"Thank you, gentlemen. That will be it for tonight," Wes called out to the Warblers in the choir room, reaching for the gavel on the head table and banging it, signaling the end of rehearsal.
The thick air of professionalism began to dissipate as the Warblers began to gather their bags and talk amongst themselves. Kurt was still humming his part of "Carol of the Bells", which they had been working on for the last hour. The Dalton Academy boys would be singing at the Columbus tree-lighting ceremony over the weekend, and Kurt was looking forward to a performance that wasn't competition with his own team.
"Are we still on for dinner tonight?"
Kurt turned and found himself six inches away from Blaine's face. He nodded, trying his hardest not to look at Blaine's lips. His three weeks at Dalton thus far had been filled with awkwardness; the original differences between his personality and the Warblers were beginning to fade, but it was countered by the growing tension between Blaine and the boy who wanted to kiss him desperately.
The moment was broken by an exclamation from Nick, who was the first to reach the door. Warblers' heads turned in unison as they watched a mass of red sweaters and green scarves making their way into the already-crowded room. Kurt couldn't help but laugh as he saw Rachel Berry leading the pack.
"Hello, boys!" she said, beaming. "I know on most occasions an intrusion of a fellow glee club would be considered unnerving, but please don't feel threatened by our talents or female vocals in any way. The New Directions do not look fondly on spying –" Blaine let out a hollow laugh as most of the Warblers' eyes went to their newest member – "and we hope to put our rivalry aside temporarily so we can celebrate the holiday season, new friendships, and most importantly, the fact that we have been blessed with a tie and are both going on to Sectionals. I personally believe –"
Mercedes grabbed one of her arms and pulled her back a few steps. "What Rachel is trying to say is, we're going to sing for you. Merry Christmas," she said, winking at Kurt before taking her place in line with the rest of their glee club.
The McKinley students began caroling, showing the Warblers their mash-up of "Deck the Halls" and "Up on the Rooftop". The song-and-dance was light and bubbly, and full of fun. The Warblers gave them their full attention, smiling and laughing whenever Mike added his trademark eccentric dance moves to the number or Finn went crazy with the bells he was shaking. The end of the number was met with a full round of applause.
"Thank you so much," David said, walking over to shake Rachel's hand. "We're always honored to hear the terrific performances from your group."
"Do you guys want some cookies?" Quinn asked, pointing to the small pile of boxes the New Directions had brought in. "We caroled for the Hipsters earlier today, and they gave us about three hundred as a thank you gift."
David laughed. "We're teenage boys; we never turn down cookies."
The two teams began to mingle as a few Warblers went down to the kitchens to grab milk and soda. Mercedes made a beeline to Kurt, engulfing him in a hug.
"You really need to introduce me to some of these fine men, honey," she said, grinning as she pulled away.
Kurt laughed. "Oh, yes. Where are my manners?" He raised his voice, turning to the side of the room that was predominantly filled with Warblers. "I have been asked to formally introduce you to the members of the New Directions.
"Starting over to your left –" he gestured to Mike and Tina, who were already talking to Larry Min – "is Mike Chang, McKinley's very own Lord of the Dance." Mike waved and showed the Warbler's his classic pop-and-lock move.
"Next is the lovely Tina Cohen-Chang. She may seem sweet, but beware: her father is king of the Asian vampires."
Tina burst out laughing as a few Warblers gave her an apprehensive look. "That's not true, but our principal thinks it is. I happen to be an amazing actress."
"But not as amazing an actress as New Direction's diva, future Tony Award-winning Rachel Berry." Rachel beamed, and looked as though she was about to go off on one of her endless tangents, so Kurt quickly moved on before she got a chance to open her mouth.
"The newest member of New Directions, the tough-as-nails yet sweet-as-candy Lauren Zises." The two shared a smile, as Kurt tried to convey with his eyes that he wasn't the least bit upset she had taken his place.
"Recently featured as soloists at Sectionals, the signature blonde couple of Quinn Fabray and Sam Evans," he said, and the Warblers gave them a small round of applause.
"Also featured at Sectionals, the sultry, sensual Santana Lopez," Kurt joked, as Santana smiled flirtatiously at the group of boys that had already begun to surround her.
"Next, we have Noah Puckerman –"
"I go by Puck," the jock interrupted. "I'm the ambadassador of the glee club." His tough personality seemed to unnerve some of the Warblers, who were raised in wealthy neighborhoods and weren't used to being around someone recently released from juvie.
"But I'm more bad-ass, yo!" Artie joked, flashing the Warblers a sideways peace sign. Kurt laughed, along with Blaine and most of the Dalton boys. "Artie Abrams, everyone! Don't let the wheelchair fool you, he's one of the best dancers we have – I mean, they have." Blaine caught Kurt's eye after the slip-up, and squeezed his hand reassuringly. Kurt continued.
"Brittany Pierce… what can I say about Brittany Pierce?" he asked, smiling.
"I'm better than everyone in this room. Britney Spears told me so," Brittany said. "I also think it's weird that you guys are named after a water fountain."
The silence that usually engulfed her glee club consumed the Warblers as well. It was Santana who broke the silence after a few seconds.
"Kurt made out with her last year."
A couple laughs escaped throughout the room as Blaine's thick eyebrows nearly reached his hairline, giving the scarlet-faced Kurt an incredulous look. "It's a rite of passage at McKinley," Kurt muttered, not wanting to explain his heterosexuality experiment while two glee clubs listened.
"This big, bold, beautiful woman," he continued while blushing, wrapping an arm around Mercedes, "is the amazing Mercedes Jones. She is my best friend in the while world, and she would like for me to mention that she is on the market."
Mercedes gasped and shoved him a bit. Blaine grinned at the interaction; Kurt constantly talked about how much he missed her at Dalton.
"And… I think that's it," Kurt said lightly, his expression giving him away. He certainly did not forget the final member of New Directions. Said forgotten member gave a loud, un-subtle cough and glared at him. Kurt feigned innocence as he looked over, then sighed and dropped the act.
"This is Finn. Finn Hudson," he said, smiling. "He's my brother."
Finn grinned at the statement and walked over to stand next to Kurt, using his shoulder as an armrest.
Nick raised an eyebrow. "Brothers as in brothers? Or…" he asked, trying to find out if the term was used literally or figuratively, the way some of the Warblers considered one another "brothers".
"Brothers, as in our parents are married," Kurt clarified. Blaine looked intrigued. He knew Kurt had recently gotten a step-brother, but never knew it was a fellow glee club member, much less the tall jock who had danced awkwardly in the back during Sectionals. To him, Finn and Kurt looked like a mismatched pair, but it sort of worked.
Finn pulled Kurt into a sideways, one-armed hug. "I'm his big brother. So don't mess with him, or you mess with me."
Kurt rolled his eyes. "I'm older than you, Finn."
"Yes, but I'm bigger."
Everyone laughed. The Warblers went around introducing themselves one by one. They stated their name, their grade, and the members of the council identified their statuses as well. It was so different than Kurt's introductions; they kept the professionalism up, while Kurt laughed his way through explaining everyone's personalities.
Blaine noticed, the way he always notices whenever Kurt's upset or nervous. He decided to break the pattern. After stating his name and year, he grinned at the visitors and said, "Alright, this might be giving too much away, but if I get my way with the council, you guys better expect a twenty-minute Katy Perry medley at Regionals."
The Warblers begin to lighten up after that; they're used to taking Blaine's lead. Some mentioned their favorite singers, while others introduced their friends for them, and David even extended an offer to the New Directions guys about pick-up basketball games in the gym every Thursday night.
The wall between the two groups dissipated, and everyone began to mingle. Kurt found himself listening in on a conversation between Mike, Brittany, and Tom Upton, choreographer for the Warblers. They weren't talking strategy, but rather embracing their mutual obsessions of So You Think You Can Dance and talking about the college audition process. He let his gaze wander, to the other groups: Artie geeking out over the latest Call of Duty with some of Dalton's most notorious gamers, Santana flirting with countless boys, Puck entertaining the masses with his Eggo juvie story, and Rachel telling the council the horror story that was her relationship with Jesse St. James. Then he noticed Finn and Blaine standing off by themselves, deep in serious conversation.
Kurt made his way over to the pair, who grew silent once they noticed his arrival. Finn mumbled something about getting another cookie and vanished. Kurt turned to his teammate.
"What were you guys talking about?"
Blaine smiled coyly. "Don't worry about it."
The impromptu party lasted over an hour, during which time many, many carols were sung. One of the Dalton boarders had brought down his guitar, and the two groups sang as one. Wes and Mercedes found out that they harmonized very well, and he sounded quite reluctant of telling her he had a girlfriend. Everything was going perfectly, until Mike noticed that his girlfriend had started crying.
"Tina? Honey, what's wrong?"
Tina smiled through her tears. "I'm just so happy. I love how we're just carefree and love each other. It's like a family."
"I know, we've always thought of each other as family," Mercedes said, wrapping her arm around her friend.
"No, I mean all of us. It's like we're all a family. No competition; just love."
Kurt had to force himself to choke back tears. As much as he was starting to get accustomed with the Warblers, and thoroughly enjoy other aspects of Dalton Academy, his old glee club would always be in his heart as his second family.
"That's what the holidays do to people." Blaine's voice was warm against Kurt's cheek as he spoke to the mingled group. "It brings us all together, closer than we ever thought possible."
Kurt would spend the next month mentally replaying the look Blaine gave him at that moment. Rachel was (as always) the one to break the silence.
"I really love the way our group keeps growing," she said. "New people keep on coming, but it doesn't take away from any of us at all. It makes us stronger, because we learn from each other."
Most McKinley kids were shocked by the unselfishness of her statement, and mentally wished that every day could be one of the eight days of Hanukkah. She smiled sweetly and continued.
"Remember last year, when the club started with just six of us? None of us knew each other, we were all misfits –"
"On the island of misfit toys, if you will," Artie interjected, referencing Rudolph.
" – and none of us should have really fit together, but we did. We came together. And we brought more people in, and we came together with them. Some as couples, some as actual family, but we all came as a team. And now, with the Warblers, we're coming together as a community. A family."
Every person was moved by her speech. The stony, dignified faces of the Warblers had vanished, replaced by real emotions from real human beings. Blaine's eyes were watery as he reached for Kurt's hand and squeezed it. Artie interjected once more.
"I think we need an "original six" hug. If we're going to overdose on nostalgia and sugar cookies, we might as well do it right."
Finn was the first one in the middle of the room, pushing Artie in with him. Tina and Mercedes followed. Rachel basically skipped into the circle. And lastly, Kurt released Blaine's hand and walked over. The Warblers hadn't known up to this point that Kurt was one of the founding members of New Directions. Now, he could tell that they were beginning to understand why he was so passionate about the activity.
"To the Original Six!" Finn bellowed as he pulled them all in for a hug. Kurt's face was practically in his brother's armpit, but he didn't care. This was his family.
He hadn't even noticed he had begun crying until he let out a loud "Merry Christmas!" and his voice cracked several times.
"Happy Hanukkah!" Rachel yelled.
"Happy Kwanzaa!" Mercedes chimed in.
The six broke away, laughing. Everyone in the room raised their glass of milk, or a cookie, or simply wrapped their arms around each other. Blaine's were firmly around Kurt's waist, making him blush furiously at the contact that could be perceived as friendly or something more. In unison, the thirty people, the two teams, the one community wished each other very happy holidays.