It might still be early December for everyone, but over here, ND is having the festive spirit!

Ethan makes a special appearance in this chapter! (:

Oh, I am SO SO SO SO SORRY I didn't update last week! My family went overseas for a holiday and I didn't manage to get much internet connection so my 'punishment' for not doing so was missing lots of riots on Tumblr. Don't hate me. x.x

-JessC


Chapter 8: Christmas

Time has passed really swiftly. It only seemed like yesterday that she had gotten down from her plane at the airport in Ohio.

A snowball to the window woke Laella up as she struggled not to leave the mmm, so warm bed with all its comforters and pillows. She glanced at the calendar. Oh my, it's Christmas Eve already, she smiled slightly as she got out of her bed to confront the intruder.

"Oi! Laella Amelyn Anderson! Get down from there you lazy bones!"

Laella shuffled in her bunny slippers and threw open the window, only to receive a late snowball to her face. "What, Blaine Carter Anderson?" she yelled to her laughing brother in the courtyard, wiping the excess snow from her face. "Let me remind you that I'm not the morning person and I'm closer to burning your blazers than you are to save them!"

"Spoilsport!" Blaine grinned as he prepared another snowball to hit his sister. Laella ducked just in time. "Kurt's coming over soon!" he yelled back, bouncing on his heels before falling over in the soft snow and starting to make a snow angel.

And he is two years older than me. Laella rolled her eyes as she shrugged on her coat. She checked her phone on her desk for any new text messages.

Laella! Remember to get Blaine Warbler over to BrittBritt's house for the party later! Love ya girl! –'Cedes

And

Merry Christmas Eve! I love you. Remember to check your mail! - Cam xx

She smiled as she raced downstairs to challenge her brother to a snowball war.


Blaine was pretending to sleep when she got there. Laella smirked and knelt down to make a snowball.

"Wow… what year is it?" Blaine was jolted awake by a really, really cold substance hitting smack on his face.

"The year 1942, and you better run because World War II is about to start." Laella ran behind a tree to hide from her brother's return to planet Earth.

There was no response for a moment, and Laella quietly peered over from the tree she was hiding from. Where the hell was Blaine-

"Run! The enemy soldiers are here! Run for your life, my lady!"

Laella let out a high-pitched scream as she was tackled backwards, crushing Blaine underneath as she hit the soft and cold bedding of snow. Blaine laughed as both of them crashed into the snow and Laella rolled away from him, getting up with a glower on her face. "I'm pretty sure they are, Anderson."

"Kids?"

Their mother peeked her head outside the back door. "I think you two would want to find out who just stopped by."

Blaine and Laella looked at each other incredulously.

Out of sheer curiosity and a small thought of 'I think I know who', they raced each other back to the house.


Laella stopped outside the entrance to the living room and peered in. There was a well-built man sitting on the couch, reading the newspapers. Blaine skidded and almost knocked Laella to the ground (again) due to her sudden stop. "Geez, what are you doing?"

The man suddenly perked up, as if just sensing their presence in the room, and turned around. Laella's suspicions were confirmed.

"Ethan!" she squealed, running forward and into the arms of her 20 year old brother.

"Lae!" Ethan stumbled back a little with the force of his sister's embrace. He grinned as Blaine stepped into the room. "Hey guys. Anything happen in the household when I was away?"

"This little girl here got a boyfriend."

"And that hobbit who's only 2 years older than me has one too."

"Wow, too much information!" Ethan laughed. He motioned for them to sit at either sides of him and they did. "Okay, Laella- give me the details."

Glaring at the smirk from Blaine, Laella replied. "He's Cameron. We met at Austin. Blah blah blah, what do you actually want me to say? You haven't met him yet."

Ethan nodded. "Soon, okay? Alright, Blaine. Please don't tell me that boyfriend of yours is another curly-haired dude like you."

Blaine smiled. "Kurt. He's beautiful and perfect and dreamy…"

"Ethan! He's being lovesick again."

"Shut up, smurfy."

"Guys!" Ethan snorted. Welcome back home, he guessed. "Boyfriend?" he lowered his voice. "Blaine, have you told mom and dad?"

Laella sighed. "Don't you remember last year? Apparently our dear accepting parents would never remember that. The whole reason Blaine's now at McKinley's because they want to be introduced to someone of the opposite sex."

There was a significant awkward silence.

"Let's not bring this up. It's Christmas Eve." Ethan was the first to break the ice, putting his arms around his siblings. "Make it a good Christmas for once."

The two nodded silently as they rested near the roaring fire of the fireplace.

"Oh yeah, guys, guess what? I'm coming back for good."


"Hey guys!" Mercedes beamed as she pulled Kurt, Blaine and Laella into a hug. "You're late."

"Sorry!" Kurt apologized profusely. "Laella froze when she received her boyfriend's Christmas gift and it took half an hour to revive her."

"You-"

Mercedes laughed as they walked into her house. "We're waiting for you. Come on! Blaine, Puck brought along an Xbox and-" she was interrupted by the yelling from the living room. "You get the picture. And the two of you-"she looked towards Kurt and Laella, "we're baking cookies for the ravenous T-Rexes and basically for ourselves too for the gift giving session later."

As Blaine went to join the guys, Mercedes led them to the kitchen, where…. Basically no one was making an effort in baking. They were mostly deterred by Brittany, who insisted on not 'killing those poor baby chicks.'

"Britt, they aren't made with a papa chicken, so there most likely won't be any little chicks inside."

"I'm so confused…"

But just when Brittany's back was turned, Quinn quickly cracked the few eggs left in the carton. She waved at Laella as Laella made to join her, Kurt busy trying to explain the principles to Brittany.

After successfully convincing Brittany, the batches of cookies were baking in the oven, some earlier batches being set to cool. The girls went to the dining room to rest.

"Er… guys? Why are the boys so quiet? Are they dead or…" Laella was the first to break the tired silence.

This time, everybody noticed and they slowly straightened themselves up on their chairs. "If they broke my house while fighting each other, I will not show any mercy." Mercedes stood up.

"Ooh, scary 'Cedes."


When they rounded the corner to the living room, it wasn't to find a broken vase. It was to find the boys standing in a line, Puck and Artie with guitars. Santana just nodded knowingly and joined them.

"Okay, what is going on?"

Without replying to Quinn, Puck started strumming on the guitar, simply smirking at her. Laella's eyes lit up at the familiar song. The boys started singing together.

1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4

Winking at Rachel, who blushed, Finn took over the first verse.

Give me more lovin' than I've ever had

Make it all better when I'm feelin' sad

Tell me that I'm special even when I know I'm not

Santana stepped forward, grabbing Brittany's hands and twirling her around.

Make me feel good when I hurt so bad

Barely gettin' mad, I'm so glad I found you

I love bein' around you

You make it easy, it's as easy as 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4

Nodding at each other, the singers stepped aside to reveal a laptop. The initial darkness on the screen brightened to reveal a boy sitting at the screen, strumming on a guitar.

Laella's eyes widened and she gasped.

"Merry Christmas, beautiful!" Cameron smiled softly before continuing to sing with the boys, his tenor voice standing out.

There's only one thing to do

Three words for you I love you

There's only one way to say

Those three words and that's what I'll do, I love you

Blaine, while holding the remote control in one hand to act as a microphone, took Kurt by the hand and twirled him around like a waltz. Mercedes just rushed over to Sam, who was standing with Artie and Rory, linking their hands together as Sam sang with Blaine. Artie and Rory watched the happy couples around them, smiling at the joy in the room but still wishing that they had their special someone.

Give me more lovin' from the very start

Piece me back together when I fall apart

Tell me things you never even tell your closest friends

Puck stepped forward, gesturing for Quinn to take his hand and Quinn soon took over the chords of the song on Puck's guitar.

Make me feel good when I hurt so bad

Best that I've had, I'm so glad that I found you

I love bein' around you

You make it easy, it's as easy as 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4

Mike stepped forward shyly, putting an arm around Tina's shoulders. Since the group had found out about Mike's singing ability, they had been shamelessly making him sing with them.

There's only one thing to do

Three words for you I love you

There's only one way to say

Those three words and that's what I'll do, I love you

I love you

The whole room started to blend together in song, tenor, bass, alto, soprano, and countertenor.

1, 2, 3, 4

I love you

I love you


"Having a good Christmas Eve so far?"

Laella smiled at her goofy boyfriend from behind the computer screen. "I hoped you received my gift."

"I did, and I've been listening to the songs for hours." Cameron laughed, holding up the custom-made CD that Laella made containing their songs. "And you?"

Laella fingered with the necklace chain on her neck. Taking it out, a tiny heart-shaped locket was revealed. "I love it."


R & R!