A/n: Sorry this chapter is a little bit of a filler; not nearly as much Klaine as I would have liked... but next chapter we get on with the plot and I already have it planned out so it should be out quicker. Thanks to my lovely tumblr followers for the help with names :P Uncreative Heidi is... well, uncreative.

Julliard was even better than Blaine had expected.

He found himself roomed with a sweet boy, Seth, whom Blaine had befriended at the audition. He was glad to find many of the people he had met at the audition in his classes and quickly settled in with a nice group of friends, thankful (not for the first time) for the natural charm he had been blessed with that made him make friends easy. His mom called him a 'people magnet'. His dad called him 'charismatic' (although he usually tacked on 'you get that from me' on the end).

Either way, Blaine found a nice group of friends and fell into the routine even quicker than expected. It had been strange living away from home at first and he was surprised at how homesick he felt in those first couple of weeks. It was odd not having to call out the second he walked through the door, odd not to have someone waiting for him with a ready cooked dinner and a million questions about his day.

Seth was a nice guy, but it just wasn't quite the same.

Soon enough, however, he was too busy to be homesick. He was thrilled with the course work. At Dalton the material had always been rather advanced so the workload wasn't a huge shock to him (unlike with ** who spent endless nights slaving at the library). And as for his dancing…

It was better than he ever dreamed.

The ballet was flawless, the contemporary was incredible, the jazz was brilliant…

It was all so overwhelming.

But as wonderful as it was, Blaine was exhausted. It was challenging – the hardest thing he had ever done. Within the first week he had a bruise for every vertebrae in his spine and for the next month his hipbones were covered in purple splotches. The second month he had shin splints and the third month he was so tired that he had stopped going out entirely, falling into a pattern of sleep-work-dance-sleep.

He loved it, but he had never been more grateful when the winter holidays arrived.

He had plans to go back home with his family and just relax for the two weeks he had off. He always loved Christmas, ever since he was a little boy. His parents would take him to see the local Christmas parade in the park and even as he grew older they would still hold the tradition (only now he left his elf costume at home).

But then, just three days before the end of break, he was on a skype call with his mom when he mentioned it and her face fell.

"Blaine…" she said carefully, biting her red lips with worry. Blaine exhaled, dismayed, anticipating her next words, "I'm sure your father told you… we're going away this Christmas."

"Oh," Blaine said, brightening with relief. "That's okay. Where are we going?"

Her eyes softened sadly and it dawned on him.

"I'm so sorry, honey," she said remorsefully. "It's business…"

"No," Blaine said quickly, putting on a fake smile. "That's fine, mom, I understand."

"We've arranged for you to spend it with gran-"

"Actually," Blaine cut in; "I think my friends were planning on doing something but I told them I couldn't go but now I can so you don't have to worry about grandma-" the door flew open, interrupting his blabbering. Blaine exhaled gratefully as Seth walked in. "Hey, mom, Seth's back now and he'll need to call his mom so I'll have to talk to you later-"

"Soon, honey," his mother intoned seriously.

Blaine nodded quickly. "Sure," he said, blowing her a quick kiss before closing the laptop, huffing out in relief.

"You right there?" Seth raised an eyebrow, amused.

Blaine chuckled, shaking his head at his own misfortune, crossing the room to face plant on his bright bed cover.

"Not really," he muttered, the sound muffled by the pillow.

Seth dropped onto his bed with a soft thud, making Blaine's body move with the rock of the mattress. He groaned out in pain, his spine still aching from the vigorous contemporary class he'd had this morning.

Seth ruffled his hair playfully, laughing to himself.

"What's wrong, Blainers?" he asked lightly, prodding him lightly in the shoulder.

Blaine winced. That hurt.

Actually, everything hurt. But Seth knew that…

Blaine sighed. "I was just really looking forward to going home for Christmas, that's all."

Seth winced sympathetically. "Change of plans?" he guessed. Blaine grunted the affirmative.

"What are you doing instead?"

Blaine jerked his shoulders (wincing) in a half shrug. "Just chilling, I guess. Maybe go down to the park, watch the parade…" by myself, he added silently.

"Why don't you come home with me?" Seth offered, his voice edging with excitement as the idea dawned. "On Christmas Eve we always go to Disney Land and my little siblings will be there, but I could really use the company…" he paused, "and so could you; no one deserves to be alone on Christmas."

Blaine felt his heart lift at the prospect, suddenly filled with a rush of affection for his friend.

"Seth…" he breathed, lifting his head, "are you… are you sure? I mean – you should be spending that time with your family-"

"My parents won't mind at all," Seth insisted, grinning as he sensed Blaine's diminishing resolve. "They love company."

Blaine couldn't help the smile that threatened his lips.

"Are you sure?'

"Of course I am!" Seth exclaimed with a chuckle. "Look, my parents will be thrilled." He lowered his tone, his gaze suddenly seriously. "Back at my old school, remember how I told you I got teased for dancing." Blaine felt a stab of guilt. He knew Seth envied the support he had had from his school and friends. Slowly, he nodded. "Well, I didn't really have any friends at all then. And my parents were worried that when I came here, it would be the same thing. They were so worried about what other people would think that tnhey didn't even want me to come here."

Blaine winced internally once more. He knew what that was like; the parents thing. He had spent so long trying to convince them to let him dance…

The memory was almost painful.

"So please, Blaine," Seth continued, his voice more pleading now. "It would mean-it would help them see that this was a good idea after all. I don't think they believe I have friends now…"

Blaine ducked his head, chuckling a little, even though he felt a little sad inside.

"So," Seth concluded hopefully, "will you come?"

Blaine lifted his head, a smile slowly spreading across his face. Seth fist pumped, already knowing the answer before Blaine even spoke it. Blaine laughed loudly, shoving him lightly.

"Of course I'll come."

By the week's end, all of their bags are packed, all exams finished and on the Saturday morning, right after breakfast, they're piling their things into Seth's car.

"Thank you so much for this, Seth," Blaine said earnestly and Seth rolled his eyes.

"You've gotta stop saying that, buddy," he laughed. "I told you; you're doing me a favour here, dude."

Blaine grinned and hopped into the passenger seat, Seth climbing into his own seat, turning the key in the ignition.

"California, here we come."

About an hour later, after listening to Seth's favourite Justin Timberlake CD on repeat, Blaine began to drift off, his eyes fluttering shut, the echo of an old familiar tune ringing in his ears.

The rain pounded down harshly, but Blaine stood still, oblivious as the figures in leather moved in synchronisation across the stage. He was entranced as a sharp blue pair of eyes sought him out, a high voice like bells ringing in his ear.

Suddenly, blue eyes scowled, his voice dropping low, eyes dark.

"You never came back."

Blaine woke with a start as Seth swerved sharply to avoid a car.

"Fucking SUV's," he muttered, shooting Blaine an apologetic look. But Blaine just shook his head, rather grateful for the intrusion on his dreams, not sure that he liked where they had been heading…

Because even in the bustle of life at Julliard, Blaine hadn't been able to forget about Kurt.

Every time he walked down the city streets he'd keep his eyes peeled, hoping that one day he'd see him stepping off the subway, or exiting the local Starbucks. The few times he had passed the NYADA grounds his heart would stutter and he would be unable to tear his eyes away from the campus until he was craning his neck.

And even if he had wanted to forget him (which an admittedly small part of him did; after all, what would Kurt want to do with him? He hadn't come back like he promised…) there was no way his subconscious would let him. Kurt had been the star of his dreams and wickedest fantasies for nearly three years now.

That wasn't going to stop any time soon, Blaine was sure.

By the time they reached their destination the sun had long fallen and Seth pulled into his family's garage with weary eyes and hands.

"Home sweet home," Seth grinned, gesturing for Blaine to follow him as he exited the car, leading him up the stone steps to the front door.

"Seth!" a warm voice called through the hall. "Is that you, dear?"

"Hey, mom," Seth called back, nodding to Blaine as they entered through the front foyer.

"Seth," his mom gushed, entering the space with open arms. She embraced Seth in a bone crushing hug, planting a kiss on his head (making Seth blush). "You've grown, darling."

Blaine smiled at the adorable display as Seth pulled back with an embarrassed chuckle.

"No I haven't," he muttered. He turned to Blaine. "Mom, this is Blaine, the one I was telling you about."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Blaine said politely, reaching out his hand for her to shake. "Thank you for having me."

"Blaine, lovely to meet you dear," the woman cried happily, ignoring his outstretched hand and hugging him instead. Blaine grinned, hugging her back, winking at Seth over her back. Seth shook his head, narrowing his eyes as his mom finally pulled back.

"Dinner's almost ready," Seth's mom said, still beaming at them both. "Your father's taken your little sister's to the park so they'll be back soon to help you bring your things in…"

"It's okay, mom," Seth insisted, "we've got it."

His mom patted his cheek affectionately. "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me."

As she left Seth shot Blaine a look and Blaine bit back a laugh.

"Sorry about her," Seth grumbled. "She's a bit… overbearing."

Blaine smiled softly. "I think she's lovely."

"That's because she loves you already." Seth rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's get the bags…"

Blaine had initially been nervous about intruding on the Matthew's family time, but he found to his pleasant surprise that he fitted in perfectly and was enjoying himself more than he had expected.

Mrs Matthews (no, Laura – as she so persisted) was warm and welcoming and Mr Matthews (Tom) engaged him in much discussion about the curriculum at Julliard. He seemed rather interested in particular with the dance syllabus and Blaine was surprised at his extensive knowledge of the techniques they were learning. He realised wistfully that he had been asked more about his dancing tonight then in his whole lifetime. A part of him wished his parents took that much interest in his life…

But Seth's little sisters were Blaine's favourites. They were gorgeous. Ava had wide chocolate brown eyes and thick hair. She looked exactly like her brother. Delta looked more like her mother, her hair a fair strawberry blonde and her eyes a vivid blue which Ava was apparently rather envious of. But they were best friends, only a year apart in age and practically acted like twins. They took an instant liking to Blaine and insisted on showing him the little village set ups they'd done with their dolls. Blaine briefly recalled the games he had had with his girl cousins with their dolls and after dinner he sat down with them and played for a little bit before Seth dragged him up to the guest room.

"They really like you," Seth mused, his eyes amused. Blaine gave a half shrug, trying to hide the happiness bubbling in his chest. Only a few hours and he already adored it here.

Maybe the holidays wouldn't be quite so bad after all.