Fic: Role Model Material [Glee]
Title: Role Model Material
Author: purplehrdwonder
Rating: PG
Genre/pairing: Sebastian/Blaine
Characters: Sebastian Smythe, Blaine Anderson, Trent, Trent's brother
Word count: 3,075
Spoilers: Through 4x22
Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.
Summary: Sebastian encourages Blaine to mentor a friend's struggling younger brother. A Not Words 'verse missing scene.
Author’s Note: Here is the first Not Words ‘verse prompt fill! It was written for an anonymous prompt:
“In either Sebastian or Blaine's neighborhood, one of them notice a lonely figure of a teen or pre-teen boy or girl. They befriend the teen/child, who can be gay or straight, or belong to a racial minority living in white neighborhood, or a teen who moved from a different country to U.S. This teen/child feels lonely and alienated, may feel misunderstood by school-mates and/or parents, and needs a big brother kind of person to help how he/she feels about his/her life and his/herself.”
It takes place the weekend before “Feels Like Grace."
Role Model Material
“So,” Sebastian started as Blaine took a long sip of coffee, drawing out the o until Blaine raised an eyebrow at him from across their table at the Lima Bean. “Someone had an admirer last night.”
The graduated Warblers had gotten together the night before for some video games, movies, cheap beer, and drunken karaoke-not necessarily in that order-at Trent’s. Some of the guys were just finishing up their Spring Breaks while others, like Blaine and Sebastian, had just gotten into town. Sebastian’s father’s wedding was the upcoming weekend, and Sebastian seemed determined to avoid as many preparations as possible so had practically jumped at the last minute Warbler reunion.
“Besides you?”
Sebastian’s lips twitched. “And your Dalton fan club.” Blaine rolled his eyes, but Sebastian just leaned forward. “The kid,” he clarified.
Blaine frowned. “Who, Brandon?” Trent had caught his kid brother spying on the Warbler get-together more than once and had kicked him out each time, though it hadn’t lasted.
“He was totally checking you out, Killer.” Sebastian leaned back in his chair. “They’re starting younger and younger,” he added, almost wistfully.
Blaine choked on his coffee while Sebastian smirked. Blaine’s eyes watered, and once he could breathe again, he glared at Sebastian. “You’re incorrigible.”
“True,” Sebastian agreed. “But I’m also right.”
Blaine opened his mouth to argue, but shut it again as he considered the night before.
Blaine rang the doorbell at Tent’s, rolling his eyes a little as Sebastian’s hands found their way into his back pockets. Just as the door opened, Sebastian squeezed his ass, and Blaine let out an undignified yelp.
“Any excuse to cop a feel, Anderson,” Sebastian chuckled into his ear, the warmth of his breath ghosting over Blaine’s skin.
Blaine was about to smack Sebastian on the arm when he realized Trent’s younger brother had answered the door.
“Hi Brandon,” Blaine greeted, sparing a glare for Sebastian-clearly not as intimidating as he’d hoped if Sebastian’s smirk was any judge-before smiling at the preteen.
For a moment, Brandon just stared between Blaine and Sebastian before blushing and stepping aside. “They’re in the basement,” he said quietly, ducking his head as he shut the door behind Blaine and Sebastian.
And then there’d been the way that Blaine had looked up from his spot on the floor between Sebastian’s legs more than once to see Brandon watching from the middle of the stairs as Sebastian’s hand casually stroked Blaine’s thigh or his lips pressed to Blaine’s neck. When Brandon had noticed Blaine looking back, he’d try to hurry away, only for Trent to notice and kick him out.
But he kept coming back.
Blaine had just assumed that Brandon was a younger brother wanting to know what his older brother and friends were up to-as a kid, Blaine had always wanted to know what Cooper was up to with his friends because his older brother was the coolest (thankfully he’d outgrown that delusion)-but maybe…
Blaine shook his head. “I don’t know, Sebastian.”
“Please,” Sebastian retorted with a hand wave. “I can tell when someone is checking someone out, and the kid totally had eyes for you. If he weren’t like seven, I might be jealous.”
“Twelve,” Blaine corrected automatically. He’d known Brandon almost as long as Trent; he and Trent had become good friends after joining the Warblers together, and Blaine had spent a fair amount of time at his place while he acclimated to Dalton.
Brandon had always wanted to get involved with whatever Blaine and Trent were doing-and since it was usually just studying or something Warbler-related, Blaine usually convinced Trent to let him stay-but in the last year or so, Brandon had seemed to flee whenever Blaine visited, though Blaine might catch him spying from around a corner or cracked door with a strange look on his face.
Huh.
“I don’t think that’s it.”
“Blaine-”
Blaine shook his head. Now that he thought about it… “I don’t think he was looking at me. I think he was looking at us.”
Sebastian shut his mouth thoughtfully. “A voyeur at twelve. I’m impressed.”
“Bas,” Blaine hissed when an elderly couple at the next table shot them reproving looks.
Sebastian inclined his head at the couple before turning back to Blaine. “Fine.”
Blaine looked down at his cup and considered his words carefully. He knew that despite Sebastian’s jokes, he was actually listening. “I think that maybe he was watching us because we’re a couple and the other guys don’t care.”
“You think-” Sebastian started, tone more subdued.
“That maybe he’s not out,” Blaine finished with a nod. He glanced back up at Sebastian, whose expression was surprisingly thoughtful.
“So maybe you should talk to him.”
“What, me?”
“Who better than America’s gay sweetheart?” Sebastian teased, nudging Blaine with his shoe.
Blaine dropped his face into his hands. “Why do I tell you things again?”
Sebastian laughed. “But you’re so wholesome, Blaine.”
“A guy has one gas-induced hallucination,” Blaine muttered into his hands.
“Or two. Or three.”
Blaine groaned. “Shut up.”
“Seriously though, Blaine. You’re definite role model material. Mentor gold.” Blaine peeked through his fingers to see Sebastian studying him. “It wasn’t me the kid was looking at. Plus,” he added, giving a decidedly affected shrug, “I don’t do kids. You, on the other hand…”
“I don’t know,” Blaine said, pulling his face from his hands. Sebastian was right, he did love kids. But… “The last time I tried to be someone’s mentor, it kind of backfired.”
“Well,” Sebastian said, raising his coffee cup to his lips, “as long as you don’t try to date this one, I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
Blaine kicked Sebastian’s shin under the table and he jolted in his seat.
“Ouch.” Sebastian put his cup down and pulled out his phone. “Just for that…”
Blaine’s eyes widened. “What are you doing?”
“To Trent,” Sebastian recited as he typed out a text. “Your little brother has a crush on my boyfriend. Inform him that I am possessive and will kick his ass. Send.”
“Sebastian!” Blaine lunged for the phone.
Sebastian laughed and held it out of reach until Blaine flopped back in his chair, defeated. Then he held up the phone so Blaine could see the message.
To: Trent
Need any help cleaning up? Blaine and I are around.
“Unbelievable,” Blaine muttered, covering his face with a hand.
Sebastian’s phone buzzed. “I had no idea ‘please’ had so many Zs,” he said distastefully as he typed out a quick response and pocketed the phone. Blaine pulled his hand from his eyes when he heard Sebastian’s chair scrape across the floor and looked up to see Sebastian staring down at him. “Come on, Killer. Lives to change or whatever.”
-----
“All you have to do is tell Trent you’re using the bathroom and then go find little brother and have one of those after school special moments you’re so fond of,” Sebastian said as he parked the car in front of Trent’s house. The other Warblers had long-since left, so Trent’s car was the only one in the driveway.
Blaine frowned at Sebastian, voicing the question he’d been wondering since they left the Lima Bean. “Why do you care so much about this anyway?”
Sebastian shrugged. “You know I never turn down an opportunity to interfere in the affairs of others.”
But that was an obvious deflection. Blaine shook his head as he studied Sebastian’s face. There was a slight clench to his jaw that would have told Blaine he was lying if Blaine hadn’t already known. “No, that’s not it. Something else is going on with you.”
“Does it really matter?” Sebastian demanded exasperatedly.
Blaine crossed his arms and sat back in his seat. “If you don’t trust me enough to tell me why you’re so invested in this, why should I go ahead with it?”
For a long moment, Sebastian stared at Blaine, unmoving. Then he seemed to deflate; he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t have anyone to turn to,” he said quietly.
Blaine shifted toward Sebastian. “Tell me,” he said gently, reaching for the other boy’s hand.
Sebastian was silent as Blaine’s thumb stroked the back of his hand. He looked down at their hands and shook his head, a wry smile pulling at his lips. “Only you.” Then he shook his head and started speaking.
“I knew I was gay pretty young, but telling my parents was another story. They were always fighting. The divorce was messy, and I bounced between them and my grandmother for years. I didn’t tell my grandmother until I was twelve and my parents not until a couple of years later.”
“But you’d known longer.”
Sebastian nodded as he stared at their hands as though hypnotized. “I was an only child and never had many friends because I kept getting shipped between adults for months at a time.”
And Blaine got it. Sebastian had never had someone he felt he could confide in, like an older sibling or mentor. It must’ve been confusing for him, trying to figure out who he was without that confidante he could trust. Sebastian also knew that Blaine and Cooper weren’t close because of their age gap and that Cooper had fled to LA as soon as he could afford to, leaving his kid brother in the dust.
And now, he saw a kid who might go through something similar, afraid of who he is and with a potentially fragile support system since his older brother was away at school most of the year. And je wanted to help.
“I love you,” Blaine said with a wide smile, leaning over to kiss a startled Sebastian on the lips. Sebastian stared at him in surprise as Blaine pulled back, but Blaine’s grin just widened. “Thank you for telling me,” he said before getting out of the car. Sebastian followed suit, looking a bit bemused at Blaine’s reaction, but Blaine couldn’t help the stupid grin on his face.
There were just moments, when Sebastian would do or say something entirely unexpected or incredibly touching, that made Blaine fall in love with Sebastian all over again-giving him that giddy, weak-in-the-knees and butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling-and this was one of them.
Blaine was still grinning as he looped his arm through Sebastian’s and walked up the path to Trent’s door. He glanced up to see a young face peering through the curtains of one window. Blaine waved with his free hand, but Brandon immediately disappeared. Blaine and Sebastian shared a look before heading up the steps. They were about to ring the bell when the door flew open and a disheveled Trent stood on the other side.
“You have no idea how happy I am to see you two. I love the Warblers, but the mess,” he said with a dramatic shudder.
Blaine stifled a laugh as he and Sebastian stepped inside. “Well, we’re at least partially responsible, so the least we can do is help.”
“I believe that from you, Blaine, but not him,” Trent said, nodding at Sebastian as they shed their coats.
“I’m wounded, Trent,” Sebastian said, touching his heart. “I always wash the sheets when I’m done.”
Trent’s eyes bulged but Blaine smacked Sebastian in the arm. “He’s kidding.”
Sebastian laughed, rubbing his arm lightly. “Or am I?”
“He is,” Blaine assured a pink-faced Trent.
“Lead on,” Sebastian gestured as though he hadn’t been interrupted. He glanced back at Blaine with a pointed look.
“You guys go ahead. I’m just going to use the bathroom and then I’ll meet you.”
Trent waved absently before leading Sebastian back to the basement with single-minded determination. Sebastian shot Blaine an amused look before following.
Once Sebastian and Trent were out of sight, Blaine made his way up to the second level. Once he ascended the stairs and took a few steps down the hallway, he paused when she saw one door cracked open and an eye peering through. With a smile, Blaine started walking again and the door shut. Blaine paused again outside the door then knocked.
“Hey Brandon, it’s Blaine. Trent’s friend,” he called.
“I know who you are, Blaine!” came the indignant response.
Blaine laughed to himself. “Then can you let me in?”
“Why?”
“I just wanted to talk.”
Silence. Then, “Why?” That sounded a bit closer.
Blaine pursed his lips a moment and considered. “Can you keep a secret?” he asked in a loud whisper.
“What?” came the equally hushed response from just the other side of the door.
“My boyfriend’s kind of driving me nuts.”
The door cracked open and Brandon’s head appeared. “So that guy is your boyfriend.”
Blaine smiled. “Yes, he is.”
“What happened to the last one?”
Blaine’s smile faltered for a moment. Brandon had only met Kurt a couple of times since Kurt was never particularly interested in Warbler get-togethers, especially after he’d transferred back to McKinley. But he’d still come along with Blaine a few times to study or watch a movie at Trent’s.
“We broke up,” Blaine replied, forcing his smile back.
Brandon considered that a moment. “Oh. I’m sorry.” He looked at Blaine curiously. “You don’t seem sad though.”
Blaine shrugged, doing his best to seem casual. “We broke up a while ago. Sebastian and I have been dating for almost a year.”
“That’s good.”
Blaine raised an eyebrow. “Is it?”
Brandon nodded and stepped aside so Blaine could enter his room. Blaine nodded his thanks and sat down on Brandon’s desk chair while Brandon sat on the edge of his bed.
“He looks at you like…” Brandon considered his words carefully. “Like my dad looks at my mom when he doesn’t think anyone’s looking.”
“Yeah?” Blaine asked, pleased.
Brandon nodded then looked down at his knees.
“What’s wrong?” Brandon shook his head. “Hey,” Blaine said, moving to kneel in front of the kid, “you can tell me. I won’t tell your brother.”
Brandon looked up, clearly suspicious. “You won’t?”
Blaine shook his head. “I’ve got a big brother too, so I know what it’s like, not wanting him to know stuff.”
Brandon searched his face a long moment before nodding. “I saw you guys at the party last night.”
“I know.”
But Brandon shook his head. “I saw you and your boyfriend last night. And he like kissed you and stuff. And no one cared.”
“They’re our friends,” Blaine said. He had an inkling of where this was going, but he didn’t want to push and turn out to be wrong. “They know we’re dating.”
“I wish my friends didn’t care.” The words were so quiet that Blaine had to strain to hear.
“Are you dating someone, Brandon?”
A nod.
“Does anyone know?”
A shake.
“Do you want them to know?”
A nod.
“Why can’t you tell anyone?”
“Because.”
“Because why?” Blaine prompted gently, still kneeling in front of the boy.
“He said we can’t tell anyone,” Brandon whispered.
“Who did?”
“My boyfriend,” Brandon said, looking up at Blaine. “He said we can’t tell anyone because we’re…”
“Gay?” Blaine offered when Brandon trailed off.
Brandon nodded miserably. “I think so. I mean, I really like him. And I saw you and your boyfriend at the party last night, and I wanted that so much. But he doesn’t want anyone to know.”
Blaine shifted to sit next to Brandon on the bed. “I understand.”
“You do?” Brandon asked, looking up at Blaine. “Can you explain it to me? Because I don’t.”
Blaine considered his next words carefully. He didn’t want to scare the kid, but he didn’t want to lie to him either. “I think he’s probably scared. And maybe you have to be patient with him.”
“Scared of what? He’s got me.”
Blaine smiled sadly. “Sometimes that’s not enough. When I was only a couple of years older than you, I went with another boy to a dance. We had a lot of fun, but some of the other kids didn’t like that we went together. So they beat us up.”
Brandon looked at Blaine with wide eyes. Blaine quickly added, “I’m okay now and so is he.” Or so Blaine assumed anyway. Outside of some occasional Facebook stalking, they hadn’t been in touch in years. “But it’s not always easy. So if you really like him-”
“I do,” Brandon assured him.
Blaine smiled. “Good. Then I think the best thing you can do for him is support him.”
“I can do that.”
Blaine nudged Brandon with his elbow. “I never doubted it.”
Brandon chewed on his lip a long moment before asking quietly, “I want to tell my parents. But I don’t know how.”
Oh.
“I think,” Blaine said slowly, remembering sitting his parents down in the living room to tell them, “you need to do what feels right.”
Brandon made a face. “What does that even mean?”
Blaine let out a startled laugh. “You know, I have no idea.”
“You’re useless,” Brandon informed him then pushed up off the bed and turned to face Blaine.“Well then, my apologies,” Blaine replied with a bow. Brandon rolled his eyes and Blaine’s smile widened. “Have you considered telling your brother first?”
“Telling me what?”
Blaine and Brandon both started and turned to see Trent and Sebastian in the doorway. Trent was looking curiously between his brother and Blaine.
“Nothing,” Brandon said hurriedly.
“Uh huh,” Trent retorted dubiously before turning to Blaine. “You know you don’t have to humor my brother if he’s bothering you.”
“Hey!”
“He’s not,” Blaine assured Trent. “Besides, who am I to deny you and Sebastian the alone time you both so obviously want?”
Trent scowled. “He’s a terrible influence on you,” he said, nodding toward Sebastian.
Sebastian smirked; that look could only mean that he’d been up to no good while Blaine was talking with Brandon.
“Anyway,” Trent went on, rolling his eyes, “we’re done cleaning if you want to watch a movie or something.”
“Sure,” Blaine agreed as he pushed himself up off the bed.
-----
If Blaine noticed Brandon shooting glances at the way he and Sebastian curled up together on the couch to watch Frozen while Trent occasionally threw popcorn at them for making him feeling bad for being single, he just winked at him in response.
-----
And when Blaine got a call a couple of weeks later, the caller ID reading Brandon, he didn’t hesitate to pick up.
fin
Author: purplehrdwonder
Rating: PG
Genre/pairing: Sebastian/Blaine
Characters: Sebastian Smythe, Blaine Anderson, Trent, Trent's brother
Word count: 3,075
Spoilers: Through 4x22
Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.
Summary: Sebastian encourages Blaine to mentor a friend's struggling younger brother. A Not Words 'verse missing scene.
Author’s Note: Here is the first Not Words ‘verse prompt fill! It was written for an anonymous prompt:
“In either Sebastian or Blaine's neighborhood, one of them notice a lonely figure of a teen or pre-teen boy or girl. They befriend the teen/child, who can be gay or straight, or belong to a racial minority living in white neighborhood, or a teen who moved from a different country to U.S. This teen/child feels lonely and alienated, may feel misunderstood by school-mates and/or parents, and needs a big brother kind of person to help how he/she feels about his/her life and his/herself.”
It takes place the weekend before “Feels Like Grace."
Role Model Material
“So,” Sebastian started as Blaine took a long sip of coffee, drawing out the o until Blaine raised an eyebrow at him from across their table at the Lima Bean. “Someone had an admirer last night.”
The graduated Warblers had gotten together the night before for some video games, movies, cheap beer, and drunken karaoke-not necessarily in that order-at Trent’s. Some of the guys were just finishing up their Spring Breaks while others, like Blaine and Sebastian, had just gotten into town. Sebastian’s father’s wedding was the upcoming weekend, and Sebastian seemed determined to avoid as many preparations as possible so had practically jumped at the last minute Warbler reunion.
“Besides you?”
Sebastian’s lips twitched. “And your Dalton fan club.” Blaine rolled his eyes, but Sebastian just leaned forward. “The kid,” he clarified.
Blaine frowned. “Who, Brandon?” Trent had caught his kid brother spying on the Warbler get-together more than once and had kicked him out each time, though it hadn’t lasted.
“He was totally checking you out, Killer.” Sebastian leaned back in his chair. “They’re starting younger and younger,” he added, almost wistfully.
Blaine choked on his coffee while Sebastian smirked. Blaine’s eyes watered, and once he could breathe again, he glared at Sebastian. “You’re incorrigible.”
“True,” Sebastian agreed. “But I’m also right.”
Blaine opened his mouth to argue, but shut it again as he considered the night before.
Blaine rang the doorbell at Tent’s, rolling his eyes a little as Sebastian’s hands found their way into his back pockets. Just as the door opened, Sebastian squeezed his ass, and Blaine let out an undignified yelp.
“Any excuse to cop a feel, Anderson,” Sebastian chuckled into his ear, the warmth of his breath ghosting over Blaine’s skin.
Blaine was about to smack Sebastian on the arm when he realized Trent’s younger brother had answered the door.
“Hi Brandon,” Blaine greeted, sparing a glare for Sebastian-clearly not as intimidating as he’d hoped if Sebastian’s smirk was any judge-before smiling at the preteen.
For a moment, Brandon just stared between Blaine and Sebastian before blushing and stepping aside. “They’re in the basement,” he said quietly, ducking his head as he shut the door behind Blaine and Sebastian.
And then there’d been the way that Blaine had looked up from his spot on the floor between Sebastian’s legs more than once to see Brandon watching from the middle of the stairs as Sebastian’s hand casually stroked Blaine’s thigh or his lips pressed to Blaine’s neck. When Brandon had noticed Blaine looking back, he’d try to hurry away, only for Trent to notice and kick him out.
But he kept coming back.
Blaine had just assumed that Brandon was a younger brother wanting to know what his older brother and friends were up to-as a kid, Blaine had always wanted to know what Cooper was up to with his friends because his older brother was the coolest (thankfully he’d outgrown that delusion)-but maybe…
Blaine shook his head. “I don’t know, Sebastian.”
“Please,” Sebastian retorted with a hand wave. “I can tell when someone is checking someone out, and the kid totally had eyes for you. If he weren’t like seven, I might be jealous.”
“Twelve,” Blaine corrected automatically. He’d known Brandon almost as long as Trent; he and Trent had become good friends after joining the Warblers together, and Blaine had spent a fair amount of time at his place while he acclimated to Dalton.
Brandon had always wanted to get involved with whatever Blaine and Trent were doing-and since it was usually just studying or something Warbler-related, Blaine usually convinced Trent to let him stay-but in the last year or so, Brandon had seemed to flee whenever Blaine visited, though Blaine might catch him spying from around a corner or cracked door with a strange look on his face.
Huh.
“I don’t think that’s it.”
“Blaine-”
Blaine shook his head. Now that he thought about it… “I don’t think he was looking at me. I think he was looking at us.”
Sebastian shut his mouth thoughtfully. “A voyeur at twelve. I’m impressed.”
“Bas,” Blaine hissed when an elderly couple at the next table shot them reproving looks.
Sebastian inclined his head at the couple before turning back to Blaine. “Fine.”
Blaine looked down at his cup and considered his words carefully. He knew that despite Sebastian’s jokes, he was actually listening. “I think that maybe he was watching us because we’re a couple and the other guys don’t care.”
“You think-” Sebastian started, tone more subdued.
“That maybe he’s not out,” Blaine finished with a nod. He glanced back up at Sebastian, whose expression was surprisingly thoughtful.
“So maybe you should talk to him.”
“What, me?”
“Who better than America’s gay sweetheart?” Sebastian teased, nudging Blaine with his shoe.
Blaine dropped his face into his hands. “Why do I tell you things again?”
Sebastian laughed. “But you’re so wholesome, Blaine.”
“A guy has one gas-induced hallucination,” Blaine muttered into his hands.
“Or two. Or three.”
Blaine groaned. “Shut up.”
“Seriously though, Blaine. You’re definite role model material. Mentor gold.” Blaine peeked through his fingers to see Sebastian studying him. “It wasn’t me the kid was looking at. Plus,” he added, giving a decidedly affected shrug, “I don’t do kids. You, on the other hand…”
“I don’t know,” Blaine said, pulling his face from his hands. Sebastian was right, he did love kids. But… “The last time I tried to be someone’s mentor, it kind of backfired.”
“Well,” Sebastian said, raising his coffee cup to his lips, “as long as you don’t try to date this one, I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
Blaine kicked Sebastian’s shin under the table and he jolted in his seat.
“Ouch.” Sebastian put his cup down and pulled out his phone. “Just for that…”
Blaine’s eyes widened. “What are you doing?”
“To Trent,” Sebastian recited as he typed out a text. “Your little brother has a crush on my boyfriend. Inform him that I am possessive and will kick his ass. Send.”
“Sebastian!” Blaine lunged for the phone.
Sebastian laughed and held it out of reach until Blaine flopped back in his chair, defeated. Then he held up the phone so Blaine could see the message.
To: Trent
Need any help cleaning up? Blaine and I are around.
“Unbelievable,” Blaine muttered, covering his face with a hand.
Sebastian’s phone buzzed. “I had no idea ‘please’ had so many Zs,” he said distastefully as he typed out a quick response and pocketed the phone. Blaine pulled his hand from his eyes when he heard Sebastian’s chair scrape across the floor and looked up to see Sebastian staring down at him. “Come on, Killer. Lives to change or whatever.”
-----
“All you have to do is tell Trent you’re using the bathroom and then go find little brother and have one of those after school special moments you’re so fond of,” Sebastian said as he parked the car in front of Trent’s house. The other Warblers had long-since left, so Trent’s car was the only one in the driveway.
Blaine frowned at Sebastian, voicing the question he’d been wondering since they left the Lima Bean. “Why do you care so much about this anyway?”
Sebastian shrugged. “You know I never turn down an opportunity to interfere in the affairs of others.”
But that was an obvious deflection. Blaine shook his head as he studied Sebastian’s face. There was a slight clench to his jaw that would have told Blaine he was lying if Blaine hadn’t already known. “No, that’s not it. Something else is going on with you.”
“Does it really matter?” Sebastian demanded exasperatedly.
Blaine crossed his arms and sat back in his seat. “If you don’t trust me enough to tell me why you’re so invested in this, why should I go ahead with it?”
For a long moment, Sebastian stared at Blaine, unmoving. Then he seemed to deflate; he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t have anyone to turn to,” he said quietly.
Blaine shifted toward Sebastian. “Tell me,” he said gently, reaching for the other boy’s hand.
Sebastian was silent as Blaine’s thumb stroked the back of his hand. He looked down at their hands and shook his head, a wry smile pulling at his lips. “Only you.” Then he shook his head and started speaking.
“I knew I was gay pretty young, but telling my parents was another story. They were always fighting. The divorce was messy, and I bounced between them and my grandmother for years. I didn’t tell my grandmother until I was twelve and my parents not until a couple of years later.”
“But you’d known longer.”
Sebastian nodded as he stared at their hands as though hypnotized. “I was an only child and never had many friends because I kept getting shipped between adults for months at a time.”
And Blaine got it. Sebastian had never had someone he felt he could confide in, like an older sibling or mentor. It must’ve been confusing for him, trying to figure out who he was without that confidante he could trust. Sebastian also knew that Blaine and Cooper weren’t close because of their age gap and that Cooper had fled to LA as soon as he could afford to, leaving his kid brother in the dust.
And now, he saw a kid who might go through something similar, afraid of who he is and with a potentially fragile support system since his older brother was away at school most of the year. And je wanted to help.
“I love you,” Blaine said with a wide smile, leaning over to kiss a startled Sebastian on the lips. Sebastian stared at him in surprise as Blaine pulled back, but Blaine’s grin just widened. “Thank you for telling me,” he said before getting out of the car. Sebastian followed suit, looking a bit bemused at Blaine’s reaction, but Blaine couldn’t help the stupid grin on his face.
There were just moments, when Sebastian would do or say something entirely unexpected or incredibly touching, that made Blaine fall in love with Sebastian all over again-giving him that giddy, weak-in-the-knees and butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling-and this was one of them.
Blaine was still grinning as he looped his arm through Sebastian’s and walked up the path to Trent’s door. He glanced up to see a young face peering through the curtains of one window. Blaine waved with his free hand, but Brandon immediately disappeared. Blaine and Sebastian shared a look before heading up the steps. They were about to ring the bell when the door flew open and a disheveled Trent stood on the other side.
“You have no idea how happy I am to see you two. I love the Warblers, but the mess,” he said with a dramatic shudder.
Blaine stifled a laugh as he and Sebastian stepped inside. “Well, we’re at least partially responsible, so the least we can do is help.”
“I believe that from you, Blaine, but not him,” Trent said, nodding at Sebastian as they shed their coats.
“I’m wounded, Trent,” Sebastian said, touching his heart. “I always wash the sheets when I’m done.”
Trent’s eyes bulged but Blaine smacked Sebastian in the arm. “He’s kidding.”
Sebastian laughed, rubbing his arm lightly. “Or am I?”
“He is,” Blaine assured a pink-faced Trent.
“Lead on,” Sebastian gestured as though he hadn’t been interrupted. He glanced back at Blaine with a pointed look.
“You guys go ahead. I’m just going to use the bathroom and then I’ll meet you.”
Trent waved absently before leading Sebastian back to the basement with single-minded determination. Sebastian shot Blaine an amused look before following.
Once Sebastian and Trent were out of sight, Blaine made his way up to the second level. Once he ascended the stairs and took a few steps down the hallway, he paused when she saw one door cracked open and an eye peering through. With a smile, Blaine started walking again and the door shut. Blaine paused again outside the door then knocked.
“Hey Brandon, it’s Blaine. Trent’s friend,” he called.
“I know who you are, Blaine!” came the indignant response.
Blaine laughed to himself. “Then can you let me in?”
“Why?”
“I just wanted to talk.”
Silence. Then, “Why?” That sounded a bit closer.
Blaine pursed his lips a moment and considered. “Can you keep a secret?” he asked in a loud whisper.
“What?” came the equally hushed response from just the other side of the door.
“My boyfriend’s kind of driving me nuts.”
The door cracked open and Brandon’s head appeared. “So that guy is your boyfriend.”
Blaine smiled. “Yes, he is.”
“What happened to the last one?”
Blaine’s smile faltered for a moment. Brandon had only met Kurt a couple of times since Kurt was never particularly interested in Warbler get-togethers, especially after he’d transferred back to McKinley. But he’d still come along with Blaine a few times to study or watch a movie at Trent’s.
“We broke up,” Blaine replied, forcing his smile back.
Brandon considered that a moment. “Oh. I’m sorry.” He looked at Blaine curiously. “You don’t seem sad though.”
Blaine shrugged, doing his best to seem casual. “We broke up a while ago. Sebastian and I have been dating for almost a year.”
“That’s good.”
Blaine raised an eyebrow. “Is it?”
Brandon nodded and stepped aside so Blaine could enter his room. Blaine nodded his thanks and sat down on Brandon’s desk chair while Brandon sat on the edge of his bed.
“He looks at you like…” Brandon considered his words carefully. “Like my dad looks at my mom when he doesn’t think anyone’s looking.”
“Yeah?” Blaine asked, pleased.
Brandon nodded then looked down at his knees.
“What’s wrong?” Brandon shook his head. “Hey,” Blaine said, moving to kneel in front of the kid, “you can tell me. I won’t tell your brother.”
Brandon looked up, clearly suspicious. “You won’t?”
Blaine shook his head. “I’ve got a big brother too, so I know what it’s like, not wanting him to know stuff.”
Brandon searched his face a long moment before nodding. “I saw you guys at the party last night.”
“I know.”
But Brandon shook his head. “I saw you and your boyfriend last night. And he like kissed you and stuff. And no one cared.”
“They’re our friends,” Blaine said. He had an inkling of where this was going, but he didn’t want to push and turn out to be wrong. “They know we’re dating.”
“I wish my friends didn’t care.” The words were so quiet that Blaine had to strain to hear.
“Are you dating someone, Brandon?”
A nod.
“Does anyone know?”
A shake.
“Do you want them to know?”
A nod.
“Why can’t you tell anyone?”
“Because.”
“Because why?” Blaine prompted gently, still kneeling in front of the boy.
“He said we can’t tell anyone,” Brandon whispered.
“Who did?”
“My boyfriend,” Brandon said, looking up at Blaine. “He said we can’t tell anyone because we’re…”
“Gay?” Blaine offered when Brandon trailed off.
Brandon nodded miserably. “I think so. I mean, I really like him. And I saw you and your boyfriend at the party last night, and I wanted that so much. But he doesn’t want anyone to know.”
Blaine shifted to sit next to Brandon on the bed. “I understand.”
“You do?” Brandon asked, looking up at Blaine. “Can you explain it to me? Because I don’t.”
Blaine considered his next words carefully. He didn’t want to scare the kid, but he didn’t want to lie to him either. “I think he’s probably scared. And maybe you have to be patient with him.”
“Scared of what? He’s got me.”
Blaine smiled sadly. “Sometimes that’s not enough. When I was only a couple of years older than you, I went with another boy to a dance. We had a lot of fun, but some of the other kids didn’t like that we went together. So they beat us up.”
Brandon looked at Blaine with wide eyes. Blaine quickly added, “I’m okay now and so is he.” Or so Blaine assumed anyway. Outside of some occasional Facebook stalking, they hadn’t been in touch in years. “But it’s not always easy. So if you really like him-”
“I do,” Brandon assured him.
Blaine smiled. “Good. Then I think the best thing you can do for him is support him.”
“I can do that.”
Blaine nudged Brandon with his elbow. “I never doubted it.”
Brandon chewed on his lip a long moment before asking quietly, “I want to tell my parents. But I don’t know how.”
Oh.
“I think,” Blaine said slowly, remembering sitting his parents down in the living room to tell them, “you need to do what feels right.”
Brandon made a face. “What does that even mean?”
Blaine let out a startled laugh. “You know, I have no idea.”
“You’re useless,” Brandon informed him then pushed up off the bed and turned to face Blaine.“Well then, my apologies,” Blaine replied with a bow. Brandon rolled his eyes and Blaine’s smile widened. “Have you considered telling your brother first?”
“Telling me what?”
Blaine and Brandon both started and turned to see Trent and Sebastian in the doorway. Trent was looking curiously between his brother and Blaine.
“Nothing,” Brandon said hurriedly.
“Uh huh,” Trent retorted dubiously before turning to Blaine. “You know you don’t have to humor my brother if he’s bothering you.”
“Hey!”
“He’s not,” Blaine assured Trent. “Besides, who am I to deny you and Sebastian the alone time you both so obviously want?”
Trent scowled. “He’s a terrible influence on you,” he said, nodding toward Sebastian.
Sebastian smirked; that look could only mean that he’d been up to no good while Blaine was talking with Brandon.
“Anyway,” Trent went on, rolling his eyes, “we’re done cleaning if you want to watch a movie or something.”
“Sure,” Blaine agreed as he pushed himself up off the bed.
-----
If Blaine noticed Brandon shooting glances at the way he and Sebastian curled up together on the couch to watch Frozen while Trent occasionally threw popcorn at them for making him feeling bad for being single, he just winked at him in response.
-----
And when Blaine got a call a couple of weeks later, the caller ID reading Brandon, he didn’t hesitate to pick up.
fin