Chapter Fourteen
A/N: Chapter Fourteen is finally here! Sorry for the long delay. Life got in my way. I hope you like this chapter. I didn't go into too much detail with Baby, It's Cold Outside because...well, I can't really say, but there will be another very similar scene. Feel free to watch Baby, It's Cold Outside instead of just reading the lyrics. It will make it a little less dry. :S The second song is "I'll Be Home For Christmas"- Bing Crosby. Also, if the lyrics are confusing you with the italic and bold and stuff, the italic is Kurt and later on Jenny. Bold is Blaine and Johnny, and the italic/bold together is both singing. Alright, I believe that is all. Happy reading and reviewing.
Kurt wandered into the Warblers Common Room, expecting to see Blaine but he was nowhere to be found. He texted him.
Okay Blaine, you urgently requested that I drive all the way to Dalton and meet you in the common room and you aren't even here.
He sat in a chair, looking at one of the textbooks that was let on the desk. Within minutes, Blaine burst into the room, setting down his little boombox.
"Hey you!" Kurt smiled. "What's this all about?" Kurt asked.
"Want to help me practice my song for the Christmas concert?" Blaine smiled, leaning his elbows on the desk.
"A request to sing? Of course I will help you." Kurt beamed, standing up to peck his cheek. Blaine teasingly moved away from him, pushing the play button on the boombox. Kurt smiled and started on his cue and Blaine leaned against the sofa and began singing too.
I really can't stay- But baby it's cold outside
I've got to go away- But baby it's cold outside
This evening has been-Been hoping that you'd drop in
So very nice- I'll hold your hands, they're just like ice
My mother will start to worry-Beautiful, what's your hurry?
My father will be pacing the floor- Listen to the fireplace roar
So really I'd better scurry- Beautiful, please don't hurry
Well maybe just half a drink more- Put some records on while I pour
The neighbours might think- Baby, it's bad out there
Say, what's in this drink?- No cabs to be had out there
I wish I knew how- Your eyes are like starlight now
To break this spell- I'll take your hat, your hair looks swell
I ought to say no, no, no, sir- Mind if I move in closer?
At least I'm gonna say that I tried- What's the sense in hurting my pride?
I really can't stay- Baby don't hold out
Ahh, but it's cold outside
I simple must go- But Baby it's cold outside
The answer is no- But baby, it's cold outside
This welcome has been- How lucky that you dropped in
So nice and warm- Look out the window at that storm
My sister will be suspicious- Gosh, your lips look delicious
My brother will be there at the door- Waves upon a tropical shore
My maiden aunt's mind is vicious- Ohhh your lips are delicious
Well maybe just a cigarette more- Never such a blizzard before
I've got to get home- But, baby, you'll freeze out there
Say, lend me your coat- It's up to your knees out there
You've really been grand- I thrill when you touch my hand
But don't you see- How can you do this thing to me?
There's bound to be talk tomorrow- Think of my life long sorrow
At least there will be plenty implied- If you caught pneumonia and died
I really can't stay- Get over that hold out
Ohhh, baby it's cold outside
Kurt leaned into Blaine, smiling from ear to ear as they sat on the couch together. He grinned back.
"You are going to nail it." Kurt said confidently, reaching for his hand.
"I wish I was singing it with you though." Blaine pressed his forehead against Kurt's.
"I do too, but sometimes the world is just backwards. Maybe someday." Kurt reassured him. They both fell into silence, dreaming of the day when it would be the social norm for them to sing a love song together. Blaine pressed his lips to Kurt's forehead, humming the tune against his warm alabaster skin. Kurt smiled, closing his eyes, enjoying their precious alone time. Their comfortable silence extended through the minutes that ticked by. After awhile, Blaine's phone started ringing. He was about to ignore it when he saw the caller ID.
"I'm sorry Kurt, I have to get this. It's the director of the concert." He waited for Kurt to signal it was okay before he answered.
"Hello?" He answered. "I'm cancelled? Why?" He sat up straighter. His jaw dropped. "She has tonsillitis so you are just going to can me too?" Disbelief and a little bitterness peppered his words. He continued listening as Kurt rubbed his back sympathetically. "Well, I know I can't do it myself but I..." Blaine's eyes lit up and a wicked grin spread across his face. "Actually, there is a girl I know who would die to be in the concert." Blaine nodded at Kurt, who was shaking his head in utter horror. "Oh, don't worry about phoning her. I know she will be my new partner for the duet." Blaine finished the phone call and smiled innocently at Kurt.
"Jenny is going to kill you." Kurt's eyes were still wide. "She has terrible stage fright." Blaine disagreed.
"No she doesn't. She's okay when she has a partner. She'll be fine." He reasoned. Kurt furrowed his brow. Clearly he was missing something.
"What do you mean? How would you know she's okay with a partner?"
"I can't explain it until I give you something." Blaine got up and walked over to a cupboard, pulling out Kurt's gift, wrapped up with a bow on top. Kurt jumped up.
"Wait, wait! If we are giving Christmas gifts right now, you have to wait a sec, your gift is in my car!" He ran out of the room. A few minutes later he came back, carrying a very big parcel.
"Kurt...what on earth! There is no way my gift is anywhere near that awesome." Blaine said, self-consciously surveying his gift on the couch. It looked puny.
"It's okay. I promise you will like it." Kurt smiled. "Open it." Blaine hesitated before ripping the wrapping paper off the gift. His mouth fell open.
"You got me a conductor's music stand?" He asked, in awe of the gift. Kurt nodded.
"I heard from Jenny that you like to write music and I know you have a keyboard in your room, but you always use this piano because you don't have a music stand. Now you have an extra wide one so that you can spread out your music sheets." He smiled. "It also means you get to play for me sometime."
"Thank you Kurt. I love it!" To anyone else, the gift might seem ordinary, but Blaine was very passionate about his music and he really wanted to be able to work on it more often. Now he would be able to do it in his room. Blaine hugged his boyfriend tightly. "You are incredible." Kurt made a funny sound.
"Okay I had help." He finally admitted, laughing. "Jenny helped me pick it out the day we went to the mall to find outfits for the party next week." Blaine started laughing too.
"Alright then I confess too. Jenny helped me pick out your present too. Actually, it was also the day you two went to the mall. Right before you met her by Santa, I rounded the corner and hid in a store." Everything clicked for Kurt.
"It was you that that woman was talking about wasn't it? She was describing a guy and looking back, it would fit you to a 'T'." Kurt smiled. Blaine nodded.
"That's why I know she's okay with duets. She was a little nervous at first, but once I started singing with her she was fine. She has a beautiful voice. I think Darcy thinks so too." Kurt perked up, totally forgetting about his present.
"Do you think Darcy likes Jenny?" He asked.
"I think so. Yeah, I mean he...Oh." Blaine suddenly remembered telling Darcy all about her habit of lying. "I may have screwed that one up." He made a face, telling Kurt about it.
"Blaine!" Kurt hit his arm. "You just created a ton more work."
"What do you mean? How do we even know if Jenny likes him?" Blaine defended himself. Kurt sighed.
"Oh please. I can tell. Every time she sees him, she gets really quiet and subtly checks him out when she thinks no one is looking."
"But you are always looking." Blaine continued.
"Precisely." Kurt smiled.
"We can talk about this in a minute, let me give you your present!" Blaine whined. He really wanted to see the look on Kurt's face.
"Okay!" Kurt would never say no to a present. Blaine handed it to him and he ripped the wrapping paper off in a matter of seconds.
"Oh my God! I have been eyeing this forever! It's perfect! Thank you so much!" Kurt hugged him, starting to flip through the pages of the books, gushing about the fashion. Blaine smiled, wrapping his arm around him as he talked.
"Balenciaga, McQueen, Armani, Versace, Balmain, Sui, Lagerfeld, LaCroix...oh my" Kurt muttered, drooling over the pages as he flipped through them. Blaine smiled and looked at the pictures over his shoulder. A good half hour was spent as Kurt flipped through the books before the conversation turned back to setting up Darcy and Jenny. After hatching a plan, finally the conversation was exhausted and they sat in silence.
"Jenny's got a lot going on, doesn't she?" Blaine asked quietly. Kurt tried not to give anything away.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"I mean, there is a reason she is always so serious, isn't there? Something intense that she doesn't like talking about to anyone?" Blaine was showing his intuitive side. Kurt cleared his throat.
"Yes. You're right about that. I wish I could tell you." Kurt rested his head on his shoulder.
"It's okay. It's not yours to tell." He hugged Kurt.
"Just, keep trying to convince her to move in with me. That's all I want for Christmas." Kurt sighed. Something clicked in Blaine's head. I want my brother home for Christmas. Jenny's words echoed in his memory.
"I asked her what she wanted for Christmas." He started.
"And she said nothing?" Kurt interjected and Blaine nodded. "Shocker." Kurt gave a derisive snort.
"At first she said nothing, but after badgering her a bit more, she answered." Blaine informed him.
"Really?" Kurt sat up straighter. "What does she want?"
"She wants her brother to come home for Christmas, but she said he can't because he's working. Who works on Christmas? Santa Clause. That's who. No one else." Blaine couldn't understand it. Kurt sighed.
"Why couldn't she ask for a pair of Louboutin's? It would be so much easier." Kurt sounded disappointed. Blaine wasn't exactly sure what a 'Louboutin' was, but he knew it was expensive.
"It's that impossible? Where the hell is he?" He asked.
"It's a long story, but I'm going to try and get him home if it's the last thing I do." Kurt resolved. "Speaking of Jenny, I should phone her and let her know that I know what she was lying about earlier and let her off the hook." Kurt picked up his phone.
"Don't forget to tell her that she is singing a duet with me on Christmas Eve." Blaine grinned again.
"Yeah. I wouldn't be expecting her gratitude any time soon." Kurt laughed.
Later that night, Jenny was sitting on Kurt's bed, letting him pay with her hair- one of his favourite pass times, and something that usually calmed her down.
"I can't believe he just volunteered me to sing! I can't do it!" Jenny panicked.
"Oh honey, it will be fine. You are going to be great." Kurt tried to sooth her, running a brush through her hair for the thousandth time.
"Kurt, you saw what happened in the audition. I couldn't do it and then everyone started laughing at me." She played with the fringe on one of Kurt's throw pillows.
"Trust me. That will not happen again, and you won't be alone, which I hear works for you." Kurt smiled. "Blaine and I will make sure you blow everyone's ugly sport socks off." Jenny sighed.
"Maybe I should just take a leaf out of my father's book and get trashed before the concert." She joked darkly. Kurt stopped brushing her hair.
"That's not funny Jennifer." He sounded upset.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I would never do that." She apologized. Kurt went back to brushing her hair. Jenny's phone lit up beside her on the bed.
"It's my brother!" She snatched it up and put it on speakerphone.
"Hey big bro! Kurt is here." Jenny held up the phone.
"Hi Johnny!" Kurt blushed slightly, not expecting to be announced at all.
"Hey Kurt! It's been a long time, but your voice hasn't changed much." Johnny's gentle laugh filled the room.
"I see you still have that same idiotic laugh." Kurt smiled, throwing it back at him.
"You bet I do!" He laughed again. "Hey Jenny, I saw that video of you in the mall, carolling. Who knew an elf hat could look so fabulous!" Jenny's head snapped up.
"What video?" She panicked.
"Yeah it was taken from the crowd, obviously someone who knows you because you were tagged in it. Your voice was incredible!"
"How is that possible? The only people there that I knew were Blaine and..." The light bulb above her head went on. "Darcy!" She spat out his name.
"What? Who's Darcy? Do I need to kick some ass?" Johnny threatened.
"Nono!" Kurt interjected. "Blaine is a friend of my boyfriend's. It's okay!" He tried to diffuse the situation. After a few more tense minutes where Jenny said nothing, and Kurt tried to talk Johnny out of beating up Jenny's potential future boyfriend, Johnny changed the subject.
"Jenny, I actually wanted to talk to you privately. Kurt, would you mind giving us a minute?" He asked.
"Sure!" Kurt practically jumped off the bed. He knew Johnny received his email. There was no doubt about that considering the subject line was "ABOUT JENNY, EXTREMELY URGENT". He went upstairs, but sat at the top, he had to hear what was being said.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" Jenny asked a few seconds later.
"Well, I have some bad news." Johnny's voice was quiet. "I really wanted to be home for Christmas, and I know how badly you wanted me to be home too, but I just can't make it happen, Tink." He felt terrible. "I'm so sorry."
"Oh." Jenny tried to hide her disappointment. "That's okay. I know how busy you are." Her voice cracked on the last syllable and she punched the pillow, disgusted with herself for letting him hear the tears she was holding back.
"But I know Kurt and his parents want you to stay with them for the holidays." Johnny tried to make it better.
"Yeah that will be really nice. There will be other holidays. I can see you then." She tried to think about anything else.
"I'm still sending you a present or two though." He said. Jenny shook her head even though he couldn't see it.
"No, it's okay. I really don't want anything." She sniffled.
"That's just too damn bad, isn't it? If I can't be there, I can at least make sure you get some presents and that you don't spend Christmas with that miserable drunk. You know how he gets on holidays." Jenny nodded and cleared her throat.
"I know how stubborn you are, so I'm not going to argue." She said helplessly.
"That's the spirit." He stated sarcastically. "You know what I want for Christmas?" He asked her.
"What?" Jenny asked. She was back to playing with the fringe on the pillow, although the enthusiasm was gone.
"I want to sing with you." He answered. Jenny took a deep breath.
"You mean...now?" She asked.
"Mhm." Johnny paused for a minute before starting to sing. Fresh tears flooded Jenny's eyes when she listened to what he was singing.
I'll be home for Christmas
You can count on me
Please have snow, and mistletoe
And presents on the tree
Finn opened the door. "Hey Kurt hmph-" Kurt's hand clamped over his mouth.
"Shh." Kurt hissed. He was crying too. Jenny started singing, harmonizing perfectly with her brother. Both boys stood at the top of the stairs, listening. Kurt's hand was still over Finn's mouth, both of them frozen.
Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love-light gleams
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams
Won't you please have snow and mistletoe
And presents under the tree
For me
Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love light gleams
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams
After they stopped singing, Kurt kicked Finn out without even bothering to find out what it was he wanted. By now, both Jenny and Johnny were crying and not trying to hide it.
"Thank you, Tink." Johnny sniffled. "I have to go now, but I will phone you soon, okay?"
"Okay. Have fun." Jenny wiped away her tears. They said their goodbyes and Kurt made his way down the stairs, his cheeks wet. Jenny looked up.
"He's not coming home." She stated, fresh tears falling from her eyes.
"I'm sorry." Kurt moved over to the bed to hug her. "But it's like he said: you will be spending Christmas here." He knew that she knew he was listening, so he didn't try to lie about it. Jenny smiled, putting her head on his shoulder. "I know Dad and Carole want you here. They wouldn't have it any other way." He insisted. Jenny nodded.
"Thank you, Kurt. I would really love spending Christmas here." They spent the rest of the night making plans for her to spend Christmas Eve at their house and talking about the party next week. By the end of the conversation, she was finally starting to feel a little bit better.