See Ya Soon Part 1/2

[xlessxthanx3x]

Title:See Ya Soon
Author xLessxThanx3x/Puckmesoharditkurts 
Rating: G-13 
Character(s)/Pairing(s): urt Hummel, Noah Puckerman, Finn Hudson, Carole Hudson, Burt Hummel, Sam Evans, miscellaneous ND member Pairings: Barole, Puckurt
Warnings AU (season two happened without Kurt getting with Blaine), lots of fluff and schmaltz for the holiday season, sleep deprivation occurred 
Spoilers: othing past season two, takes place in an AU of season three where Kurt and Blaine never happened, brief mention of a story told in the last Christmas episode
Disclaimer: do not own Glee nor any songs mentioned
Author Notes I got super carried away and this is way too long I am so sorry. Hope you like it!
Summary On the first of December, Kurt finds a small gift in his locker from someone claiming to be a secret admirer. The same thing happens the next day. And the next and the next. 
Word Count: 11,773+


Kurt ran his fingers over the smooth paper of the envelope, too perplexed to even raise his eyebrows. The envelope was plain and ordinary, nothing special, and it seemed to just hold a card. But Kurt's fingerless gloves kept running over the front, right where it was addressed to him.

To: Kurt

From: ;)

No that…that was confusing him. A wink meant it had to be romantic, right? Of course he had always hoped that his first boyfriend would be the kind that would slowly woo him in a story worthy of a romantic comedy, but he never actually expected someone fro McKinley f all places to understand how to do that. Even when he was madly in love with the guy who was now his stepbrother he never expected him to be a big enough romantic for that.

It could be someone from another school, his mind pointed out as he twirled the envelope around in his hands, but the idea just made him snort. Who did he know from other schools? Would any members of the Warblers seriously go out of their way to leave him a letter? Not likely. They were nice and all, but none of them seemed interested when he was there and he and Blaine never happened like he had wanted.

Then again, maybe it wasn't romantic. He closed his locker and leaned against it, still examining the envelope as if it would tell him what it was. Maybe Mercedes or Tina or Brittany left it as a cute little (very) early Christmas gift. Or maybe Santana was feeling particularly bitchy and had left him a nasty note.

Kurt's eyes widened. What if some idiot jock left it in his locker as an even worse form of bullying than what had ever been done to him? What if Azimio blamed Kurt for Karofsky transferring? What if it was like prom all over again?

Without another thought he quickly walked to the choir room, pleased when he found the girls there already, like he expected; Mercedes was braiding Tina's hair while Rachel talked to them about something they didn't care about and Santana, Brittany, Sugar, and Quinn talked about something he didn't care about. Some of the boys were talking over in another corner of the room, but Kurt just ignored them as he walked straight to the girls. "Did one of you guys do this?" he asked, holding up his letter.

They all looked at him with puzzled expressions. "What is it?" Tina asked, squinting her eyes to get a better look as Mercedes slowly let Tina's hair fall down on her back.

"…I don't know," Kurt admitted, bringing the letter back to his waist-level. "I'm just…trying not to get my hopes up."

Santana walked over to Kurt and peered over his arm. With an incredulous laugh, she took the letter from his hands. "Geez, Kurt when did you become a hot commodity?"

"You really think it's that kind of card?" Kurt asked, not trying to get his hopes up.

"Well, duh," Santana said, smirking as she turned back to the girls. "I mean, winky face?" she asked, turning the envelope's front to the girls, "More lik wank face, come on!"

The girls all crowded around him and Santana, all trying to look at the label. "But what if it's, like, a joke? Or a well meaning girl?" Kurt asked, wrinkling his nose at both options.

"The only way you'll know is if you open it," Quinn said, taking the envelope from Santana and handing it to Kurt, Santana looking pissed at how intrigued she was.

Kurt looked at his friends, all watching him carefully, and sighed. Stepping out of the gaggle, he went to the stands where they were sitting moments ago and turned around, not wanting them to see his face if it turned out badly. With precision, he opened the envelope and pulled out the card he found inside. First he noticed a gift card to the Lima Bean-fifteen dollars-and then he saw a barely legible scrawl underneath it.

Hope you like the envelope. Thought it seemed cooler than 'Secret Admirer' or some crap. Enjoy the gift hope. See ya soon.

Kurt turned back around in shock not even fighting as Rachel ripped the card out of his hands to read it. Slowly, he sat down in a nearby chair and smiled. He, Kurt Hummel of the Perpetually Single, had a secret admirer.

-

The next day, the second day of December, was just a normal Friday. While Kurt was excited about the letter and gift, he wasn't expecting anything at all to pop up. He finally got to go to his locker after fourth period French when he noticed not one but three small, wrapped parcels on his shelf.

Okay, seriously, how did this guy have his locker combination? A letter he could just slip in, but obviously those didn't fit in the cracks. The guy (the handwriting wa definitely guy's) had dedication. Or he was a stalker.

Pushing all stalker-y thoughts aside, Kurt carefully carried his trinkets to lunch, glad that he brought his lunch that day so he didn't have to wait in line and balance his gifts.

"Woah, he struck again?" Mercedes asked as she joined him, impressed.

"Who struck what? Did some fight happen?" Artie asked, balancing his tray on his lap.

"Oh, some guy is just wooing Kurt, that's all," Mercedes said with a grin.

"It's about time," Artie declared. Sam nodded as he bit into his sandwich.

Kurt tilted his head, slightly surprised at the compliments, but smiled. "Thanks. Glad to know even straight guys recognize that." He sighed and amended, "Well, that's what I hope's going on. I'm trying not to get my hopes up-"

"Kurt, he said he was a secret admirer. And do you know any guy that would buy four presents just for a joke?" Tina asked. "I mean, you guys have been on the football team with those idiots; would any of them do that?"

Kurt looked over at his two male companions of the table as they shook their heads. "Please, Azimio wouldn't even chip in two bucks for a pizza night," Artie said.

"Yeah," Sam agreed, "They'd rather save their money. Can't say I blame them, but, y'know…" He cleared his throat, not wanting to talk about financial woes anymore when he knew them all too well-after all, he was at the Hummel-Hudson's for that reason-and shook his head, "Nah, none of the guys would go that far."

"None of them are even creative enough to think of something along those lines; you know that," Mercedes added, the boys and Tina nodding with her.

Kurt bit his lip but nodded. As he looked down on the small packages in front of him, he couldn't stop the corners of his lips from twitching up. "It's like Christmas came early."

Artie raised an eyebrow, "I think that was the point."

After staring at the gifts for a few more minutes, Kurt finally grabbed an item wrapped in purple that ha written on it. His hands moved a bit faster than when he opened up the envelope the day before, but not enough to completely ruin the paper.

He found a folded up piece of notebook paper attached to a Ring Pop. Kurt opened the paper and, after being goaded by Mercedes and Tina to do so, read it out loud. "Dear Kurt, I hope you don't think it's too forward to get you jewelry so soon. I figured a temporary one wasn't too freaky serious. And you can just suck it, ya know, if you have nothing else to do (that's good advice for anyone who might date a guy now that I think of it)."

The girls giggled and Artie and Sam laughed as Kurt blushed bright pink, but he read on, "Just so you know, I know this seems sketchy, but I promise, this isn't a joke. Oh, and the two other gifts are for Saturday and Sunday, but you can open them whenever. See ya soon ;)."

At the end of lunch, despite the catcalls from his lunch table, Kurt slipped on the ring. Hey, the blue raspberry flavor brought out the color in his eyes.

-

Kurt showing up to Glee club with a gift or card quickly became the favorite part of the girls' day. He'd sit down on the risers before the meeting started, they'd look over the gift, and then throw around theories for who it could be.

The gifts themselves were rather creative. Obviously no one in Lima could afford to give a new gift everyday unless they got creative-if they had that much money they wouldn' be n Lima-so the secret admirer had to come up with clever ideas. On Monday it was something easily found at a dollar store or gas station, like a little figurine that almost looked like a Hummel figurine but what was obviously made of plastic (Made me think about you). On Tuesday it was an origami fortune teller (I tried to make a flower but kept screwing up). Then there was a CD of a bootleg recording o Billy Elliot I know you're not really a dancer but when I heard about this it seemed up your alley) and then a small poster of One Direction fro TigerBeat …Their music isn't as bad as I want it to be).

On the ninth of December, a Friday, Kurt found, like the week before, three different gifts in his locker, all with a number on them indicating the order. Instead of taking them to lunch, he waited until Glee to bring them out, getting there before any of the girls. He sat down on his usual place and hummed a Christmas carol quietly to himself as he waited for them.

His hums were interrupted by a call of "Hey, Kurt."

He looked up from his gifts and smiled, "Hi, Puck." Despite what he expected, Puck sat down in a chair next to Kurt, obviously noticing the presents but not commenting on them.

"I wanted to thank you for, ya know, letting me stay with your family. I was going to come over after school today with my stuff if that's cool," Puck said.

"No problem," Kurt said honestly. "I mean, obviously it was more my dad's and Carole's decision than my own, but I wouldn't want you spending Christmas on your own, even if you don't celebrate it."

"Yeah…I could've had an awesome party, though, don't you think?" Puck asked.

"True," Kurt agreed, "I honestly expected you to stay at your place or wherever your sister was going, especially since Hanukkah falls over Christmas this year, right?"

Puck nodded. "Yeah, but it's more of just a night thing, so I can go to my Nana's to see Sara and then come back. Ma just didn't want me staying alone and Nana won't let me stay at her place. Last time I stayed there I sorta set fire to one of her wigs." He hastily added, "On accident!" At Kurt's look he corrected, "Okay, not really on accident. I was just bored."

Kurt laughed, "I didn't realize your Nana was old enough to need a wig."

"Oh, she's not." At Kurt's confused look he explained, "She was a beautician or whatever when she was younger so she has practice wigs and fake heads and stuff. Her attic is a very creepy place."

With an eyebrow raised and his smirk on, Kurt asked, "What does a former beautician say about her grandson having a Mohawk?"

"Not very good things. It normally makes her swear in Yiddish," Puck said with a chuckle.

As the two continued to talk, the girls slowly trickled in. Once Santana and Brittany, the last two, sat down, Santana turned to Puck and gave him a significant look that Kurt couldn't read, but a look that Puck seemed to acknowledge. "Scram, Puckerman; we need to have girly talks about our periods syncing up."

Kurt made a face while Puck seemed unfazed (apparently living with two females made him immune to being grossed out by that). He merely laughed and stood up, "Okay, okay, I'll leave you to it." As if noticing the items in Kurt's lap for the first time, Puck smirked and winked, "Enjoy your chat."

Once Puck was safely separated from the group, Kurt grabbed the first gift. Instead of being wrapped, it was in a simple manila folder with a message written on the back in black Sharpie.

"Hey Kurt, I was kind of inspired by that annoying song everyone knows for these three gifts, ya know, the twelve days of Christmas or whatever. So, yeah, take that into account. And, like last time, you can open the gifts whenever. See ya soon ;)." Kurt opened up the manila envelope and found a blown up picture of nine football team members dancing to "Single Ladies" sophomore year. A Post-It note attached to the picture read, "Nine (single) ladies dancing."

Kurt laughed quietly and stored the picture back in the envelope. He started to put the other gifts in his backpack to open over the weekend, but Santana stopped him.

"Hey, I'm not playing catch up on Monday, it'll be Finals week. Just open them here," she said.

"They'r my ifts," Kurt replied slowly with an arched brow.

"C'mon, Hummel, you know you enjoy the attention we give you for these as much as you enjoy opening them; just get it over with and gloat to yourself over the weekend."

Kurt looked at the other girls, all of them seeming to agree with Santana. With a sigh, he pulled out the next gift, mumbling how they owed him a good Christmas present.

The "ten Lords a-leaping" gift turned out to be The Ten Commandments. It was designed like a small version of the copy in the Charlton Heston movie on two tombstones. Kurt furrowed his brow; the guy seemed to know him pretty well before, but he obviously didn't know he was an atheist.

"Oh, a note," Rachel pointed out, peeling off a sticky note. She read it out loud, "I know you don't believe in this stuff, but I couldn't think of anything else involving the number ten and lords but wanted nine and eleven. Find it funny that this exists because of number two."

Quinn snorted, "Good point." When the Kurt looked at her she raised her eyebrows, "Like wouldn't ave it memorized?" She rolled her eyes and recited, "'You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth,' etcetera, etcetera, and so forth. It's normally just summarized to mean not to have a false idol, but I get his point."

"Oh, well I a definitely ighting off so many pointed questions right now," Kurt said, putting the gift away in his bag with the first one, "I'm glad he appreciates irony as much as I do, though."

"And at least he admits when he doesn't have a good idea," Mercedes said, trying to get off the subject of religion.

"Right," Kurt agreed. "So we've had nine ladies dancing and ten lords a-leaping, what's next again?"

"Eleven pipers piping," Sugar said proudly. "I'd guess flutes were involved, but I'd guess by the fact that it's an envelope that it's pictures again."

"Guess there's only one way to find out." Kurt picked up the envelope, raising his eyebrows as he noticed the message on the envelope read, "Blowin' on those pipes." Not getting the joke, he opened up the envelope, immediately turning red and squeaking "OH MY GOD!"

He had been given eleven different pictures of blowjobs. The girls either laughed (Santana, Quinn, and Tina), wrinkled their noses (Rachel and Mercedes), or looked turned on (Brittany and, surprisingly, Sugar).

"Hope you haven't told your family about this; I don't think your dad would appreciate you getting porn," Tina managed to say through giggles.

"Forget about him, I wanna see Finn's reaction!" Santana cackled.

Her laugh was loud enough for Finn to look over with a furrowed brow. "What about me?"

All the girls laughed as Kurt turned even redder. "Nothing, Finn, turn around!" Finn looked even more confused but he shrugged and turned around.

Kurt murmured as he awkwardly flipped through the pictures, trying to discreetly cross his legs just in case the stirrings he felt grew to something more. "It's not really the type of gift I like…"

Santana smirked widely, "Fine, give us the pictures and we'll throw them out so you don't have to deal with them."

Kurt looked over at her with an open mouth, trying to come up with an argument. After a few moments with no luck, he closed his mouth and grabbed one of the pictures with a guy on his knees that looked eerily like him; he folded the picture and put it in the breast pocket of his shirt and then put the rest of the pictures in his bag. He stood up and, when noticing the shocked looks of his friends, loudly huffed, "I'm still a teenaged boy who turns off the lights in his room, okay?"

He stormed out of the room, his black boots clacking on the tile. The boys looked over in confusion for a moment before picking up their conversation again as they slowly moved over to the chairs in preparation for the Glee club rehearsal.

Rachel turned to Mercedes and quietly whispered, "You don't think he does that at our sleepovers, do you?"

Mercedes turned to Rachel with bitch, please ook. "There are some questions you really shouldn't ask, Rachel; that is one of those questions."

-

The rest of the semester's gifts went by quickly. Kurt managed to meet with the girls between their finals to discuss the gifts, but nothing was quite as legendary as the eleven pipers piping. When his last final was complete (oh how he hated math), he did his best not to think about how his gifts were coming to an end.

In order to ignore that thought, he slipped into sweats and went down to the basement to hang out with the boys. When they moved to the new house a year previously, it made more sense for Kurt to have an actual bedroom and for the basement to be an entertainment center. They had a large TV, great speakers, a DVD player, an XBOX, and a Wii, everything necessary for a perfect hangout spot. Even if Sam and Puck weren't staying at the Hummel-Hudson's, they'd probably be there celebrating the end of finals.

"Well, look at that th Kurt Hummel can actually wear sweat pants like us common folks," Puck teased as soon as he saw Kurt's outfit choice. "Better hope the fashion police don't catch you in that."

"Please, everything I wear i Vogue-worthy," Kurt quickly retorted primly, though the corners of his mouth twitched up.

Sometimes Kurt would sit down on the floor with them and play them i Mario Kart he was a skilled driver but damn that stupid Rainbow Road) or fight zombies and aliens alongside them, but that time he simply curled up on the loveseat and picked up his latest copy o Vogue.

After about half an hour of playing, Kurt noticed someone had sat down next to him. He looked up and saw Puck and gave him a sympathetic smile, "Did that alien monster kill you?"

"Yep," Puck said, stretching his arms around the back of the couch. "So what kind of traditions should I expect to experience? From what I hear, everyone has different ones. I need to know when to hide in my room."

"Will you be hiding to let us have a special family moment or hiding to avoid any weird traditions?"

"Oh, both, definitely," Puck said, causing Kurt to laugh quietly.

"Hmm, okay…First off, we'll be buying a tree tomorrow to put up. That's a big deal," he said seriously. Puck nodded and Kurt continued, "We decorate the whole house. All of it. We have boxes upon boxes of garlands and wreaths and mistletoe and lights. And since you're here as well as Sam, I'd love it if you could help. It'll go faster if I can use my keen eye for design on decorating instead of putting up lights and chopping down a tree. Oh, and all of this accompanied by my masterwork of a Christmas playlist."

Puck raised an eyebrow, "A masterwork, huh? You seem pretty confident on that."

"I'm pretty confident on most things," Kurt said with a shrug, "And Christmas? That's something I'm definitely confident on. I know my Christmas specials and songs. That's why I bring out the old VHS player every year so everyone can watch the specials I have recorded. Or I'll do it in my room so people don't have to watch the bad animation."

"Wait, you have a VHS?" Puck asked excitedly. Kurt took his turn to raise an eyebrow as he nodded. "Sweet!"

After he made sure Sam and Finn were still killing aliens, he leaned in close to Kurt, his lips almost touching his ear. Kurt could smell the Old Spice on his skin and he would be lying if he said that having him that close didn't make goosebumps form on his skin.

"I know it's lame," Puck whispered, "But I like to watch this one Hanukkah special every year. It's been a tradition since I was a kid since it was, like, the only Hanukkah special and I have it on tape with me."

Kurt tilted his head to the side in thought. His eyes widened when he realized what it was and he grinned, "Rugrats? It' Rugrats, isn't it?"

Puck's eyes widened as well, "Keep it down, Kurt, Jesus!" He looked over at the other two only to see them trying to sneak up on the monster.

"Sorry," Kurt whispered, leaning in a bit closer to Puck so he didn't have to talk very loud at all.

"You smell like lavender," Puck whispered.

Kurt blinked in response but tried not to read anything into it even though he didn't know how Puck knew what that smelled like. "And you smell like Old Spice. Anyways, why am I allowed to know about this but your friends aren't?"

"Aren't we friends?" Puck asked simply. Before Kurt could even acknowledge that, Puck continued, "Plus I know those two will give me crap about that for the rest of my life. You won't, you're different from them. And not just because you smell like lavender, but because, you know, you get emotions and stuff. Those guys are cool, but…you're kind of cooler than them in that way."

Kurt's did his best to hide his shock as he thought over what Puck said. He hated to admit it, but even though he and Puc wer friends and they got along well, he had never realized he could actually be kind of deep. "That was…sweet. Thanks, Puck. I'm glad you trust me." He looked down at his lap with a grin and admitted, "I guess I should tell you that I watc The Muppet Christmas Carol very year on Christmas Eve. I watch a whole bunch of holiday specials on that night-I try to watch as many as possible until I need to sleep-but that one's the biggest deal." He looked back up at Puck and pressed a finger to his chest. "You're not going to tell the whole school that now, are you?"

Puck laughed and grabbed Kurt's finger. "I promise I won't," he said as he slowly pushed Kurt's finger off of his pecs. Kurt laughed with him, barely even noticing Puck's arm going around his shoulders apart from the warmth it provided.

"So, Kurt, I have a very decisive question that tears some families apart." Kurt raised an inquisitive eyebrow and Puck asked in a very serious manner, "Eggnog or apple cider?"

In a similar manner, Kurt replied, "Apple cider."

Puck gave a small nod, "Discuss."

"For one, it's made from fruit-or I can at least pretend that it is. It's fat content is much lower than eggnog's. After years of weaning myself onto skim milk and non-fat yogurt, I can't have anything that rich; it feels wrong. And as much as I like some sweets every now and then, I'm more into spice. I like the cinnamon cloves in cider; it's better than eggnog. Hot chocolate can be good, too, but nothing beats apple cider."

"I can get all of that," Puck said with another nod. "I've only had the stuff straight from a bottle."

"Well that's not the right way to have it. You have to heat it and add even more cinnamon, not too much, but just a bit. You can't have apple cide cold r straight from the bottle; that's completely wrong," Kurt informed him.

Holding up a hand in defense, Puck said, "Okay, I'll give yours a try." He looked up at the TV and dropped his hand, the other arm still wrapped around Kurt's shoulders. "Looks like our boys are about to be torn apart by an alien in a few. Wanna play som Mario Kart fter their inevitable doom or do you want to be left alone to look through your magazine?"

"That depends," Kurt said. "Are you going to spend the whole time talking about your Star World theory again?"

"What answer do you want?"

"Tell me yours first."

Puck looked at him and slowly replied, "Probably, yes."

Kurt grinned and turned to the guys, "Ready for me to beat your guys' asses on Shy Guy Beach?" Sam and Finn groaned as they were both killed by the monster and Kurt got up and changed the TV over to the Wii, handing out remotes, not noticing the large smile on Puck's face.

-

About halfway through Kurt's eggs and second cup of coffee, Burt came in from the front door with the mail. He plopped the pile of bills and junk mail onto the counter and then turned to his son. "Hey, Kurt, this was out on the welcome mat." Kurt's head snapped up from his eggs. Burt handed the package to him and he felt a rush of warmth run up his veins.

"He's still doing it," he whispered.

"Who's still doing what?" Burt asked, "I don't have to go down to talk to the principal again about some guy bullying-"

"No, Dad, I promise it's not…" he trailed off as he noticed everyone in the room watching him closely. He had told all the girls in Glee as well as Artie and Sam, but he hadn't let anyone else know. Well, if his secret admirer was going to leave him gifts on his doorstep, they would find out at some point.

Sitting up straighter in his chair, Kurt said, "I've been getting gifts everyday in my locker from a…secret admirer. I just told the girls. And Sam and Artie."

He avoided his dad's eyes by looking up at Sam. "Yeah, seems like the guy's interested. The gift I saw was pretty great." Laughing at the memory, he explained, "He got Kurt a Ring Pop and made this joke about jewelry and about su-something I can't remember," he corrected himself as Kurt glared at him. Blowjobs were not proper breakfast conversation material.

"Wait, he's been leaving you gifts everyday? Isn't that a bit much? Sounds creepy to me," Finn said.

Kurt rolled his eyes at Finn's protective brother side showing up. "It' not reepy; it's cute."

"No, sounds creepy to me, too," Burt said gruffly. Kurt finally looked up at him, noting his crossed arms and furrowed brow.

"Hey, calm down! It sounds kind of cool to me," Puck said. Everyone turned to him and he did his best to look cool, "Like, it's a lot of work, but obviously the dude is trying to impress Kurt. Everyone knows everyone in this town, it's not like he has to stalk him to know where he lives. I don't think it's a biggie." Puck shrugged and brought his plate over to the sink, washing it off before putting it in the dishwasher. Burt frowned but sat down, seeming to agree on some level.

Kurt smiled in victory and took a few more bites of eggs. When he noticed his dad still look displeased, Kurt stood up and said, "Just let me have this, Dad. I promise I won't talk to you about any boy problems, okay? I still don't think you're ready for that." He stood up and gave his dad a quick kiss on the head and put his dishware in the dishwasher. "I'll get dressed and then as soon as Dad is done with his 'Sunrise, Sunset' moment we can get a tree, okay?"

As soon as his door was closed, Kurt opened the package Dear Kurt, Hope your finals went well and that you're enjoying these gifts. I know I'm not the best at them but I try. I made this when I went to Color Me Mine with a friend (weird, right? The guy's kinda crazy at times) and figured you'd like it more than me. See ya soon ;).

Under the note was a little star with something that looked sort of like a heart drawn on it-the guy wasn't an artist. Nevertheless, when Kurt saw the string going through one of the ends, he smiled widely. He had a new ornament to add to his collection.

-

"Rockin' around the Christmas tree at the Christmas party hop," Kurt sang along with the song blaring from his iPod speakers. "Mistletoe hung where you can see every couple tries to stop," he perfectly timed with hanging a piece of mistletoe on the entry from the kitchen to the living room.

As he continued to move around the room to the beat, his Santa hat bopping to the beat right along with him, Burt and Carole worked on untangling the outdoor Christmas lights and the rest of the boys worked on getting the lights on the tree to work.

"This is much more trouble than its worth," Finn grumbled as, yet again, the tree refused to light up.

"At least the house will look good, right?" Sam said, wiping his forehead.

"Yeah. And Kurt loves it," Finn said with a nod.

"What about me?" Kurt asked from where he was hanging stockings.

"Nothing!" Finn said. Kurt turned back around and went back to dancing and singing to his Christmas playlist.

After a few more songs had passed, they finally got the lights to work and they cheered in triumph. Kurt smiled at their handiwork and clapped his hands together.

"I'll go run up and get my special ornament and then we can decorate. As long as you guys can take direction," Kurt said. They all nodded and Kurt walked up the steps, humming "O Christmas Tree" under his breath.

"Special ornament?" Sam asked.

"It's his mom's old perfume bottle," Burt explained as he managed to pull out the last knot on the lights. "She loved Christmas, especially the tree. She'd normally go out and buy it before I even had a chance to come home. I was so used to her getting it that I forgot to get one the year she died. Then I saw Kurt with his makeshift ornament-the perfume bottle-and realized I hadn't gotten one. We ran out last minute and got a tree." He stood up with the lights in his arms, "First time he smiled after his mom died."

"Wow," Sam said as Finn nodded, already knowing the story.

"Yeah. I assume you guys can get why he goes crazy over this time of year," Burt said.

"Well, we already told you how Finn and I didn't really have many Christmas traditions, so it's nice to have some," Carole said, standing up and moving to the tree. "I'm thinking all of you can work on the outside lights and Kurt and I can take care of the tree for now. Then Burt can put on the star and we'll start dinner."

"Sounds great," Burt said. He placed a small peck on her cheek before leading his troupe of boys out in the cold winter air.

When they came back in, Kurt and Carole put the finishing touches on the tree and Sam collapsed on a nearby chair. Burt put the star on and they lit up the lights yet again to admire all of the work. Kurt smiled dreamily and sat down for a moment to just look at it. He always loved the tree and decorations, sometimes even more than the giving and receiving of presents.

Carole soon left to work on dinner and Burt went up to his room to lie down. Kurt stood up and said, "Someone want to help me with the garlands on the stairway?"

Puck shrugged, "Sure, as long as you tell me what to do." Kurt promised he would and shoved half of the stairway garlands into Puck's arms. As he gathered the rest into his arms, Sam looked at the tree, his eye noticing a rather familiar looking ornament.

"What's this one from, Kurt?" Sam asked. He tilted it in Kurt's direction, sure that he had seen it somewhere before.

Kurt smiled shyly. "It's from the secret admirer. He said he made it at Color Me Mine with a friend. I think it's sweet." He left the room, still smiling to himself.

Puck looked over nervously at Sam, who looked back at him in realization. "Puck? Are you-"

"Puck, are you coming?"

"Yes, Kurt," Puck called back, gladly leaving the room as Sam looked at him in disbelief.

-

"So. Interesting ornament Kurt got from that guy," Sam said, crossing his arms.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Puck said. "C'mon, Kurt and Finn are going to be down here any minute-"

"What about me?" Finn asked, walking down the stairs to the basement.

"Jesus, what is with you and Kurt doing that?" Puck asked, running a hand through his Mohawk.

"Woah, chill, dude," Finn said with a frown. "What's up? You're, like, freaking out."

"What's up? What's up is that Puck is playing your brother for a sucker!" Sam exclaimed.

"What?" Finn and Puck exclaimed at the same time.

"Don't play dumb, Puck. Look, I care about Kurt; he's a great guy. Just because he likes guys doesn't give you a right to pull this crap on him!" Sam ranted. He turned to Finn, "That ornament Kurt got? He made that with me at Color Me Mine."

"Dude!" Finn said, his mind jumping to the worst possible conclusion.

"What? Why are you guys freaking out? I thought you didn't care if guys were straight or not!" Puck exclaimed. "Am I not allowed to make a move on a guy I like?"

It took a while for what Puck said to actually process in Sam and Finn's minds. When it did, they stared at him in shock. "You're…you…you're gay?" Finn asked.

"No!" Puck said, frowning.

"But you like Kurt," Finn said.

"Yeah. But I still like girls. I just like Kurt more right now," Puck said, sitting down. It was his first time telling anyone besides his sister and Santana that he liked another guy. Santana just sort of knew all along that he wasn't entirely straight (the whole April and Matt thing) and she figured out that he was the secret admirer right away. Sara was always easy to talk to so it just slipped out, but at least she didn't mind. "It's nothing major, I guess, I mean…I don't know how or why, but I like him. It's weird. He's kind of a bitch but he's funny and smart and actually a really nice guy and I actually like that he's a bit bitchy, but not in the Santana way. And, seriously, those jeans he wears? They totally show off how he's working that ass."

"Dude, that's my little brother!" Finn exclaimed.

"Um, isn't Kurt actually the oldest in Glee club?" Sam whispered.

"I know, but he's still little compared to me so it's what I call him," Finn explained.

Puck put his hands up in defense and sighed. "I just wanted to give him gifts and make him happy. On Christmas I plan on telling him it's me and…I don't know how he'll react. I mean, I never do this shit, I normally just give girls a few looks and say a few words and they take off their panties-but I don't want to do that with Kurt, Finn, don't look at me like that. And it's not just because I'm pretty sure he doesn't wear panties. I'm just completely out of my element; the Puckasaurus normally just picks up girls for a one-night stand, not guys for multiple dates. I saw the secret admirer thing on some movie meant for chicks and romantic types and it seemed like a good idea. And, I mean, us Jews give each other gifts every night of Hanukkah, so I thought it would be cool. But maybe it's not, I don't know."

Finn and Sam shared a look before they sat down on either side of Puck. "Kurt is obviously liking it. You saw him this morning; he showed all his teeth when he smiled. That's a big deal," Finn said. "He always complains that he hates showing his teeth since they're so small, so he must really like those gifts."

"Yeah," Sam agreed, not having much to add. "And, see, I told you that the Color Me Mine trip would be worth it. Kurt loved it, though I don't think he realizes you originally tried to draw the Batman symbol and then painted over it."

"I wouldn't have painted over it if you didn't try to replace it with a Superman logo," Puck said with a glare, but he soon laughed. "At least you gave me the idea to put a heart on it instead. It's kind of deformed but it made for a good gift."

Before they could say anything else, the door to the basement opened and Kurt walked down the stairs. "So, time for a Christmas special marathon? I'm thinking we start with the-what's wrong?"

"Oh, um, nothing. Just talking," Puck said, jumping off from the couch.

"…Okay," Kurt said, not quite believing them. "So I was thinking we start with the Claymation Christmas special with the California Raisins, sound good?"

"Whatever you want," Puck said, going to the love seat in an attempt to escape Finn and Sam's eyes.

Kurt put in the DVD and looked over his seating options. With a shrug he sat down next to Puck, "Looks like we're sharing the loveseat again."

Puck grinned, "Cool."

-

"Yo, Puckerman!"

Puck turned around in the hall, just in his boxers and T-shirt, until he spotted a grinning Kurt. "Oh, hey."

"How was the Hanukkah dinner?"

"As good as the others have been so far," Puck said, resisting the urge to look Kurt up and down in his fancy little pajama set. It had been a few days since he shared the loveseat with Kurt and he hadn't been that close to him since. It kind of sucked balls.

"That's good," Kurt said. "I was just going to propose that since Sam and Finn are already asleep and I have my VHS set up in my room…maybe we could watch that super secret Hanukkah special you told me about."

Puck grinned, "Hell yeah, let me go grab it. And, y'know, brush my teeth, since I came up here to do that."

"Sounds good. I'll just be moisturizing so come in whenever you're ready," Kurt said, closing the door.

Puck quickly raced through brushing his teeth and then ran down to the basement (he was staying there while Sam stayed in the guest room, which he was cool with, Sam was there first). He grabbed the tape and then ran back up to the bathroom. He didn't really preen like the girls he dated, but he always made sure his Mohawk was in order and that he didn't smell. And he liked to flex a few times, too, since that always made him feel better.

When he got to Kurt's room, he knocked before carefully entering. "Hey," he said, all words getting lost when he saw Kurt rubbing lotion along his collarbone, the first few buttons on his shirt undone. On most people he went after, that much skin was nothing. But Kurt, while awesome, was, like, a total prude; it was tantalizing seeing all of that flesh out of nowhere.

"Hey, just sit on the bed, I'll be done in a second," Kurt said.

"Cool, cool," Puck said, sinking down onto what had to be one of the softest beds he ever felt. He snuck glances over at Kurt every now and then, but soon enough Kurt buttoned up his shirt and took the tape from Puck and put it in. Then he sat back down. On the bed. Next to Puck. On bed. He'd have to work really hard to keep his Puckzilla in line.

"I haven't watche Rugrats n forever, this is great," Kurt said.

Puck nodded, leaning back against the headboard. "Hey, that sign there?" Puck pointed to a sign in the background as the Rugrats wandered around in ancient Jerusalem. "That symbol is Hebrew for 'circumcision.' And, yes, it's right next to a sign saying 'cut rate.'"

Kurt let out a shocked laugh, "No way! Oh my God. I'd expect that fro Hey Arnold Angry Beavers r something, no Rugrats!"

"Well, guess it just shows you tha Rugrats s cutting edge. And, yeah, I meant it that way."

Kurt laughed louder, his laugh sounding more melodic than any laugh Puck had ever heard. "That is so awful, I can't believe you said that…Okay, actually I totally believe you said that."

"Saying inappropriate things is kind of my main characteristic," Puck said with a smirk. "Then again, I'm not the one who shouted something about turning off the lights at night in the choir room and that seems like it was meant to be inappropriate."

A light blush grew on Kurt's cheeks as he looked down with that shy smile of his. "Yeah. That was…bad. But sometimes the girls forget that I am, in fact, a guy and that I, in fact, think like a guy sometimes. Not often, but sometimes. Actually, most everyone forgets that, and it's really annoying." He made a face and shook his head, "Sorry, I'm talking over your special, I should stop that."

"No, dude, it's cool; they have this nifty little button called the pause button. Plus you can also just stop a tape and it stays in the same place. Weird, right?" He laughed with Kurt and presse pause, "You can keep talking."

Kurt gave a small smile. "Okay…I was just saying that people forget that I'm not a helpless little girl. Even my dad. You saw him freak out over the secret admirer. I know with the Karofsky thing and all of that I seemed helpless but….I'm eighteen. I'm probably as tall as I'll ever get. I'm basically full-grown. Just because my voice is high and I want to be with a guy doesn't mean that I need extra protection. And then the girls assume that I want to talk about periods and those things and not only do I not have one, but I have spent most of my life without someone in my house with one. I don't relate at all and it's annoying that it gets thrust at me."

He sighed and gave Puck a half smile. With a nudge of his shoulder he said, "I guess you know what it's like to have a role thrusted at you that you don't want, huh?"

"What, you mean like thrusting into ladies?" Puck asked with an eyebrow raise.

"No," Kurt said, fighting off a laugh. "Remember how you freaked out about the guys finding out about this special? And how you used to throw me into dumpsters and throw slushies in Rachel's face? You hold up this demeanor of being this guy who can take anything thrown in his path and that has no feelings and doesn't care what others think, but obviously you felt bad about what you did to me and the others and you need approval from your peer group or else you'd be lost. I don't know why, but you seemed to accept this role of a delinquent pretty early in life and just ran wild with it even though it's not really you."

The two were silent for a while, Puck watching Kurt carefully and Kurt not moving his eyes away. Finally Puck said, "Huh."

"Just an observation," Kurt said, taking his eyes off of him, "Didn't mean to freak you out."

"You didn't. It's just interesting. Most people don't invite me up to their rooms to analyze me. They invite me up for other activities."

"I don't think we'll be doing any of those tonight," Kurt said, "For one, your straight. Second of all, I'm…not comfortable with...that." He turned a slight pink and cleared his throat awkwardly as he reached for the remote, attempting to start the show again.

"Actually," Puck said, covering Kurt's hand with his to stop his motion (his stomach fuckin fluttered hat was happening to his badassness?), "I…" He intended to tell Kurt that he wasn't straight, but his words got stuck in his throat as Kurt turned to face him. Instead, he resorted to his annoying self and asked, "Why the pink face? I thought you were a teenaged boy who turned off the lights in his room or whatever."

"Shut up, Puckerman," Kurt said, rolling his eyes and pressing play on the remote.

"Okay," Puck said with a grin as Kurt hid a smile. He laid down on his forearms as Kurt laid down on his stomach, leaving Puck a nice view of his ass. Very much appreciated.

"Hey, can I call you Noah?" Kurt asked, looking over his shoulder. "I know that really only Rachel calls you that and maybe your family, but I figured if we're friends, I don't have to pretend I like that nickname. Plus it either makes me think of hockey or the fairy, which I doubt you'd approve of being associated with you."

Puck blinked a few times before saying, "Sure. Whatever you want."

Kurt smiled brightly, "Thanks, Noah. I think we should hang out more often, especially since you're in the house. You're kind of a cool guy, even if you call yourself Puckasaurus."

"You're pretty cool, too, even if you don't call yourself a dinosaur name," Puck grinned.

"Glad you recognize it," Kurt smiled, "Now shut up so I can learn the true meaning of Hanukkah."

-

Puck rubbed at his bleary eyes and looked over at his phone. "Shit!" he exclaimed. After staying up talking with Kurt for quite a few days in a row, he had snoozed his alarm clock for too long. He needed to get his ass outside to put the gift on the doormat before anyone found him and he needed to do i quickly. He jumped off of the couch and went to his bag, grabbing the gift for the 23rd-Santa socks similar to the Cheerios' and that guy i Rent hat dressed like a girl-and ran up the stairs.

Once he got to the main level, he tiptoed quickly through the kitchen and made his way to the front door. He breathed a sigh of relief when no one was there. He quietly opened the door, not even noticing that it was unlocked, and put the present down on the ground. He was about to retreat back to his room when he looked up from where he was kneeling into the eyes of one Burt Hummel. A Burt Hummel who looked rather displeased.

"…Hey, Mr. H…Sir," Puck said nervously, standing up. "I was just…lining it up straight. 'Cause you know-"

"Kitchen, Puckerman," Burt said. "And bring that little gift with you."

Puck gulped but obliged, following Burt. At least he didn't grab him by the ear.

"What's going on, honey?" Carole asked as the two came in, concern on her face.

"Look who Kurt's 'Secret Admirer' is," Burt said, throwing air quotes around the phrase.

Carole's eyes were wide when she turned to Puck, "Noah?"

Burt glared at Puck, "How dare you? God, I thought you were changing, turning over a new leaf and all of that. I thought you were friends with Finn and Kurt and that you were finally learning how to be a decent human being. But I was wrong. Becaus this, getting my kid's hopes up just to mess with him? That's worse than any dumpster toss or-"

"Why does everyone assume I'm messing with him?" Puck groaned.

"What else would you be doing, Puckerman? And after we let you stay in our house! We all know the history of what you did to Kurt-"

"But that's the past, Mr. H, I promise-"

"Then what were you doing out there, huh? Why have you been sending these gifts-"

"Because I like your son!" Puck exclaimed. The room fell silent as Burt and Carole stared at him with thoughtful, shocked looks. Puck leaned back in his seat and took a deep breath, trying to remain calm.

"…You like him?" Burt asked.

"…When did this happen?" Carole asked.

"Yes to the first and I don't know to the second," Puck admitted, looking down at the floor. "I don't know much about sexuality and stuff, but I know I just find sexy to be sexy. And then one day I found myself liking little things about Kurt, like his laugh and his eyes and his sense of humor and his…well, you know, a lot of things. Then I just started to like him more. And I thought I knew him well, but we've been talking a lot since I've been here and I keep learning more and more about him and I still dig him. Trust me, I wouldn't spend all of this money on gifts and printing just for a joke, especially since you guys invited me to your home. I'm not always a good guy, but I try. And I've gotten better.

"And Kurt's got a lot of things going for him, don't be so surprised that someone likes him," Puck added. His lack of brain-to-mouth filter was illustrated when he continued, "If Kurt went to a gay bar do you realize how many guys would be checking him out and trying to get him to-" He stopped himself as Carole shook his head, warning him.

Burt sighed and pressed a hand to his forehead, "Let me make it clear that I was questioning your actions because it's you, not because I don't think guys see Kurt and…I don't want to think about that." He sighed yet again and lowered his hand to look at Puck, "Let's get back to this. Do you really think you guys could even get along? Didn't you two used to hate each other? You bullied him fo liking uys which apparently you like, too," Burt pointed out.

"I bullied him because he annoyed me because, I'm trying to be honest, sir, your son can be a bit…condescending," Puck said, holding himself back from sayin bitchy. "And, you know, peer pressure, and picking on the weakest so others don't pick on you. I'm not proud of it, but Kurt's forgiven me as has the rest of the Glee club, and I did worse stuff to the rest of them. 'Specially Artie, and he's my boy now.

"As for if we'd get along…I don't know, I think we would. I think it's boring being with someone too much like you. I'd like to think that Kurt would get me in line but I'd help him rebel a little bit. See, we were talking in his room last night-"

"What?" Burt asked, glaring. "Kurt's not supposed to have boys in his room. He knows that."

"…See, I'm already letting him rebel," Puck said lamely.

"Honey, you told him boys that he liked or liked him. He didn't realize Puck likes him that way; of course he let him come into his room. You can't blame Noah for not knowing the rules, either," Carole said.

Puck nodded, sending Carole a grateful look. "Anyways, aren't the opposites always the couple that makes it to the end of the movie? I'd like to see Kurt relax a bit more and I'm sure my family would love to see someone clean me up a bit. I think we could work."

Burt looked at him with a contemplative face, obviously not sure what to make out of him. Carole tried to help, pointing out, "It is really sweet what you're doing. And it's making Kurt's favorite month even better." Thank God Carole forgave him for betraying Finn because her support was sorely needed.

"True," Burt said, still looking down at Puck with a thoughtful look. "But if he tells you 'no', you're backing off ASAP, right?"

"Right," Puck agreed with a forceful nod, "I will never force Kurt or anyone else into anything."

"Good," Burt said, still looking uncomfortable. Obviously he didn't want to think about his son growing up and dating boys but he also didn't want to keep him away from something that made him happy. And Puck was sure he was thinking about Puck's colorful sexual past (everyone in Lima knew about his pool cleaning business and about Quinn).

"…At least he can't get pregnant, right?" Puck asked awkwardly, trying to lighten the mood.

Recalling a certain conversation years ago, Burt just said, "Maybe you tw will et along."

-

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer The Life & Times of Santa Claus?" Kurt asked, holding out the two DVDs in front of Finn, Sam, and Noah. They had been watching movies and TV specials for quite a few hours now and all of them were exhausted, but Kurt was going to keep playing movies until he fell asleep or until they all revolted against him, whichever came first.

"I don't care, just put one in," Finn said, kicking his legs a bit in his sleeping bag. He, Kurt, and Sam were all sleeping in the basement so they could just fall asleep there instead of running up to their rooms when they wanted to crash.

"Same here," Sam yawned.

"I've never seen the second one," Puck said, actually answering the question.

"Suck up," Finn muttered, adjusting his position. Just because he wasn't going to tell Kurt about Puck didn't mean he wasn't going to make fun of him.

"Well you're in for a treat, Noah," Kurt smiled, placing the DVD in the player. He made his way through the maze that was Sam and Finn's bodies and sat down on the couch next to Puck. "I'll move to my spot when I actually go to bed, I promise."

"Sure thing," Puck said, trying to actually watch the movie as Kurt started it instead of staring at Kurt's face. It was a hard task; throughout the whole night, Kurt's face was lit up an glowing s the movies and TV episodes played on either his VHS or DVD player. He mouthed words and reacted to each one as if he were a kid on, well, Christmas. It was a vulnerable side of him that he never showed at school and Puck felt kind of honored, even if that made him such a chick.

Kurt pulled his blanket up to his chin and watched the screen as best as he could and Puck followed suit. The movie was that claymation style that seemed so popular with Christmas specials for some reason, but it had a completely different feel than the rest of them. Instead of showing Santa all fat and old and needing help, it just showed Santa becoming Santa and it was kind of cool. Apparently these people were all meeting up to decide if he should be immortal or not. Huh, cool concept.

Puck was actually getting into the movie when he noticed he hadn't heard Finn and Sam say anything. He looked down to see Sam and Finn sound asleep. "Ha, Kurt, we should totally get some glasses of warm water-" he cut himself off when he saw Kurt sound asleep, still sitting up straight with his head bowed against his chest.

"Cute," he muttered to himself, turning back to the screen. He figured when Kurt woke up he'd love to hear that he had watched the whole thing. He owed him that.

About half way through he heard something shift next to him. He looked over, expecting to see Kurt getting up to move to a more comfortable sleeping place, but instead he saw Kurt's body slowly falling down until his head was against Puck's shoulder. "This is getting intimate fast," Puck joked to himself with a smirk on his face. He tried to adjust his shoulder under Kurt's head but that backfired and led to Kurt's head just narrowly missing his cock as it fell to his legs.

Kurt was an insanely deep sleeper, apparently, and he just kept on sleeping, his legs still curled up on the other side of the couch. Puck stiffened his legs in an effort to not get stiff anywhere else. Thankfully, Kurt's mouth was facing away from the never satisfied monster that was his cock. Nothing was going to happen. It was all good. He just had to remember to keep breathing.

As he started to calm down, he let a hand fall on Kurt's head. His fingers combed through his thick strands absent mindedly as he watched the movie. Santa was getting older now and the Immortals had to make the decision soon or else he would die and the poor, helpless kids would be denied toys.

"Awesome," Puck whispered as Santa became immortal right before Death came for him. Christmas was saved. The credits rolled. Puck had Kurt's head in his lap. All was right in the world.

Just as the DVD went to the main menu, Puck looked down to see Kurt slowly wake up. "Hey," Puck said as casually as possible. It wasn't like he was a few inches away from being able to blow him or that Noah had been playing with his hair like some lovesick tween just moments before. Nope.

Kurt looked up at him with sleepy eyes for a moment; when it all clicked, he sat up straight out of Puck's lap and turned to him with wide eyes. "I a so orry!" Kurt whispered, his blush noticeable even with the bare light provided by the TV.

"For what? You fell asleep. No biggie," Puck said.

Kurt looked at him as if he wanted to say more, but his mouth wouldn't let him. Finally he just said, "I should go. I'll sleep upstairs tonight."

"I'll walk you up," Puck said. One look from Kurt made him realize how stupid that sounded. He corrected, "I'll walk up with you to the kitchen. I want some milk before I go to bed."

The two traveled up the stairs and Puck wanted more than anything to calm Kurt dow somehow. Even if he wasn't crushing on him it wouldn't be a big deal; he'd woken up spooning Finn before at sleepovers. Shit happened, and then you just ignored it and it was over. There had to be at least one time he woke up with morning wood when he spent the night with Mercedes, right? It was the same sort of thing. And since Puck was crushing on him, it was actually pretty nice.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Noah. Well, later today. Good night," he said, walking from the living room to the kitchen.

Puck grabbed his arm to stop him, "Kurt-"

"Noah, I-"

The two suddenly stopped as they looked above the doorway they were in. Mistletoe. They slowly looked back to each other and Kurt looked about ready to cry. Without another word, he yanked himself out of Puck's hold and ran up to his room, shutting the door softly behind him.

As Puck hit his head against the doorway for not taking action, Kurt curled himself up in his bed, hating himself for tearing up. First Finn, then Sam, and now Puck. Was he always going to fall for straight guys?

Part Two