New Year's Eve

"No Way! No Way, Blaine!" Kurt spun around on his desk chair and glared at his boyfriend.

Blaine, who had been lounging on Kurt's bed, sat up and threw his hands out in a pleading gesture. "Ah, C'mon, Kurt, it will be fun!"

"Are you kidding me? Do you remember the last party we went to? How much fun I had?"

"But, we're together now. I'm not going to be kissing Rachel, I promise." Blaine smiled at Kurt from under his eyelashes, and tried his puppy dog look. Didn't work this time though, the countertenor pressed his lips into a tight line and raised his eyebrows, still glaring. "Oh, and Scandals, let's not forget how much fun Scandals was!"

"OK. OK. You're right." Blaine was embarrassed enough to back down, but he wasn't giving up, not yet. "Look, how about this? I won't drink, OK? I'll share a glass of champagne with you at midnight, and that's it. I won't drink anything else." Blaine walked over to Kurt, knelt in front of his chair, and took his boyfriend's perfectly manicured hands into his own. "I know I'm stupid when I drink, but if I don't drink then there's no problem, right?" Kurt opened his mouth to argue, but Blaine brushed his lips across Kurt's knuckles and kept talking. "My parents will be off on their Caribbean Cruise, it's perfect. Our first New Year's Eve together, I want to celebrate!"

And Kurt couldn't say no to that. For the first time ever, Kurt could ring in the New Year with joy in his heart and a boyfriend by his side. How amazing was that? Of course, he wanted to celebrate! The countertenor pulled a hand free and tucked a loose curl behind the ex-Warbler's ear. "No drinking?"

Blaine grinned, sensing victory. "None!"

"O.K. We'll have a New Year's Eve party."

Blaine threw his arms around Kurt and sprang to his feet, Blackberry already in hand. "You won't regret this, Kurt." The McKinley junior paced the room as his fingers danced over the phone, PARTY! New Year's Eve 9PM My Place. Blaine added his address, accessed his friends contact list and hit send. "Done!" Blaine slipped his phone back into his pocket and flopped onto Kurt's bed with a satisfied smile. Kurt was still looking worried but Blaine knew exactly how to distract him. He pulled a GQ magazine off Kurt's bedside table and started to flip through the pages. "So, what are you going to wear?" Blaine smirked to himself as Kurt sprang out of his chair and sprinted to his closet.


The Hudmels were sitting around the kitchen table polishing off the left-over turkey. Burt took a bite of stuffing and glanced at the two boys. "What are you guys doing for New Year's?"

Kurt answered for the both of them, Finn was still chewing. "Blaine's having a party at his place. He invited all the New Directions kids and some of the guys from the Warblers."

"Is Rachel going?" Carol asked Finn before he could shove more food into his face.

"Yeah, her Dads were OK with it since all the Glee kids are going."

Carol shared a glance with Burt, and just to make sure he understood, she kicked him under the table.

Burt jumped. "I'm not even going to pretend that you won't be drinking but, absolutely, no driving if you drink."

Kurt cleared his throat. "Actually, Dad, it's a sleep-over kind of thing. We're all spending the night at Blaine's so we don't have to worry about drinking/driving." Kurt kept his eyes on his father, trying to sound calm and reasonable, like they were only doing the responsible thing.

Burt put his fork down and sat back in his chair. "So, what you're telling me is that, you are spending the night at your boyfriend's house, all night."

Kurt swallowed. "Well, yeah, me and Finn and like 20 other kids."

Carol looked at Finn. "Rachel's parents are OK with her staying the night at Blaine's?"

Finn shrugged. "Yeah, they trust her." Finn was only repeating what Rachel had told him, he didn't mean it as a comment on Burt and Carol's parenting. He didn't even know, that it sounded that way, until the words were hanging in the air and his stepbrother was giving him a dirty look.

Kurt jumped in before Burt could say anything. "Look, Dad, we're seniors, and this will be our last New Year's Eve together before we graduate. I'd really like to do this."

Carol took Burt's hand and smiled at him, and at the boys. "We've got pretty good kids, here, Burt. And it is their senior year."

With Carol on the boys' side, Burt was outnumbered. "Keep your cell phones on. I want a call at midnight. You're both to be home the next day by 10 AM."

"DAD!"

OK, OK, lunch time. If you're not both back in this house by 1PM New Year's Day, I'm going to come looking for you!"


Music was blaring throughout the main floor of the house. Food was laid out on the dining room table. Beer, wine coolers and some kind of fruit punch, which Puck had spiked as soon as he'd arrived, were set out in the kitchen. The doorbell had been ringing pretty much continuously since 9:15. Blaine opened the door to find Wes and David grinning at him. "Wes!" Blaine hugged the Asian boy and slapped him on the back, surprised to see him. Wes had graduated from Dalton and was currently, a freshman at MIT.

"Wes isn't technically a Warbler anymore, but I didn't think you'd mind if I brought him along." David took his coat off and handed it to Blaine.

"This is great! Wait till Kurt sees you!" Blaine put his arms around both boys and ushered them into the living room. "Kurt, look who's here!" Blaine shouted to be heard over the music. Kurt was listening to an excited Rory talking about his first American Christmas, when he heard his name being called, and turned to see Wes and David. Kurt gestured for Rory to come with him and crossed the room to hug Wes. "What? No gavel?"

Wes returned the Glee diva's hug. "Kurt, how are you?"

Kurt hugged David. "Rory, this is Wes and David from the Dalton Warblers. Wes, David, this is Rory, the newest member of New Directions."


Red plastic cups littered every available surface. Rachel and Nick were singing together on an impromptu stage they had created by pushing two end tables together. Wes and David were analyzing their performance and offering Rachel suggestions and advice that the diva was ignoring. Jeff and Rory were watching Santana and Brittany dance on the coffee table. Neither boy had seen the girls in party mode before. They were trying to maintain a blasé manner, but they're eyes were wide. Two girls swaying together, they're arms wrapped around each other, wasn't part of the holiday tradition at Rory's family gatherings or at the Warbler's parties that Jeff was used to. Finn, Sam, and Mercedes were sitting on the couch, Artie beside them in his wheelchair. Sam was spinning some tall tales about his time at the "dance" club in Kentucky. Mike and Tina,and Blaine and Kurt were dancing in the middle of the room, oblivious to anything or anyone around them.

Puck and Quinn were checking out the buffet in the dining room. Puck was telling Quinn about his most recent visit with Beth, when they heard the doorbell. They opened the door to a tall, skinny kid that looked vaguely familiar.

"Hi, I'm Sebastian. I'm with the Warblers." Sebastian breezed past the two McKinley kids, threw his coat over the staircase railing, and wandered down the hallway.

Puck closed the front door. "Do you know that guy?"

Quinn thought for a minute. "Yeah, I think I saw him with the rest of the Warblers in the audience when we did West Side Story. He was with them at sectionals too, must be a friend of Blaine's."


Sebastian tucked himself against the wall, beside the door to the living room, and scanned party central. He saw a few Warblers mixed in with New Directions kids, everyone being incredibly noisy. It wasn't hard to find Kurt and Blaine. They were dancing together in the middle of the room, their arms wrapped around each other, Blaine's head on Kurt's shoulder. Sebastian backed away from the door quickly, and wandered into the dining room. He had every intention of seeing Blaine, but not yet, certainly not with Kurt glued to his side. He wanted to catch him alone. Sebastian put some food on a plate and drifted into the kitchen, trying to look like he actually belonged at this party.

"Hey, Sebastian, when did you get here?" David and Wes entered the kitchen, looking for more beer.

"Just a few minutes ago, thought I'd get a drink." Sebastian waved his beer in the air.

David grabbed a can for himself and tossed another to Wes. "Wes…, Sebastian, new Warbler. Sebastian…, Wes, head of the Warbler Council last year, MIT freshman this year." The three teens talked about college, the Warblers, sectionals and then Wes and David headed back to the party. Sebastian stayed in the kitchen, waiting as various McKinley kids wandered in and out getting refills. Eventually, either Blaine or Kurt would come looking for a drink. He really hoped it was Blaine.


The music changed into a fast thumping beat that Blaine couldn't resist. He pulled away from Kurt and started throwing himself around the room. Apparently, he danced like a dork even when he was stone, cold sober. Kurt thought it was cute, hey, that was his dork, thank you very much! Kurt was working on his own dance style, trying to change it up a bit. Mike's comment about him only having one move, still rankled.

"Hey, watch it, hobbit!" Santana was not pleased when Blaine bumped into the coffee table and almost knocked Brittany off it.

"Brittany, are you OK?"

The ditzy blonde smiled down at the ex-Warbler. "I'm good, dolphin."

Santana, however, was still giving him the evil eye. Blaine thought it was a good time to take a break. "Kurt? Diet coke?"

"Yeah, thanks." Blaine ran his hands through Kurt's hair, and pulled his head down for a quick kiss. "Blaine!" The protest was automatic but Kurt didn't really care tonight. His hair was probably a mess from all the dancing, anyway. The ex-prep school boy just grinned at his boyfriend and headed off to the kitchen.


"What the hell are you doing here?"

Sebastian jumped off the kitchen counter and started to move towards Blaine, his hands held out in a calming gesture. "I just want to talk. You won't answer my texts or IM messages. You defriended me on Facebook. I had to see you." Sebastian stopped in front of Blaine, looked down at the floor for a second and then stared at shorter boy beseechingly. "I want to apologize."

Blaine was already walking out of the kitchen, but those words stopped him. He turned back to Sebastian. "What?"

"Look, it wasn't cool, what I tried to do at Scandals. I didn't listen when you told me you were with Kurt. I tried to come between you."

Blaine searched Sebastian's eyes, he sounded sincere, but Blaine didn't trust him.


Puck strode over to the coffee table, drink in hand. Kurt was on the table now, dancing between Santana and Brittany. Santana's arms were around Kurt's neck, and Brittany's hands were on the countertenor's hips. If you didn't know any better, this could be an opening scene from a porn movie. But Puck did know better. He knew that the minute Blaine was back with the drinks; Kurt would be off the table and in the hobbit's arms. "Yo, Princess, who's this Sebastian guy?"

Kurt stopped so fast that Santana and Britt crashed into him. "What Sebastian guy?"

"Some tall, skinny dude; said he was a Warbler. He's in the kitchen talking to Blaine." The words were barely out of Puck's mouth when Kurt jumped down from the coffee table and tore out of the living room. Puck blinked in surprise, who knew the baby dolphin could move that fast? "What the fuck?" The McKinley badass rushed after the Glee diva.

Kurt skidded into the kitchen. Sebastian had Blaine up against the wall. Blaine was struggling and trying to push the taller teen away. Kurt walked up behind Sebastian, spun him around by his shoulder and punched him in the face. Sebastian lost his balance, as he was falling; Kurt grabbed him by the shirt and punched him again. The tall Warbler sat on the floor, rubbing his jaw. The countertenor stared down at him. "You, sir, were NOT invited." Kurt pulled Blaine to him, checking to see if he was OK. "Puck, would you mind escorting Sebastian to the door?"

Puck grinned and hauled the newest Warbler to his feet. "No problem, Princess."


10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Happy New Year! The New Directions and the Dalton boys screamed the New Year in together, laughing and hugging each other. Amid the noise and confusion, no one noticed that Sam and Mercedes shared a kiss. No one cared that Brittany and Santana linked pinkies and then lips. Kurt and Blaine melted into each other at the stroke of midnight and didn't come up for air until well into 2012!

The partying continued; the music even louder, the dancing wilder, the laughing turning into screeching as night turned to early morning and the beer and tequila spiked punch disappeared. Kurt was standing with Puck and Quinn, laughing while Puck demonstrated what he called Kurt's mega boxing skills to Quinn, when Blaine's hand slipped into his. "Come with me." Blaine tugged Kurt out of the room, and guided him up the stairs to his bedroom. "Shhh, you'll see", was all the explanation Kurt got.

Blaine opened the door and motioned for Kurt to enter. The room was dark, lit only by a few candles. The curtains on the bay window were open, allowing the light from the Christmas tree in the front yard to shine in. Blaine took Kurt's hand and led him to the window, to the table in front of it, to a bottle of champagne and one glass. "As promised; a shared glass of champagne on New Year's Eve." Blaine popped the cork, poured the bubbly and raised the glass. "To 2012, to the best year ever, to us!"

Kurt took the glass. "To us." He took a sip and handed the glass back to Blaine. They shared the glass between them, sip by sip, until Kurt put the glass down on the table, threaded his fingers through Blaine's curls and pulled the shorter boy to him. Blaine walked backward, pulling Kurt with him, until his legs hit the bed behind him. He fell backwards onto the bed, Kurt on top of him.

Kurt smiled down into the hazel eyes beneath him. "Did you lock the door?"


Happy New Year, everyone