The Only Exception (Lonely No More)

Chapter 11

 “Damn, where did you learn to kiss like that?” Sebastian asked breathlessly. They didn’t have much time before Blaine was expected back for his next set or he wouldn’t be wasting his breath with talking. As it was, he needed something to distract him from pushing this any further – at least until they didn’t have to worry about interruptions. Someone in New Directions was bound to come looking for them soon.

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Blaine answered, just as breathlessly. He didn’t give Sebastian a chance to answer before finding his lips again.

Sebastian moaned as Blaine pressed against him. “Are you sure we can’t just get a room upstairs and forget the rest of this lame party?”

“I can’t let the others down,” Blaine answered, though he didn’t seem inclined to stop what he was doing.

“You keep this up and we’ll find out just how sturdy that table over there is,” Sebastian panted.

Blaine looked like he was contemplating the table’s durability when someone began banging on the door.

“We know you’re in there. Come out with your hands up and your clothes on.”

“I really hate the girls in your Glee Club,” Sebastian said. He wasn’t sure who was on the other side of the door, though it didn’t sound like Brittany or Tina.

Blaine sighed heavily and gave the table a longing look. “How long do you think it would take her to get someone to unlock the door?”

Sebastian chuckled. “Want to find out?”

The pounding came again. “Marley went to get Jake. His brother has been teaching him how to pick locks.”

“Damn,” Sebastian said. He rather liked that Blaine wasn’t in any hurry to leave their cozy little hideaway.

“I guess we might as well open the door,” Blaine said with a sigh. “Kitty isn’t known for her patience.”

Blaine opened the door just as Kitty started to pound on it again, causing her to lurch forward slightly. She gave them a speculative once-over and then shifted into a simple glare.

“It’s almost time for your next set,” Kitty said to Blaine. She glanced pointedly at his hair. “You might want to stop by the restroom first unless you want the whole school to know you’ve been making out with your boyfriend.” She slipped her arm through Sebastian’s and pulled him away as Blaine headed to the men’s room with an apologetic look at Sebastian. “For some reason, Brittany wants to talk to you. Something about a song you’re supposed to do later.”

Sebastian felt like a stone had settled in his stomach. He’d had severe reservations about singing the Tubby Cat’s song to begin with. After Tina’s comments, he was even less sure that he wanted to put himself out there like that. In a couple of weeks, it wouldn’t matter how he felt about Blaine. They’d be thousands of miles apart and leading lives that had nothing to do with each other. What would be the point?

“Apparently her cat has been making up your set lists,” Sebastian replied with nonchalance he didn’t feel. “If he does your choreography as well, that would explain that deplorable exhibition at Sectionals.”

Kitty wrinkled her nose. “We would have beaten you fair and square if Marley hadn’t passed out on stage,” she said. She looked away for a second as if struck by an uncomfortable memory, but recovered quickly. “You had to stoop to cheating to win.”

“From what I’ve heard, you could give the Warblers tips,” Sebastian replied. Blaine had told him about Kitty’s breakdown during their gun-shot induced lockdown where she’d admitted to sabotaging Marley’s clothes to make her think she was getting fat.

Kitty pulled away and turned to face Sebastian while walking backwards. “You boys couldn’t handle someone like me,” she answered and then flounced off with a smirk.

Sebastian had a feeling she was right, but let it go. Sparring matches with McKinley girls seldom turned out well for him. He settled for picturing how Miss Kitty would look wearing an ice-cold red slushy (sans rock salt).

Once he reached the door leading to the Prom ballroom, Sebastian stopped and glanced inside before entering. Brittany was near the stage dancing with Sam. If she saw him, he’d have to come up with some excuse not to perform the Tubby Cat song. If the fates were kind, he could talk Blaine into leaving once his set was done and Sebastian wouldn’t have to face her at all. She’d be leaving for MIT on Monday, so no one else would ever know that he was supposed to sing one of the songs that Brittany had performed in all the practices. It could remain their little secret.

“If you’re not going in, at least quit blocking the doorway,” a familiar female voice snapped from behind Sebastian.

Sebastian stepped to one side with an extravagant flourish. “A thousand pardons, my lady.”

Tina sniffed indignantly. “Enjoy it while you can, Slushy Warbler. In a couple of weeks, Blaine will be in New York with Kurt and you’ll just be a distant memory.”

“Tina? What’s going on?”

Tina jumped as if she’d been pinched on the ass when Blaine appeared from nowhere to confront her.

“Nothing,” Tina rushed to say. She looked guiltily from Sebastian to Blaine and then mumbled something before making her escape into the ballroom.

“Sebastian?” Blaine asked. He looked worried, maybe even afraid.

“Don’t worry about it,” Sebastian said. He nodded towards the stage where Sam was looking around frantically, probably trying to find Blaine. “They’re waiting for you.”

Blaine glanced inside and then back at Sebastian. He took a step closer and ran his hand down Sebastian’s tie. “Don’t leave without me,” he said, just a touch shy.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Sebastian replied. Neither wild elephants nor Tina Cohen-Chang could drag him away when Blaine looked at him like that.

 

~ * ~
 

Sebastian reclined in the warm tub of water with Blaine leaning back against him. They’d need to move soon or risk drowning while asleep, but for now Sebastian was willing to just enjoy the moment. Not that he hadn’t enjoyed the past couple of hours since they’d made their escape from the Prom (and Brittany), but he enjoyed just relaxing with Blaine laying against him far more than he’d ever thought he would. He felt a slight regret that he hadn’t stayed and sang Tubby Cat’s song, but he knew he and Blaine were on borrowed time. No matter how good this was, it wasn’t going to last. It would be hard enough to walk away without putting his heart on his sleeve for everyone to mock.

“We should get in the bed before we fall asleep and drown,” Blaine mumbled, barely coherent.

Sebastian chuckled slightly as Blaine echoed his own thought. “I’m not sure I can move. You’ve worn me out.”

Blaine appeared rather pleased with himself at the thought; a far cry from the shy, schoolboy image he normally projected. “Is that a complaint?”

“Not at all,” Sebastian assured him, though he suspected Blaine knew that.

Despite his comment, Blaine didn’t make any move to get up.

“We really do need to get out,” Sebastian said, making an effort to push the mostly asleep Blaine to his feet.

“But you make such a good pillow,” Blaine protested with a yawn as he stood.

It was a sign of just how tired he was that the sight of all that bare, wet skin didn’t stir certain parts that would normally have perked up at just the thought. “I assure you that my prowess as a pillow is just as good in a bed as a tub,” Sebastian said as he forced himself to his feet and reached for a towel.

 

~ * ~
 

It was still dark in the room when Blaine woke, curled up against Sebastian’s side and using Sebastian’s chest as a pillow. Sebastian was gently carding his fingers through Blaine’s curls.

“You’re awake,” Blaine mumbled without moving.

“Just thinking how busy the next couple of weeks are going to be,” Sebastian replied. “This might be the last weekend we get to spend the whole night together.”

Blaine looked up with a frown but then returned to his previous position. Sebastian sounded particularly melancholy, not something Blaine had ever thought to hear. “We’ll be back from Nationals late Friday. We’d still have the rest of the weekend,” Blaine said.

“Dalton’s graduation practice is Saturday. Convocation is Sunday and my parent’s will be here for that,” Sebastian replied. He paused for a moment and then added, “Mom wants me to go back to Paris with her for the summer. You’ll be off to New York, I expect.”

Blaine was confused for just a moment; he hadn’t told Sebastian about his acceptance (and non-acceptance) letters yet, but then he remembered the tail end of the conversation he’d heard between Sebastian and Tina.

“Tina told you about NYADA,” Blaine said.

“It’s too bad about CalArts. I know that’s what you really wanted,” Sebastian said

“It might be for the best. At least I don’t have to worry about committing fratricide,” Blaine said with a weak attempt at humor. Everyone else was too busy congratulating him on getting into NYADA to see how disappointed he was about CalArts, except Sebastian.

“I’m sure your mother finds that reassuring,” Sebastian replied.

Blaine didn’t really want to talk about NYADA, but was curious about the rest of the conversation that he had walked in on. “What else did Tina say?”

“Nothing much of interest. She has a bright future as the next Gossip Girl, though.”

Blaine was becoming used to the way Sebastian deflected when he didn’t want to talk about something.

“I heard her say something about me getting back together with Kurt.” Blaine looked up at Sebastian, not that he could see much in the dark. “That’s over, you know.”

“You’re here with me, aren’t you?” Sebastian said softly. “For at least a little longer.”

Blaine swallowed hard. He wasn’t ready for this to be over. “When will you leave for Paris?” he asked.

“I’ll stay until after McKinley’s graduation, but then…” Sebastian shrugged.

Blaine blinked back tears. “I guess we knew this was coming, I just thought we’d have longer.”

Sebastian shifted until he could rest his cheek against the top of Blaine’s head. “Fates have never liked me much. I’ve learned to live with it.”

They lay in silence for several longs minutes. There was so much left unsaid, but neither of them seemed willing to take that step. Blaine finally decided that this wasn’t going down the way it had when Kurt was getting ready to graduate and leave. He wasn’t going to waste the little time they had left with regrets for what was coming.

Blaine shifted until he found Sebastian’s mouth with his. After an especially long kiss, he pulled back slightly. “No reason not to make the best use of the time we do have.”

“I do like the way you think, Anderson,” Sebastian said as he pulled Blaine on top of him and then resumed the interrupted kiss.

 

~ * ~
 

Sam was poking disinterestedly at his food when Blaine joined him at lunch on Monday. “You okay?” Blaine asked in concern. Sam usually attacked his lunch as if he were afraid it might escape if he didn’t ingest it fast enough.

“Yeah, fine,” Sam said. He dropped his fork on the plate and pushed his tray away. “We really need to get our game on if we’re going to win Nationals this week. Brit’s leaving has left us without a strong female dancer.”

“Do we even have enough to make up a team?” Blaine asked. “Ryder insists he’s not coming back.” The mention of Brittany reminded Blaine that he wasn’t the only one with relationship issues. No wonder Sam was a little down.

“We can always get a couple of the band guys to stand in the back and look like they know what they’re doing,” Sam said with a shrug. It sounded like he was only feigning interest. Blaine understood. He almost wished they hadn’t made Nationals. That meant there were three more days that he wouldn’t be able to spend with Sebastian. Actually, they wouldn’t see much of each other at all this week since Dalton had senior finals a week before McKinley. Blaine could probably skate through McKinley finals next week, but Dalton was completely different.

“Why all the long faces?” Artie asked as he joined them. “We’re graduating, yo? We should be celebrating, not having a wake.”

“Brit left for MIT this weekend,” Blaine said softly. Sam sighed and slouched down in his seat until his head was barely above the table top.

“Sorry, bro.” Artie said. “Forgot about that.”

“Forgot what?” Tina asked as she took the seat next to Blaine.

Blaine wasn’t sure how he felt about Tina just now. He still didn’t know everything she’d said to Sebastian, but he was sure that it wasn’t anything good. He just didn’t understand what her motivation was for bringing up Kurt. Did she hate Sebastian that much or was it something else?

“About Brit leaving,” Sam said dispiritedly.

“I guess that means you’re the only senior girl left,” Artie noted.

“Like that means anything,” Tina said huffily. “Mr. Schue will still give Marley the solo before he gives it to me. Let’s just hope she doesn’t bomb Nationals when the pressure is really intense.”

“That’s not fair, Tina. Marley doesn’t go after solos like Rachel,” Blaine said. He didn’t know Marley well, but she seemed like a sweet girl. “And she did just fine at Regionals.”

Tina snorted in contempt. “Jake carried her at Regionals. We all saw that.”

Blaine decided that it wasn’t worth arguing about. Mr. Schue had the final word on solos, not him. “Is there any chance that Ryder will change his mind and join us for Nationals? He did help get us there and it seems a shame to drop out now.”

“I talked to him, but he’s not budging,” Sam said. “This catfish thing really has him rattled.”

“Unique tried to talk to him too, but he doesn’t want anything to do with her,” Artie said. “Can’t say I blame him. He was really falling for that girl and then finds out it’s not a girl at all.”

“I don’t think Unique meant any harm,” Blaine said. “It just kind of got away from her.” He still wasn’t sure if he was supposed to refer to Unique as ‘him’ or ‘her’ so settled for how Unique saw herself.

“He pretended to be a girl and made Ryder fall for him,” Tina said in disgust. “That’s pretty low.”

“Who shoved a holier-than-thou stick up your ass?” Kitty asked as she sat next to Sam. “You tried to vapo-rape a gay boy when he had a cold. How pathetic is that?”

Blaine felt his face heat up. He still wasn’t sure what exactly happened that evening he’d fallen asleep while Tina was at his house. She’d been rather contrite about it later though.

“What?” Artie exclaimed in surprise. He glanced at Blaine who could only shrug.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Tina said with a sniff.

“Our little Asian princess plied our gay-lead with cold meds that knocked him out and then half undressed him so that she could rub her hands all over his chest.”

Blaine gaped first at Kitty and then at Tina.

“I was putting vapo-rub on him to help him breathe better,” Tina protested.

“And that took a whole jar?” Kitty asked.

Tina growled something under her breath and then stood and stormed off.

Sam had sat back up, showing interest in something for the first time. “Did she really do that?” he asked Blaine.

“I guess,” Blaine said hesitantly. “I wondered why my shirt was unbuttoned and the vapo-rub jar empty.” He realized that both Sam and Artie were staring at him. “The vapo-rub really helped my cold though.”

Sam started laughing. “Talk about barking up the wrong tree.”

“She just misses me and is too proud to admit it,” Artie said with an arrogant wave of his hand. Blaine wasn’t sure if Artie was serious or just trying to lighten the mood.

“Was it just your chest that she rubbed?” Kitty asked sweetly, leaning forward with the most innocent look on her face. “She didn’t rub anywhere… lower?”

“With vapo-rub? Ewww,” Sam exclaimed, crossing his legs and putting his hands over his lap protectively.

It didn’t sound very appealing to Blaine either. “I’m fairly sure she didn’t,” he said. Surely he would have woken if someone had done that?

“Does your blond Warbler know just how close you and your ‘girlfriend’ really are?” Kitty asked. She was starting to get a malicious glint in her eyes.

“Until a few minutes ago, I didn’t even know,” Blaine said, more to himself that to Kitty. He was rather shocked, but now he understood some of the comments that Kurt had made at the wedding-that-wasn’t. He must have learned about it somehow, but not told Blaine. He remembered when Ryder had talked about being taken advantage of by his babysitter and he suddenly had a new appreciation for how that must have felt.

“They seemed to be having quite the discussion at the Prom while you were onstage,” Kitty continued. “I wonder if they were comparing notes on how good you are in bed?”

“At least he was awake when he was with Sebastian,” Sam said in Blaine’s defense.

Kitty gave Sam a curious look. “And you know this, how?”

“He was telling us how good Sebastian was in bed.” Sam paused for a moment as if mulling something over. “Maybe that was why Tina got so upset and left that day. She realized she didn’t stand a chance against Sebastian.”

“I think she was more upset that Blaine wasn’t getting back with Kurt,” Artie said. “She seems obsessed with them being soul-mates or something.”

“She seems to think that Kurt and I will get back together when I go to NYADA,” Blaine said softly.

“She does, does she?” Kitty said thoughtfully. Blaine could see the wheels turning in her head and wondered where it was leading her. He couldn’t really see why Tina cared one way or the other. As his friend, shouldn’t she just be happy that he’d found someone? Everyone else had accepted that he was with Sebastian.

“So, where is Sebastian going after graduation?” Artie asked, changing the subject. He seemed a little wary of Kitty.

“His mother wants him to spend the summer with her in Paris,” Blaine said.

“As in Paris, France?” Kitty asked, her mouth dropping open in surprise. “Does he have a straight brother? Or even a lesbian sister?”

“Yo, boyfriend sitting right here,” Artie reminded her. “Besides, you’re not gay.”

“For a trip to Paris, France, I could be gay for a few weeks,” Kitty said.

“I think he’s an only child,” Blaine said while shaking his head a little in bemusement. He didn’t know if she was serious or just going for the shock value.

“How about you? Going to go straight to New York or hang around here for the summer?” Sam asked.

“Cooper wants me to come to LA for the summer,” Blaine said. “He was so disappointed that I didn’t get into school in LA that I promised him I would.”

Sam and Artie talked about their plans while Blaine picked at his lunch. Despite his best efforts, the impending breakup was weighing heavily on him. It had been difficult enough when Kurt had left. At least then, he’d expected to join him later. This time, when he and Sebastian said good-bye, that would be it. There was no plan to try a long distance relationship, no plans to try to stay friends, no plans to stay in each other’s lives in any sort of way. Leaving all his friends behind was bad enough, but leaving Sebastian was breaking his heart a little more every day.
 

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