Hey my favoritest people! I love you all so much that I jumped onto the computer this morning so so tired to type this up. And, admittably, it didn't turn out as great as it sounded in my head, but its never happened before, so I'm not banking it on happening any time soon. Please enjoy, then review, and feel free to suggest something you want to happen, because I'm thinking I need a filler. Thanks. :D

Christmas Shoes

Chapter Six: A Heartless Winter

Disclaimer: Opened my advent calendar, but only chocolate, no glee. So no owning anything for me ལྒAnd I don't own Mindy Smith(It's Amazing). Damn it all to.

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Sitting in the middle of his queen sized bed, legs crossed and over sized pajamas hanging loosely off his shoulders, Kurt Hummel started at the thick mound of paper with a slight smile on his face.

Living in a resistance-like dormitory meant that his ear buds got the full work out. They were on almost twenty-four seven. Only almost because he didn't listen to his music when his friends came for the so called 'study night' in his room.

He was quite lucky, because over the two days that had progressed after that first study group, his friends had returned carrying their books and food. It made for a very jolly night, food, studies, laughs, and most importantly, friends.

Learning to sit quietly in the choir room had been quite the task, but it had been relatively easy, he just did what all the others did. Divide yourself in half, a straighter, stricter manner for the hour between classes and dinner, for Glee. And turn back into the fabulous, louder, smiling self.

The Warblers were quite different than New Directions. While his old club liked to leave things to last minute and work on independent songs, focus on the drama; his new club was quite the opposite. But, he could still sing in the bedrooms adjoined bathroom, he had been told that the boys had sung to often, so the school made to sound proofs the bathroom. Kurt believed them.

He sat there, in the dead center of his tidy bed, room clean and garbage from the study night taken out by David, so the room was spic and span like Kurt enjoyed it to be. There was nothing worse than a dirty room. His was a bit over compulsive about it.

The thick, glossy, 4 by 6 papers in his hand where bright and shining. Carol had sent fourteen of the best ones she had taken. Seven of each team; Warblers and New Directions.

New Directions, a fantastic photograph of Mike flipping over the head of the blonde cheerleader, Kurt didn't even want to think about how extraordinary his mothers timing had to have been. Sam and Quinn doing their solo; standing on stage with the trophy (a before and an after); and one he could only assume they had sung back at McKinley, Tina and Mercedes shining brightly in the center. Kurt was glad that his best friend had finally got her chance at the spot light.

The Warblers photos were quite similar, but mostly group shots. Kurt flipped through these seven a first time, quickly scanning the whole assembly, but going back and focusing on individuals. Himself, perfect as always; David; Wes; and finally Blaine.

There were two photos that caught his eye in particular, one of the four of them, arms folded around each other, with David and Wes bordering the other two. Kurt didn't recall posing for this, but from his wide smile and twinkling eyes, it would have been after the performance, after even, winning. It wasn't the fake smile that he had worn the concert, no his smile reached his eyes, the emotion true. Kurt laid this one to the side, in the pile that was to be posted to his bristle board.

The second was of a single person, not even of him. But it was by far his favorite, out of all fourteen. If you hadn't guessed, it was of Blaine. Head thrown back ever so slightly and the largest smile he could muster while singing. Caramel eyes twinkling with great happiness, gaze directed right at the camera, hands raised to the roof, fingers spread exotically.

Kurt fondly stroked the corner of the substantially perfect paper. He didn't know why Carol had sent this one, when all the others had at least two people in it, but this was defiantly the one that made him smile the most.

Thinking about Blaine, smiling and so happy made his smile falter a bit. Not because he didn't like to see the shorter boy beam, but because he didn't think it would be appropriate for him to tack this particular photograph to the bulletin board.

Because it wouldn't be a friendly nature, not from the way he was looking at it. It made his heart flutter like none of the others did. Made his eyes twinkle and his hands shake ever so slightly. Kurt placed it in his lap and frowned, wondering what he would do with it, because he sure as hell wasn't going to through it out.

Gaze flittering from the bulletin board to his desk, it fell on the open Physics note book. And suddenly, the perfect spot came to him. Placing the picture carefully to the side, he bounced off the soft mattress, crouched on the ground and pulled out the shoe box he had found on Monday night.

It was curious, because the box had been empty when he threw the poem in, but Kurt wasn't one to hold onto empty shoe boxes, of all things. He cradled the cardboard close to his chest and crawled back onto the bed, folding himself in the slight indent he had left.

Flicking the lid off, he gazed in at the folded lined paper, a smile sliding back onto his face as he put the rhyme beside the photograph of the red material. Flipping the box onto its side, he gazed at the picture, a hearty laugh escaping his lips.

Because there on the side, was a tiny sketch of purple and pink shoes; the shoes that Addison had left behind so many weeks ago. He had given them to Blaine, embarrassed, and asked him to return the shoes. Kurt wasn't sure what possessed him into kicking the box under the bed, probably just cleaning the room before his father came to check on him.

The box that had started it all; started his first lunch date with his friend; started the awkward introduce into friendship. Addie had sure played that well, although, admittedly, she probably didn't know he would keep the box for stalker like memoires of her brother.

Kurt dropped the picture in, careful that it wouldn't get bent, laying it flat on the bottom before tossing the folded document beside it. But, this only created a bigger problem, because now what would he do with the box?

Where would he put the shoe box that would be a bit inconspicuous? Well, a shoe box, implies shoes... so, in the closet perhaps?

The answer was so obvious, he laughed out loud. No one would look twice at a shoe box in the back corner of a closet. Crossing the room, he kneeled against the eggshell white carpet and shuffled the many Dalton jackets to the side, shoving his head into the closet and placing the box daintily in the back corner.

He punctured the rest of the photographs to the wall with colorful tacks and bright staples. Finishing, he lifted the blanket and crawled under the thick quilt and pulling the fuzzy pink blanket around his shoulders.

Scrolling through his contact list, he thumbed over 'home' before smiling and pressing a finger pad to the option. It rang twice before being hastily picked up.

"Hello?" his brother answered, sounding quite out of breath, probably having run up the stairs to get the phone.

Kurt smiled softly and pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders, "Hey Finn, how are you?"

"Kurt? Hey! I knew I recognized the number! I'm good, Sam's over, so were playing Black Opts. It's the shit."

"Hey Kurt!"

"Hello, Sam," Kurt called back, assuming he was on speaker because that's what his family usually did, so they could all talk to him, "Is dad or Carol in?"

"Shit! No, they went out for a date. Damn it!"

Smiling ever so softly, Kurt stared out the window at the cold night air, heart high in his chest and spirits up. He could only hope that the swearing was directed to the game and not him, "Oh, okay. Well can you tell Carol that we finished the last of the cookies off, and they were delicious! And tell her I finally got around to..." Kurt paused, eyes on the closet, a single picture flashing through his mind, "the other stuff, and I really like the photos."

"Sure thing Kurt, I'll tell her when she gets back."

"Thanks, bro." Sam chuckled as the foreign language left the smaller boys mouth, but gasped in pain and Finn took a hit at him, "I'll see you on Friday night?"

"Totally, dud- Kurt."

"Bye!"

"Bye." Kurt thumbed the 'end call' and reached over to attach the plug in, before reaching up and pulling the switch to the lamp. He stared out of the goose down pillow for a few minutes, at the twinkling lights of the stars and the softly falling snow, before grinning contently and falling into a restful sleep.

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Wes and David tip toed down the creaking stair case, frantic to get to the kitchen. The limited three helpings for dinner was completely ridiculous, you see. They were almost always starving when they called it a night.

Well, that's not true. Lately they had been full, but that was only because Blaine would bring his stash to the Study sessions that had become a daily event. He was to busy working on his homework; it was very important to his parents that he excelled in his studies. If you asked Wes, they were kind of stuck up, rich snobs and it was a good thing there children didn't get that gene, though it was too early to tell with Blaine.

Anyways, he was to busy studying, or watching Kurt study to notice the sugar filled candy disappear. The obvious crush their best friend had somehow become acquainted with was upsetting. Not because the boys didn't like Kurt. No, the soprano was a breath of fresh air from the unusually stiff kids of Dalton.

They were wary because the last crush Blaine had turned very, very bad. Unmentionably bad. It had been banned from being declared. Penalty: death.

David held up a hand at the stone corner mentioning for Wes to slow, hearing the feint footsteps creep through the stone floors. Leading precociously close to the ground, they peeked around the corner. Surprised that it wasn't Professor McPhine, who had mad it his goal in life to catch the rule-breakers.

No, it was a much smaller, much skinnier boy. Perfect hair clamped down in a burnt yellow toque and thin frame wrapped in a thick knitted sweater. Wes had his suspicions about who it was, but David knew. The confident steps, the straight shoulders and excellent fashion sense... it could only be one boy.

They crept stealthily and quickly through the room to the boy, grabbing him by the elbows and pulling him away from the door, "Hey, Kurt. Whatcha doing?"

The pale boy in question shifted his eyes from the accusing gazed to the ground, shrugging his shoulders and rubbing his nose with a single finger.

Wes wrapped an arm around the shoulders and pressed him against his chest, "Trying to sneak out? You don't have to lie to us. Going to meet up with a friend? Couldn't it wait until tomorrow? Then it'll be the weekend."

"As if it was any of your business, which it's not," Kurt slid elegantly from the hold and went to stand against the door, eyes flashing with something David identified as a lie, "but I'm going for a walk. I'm tired of these stuffy walls."

David sighed and slid his foot to block the front door from being opened any more. Kurt glared at him from the under the rim of his toque, eyes flashing once again, "As fun as this is, I'm going to go before it's too late to get my beauty sleep."

"You're beautiful just the way you are," Wes complained, running the back of his fingers over the quickly heating cheek. Kurt slapped the hand away and stepped through the tiny crack in the door and into the night.

Through the windows, the boys watched as he headed towards the tennis courts, complete opposite direction of the parking lot. "I think we've got a bout five minutes to get to the lot, if I remember the math correctly."

"I do believe your correct, my friend. Shall we go wake the beast?"

"We shall."

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Twenty minute later David took a left turn, slowing down as the Navigator, a scarce fifty feet ahead of them, rolled to a stop. After some prompting from his friend, he pulled to an off-road road, flicking his lights off, and basking them in the darkness.

"Why are we here again?" their 'hostage' asked from the back seat, eyes half-closed in the early morning (or late night) hours and hair sticking ruefully to the left side of his head. Blaine was the farthest thing from a night owl and the midnight hour did nothing for his appearance.

Wes reached into the front consul, digging through the dark for a set of binoculars. He pulled them out by a thick leather strap and hung them from his neck. "Our lady faced friend is sneaking around behind our back, and we're going to find out, once and for all."

"You pulled me out of bed at this ridiculous hour to spy on some chick? And, you guys are worse than Kurt at spying," Blaine drew his feet up to the bucket seat and leaned against the cold glass of the van, yawning widely. His words were slurred, he hadn't caught onto the fact that their 'lady-faced' friend was one Kurt Hummel, and his eyes slowly drifted shut and Wes handed his driver a cold coffee, rolling his eyes.

A few minutes later, they debated wither Kurt was just practicing his singing, or if he was actually waiting for someone. David had his hand on the ignitions key, ready for the vehicle to roar back to life as a set of bright yellow lights shone through his back window, lighting the small forest road.

The binoculars were immediately brought to the dark eyes, and David leaned precociously close to the horn, baggy pajama shirt tangling up in the wheel. "Who is it? Can you see what's happening?"

"I can't- it's to dark, and the trees," Wes mumbled, leaning towards the center in attempt to see in the moonlight, "Oh, wait, they're getting out... I can't make out who it is. A girl, I think. Short with long hair. Petite, I'd say good looking, but I can't really see... just a feeling I get."

Blaine, finally giving up on trying to sleep through the noise, sat properly and glared at the front, releasing an exasperated sigh, "Just a feeling?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"Why not?"

"'Cause only straight guys can tell if a chicks good looking in the dark of night and through a forest of trees."

"That's, not true, Wes. I'm sure Blaine is thinking how good looking a certain brunette is."

Blaine smacked his friend on the head, realizing who they were 'spying' on, and cheeks burning with embarrassment, "We're just friends."

Lights shone through the vehicle again, basking them in an eerie yellow light. David craned his neck to see which vehicle it was, but the trees blocked it from their dead-end road.

They waited patiently for the other vehicle to pace by, but it never did. Blaine became very worried indeed. Not that he would voice his concerns, but meeting with a stranger in the middle of the night, that would never be that safe.

"Can you see him?" David whispered, mind flashing back to the many horror shows he had seen. Late night, forest of trees, and he had never even heard of this road before. Not that he would ever admit it to his friends, but he was worried for their little warbler.

Wes on the other hand, was having none of the worrisome thoughts. "No, I don't. But I can't really see much of anything..."

The back door slid open and the cold air wafted into the vehicle, sending shivers up the driver's spine. "Blaine? What are you-?" but he was cut off as the door slammed shut. They peered through the windows, over their shoulders, as Blaine scurried through the snow, hands tucked under his arms and snow sticking to his flannel bottoms.

"You're going to make me go after him with you, aren't you?" Wes sighed, and shook his head, "Let's get this over and done with then."

David put a hand on his friends shoulder holding him back, "Uh, he's giving away our hiding spot, so I'm pretty confident that I can drive over there."

Grinning brightly, they pulled out of the run down road, and backing into the so called 'main' path. Pulling up beside the slick black Navigator, the lights lit up a clearing, revealing a startle Kurt, and a stumbling Blaine.

"What in blood hell are you doing?" Wes called, seeing Kurt kneeling in the snow, frantically pushing layers of the white fluff to the side.

A shake of the head was all they got, and Blaine started to move towards his friend, wide awake, now. David followed as well, leading Wes and paving a path to the two. He was honestly playing with the idea of Aliens when Blaine knelt in the snow as well, helping to shovel it aside.

Sharing a long, sigh, Wes and David plopped down beside their friends and brushed it away. "You know, it might be helpful to know what were looking for," because it was quite obvious that they were something rather important.

"In New Directions I sang a duet," Kurt whispered, rocking back onto his toes and looking up to the stars, "Le Jazz Hot. I sang it by myself."

"Wait. You sang a duet with your self?"

Kurt continued like his dark skinned friend had never spoken, "Because Finn said that I was chasing after Sam, and it would encourage the football guys to torment him. I wish I'm glad I didn't sing it with him. It was a lot of fun."

Wes looked to David for an explanation, but he could only shrug, not understanding what the soprano was talking about. They turned to Blaine, who was watching Kurt's every movement with drained expression.

Because he knew all to well what Kurt was trying to say. He knew that Kurt felt like he was being suffocated in the Warblers, not being able to sing like the New Directions. The way he wanted to, with loud back ground sounds and flashy dance moves. The truth was unbearable.

"A ring," Kurt said, placing covered his hands back into the snow.

Sighing Wes looked up from the crude drawing he had fingered into the snow, "What?"

"You wanted to know what I'm looking for. I'm looking for a ring."

"Oh my god, he's gone completely insane," Wes objected, struggling to his feet and brushing the snow from his knees. "I'm not sitting in the snow, looking for a ring. How did you manage to loose it anyways?"

David stood as well, sharing a knowing glance at Blaine before leading his grouchy friend back to the van, "Can you believe that? Looking in waist deep snow for a teeny tiny ring, isn't Blaine coming?"

"Something tells me he's going to be late tonight."

"A Ring!"

Blaine watched his friends trudge away, a smile pulling at his lips. Looking at his despaired friend, a sad frown over taking his pristine face as his friends walked away, he slowly opened him mouth and sang the first thin that came to mind.

Baby doll, my baby doll
You're just fine the way you are
So what's the matter?
Where's the problem?
They don't love you
'Cause they don't know you
Like I do

Kurt froze, but didn't look up from his cleared spot in the snow, green grass peeking through to the moonlight. Dropping his gaze, Blaine continued to search through the snow, though he was only humoring the small boy.

Can you see
It's amazing what you do to me
Took my heart and made me feel things
I never felt before
It's changing me
Which direction so certainlyShook me up and threw me around
Helped me learn to breathe
It all in

To his immense, relief, Kurt jumped ahead a few lyrics, his voice high and clear in the middle of a countryside, in the middle of the night. His voice was tired and sad, and stripped of any other emotion, but it sounded so perfect to Blaine's ears, he listened, intrigued as his partner sang out, so different than the voice he used in Warblers practice.

When I was afraid to reach out
Oh, when I was the one to run
You came along with a new lease on love
To show me how it's done

Can you see
It's amazing what you do to me
Took my heart and made me feel things
I never felt before
It's changing me
Which direction so certainly
Shook me up and threw me around
Helped me learn to breathe
It all in

Voiced joined the other wise empty clearing, blending together in passion and friendship. The last note slowly died down, and Kurt let out a shaking breath before going to look through the snow again.

Blaine searched – or pretended to- until his finger grew stiff and blue, and when he finally couldn't take the ice that pierced at his knees, he rocked back onto the flat of his feet, eyes lingering on the curved back of the boy next to him.

"Kurt?" he whispered, calling attention to the distracted boy, "Who's ring is it?"

"...your sisters. It's Addie's ring. She threw it," his voice broke and Blaine nodded with understanding. His sister, however childish and immature she was never took relationships lightly. The last one, the freshest wound, would have been to Daniel Clark. Two years earlier they had started going out. In the last week they had done more fighting than talking, they all new – save for Kurt – that it was just a matter of time.

Blaine was a little disappointed in his friends for not recognizing his sister. A girl they hung out with much too regularly. And almost laughed aloud when he recalled Wes's description of this 'stranger'. Then again, his fascination with the girl was almost creepy. And he would most certainly enjoy the fact that she was now single. Kurt fell onto his bottom, waking Blaine from his thoughts, and staring up at his friend with a renewed sense of passion and aggression. "They broke up, and she asked me to meet her because she didn't think she could do it herself."

"Well," he reasoned, pulling Kurt to his feet, "I think if she threw it, then she doesn't want it back."

The (ugliest) yellow toque flopped over his smooth shin, tinted pink with the chilly bite of the night. "No, she wasn't crying. That means it's not really over. Quinn, she cried when Finn found out that Beth was Pucks. And Tina cried when Artie started dating Britt. And Mr. Schuester cried when Mrs. P married Couch Tanaka, and then when she married Carl. I cried when Finn called me a fa-"

Through all of this, Blaine listened, thoroughly confused who all these people were, and how any of it made sense. Although he was fairly sure Mr. Schuester was the teacher of New Direction, and he knew for sure that the heartbreaker's name who popped up not once, but twice, was Kurt's taller brother. And somehow people cried when they weren't ready to let go, but had to, or realized they had to, or something along those lines. Blaine was sure it all made sense to the soprano, but it certainly didn't make sense to him.

As Kurt's voice crackled on the last note, Blaine sighed sympathetically and pulled the smaller boy closer to him. They stood like that, embracing, in the snow swirling around their warm bodies in the middle of the clearing. Lit by only the full moon and a thousand and one twinkling stars.

"Addie didn't cry, I don't think they actually broke up." Kurt whispered against his shoulder, the closeness of his breath raising the tiny hairs on his neck. Kurt didn't want him new friend, the one that had made everything with Blaine come true, the one whose shoe box was in the back of his closet, to be unhappy.

Blaine rubbed his friends back and slowly pulled away, before he did something stupid like lean forward and put those bothered lips to silence. "Addie, she will cry. When she's home, in bed were no one can see her. They aren't together. Hot and Cold doesn't work for her." It didn't really work for him either.

"You think so?" Kurt whispered, stepping back as if to distance him self from embracement of almost crying.

"I know so," Kurt nodded and used his foot to fill the slight hole he had pushed clear of the snow. Blaine followed him, shoulders touching and hands brushing, though he didn't pull away because he was sure Kurt couldn't feel it though his yellow mittens.

They parted ways at the nose of the Navigator, and Blaine folded his hands under his arms, trying to heat them up. Kurt flicked a few buttons and backed up.

Heat jumped from the leather seats to lit Blaine with courage. Looking determinedly out the front window, watching the clearing slowly pull away and the highway grow closer, "Nobody is worth your tears. And the one who is won't make you cry."

It was meant to be encouraging, to help the small boy through whatever was going on in that beautiful head of him, but all Blaine wanted to do was cross the seats and shake the boy silly, his mind yelling 'And I right here!'