Author's Note: I think most of you noticed that I didn't post on Thanksgiving. First of all, it was a holiday and second of all this chapter wasn't really "perfect" up until this point. So I'm extremely sorry for the wait.

Considering what goes down, this would be an early Christmas present for you all.

Enjoy!

Kurt was feeling like Garfield on a Monday. Again.

It was the last week of school before Christmas break. It didn't help him that there was Christmas decorations scattered all over Dalton, from the classrooms, to corridors, to common rooms. Everywhere Kurt went, the Christmas bug hit him each time. He knew that it was going to be a very long week.

Even in Warbler rehearsals, there was Christmas cheer going around, and today Kurt wasn't in the mood. A lot of them were attempting to tap dance on tables, chairs, and other pieces of furniture like in the movie The Polar Express. A good portion failed, or they looked like they had jelly legs that didn't work. Or they would have impromptu Christmas songs like "Jingle Bells", "White Christmas", and "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" with rallying cheers after each performance by students who had heard the music blasting from across the campus and have rushed over to listen to it.

Ever since Sectionals, Mason had frequently missed rehearsals to the point where everyone believed that he just quit. It was a nice change in the Warbler atmosphere, since no one was giving out free samples of glares to Mason.

Blaine was even more comfortable during the rehearsals. He and Kurt would just fall into their own little world while everyone else horsed around. They would keep on talking and they would never run out of subjects; they all just kept on coming in, replacing the old ones and kept them going.

Before Kurt knew it, yet another "rehearsal" was down the drain. Everyone surged out of the room as Wes banged his gavel and officially announced that there wouldn't be any more rehearsals until they all returned from winter break. Like usual, no one listened and headed out of the door.

Kurt followed his friends out of the room, and across the hall before turning left to an empty, cozy looking common room that was perfect for doing his homework in peace. The Christmas decorations in the room made it very homey, and there was a sizzling fire lit inside of the fireplace, that gave it the cliché Christmas Eve look.

Right away, he pulled out his history textbook from his messenger bag and a notebook that contained notes from the current chapter he was assigned to this week. He sat down at a small brass table and began to work.

He didn't get too far before drifting away from history and began to daydream about Blaine, once again. Ever since Sectionals, Kurt was always, always thinking about Blaine. It was like it was his latest obsession that he wasn't going to get over until God knew when. Most of the things were innocent, like he once had a dream a couple of nights ago where he and Blaine were in front of a fireplace, and they were cuddling together on top of a couch with a blanket draped over them. One of his daydreams he had earlier that day that made him blush in the middle of Algebra I was he was below Blaine, and they were passionately making out in his dorm. Luckily for him, no one noticed how red he was, and he could've passed as a tomato at a Farmer's Market.

The dream with him and Blaine cuddling by the fireplace whirled in his memory, seeing that there was indeed a fireplace right in front of him. Kurt stared almost lovingly at the fireplace, trying to recreate the scene in front of his own eyes. Unfortunately, it was harder than it looked and he couldn't do it, and his eyes were beginning to strain.

Or maybe it was the fact that he seriously had to do his homework. His teacher could make you feel really guilty if you don't do your homework, and he had heard stories from Wes of how he felt like he was in a black hole after a long lecture by the teacher.

That got him to focus again. His hand worked furiously as he scribbled out the words to his page to the point where the words seemed to blur and mash together to make a word from another language. The sound of the scrit-scrat of the pencil was on a repeating loop in his head and sooner or later his wrist was beginning to throb.

He didn't know how long he was doing homework. What finally broke his great streak of concentration was when he heard a soft thud. His head shot up and his eyes locked with Blaine's, looking incredibly handsome in his Dalton blazer. But was there ever a time when Blaine didn't look incredible in his Dalton blazer.

"Hey," Blaine said.

"You scared me," Kurt said. And when did his voice get so high pitched?

"Well, good, because I'm actually Marley's ghost, and I'm hear to tell you to stop studying so hard," Blaine whispered in a mocking tone as he sat across from Kurt.

"What's with the boom box?" Kurt asked, gesturing his head towards the object sitting delicately on another table.

"I need you to sing with me," Blaine explained. "Well, rehearse with me. I got a gig singing 'Baby It's Cold Outside in the King's Island Christmas Spectacular!"

Kurt could not have been more delighted. An extremely beautiful boy, was offering to sing one of the most classical, flirtatious Christmas duets in all of history with him? This was a dream come true.

"Aha, a personal favorite," Kurt smiled. "Too bad they never let us sing it together..." he gulped at his words, noticing Blaine raising his eyebrows. "I mean as…two artists."

Blaine hummed in understanding. "So you'd help me out here?"

"Anything to get me to stop reading about Charlemagne." Kurt replied as he crossed one of his legs over the other.

Blaine got up from his chair, walked to the boom box, and clicking a button. The piano music coming from the player filled the air. Blaine did this adorable side-step then a twirl closer to Kurt, handing him the signal to start off.

I really can't stay,

But baby it's cold outside

I've got to go away

But baby it's cold outside

What a great start! And Kurt wasn't even really trying! He could do this song in his sleep, but he wanted to stay awake to really sing it well with Blaine.

This evening has been, so very nice

I'll hold your hands; they're just like ice!

Feeling extra gutsy, Kurt got up to walk past the couch, and much to his surprise, Blaine seemed to follow along, pleading with the lyrics to the song.

My mother will start to worry

Beautiful what's your hurry?

My father will be pacing the floor

Listen to the fireplace roar

This was all too adorable. Kurt was smiling like a crazy maniac and the two of them were singing the song as if they were playing the part.

So really I better scurry

Beautiful what's your hurry?

But maybe just half a drink more

Put some records on while I pour

That's it. They were flirting, and Blaine had that strange look in his eyes… No, Kurt. He slapped himself mentally, but on the outside kept a poker face while singing the next few lines with Blaine.

The neighbors might think

Baby it's bad out there

Say, what's in this drink?

No cabs to be had out there

I wish I knew how

Your eyes are like starlight now

To break this spell

I'll take your hat, your hair looks swell

After singing those lyrics Kurt moved on to keep the song going and leaned on the back of the couch. Blaine was right behind him, moving closer to the point where they're shoulder-to-shoulder.

I ought to say no, no, no

Mind if I move closer?

At least I'm gonna to say that I tried

What's the sense in hurting my pride?

I really can't stay

Baby don't hold out

Oh but it's cold outside

Now they were sitting on the piano bench by the corner in the back of the room. While there was a short interlude, Blaine played some of the piano keys that weaved into the song. Kurt almost got lost in the dancing fingers, but got back up and continued with the song. As they were singing the next part, they were leaning up against the blazing fireplace. Even though the fire was warm, Kurt was feeling a shiver run up his spine.

I've got to get home

But baby you'll freeze out there

Say, lend me a coat

It's up to your knees out there

You've really been grand

I thrill when you touch my hand

But don't you see?

How can you do this thing to me?

There's bound to be talked tomorrow

Think about life's long sorrow

At least there was plenty implied

If you get pneumonia and died

Kurt turned and walked around the couch so he was standing only a few feet away from him.

I really can't stay

Get over that hold out

The two of them argued with their eyes about who gets to sit down on the couch first. At the end, they just sat together simultaneously.

Oh but it's cold outside!

It was too obvious. Kurt was bright red as a tomato, and Blaine's eyes were twinkling under the light of the fireplace. At that moment, all Kurt wanted to do was to lean over and press his lips on Blaine's.

Instead, he said looked straight into Blaine's (gorgeous) hazel eyes and said, "I think you're ready." I am such a coward.

"For the record," Blaine said as he stood up. "You are much better than that girl's going to be." With a wink, Blaine grabbed the handle of the boom box and strolled out the door, whistling to the tune.

xXxXx

Blaine was on cloud nine. When he walked by a man in a sweater vest and brown curled hair that could've been Kurt's former Glee club teacher, the man gave him a weird look that said why is that boy so damn happy? Well, that was because Blaine just sang the perfect duet with the most perfect boy on Earth and he was on top of the world. If he tried, he could conquer the world instead of being on top if it.

Just as he rounded the corner, still whistling to the tune, he clashed with someone's backside.

"Oh, sorry, I…" he stopped himself short when he saw that the person he bumped into turned around. Seriously, the timing was just impeccable.

"Hey, there, Blaine," Mason Rowans said, sarcasm dripping like poison from his voice.

"I'm not going to deal with you now, Mason." His grip onto the handle of the boom box tightened to the point where his knuckles have turned white.

Blaine tried to step aside him, but Mason blocked his way again. "I heard you singing with the Queen Gay back there. 'Baby It's Cold Outside'? Really Blaine? Out of all the cheddar cheesy songs you pick, you pick the one that was probably the most inappropriate?"

"Lay off, Mason." Blaine growled.

"And I'm very surprised that you and Hummel didn't attack each other afterwards. Hell, he was giving you the eyes."

"Wait, you-"

"Saw the whole damn thing," Mason confirmed with a frown. "It was utterly disgusting. A disgrace to our country," Blaine looked at him puzzled, but didn't interrupt, "what were you planning to do with that song? Was it really to practice for a make-believe gig for King's Island? Or was it an opportunity to ask the Lady Pants on a date in the land of rainbows and purple pansies?"

Blaine's eyebrows furrowed. "How do you even know that King's Island doesn't even have a Christmas Spectacular?"

"Because, Blanderson, practically everyone knows that King's Island doesn't have a 'Christmas Spectacular'." Mason deadpanned, crossing his arms to hold his ground.

Blaine sighed. "Mason, can you please leave me alone? We're done, okay? You just couldn't ignore the evident signs that screamed that we were friends, and nothing more, and-"

That was when Mason took a few threatening steps closer to him to the point where they were forehead-to-forehead.

"Now listen, J. Pierrepont Finch," Mason spat. "I don't like the direction you're following here on your map of absolute stupidity. We were meant for each other-"

"No, we weren't," snapped Blaine, his face red with anger. "We fought all the time and we only got along when I transferred, and after that, we were always screaming at each other like we are now!"

Mason backed away, hands up as if he was surrendering. "Okay, okay, you win, you win… for now." He was hiding the smile that Blaine always knew when he was up to trouble. With that, he passed Blaine and strolled towards the trouble itself: the room with Kurt and his Glee club teacher still in there.

"What are you going to do, Mason? Are you going to tell Kurt about my lie?" Blaine asked. Inside, he prayed that his failed reverse-psychology worked.

Mason stopped short, and looked behind from, an evil look in his eyes. "Sure? Why not?"
Blaine all but bolted to Mason, grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling him back, stopping him from going further.

"Mason," Blaine pleaded. "Don't. Please."

"Mm, who's having the advantage now?" Mason chuckled and spun around to face Blaine. "Fine. I won't. But, please, stay in line for me. Don't get too close to the Prancing Unicorn-Elf-Faun from Narnia. Otherwise, I'll sing like a Warbler, and who knows?" He shrugged. "He might not want to be best buddies for life with you anymore. Get the picture?"

Reluctant, with no other choice, Blaine nodded his head, his eyes beginning to well up with tears.

"Excellent!" Mason was truly smiling like a kid on Christmas morning. He then walked passed Blaine for the last time, not heading towards the room with Kurt and his former teacher, but down the hallway and out the doors of Dalton.

xXxXx

When Kurt hugged Blaine and said his farewells as he left campus for Christmas break, he didn't mistaken the way Blaine was all tensed up when he offered a hug (and Blaine gave out the best hugs ever) and the grimace that he had. Something was wrong, and Kurt knew it. But when he asked, Blaine shrugged it off like it was no big deal.

With his luggage filled with cloths and Christmas presents for his family and friends, Kurt strolled to the parking lot to his baby… to his Navigator. Finn had brought it over from the tire shop and Kurt wasn't surprised to see him there, smiling his dopey grin of his.

Once he was within ten feet of Finn, his tall, lanky stepbrother charged at him and attacked him with a bear hug.

"Finn," Kurt gasped. "You're crushing my lungs and other vital organs."

Finn let go, but was still smiling nonetheless. "Sorry, bro. I'm just so glad to see you."

He grabbed Kurt's suitcase and lugged it into the Navigator. They climbed inside and drove over back to Lima.

"So how's gay Hogwarts?" Finn asked casually. "Is the school as great as it sounds?"

Kurt nodded. "Oh yes. The classes are extremely difficult, but everyone there is kinder than the kids at McKinley. Although, you wouldn't last an hour there, academically."

Finn's eyebrows furrowed. "C'mon, man. Really?"

"I'm only teasing you." Kurt said with a shrug. "And besides, it's true."

"Rachel and Mercedes are really looking forward to seeing you." Finn said, trying to change the subject.

"Really?"

"Yeah, something about you and Blaine, ya know, Rachel's stepbrother."

"I know who Blaine is," Kurt said.

"Yeah, well, they keep on whispering about you guys dating or something, and wait, are you guys dating? When you hugged, it looked like he didn't want you to go."

"We're not dating!" Kurt exclaimed, looking at Finn in shock. "We're just… really, really good friends."

"Friends. Yeah, right," Finn scoffed. "Kurt, he was glowing when you were talking to him."
Kurt didn't know how to answer that, so he kept his mouth shut and observed out the window.

"Aww," Finn cooed, as he realized that Kurt stopped speaking. "I see what's going on here. You like him!"
Kurt's head whipped back to exclaim, "No, I don't!"

"Oh, yeah you do!"

"I don't, Finn! And if you mention this to anyone, I swear to all things McQueen…" Kurt smiled devilishly. "I won't bake you any of those Christmas cookies that you've been begging for me to make."

Finn's eyes widened. "Not the cookies." He whispered brokenly.

"Yes, the cookies," Kurt confirmed with a shake of the head. "Now you have to keep your lips sealed. Don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Yes sir."

"So how's Quinn? Or is it Rachel now? Or did you change things up and decide to date Brittany or something?"

Finn sighed. "I don't even know anymore."

xXxXx

"Blaine, what happened?"

Rachel was cradling her phone in her hand. The second she got off of school grounds she was already speed-dialing Blaine's cell phone number. Not much to her surprise, Blaine barely answered on the first ring.

"I…It… I just…" Blaine was stuttering on the other line.

"Can you tell me what happened?" She was slowly walking across the parking lot, not really paying attention to anything else surrounding her.

She heard him take a rather deep breath before uttering, "I sang the duet with Kurt."

"That's great, Blaine!" Rachel was really trying to stay optimistic as she spotted her car. "But I don't understand. Did Kurt like the gesture?"

"Kurt was amazing, Rachel. He was enjoying it the whole way through and I chickened out. And I'm thankful I did."

"Why did you chicken out?" Rachel asked.

"I-I don't know," Blaine whined. "I just did."

"And why would you be glad that you chickened out?" Rachel was digging her car keys from her bag, trying to listen intently into her phone.

"Because Mason heard the whole thing."

Rachel tried to hold in her audible gasp, but it slipped, along with her car keys from her hand.

"But, wait, that's not that big of a deal, isn't it?" Rachel crouched down to the cement, picking up the keys.

"It is… I accidentally told Kurt a lie about the duet."

Rachel sighed, staying in place, only a few feet away from her car. Going through Blaine like this was like finding the needle in the haystack. "Why in the world would you tell Kurt a lie? What did you say?"

"I thought that telling Kurt that I wanted to sing a duet with him for fun would make him refuse to sing with me," Blaine explained, his voice slightly straining from the other line of the call. "So I said I wanted him to rehearse with me for a gig at the King's Island Christmas Spectacular."

"Blaine, King's Island doesn't even have a 'Christmas Spectacular'."

"I know! That's Mason blackmail material!"

Rachel's breath hitched and she swore her heart almost skipped a beat. "Wha-"

"After the duet, I bumped into Mason and he heard the whole thing. The duet. He thinks that if he tells Kurt about that the Christmas Spectacular lie Kurt will then hate me forever!"

"Blaine, calm down," Rachel said slowly. "Mason is completely powerless. Kurt would never 'hate' someone because they did a little white lie because of the sake of being a coward-"

"Hey!"

"-So you don't have to worry about a thing," Rachel continued. "Okay?"

"Okay."

"Good! Now I have to get home to practice many more traditional Christmas songs for Glee club, and you have to pack up for the break, don't you?"

She could hear the happiness and relief radiating from Blaine's voice. "Oh yeah! And thank you, Rachel. I feel so much better now."
"You're welcome," Rachel smiled, despite Blaine not being able to even see it. "Now get going!"
With a final, "yes, ma'am" Blaine hung up on her.

Rachel sighed as she stuffed her phone back into her bag. This was going to be much harder than she thought.

Author's Note: Wow.

Sneak Peek: I'm torn between going through a filler chapter with Kurt and Blaine's separate Christmas breaks or just jumping to the Sue Sylvester Shuffle

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