Fic: A Far Better Rest [Glee]
Title: A Far Better Rest
Author: purplehrdwonder
Rating: PG-13
Genre/pairing: Past Kurt/Blaine, Blaine/Sebastian (sort of)
Characters: Blaine, Sebastian, Kurt, Nick, Jeff, Thad, Trent, David
Word count: 5,520
Spoilers: 4.10
Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.
Summary: Blaine runs into Sebastian after Kurt cancels their Christmas plans. Set before "Glee Actually."
Author’s Note: This started out as a single scene that popped into my head and, once I sat down to actually write it, turned into something far bigger than anticipated. This part is self-contained but I am planning a follow-up. The title, of course, comes from A Tale of Two Cities.
A Far Better Rest
Blaine was nursing a cup of coffee and reading over his history notes in the Westerville Starbucks when his phone started vibrating on the table in front of him. He started, pulling himself out of the French Revolution to see Kurt’s face looking up at him. He couldn’t help but smile, thankful once again that the line of communication had been reopened since Thanksgiving. They’d begun texting again and calling each other; while the conversations tended to be light and cautious, it was more than they’d had even a few weeks before, so Blaine would take it.
“Hey Kurt,” Blaine answered, leaning back in his chair.
“Hi,” Kurt replied. A hesitant pause, then, “How are you?”
The hesitation stung, as it always did, but Blaine did his best to ignore it. That Kurt was talking to him at all was a gift that he wasn’t going to take for granted. “Good. Just studying for finals next week.”
“Oh, is this a bad time?”
Blaine shook his head, belatedly remembering that Kurt couldn’t see him. “It’s fine. I know it’s lame to be studying on a Saturday afternoon, and it’s pretty much the same material we covered my sophomore year anyway.”
Kurt chuckled. “Yes, the academics at McKinley leave much to be desired, especially compared to Dalton.”
Blaine bit his lip and Kurt sucked in a breath as he seemed to realize what he’d just said; they were on the precipice of one of those topics that they’d been so carefully dancing around until they could have that mature heart-to-heart Kurt had promised.
“So, what are you up to?” Blaine asked, quickly changing the subject. “Getting ready for the holidays?”
“That’s… That’s actually what I was calling about.”
Blaine didn’t like the sound of that. “Okay?”
“I- I just talked to my dad. He and Carole and Finn are going to see Carole’s sister in Zanesville for Christmas.”
Blaine grimaced. “The egg nog-drinking one?”
“The very same,” Kurt agreed, briefly sounding pleased that Blaine remembered, but he quickly sobered. “But since watching my step-aunt black out isn’t high on my list of favorite ways to spend my time, we agreed that it probably wouldn’t be worth the cost of a plane ticket to come home after all.”
Blaine’s heart clenched painfully. “Oh.”
“I know I promised we were going to see each other,” Kurt went on in a rush. “And I really wanted to. But NYADA’s expensive, and if I can save money so I can take out fewer loans, I have to do it.”
Blaine swallowed against the lump forming in his throat, not trusting his voice in that moment. He doesn’t really want to see you. He’s willing to miss Christmas with his family to avoid you, a voice in the back of his mind accused.
Which was ridiculous, the logical part of his brain countered. Kurt wouldn’t give up seeing his father just because things with Blaine were complicated.
Just another one on the long list of broken promises since he went to New York, that first voice added.
The logical part of his brain had no counter for that. Blaine knew full well that he’d made an utterly stupid, self-destructive choice to hook up with another guy in his loneliness and took full responsibility for that, but that didn’t make the missed phone calls and broken Skype dates preceding it hurt any less.
“Blaine, say something. Please.”
Blaine shut his eyes. Maybe he deserved this. He’d cheated and the fact that Kurt was talking to him at all should have been enough of a Christmas miracle. But Blaine couldn’t help but be selfish.
“It’s okay, Kurt,” he said finally, proud of how steady his voice was with his still-fragile heart threatening to burst into a thousand pieces in his chest. He opened his eyes, centering himself the way he’d learned when he’d first started boxing. “I understand.”
“Blaine-”
“Really, Kurt. It’s fine.” He cleared his throat. “I should probably get back to studying.”
“I…” Kurt cut himself off, and Blaine could picture him biting his bottom lip on the other end before he spoke again. “Okay,” he said, sounding almost sad, which took Blaine aback. “Good luck on your finals.”
“Thanks.”
“Talk to you later?”
“Any time, Kurt,” Blaine whispered before hanging up.
He stared at his phone for a long moment, not sure whether he wanted it to ring again or if he wanted to throw it out the window. Deciding a childish impulse wouldn’t be worth the hassle of replacing the phone, he wiped surreptitiously at his eyes and put the phone down on the table. Slumping in his seat, he looked out the window; it had started snowing at some point. There was a light dusting on the ground and flurries were falling gently, glittering in the dim afternoon sunlight peeking through heavy clouds.
“Hey, Killer.”
Blaine blinked at the familiar voice and looked up to see Sebastian standing in front of him. He had a cup of coffee in hand and a curious expression on his face. There were snowflakes melting on the shoulders of his coat and in his hair.
“Sebastian, hi,” Blaine replied, suddenly tired. He wasn’t surprised he’d run into Sebastian here; the Westerville Starbucks was the closest coffee shop to Dalton.
“Can I sit?”
Blaine nodded silently and turned back to the window. The other boy pulled his coat off and slid into the chair across from Blaine. He remained silent, though, and Blaine was thankful for the reprieve.
He and Sebastian had reconnected after Blaine’s almost-transfer back to Dalton a couple of months before. Sebastian seemed determined to prove that he really had turned over a new leaf and Blaine, well, he’d enjoyed the company. Before everything had gone to hell the previous year, Sebastian had been a decent friend. He turned into a giant ass whenever Kurt was around and he seemed to take great pleasure in making Blaine blush with innuendos, but, in general, spending time with him had been easy and fun.
When Blaine had decided at the eleventh hour to stay at McKinley, Sebastian hadn’t commented other than to say, “I told you, it was all Hunter’s idea. Though the cape and tights were a nice touch,” when Blaine brought it up. Blaine had blushed and laughed and the subject had been dropped.
It wasn’t that Blaine didn’t have friends at McKinley-he had Sam had become close since their student council campaign, he and Brittany got along well, and he and Tina had been spending more time together since joining the Cheerios-but it was nice to spend time with someone not from that world. McKinley had been Kurt’s first, and though Blaine was starting to carve out his own niche separate from that of his ex-boyfriend, sometimes he just needed to avoid Lima all together. Sebastian had become that escape, and he seemed to get Blaine in a way his McKinley friends didn’t; it was refreshing.
“You want to tell me what’s got you angsting louder than a Linkin Park song?” Sebastian asked after a while.
Blaine sputtered a startled laugh at the comparison. He glanced over at Sebastian, who was watching him over his coffee cup.
“It’s Hummel, isn’t it?”
Blaine couldn’t mask his flinch, but Sebastian just nodded. “Thought so.”
“Sebastian-”
Sebastian shrugged unapologetically. “You know what I think about him.”
Blaine sighed. “You’ve made your opinion on Kurt perfectly clear, yes.”
“It just seems shitty that he can still put that look on your face when you’re not even together,” Sebastian said, putting his cup down on the table.
“After what I did-” Blaine started before registering what Sebastian had said. “Wait, what look?”
Sebastian was one of the few people Blaine had told the real reason he and Kurt had broken up. Finn already knew, having been in New York that horrific weekend; Sam had been the first he’d been honest with about it; and he’d eventually told Tina as well. He hadn’t intended to tell Sebastian, but they’d run into each other the day after Sectionals, and though New Directions had lost the competition, Blaine hadn’t been able to help the stupid grin on his face from Kurt calling him, so he’d admitted the truth.
“Kurt called me last night. Before we went on stage.”
Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“He still loves me,” Blaine said, practically bouncing in his seat. It was so much more than he ever could have hoped for when he’d gotten out of bed the morning before. And yet, there it was. “And he wants to see me at Christmas.”
A muscle in Sebastian’s jaw twitched but he didn’t reply. Blaine’s good mood immediately dipped. “What? You’re giving me a judging look.”
He shook his head, but Blaine wanted to hear his honest opinion. “Tell me.”
Sebastian sighed and looked away from Blaine. “I don’t like it. He broke your heart and now he’s stringing you along.”
“That’s not-”
Sebastian turned a startlingly earnest look on Blaine then. “Blaine, I saw you after the break up. You were a fucking wreck.”
Blaine shut his eyes at the memory of returning to Dalton and, in his heartache, being swept up in the idea of returning to the place that had once been a sanctuary for him-and of the place that had been his before Kurt had come into his life. He took a few steadying breaths and opened his eyes, fixing his gaze on Sebastian’s face.
“It was the other way around, actually.”
Sebastian frowned. “What?”
“He didn’t break my heart so much as I broke his.” And in the process had also broken his own.
“Blaine, what are you-”
“I cheated on him.” The words still tasted bitter in his mouth and made his chest ache, but he was finally starting to own it. That was the first step in moving on, right?
Sebastian looked dumbstruck. “What?”
Blaine shrugged uncomfortably. “He was in New York and it felt like he was moving on with this glamorous new life. We were barely talking and…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “I made a stupid choice because I was lonely, and it destroyed everything. So yeah, I was a wreck, but not for the reasons you’re thinking.”
“Huh.” Sebastian shook himself. “Most of the guys had money on it being the other way around.”
Blaine’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”
“The Warblers had a betting pool on why you guys had broken up,” Sebastian replied with a shrug. “Most of them assumed he cheated on you.”
Blaine groaned and covered his face in his hands. “Seriously?”
“No.” Startled, Blaine peered through his fingers at Sebastian, who was giving him an uncomfortably knowing look. “But they did wonder. The only reason Hunter thought he could convince you to come back was the rumor that you guys had broken up, you know.”
Blaine covered his face once more. “Am I really that predictable?”
“Apparently not.”
Blaine dropped his hands and looked up. Sebastian was giving him a considering look. “It doesn’t make you a bad person, you know.”
Blaine’s eyes widened. “How did you-”
Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Because I know you. And I know bad people.” His voice turned gentler than Blaine had ever heard it then. “And you, Blaine Anderson, are not a bad person.”
“The one that looks like someone gave you a puppy, let you name it, and then ran over it with a mack truck,” Sebastian replied, raising an eyebrow.
“I don’t look like-” he began protesting before laughing incredulously. “A mack truck, seriously?”
“Whatever,” Sebastian replied dismissively. “The point is that he’s still stomping on your heart from a thousand miles away.”
“Six hundred.”
“Oh, well that makes all the difference.”
Blaine propped his elbows up on the table and dropped his face into his hands. “Bas.”
“So what happened?” Blaine didn’t look up, but he could hear the shift in the other boy’s tone. That was Sebastian, always finding ways to throw Blaine for a loop, like being supportive when Blaine expected sarcasm.
“He’s not coming home for Christmas after all,” Blaine confessed at last.
“Typical.”
“He can’t afford the flight home with NYADA tuition to pay for next semester.”
“And you believe him.”
Blaine did look up at that. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Sebastian fixed him with a pointed look. “Oh, how about because he came for the opening night of your play and left the next day?”
Blaine groaned and looked away again. “Remind me again why I tell you things.”
“Because I say the things you’re thinking but are too afraid to say.”
Blaine made a noncommittal noise, but said nothing. There was probably more truth in that than Blaine would like to admit to. After a few silent moments, Sebastian sighed heavily.
“Okay, enough of this. Come on.”
Blaine frowned at him. “What?”
“You’re coming back to Dalton with me.”
“Seriously? I was studying,” Blaine argued, pointing at the pile of notes in front of him.
Sebastian rolled his eyes. “It’s Saturday, Blaine. No one studies on Saturday.”
“Dalton students do.” Because yes, Blaine had spent many long Saturdays buried under books during his time at Dalton.
“Please,” Sebastian snorted. “Like McKinley’s coursework is that demanding.”
Blaine’s mouth worked but he didn’t have a good response for that. “Are you going to tell me why I’m coming back to Dalton?” he asked instead.
“To watch a movie or paint our nails or talk about boys,” Sebastian deadpanned, pushing himself to his feet. “So, are you coming?”
Blaine only deliberated for a moment, glancing down at his silent phone. “Okay.”
-----
Blaine followed Sebastian in his car on the short drive back to Dalton. Once they parked in the boarders’ lot-Blaine had never bothered to take the parking sticker off his back window and took full advantage of it whenever he came to visit-Blaine grabbed his phone and hurried after Sebastian toward the school. By the time they got inside, Blaine could feel the snow, which had picked up during the drive, melting into his gel. As he shook off the flakes as best he could, Sebastian laughed quietly.
“Like a puppy.”
Blaine fixed him with a mock glare. “No mack trucks.”
Sebastian threw up his hands in surrender and led them to the dorms. “All the guys are pretty much holed up studying for finals,” he said as they passed by shut door after shut door. “The only time I saw Thad this week was during class and he had a streak of highlighter across his forehead.”
It would’ve been funny had Blaine not remembered finals week-and the week leading up to it-at Dalton well; instead, he grimaced in sympathy.
Once they made it to Sebastian’s room, Sebastian unlocked the door and opened it, letting Blaine step inside ahead of him. It wasn’t the first time Blaine had been to Sebastian’s room in the last couple of months, but he still looked around as Sebastian turned on the light and shut the door.
As a senior, Sebastian had a single and it was sparsely decorated; there were a few framed photos of Paris that looked like postcards-Sebastian had ducked his head and admitted to being into photography while he lived in France, so all the photos were his own-and a couple of the Warblers and the Dalton lacrosse team as well as a bulletin board with a few post its and sheet music tacked to it, but other than that, the walls were bare.
Sebastian pulled off his jacket and draped it across the back of his desk chair. Blaine looked over to see an open textbook and a notebook with scrawled notes on the desk. He raised an eyebrow at Sebastian.
“What?”
“You were studying on a Saturday,” Blaine accused.
“I’m also a Dalton student with finals next week,” Sebastian retorted.
“I should let you study,” Blaine said, shaking his head and looking away.
“Blaine.” Blaine turned back to Sebastian, who had his arms crossed. “Pick a movie,” he said, nodding toward the DVD binder sitting next to the TV on his dresser.
“I- Okay.” He pulled his coat off and laid it on top of Sebastian’s before heading over to the dresser and snagging the binder. He began flipping through the pages, raising an eye at some of the movies Sebastian owned.
“Are you judging my movie collection?” Sebastian demanded.
Blaine snorted but didn’t look up as he passed over several Michael Bay flicks. Then there were a few Disney movies and… He looked up in surprise. “You own ‘50s musicals?”
Sebastian shrugged and looked away. Blaine grinned and kept flipping through the selection, finally settling on Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. He pulled the DVD out and handed it over to Sebastian. The other boy looked down at it and grinned.
“I’m not surprised you’re into John Hughes, though,” Blaine said, stepping aside as Sebastian turned on the TV and put the DVD into the player. He sat down on the bed and kicked off his shoes before scooting up against the headboard, where he had the perfect view of the TV.
“I can’t respect anyone without a healthy respect for the classic ‘80s high school film,” Sebastian replied with a half-smirk.
Blaine laughed, pleased, as Sebastian nabbed the remote, flipped off the lights, and dropped down next to him on the bed. Sebastian hesitated a moment.
“I can take the chair instead.”
Blaine appreciated the offer, considering all the baggage between them, but he shook his head. The desk chair wouldn’t be very comfortable and they were past that. “It’s fine.”
“If you’re sure…”
Blaine rolled his eyes. “I’m sure.”
Sebastian nodded and leaned back against the headboard next to Blaine, leaving space between their shoulders. “I’m warning you, Anderson, I will throw something at you if your angsting starts drowning out the movie,” he said as he pressed play.
Blaine snorted and let himself sink comfortably back into the pillows. It was warm in the room, and while he was still feeling hollowed out from the phone call, there was something safe and cocooning about the space and having a friend close by. He barely noticed his eyelids drooping as he sunk further into the soft embrace of the pillows.
-----
The movie was about halfway over when Sebastian realized that Blaine had fallen asleep. He peeked at the other boy; Blaine’s eyes were shut and his eyelashes fanned out across his face. His lips were parted slightly and his breathing was deep and even. He was completely still and, Sebastian noticed, looked startlingly young. Awake, Blaine was a ball of charisma and energy, drawing all eyes in a room to him; he always seemed to take up far more space than his compact size should allow.
But Blaine was a performer. While sometimes overwhelmingly earnest, Blaine still hid behind masks around other people; Sebastian had always assumed it was true to some degree since any good front man had a stage persona. But it wasn’t until they’d started reconnecting that he realized that Blaine was performing more often than just when he was on stage. He was almost always in front of an audience.
It was something they had in common.
The first time he’d seen Blaine drop the act-the day after Sectionals when he’d confessed to cheating on Kurt-Sebastian had been shocked and more than a little humbled by the trust. That Sebastian, of all people, could earn that trust after everything he’d done, well, grateful didn’t even begin to describe his reaction.
So seeing Blaine now, comfortable around and trusting enough of Sebastian to fall asleep around him… It felt like Blaine had handed him something fragile and precious and trusted him not to shatter it. That was more trust than he knew what to do with, but he was doing to do his damndest not to break it this time.
Sebastian never thought he’d be that person, but there was just something about Blaine Anderson…
With a soft smile-one that he’d never confess to wearing, even under pain of death-he slumped back against the headboard as the movie continued playing.
-----
“Sebastian, you coming to dinner?” Nick called as they approached their friend’s door.
Jeff knocked on the door. “It’s meatloaf tonight! We all know you have a secret thing for meatloaf.”
“Not that secret,” Thad amended.
The three exchanged looks when there was no response. Though, as they leaned against the door, they could hear vague musical sounds coming from the other side. He was definitely in there.
Nick knocked again. “Sebastian! No point in ignoring us, man.”
When there was still no response, Jeff reached for the doorknob. The door opened and the three blinked at the sight that greeted them: The room was dark except for the light coming from the television, which seemed to be stuck on a DVD menu with some dingy music looping every thirty seconds. And on the bed were two figures, fast asleep on top of the sheets.
“Holy shit,” Jeff whispered, jaw dropping.
Sebastian was spooned up behind Blaine, an arm thrown over Blaine’s waist and their socked feet tangled up together. Sebastian’s other arm was draped across the pillows beneath the curve of Blaine’s neck. One of Blaine’s hands was holding onto the arm across his waist while the other was curled into his chest.
Thad’s mouth worked several times before he could find the words. “When did that happen?”
Nick whipped out his phone and snapped a couple of pictures before pocketing it and turning back to Jeff and Thad. “So, dinner?”
Jeff looked between the darkened room and Nick. “Seriously? Right now?”
With a smirk, Nick shut the door quietly and threw a conspiratorial arm around Jeff’s and Thad’s shoulders. “We don’t want to be late meeting the other Warblers for dinner.”
-----
Sebastian ran down the lacrosse field, an arm raised in victory after scoring the winning goal for Dalton. He was looking into the bleachers when he spotted him; he was dressed in bright red and stood out amongst all the Dalton students in navy. His honey-colored eyes were bright with happiness and pride, and something squirmed in Sebastian’s chest at the look.
He couldn’t remember anyone ever looking at him like that before.
With an eager grin, Sebastian continued running toward him, but the ground caved open beneath his feet. He gasped and his stomach lurched into his throat. The last thing he saw as he started falling was Blaine looking down at him, his expression transformed into one of pity as Kurt came up behind him and wrapped a possessive arm around his waist with a victorious smile. Blaine turned his head into the crook of Kurt’s shoulder as Kurt mouthed “Mine” and pulled Blaine closer.
Sebastian jerked awake at a loud thud from the next room and raised voices in the hallway. Half-conscious, he was about to yell something nasty about waking people when they were sleeping (and maybe somebody’s mother) when he became aware of another body pressed against his chest beginning to stir. Inches from his face was a mess of dark curls and a lingering scent of raspberries…
“What the hell?” Blaine muttered sleepily.
Holy shit.
There was another bang and Blaine stiffened. And that was when Sebastian realized they were tangled up together. His eyes widened in alarm and he made to roll away; Blaine apparently the same idea at the same time because Sebastian heard him gasp and felt him push away. They untangled themselves with more force than finesse, so by the time they were standing on opposite sides of the bed breathing hard and staring at each other warily, Sebastian was fairly certain he was going to have at least a couple of bruises in the morning.
“Sebastian-”
“Blaine-”
They both laughed as they spoke at the same time, and that seemed to break the tension hanging over the room.
“I guess we fell asleep,” Blaine said nodding toward the TV, which displayed the looping DVD menu.
“Shit. I’m sorry,” Sebastian apologized, his pounding heart starting to calm down. “I didn’t mean-”
“It’s fine,” Blaine replied quickly. He seemed to be saying that a lot today.
“Blaine, I’m serious. I didn’t mean-”
“Bas, it’s fine,” Blaine cut him off; Sebastian couldn’t read his face well in the dark, but he thought Blaine sounded slightly breathless. “I should, uh. I should probably get home, though.”
“Right.”
Blaine pulled his shoes and coat on quickly. He pocketed his phone as Sebastian slipped on a pair of shoes and grabbed his keys. He nodded toward the door and followed Blaine out. Mercifully the hallway was empty despite the noises that had woken them up, and Sebastian was starting to think they’d make it out unseen when he noticed the lights were on in the senior commons.
Blaine looked over at him with the same Oh shit expression that Sebastian was fairly certain he was wearing. Sebastian shrugged helplessly; the only way to the parking lot that didn’t involve backtracking almost the entire way to Sebastian’s dorm-and therefore running the risk of running into more people-was past the common room and they both knew it.
“Make a break for it?” Blaine asked quietly, eyeing the open door cautiously.
“That’s probably the best option,” Sebastian agreed.
After sharing a look, they put their heads down and started walking quickly. They could make it…
“Blaine?”
Or not.
“Blaine, what are you doing here?”
Sebastian watched in fascination as Blaine squared his shoulders, raised his head, and fixed a pleasantly surprised smile on his lips as he paused in the doorway.
“Hey guys,” Blaine greeted cheerfully, leaning against the doorway.
Sebastian came up behind him and suppressed a flinch at the sight of Nick, Jeff, Thad, Trent, and David sitting on couches, textbooks and pages of notes spread out in front of them. Figured.
“Hey Sebastian,” Nick greeted. There was a look in his eye that Sebastian immediately didn’t trust. He knew something.
“We didn’t know you were visiting, Blaine,” Trent said.
“Yeah,” Jeff agreed. “We had no idea you were… coming.”
Blaine blinked and tensed. Sebastian clenched his jaw as he noticed the smirks on the Warblers’ faces. They all knew something.
“It, uh, wasn’t planned or anything. I ran into Sebastian at Starbucks this afternoon,” Blaine said slowly.
“We decided to watch a movie,” Sebastian added.
Blaine nodded. “No one was around when we got back here.”
David nodded in understanding. “Of course. The weekend before finals is the perfect time for a movie night.”
Blaine opened his mouth but Sebastian had heard enough. “Okay, out with it.”
Nick turned a far-too-innocent look on him. “Out with what?”
“Whatever the hell it is you think you know,” Sebastian clarified, turning his best glare on the group-the one that promised painful retribution when it was least expected. But no one seemed fazed. In fact, their grins just widened. Oh, he was going to kill them.
The guys shared a look before turning back to the pair in the doorway. “We have no idea what you’re talking about, Sebastian.”
Sebastian opened his mouth but Blaine straightened himself. “Well, I should let you guys study. Dalton finals week still haunts my nightmares.”
There were a few grimaces at that as Blaine waved. “See you later.”
There was a chorus of farewells as Blaine turned back down the hallway. Sebastian threw one final glare toward the other Warblers before following Blaine. They finished the walk to the parking lot in silence, pausing at the door since Sebastian didn’t have a coat on.
“I’m sorry about them,” Sebastian said finally, glancing back toward the common room.
But Blaine just shook his head, a small smile playing at his lips. “I think you sometimes forget I knew them before you did. I’m used to their weirdness.”
Sebastian wasn’t entirely sure what to say to that, so they stood in silence for a moment before Blaine nodded.
“Anyway, thanks. For the distraction tonight.” He looked sad as he smiled distantly. Sebastian hated that look-and despised the reason for it.
“Any time.”
Blaine nodded and, with one final look, he pushed the door open, heading into the dark parking lot. Sebastian took a step outside, leaning against the open door as he watched Blaine walk over to his car. There were still a few flurries falling in the hush of the night, sparkling in the street lights. Blaine paused as he was opening his door and looked up. Sebastian’s stomach lurched and goddammit, the things Blaine Anderson did to him. Blaine raised his hand in a final wave before getting into his car.
Sebastian watched as he drove off before walking back into the school. He headed straight for the senior commons; the other boys seemed to be waiting for his arrival.
“So, did you guys sleep well?” Nick asked without looking up from his notes, voice perfectly even.
Sebastian’s eyes widened; he could still feel the press of Blaine’s back against his chest, the loose grip of Blaine’s hand around his arm, the brush of Blaine’s feet tangled up with his own… He felt heat rising in the back of his neck.
“Or at all?” Jeff added, lips twitching.
Sebastian looked around the room, noticing the feigned casualness of his soon-to-be-former friends warring with amusement on their faces. “Were you spying on us?”
“Was there something to spy on?” Thad asked lightly.
Sebastian groaned. “We really were watching a movie and then fell asleep. When I ran into Blaine at Starbucks he’d just gotten off the phone with Kurt and was upset,” he clarified at a few amused smirks.
Stillness settled over the room at that. None of the other Warblers knew why Blaine and Kurt had broken up, but they, like Sebastian, had seen the heartbroken Blaine in the aftermath. Blaine always wore his heart on his sleeve, and seeing their friend hurting like that hadn’t helped endear Kurt to the Warblers, especially when there were still some lingering resentment over the fact that Kurt had stormed into Dalton like a whirlwind, sunk his claws into their lead soloist, and then dragged him away to public school-and their competition.
Yes, Blaine leaving for McKinley still stung the Warblers-it was a wound Sebastian himself had exploited the year before and that Hunter had also tried to make use of. At Dalton, it wasn’t the Yoko Effect, but the Kurt Effect.
“So can we just leave it?” Sebastian finished with a sigh. He cast a final look around the now somber room before heading back to his room.
When he got back to his room, he turned off the television, returned the DVD to its slot in the movie binder, and sat down at his desk. He pulled his textbook and notes toward himself and tried to not to think about how his pillow now smelled like Blaine.
-----
Blaine’s phone vibrated several times during his drive, but it wasn’t until he’d gotten home, said a quick hello to his parents, and flopped down on his bed that he finally checked it.
There was a text from Sam about their history final that he sent back a quick response to, a message from Tina asking if he wanted to get coffee in the morning-he sent back an affirmative-and a picture message from Nick.
Curious, Blaine opened the message only to drop his phone in surprise. He felt his face heating up as he picked his phone back up and looked at the picture again; it was from earlier in the afternoon after he and Sebastian had apparently fallen asleep and tangled themselves together. He tried not to think about how, in the few moments after he’d woken up, he felt warm and safe in those arms or how it was the most restful sleep he’d had since before Kurt had left for New York.
He knew he hadn’t done anything wrong-nothing had happened and, even if it had, he and Kurt weren’t together anyway-but he still couldn’t help but feel like he was betraying Kurt somehow.
He was about to delete the message when he found himself studying Sebastian’s face. Sebastian was a lot like Blaine in that he was the master of masks; he didn’t like to be vulnerable so simply didn’t give anyone the chance to get that close. He was always on the offensive, a sharp retort or innuendo on the tip of his tongue to keep others off-balance and him in control. They’d never talked about it, but Blaine had a feeling he understood better than most. It was a major reason he hadn’t been able to just cut Sebastian out of his life even when it was obvious that would’ve made things easier.
In that picture though, Sebastian, with an arm slung over Blaine’s waist, looked peaceful.
Oh.
His chest squirming traitorously, Blaine saved the message.
-----
The next day, Burt Hummel called, and Blaine forgot about the picture.
fin
Author: purplehrdwonder
Rating: PG-13
Genre/pairing: Past Kurt/Blaine, Blaine/Sebastian (sort of)
Characters: Blaine, Sebastian, Kurt, Nick, Jeff, Thad, Trent, David
Word count: 5,520
Spoilers: 4.10
Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.
Summary: Blaine runs into Sebastian after Kurt cancels their Christmas plans. Set before "Glee Actually."
Author’s Note: This started out as a single scene that popped into my head and, once I sat down to actually write it, turned into something far bigger than anticipated. This part is self-contained but I am planning a follow-up. The title, of course, comes from A Tale of Two Cities.
A Far Better Rest
Blaine was nursing a cup of coffee and reading over his history notes in the Westerville Starbucks when his phone started vibrating on the table in front of him. He started, pulling himself out of the French Revolution to see Kurt’s face looking up at him. He couldn’t help but smile, thankful once again that the line of communication had been reopened since Thanksgiving. They’d begun texting again and calling each other; while the conversations tended to be light and cautious, it was more than they’d had even a few weeks before, so Blaine would take it.
“Hey Kurt,” Blaine answered, leaning back in his chair.
“Hi,” Kurt replied. A hesitant pause, then, “How are you?”
The hesitation stung, as it always did, but Blaine did his best to ignore it. That Kurt was talking to him at all was a gift that he wasn’t going to take for granted. “Good. Just studying for finals next week.”
“Oh, is this a bad time?”
Blaine shook his head, belatedly remembering that Kurt couldn’t see him. “It’s fine. I know it’s lame to be studying on a Saturday afternoon, and it’s pretty much the same material we covered my sophomore year anyway.”
Kurt chuckled. “Yes, the academics at McKinley leave much to be desired, especially compared to Dalton.”
Blaine bit his lip and Kurt sucked in a breath as he seemed to realize what he’d just said; they were on the precipice of one of those topics that they’d been so carefully dancing around until they could have that mature heart-to-heart Kurt had promised.
“So, what are you up to?” Blaine asked, quickly changing the subject. “Getting ready for the holidays?”
“That’s… That’s actually what I was calling about.”
Blaine didn’t like the sound of that. “Okay?”
“I- I just talked to my dad. He and Carole and Finn are going to see Carole’s sister in Zanesville for Christmas.”
Blaine grimaced. “The egg nog-drinking one?”
“The very same,” Kurt agreed, briefly sounding pleased that Blaine remembered, but he quickly sobered. “But since watching my step-aunt black out isn’t high on my list of favorite ways to spend my time, we agreed that it probably wouldn’t be worth the cost of a plane ticket to come home after all.”
Blaine’s heart clenched painfully. “Oh.”
“I know I promised we were going to see each other,” Kurt went on in a rush. “And I really wanted to. But NYADA’s expensive, and if I can save money so I can take out fewer loans, I have to do it.”
Blaine swallowed against the lump forming in his throat, not trusting his voice in that moment. He doesn’t really want to see you. He’s willing to miss Christmas with his family to avoid you, a voice in the back of his mind accused.
Which was ridiculous, the logical part of his brain countered. Kurt wouldn’t give up seeing his father just because things with Blaine were complicated.
Just another one on the long list of broken promises since he went to New York, that first voice added.
The logical part of his brain had no counter for that. Blaine knew full well that he’d made an utterly stupid, self-destructive choice to hook up with another guy in his loneliness and took full responsibility for that, but that didn’t make the missed phone calls and broken Skype dates preceding it hurt any less.
“Blaine, say something. Please.”
Blaine shut his eyes. Maybe he deserved this. He’d cheated and the fact that Kurt was talking to him at all should have been enough of a Christmas miracle. But Blaine couldn’t help but be selfish.
“It’s okay, Kurt,” he said finally, proud of how steady his voice was with his still-fragile heart threatening to burst into a thousand pieces in his chest. He opened his eyes, centering himself the way he’d learned when he’d first started boxing. “I understand.”
“Blaine-”
“Really, Kurt. It’s fine.” He cleared his throat. “I should probably get back to studying.”
“I…” Kurt cut himself off, and Blaine could picture him biting his bottom lip on the other end before he spoke again. “Okay,” he said, sounding almost sad, which took Blaine aback. “Good luck on your finals.”
“Thanks.”
“Talk to you later?”
“Any time, Kurt,” Blaine whispered before hanging up.
He stared at his phone for a long moment, not sure whether he wanted it to ring again or if he wanted to throw it out the window. Deciding a childish impulse wouldn’t be worth the hassle of replacing the phone, he wiped surreptitiously at his eyes and put the phone down on the table. Slumping in his seat, he looked out the window; it had started snowing at some point. There was a light dusting on the ground and flurries were falling gently, glittering in the dim afternoon sunlight peeking through heavy clouds.
“Hey, Killer.”
Blaine blinked at the familiar voice and looked up to see Sebastian standing in front of him. He had a cup of coffee in hand and a curious expression on his face. There were snowflakes melting on the shoulders of his coat and in his hair.
“Sebastian, hi,” Blaine replied, suddenly tired. He wasn’t surprised he’d run into Sebastian here; the Westerville Starbucks was the closest coffee shop to Dalton.
“Can I sit?”
Blaine nodded silently and turned back to the window. The other boy pulled his coat off and slid into the chair across from Blaine. He remained silent, though, and Blaine was thankful for the reprieve.
He and Sebastian had reconnected after Blaine’s almost-transfer back to Dalton a couple of months before. Sebastian seemed determined to prove that he really had turned over a new leaf and Blaine, well, he’d enjoyed the company. Before everything had gone to hell the previous year, Sebastian had been a decent friend. He turned into a giant ass whenever Kurt was around and he seemed to take great pleasure in making Blaine blush with innuendos, but, in general, spending time with him had been easy and fun.
When Blaine had decided at the eleventh hour to stay at McKinley, Sebastian hadn’t commented other than to say, “I told you, it was all Hunter’s idea. Though the cape and tights were a nice touch,” when Blaine brought it up. Blaine had blushed and laughed and the subject had been dropped.
It wasn’t that Blaine didn’t have friends at McKinley-he had Sam had become close since their student council campaign, he and Brittany got along well, and he and Tina had been spending more time together since joining the Cheerios-but it was nice to spend time with someone not from that world. McKinley had been Kurt’s first, and though Blaine was starting to carve out his own niche separate from that of his ex-boyfriend, sometimes he just needed to avoid Lima all together. Sebastian had become that escape, and he seemed to get Blaine in a way his McKinley friends didn’t; it was refreshing.
“You want to tell me what’s got you angsting louder than a Linkin Park song?” Sebastian asked after a while.
Blaine sputtered a startled laugh at the comparison. He glanced over at Sebastian, who was watching him over his coffee cup.
“It’s Hummel, isn’t it?”
Blaine couldn’t mask his flinch, but Sebastian just nodded. “Thought so.”
“Sebastian-”
Sebastian shrugged unapologetically. “You know what I think about him.”
Blaine sighed. “You’ve made your opinion on Kurt perfectly clear, yes.”
“It just seems shitty that he can still put that look on your face when you’re not even together,” Sebastian said, putting his cup down on the table.
“After what I did-” Blaine started before registering what Sebastian had said. “Wait, what look?”
Sebastian was one of the few people Blaine had told the real reason he and Kurt had broken up. Finn already knew, having been in New York that horrific weekend; Sam had been the first he’d been honest with about it; and he’d eventually told Tina as well. He hadn’t intended to tell Sebastian, but they’d run into each other the day after Sectionals, and though New Directions had lost the competition, Blaine hadn’t been able to help the stupid grin on his face from Kurt calling him, so he’d admitted the truth.
“Kurt called me last night. Before we went on stage.”
Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“He still loves me,” Blaine said, practically bouncing in his seat. It was so much more than he ever could have hoped for when he’d gotten out of bed the morning before. And yet, there it was. “And he wants to see me at Christmas.”
A muscle in Sebastian’s jaw twitched but he didn’t reply. Blaine’s good mood immediately dipped. “What? You’re giving me a judging look.”
He shook his head, but Blaine wanted to hear his honest opinion. “Tell me.”
Sebastian sighed and looked away from Blaine. “I don’t like it. He broke your heart and now he’s stringing you along.”
“That’s not-”
Sebastian turned a startlingly earnest look on Blaine then. “Blaine, I saw you after the break up. You were a fucking wreck.”
Blaine shut his eyes at the memory of returning to Dalton and, in his heartache, being swept up in the idea of returning to the place that had once been a sanctuary for him-and of the place that had been his before Kurt had come into his life. He took a few steadying breaths and opened his eyes, fixing his gaze on Sebastian’s face.
“It was the other way around, actually.”
Sebastian frowned. “What?”
“He didn’t break my heart so much as I broke his.” And in the process had also broken his own.
“Blaine, what are you-”
“I cheated on him.” The words still tasted bitter in his mouth and made his chest ache, but he was finally starting to own it. That was the first step in moving on, right?
Sebastian looked dumbstruck. “What?”
Blaine shrugged uncomfortably. “He was in New York and it felt like he was moving on with this glamorous new life. We were barely talking and…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “I made a stupid choice because I was lonely, and it destroyed everything. So yeah, I was a wreck, but not for the reasons you’re thinking.”
“Huh.” Sebastian shook himself. “Most of the guys had money on it being the other way around.”
Blaine’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”
“The Warblers had a betting pool on why you guys had broken up,” Sebastian replied with a shrug. “Most of them assumed he cheated on you.”
Blaine groaned and covered his face in his hands. “Seriously?”
“No.” Startled, Blaine peered through his fingers at Sebastian, who was giving him an uncomfortably knowing look. “But they did wonder. The only reason Hunter thought he could convince you to come back was the rumor that you guys had broken up, you know.”
Blaine covered his face once more. “Am I really that predictable?”
“Apparently not.”
Blaine dropped his hands and looked up. Sebastian was giving him a considering look. “It doesn’t make you a bad person, you know.”
Blaine’s eyes widened. “How did you-”
Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Because I know you. And I know bad people.” His voice turned gentler than Blaine had ever heard it then. “And you, Blaine Anderson, are not a bad person.”
“The one that looks like someone gave you a puppy, let you name it, and then ran over it with a mack truck,” Sebastian replied, raising an eyebrow.
“I don’t look like-” he began protesting before laughing incredulously. “A mack truck, seriously?”
“Whatever,” Sebastian replied dismissively. “The point is that he’s still stomping on your heart from a thousand miles away.”
“Six hundred.”
“Oh, well that makes all the difference.”
Blaine propped his elbows up on the table and dropped his face into his hands. “Bas.”
“So what happened?” Blaine didn’t look up, but he could hear the shift in the other boy’s tone. That was Sebastian, always finding ways to throw Blaine for a loop, like being supportive when Blaine expected sarcasm.
“He’s not coming home for Christmas after all,” Blaine confessed at last.
“Typical.”
“He can’t afford the flight home with NYADA tuition to pay for next semester.”
“And you believe him.”
Blaine did look up at that. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Sebastian fixed him with a pointed look. “Oh, how about because he came for the opening night of your play and left the next day?”
Blaine groaned and looked away again. “Remind me again why I tell you things.”
“Because I say the things you’re thinking but are too afraid to say.”
Blaine made a noncommittal noise, but said nothing. There was probably more truth in that than Blaine would like to admit to. After a few silent moments, Sebastian sighed heavily.
“Okay, enough of this. Come on.”
Blaine frowned at him. “What?”
“You’re coming back to Dalton with me.”
“Seriously? I was studying,” Blaine argued, pointing at the pile of notes in front of him.
Sebastian rolled his eyes. “It’s Saturday, Blaine. No one studies on Saturday.”
“Dalton students do.” Because yes, Blaine had spent many long Saturdays buried under books during his time at Dalton.
“Please,” Sebastian snorted. “Like McKinley’s coursework is that demanding.”
Blaine’s mouth worked but he didn’t have a good response for that. “Are you going to tell me why I’m coming back to Dalton?” he asked instead.
“To watch a movie or paint our nails or talk about boys,” Sebastian deadpanned, pushing himself to his feet. “So, are you coming?”
Blaine only deliberated for a moment, glancing down at his silent phone. “Okay.”
-----
Blaine followed Sebastian in his car on the short drive back to Dalton. Once they parked in the boarders’ lot-Blaine had never bothered to take the parking sticker off his back window and took full advantage of it whenever he came to visit-Blaine grabbed his phone and hurried after Sebastian toward the school. By the time they got inside, Blaine could feel the snow, which had picked up during the drive, melting into his gel. As he shook off the flakes as best he could, Sebastian laughed quietly.
“Like a puppy.”
Blaine fixed him with a mock glare. “No mack trucks.”
Sebastian threw up his hands in surrender and led them to the dorms. “All the guys are pretty much holed up studying for finals,” he said as they passed by shut door after shut door. “The only time I saw Thad this week was during class and he had a streak of highlighter across his forehead.”
It would’ve been funny had Blaine not remembered finals week-and the week leading up to it-at Dalton well; instead, he grimaced in sympathy.
Once they made it to Sebastian’s room, Sebastian unlocked the door and opened it, letting Blaine step inside ahead of him. It wasn’t the first time Blaine had been to Sebastian’s room in the last couple of months, but he still looked around as Sebastian turned on the light and shut the door.
As a senior, Sebastian had a single and it was sparsely decorated; there were a few framed photos of Paris that looked like postcards-Sebastian had ducked his head and admitted to being into photography while he lived in France, so all the photos were his own-and a couple of the Warblers and the Dalton lacrosse team as well as a bulletin board with a few post its and sheet music tacked to it, but other than that, the walls were bare.
Sebastian pulled off his jacket and draped it across the back of his desk chair. Blaine looked over to see an open textbook and a notebook with scrawled notes on the desk. He raised an eyebrow at Sebastian.
“What?”
“You were studying on a Saturday,” Blaine accused.
“I’m also a Dalton student with finals next week,” Sebastian retorted.
“I should let you study,” Blaine said, shaking his head and looking away.
“Blaine.” Blaine turned back to Sebastian, who had his arms crossed. “Pick a movie,” he said, nodding toward the DVD binder sitting next to the TV on his dresser.
“I- Okay.” He pulled his coat off and laid it on top of Sebastian’s before heading over to the dresser and snagging the binder. He began flipping through the pages, raising an eye at some of the movies Sebastian owned.
“Are you judging my movie collection?” Sebastian demanded.
Blaine snorted but didn’t look up as he passed over several Michael Bay flicks. Then there were a few Disney movies and… He looked up in surprise. “You own ‘50s musicals?”
Sebastian shrugged and looked away. Blaine grinned and kept flipping through the selection, finally settling on Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. He pulled the DVD out and handed it over to Sebastian. The other boy looked down at it and grinned.
“I’m not surprised you’re into John Hughes, though,” Blaine said, stepping aside as Sebastian turned on the TV and put the DVD into the player. He sat down on the bed and kicked off his shoes before scooting up against the headboard, where he had the perfect view of the TV.
“I can’t respect anyone without a healthy respect for the classic ‘80s high school film,” Sebastian replied with a half-smirk.
Blaine laughed, pleased, as Sebastian nabbed the remote, flipped off the lights, and dropped down next to him on the bed. Sebastian hesitated a moment.
“I can take the chair instead.”
Blaine appreciated the offer, considering all the baggage between them, but he shook his head. The desk chair wouldn’t be very comfortable and they were past that. “It’s fine.”
“If you’re sure…”
Blaine rolled his eyes. “I’m sure.”
Sebastian nodded and leaned back against the headboard next to Blaine, leaving space between their shoulders. “I’m warning you, Anderson, I will throw something at you if your angsting starts drowning out the movie,” he said as he pressed play.
Blaine snorted and let himself sink comfortably back into the pillows. It was warm in the room, and while he was still feeling hollowed out from the phone call, there was something safe and cocooning about the space and having a friend close by. He barely noticed his eyelids drooping as he sunk further into the soft embrace of the pillows.
-----
The movie was about halfway over when Sebastian realized that Blaine had fallen asleep. He peeked at the other boy; Blaine’s eyes were shut and his eyelashes fanned out across his face. His lips were parted slightly and his breathing was deep and even. He was completely still and, Sebastian noticed, looked startlingly young. Awake, Blaine was a ball of charisma and energy, drawing all eyes in a room to him; he always seemed to take up far more space than his compact size should allow.
But Blaine was a performer. While sometimes overwhelmingly earnest, Blaine still hid behind masks around other people; Sebastian had always assumed it was true to some degree since any good front man had a stage persona. But it wasn’t until they’d started reconnecting that he realized that Blaine was performing more often than just when he was on stage. He was almost always in front of an audience.
It was something they had in common.
The first time he’d seen Blaine drop the act-the day after Sectionals when he’d confessed to cheating on Kurt-Sebastian had been shocked and more than a little humbled by the trust. That Sebastian, of all people, could earn that trust after everything he’d done, well, grateful didn’t even begin to describe his reaction.
So seeing Blaine now, comfortable around and trusting enough of Sebastian to fall asleep around him… It felt like Blaine had handed him something fragile and precious and trusted him not to shatter it. That was more trust than he knew what to do with, but he was doing to do his damndest not to break it this time.
Sebastian never thought he’d be that person, but there was just something about Blaine Anderson…
With a soft smile-one that he’d never confess to wearing, even under pain of death-he slumped back against the headboard as the movie continued playing.
-----
“Sebastian, you coming to dinner?” Nick called as they approached their friend’s door.
Jeff knocked on the door. “It’s meatloaf tonight! We all know you have a secret thing for meatloaf.”
“Not that secret,” Thad amended.
The three exchanged looks when there was no response. Though, as they leaned against the door, they could hear vague musical sounds coming from the other side. He was definitely in there.
Nick knocked again. “Sebastian! No point in ignoring us, man.”
When there was still no response, Jeff reached for the doorknob. The door opened and the three blinked at the sight that greeted them: The room was dark except for the light coming from the television, which seemed to be stuck on a DVD menu with some dingy music looping every thirty seconds. And on the bed were two figures, fast asleep on top of the sheets.
“Holy shit,” Jeff whispered, jaw dropping.
Sebastian was spooned up behind Blaine, an arm thrown over Blaine’s waist and their socked feet tangled up together. Sebastian’s other arm was draped across the pillows beneath the curve of Blaine’s neck. One of Blaine’s hands was holding onto the arm across his waist while the other was curled into his chest.
Thad’s mouth worked several times before he could find the words. “When did that happen?”
Nick whipped out his phone and snapped a couple of pictures before pocketing it and turning back to Jeff and Thad. “So, dinner?”
Jeff looked between the darkened room and Nick. “Seriously? Right now?”
With a smirk, Nick shut the door quietly and threw a conspiratorial arm around Jeff’s and Thad’s shoulders. “We don’t want to be late meeting the other Warblers for dinner.”
-----
Sebastian ran down the lacrosse field, an arm raised in victory after scoring the winning goal for Dalton. He was looking into the bleachers when he spotted him; he was dressed in bright red and stood out amongst all the Dalton students in navy. His honey-colored eyes were bright with happiness and pride, and something squirmed in Sebastian’s chest at the look.
He couldn’t remember anyone ever looking at him like that before.
With an eager grin, Sebastian continued running toward him, but the ground caved open beneath his feet. He gasped and his stomach lurched into his throat. The last thing he saw as he started falling was Blaine looking down at him, his expression transformed into one of pity as Kurt came up behind him and wrapped a possessive arm around his waist with a victorious smile. Blaine turned his head into the crook of Kurt’s shoulder as Kurt mouthed “Mine” and pulled Blaine closer.
Sebastian jerked awake at a loud thud from the next room and raised voices in the hallway. Half-conscious, he was about to yell something nasty about waking people when they were sleeping (and maybe somebody’s mother) when he became aware of another body pressed against his chest beginning to stir. Inches from his face was a mess of dark curls and a lingering scent of raspberries…
“What the hell?” Blaine muttered sleepily.
Holy shit.
There was another bang and Blaine stiffened. And that was when Sebastian realized they were tangled up together. His eyes widened in alarm and he made to roll away; Blaine apparently the same idea at the same time because Sebastian heard him gasp and felt him push away. They untangled themselves with more force than finesse, so by the time they were standing on opposite sides of the bed breathing hard and staring at each other warily, Sebastian was fairly certain he was going to have at least a couple of bruises in the morning.
“Sebastian-”
“Blaine-”
They both laughed as they spoke at the same time, and that seemed to break the tension hanging over the room.
“I guess we fell asleep,” Blaine said nodding toward the TV, which displayed the looping DVD menu.
“Shit. I’m sorry,” Sebastian apologized, his pounding heart starting to calm down. “I didn’t mean-”
“It’s fine,” Blaine replied quickly. He seemed to be saying that a lot today.
“Blaine, I’m serious. I didn’t mean-”
“Bas, it’s fine,” Blaine cut him off; Sebastian couldn’t read his face well in the dark, but he thought Blaine sounded slightly breathless. “I should, uh. I should probably get home, though.”
“Right.”
Blaine pulled his shoes and coat on quickly. He pocketed his phone as Sebastian slipped on a pair of shoes and grabbed his keys. He nodded toward the door and followed Blaine out. Mercifully the hallway was empty despite the noises that had woken them up, and Sebastian was starting to think they’d make it out unseen when he noticed the lights were on in the senior commons.
Blaine looked over at him with the same Oh shit expression that Sebastian was fairly certain he was wearing. Sebastian shrugged helplessly; the only way to the parking lot that didn’t involve backtracking almost the entire way to Sebastian’s dorm-and therefore running the risk of running into more people-was past the common room and they both knew it.
“Make a break for it?” Blaine asked quietly, eyeing the open door cautiously.
“That’s probably the best option,” Sebastian agreed.
After sharing a look, they put their heads down and started walking quickly. They could make it…
“Blaine?”
Or not.
“Blaine, what are you doing here?”
Sebastian watched in fascination as Blaine squared his shoulders, raised his head, and fixed a pleasantly surprised smile on his lips as he paused in the doorway.
“Hey guys,” Blaine greeted cheerfully, leaning against the doorway.
Sebastian came up behind him and suppressed a flinch at the sight of Nick, Jeff, Thad, Trent, and David sitting on couches, textbooks and pages of notes spread out in front of them. Figured.
“Hey Sebastian,” Nick greeted. There was a look in his eye that Sebastian immediately didn’t trust. He knew something.
“We didn’t know you were visiting, Blaine,” Trent said.
“Yeah,” Jeff agreed. “We had no idea you were… coming.”
Blaine blinked and tensed. Sebastian clenched his jaw as he noticed the smirks on the Warblers’ faces. They all knew something.
“It, uh, wasn’t planned or anything. I ran into Sebastian at Starbucks this afternoon,” Blaine said slowly.
“We decided to watch a movie,” Sebastian added.
Blaine nodded. “No one was around when we got back here.”
David nodded in understanding. “Of course. The weekend before finals is the perfect time for a movie night.”
Blaine opened his mouth but Sebastian had heard enough. “Okay, out with it.”
Nick turned a far-too-innocent look on him. “Out with what?”
“Whatever the hell it is you think you know,” Sebastian clarified, turning his best glare on the group-the one that promised painful retribution when it was least expected. But no one seemed fazed. In fact, their grins just widened. Oh, he was going to kill them.
The guys shared a look before turning back to the pair in the doorway. “We have no idea what you’re talking about, Sebastian.”
Sebastian opened his mouth but Blaine straightened himself. “Well, I should let you guys study. Dalton finals week still haunts my nightmares.”
There were a few grimaces at that as Blaine waved. “See you later.”
There was a chorus of farewells as Blaine turned back down the hallway. Sebastian threw one final glare toward the other Warblers before following Blaine. They finished the walk to the parking lot in silence, pausing at the door since Sebastian didn’t have a coat on.
“I’m sorry about them,” Sebastian said finally, glancing back toward the common room.
But Blaine just shook his head, a small smile playing at his lips. “I think you sometimes forget I knew them before you did. I’m used to their weirdness.”
Sebastian wasn’t entirely sure what to say to that, so they stood in silence for a moment before Blaine nodded.
“Anyway, thanks. For the distraction tonight.” He looked sad as he smiled distantly. Sebastian hated that look-and despised the reason for it.
“Any time.”
Blaine nodded and, with one final look, he pushed the door open, heading into the dark parking lot. Sebastian took a step outside, leaning against the open door as he watched Blaine walk over to his car. There were still a few flurries falling in the hush of the night, sparkling in the street lights. Blaine paused as he was opening his door and looked up. Sebastian’s stomach lurched and goddammit, the things Blaine Anderson did to him. Blaine raised his hand in a final wave before getting into his car.
Sebastian watched as he drove off before walking back into the school. He headed straight for the senior commons; the other boys seemed to be waiting for his arrival.
“So, did you guys sleep well?” Nick asked without looking up from his notes, voice perfectly even.
Sebastian’s eyes widened; he could still feel the press of Blaine’s back against his chest, the loose grip of Blaine’s hand around his arm, the brush of Blaine’s feet tangled up with his own… He felt heat rising in the back of his neck.
“Or at all?” Jeff added, lips twitching.
Sebastian looked around the room, noticing the feigned casualness of his soon-to-be-former friends warring with amusement on their faces. “Were you spying on us?”
“Was there something to spy on?” Thad asked lightly.
Sebastian groaned. “We really were watching a movie and then fell asleep. When I ran into Blaine at Starbucks he’d just gotten off the phone with Kurt and was upset,” he clarified at a few amused smirks.
Stillness settled over the room at that. None of the other Warblers knew why Blaine and Kurt had broken up, but they, like Sebastian, had seen the heartbroken Blaine in the aftermath. Blaine always wore his heart on his sleeve, and seeing their friend hurting like that hadn’t helped endear Kurt to the Warblers, especially when there were still some lingering resentment over the fact that Kurt had stormed into Dalton like a whirlwind, sunk his claws into their lead soloist, and then dragged him away to public school-and their competition.
Yes, Blaine leaving for McKinley still stung the Warblers-it was a wound Sebastian himself had exploited the year before and that Hunter had also tried to make use of. At Dalton, it wasn’t the Yoko Effect, but the Kurt Effect.
“So can we just leave it?” Sebastian finished with a sigh. He cast a final look around the now somber room before heading back to his room.
When he got back to his room, he turned off the television, returned the DVD to its slot in the movie binder, and sat down at his desk. He pulled his textbook and notes toward himself and tried to not to think about how his pillow now smelled like Blaine.
-----
Blaine’s phone vibrated several times during his drive, but it wasn’t until he’d gotten home, said a quick hello to his parents, and flopped down on his bed that he finally checked it.
There was a text from Sam about their history final that he sent back a quick response to, a message from Tina asking if he wanted to get coffee in the morning-he sent back an affirmative-and a picture message from Nick.
Curious, Blaine opened the message only to drop his phone in surprise. He felt his face heating up as he picked his phone back up and looked at the picture again; it was from earlier in the afternoon after he and Sebastian had apparently fallen asleep and tangled themselves together. He tried not to think about how, in the few moments after he’d woken up, he felt warm and safe in those arms or how it was the most restful sleep he’d had since before Kurt had left for New York.
He knew he hadn’t done anything wrong-nothing had happened and, even if it had, he and Kurt weren’t together anyway-but he still couldn’t help but feel like he was betraying Kurt somehow.
He was about to delete the message when he found himself studying Sebastian’s face. Sebastian was a lot like Blaine in that he was the master of masks; he didn’t like to be vulnerable so simply didn’t give anyone the chance to get that close. He was always on the offensive, a sharp retort or innuendo on the tip of his tongue to keep others off-balance and him in control. They’d never talked about it, but Blaine had a feeling he understood better than most. It was a major reason he hadn’t been able to just cut Sebastian out of his life even when it was obvious that would’ve made things easier.
In that picture though, Sebastian, with an arm slung over Blaine’s waist, looked peaceful.
Oh.
His chest squirming traitorously, Blaine saved the message.
-----
The next day, Burt Hummel called, and Blaine forgot about the picture.
fin