once a warbler , always a warbler .

“ help and sympathy don’t  have  to be a bad thing. ”  he doesn’t really have a leg to stand on and he knows it; they don’t owe each other anything. everything that went so alarmingly sour between them feels like it was a  lifetime  ago. it was. blaine falters in the moment that he pauses, the question of why he cares so much crossing his mind.  “ it means someone cares enough to bother, even if that’s not an easy thing to accept. ”  

       “  i don't need your help and i don't need sympathy .  ”

          𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐍’𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐍 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃𝐍’𝐓 𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐍’𝐒 𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐘. it wasn’t like the whole debacle with those photos and everything still actively bothered him, or anything like that. and something in his gut told him sebastian was actually being genuine, even if some residual trust issues made him reluctant to totally buy into it right away. “𝐢, 𝐮𝐡 … 𝐢 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭, 𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 … 𝐢 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰.”

WITH SEBASTIAN’S EYES LOOKING HIM OVER LIKE THIS, mike definitely felt like a lamb being viewed for the slaughter, already anticipating a string of potential insults that, no doubt, were going to be thrown his way. but they didn’t come, instead replaced with BLUSH-INDUCING flirtations, catching him completely off-guard, which rarely ever happened.

        ‘‘ th .  they . uh…..they don’t ?  figured they did at least a LITTLE….though i’ve            never considered dressing to impress in THAT area. arms and abs, maybe, but never            my ass. hell you’re the first person to compliment it….and i’m rambling aren’t i ? ‘‘

        sebastian’s been trying as of late .  he really is .  and he knows that not everyone is going to believe him .  in all honesty , he would even be surprised if no one believed him .  but when the insult never comes , it’s because he’s not even thinking it .

HE SNATCHES THE BOTTLE OUT OF THE AIR,  quickly unscrewing the top and tossing it back, drinking a good bit before stopping, not wanting to just down the whole thing in one go.

          ‘‘ would’ve taken you to dinner, a show maybe. or have given you a show. dancing,               football drills, basketball….your choice of what you’d want to see me doing. ’’

       teeth bite down on his bottom lip as he watches his friend carefully .  were they friends ?  that was to be decided .  he didn’t know , considering where he stood with all of new directions . 

he’s caught completely off guard by the sound of his name.  the slight deer-in-headlights look softens as soon as his eyes light on the warbler alum.  “ my, my. sebastian smythe. ”  a warm light shines in his hazel-green eyes. he’s ashamed to say he almost didn’t recognize him, but only cause he looks so  different  from who he knew in high school.  he probably feels the same.  “ no kidding! i feel like it’s been forever! how are you? ”  he moves forward without a thought.