Author's Note: This chapter is a little Finchel-centric, because I need to get the Cyrano de Bergerac parallels rolling. The quotation is from the play (act 3 specifically), but I have LIBERALLY translated it to give you a little context as to what they are discussing. Oh yes, and I made the email addresses obviously fake, because I would hate to use someone's real handle by accident! As usual, thank you to anyone who read/reviewed/favorited the story. I love feedback.

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters. I am equally not Edmond Rostand who wrote the play, Cyrano de Bergerac, on which some of my plotline is based.

Chapter 3:

When he heard his phone signal a new email message, Kurt closed his book and returned from the moonlit balcony in his imagination with a wistful sigh. "C'est un secret qui prend la bouche pour oreille," he murmured to himself, then translated the phrase in his head as A kiss is a secret which uses the mouth, not the ear. The play was so romantic that he could hardly bear it, although he couldn't help but feel sorry for Cyrano. It seemed very clear to him that Roxanne was wasting her time on a beautiful, lovable idiot.

Speaking of lovable idiots, he thought as he opened his email from his stepbrother, then shook his head at his own whimsy. Finn was not really an idiot, just a little slow on the uptake occasionally. He frowned as he focused on the subject line: Rachel and I are over!

From:

To:

Hi Kurt,

I hope you're doing ok at school, bro. I know you said it was really hard. Mom and Burt are really looking forward to having you home this weekend. Mom's got all the Christmas lights out so you can help us hang them up, and she's even making gingerbread houses for us to decorate. It's kind of dorky, but she's excited about our first holiday together. I am trying really hard to stay positive, because I want Christmas to be great this year.

But, I guess you guessed from the subject line that I broke up with Rachel. She just keeps expecting me to up and forgive her. I can't believe she's so…ok, look, I know it's not nice to call girls names, but she's being stupid, I swear. She keeps trying to win me back with songs in the auditorium and these little lost puppy-dog looks. Why can't she just leave me alone? Even today, she tried to turn our trip to the Christmas tree lot into some big reunion scene from one of her dippy movies. This is like that damn music video all over again—whatever Rachel wants, she thinks she should get. Am I completely crazy? She REALLY HURT ME, Kurt. I know she didn't sleep with him, but why does every girl I love go flirt with Puck?

Anyway, everyone is going to go over to Mr. Shue's house on Thursday after the half-day so we can help him decorate. I still don't understand why we don't have school on Friday, even if it's awesome. Do you think you can drive out and come, too? Or is that the day you have the big Chemistry project? Oh. What do you think I should do with the present I bought Rachel for Christmas? If I give it to her now, she's just going to take it completely the wrong way.

Gotta go; Bieste has us putting in extra weight-time since we might make the play-offs. It's really different from last year, but we still miss you. See you Friday night, bro.

Finn

Kurt finished the email and immediately started swearing internally. Dammit, why couldn't Rachel back off a little? At this rate, she would completely alienate Finn before he even had the chance to start his matchmaking plan. Quickly, he texted Blaine. He needed back-up.

Blaine was just settling down to his pre-calc homework when his phone buzzed.

Can you come to my room for a little while? We have . business. Plus, I haven't seen you in two days?-Kurt

Blaine's heart jumped straight into his throat. He fought the urge to run down the hallways until he got to Kurt's room. Kurt had noticed that it had been 2 days? After his realization that he had an enormous crush, Blaine had needed some space, but he really missed his friend. And avoiding him had been harder than it sounded, even on Dalton's large campus. Blaine had been eating in his room (Wes frowned at the mess but kept his critiques to himself) and had even skipped a Warblers practice (Wes had been a little less restrained about criticizing that choice, even when Blaine gave him a fake dentist's note that claimed he had had an emergency root canal to put in the attendance book) until he could regulate his reactions. However, even if he didn't see Kurt, that didn't stop David and Wes from talking about the boy on a regular basis, describing his jokes (that one-liner about Jeff's hair had been hilarious), how his academic work was going (pretty well, actually), even what he was eating (not much). Blaine had protested that he wasn't obsessed, but David just rolled his eyes and Blaine knew he had lapped up all the information like a man dying of thirst. Now the drought had to be over, or Kurt was going to notice that something was up. With feigned nonchalance, Blaine gathered his stuff and started strolling in Kurt's direction.

Be there in 5-Blaine

Kurt smiled when he got Blaine's reply. Wes had announced at Warbler's practice yesterday that Blaine was having emergency dental surgery, which sounded awful, especially right before Christmas. Kurt knew that he himself would have been locked in his room for a week until all the swelling was down, so it was nice that Blaine trusted him enough to come over anyway. He had really missed his interactions with the brunette, he admitted to himself. Even though they didn't share any classes, the boys usually waved or chatted between periods, and they ate a meal together at least once a day. This was the longest they'd been apart since Kurt had transferred, and to be honest, Christmas break was probably going to be a special kind of torture. Kurt made a mental note to make sure they scheduled a post-Christmas coffee date before Blaine left tonight. After a week of loneliness, he'd probably be a blubbery idiot. He smiled when he heard the quiet knock.

"Hey," he chirped as he opened the door. He pulled Blaine into a quick hug, and then pulled back to examine his face closely. "You look great; I swear, which side did they operate on? You're not even a little swollen. Did you get to miss any classes?"

Blaine turned ruddy red. "I um, I didn't have a root canal, Kurt."

Kurt raised his eyebrows and let his arms drop. Feeling suddenly cold, he took a step back. "Oh. Wouldn't Wes know if you were lying? He's your roommate."

"He agreed it was an emergency," Blaine said stiffly, and shrugged his shoulders. "I missed you, though," he admitted.

"I missed you, too. Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Um. I'd really rather not, if it's ok?"

"Yeah, sure. As long as no one in your family is dying or anything!" Kurt tried to sound natural, but his stomach was cramping at Blaine's distance.

Blaine smiled weakly, "Nope, no familial deaths. So….what's going on with Finn and Rachel? You said we had Cyrano business?"

Kurt brightened at the thought of something he could control. "Yes, Rachel is being her normal pushy self and Finn officially broke up with her." He made a face to show his displeasure at that development. "I need help writing her an email that explains our plan."

Blaine perched delicately on the end of the bed. "No offense, Kurt, but maybe you should let this go. Finn and Rachel seem to be a fait accompli, and it's not like we're on vacation yet. Maybe you should focus on Dalton and getting great grades so that you can apply for an academic scholarship next semester."

Kurt pursed his lips, "As thrilled as I am that you just used a French phrase, and properly, too, I don't think you understand how much more tolerable both Finn and Rachel are when they are coupled together. Sure, they are disgustingly addicted to PDA, but without each other, they turn into the worst versions of themselves. Isn't that the best definition of love? That you turn into the best version of yourself when you're with the person you love?"

You mean like how I relax and rediscover my sense of humor when I'm around you, Blaine don't think you should write her your plan in an email. Too much of a paper trail. If she and Finn DO get back together, it's practically guaranteed he'd find the email and he'd feel manipulated. Then they'd end up broken up again, and there wouldn't be any way to fix it."

Kurt considered this, and nodded. "Well, I guess I could invite her out for coffee or something over the break. I'll be in Lima, and to be honest, I kinda miss the little diva." He raised his eyebrows comically, and Blaine felt the first honest laugh he'd had in over forty-eight hours rip out of his stomach.

Kurt listened to Blaine laugh and thought, I want. Then he blushed at the crassness of the sentiment. "Um, I was going to ask you out for coffee over the break anyway, so maybe you could come along? I might get overenthusiastic or something and you could rein me in."

"That would be great," Blaine replied. "Rachel seemed pretty cool at sectionals. I'd like to know her better. Maybe we could invite Mercedes, too. She'd be a great ally for keeping Rachel contained at school, when we won't be around. Plus, I miss her."

Kurt smiled widely. He couldn't explain the contentment that radiated inside him whenever he realized that his two best friends liked each other, but it made him feel safe and happy. "So what are your plans tonight, since you don't have the excuse of dental hibernation anymore?"

Blaine looked carefully, but Kurt seemed sincere. "Um, I've got two pages of math homework and a ton of writing to do on my history paper that's due tomorrow at three."

"Do you want to hang out here?" Kurt asked rather shyly. "I have an English paper I'm still writing, and I obviously need to write Rachel an email invite and BCC Mercedes, but I miss hanging out with you." He ignored how badly his heart was beating, and even managed not to outwardly show the jump it made when Blaine quietly agreed.

"Sure, that sounds great, as long as we agree to a neutral soundtrack—maybe the Killers? I'll go grab my books and some brownies before the cafeteria closes, ok?"

Kurt nodded and Blaine dropped a warm hand on his shoulder before he walked out the door.