Let's see how this turns out.

Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol AU. Based primarily off the book (and not Mickey's Christmas Carol like I originally wanted!)

I'm sure this has been done before (and probably better) but I thought because of the season it'd be fun. Probably be finished by Christmas Eve. (Here's hoping)

Very short chapters of 1000-2000 words. Edited by me, mistakes abound! There'll be about 10-12 chapters.


It was a cold, miserable day in Ohio. The hourly weather report on the radio had predicted that there would be snow falling by late afternoon. Blaine Anderson however, thought little of such things. It wasn't like you could change nature. It's just the way things were. You made a life and did the best you could with it with what resources you had.

Of course, that was his line of thinking as taught repeatedly by his father John Anderson. The Anderson family was well known in the tri-county area as being wealthy property owners. One such place was Lima, Ohio where Blaine had been put in charge of a couple a buildings. Most were empty because of the recession and had been snapped up quick during the foreclosure auctions around the county. Apparently the head of the Anderson family had a business plan of some kind where they would make money on top of the already large fortune that had been growing since the family settled in the area.

Millionaires, that's what the Andersons were. It was nice to never worry about money or shelter or want for anything.

But they still had to work or at least Blaine did. He didn't like it unless he worked alone. However he was stuck in this cold, miserable little town going through the paper work for the twenty-fourth day of December with the business owner. Pardon him, the business owner's son, Kirk, Kieran?

"It's Kurt." The soft voice said interrupting Blaine's reading. "It's Christmas Eve, I want to get home before it starts raining and then snowing."

The two of them were in the small car shop, closed to customers for the day as per the custom. The office was nippy and Kurt could see his breath in front of him for all it's worth. It wasn't how he anticipated the last two months of the year but times were too difficult once his father had his heart attack.

They couldn't afford to keep the building and the business so one had to go. Hospital bills needed to be paid, the medication that Burt Hummel had to take wasn't covered by the insurance and like many Americans, he couldn't afford it. His health suffered and as a single parent, he had to rely on the help of neighbors and his son.

Kurt was fairly handy at cars and had learned everything from Burt. Paper work was something that neither Kurt or Burt enjoyed and once the building needed to be sold, all the forms and so on had to be filled out. Once they were found that is, Burt tossed everything building related in a box that had grown to several boxes.

Blaine had insisted that the papers be sorted and filed and then the new owner deeds and papers could be sent off to the necessary state departments. Burt was still in recovery and Kurt had to go help.

It was weird that Blaine was the same age as Kurt and had such a gloomy demeanor. No, it was very cool and standoffish. He clearly didn't want to be here anymore than Kurt though he didn't say as much. He didn't say much at all except to grumble incoherently as he shuffled through endless stacks of paper.

Burt had bought the business and building from the owner nearly twenty years ago and there was a lot of old paper to go through. Some of it wasn't even needed back then and certainly not now. Office work wasn't Burt's strong suit and Kurt couldn't help but feel a little bothered at the lack of filing and sorting.

"Why?" Blaine turned in the old office chair his dad always sat it with such emotionless eyes. "This has to get done before the New Year."

"It's Christmas Eve, don't you want to spend time with your family?" Kurt replied wishing that he was anywhere but here. It wasn't a job he was getting paid for but he didn't mind it because if he didn't do it, his father would be here instead.

"Christmas Eve?" Blaine repeated not feeling the chilly air in the office. The roof sort of leaked when it rained and thankfully it was in the corner where there was no computer.

"Yes, it's a holiday where you spend time with your family, I know you have parents." Kurt rolled his eyes. "I'm sure it'll be warmer at home and I don't mean just from the fireplace or whatever you have in that mansion of yours."

Blaine frowned and glanced down at the stack of building related paraphernalia. "I suppose it would be, but I have to finish this."

"Does that mean I can go? I'll come back for a few hours tomorrow." Kurt's voice sounded lighter. Blaine swallowed hard and inhaled deeply before releasing it. "Come back tomorrow, first thing."

"Awesome! Thank you." Kurt kicked the old wooden chair under the table and left the paper work as it was laid out on the large table they had set up. They weren't even half way finished and Blaine would much rather push through until the weather got too bad.

It wasn't like he had to drive home anyway, he had a driver that was waiting for him when he called.

Kurt left with a wave he ignored and trotted out into the main shop area where he shut the small door cut out of the garage door. A kind of hobbit-like door Kurt had stupidly opened his mouth and teased the first time Blaine was sent to this job.

Before he arrived this morning, yes, it wasn't quite bright as nights were long and days were short, he was approached by two people around his age. Perfectly matched with handmade badges that read they were from the local church. "Would you like to donate a couple dollars to the toy drive, sir?" The pretty blonde asked catching him as he stepped out of the black jeep he had ridden in. "A couple of dollars?" Blaine scoffed adjusting the blue and red scarf around his neck. "No, go away."

"You don't have to be so mean, it's for the kids at the shelter." The curvy black girl with the badge reading 'Hello, my name is Mercedes' in large blocky letters. "It's in the spirit of Christmas."

Blaine sneered and went along his way leaving the two teenage girls to grumble behind him. "Mercedes, calm down. He doesn't have to donate if he doesn't want to." The girl's voice drifted over the morning stillness. "For the kids, it's only a dollar, not much Quinn."

There was no guilt in Blaine's heart.


There's chapter 2 written and I have no idea when to upload it just yet. I'd like to get a few chapters written and read through before posting them for all my mistakes to be seen...