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"Just saying your lips look pretty around my cock," Sebastian shrugged to Nick. Nick blushed scarlet as if he'd completely forgotten that night on Sebastian's father's yacht until that exact second. Jeff burst out laughing.

"Guess you can't use that excuse this time, Nicky," Jeff teased.

"Okay, okay," Nick said, pushing that back out of his mind (even though it had been totally consensual and mostly his idea, he still didn't want to think about that night, how strangely hot it was to watch Jeff and Sebastian engage one another in the art of horizontal dance lessons or whatever it was they were doing while Nick sort-of writhed nearby in some mixed-up state of blissful agony).

"Finally," Sebastian said, turning a predatory grin on them both. "What are we wasting time drinking?"

"Because I think I'd probably have to be," Nick said.

"Let's do it before you get whiskey dick," Sebastian said.

"Can I fuck you?" Nick slurred.

"No," Sebastian said.

"Then why does it matter?" Nick countered. Sebastian smirked.

"Can I fuck you then?" Sebastian asked, eyes flashing.

"Not a chance in hell," Nick replied.

"Well, Jeff, it looks like you're in for a wild night," Sebastian laughed.

Sebastian picked up the two bottles, one completely empty and one with a few shots left in the bottom, and set them on a bureau, then turned back to Nick and Jeff. Jeff pulled his tie loose all the way and dropped it to the floor, beginning to unbutton his shirt as he advanced toward Sebastian. Sebastian, however, turned his predatory gaze on Nick.

"Hold your shit," Sebastian said. "I've had you before, I want to try this flavor over here." Jeff chuckled under his breath as Sebastian crossed to Nick, catching his eyes and murmuring, 'yeah?' as a manner of asking for consent, because Sebastian was still Sebastian, even when he was this eager. Nick nodded earnestly and Sebastian kissed him, tasting him, savoring the kiss that tasted more like 80 proof Jose Cuervo than it did anything else. Nick, who'd never even kissed anyone but Jeff (except Blaine that one time), eagerly kissed Sebastian back – a little too eagerly for Jeff's taste. Jeff dropped to his knees at Nick and Sebastian's feet and reached into Nick's pants. As Jeff held Nick's solid length in his hand, Nick's eyes suddenly opened and he broke apart from Sebastian long enough to look down and confirm it was his own boyfriend's hand on him, then, as if by magnetic force, Nick's lips found themselves on Sebastian's again. Jeff made a small noise of annoyance before stroking up and down Nick's cock roughly. Sebastian was even taller than Jeff, and Nick had to reach farther than he usually did, but his knees buckled involuntarily and Sebastian broke off to say, "Bed," which made Jeff scramble to get out of the way as Sebastian backed Nick onto the bed, pushing him onto it and jumping next to him. Sebastian quickly shed his button up and uniform pants, lips never leaving Nick's, like he'd never get enough. Maybe Nick reminded him of Blaine, maybe he was just something new, Jeff didn't care, just shed his clothes as easily and began working on Nick's.

Ten minutes later, Jeff was getting impatient. He discovered that he hated sharing, and Nick was hogging the goods.

"Gimme, my turn," Jeff said, prying Nick and Sebastian apart.

"You had a turn already," Nick mumbled against Sebastian's lips.

"And you said you didn't want one," Jeff said, finally getting them apart and rolling Sebastian over to get on top of him.

"I changed my mind," Nick huffed, shedding what was left of his uniform in his haste to join the party.

"Knew you would," Sebastian murmured as Jeff, frowning, pulled Sebastian's tie off of him and threw it across the room in distaste. "How about some role reversal from last time and I beg to suck your dick?" Jeff's face lit up.

"You go right ahead," Jeff said.

"I hope your stamina has improved," Sebastian remarked, teasing Jeff's dick out of his boxer briefs. "If you cum before I do, I will continue to fuck you until I'm done, sensitive or not."

"What else would be new?" Nick asked. "He loves that." Sebastian almost choked on Jeff's cock in surprise.

"God, you two are kinky as hell," Sebastian said before putting his mouth back on Jeff's cock.

"Yeah we are," Jeff said. Sebastian had Jeff's hips pinned square to the bed. Nick nuzzled his head next to Jeff's, his lips still buzzing from kissing Sebastian. "Hey baby," Jeff murmured, reaching into Nick's personal space to hold Nick's hand in his own. Nick kissed Jeff lazily until Jeff started squeaking – he was getting close. Jeff's hands curled into fists on the bedsheets as he concentrated very hard on not going too early.

"Lay off him, Bas," Nick said, but Sebastian raised his eyes to lock with Nick's and he would have grinned if there hadn't been a cock halfway down his throat. Once, twice, three times he swallowed, never breaking eye contact with Nick, and Jeff lost it with one of his trademark sex kitten noises. Sebastian sat up, grinning at Nick.

"Your turn," Sebastian said. Nick wrapped a hand around the back of Sebastian's neck, pulling him back to their kisses. Nick noted the familiar taste of Jeff's cum in Sebastian's mouth. Sebastian fell on top of Nick and they rolled away from Jeff, who was breathing hard, just trying to recover. By the time Jeff felt like moving again, he rolled over and saw the last thing he thought he'd ever see in his life – Nick's lips wrapped around Sebastian's cock.

"I did tell you he was good," Jeff said and though he had directed this comment to Sebastian about Nick, Nick seemed to think he meant the other way and whole-heartedly agreed. Nick popped off Sebastian's cock for a second.

"He's an asshole, but if he fucks half as good as he kisses, we should just do this all the time," Nick said, and then he ducked to put his mouth back around Sebastian's dick, but Sebastian caught his shoulder.

"First of all, I fuck almost twice as good as I kiss, and secondly, this is Jeff's night. Let's give him a show," Sebastian said. Nick turned his eyes on Jeff, hungrily. "I have been thinking about this almost as long as Jeff and–"

"Just fuck me," Jeff said to Sebastian.

"Basically," Sebastian said. Jumping off the bed towards his blazer, he rifled the pockets quickly, pulling out a bottle of lube, but he started to panic as he searched the other pockets and came up empty handed. He checked his pants pockets as well and then turned greenish-gray. "Guys…"

"What?" Jeff asked with difficulty, because Nick had sprung into action, rimming Jeff with his talented tongue.

"I gave my last condom to Beats," Sebastian lamented.

"Why?" Jeff asked.

"Just in case," Sebastian said. "I didn't think I'd need it here alone with you two."

"And you thought Beats might need it out town with Trent?" Jeff asked.

"Better safe than sorry," Sebastian said. "Do either of you have some?"

"We haven't used those in a while," Jeff explained. "No real reason to. Nicky's never been with anyone else and…" He shrugged.

"Guess I'll have to sit this out," Sebastian sighed, disappointed. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Jeff said. "I trust you."

"Are you sure?" Sebastian asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Jeff said. Nick had two fingers in Jeff's ass by this time and as Nick added a third, Jeff became incapable of normal human speech.

"He's ready when you are," Nick told Sebastian. Sebastian, still a little shocked by Niff's total lack of concern about protection (he made a mental note to lecture them and all the Warbler boys on protection at a later date), climbed back on the bed, dick in his right hand, lube in his left. Sebastian was about to ask how Jeff could be ready if they hadn't even used any lube, but decided against it, just going with the assumption that that was just how they did things. "Unless you wanna open me up…" Nick continued.

"I can," Sebastian shrugged.

"No, I want to," Jeff said. "I never get to do it." Jeff put two fingers in his mouth to wet them, and Sebastian started having flashbacks to his worst memory ever –

"Please, just…" Sebastian said, holding out his bottle of lube to Jeff. Jeff took it eagerly.

"Thanks dear," Jeff said, squirting some generously on his hand. "Nicky's not as used to it as I am." As Sebastian watched, Jeff teased one finger into his boyfriend's hole, then the second, and began working them in and out. Sebastian didn't even realize he'd been watching for almost five minutes until Jeff said, "Are you just going to watch? Because you could do that anytime," and Nick slapped him.

"No, sorry," Sebastian said, snapping out of it. "How do you two usually do this? And then I'll just sneak in behind…"

"Fine by me," Jeff said, pushing Nick face down on the bed and fucking his fingers into him a few times before replacing them with his dick. Nick showed surprise, but no pain. Jeff, who was now standing beside the bed, held the bottle of lube he was still holding out to Sebastian, who took it, quickly moving to stand behind Jeff and lubing up his bare cock before thrusting into Jeff.

It was the best sexual feeling Jeff had ever experienced, being so full and at the same time so completely inside his boyfriend. Every move Sebastian made towards Jeff pushed Jeff further inside Nick. Jeff was torn between wanting to be deeper inside Nick and wanting to push back onto Sebastian. Soon, far sooner than he expected, Jeff felt that edge creeping up on him again. Jeff closed his eyes and tried to hold it off, and he managed it for a short period, but then he just couldn't anymore. Jeff could tell from the sounds Nick was making he was very close as well. Jeff's hips stuttered forward and came to rest deep inside Nick, except for Sebastian's still-constant thrusting behind him. Nick gave a final grunt, coming on his hand and the sheets, then sliding out from underneath Jeff and across the bed. Jeff's knees buckled and he slumped onto the bed while Sebastian, as promised, kept pounding into him. It both hurt and was the most wonderful thing ever and Jeff let out a groan.

"Y'okay?" Sebastian muttered in Jeff's ear, not ceasing in his rhythm.

"Yes, God, yes, don't stop, never stop," Jeff babbled. Sebastian paused for just a second, to flip Jeff over so they were facing each other, and giving him a reassuring kiss before picking up speed again. Jeff moaned and mewled, taking the light abuse he was being given, and loving every second of it. Nick crawled over to Jeff, holding his hand again and pushing his long hair out of his face.

"Come on baby," Nick murmured. "You can do it."

"I Niff you," Jeff squeaked, seeing nothing but Nick's face, feeling nothing but Nick's hand in his own and the dull pain slowly building in his rear. It seemed like an eternity later and also a complete sudden surprise when Jeff spilled for the third and final time that night, all over his chest and stomach. Nick, who'd been in and out of focus all night, was prepared to wipe him off before he wrecked the sheets even more than they already were.

"Alright, sexy, are you ready?" Sebastian asked, pulling out of Jeff and giving him a very concerned look.

"Mhh…" Jeff said, rolling over, exhausted. Sebastian chuckled, moving his fist up and down on his cock.

"Let me," Nick said, throwing the tissues in his hand across the room and reaching for Sebastian's cock. "Please."

"By all means," Sebastian said. "Put that pretty mouth of yours to work." Nick practically inhaled Sebastian's cock, and though he'd never say it out loud, Sebastian was extremely impressed. When finally at long, long last, Sebastian had come down Nick's throat, the pair of them collapsed to the bed next to Jeff.

"Does anyone know Beats' real name?" Nick asked.

"It's not Beats?" Sebastian asked.

"I think Wes does," Jeff replied very, very sleepily.

"Who's Wes?" Sebastian asked.

"Old Captain," Nick said. "Basically him and Blaine were, I don't know, engaged to be married, or sucking each other off between classes. Wes ran the show, Blaine got the solos."

"Like you and me?" Sebastian asked with a tired grin.

"Ew," Nick said.

"Less talking, more cuddling," Jeff mumbled, throwing an arm across whoever was closer, which happened to be Sebastian, and snuggling into his back.

"Sorry, sweetheart," Nick said. "I Niff you."

"I will never be able to communicate how much I Niff you," Jeff said. "Shh."

"I'll get out of here so you two can–" Sebastian began.

“There’s no story.  He was nice, and people liked the idea of us as a couple, but it never got serious,” Kurt said, honestly.  Blaine stared at him.  “Alright, lemme break it down for you, the last time we tried ‘dating’ and I was in New York and you were here, you cheated on me.  Unacceptable!”

“We’ve been through this!” Blaine exclaimed.  “I thought you were done with me.  I thought it was over, I thought I was completely out of the picture in your life.  Look at me in the eyes when I say this, I am being beyond serious.  I will never, ever, ever cheat on you again.”

“I’ll need you to sign one of those non-cheating contracts,” Kurt said, seriously, although he couldn’t contain his smile.  “You can get one on Oprah’s website.”

“I will sign whatever you want,” Blaine laughed.  “Just please say that you and I could be boyfriends again.”  Kurt’s eyes narrowed and Blaine was confused.  “What?”

“I don’t know if relationships actually work,” Kurt said, looking across the courtyard instead of at Blaine.  “I mean, weren’t Bethenny and Jason supposed to be forever?”

“For every Bethenny and Jason there is a Will and a Jada, and a Kurt and a Goldie,” Blaine pointed out.  “Come on, can we at least… try?”

“But I’m Goldie, of course,” Kurt said.

“Of course you are.”  Kurt seemed to think it over, hem and haw over it for a few seconds, and then:

“Okay, I can’t believe we’re gonna do this again.”

“I was hoping you’d say yes,” Blaine smiled.  “Actually, I was kind of planning on it, which is why I sort of put something together to try and convince you to stay a little longer…”  He got to his feet, but Kurt interrupted him.

“Uh, no.  No, no, that’s not gonna happen, okay?  I’m not sitting down and listening to you sing to me anymore,” Kurt said.  Blaine sat back down, immediately, a little frightened and a lot confused.

“Okay…”

“Which is why I prepared something,” Kurt said, picking up a whistle and blowing it.  Out came the marching band, and Kurt began a wonderful duet of Got To Get You Into My Life.

--

Blaine was back in Glee Club.  “So, as most of you know already, Kurt and I are officially back together!” Blaine announced.  “But what most of you don’t know, and this is top secret, is that I’m going to ask Kurt to marry me.”  No response from the Glee kids.

Sam began clapping enthusiastically.  “Yeah, guys, come on, get up, come on, guys!  This is my best friend!  Gay marriage, good!  That’s good, it’s good things!  They’re all happening so fast, let’s go!”

“Sam…” Blaine interrupted him before he could make a total fool of himself.  “Not now.  Anyway, I want this proposal to be just incredible, so I’m asking for all of your help.  But I’m also asking for some of our competitor’s help.  Like the Warblers, and Vocal Adrenaline, and the Haverbrook School for the Deaf…”

“Vocal Adrenaline, no ma’am,” Unique interjected.

“The Warblers are evil incarnate little craps!” Ryder said.  Blaine vaguely took offense to this statement, since the last time he’d checked, he attended Dalton Academy.  In fact, the last time he’d checked, he was gearing the Warblers up for Nationals and dating Sebastian Smythe, so this whole scene seemed quite odd, but it was like he couldn’t stop he words coming out of his mouth.

“Are you crazy?  Are you insane?  Good God, have you lost your mind?” Tina ranted.  Blaine thought that he might have, in fact.

“Everybody, hear him out,” Sam said.

“Look, I want this to be more than just an ordinary proposal, I want this to be a cultural statement!” Blaine exclaimed.

“I’m sure you do,” Sam said.

“Hey,” Blaine said.  “Our generation is at a turning point.  People everywhere, except, like, Russia, are beginning to see that it doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, or even what God you believe in.  they’re beginning to see that people really aren’t all that different.  And, honestly, if we can get a bunch of cutthroat show choirs to stand side by side and unite in something, then anything is possible.  Okay?”

“Okay.  But Blaine is just using the world of rival show choirs as a metaphor for this incredible time we’re in right now,” Artie said.  “And I still think you’re too young.”

Help!  I need somebody.  Help!  Not just anybody.  Help!  You know I need someone.  Help!

Blaine and the New Directions, which Blaine noted was fairly odd because he could have sworn he attended Dalton Academy yesterday, danced out of the choir room, down the hall, and over to Carmel High to round up Vocal Adrenaline, then over to the Deaf School, and then finally to Dalton Academy, Blaine’s home.

Sebastian Smythe, who Blaine could have sworn on a stack of bowties he was dating an hour or two ago, was sitting on the council’s table, reading over some papers with a few of the other Warblers.  Nick, Trent, and Beats ran into the room with many more blazer-clad boys than Blaine had ever met, and he knew everyone at Dalton.

“We need an official vote,” Trent said, “but, in the spirit of brotherhood, and cleaning up our tarnished reputation–”  What?  What tarnished reputation?  The Warblers were on their way to Nationals with the best team they’d had in years.  Speaking of which, where was everybody?  Where was Hunter?  And Jeff?  And David and Thad?  “–I think we’d all be happy to help.”

“Trent!” Sebastian interrupted.  “We said I’d do the talking.  All in favor of helping Blaine?”  Everyone in Ohio including Blaine raised their hands, yelling, “Aye!”.  Blaine rushed forward, suddenly in control of his own body to hug Sebastian.

“Thank you, Sebastian,” he heard himself say, but he wasn’t sure why.

--

Kurt approached the door at Dalton Academy.  The band was playing All You Need Is Love, and Blaine emerged in a horrid yellow suit, singing.  Rachel, Santana, and Mercedes were there to meet Kurt.  The Warblers were jovially singing.  Kurt hugged each member of the New Directions as he passed them, then passed Vocal Adrenaline, and proceeded down the stairs where the Deaf Choir was surrounding him, and finally, there at the bottom of the stairs was Blaine again, exactly where they’d met.

Blaine began making a beautiful speech, hyper-aware of Sebastian standing right behind him, and still wondering about the rest of the Warblers’ absences.  Seriously, where the hell were Hunter and Jeff?  Nick was hardly ever seen without his other half.

“We met right here.  I took this man’s hand, and we ran down that hallway, and for those of you that know me, know I’m not in the habit of taking people’s hands I’ve never met before, but I think that my soul knew something that my body and my mind didn’t know yet.  It knew that our hands were meant to hold each other, fearlessly and forever.  Which is why it’s never really felt like I was getting to know you, it’s always felt like I was remembering you from something, as if in every lifetime that you and I have ever lived, we have chosen to come back and find each other and fall in love all over again.  Over and over, for all eternity.  And I just feel so lucky that I found you so soon in this lifetime, because all I want to do, all I’ve ever wanted to do, is spend my life loving you.  So,” Blaine said, accepting the ring Sam handed him, “Kurt Hummel, my amazing friend, my one true love, will you marry me?”

“Yeah.  Yes,” Kurt nodded, starting to cry.  Blaine kissed him.

The world around them seemed to shatter and bend and Blaine heard a voice in his ear.

“Blaine?  Blaine, are you okay?”

Blaine opened his eyes.  The world was still blurry and far too bright.

“Blaine?”  Blaine struggled to recognize the face in front of him.  “Hello?  Earth to Blainers?”  It was Sebastian.  Blaine didn’t know whether to be happy or sad.

“Bas?” Blaine asked.

“Hi there,” Sebastian replied.  “Bad dream?”

“You have no idea,” Blaine said.

“Well, you were talking in your sleep so bad, yelling, ‘Where’s Jeff?’, that you actually woke up Nick and Jeff, and they’re pissed,” Sebastian said.

“Really bad dream,” Blaine said, sitting up in bed and pulling the covers tightly around himself.

“Do tell,” Sebastian said, putting an arm around him.

“I’m fairly certain I dreamt I was proposing to Kurt,” Blaine said.  “With Beatles songs.”

“I told you not to watch Across the Universe before bed,” Sebastian sighed.  “Although I guess the question I should be asking is, proposing to Kurt, excuse me?”

“I don’t know,” Blaine said.  “It just sorta happened and I had to watch.  I can’t really remember now.  You were there!  You were happy.”

“I sincerely doubt that,” Sebastian snorted.

“But Hunter was gone, and Jeff wasn’t there, and neither were David or Thad or really anyone, and Trent kept going on about our tarnished reputation, like Hunter had doped everyone up on steroids and gotten us disqualified,” Blaine said.  Sebastian shot a look at Hunter, who was pretending to be asleep, but Sebastian knew he was really awake and now terrified that Blaine knew his secret.  “But that’s silly.  Everyone knows steroids don’t help you sing or dance better.  Show choir on steroids?  That’s really stupid.  I don’t know.  Nick wasn’t on the council anymore either, I guess that’s when I realized it was a dream.  It couldn’t be real life if Nick was without Jeff.”

“Nah, it sure wouldn’t,” Sebastian smiled.  “And we’d miss Hunter too, even if he is an insufferable hooker most of the time.”

“Hey now,” Blaine said.  “Insufferable, yes, but not a hooker.”

“Right, I was thinking of me again,” Sebastian laughed.  “And maybe it’s not all bad.  Maybe Jeff and Hunter were practicing their dance moves or starting a rock band or something.”  (This is foreshadowing!  RAWR.)

“Right, because if I was going to make a rock band, which is very highly unlikely, I would definitely choose Jeff to be in it,” Hunter mumbled.

“No, I’m telling you, I’m pretty sure there were drugs involved,” Blaine said.

“You have crazy dreams,” Sebastian laughed.  “But I think that was pretty evident from the part where you said you proposed to Kurt.”

“Would you rather me proposed to you?” Blaine asked.

“Nah,” Sebastian said, and Blaine was sort of hurt until Sebastian continued, “I want to be the one who does the proposing.”

At breakfast, Blaine told Trent, Nick, Jeff, and Beats about his dream.

“Hey, where was I?” Jeff asked.

“I don’t know!” Blaine exclaimed.

“I’m so distressed!” Jeff shouted.

“Why?” Blaine asked.  “Maybe you were making a rock band.”

“What you’re trying to say is that in the dream version of our lives where you never transferred back here from McKinley, Hunter is an asshole who drugged us all up and got us disqualified from competition, forcing Jeff, Thad, and David’s parents to take them out of the school?” Trent asked.

“Um… yeah,” Blaine agreed.

“That’s stupid,” Trent said.  “I don’t think we’d ever do that.”

“I don’t know,” Nick said.  “I mean, we’ve done some pretty stupid stuff.  I know I’d do anything if it was the only way to keep Jeff from getting hurt.”

“Yeah, what if we were getting blackmailed?” Jeff said.  “Either you take steroids or you don’t perform at Sectionals?”

“He couldn’t replace us all,” Trent said.  “That would never work.”

“Okay, well, Trent, you can wear the big boy pants and be the voice of reason the next time Blaine has a weird dream,” Jeff said.  “Until then, I think we’re all going to agree we would have done anything to win at Sectionals.  I mean, we did pretty much bribe, coerce, and harass Blaine into coming back.”

“True,” Blaine agreed.

“I’m still distressed,” Jeff said.  “What would Nicky do here without me?”

“Probably get really depressed and whine about it,” Sebastian guessed.  “And threaten people, push them into walls, and, eventually, come to see his Uncle Bastian about it, and we would have gone and rescued you.”

“Yeah, that actually sounds just about right,” Nick said.

“I’m still stuck the bit about the steroids,” Beats said.  “Even if we did do them, how did we get caught?”  Blaine pointed at Trent.

“What?” Trent asked, looking like a deer in the headlights.

“Trent, obviously, the voice of reason, and the sunshine of the group, came to me and Sam.  Told us everything,” Blaine said.

“Why?” Trent asked.  “Betray the Warblers?  Um, no, that’s not me.  Stupid as it probably was, I would have been right there with them.”

“Really, you, taking heroic doses of testosterone?  There’s no way,” Beats said.

“Excuse you,” Trent said, offended, but then, “yeah, you’re right actually.  Man, I really wanted to be one of the bad guys in Blaine’s dream.”

“Just catch me up on something,” Hunter said, sitting down next to Sebastian with his breakfast tray.  “Why am I giving drugs to kids?”

“I would assume because you either want to win that badly or because you’re a psychopath,” Nick said.  Blaine nodded.

“You’re nuts,” Hunter said.  “I would never subject anyone to that.  I… had buddies at military school who got themselves into that stuff.  I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”  Sebastian was the only person at Dalton who knew it had been Hunter that had somehow kicked his steroid addiction before enrolling at Dalton.

“I have a better idea,” Sebastian said.  “Instead of sitting at breakfast talking about a dream that was stupid in the first place because, let’s remember, Blaine was proposing to Kurt–”

“That’s not stupid,” Nick and Jeff said at the same time.

“Your support is overwhelming, thanks guys,” Sebastian said, rolling his eyes.  “Why don’t we do some Beatles songs ourselves?”

“Meh,” Nick shrugged.

“Beats?” Sebastian said.  Beats nodded.

Hey Jude! Don’t make it bad Take a sad song and make it better Remember to let her into your heart Then you can start to make it better Hey Jude! Don’t be afraid You were made to get out and get her The minute you let her under your skin Then you’ll begin to make it better Better, better, better, better, better, better, yeah!

Na, na-na, nananana, nananana, hey Jude Na, na-na, nananana, nananana, hey Jude Na, na-na, nananana, nananana, hey Jude Na, na-na, nananana, nananana, hey Jude

Blaine started screaming out high notes with Sebastian, and they stood on the breakfast table as everyone in the dining hall continued to nanana with the Warblers.

Hey Jude!

Sebastian and Blaine kissed just after the last note and the entire dining hall erupted in applause.  This kiss was much better and way more meaningful than the one Blaine had shared in his dream with Kurt.  Sebastian was definitely the man he was meant to share his life with.

  501 reaction fic, two weeks late.

  “So are you excited to go back to school?” Blaine asked.

  “Yeah, fashion week is coming up.  This farewell picnic’s been great, though,” Kurt replied.

  “What’s the story with this New York guy?” Blaine blurted.  Kurt looked surprised Blaine would even mention.

  “There’s no story.  He was nice, and people liked the idea of us as a couple, but it never got serious,” Kurt said, honestly.  Blaine stared at him.  “Alright, lemme break it down for you, the last time we tried ‘dating’ and I was in New York and you were here, you cheated on me.  Unacceptable!”

  “We’ve been through this!” Blaine exclaimed.  “I thought you were done with me.  I thought it was over, I thought I was completely out of the picture in your life.  Look at me in the eyes when I say this, I am being beyond serious.  I will never, ever, ever cheat on you again.”

  “I’ll need you to sign one of those non-cheating contracts,” Kurt said, seriously, although he couldn’t contain his smile.  “You can get one on Oprah’s website.”

  “I will sign whatever you want,” Blaine laughed.  “Just please say that you and I could be boyfriends again.”  Kurt’s eyes narrowed and Blaine was confused.  “What?”

  “I don’t know if relationships actually work,” Kurt said, looking across the courtyard instead of at Blaine.  “I mean, weren’t Bethenny and Jason supposed to be forever?”

  “For every Bethenny and Jason there is a Will and a Jada, and a Kurt and a Goldie,” Blaine pointed out.  “Come on, can we at least… try?”

  “But I’m Goldie, of course,” Kurt said.

  “Of course you are.”  Kurt seemed to think it over, hem and haw over it for a few seconds, and then:

  “Okay, I can’t believe we’re gonna do this again.”

  “I was hoping you’d say yes,” Blaine smiled.  “Actually, I was kind of planning on it, which is why I sort of put something together to try and convince you to stay a little longer…”  He got to his feet, but Kurt interrupted him.

  “Uh, no.  No, no, that’s not gonna happen, okay?  I’m not sitting down and listening to you sing to me anymore,” Kurt said.  Blaine sat back down, immediately, a little frightened and a lot confused.

  “Okay…”

  “Which is why I prepared something,” Kurt said, picking up a whistle and blowing it.  Out came the marching band, and Kurt began a wonderful duet of Got To Get You Into My Life.

  --

  Blaine was back in Glee Club.  “So, as most of you know already, Kurt and I are officially back together!” Blaine announced.  “But what most of you don’t know, and this is top secret, is that I’m going to ask Kurt to marry me.”  No response from the Glee kids.

  Sam began clapping enthusiastically.  “Yeah, guys, come on, get up, come on, guys!  This is my best friend!  Gay marriage, good!  That’s good, it’s good things!  They’re all happening so fast, let’s go!”

  “Sam…” Blaine interrupted him before he could make a total fool of himself.  “Not now.  Anyway, I want this proposal to be just incredible, so I’m asking for all of your help.  But I’m also asking for some of our competitor’s help.  Like the Warblers, and Vocal Adrenaline, and the Haverbrook School for the Deaf…”

  “Vocal Adrenaline, no ma’am,” Unique interjected.

  “The Warblers are evil incarnate little craps!” Ryder said.  Blaine vaguely took offense to this statement, since the last time he’d checked, he attended Dalton Academy.  In fact, the last time he’d checked, he was gearing the Warblers up for Nationals and dating Sebastian Smythe, so this whole scene seemed quite odd, but it was like he couldn’t stop he words coming out of his mouth.

  “Are you crazy?  Are you insane?  Good God, have you lost your mind?” Tina ranted.  Blaine thought that he might have, in fact.

  “Everybody, hear him out,” Sam said.

  “Look, I want this to be more than just an ordinary proposal, I want this to be a cultural statement!” Blaine exclaimed.

  “I’m sure you do,” Sam said.

  “Hey,” Blaine said.  “Our generation is at a turning point.  People everywhere, except, like, Russia, are beginning to see that it doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, or even what God you believe in.  they’re beginning to see that people really aren’t all that different.  And, honestly, if we can get a bunch of cutthroat show choirs to stand side by side and unite in something, then anything is possible.  Okay?”

  “Okay.  But Blaine is just using the world of rival show choirs as a metaphor for this incredible time we’re in right now,” Artie said.  “And I still think you’re too young.”

  Help!  I need somebody.  Help!  Not just anybody.  Help!  You know I need someone.  Help!

  Blaine and the New Directions, which Blaine noted was fairly odd because he could have sworn he attended Dalton Academy yesterday, danced out of the choir room, down the hall, and over to Carmel High to round up Vocal Adrenaline, then over to the Deaf School, and then finally to Dalton Academy, Blaine’s home.

  Sebastian Smythe, who Blaine could have sworn on a stack of bowties he was dating an hour or two ago, was sitting on the council’s table, reading over some papers with a few of the other Warblers.  Nick, Trent, and Beats ran into the room with many more blazer-clad boys than Blaine had ever met, and he knew everyone at Dalton.

  “We need an official vote,” Trent said, “but, in the spirit of brotherhood, and cleaning up our tarnished reputation–”  What?  What tarnished reputation?  The Warblers were on their way to Nationals with the best team they’d had in years.  Speaking of which, where was everybody?  Where was Hunter?  And Jeff?  And David and Thad?  “–I think we’d all be happy to help.”

  “Trent!” Sebastian interrupted.  “We said I’d do the talking.  All in favor of helping Blaine?”  Everyone in Ohio including Blaine raised their hands, yelling, “Aye!”.  Blaine rushed forward, suddenly in control of his own body to hug Sebastian.

  “Thank you, Sebastian,” he heard himself say, but he wasn’t sure why.

  --

  Kurt approached the door at Dalton Academy.  The band was playing All You Need Is Love, and Blaine emerged in a horrid yellow suit, singing.  Rachel, Santana, and Mercedes were there to meet Kurt.  The Warblers were jovially singing.  Kurt hugged each member of the New Directions as he passed them, then passed Vocal Adrenaline, and proceeded down the stairs where the Deaf Choir was surrounding him, and finally, there at the bottom of the stairs was Blaine again, exactly where they’d met.

  Blaine began making a beautiful speech, hyper-aware of Sebastian standing right behind him, and still wondering about the rest of the Warblers’ absences.  Seriously, where the hell were Hunter and Jeff?  Nick was hardly ever seen without his other half.

  “We met right here.  I took this man’s hand, and we ran down that hallway, and for those of you that know me, know I’m not in the habit of taking people’s hands I’ve never met before, but I think that my soul knew something that my body and my mind didn’t know yet.  It knew that our hands were meant to hold each other, fearlessly and forever.  Which is why it’s never really felt like I was getting to know you, it’s always felt like I was remembering you from something, as if in every lifetime that you and I have ever lived, we have chosen to come back and find each other and fall in love all over again.  Over and over, for all eternity.  And I just feel so lucky that I found you so soon in this lifetime, because all I want to do, all I’ve ever wanted to do, is spend my life loving you.  So,” Blaine said, accepting the ring Sam handed him, “Kurt Hummel, my amazing friend, my one true love, will you marry me?”

  “Yeah.  Yes,” Kurt nodded, starting to cry.  Blaine kissed him.

  The world around them seemed to shatter and bend and Blaine heard a voice in his ear.

  “Blaine?  Blaine, are you okay?”

  Blaine opened his eyes.  The world was still blurry and far too bright.

  “Blaine?”  Blaine struggled to recognize the face in front of him.  “Hello?  Earth to Blainers?”  It was Sebastian.  Blaine didn’t know whether to be happy or sad.

  “Bas?” Blaine asked.

  “Hi there,” Sebastian replied.  “Bad dream?”

  “You have no idea,” Blaine said.

  “Well, you were talking in your sleep so bad, yelling, ‘Where’s Jeff?’, that you actually woke up Nick and Jeff, and they’re pissed,” Sebastian said.

  “Really bad dream,” Blaine said, sitting up in bed and pulling the covers tightly around himself.

  “Do tell,” Sebastian said, putting an arm around him.

  “I’m fairly certain I dreamt I was proposing to Kurt,” Blaine said.  “With Beatles songs.”

  “I told you not to watch Across the Universe before bed,” Sebastian sighed.  “Although I guess the question I should be asking is, proposing to Kurt, excuse me?”

  “I don’t know,” Blaine said.  “It just sorta happened and I had to watch.  I can’t really remember now.  You were there!  You were happy.”

  “I sincerely doubt that,” Sebastian snorted.

  “But Hunter was gone, and Jeff wasn’t there, and neither were David or Thad or really anyone, and Trent kept going on about our tarnished reputation, like Hunter had doped everyone up on steroids and gotten us disqualified,” Blaine said.  Sebastian shot a look at Hunter, who was pretending to be asleep, but Sebastian knew he was really awake and now terrified that Blaine knew his secret.  “But that’s silly.  Everyone knows steroids don’t help you sing or dance better.  Show choir on steroids?  That’s really stupid.  I don’t know.  Nick wasn’t on the council anymore either, I guess that’s when I realized it was a dream.  It couldn’t be real life if Nick was without Jeff.”

  “Nah, it sure wouldn’t,” Sebastian smiled.  “And we’d miss Hunter too, even if he is an insufferable hooker most of the time.”

  “Hey now,” Blaine said.  “Insufferable, yes, but not a hooker.”

  “Right, I was thinking of me again,” Sebastian laughed.  “And maybe it’s not all bad.  Maybe Jeff and Hunter were practicing their dance moves or starting a rock band or something.”  (This is foreshadowing!  RAWR.)

  “Right, because if I was going to make a rock band, which is very highly unlikely, I would definitely choose Jeff to be in it,” Hunter mumbled.

  “No, I’m telling you, I’m pretty sure there were drugs involved,” Blaine said.

  “You have crazy dreams,” Sebastian laughed.  “But I think that was pretty evident from the part where you said you proposed to Kurt.”

  “Would you rather me proposed to you?” Blaine asked.

  “Nah,” Sebastian said, and Blaine was sort of hurt until Sebastian continued, “I want to be the one who does the proposing.”

  At breakfast, Blaine told Trent, Nick, Jeff, and Beats about his dream.

  “Hey, where was I?” Jeff asked.

  “I don’t know!” Blaine exclaimed.

  “I’m so distressed!” Jeff shouted.

  “Why?” Blaine asked.  “Maybe you were making a rock band.”

  “What you’re trying to say is that in the dream version of our lives where you never transferred back here from McKinley, Hunter is an asshole who drugged us all up and got us disqualified from competition, forcing Jeff, Thad, and David’s parents to take them out of the school?” Trent asked.

  “Um… yeah,” Blaine agreed.

  “That’s stupid,” Trent said.  “I don’t think we’d ever do that.”

  “I don’t know,” Nick said.  “I mean, we’ve done some pretty stupid stuff.  I know I’d do anything if it was the only way to keep Jeff from getting hurt.”

  “Yeah, what if we were getting blackmailed?” Jeff said.  “Either you take steroids or you don’t perform at Sectionals?”

  “He couldn’t replace us all,” Trent said.  “That would never work.”

  “Okay, well, Trent, you can wear the big boy pants and be the voice of reason the next time Blaine has a weird dream,” Jeff said.  “Until then, I think we’re all going to agree we would have done anything to win at Sectionals.  I mean, we did pretty much bribe, coerce, and harass Blaine into coming back.”

  “True,” Blaine agreed.

  “I’m still distressed,” Jeff said.  “What would Nicky do here without me?”

  “Probably get really depressed and whine about it,” Sebastian guessed.  “And threaten people, push them into walls, and, eventually, come to see his Uncle Bastian about it, and we would have gone and rescued you.”

  “Yeah, that actually sounds just about right,” Nick said.

  “I’m still stuck the bit about the steroids,” Beats said.  “Even if we did do them, how did we get caught?”  Blaine pointed at Trent.

  “What?” Trent asked, looking like a deer in the headlights.

  “Trent, obviously, the voice of reason, and the sunshine of the group, came to me and Sam.  Told us everything,” Blaine said.

  “Why?” Trent asked.  “Betray the Warblers?  Um, no, that’s not me.  Stupid as it probably was, I would have been right there with them.”

  “Really, you, taking heroic doses of testosterone?  There’s no way,” Beats said.

  “Excuse you,” Trent said, offended, but then, “yeah, you’re right actually.  Man, I really wanted to be one of the bad guys in Blaine’s dream.”

  “Just catch me up on something,” Hunter said, sitting down next to Sebastian with his breakfast tray.  “Why am I giving drugs to kids?”

  “I would assume because you either want to win that badly or because you’re a psychopath,” Nick said.  Blaine nodded.

  “You’re nuts,” Hunter said.  “I would never subject anyone to that.  I… had buddies at military school who got themselves into that stuff.  I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”  Sebastian was the only person at Dalton who knew it had been Hunter that had somehow kicked his steroid addiction before enrolling at Dalton.

  “I have a better idea,” Sebastian said.  “Instead of sitting at breakfast talking about a dream that was stupid in the first place because, let’s remember, Blaine was proposing to Kurt–”

  “That’s not stupid,” Nick and Jeff said at the same time.

  “Your support is overwhelming, thanks guys,” Sebastian said, rolling his eyes.  “Why don’t we do some Beatles songs ourselves?”

  “Meh,” Nick shrugged.

  “Beats?” Sebastian said.  Beats nodded.

  Hey Jude! Don’t make it bad Take a sad song and make it better Remember to let her into your heart Then you can start to make it better Hey Jude! Don’t be afraid You were made to get out and get her The minute you let her under your skin Then you’ll begin to make it better

Better, better, better, better, better, better, yeah! Na, na-na, nananana, nananana, hey Jude Na, na-na, nananana, nananana, hey Jude Na, na-na, nananana, nananana, hey Jude Na, na-na, nananana, nananana, hey Jude

Blaine started screaming out high notes with Sebastian, and they stood on the breakfast table as everyone in the dining hall continued to nanana with the Warblers.

  Hey Jude!

"Well excuse you," Jeff said.

"Guys, this is Courtney," Hunter said, as if suddenly remembering she was there. "Cort, this is Blaine, Nick, Jeff, and Sebastian."

"It's so nice to finally meet all of you," Courtney said. "Hunter can't shut up about you four."

"Oh?" Nick asked. "Is that so?"

"Didn't know we had such an effect on you, Hunt, jeez," Sebastian teased.

"Oh my Gosh," Hunter said, turning red.

"You don't have to stand here in the hall all week," Blaine said. "Come in, come in." He ushered everyone into the living room – which took up half the apartment. On three sides of the room were ceiling to floor, wall to wall glass windows, giving a rather breathtaking view of Manhattan. "I hope you're not scared of heights. We're a long way up."

"I'm not scared of heights, I'm scared of falling," Nick protested.

"He didn't fall, he jumped," Jeff reminded him.

"Well, excuse me," Nick replied.

"But jumping created a paradox," Courtney said. "So it's alright."

"Hunter I love your wife already," Nick said, staring at her. "I was talking Sherlock, but wow."

"Okay, awesome," Hunter said, utterly perplexed by this exchange.

"I know you were," Courtney replied as if Hunter hadn't spoken. "But how else can you explain him surviving the fall?"

"Alright," Jeff sighed. "I give up. You can have him." He let go of Nick's arm and he moved across the room to sit with Courtney. Hunter shrugged.

"So what are we even going to do?" Hunter asked.

"We have board games and movies and some tequila," Sebastian said. "And Blaine owes me some ice-skating on Christmas Eve."

"Me, me, me," Blaine mocked. "You're the one I married, aren't you?" He snuggled into Sebastian's side as if he was a cat and Sebastian smiled.

"Of course," Sebastian said.

"Married?" Jeff asked.

"Mhmm," Sebastian replied absently.

"And we weren't invited? I'm hurt, I'm actually hurt," Jeff said. Courtney and Nick looked up from their deep conversation on which Doctor is best.

"Who got married?" Nick asked.

"Them two," Jeff said, pointing at Sebastian and Blaine.

"And we weren't invited? I'm hurt," Nick said.

"We weren't exactly dressed at the time," Blaine admitted.

"Aw, a naked wedding?" Jeff exclaimed. "I want to have one of those, but Nicky says no."

"I'm sorry, I can't invite my parents to a naked wedding!" Nick said.

"Besides, I don't think it's legal or anything, there weren't any witnesses," Sebastian continued.

"I think it counts," Blaine replied.

"Just had to one-up the rest of us," Jeff said, shaking his head. Nick lost interest and turned back to Courtney to continue their agreement on why no one should skip Nine.

"What board games do you have?" Hunter asked.

"Life, Monopoly, Sorry, Scrabble, the classics," Blaine said.

"I'll play Life if I can marry Nicky," Jeff said.

"Fine with me," Blaine said, shrugging. "You two want to play over there?" he called to Nick and Courtney. No response. "They'll catch up."

An hour later, Hunter and Jeff were arguing over baby names for the twins Hunter had just landed on.

"They're my twins, why can't I name them?" Hunter asked.

"Because you are obviously horrible with names," Jeff said.

"I think you should name them Mehitable and Jebez," Sebastian interjected.

"And suddenly we realize Sebastian isn't allowed to name anything," Blaine said.

"I'm joking," Sebastian laughed.

"You're naming them Victoria and Simon," Jeff said.

"Cort! Jeff's trying to name our twins Victoria and Simon!" Hunter called on Courtney for help.

She looked at him for a second and then said, "Amelia Rose and Matthew David," then turned back to Nick.

"There we go, they have names."

"I'm sorry, but she's cool," Blaine said.

"Yeah, and I'm only a little afraid she might steal Nicky from me," Jeff said. "No offense, but I don't want to trade."

"I'd rather not trade either," Hunter replied. "Your hair just bugs me."

"Hey! I spend a lot of time on this!" Jeff shouted.

"Just roll," Sebastian said, rolling his eyes. Jeff spun the wheel and landed on 7, which took him to Spin Again If Not In Lead and he huffed, crossing his arms, because he was in the lead.

"My turn!" Blaine exclaimed happily, spinning the wheel. "A baby girl!"

"And she needs a name, of course," Sebastian said, "or else Jeff will throw a hissy fit."

"Ariana," Blaine said, decisively.

"If you two have separate cars, with different kids in them, and different houses, how are you married to each other?" Jeff asked, seeing Sebastian's car with four blue pegs, and Blaine's with two blues in the front and a pink in the back. Sebastian was taking up residence in the Tudor, while Blaine happily resided in the Country Cottage. Jeff had become a Superstar, Blaine was a Teacher, Sebastian had chosen Travel Agent, and Hunter had ended up with Athlete. Jeff's car had two blue pegs in the front and two pinks in the back. He and Nick were taking out a mortgage on the Dutch Colonial; Hunter, Courtney, and their twins seemed to be living in the Victorian.

"Who said we were married to each other?" Sebastian asked mysteriously. Blaine swatted him, but Sebastian kissed Blaine in retaliation and Blaine laughed.

"I really thought Nicky and I would get married first," Jeff sighed. "We even had a bet with Thad and Trent."

"It's for Science, John!" Nick suddenly yelled, raising his hand in the air heroically, and parading around the couch Courtney was still sitting on. Courtney was attacked by a fit of the giggles.

"Ignoring you," Sebastian shot at Nick.

"Oh, come on, Bas, we all know you're bitter you never finished your conquest of sleeping with every guy at Dalton," Nick replied.

"I believe I did get everyone, and if you disagree that's your too bad," Sebastian replied haughtily. "Then, having accomplished something for once, I settled down and got married."

"Coming soon to Madison Square Gardens, Warblers on Ice, starring the silver-tongued Sebastian Smythe and his lover Blaine freaking Anderson!" Nick announced.

"Really, Nick?" Sebastian asked.

"Excuse you, Sargent Sassafras, no one hit your buzzer," Nick said, continuing to prance around the room. Sebastian sighed and spun the wheel, getting a 3, and landing on 'Pay Day'.

"I'm getting a little hungry," Courtney said. "Do you have any diced cheese or fruit?"

"Diced cheese and fruit?" Sebastian asked. "How gay do you think we are?"

"There's a platter in the fridge, help yourself," Blaine said.

"Apparently very," Hunter said. Courtney and Nick raced to the kitchen.

"You like her, right?" Jeff asked.

"Yeah, of course I do," Hunter replied. "I'm still not sure how she got passed my mother's selection process, but she's really fun."

"At the very least, she seems to like Nick," Jeff said.

"But the important thing is that you like her," Blaine said.

"I like her! Oh my Gosh," Hunter exclaimed. Courtney and Nick came back in with a bottle of tequila and a platter of cheese and fruit. "Oh man."

"Now you did it," Sebastian said, taking the tequila from Nick. "You're about to learn everything you didn't need to know about Blaine."

"No, no," Blaine said. "I'm not drinking tonight, put that away."

"C'mon, B," Sebastian said.

"No! The last time we shared a bottle of tequila I almost lost you," Blaine said, hugging Sebastian tight.

"And that's never gonna happen again," Sebastian said, kissing Blaine. The doorbell rang and Blaine was out of Sebastian's lap in an instant and answering the door. There was Trent, all bundled up.

"Trent, it's not that cold outside," Blaine laughed.

"That's what you think," Trent replied, shedding his top six layers and walking with Blaine into the living room. "You are really high up here."

"Don't even start with them, they've been discussing how jumping creates a paradox for the last two hours," Jeff warned.

"Oh yeah," Hunter said as if remembering she was there. "Trent, this is Courtney, Courtney, Trent."

"Hi Trent," Courtney said.

"Hello," Trent said, sitting down with Nick and Courtney. "Ten or eleven, then?"

"Well, he's lost," Jeff said as Hunter took his turn.

"Excuse you," Trent said over his shoulder. Jeff spun the wheel a little too hard and it went flying across the room.

"J, come on," Nick said, getting up and retrieving the wheel for his boyfriend. "I play with you every day. Give the other kids a chance." He handed the wheel back to Jeff with a kiss.

"I wish I had someone. You guys make me so jealous," Trent sighed.

"Oh Trent, you'll find someone," Blaine said.

"No, I won't. Even Hunter found somebody and the last relationship I had was with Sebastian," Trent said.

"And that was almost two years ago," Sebastian said.

"You'll get someone, Trent," Blaine repeated. "You're amazing."

"I did… kinda meet a guy at school," Trent said. "He's cute but I don't know what to say."

"I know this is going to come out wrong, but there is an overwhelming amount of gay in this room," Hunter said.

"Be nice," Courtney said.

"Courtney, may I borrow you for a moment?" Sebastian asked, beckoning her to join him.

"Sure," she said, skipping across the room to join Sebastian.

"Forgive me," he prefaced before kissing her briefly. She blushed and returned to her seat next to Nick. "I have now kissed every single person in this room," Sebastian proclaimed.

"So?" Blaine asked. "I've kissed half of them. You, Hunter, and Nick."

"When did you kiss Nicky?" Jeff asked indignantly.

"Chill out, it was before you got together," Blaine said.

"And I'd rather know why you kissed Hunter," Nick said.

"I gave him the exact same talk I gave you," Blaine sighed.

"What talk?" Courtney asked.

"Bonjour, Sébastian!" Sebastian's mother replied. "Et qui est-ce?" (Hello, Sebastian! And who is this?)

"Maman, c'est mon copain, Blaine Anderson. Blaine, this is my mother, Jacqueline Gauthier," Sebastian introduced them. (Mother, this is my boyfriend…)

"It's very nice to meet you, Blaine," Jacqueline purred, her words very heavily accented. "Sébastian speaks of you often."

"I should hope it's all good things, of course, and pleasure's all mine, I'm sure," Blaine replied.

"Maman, puis j'allez à ma chambre à coucher avec Blaine?" Sebastian asked. Jacqueline surveyed her son for a moment, but smiled and nodded. "Merci!" (Mother, may I go to my bedroom with Blaine? Thank you.)

"I did get an A in French," Blaine said as Sebastian pulled him off in the direction of the house, "but why did you ask your mother if we could go to your bedroom?"

"Because it's polite," Sebastian replied, "and because François hates me."

"Alors!" shouted a voice from behind them. Sebastian slowed his run to a walk and sighed. "Où vas-tu?" (Hey! Where are you going?)

"Sophie!" Sebastian said, holding out his arms. She ran at him and jumped into his embrace. "Blaine, Sophie, Sophie, Blaine."

"Ton fiancé," Sophie said. (Your fiancé.)

"Non! Non, non," Sebastian said quickly. "Mon copain." (No! No, no. My boyfriend.)

"D'accord," Sophie said, as though she didn't believe it. (Okay.)

"Blaine, Sophie is my step-sister," Sebastian said. Sophie extended her hand to shake Blaine's. "And unfortunately she doesn't speak much English."

"Mais j'apprends!" Sophie insisted. (But I'm learning!)

"Oui," Sebastian said, smiling at her. "Et je t'enseignerai, mais maintenant Blaine et moi–" (Yes. And I will teach you, but right now Blaine and I–)

"Vous avez quelque chose adulte à faire?" Sophie guessed. (You have something adult to do?)

"Ah… oui," Sebastian admitted. (Um, yes.)

"Bien, je veux retourner à la soirée, mais je vous surveille," Sophie replied. She hopped out of Sebastian's arms, hesitated a moment, then gave Blaine a hug, before skipping back off to the party, shouting, "Au revoir, Sébastian, au revoir, Blaine!" (Fine, I will return to the party, but I'm watching you. Goodbye Sebastian, Goodbye Blaine.)

"Sorry 'bout that," Sebastian said. "This must be a giant whirlwind of accents and sexy French guys, huh?"

"Only sexy French guy I see is you," Blaine said. "How about we go back to your chambre à coucher and faire des choses adultes?"

"That was almost a good try, honey," Sebastian laughed, kissing Blaine's hair. "But sure, let's do exactly that."

"Do some adult things?" Blaine asked.

"I guess, Sophie seemed to want us to do them…" Sebastian said, still laughing.

"So… we're going to balance your checkbook?" Blaine asked.

"I guess that's one adult thing," Sebastian said, "but I can think of a whole host of things I've wanted to do to you in this… let's call a spade a spade, it's a castle. In this castle. And none of them involve checkbooks." He thought about that statement for a second. "Thought I spoke too soon, but nope, none involve checkbooks."

"How do you say checkbook in French?" Blaine asked.

"Baby, I'm not giving you a French lesson," Sebastian said. "You should have paid more attention in school."

"Le livre du chèques?" Blaine guessed.

"Your grammar is absolutely appalling," Sebastian said, wincing at Blaine's use of 'du'. "Please don't try to speak in French to any of my relatives."

"Oh, please," Blaine said. "Do I really embarrass you that much?"

"You just wait until we get back to New York," Sebastian said.

"Why did you freak out when Sophie asked if I was your fiancé?" Blaine asked. "Are you finally realizing your fear of commitment?"

"What? Who said I was afraid of commitment?" Sebastian asked.

"No one. You're just… like… a sex shark," Blaine said. "You have to keep moving or you'll drown."

"I'm not afraid of commitment," Sebastian said. "I had one night stands because no one was perfect enough for me until you came along. I set Sophie straight on the fiancé thing because I didn't know if you were ready to take that step yet. We're only eighteen."

"And if we're waiting on forever, why wouldn't now be the perfect time for that?" Blaine asked.

"Parce que… toujours est… parfait," Sebastian said. "Blaine, I've been… stupid, and an idiot, and all kinds of things that should have made you give up on me, but somehow, we're still here. I know we haven't been together that long, but it feels like an eternity. Blaine Warbler, est-ce que tu me maries?" (Because… forever is… perfect. Will you marry me?)

"Oui," Blaine replied breathlessly. (Yes.)

"Et maintenant, tu es mon fiancé," Sebastian said. "Je t'aime." (And now, you are my fiancé. I love you.)

"Je t'aime aussi," Blaine said. "More, even." (I love you also.)

"Tu connais ce n'est pas possible," Sebastian smiled, picking Blaine up bridal-style and spinning him around as they neared the chateau. "And it's 'le carnet de chèques'." (You know that's not possible.)

"Like I ever would have known that," Blaine laughed. Sebastian carried Blaine through the castle and up to his bedroom, a perfectly round room with a Cali-King size bed in the exact middle. Sebastian unceremoniously dumped Blaine on the bed, then shut the door.

"So, B, what do you think?"

"I think… your room is awesome," Blaine replied. Sebastian laughed, and began to take off his suit jacket and tie.

"Ready to balance my checkbook?" Sebastian asked. Blaine took off his jacket and bowtie as well.

"Just one question," Blaine asked.

"What?" Sebastian breathed.

"When?" Blaine asked.

"When what?" Sebastian asked.

"When are we getting married?" Blaine asked.

"Tomorrow if you like," Sebastian said. "Under the Eiffel Tower." Blaine laughed. "Or we can wait and do it back in Ohio, or even New York. Qu'est-ce que tu penses?" (What do you think?)

"Hier," Blaine said, decisively.

"That's yesterday, honey," Sebastian said.

"Demain," Blaine corrected himself.

"Tomorrow, under the Eiffel Tower?" Sebastian asked.

"Non," Blaine changed his mind. "Maintenant. Ici."

"Right here, right now?" Sebastian asked. "Alright. Do you, Blaine Devon Anderson, promise to love me forever and ever, even with my dark side?"

"I do," Blaine said. "And do you, Sebastian Smythe, promise to love me forever no matter what?"

"I do," Sebastian agreed. He leaned into Blaine, capturing his lips in a kiss that seemed to last an eternity, because that's what they were.

"Why aren't you singing?" Blaine asked as Hunter squeezed in on the other side of Sebastian and Kurt settled himself on the arm next to Blaine.

"Wasn't in it," Sebastian replied.

Nick began singing, soon to be joined by Trent.

I took my baby on a Saturday date Is that girl with you, yes, we're one in the same Now I believe in miracles and a miracle has happened tonight But if you're thinking about my baby, it don't matter if you're black or white

Somewhere after the second verse, Trent pulled Kurt up and Nick picked up Blaine to join the dance, but neither Hunter nor Sebastian was invited. Then Blaine started to rap.

It's not about races, it's places, faces Where your blood comes from is where your space is I've seen the bright get duller, I'm not gonna spend my life being a color

Then it was Kurt:

Don't tell me you agree with me, when I saw you kicking dirt in my eye

If you're thinking about my baby, it don't matter if you're black or white

Nick and Blaine shared a sudden brainwave, seizing Hunter and Sebastian, finally inviting them to join the rest.

If you're thinking about being my brother, it don't matter if you're black or white

"So why weren't you in it?" Kurt finally asked when the song ended.

"I don't really want to talk about it," Sebastian replied. Everyone looked to Jeff for another fantastic flashback.

Sebastian didn't come out of his room for three days after the slushee incident. Even Trent tried to coax him out. No reply. If Nick and Jeff didn't hear the bedsprings creak or the toilet flush occasionally, they would have assumed he wasn't even there. Sebastian was even a no show at Sunday Warbler practice. Nick made the executive decision to run the practice.

"We're not doing MJ for Regionals," Nick said. The rest of the Warblers murmured assent. "But I think in honor of our fallen hero, Blaine, we should learn Black or White. For fun. It's been so long since we did anything for fun." The rest agreed and Trent handed out the sheet music, which by the end of the song (per Warbler tradition) had ended up all over the library floor.

"Now!" Nick announced. "We need to talk about Sebastian."

"He doesn't deserve to be Captain," Trent said.

"Or lead singer," Thad interjected.

"Order, order, please!" Nick called.

"All in favor of Nick becoming the new Captain of the Warblers?" Jeff asked. Every hand went up immediately.

"Jeff, please," Nick said.

"Nominations to fill Sebastian's council seat," Jeff continued.

"Trent," Thad said.

"Second," David grunted.

"All in favor?" Jeff asked. All hands again. "Unanimous." He took the gavel and banged it.

"Jeffrey!" Nick shouted as Trent joined them at the council's table. "No." Jeff immediately stopped everything he was doing and looked at the ground. "We are not throwing Sebastian out." Immediate protests. "But we're not going to let him run the whole show. I appreciate your faith in me, but I think we can all agree Sebastian is the better soloist–" More protests, louder. "Warblers, please! Regionals are in three weeks, the theme is inspiration. Please begin thinking of songs. We'll reconvene on Tuesday, 5pm. Meeting adjourned." The Warblers dispersed. Jeff and Trent latched onto Nick as he made his way back to the dorms.

"You can't be serious," Trent said.

"This, coming from you, are you serious?" Nick shot at Trent.

"You are fully aware that I was being blackmailed," Trent said icily.

"Still," Nick said. "You didn't have to like it."

"Excuse me for having fun. Nothing your boyfriend hasn't done," Trent snarked. Jeff was still looking at the ground and hadn't said a word since Nick had told him not to.

"Jeff knows that was wrong and had made up for the transgression," Nick said. "Haven't you, dear?"

"Yes, Nicky," Jeff said quietly.

"Sebastian is evil and I'm not denying that, but I still want to win," Nick said. "We washed last year. That was our fault. This is our year." Trent turned into his and Thad's room. "Jeff?"

"Huh?" Jeff asked, snapping his head up.

"Whatcha thinking about in there?" Nick asked.

"Nothing really," Jeff said. "I'm just really, really sorry."

"Hush. We've forgiven and forgotten," Nick replied. "Go take a shower. I'll be with you in a minute." Jeff obeyed silently. Nick went next door and knocked on Sebastian's door. No reply. Nick tried the handle. Unlocked. Surprisingly, Sebastian was lying on the floor in the center of the carpet in his uniform. Not moving. Nick was concerned until the door creaked and Sebastian's voice rang out:

"Leave me alone."

"Sebastian," Nick said, kneeling down to the left of Sebastian's head.

"Fuck off, Nick," Sebastian replied.

"Excuse me, Sargent Sassafras," Nick said. "Take it down a notch, will you? We need to talk." Sebastian didn't move, so Nick continued speaking. "Do you want to stay a Warbler?"

"Yes," Sebastian replied immediately.

"Why?" Nick asked. Sebastian sat up on the carpet across from Nick.

"My entire life, it's the only thing that's been constant – show choir, that is. I've been to what feels like a million schools, but the only thing that's been the same is this. I don't know why I love it so much, I just do."

"It's right up there with sex, huh?" Nick joked.

"Hey now, I wouldn't go that far," Sebastian said. "Winning is right up there, but…"

"We're going – I. I'm going to let you stay on the Warblers if you want to. I will not tolerate any more violence, however. The Warblers have a deep tradition of class and sportsmanship."

"They elected you Captain, then," Sebastian said.

"Yes, but I'm not accepting it. I'm not a good leader. Head of the council with Jeff at my side, that's my job," Nick said. "I'll remind you that the council has executive power over the captain. The council picks the songs and the council picks the solos. So watch your step."

"I'm not on the council?" Sebastian asked. Nick bit his lip.

"No. Trent's taking the spot," he said. He stood up to leave. "We'll review the situation after Regionals. The theme is 'Inspiration'." He walked to the door before Sebastian said something.

"I'm still planning to collect you," Sebastian warned. Nick was the only Warbler Sebastian hadn't taken yet, though he still had a good portion of the school yet to conquest.

"Good luck," Nick snorted as he left, slamming the door behind him.

"But… didn't you?" Blaine asked Nick.

"Let's not talk about it," Nick said.

"All right!" Jeff yelled. "Truth or Dare! Let's go!"

"Truth or Dare is lame, c'mon," Hunter said.

"Well, unless you want to play Spin the Bottle…" Sebastian said.

"There are 16 people in this room and I'm only comfortable kissing about half of you," Nick said. "No offense."

"We used to play this game at my old school called Ask Me Anything," Hunter said.

"Can I guess what the rules are?" Thad asked.

"When it's your turn, you can ask anyone a question about anything and they have to answer. It can also be in the form of a dare," Hunter explained. "The catch is, you ask the question and the room decides who answers."

"That sounds lame," Blaine said. "Let's do it!" They began playing and most of the time it was a fit of giggles. Finally, it was Blaine's turn. "Alright… um… If Hunter and Sebastian were in a relationship, which would top?"

"Um, I think Sebastian and Hunter should answer, then I want to input," Jeff said.

"Me, obviously," Sebastian and Hunter both said at the same time.

"Excuse me," Sebastian said. "Do I look like a bottom?"

"Yes," Jeff snorted.

"Well, I'm certainly not going to!" Hunter exclaimed.

"Then I guess we can't be in a relationship," Sebastian snipped, folding his arms.

"Let's dwell on this for a minute here," Jeff said. "I was going to say Hunter and I have a few reasons to back this up. Firstly, I would like to say that no matter who bottoms, it is really enjoyable. Secondly, Hunter, to me, seems to have that dominant personality."

"I don't have a dominant personality?!" Sebastian asked. "I've screwed everyone in this room. How is that not dominant?"

"Yet Hunter hasn't screwed anyone and they'd all willingly follow him," Jeff said. Sebastian looked around.

"Well, that's probably because the rest of you hate me," Sebastian finally said.

"None of us really hate you," Nick said.

"If Hunter had no morals like you, I think he would be too hot to handle," Jeff said. "Even you just bow you head and let Hunter have it."

"You obviously have never seen us in the bedroom," Sebastian snipped.

"And I don't really want to," Jeff said. "Secondly, no, this is thirdly now but it's really two and a half: you wear that tie because you think you're such a big shot, but if you take that off, lose control, I think you might even like it." Jeff winked. "And that's all I'm going to say on it."

"So, it's settled, it's me," Hunter said.

"We'll see about that," Sebastian said.

"Fortunately we'll never have to," Hunter replied.

"Okay next question!" Nick said.

"Out of everyone in the room, who gives the best blowjobs?" Jeff asked. Nick and Jeff pointed at each other, everyone else in the room pointed to Sebastian. Sebastian smiled.

"Yes, yes, that is an easy one," Sebastian said. "Though I'm not sure why Hummel thinks he knows."

"I'm assuming," Kurt said, "but I can change my vote to Blaine, if you like."

"Who in the room has the biggest dick?" Thad asked. Nick and Jeff pointed to Nick, Sebastian pointed to Hunter, and everyone else kind of vaguely shrugged in Sebastian's direction, assuming he knew what was right, except Blaine who was pointing to Kurt. Kurt abstained from voting.

"Assuming no one is lying, I'm going to need to know the answer," Jeff said. "And I hope it's Nicky."

"No," Sebastian disagreed. "Hunter."

"Oh yeah, I forgot you'd seen it," Jeff said, dejected.

"I am suddenly very aware of the fact that I have the biggest penis in the room and I'm feeling very self-conscious," Hunter said.

"Yet Blaine is still pointing to Kurt," Nick observed. Blaine dropped his hand. Sebastian put his ear next to Blaine's head for Blaine to tell him. Sebastian's eyes widened and he looked at Kurt. Kurt simply stretched out on the couch in a way that was so Kurt.

"Holy hell, Hummel, how do you fit that in those pants?" Sebastian asked.

"Oh my God," Blaine said, blushing and looking at the floor.

"Next question," Jeff announced.

"Tell us a secret," Hunter said.

"Size doesn't matter much," Kurt said smoothly.

"I have never had sex with Sebastian," Nick said.

"Nick and I didn't kill Pavarotti," Jeff said.

"Wait, what?" Kurt asked. "Pavarotti died of a stroke."

"No," Jeff said. "The canary that died was poisoned. But the canary that died wasn't Pavarotti."

"What?" half the room asked.

"Pav is fine," Jeff continued. "He's been living with my sister for the last two years."

"I don't even…" Kurt said.

"How could you do that?" Blaine asked.

"How could neither of you notice?" Jeff asked. "Please. We're professional pranksters. Look out Michigan!"

"The Weasley twins ain't got nothing on Niff," Nick said.

"You two need to go sit in the corner and think about what you've done," Blaine directed. "Meanwhile, I think we need to continue this flashback story."

"Come on Tweets, eat the damn birdseed," Sebastian coaxed. "That's a good boy." A knock on the door. "It's open!" Nick, Jeff, and Trent walked in. "Ah, the council. I've been terminated as a Warbler, then."

"No, shut your mouth. Sit down," Nick said. Sebastian sat at his desk. Nick threw a folder onto the desk. "Setlist. Regionals." Sebastian hesitated, then opened the folder. "There are three songs. Pick two. Your choice, Captain."

"Right now?" Sebastian asked.

"Would be nice, but you can have until tonight's council meeting if you need it," Nick said. "Let's go." The three council members turned to leave.

"That really doesn't seem like a three person job," Sebastian said. "What's the matter, Duval? Scared of what I might do if I got you by yourself?" If you had blinked, you would have missed it. One second Sebastian was sitting at his desk and Nick was across the room between Jeff and Trent. The next, Nick had Sebastian pinned against the far wall, roughly grasping his blazer lapel with the most murderous look on his face, that even Sebastian was a little scared, but he played it off, remarking, "Kinky," with a smirk.

"Do not push me, Sebastian," Nick warned. Nick let go of his blazer and backed off. "I brought them for your protection, not mine." Then they'd gone. Sebastian breathed heavily against the wall. Pick two songs. He could handle that.

Glad You Came. That was a definite. Not only was it a bitchin song, think of all the jokes and innuendos during rehearsals.

Stand. Inspirational, sure.

Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You). Also fitting of the bill but too feminist for Sebastian, especially if he was singing it. He wasn't a big fan of the female pop artists like Blaine had been.

Stand it was then. He stood up to bang on the wall to tell Jeff his choices so they could begin work on the choreography (not that Nick would let Jeff alone with Sebastian ever again), but then his phone began to go crazy on his desk – call from Blainers. He'd heard one of the Warblers he didn't care the name of use the nickname and thought it was too perfect. Hesitantly, he answered it.

"Hello?"

He'd entertained the thought that it might not be Blaine on the other side of the phone, but it was.

"Hi," Blaine said. He sounded nervous.

"Blaine, I'm sorry about–" Sebastian began.

"No," Blaine said. "Let me. Surgery went fine. I'm – Kurt says I – Never mind that. Tomorrow night, Valentine's… Sugar Motta is hosting a Valentine's party at Breadstix. I… I, uh… I should have called Nick…"

"What?" Sebastian urged.

"I wanted to invite you and a few of the Warblers to the party, but I just remembered that my friends will probably kill you, so it's probably a bad idea," Blaine said. "Never mind." The line went dead.

Everyone was staring at Blaine, who was pointedly not looking at anyone in the room, especially Kurt. Sebastian put his arm around Blaine's shoulders and Blaine didn't flinch away.

"Why would you do that?" Kurt asked quietly. Blaine didn't answer.

"Blainers, really?" Jeff asked Sebastian.

"I've never actually called him that!" Sebastian said defensively.

"And what do you mean 'one of the Warblers he didn't care the name of'?" one of the Warblers Sebastian didn't care the name of asked.

"Oh, please," Sebastian said, rolling his eyes. "Like I really know all your names."

"Why would you do that?" Kurt asked Blaine a little more loudly.

"I can't hold grudges like you," Blaine said. "I tried to, but you know that's not me. Sebastian was my friend. That's all I ever wanted."

"Because Nick and Jeff and Trent couldn't have possibly been your friends," Kurt said.

"So you get to say who my friends are, but if I try to stop you from talking to Karofsky or Chandler, I'm suddenly a bad guy?" Blaine asked.

"Speaking of!" Jeff interjected, because a fighting Klaine was the last thing he wanted to see just then. "Let's continue our story!"

"No, I want to finish this," Kurt said.

"Tooo bad," Jeff said.

"Warblers, Warblers, order!" Nick called. Jeff had taken custody of the gavel and banged it once or twice. "The setlist has been chosen, and rehearsals will begin on the 15th. Let's discuss our Valentine's day options."

"Valentine's sucks," was the general consensus.

"Excuse you, but some people like myself happen to be deeply in love," Nick said. "Now. Last year the Warblers provided entertainment for a Lonely Hearts Club at Breadstix in Lima. This year, I have been informed by a source that would like to remain anonymous that we are persona non grata at Breadstix for Sugar Motta's Sugar Shack. You can all thank Sebastian. Therefore, I propose we crash Crawford Country Day's Valentine's Mixer as a group and mindlessly serenade them. Maybe some of you losers can even get girlfriends."

"All those opposed?" Jeff asked lazily. "So it shall be." He banged the gavel again.

"Meeting adjourned," Nick said. The Warblers dispersed, Sebastian hurried to catch up with Nick. "Don't even think about it, not this close to Valentine's, I will cut your balls off," Nick said, sensing Sebastian behind him.

"First of all, ow. Secondly, who said we're uninvited to Sugar's party?" Sebastian asked.

"My source has specifically requested anonymity," Nick replied smoothly.

"So it was Hummel," Sebastian said.

"Yes," Jeff interjected. Nick sighed.

"Blaine didn't call you?" Sebastian asked.

"Why would he?" Nick asked.

"Because he called me," Sebastian said. "To invite the three of us and Trent, I think, to Sugar's party. Then he changed his mind and hung up."

"And then he changed his mind and hung up?" Nick asked skeptically.

"Never mind," Sebastian sighed, ducking into his dorm room. Nick and Jeff entered their own room.

"Do you think Blaine really called Sebastian?" Jeff asked.

"I don't know," Nick said, "but if he did, it means we're off the hook."

"It does seem like something Blaine would do. He never has been able to hold a grudge very long," Jeff said.

"I don't know, though," Nick said. "Isn't Blaine supposed to still be recovering from surgery?"

"Maybe he only invited Sebastian so that his friends could kill him," Jeff suggested.

"Would solve a lot of problems, but then we wouldn't have a soloist," Nick said.

"Pff, you'll be the soloist!" Jeff exclaimed.

"Please, J, let's be real," Nick said. "We're up against Blaine. I can't beat him."

"And you think Sebastian can?" Jeff asked.

"When was the last time we had a conversation that didn't somehow get turned to Blaine-talk?" Nick asked.

"Probably before we met him," Jeff conceded.

"That is haunting," Nick said.

"Then we had sex," Jeff admitted to the crowd of Warblers sitting around the library. "But somehow Blaine still managed to come up in the middle of it.

"You made me stop texting Chandler because it was cheating," Kurt said to Blaine.

"It was cheating!" Blaine argued.

"But actually sleeping with Sebastian, what was that?" Kurt squeaked.

"Okay, they're still fighting," Jeff said. "Back to the story. Bas, you're up."

It was pretty late by the time the Crawford Country Day Valentine's Mixer rolled to a close. The chaperones for the girls school turned the lights on and kicked all the men out. Chivalrous, indeed. Nick and Jeff took their own ride back to Dalton. Sebastian sat in his sports car for a few minutes, trying to decide what was right. Blaine wanted him there. Screw everyone else. He turned on the car and drove into Lima.

It was very late by the time he pulled up outside Breadstix, but there was that stupid public school Glee club singing number after number, munching on those shitty breadsticks… Sebastian was about to get out of his car and crash what was left of the party when he spotted Blaine through the window, looking perfectly happy, healthy, and so Blaine, mashed up against Kurt as they slow danced to whatever song Sebastian couldn't hear.

They looked so… so perfect together. Sebastian put his car back in gear and drove away. He couldn't bring himself to tear them apart from each other. It had been fun at first, but he'd gone too far. Way too far. He drove to Scandals and did what he did best.

Sebastian finished recounting his tale, and noted that Kurt and Blaine had stopped arguing to look at him in disbelief.

"Perfect together, really?" Nick finally broke the silence.

"Well, in retrospect I probably should have gone in because when I got to Scandals, I told Karofsky to fuck off, which I'm sure did nothing for his mood," Sebastian said. "He was dicking around like someone'd just broke his heart, anyway." A tiny cough caught in Kurt's throat. "Yes, Hummel, did you have something to interject?"

"I did," Kurt admitted quietly. "He'd been sending me presents all week and finally worked up the courage to tell me he liked me…"

"Because when he said 'I'm gonna kill you' what he really meant was 'I want to kiss you'," Blaine said. "Common misconception, trust me." A moment of dead silence. "Kurt, seriously."

"I told him no!" Kurt said.

"You know how many times I told Sebastian no?" Blaine countered.

"Forty-three," Sebastian interjected. "I was counting."

"But he's not that great at taking no for an answer," Nick said, "which I think was the context under which I agreed to get naked in the same room as him."

"We were also really drunk," Jeff said.

"Well, faint heart never won fair lady," Sebastian snipped. "How do you think I got myself such a delicious piece of man-candy?" He put his arm back around Blaine and pulled him in tight and even though it shouldn't have been, they were just so cute. It was unreal.

"I may vomit," Kurt said.

"No, you know what, I think they're cute," Nick said.

"What?" Jeff asked, turning to his boyfriend.

"You heard me, they're cute!" Nick said. "I know we decided to ship Klaine or whatever it is you call it, but I don't know. They're cute."

"Finally I can say this without being sarcastic: Thank you for your support,," Sebastian said, raising a fist to bump with Nick.

"Yeah, now get a room," Nick said. "You're cute, but there are limits."

"Well, well, well, if it isn't a young Barbra Streisand and an old Betty White!" Sebastian exclaimed. "Where is gay Cyclops, still trying to stumble his way in?"

"We can't come here anymore," Kurt remarked to Rachel.

"Rachel, I got an engagement gift for you," Sebastian said, handing her an envelope with a pink bow on it. Rachel opened it, should have been more cautious. Inside was an obviously photoshopped picture of Finn, naked, wearing red high heels. "Just think, from now until eternity, every time someone googles Finn Hudson, they'll be treated to that and dozens just like it. That's the beauty of the internet. It stays with us forever."

"What do you want, Sebastian?" Rachel asked.

"I want a guaranteed Regionals win, so I want you to drop out. McKinley gets home-court advantage this year. You're gonna come down with Asian bird flu or whatever Tina Blowin-Wang just had," Sebastian told her.

"But that is show choir terrorism!" Rachel said.

"You give a bad name to the entire gay community," Kurt interjected.

"And you give the gay community cutting edge fashion that's usually only found on Puerto Rican Pride floats," Sebastian shot back.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you, I was distracted by your giant horse teeth," Kurt replied.

"You have 24 hours to drop out, Rachel, or I press the upload button," Sebastian said. He left the Lima Bean. Learning the New Directions' names had really come in useful.

…

"Hey!" Nick shouted down the hall. Sebastian hesitated, then turned around. Nick and Jeff were walking toward him at a brisk pace.

"Only two of you today, feeling particularly good about yourselves?" Sebastian asked. "Or finally decide to schedule that threesome?" Then he was being slammed against the wall of the hallway. If anyone unfriendly came along, Nick would be expelled without a second thought because of the no-bullying policy, so it must have been important.

"What did you do to Karofsky?" Nick spat in Sebastian's face, still holding him to the wall.

"What?" Sebastian asked. "Nothing?"

"We already know it was you, give it up," Nick said.

"What happened?" Sebastian asked.

"The boys at his school found out he's gay, and he tried to hang himself," Nick half-yelled.

"I didn't tell them!" Sebastian argued.

"Right, why should we believe you?" Jeff asked.

"What do I have against him? I could team up with him to break up Blaine and Kurt," Sebastian said. "Besides, I don't believe in outing." Nick took his hand off Sebastian and backed up a halfstep.

"Alright, I believe that for some reason," Nick said, "even though two weeks ago you wanted to out Jeff to his entire family." Sebastian straightened his blazer haughtily.

"I didn't know they didn't already know," he said. "Judging by his hair alone, I figured everyone did."

"Hey!" Jeff said. "I work hard on my hair– Oh. That may have been their first clue, actually."

"Not that I particularly care, but you said 'tried' to hang himself," Sebastian veered the conversation back on topic. "Is he okay then?"

"His father found him, thank God," Nick said. "If I find out you had anything to do with this, I swear to anything that's up there, I will find a way to hurt you." He and Jeff turned in perfect sync and were gone before Sebastian recovered his breath. He probably deserved that. He straightened his clothes one more time, pulled his tie a little tighter, and continued the walk to the commons for lunchtime Warbler practice. With Regionals so close, they were practicing all the time. Complaints can be brought in writing to Councilor Duval or Sterling.

Later that afternoon, he sent a text to Blaine and Santana, telling them to meet him at the Lima Bean. Sebastian sat at a table, doing his homework. In what has been fondly referred to as the gayest scene in Glee history, Blaine, Kurt, Brittany, and Santana all marched into the Lima Bean and surrounded Sebastian. He explained that he'd destroyed the Finn photos (and, although he didn't say it, all the blackmail material he'd had on the Warblers), and that the Warblers would be taking donations for Lady Gaga's Born This Way foundation.

Sebastian had never been that proud of who he was, but he'd never been ashamed either. He didn't discuss his sexuality, he just let people know with his actions. This, the Born This Way foundation, this was Sebastian's first real step in the right direction.

After the competition, when the New Directions were crowned champions, Blaine came over to the Warblers to shake Sebastian's hand.

All was forgiven.

"What do we do if he doesn't come back for his stuff?" Hunter asked.

"Box it up, take it to my house," Blaine replied quietly. "It all has to go to our apartment anyhow."

"You're still moving to New York with him?" Kurt asked.

"If he'll have me," Blaine said.

"Pack of cigs," Sebastian ordered of the man behind the counter, throwing his ID and some cash onto the counter. The man stared at him.

"What kind?" the man asked.

Sebastian indicated his choice and added, "A lighter too." Once out of the convenience store, he lit up. He thought it would feel good, doing something Blaine had deprived him of, but really it just made him miss Blaine that much more. He threw the barely used cigarette to the ground and put it out with his shoe. Looking around, he sighed. This wasn't home, not anymore. He quickly walked the few blocks back to the office he'd come from.

Thomas Smythe, Attorney at Law

He wasn't thrilled to be back with his father, but the man did get him into NYU, not that he particularly wanted to go anymore. The Smythes had so much money, Sebastian didn't need to go to college, he didn't need to have a job, heck he didn't even need to stay in the States, but he really didn't like François any more than he liked his father, and solo trans-Atlantic flights were depressing. More than anything, he wished Blaine was here. He could show him Chicago, walk the beat, kiss at the top of the Sears Tower, see a Cubs game or something, anything.

Deciding not to return to his father's office, Sebastian hailed the next cab he saw and headed to the burbs, specifically to the school he'd gone to. Once there, he let the cab drive off and just sat outside the building, sitting on the curb, crying. It was abandoned, apparently shut down because of asbestos, condemned, to be torn down the next month.

"I just don't know what to do," Blaine said, staring at his coffee cup. He didn't really want it, but it was nice to have something to hold in his hand.

"Is this a job for Nightbird and the Blonde Chameleon?" Sam asked, hopefully. Blaine shook his head. Sam looked down at the table, dejected.

"No," Blaine said. "My parents won't be home for a week and a half, I'll probably just get drunk at my house."

"Blaine, if I may be so bold," Kurt said. Blaine didn't respond, so Kurt continued. "There is no feeling you can drink away. I thought I taught you that."

"It's possible that you did tell me that," Blaine said. "Doesn't mean I don't want to try."

"Have you thought of looking for Sebastian?" Kurt asked quietly. Blaine grunted. "If you really love him, you have to try."

"What the hell do you know about love," Blaine shot back, not realizing, really, who he was talking to. Kurt sat up a little straighter, trying to think of an appropriate response to that, but before he could, Blaine answered himself. "Sorry, that was stupid. I'm just frustrated. How could he think I could just give him up like that?"

"Probably because he's not used to having someone there for him," Kurt replied. "This is Sebastian we're talking about. His entire laundry list of relationships before you consisted of drunken one night stands." Blaine's head snapped up at that and it finally hit him deep for the first time: every single one of his friends had been with his boyfriend.

"Where are Nick and Jeff?" Blaine asked.

"I think they're still at Dalton," Kurt said, checking his watch.

"Let's go," Blaine said, standing up, seizing Kurt's arm, and dragging him from the McDonalds. Kurt had point-blank refused to go to the Lima Bean. The drive back to Westerville was excruciatingly long and Blaine wondered why Sebastian had bothered to make it so often just to see him. Then that hit him as well.

"What's going on?" Nick asked, when he answered the door. His clothes were rumpled and his hair was all out of place… Blaine had obviously just interrupted something private. He found he didn't care.

"Where's Sebastian?" Blaine asked.

"How should we know?" Nick asked.

"Chicago," Jeff grunted. Nick, Blaine, and even Kurt turned to stare at him. He rolled groggily out of bed and even though he was still mostly clothed, he looked positively debauched. They had clearly interrupted something very private.

"How…" Nick half-asked his boyfriend.

"Hunter left this morning to find him," Jeff replied. "He'll be getting there soon. I will tell you as soon as I have more details, now please remove yourselves, this is Nick's and my last day together for a while." Jeff reached over Nick's shoulder and shut the door in Blaine and Kurt's faces. Blaine had never seen either Jeff or Nick grumpy, but he'd also never almost walked in on them doing the nasty. Blaine reluctantly retreated to his own room with Kurt.

"Chicago's four hours from here," Kurt said quietly. Blaine didn't say anything. "Why Chicago?"

"He went home," Blaine said, blankly. He sat on his bed, not believing.

Sebastian stood up from the curb, determined for some reason. He kicked his way into the condemned building, walking down the once-familiar halls, smiling as he passed his various classrooms, stopping short outside the janitor's closet. There it was, door ajar in the abandoned building. He kicked the door open with much more force than was necessary. Everything was exactly as he remembered it. Sebastian was overwhelmed and fled the building.

He ran all the way to his father's house, more than a few miles, but it felt good to run, to ache, to burn with the need for air and water. He practically crashed through the back door of the house. He ran all the way up to his room. It barely belonged to him anymore, but he'd dropped his backpack that was all he'd brought with him from Dalton on his bed when he'd gotten there that morning. Now he pulled his laptop from it, setting the computer on his old desk. He waited impatiently for it to connect to the internet then searched for Luis Alvarez, hoping to find the facebook or twitter of the man who had tormented him. Instead he was linked to the Illinois State Sex Offender Registry.

What a wonderful thing, the registry, really. Up to date address, still in the area. Sebastian committed the address to memory and without thinking was jogging down the road again.

"You okay?" Kurt asked. Blaine didn't answer, just continued packing everything in the room into one of three boxes: "B", "S", or "H". "Probably stupid to ask. I guess I know how you feel." Still no answer. Sighing, Kurt walked to Blaine's closet and began folding his clothes so they wouldn't wrinkle. "What do you like about him?"

"We were in love, I don't need a reason," Blaine said.

"No, I'm sure you don't need one, but… I know you have one," Kurt replied.

"You're just trying to fish 'why him not me' out of me and I don't want to do this right now," Blaine said, frowning at the "S" box in front of him.

"No, I'm not," Kurt said.

"I know you're different. You're very different from each other," Blaine said. "I like that you're different, it doesn't give me much room to compare. Like, as in literally, the only two things you have in common are cocks and a mutual interest in me. And you're both so tall…"

"So, from what I've gathered, you are into guys who are tall, have cocks, and are interested in you," Kurt summarized. "Seeing how short and adorable you are, that's every guy in the world. Except Thad."

"Kurt, please," Blaine sighed. "I don't know why him and not you."

"I didn't ask!" Kurt insisted.

"You didn't have to," Blaine said. "It was implied."

"How can you date someone who voluntarily wears two popped collars?" Kurt practically screamed, his high-pitched voice getting almost supersonic.

"I don't know, I never noticed," Blaine said, chucking a few more things into an "H" box before wrenching open Sebastian's closet and starting to fold all his clothes. "I was more focused on other things."

"Like what?"

"Like, I don't know, trying to keep my mouth from expelling word vomit," Blaine said.

"Does that happen very often?" Kurt asked.

"You have no idea," Blaine replied.

Sebastian jogged down the sidewalk, slowing as he reached an intersection. He looked left down the street, then right, then turned right and walked a little farther, he was close to his destination now. What was he even going to say? What would he do? Luis hadn't been caught with Sebastian, but it wasn't long after that he had been caught with some other poor little boy, maybe the same year in the same closet. Sebastian should be finding that boy. Odds are they'd known each other. According to the internet, Luis had gone to juvie, then reform school.

Hold up. A car had just driven by, a black SUV with Colorado plates. Sebastian didn't think, just walked up to it as it pulled to a stop near the curb. Sebastian heard the passenger door unlock, and he opened the door, got inside.

It was silent as they drove away. Way too silent, but Sebastian was determined not to say anything.

"Why do you do things?" Hunter finally asked. Sebastian didn't respond. He didn't even want to think enough to wonder how Hunter had found him. "Seriously, why do you do things?"

"Why the fuck do you think?" Sebastian finally spat. "I am clearly unbalanced and not worthy of companionship."

"So you ran away," Hunter summarized. "Didn't even give a reason, just ran out like the coward you are."

"I am not–" Sebastian seethed, but stopped midsentence, trying to get a handle on himself. He pulled his seatbelt on and clicked it. "I'm not a coward."

"Yes, you are," Hunter said. "You run, you always run. When you realized you had some feelings after all, what did you do? You ran to Scandals. What did you do when you were so close to baring your whole soul one night? You ran to Scandals. What are you doing here? Running. Because you think Blaine doesn't love you anymore."

"He can't love me anymore," Sebastian said. "No one loves me, I'm a loner."

"You are loved, Sebastian, why can't you see that?" Hunter said.

"Because no one loves me!" Sebastian shouted. "Not my parents, not you, not Blaine, not anybody."

"Well, that is just boohockey," Hunter said. "First of all, I don't just take five hour joyrides to Chicago for my health. You're my best friend, and I don't see that changing. Secondly, Blaine is going nuts, so if you wouldn't mind getting out my phone and texting Jeff that I've found you, I'd appreciate it. Now, I don't know your parents, and I can't say for your dad, but from the way you talk to your mother, I'd say she loves you."

"The way I talk to my– what, do you just eavesdrop on all my phone conversations? And we talk in French 98% of the time, how do you even know what we're saying?"

"Je parle français très bien," Hunter said. "Maintenant, dis-moi pourquoi tu penses Blaine ne t'aime pas." (I speak French very well. Now tell me why you think Blaine doesn't love you.)

"Il ne peut pas m'aimer," Sebastian replied, the French rolling off his tongue. It had been his first language, after all. (He cannot love me.)

"Pourquoi?" Hunter asked. (Why?)

"I don't fucking need a reason, Clarington, stop it," Sebastian spat, crossing his arms and looking out the window.

"Nick and Jeff told us about Michael week," Hunter said.

"I don't care if the car is moving, I am fully capable of jumping out without getting hurt," Sebastian said.

"And where are you going to go?" Hunter asked.

"Wherever the fuck I want," Sebastian responded.

"But you won't," Hunter replied.

"And why won't I?" Sebastian asked.

"Because you're holding my phone," Hunter said. Sebastian scowled at Hunter, then continued scrolling through Hunter's contacts to find Jeff.

"You know too many people," Sebastian said. "Are these in any kind of order? How do I alphabetize them?"

"Entre nous," Hunter said, then dropped his voice to a whisper even though there was no need. "Your boyfriend is cray-cray." (Between us…)

"Oh, hush," Sebastian said, finally finding 'Jeffrey Sterling' in Hunter's contacts, then typing a simple Mission Accomplished into the text message and sending it. Then he went back to sorting through Hunter's contacts. "Talk to Lisa often?" Sebastian smirked.

"Once or twice," Hunter shrugged.

"Disappointed that she's not your arranged wife?" Sebastian teased.

"You sure don't take long to warm up, do you?" Hunter asked. "And no, I'm not. Lisa's nice, but I trust my mother's judgment. Courtney will be lovely, I'm sure."

"Really?" Sebastian asked. Hunter didn't reply. "I'd say very-remotely-bicurious-Hunter-Clarington isn't ready to meet his future wife yet."

"Doesn't matter if I'm ready or bicurious, really," Hunter said plainly. "We are betrothed, and so we shall be wed."

"You haven't even met her," Sebastian insisted. "You don't know what she smells like!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hunter asked.

"You have to know what she smells like," Sebastian said. "You just do."

"It's none of your business," Hunter grumbled.

"It's your silly family tradition, and I'm not arguing with it," Sebastian said. "How long after you meet her is the wedding, dare I ask?"

"After my graduation from West Point," Hunter replied. "You'll be issued an invitation, don't you worry."

"What if I don't want to come?" Sebastian asked.

"Something tells me Blaine loves weddings."

"I don't know!" Blaine sighed, now very frustrated. He'd entirely given up on packing for the time being, just laying on Sebastian's bed. "Why are you asking?"

"Forget I asked," Kurt said, sighing, putting all of Blaine's folded clothes into a box and writing 'Blaine's Clothes' on it.

"This isn't us, Kurt," Blaine said. "We never fight, why are we doing this?"

"I'm not fighting," Kurt replied. "You worked yourself up, and you've been yelling at me for the last fifteen minutes." Blaine was saved having to come up with a reply by two bangs on the wall from Niff's room.

"What?" Blaine yelled.

"Hunter found him!" Jeff yelled.

"Hunter's a good friend," Kurt observed.

"He's not as innocent as he seems," Blaine said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kurt asked. "He's straight."

"No, he really isn't," Blaine replied.

"Have I ever given you reason to doubt my gaydar?" Kurt asked, putting his hand on his hip in a move that was so Kurt that Blaine had to shake his head to get the image out of the front of his brain.

"Of course not, but I'm telling you Hunter is definitely still into Sebastian," Blaine said.

"And I'm telling you that he definitely is not," Kurt argued.

"Jeff!" Blaine yelled, banging twice on the wall.

"Little busy!" Nick replied.

"Well, hurry up!" Blaine yelled. They didn't have to wait long, Nick and Jeff were walking through the propped-open door of Blaine's room a minute later. "That was really fast."

"We hadn't started the next round yet," Nick grumbled, arms crossed.

"Good, stick around, plant a cheek, let's chat," Blaine said, gesturing around at the more than enough seating space for them. Nick sat grudgingly in one of the desk chairs. Jeff opted to remain standing.

"Unless this is about you and Kurt and your imminent make-up and return to relationship status, I don't feel like discussing it," Jeff huffed.

"Okay, that," Kurt (of all people) said. "Let's talk about that. Why are you two so obsessed with us?"

"If you couldn't tell, we hate Sebastian," Nick said, "with the passion of two thousand fiery suns."

"He's alright," Jeff conceded, "but he's no you."

"Except the two of you, as far as I know, willingly had a threesome with him," Blaine reminded them.

"A lapse in our better judgment," Nick admitted. "Okay, a lapse in my judgment. This one has no judgment skills." He jabbed his thumb at his boyfriend, who made a noise somewhere between a chuckle and a sigh.

"Three times," Jeff said.

"Three times what?" Kurt asked, confused.

"I don't want to talk about it, I just realized my filter isn't on," Jeff said.

"Is your filter ever on, J?" Nick asked.

"I don't know," Jeff admitted. "They interrupted our alone time, and this is our last day." He pouted.

"Which brings me back to my question, why are you two the captains of the S.S. Klaine?" Kurt asked.

"We did get you together, so I do feel a bit protective," Jeff shrugged.

"Bottom line, Blaine's too good for Sebastian," Nick said.

"Be that as it may," Blaine said, shooting a glare at Nick, "I'm an adult, and I can make my own choices."

"No one's denying that, but are you making the right choice?" Nick asked.

"Doesn't it bother you?" Hunter asked.

"Doesn't what bother me?" Sebastian asked.

"That you've been with hundreds of guys?"

"Why should that bother me? Other people masturbate, I prefer the real thing."

"Before you, I'd never met anyone who was gay," Hunter admitted.

"That's probably a lie, but continue."

"I just never thought we'd become best friends," Hunter shrugged.

"Why not? We're practically perfect for each other," Sebastian said, readjusting in his seat.

"Except I like girls for the most part," Hunter said. "Is it this hard for everybody? How did you know?"

"I told you, I make a point of not discussing my sexuality," Sebastian replied crossly.

"Don't you wonder though? I just don't understand," Hunter said.

"I learned everything I need to know about females from Santana Lopez. That is as much as I am willing to discuss it. Now butt out, Clarington."

"Why don't you discuss it?" Hunter asked.

"I shouldn't have to. I shouldn't have to make a show of telling my dad if I like girls or boys. It's not a fucking big deal. It wouldn't be a big deal if I liked otters instead of people, but that doesn't change the fact that I'd rather tell my dad that I want to marry an otter than tell him I'm gay!" Hunter was quiet. "So, yes, I understand what's going on inside that stupid fat head of yours except for the part where you're willing to join the Army and marry a girl you don't even know to keep your parents happy." There was a long silence.

"I like otters," Hunter finally said. It had been about five minutes since anyone had said anything and his brain was telling him to say something. "Not that I would marry an otter, but I read a book about some otters who lived in a river when I was like six and…" His brain was now telling him to shut up. "Let's never talk about this."

"Agreed," Sebastian sighed.

"How would the two of you like it if I said to your face that I thought you belonged with other people?" Blaine asked.

"That is never going to happen," Jeff said. "Our Niff is untouchable."

"…what?" Kurt whispered to Blaine.

"I'm not entirely sure here, but I think they use the word Niff instead of love," Blaine replied in an undertone.

"Niff is the highest, purest, deepest form of Love that exists in the universe," Jeff explained. Anyone who says Niff isn't their OTP is just kidding themselves. "Love is for noobs. We Niff each other."

"Jeff explained it to me, like, two years ago and it made sense then," Nick said. "Roll with it."

"I appreciate your input on my lovelife, but it's not going to happen, okay?" Kurt said. "Blaine is with Sebastian, and strangely, I'm okay with that." Nick and Jeff stared at him, then looked at each other and shrugged.

"Your life," Nick said. "Why did you call us in here?"

"Hunter," Blaine said. "Straight or gay?"

"Gay," Jeff said.

"Can I say neither?" Nick asked.

"Like bi?" Blaine asked.

"Bisexual is a term that gay guys in high school use when they want to hold hands with girls and feel like a normal person for a change," Kurt said. Jeff raised an eyebrow, impressed.

"No, not bi," Nick said. "That would be both. My vote is for neither."

"Why?"

"Because you set him up with, what, eight different girls and Sebastian and he didn't show a lasting interest in any of them," Nick replied.

"Even I have a lasting interest in Sebastian," Jeff said.

"Really, Jeff? Really? On our last day?" Nick asked.

"Sorry, Nicky," Jeff mumbled.

"So, yes, neither," Nick said. "He's going to be married, one way or the other, and he's going into the military. What Hunter is doesn't matter."

"I like that answer," Blaine said.

"Oh, please," Kurt and Jeff said at the exact same time. "He's gay!"

"Regardless," Blaine sighed. "Will the two of you stop trying to push Kurt and I together? It's really offensive, and I'm sure at least partially instrumental in Sebastian's joyride to Chicago."

"Right, it couldn't possibly be because you asked Sebastian to cheat on you so you could get the upper hand on Hunter," Nick said.

"I honestly didn't think he'd blink at it," Blaine said. "He's turned himself around for me, and I appreciate it." Jeff's phone beeped in his pocket and he took it out to look at it. He had a text from Hunter, which read: Does Blaine love me? Jeff frowned at it.

"Blaine, do you–" he began, but then stopped, realizing it was most likely Sebastian with the phone, not Hunter. "Never mind." Jeff replied to the text with: Of course he does, don't be stupid.

"Do I what?" Blaine asked. Jeff shook his head. "Would you at least sit down? You're making me uncomfortable, standing there."

"I'm fine, thanks," Jeff said. A blush crept into Nick's face, though Jeff remained unabashed. Kurt looked between Nick and Jeff.

"Really?" Kurt asked. "I totally thought it was the other way around." Now Jeff started to blush as well. Blaine was completely confused.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh, poor, sweet, Blaine," Nick said. "You really are cute."

"Put your eyes away, you're making me uncomfortable," Jeff said to Blaine, who was staring at Jeff, trying to figure out what Kurt was talking about. Blaine looked away. Jeff's phone beeped again, another text: Are you sure? to which Jeff replied, Everyone makes mistakes, Bas.

Hunter's phone buzzed on Sebastian's leg. He read the text off it and snorted.

"See?" Hunter said.

"Everyone makes mistakes," Sebastian said. "God, I've done way worse than make a mistake. I almost killed a man."

"Did you actually say words that could be misconstrued as 'kill yourself'?" Hunter asked. Sebastian scowled, thinking about it.

"I guess not," he finally said. "But I wasn't very nice."

"Anyone who expects you to be nice hasn't met you yet," Hunter replied.

"I'm not that bad, am I?"

"Not since you started dating Blaine," Hunter said. "That's why it confused me so much when you came on to me."

"Yeah, it confused me too," Sebastian said.

"Blaine made the mistake of thinking you wouldn't be affected by that, and he was wrong," Hunter said. "But you forgive him for that."

"I'd forgive him for anything," Sebastian said, barely audible above the hum of the car driving down the interstate.

"And why is that?"

"Because I love him."

"And why wouldn't he do the same?" Hunter asked.

"I guess he would," Sebastian said.

"That being settled, you are going to pay for all the gas it took for me to drive to Chicago and back," Hunter said. Sebastian scowled, dug in his pocket and threw a 100 dollar bill on the dashboard. "You really are rich, aren't you?"

"There was a few rumors going around my old schools that when I was born, I was swaddled in a blanket made of hundred dollar bills, and that every room in my dad's house is carpeted with dollar coins," Sebastian said, shrugging. "It's not true, but it could be."

"Oh!" Blaine finally screeched. Nick and Jeff had left about half an hour ago, continuing their last day together in their room. "Oh, I just got what you said!"

"Wow," Kurt commented. "That took you forty-five minutes. You're gay, Blaine, it shouldn't have taken that long."

"Everyone at Dalton knows Nick tops," Blaine said, as if this was the least awkward thing anyone could talk about. "I think that's what threw me."

"I didn't know," Kurt said. "I don't generally think about other people having sex."

"It's like everyone knows Sebastian tops, it's just a thing," Blaine said, shrugging.

"Sure," Kurt agreed.

"If Sebastian and Hunter were in a relationship, which of them would top?" Blaine asked.

"If you're going to start asking those questions, we're going to have to get Nick and Jeff back in here," Kurt said.

"Good idea," Blaine said. He banged twice on the wall. "Guys!"

"No!" came the simultaneous shout from the next room.

"But I have a really important question!" Blaine whined.

"Don't make us take that trophy back!" Nick yelled.

"Trophy?" Kurt asked.

"Loudest sexual encounter," Blaine said, pointing to Sebastian's desk, where the trophy in question gleamed in the sunlight pouring through the windows.

"Oh my," Kurt said, putting his face in his hands.

It was around six by the time Hunter pulled his SUV into the parking lot at Dalton.

"Blaine's probably in our room," Hunter told Sebastian.

"I… I can't," Sebastian said. Hunter sighed, handed Sebastian the Frappuccino from the cup holder, and then proceeded to slap Sebastian upside the head. "Ow! What the hell?"

"He's gone," Blaine said. He fruitlessly pushed the play button again, hoping there would be more. Just silence. "I just don't even…"

"I know you're hurting, but you could do so much better than him," Trent said, patting his shoulder.

"Of course I could, I'm famous!" Blaine shouted. "I didn't want to do better than him, I wanted him! And none of you respected that, not a single one. Except Hunter, which is completely ironic, because he's the only one that wanted Sebastian for himself!" Everyone in the room had the decency to look ashamed, especially Hunter. "I don't believe you, any of you." He held his head in his hands. Something cleared it's throat – actually someone. Blaine looked around, he'd recognize Sebastian's voice anywhere, and suddenly realized it was coming from the tape recorder.

"Blaine, I… I know I did some terrible things, but I want you to know that I'm sorry and I regret every one of them with the deepest sincerity. Even… even if you hate me for the rest of my life, I just want you to know that all I ever did was love you."

"I love you too!" Blaine yelled at the tape recorder. Sebastian seemed to have recorded a farewell message onto the tape before he'd left.

"I'm going away, you can tell the others they won't have to deal with me again. Tell them I'm sorry for what I put them through, tell them I'm sorry I talked them into cheating on their girlfriends, tell them anything you want, really. I was a little misguided… okay, a lot misguided last year. I know it might be hard to believe, but I did turn over that new leaf. I have no excuses for what I did, what I did to any of them, especially Hunter. Tell him I'm sorry too."

Everyone turned to look at Hunter, then back at the recorder.

"I… I'm going away now. I'll have gone already by the time you hear this. I don't deserve you, I never did. I don't know what I did to deserve even having these six months with you. It was heaven, but I guess it was too good to be true. Don't worry about me, not that you would, I'll be fine. You can have Nick and Jeff hook you up with Kurt again, looks like they were planning to all night. I… I just love you so much, B. I'll never stop."

There was silence. Everyone continued listening for almost a full minute, just in case he said something else. Blaine turned off the recording, tears falling down his cheeks.

"Blaine, we're really sorry," Jeff said, indicating Nick and himself.

"No, you were right," Blaine said, "to tell me, I mean. You should have told me last year. I… I could have helped."

"What, with one good eye, not able to leave your bed?" Kurt asked. "Blaine, Sebastian hurt you."

"I don't care what he did in the past," Blaine insisted. "You don't get it, any of you. Love is boundless. Nick, Jeff, how far would you go for each other?"

"I'd do anything for J," Nick replied automatically.

"Same," Jeff replied.

"Kurt?" Blaine asked. Kurt nodded. "I don't care what he did before. He was stupid, everyone makes mistakes. Bas and I have been dating for six months, and he has never given me a reason to doubt him. Yeah, he messed up, and I could have lost an eye, but I didn't, so forget about it. Stop fixating. Rid yourself of your fear and weakness so you can start to live your life. I'm sorry if any of you got hurt in the process, but… it's time to let it go."

"If Blaine can let it go, I can," Trent said.

"Same," Kurt said, solemnly. Slowly, one by one all the Warblers agreed, all except Nick and Jeff.

"Nicky?" Jeff asked, quietly. Nick shook his head, standing up from Jeff's lap.

"I'll be in our room," Nick said quietly, walking towards the door. Everyone was astonished, especially Blaine. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen one without the other.

"I Niff you," Jeff called after him.

"I Niff you too," Nick replied. He was gone. Jeff took a deep breath to address the fourteen people staring at him.

"He… he needs to forgive himself," Jeff said slowly. "We… Nick and I …" He shook his head. He couldn't say it.

"What?" Blaine asked, sinking into the couch next to Jeff. "It can't be any worse."

"It…" Jeff began. "I don't know."

Blaine's phone rang. He chased the sound, running from the bathroom into his bedroom, hoping it was Kurt, but also that it wasn't anything too important.

"Hello?" he answered it breathlessly, he hadn't bothered to see who it was.

"Hey there, killer." It was Sebastian. Oh. "I need some insight, Warbler to Warbler."

"Sure," Blaine replied, hopping onto his bed and lounging back into the pillows. Sebastian liked to talk.

"I was at one of Nick and Jeff's all-night blowouts and red wine ended up getting on my blazer, and it really shows on the piping," Sebastian drawled. "I know you're a bit vanilla for it, but I thought you might know how to get it out."

"Oh, yeah," Blaine said. "Actually, it's funny, that same thing happened to me once."

"Really?" Sebastian asked.

"Yeah, at Nick and Jeff's party," Blaine said, laughing. "That's so funny." He quickly rattled off the solution, and Sebastian changed the subject to school.

"How's that horrid public school of yours? Want to transfer back to Dalton yet?" Sebastian asked, smirk evident even in his voice. Blaine laughed.

"No, of course not!" Blaine exclaimed. "We just started Michael Jackson week in Glee Club, we're thinking about doing him again for Regionals, since we did him at Sectionals." It never occurred to Blaine that Sebastian was the leader of a rival show choir, they were just friends, gay friends with similar interests.

"Really?" Sebastian asked. "I love Michael."

"Who doesn't?" Blaine asked. The two boys gushed about MJ for twenty more minutes before Sebastian made an excuse to leave. They bid each other adieu. Blaine set down his phone, still laughing to himself, Sebastian was funny. He looked at the time and jumped, he was going to be late for school if he didn't get a move on.

…

"Boys!" Sebastian announced at the emergency council meeting he'd called. "The topic is Regionals."

"And we already have a setlist," Trent reminded him.

"The council advises Trent to shut up," Sebastian shot at Trent. Trent fell silent. "How do you guys feel about Michael Jackson?"

"Love him," Nick and Jeff said at the same time. The rest of the Warblers agreed.

"Just so we get a headcount on this, how do we feel about the New Directions?" Sebastian asked. The Warblers weren't so clear on this one.

"Blaine's with them, so I'd say they're alright," Nick said.

"They stole Blaine from us," someone else whose name Sebastian didn't care said.

"I say they stole Blaine from us, we should steal something from them," Sebastian said.

"Blaine will never come back," Jeff said, "he's with Kurt. They're worse than me and Nick."

"God knows we can't get the two of you apart," Thad joked.

"The New Directions want to use Michael at Regionals. We drew first slot, what say we take it from them?" Sebastian asked. The Warblers all made sounds of agreement. Nick shot a look at Jeff, whose face seemed to be an exact copy of his own. "Excellent. I am going to the Lima Bean after last period to break the news to them, then I will invite them back here for a little taste of what's to come. How's I Want You Back sound?" More murmurs of consent. "Thank you. Meeting adjourned."

"Sebastian," Nick called after Sebastian, hurrying down the hall after him, in the direction of the dorms, Jeff on his heels. "You can't steal from the New Directions."

"Actually, you'll find I can," Sebastian replied. "If you disagree, I don't need either one of you on my team." He disappeared into his dorm room.

"Nicky, this is all I have," Jeff begged. "He drops me as choreographer and lead dancer, all I have left is you. Then he'll take that from me, too." Nick bit his lip. He knew it was wrong, but nodded solemnly, leading the way into their room.

That afternoon meant the performance of I Want You Back for Blaine, Kurt, Artie, Rachel, and Santana.

"If you guys want to forfeit now, then go ahead. Or Blaine, if you wanna rejoin the group you abandoned," Sebastian pitched.

"I used to be really proud of being a Warbler," Blaine said. "Not because we were good, but because we were classy. None of that was classy. Nothing. Come on guys, let's go." The smile slipped off Nick's face. This was bad news. No one wanted to create a permanent rift between the Warblers and Blaine. They still hoped he would come back and lead them to victory someday.

"And what did you think, Shaqueera?" Sebastian asked.

"I thought you sucked, Fievel, and if that's your best MJ, I'm going to wipe the floor at Regionals with your wannabe Disney prince haircut," Santana replied. They lifted Artie's wheelchair and left the library. Several of the Warblers snickered.

"You're all on notice," Sebastian announced. "Duval, my room, five minutes." Everyone dispersed.

"What does he want with me?" Nick asked Jeff, as if he would know.

"I don't know, baby, I don't know," Jeff replied, kissing Nick's face in different places.

"I don't want to win like this," Nick said. "I don't know why I stay, he's never going to give me another solo. He's even doing the choreography himself, J."

"I know," Jeff said, "but being Warblers is who we are."

"I want to hurt him," Nick said.

"What are you suggesting, we kill his canary?" Jeff asked.

"No, that wouldn't work, he's not the sort of person who gets emotional over dead birds," Nick replied. "I just… I don't know." He sighed, resigned and defeated. Jeff hung his head and slipped into their room. Nick knocked on Sebastian's door.

"Oh, good," Sebastian said. "Do come in." Nick did, sitting on Sebastian's desk chair, even though he doubted the general cleanliness of it – he knew what Sebastian did in this room, what he'd already done to Jeff, what he was planning to do to Nick, maybe even right now. Nick wasn't going to let him. Nick wasn't that weak, not that Jeff was weak.

"You're not going to get to me, Sebastian," Nick opened.

"I think I am," Sebastian said. "See, I know Blaine is your best boy. You were going to take over for him when he left to join that little diversity group. Then I came along and messed that up for you. You must be just livid."

"No," Nick said. "You're… you're good too."

"Or is it that you're worried I'll displace your boyfriend?" Sebastian asked.

"Uh…" Nick said, wondering if Jeff was listening through the wall. "N-no, I wasn't worried about that."

"I'll do it," Sebastian replied. "I can do that. Put him in the back, sideline his passion. He's a good dancer, yeah, but I want loyal ones."

"What do you want from me?" Nick asked.

"You are going to help me take down the New Directions," Sebastian said. "Starting with Kurt."

"Why Kurt?" Nick asked, suddenly feeling protective of the effeminate boy.

"I don't know if it's a secret anymore, but he and I don't exactly see eye-to-eye," Sebastian said. "The way I see it, Blaine's too good for him, the New Directions are a joke, and one of us has a hard luck case of the gay face, and it ain't me. By the end of this year, I want to have Blaine and a Nationals trophy, and Kurt will have khakis and a Lima Bean apron, and that same gay face." Nick tried really, really hard not to laugh at the ridiculous statement. He imagined Jeff in their room, hearing through the wall and rolling on the floor with laughter. Blaine and Sebastian? It was preposterous. "You're going to help me, because I know they trust you."

"And what if I don't?" Nick asked.

"I'll sideline Sterling," Sebastian said.

"And what if we both just quit?" Nick asked.

"Then I have more than enough pictures of his and my fantastic night together to send to his parents," Sebastian said. That made Nick stop. Jeff's parents didn't know yet. Nick wasn't even sure his parents knew. For some reason, he always knew Jeff's mistake would come back to bite both of them in the ass.

"Give me the pictures," Nick said.

"I have copies, Nicholas," Sebastian said, rolling his eyes. Nick sighed. He was so frustrated, he thought he might cry.

"Fine," Nick finally agreed. "I'll do it."

"You'll do… what?" Sebastian asked, grinning in that smirky meerkat way.

"Anything," Nick said. "Please don't hurt Jeff."

"I love people in love," Sebastian said lazily. "So easy." Nick just glared at him. "You can let yourself out." Nick scrambled for the door. Once safely back in his own room, Nick broke down crying. Jeff, who'd listened to the whole conversation, just held his boyfriend, murmuring sweet nothings in his ear.

"No, it's not okay," Nick finally said. "Because Blaine and Kurt are our friends and I don't want to hurt either one of them."

"Then let him do it," Jeff said. "Let him send the pictures and I'll deal with it."

"No, I can't do that to you," Nick said. "You know how your parents would react."

"I'm their son, they should be happy for me, that I've found the love of my life," Jeff said, kissing Nick.

"Even if you tell them, the pictures aren't of us," Nick said. "I can't let him do that to you."

"So you're going to go along with his plans?" Jeff asked.

"I have to," Nick replied. "I don't have a choice." Muffled noises were coming from Sebastian's room. Jeff moved to put his ear to the wall again.

"It's Trent," Jeff announced, shaking his head somberly. "Godspeed." He made a salute in the direction of the wall.

"What's he doing to him?" Nick asked anxiously.

"I will give you one guess, but I doubt you'll need it," Jeff replied. Nick sighed in a very frustrated manner.

"Remember when the only thing we heard through the wall was Blaine writing songs?" Nick asked. "I miss that."

"Poor Trent," Jeff said.

"I don't know, he seems to enjoy it," Nick said, shrugging.

"What's not to like?" Jeff asked. "You should try it."

"Can we not?"

"Sorry."

…

"You'll fetch me the slushee, and I will throw it right at Kurt's stupid gay face," Sebastian said. It was just him, Nick, Trent, and Beats in the room, plotting. Nick hadn't done as many things without Jeff in the last year that he'd done these last two days. He had no idea how Sebastian was blackmailing Beats and found he didn't care. "And that should make him back off."

"Blaine is never going to go for you," Nick sighed.

"Do you want me to send those pictures, Duval?"

"I'm just saying," Nick shrugged. "It's clearly not a newsflash to you either."

"I am working on that part," Sebastian said. "In the meantime, this is the plan."

Plans never go according to plan. You plan, you get there, all hell breaks loose. Nick handed the slushee to Beats, who gave it to Sebastian, who threw it at Kurt… who was pushed down by Blaine, meaning Blaine got a slushee full force in the face. He cried out in agony. Sebastian did a quick double take, he hadn't meant for Blaine to get hurt and he could feel his heart breaking. If it hadn't been for Trent's hand on his shoulder, Sebastian might have knelt down right then and there, holding Blaine, yelling for a doctor. One thought registered to Sebastian: He'd gone too far.

The trip back to Dalton had never been so tense. Sebastian had Trent, Nick, and Jeff in his BMW, but Sebastian was shaking too hard to drive. For some reason no one was surprised when Sebastian slammed his keys into Trent's hand and collapsed in the passenger seat. They'd all been really good friends not too long ago, taking trips to Scandals together, now there was a super awkward invisible wall between the front and back seats.

"What did you put in the slushee?" Nick asked, completely monotone.

"Don't," Sebastian replied.

"Sebastian, tell me what you put in that slushee," Nick said, getting angrier.

"Please don't," Sebastian whispered. Trent moved his hand from the gear shift to hold Sebastian's. Sebastian tried to shake him off, but Trent held it tight.

"Trent?" Nick asked.

"I don't know," Trent replied. Nick looked at the floor of the car, even more frustrated now. Blaine was most certainly not okay. When they'd hauled ass out of there, they'd heard an ambulance on its way. Jeff's hand found its way into Nick's and Nick squeezed it.

"I Niff you," Jeff whispered in Nick's ear.

"I Niff you too," Nick breathed back in reply.

…

"I hope Blaine's okay," Jeff said later that night. Neither of them could sleep, so they lay cuddled up in their bed.

"I doubt he is," Nick replied.

"We should call him," Jeff said.

"Because he would really talk to us," Nick snorted. "I handed that slushee to Sebastian, for all Blaine knows I'm the one that tampered with it."

"Did you know he put something in it?" Jeff asked.

"I thought he might put something in it," Nick replied. "I shouldn't have left. Should have stayed with Blaine."

"It's my fault," Jeff said. "I never should have spent the night with Sebastian. No matter how drunk we were or incredibly dreamy he is."

"It's okay," Nick said. "It's only a matter of time before he decides he wants me too. We gotta tell our parents, J."

"It's not the sort of thing you can do over the phone," Jeff said. "Hey, mom, dad, remember Nick Duval, the guy I can't shut up about? We've been dating for over a year and I didn't tell you. And by the way you might get photos in the mail of me and some other guy who looks like a chipmunk in incriminating positions. Sorry!"

"Yeah," Nick sighed. "This summer, at least, then."

"Definitely," Jeff agreed.

…

"Hey, Andrew McCarthy," Santana called from across the room. "Don't know if you heard but Blaine might lose an eye. The same Blaine who was just besties with most of you not four months ago." Sebastian's face betrayed the slightest hint of emotion for a second, but then his glare slid into place. Trent, however, was not so easily tamed.

"Wait, are you serious?" Trent asked. "Is he gonna be okay?"

"Well, sure, if he doesn't care about seeing in three dimensions," Santana snarked.

"Trent, I got this," Sebastian said. Trent backed down. "Bummer about Blaine, he was pretty. He shouldn't have gotten in the way, though, that slushee was meant for Kurt." Bummer? Bummer?! Understatement of the century, much? Nick and Jeff had overheard Sebastian in his room when they'd got back from the parking garage, lamenting Blaine's chivalry to Trent.

"You may look like the villain out of a cheesy 80's high school movie, but you should know that I am fully prepared to go all Danny Laruso on your ass," Santana said, stepping into Sebastian's personal space. "Admit you put something in that slushee. What was it? Glass? Asphalt?"

"Red dye number six," Sebastian said, shrugging.

"You're a liar," Santana spat.

"She questions my honor," Sebastian said to the other Warblers. "I demand satisfaction in Warbler tradition."

"You wanna have a duel?" Santana asked. "Cello guys, can you hang back for a second, I'ma need you for this one."

"Everyone else, clear out, I don't want you to see me make a girl cry," Sebastian ordered. The Warblers were only too happy to obey.

"What did he put in the slushee?" Thad asked, anxiously.

"I don't know," Nick said. "Something. I'm sorry, guys. I have personally let all of you down."

"Where's Jeff?" David asked.

"He's taking it off," Nick said, hesitantly. Nick had been particularly rebellious this morning at Sebastian's special meeting (unfortunately not seeing the envelope already addressed to the Sterlings until after he'd given a speech about how Blaine would never, ever go for Sebastian and they should all give up now before they got expelled), and Jeff had driven home to tell his parents about Nick. Not something he wanted to do without Nick present, but necessary. "He'll be back."

"Is Blaine gonna be okay?" one of the other Warblers asked.

"I don't know," Nick admitted.

"Sebastian wants a slushee to throw at Santana," Trent said quietly. "I have to get him one…" He took off. Nick stared after him.

"What does Sebastian have on him?" someone wondered, voicing aloud Nick's thoughts exactly. Sure, the rumor around the school was Sebastian was a pretty good lay and seeing how he'd slept with two-thirds the school's populace at this point, Nick presumed the rumor was true (especially since Jeff would not stop begging him for a threesome). And Nick imagined Trent wasn't too bad himself (not that Nick ever thought about Trent in that way, but Sebastian seemed to want seconds, and that didn't suit Sebastian's usual style), but Trent's parents knew he was gayer than a Dooney and Burke full of rainbows, there was no way Sebastian was holding that over his head. As far as they knew, Trent wasn't particularly enamored with anyone either. There was a very uncomfortable silence, save for the muffled sounds of Smooth Criminal coming from the adjacent room. Trent came back just in time with a red slushee.

"Tell me the truth, what did you put in that slushee?" Santana inquired.

"Rock salt," Sebastian said, nonchalantly, as Trent and Nick walked back into the room. "But it's okay."

"Why is it okay? I just told you that Blaine had to have surgery," Santana said.

"It's okay because I didn't put anything in this one," Sebastian said, whirling around and throwing the slushee in Santana's face. She was furious, but Sebastian and the Warblers had disappeared before she'd wiped the slush from her eyes.

"This is not okay anymore, Sebastian," Nick confronted him, alone, outside Sebastian's room.

"It really sounds like someone wants his boyfriend's parents to get some sexy pictures in the mail," Sebastian said, unlocking his door and walking inside, holding the door long enough to let Nick in too.

"No, I don't want that," Nick said. "Can you not see how far this is getting out of control? You may have blinded Blaine. Permanently. Aren't you supposed to be in love with him?"

"Please," Sebastian snorted. "He's pretty, but I don't do emotions."

"Keep telling yourself that," Nick spat, turning on his heel and leaving. Sebastian bit his lip to keep himself steady, as he was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to cry. He gathered up all the dirt he had on Jeff and put it in the envelope already addressed to the Sterlings, then slowly deleted the pictures from his phone and his laptop's hard drive. Finally, he went into the hall and slid the envelope under Nick and Jeff's door. Surrender.

…

"How did they take it?" Nick asked Jeff quietly when Jeff walked into their room.

"They already knew," Jeff said. "Apparently so do your parents. They said something like it's about damn time I got my act together and told them about this important step in my life. And you know Sarah…"

"My parents know?" Nick asked. He was beginning to feel nauseous.

"Yeah, they're totally cool with it, just evidently annoyed you hadn't gotten around to telling them," Jeff said.

"I haven't seen them!" Nick said. Jeff shrugged.

"What's with the envelope?" Jeff asked, seeing the thick yellow envelope on Nick's desk.

"Sebastian's surrender," Nick said, sighing.

"For real?" Jeff asked, interested. "Did you look in it?"

"No!" Nick said. "I would like to maintain a healthy distance between myself and Sebastian's dick."

"You'd be the only one," Jeff said, taking the envelope and dumping the contents onto their bed. The pictures weren't of great quality, but certainly recognizable for what they were – photographic evidence of Jeff and Sebastian's drunken one night stand. "It totally just hit me. I can't believe I did this."

"Yeah, well, you're lucky I Niff you so much," Nick sighed.

"No one has ever Niffed anyone as much as I Niff you," Jeff replied, blowing a kiss at Nick.

…

"Is whatever this is going to take very long? I can't stand the stench of public schools," Sebastian drawled as the Warblers entered the April Rhodes Auditorium at McKinley High.

"It won't take long and all you have to do is sit and listen," Quinn replied.

"We're not doing Michael for Regionals," Artie announced.

"Didn't think you'd give in so easily," Sebastian said. The New Directions threw a few more snarky insults back at him, then went into their performance of Black and White. The Warblers, Trent in the lead, joined the New Directions on stage. Sebastian must have done something to piss Trent off the night before, because he was positively glaring at Sebastian now. "Very moving," Sebastian said, sarcastically.

"Come on, Sebastian, give it up," Nick said.

"That is the kind of attitude that lost us Regionals last year," Sebastian shot back.

A tape. Santana had a tape of Sebastian admitting to assault. Nick needed that tape. He even took a step forward to take it, but Kurt had thrown it to Sebastian. It would be destroyed by the time they got back to Dalton.

"At least now all your teammates get to know exactly what kind of guy you are," Santana said.

"Now get the hell out of my auditorium," Artie said. "School's out!"

…

"Do you think he'll shape up?" Jeff asked Nick as they left the school.

"I doubt it," Nick said. "Leopards can't change their spots."

"I thought he was supposed to be in love with Blaine," Jeff said.

"Well, that's certainly out of the question now," Nick said. "If I meant to hit Sebastian with a slushee and accidentally got you instead and accidentally made you have eye surgery, would you talk to me?"

"Of course I would, but I Niff you," Jeff said.

"I have an idea," Nick said. "Don't let anyone leave yet." He ran to catch up with Trent, whispering an idea to him as they walked down the McKinley High steps. Trent nodded and they sprinted across the street to the 7/11.

"Thirteen slushees, please," Trent ordered, taking his wallet from his pocket to pay for them. One for every Warbler except Sebastian.

When they got back, Trent quickly distributed the Slushees, while Nick went to find Sebastian, who was loitering next to his car, talking to Jeff. Nick stole a kiss from Jeff, then handed him one of the Slushees in his hands.

"Wh- What are you doing?" Sebastian asked, nervously.

"You know, the McKinley kids rave about these," Trent said. "They're so delicious, and they don't make for a bad face wash either." He threw his slushee at Sebastian, hitting him squarely in the face. The ten other Warblers and Jeff followed suit. Finally Sebastian was just looking at Nick, the last person holding a red beverage of doom.

"Just do it," Sebastian pleaded. Nick walked up to him, getting really close into his business.

"But Trent and the guys… they're my friends too," Blaine said. "And Sam and Tina…"

"We're going to have skype dates with the rest of the Warblers, aren't we?" Sebastian asked, as though the idea of it was sickening.

"That's such a brilliant idea!" Blaine exclaimed.

"Blaine!" someone, probably Thad, yelled from down the hall. "Kurt's here!" Blaine squealed happily and ran down the hall to seize his best friend. Sebastian followed behind him at a slower pace, a smile that was all-but-sincere on his face. He was thrilled that Blaine was so happy and that he'd found a best friend, one that knew New York and even went to his school, but why did it have to be Kurt?

"I'm so glad you came!" Blaine gushed. "You're gonna help me pack for New York, right?"

"Of course," Kurt said. His smile was about on par with Sebastian's, but Blaine didn't seem to notice. He continued running down the hall, intent on hugging everyone in the Dalton senior class before they had to be in the field house for graduation. "Hello Sebastian."

"Hello," Sebastian replied. There was a long, long pause. "Look, we don't get along and that's fine, but we're inevitably going to be seeing a lot of each other, so we're going to at least have to pretend."

"I thought I was pretending," Kurt said.

"I meant try," Sebastian said, frowning. "Don't really know why I said pretend. We have been pretending."

"Try? To pretend to like you? Big fat no chance in hell," Kurt replied, crossing his arms.

"Try to be friends," Sebastian clarified.

"Really."

"I'd do anything for Blaine," Sebastian almost begged. Kurt bit his lip. He wanted to keep arguing the point just because it was Sebastian, but the truth was it would make Blaine happy so it was probably worth it.

"Alright," Kurt finally agreed. "For Blaine."

"Niff is throwing a party tonight after graduation," Sebastian said. "I'm sure they probably told you…"

"Yeah, they did," Kurt said, "although I didn't know they had one name now."

"Yeah, well, you hardly ever see them apart," Sebastian said, "so we combined their names."

"And what do people call you and Blaine?" Kurt asked.

"Some people call it Seblaine, but most people just say Blaine and Bas," Sebastian shrugged.

"Klaine is soo much better," Jeff said, rolling his eyes, as he and Nick walked by. Kurt laughed a little.

"Give it up, guys," he said.

"Blaine Devon Anderson, Captain of the Warblers, Class of 2013 Valedictorian. Blaine will be attending New York Academy of the Dramatic Arts starting in the fall."

That's right, you heard. Valedictorian. It wasn't surprising, Blaine had always had good grades, and Dalton was very strict about that sort of thing. He received his diploma from the Headmaster.

"Hunter Clarington, former Captain of the Warblers, former Vice Captain of the Warblers, Class of 2013 Salutatorian. Hunter has been accepted at West Point."

Hunter smirked at Sebastian as he stepped up to receive his diploma. He'd beat Sebastian by a tenth of a grade point.

"Sebastian Smythe, Captain of the Lacrosse team, former Captain of the Warblers. Sebastian will be attending New York University, pre-law."

"Nicholas Duval and Jeffrey Sterling, Vice Captains of the Warblers. Nick and Jeff will be attending the University of Michigan."

And suddenly Blaine wasn't sad anymore. They were all going to be alright. He and Sebastian were going to be together. Kurt and Rachel were going to be there in the city with them. Even Hunter was only about an hour away, they could get together practically every weekend. Nick and Jeff were together (because everyone knows they can't function without each other anymore), and there was always Skype, and heck, planes and trains and cars…

Hey there Delilah, what's it like in New York City I'm a thousand miles away but girl tonight you look so pretty Yes you do Times Square can't shine as bright as you, You know it's true A thousand miles seems pretty far But they've got planes and trains and cars I'd walk to you if I had no other way Our friends would all make fun of us But we'll just laugh along because we know that none of them have felt this way Delilah, I can promise you that by the time that we get through The world will never ever be the same And you're to blame…

"For Blaine, who is the sort of person who gets emotional at graduations," Jeff said, as Nick finished singing (Jeff was playing the guitar).

"Dammit guys, I promised I was gonna make it through tonight!" Blaine exclaimed, hugging Jeff and then Nick like he was never going to see them again. Nick looked at Jeff, as though he was about to let Mr. Puss out of the bag.

"Christmas 2013, at the very latest, Niff is making their move on NYC," Nick announced. "To spend our first post-high school Christmas together with the people we love the most."

"Each other," Jeff said.

"And our best friend Blaine," Nick said. "We already worked it out with Sebastian, Hunter, and some of the guys." Blaine smiled, now even more emotional that his friends had thought of him.

"But no more sappy," Sebastian said, pulling two bottles of tequila from nowhere. "Get the party started!"

It was two hours into the party, and Sebastian had drank almost half a bottle of tequila (there was definitely more than two bottles, those were just the two he was hiding in his blazer), when Sebastian plopped himself so un-Sebastian-ly into the couch where Kurt was sitting.

"Your boyfriend's over there, sweetheart," Kurt said, barely looking up.

"That's great, but I want to talk to you," Sebastian said. Sebastian wasn't a quick drunk by any take, he bet that he could drink any of the Warblers under the table, and that included Hunter, who Sebastian knew if he could just get him to take a shot, all of their problems would have been solved a lot sooner. "About this friendship thing."

"It's not going to be a thing," Kurt said, pointedly. "I don't want to be your friend."

"Not even for Blaine?" Sebastian asked.

"Maybe for Blaine," Kurt relented.

"Good, let's get to know each other," Sebastian said, turning on the couch to face the other boy. "What's new?"

"I'm not sure," Kurt said. "I'm not entirely comfortable with you and Blaine at all, let alone moving into New York."

"From what Blaine tells me, we will not be in your area," Sebastian said. "My father may be the world's biggest asshole, but he has means. He has procured a penthouse apartment in Manhattan for Blaine and I."

"I'm not even remotely surprised," Kurt said. "What are you going to do when the novelty wears off?"

"What?"

"The novelty – you know, Blaine's fleeting attraction to money, power, mediocre talent, and apparently characters from the Lion King," Kurt said. "It will wear off and he'll see you for what you are: a promiscuous manipulative bastard."

"I don't know what you think you know about Blaine, but our relationship has nothing to do with money or power," Sebastian hissed in a dark undertone. Then he stood up and was gone, soon to be replaced by Blaine himself.

"Hey!" Blaine announced. "I didn't know you were still here." Blaine had clearly had more than a few shots, he'd been hanging on Trent's shoulder when Trent had dropped him into the couch with Kurt.

"Just sitting here," Kurt said. "Thinking."

"You should get up and sing with us," Blaine said, as if trying to whisper but it wasn't coming out right. "We're about to do a highlight of all the numbers we ever did."

"I'm good here," Kurt said. "Blaine, we need to talk when you're sober."

"Talk right now, baby, I'm all ears," Blaine slurred. Kurt sighed, but went ahead anyway.

"Sebastian and I are never going to be friends," he said. "It's just not going to happen. And I care about you too much to see you throw yourself away on him."

"Kurt," Blaine said, trying to sound a lot more serious than he was capable of being with that much tequila in him. "Sebastian and I are in love. I'm sorry if you're too blinded by your own hatred to see that." He got up clumsily, grabbing the nearest Warbler (Nick) for support, who was also very tipsy and crashed into Jeff, who was fortunately standing next to a piece of furniture so they didn't land in a big pile on the floor. "Hey, Beats! Hit it!"

Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun

Sebastian sat next to Kurt on the couch, Hunter stood behind them as Blaine began a tour of all the number they'd done together – starting with Teenage Dream.

Let's go all the way tonight, no regrets, just love We can dance until we die, you and I We'll be young forever You make me feel like I'm living a Teenage Dream

Sebastian smiled, drunk and vulnerable, as Blaine pointed at him. Kurt was utterly disgusted and for the first time in his life, reached for the bottle of whatever was nearest him. It tasted horrid, but he was sick of being the responsible one. Why was he even here? This wasn't his graduation party. These weren't even his friends. But he didn't really want to leave.

My heart stops when you look at me Just one touch, now baby I believe This is real, so take a chance and Don't ever look back Don't ever look back I might get your heart racing in my skintight jeans Be your teenage dream tonight Let you put your hands on me in my skintight jeans Be your teenage dream tonight

Sebastian cheered, Blaine attempted to wink, Hunter stole the bottle Kurt was holding and a took a few gulps himself. What the hell, why not? He'd evidently lost the rest of his morals. The Warblers started their next number, Hey Soul Sister and then went right into Bills, Bills, Bills, which Blaine had to say was one of his favorites.

Can you pay my bills? Can you pay my telephone bills? Can you pay my automo-bills? If you did then maybe we could chill

Sebastian hazily thought on what Kurt had said earlier, about Blaine being attracted to money, power, talent. He started to think it might be true, Sebastian had money, power, and talent. Thing was, Blaine really didn't have even the faintest idea how much money Sebastian had. Everyone's Visa bills were huge… weren't they? Blaine came from money as well, right? Sebastian had toned down the power thing, too, even let Blaine wear the tie… And talent? Sebastian wasn't worried about that, Blaine had loved him all the way through his bout with laryngitis, never faltering in his care.

Vum vum vum vum Vum vum vum vum

Kurt got very pink, recognizing the song. Trent danced by the couch and pulled Kurt up with him to dance. Kurt laughed and joined his Warbler buddies. Hunter took Kurt's vacated seat next to Sebastian, offering him the bottle of alcohol. Sebastian shook his head, intent on the scene in front of him.

Baby girl, where you at? Got no strings, got men attached Can't stop that feeling for long, no

Blaine had told Sebastian about the Gap Attack after Niff had let it slip about Jeremiah, but now Blaine was singing only to him.

When I get you alone, When I get you you'll know, babe When I get you alone, When I get you alone

Hunter's mouth had dropped open, not believing Blaine's Warblers had ever done anything this far from classy. Who was he to talk, he'd let Sebastian talk him into Whistle. The next song, however, returned to the class he'd become accustomed to.

You'd think that people would have had enough of Silly Love Songs But I look around me and I see it isn't so Some people want to fill the world with Silly Love songs What's wrong with that? I'd like to know Cuz here I go… again!

Sebastian was actually blushing as Blaine sang to him. He wondered if this was how Kurt had felt when Blaine had sung all these songs. He wondered if this is what love was supposed to be like, all adorable and flirtatious Warblers numbers. Wow had he gone about this the entirely wrong way.

I… love… you… I… love… you… I can't explain, the feeling's plain to me, say can't you see Ah, she gave me more, she gave it all to me, say can't you see Love doesn't come in a minute Sometimes it doesn't come at all I only know that when I'm in it, It isn't silly, no it isn't silly Love isn't silly at all!

Nick and Jeff, Sebastian noted as they whirled by him, were singing only to each other, everything else in the room forgotten. No, Sebastian corrected his brain, that was love. If anyone needed an example, just look to Nick and Jeff. They were the perfect mix of adorable and sexy, romance and passion. Fortunately, the next song was less sappy.

Nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana Nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana

Here we go again, I kinda want to be more than friends So take it easy on me, I'm afraid you're never satisfied

Sebastian loved this song. He hadn't known the Warblers had done it. He blew Blaine a kiss and Blaine returned it. Then to Sebastian's horror, Kurt began singing.

Here we go again, we're sick like animals, we play pretend You're just a cannibal and I'm afraid I won't get out alive No I won't sleep tonight

Kurt remembered the Sexy lesson like it was yesterday, and fortunately he'd had somewhat of a sexual awakening since then. No longer was he making gas pain faces, they were replaced by actual sexy faces. Blaine noticed, but didn't seem to notice under his cloud of alcohol and returned Kurt's faces. This is how the Sexy lesson was supposed to have gone. If only those girls from Crawford Country Day could see them now.

Oh-oh, I want some more Oh-oh, what are you waiting for Say goodbye to my heart tonight

Sebastian wished he could get up and push Kurt away from his boyfriend, and finish the song with Blaine himself. Blaine hadn't ever mentioned this duet to him. From the look of it, this must have been the number they'd done when Blaine wanted to know if the Warblers had sex appeal. In answer to Blaine's question, yes, they definitely did. If Sebastian hadn't already screwed every guy in the room (except Kurt, and please that is not going to happen) and if he wasn't in a relationship with Blaine, he'd be punching all of the Warblers' cards all over again. Especially Nick and Jeff, they were all over each other.

Hush, hush, the world is quiet Hush, hush, we both can't fight it It's us who made this mess Why can't you understand I won't sleep tonight

Finally, they'd started the next song. If they were doing every song they'd ever done, this was going to be a long performance. He seized the bottle of vodka Hunter was still holding and drank from it. He'd been sticking mostly to tequila before that, but didn't care at this point. The Warblers sang their way through Misery, showing that Hunter and Blaine seemed to have similar taste in Maroon 5. Sebastian was sure in misery, being forced to sit through the Kurt-and-Blaine show.

Sebastian didn't even seem to notice when they started the next song (too entranced by his bottle of vodka), just that it was Blaine and Kurt singing, Nick and Jeff giving each other high fives like they'd planned this, some kind of let's-team-up-against-Sebastian-to-get-Kurt-and-Blaine-back-together. It was hurting Sebastian like nothing since his mishap with Hunter had.

Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo

The power lines went out, and I am all alone But I don't really care at all, not answering my phone

All the games you played, the promises you made Couldn't finish what you started, only darkness still remains

Lost sight, couldn't see, when it was you and me Blow the candles out, looks like a solo tonight I'm beginning to see the light

God, the song was a total sap-fest and the gayest thing Sebastian had ever experienced, no wonder they'd lost Regionals. Sebastian forced himself to look at the Warblers before him, and realized that no matter what he was singing, Blaine was still looking only at Sebastian, a giant smile on his face. Sebastian returned the smile.

Right, right, turn off the lights, We gonna lose our minds tonight What's the dealio? I love when it's all too much, 5am turn the radio up Where's the rock and roll?

Sebastian was in a much better mood now, it might have had something to do with the vodka swimming around in his veins. He noticed a lot of Blaine's trademark dance moves that most people would believe Blaine would have be drunk to use, but Sebastian knew better. He noticed "time to check my soufflé, did it rise, why didn't it rise?" and "rocker Nixon" as well as "ordering Pizza Hut and Dominos, cuz that's how I roll", not to mention "your inner starkid is showing". Whatever that meant.

So raise your… So raise your glass if you are wrong In all the right ways All my underdogs We will never be, never be Anything but loud and nitty gritty Dirty little freaks

And there was "hop in the shower, shit that's cold" and "slap dat ass". And was that "tasered octopus"? Blaine was pulling out all his moves. What a silly, silly boy Sebastian had fallen for. As the song ended, the other Warblers set up a much slower and somber tune, a perfect song for a graduation, really. Graduations were sad.

I walked across an empty land I knew the pathway like the back of my hand I felt the earth beneath my feet, Sat by the river and it made me complete

Sebastian actually never liked the song because it was so sad. Kurt took a seat on an adjacent couch. He was either worn out or he hadn't been in this number. Sebastian decided on the latter. Kurt's expression looked like Blaine had sung this song to him, but Blaine certainly was doing no such thing now, he even tugged on Sebastian's arm and pulled him into the ranks of the Warblers, giving him a big hug, and suddenly Sebastian knew why. That was the last song Blaine had led Warblers in.

Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh

Uptown Girl! She's been living in her uptown world I'll bet she never had a backstreet guy I bet her mama never told her why I'm gonna try for an uptown girl

Sebastian remembered this number like it was yesterday, the first time he'd ever seen Blaine and, though he hadn't known it at the time, fallen hopelessly, desperately in love with him. Nick was a rockstar in this song, like a junior Blaine. No wonder Blaine had named him successor. Truth be told, if given the choice between all the current Warblers, Blaine would probably still pick Nick, throwing a cheeky grin at Sebastian over his shoulder while he did it.

She'll see I'm not so tough Just because I'm in love With an Uptown Girl

Sebastian pulled Blaine from the couch to join their dance. There was no way Blaine was sitting down when there were Warbler numbers to be done. Blaine blushed a little but allowed himself to be pulled in. Kurt just watched, a little confused. He hadn't been there when Blaine and Sebastian had met, was this how it had happened? Blaine had never told him, refused to talk about Sebastian, said he didn't mean anything. This didn't look like nothing. Kurt had literally never seen Sebastian as happy as he was when Blaine was with him. In fact, when he pictured Sebastian in his mind, he was usually frowning or sneering, worried or using that fake expression he had when he told Kurt that Blaine was too good for him. Blaine was too good for Sebastian if anything.

And you know I'm in love… With an Uptown Girl

The Warblers broke apart, laughing. Nick gave Jeff a hug, whispering, "You're my only uptown girl," in his ear. Jeff laughed.

"Alright, intermission," Blaine said. "I'm tired."

"Oh, come on, Blaine," Trent said. "I loved the old days, we all did."

"But we did all my songs!" Blaine protested. "Why don't you guys do your stuff from my year at McKinley? What did you do next?" Sebastian looked at his team – they were all thinking the same thing.

"Uh…" Nick said, uncertainly, looking at Sebastian. "I don't know if we should, really…"

"Why, what's next?" Blaine asked, sitting on the arm of the couch next to Kurt. The Warblers all started together.

Ba ba ba ba Dow do do do-do Dow do do do-do

Oh. Right. Blaine had almost forgotten about Michael week. Thing was, the Warblers had only provided the backup for that number, Blaine, Artie, and Santana had sung it. And come to think about it, hadn't they done I Want You Back before they'd done Bad? Sebastian started to sing, though it was clear he didn't really want to, but he forced a smile at Blaine, beckoning him to sing with them. His face only said one thing though, no slushees, I promise. He blew Blaine a kiss.

Well they say the sky's the limit, and to me that's really true But my friends you have seen nothing, just a-wait til I get through

Because I'm bad, I'm bad, I'm really, really bad You know I'm bad, I'm bad, I'm really, really bad And the whole world has to answer right now Just to tell you once again, who's Bad

Blaine blew Sebastian a kiss too, from where he was dancing across the room between Nick and Jeff. For the first time in a long while, Blaine realized Kurt was there in the room. His face said only one thing too, Not Impressed. Blaine almost laughed, Sebastian was harmless, he'd never hurt Blaine on purpose. Blaine had never stopped to wonder what made the rest of the Warblers participate in Sebastian's schemes, especially Nick, Jeff, and Trent. He vaguely recalled Niff saying something about Sebastian screwing all the Warblers into submission. All of them? That was a lot of guys. Hadn't Sebastian admitted to screwing every guy at Dalton? All of them? Damn, that was a lot of guys.

Sebastian seemed to notice Blaine wasn't dancing anymore, just standing next to the refreshments table, munching half-heartedly on some fruit. He finished the song, then dispersed his team and went over to his boyfriend.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Sebastian asked, lifting Blaine's chin and giving him a kiss.

"Nothing," Blaine said.

"Doesn't really look like it," Sebastian said. "Are you tired? Should we go to bed?"

"No, I'm not tired," Blaine said. "I'm just thinking." Nick and Jeff twirled their way over to the refreshments table, humming Silly Love Songs. "Why did they go with your stupid plots? The rock-salt-slushee, the blackmail to get me back here…"

"You wouldn't believe the shit I got after Michael week," Sebastian said. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Why did they go along with it? Trent's right, Kurt was friends with everyone on this team," Blaine asked. Nick cleared his throat from behind Blaine. Blaine turned around.

"This is Sebastian you're talking about," Nick said. "Why do you think we did? He was blackmailing us." Blaine turned on Sebastian.

"All of them?" he asked.

"Enough of us," Nick replied. Sebastian sunk to the nearest couch, his head in his hands. This was it, Blaine was going to leave him. "Trust me, I never would have left you there like that."

"That's … that's…" Blaine began, his still-drunk-but-quickly-sobering mind not letting him have the words.

"That's bullying," Kurt supplied for him. "And it's not tolerated at Dalton. Actually, it's worse that bullying. It's extortion, and it's illegal."

"Why didn't you go to the Headmaster?" Blaine asked.

"You think he would have stopped blackmailing us just because he didn't go to school here anymore?" Jeff asked. The rest of the Warblers were listening in now, including Hunter who didn't have the faintest idea what was going on, though those drunken ramblings Sebastian used to have when he'd get smashed every night at Scandals were starting to make a lot more sense. "He told us he'd destroy it all after Regionals."

"Did he?" Blaine asked.

"I did." Sebastian looked up from the couch at Nick and Jeff. "I hope you're happy," he said to them bitterly. With that, he stood up and whisked out of the room. Blaine opened him mouth to call after him, but bit his lip.

"Couldn't have told me this before?" Blaine asked Nick and Jeff.

"You looked so happy together," Nick said, uncertainly. Kurt was standing off to one side, suddenly feeling very awkward. He'd hated Sebastian and every Warbler for throwing that slushee. Now he just hated Sebastian thirteen times more.

"You should never have given him that tape," Trent said to Kurt.

"Oh, like you're to talk," Jeff said to Trent.

"Trent was actually dating Sebastian that entire week," Nick told Blaine.

"I was not dating–" Trent began.

"Fine, getting naked with him," Nick said. "Same difference."

"Like you never have," Trent threw back.

"Under completely different circumstances," Jeff said, immediately jumping to Nick's defense.

"I need to lie down," Blaine said, moving for the couch and lying on it.

"In his defense, it was the only way for Sebastian to keep Trent's mouth shut," Nick said. "He came crying into our room about how terrible a person he was."

"Never should have given him the tape," Jeff agreed.

"Should have given us the tape," Nick said.

"The tape," Blaine said, sitting up. "That tape? Bas has the tape. I caught him listening to it."

"Santana caught him on tape admitting to putting rock salt in that slushee," Kurt said quietly. "She taped it to her underboob when she went to confront him. I… I wouldn't let her go to the police with it."

"Why not?" Nick asked. "You could have freed all of us!"

"I… I thought you were all in on it," Kurt admitted.

"Obviously not," Jeff said, rolling his eyes. "Blaine is Nick's and my best friend."

"He was aiming for me!" Kurt said hysterically. "I thought… I still do think you all hate me for taking Blaine away from you."

"Kurt… love is love, it doesn't matter," Nick said. "He transferred because he loved you, and he jumped in front of you for the same reason. I would jump in front of Jeff without a second thought, no matter what was coming at him."

"I have to find Sebastian," Blaine said, suddenly.

"What?" Trent asked.

"I have to tell him I still love him," Blaine said, running out of the room.

"Blaine, are you serious?" Nick yelled after him.

"The things we do for that kid, I swear to God," Jeff said, sitting down in a frustrated manner, and pulling Nick onto his lap.

"Hey, we tried, that's what counts," Nick shrugged, giving Jeff a kiss.

"Tried what?" Kurt asked.

"To get him to realize he still wants to be with you," Jeff told Kurt. Kurt stared.

"So all that was just bullshit?" he asked.

"No, every single word was true," Trent said. "I guess he's an adult and he doesn't need a reason to be with anyone, but he had to know the truth."

"Figures Blaine wouldn't care," Nick said. "He did have Sebastian cheat on him with Hunter just to get full control back."

"Wait," Hunter said. "That was Blaine's idea?"

"You didn't know?" Jeff asked.

"Sebastian told me it was his," Hunter said.

"No," Nick said, shaking his head. "No."

"Blaine's almost as bad as Sebastian," Trent said, taken aback.

"No, come on," Nick said, "Blaine didn't hurt anyone. Hunter was already into Sebastian, he just needed the push."

"Everyone's into Sebastian," Trent said, rolling his eyes.

"Jealous," Jeff shot at him.

"Am not."

Unnoticed by the bickering Warblers, Hunter slipped out of the senior commons and made a mad dash for the dorms. When he got to theirs, he noticed the door was ajar. He pushed it open. There was Blaine, in a ball on the floor of the room, crying.

"Blaine?" Hunter asked. Blaine looked up, hopeful, but then noticed it was only Hunter.

"What do you want?" Blaine asked.

"What's going on?" Hunter asked.

"Uh, yeah," Sebastian said, turning around. "And you are?"

"It's me, Paul," the boy – Paul – replied. "Freshman year, Michigan, go blue?" Sebastian didn't remember. "We were best friends."

"I'm… sorry, I don't remember," Sebastian shrugged. He turned back around. "Has anyone seen Blaine?!" Nick and Jeff looked around but came up blank.

Blaine was in the auditorium watching the various acts. He was worried. Vocal Adrenaline was back under the leadership of Shelby Corcoran, and they were good. They were better than good. They were going to be the Warblers only real competition, as far as Blaine could see.

"Gave up on the Lame Directions, I see," a voice whispered from behind Blaine. He looked at the source – Jesse St. James.

"Gave up on your own life, apparently," Blaine said. "Don't you have something better to do than being a show choir junkie? Oh wait, of course you don't." Blaine left before Jesse could get in another word. He spotted Sebastian in the room backstage, and snuck up on him. "Hey."

"Hey," Sebastian breathed. "Thank God. Where have you been?"

"Watching everyone else," Blaine said. "Jesse St. James is here if you had some rock salt kicking around." Sebastian smirked. "Bad news. There's another all-boys a capella choir here, doing a Michael Jackson medley. Thriller, Billie Jean, Man in the Mirror, Smooth Criminal, Beat It, ABC … I mean, it was good."

"Then we'll just have to be better," Sebastian said. "Come on, Hunter, let's go!" Hunter hurried back over to the Warblers, bidding farewell to his military school buddies. "Alright, guys, we've been at this for months, even years. We have got the power to win, and I believe in us."

"And heck, even if we don't win," Blaine said, "we have each other. And that's better than some lousy trophy, right?" The Warblers apparently disagreed. "Alright, let's get out there and kill this thing."

Nick and Jeff opened with their last second switcheroo number, Two Princes.

There were two princes here before you That's what I said now...

They were spectacular, especially considering they'd barely rehearsed, and every time they ran the song they seemed to sing different lines. It seemed they communicated via telepathy, and they sang lines randomly, never overlapping each other. After that, Blaine followed up with Maroon 5's Don't Know Nothing.

I don't know nothing 'bout that In fact I don't know nothing at all

Blaine was, as always, flawless. Forget about the other teams, forget Vocal Adrenaline, even. As long as Sebastian nailed this last song, they had it in the bag. Well, Sebastian, Beats, and the dancers.

Beat it… beat it No one wants to be defeated

Blaine was practically screaming his delight that his boyfriend was so talented. Hunter had thrown a few tumbling runs into Beat It just to make it the most highly overproduced number at the competition. Dancing was great, but the judges always gave the higher scores to the best singers.

Waiting was nerve wracking. Blaine walked up to the board proclaiming the top ten teams with his eyes closed, then opened them cautiously. The Warblers were listed! Even more waiting. There was no doubt in Blaine's mind now though. They were going to be champions or die trying.

I love you and I trust you and I know we're going to be together forever.

The words echoed in Blaine's head as the confetti dropped. There was a crowd of thousands and he could clearly see Kurt in the sea of heads, but the only thoughts he had were for Sebastian. Such a simple thing, and yet Blaine knew how much it meant to Sebastian – how much forever really meant to both of them. Blaine had promised it before, to Kurt, but he meant it so much more now. Even if they hadn't won, it would have been worth it, just to bring the Warblers this far.

Hunter was literally hugging Sebastian, spinning him around in the air. Nick and Jeff looked like they were going to become exhibitionists. Trent and a few other Warblers had lifted Thad onto their shoulders. He had the five-foot first place trophy held above his head, making him look even more miniature. Blaine couldn't wipe the smile off his face. Suddenly the sea of people breached the stage, and Rachel, Kurt, and Sam were there, hugging Blaine, telling him they were proud of him for bringing his team to a Nationals victory at last –

But Sebastian was still all Blaine could think about.

It was late that night before the Warblers got back to their hotel. They, along with Sam, Rachel, and Kurt, had been to pretty much every place in Philadelphia, intent on seeing it all, now that they were champions. (It might feel different, Jeff kept insisting.) Most of the students were rich, so their parents paid for the trip, the rest was paid for by the school Warbler budget. Sebastian and Blaine had their own room – it wasn't the penthouse or even the presidential suite, just a room, but it was good.

"We won," Sebastian said to Blaine.

"Yes, we did," Blaine replied, kissing Sebastian's nose.

"I- Never mind," Sebastian said, his eyes falling to the ground.

"What?" Blaine asked, totally perplexed.

"Nothing," Sebastian said. "Let's just get to sleep, it's a long trip tomorrow."

"What, tell me," Blaine insisted.

"Nah, forget it."

"Sebastian…"

"You spent the whole day with Kurt, is all," Sebastian said, shrugging. "I mean, I'd understand if you wanted to go back with him, now you're moving to New York and everything."

"We're moving to New York," Blaine said. "You and me. Why is this so hard for you to get?"

"Because I don't understand why you would want me when you can have him!" Sebastian burst out. He hadn't meant to say that, he certainly hadn't meant to scream it, he didn't even know he was thinking it. A few seconds of ringing silence followed this outburst.

"Sebastian, my dear, sweet Bas," Blaine said, shaking his head. "You need to grow up." Sebastian looked like Blaine had slapped him in the face, and Blaine had pretty much verbally smacked him. "If you can still possibly think that I feel anything for Kurt, you need to go out that door, right now." Now Blaine had stuck a verbal knife in his chest as well. Sebastian didn't move. "I mean it." Sebastian still didn't move.

"I know – I know that you love me," Sebastian said in a voice that was so unlike his own. "At least, I know that you love this version of me."

"This version?" Blaine asked, confused. To him, there was just one Sebastian, the one that had relentlessly pursued him for a year, flirted with him nonstop, and finally admitted his feelings to Blaine. Sebastian, though, knew differently. There were two sides – the one that usually was an idiot when Blaine was around, and then there was that vindictive one that had gotten him kicked out of nine schools in three years. The same one that accidentally almost blinded Blaine, the one that had screwed every guy at Dalton into submission, the one that roared for victory.

"Would you still love me – even with my dark side?" Sebastian whispered. "If I – If I slipped and became who I used to be?"

"Your dark side?" Blaine almost laughed.

"You… you have no idea what I've done," Sebastian croaked.

"Have you ever killed anyone?" Blaine asked.

"No," Sebastian admitted in a low whisper.

"Then what could you have done?" Blaine asked. He cut Sebastian off before he could answer. "It's the first thing we sang about. Everybody has a dark side. You saw mine at homecoming."

"If that is your dark side, killer…" Sebastian began, laughing despite the heavy conversation.

"I kissed Hunter," Blaine blurted. Sebastian stared at him.

"When? And did he slap you?" he laughed.

"The day you got laryngitis," Blaine said. "He asked me to. I'm not the best person, either, Bas. In case you've forgotten, I hooked up with you while I was still with Kurt."

"If you think that's the first time I've hooked up with a taken man, you are so wrong," Sebastian said, rolling his eyes.

"Then tell me. Tell me who you used to be," Blaine challenged.

"I can't," Sebastian said. "You'd leave me."

"I'm not going to leave you," Blaine said. "You can tell me anything."

"There was someone before you," Sebastian said. "Someone I thought I… felt something for."

"So?" Blaine asked. "I had Kurt and, God I can't believe I'm voluntarily bringing this up, but Jeremiah."

"Paul," Sebastian said. "We were roommates at a school I went to for a few months. We, uh…" He thought hard. "We explored. Everything. That's the best way to put it, I guess."

"Explored? What, you – Oh." It hit Blaine. "So?"

"He was here today," Sebastian said. "He recognized me… and I couldn't remember who he was."

"Why couldn't you…"

"I told you, I can't even remember half the Warblers names, and I see these guys every day. You expect me to remember some guy I spent a few months with four years ago?" Blaine looked at Sebastian, eyes narrowing.

"That's not the reason, is it?" Sebastian met Blaine's gaze, and dropped it almost immediately.

"No."

"C'mon, Bas," Blaine urged. "Just tell me."

"B, I have fucked so many guys at this point, I could spit in a petri dish and start a whole new civilization," Sebastian said.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Blaine asked.

"Because that's not me," Sebastian said. "When I was… you know… something happened and I became like this whole other person. Like… Anakin Skywalker when he became Darth Vader."

"Okay, sure," Blaine agreed.

"Even last year, I didn't realize what I'd become… Until the news got to Dalton about Karofsky. Nick and Jeff, if you believe this, cornered me in the hallway by our dorms… And they basically told me if I didn't shape up, they were going to have me expelled," Sebastian said. "I guess that knocked some sense into me."

"So you turned over a new leaf."

"I tried to," Sebastian said. "I tried to become my old self, the person I knew I was inside. Hooking up with you was the last straw. I finally realized who I had become and spent the next month or so trying to drink it all away. I… I can't ever make up for what I did to you or your friends. And I can't believe that you, of all people, would want to be with someone like me, for all intents and purposes, an abusive alcoholic whore." Blaine took all this in, processed it.

"Every guy at Dalton?"

"Every single one with the possible exception of Hunter, but I think he counts."

"Who's better, Nick or Jeff?"

"Both at the same time."

Blaine stared.

"Jeff's in the middle," Sebastian added, just in case Blaine needed that graphic in his mind.

They hadn't been kidding.

"Let's take Hunter to dinner," Blaine finally said.

"Why?"

"Because we owe him."

"Why?"

"For getting us together," Blaine said.

"You are bizarre."

"And after that, we're going to come back here, and I am going to fuck your brains out," Blaine added in a low whisper that went straight to Sebastian's core.

"Oh, God."

"Unless…" Blaine said, turning back around suddenly, his face right next to Sebastian's chest, since Sebastian had a good six inches on him. "Unless you want to skip dinner and fuck right now."

He didn't have to answer, Blaine already knew.

"I don't want to overstep, though," Blaine said nervously, "but you did say I could after we won Nationals."

"Shut up and take your clothes off," Sebastian growled. Blaine did so, throwing his Dalton uniform into a heap on the floor, not caring where it landed. Sebastian did as well – everything but the tie. Blaine smiled at it, laughing to himself.

"Why do you always wear your tie?" Blaine asked.

"To show I'm in charge," Sebastian said. He paused a moment, then loosened his tie, slipped it off over his head, and handed it to Blaine. Blaine stared. "You're in charge tonight." Blaine pulled Sebastian's tie on over his head. He'd never thought about it like that before. He did feel sort of important wearing the tie. It was a status symbol, like a moustache.

Breathing hard, because he sincerely was nervous as fuck, Sebastian climbed onto the king size hotel bed.

"Are you nervous, baby?" Blaine breathed. Sebastian looked into those beautiful honey-colored eyes of Blaine's and felt all his fears wash away. Sebastian lay on his back, pointing and flexing his toes, rolling his ankles, slowly moving every muscle in his body, finishing with his mouth, which burst into a smile.

"Not at all," Sebastian finally replied. Blaine climbed on top of Sebastian, straddling him, and kissed that smile. After what seemed like decades of kissing, Sebastian growled, "Blaine Warbler, you're such a tease."

Blaine opened his eyes, interested. Sebastian had never called him Blaine Warbler. Blaine grinned mischievously. Sebastian groaned as Blaine slowly kissed his way south. In an effort to hurry Blaine up, Sebastian threw the bottle of lube he just always seemed to have on him at Blaine's head. Blaine caught it without really looking up and hesitated. He'd only done this once and didn't want to disappoint Sebastian. Then Blaine looked down at the tie he was wearing. It gave him a certain burst of confidence, all he needed to pop the top of the container and squirt way more than was really necessary on his hand.

"Have you ever…?" Blaine only half asked.

"Never," Sebastian gasped, already out of breath for no discernible reason.

"I love you," Blaine breathed as he slowly slid one finger inside Sebastian. Sebastian winced, not because it particularly hurt, but because of the memories trying to get to the front of his brain. He looked into Blaine's eyes again and all the memories retreated.

"Oh," Sebastian moaned loudly, as Blaine added a second finger. "Oh Blaine…"

Suddenly from next door, and even louder sound. Blaine and Sebastian stared at each other and then another sound: Oh, holy shit, Nicky!

"Is that seriously Nick and Jeff?" Blaine asked.

"How about that noise war we owe them?" Sebastian proposed, smirking.

"It is so on," Blaine said. He pulled his fingers from Sebastian, garnishing a whimper from Sebastian, but soon replaced the two fingers he'd removed with three, coated in much more lube. He didn't want to ruin this perfect night by hurting his boyfriend. Sebastian was extremely vocal, whether because of the contest or because he'd never felt pleasure like that, Blaine didn't know or care.

"Blaine, stop teasing and get inside me," Sebastian instructed.

"Who's wearing the tie, you or me?" Blaine asked.

"You are, and you've never looked sexier," Sebastian panted, "but if you don't get your dick inside me, I am going to blow all over it." Blaine relented, reluctantly taking his fingers out of Sebastian. He took a moment to give Sebastian a dirty kiss, before lining up his wrapped cock and slowly pushing inside.

Sebastian was only vaguely surprised it barely hurt – not anywhere near as much as it had…before. There were those memories again, fighting their way to the surface. Maybe Blaine sensed them or maybe he just really knew what he was doing because he waited for Sebastian's permission before moving. Sebastian wrapped his legs around Blaine's back. He didn't know why, but it was the best feeling, having Blaine inside him. He never wanted to leave this bed. Then Blaine started moving his hips and it was better than heaven.

"Why do you ever want to stop having sex?" Sebastian gasped. "Ah! Oh my God!"

"I don't know, I'm not a sex addict?" Blaine guessed. Sebastian felt so good around him. He wasn't used to topping, he'd only done it once before, with Kurt, and now that he was doing it again, he couldn't remember why he hadn't more often. He chose a slow pace that had Sebastian moaning loudly, still evidently intent on winning the war being waged through the wall.

"Honey, do me a favor," Sebastian said through gritted teeth as if he was going to regret it.

"Anything," Blaine panted.

"Fuck me so hard I'll feel it all the way back to Ohio."

Blaine was only too happy to oblige, one hand on Sebastian's cock, the other holding his hips steady. Sebastian's hands were gripping the sheets so hard he was in danger of ripping them. It wasn't long after that Sebastian came, positively screaming, probably more for effect than anything else, but Blaine was right behind him babbling his way through his own orgasm.

Bliss. That's what it was. Utter bliss.

It was several minutes before either of them moved, choosing to lay flat on their backs, panting hard. And it's Blaine who moves first, just enough to dispose of his condom. He knows he should clean them up, but he can't will himself to leave Sebastian's side.

"I love you, Bas," Blaine finally said, trying to speak without panting.

"I love you too," Sebastian replied. "Now be a dear and go get a washcloth before I get sticky." Blaine reluctantly rolled off the bed and returned moments later with a warm wet washcloth, which he threw at Sebastian. Blaine sat back down next to his boyfriend, sighed contentedly, stretched, then pulled Sebastian's tie loose and slung it over the lamp on the headboard.

"Aw, shit, what did you do that for?" Sebastian asked.

"It was bugging me," Blaine said, shrugging.

"You didn't have to untie it."

"What? Don't you know how to tie a tie?"

"No," Sebastian said indignantly. "My dad never taught me."

"Then who tied that one?"

"The sassy one."

"Trent?" Blaine guessed.

"Whatever."

"I'll teach you." Sebastian didn't care though, he was slowly drifting off to sleep, to be awoken the next morning by a pounding on the door.

"Blaine! Sebastian! Let's go, I'm leaving!" Hunter yelled before going next door to bang on Nick and Jeff's door. "Get up you two!" Nick opened the door and let Hunter into their room. "D'you know if Blaine and Bas are up yet?"

"Doubt it," Jeff said, yawning. "From all the noise they were making last night, I'd say they were doing it real good. And I think, but I'm not sure, that Nick and I have to give up our trophy for loudest sexual encounter."

"Speaking of trophies, get ours from Thad, I want it in my car in 10 minutes, and you two with it," Hunter said. He left.

Blaine poked Sebastian lightly.

"Bas, get up, we're going home," Blaine said.

"I don't have a home," Sebastian mumbled. "My dad's house isn't home. Mom moved in with François, and that's really cool and awesome for her, but that shit's not home."

"Dalton home," Blaine clarified. "And then it's just a few weeks until we go to New York."

"I want you to meet my mom," Sebastian continued. "She'd love you. And you would absolutely adore Sophie."

"Who's Sophie?"

"My step-sister," Sebastian yawned. "She's 7. You two would get along so well. Assuming she's learned some more English or you're really holding back on your French."

"Sure thing," Blaine said. "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?"

"I'll consider it," Sebastian replied. "We do live together. I hope you know a little more than that, or you're going to fail your final."

"Ugh, we still have school," Blaine said.

"Four more days," Sebastian said. "Then we graduate, and we never have to see these losers again."

"I like most of these losers," Blaine said. Sebastian rolled over to get out of bed.

"Oh, holy Jesus fuck," Sebastian said. "Oh that's gonna hurt so bad."

"You told me to!" Blaine exclaimed.

"I didn't think you really would," Sebastian whined. "Do I have time to take a shower?"

"Hunter's leaving in like 10 minutes, with or without us," Blaine said.

"Shower it is," Sebastian said, standing up bravely and locking himself in the bathroom.

"Did you want company in there?" Blaine called.

"No!" came the reply.

"All right," Blaine said. He'd already showered and gotten dressed in a pair of high-waters, a sweater vest, and a bowtie. Sebastian had changed his mind on the capri pants when he realized how endearing he really found them. Ten minutes came and went, then it had been fifteen, then twenty. Blaine sat patiently on the bed, waiting for Sebastian to emerge.

Finally, 45 minutes after he'd gone in, Sebastian came out in just a towel, wet hair hanging about his face in a rather sexy manner. Blaine was sitting on the bed, twiddling his phone in his hands, staring at the wall. He looked up at Sebastian.

"Hunter left," Blaine said.

"Good, call a cab," Sebastian said. "Tell them to be here in fifteen minutes, we'll be waiting."

"We're taking a cab to Ohio?" Blaine asked, flipping through the hotel's propaganda for the number of a cab company.

"We're taking a cab to the airport," Sebastian said, rolling his eyes. "We'll get a flight out of here and be back way before everyone else."

One flash of Sebastian's winning smile and platinum credit card got them a pair of first class tickets on the next flight back home.

"This is style," Sebastian said, reclining in his extremely cushy leather seat, drinking orange juice out of a champagne glass. "Imagine this for a six hour flight… I mean, airline food is awful, but it's free."

"Six hours? How far are we from home?" Blaine asked.

"We'll be at Dalton in an hour and a half," Sebastian said. "Six hour flight is when we go to France."

"We're going to France?" Blaine asked.

"Didn't I ask you to come to my mother's wedding?" Sebastian asked.

"…No?"

"I'm going to NYADA, Bas is going to NYU," Blaine said. "Hunt, where are you going?"

"West Point," Hunter answered promptly.

"Should have known," Blaine said, nodding. "And you two?"

"University of Michigan," Nick replied. "We debated there or Northwestern, but…"

"It's not glamorous or anything, but we'll both be there and that's all that really matters, isn't it?" Jeff said. He was trying to hold hands with Nick across Blaine, but it was difficult.

"This is a super long-ass drive, and I'll probably regret asking, but why don't you tell us the story of how you two got together?" Sebastian said, stretching out, lazily. He was in the front seat, like an asshole.

"It was a beautiful and magical time…" Jeff began.

Contrary to popular belief, Nick and Jeff had met as small children, even though they grew up on separate sides of the country. Jeff's family lived nearby in Ohio. Nick's was from Texas.

It was fate. The Duvals and the Sterlings both took the same cruise vacation, leaving their sons in the same kid-friendly environment on the boat. They weren't sure why, but they became best friends in the seven days they were there.

It seems strange that a seven day encounter could turn into life-long friendship, but it did. In the years to come, the boys rang up phone bills so high that each set of parents got their son his own cell phone. Jeff was the first one to suggest online communication, even bought a webcam and headset for Nick. Summer was the best, because they spent a whole month together, trading off whose house they were at.

When Jeff found out he was going to a boarding school, he promptly informed Nick, and they spent weeks begging Nick's parents to send him to Dalton as well. Finally the Duvals relented, and Nick and Jeff were living together at last, best friends thrown together by fate.

Halfway through freshman year, just as the Warblers were gearing up for Regionals, a new kid came along: Blaine Warbler. Then-junior Wes took the extremely talented, extremely good-looking freshman Blaine under his wing. You can't get into the Warblers unless you're good-looking, it's a pre-requisite. We're still not sure how Sebastian got in.

Blaine had transferred in from Westerville High, where'd he'd been—

"You know what?" Blaine interjected. "I actually know my own story, thanks."

So the very talented, extremely sexy, freshman Blaine became the third Musketeer to Nick and Jeff's one and two. So late in the semester, he had to triple his dorm up with Nick and Jeff. Blaine became the star of the Warblers, quickly moving to legendary status. Nick and Jeff worked as his crowd control. As a result, they became best friends.

"They may be playing this up a bit," Blaine said. They'd stopped at a Dunkin Donuts for a coffee and pee break (or if you were Sebastian and Blaine, a quickie in the handicapped stall), and were now back on the road. "We were roommates and friends, but I'm not famous."

"Baby, please," Sebastian said. "You're Blaine freaking Anderson. Now be quiet. Councilor Duval, you have the floor."

So, Nick and Jeff were living with Blaine. Blaine was gay and he didn't hide it, and they were okay with it. Jeff had always known he was too, though he didn't parade it around. It didn't really matter, one way or the other, especially with Dalton's no tolerance rules – the reason the Sterlings had chosen to send Jeff there in the first place.

Nick hadn't ever thought about it – being best friends with someone 1000 miles away was always his top priority. Girls were somewhere around 27th. That was your first clue. It didn't change how he saw his best friend or Blaine. Blaine became everyone's favorite person. The Warblers would fight over whose turn it was to do his hair. And even though they lost at Regionals, it didn't matter that much. They still had the nursing home shows. With Blaine as their star, the Warblers were virtually unstoppable.

Summer passed, Nick and Jeff stayed at Jeff's house for the most part, pretending to be spies or superheroes or whatnot. Blaine promised to visit but he lied! No, shut up, Blaine, I'm telling the story!

Fall eventually came, and with it came a real spy – one Kurt Hummel, Mr. Blaine Devon Anderson's personal Teenage Dream. He was bullied at his school and a few weeks later finally transferred. Blaine had gotten his own dorm at the start of the year, but Kurt chose not to live on campus, though he was technically assigned to be Blaine's roommate.

Nick and Jeff knew Kurt was moved with Blaine, and considered kicking Blaine until he caught up. The issue? Blaine was in love with a 26-year-old junior manager at the North Hills Gap. Man, he had some hair. That was embarrassing as hell, I'm sure.

'Twas Valentine's Day, though, and Kurt set up a Single's Party at Breadstix, and the Warblers were the entertainment. Nick took the opportunity to meet a girl – Ashleigh, if I remember correctly.

Totally bombed his date, by the way, Hunter, if that makes you feel any better. Instead of going to Jeff with his problems, he went to Blaine. I wasn't there, of course, but they probably going into some kind of sassy slapfight.

—Anyhow, it wasn't until the Sexy lesson that Nick finally caught on. Under the cover of tons and tons of bubbles, Nick finally kissed Jeff. Jeff was surprised, but very, very happy. They went back to their room to continue kissing and they've been dating ever since.

To thank Blaine for all his help, Nick and Jeff decided to hook him up with Kurt. I'm not going to go into specifics here, but Nick and Jeff noticed that Kurt was the sort of person who gets emotional over dead birds. Because there are two types of people in the world, people who get emotional over dead birds, and people who don't get emotional over dead birds, and Kurt is the kind that gets emotional over dead birds.

"Told you so," Sebastian interjected.

Nick and Jeff regretfully killed Pavarotti. Technically, they poisoned her water. Technically, they are horrible, awful people. Technically, it was totally worth it. Technically, you use the word 'technically' way too much, J. Shut it. Blaine totally realized he loved Kurt while Kurt was singing Blackbird. Jeff suggested to Blaine that he might sing a duet with Kurt for Regionals – something emotional, like Candles, by Hey Monday.

"Oh, God, no. No more candles," Blaine said.

If you hadn't noticed, Blaine was usually so Top 40. Long story very short, Blaine and Kurt got together, but the Warblers lost Regionals. That's okay though, Klaine is better than a lousy trophy.

Life went on, as it tends to do. Kurt transferred back to McKinley. The New Directions lost at Nationals, if it makes anyone feel any better. I think they came in 12th. God, that sucks. I hope we don't come in 12th. Summer came and went, it was wonderful, who cares. The first day of school came, and there was Blaine Warbler, in his Warbler outfit, dreamy as ever, leading Warbler practice, electing a new council. It was fantastic.

Except that night when Nick and Jeff heard a clamoring from the room next to theirs. Blaine was dressed in capri pants, bowtie, and sweater vest, throwing everything he owned into boxes. He was transferring to McKinley to be with Kurt. Nick and Jeff were supportive. Blaine called an emergency council meeting and named Nick as his successor. Then, he was gone.

Literally the next morning, there was someone new moving into Blaine's dorm room. Nick and Jeff decided to meet their new neighbor. Sebastian Smythe, what a douche. He was so douchey. He looked like a douche, he sounded like a douche, he acted like a douche, and then he showed up to Warbler practice. And he was a douche there, too.

"Guys, I'm sitting right here!" Sebastian protested.

"Shut up," Jeff said.

"Thanks for being supportive, as always," Sebastian mumbled.

Sebastian had a tendency to talk over people and think he was better than everyone else. One by one, Sebastian picked off the Warblers and the other boys at Dalton, including us, to have one-afternoon stands in his single dorm room. Loudly. Nick and Jeff picked noise fights randomly. They still hold the trophy for loudest sexual encounter.

"And Blaine and I are going to take you up on that, I promise," Sebastian said.

Blaine came to visit the Warblers, to invite them to his opening night in West Side Story. Sebastian, it seemed, had a fantastic crush on the former legend. That just wouldn't do. Unfortunately, Sebastian terrified Nick and Jeff, and they didn't dare try to stop any of his ridiculous schemes, which were numerous. Finally, Dave Karofsky, whom Nick, Jeff, and Trent had met when they'd gone with Sebastian to Scandals one night, attempted suicide. Nick and Jeff decided Sebastian had gone too far, he needed to be stopped. He would change his ways or he'd be out of the Warblers, new captain or not.

Sebastian shaped up, and though the Warblers lost at Regionals, their best friend Blaine won, and Sebastian learned life's too short to blind people with rock salt. The rest of that year passed pretty uneventfully. Finally, that brings us to senior year. Another newcomer to the Warblers showed up, moving into Sebastian's room. Nick and Jeff greeted him happily, hoping he'd be better than Sebastian at any rate. He asked for a brief overview of the Warblers, and any information they could spare on Sebastian. It was not a short conversation by any account.

When the first Warblers meeting was convened for the semester, Hunter petitioned the council for a few things. One, Captaincy, which the Warblers were only too willing to give him, and Two, a seat on the council. After a brief conversation, Councilor Sterling agreed to give up his council seat to Hunter.

"I think everyone else is familiar with the rest of the story, to be honest," Nick finally said. "Where are we?"

"Looking for the parking garage for the hotel," Hunter said.

"We're there already?" Blaine asked, jolting awake. He'd fallen asleep a few hours ago, head on Nick's shoulder.

"Yeah, sleepyhead, you missed most of the story," Jeff said, indignantly.

"We slammed Sebastian a few times, just to make sure you were really asleep," Nick said. Hunter parked the car, and the quintet gathered their bags. They checked into their rooms, and then loaded up the elevator.

"So, I made a decision," Hunter said. "I know I'm not Captain anymore, or even Vice Captain, and I'm barely on the council, and I'm kind of a jerk, and I sort of made Sebastian come onto me and got Blaine very angry with me…"

"Did this story have a point, because I'm sure pissing me off again wasn't it," Blaine interrupted.

"I want Nick and Jeff to have Two Princes," Hunter said. "They sounded so good when they sang it before, and they've never done a duet together."

"Yeah, and I don't think Nationals is the best time to try that out," Blaine said. "We want to win, don't we?"

"Hey," Jeff said. "We gave up Regionals two years ago for you and Kurt. Then you cheated on him and ruined all our good work. You could at least return the favor."

"I'm not saying you can't have the song if Hunter wants to give it to you," Blaine said. "He's on the council, he has the power. I'm just saying, don't sleep with Sebastian while you're dating someone else." Sebastian punched Blaine in the arm softly, and Blaine laughed. "It worked out for me, but I don't think so much for you."

"If you had to date one of the other Warblers besides each other, which one would you pick?" Sebastian asked.

"Blaine," Nick said at the same time Jeff declared, "Sebastian." They turned to stare at each other.

"Oh-hoo," Blaine said, looking at Sebastian. "Interesting. What about you, Bas?"

"Oh, definitely Hunter," Sebastian laughed. "Hunt?"

"Yeah, if I had to pick one of you, I guess it would be Sebastian," Hunter grumbled.

"What about you, Blaine?" Nick asked.

"Oh, God," Blaine said. "I don't know."

"If you had to," Sebastian said. "I won't be offended. Tell us."

"I don't know!" Blaine exclaimed. "Hunter, I guess."

"Ew, why Hunter?" Sebastian asked.

"You said you wouldn't be offended!" Blaine argued. The rest laughed, except Hunter who seemed revolted. The elevator finally dinged them free on the 15th floor.

"We'll see you later, I guess," Jeff said, as they all went their separate ways.

"Practice in my room at 6 sharp," Hunter called.

"So, a 26-year-old junior manager at the Gap," Sebastian said to Blaine.

"I don't have the music anymore, so I hope you remember it… Hunter, Sebastian, just… catch on. I hope." Kurt was perched on a stool in the corner of the library. "A brief welcome back to Kurt Hummel, you all know Kurt. Kurt, the guys," Blaine said, gesticulating wildly. Kurt waved serenely from his stool. "Alright everyone, let's run it."

I've seen you crying, you felt like it's hopeless But I'll always do my best to make you see…

"You're ready," Kurt said. "Tell him he's ready."

"You're ready," Nick and Jeff said.

"I don't know, maybe you need more candles," Sebastian teased. He and Kurt had swapped stories all day on Sunday.

"Oh, God, no. No more candles," Blaine said, burying his face in his hands.

"I'm kidding, you're ready!" Sebastian said, giving his boyfriend a hug from behind. "We'll be right here, not killing each other." Hunter and Sebastian were sitting out, Blaine had make the decision. They couldn't learn it fast enough.

"Blaine Anderson?" Madame Thibodeaux called.

"Yes," Blaine said. He stood center stage in the Dalton Auditorium, which they hardly ever used.

"And what will you be performing?"

"I wrote and arranged this song two years ago," Blaine said. "It's called Not Alone. And I hope you like it."

Baby you're not alone, cuz you're here with me And nothing's ever gonna bring you down Cuz nothing can keep me from loving you And you know it's true No matter what'll come to be Our love is all we need to make it through

"It has been many years since an applicant performed their own original song for me," Madame Thibodeaux said. "I applaud your choice." She didn't say anything else at all.

"Thank you for your time, Madame," Blaine said, taking three or four bows before leaving the stage.

"Is she gone?" Blaine asked, nervously.

"You nailed it!" Sebastian exclaimed, picking Blaine up and spinning him around. It was a good thing Blaine was so short, or Sebastian would have effectively decapitated a few Warblers. "Oh, I've never had anyone to be proud of before. This is silly."

"Alright, put me down before you get overwhelmed," Blaine said. Sebastian set him back on his feet.

"How do you feel?" Kurt asked.

"Nervous as hell, oh my God," Blaine screamed.

"Blaine, it's over!" Kurt squeaked. "Why are you nervous now?"

"You know, Blaine, he's never nervous before," Hunter said.

"Just so you know, I owe Nick ten dollars," Jeff said.

"What?" Blaine asked.

"We were betting what you'd sing," Nick answered. "He said Teenage Dream. I knew better."

"I was thinking Teenage Dream," Blaine said. "This was better. Oh, GOD! Do you think she liked it? Do you think I'll get in, OH MY GOD, Kurt, what if I get in?" He'd grabbed Kurt around the waist and was dancing him around the hallway.

"Then we'll go to school together again," Kurt said, "and you can be the one to listen to Rachel and bitch about Cassandra July."

"Why would she bitch about Cassie July?" Blaine asked.

"You'll find out, come September," Kurt replied. Sebastian deftly orchestrated a move to steal his boyfriend away from Kurt.

"You know how I never talk to my dad unless it's emergency?" Sebastian asked.

"Yeah, same deal with my parents," Blaine shrugged.

"I talked to him last night about arrangements for next year," Sebastian continued. "He bought us an apartment."

"Bought us… oh, my God!" Blaine screamed. "We're moving to New York. We're moving to New York! Guys! Bas and I are moving to New York!" He ran around in excited circles, around and around the throng in the corridor.

"That's great, Blaine," Kurt said, almost convincingly. "Listen, I, uh, I should be going. Rach and I have to be at the train station in two hours, so…"

"Aw, so soon?" Jeff asked. "You can't stay for, let's say, another year or two?"

"For you two, I'd consider it," Kurt laughed. "Have fun, don't get into too much trouble. I hope Wes never found out what you did to that gavel."

"What did they do to the gavel?" Sebastian asked. Nick and Jeff exchanged looks. "Kurt, what did they do to my gavel?"

"See you!" Kurt called, skipping down the corridor.

"Not if I see you first!" Blaine yelled. "Alsksdjklds! I can't believe we're moving to New York!"

"I might suggest we move the party out of the hall. Contrary to popular belief, there are teachers here, and we're going to get cited for noise," Hunter said, shepherding his group into the library. "All hail, Blaine Warbler, the man, the myth, the legend. To Blaine Warbler."

"Why-why do you guys call him Blaine Warbler?" Sebastian asked. "It's redundant."

"Because that's his name," Jeff said.

"You got the Blaine part right," Sebastian said. "But the rest is not Warbler."

"Is isn't?" Nick asked, concerned. "That's what we put on the announcements…"

"Guys, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Blaine Devon Anderson, love of my life, New York Academy of the Dramatic Arts, Class of 2017," Sebastian said.

"Bas, don't wreck it, what if I don't get in?" Blaine whined.

"You will," Sebastian said. "And even if you don't, it'll be alright, you know why?"

"Why?" Blaine asked, anxiously.

"Cuz, baby, you're not alone!" the entire chorus sung in unison. Blaine groaned.

"I set myself up for that one."

"I got the mail," Sebastian said. It was the day before they were leaving to go to Philadelphia for Nationals. "Did you know we have a mailbox?"

"How do you think your mail gets to your desk every day?" Blaine asked, sitting up. He'd been on Sebastian's bed, reading the last book of his high school career, Into the Heart of Darkness. Talk about boring. Sebastian was taking the normal person's approach – not reading the book.

"Never thought about it," Sebastian said, setting the mail down on his desk and starting to go through it. Blaine got up to help. It was a big stack, neither of them had bothered to look for a week or more.

"Hot damn!" Blaine exclaimed.

"My Playgirl came?" Sebastian asked, interested.

"Your VISA bill is huge!" Blaine said.

"Give me that!" Sebastian snapped, snatching the envelope from Blaine's hand and stashing it in his desk drawer. Blaine opened the next envelope he picked up, also addressed to Sebastian.

"Good news, no STDs!" Blaine exclaimed.

"Not surprised," Sebastian scoffed. "Haven't screwed anyone but you in about a jillion years." He pushed Blaine away from the mail, intent on sorting it himself. "Swapped a lot of spit with Hunter, though, but what are the odds?"

"How often do you get checked for STDs?" Blaine asked, looking through the pages he was still holding.

"Every three months," Sebastian replied, promptly.

"Why?"

"Can't be too careful, especially if you're me," Sebastian advised. He'd found an envelope addressed to Blaine and was staring at it.

"What's that?"

"It's your NYADA letter," Sebastian said. Blaine went white.

"I didn't think it would get here before Nationals," Blaine said. "I don't even get mail here, they're supposed to send everything to my house."

"Are you going to open it?" Sebastian asked.

"I have to," Blaine said, taking the envelope from his boyfriend. "But… not just yet."

"When are you going to, then?" Sebastian asked.

"In about three minutes," Blaine said. He banged twice on the wall to Niff's room and yelled, "My NYADA letter came!" Not two minutes had passed before all the Warblers were convened in the dorm hallway.

"Use a letter opener," Thad suggested, handing Blaine said item. Blaine was shaking so badly he looked like he was going to stab someone with the letter opener. Sebastian stepped in behind him and held his hands steady as he pulled the letter from the envelope. He closed his eyes and unfolded the paper. Sebastian glanced at it and grinned. Blaine took a deep breath, opened his eyes, read down the paper, and screamed.

"I got in! I got in!" he yelled. It was a month ago again, everyone was hugging each other, except Sebastian, who was holding the letter opener. He passed it to Hunter so he could hug his boyfriend, pick him up, spin him around, and kiss him.

"Congratulations, baby," Sebastian murmured in Blaine's ear. "Let's add the cherry to the top of that, shall we?"

"Nationals?"

"I'm still not entirely sure," Nick replied. "Either Sebastian is a much better actor than you give him credit for or he's kinda hypocritically into Hunter."

"Talk about being hypocritical, Mr. Not-Even-Remotely-Bicurious Hunter Clarington," Jeff said.

"If it turns out Sebastian does like him, you guys are so done," Nick said. Blaine started to shake uncontrollably. Jeff removed the bottle of tequila from his grip and Nick sat down to put his arms around him. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Everything will be fine, you'll get your sole captaincy, and we'll get our retribution."

"Why do you guys even want retribution?" Blaine asked. "For what?"

"For Michael week," Nick said, looking at Jeff.

"I don't even care about that any more," Blaine said. "Why do you guys care?" They didn't reply.

"All I'm saying is Two Princes would sound so much better with you singing it," Blaine was saying to Nick and Jeff when Hunter and Sebastian showed up to rehearsal on Monday. They hadn't spoken all weekend, and Sebastian felt like someone had stuffed a red-hot poker into his heart. Hunter cleared his throat.

"Sorry we're late, we had business to attend to," Hunter said. He stepped a little further from Sebastian, but it seemed the entire team already knew – either Blaine had told them or news just traveled fast. Only Niff and Blaine knew the truth – the rest thought Sebastian was a bastard and a whore, and Hunter wasn't far behind him. How could they do that to Blaine, their hero? This was working more in Blaine's favor than he'd originally planned.

"Now you're finally here, I'd just like to start today's practice with a warm up song, you'll catch on," Blaine said. "Hit it guys."

I didn't hear what you were saying I live on raw emotion, baby I answer questions never maybe And I'm not kind if you betray me And it's not my fault, cuz you both deserve what's coming now, so don't say a word

Wake up call Caught you in the morning with another one in my bed Don't you care about me anymore? Care about me, I don't think so Six foot tall, can't wait for the morning So I had to shoot him dead He won't come around here anymore No he won't come around here I don't feel so bad

I'm so sorry, darling Did I do the wrong thing? Oh, what was I thinking? Is his heart still beating?

"Alright!" Blaine said, happily. "Now we're all warmed up, I want to hear how Two Princes sounds as sung by Niff." To Hunter, it felt like Blaine and Sebastian were in a relationship fight and he was caught up in the middle. To Blaine, he was just playing a part. To Sebastian, it was the worst day of his life. All of his friends thought he was a terrible person, that he'd cheated on Blaine, and was now flaunting his new boyfriend in front of everyone. This had to be worked out, and soon, or Blaine would be doing some serious groveling.

Nick and Jeff sounded great, but they couldn't do it for Nationals, of course. Hunter would be singing it, as planned.

After rehearsal, Blaine and Niff walked together, laughing back to their dorm.

"I'll be there in a sec, I just need to get something from my room," Blaine said. Nick and Jeff carried on into their room, happy to have a few moments to themselves. Blaine unlocked the door to the room he technically still shared with Sebastian and Hunter. It was empty, of course, Blaine had had quite a head start leaving rehearsal. The door unlocked again behind him though, and he looked up to see who was joining him.

Sebastian – alone.

Blaine smiled, standing up and giving his boyfriend a hug.

"Hey, sexy," he whispered. "How are you holding up?"

"Awful," Sebastian croaked. "I miss you. I need you."

"If you can get away from the wretch, I'll see you in ten minutes in the Sit. Room," Blaine breathed, barely loud enough for Sebastian to hear. Sebastian loosened his tie. Blaine took the things he'd come in for and left. Sebastian took a box of Altoid mints (They're Curiously Strong!) from Hunter's dresser and stuffed approximately ten of them in his mouth. He'd spent the entire weekend making out with Hunter, and while it wasn't necessarily unpleasant, Hunter was no Blaine.

Had it been ten minutes yet? He glanced at the clock. Thirty seconds. Are you kidding?

Hunter walked into the room. Sebastian forced himself to smile at him. Hunter turned a little pink and smiled back, then cleared his throat, business-like.

"So… uh, Blaine seems… mad," Hunter said, not looking at Sebastian.

"Yeah, seems that way," Sebastian said. "Who cares, come on, baby, this is how it should be, you and me. We should have done this months ago."

"Maybe we shouldn't have done this at all," Hunter said. "Blaine is trying to shut us out, take over our team."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah!" Hunter continued, very upset. "We need to keep control for ourselves."

"Don't see how, really, he's told everyone we're total douchebags," Sebastian said.

"We're charming," Hunter said. "We'll win them back."

"Mhmm… you work on that, I'm going for a walk," Sebastian said.

"You don't think we can?"

"I think we can do anything," Sebastian said, winking. "I'll be back later, baby." He blew a kiss at Hunter and left the room. He took a second to clear his head, breathing deeply, then walked to the end of the hall and knocked on the door of the Sit. Room. The door opened, and there was Blaine, smiling at him.

"Hey baby," Blaine said.

"Hey," Sebastian said. Blaine pulled him into the room and slammed the door.

"I don't know if I can take this," Blaine growled. "Not being with you is like torture."

"Being with Hunter is no picnic, trust me," Sebastian said. "Why are you doing this to me, B? Did I do something wrong?"

"What?" Blaine asked.

"Why are you punishing me?" Sebastian asked.

"I'm not…" Blaine said. "But… don't you want to do anything it takes to win?"

"Not if it means losing you," Sebastian said. Blaine looked at him with those wide puppy dog eyes that made Sebastian wonder if Blaine was actually capable of running a scheme like this. "You're better than some lousy trophy, don't you think?" Blaine jumped on him, and Sebastian had to take a few steps back to keep from falling over.

"I love you so much," Blaine said. "If you finish this for me, I'll never try anything this stupid again." He kissed Sebastian.

"I love you too," Sebastian said. "I'll do it, but you're definitely going to have to do something for me."

"Anything you want, baby."

The week seemed to drag on. Blaine ran rehearsals any way he saw fit. Sebastian pretended to be into Hunter, and fooled around with Blaine on the side. It would have been heaven for Sebastian nine months ago, but now it all seemed more like work than he really wanted.

"Tomorrow after Breadstix, my house, Nick and Jeff will cover for you," Blaine hissed at Sebastian on Friday as he passed him on their way out of English class. Sebastian cracked half a smile, then sauntered away to his next class. Blaine flounced into History class and sat in his chair next to Hunter. He'd been doing a good job at keeping his part up all week.

"Blaine," Hunter said, the first time he'd dared speak a word to him.

"Hmm?" Blaine asked.

"I'm really sorry," Hunter said. Blaine turned to look at him, actually astonished.

"Are you?" Blaine asked. "Thought a home wrecker like you wouldn't know the meaning of it."

"Bas came onto me," Hunter said. "I didn't want to get in the way of you two, I swear. I haven't – I swear I wouldn't have… you know… with him."

"Do you think I should find it comforting that you haven't had sex with my boyfriend?" Blaine asked.

"Maybe," Hunter hissed. "Not so loud, my reputation is splintering away."

"That's what happens when you become a slut," Blaine replied coolly.

"I'm not a–" Hunter began loudly, but then dropped his voice to a whisper. "I'm not a slut, I'm sorry, I really am. Sebastian really loves you, I can still tell even if he denies it. I never wanted to mess things up between you two." Blaine looked at Hunter, saw the sincerity in his eyes. Blaine bit his lip. "Please, Blaine, just forgive him." The teacher convened class just then, but not before Blaine nodded to Hunter, a silent tear falling from his eye. After class, Blaine walked with Hunter back to their dorm.

"I should forgive him, then," Blaine asked Hunter.

"I doubt he deserves it, but he needs your approval," Hunter said. "I don't want him, I never did, you know that."

"I know that you never gave me a straight answer on whether you did," Blaine said.

"I did. Want him, that is," Hunter said. "But I don't, not anymore. I skipped church this week. I couldn't go in there and face Him."

"You're worried about the big guy at a time like this?" Blaine asked, pointing up to the sky. "Hunt, God made you who you are, and if that's a home wrecking sleaze bag, well, I'm sorry, but that's the way it is."

"I am not a–" Hunter began, then huffed. "Can we forget this ever happened? Please?"

"I'll think about it," Blaine said. They walked the rest of the way to their dorm in silence. Sebastian was already there when they got back, his class was closer to the dormitory. Sebastian raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. "Can I talk to you, in private, Sebastian?" Sebastian bowed his head and left the room with Blaine to stand right outside the door. If their voices got too loud, Hunter would undoubtedly hear. "I talked to Hunter."

"I can see that," Sebastian said. "I am so, so sorry, B."

"I know you are," Blaine said, trying to wink and failing miserably at it. Sebastian bit back a laugh. "I, uh… I'm going to forgive you, you know…" He dropped his voice further. "Publicly. Hunter too, as long as he agrees to a few things."

"Thank you," Sebastian said, hugging Blaine. "This has been the worst week of my life."

"Can I ask you something, though?" Blaine asked in Sebastian's ear.

"What?"

"If this has been tearing you up inside, why on earth did you agree when Nick and Jeff asked you to do it?"

"I-I don't know," Sebastian said. "I knew it had to be done, and maybe I could explain to you afterward…"

"Are we still on for tomorrow night?" Blaine asked.

"Absolutely."

The pair walked back into their room, holding hands. If Hunter suspected conspiracy, he didn't say anything. At that evening's Warbler practice:

"Alright, everyone, listen up," Blaine announced. "Sebastian and I have made up over what was a minor misunderstanding. Hunter has agreed to step down as Vice Captain. Nick and Jeff will be taking his place." That surprised everyone, including Sebastian. He thought Blaine was going to name him as the new Vice Captain. "On that note, can we please go over the number we'll be doing tomorrow night at Breadstix?"

"Places, everyone," Jeff called. "5, 6, 7, 8!"

I don't think you're ready for this jelly, I don't think you're ready for this jelly, I don't think you're ready for this Cuz my body's too bootylicious for you, babe

The crowd at Breadstix laughed and cheered for the Warblers. Blaine pulled Sebastian into a booth with Sam.

"Well?" Blaine asked.

"Different choice, definitely," Sam said.

"Nick and Jeff have been begging," Blaine admitted. "And since I named them Vice Captain, I decided it was time to let them do it."

"They must have been pole dancers in a previous life," Sebastian added. "Maybe you met them there, Trouty."

"Yeah, you were one of our regular sleazy-ass customers who try to touch and get thrown out," Sam shot back.

"Sounds like me," Sebastian laughed. "Guess I didn't have Blaine back then to keep me on the straight and narrow." He leaned over to Blaine and kissed him. Blaine blushed.

"So what was all that last week?" Sam asked.

"Oh, um, that," Blaine said, biting his lip. "I was, uh, getting some payback."

"Long overdue," Sebastian practically sang. "You still owe me, sexy."

The door to Breadstix opened, and in hurried two people – man and woman.

"Oh, good, they're here," Kurt said, excitedly. "Hi, Jeff, where's Blaine?" The voice carried over to where Blaine was sitting, face still attached to Sebastian's. Blaine froze. Sebastian pulled away from him. Sam stared at them. Blaine had never been so white. Then Kurt and Rachel were there next to their table, squishing in next to Sam.

"Blaine!" Rachel said. "It's so good to see you!"

"Yeah, likewise," Blaine said, unsteadily. Kurt looked at him, reading Blaine's every thought right off his face.

"Sebastian," Rachel said.

"Hello Rachel, Hi Kurt," Sebastian said, trying not to smirk.

"What are you doing here?" Blaine asked. "Not that I'm not absolutely thrilled. You're about ten minutes late for the performance, though. We could whip something up for you, I'm sure."

"That's – that's okay," Rachel said. "We just came here to see you anyway." She grinned, it was just like old times.

"I'm gonna… talk to Hunter," Sebastian said vaguely, scooting out of the booth and leaving. Kurt had finished reading Blaine's life off his face.

"Sorry we missed the show," Kurt said, quietly. Rachel switched sides of the booth so it wasn't as crowded.

"Nick and Jeff have been bugging me for months to let them do Bootylicious," Blaine said, laughing. "It was silly, really."

"I'd love to meet the rest of your Warblers," Rachel said. "Kurt's right, you're such a cutiepie in your blazer and your pants."

"You were the first one to say that," Kurt reminded her. Rachel just laughed, and hugged Blaine tight. "He may have spent one entire night sucking face with you, but he's still gay, and it looks like he might even be taken." Blaine looked down at the table and swirled his water glass around.

"Yeah," Blaine said quietly. He became suddenly aware that Sam had mysteriously disappeared. "Yeah, um, Sebastian and I have been together for… quite a while now." Rachel had the presence to stay quiet. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"You have the right to see whoever you like," Kurt said. "You don't see Finn telling Rachel who she can and can't be with."

"Although if it counts at all, I'm no longer with Brody," Rachel interjected. "Is Finn here, though?"

"Uh…" Blaine looked around. It felt silly that he didn't know. "Doesn't look like it. What are you guys doing here?"

"We came to see you, silly," Rachel exclaimed. "Nationals is coming right up. Kurt says you won at Regionals."

"Course," Blaine said. "Barely any competition."

"And someone's NYADA audition is coming up any week now, isn't it?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah…" Blaine said. "I… I don't know what to do yet."

"She likes emotion," Kurt said. "Something really moving, you know."

"You know me, that's my MO," Blaine said. "I was… uh, gonna ask Bas for ideas, but if you had any, that'd be cool."

"I…" Kurt began, but he bit his lip like he was trying to keep himself from saying something.

"I'm going to leave you two alone," Rachel said, showing some kind of sense she must have learned in New York. She left.

"I'm so sorry, Kurt," Blaine said, reaching across the table. Kurt put his hand on top of Blaine's.

"What's done is done," Kurt said. "We're moving on. That's what you do when you break up."

"But you're still my best friend," Blaine said.

"And you're mine too," Kurt said. Suddenly Blaine became aware that someone was behind him. He looked around.

"Oh, hey, Hunter," Blaine said. "Kurt, this is Hunter Clarington, ex-captain of the Warblers, ex-vice captain of the Warblers, and my wonderfully not-even-remotely-bicurious roommate. Hunter, Kurt, my… uh… You've heard about Kurt."

"Hi," Hunter threw at Kurt before addressing Blaine. "Sebastian's about to do something stupid, just warning you." Blaine whipped around to look at the stage behind him, where Sebastian and the rest of the Warblers were assembled.

"Oh, God," Blaine said, putting his head in his hands.

"Hello, everyone, I'm Sebastian Smythe, these are the Warblers again, and we're going to do another number," Sebastian announced. "I know my boyfriend and I haven't had the best week, but Blaine, baby, this one's for you." Blaine turned bright red as he recognized the song the Warblers were doing. He couldn't believe Sebastian was doing this now and in front of Kurt. Again.

When I had you to myself, I didn't want you around Those pretty faces always make you stand out from the crowd Someone picked you from the bunch, one glance is all it took And now it's much too late for me to take a second look Oh, baby, give me one more chance (To show you that I love you) Won't you please let me (Back in your heart) Oh, Darling, I was blind to let you go (Let you go, baby) But now since I've seen you, it is on (I Want You Back)

Kurt just rolled his eyes, smiling serenely. He mouthed "Go" to Blaine, who got up, still blushing, and allowed himself to be pulled onto stage by his boyfriend.

Tryin' to live without your love, it's one long sleepless night Let me show you, boy, that I know wrong from right Every street you walk on, I leave tearstains on the ground Following the girls I didn't even want around Oh, baby, all I need one more chance (To show you that I love you) Won't you please let me (Back in your heart) Oh, Darling, I was blind to let you go (Let you go, baby) But now since I've seen you, it is on

All I want… All I need… All I want… All I need! Is one more chance

(To show you that I love you) Baby, baby, baby, baby… I want you back!

"Classy enough for you?" Sebastian murmured as their audience hooted and hollered.

"Getting there," Blaine replied. He took Sebastian's hand and pulled him back to their table, where Kurt was sitting alone, watching them. "I've noticed Bas tends to do stupid shit when he's nervous."

"Sounds like a serious character flaw," Kurt replied. "I usually don't talk about people behind their backs in front of their faces, but for him I'll make an exception. Really, Blaine?"

"It's complicated," Blaine said, fidgeting. Sebastian's hand ran down Blaine's leg, assuring him it would be alright. "It was… gradual, I guess is the best word."

"Haven't had the best week?" Kurt asked him.

"Uh…" Blaine said, looking to Sebastian. "It's really a long story…"

"Does it look like I have anywhere else to be?" Kurt asked, putting his elbows on the table and resting his head on his hands.

"Life's too short to blind people with rock salt," Sebastian said. "And yes, Hunter is bicurious." He winked. "That's all you really need to know."

"How- how long are you in town?" Blaine asked.

"Just a few days," Kurt said. "I owe you a hot chocolate, and, uh, I thought we could catch a movie, but if you're busy, I understand…"

"No, no," Blaine said, putting his hand on the table again. Kurt hesitated, but covered it with his own. "We can go."

"We had plans," Sebastian sang quietly in Blaine's ear.

"Hush, I live with you," Blaine hissed back. "I will… I … can we go right now?" Kurt bit his lip and looked at Sebastian, who bowed his head, giving a short nod. Kurt and Blaine, still holding hands, hurried from the restaurant.

"Suppose I deserve that," Sebastian said to no one. Hunter sat down in the booth across from him, holding two Cokes.

"Suppose you really do," Hunter replied. "And I'm not bicurious."

"No, you're not," Sebastian agreed. "You're capital-G-gay."

"Sebastian, please," Hunter said. "I'll admit I was curious. I am no longer curious."

"What, a week of experimenting, and you're done?" Sebastian asked. "C'mon, Hunt, I thought I was worth more than that."

"Why did you seduce me?" Hunter asked. "It was a very good show, but you went back to Blaine a little too easily there at the end."

"Power play," Sebastian said. "Completely 100% my idea, to get you under my control, which I now have, don't I?"

"I suppose you do," Hunter said, disgruntled. "I should be angry, but I'm not. I feel … free."

"You're a fruit loop," Sebastian told him.

"No, I mean it, I think I've done a bit of personal growth here this week. Tomorrow morning I can go into church, confess my sins, and start fresh."

"You're a mega fruit loop," Sebastian rephrased.

"I've come to terms with something big," Hunter said. "Blaine told me I would, but I didn't believe him. I did, though, and it's okay. It's okay to be curious. Don't you ever wonder?"

"I don't have to wonder, I have a boyfriend," Sebastian said.

"Haven't you ever wondered about girls?"

"No," Sebastian shrugged.

"Why not?"

"I make a point of not discussing my sexuality," Sebastian spat. "I'm bored, and my plans got cancelled. Can we go home? Or to Scandals, I'm flexible."

"Scandals? All right!" Jeff exclaimed as he passed by. "Nick! Let's go! We're going to Scandals, Sebastian's treating!"

"I don't really recall–" Sebastian began protesting but it was no use. Half an hour later, Sebastian, Hunter, Niff, and at least four other Warblers were at Scandals, out on the dance floor, shaking their groove things. A long time after that, Sebastian finally got a text message from Blaine.

Where are you? -B

Sebastian shot a text back to his boyfriend, detailing the scenery. Blaine replied he'd be there soon. Imagine Sebastian's consternation when he saw Blaine and Kurt walking in the door of the bar. It was like a mega déjà vu. Sebastian hurried to the bar to meet them.

"A beer for Blaine, and… for Kurt, a Shirley Temple with extra cherries! To the glamorous life," Sebastian exclaimed happily. "C'mon, baby." He didn't even give Blaine time to take a sip of his beer before he'd pulled him out to dance with him and Hunter. Kurt sat at the bar, sipping his Shirley Temple, wishing he'd thought to invite Rachel. Soon enough, though, Nick and Jeff had sat on either side of him.

"You know, we didn't get you and Blaine together just so you could act like idiots and screw it up," Jeff said.

"Excuse me?" Kurt asked, almost choking on a cherry.

"You heard," Nick said. "Come on, now, you don't like Sebastian as much as we don't like Sebastian, and certainly none of us wants to see him with Blaine." Kurt sighed and just looked out to the dance floor, where their first trip here was replaying in his mind. He'd let Sebastian get to him, make him jealous. But there they were anyhow, both in their Dalton sex-god uniforms (although Kurt did note Blaine was wearing the Dalton bowtie he'd given him), dancing to their hearts content.

"Please tell us you still want Sebastian's head on a stake in your yard," Jeff said.

"Look how happy they are together," Kurt said, sipping his drink. "They look like you two."

"We are adorable," Jeff said. "Word on the street, at least."

"So in love," Kurt said. "What can I say? I'm a hopeless romantic. I just want to see Blaine happy, y'know?"

"You're really okay with this?" Nick asked.

"No," Kurt admitted, "but I'll work on it. It's been a long time."

"Well then," Nick said. "Do you want to dance?"

"Maybe in a bit," Kurt said.

"I'd, uh, offer to hook you up with someone we knew, but we don't know any other Blaine-types," Jeff said.

"It's alright," Kurt said. "Don't worry about it."

Nick and Jeff left to rejoin their Warbler buddies. Kurt sat, sipping his Shirley Temple, watching them, deep in thought. Finally, Sebastian, laughing, managed to leave Blaine on the dance floor with Hunter, and sat down next to Kurt.

"Dance with us," Sebastian said. "Come on."

"No, no, I couldn't," Kurt said. "It would be weird."

"Don't make me pump you full of tequila," Sebastian said, brandishing a finger at Kurt. Kurt rolled his eyes. "Thanks for being okay with me and Blaine. It… it can't be easy for you."

"What would you know about it?" Kurt asked.

"I know what it's like to be on the outside of your relationship with Blaine, and, uh… I didn't make it easy on you guys. Given the chance, I'd probably only take back about half of what I said, though. You do dress like something off a Puerto Rican pride float," Sebastian said.

"I still don't like your smirky meerkat face, or your obnoxious CW hair," Kurt said. "And I'm not exactly fond of the way you look at Blaine. But since he's your boyfriend and not mine, I guess I don't have a place to talk."

"Do you ever wonder what it'd be like if he hadn't ever come to Dalton that day?" Sebastian asked.

"All the damn time," Kurt replied, setting down his drink. "Then I think that if he was really as lonely as he said, he would have just found someone else, probably some douchebag on facebook with a lighthouse for a profile picture." Sebastian let out a laugh. "For a while, I wanted to tear your chipmunk head off, not that Blaine would ever admit he'd been with you. I knew, though."

"Well, what he put me through the last week was the worst torture anyone could have ever conceived," Sebastian said, ordering another mojito for himself.

"What did he do?" Kurt asked.

"He had me use my powers of seduction to ruin Hunter, permanently. I… I didn't know he was behind it at first, and the thought of cheating on the person I love was eating me from inside. Even after that, I had to pretend to be into Hunter for a week, so Blaine could get the power he wanted. B gets a little crazy, but it worked. Just… all week I felt like someone had stabbed me in the heart with one of those really jagged knives and kept turning it, and I just… couldn't die." Kurt was quiet for a while.

"I should have forgiven him sooner," Kurt finally said.

"Why, do you still want him?" Sebastian asked. Kurt looked at him, and suddenly Sebastian didn't need an answer. "I, uh… I'm sorry, but he's taken." Sebastian got up from his barstool and rejoined Blaine, Hunter, Niff, and the other Warblers.

Hours even after that, Blaine couldn't walk a straight line. He'd gotten pumped full of tequila.

"I'll take you home," Kurt said. "Come on."

"This is the best night of my life," Blaine babbled. "I want to live here, I just wanna live here and make art and help people."

"Okay, Blaine," Kurt said, heaving him into the backseat of his Navigator. "Whatever you say. Do you want me to talk you to your house or Dalton?"

"I want to go to your house," Blaine slurred.

"Oh, no," Kurt said. "You're a taken man."

"Just to talk!" Blaine protested. Kurt sighed.

"Fine." The car ride was silent except for Blaine's squeals of delight every time the car moved or stopped moving.

"Dad, I'm home," Kurt called. "Blaine's drunk, we're going to my room."

"Kurt," Burt said from the couch. "It's 4 in the morning."

"Sorry," Kurt said, lowering his voice. "Are you alright? Why aren't you asleep?"

"I was waiting for my son to get home," Burt said. "No monkey business up there, you two."

"Please, he's too drunk for that," Kurt said, rolling his eyes. "Come on Blaine." Finally they were upstairs in Kurt's room, alone. Kurt hadn't been back in ages, pictures of the two of them still littered the walls.

"What should I do for my NYADA audition?" Blaine slurred, rolling on Kurt's bed to look at him upside down.

"I don't know," Kurt replied.

"You had an idea earlier," Blaine said. "It – It may have been a while, but you and I are still right on the same page."

"Do you remember that song you wrote for me right after we started dating?" Kurt asked.

"Sure," Blaine said. "Am I allowed to do an original song?"

"Why not? It was beautiful, powerful, and moving," Kurt said. "Everything Madame Thibodeaux loves."

"Will you stay for my audition?" Blaine asked.

"When is it?" Kurt asked. Blaine hiccupped.

"Tuesday."

"And you haven't been preparing?"

"Baby, please," Blaine said. "I sing every day. I wrote that song. I know it like the back of… your back." Kurt turned very pink, embarrassed that Blaine was thinking about him like that.

I've been alone… surrounded by darkness And I've seen how heartless the world can be

When Blaine rolled into the dorm alone around one the next afternoon, he was surprised to find Sebastian on the floor holding a miniature tape recorder.

"Hey sexy," Blaine said. Sebastian awoke with a start, realized he was still holding his tape recorder, and tried to hide it, but Blaine had seen. "What'cha got there?" Sebastian sighed and pushed the play button.

"Tell me the truth. What did you put in that slushee?" "Rock salt, but it's okay." "Why is it okay? I just told you that Blaine had to have surgery!" "It's okay because I didn't put anything in this one."

Blaine bit his lip, the voices were clearly recognizable: Santana and Sebastian.

"Santana and Kurt gave me the tape," Sebastian explained, stashing the tape recorder in his sock drawer. "Still not sure why."

"Why were you listening to it?" Blaine asked, confused.

"How much do you just hate Hunter Clarington?" Nick asked.

"A lot," Sebastian said, now very suspicious.

"We have an idea," Jeff said. "To take him down a few notches."

"We will take Blaine somewhere far away where he'll never find out… and you can have your way with Hunter," Nick said.

"That's ridiculous," Sebastian said. "Blaine's my boyfriend, I'm not going to cheat on him for some power play."

"C'mon Sebastian, we all know what kind of guy you really are," Jeff said. "Ambitious. Driven. You're a Dalton Boy."

"You want to do… anything it takes to win, don't you?" Nick said, almost seductively.

"Y-yes…" Sebastian said.

"But you don't want to let Blaine down, do you, Bas?" Jeff asked, almost as seductively in Sebastian's other ear. "Maybe… Maybe we should take him down, hmm, Nick?"

"Well, we could," Nick said, "but no one does takedown like you, Bas." Sebastian reached up and loosened his tie. He couldn't believe he was getting turned on by this. What kind of ill-conceived plan was—Oh. He knew exactly what kind of plan this was. Or thought he did.

"Take… uh, take Hunter down a peg or two?" Sebastian croaked. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? If I went after Hunter and dropped Blaine. You'd have me expelled for it."

"We wouldn't do that, would we, J?" Nick pouted.

"Course not," Jeff replied.

"And Blaine will never know," Nick breathed. "Don't you want the power? Don't you want the Warblers back under your control? Don't you want Hunter beneath you, screaming your name?"

"Y-yes," Sebastian said. Forget plans, this was starting to sound like something out of Sebastian's fantasies.

"Hunter on his knees, obeying your commands for once," Jeff purred. "Calling you 'Sir', totally at your mercy…"

"What do you want from me?" Sebastian asked. He could feel his knees getting weaker.

"Nothing you'd be uncomfortable with," Nick whispered. "Friday afternoon, we're going with Blaine to Lima, fraternizing with Sam and them, you know."

"You and Hunter will be here all alone…" Jeff breathed. "You know you want to, Bas."

"Y-yeah…" Sebastian said, off-handedly. "I-I have to go." He broke free of Nick and Jeff, and hurried off. Nick and Jeff grinned at each other and slapped fives. Blaine sauntered up behind them as well.

"Well?" Blaine asked.

"He's totally going to do it," Nick said, flashing a smile.

Later that afternoon, Blaine was lounging on Sebastian's bed, reading a book. Sebastian was at his desk, looking over a planogram of the choreography for Beat It.

"Do you think Nick and Jeff would try to get me expelled?" Sebastian asked, out of the blue.

"No," Blaine snorted. "They know you're our secret weapon for Nationals."

"True," Sebastian said. Hunter's voice wafted out from the shower, singing Some Nights at the top of his voice.

"Pretty annoying, isn't he?" Blaine said.

"You have no idea," Sebastian sighed.

"Be a shame if he got laryngitis," Blaine remarked. "Or, you know, slipped, fell, and broke a bone."

"Like his head," Sebastian filled in. "Or his giant nose."

"Yeah, it'd be a shame," Blaine said. "Something bothering you? Besides Hunter, I mean."

"Besides Hunter? Does anything bother me besides Hunter?" Sebastian asked.

"Just wondering, you sound upset," Blaine shrugged.

"Hunter's pissing me off," Sebastian spat. "I have half a mind to…" He trailed off.

"Yes?"

"I don't know, drag him out to the lacrosse field and bury him," Sebastian said.

"Well, you got my blessing," Blaine said.

"I love you more than anything in the world, you know that right?" Sebastian asked.

"Yeah, I know. I love you too," Blaine replied.

"Okay, so Bas is in the room, Hunter's on his way, we're headed to Breadstix," Blaine said.

"Basically," Jeff replied.

"I'm scared," Blaine said. "What if he likes Hunter?"

"He doesn't."

Blaine watched the scenery fly by as they made the drive into Lima.

"Ew," Hunter commented as he opened the door to the room and saw Sebastian sitting on his bed. "What did I say about my bed?"

"I don't know, sit on it?" Sebastian guessed. "In my underwear?" Hunter was horrified as he realized Sebastian was only wearing a pair of black briefs and his Dalton tie.

"Were you waiting for Blaine or something?" Hunter asked, tentatively. "He didn't tell me you had anything planned. I'll just get changed and go for a run." He took off his blazer and hung it up in his closet.

"I was waiting for you, sexy," Sebastian said.

"Did you and Blaine have a fight?" Hunter asked. Sebastian stood up.

"Forget about Blaine," Sebastian said in Hunter's ear, pulling Hunter's tie loose and throwing it across the room. When Sebastian reached for Hunter's shirt and, more importantly, Hunter didn't stop him, Sebastian's brain kicked in. For a second.

What am I doing?

Then Hunter had leaned in so close to Sebastian's lips, he could feel their skin touching.

"Want to know a secret?" Sebastian breathed.

"What?" Hunter replied in barely more than a whisper.

"You are beautiful." Hunter's restraint snapped and he'd suddenly kissed Sebastian. Sebastian was surprised how well he kissed, given he'd never kissed anyone but Sebastian (and maybe that Lisa girl, but that was doubtful). While Sebastian's lips were keeping Hunter occupied, Sebastian's hands slowly undid each button on Hunter's shirt. It seemed Hunter was unsure of where to put his hands. Well, Sebastian could fix that.

Sebastian took a step back from Hunter, catching Hunter's unsteady hands in his own. Hunter intertwined their fingers and Sebastian smiled genuinely, tugging on his companion, pulling him toward the bed. Hunter hesitated.

"Just tell me to stop," Sebastian murmured. He laid down in Hunter's bed and let Hunter climb on top of him, so Hunter was looking down on him, settled on his hands and knees, straddling Sebastian. It felt so good to have this kind of power over Hunter, even from beneath him. Hunter leaned down to capture Sebastian's lips again.

Sebastian's hands wandered south and found themselves in Hunter's back pockets, feeling his ass. He'd like to fuck it, if even for the perfect record of screwing every guy at Dalton, but knew Hunter would never go for it. In fact, Sebastian expected Hunter to come crashing back to reality and slap him any second now. But time wore on and Hunter seemed very enthusiastically into Sebastian.

Sebastian threw caution to the winds and started to ever-so-slowly remove Hunter's pants. Hunter helped, even kicking them off, not caring where they landed. Sebastian slipped his hands under the waistband of Hunter's boxer shorts, pulling Hunter's body flush with his own. Hunter moaned into Sebastian's mouth and bucked his hips.

Oh.

Hunter was definitely a little more than slightly turned on by this. Great, a whole new can of worms – Hunter was a bit more than remotely bicurious. From the way he was desperately trying to create friction between himself and Sebastian, he seemed a lot bicurious. This would take Hunter down more than just a few pegs – it might ruin him.

Not to mention Sebastian's relationship with Blaine was in jeopardy—no, scratch that, it was probably over. Leave it to Sebastian to screw up a good thing. Oh, well, might as well finish it now.

With Hunter on top of him, his options were limited. He didn't dare stop them, not this far in – Hunter might come to his senses. He settled for bouncing their hips together in a slow rhythm. Judging by the noises coming from Hunter's mouth, he was close to the edge. Sebastian had a sudden urge and ducked his head to the side, so Hunter's face landed in the crook of his neck. Then, in a move he knew would haunt Hunter for at least a week, if not for the rest of his life, Sebastian sucked a big hickey into the side of Hunter's neck.

That did it for Hunter and he came in his shorts. Although Sebastian was usually against it, he let himself go too, falling into deep ecstasy. They lay still for a few moments, breathing heavily against each other while their heartbeats worked overtime.

Finally Hunter came to his senses. He sat up, stared at Sebastian for a few seconds, then bolted into the bathroom and locked the door. It finally hit Sebastian, too, what he'd done – to himself, to Hunter, and to Blaine.

Blaine.

Sebastian slowly dragged himself out of Hunter's bed, changed his shorts, hung his tie on his bed, and got dressed in a pair of track pants and a t-shirt. He got his phone from his desk, shoved on his Nikes, and ran out of the room.

Nick, Jeff, Blaine, and Sam had been chatting for little while when Jeff's phone received a text message. He and Nick exchanged looks.

"What?" Blaine asked.

"It says, 'It's done. Hope you're happy. I'll never look at Blaine again.'," Jeff read tentatively.

"What's done?" Sam asked. "What's going on?"

"Uh…" Nick said, looking to Blaine, unsure.

"Nothing," Blaine said.

"Should I tell him?" Jeff asked.

"No," Blaine said. "Uh, no. Let's go, I have to talk to him."

"Alright," Nick said. "Let's go."

"Sorry, Sam, I think we might have to postpone tomorrow's coffee date… I'll text you," Blaine said. Jeff dropped a few bills on the table to cover the meal and then the three of them were gone.

Once back at school, Nick brought Blaine to the situation room, while Jeff went to find Sebastian.

"Sebastian?" Jeff called. The wind whipped across the lacrosse field, it was not a warm day.

"What do you want?" called a voice from not far off. Jeff turned around. Huddled under the bleachers, and visibly freezing, was Sebastian, sitting on the ground, back against one of the metal poles.

"You gotta come inside, you'll freeze out here," Jeff called, ducking through the crisscrossed metal to get to Sebastian.

"Better off," Sebastian mumbled. Jeff shed his blazer and put it around Sebastian. "I'm terrible, get off of me." He tried to shove Jeff away from him, but Jeff didn't budge. "Where's the other half of you? Thought you traveled as a pair."

"We're just as inseparable as you and Blaine, come on," Jeff insisted, pulling Sebastian to his feet. Sebastian allowed himself to be dragged across campus to Niff's Situation Room.

"Oh," Sebastian said, trying to turn around and leave when he saw Blaine, but Nick and Jeff seized him. "Did you tell him?"

"Of course we didn't," Jeff said. "Just listen to him for a bit." He and Nick left the room, but Sebastian could tell they were just outside the door, to keep him from running.

"Hi," Sebastian said, looking at the floor.

"Hi," Blaine said. "They didn't tell me. They didn't have to. It was my idea." Sebastian looked up to Blaine, who was standing nervously in the far corner.

"Your… Why didn't you tell me?" Sebastian asked. "I have been going crazy with guilt."

"It's good for you," Blaine said. "I… I'm sorry."

"You should be!" Sebastian said. "Why did you even–"

"Did you do it?" Blaine asked.

"Yeah, he's done, I promise," Sebastian said. "I'm a little surprised he didn't stop me, but then I never thought you were behind it."

"I should have told you," Blaine said. "I didn't realize how guilty you'd feel…"

"Right because you've never cheated on the person you loved and felt guilty about it," Sebastian shot back.

"Alright, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Blaine said. "Forgive me, please." Sebastian huffed for a moment, but then Blaine pouted and he couldn't help but smile.

"Alright, okay," Sebastian said. "But don't ever ever do that again."

"Agreed," Blaine said. "Wow, this is a such a role reversal. Usually you're the scheming asshole, and I'm the one getting taken advantage of."

"Yes, it's astonishing," Sebastian said, rolling his eyes. He moved in next to Blaine, putting an arm around his boyfriend.

"Didn't you write into the contract that if Hunter was begging for it, you were allowed to give it to him?" Blaine asked. Sebastian kissed him in response.

"I don't blackmail people anymore," Sebastian said once their lips parted. "Do you have some gum or something, I can still taste Hunter in my mouth."

"Yeah, sure," Blaine said, taking a pack of gum from his blazer pocket. "What did you do to him?"

"Not much," Sebastian said. "It was surprisingly easy. He kissed me, I undressed him and pulled him onto the bed, and then he jizzed in his shorts."

"Is that all?" Blaine asked.

"Well, I gave him a hickey," Sebastian said. "It's nice and noticeable, above the uniform, you know."

"Okay, that could be bad," Blaine said, biting his lip. Sebastian blew a bubble with his gum and let it pop. "Everyone will know you gave it to him."

"How will they know that?" Sebastian asked.

"Please, it's Hunter," Blaine said. "Maybe not everyone in school, but all the Warblers will. It's good for our purposes, but maybe not so much for us."

"What?" Sebastian asked.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but we don't want it to seem like a revenge-fueled, strategically-planned, takedown of Hunter, especially orchestrated by me, devastatingly handsome and completely innocent Captain of the Warblers," Blaine said.

"Uh, sure," Sebastian said. "So, what, you want me to pretend to actually be into him? I've done some pretty kinky stuff, but…"

"No, don't be silly," Blaine said. "Hunter's going to go crazy when he realizes hickeys don't wash off. This is a boy's school, it's not like he's going to get his hands on some concealer, and he can't pretend he burned himself on a curling iron. It's going to be there for everyone to see. And he'll be acting awkward as hell. Trust me, I know this stuff."

"Okay," Sebastian said. "Makes sense, go on."

"I am going to, over the next several days, pretend to be mad at you for what you've done. We can use this room as a private room for ourselves," Blaine said. "You are going to flirt with Hunter, make him very uncomfortable."

"What exactly is this going to accomplish?" Sebastian asked.

"Hopefully, he'll be humbled," Blaine said.

"He won't be," Sebastian said. "Hunter's been to military school. They have actual hazing and shit there."

"Been to military school?" Blaine asked.

"Couple weeks," Sebastian said. "Couldn't hack it."

"My point is that Hunter will be ruined," Blaine said. "As long as we act the part. I've already fixed it with Nick and Jeff, this will work itself out."

"It will?" Sebastian asked, skeptically. "Next time, can you let me in on the plan beforehand?"

"Possibly," Blaine said.

"Because I love you, B, but this is crazy."

"Crazy enough to work, I hope," Blaine said. "I love you too."

"Alright," Sebastian said. "What should I do right now? Be very specific and I will do exactly what you say."

"Go back into our room and pretend like nothing's wrong," Blaine said.

"Alright," Sebastian said. "One more kiss?"

"Baby, if this works, you can have a million," Blaine said, kissing Sebastian on the lips. "Go."

"When will I see you?" Sebastian asked.

"Niff and I are going to go over some logistics for a couple minutes, and then I'll be in," Blaine said. Sebastian made to leave the room, but shot one last look at Blaine.

"I love you," Sebastian said. "I'll never stop." Blaine smiled, and then Sebastian was gone. Nick and Jeff walked into the room.

"Complex fellow you're dating there," Nick said, staring after Sebastian, completely unimpressed.

"Yeah," Blaine sighed.

"Do you really love him, because if you're just playing him, you're worse than he is," Jeff said.

"Of course I do," Blaine said. "Sebastian and I are going to be together forever. This is just something that has to be done."

"What about Kurt?" Jeff asked.

"Can we forget about Kurt, please?" Blaine said. The pained expression on his face was enough to make even Jeff quiet. "I don't – I don't want to talk about Kurt or Sebastian right now."

"Fine," Nick said. "Now that Sebastian knows, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to play the game," Blaine said. "I don't know how big the fight's going to get, I might need somewhere to crash until we make up."

"Your house?" Jeff suggested.

"I was thinking more along the lines of the floor in your room," Blaine said.

"How long are you going to hold this over them?" Nick asked.

"As long as I can," Blaine said. "I've never liked Hunter."

"Yeah, us neither," Jeff said. "And Sebastian deserves it, after what he did to you."

"Sebastian didn't cheat on me," Blaine said. "Well, I mean, he did, but it was my idea. I'm not mad at him."

"Not that," Nick said. "Last year."

"Last year was a year ago," Blaine said. "Why are we still talking about Michael week, when we have more pressing issues to deal with, i.e. the fate of the Warblers?"

"You could have just told Hunter you wanted control back," Nick said. "He probably would have backed off."

"I didn't just want control of the Warblers," Blaine said. "I really wanted to ruin him. This is for you guys."

"And the emotional takedown of Sebastian?" Jeff asked.

"That was for me," Blaine said, flashing a selfish grin. "You can't even imagine how hot our sex is going to be." He sauntered out of the Situation Room and down the hall to his own dorm. Putting on a serene smile, he danced into the room and threw his bag at his desk, like nothing was wrong. Then he looked up at Sebastian and Hunter, who were… entangled, to put it lightly.

Sebastian had his back to the bathroom door with Hunter pressed up against him, one of Sebastian's (albeit fully clothed) legs hitched around Hunter's waist. Blaine stared at the sight before him. He had expected them to be fighting, not this. He cleared his throat. Sebastian opened his eyes and even though he knew he was just acting a part, his expression read Oh, shit. Hunter jumped and turned around.

"Hi…" Hunter said, nervously. Blaine stared at them for a few more moments, waiting for an explanation, but it didn't come.

"Hi," Blaine finally said. He wondered if he could make himself cry on cue. His brother would be proud at him for orchestrating this – not that he cared what Cooper thought. "What's – uh, what's going on?" Hunter and Sebastian both cleared their throats and started babbling at once. "Save it," Blaine said, "I can't believe you'd do that to me!" Blaine covered his face in his hands and ran out of the room.

"No, Blaine, come back!" Sebastian yelled, fruitlessly. He pushed Hunter away from him, and collapsed onto his own bed. Even if he knew Blaine wasn't really angry, it still hurt.

"I…" Hunter began, obviously flustered. "I, um…"

"Forget it," Sebastian said, glaring at Hunter. "Just forget him."

"Um…" Hunter for once seemed to be speechless. He settled for sitting down on his bed, and twiddling his thumbs. "I'm sorry," he finally said.

"For what?" Sebastian snorted. "He was bound to find out sooner or later."

"Find out what?" Hunter asked.

"What's really between us," Sebastian said, looking at Hunter. It killed him to do this, but he kept telling himself he was just playing a part.

"Between… you and me?" Hunter asked, nervously.

"You can't deny, we have chemistry," Sebastian said, smirking. "He doesn't even know what we did before he transferred. All those nights, we were here alone…" He hadn't told Blaine what he'd done with Hunter. It wasn't Blaine's business, really. After all, Sebastian didn't feel anything for anyone but Blaine. It had been a power play, just like this. Hunter was too naïve for his own good when it came to relationships.

"Nothing happened those nights," Hunter said, pointedly, as if trying to remind Sebastian of a story they'd agreed on. Sebastian smirked wickedly.

"Right, nothing. I don't know about you, but showering together is not nothing."

"That was one time," Hunter protested.

"It was more than one time," Sebastian said. "All those nights in your bed, all those stolen kisses."

"I–" Hunter began, intent on denying it.

"You can tell your stories to anyone else, but I know the truth," Sebastian drawled. "You can pretend this didn't happen, you might even be able to convince Blaine, but that hickey speaks for itself, sweetheart." Hunter went white, he evidently hadn't noticed Sebastian had claimed him yet. He skidded, panicked, into the bathroom, to examine his neck in the mirror. Hunter screamed.

Sebastian slid in behind him, smirking. It felt good to smirk again, to be a general nuisance again. It was familiar, not like his relationship with Blaine. Relationships were unfamiliar territory for Sebastian, he was still trying to figure them out. But this – this was easy. Takedown was easy. Just as long as Hunter didn't take it too personal and try to have him expelled for it. He hoped Blaine and Niff could provide witness for him if it came to that.

"Sebastian…" Hunter said, his whole body shaking with rage, hands balling themselves into fists. "This is not… Everyone's going to see this."

"Kinda the point," Sebastian said, winking. "Everyone will know you're mine."

"Yours?"

"I'm tired of pretending," Sebastian said. "Tired of being with Blaine, tired of being in the background. I want the star, and, baby, you are the brightest one." Hunter still looked very mad, but his face betrayed the slightest trace of pink. More compliments, more compliments, why couldn't Sebastian think of any more compliments? "I want to be with you, don't you want me too?"

"I…" Hunter hesitated. Sebastian's heart was pounding in his chest, he was surprised Hunter couldn't hear it. This was too big a façade, even for him. He ached for Blaine, he needed him there, reassuring him that he would still love him when this was all over, when they were back on top. "I can't."

"You obviously can," Sebastian said, fighting hard to keep his voice steady. "I was there, I've been here, I've watched you, I've seen you, I doubt even Blaine is surprised."

"What do you want from me?" Hunter asked, spinning around to face Sebastian.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sebastian purred. Control.

"If you're playing with my head, I will make you pay for this," Hunter said sternly.

"Why would I play you?" Sebastian asked. "You want me, I want you, I think we might be able to work something out here." He really hoped Hunter was falling for this, because it was making him sick. Sebastian had never worried about being faithful or monogamous before Blaine, he'd never had a reason to. That wasn't who he was anymore, this was going to ruin him as well as Hunter. Blaine must have known. "You and me, we could lead the Warblers to their first National championship." He moved in even closer to Hunter, hovering fractions of an inch from his ear.

"We can't win without Blaine," Hunter said, huskily. "He and I have been–"

"Did I not say forget about Blaine?" Sebastian hissed. "You and me, Hunt, we're the new power couple."

"Okay, seriously," Hunter said, pushing Sebastian away from him, so that he stumbled back a few steps. "Did you and Blaine get in a fight?"

"Can't you see it's never been about Blaine? I needed a good-looking squeeze, but forget about him, because I want you." Hunter stared at Sebastian for a moment but then dove the space between them to kiss Sebastian again.

"Aren't you just going crazy?" Nick asked Blaine. Blaine was sitting in the center of the floor in Niff's room. They were sitting on the bed that was really two beds they'd pushed together.

"Not really," Blaine shrugged. "I know Bas."

"I know J, but I wouldn't be comfortable with him being with someone else, even with my permission," Nick said. "I think I may still be scarred."

"Hey!" Jeff interjected. "We agreed not to talk about that!"

"Sorry, baby," Nick said, blowing a kiss at his boyfriend. Blaine stared at Nick and Jeff for a moment, then all three of them had their ears pressed up against the wall, listening.

Oh, God, yes.

Sebastian's voice was clear as day through the wall, even if their ears weren't against it. So was Hunter's retort:

I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't take the Lord's name in vain.

Blaine snorted involuntarily. It was just so typically Hunter to remember his manners at a time like this.

I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell me how to live my life.

Sebastian's retort was the last word for a while, and it began to feel like voyeurism, listening through the wall. Slowly, Nick and Jeff, returned to the other side of the room. Blaine eventually followed them. His expression betrayed his emotions, as Blaine's usually did. He was worried, just a little. More sad than anything.

"Must be hard," Jeff said. "I couldn't do it."

"Tequila?" Nick offered, unearthing a bottle from nowhere.

"So?" Sebastian asked, not looking up from his homework.

"We said at three months, we'd reevaluate," Blaine said.

"Do we have to?" Sebastian asked.

"Yes."

"Tomorrow."

"No, we're going to do it now," Blaine said. "I've already arranged for Hunter to be out so we can talk about anything."

"Gah," Sebastian said, slamming his textbook shut. "C'mon, B, what is there left to talk about? I thought we talked about everything on Valentine's."

For Valentine's Day, Sebastian had convinced Blaine to spend a four day weekend with him in an upscale hotel with a Jacuzzi. Four blissful days of relaxation, chatting about their relationship, and, of course, lots and lots of sex.

"And at Valentine's we said we'd talk at three months," Blaine said. "It won't take five minutes, c'mon."

"Fine," Sebastian sighed. He took their contract out of the center drawer of his desk and looked down it. "Do you still love me?"

"Of course," Blaine said. "Do you still love me?"

"I'll never stop," Sebastian said, smiling one of his genuine smiles, which were becoming less and less rare the more time he spent with Blaine. Blaine stole the contract from his hands and paced back and forth while he read it.

"I've stopped putting so much gel in my hair, because I really do look like Medusa without it entirely," Blaine said. "You haven't smoked that I know of, I let out the hems of my capri pants… Hunter's out of the room once a week at the bare minimum… Ah! You still need to tell me more about your life before Dalton."

"Not going to happen," Sebastian said, lazily, stretching out on his bed.

"That's what you think," Blaine snipped. "So, I guess the only thing that remains is, are we going to become long term, maybe even permanent?"

"I think I should write a clause in there that says if Hunter's begging for it, I'm allowed to go for it," Sebastian said. "Just because I'd hate to have to miss out of the opportunity for that kind of blackmail fodder."

Blaine frowned at his boyfriend.

"Of course, I don't blackmail people anymore, but I was thinking you might need to get him back someday," Sebastian quickly backpedaled.

"I take it that's a no on the permanent," Blaine said, reading up and down the contract.

"No, I didn't say that," Sebastian said, quickly sitting up to properly argue with Blaine. "I want to be with you as long as you'll have me."

"I want to be with you," Blaine said. "Just you."

"Alright then," Sebastian said. "The only thing left is to decide is our anniversary."

"What."

"I can't plan you a big surprise if I don't know when it is," Sebastian said. He did have a point, Blaine thought. "Is it today? Is it three months ago? Is it that day after Sectionals when I accidentally told you I loved you? Is it the day after that when you rescued me at Scandals and we fucked in your living room? Is it the first time we hooked up when you were still with Kurt?"

"I think the first time I thought of us as a couple was the day Hunter went home for Christmas," Blaine said.

"You were with Kurt since then," Sebastian pointed out.

"No," Blaine said, "well, yes, technically, I went to see him, but I told you, it felt weird to be with him, since I'm with you. I already thought of us as a couple."

"So it's settled," Sebastian said. He laid back on the bed and waited for Blaine to join him. Blaine, however, was reading the contract.

"Good gravy, you wrote in a lot of rules about sex," Blaine said.

"For our own good," Sebastian said.

"Why are you so particular about it?" Blaine asked. "With all your experience, I'd've thought you'd–"

"I don't want to talk about it," Sebastian cut him off.

"Did something happen before Dalton?" Blaine asked, putting the contract on Sebastian's desk and moving to sit next to Sebastian. Sebastian rolled away from him. "Bas, you can tell me anything. I'm your boyfriend. Anything you say, it's okay." Sebastian rolled back over to face Blaine, then sat up to accept the hug Blaine was trying to give him.

"I – I … I was raped," Sebastian barely whispered. Blaine tightened his arms around Sebastian's back, pulling him into a tighter embrace. "And-and I've never told anyone that. Not even my parents." Blaine kissed every part of Sebastian he could reach. "I was 12."

"I'm so sorry," Blaine breathed.

"It was awful," Sebastian said, pulling back from Blaine. He wasn't crying – he'd spent too much time crying about it to bother with it now. "I've still never felt pain like that, and I've been kicked in the nuts by a soccer player. He was, uh, 14. Took me into a janitor's closet, had his way. I never went back to that school. Never saw him again. I'm not sure what I'd do to him."

"It's okay," Blaine whispered, kissing Sebastian's head.

"It is okay," Sebastian said. "Because I will never hurt you, B."

"I know you won't. I would never hurt you either, Bas." They sat on Sebastian's bed, hugging for several minutes, just lost in each other's embrace.

"I want – I want you to fuck me," Sebastian eventually said, very quietly.

"What?"

"After we win at Nationals, I want you to fuck me."

"Why?"

"Because I love you and I trust you and I know we're going to be together forever."

"Yes, yes we will," Blaine agreed.

"Stop, stop, stop," Hunter directed. "Nationals is not going to be a joke! Why are you treating these practices like one?"

"We're not treating it like a joke," Jeff said.

"Out of all of us, who knows what the pressure is like at Nationals?" Hunter asked. "That's right, none of you."

"Actually," Blaine said from where he was standing right next to Jeff. "I do. And if I remember correctly, I also know what it's like to win at Nationals. Chill the fuck out."

"I will not sit back while you run this team into the ground," Hunter argued.

"How could I possibly? You've already chosen the songs. Jeff and Sebastian worked out the choreography. What's left for me to do? I'm only the Captain," Blaine spat. "I'm sick of this." He walked out of the library. Sebastian bit his lip – he had been putting Blaine on the back burner to Warbler practice the last week or so. Hunter watched Blaine go, unsure of what to do.

"Can I be excused?" Sebastian asked.

"Yeah," Hunter said. "Um, practice is over for today. I'll see you all tomorrow right after last period." Sebastian was already out the door, running after Blaine.

"Blaine! Blaine, I'm sorry!" Sebastian yelled. He finally caught up to him in the hallway outside their dorm. "Blaine, I'm sorry."

"It's not you," Blaine said, opening the door to their room a little too hard. It banged against his dresser. "It's freaking Hunter. Running around like he owns shit. This is my team, my school, my friends, and my Warblers."

"Show him who's boss. Sideline him," Sebastian said.

"I would," Blaine said. "Except I really, really want to win."

"You think we can't win without him?"

"I know we can't," Blaine said. "And that's the worst thing about it. He deserves to act like he is shit."

"Blaine, you're the legend," Sebastian said. "You're the one that people across the country have heard of. Hunter Clarington is a nobody. You're Blaine freaking Anderson."

"Yeah, yeah," Blaine said, running his hand through his hair. Hunter's words were echoing in his head.

Are you willing to do whatever it takes to win?

Blaine really, really wanted to win. Was he really willing to do whatever it took to win?

Yes.

"I, uh, I have to go run a few things by Nick and Jeff," Blaine said. "You stay here in case Hunter comes back. Don't – just don't kill him, okay?"

"Why can't I come to Nick and Jeff's?" Sebastian pouted.

"Please, baby?" Blaine asked. Sebastian still wasn't immune to Blaine's pouting and agreed. Blaine went next door and knocked on Nick and Jeff's door.

"Who is it?" Nick's voice called.

"Blaine, who do you think?" Blaine replied. "Don't act like you don't have your ear pressed against the wall listening to everything that goes on in our room." Nick opened the door to reveal Jeff still standing against the wall listening to what Blaine assumed was Sebastian changing.

"J? He's onto us," Nick said. Jeff cleared his throat and backed up, messing up his hair in his efforts to look nonchalant.

"We need to talk about something that I'd rather not risk being heard," Blaine said.

"Sure," Nick said. "C'mon." Jeff followed him and Blaine down the hall to the room at the very end. It was permanently unoccupied (supposedly haunted), and Nick and Jeff, as resident pranksters, had made it their own private situation room. Blaine doubted if Hunter or Sebastian knew about the room.

"Okay," Blaine said, once the door was shut. "First off, a small informal poll. Which do you hate more, Hunter or Sebastian?"

"It's pretty close," Nick admitted.

"Since you and Sebastian started dating, definitely Hunter. Why is he so moody?" Jeff asked.

"Because he likes Sebastian, you twat," Nick said, swatting his boyfriend across the arm. "I'd say Hunter too."

"So we're agreed," Blaine said. "Hunter needs to be taken down a notch."

"Agreed," Nick and Jeff agreed.

"Okay." There was a long silence. "How?"

"Kind of thought you'd have an idea since you called us into here," Jeff said.

"I did but I changed my mind already," Blaine said. "I was… oh God it's stupid."

"Tell us," Nick said, a smile growing on his face. He'd always been a little more in tune with Blaine than the rest of the Warblers. He had even been slated to take over for Blaine when Blaine left… until Sebastian came along.

"As previously mentioned, Hunter sort of has a soft spot for Sebastian," Blaine said. "God, it's awful, I can't. Never mind, guys."

"What?" Nick asked.

"On my first day back here, Hunter asked me if I was willing to do whatever it takes to win," Blaine said. "Now I'm asking the same thing to both of you. Are you willing to do whatever it takes?"

"Yeah," Nick said.

"Of course," Jeff said.

"I want you two to convince Sebastian to seduce Hunter," Blaine said. They stared at him.

"Uh…" Nick said.

"Why can't you do it?" Jeff asked.

"He can't know I have anything to do with it," Blaine said. "Because Hunter can't know I have anything to do with it. Bas… He denies it, but you've seen it, right?"

"Seen… what?" Jeff asked.

"The spark between Bas and Hunter," Blaine said.

"Yeah," Nick said. "You should have seen them before you got here. Thad was taking bets on whether they were hooking up in there. Course we knew they weren't or they were very silent about it."

"Ever since Truth or Dare, it's gotten stronger, I think," Jeff said. "You're welcome."

"What am I welcome for? Sebastian is my boyfriend," Blaine said.

"You know you and Kurt were meant to be and you're going to make up and get married and have Rachel Berry bear your children," Jeff said, rolling his eyes. "Sebastian is a speed bump. You're too good for him."

"Honey, we only say that when Blaine's not around," Nick said, sweetly, planting a kiss on Jeff's cheek.

"No, I know what you're saying," Blaine said. "It's a stupid idea, never mind."

"No, it's a brilliant idea," Jeff said. "We'll do it."

"J!" Nick said, indignantly. "Shouldn't we talk about this?" Jeff looked at his boyfriend for a moment before motioning him over to the corner. They conversed in hushed tones for almost two minutes while Blaine waited patiently.

"Duh!" Jeff finally yelled. They turned back around to address Blaine again.

"We'll do it," Nick said. "What do you want us to say?"

"I need you to convince Sebastian to seduce Hunter," Blaine said. "I don't care what they do together, I don't care. I want Hunter taken down a few pegs, and that's the best way I can think of."

"What, because he's 'not even remotely bicurious'?" Nick asked. "Please."

"We called him from the first day of school," Jeff said.

"I look at it this way," Blaine said. "Assuming Hunter was boring until he started at Dalton, he's only kissed three people. Me, Lisa, and Sebastian."

"When did you kiss him?" Jeff asked.

"Not important," Blaine said. "Bas and I… recently decided to make our relationship long-term. And I know that's great for us, but …"

"You want to see Hunter's head turning on a spit?" Nick supplied. Blaine nodded sheepishly. "You got it."

"Yeah, basically," Blaine said.

"It's not like Hunter means anything to Sebastian," Nick said. "And if you say it's okay, it's not like cheating."

"Yeah, just like threesomes aren't cheating," Jeff said. "You should totally have a threesome! " Nick dove at his other half to cover his mouth, while Blaine stared.

"Scuse us," Nick said. "One sec." He pulled Jeff back into the corner for about 20 seconds.

"Fine," Jeff mumbled as they rejoined Blaine.

"We'll do it," Nick said. "Tomorrow at morning break."

"Alright," Blaine said. "And I'll forget you said anything about threesomes."