Hey, sorry this is a day late. I was up in Seattle with my sister, my friend, and my friend's sister because they were running the Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon. If you live in Seattle, I apologize for the insane traffic and all the roads being closed. I also apologize because I seriously hate driving in your city. Like. I probably texted "I hate Seattle" dozens of times. But mostly I just hated all the 1-way streets near the civic center...

Anyway. Congrats to Kaeli/Haley/Katie and anybody else for their marathons/half marathons, and now I shall let all you get to the real reason you're here :)

Chapter 8

Between things like getting coffee at the Lima Bean and taking Rose to the park, Kurt and Blaine slowly became friends again. The first half of December passed quickly. Blaine tried to repress the emotions that always came around Christmas and it seemed that he was getting better. Maybe the cure to getting over Kurt, was Kurt.

December eleven found the two sitting on a park bench watching Rose swing on the icy swings with another girl around her age and later trying to make a castle for their Barbies, failing miserably. While they were sitting there, Blaine and Kurt talked about everything under the sun, except each other.

But that was okay. Kurt just felt good talking to Blaine, and just being with him. He'd gone from being his whole life to not even existing within a few months. Of course, that hadn't been Blaine's fault at all; and Kurt took full responsibility. He just didn't know how to let Blaine know how sorry he was.

A few weeks ago, Burt had told Kurt about all the bullying Blaine had endured in his last few months in Lima. Kurt had gotten the feeling that his father wasn't telling him the whole story, but he knew somehow Blaine had been pushed down a staircase and hospitalized. Because of him.

"It wasn't because of you." Blaine had assured him. "It was some stupid bully, Kurt. Not you."

Kurt wasn't sure he agreed with Blaine, but he supposed that'd be something he'd just have to accept he'd taken some part in. "How can you live here without going crazy?" Kurt asked one day when he was thoroughly sick of Lima.

"It's not as bad as you seem to think, Kurt." Blaine laughed. "At least the community I take part in is super family oriented. A lot of the parents of my students try to always be there for me and Rose. On nights that they know I have to work late they'll bring Carrie—my babysitter, and Rose dinner so I don't have to leave something, and so Carrie doesn't have to try to work in my less-than satisfactory kitchen."

"Tell me about Carrie." Kurt said.

"She's really sweet, and one of the smartest people I've ever met. She took so many college classes in high school that she was able to apply straight for nursing school. She got her ASN in two years, and she moved back to Lima. She's working in the ER right now I believe. But anyway, Rose just loves her. They're practically best friends. Carrie's like her big sister."

Kurt smiled. "That's really sweet."

"So tell me about Rachel and Finn's baby." Blaine urged. "She must be, what? Eight months now?"

"Pretty much; she's at thirty-three weeks." Kurt grinned. "The baby is a boy, and his due date is January 29. They haven't completely decided on a name, but they won't even tell anyone their choices. He's growing well, and his estimated weight is 7 pounds, 9 ounces. Of course, that's not entirely accurate since she still has about seven more weeks to go, but we'll take it."

Blaine smiled at Kurt. "That's so exciting. You happy to be an uncle?"

Kurt grinned. "So completely stoked."

Blaine made a face. "Well, if I ever get married, I can't marry an only child."

Kurt laughed. "Hey, your brother may still have kids."

Blaine shot Kurt a jokingly 'judging' look. "Have you met my brother? There's no way he's settle down and become a father."

"People change." Kurt winked.

Blaine couldn't help but laugh. He definitely knew that first hand. "True. Well, we'll see. He lives in Europe anyway."

Blaine's phone buzzed. Apparently he'd left his 'Facebook' app up. Earlier that week, he'd gotten recommendation from one Rachel Berry to (re)join "The 2012 McKinley High School New Directions" group. Assuming he wasn't going to stay hidden forever, not now that Mr. Schue, Burt, Kurt, Rachel, and Finn had found him, Blaine joined.

"For those in Lima this Christmas," Blaine read, "come to Rachel's dads' house for a reunion Christmas Party, December 19 from 7:00 to midnight."

Kurt took out his phone to see an invitation for the same thing. "Do you think you'll go?" Kurt asked.

"If Rose wants to, why not? It's not like many of us are in Lima anyway. And I have nothing else to do. It's not like I have any family here to spend time with or anything." Blaine surprised himself by making a mental note to call his Chicago uncle one of these days. Maybe he really was getting better…

"Well I'll probably end up planning the whole thing. You know Rachel and parties." Kurt rolled his eyes.

Blaine flinched. "Has she changed since high school?"

"Not really."

"Ouch." Blaine jokingly shuddered. "Don't want to repeat that."

Just then Rose walked over and announced she was freezing. "Can we go buy hot chocolate, daddy?"

"I didn't bring my wallet with me; I'm sorry honey. I can make some for you when we get home, though." Blaine explained. Rose looked sad, but she accepted what her father was saying.

Kurt smiled at her. "I'll tell you what, Rose. I know this place where you can buy really good hot chocolate, and I'll buy it for you."

Rose's eyes lit up as if Kurt was the coolest person on the planet. "Really Mr. Kurt? You'd do that?"

Kurt laughed. "Of course I would. But it's a short walk from here, so we'll have to leave now if you want to get home before it gets too dark."

Rose started bouncing on her toes. "Okay. I can walk really good, Mr. Kurt." She took his hand and let him point her in the direction of the store they were going to. Blaine followed them, smiling at his daughter's enthusiasm. They ended up at some small hole-in-the-wall department store with a café in the back.

"I know it looks weird, but they really do have the best hot chocolate." Kurt insisted. Blaine laughed as Kurt ordered three medium hot chocolates with extra whip cream.

"Since when does Kurt Hummel eat whip cream?" Blaine teased as they sat down at a table.

"Since," Kurt paused to think about it, "I'm not sure, actually. Sometime in college it became my guilty pleasure."

As soon as Rose finished her hot chocolate, she promptly started dozing off on Kurt's side, so he wrapped his arm around her. Blaine laughed as he saw she had chocolate and whip cream all over her face. Grabbing a napkin he attempted to wipe it off, making both he and Kurt laugh.

One of the cute teenage girls (wearing a 'WMHS PRIDE' bracelet), who had walked out to wipe some tables down turned to the trio. "Your daughter is really cute." She said to Kurt and Blaine.

"Oh," Kurt blushed, "she's not mine. She's his."

"I figured." The girl said. "She looks too much like him for you to be the father."

"No," Kurt continued. "She's not mine at all. We're," he motioned to himself and Blaine, "just friends."

"Oh!" the girl blushed. "I'm so, so sorry! I just assumed…" she trailed off before grinning. "Well, for the record, you two would make a really cute couple."

Kurt and Blaine both blushed. "Um. Thanks." Blaine choked out eventually. After a few minutes, they woke Rose up and started walking away from the store and back towards Blaine's house, where Kurt's car was parked. Blaine waved goodbye to Kurt as he carried his still half asleep daughter inside. She'd missed her nap today since they'd gone to the park, and her bedtime was in an hour, so Blaine put her in bed and let her sleep.

He logged onto his Facebook and checked the notification from the ND page. Already Rachel, Finn, Kurt, Tina, Mike, Santana, Brittany, and Mercedes had confirmed they were coming. Rory had left a comment that he couldn't, since he was in Ireland for Christmas, and Sam, Quinn, and Artie said they might be coming. A few minutes later, Sugar sent in a 'no,' claiming she'd be with her dad in the Virgin Islands for Christmas

So it was just him, Joe, and Puck who hadn't responded at all. Blaine wondered if Puck was even near town. He never seemed that close to his family, so why would he come back? But then again, Blaine and Puck hadn't paid each other much attention in high school.

Blaine sighed. He knew Carrie worked that night, so she couldn't watch her. And Blaine didn't really trust anyone else with Rose (that, and no one could get her to fall asleep except Carrie and Blaine).

Blaine Anderson
Will it be kid friendly?

Within fifteen minutes he got over thirty comments, ranging from "BLAINE! I haven't talked to you in forever!" (Mike) to "Really back from the dead this time, Anderson?" (Sugar) to "Does this mean Blaine isn't in Canyland, Santana?" (Brittany) to "KID friendly, Blaine? Is there something you need to tell the class?" (Mercedes). A little bit later Kurt commented, "Check his pictures, 'Cedes."

"Short version of the story: adopted, Mercedes." Blaine responded. Within minutes of Blaine laughing over all the comments, Rachel left hers. "Blaine: Definitely kid friendly :)" Blaine responded with a "Great!" Before saying he was going to go. A few minutes later Puck said he couldn't go because he was in Idaho with his fiancé and almost-step daughter. This got seven 'likes.'

Later that night, Quinn changed her 'maybe' to a 'yes' since she and her boyfriend had decided to spend Christmas with her mother in Lima instead of with his family in Texas. With no explanation, Artie changed his 'maybe' to a 'yes,' Joe sent in a 'no,' and Sam changed his 'maybe' to a 'no.'

After working on some lesson plans, Blaine's computer made a noise, indicating that he had a notification.

'2012 New Direction Reunion Christmas Party' has been renamed 'The Rachel Berry Christmas Party Train Wreck Extravaganza Part 2.'

'Santana Lopez, Kurt Hummel, and 5 others like this.'

Rachel Hudson-Berry commented on 'The Rachel Berry Christmas Party Train Wreck Extravaganza Part 2' event's page: "Yay!"

December 19

Blaine didn't know how to dress for these kinds of things. He had been searching though his closet for almost an hour; was this too fancy? Was this too casual? How do you just go to a party where you will be surrounded by people you purposefully sent yourself away from seven years ago? How was he supposed to face Tina and Artie? They'd become really great friends his senior year, and he just brushed them off like they didn't matter.

Rose was sitting on the edge of Blaine's bed, swinging her legs back and forth, watching her daddy with a peculiar expression on her face. "Why are you so upset, daddy?" she asked.

Blaine cursed his luck for having such an observant daughter. "It's nothing, sweetheart. I'm just nervous about seeing all these people I haven't seen in a really long time."

"Oh." Rose said, looking thoughtful. "Are you excited kind of nervous?"

Blaine nodded, grabbing a pair of jeans, a grey button-up shirt, and a red bow tie. Rose had insisted that she wear her new red skirt and black shirt. Her dark curls had been pulled back half-up so it would stay out of her face. Blaine had to admit, she looked really pretty and all grown up. It set him a little on edge.

A half hour later, he and Rose were in the car on the way to Rachel's dads' house, where the party was supposed to be held. He was only two or three minutes late when he pulled up, but everyone's car seemed to be there. Helping Rose out of her car seat and grabbing her hand (more for his support than hers) Blaine and his daughter walked to the door.

Being in her doorbell fascination stage, Rose begged him to let her ring it; he obliged. Within a few seconds, Rachel opened the door. "Blaine!" she exclaimed, attempting to hug him without hitting him with her swollen belly.

"Everyone's here except Mike, Tina, and their son. Their plane was a little bit delayed thanks to a snowstorm in Detroit." Rachel shrugged, and then turned to Rose. "Hi, sweetie! You must be Rose!"

Rose nodded, hiding behind her father.

"I really like that name. I think it's very pretty. It starts with the same letter as my name!" Rachel was kneeling down at Rose's level.

Rose glanced up at her. "Really?"

"Yup!" Rachel grinned. "R-rose. R-rachel. See?"

Rose giggled. "That's cool! I like your name too, Miss Rachel. I had a friend in preschool named Rachel. She was really nice. But she wasn't pregnant like you."

Rachel smiled. "That's good." She stood up and turned to Blaine. "If you two want to come downstairs into the basement, Jordan, Quinn's boyfriend's, little brother Drake, is here. He's barely five, so he's a few months older than Rose. And Brittany and Santana's daughter Annie is here, but she's not even three yet." Rachel explained as she, Blaine, and Rose descended the steps to the basement.

In the corner, Annie and Drake were watching a Christmas movie and eating cookies. Santana and Brittany, who were obviously still together, were smiling and laughing with Mercedes and who Blaine assumed was Mercedes date. Quinn and another girl were watching Kurt, Finn, Artie, and a man who Blaine assumed was Jordan playing ping pong.

Rachel was about to sit down and enjoy the party when there was another knock at the door. Rose had run off to watch the movie with Drake and Annie, leaving Blaine standing there awkwardly. Rachel looked up at him with pleading eyes—eyes that reminded him way too much of Jayden. "Blaine, could you please get that? My feet are killing me. I'm pretty sure it's Mike, Tina, and Peter."

Blaine trudged up the stairs and opened the door. On the other side was Mike and Tina, who was holding a baby who couldn't have been older than two or three months old. "Blaine." Tina breathed. "I can't believe… Oh my god. How have you been?"

Blaine shrugged and grinned. "Okay. How about you?" The three of them walked down the stairs, chatting the whole time. Mike went to join the ping pong tournament, leaving Blaine and Tina to talk. Which they did. They talked about everything from their jobs to their families to their colleges.

"I can't believe that you're back here in Lima." Tina laughed. "I always expected you to end up in New York, Los Vegas, Chicago, Los Angeles, or something after a while."

Blaine shrugged and grinned. "Well I certainly still have time. I'm only twenty-five, remember?" he winked and Tina laughed. The rest of the night was actually really fun. Blaine couldn't believe that he'd pulled himself away from these people all those years ago; they were his family.

And eventually, everyone had come up to Blaine and given him a hug, or a high five, or something. He even ended up having a conversation with Kurt about Christmas at one point that night.

"It's funny, because Rose and I have never really done Christmas. I mean, I've always gotten her few presents, but we've never done the whole thing. This year she wants to decorate the inside and outside of the house, get a tree, make cookies for Santa, have stockings above our fireplace, have Christmas dinner; everything."

Kurt laughed. "Well, she's four years old. It's about time you gave her a mega Christmas."

Blaine smiled in return. "Yeah, I guess I've just never been a Christmas person."

"Never?" Kurt scoffed. "You loved Christmas in high school." Then both of them fell silent, begging the awkwardness to disappear. "Never mind. Forget I said that."

Blaine laughed nervously. "Done. No more 'why Blaine doesn't like Christmas' talk."

By the end of the night, Blaine had won the video game tournament between him, Finn, Mike, Jordan, Nathan (Mercedes' boyfriend), and Artie. He'd talked about teaching with Artie's girlfriend, Saira (who was a first grade teacher back in LA while Artie directed small-scale films) and planned a Christmas shopping trip later that week with Santana, Brittany, and Quinn (if you're going to give Rose her first big Christmas, you have to do it right!").

By the time Blaine got home that night, he couldn't wipe the smile off his face. Maybe, just maybe, having friends wasn't a bad thing anymore.