Day 16: Part/Mistletoe
It was a simple plan: Get in, steal the bird, get out. Don't get caught. Apparently, that last part was going to give him some trouble.
Kurt cursed himself for having agreed to take on this ridiculous task in the first place. Sure, he was all about being a member of the team, but he failed to understand why it was so important to uphold a silly tradition. The New Directions and the Warblers had been rivals for as long as anyone could remember. Somehow, that rivalry had resulted in the development of a tradition of playing harmless pranks on one another prior to competitions. Last year, the Warblers had succeeded in changing every one of the New Directions' YouTube videos to Rachel's hideous "Run Joey Run" video. It had taken Artie weeks to get all the correct videos back on the glee club's website.
With Sectionals around the corner, it was time for the New Directions to get their "revenge." Puck and Finn had come up with the brilliant idea of stealing the Warbler's mascot, a canary. Kurt had scoffed at their suggestion, but before he knew it, they had goaded him into not only participating, but carrying out the entire operation by himself.
That was how Kurt found himself in the dark common room of Dalton Academy late that night, holding a small, covered birdcage in his hands when he suddenly heard a voice behind him.
"Well, well, well. Who we have here," the voice drawled.
Kurt let out a frustrated breath. Great. The one person he really, really did not want to see. Pulling himself up to his full height, he turned around slowly, hoping that his face showed the nonchalant air he was trying to fake.
"Blaine Anderson," he acknowledged with a smirk. "I would have thought it was past your bedtime."
Blaine chuckled and strode forward, hands casually thrust into the pockets of his uniform trousers. "Not quite, and thank goodness for that." He stopped not far from where Kurt stood and reached out to click on a table lamp, bathing the room in soft light.
Kurt and Blaine had crossed paths in the past, of course. Their respective glee clubs met quite frequently in competition, and the boys were no strangers to one another on the show choir blogs. They had traded any number of witty jabs, somehow managing to spar with one another without ever crossing the line into being mean or cruel. Others on the blogs had learned not to intervene and to just let the two of them to verbally duke it out over this issue or that.
It took Kurt by surprise, then, when he felt his heart flutter and his breath quicken at the realization that he was alone here with Blaine. For some reason, the prep school boy looked particularly handsome this evening. Kurt would have spent more time trying to decipher his feelings, but he realized that Blaine was speaking to him and expecting a reply.
"Care to tell me what you were planning to do with that?" Blaine asked, indicating the cage in Kurt's hands while leaning his hip against the arm of the sofa and crossing his arms over his chest.
"This?" Kurt held the cage up as if surprised Blaine had noticed it. "Oh, nothing. I just thought the little guy seemed lonely, so I was going to take him for a walk."
Blaine closed the distance between them, putting his hands on Kurt's where he held the cage. Blaine's hands lingered there for a moment before taking the cage from him and setting it on the table.
Kurt sighed in defeat and plopped down into nearby armchair. He let his head fall back and closed his eyes. "The guys are never going to let me live this down," he complained.
When he opened his eyes again, he found Blaine watching him thoughtfully, his head tipped to one side. "Will they really give you a hard time?" he asked, sounding sincerely concerned. While they had never actually discussed it, Blaine had gathered that Kurt didn't exactly have the easiest time at McKinley.
"Nothing I can't handle," Kurt replied dismissively.
Blaine turned to the cage resting on the table next to Kurt's chair, lifting the cover and draping it over the top. Kurt sat forward so he could peer inside. The canary was sitting at the bottom of the cage, huddled to the floor where he was surrounded by loose feathers.
"He doesn't look very good. Is he okay?" Kurt questioned.
Blaine crouched down so that his face was level with the cage's small occupant. "He's all right. He's molting, that's all," he explained. "Birds have to lose some of their existing feathers so that they can grow new ones. Their bodies kind of shut down a little during the process." He turned his head towards Kurt, their faces very close. "So you see," he continued, his voice softer, "even if I wanted to help you, I can't let you take him. It's so cold, and in his current state, it wouldn't be good for him to go outside."
Kurt could understand that, as he took a quick peek towards the window and saw the late December snow beginning to fall. His gaze didn't linger on the window for long, however, feeling drawn back to lock with the hazel eyes in front of him. That realization was enough to startle him into standing up quickly, nearly knocking Blaine over in the process.
"Well then, I should probably be on my way," he announced nervously, hoping that this was not the part where Blaine called the school security guard or the police on the trespasser.
Blaine rose as well, brushing the wrinkles out of his trousers and standing directly between Kurt and the door. He stared at Kurt in silence for a moment, seemingly trying to make up his mind about something. Finally, Blaine spoke again.
"It seems a shame that you came all this way and are leaving empty-handed," he remarked.
Kurt furrowed his brow, not understanding Blaine at all. Here he was, having broken into Dalton and attempted to kidnap their mascot, and Blaine was acting as though he sympathized with him.
"Yes," Kurt agreed cautiously. "Yes, it is a shame."
Blaine paused again, then reached down and unbuttoned his blazer before slipping it off. "Here," he said, holding it out to Kurt. "Take this, instead."
Kurt eyed him warily. "What?"
Blaine smiled reassuringly. "Take it," he repeated, pressing the garment into his hands. "You need a trophy. I can't let you take Pavarotti, but perhaps the blazer of the Warblers' lead singer will suffice as the next best thing. It has my name embroidered on the label, so they'll know it's mine."
Kurt stared at him incredulously. "Why would you do that?" he whispered, now clutching the jacket to his chest.
Blaine shrugged. "Call it an early Christmas present," he offered. Before Kurt could object, Blaine laid a gentle hand on his arm. "Come on, I'll walk you out so you don't get into any more trouble," he teased with a wink, guiding Kurt toward the door.
They headed down the long, marble-floored hallway, the only sound that of their shoes clicking against the floors. On his way in, Kurt had been too nervous to pay attention, but as he walked now with Blaine, he admired the beautiful Christmas trees and other decorations adorning the building. Blaine noticed, commenting that the place had been decorated for an upcoming alumni gala taking place that weekend.
Their arrival at the front door came more quickly that Kurt would have liked. They stood facing one another, and Kurt bit his lip, not knowing what to say. He watched in bemusement as Blaine reached up to straighten Kurt's scarf around his neck.
"You drive safely back to Lima, okay?" he ordered kindly, his fingers lingering on the scarf. Kurt nodded, still unable to speak. "And when you're done with that," Blaine continued, letting his hands drop to the blazer in Kurt's arms, "maybe you could meet me for coffee at the Lima Bean to give it back?"
Kurt melted at the hesitation in Blaine's voice, the first tiny break he'd seen in the Warbler's otherwise confident demeanor all evening. Instead of answering verbally, he leaned forward and pressed a quick peck to Blaine's cheek, very near to his lips. He heard the other boy's quick intake of breath and when he pulled back, he noted the flush on his cheeks.
"Mistletoe," Kurt murmured, pointing up at the sprig hanging from the archway over the door. Blaine looked up and then back at Kurt, beaming happily.
Kurt drove back to Lima that night thinking that perhaps the silly tradition between their glee clubs wasn't so silly, after all.
A/N: I'm back! My hand is still not 100%, but I have acquired some dictation software to help me with my writing. It isn't perfect, and it slows me down quite a bit, but at least I have a chance to write again. I can't promise that I will be able to update every day, but I will do my best and am determined to complete the Advent challenge as soon as I can. Hope you all had a lovely holiday, and that you enjoy this little extension of Christmas into the new year.