(7) You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This

A/N: there were so many characters singing, that I just put their initial, a dash, and their line... You'll see what I mean... Also there will probably be a few chapters on Christmas.

XXX

I'll Close My Eyes And I Won't Know Where I'm At

Klaine, Niff, Wes, Jess, and Mr. Shue all crammed into Kurt's truck. Will and Jess were in the front, Niff and Wes called dibs on the middle, leaving Klaine alone in the back (sneaky Warblers).

They were all singing happily along to the radio which, in the Christmas spirit, kept playing Christmas songs. Right now, they were singing "Walking In A Winter Wonderland".

N- Sleigh bells ring. Are you listening?

J- In the lane. Snow is glistening?

N- A beautiful sight!

J- We're happy tonight!

N/J- Walking in a winter wonderland.

B- Gone away (gone away) is the bluebird

K- Here to stay (here to stay) is the new bird

B- He sings a love song

K- As we go along

K/B- Walking in a winter wonderland

Blaine and Kurt actually seemed to blush on this part.

All- in the meadow we can build a snowman

S- Then pretend that he is parson brown

Js- He'll say are you married we'll say no man!

All- But you can do the job when you're on town!

W-Later on we'll conspire as we dream by the fire to face un afraid the plans that we made

All- walking in a winter wonderland!

Everyone laughed as the song ended. "We were actually pretty good!" said Jeff.

"Ha!" said Kurt. "I know! That was fun, too!"

They all sang along to the rest of the songs until they finally reached the mall about twenty minutes later. They all got off the car and Kurt asked "Does anyone know a good sports store? Because that's where we need to look for a fur lined hooded track suit... Specifically..."

"Well," said Blaine. "There are a few. I mean, there's FootLocker, Champs, and Sports Authority."

"Great!" said Wes. "Me, Mr. Shue, and Jess will go to FootLocker, Nick and Jeff will go to Champs and you two can go to Sports Authority."

Before either could protest, the rest of them split into their groups and went to their assigned locations.

Blaine shrugged and showed Kurt the way to Sports Authority. They walked down the isles looking for the gift that Kurt had in mind.

"So what are you doing for Christmas?" asked Kurt.

Blaine shrugged. "My parents are on some business trip for the next few weeks, and Cooper's still in LA, so I'll probably just lounge around my house or Dalton..."

Kurt gawked at him. "That's horrible! You can't spend Christmas alone! I'll tell you what. I'll ask my dad if you can stay with us, because there is NO way I am letting you spend Christmas by yourself."

Blaine smiled at him. "You-you'd really do that for me?"

Kurt rolled his eyes with a smile. "Of course I would, you dork!" he reached up for a black hoodie lined with fur. "Aha! Perfect! Of corse she'd want to keep warm while she watches the Cheerios practice in the cold, using exercise as a motive for them to stay warm..." he chuckled.

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "So she coaches a team of delicious whole grain cereals?"

Kurt laughed again. "No, the Cheerios are our cheerleading squad." Blaine frowned slightly. There it was again... Kurt still called McKinley "his" school.

"Wait a second..." said Blaine. "Didn't you mention something about RE-joining the Cheerios that day in Mrs. Jess's office?"

Kurt looked down at his shoes.

"OH MY GOD!" cried Blaine with a laugh. "You were a cheerleader!"

"YES! I was a cheerleader for a while with Mercedes, but she quit when Puck started dating her, and I quit after Nationals. There was NO way I was trying out again... She kept trying to re-recruit me and then so did coach Beiste-"

"Who's coach Beiste?"

"The new football coach."

Blaine's jaw dropped. "YOU were on the football team?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. He was getting tired of such a surprised reaction when people found out this info. "Yes, I was just the kicker, but that's a story for later when you stay at my house for Christmas." he waved his hand dismissively with a smile. Blaine stood there, awestruck. What else didn't he know about Kurt Hummel? As if he read Blaine's mind, Kurt said, "There's still quite a bit you don't know about me."

"Apparently..."

Kurt grabbed the coat from where it hung and put it in the small basket. "We should probably call the rest of them to tell them that we found what we were looking for."

Blaine whipped out his phone and quickly typed in a message to the rest of the clan, saying each word as he typed it. "Found the gift. Anybody up for some grub?"

A few minutes later, he received replies from everyone.

From: Mrs. Jess: Sure! Foodcourt in ten?

From: Wes: Jess said foodcourt in ten. But if you get hungry before then, you can always eat Kurtie's face ;)

From: Nick: Jeff says to just eat Kurt's face out... We just ran into Mr. Shue and Jess. Foodcourt in ten!

"What do they say?" asked Kurt as he looked over Blaine's shoulder to try and peek at the text. He caught a glimpse of the one that Wes sent and blushed slightly.

"They all met up and said foodcourt in ten minutes."

They payed for the jacket and walked out of the store towards the foodcourt. As they were getting there, Kurt excused himself to go to the bathroom, leaving Blaine in the middle of the mall hall.

An old salesman (who one could mistake as homeless) walked up to him and asked, "Someone special?" Blaine blushed slightly and shook his head. "Ah... Just a friend?" Blaine nodded. "Well, you still get your "friends" gifts, right? Have you gotten him anything yet?" Blaine shook his head. He'd looked for a gift, but couldn't find anything that he deemed good enough for his best friend. "Hmm... I have an idea. Come with me!"

The man pulled him a few feet over into his little stand and showed him his merchandise, which arrayed from the oddest things like chewing gum, to the more heartfelt things like Christmas cards and lollipops... It was actually quite a strange variety.

Blaine smiled as he saw it... He'd heard Kurt talk about it and describe it before. It was perfect.

XXX

Klaine, Wes, and the rest of the group met up at the foodcourt and decided to get Chick-fil-a.

"So, Mr. Shue," said Kurt. "How is everybody?"

"They're good! We went class to class caroling, and we got a shoe thrown at us by a teacher, so I think things are finally looking up." he said with a smile.

The Warblers gaped at him. "You guys get SHOES thrown at you?" asked Nick.

Kurt nodded. "That's not even the worst of it. I had a cat thrown at me in a nursing home once."

"And a parakeet at a blood drive."

"That bird never was the same after that..."

The Dalton people all stared at them. "Wow..." said Jeff. "That is just... Wow... You guys really have it rough."

Kurt shrugged. "We do, but it's the price of doing what I love and I'm more than willing to pay it... It was so weird when I came here. To not be shoved into the lockers or be thrown in the dumpster. I mean, people ACTUALLY hi-fived me in the hallways!"

At that moment, Blaine realized how horrible McKinley was to Kurt, or anybody who dared to be different for that matter. "That's incredibly horrible. It makes my old school sound like a church retreat... I can see why you threw the "Defying Gravity" diva-off."

Mr. Shue looked at Kurt. "You what?"

Kurt facepalmed. "Blaine! That was told to you in CONFIDENCE!" He gave Blaine his best bitch glare.

"You THREW the competition!"

Kurt nodded and crossed his arms haughtily. "I meant what I said. A high F is well within my range. Don't you remember "A House Is Not A Home"?" Kurt mentally facepalmed and giggled as he remembered his incredibly naïve crush on Finn.

Mr. Shue gaped at him. "Yes, I remembered... I- I just never put two and two together... But, why?"

Kurt looked at his shoes and Blaine patted him comfortingly on the back. "Well, I had come out to my dad just a few weeks before, and he was still getting used to the whole out gay kid thing, and one day, he was in the shop... He got an anonymous call, calling me a- a... Fag."

Mr. Shoe looked at him with sorry eyes and everyone else gave him sympathetic looks. "Kurt, I- I'm so sorry."

"I could tell that it upset him. I mean, I was used to it, but he wasn't, and having his gay son sing a girl song at sectionals wasn't any easier for him..."

Mr. Shue felt sorry for Kurt. He'd heard about what happened between him and Finn. The poor kid could never seem to catch a break... Maybe this Blaine kid could be his bog break. They sure seemed happy together, and he'd never seem Kurt so full of smiles. "Hmm... I wish you'd have been able to stay at McKinley. I remembered the "Happy Days Are Here Again/Get Happy" duet you and Rachel did after the Duet competition, and it inspired me to give you a solo for sectionals."

"Well," said Blaine. "I guess that turned out pretty well for the Warblers. I'm pretty sure we'd have lost if Kurt had gotten a solo." he nudged Kurt and winked at him, who then returned a light smile... But Blaine could still sense Kurt's sadness.

"Well," said Kurt as he crumpled up his wrapper. "I think I speak for the rest of us when I say that we're ready to leave."

Everyone agreed and walked towards the door. As they headed towards the exit, the man who sold Blaine his present to Kurt waved at him. Blaine smiled and waved back. Just then, a security guard saw the old man and yelled "HEY!" He chased after him. "How many times do I have to tell you to get you and your little mini flea market put of here!"

The man's eyes widened and they went on in a cat-mouse like chase that continued even after they walked out the door.

From what they all gathered from the news later that night, the damage was pretty severe...

XXX

A/N: well that was some random shiz... I like writing Xmas, so MORE XMAS!