lights on the tree as well as tiny bright flecks of green light that were wafting off the evergreen's needles.
"I thought I'd do a little decorating for you." He said.
"Kurt." Blaine breathed, his voice only coming out as a whisper. Kurt's magic never failed to make him feel awed. "It's gorgeous."
"Come sit next to me?" Kurt asked and Blaine couldn't get to the couch fast enough. He snuggled in next to Kurt, letting him drape the blanket over both of them and then passed him a plate of pie. "I think this is going to be my favorite Christmas ever."
"I think it will be mine too." Blaine answered and he wasn't even sure who leaned in first, their lips meeting with breathy sighs.
Tomorrow would be time for gifts and singing and family. Burt would come over and so would Quinn with her new boyfriend. Cooper was even flying in so they would have a full, noisy and happy home.
Right now though, it was just for them, pie forgotten, plates sitting on the coffee table and Kurt's face a breath away from Blaine's.
"Merry Christmas, Kurt," Blaine said, their noses touching.
"Merry Christmas," Kurt echoed and then leaned in to kiss him again.