Day 8: Hiccup/Secret Santa
A/N: Fun fact – I almost did a Secret Santa storyline for the Emergency/Presents prompt a few days ago.
One of the few perks of being an office intern at the holidays was getting to partake in the office's Secret Santa gift exchange. Kurt always loved an excuse to shop, even if he had to stay within a set budget, and was admittedly excited to see who his Santa would be. Of course, he had hoped it would be a certain very dapper fellow intern. Getting to meet him had been the best perk of this internship, bar none.
"Kurt!" Rachel exclaimed, rushing up to his desk.
"Hey, Rach," Kurt greeted her. "Is it time to do the gift exchange already? Here, let me get mine," he said, pulling a small gift bag out from under his desk. "I drew Chelsea from Marketing. I got her some hand lotion from the store she likes, but not that awful scent she usually uses. I mean, really, we get it. You like gardenias, but come on…"
"Kurt!" Rachel interrupted, slapping her hand on the desk dramatically to get his attention.
"What?"
"About Secret Santa. There seems to have been a little…hiccup," she said with a wince.
"Hiccup? What kind of hiccup?" Kurt asked.
"I, um, I forgot to bring my gift today," she admitted sheepishly.
"Oh, Rachel," Kurt admonished. "How could you? Now some poor soul isn't going to get a gift. Whose name did you pick?"
Rachel hesitated, shrinking back. "I picked…um…Blaine?"
"What!" Kurt shouted, quickly darting his eyes around to see if anyone had noticed his outburst. "What?" he repeated in a whisper-shout. "You picked Blaine's name and you didn't tell me?"
Kurt had spent hours telling Rachel, his best friend and roommate, of his secret crush on Blaine, the charming intern whose desk was placed by fate and the gods across the aisle from Kurt's. His hopeless devotion to Blaine had been the subject of many a late-night chat over ice cream or wine.
"I couldn't tell you," Rachel replied. "It's supposed to be a secret."
"How could you forget, Rach? There've been like twenty e-mails about it in the past week!"
"I've been very busy!" Rachel defended, crossing her arms in front of herself. "With NYADA, and work, and you know I'm practicing for my Funny Girl audition…"
Kurt sighed. He couldn't let Blaine go without a gift. Not Blaine, who was so excited about Christmas that he'd even decorated his desk with lights and a tiny tree. Sweet, adorable Blaine, who Kurt had seen this morning wearing a bright red cardigan with a white shirt and a green bow tie.
"Here," he said, shoving the gift bag at Rachel as he made a snap decision.
"Kurt, I can't give him hand lotion," Rachel protested.
"No, you can't. But congratulations, you are now Chelsea's Secret Santa," Kurt declared, standing and turning Rachel around by the shoulders to push her in the direction of the Marketing office.
"But what about Blaine?" Rachel tried to ask as she stumbled forward.
"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it," Kurt promised.
(Ten minutes later)
"Package for Kurt Hummel!"
Kurt was startled as a gift box was placed in front of him on his desk. He looked up from the shiny wrapping paper and bow to see none other than Blaine smiling down at him. "Merry Christmas, Kurt. I'm your Secret Santa!" he announced.
Kurt couldn't help the giant smile that overtook his countenance. "Really?"
"Go ahead. Open it," Blaine encouraged, sliding the box across the desk a little closer to Kurt.
Kurt could feel himself blushing as he carefully unwrapped the box. He went slowly, savoring every second. Finally, he opened the lid and removed the contents – a lovely snow globe with a charming wintry New York landscape inside. Instinctively, Kurt swirled the globe around and watched with fascination as flakes of snow and glitter fluttered around, creating the perfect holiday scene.
"Blaine, it's beautiful," he breathed, gazing up at his Secret Santa in wonder.
The color rose in Blaine's cheeks as he smiled softly. "I'm glad you like it. I know it's your first Christmas in New York, and I wanted to give you something to remember it by," he explained.
A brief silence passed, during which neither one could look away from the other. A phone ringing loudly at the next desk broke the moment, causing Kurt to cough self-consciously while Blaine rubbed the back of his neck.
"Well, I should probably go," Blaine started, pointing in the general vicinity of his desk.
"No, wait!" Kurt stopped him, opening his desk drawer and producing a small box. He held it out to Blaine, biting his lip nervously. "I'm your Secret Santa, too."
Blaine's eyes widened in surprise. He walked around the desk to Kurt's side, perching on the corner and taking the box from his hands. "What a coincidence!" he laughed.
A week prior, when the Secret Santa exchange had been announced but the names not yet drawn, Kurt passed a shop on his way home and, on impulse, purchased an item he saw in the window. He was crushed when he drew Chelsea's name from the hat the following day. He'd kept the gift anyway – wrapped it even – and had been keeping it in his bottom desk drawer. In his fantasies, he gave the gift to Blaine, who loved it so much, he swept Kurt off his feet and they lived happily ever after. In reality, he planned to leave it for him anonymously. Blaine would never know it was from him, but Kurt would be content with having done something to make Blaine happy.
"Oh, Kurt! It's perfect!" Blaine gushed, holding up the silk bowtie with little Christmas trees on it. He instantly undid his own bowtie (Kurt's heart skipped a beat at that sight) and replaced it with the new tie. "What do you think?" he asked, tilting his chin up and preening.
Kurt stood and reached out with slightly shaking hands. "It's just a tad bit…there," he whispered as he straightened the tie. "Very festive, Mr. Anderson," he complimented.
"You know, I think a tie like this deserves to be seen," Blaine began, slipping off the desk and holding out his arm. "Care to accompany me to the coffee shop downstairs for a grande non-fat mocha?"
"You know my coffee order?" Kurt asked, slipping his arm through Blaine's arm and letting Blaine lead him towards the elevators.
"Of course," Blaine answered, pulling Kurt closer.
Neither of them saw Rachel peering around the corner, smiling triumphantly. When she drew Kurt's name in the gift exchange, she immediately hatched a plot. First, she talked Blaine into switching with her, making up some flimsy story about how she and Kurt were already exchanging gifts as roommates. Next, she snooped around until she found out who had gotten Blaine's name, then traded with them as well. She knew Kurt had the bowtie, but that he lacked the courage to give it to Blaine directly. All that was left for her to do was tell Kurt she "forgot" Blaine's gift at the last minute so he'd have no choice but to give the gift to Blaine in person.
"I am SO winning a Tony one day," she muttered to herself as she sashayed back to her desk.