Day 10: Joy/Mall Santa

A/N: A trip to the mall brings up a ghost of Kurt's Christmas past and results in an embarrassing confession.

Blaine and Kurt strolled through the mall, bustling with Christmas shoppers trying to find the perfect holiday gift. The couple had already purchased most of their presents, but Kurt decided that morning that he needed one more thing for Carole. He regretted his decision once they reached the busy atrium at the center of the building.

"Oh, no," he groaned under his breath as they approached Santa's Village, where a jolly mall Santa was holding court, surrounded by a gaggle of excited children.

"Hey, it's Santa Claus!" Blaine cooed, taking Kurt by the elbow to draw him aside where they could see the scene more clearly. "That's a great Santa they have. And look at all those kids, so full of joy and excitement," Blaine gushed.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Kurt answered unenthusiastically.

Blaine glanced over at Kurt, surprised to see his husband frowning. "What's the matter?"

"Let's just say I had a bad experience with a mall Santa once," Kurt said cryptically.

"Aww, did you pee on Santa's lap?" Blaine chuckled.

"What! No!" Kurt balked.

"Oh, did you," he lowered his voice and looked around furtively, "did you 'number two' on his lap?"

"God, Blaine. No. Nothing came out of me and ended up on Santa's lap, okay? It was nothing like that!"

"Okay, okay," Blaine soothed, patting Kurt's arm gently. "Then tell me. What happened?"

Kurt stared wide-eyed at Blaine. He had never intended to tell him this story. It was embarrassing, sure, but he was more worried about hurting his feelings. He was about to make up a story – any story – but one look at his loving, sincere, annoyingly adorable husband and he knew he couldn't lie.

Letting out a sigh, Kurt began, keeping his voice down so as not to be overheard. He barely wanted to tell this tale to Blaine, let alone random holiday shoppers.

"The Christmas when we were broken up and I was living with Santana and Rachel, we got jobs as mall elves." He went on to briefly, but completely, recount the sordid story that started with alcohol, the Chipmunk Song, and making out with a hot Santa, and ended with Kurt trussed up and the apartment ransacked.

When he was finished, a silence fell between them. Kurt held his breath, afraid of what Blaine would say or do next.

"Did he hurt you?" Blaine's voice was hushed, but Kurt heard him over the din of shoppers and the Christmas music playing overhead. Even if he hadn't heard the words, the question was clear in Blaine's eyes and in the way that Blaine had stepped forward and placed a soft hand on Kurt's cheek.

Kurt felt the tears threatening to start. "No, honey. He didn't hurt me. I embarrassed the hell out of myself, but that's about all," he admitted. "But…aren't you mad at me? Does it bother you that I, you know…" Kurt trailed off, taking Blaine's hand from his face and holding it between them.

Blaine tipped his head to the side and shrugged. "I'm not crazy about the idea of you making out with another guy, of course," he said, swallowing hard, "but we weren't together at the time. I had no claim on you, Kurt, and frankly, after what I did, I don't blame you for wanting to go out and do something a little crazy. Now, that doesn't mean I don't want to hunt that guy down and drag him behind my one-horse open sleigh by his jingle bells," he added in a mockingly serious tone that make Kurt laugh aloud, "but the only thing I truly care about is that you were okay."

Kurt smiled, sniffing back the last of his tears. "You're really something else, you know that?"

"Yeah, I kinda am, aren't I?" Blaine teased back. "Come on," he said, looping his arm through Kurt's. "We've got another present to buy."

They walked through the mall arm in arm. "You know, they say one way to get over a traumatic experience is to create a new memory to replace it," Blaine offered.

"Are you suggesting I go visit that Santa?" Kurt asked, jerking his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the atrium they'd left behind. "Because I don't think I'd get past the elf lady at the head of the line."

"No, probably not," Blaine agreed. "But your problem wasn't with real Santa, anyway, it was with Sexy Santa," Blaine explained, dropping his voice to a sultry tone for the last two words. "Do you remember the Men of McKinley calendar?"

Kurt's eyes widened. "Do you mean…?"

"I kept the suit," Blaine whispered in his ear.

Kurt tightened his hold on Blaine's arm and steered them both towards the nearest exit.

"What about Carole's gift?" Blaine asked, laughing as Kurt practically dragged him to the door.

"I'll get her a gift card. Now come on, Santa," Kurt urged.

"Ho ho ho," Blaine replied with a wink. He had a feeling that by the end of the night, Kurt would have a completely different opinion of mall Santas.