The Warblers meeting was the most relaxed one Kurt had ever been in. He supposed with Sectionals not being a week away, no-one but Wes was panicking about anything. Kurt was sat on a sofa, awkwardly squished between Blaine and European-looking boy Blaine had introduced as Stefan. Next to Stefan was a short, skinny Warbler called Hugo, who, Kurt, learned, was a Freshman but only because he had been up a year. The four of them were chatting fairly amiably in spite of the fact that the sofa was made to seat two.
"So, Kurt," Huge asked after somehow producing a share bag of sweets from thin air and offering it round, "what made you transfer to Dalton?"
Kurt swallowed nervously, but Blaine same to his rescue. "The zero-tolerance," he answered smoothly.
Hugo nodded understandingly, biting a jelly ring off his finger. "It's a good policy," he agreed.
Kurt smiled, taking the gummy bear he was offered.
"It's great to have some new blood," Stefan grinned, patting Kurt on the shoulder. Kurt could tell he had a slight accent, but couldn't place it. "And your range is outstanding."
Kurt blushed and waved his hand humbly. He was steadily growing used to the comradery of the Warblers, rather than the desire to crush each other that the New Directions seemed to have. A whole week had gone by without someone getting slushied or yelled at or thrown in a dumpster and Kurt was definitely enjoying the respect that other students at Dalton automatically afforded him, regardless of his appearance or grade point average or sexuality. He was a Warbler, and that meant something here.
As the last few stragglers hurried into the room, Wes called the meeting to order.
"First off, everyone," he announced, "huge congratulations to you all for our brilliant performance at Sectionals!" He paused as the room was filled with cheers and whoops. "But," he continued, "we can be sure that the New Directions and Oral Intensity will be bringing their A-game for Regionals, so we've gotta be better! I know we can do it, guys, so let's all put in a hundred and ten per cent." Wes took a breath. "More imminently, though, Christmas is coming up." More applause. "The Warblers have been asked to perform at Dalton's annual Christmas fête once again, so let's start some brainstorming!"
There were murmurs of conversation around the room, and Kurt turned to Blaine. "What's the Christmas fête like?" he asked.
Blaine smiled at him enthusiastically. "It's basically a whole day of stalls run by students, but in the evening there's this talk and talent show thing, which the Warblers always host. I believe we pick two lead soloists to duet and do the talking...?" He looked to Stefan, who duly nodded in confirmation. "...and the other Warblers sing backing – sometimes for some of acts too," Blaine finished.
"I assume that you automatically get one of those leads," Kurt said.
Blaine shook his head. "No, no," he replied. "We audition, everyone's got an equal chance."
Kurt's heart leapt in hope. He could solo at the Christmas fête...? From the Warblers' enthusiasm it was clearly much more of a deal than McKinley's half-hearted attempt at holiday cheer.
Right on cue, Wes stood up from his seat where he was talking to David. "The sign-up sheet for solo auditions'll be here if anyone wants to... well, sign up," he announced, waving the sheet obviously and placing it down on the table.
Blaine made to stand. "I take it you're auditioning too," he said expectantly to Kurt.
The eye contact threw Kurt a little, but he coughed and got up too. "Of course," he nodded.
Both boys walked across the room and Blaine picked up the pen. "Who knows," he shrugged casually, "we could end up dueting."
Kurt took a breath, calming himself before he took pen off Blaine, signing his own name under Blaine's. "A Christmas duet," he mused, picturing the two of them belting out Mariah Carey with fake snow swirling around them, Blaine coming in close for the quiet end and leaning in to him – "That could be interesting," he spluttered, as nonchalantly as he could manage.
"Couldn't it just." Blaine was walking back to their sofa and Kurt hurried to catch up.
"So, Blaine, what Christmas songs do you like?" Kurt asked, smiling a greeting at Stefan and Hugo as they sat back down.
Blaine sighed. "I'm not a huge fan of Christmas songs," he admitted. When Kurt turned to him in horror, he held up his hands. "I like the idea of them, but they end up so overused and it gets boring," he explained. "I like trying to find ones that no-one's heard of."
That was a surprise: Blaine, a fan of indie Christmas songs? Kurt made a mental note to look for some when he got home.
"I love 'Last Christmas'," Hugo said enthusiastically through a mouthful of marshmallows. "It's like the best of break-up songs and Christmas!"
Kurt laughed and shook his head, but he was also trying to think: what could he sing for his audition?
After another few minutes of chatter, Wes stood up again. "Alright, let's hear some ideas! Now, yes, we have the classic Christmas songs, we have the hymns – although we'll debate that at a later date – but does anyone have anything else?"
Silence fell. Everyone looked a little confused.
A tall, dark-haired boy near Wes stood up, and addressed the group. "Like how the best Christmas movie is 'Love, Actually' because it's not solely focused around the fact that it's Christmas," he explained, and there were a couple of "oh"s. But no-one contributed.
"Well," Wes said, "that's what we're gonna try to go for this year, so if everyone tried to find a song like that then we should be sailing. Alright, everyone, meeting adjourned – go home, get some rest, we'll see you tomorrow! Thanks for your time."
The Warblers all began to move as Wes spun back around. "Wait!" he called. "Forgot to say – soloist auditions... well, since you'll be hosting as a duo, you can audition as a duet if you'd like. So feel free to pair up." Kurt glanced at Blaine, whose eyes flickered over to meet his. "Alright, that's actually it, see you tomorrow!" The movement restarted and the room began to empty.
Blaine and Kurt left together, wending their way through the corridors to the way out.
"So," Kurt started casually. "Duets, huh?"
Blaine looked at him and shrugged. "Yeah. Makes sense, I guess. You want a pair with chemistry."
Kurt blinked. "Yeah, no, definitely," he responded eventually, staring at the floor and hoping he wasn't going red. "It's a good idea."
"Yeah, it is."
"Do you think you want to do a duet for the audition?"
A pause. "Why, are you offering?" Blaine asked. Kurt couldn't tell if he was joking or not, and could only open and close his mouth uncertainly.
Blaine laughed and patted Kurt on the shoulder. "Because I can do the offering if you don't want to."
Kurt's stomach twisted in excitement. Blaine pushed open the door to the outside, motioning Kurt through first. The boys walked quickly to the gate and Kurt saw his father waiting for him in his car.
"Well...?" Blaine said.
Kurt looked up and nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, sorry – yes that's be great," he replied, beaming.
"Great," Blaine beamed.
"But I wanna pick the song," Kurt added.
Blaine looked a bit disappointed, but shrugged and said, "okay."
There was a moment of silence, before Kurt said, "well, I'd better go," and pointed at his dad's car. Blaine nodded goodbye, but Kurt leant over and hugged him very quickly before hurrying over the Burt. "I'll see you tomorrow," he called back.
Blaine waved. "Bye, Kurt."
Burt asked Kurt how his day had gone as soon as Kurt sat down. "You still look pale, are you alright?"
Kurt smiled out the window at where Blaine was loitering. "I'm fine, Dad," he insisted. "I think I'm cured."
The next hour and a half of Kurt's life was spent trawling the Internet for indie Christmas songs, each one being worse than the last. No wonder no-one listens to them, Kurt thought in exasperation, clicking on yet another YouTube link.
His digital pleas for audition ideas had drawn blanks with Rachel and Mercedes and Kurt had just started wondering if good Christmas songs even existed when he heard it. An amazing Christmas song. He'd never heard of the artist before. He listening through the song, and then again to check it hadn't been a hallucination. He smiled.
Perfect.