Six days before Thanksgiving, Blaine entered the apartment and plunked down on the couch next to Kurt with a sigh. Kurt glanced up from his textbook to look at him. Seeing the defeated slump in his shoulders, Kurt closed his book.
"What's up?" Kurt inquired "Normally you won't stop bouncing off the walls when you get back on Friday afternoons."
Blaine sighed again and then looked at Kurt. "Cooper called me."
"...Okay?"
"He's having Thanksgiving with his girlfriend and her family. I mean, he's not really abandoning me, because I'm the one that pushed him to go, but I was just really looking forward to the two of us hanging out and having Thanksgiving together."
Kurt watched Blaine thoughtfully as he talked about the parade and their favorite balloons, and lying on the couch motionless for hours after eating. Eventually Blaine finished talking and went to get a drink in the kitchen. When he came back, Kurt finally spoke. "Why don't you come to Finn and Rachel's with me? I know it won't be the same, but I'm sure they'd love to see you, and I know I'd appreciate having someone there to stop me from throwing food at them when they inevitably start sucking face halfway through dessert."
Blaine stared blankly back at Kurt for a moment. "I, um, you're sure you wouldn't mind? I wouldn't be miserable here on my own you know."
"Yes Blaine. I am sure that none of us would mind you being there. In fact after you spent all of last week raving about your pie making skills every chance you got, I expect you to make us some pie to bring over."
A smile lit Blaine's face. "Ok, ok I can do that. I was planning on making three for Cooper and I... wait, I can make more now!" Blaine jumped on the couch in excitement. "Kurt! Kurt! I can make blueberry, and apple, and pumpkin, and pecan, and maybe cheesecake pie, and cherry!"
Kurt watched as Blaine leapt off the couch, over the coffee table, and ran into the kitchen where Kurt heard pots banging around and cabinets opening and closing. "Blaine, calm down" Kurt called after him. "You don't need to make si- wait did you say cheesecake pie?" Kurt threw his stuff on the floor and chased after Blaine. "Is that really a thing?" he asked as he reached the kitchen.
"What?" Blaine asked from where he was standing at the counter, already surrounded by four cookbooks, an eight pound bag of flour, and numerous other cooking supplies.
"Cheesecake pie. Is that actually something in existence? Because if you can make that, then I am yours until the end of time." Kurt blushed bright pink, realizing what he had just said. He had definitely not meant to say that, but, luckily, Blaine didn't seem to have noticed.
"Cheesecake pie is definitely a thing. We'll have to see if I can pull it off though," Blaine said with a grin, flipping through a cookbook. "Now out of the kitchen, you have studying to do and I have pies to make."
The next day, Kurt was walking back from work when his phone rang. "Hey Rach, what's up?"
"Not much really, I got out of rehearsal an hour ago, and I'm grocery shopping now. I wanted to make sure that you're bringing the mashed potatoes, and that you don't need anything else for the turkey?"
"I've actually been meaning to talk to you about Thanksgiving, I-"
"You are not cancelling on me Kurt Hummel," Rachel interrupted, a note of panic in her voice. "I can't cook that bird properly-"
"Rachel, it's-"
"-And we've been looking forward to this for months," she huffed.
"Rachel," Kurt broke in. "I'm still coming to dinner!"
"Oh," Rachel sighed in relief. "You should have just told me that!"
"I was about to and then you went all crazy on me," Kurt said, rolling his eyes.
"Whatever, what'd you want to discuss?"
"Blaine's brother changed his plans, so now Blaine's free for Thanksgiving… is it alright that I invited him to join us?"
"That sounds lovely," Rachel agreed. "Less leftovers, and time with Blaine."
"He's also planning on making five or six pies, so please don't buy any at the store."
"He's making us pies?"
"Yup!" Kurt said happily, darting around the slow tourist couple walking in front of him. "One of them is going to be cheesecake!"
"Okay, seriously Kurt, how are you not dating this boy?"
"Rachel!" Kurt scolded. "We've talked about this. He's my roommate, and it could get awkward, and I don't even know if he likes me like that. We work fine as friends, and I'm not messing that up just because I have feelings for him. I don't think I could handle living on your couch."
"Okay, okay. Just get a boyfriend soon. I found a whole list of double date ideas."
"If Finn doesn't want to go to museums with you-"
"Kurt!" Rachel laughed into the phone. "Stop it. It's not just that. I just want to go on a double date with my best friend and see him enjoying himself with a boyfriend in tow."
"When I one day have a boyfriend, I will consider this double date thing. But I'm not going to just rush into a relationship for your benefit. We both know how well my last attempt at that went."
"That's because you went to a club."
"Well, maybe I'm just not ready for a relationship right now."
"Whatever you say Kurt. As long as you're happy, then I'm happy. And if Blaine brings a cherry pie, I'll be even happier."
Kurt rolled his eyes fondly at this. "I'll let him know."
Instead of going to the Macy's Day Parade, they turned on the TV and let it play in the background as they cooked some food to bring over to Finn and Rachel's at two. Things were going well until something the announcers said caught Kurt's attention and he promptly dropped everything - the spoon he'd had in his hand was now on the floor - and ran into the living room shouting in excitement and yelling at Blaine to come look.
Blaine put down the pie that he was working on to join Kurt. "What is it? What's the- oh," Blaine said, coming to a halt next to Kurt, staring down at the TV. "Is that-?"
"I think Barney is trying to break free," Kurt said, reaching out to grip Blaine's arm tightly.
"Is this a thing that happens every year?" Blaine asked, briefly glancing down at Kurt's hand before returning his attention to the TV. "I don't remember it happening last year, although I don't think I really watched the parade last year so…"
"I don't know, but I've never seen it happen before! Be free, Barney, be free!" Kurt said, waving his arms at the TV and letting go of Blaine's arm.
They both watched in silence for another minute before a tearing noise announced Barney ripping into pieces, parts of him blowing away in the wind while the rest of him was pulled back to Earth.
"Well that was a let down," Kurt muttered.
"Okay, back to the kitchen," Blaine said. "You have potatoes to mash, and I have pies to put in the oven," Kurt turned towards the kitchen, and almost stopped when he felt Blaine put his hands on his shoulders to guide him into the kitchen from behind.
"I just have to put the last two pies in and then I'll be done," Blaine announced, when they entered the room.
"Perfect," Kurt replied, trying to shake off the phantom feeling of Blaine's hands so he could focus. "These potatoes are almost done being mashed, and then they're almost ready because I think I'll throw them in the oven at Rachel's."
At 2pm on the dot, Kurt knocked on Finn and Rachel's door, balancing food on his hip while Blaine stood next to him trying to protect all the pies he had made. He hadn't trusted Kurt with them, so Kurt merely laughed at his struggles.
A minute later, Finn opened the door, letting them in as he called over his shoulder at Rachel. "They're here!"
"Good! Have them bring the food in here. If Kurt deems the turkey ready then I think it'll be time to eat."
Kurt hurried towards the kitchen, Blaine following behind him at a slower pace, trying to keep the pies from falling.
Following a spat between Kurt and Rachel concerning presentation of the food, Kurt's attempt at stealing a bite of cheesecake pie was thwarted by Blaine threatening to stab him with a fork if he got any closer. Shortly thereafter, they were ready to eat.
"I know this is our first Thanksgiving without our parents, but I'm glad the four of us could get together in our own makeshift family to celebrate mine and Finn's first Thanksgiving as a married couple. Since it's tradition to go around the table and say what we are thankful for, I'll go first. I am thankful to have such a wonderful husband by my side. I'm also thankful for the teachers at NYADA who have bowed down to my talent in order to give me the lead role in our production of Mary Poppins. Your turn Finn."
"I'm thankful for... my lovely wife, and umm. I'm thankful for my decision to pursue teaching as my career."
Kurt spoke up next. "I'm thankful for having found such a wonderful apartmentmate. He definitely beats my prior roommates who constantly sexiled me." Kurt flashed a grin at Blaine.
"I'm also thankful that we were all able to get together this year, even if I miss my dad and wish we could have returned to Ohio for the holidays."
"I'm... I'm thankful for how all of you have accepted me into your little family despite only knowing me for a few months. I'm also thankful that I have a roommate now, he's a really good cook, so I think I'll let him stay."
"Hey!" Kurt cried indignantly from beside him. "Keep that up and I won't give you any Christmas treats."
"Nooo, not the Christmas cookies. I'll be good."
Rachel watched the two of them with a smile on her face before nudging Finn to carve the turkey.
"Here we go, the first cut." Kurt watched as Finn carved the turkey. The only reason he was trusting Finn with this honor was because he'd done it once or twice in the past. Plus, Kurt was worried he would just make a mess of it, so he might as well pass the stressful ceremonial moment on to his more than willing stepbrother.
The meal was a rather relaxed affair. At one point Kurt looked up from his bickering with Finn over the best way to eat pie (definitely with the ice cream next to it, not on top), to catch Blaine watching him with a fond smile on his face, before he looked away and started talking with Finn.
When they finished, Rachel and Kurt cleaned up from the meal after refusing Blaine's offer to help, shooing him and Finn off to watch the football game they were eyeing.
They were walking home when Kurt finally brought up the cheesecake pie because he needed to stop thinking about just grabbing Blaine's hand while they walked. "I don't know how you did it, but that pie was even more delicious than I thought it would be."
"Really now? I would never have guessed with the way you snatched it right out of Finn's hands," Blaine teased, knocking their shoulders, causing butterflies to erupt in Kurt's stomach.
"I was just protecting your hard work! It should go to someone who appreciates it."
"Oh really? And that's you, not Finn?"
Kurt turned to glare at him, stopping at a street corner. "You've seen him eat. He'll eat virtually anything but he never quite stops to appreciate how good it tastes because he's already thinking about the next thing on his plate."
Blaine merely laughed, shaking his head, a wide grin on his face as he crossed the street. "I think you just wanted it all to yourself, Hummel."
