Disclaimer: I didn't receive it as a Christmas present from Santa :(

AN: MERRY CHRISTMAS! (yes I know I'm late, but you can never say Merry Christmas enough!) Here is your Christmas present! Sorry for disappearing for a while but I had final exams at University then Christmas, and soon stages. Don't know how often I'll be able to update from then on, but I'll try my best!

CHAPTER 11

Kurt Hummel sat in the common room with his two best friends in Dalton. The holidays were fast approaching and the ambiance at Dalton was a strange mix of happiness and stress. This semester's final exams were coming up and everyone seemed to be tense. And yet, people also relaxed in the common rooms, drinking eggnog and singing or listening to Christmas songs. Or singing Yiddish songs. Dalton had also included Hanukah decorations for the Jewish students. Rachel would like it. There was a lot to do these days and Kurt had a lot of remedial lessons to go to, but without the Warblers, Kurt had plenty of free time in his schedule. The Thursday practice in Lima was still happening every week, but the group had now expanded. Kurt had been delighted to see Mercedes again and to get to sing with her once more. Noah Puckerman however, had never been on his list of people to visit back in Lima. He hadn't quite known what to expect from him the first week he had been invited. He was however agreeably surprised. When Kurt started talking about feathers and glitters and how Rachel should totally used them next Thursday, the other boy's reaction had been:

"Fuck I missed you Hummel", which had shocked the living daylight out of Kurt. Rachel had smiled and said "I told you so". Puckerman was actually easy to talk to. They bantered and argued like before but there was absolutely no malice to it anymore. It was a strange relationship but it worked. Puck was really trying to be a better person and he knew that he had had a huge part in Kurt's bullying. He might not have had a problem with Kurt being gay but he had used homophobic slurs and had only encouraged other boys in thinking that something was wrong with Kurt because he was gay. In order to atone a little for his sins, he decided to prove that he was comfortable about Kurt being gay by asking him to sing a ballad with him. He knew that Finn had made Kurt feel awful about singing with a straight dude and he wanted to show the smaller boy that Finn was just an asshat. Kurt had of course refused to sing with his ex-bully at first but an insisting Rachel and a laughing Mercedes had forced him to do it. It had been awkward at first but he soon realised that the other boy was not going to freak out.

" How come you're so comfortable with me all of a sudden?" Kurt asked. The routine they had performed together had included actual touching.

"Hey I never had a problem with you being gay. You like who you like and I know you sure as hell won't like me and even then, I'm the Puckausurus. I'm a stud. That means girls aren't the only one attracted to me. Guys are too and it's fine. I don't go that way but there's nothing wrong with looking. I look at girls all the time, I don't see why gay dudes can't look at other dudes all the time too." Noah said, shrugging.

"Wow. Rachel was right. You really are changing"

Puck shrugged again. "Trying to. I'm sick of getting what I always got. Figured this might help. Talking about needing help, I heard you got yourself a boy crush who's actually gay but haven't been able to make a move yet."

Kurt blushed. "I'm gonna kill Rachel!"

"Oh please, like I wouldn't have figured it out by myself as soon as Mercedes asked 'How's Blaine?'" Puck laughed. "You're kind of obvious dude. "

"Great! Then that's mean he really isn't interested!" Kurt exclaimed sadly

Puck thought for a second. " he the only gay dude at Dalton?"

"No but it's him I like"

"Yeah I got that from your face, but getting a guy when you're a guy is probably like getting a guy when you're a girl right?"

"I suppose" Kurt said slowly, not getting what the other guy was talking about.

"Hummel, when a girl wants a guy to notice her, what does she do?"

"Well there are many things. Make herself prettier, talk to him more, get in the same circle he hangs with, try to make him jealous…" Then it clicked. "Jealousy. You think I should try to make Blaine jealous?"

"Ooh bad idea there white boys" Mercedes said coming up behind them, with the rest of their friends. "Those games often turn around on you"

"Yeah because normally the girl dates the other guy or pretends to like the other guy, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm not saying Hummel should pretend to like someone else, that wouldn't work. I'm saying someone else needs to find Kurt really interesting so that that Blaine dude gets jealous because someone is clearly trying to sway his Kurt away from him"

Kurt and the others started debating whether this was a good idea or not, well everyone except Rachel. She just stood there thinking. Why was Kurt's gut telling him he would regret Noah's suggestion being voiced in the presence of Rachel?

Speaking of Rachel, Kurt had grown more apprehensive where she was concerned the more the holidays approached. He just knew she had something up her sleeve. She had been planning something but she had refused to tell him anything about it which meant that it somehow involved him. And then one day, sitting with Joshua and Marcus, he was given an inkling into her plan.

"I can't wait for the open days to arrive! I haven't seen my girl in what seems like forever. Thank goodness her school has early exams. She's refused to talk to me for more than 20 minutes, let alone actually seeing me, because of the exams!" Joshua said.

"Wait Josh, what are open days?" Kurt asked. His two friends' eyes widened in surprise.

"The best time of the year. Visitors are accepted on campus until curfew. And sure we can leave Dalton, but only for three hours maximum. On open days, our family can come visit us for the entire day. Although normally, it's mostly the girlfriends that visit." Marcus explained.

"oh Lord." Kurt groaned. "That's what Rachel's been planning" Kurt whispered to himself. His two friends heard him however and looked at each other in a strange way.

"What was that look?" Kurt asked suspicious all of a sudden.

"What look, there wasn't a look right Marcus?" Josh said nervously.

Marcus glared at him. "Josh" Kurt said "You need to learn to lie. Now spill Mister!" Kurt said firmly, giving him his best glare. He could see Josh was fighting against himself not to say anything and Marcus was telling him to shut up but soon enough, the inevitable happened. "She called us!" Josh spilled, screaming loudly. He then slapped his hand over his mouth.

"Dude seriously, what's with you and Kurt? You always spill when he asks you something. You gotta learn to say no." Marcus said shaking his head.

"Oh it's easy for you to say! He's never doing it to you. He doesn't look at you like your mother does. I swear my mom always knows everything, you can't keep anything from her and Kurt has the same superpower! I can't help it man. He looks at me like that and I want to admit every bad thing I've ever done. He'd be a killer interrogator"

Marcus shook his head again. Joshua Petterson was truly a lost cause.

"What do you mean she called you?"

"He means just that." Marcus said. "One day his phone rang and this girl presented herself as Rachel Berry, Kurt's friend and said she needed to talk to him and me. How she got his number we still haven't figured out."

"But it took us two seconds to figure out that you do not say no to that girl. Seriously man, she's scary."

Rachel had made quite an impression on the two boys. When she had called Joshua, she had been in her full diva mode.

It all started when Joshua's phone had rung and the call was from an unknown person. He had answered it anyway, even though Marcus said he shouldn't. Josh almost never listened to Marcus. And he almost always lived to regret it.

"Hello?"

"Ah yes, am I speaking to Joshua Petterson?"

"Ye…"

"Oh good" the girl voice interrupted him. "My name is Rachel Berry and I'm one of Kurt Hummel's best friends. I've seem to have understood that you and a certain Marcus Matters are friends with him"

"yes Kurt is our friend"

"Yes I know that, it's what I'm calling you. See we have to do something about the Warblers situation, and especially the Blaine situation, but not being a Dalton student make planning this much more difficult and I need things to be said at certain precise points and I can't very well say them because they won't care about an outsider's point of view, they need to hear it from one of the boys you know? And…"

"Uhm excuse me Miss Berry" Joshua interrupted her. "But I don't really understand what you're talking about." He said slightly scared of her reaction.

Marcus rolled his eyes. "Give me that." He took Josh's phone and put it on speaker.

"Miss Berry, this is Marcus Matters. I'm afraid my friend Joshua is somewhat confused, could you please tell me what you told him?"

"Ah yes. I'm Rachel, Kurt's friend and I wanted your help to deal with the Warblers situation."

"What Warblers situation. Kurt is not a Warbler anymore" Josh said.

"Exactly! And did you hear them weep? No!" Rachel ranted. "Do you know how devastated we were to lose Kurt? Not just as a friend but as a performer too. And these guys think Kurt is dispensable, like he wasn't the most talented of them all. But he was! And they know it! He sang 'Don't cry for me Argentina' in audition and told him not to try so hard! Do you know how easy it is for Kurt and I to pull off this kind of song in matters of seconds? That's not him trying hard, it's him being himself! He was like a zombie with them and they need to be crushed. They need to be shown that Kurt was amazing and that they should have appreciated him like he deserves! So are you with me or not?"

Josh and Marcus looked at each other. Did they really want to know what this girl reserved for them if they didn't cooperate? No, they really didn't. And beside Kurt was their friend and it's not like it was a sacrifice for them to do something against the Warblers. Especially for Josh.

"If you want to give the Warblers a lesson and shove it in their pretentious little face, count me in, little lady! I got a few things to settle with some of them myself and I love Kurt, man. He's great, totally not like those 'stick up the arse' katy perry wannabes!" Josh said.

"Joshua language!" Marcus said "Beside, they're not bad individually. And Kurt likes Blaine so…"

"Really? I didn't notice that?"

"Are you kidding me?" Marcus and Rachel exclaimed at the same time. "Kurt is crazy about Blaine" Rachel said. "But not about Warbler!Blaine. Outside Dalton, when they met just the two of them, Blaine was very different and its that Blaine that Kurt loves. He needs some major wake up call!"

"Agreed" Marcus said. "Watching Kurt pine for Blaine from afar, only to see Blaine doing the same thing for Kurt, is starting to grate on my nerve as much as Joshua can be an idiot"

"Hey!" the other boy said. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I rest my case" Marc answered.

"Alright. I'm so happy you two are on board. Now this is what we're going to do.." Rachel said.

"Joshua, Marcus!" Kurt snapped his friend out of their memory. "Why did Rachel call you?"

"Uhm…." Josh started but Marc put his hand over his friend's mouth.

"Let me handle this, Blabber-Mouth. Rachel is planning a surprise and she needed our help. That's all. She's not planning world domination and we'll all be grateful for that fact."

"She's planning a surprised and she needed you guys? There has to be more to it."

"There isn't." Marc said convincingly.

"Oh really?" Kurt said ironically "Then why is your hand still keeping Joshua from talking?"

"Because Joshua will blurt out what the surprise is and you can't fake surprise worth a damn Hummel, which means that Rachel will be sad and then angry at us and we don't want that."

"Fine. I'll trust your judgement in this matter, but I do not like surprises so I hope for you it will be a good one."

Marc and Josh sighed. Well they had dodged that bullet! Only one week to go and Rachel's plan would unfold. Well her first plan anyway. The Blaine situation was another story. They'll have to wait and see. If this wasn't enough of a wake up call, Josh and Marc would have to take matters in their own hands.

/

An: Yes I know it's really short, but I wanted to post for this fic before New Year! Hope that though it was short you still liked it!