A/N: A longish one to tide you over for the night. We haven't watched Glee yet - we'll do that later, but this was back from the beginning of December - we never finished it because we went into too much depth and ugh. But anyway, we eventually did finish it and it probably didn't end the best way possible, but we were far too bored with it, and not interested enough to continue it.
Blaine loved Christmas. When he was younger - despite his family - he generally always managed to have fun, no matter where he was. Usually, it was his room, but that didn't stop him from holding a party, although they were often by himself.
He'd started this tradition the Christmas his parents divorced – they had shouted so much that little Blaine ran to his room, slamming his door and locking himself in. At seven years old, Blaine didn't know what to do, so he did the only thing that made him happy. He sang.
He'd belted out Christmas songs, trying to drown out the sounds of glass breaking and his mother's angry sobs, until he finally fell asleep curled in front of his CD player. The next morning, he'd come downstairs to find his mother packing her stuff, before she left and never returned.
Christmas after that was strange. His father stopped caring – even more so when Blaine came out to him – and that put a damper on the mood. Blaine often bought small Christmas trees for himself and situated it in his room, playing Christmas Carols loudly and dancing around the house until his father returned from the bar around three in the morning – then he locked his room and stayed there until his father was sober.
But when he transferred to Dalton, Christmas had become special for him. He was usually invited to Wes' parties, and that suited his father just fine. It was tense at home on a good day, and Blaine generally didn't like being there.
But Christmas at McKinley was even more special. It was Christmas with Kurt.
He wanted everything – the stockings, exchanging gifts, the Christmas tree – cuddling by the fire and all the traditions they could make together.
But Blaine's hopes were dashed the second they were mentioned.
"So what are you doing for Christmas?" Blaine asked casually.
"Uhm, nothing? Maybe a movie? I don't really celebrate Christmas…in the…celebratory sense…"
Blaine's mouth fell open. "What?"
Kurt shrugged, returning to his sandwich. "I don't believe in God, and therefore Christmas became redundant."
Blaine poked him. "Have you evercelebrated Christmas?"
Kurt was silent for a bit. "The Christmas before my mother died was my last."
Blaine bit his lower lip, his hand covering Kurt's. "I'm sorry…I just…"
"No, it's okay. I just…I don't have firm belief's because nobody has ever proved them to me. And I don't think I'd want to worship someone who made us what we are."
Blaine nodded, frowning in thought.
"Why do you believe in God?"
Blaine shrugged. "I don't. Not really. I don't read the bible, I don't go to Church. I just like Christmas and spending time with everyone. It's…fun."
Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Do you do the Christmasy stuff? Singing carols and stuffing stockings…and the tree?"
Blaine nodded with a small grin. "Yeah. That's the best part."
"Really?"
Blaine grinned, nodding.
"Kurt…did your dad stop celebrating Christmas too?"
Kurt nodded. "We just…stopped."
Blaine took his hand. "Don't you ever wonder what all the hype is about these days? There's so much awesome stuff and you don't get to experience it!"
Kurt laughed. "Curling up with a book or a movie is good enough for me."
Blaine shook his head. "You're missing out."
Kurt shrugged. "Christmas is nice, and maybe one day I'll celebrate it again, but I just don't see the appeal."
Blaine was silent for a second.
"What do you generally do for Christmas?" Kurt asked softly.
He shrugged. "I spend it in my room, mostly. Dad's a bit of an alcoholic when it comes to Christmas."
"Do you do the whole…big decorations thing?"
Blaine grinned. "All over my room. I sometimes get a tree and chuck it up too."
Kurt took his hand. "It sounds…nice…"
Blaine shot him a questioning look. "You should…come join me one year."
Kurt bit his lip. "I'll have to think about it."
^.^
"I've decided to take you up on that offer." Kurt said a couple of days later.
"Which offer?"
"Christmas. With you." Kurt said softly. "But I have one condition."
"Oh yes?"
"We have it at my place. Because as much as I love your dad…"
"You don't." Blaine grinned. "And you'll probably love him even more when he's drunk."
Kurt murmured a response.
"Okay, I have one condition as well."
Kurt raised his eyebrows.
"You let me ease you into Christmas. My way."
Kurt looked hesitant.
"Will your dad be okay with it?"
"Carole, Finn and my dad are all going to see Carole's parents for Christmas."
"You're not going?"
"They're…very Christmasy. It's…weird. And uncomfortable."
Blaine nodded slightly. "Please? I won't push it onto you. We'll go slow, we'll figure out things. I just really want to spend my favourite holiday with you."
That was all it took for Kurt to agree. "Fine."
"When do Burt, Carole and Finn leave?"
"Yesterday. They'll be gone for the whole month – they won't be back until the New Year."
Blaine's eyes widened. "They're leaving you alone for that long?"
"Dad understands. And he trusts me." Kurt chuckled. "And he also expects you to be over all the time."
"He…he doesn't mind me sleeping over without him around?" Blaine raised an eyebrow.
"Oh he minds. Just be grateful my powers of persuasion are good enough for Dad to leave me alone for a month. Also, the fact that he doesn't think you're actually sleeping over." Kurt grinned.
"Oh, we won't be sleeping."
Kurt blushed and Blaine closed his eyes. "I mean…"
"Well…" Kurt looked away with a small grin. "It would be nice to have some time to ourselves…"
Blaine chuckled, taking his hand.
^.^
On the first day of December, Blaine showed up with one strip of tinsel.
"You aim high." Kurt laughed, and Blaine grinned, stepping into the house.
"I brought more, I was just making sure you were still okay with this."
Kurt grinned. "Still very okay."
Blaine laughed giddily and headed back to his car, popping the boot. From it, he pulled two very large, overstuffed garbage bags.
Kurt frowned, watching him drag them over. They were almost as tall as he was!
"Oh wow…" Kurt whispered.
"You have a big house. Lots of room for tinsel!" Blaine explained happily, dumping the bags at Kurt's feet.
"So what do we do?" Kurt asked, getting excited.
Blaine grinned. "Find the end of a strand, and go nuts."
Kurt giggled. "I thought they only did that in the movies."
"Nuh-uh."
Kurt grinned. "Where do we start?"
"How about the stairs? You do downstairs, I'll do up?"
Kurt nodded and helped Blaine up-end the bags, until all of the tinsel was spilled on the floor.
"Holy crap…I want the blue and silver for the kitchen, green and red and a little of the gold for the lounge room, and green and silver for the hallways, and halfway up the stairs."
Blaine laughed. "Any preferences for upstairs?"
"Go nuts. Just…" Kurt chuckled. "Careful with the stuff in my room."
"You're letting me in your room with tinsel?" Blaine was highly amused.
Kurt shrugged. "It's Christmas."
^.^
Three hours past and Kurt and Blaine were cuddled on the couch. The whole house was decorated, and Kurt was happy with what Blaine had done with his room. They were tired, but content.
"How are you liking Christmas so far?" Blaine asked gently, his fingers tracing light patterns on Kurt's chest.
Kurt laughed. "It's surprisingly fun. And not at all religious."
Blaine grinned, kissing him gently and snuggling down further into the couch. "Tomorrow is going to be even better. It's something you'll really like."
Kurt's eyes lit up, but it was countered by a yawn. "What is it?"
"You'll see."
^.^
Kurt was woken up early the next morning – even by his standards. The sun was barely up, and yet there Blaine was, bouncing excitedly around his room.
"Come on Kurt! Time to get up! We gotta get there before all of the good ones are gone!"
"Good ones?" Kurt said sleepily. He was so confused.
"Yeah!" Blaine pulled him up from the couch – where they had fallen asleep – and shoved a jacket onto his torso. "Come on!"
"Blaine…" Kurt moaned sleepily. "I have to have a shower…"
"Nope!" Blaine laughed.
"But I slept in these clothes."
"It's five in the morning. Nobody cares."
"I care." Kurt mumbled sleepily, allowing himself to be dragged outside.
Blaine pushed him into the car with a small grin, forcing the buckle into his hands.
"No one will see you." He promised.
^.^
Kurt woke up properly when they were halfway there. He was staring out the window with a confused expression.
"Blaine… Where are we going?"
"You'll see." Blaine said, grinning at him.
"Blaine.." he whined.
"Hush. We're almost there."
Kurt leant back in his seat with a halfhearted grumble. He confused when the pulled up seemingly in the middle of a forest.
"Blaine..?"
"We gotta go pick our tree!" Blaine said happily, bouncing around to the other side of the car.
"Come on, we gotta go talk to Simon. I've been coming here for years, and he alwayssaves me the perfect tree."
"Tree?" Kurt mumbled as Blaine helped him out. Suddenly his eyes lit up. "Tree!"
Blaine giggled, helping him out of the car and leading him into the forest.
"Do you know your way around?" Kurt asked as they were suddenly encompassed by trees.
"Somewhat." Blaine called, leading Kurt through the many rows of trees. "Simon!"
Blaine continued calling his name, until a young man – a few years older than Blaine – appeared at the head of one of the rows.
"Blaine? Shut up already. Geez. It's five-thirty in the morning!"
"The best time for tree shopping!"
Simon shook his head and looked at Kurt, who was staring in wonder at the towering pine trees.
"This is my boyfriend, Kurt."
Kurt turned his attention to Simon, who shook his hand warmly. "Simon. This your first Christmas together?"
"As a couple, yes."
Simon grinned. "Congratulations Blaine – you finally managed to keep a relationship steady for…what would it be now, four or so months?"
"Shut up Simon."
"Wait, what?"
"We toyed with the idea of going out." Simon said with a laugh. "A long time ago, but Blaine said he couldn't commit. Mind you, he was fourteen at the time."
"And you were…?"
"Eighteen then." Simon said with a small grin. "It's a good thing we didn't go through with it."
Blaine nodded sheepishly,
"Just a little bit illegal." He laughed. "Did you pick me out a good tree this year?"
Simon smiled.
"Don't I always?" He asked, leading them through the trees. "I picked out two, a small one, and a bigger one."
Kurt followed Blaine, taking a possessive hold on his hand. He did notlike the way Simon kept looking at Blaine…
Blaine stopped as Simon gestured to two trees, already cut and leaning against the side of a building. He turned to Kurt in delight.
"Kurt! Look, they're perfect!"
Kurt smiled, turning to study the two trees. Blaine was right, both of the trees looked perfect – with evenly spaced branches.
"Which one should we get?" he asked. Blaine shrugged,
"Why not both? We could put the small one in your room, and the big one in the lounge room?" Blaine said, already planning.
Kurt smiled, a little in shock.
"Okay.." he agreed weakly. Blaine turned to him immediately.
"Kurt? Are you okay? Am I taking things too fast?"
Simon was watching them with raised eyebrows.
"No, no. It's good. We should do it."
"Are trees the code word for sex or…?" Simon spoke up, and Kurt shot him a dirty look.
Blaine looked between them with a grin, kissing Kurt on the cheek. "We'll take them both."
Simon nodded. "Do you need me to deliver them?"
"Yeah, if that's alright?"
Simon nodded again with a grin. "I'll load them up and bring them round later today. Same address?"
"No," Blaine corrected, reeling off Kurt's address.
"Thanks Simon!" Blaine called as he walked away.
Kurt held tightly to Blaine as they made their way through the pine trees again. He didn't know whether Blaine knew his way around, but he wasn't taking any chances of getting lost.
^.^
The trees were delivered late that afternoon, and Blaine refused to decorate them then, saying Kurt had to wait. Not long after, he disappeared in his car, coming back with three large cardboard boxes - which he refused to let Kurt look at.
He distracted Kurt with a Christmas movie - one of millions he hadn't seen yet, and Kurt fell asleep early, effectively pinning Blaine to the couch.
This time, Blaine slept in – until nine. Kurt tiptoed around, making coffee and firmly telling himself that he didn't want to know what was in the boxes.
When he couldn't help himself anymore, he went and woke Blaine up, placing his coffee on the table in front of him.
He sat next to him, fidgeting as Blaine took his time with his breakfast. Finally, when he could barely stand it anymore, Blaine stood up and stretched, taking Kurt's hand with a grin that made Kurt think Blaine knew exactlyhow he felt.
"You're such a tease!" Kurt whined, and Blaine laughed.
"I feel like the parent of every child under ten on Christmas morning." He grinned and Kurt laughed.
"What are we doing today?" Kurt exclaimed, almost hopping from foot to foot. "Are we decorating the trees?"
"Yep!"
Blaine went back into the lounge room, pulling two of the boxes with him. He upended them on the floor.
"Come on Kurt!" he said, already hanging some baubles abstractedly on the tree.
Blaine had set the trees up the night before - even while denying Kurt the chance to decorate them. The whole house smelt amazing - like Christmas, and tree, and Blaine was planning on making it even better.
He concentrated on hanging one of the decorations just so, turning in confusion when Kurt wasn't beside him.
Kurt was standing in the doorway, staring, stunned, at the mess on the floor.
"Kurt?" Blaine asked, dropping the bauble he held. "I'm pushing you too far too fast aren't I?"
When Kurt didn't answer, Blaine dropped to his knees, shoving the tree decorations back into their boxes, apologizing the whole time. Kurt's hands stopped Blaine's frantic attempts to clean up.
"I'm sorry…" Blaine repeated, staring worriedly at Kurt's dazed expression.
"It's…okay…it's just…" Kurt was still staring at the mess on the floor. "Memories…."
Blaine let out a breath. "Go…get some hot chocolate or something."
Kurt shook his head. "Teach me."
"What?"
Kurt ducked his head, a little embarrassed about his freak out.
"Teach me how to decorate the tree."
Blaine laughed. "There's isn't a specific way. It's just like the banisters and the rest of the house. There's just one rule – you don't put anything on the very top until last." Blaine paused with a grin, thankful that he hadn't ruined anything for Kurt.
Kurt raised an eyebrow. "That's where the angel goes, right?"
"Or the star." Blaine grinned. "I…can't reach that high though…so you'll have to decorate the top of the tree."
Kurt shot him a bemused look, before taking a deep breath and pulling some baubles from the boxes. Blaine sat on his heels, watching Kurt with a fond grin. Sometimes he was so strong and so open and didn't care what anyone thought…but then Kurt would amaze him by breaking down and becoming a completely different person. It was these little freak-outs that reassured Blaine that Kurt was in fact human – not an angel – but that didn't make him any less perfect.
"You going to come help?" Kurt asked, reaching up and attaching a bauble to a branch.
^.^
The next few days passed quickly, and Kurt was entertained by Christmas-Cookie-Cooking, Christmas Games, Caroling and Carolers, and snow-man making (which wasn't so much Christmasy, but fun).
Finally, Christmas Eve rolled around, and Kurt and Blaine found themselves cuddled tightly into the couch, 'The Muppets Christmas Carol' on, with their fingers wrapped around mugs of hot chocolate.
"This Christmas has been perfect." Kurt whispered, planting a kiss to Blaine's jaw. "Thank you so much."
"Christmas isn't over yet." Blaine whispered back, his eyes trailing to the Christmas tree.
Since the tree went up, Kurt and Blaine had both bought each other a small gift each day – wrapping them and putting them under the tree.
"Yeah…but even without Christmas Day, I know that this has been one of my favourites, because I got to spend it with the best man on earth."
A/N: :)