The Only Exception (Lonely No More)

Chapter 10

Kurt waited, tension mounting, as Blaine simply stared at him in disbelief. Kurt knew he’d probably taken his ex-boyfriend completely by surprise, especially after their talk Friday night, but Kurt had done a lot of reevaluating over the previous day while waiting for news that his father would be okay. He’d been so wrapped up in his own pain and self-righteous indignation over being cheated on that he’d never stopped to try to see things from Blaine’s point of view. While that didn’t excuse what Blaine had done, it did make Kurt realize that he had taken their relationship for granted and given Blaine plenty of reason to think he didn’t care anymore. He just hoped that he wasn’t too late to rectify the situation.

“Blaine? Please, give us another chance,” Kurt said softly when Blaine simply stared at him, mouth slightly open in confusion. He wished he knew what Blaine was thinking.

“Kurt, we’re both with someone else now,” Blaine said. “I care about you but…”

Kurt should have known that Blaine would have developed a certain loyalty to his new boyfriend – or whatever Sebastian was after their one night together. He had to make Blaine see that there was no future with Sebastian. “What will happen between the two of you after graduation? The long distance thing didn’t work so well for us. Are you going to try it again with him?” Kurt knew that Sebastian wouldn’t be able to keep it in his pants for two minutes once Blaine was out of sight, but he couldn’t say that without throwing Blaine’s own indiscretion in his face.

“We just agreed to be together until graduation. After that…” Blaine sort of shrugged. Kurt didn’t like how sad he looked at the thought of losing Sebastian.

“Then come to New York,” Kurt said. He reached over and took one of Blaine’s hands in his. “We can start over and try again. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

Blaine slid his hand away. “Would we be having this conversation if I hadn’t spent the night with Sebastian?”

Kurt knew a wrong answer would kill any chance he had with Blaine, so he chose his words carefully. “I never stopped wanting you, but I was afraid to let you too close again. I kept thinking that we’d work things out once you were in New York.”

“You mean, when you could keep an eye on me and make sure I wasn’t cheating on you again,” Blaine said dryly.

Kurt winced at the truth in that statement, but he wasn’t about to admit it. “I just thought it would be easier to reconnect when we could see each other every day.”

“A week ago, I would have given anything to hear you say you wanted me back,” Blaine said.

Kurt’s heart jumped a little and then he realized what Blaine really meant. “But not now.”

“I’m not breaking up with Sebastian just because you had a change of heart,” Blaine said. “Maybe things won’t work out between me and Sebastian once we leave Lima, but I have a few weeks until then and I’m going to make the best of that while I can.”

Kurt wanted to grind his teeth, but kept his tone gentle. “But you left him to come to the hospital when I needed you. Doesn’t that tell you something?”

“Yeah, it tells me that I have some major making up to do,” Blaine said. He sighed heavily. “Kurt, I do care about you. I probably always will, but I’m not going to rearrange my life to suit you anymore.”

Kurt’s mouth dropped open in shock. When had he ever asked Blaine to ‘rearrange his life’? Well, besides changing schools and maybe the way he dressed. Kurt wasn’t interested in the answer right now though. “What about college? You’re going to throw away a chance at one of the best Performing Art schools in the country just to spite me?”

“New York is your dream, not mine,” Blaine said. “I’d rather go to CalArts.”

Kurt had thought that Blaine just wanted to go to LA because of Cooper, not because he preferred that school over NYADA. “And if you don’t get into CalArts?”

Blaine opened his mouth to reply and then closed it without saying anything. “I don’t know,” Blaine finally admitted.

Kurt sensed victory. He used his most reasonable voice. “If NYADA is the only school you get into, wouldn’t it make sense to go there?”

Blaine frowned slightly but nodded. “I guess.”

“And if we’re both going to the same school and neither of us is seeing anyone else, couldn’t we, maybe, just see if there’s still something there?” Kurt asked. He threw a touch of wheedling in his tone.

Blaine rubbed the back of his neck as he thought that over. “I guess that makes sense,” he finally said. “But I might still get into CalArts.”

Kurt had to refrain from doing a little victory dance. The odds of getting into CalArts were even less than NYADA. Blaine was practically his again and Sebastian just a bad memory. He leaned over and gave Blaine a chaste kiss on the check. “Thanks for being there when I needed you. It means a lot to me.”

Blaine looked a little flustered, but nodded as Kurt let himself out of the car. Kurt saved his victory dance for when he was safely behind his bedroom door.

 

~ * ~
 

Sebastian slid into the driver’s seat of his car and rested his head against the steering wheel for a moment to regroup. Sunday mornings were always difficult and this one had been worse than most; just what he needed after yesterday. He wasn’t surprised when he turned his phone back on and found several messages from Blaine. He assumed that Blaine was calling to tell him it had all been a mistake and he and Kurt were back together again. Why else would he have abandoned Sebastian after their first night together and run back to his ex?

Sebastian put off answering Blaine’s text until he was home. He didn’t really want to hear what Blaine had to say, but finally decided he’d better just go ahead and get it over with; like tearing a bandage off in one quick motion rather than prolonging it.

‘What’s up?’ - Sebastian

It only took a moment to get an answer.

“Need to see you. Are you at home?’ - Blaine

‘Yeah, come on over.’ Sebastian would just as soon have done this over text, but Blaine was the type to give bad news in person.

‘I’m at the Lima Bean. Want me to bring a coffee?’ - Blaine

Sebastian couldn’t help a small smile. Where else would Blaine be?

‘Make it strong.’ - Sebastian

‘See you in a few.’ - Blaine

Sebastian put the phone away and stripped for a quick shower. He hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before and between a shower and some coffee, maybe he’d have a clearer head. However, when the doorbell rang, he still had no idea how to deal with Blaine. He pulled on jeans and a polo shirt and hoped for the best.

“Coffee, as promised,” Blaine said when Sebastian opened the door. He seemed a little nervous, although that may have been from the several cups of coffee that Sebastian assumed he’d already consumed that morning.

“Nectar of the gods,” Sebastian said. He motioned Blaine inside and took a drink from the cup with a satisfied sigh. He definitely needed that.

“So, Hummel Sr. back home?” Sebastian asked. He led Blaine into the family room and sprawled out in his favorite chair.

Blaine gave him a rundown on Burt’s prognosis which Sebastian was relieved to hear. He’d only met Mr. Hummel the one time, but he’d seemed cool for a dad. “Sam took Kurt to the airport and I tried to get in touch with you, but, well…” Blaine shrugged. He didn’t ask where Sebastian had been or why he’d had his phone off and Sebastian didn’t offer an explanation. “I’m sorry about yesterday. The timing couldn’t have been worse.”

“Oh, I don’t know. A few hours earlier and I might have silenced your phone permanently,” Sebastian said with a smirk. When in doubt, suggestive innuendo was a safe fallback.

Blaine blushed slightly. “I doubt I would have noticed the phone then,” he said with a shy smile.

“Good to know all this romance stuff hasn’t affected my game,” Sebastian said.

Blaine looked like he wasn’t sure what to make of that statement. “So, what did you do yesterday?” Blaine asked. “Get a lot of homework done?”

“Managed to get ahead a bit,” Sebastian said and then decided it was as good a time as any to tell Blaine where he’d been last night. If Blaine was looking for a reason to break up with him, Sebastian might as well accommodate him. “I got bored after we talked last night, so I went to Scandals.” He feigned indifference as he waited for the fallout.

Blaine stared at his hands for a moment. “I’m sorry,” he finally said.

That was hardly the response Sebastian expected. “What do you have to be sorry about?”

“I’m sorry that I made you feel that way,” Blaine said softly. “Like I was picking Kurt over you.”

Sebastian was flummoxed. Where were the recriminations; the histrionics? For possibly the first time in his life, Sebastian had no idea how to respond.

There was silence for a moment and then Blaine finally asked. “Did you… meet someone?”

“I had every intention to, but…” Sebastian trailed off, not sure how to finish. He wasn’t really sure what had held him back. “I guess no one measured up.”

There was another long silence. “I don’t want us to be over,” Blaine said. He gave Sebastian a beseeching look that squeezed something in Sebastian’s chest. “Can we get past this?”

And it finally hit Sebastian like a sledgehammer to the stomach; Blaine wasn’t going to break up with him. Maybe he had gone to the hospital when Kurt called, but that was just who Blaine was. It didn’t have to be over.

For once, Sebastian sent up a silent prayer of thanks that all the men had been dogs the night before. He stood up, walked over to where Blaine was sitting and knelt down in front of him, resting his hands on Blaine’s knees. “You can see how bad I am at this. Are you sure this is what you really want?”

Much like Friday night, Blaine answered with a slight smile and a kiss, but that was really all the answer that Sebastian needed.

 

~ * ~
 

Sebastian propped his feet on the seat in front of him as he watched Tina practice the song that came before his set. He couldn’t claim to be one of her favorite people, but the rest of New Directions seemed to accept him. He was beginning to understand why Blaine had stayed. The Warblers were close, but New Directions seemed more like family than just friends. Not that Sebastian cared that much about either group, but he could see the appeal for Blaine who was much more a people person than he was.

Sebastian had watched Blaine practice with the Cheerios for a while before the coach had run him off as being a distraction to both the male and female members of her squad. Now he was stuck with watching New Directions give their sets a run through before Prom this Friday. He still couldn’t believe he was going to Prom with his boyfriend (not that he would ever use that word aloud).

“Here, this is for you,” Brittany said as she plopped down in the chair beside him.

Sebastian was a little wary of Brittany and took the sheet of paper hesitantly. “What is it?”

“It’s from Lord Tubbington. He says that it’s your song,” Brittany explained.

“Lord Tubbington?” Sebastian asked against his better judgment. Asking Brittany for explanations usually only led to more confusion.

“My cat,” Brittany said. “He downloaded the lyrics from the internet and printed them out for you so you could sing it for Blaine.”

“Your cat downloaded song lyrics from the internet for me to sing to Blaine?” Sebastian asked, nonplussed.

“He said you’d understand,” Brittany said with a bright smile.

Sebastian watched with his mouth slightly agape as Brittany flounced off to confuse someone else.

“Hey, Sebastian, you’re up,” Sam called from the stage. Joe and Ryder were already waiting for him to join them.

“Yeah, coming,” Sebastian called back. He shook the Brittany induced cobwebs from his head and dropped his feet from the seat to stand up. He folded the piece of paper up and stuck it in his jacket pocket without looking at it. There was no telling what sort of song a cat would want him to sing.

Sebastian didn’t look at the paper again until he arrived home late that night. He was flabbergasted when he recognized the song. At first, he couldn’t imagine why anyone would think that his singing that song would be a good idea (to Blaine or anyone else), but the more he thought about it, the more he realized just how perfect the song was. Brittany’s cat was apparently a genius; maybe he had taken Brittany’s SATs for her.

 

~ * ~
 

“What’s up with your hair?” Tina asked as Blaine joined her at lunch. “Did the hair gel plant go on strike?”

“Is it that bad?” Blaine asked, disheartened.

“No, actually I like it better this way,” Tina said with a smile.

Blaine blushed slightly. “Sebastian does too.” He was still getting used to trying to tame his wild hair without a ton of product, but it was a small price to pay for the enjoyment that Sebastian got from being able to wind his fingers through the curls.

“Sebastian, yeah…” Tina said sourly. “I really don’t understand what you see in that guy.”

“He’s great in bed,” Blaine said in an attempt to get Tina to laugh. Instead, she rolled her eyes.

“I suppose he’s had enough practice,” Tina replied. “Please tell me that you are being safe.”

“Why does Blaine need to be safe?” Sam asked as he slid into the seat beside Tina.

Mentioning his sex life to Tina was once thing, but bringing it up in front of Sam – who he had once had a slight crush on – was something else entirely.

“Apparently, Sebastian is great in bed,” Tina informed Sam with a grimace while Blaine’s face began to burn.

“Oh? How does that work exactly?” Sam asked with a frown. “I mean, with two guys?”

“Oh my god!” Tina exclaimed in horror. “I can’t believe you asked that. Look it up online if you’re so interested.”

“What are we looking up online?” Artie asked as he joined them. “I’ve got my iPhone if you need it.”

“How two guys have sex,” Sam said as he dug into his food. “Apparently, Blaine’s new boyfriend is great in the sack.”

Blaine pushed his tray away and buried his face in his arms on the table top.

“You done with that?” Sam asked and then slid Blaine’s tray closer without waiting for an answer.

“So you and Sebastian are official?” Artie asked, ignoring the question about boy-on-boy sex. “Congratulations.”

“Did you sext him like I suggested or did you just jump to the good stuff?” Sam asked Blaine, who was trying hard to disappear into the table.

“I can’t believe you all are okay with this,” Tina snapped. “Sebastian is evil. We should start calling him Darth Sebastian or something.”

“That really doesn’t flow,” Sam said. “Maybe, Darth Smythe.”

“You are not calling my boyfriend ‘Darth Smythe’,” Blaine said without raising his head.

“Bet you can’t say it three times fast,” Artie challenged Sam.

Tina stood up with a huff and moved to another table as Sam attempted to say ‘Darth Smythe’ three times, stumbling over the words on the second repetition. Even Blaine had to laugh at how ridiculous it sounded.

“What’s her problem?” Artie asked with a nod at Tina, who was sitting with her back to them.

“She doesn’t like Sebastian,” Blaine replied.

“He’s not so bad,” Artie said with a shrug. “It’s great that he’s helping out with the Prom. Gives the rest of us a break from performing.”

“Are you going with Kitty?” Sam asked Artie.

They spent the next several minutes talking about the upcoming prom and what they were going to do about Nationals. Mr. Schue’s latest ideas had them all cringing.

“We’re going to have to find someone to replace Brit,” Sam said. “She’ll be gone to MIT by the time Nationals get here.”

“How about you, Blaine? You heard where you’re going yet?” Artie asked.

Blaine sighed heavily. “I got accepted to NYADA.” His letter had come the day after Kurt had left.

“That’s great, bro,” Sam congratulated him. Then he seemed to sense that Blaine wasn’t as happy as he should be about it. “Isn’t it?”

“I was really hoping to get into CalArts,” Blaine said. He felt like he was being ungrateful though. “Cooper was really looking forward to us doing the brother thing and all.”

“You can always transfer later, right?” Sam asked.

Blaine had no idea if CalArts would accept credits from NYADA or not, so just shrugged. He should be happy that he’d at least gotten into one of the schools.

“Where’s Sebastian going?” Artie asked. “You going to be able to keep the fire burning or is it going to end up like every other high school romance and die as soon as the ink dries on the high school diploma?”

That only served to make Blaine more depressed than he already was. “He hasn’t said where he’s going yet, but we already agreed we weren’t going to try the long distance relationship thing.”

“Sensible,” Artie said sagely.

“It sucks,” Sam said. He glanced across the cafeteria to where Brittany was talking to another Cheerio. “It’s like we graduate and forget how much everyone meant to us.”

“Last year’s Glee members still keep in touch,” Artie reminded Sam. “In fact, I hear that a few of them may be coming back to help with Nationals.”

Blaine tensed. Surely Kurt would be too busy to come back again so soon. “Mike and Mercedes?” he guessed.

“And Kurt,” Sam added after Artie confirmed Blaine’s guess. “His dad is getting his final test results and he wants to be home for that.”

“Let’s hope they come back clear,” Blaine said. “Burt’s a good man. He doesn’t deserve cancer after everything else.”

“Amen to that,” Artie seconded while Sam nodded.

The bell rang and they cleared the table before heading to their next class. None of them noticed the way Tina watched them through narrowed eyes.

 

~ * ~
 

Prom night came much too soon for Sebastian. Despite the indifferent attitude he displayed for Blaine, he found himself a bit nervous. He’d never taken anyone to Prom before; never had any interest in it. But, like with everything else, Blaine was the exception.

They had already sung a set together and been dancing for a while when Kitty and Marley pulled Blaine away to count votes for Prom King and Queen. Sebastian made his way over to the refreshment table for a cool drink. He wrinkled his nose at the food offerings. He had plans for later that didn’t involve sitting on (or leaning over) the toilet so abstained from trying any of the bacteria infested finger foods that passed for high cuisine in a public school.

“You must be proud of Blaine.”

Sebastian glanced up at the speaker in surprise. To his knowledge, Tina had never spoken to him directly except to snarl something unintelligible. He had no idea what she was talking about though.

“Good evening, Miss Cohen-Chang. You are looking lovely tonight,” Sebastian said. He was rather proud of himself for managing to say it without a trace of sarcasm.

“You did hear that Blaine was accepted to NYADA, didn’t you?” Tina asked, ignoring the compliment.

“They would have been fools not to,” Sebastian said smoothly. It was the first he was hearing of it, but he wasn’t giving Tina the satisfaction of knowing that.

“It’s a shame he didn’t get into CalArts,” Tina continued. “I know he’d have rather have gone there, but at least he won’t be all alone in New York. Kurt and Rachel invited him to move in with them.”

Sebastian felt like a stone had dropped into his stomach, but years of practice hid it from his antagonist. “I do hope their lease doesn’t prohibit them from running a boarding house.”

Tina frowned slightly, perhaps because she wasn’t getting the response she’d hoped for. “Kurt is thrilled. Blaine had already promised that they’d give it another try after graduation, so everything is just falling into place.”

Sebastian’s heart rose to fill his throat and he had to swallow hard to speak normally. “Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together?” From her confused look, Tina had no idea where that quote had come from. Sam would have gotten it.

Tina snorted and turned to watch her classmates dance, rather put out. “I always knew you didn’t care about him. You’re probably glad that you’ll be off the hook after graduation.”

“And here I thought that you pictured yourself filling the hole left in Blaine’s heart,” Sebastian observed. He felt slightly sick and wondered if someone had managed to poison the punch.

Tina glared at Sebastian. “Blaine and Kurt are soul-mates. They belong together. You’re just the rebound guy.” Tina gave him a triumphant smirk. “Everyone knows the rebound-guy never lasts.” She flounced off without waiting for a response.

“So I’ve heard,” Sebastian said softly to himself. He glanced across at the doors as Blaine re-entered the room and watched as he stopped to talk to the principal. A moment later, Blaine’s gaze found his and he grinned before moving through the crowd towards Sebastian.

“Hey, miss me?” Blaine asked with a smile.

Sebastian had always known it wouldn’t last. Blaine was right to make whatever plans he wanted for after graduation. Those plans didn’t concern Sebastian as he wouldn’t be a part of them. That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt though. “Always,” Sebastian said.

Blaine’s expression became softer and he moved close enough to whisper into Sebastian’s ear. “We have a few minutes before the next set. The room we counted votes in was a little small, but nobody’s in there and the door locks.”

“Why, Mr. Anderson, whatever are you suggesting?” Sebastian asked.

“I’d just like to kiss my boyfriend without being glared at by the jocks,” Blaine said with a shy smile.

Sebastian felt his heart melt a little. Maybe it wouldn’t last, but Sebastian would take what he could get while he could get it. “Lead the way, mi amor.”
 

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