A/N: I'm not going to lie, I feel very nervous about posting this. I've been working on it for so long, and it's just... it's my baby. It's kind of nerve-wracking, posting it and setting it up for possible hate. But, here we go, anyway!
It's slight AU, at least since a couple episodes ago.
Glee is copywrite Fox
Dalton and it's characters are copywrite the lovely CP Coulter.
Winter Warblerland: Part 1
"Hello Mrs. Hummel!"
Kurt's head shot up from the book he was reading at the sound of the twins' voices.
"Er, hello Ethan, Evan... boys." He heard his step mother say from the doorway, she sounded horribly confused. Kurt got up and walked into the hallway where Finn was standing.
"Kurt, what's going on?" He asked.
"Honestly, Finn? You really think I know what's going on in the twins' heads?" Kurt continued to walk past the baffled Finn and down the stairs, walking into the hallway. Standing in the doorway were the Windsor boys.
"Alice!" The twins chimed in unison, running over to Kurt and pulling him into an tight embrace.
"Er, hello." Kurt squirmed his way out of their grasp and looked to Blaine, raising an eyebrow. Blaine walked over and kissed him on the cheek, causing Kurt to turn a bright shade of scarlet. Kurt could almost hear Carol's approval, but not quite as clearly as Finn's suspicion.
"What on earth are you guys doing here?" Kurt demanded.
"Well, the Tweedle's called me up saying they had a great idea—"
"Oh, no." Kurt sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his index finger and his thumb. The twin's last great idea resulted in him nearly getting moved into the Stuart house.
"—and I figured that," Blaine shot a smile at Carol, "if it was okay with your parents, it would be a pretty good idea."
"So, Mrs. Hummel!" Ethan said cheerfully.
"Would you mind if Kurt came on a skiing trip with us?" Evan asked.
"Where would you be going skiing?"
"Well, we've been to every ski resort in America," Evan answered, Ethan finishing his sentence this time, "so we figured we'd go try out one of Canada's ski hills. Whistler, BC."
Carol looked at Blaine, her eyes wide. "All the way in Canada? Will there be adult supervision?" She glanced at Dwight, who was attempting to 'purify' their home.
Kurt walked over to Dwight, who looked at him fearfully. "If you don't stop with that salt I am going to kick you out of my house." His voice was cold and he noticed as Dwight's hand reached for the water gun that held Holy Water in his belt. Kurt glared before heading back over to where his mother was talking with Blaine and the twins.
"Well, Mrs. Hummel," Ethan began, "Our servants are adults, does that count?" Evan finished for him. Kurt could tell his step mother was having a hard time processing the twin's freaky ability to finish each other's sentences, just like Kurt did for the first week or so he was in Windsor.
"Er, guys?" He asked the Tweedles.
"Yes?" He saw his mother flinch at the unison.
"Would you lay off the freaky twin stuff, please?"
"Oh," Evan started.
"Sure!" Ethan finished. Both muttering 'oops' at the same time, causing Kurt, as well as Blaine, Wes and David, to sigh.
"Well, Kurt dear... I suppose if there will be some form of adults there then I don't mind too much," the twins high fived happily and Blaine flashed Kurt a dazzling smile, "but you're going to have to wait until Burt gets home to make sure he's okay with it."
"C'mon Alice, we can go play in your room until then!" Ethan proclaimed as he grabbed Kurt's hand.
"Wait, what? I don't not want you all in my room! I just redecorated, there is no way I am letting you all within ten feet of it." Kurt scoffed as he planted his feet firmly on the ground. The twins both pouted, making themselves appear even younger and even more child like.
"But what else can we do, Alice?" Evan asked.
"We could go to some of the old places in town, I sense some bad spirits." Everyone looked at Dwight, rolling their eyes, and Carol fled the room muttering something about making tea. She obviously didn't want to think too much about the people Kurt would be stuck with if he went on this trip. Finn was eyeing Dwight suspiciously still, and even though Kurt agreed that Dwight was strange, it was getting a bit annoying.
"Oh, he's not that bad, Finn. It's thanks to his strange methods Blaine's brother is alive."
Finn's head snapped up in shock, looking wide eyed at Blaine who nodded glumly. He looked down at his feet, obviously feeling bad. Dwight looked quite proud of himself as Finn looked away from the group of boys.
"So Finn," Ethan said, his Cheshire Cat grin matching that of the one on his brothers face.
"Where are you going to take us today?" Finn's head snapped up again at Evan's question.
"What?" He asked.
"Well Alice doesn't want us to play in his room,"
"And we don't want to bother your poor mother,"
"So you need to show us somewhere interesting in Lima!" They finished together, still smiling mischievously.
"Why should I do that?" Finn asked, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. Apparently the Tweedle's strange habits didn't bug him nearly as much as they bugged Carol.
"Because," Evan said, his grin spreading even more.
"We have a lot of power and money." Finn's eyes shot open and Kurt glared at the twins angrily.
"What did I tell you two about threatening family members... or anyone for that matter? I'd like to inform you I haven't had any coffee this morning!"
Kurt watched as the twin's expressions changed to fear as they cowered back from Kurt.
"Blaine," Ethan whined.
"You're boyfriend is going to hurt us!"
Blaine walked up behind Kurt, placing a hand on the boys shoulder. "No he's not. But he's right about you threatening Finn. Just because you have the power to make him do what you want, does not mean you should use it. I'm sure he has a life, you know."
The twins scowled at Blaine, but he simply smiled back. Blaine saw Kurt's step mother poke her head around the corner, giving them all a puzzled look. "What on earth are you all doing standing around in the hallway? Come in, for goodness sake! The tea is ready."
Blaine stood with Kurt as the Windsor's entered the Hudson-Hummel living room one by one, closely followed by Finn. Kurt turned to Blaine as soon as they were all safely seated in the living room, a huge smile on his face.
Blaine pulled the boy into his arms. "I'm sorry for letting them barge in on you like this. I'm sure you were enjoying a nice and peaceful break." He whispered.
Kurt pulled back. "Actually, I'm glad you came. I found myself missing the crazy of the Windsor house... and you." Blaine cupped Kurt's face, unable to hold back as he kissed him gently, not caring if someone walked in on them. "I missed you, too."
Finn walked into the hallway to see what was taking Blaine and Kurt so long to find Blaine's lips pressed against his step-brothers. He stopped dead in his tracks. He knew the two were dating, but this was the first time he'd actually seen any sort of serious signs of it. He felt kind of awkward standing there, and he worried that Blaine or Kurt would see him and get upset, but as Blaine whispered something to Kurt Finn realized they were oblivious to anything but each other. He cleared his throat awkwardly, and both boys jumped, quickly separating.
"Er, coming?" He asked them, trying to act cool. They both nodded and walked past him into the living room. He turned around and saw them sit down on the larger couch. The two twins got up and plopped down between Kurt and Blaine before they were able to grab each other's hand. Finn realized as Kurt laughed along with the rest of his friends from Dalton that he was truly happy for once. The worry and loneliness that was constant in his expression before he left to board at Dalton now replaced with sheer joy.
"He looks happy, doesn't he?" Finn turned to see his mother standing behind him; she had obviously observed this as well.
"Yeah... You don't think that those two share a room do you?" Finn asked, looking down at her.
Carol laughed freely, beaming up at him. "Look at you, all worried about him. You really think of him as a brother, don't you?" Finn flushed slightly and adverted his gaze. "To answer your question, honey, no. I think Blaine respects Kurt and I highly doubt he'd force, or let, Kurt share a room with him. He's a good kid, and I'm glad Kurt's found himself someone."
As Burt walked up the driveway and towards his front door he tried to ignore the fact that there were expensive cars parked outside his house. The only people Burt knew that owned those types of cars tended to bring crazy everywhere they went... and a boyfriend.
Burt was glad that his son had found himself a boy that seemed to love him, but having Kurt miles away in a dorm with said boy uneased him. What happened that he didn't know about? Surely a lot seeing that he didn't know much of what went on in Windsor. He walked through the front door to hear laughter and many, many voices. Sure enough walking into the living room he saw Kurt, Blaine and the two twins squished onto one couch with the rest of Kurt's friends, Finn and Carol sitting in every other available place. He looked around at the boys' behaviour. The one closest to the entrance was looking around, eyes wide, holding some sort of necklace with a large charm to his chest. He could see a water gun in the boys' belt and a container labelled "rock salt" sitting on the tabletop beside him. Next to him were two boys, one with his phone out, sitting looking quite bored. Finn was sitting on the floor beside the chair Carol was sitting in and a boy with blonde curls was sitting on the floor beside Kurt, Blaine and the twins. He was holding an ice pack to his forehead.
"Oh, hello Mr. Hummel!" Ethan exclaimed seeing Kurt's father standing in the doorway.
"How are you doing today?" Evan asked.
"Hello boys. I'm doing alright. May I ask what you're all doing here? I mean, we're glad to have you and everything but... why are you here?"
"Well Mr. Hummel—" Evan started.
"—Burt."
"We were wondering if Alice would be allowed to come skiing with us." Ethan concluded. The brothers got up and walked over to the balding man, putting on their best responsible smiles.
"Skiing?"
"Yes, we own a vacation home up in Whistler, and our parents are letting us bring our friends,"
"It just wouldn't be the same without Kurt,"
"And Blaine missed him." They added together, still smiling. They heard Blaine sigh from behind them and Kurt giggle.
"In Whistler? Like, Canada?"
"Yes, sir,"
"It's exactly 2, 541 miles away, sir." Evan pointed out.
"And you're asking me to let you take my son with you 2, 541 miles away?"
"Well, yes sir." They said together.
"Will you be supervised by adults?"
The twins' smiles changed a bit, showing that they were about to bend the truth. "Well of course, sir." Ethan said, his voice more cheerful then it should be.
"We've got servants up there to keep an eye on us all." Little did Burt know the servants had been ordered to leave them alone unless specific events happened.
"Well... I suppose... if Kurt really wants to go."
"Oh thank you, sir!" The twins' voices chimed as they hugged him.
"C'mon, Kurt," the boy with the blonde curls said, getting up and placing the ice pack with Finn who looked a little confused. "We gotta go get your stuff packed. Do you own any ski stuff? We have you covered if not, but none the less..." The boy's voice faded as he dragged Burt's son upstairs.
"Er, Reed?" Reed looked at Kurt, who was standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. "I've never skied before..." Kurt looked ashamed for some reason.
"Really?"
"Yeah, my dad couldn't afford it... what with my mother having passed away. Maybe it'd be best if I just stayed here. I mean, I'm sure you're all really good and I don't want to be the one who forces you guys to hold back and go on runs that are too easy for you."
"Hey Kurt?" Reed asked, putting a hand on his hip. He saw Kurt raised an eyebrow expectantly. "You do know me, right?" The boy nodded hesitantly. "So you know how clumsy I am. I've been skiing for over ten years now, and I'm still at a beginner level. You won't be slowing me down." There was a knock on the door and Blaine entered.
"How's it going?"
"Well, Kurt's freaking out because he's never skied before and he thinks he's going to slow us down."
"Slow us down?" Blaine asked, shaking his head and walking over to his boyfriend. Reed felt a twinge in his heart and he realized he missed Shane. "Kurt, no one is worried about that. If we were we wouldn't have bothered coming. Like the twins said, it's not the same without you there."
Kurt beamed at Blaine's compliment, and Reed was sure that he was unaware of how happy he looked right then. "So I'm assuming you don't have any ski stuff, then?" He shook his head. "Okay, well we'll pack some clothes and we'll just have to make a quick shopping trip before heading up."
"Bye, Carol," Kurt kissed his step mother on the cheek as he stood at the door, the group of boys waiting in the cars for him. "Dad," He gave his father a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek, "Finn." He simply nodded to his step brother who still looked a bit befuddled. All his bags were already in the cars, so he simply walked outside, leaving his family to go with his other one. That's what the Windsor boys felt like to Kurt, his own family away from his family.
"Ready, Alice?" The twins asked as Kurt got in their car, sitting beside Blaine.
"As ready as I'll ever be. You know I've never been out of the country, right?"
Blaine chuckled quietly, "Are you nervous?"
"A bit..." Kurt said, staring intently at his fingernails and biting the inside of his lip. He felt Blaine's warm hand on his cheek and he looked up.
"Everything's going to be great. And you'll get the hang of skiing in no time." Kurt let a smile slip.
Blaine rested his forehead against the Kurt's as Ethan drove to their private airport. He put a hand in Kurt's hair and, pulling him close, kissed him tenderly. He had missed Kurt so much over the week they'd been apart and he was so glad to be with him again.
"Ehem," Evan said from the front.
"We're very glad you two are still so in love,"
"But we'd really love it if you didn't block our view of behind us with your smooching." Kurt and Blaine both flushed, moving apart.
"You know, Evan, I can't decide if they're cute or just—"
"—really mushy gushy?"
"Exactly."
Blaine pushed Evan playfully, the whole car laughing.
"So Alice," Evan said after a couple of minutes. The airport exit was in seeing distance now.
"The White Rabbit has a surprise for you waiting at the airport."
"Guys!" Blaine exclaimed angrily.
"What surprise?" Kurt had turned to face Blaine now, and he looked a bit worried.
"That's not the point of a surprise, is it now?"
"Blaine!"
Blaine touched the boy's cheek lightly, smiling. "The airport is under a minute away, Kurt. You can wait."
"Woah," Mercedes said as she stepped into the twins' private jet. The whole Glee Club had been told they were being taken on an all-expense paid ski trip in Canada.
"This thing is huge!" Tina exclaimed as her and Mike entered the plane.
"Wait, those guys own this thing?" Santana asked as she walked around, "How rich are they?"
"Are they, like, richer then the president?" Brittany asked as she carried Artie up the stairs, placing him in a seat.
"For once, Brittany, I don't think you're over exaggerating," Quinn said as she and Sam sat down on one of the comfortable leather chairs.
"Man, I bet if I stole that X-Box they wouldn't even notice," Puck said as he walked over to it.
"I, for one, think you're all being ridiculous. Can we please act like we're not pathetically amazed when they get here?" Rachel complained, sitting down with her back pin straight and chin held high. Everyone rolled their eyes. "Is Finn coming?"
"No," Mercedes answered. "Well, maybe? They weren't sure when they talked to me. Something about wanting it to be complete surprise and not even wanting Kurt's parents to know we were going to be here. Though I'm gunna feel real bad if he misses out on this."
"Maybe they just explained it to him and his parents while Kurt was packing, then when Kurt was gone he left," Quinn suggested.
"Well, looks like we'll be finding out." Puck was looking out of the window on the right side of the plane where multiple expensive cars were now parking.
"Can I please know now?" Kurt asked. He had been pestering Blaine since he found out, and Blaine turned to him, grabbing his shoulders.
"Kurt. We're here. Just get in the plane."
"But—"
"—Kurt." The boy glared at Blaine but stepped inside. Giving one last look back at the twins, who nodded to tell him Finn was on his way, Blaine followed.
"You know, Blaine, I find it utterly ridiculous that—"
"—Hey Kurt!" Blaine heard the Lima Glee Club exclaim. Kurt jumped, whipping around to look at his old classmates, his mouth hanging open.
"What on earth are you...?"
"Surprise," Blaine whispered as he walked forward.
Kurt blinked up at him, clearly shocked. "You... all of them... for me?"
"Finn's on his way," Blaine nodded.
"Oh, Blaine!" Kurt squeaked, throwing his arms around Blaine's neck and planting a kiss on his lips, hearing most of the Glee Club awe. Blaine's carefree laugh filled the space as he hugged Kurt back, smiling brightly.
"You like it, then?"
"Yes! Oh, thank you so much!"
"Don't thank just me. It was my idea but the Tweedles are paying for it."
"Okay, someone had better explain this Tweedles thing to me," Santana crossed her arms across her chest. "What the hell is with all the Wonderland references, and why are you Alice? I mean, I haven't checked, but I'm sure Blaine can tell us you're a guy."
"Santana!" Kurt said, embarrassed.
"Well you just smooched him, so I'm assuming there's something going on between you."
Kurt flushed a deep red.
"You're right, singing flower," Ethan said from behind Kurt.
"There is most defiantly a thing going on between them." Evan added.
"And, for your information,"
"Poor Alice here followed our White Rabbit and fell down the rabbit hole and now he's stuck deep in Warblerland."
Santana raised an eyebrow. "Are they insane?"
"I'm afraid they all are," Dwight responded as he entered the aircraft, lying down on the couch and falling asleep.
"He's terrified of flying," Evan said, reading the question in Santana's facial expression.
"And no saner than the rest of us."
"Woah," Finn had finally arrived and stepped onto the plane. "How rich are you two?" Everyone laughed as he sat down, slightly embarrassed for asking.
"Are we leaving now?" Sam asked.
"As soon as they've loaded on Dwight's car," Ethan said with a smile.
"He's the one asleep on the couch," Evan added.
"He won't drive in any other car." They chorused. The Glee Club members all looked at the twins, both confused and a little frightened by their ability read each other's minds.
"I think that was the most entertaining plane ride I've ever taken," Puck said as he stepped off and into the snowy landing the twins now owned in Whistler.
"We owned you in COD." The twins said happily, resulting in one of Puck's frightening glares. It seemed to have no effect on the twins.
Kurt looked around. It was his first time being in Canada and I'll he could see was snow, trees and ice. Oh, and a Limo. There was a large white limo waiting for them as well.
"So what do you think?" Blaine asked from behind him with a chuckle.
"It's, er, very white... and, er, cold." Kurt said weakly. His fellow Windsor's all laughed as they led Kurt, and the Glee Club, to the Limo.
"Isn't Dwight coming?" Artie asked pointing to the boy standing beside the plane still.
"Like we said," Ethan replied.
"Dwight won't travel in any other car."
"Strange," Kurt heard Santana mutter under her breath as she stepped into the limo.
"Okay, is everything they own ten times larger than normal?" Quinn asked as she stepped in. Kurt laughed and turned to Blaine who was still standing behind him as they watched Kurt's friends each marvel at just how very rich and powerful the twins were. "I'm pretty sure they all love you now."
"I sure hope so," Blaine replied, taking Kurt's hand gently and pushing a stray hair from his eyes, "because I don't want them thinking I'm treating you badly."
"I think you've even won Rachel over," Kurt said with a look back at the Limo where he could see his friends looking around and bombarding the twins with questions, "and that is quite a task."
When Kurt looked back at Blaine the Warbler was less than an inch from his face, his brown eyes staring deeply into Kurt's.
Blaine brought a hand up, gently cupping Kurt's face and planting a kiss on his lips. He could feel the boy's shock at his move, and Blaine knew that he wasn't normally this, well this clingy. But spending time with his cold hearted father, and not having Shane there for this break, it just reminded Blaine how incredibly lucky he was that Kurt chose him.
"Excuse me," Rachel coughed from the Limo, "The twin's have asked me to," she looked back into the Limo, listening to something someone was saying, "To ask the White Rabbit and Alice to kindly stop making out so we could leave now." There was an awkward pause before it registered in Rachel's self-centered mind. "Oh, I see. Blaine you must be the White Rabbit."
"This is a house?" Sam asked as everyone looked out the Limo window. They appeared to be looking at a full, five-star resort.
"Well, of course!" Ethan said with a wave of his hand.
"You seem to forget that Reed," Evan said with a look at Reed, who flushed.
"Could fit just his jackets section of his closest in Kurt's room."
"But this place is huge!"
"Oh, please." The twins chorused with a wave of their hands.
The Limo came to a smooth stop in front of the twin's home. They looked at one another, their Cheshire grins in place. This was a new place to explore, and who knows what goodies they'd find inside. Ethan and Evan politely let their guests exit their car before getting out themselves and handing the driver a fifty, as was tradition. Kurt's friends where all crowded around the doors, obviously trying to hide their excitement, waiting for the twins to go in first. Ethan and Evan walked up to the doors, each pushing one open as they walked in, the warmth of the fireplace warming them immediately.
"Welcome Mr. Brightman, Mr. Brightman," the staff chimed at Evan and Ethan walked in, "all the rooms have been prepared for you, and if there is anything not to your satisfaction, please call on us."
"Yeah, yeah," Evan sighed with a wave of his hand.
"We know,"
"You can go now." They said to finish. The servants nodded and went off to do their jobs, leaving the twins with their guests.
"So," Ethan smiled.
"Rooming."
"We've given you all roommates,"
"Based on who we think you'd suit best with."
"If there are any problems,"
"Deal with it." The twins finished together, trying not to laugh at the faces on the people standing in front of them.
"Alice," Evan said, causing Kurt's head to snap up.
"You'll be rooming with the White Rabbit,"
"Naturally."
"It's on the top floor across from Door mouse and,"
"Shane's." The twins laughed at the expressions on the three boys' faces, but read off the rest of the list.
"From much observation,"
"Well, digging through Kurt's information," Evan corrected, getting a glare from the Warbler.
"We've put you McKinley kids with the people Kurt would say best suits you."
"So, er, Blondie's?" Evan said to Sam and Quinn, who each shot him a look before giving him their attention.
"You'll be on the fourth floor along with,"
"Mercedes,"
"—And we truly apologize for this," Ethan interrupted.
"And Dwight."
"On the third floor will be us and,"
"Wes and David." The twins saw the two sigh.
"Now, we weren't sure who to put Puck or Santana with,"
"So we put you together,"
"With Brittany and Artie." Ethan noticed Puck's satisfied look and Santana's wink, but chose to ignore them.
"And finally,"
"On the first floor,"
"Are Tina and Mike with Rachel and Finn." The whole Glee Club, along with Kurt, gasped.
"What?" The twin's asked together.
"Well," Kurt began, "You obviously didn't know that Rachel sort of, er, cheated on Finn."
"Oh, well that's no fun. What's the problem?" Evan's voice was monotone and the twins were quite annoyed. They didn't want to try and re-arrange the whole group because of some petty fight.
"Well, I'm not quite sure Finn and Rachel are, er, okay with each other." Kurt concluded awkwardly. The twins sighed; looking down at the clipboards they had been handed. Their usual carefree attitude was gone as they tried to work out a new plan.
"I'm fine with sharing a room with her," Finn piped up, "just as long as there are separate beds."
The twin's looked at him with shocked faces. "Do you really think we would let couples share a bed?"
"Please, we have more sense than that."
Blaine pushed open the doors to their room and heard Kurt's loud intake of breath from behind him. They were staring into a large open room that had a similar layout to those at Dalton, but much, much larger. The floor was wood, and the walls painted a warm yellow with thin strips of white. There was a large bay window on the wall farthest from them and through it you could see nothing but white. White Mountain, white tress, and white falling from the sky in large flakes. Hm, Blaine thought with a laugh, welcome to Winter Warblerland.
The decor of the room seemed to be quite simple, which just added to the beauty. Against one wall were two king sized beds, both with white sheets and pillows. All the furniture in the room was made of wood, which made Blaine hope there were no candles in Reed's room next door. He turned to look at Kurt, who was still looking around, jaw dropped and speechless. Behind him a man came up carrying both Blaine and Kurt's bags.
"Thank you, you can just put them by the door." The man nodded, and Kurt blinked, looking at Blaine, apparently out of his haze now.
"Hey, guys." Reed said, popping his head in, "Shane's not here yet, so I was wondering if I could come sit with you guys for a bit."
"Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you he called." Blaine told Reed, "He won't be able to get out until either late tonight or early tomorrow, and not to wait up for him."
"Oh." Blaine could hear disappointment in Reed's voice, and he knew the younger Warbler missed his brother.
"He keeps telling me how much he misses you." Blaine said, trying to cheer him up a bit. "I swear you're all he talks about."
Reed's face went bright red, and he mumbled something under his breath about going to check on the others, Blaine and Kurt laughed, offering to come along.
"Okay, Kurt, I'm officially your friend." Kurt heard Santana say as she walked into what the twins considered the family room.
"Oh, joy." The sarcasm was evident in Kurt's voice, but he was smiling.
"So you're all okay with your rooms then?" Evan asked.
"Have you seen this place?" Mercedes asked. "Although I'm a bit concerned about Dwight. Is he... alright?"
"Let me guess," Kurt said, "He's putting rock salt on the floor at the door and doing a few other things that involve garlic, salt and a bottle of Holy Water."
"Yeah... so that's normal?"
Kurt sighed dramatically. "He's a Windsor, none of them are normal."
"Hey!" The twins said in unison, Kurt motioned toward them, "Point proven."
"Wait... doesn't that mean you're not normal?" Brittany asked from where she was sitting on Artie's lap. Kurt laughed freely, feeling giddy from the presence of the two groups of students.
"I put up with them, how can I be normal?"
"Hey, guys!" Reed said bounding into the room and tripping over the carpet, falling face first and landing in a heap at Puck's feet. He looked up at him and squeaked, jumping up and running to sit beside Kurt, a red mark already becoming visible on his forehead.
"Are you alright?" Rachel asked, "You seem to fall a lot."
"Er, yeah. I'm a bit clumsy," Reed replied shyly.
"Yeah, just a bit." The twins chorused, rolling their eyes. They seemed a bit impatient for something.
"So, we think we should go swimming," Ethan said.
"We've got a pool outside,"
"And swimsuits in the store in that direction." They concluded, pointing towards a large wooden door.
"Is there anyone who can't swim?"
Reed put his hand up slowly, looking innocent and nervous. Kurt put his hand up as well, and the group gasped.
"What? I never bothered to learn because I didn't want chlorine in my hair."
"I can help you," Blaine said, smiling at him. Kurt blushed, but nodded.
"And I can help you, sweet cheeks." Mercedes said in a motherly tone to Reed, who also nodded.
"Great, it's settled! There's a whole range of shapes and sizes and colors next door, when you're done go get changed and meet us at the pool down the hall from the shop." Evan said before walking off with Ethan. The group walked over to the wooden doors and Kurt and Blaine pushed them open to reveal a large room packed full of bathing suits. The room was split in half by a double arrow sign. One arrow pointed to the left and it said "boys" while the other pointed to the right, reading "girls". The girls, as well as Kurt and Reed, ran into the room with looks of sheer joy on their faces. Most of the guys looked into the room looking absolutely miserable, but they walked in and headed to the boys side, where Kurt and Reed were already digging through piles of suits and looking for the right color to match their eyes, or something along the lines of that.
"What on earth took you guys so long?" Ethan asked as the large group finally entered the open swimming pool, but his question was answered by their outfits. Aside from Wes, David, Dwight, Sam, Puck, Artie and Finn everyone was very fashionably dressed. Kurt was wearing purple trunks that reached just above his knee, which complimented his fair skin nicely. Behind him were Reed and Blaine, who were also wearing shorts, Reed's blue ones complimented by a white shirt and Blaine wearing just plain red shorts. Brittany, Santana and Quinn were wearing very tight fitting bikinis that any straight male would drool over.
Mercedes was rocking a light purple one-piece and Rachel a nice red one.
"I'm assuming Door mouse and Alice styled you?" Evan said the group nodding.
"Well, come in then." One by one the girls (And Kurt, Reed and Blaine) got in, each checking the temperature before gently sliding in. They guys, however, decided to start the evening off with cannonballs, soaking the girls' hair. There was a lot of screaming as the guys where pushed under water, than more screaming as they threw the girls off and flying back into the water. After a couple minutes everyone was breathless with laughter and soaking wet.
Kurt felt so carefree and wonderful, for once all of the problems just disappearing as he enjoyed his friends' company. Kurt saw Blaine looking at him, his eyes soft. Kurt beamed at him, treading through the water to reach him.
"So," Blaine said as Kurt got closer, "are you having a good time, even though you can't swim?"
"Yes, actually I am." Kurt continued to move closer to Blaine, who was treading water just past Kurt's reach. Frowning, Kurt tried walking on his tip toes, lifting his chin so he could still breathe, but it didn't do much. He was trying to figure a way to get closer when he felt an arm around his waist. He tried to see behind him, but he was getting pulled into the deeper water, starting to worry about the person dropping him, Kurt put up a fight. He was flailing his arms wildly and kicking his feet, completely convinced he couldn't breathe. And then he was against the cold concrete of the poolside, Blaine holding him there as he glared at Kurt, water running down his face as he frowned.
"Oh... sorry," Kurt said as he tried to stifle a laugh at the adorable look on Blaine's face, "I didn't know it was you, I panicked." Kurt knew his face was going red as he tried harder and harder not to laugh. "But you should—" Kurt let the laughter flow freely, talking between breaths, "You should... see your face... right now... Sorry... but it's just... so adorable!" By the time he'd concluded the whole room was laughing, including Blaine who simply splashed Kurt playfully.
"Er, Blaine?" Kurt asked awkwardly, still pinned against the wall, Blaine only inches away.
"Yeah?"
"Could we, uh, go back to the shallow end? I'm still a little worried you're going to drop me." Blaine gave a feigned look of horror before grabbing Kurt around the waist, who thankfully stayed calm this time, and leading him to the shallow end.
"Kurt you're shaking..." Blaine said as he held the boy.
"Oh, so I am. Well it is a bit chilly, seeing we're in a pool outside in the snow." Blaine pulled him closer, trying to warm him with his own body heat.
"Evan, Ethan! I'm taking Kurt in, he's shaking." Blaine called to the twins who were bombarding Wes and David with water.
"Oh, okay." They called back, looking a little sad.
When Kurt was dried off and dressed in a warm sweater, wool socks, jeans and a pair of boots, Blaine went to the Kitchen on the ground floor to get Kurt and himself some tea. He sat patiently waiting as the cook ran around the kitchen, getting out the finest tea and the nicest china they had, making sure the water was just the right temperature, making sure it wasn't too strong, just generally fussing too much. After a couple minutes Blaine was headed back to the room with the two cups.
"Oh, Blaine! Welcome back," Kurt said with a smile when Blaine entered the room. Everyone had come over while he had gone to get the tea since they had all finished swimming for the night.
"Er, hi." Blaine awkwardly placed a cup beside Kurt, who took it gratefully, sipping the warm liquid.
"Mm, thank you." Blaine smiled, looking for a place to sit down. Mercedes was sitting on one side of Kurt and the twins sat on the other when he came in knowing that he'd want to sit beside Kurt. Blaine seriously wondered why they were constantly preventing him from sitting with him if they wanted them to get a move on so badly. Blaine decided to just sit on the floor near his bed, his mood slightly grimmer now.
"Er, excuse me guys," Kurt said getting up, leaving the twins and Mercedes sitting confused on the couch. He walked over to Blaine, sitting down beside him. "Hey," Kurt said simply, causing Blaine to look up.
"Oh, hey." He replied. Kurt smiled coyly, resting his head against Blaine's shoulder. The pair sat in silence as they watched the mayhem around them, both unable to hold back the smiles spreading across their faces as they sipped their tea. Kurt was so glad that the McKinley group and the Dalton group were getting along. Even Rachel had stopped talking about sleeping with the enemy (Kurt still wasn't sure if she was referring to the Warblers or Finn), and was just enjoying herself. The sight of them all made Kurt want to cry tears of sheer joy. His families were together, and everyone was having a great time.
Suddenly music was blaring. "Oh I love this song!" Kurt exclaimed, getting up and starting to sing along.
We are young
We are strong
We're not looking for where we belong
We're not cool
We are free
And we're running with blood on our knees
Kurt wasn't the only one singing along, in fact he found that most of the room was, everyone dancing and laughing, their voices drowning out Mika's.
We could rule the world
On a silver platter
From the wrong to the right light
To an open stream
With a crash and burn
We could make it better
Turn it upside down
Just you and me
Even the Dalton kids that weren't in the Warblers were joining in, nobody caring what their voices sounded like.
We are the dream
No other way
To be
We are young
We are strong
We're not looking for where we belong
We're not cool
We are free
And we're running with blood on our knees
As he sang along, Kurt couldn't help but feel how relevant this song was to all of them. They didn't care what people thought of them, they sang because they loved it.
I could change the world
I could make it better
Kick it up and down
Take a chance on me
When you fake a smile
And you think you're better
Gonna put it down
Rip it at your feet
No bridge to burn
Nowhere to turn
For me
Kurt was suddenly dancing close to Blaine, crashing into him occasionally as they whipped around and back and forth.
We are young
We are strong
We're not looking for where we belong
We're not cool
We are free
And we're running with blood on our knees
What do they know about us?
Are they thinking of somebody else?
Are they wondering what we might be?
Are they thinking of you or of me?
We are young
We are strong
We're not looking for where we belong
We're not cool
We are free
And we're running with blood on our knees
As they belted out the last note, Kurt bumped hard against Blaine, causing them both to fall to the floor, breathless and laughing. Kurt awkwardly untangled himself, standing up and reaching a hand out to the Windsor boy on the ground. Kurt caught a glimpse of a mischievous smile before Blaine grabbed his hand and pulled him back to the ground, tickling him and causing Kurt to gasp for breath through his laughter.
When Blaine finally showed mercy and let Kurt go the whole room was staring at them, mostly looks of pure happiness for Kurt on their faces, although Finn looked a bit concerned.
"Well then, that was fun." Puck said, breaking the silence much to Kurt's pleasure.
"Am I the only one who feels like those two have doped us up?" Santana said, motioning to the twins behind her.
"It's totally the mountain air," Brittany said idly.
"And the fact we all just laughed for a full three minutes while belting our hearts out," Artie added.
"We all know Alice is giddy from Rabbit having his hands all over him," Ethan said with a laugh.
"Guys!" Kurt complained as his face went red.
"Well you seemed to be enjoying yourself," Quinn pointed out. Kurt saw Finn's mood darken more.
"Quinn! Honestly, guys. You're all horrible." As much as he wanted to, Kurt couldn't stop smiling. The events of the day kept the ridiculous look glued to his expression.
"Okay, singing flowers," Ethan said suddenly.
"Time to go to bed, we've got skiing early tomorrow morning."
After everyone had left, Kurt went into the bathroom holding a pair of really warm-looking pyjamas Reed had lent him. He got changed quickly and walked back into the main room to find Blaine changed as well. The product had left his hair long ago, and it was now on the wild side with strands flying all over. Kurt smiled thinking that he looked cute with it like that. Placing his clothes on the bed, he walked over to Blaine, who turned upon hearing the boy's approach. Kurt reached up, brushing a stray curl from Blaine's face.
"I think today was the best day of my life," He said quietly, "Thank you."
Blaine touched Kurt's cheek gently, his fingers lingering in the boy's hair as he moved closer, pressing his lips against Kurt's. "Of course. I knew you missed them and I figured that this would be a good way for you to spend time with them."
The young boy beamed up at him. Blaine hugged Kurt tightly, whispering in his ear "Goodnight, Kurt," before walking over to his bed and climbing in.
Kurt was woken early the next morning by Mercedes, and he could see the twins cowering behind her, looking at her as if she was insane for going near him in the morning. They each held two coffee cups.
"Mornin' sweet cheeks, how ya doin'?"
Kurt yawned, stretching his hands over his head and arching his back, "Mm, morning."
"Uh," Evan said quietly.
"We brought you coffee." Finished Ethan.
"Thanks, but you realize—" Kurt started, but the twins had placed the cups on the bedside table and fled the room.
"What's with the coffee, again?" Mercedes asked.
"I snapped at one of the Banshee's once and now it's tradition to give me multiple cups of coffee."
"Ah."
"Oh, good morning, Kurt." Kurt turned his head, seeing Blaine walk out of the bathroom, his hair wet. He walked over, sitting on the edge of Kurt's bed as he attempted to dry the wild dark curls. Kurt thought he looked younger and less serious with his hair like this, and kind of liked it. "Ready to learn how to ski?"
Kurt groaned in response, "Don't remind me, I might realize just how crazy I am and chicken out."
"Oh, c'mon. You'll do fine." Blaine said with a roll of his eyes, "Plus, the twins have told me that most of the Glee Club members can't ski either, so we're just going to hold a 'learn to ski' type thing."
"Oh, great," Kurt moaned, "all my friends get to see me fall on my ass. Multiple times."
"Trust me; everyone will be too busy focusing on not crossing their skis, and trying to balance and turning to notice anything else."
Kurt now looked panicked, and Blaine could almost see the gears shifting inside the boys head, working out every little thing he'd have to learn and just how big of a fool he'd make himself look.
"Kurt," Blaine said sternly, placing his hand over the boy's, "Calm down, its okay. You're going to do great and blow their minds."
"Are you ready yet?" Blaine called into the bathroom where Kurt was dressing.
"Blaine I look ridiculous! I swear I haven't looked his strange since Glee did Lady Gaga."
"Oh, c'mon. It can't possibly be as outrageous as Lady Gaga," Blaine suggested unhelpfully, "Just come out!" He watched the door crack open a little, only one of Kurt's gorgeous green eyes showing from behind it. The door slowly opened fully to reveal Kurt wearing black ski pants and a light yellow-green ski jacket (Blaine assumed he had quite a few layers on underneath). He was wearing a pair of black gloves and a black tuque that covered his hair in a way that caused Blaine to lose his train of thought. Kurt's face went red from where his neck was visible above the high-collared jacket to his hairline.
"No, I am not leaving this room wearing this. I look ridiculous." Kurt attempted to re-enter the bathroom, but Blaine grabbed his glove covered hand.
"Kurt, you look great." Blaine said sincerely. With a glare Kurt observed the Warbler standing before him, realizing he was also ready to go in dark grey ski pants, a nice blue jacket and a dark blue tuque. His blue gloves were placed on his bed next to two black things.
"What're those?" Kurt asked, pointing to them.
"Ah," Blaine said, picking one up. He removed the tuque from Kurt's head and Kurt was sure his hair looked absolutely atrocious. Blaine pulled the black material over Kurt's head, tucking it into his jacket before replacing his tuque. "When you get outside, cover your mouth with that. It keeps you warm and it stops your lips from chapping."
"Oh, okay," Kurt replied coolly. There were all sorts of butterflies in his stomach and he was starting to feel a bit sick.
"Well, let's go get you your gear," Blaine said with a smile, taking Kurt's hand and grabbing his gloves before leading him out of the room.
"Am I supposed to feel like I'm about to fall forward?" Kurt asked as he attempted to stand in the Ski boots that had been put on his feet. Blaine, already having owned his own gear, was standing against the wall in front of Kurt; it was obvious he was trying to hold in his laughter.
"Bend your knees," The man who fitted his boots said. When Kurt tried it, he found it a great deal easier to stand up.
"Put this on," The man said, handing Kurt a black helmet, "I'll go find your skis."
Once he managed to get it on, Kurt decided that the helmet was one of the most uncomfortable things he'd ever worn. That includes the Lady Gaga heels, which were incredibly uncomfortable. The sides of the helmet pressed his ears against his head and made it quite difficult to hear anything. Eventually the man came back holding a pair of light blue skis and matching poles.
"You're good to go," he said with a smile, placing the equipment against the wall, "Have fun, but be careful. I've got to go and fit one of the ladies, but if there's any problems please call me over." Kurt gave him a smile, saying quiet thanks. Once the man was gone, Blaine pushed off the wall and walked over to Kurt, who was managing to stay upright, his expression showing how focused he was.
"Why don't you try walking?" Blaine asked, trying to remember what he was trying to say, Kurt's adorable look making him blank completely.
"Yeah," Kurt said, frowning at the boots, "yeah, walking. Okay." Kurt was halfway through his first step and Blaine knew he was going to fall, lunging forward he managed to catch Kurt before he hit the ground, pulling the boy into his arms.
"Are you okay?" Blaine asked as he pulled Kurt upright, looking to make sure he wasn't injured.
"Yeah. Just a little, er, shaken," Kurt laughed, "Thank you for catching me."
"Try walking like this," Blaine said, demonstrating, "See? Heal, toe, heal, toe. It feels a bit strange, but you can't really walk any other way. Try it."
Kurt stayed put, biting his lip. Blaine knew he was scared to fall again, so he went over, offering Kurt his arm. After gripping it tightly, Kurt tried to walk, stumbling again, but Blaine caught him. When Kurt looked back up at him, his eyes were wide. "It's okay," Blaine said soothingly, "I've got you." Kurt tried to walk again, this time mostly successful.
"Alright, that wasn't so hard," Kurt said confidently. Blaine tried to let go, but Kurt grabbed his arm, holding on tight.
"Kurt, I've gotta grab our skies and poles." He laughed. Kurt looked worried for a moment, but nodded and let go. Blaine walked over to the bench where Kurt's skis were resting, picking them and the poles up in one arm, then walking over to the door where his were resting and grabbing them in his other arm. "Alright, c'mon Kurt. Time to get you onto some snow."
Getting outside proved to be quite a difficult task for Kurt. He was able to walk with the boots on, but barely. Walking in snow was an even more difficult task, and he was seriously wondering if he was going to even be able to stand on his skies if just walking with the boots on was so hard. After a few minutes Kurt and Blaine were close enough to see the bunny hill, where most of the Glee club was waiting, all standing on their skies. Once they reached the group Kurt noticed all the Dalton kids were leaning against their poles, looking bored.
"Okay, Kurt. Let's try just standing on the skies, yeah?" Blaine said, throwing Kurt's poles to Wes, who caught them easily and stuck them in the ground with the multiple sets already there, which he assumed belonged to the rest of the Glee club.
Kurt watched intently as Blaine pulled the skis apart and placed them on the ground between his feet. Blaine stood beside him, placing his skis in the same position.
"Okay, so what you want to do is kick the toe of your boot in like so," Kurt studied Blaine's movements, then stood on his right leg and kicked into the front of the boot holder on the ski.
"Great," Blaine said with a smile, "now, simply push back, putting your weight on your heel." Blaine did so and Kurt heard a click showing the boot was in properly. On his first try he only got the boot partially in. When he tried again he attempted to sit back a bit to add weight. He heard the click of the boot entering the ski, but fell backwards, the foot not attached to the ski flying up as he landed flat on his back, his right leg in a very uncomfortable position. Kurt scowled as his friends laughed at him and he tried to get up unsuccessfully, the twins laughed harder.
"Here," Blaine said, offering a hand and hauling Kurt up, "don't worry about falling; it was your first time putting on a ski. Something was bound to go wrong. Hell, my first time putting on a ski I fell sideways." Kurt allowed himself to smile; at least Blaine had been here before. He looked down at the other ski, determined to get that one on without any more troubles. He kicked his toe into the ski, which slid forward; Kurt was able to stand up straight before falling into the splits, but barely. Blaine moved forward, his skies on now, and pushed Kurt's ski back towards him. Luckily this time Kurt managed to get his ski on.
At lunch Kurt had decided that skiing was one of the most, annoying, difficult, pointless and fun things he'd ever experienced. Blaine had taken him to the smallest hill available, which to Kurt didn't look very small at all, and taught him the basics at the top, he could still hear Blaine's serious tone in his mind; "Pizza your skis like this to go slow and eventually stop", "Don't cross your skis. Ever. You'll fall, trust me.", "To turn go into a pizza then move your skis horizontally like this". Unfortunately Blaine's teachings were much easier said than done. In two hours Kurt had fallen at least twenty seven times, and his skis fell off over half of the time. All of him hurt, and he was frozen, but as he sat with his friends he had to admit to himself that he was having more fun than he ever thought he would.
"Are you up for the afternoon," Blaine asked quietly, "Or do you want to just sit it out?"
"I think I want to try and ski," Kurt said after a moment's thought, "I'm, amazingly enough, quite enjoying myself. Even if my whole body is sore and I doubt I'll ever regain feeling in my toes. Am I supposed to feel like there's a hole in my sock, by the way?"
"I get that, too, but I don't know if it's normal."
"Normal?" Ethan asked out of nowhere.
"What on earth is normal?" The twins smiled with a wink at Kurt before rejoining the conversation they were having with Puck, who looked a bit confused.
"So I think we'll stick to the bunny hill today, but if you keep up the progress we'll have you on a ski lift tomorrow morning," Blaine pondered out loud, "and then the fun starts."
"You think I'll be good enough to go on an actual run tomorrow?" Kurt asked.
"Well, yeah. You learn fast, and you've made a lot of progress in just half a day."
"I don't know, you're still really good," Kurt said quietly.
"I've been skiing most of my life, what do you expect? You've learned a lot in only a couple of hours," Blaine placed a hand over Kurt's gently, and as Kurt stared at them, he muttered, "Feels like a lot longer than that."
"Okay, you're doing great, Kurt!" Blaine called from the bottom of the bunny hill. Kurt was still only about half way down, and he was moving at a very slow pace. Since lunch an hour ago, Kurt had only fallen twice, and Blaine was proud of him. He meant what he said about getting onto the lifts, and he wanted Kurt to have that experience as well. A loud screech snapped Blaine from his thoughts. Looking up, he saw Kurt moving quite quickly towards him, one ski a couple feet behind him. "Kurt..." Blaine said, getting ready to move as the boy came closer. Looking behind him he saw a row of trees. Kurt was either going to hit him, or them. Blaine planted his feet as Kurt came head on at him, still screaming as he got closer and closer.
"Blaine! Move, what are you doing? Get out of the way!" Kurt yelled, he was now no more than a foot in front of Blaine. Before either of them could do anything Kurt smacked into him, both of them falling to the cold snow, Kurt's other ski popping off as Blaine's poles got tangled behind Kurt's back.
"What on earth are you two doing?" Blaine and Kurt looked up at the same time, horrified looks mirrored.
"Kurt lost a ski, and he was either going to hit me or a tree," Blaine said calmly, his hands still entangled behind Kurt's back.
"And that explains your current position, how?" The twins asked.
"Well, my poles got a bit tangled. Speaking of which, would you mind?" The twins rolled their eyes dramatically, Ethan grabbing Blaine's poles and untwisting them. They watched Kurt get off Blaine with much difficulty; he obviously wasn't used to the ski boots, but eventually he was up and brushing off his ski pants. Blaine was still lying on the snow trying to get his own skis off. His toque had come off and the dark curls he hadn't bothered to gel back that morning hung around his head. Looking to their left they saw Kurt staring at him, his eyes watering. The twins could almost hear what he was thinking, and they told him so.
"Take a picture, Alice," Evan said; his Cheshire grin in place.
"It'll last longer."
Blaine looked up and there was a single curl hanging over his right eye. The twins laughed even harder as Kurt turned scarlet.
"Here," Kurt said, offering Blaine a hand, but when he attempted to pull him up Kurt ended up in the snow as well. He heard the twins laugh louder.
"Sorry," Blaine said quietly, obviously trying not to laugh as he got up and offered Kurt a hand, "here, let me help this time."
Kurt went a deep shade of red as he got up, the twins leaning on their poles for support as they tried to stay upright. "Oh, c'mon!" Kurt whined, "It's not that funny."
"It is,"
"From our point of view." Kurt glared at them both, and they seemed to have noticed as they muttered a quick excuse before skiing to the lift at the bottom of the hill.
"I'm sorry about that," Kurt said quietly, unable to look the Warbler standing before him in the eye. He felt like a complete idiot.
"Hey, it's no biggie. So you fell, whatever. May I remind you that since lunch you've only fell like, three times? That's pretty good for your first day on skis."
"I suppose..."
"Here, I'll go grab the ski that's up there, you put that one on," Blaine said as he began hiking up the hill in his boots. Kurt couldn't shake the feeling that he was holding Blaine back, even though he wouldn't admit it. He walked over to where his ski was, fixing it so he could get his boot in and waited patiently for Blaine to come back. Kurt could see the ski lift in the distance, and he felt like his heart was in his throat. Blaine wanted so badly for Kurt to go up a ski lift with him, but he was terrified at the thought of going on them. You were in a chair that's moving over the snow and the only thing stopping you from falling was a bar that Kurt could probably slide under. How the heck was he going to stay on?
"Here you go," Kurt looked away from the lift, forcing himself to smile at Blaine.
"Thanks."
"Are you nervous about going on the lift?"
Kurt forced a smile, "Am I that obvious?"
"No," Blaine said as he put his own skis on, "I just know you well."
Kurt blushed slightly, looking down at the shimmery white snow beneath him. Suddenly his chin was being lifted gently, and he was looking into Blaine's deep brown eyes.
"Hey, you don't have to worry about it today. Today we'll just stick to the bunny hills. We'll tackle that tomorrow."
"Yeah," Kurt said with a nod, "okay."
By the time Kurt and Blaine made it back to the Twin's resort, Kurt felt as if his legs were going to give out. He walked into the large living room on the main floor of the building, plopping heavily down on one of the couches, rubbing at his feet through the fuzzy socks that hadn't done much in keeping him warm.
"Is it supposed to feel like I'm going to collapse every time I take a step?" Kurt moaned, his legs still throbbing even though he was sitting.
"Well," Ethan said, sitting on one side of Kurt, his brother plopping down on Kurt's other side.
"Since this was your first time on skis,"
They both paused before cheerily ending in unison, "Yes!"
"But you know what helps?" Ethan asked mischievously.
"A romantic date with your Rabbit in our hot tub."
Kurt gaped at them, his eyes wide. He was about to argue when the New Directions began to come in, capturing the twins' attention immediately.
"Singing Flowers!" They exclaimed happily.
"Out of my way, dweebs," Santana said, pushing past them. She had quickly changed her opinion of them from intriguing to just annoying. Their habit of constantly completing each others sentences' was really starting to piss her off, and it was a pain in the ass to be around them. She sat on one of the couches, sighing happily as the pain in her legs was numbed slightly. God, she thought, you'd think being in the Cheerios would make skiing easy. Sadly, she was wrong. Santana had made a complete fool of herself in front of the cute Aussie instructor the twin's had found her. She couldn't even remember how many times she had fallen and the ass of her jeans was soaked, and she was cold and she just knew she looked like a mess. A hot mess, maybe, but a mess none the less.
"Why do you call us singing flowers, again?" Brittany asked the two boys in front of her. They looked exactly the same, and Brittany couldn't understand how. Had they been taken by aliens when they were babies?
"Because you are all part of the New Directions," one of them said to Brittany, she turned to him, smiling.
"And you're all so pretty, just like flowers!" Brittany turned to the other boy now, frowning. Why did they talk like that?
"Did your mom send you guys away when you were a baby...?" Brittany said, voicing her earlier question.
"What?" They asked together.
"Well, why do you look the same?" Was she the only one who saw two of them?
"Brittany, they're twins." A voice called from the couch. She looked over the boys' shoulders and saw Kurt, she ran over to him, happily sitting on his lap. She placed a kiss on her ex-boyfriend's cheek.
"Hello, Brittany, how was skiing?"
"It hurt," she pouted at him.
"Awe, well I'm sure you'll feel better later, and each time you're on the hill it'll get easier."
"You really think so?" Brittany doubted Kurt strongly. She fell a lot that day, and the man who was teaching her was not very nice at all. He kept taking her back up the hill and telling her to go down again. Even when she told him her feet hurt a lot, he kept pushing her to go down.
"Yeah, you're a great athlete Britt; you'll be great in no time!"
"Man, that seriously hurt my ego," Puck complained as he walked into the room with Finn.
"Good, your ego was too big anyway."
"Ouch," Puck replied, clutching his chest in feigned horror. Behind them was Rachel with Mercedes, they'd been getting close lately Puck had observed.
"So, Berry, did you have fun?" He asked the short brunette with a wink.
"How many times have I told you not to call me that, Puckerman?"
"Hey, where's your group?" Mercedes asked as she stepped past the twins, looking to Kurt for answers.
Kurt thought for a moment before he realized he actually didn't know. His breath hitched, he didn't know where they were. Who knows what they were getting up to!
"Uh, Kurt?" Mercedes asked.
"Honestly I have no clue, Mercedes, which is a frightening thought."
"Well those two are—" Mercedes began, but when she looked behind her she stopped mid-sentence. Kurt shifted his gaze and saw the twins had disappeared.
"Oh no. No, no, no. This is not a good sign. Where the hell is Blaine?" Kurt put his face in his hands with a loud groan. "Oh, great mother of Gaga."
"What? What is it Kurt?" This time it was Finn that spoke up, he sounded worried.
"Well, if even Blaine is gone I'm willing to bet whatever they have in store is not going to be fun."
"Wow, are they seriously that untrustworthy?" Santana asked from where she was perched across the room, "I mean maybe they just wanted some time away from us. Even if they are the crazy ones."
"Yeah, maybe," Kurt responded, the sarcasm dripping from his voice, "And maybe hell has froze over. Seriously, Santana, you don't live with them."
"Woah, hey. Pull in the claws, I'm simply offering some input here."
"Too bad no one really cares," Rachel snapped at her.
"Shut your mouth, dwarf," Santana snapped back, "you're screechy voice is going to give me a migraine."
"Screechy voice? Please, you're just jealous because I'm a better singer than you and will, inevitably, be more successful in life."
Santana sat up to meet Rachel's glare with one of her own, "You better shut your mouth," she threatened. They had both stood up and were advancing on each other. Kurt frowned at them. There is no way this was happening now.
"What are you going to do, Santana? Sleep with Brittany's boyfriend?" Rachel yelled. Finn flinched.
"Oh, hell no. You didn't just bring that up again."
"So what if I—"
"Just stop!" Kurt yelled at them, standing up quickly and walking over. "If you two don't get a grip I swear you will both go home."
"So what? I don't want to be around that midget any—"
"Santana." Kurt said sternly. He wasn't sure what it was that clicked in everyone's minds, but the room calmed and Santana and Rachel left to other sides of the room.
"Dude, he's kinda scary," Kurt heard Puck whisper loudly to Finn, who nodded. Kurt threw a glare at them before settling down beside Brittany again.
"Thank you for stopping them, Kurt." She said.
"What?"
"I don't like when my friends fight, and it's happening a lot..."
Kurt looked at her sympathetically, "I'm sure everything will be okay in a while."
"I hope so," Brittany said, and then the room was quiet again; the only sounds that could be heard were the shuffling of his old club mates. Out of nowhere the lights went out. The girls all screamed, and Kurt got up, looking around uncomfortably. It was calm outside; there was no reason for the lights to go out. Something was going on. He tried to squint through the darkness, but he could barely see the outlines of his friends. Everyone was screaming, so he knew it was pointless to try and listen for any signs of bombardment. He felt someone grab his hand, and he gasped in shock.
"Kurt, I'm scared," Brittany's voice came from the couch, barely above a whisper.
"It's okay, Britt. The light's just when out, don't be scared."
Suddenly Kurt felt a hand cover his mouth. He dropped Brittany's hand and tried to claw at his attackers arm, his screams barely audible. An arm slicked around his waist and Kurt began to panic.
"Kurt?" Brittany sounded worried.
"It's okay, Brittany, he just had to go to the bathroom," said a voice Kurt knew belonged to one of the twins.
"Oh, okay." Kurt tried to scream again, but it wasn't heard over the chaos ensuing in the room. Someone grabbed at his feet, and he tried to kick, but he was lead out of the room, his captors holding him tightly.
Blaine heard screaming coming from the room above him, and his eyes grew wide. He ran out of the kitchen and towards the stairs, deciding that he didn't want to wait for the elevator. He took the steps two at a time, the screeching getting louder as he got to the main floor. It sounded like it was coming from the living room. He ran through the long corridor, only one thought on his mind: Kurt. He was nearly there when the screaming stopped. Blaine didn't slow his pace, and bust through the large oak doors, panting as he looked around the room. The girls were all clinging to different boys. Well, all except Brittany who had her face buried in a pillow, she was curled into a tight ball.
"What... what happened?" Blaine asked, gasping for air. He knew the run up here was easy, but the horror that something bad happened to Kurt had taken his breath away.
"Nothing," Puck said with a roll of his eyes, "The power went out. No big deal."
"Puck it was out for a good ten minutes!" Rachel complained, she was still gripping tightly to his chest, and Blaine noticed that Puck was holding her protectively. He briefly wondered if there was something going on between the two of them.
"Is everyone okay?" He asked, looking around. He let out a sigh of relief when he realized Kurt wasn't even with them.
"Yeah, fine but... where's Kurt?" Quinn asked.
"Wait, you mean he was in the room?" Blaine pressed.
"It's fine guys," Brittany said, looking up from the pillow. She sniffled, her eyes still moist. Blaine guessed she was probably afraid of the dark. "He just had to go to the bathroom."
"Did he tell you that, Britt?" Blaine cooed, trying to be calm and kind towards the girl who seemed to be so childlike, but it was hard when he didn't know if Kurt was alright or not.
"Well, no... I think I heard someone else say it. I couldn't really hear... too much noise."
"What's this?" Blaine's head snapped up to where Santana was standing, a note in her hand. Blaine felt a lump form in his throat. He really hoped this didn't have something to do with the twins. "It says it's for the White Rabbit," she continued, "Blaine, that'd be you."
Blaine sighed heavily and walked over to her, grabbing the note. He recognized the handwriting of the twins, and a knot formed in his stomach.
Dearest White Rabbit,
We have taken Alice from you,
To a place you'll never look.
The clues we left are things to do,
So read them like a book.
He sighed. The twins, of course. No one else used those nicknames, and especially not in a ransom-note poem.
"What?" Mercedes asked.
Blaine read the note aloud, and many of his new found friends moaned. It was obvious the Tweedles were starting getting on everyone's nerves.
"Are they seriously sending us on a scavenger hunt?" Santana complained.
"No, they're sending me on one; you don't have to do anything." He spit at Santana. Blaine knew he'd regret the harshness in his tone later, but right now all he cared about was finding Kurt. Who knew what the twins were doing to him.
"We want to help," Tina said suddenly, standing up and looking around the room at her fellow Glee Club members.
"Yeah, Kurt's our friend, too." Mike piped up. Soon enough even Santana was nodding in agreement.
"Okay, well, the first clue is on the back of this." Blaine turned the note over in his hands, looking on the back. He read the clue aloud.
On the room of the kitchen you'll find your next clue.
Take the thing you will find there along with you.
Blaine looked up. Sam looked confused, but Blaine didn't think he was too bright.
"Well, er, the kitchen then?" Artie asked.
"No, that's far too obvious..." Blaine said. He knew the twins. There was no way they would simply send him to the kitchen. "'On the room of the kitchen'..." He repeated concentrating on the sentence. "Something sounds off."
"Well, you don't usually say 'On the room'," Quinn pointed out.
"Yeah," Finn agreed, his brow furrowed.
"And the twins don't seem to have bad grammar," Mercedes added.
"No," Blaine muttered, "they don't." They wanted them to realize this, Blaine knew it. But what did it mean?
"If you're on something... you're on top, right? Usually?" Mike asked.
"Yeah, usually." Santana said. The rest of the glee kids glared at her, but Blaine's face brightened.
"That's it!" He exclaimed happily, resisting the urge to jump up and down.
"What's it?" Tina asked.
"If you're on something, you're on top! He's in the room above the kitchen!" The Glee club muttered happily, all standing up.
"Okay, what's above the kitchen?" Sam asked.
"Isn't there just another room?" Puck asked.
Blaine nodded in confirmation. "The trouble is finding which one it is."
"Well, would it really be that hard to check all the rooms on the next floor?" Santana asked, crossing her arms.
"Well, that would take precious time, wouldn't it?" Blaine was starting to become aggravated with the group in front of him. Why couldn't any of them understand that Kurt was at the mercy of the Tweedles, they didn't have a lot of time.
"Well, I'm sure it would take considerably less time then sitting here and trying to figure it out. At least this way we can split up and just look in each room."
"You know what? Fine. We'll do it your way, Santana. Lets go." Blaine roughly pushed the large wood doors open, storming into the hall, he turned roughly on his heel, staring down the New Directions kids' in front of him, "Okay, you 5 take that side, we'll take this side. Lets go."
The two teams split up, all heading for the doors around them. Blaine walked quickly towards the door at the very end of the hall. He felt like it was too far to be above the kitchen, but he refused to leave any room unchecked. Blaine managed to get the door open when he heard a screech from down the hall. He whipped around, searching from where the sound came from. Mercedes' voice came from one of the doors closer to the other end of the hall.
"Blaine! Blaine, in here!" Blaine ran full speed towards the door, skidding to a stop and glancing in. Sitting on the middle of a king sized bed was a loaf of bread. Blaine walked in and picked up the loaf, staring at it. He turned it around in his hands, revealing a message written in Sharpie. Blaine looked around. Seeing the whole group crowed around him, he began to read it aloud.
You've found the bread,
Upon the bed,
In the room above the kitchen.
But the next clue,
This will take you to,
Is hidden under the crane.
Blaine looked up, but everyone around him was looking down at the bread, confused.
"Yes, they want us to carry around a loaf of bread. I'm sure it'll come in handy, or something. Can we move on now?"
They all seemed to, more or less, focus back on the task at hand. "Obviously they don't mean a real Crane," Blaine stated bluntly, "seeing there aren't any in Canada at this time of year."
"So… either a painting or a statue?" Santana asked.
"Hm… maybe. Something along the lines of that."
"I thought I saw a painting of a crane in our room, did you?" Quinn asked Sam.
"Well, there's a picture of a bird. I don't know if it was a crane."
"It's worth a try," Blaine said hastily, "You guys are the fourth floor, right?"
Sam and Quinn nodded as Blaine ran out of the room and towards the elevator. He eagerly pressed the button, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"What the hell are you two doing?" Kurt tried to ask through Evan, or Ethan's, hand, but it ended up coming out as a muffled groan. Kurt heard a click and he assumed a door was being opened. He tried to look around, but all he could see was the ceiling, which grew relatively higher. Suddenly Kurt was being turned so he was standing. He looked around at what seemed like a ballroom that was completely empty. He felt something hit the back of his knees, and one of the twins' hands pressed him down onto a chair. He was held there by one of the twins as the other tied his hands to the arms of the chair. At this point he could care less what they were doing. He knew them well enough to know this was just another one of their jokes. Sadly, he was the bait.
"So, what's the prank this time?" Kurt tried to ask, but the twins simply smirked before disappearing into the shadows. Kurt sighed, looking around. What was he supposed to do now? Kurt didn't have much time to worry, though, as the doors slammed open. Suddenly Reed was running full speed at his chair.
"Reed, no!" Kurt shouted, "You'll end up knocking us both over."
Reed skidded to a stop less than a meter away from Kurt. Kurt could see Reed was about to fall, but suddenly the boy was being spun around, and into Shane's arms. Kurt saw a blush spread across the boys' cheeks as Shane let Reed go, who walked briskly towards Kurt.
"Oh, Kurt! I'm so sorry! I told the twins not to tie you up, but they said something about it not being the same. Geez, are you okay?"
"Reed, Reed!" Kurt interrupted, "I'm fine."
Reed bit his lip, looking down at the ruffled Kurt sitting in the chair. His hair was messed up from being forcefully taken by the twins, but Kurt looked surprisingly calm.
"So, what exactly did you make them do?" He asked.
Blaine's whole body shook with anger at he stared at the note in his hands. He swore to himself that he was going to strangle the twins when he got his hands on them.
"Er, Blaine? What does it say?" Blaine distantly heard one of the Glee Girls ask.
Great job
You've made it so far,
Now make us two sandwiches,
The final clue is under the jar!
He read aloud through clenched teeth. His hand was tightly gripping the carton holding the peanut butter.
"They… want a… sandwich?" Finn sounded just as furious as Blaine, who gave a jerked nod before heading down towards the kitchen. He knew the New Directions were following him, each of them holding an ingredient for the sandwiches. When they reached the kitchen Blaine slammed the peanut butter on the counter. He roughly grabbed the bread from Mercedes, pulling the two plates and knife in front of him forward. Blaine began hastily spreading the ingredients on the sandwich, swatting away grabbing hands that were reaching for the jam jar. When at last the two sandwiches were made and cut, held by Finn and Rachel, Blaine turned over the jam, revealing one simple line.
He's in the ballroom. Bring the sandwiches.
"That's it?" Mike asked, "He's in the ballroom. That's it?"
Blaine clenched his jaw tighter, focusing all his strength not to throw the jar across the kitchen. "Lets go." Blaine said, storming out of the kitchen and up towards the ballroom. He could hear the ruffled steps of Kurt's friends behind him. They were all muttering, and Blaine knew if he tried he could hear what they were saying, but at that moment he was so overcome with anger he could care less. He slammed his way through the grand doors of the ballroom, seeing Kurt slumped over, tied to a chair in the middle of the ballroom. Much to his dismay, Blaine couldn't help but think that he looked rather cute. He shook his head quickly, running to Kurt.
"Hey! Are you okay?" Blaine asked, shaking Kurt's shoulder.
"Hm?" The boy asked sleepily as he looked up, meeting Blaine's eyes, "Oh, hi Blaine. It took you long enough."
Blaine couldn't help but chuckle as his hands reached for the rope binding Kurt to the chair.
"Hold it!" a voice shouted from somewhere, the sound bouncing off the empty walls of the ballroom. Blaine's fingers stopped where they were. "Where are the sandwiches?"
With an exasperated sigh, Blaine looked back to Finn and Rachel, motioning them forwards. Rachel walked towards him, head held high, but Finn looked nervous, and a bit worried. It was obvious he saw Kurt as his brother, as his equal. Blaine knew it was probably hard to see Kurt tied up like that, even if it was jokingly.
"Okay," the voice said, "now place the sandwiches on the floor next to Kurt. I need the rest of the Glee club to come in, too, please."
Blaine heard the shuffling of feet and after a moment there was silence in the ballroom again. Everyone stood silently, waiting for the voice to tell them to untie Kurt. Blaine heard the familiar click of a Nerf Gun, and then the feel of the bullet hitting his forehead.
"Now!" The voice shouted, and suddenly they were being bombarded by Nerf bullets and mini marshmallows. The Windsor boys and Shane, Blaine realized with a grimace, jumped out for the shadows, causing the Glee girls to scream even louder. Blaine looked to Kurt, who seemed to be completely indifferent on the subject. He was sitting, head down, only getting hit once or twice. When Blaine attempted to walk towards the chair, the twins hopped out from nowhere, huge grins on their faces as they held their custom-made Nerf guns fully loaded.
"Oh, we don't think so." They said, aiming for Blaine, who put his hands up defensively.
"Woah, hey. Put the guns down. You got your sandwiches," Blaine said calmly, muttering under his breath; "though I don't know why you didn't just plain out ask."
"What would be the fun in that, Rabbit?" Ethan asked.
"We enjoyed watching you dance around looking for Alice."
"Well, you had your fun. Now let Kurt go," Blaine said sternly. "You realize he'll kill you for that rope burn later, right?" He added with a smile. He looked over Ethan's shoulder to Kurt, who had, apparently, just clued into this fact.
He saw the twins' expressions falter as they glanced at each other.
"Ah, we've ran outta ammo!" David shouted from the other side of the ballroom. Blaine smiled as the twins frowned.
"Fine, he's all yours."
Kurt grimaced when Blaine had finally gotten the rope off his wrists. Sure enough he had some minor rope burn.
"Ethan. Evan. Get over here." He said through clenched teeth. The twins' gave a scared squeak before running in the opposite direction.
"I think I'm going to kill them… In their sleep. Won't know what hit 'em."
"You wouldn't survive Juvi, dude." Puck piped in with a wink.
"Fine, I'll make it look like you did it."
"You're going to kill someone?" Brittany's eyes were wide as she backed away from Kurt.
"No, Britt. I'm just kidding." Kurt tried to give the girl a reassuring smile, but he could hear Puck whispering to Finn behind him, and it was difficult for him not to just snap at them all. When he felt a hand on his shoulder Kurt turned around, knowing it was Blaine.
"I'm really sorry about that, Kurt. I should've known the twins were going to try and pull something," Blaine had stepped back from Kurt, and he was rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.
"It's not your fault, Blaine. Plus, I now have an excuse to get them back for it," Kurt responded with a devious smirk, "but right now? Right now I just want to go to bed."
"Bed sounds nice to me," Mercedes added from a couple of feet away. There were murmurs of agreement from the res of the New Directions and even a few of the Windsors. As everyone left the grand ballroom Kurt glanced back and winced. He felt bad for whoever had to clean up this mess, and if he didn't already know the Twins have large tips, he would've made them clean up. As the elevator stopped at each floor, Blaine and Kurt said goodnight to their friends. Kurt got a lot of hugs and apologies from the Dalton boys, and a smack on the shoulders from the McKinley jocks. The silence that had fallen over them when they reached the top floor was amazing, and Kurt's ears rang.
Blaine and Kurt said goodnight to Shane and Reed, who was currently clinging to the taller boy, outside their doors before heading to bed themselves. The room stayed silent as the two boys got into their pyjamas, only interrupted by awkward 'goodnight's'.
Kurt fell asleep almost immediately with a content sigh. What would tomorrow bring?
Next time we'll join Kurt on his first ski lift ride. The New Directions leave in one day, but the Windsors are there for a bit longer. What will happen?