The Only Exception (Lonely No More)

Chapter 7

Despite her numerous attempts to convince herself that Blaine would never return her feelings, Tina’s heart fluttered as the object of her obsession walked into Glee practice and took the seat beside her.

“Your face,” Tina exclaimed in dismay. She’d seen the pictures from the bowling alley – everyone in Glee had, of course – but they had all been from a distance. “Does it hurt?” She wanted to reach out and touch his face, but sat on her hands instead. No reason to make it worse.

“It’s not so bad,” Blaine said with a reassuring smile. He was always such a gentleman and wouldn’t want her to worry. “It should be healed before Prom.”

Sam slipped into the chair just behind Blaine and leaned over his shoulder. “I heard you laid that guy out with a perfect upper cut. That’s awesome.”

“The Bible says that we should turn the other cheek,” Joe commented, but he looked concerned at the same time. Tina wasn’t sure what to make of Joe. He was nice enough, but a little intense with all the Bible-talk.

“I would have been glad to walk away, but he wouldn’t let me,” Blaine told Joe.

“And the Old Testament says, ‘An eye for an eye’”, Sam reminded Joe.

“I just wish the others hadn’t been drawn into it,” Blaine said with a heavy sigh.

“There’s nothing wrong with standing up for a friend,” Sam said. “We would have done the same if we’d been there.” He glanced at Joe, gauging his reaction.

Joe looked troubled, but nodded. “I would be a poor Christian if I did nothing to stop someone from being unfairly abused.”

“Men,” Tina said with a huff. They all seemed to think that a fist solved any problem. She turned her focus back to Blaine. “Are you going to be able to sing? Your lip looks like really swollen.”

“I’ll be fine,” Blaine said, smiling again for Tina’s benefit. Her heart melted a little bit more. Blaine turned towards Sam. “How is Finn doing? It seems strange not to have him here anymore.”

“He disappeared for a few days, but he’s back and says he’s going to start applying to schools to be a teacher,” Sam replied. He glanced over at Marley who was sitting with Jake while chatting with Ryder and Kitty. “He said it was something Marley said to him.”

“Teaching the next generation is a noble profession,” Joe said. “It’s a shame that they don’t get the recognition they deserve.”

“Not all of them deserve it,” Tina said. “Mrs. Crawley just writes the assignment on the board and reads a book while we do the work.”

Their discussion on teacher’s merits was dropped when Mr. Schue walked in and called their attention to the board. They were nearly a half hour into the class before Mr. Schue noticed Blaine’s injuries.

“Blaine, are you okay? That didn’t happen here at McKinley, did it?” Mr. Schue asked in concern. As if that really made any difference where Blaine was when he had been hit.

“No, sir. I was bowling with some friends,” Blaine replied. He didn’t seem inclined to expand on it, so Tina took it upon herself to make sure Mr. Schue knew that what had happened wasn’t Blaine’s fault.

“Some drunk started it,” Tina said. She didn’t know exactly what had led up to the fight, but she knew Blaine was too much of a gentleman to start one. “The owner threw the man and his friends out. He even apologized to Blaine and the Warblers.”

“You were bowling with the Warblers?” Mr. Schue asked. Tina realized that she’d slipped up, but wasn’t sure how to recover. Of course, Blaine didn’t seem concerned. Nothing seemed to faze him.

“They are still my friends,” Blaine replied. “And with them being out of the competition, there isn’t any chance that they’ll steal our ideas this time.”

“Of course, I didn’t mean that you shouldn’t spend time with them,” Mr. Schue said. “How are they doing, after everything, I mean.”

Blaine shrugged. “It’ll be a while before the stigma is erased from the Warbler’s name, but they’re carrying on. Most will be graduating this year, so maybe next year’s group will redeem their reputation.”

Mr. Schue let it drop with a nod and they continued on with their practice. Tina was rather irritated that Marley seemed to be stepping into Rachel’s limelight hogging shoes and was debating the value of throwing a temper tantrum when she overheard Sam say that he’d heard that it had taken three of the drunk’s friends to hold Sebastian back when Blaine had been attacked.

“Slushy-Warbler was there?” Tina snapped. Her tone was sharper than she had intended because of her irritation with Marley, but she didn’t like Sebastian either. If Blaine had to be with someone, why couldn’t he get back with Kurt? After Valentine’s, even she could see that they belonged together. Sebastian was a train-wreck waiting to happen.

“I was there with my friends and Sebastian is my friend,” Blaine replied evenly.

“No wonder the drunk was harassing you,” Tina said. “Sebastian had probably already ticked him off somehow and you just got caught in the fall-out.”

“Sebastian wasn’t even there when the drunk started harassing me,” Blaine objected. His brow furrowed slightly, a warning that he was irritated, but Tina wasn’t going to let it go.

“Of course he wasn’t,” Tina said, crossing her arms over her chest. “It’s just like him to stir the pot and then walk away.” Why couldn’t Blaine see what a danger this guy was?

“It wasn’t like that, Tina,” Blaine replied.

“None of the Warblers said anything about Sebastian starting trouble,” Sam said in his defense. “They were there, so they would know.”

“They didn’t see the fight start either,” Tina replied. When had Sam become Sebastian’s champion? “For all they know, he set Blaine up so that he could play the knight in shining armor and save him. He just didn’t expect Blaine to be able to defend himself so well.” It was a shame that no one had gotten a video of Blaine knocking that idiot out. That would have been something to see, though Tina would never let the guys know that.

“There is no reason for Sebastian to do anything of the sort,” Blaine said, but Tina could tell that she’d planted a seed of doubt. “Besides, the owner said those guys were always causing problems.”

“Guys, come on,” Mr. Schue called out. “Nationals aren’t going to be won by sitting around talking.”

 

~ * ~
 

Blaine couldn’t help but mull over Tina’s accusation concerning Sebastian. A year ago, he would have believed Sebastian capable of doing just that sort of thing. After examining the situation from every angle, though, he couldn’t see how Sebastian could have profited from it. Besides, Sebastian had been with him the whole evening. There wasn’t time for him to have talked to Blaine’s assailant.

As usual, thinking of Sebastian brought back the memory of ‘the kiss’. Blaine could easily become addicted to kisses like that. He still wasn’t sure who had initiated it; perhaps it was just inevitable. After all, Sebastian made no secret that he wanted Blaine and Blaine admitted (at least to himself) that he’d always had some level of attraction for Sebastian. But that kiss... that was more than just physical attraction, no matter how much Sebastian protested.

Blaine let out an exasperated breath. It didn’t matter what he thought that kiss meant, Sebastian had made it clear that he wasn’t interested in anything remotely resembling a relationship. Blaine would just reconcile himself to nothing more than friendship. He was smart enough to learn from his mistakes and trying to make something out of nothing only resulted in heartbreak. He wasn’t going down that road again.

Blaine’s reverie was broken when Tina began ranting at Mr. Schue about how it was her senior year and how she’d patiently waited for her chance in the spotlight, but that was being handed over to an underclassman who had passed out during Sectionals.

“I think she’s channeling Rachel at her most diva,” Artie said in an aside.

“She does have a point,” Blaine said in support of his friend. “Marley will have plenty of chances to shine after we’ve graduated.”

“We need to focus on what’s best for Glee, not just one person,” Artie said. “Tina is good, but Marley has more range.”

“But is Marley ready for the pressure?” Sam said. He glanced around as if to make sure Marley didn’t overhear him. He didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.

“That’s true,” Blaine said. Marley was a sweet girl, but after Sectionals, no one was sure of her. “We don’t want to push her into something she isn’t ready for.”

“And tank the competition again,” Sam said.

Marley interrupted Tina’s rant to throw her support behind Tina. Mr. Schue didn’t seem to be listening to either of them as he continued to push for Marley to have the solo, or at least a duet with Blaine.

“Maybe Marley could sing a duet with Jake,” Sam suggested with a questioning look at Blaine. “She might not be as nervous.”

Blaine examined his feelings over that, but found he wasn’t the least bit jealous. He might enjoy the spotlight, but he was more of a team player than that. “That’s not a bad idea. Jake’s good enough and he’d keep her from stressing too much.”

“That doesn’t solve the Tina-issue,” Artie reminded them. “Maybe a group number where she gets the spotlight?”

They mulled over different possibilities that they thought would work and then agreed that Artie would take their suggestions to Mr. Schue who was fighting a losing battle against the female population of Glee. Kitty and Unique had joined in, each fighting for their own chance to shine in the competition. Brittany was throwing in random comments that only added to the confusion.

“So, the Warblers went to the beach for spring break,” Sam said once he and Blaine were alone in their corner of the room while everyone else argued different options for Nationals. “Guess that leaves you at loose ends. How about we have a Lord of the Rings marathon? The Hobbit just came out on DVD.”

“Extended edition?” Blaine asked, interest peaked.

“All but The Hobbit,” Sam replied and they did a fist-bump in agreement. “My place or yours? You know Finn will invite himself if we do mine.” Which made sense since it was the Hummel’s house.

Blaine liked the Hummel’s better than his house, but there was one potential problem. “There isn’t any chance that Kurt will be coming home, is there?”

“No, he already had Spring Break last week, or maybe the week before,” Sam said with a frown as he tried to remember which. “Anyway, Finn was complaining that they didn’t get off at the same time. I always thought everyone did the same week, but guess not.”

“Is the movie anything like the book?” Joe asked. It was easy to forget that Joe was there; he was so quiet.

“You haven’t seen it?” Sam and Blaine both asked in shock.

“I read the book, but haven’t seen the movie,” Joe replied. “I heard the same guy made The Hobbit movie as did The Lord of the Rings. He stayed close to the story for that one, so I was just wondering.”

“Oh, dude, you should come over for the marathon,” Sam said. He glanced at Blaine who nodded in agreement. “We can’t let a fellow LOTR fan miss out.”

Joe seemed surprised by the invitation and Blaine realized that they probably didn’t really include him in much outside of Glee. “If it’s not too much trouble,” Joe said. “I would like to see it.”

“So, where are we going to do this?” Sam asked, turning back to Blaine.

“Your place is better; the kitchen is closer to the TV,” Blaine said with a grin.

“What’s going on at Sam’s place?” Artie asked as he rejoined them. The girls were now arguing with each other while Mr. Schue tried to referee. Jake and Ryder trailed behind Artie.

By the time Mr. Schue finally gave up and sent them all home, Sam had invited all the Glee guys to the marathon. Not all of them could make it the coming weekend though, so they agreed to put it off for a week so they all could be there.

 

~ * ~
 

“I can’t believe Nick and Jeff finally got together,” Blaine said in awe.

Trent nodded sagely. “It took us all by surprise. Personally, I think it was Sebastian who pushed Nick into finally admitting how he felt.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask,” Blaine said. The Warblers had been back for a couple of days, but he hadn’t seen Sebastian yet. Neither of them seemed inclined to initiate contact. Blaine wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or irritated.

Trent laughed. “I’m not sure exactly what he said, but he pissed Nick off and the next thing we know, Nick and Jeff are together.”

“He probably challenged Nick in some way,” Blaine said wryly. “Everything is a competition between those two.”

“Good thing it wasn’t you Nick was so keen on,” Trent said with a grin. “It would have ended with a duel at sunrise.”

“I’m just as glad not to be the prize of some macho competition,” Blaine said, rolling his eyes. “Sebastian was bad enough with Kurt. I can’t imagine what he’d be like with Nick.”

“Seemed like it was more than that,” Trent said. “I can’t see Sebastian jumping into a fight for anyone else.”

“Sebastian isn’t interested in anything but being friends,” Blaine replied. He shrugged as if it didn’t matter to him either way.

“And you? Is that all you want?” Trent asked. He was trying to sound casual, but Blaine could tell Trent was fishing for something.

Blaine thought about his answer before speaking. “He’s made it clear that he’ll never want a relationship. He’d probably be more than happy with friends-with-benefits, but I’m not going there.”

Trent looked worried. “What if he did change his mind and want a relationship? Would you?”

Blaine narrowed his eyes as he tried to figure why Trent was pressing the issue. “Did Sebastian say something while you were at the beach?”

“Not exactly,” Trent said. He played with his lapel nervously. “It was more the way he looked every time your name came up; like a kid thinking about his favorite toy.”

Blaine huffed out a breath. “Favorite sex-toy, maybe,” Blaine said and then quickly clarified. “Not that we’ve ever…”

Trent waved away the faltering explanation. “I know what he’s like, but it’s more than that. It’s like…” He paused with a frown.

“Like what?” Blaine asked. Of them all, Trent was the most observant, so Blaine was curious what he might have noticed about Sebastian.

“You know, I didn’t once see him hitting on anyone while we were at the beach,” Trent said thoughtfully. “If fact, I haven’t seen him after anyone at school lately either.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Blaine objected, though he couldn’t help but wonder. “Maybe he’s already worked his way through the guys at school and there isn’t anyone interesting left.”

“You can’t tell me that there weren’t any interesting guys at the beach,” Trent said. “I may not be inclined that way, but even I could see that.”

“Maybe his standards are a little higher than surfer dudes,” Blaine said with a shrug. He had no idea what to make of the idea that Sebastian wasn’t out chasing every guy that looked his way.

“Maybe his standards are higher because he has someone he’s comparing them all too,” Trent said with a meaningful look.

Blaine shook his head. “That doesn’t mean he’s going to do anything about it, even if it is true.”

“Maybe he is,” Trent said coyly.

“You know something that you’re not saying,” Blaine said, slightly irritated, slightly curious. “What is it?”

Trent took a deep breath and then leaned forward slightly. “If I tell you, you can’t tell Sebastian.”

“Okay,” Blaine replied, dragging the word out cautiously.

“Sebastian is going to sing at your Prom; something for you,” Trent said conspiratorially.

“Why would he do that?” Blaine asked. Part of him wanted to believe it meant Sebastian was finally coming around, but there was a little voice in the back of his head that pressed for caution.

Trent sat back with a shrug. “We were talking after Niff got together and it just kind of came up.”

“How does Sebastian singing at my Prom just ‘come up’?” Blaine asked.

“I may have talked him into it,” Trent said. He looked worried as he waited for Blaine’s response.

“What is he going to sing?” Blaine asked. The cautious voice became louder.

“Um, he didn’t exactly say,” Trent said. He didn’t look as confident as before.

A red flag came out, but Blaine put on a fake smile for Trent’s benefit. “Well, I’m sure it’ll be good, whatever it is. Sebastian is a natural-born performer.”

Trent breathed a sigh of relief that Blaine wasn’t upset. “Yeah, he is that.”

Blaine couldn’t believe that Trent would think this would turn out well. Sebastian had most likely been talked into a corner and was planning something suitably outrageous as payback.

Well, forewarned was forearmed, as the saying went.

 

~ * ~
 

“You want to sing with us at the Prom?” Sam asked, puzzled by Sebastian’s request. “Is this because the Warblers were disqualified from competing?”

“No, it’s more along the lines of a dare,” Sebastian replied.

“You’re not planning to do something to embarrass us, are you?” Sam asked. “Cause if you are, there are going to be a lot more of us there, than you.”

“Nothing embarrassing,” Sebastian promised. “Just one song to prove to the Warblers that they can’t get over on me.”

“What does Blaine think about this?” Sam asked.

“I’d rather surprise him,” Sebastian said. “Look, it’s not going to be a big deal and you can veto any song that you don’t like. It’s not like I can change it at the last minute since you control the music.”

Sam had to agree that Sebastian had a point about the music. He just had this gut feeling that there was something more going on.

“Who was the Warbler who made the dare?” Sam asked.

Sebastian hesitated for just a moment. “It was Trent,” he said with an indifferent shrug.

Sam didn’t know Trent all that well, but that was the last person he expected to make any sort of dare. “Why would Trent dare you to sing something at our Prom? What’s really going on?”

Sebastian wore that expression that said he was trying to figure out how little he could get away with saying and still satisfy Sam.

“I can always call Trent and ask him,” Sam said.

“No, don’t do that,” Sebastian snapped and then sighed in exasperation. “Fine, Trent has decided to play match-maker. Despite my best efforts at convincing him that Blaine and I are just friends, he thinks I should sing something for Blaine at Prom. I agreed just to get him off my back.”

“So what song were you planning on doing?” Sam asked. He was still rather hesitant, but at least it made sense now.

“I was thinking ‘It’s My Life’ by Bon Jovi.” Sebastian said. “That will put Trent back in his place.”

“That’s not exactly romantic,” Sam replied.

“As if I’m going to get up in front of a bunch of strangers and pour my heart out,” Sebastian scoffed. “Blaine doesn’t know about the dare, so he won’t expect anything. Just tell him that I agreed to help out since I’m going to be there anyway. Trent won’t have the nerve to say anything once it’s over.”

Sam frowned as he thought that through. It sounded harmless enough. “You could help us out by singing more than one song. Give us all more time to enjoy our own Prom, you know?”

Sebastian hesitated for a moment and then shrugged. “Sure, why not. Can’t pass up an opportunity to show those public school kids what a real performance looks like.”

“It usually works better if you don’t insult the person you’re asking the favor from before you actually get the favor,” Sam said.

“Just keeping it real,” Sebastian replied with a hint of a smile.

Sam still wasn’t sure about Sebastian, but decided it would be great to have some extra help with the sets. “We’ll need to practice. Can you meet here after school?”

“Just tell me when and where and I’ll be here with bells on,” Sebastian replied.

“Don’t let Brit hear you say that. She’ll be disappointed when you show up without real bells on.”

“Duly noted,” Sebastian replied with a solemn nod. He’d already had one encounter with Sam’s girlfriend, so probably knew that Sam wasn’t joking.

They shook on it and Sebastian left. Sam hoped he wasn’t about to make the biggest mistake of his high school career and considering that he’d been a stripper for several months the prior year, that was saying something.

 

~ * ~
 

For the first time since returning from the beach, Sebastian stopped by the Lima Bean on his way home. He automatically looked around and his mouth quirked in a smile when he saw Blaine studying in the corner. He bought two cups of coffee and set one in front of Blaine before taking the seat across from him.

“Sebastian!” Blaine’s whole face brightened when he looked up and saw who it was. Sebastian’s heart did a little flip-flop. Oh, how he liked that smile. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“It was just a spur of the moment decision. I can’t say that I’m disappointed to find I won’t have to drink alone though,” Sebastian said, saluting Blaine with his cup.

Blaine laughed slightly. “And you brought me a fresh cup. How thoughtful.”

“Seeing the mound of papers you have surrounding you, I thought yours would either be long gone or cold by now,” Sebastian replied.

Blaine picked his old cup up and shook it slightly. “You’re right, it’s empty. Guess I hadn’t noticed.”

“Am I interrupting anything important?” Sebastian asked, motioning towards the books and papers.

Blaine gave a tired sigh. “No, not really. Just trying to make sure I don’t get behind. With everything that is going on, I have to take advantage of any time I have free.”

“Should I leave you to it?” Sebastian asked, half standing before Blaine waved him back down.

“No, I can use a break,” Blaine replied. “How was the beach? We haven’t really had a chance to talk since you got back.”

“Would have been better if I could have fed a few of the Warblers to the sharks,” Sebastian replied with a grimace. “The scenery was excellent though.” He leered slightly so that Blaine would understand what sort of scenery he was referring to.

“I heard that Nick and Jeff finally got together,” Blaine said. He was apparently going to ignore the second comment. “Trent said that he thought you might have had something to do with it.”

Sebastian huffed derisively. “I may have made a few pointed remarks that finally pried Nick’s ass off of his chair. If I’d realized the outcome, I’d have kept my mouth shut. Niff is so disgustingly sweet that I may need to move my routine dental appointment up a few months.”

Blaine smiled into his coffee cup; the comment was so typical of Sebastian. “I think it’s great that they finally got together. It’s too bad that it’s taken them so long though.”

“Perhaps it’s better that they waited,” Sebastian said. When Blaine gave him a questioning look, he expanded on his comment. “This way, they’ll graduate and move on before they have time for the honeymoon phase to wear thin. They’ll go to different schools and gradually realize that the long-distance thing doesn’t work, but they’ll always have those few perfect memories.” He gave Blaine a pointed look. “Isn’t that what you romantics tell yourselves?”

“Sometimes, those few perfect memories are all that gets you through the rest of the times,” Blaine said. He almost looked like he felt sorry for Sebastian, which set Sebastian’s teeth on edge.

“Are you going to start quoting Steel Magnolias now, ‘a few minutes of wonderful versus a lifetime of nothing special’,” Sebastian scoffed.

“I’ll take the ‘few minutes’ any day,” Blaine said softly.

Sebastian was becoming entirely too uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was going. “Your face looks a lot better than the last time I saw you. Anyone give you any heartburn over that?”

“No, other than Tina claiming you are a bad influence,” Blaine said without commenting on the abrupt change of subject. He gave Sebastian a teasing grin. “Of course, we both already knew that.”

“Be careful or you’ll ruin your innocent schoolboy image,” Sebastian said with an answering smile. He enjoyed bantering with Blaine as long as it didn’t get into subjects he’d rather avoid. “By the way, I hear that there is a picture of you from last year’s prom without your hair cemented to your head. How much begging would I have to do to get a glimpse of that?”

Blaine buried his face in his arm on the tabletop. “I can’t believe someone told you about that.” He looked up, but his face was decidedly on the pink side. “Those pictures are hidden where no one can find them. I’ve left instructions behind that if anything ever happens to me, they’re to be burned.”

“Guess I’ll just have to catch you coming out of the shower sometime so I can see for myself,” Sebastian said. Unfortunately, the idea of seeing Blaine with nothing but a towel wrapped around him (or less) was having some repercussions that Sebastian wasn’t able to deal with while sitting at a table in a coffee shop.

“You’re incorrigible,” Blaine accused, but there was a hint of a smile on his lips.

“It’s your fault for being so enticing,” Sebastian replied. “How’s a guy supposed to resist when that body just begs to be worshipped properly?”

Blaine swallowed and answered just a touch breathlessly. “I don’t think second dates include showers.” Then he seemed to reconsider his response. “That is, if you consider escorting me to Prom as a date.”

“If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck…” Sebastian said with an indifferent shrug and then grinned suggestively. “Maybe if we add a few more dates in between? Seeing you in nothing but a towel would definitely be a memory I’d treasure for the rest of my life.”

Blaine took a deep breath, but when he faced Sebastian, he was no longer flirting. “I made the mistake of thinking I could do casual sex before; once with someone I didn’t know and once with someone I cared about deeply. I won’t do that to myself again.” There was a definite question in that statement and a bit of a challenge.

Sebastian’s heart started pounding in his chest. This was definitely venturing into the ‘uncomfortable subjects’ territory. “I wouldn’t make anyone a good boyfriend. You’d end up hating me in the end.”

“You don’t know that,” Blaine said. “I’m not asking for a ring and a life-time promise, just that you take a chance. It could be something wonderful.”

Sebastian couldn’t bear the pleading look in Blaine’s eyes and looked away. “You believe in love and romance and all that stuff that they promised you in fairytales.” Sebastian forced himself to look back. “I don’t believe any of that exists.”

Blaine’s gaze softened just a bit. Sebastian wasn’t sure if it was pity or something else. “Then we’ll just be friends. You’ll keep making inappropriate remarks which I’ll keep turning down and the sun will rise tomorrow and the world will keep turning.”

Sebastian let out a relieved breath, but was slightly disappointed at the same time. “You’ll find the right man one day and forget all about me.”

“Maybe I’ll find someone else, but I’ll never forget you,” Blaine said with a sad sort of smile. “And I’ll always wonder if we missed out on something special.” He sighed heavily. “I hope someday someone pushes you out of your comfort zone so you find out what you’re missing. I’m just sorry it wasn’t me.”

Sebastian had no response to that. “I guess I should let you get back to work. Wouldn’t want you to fall behind and miss graduating.”

“I don’t think there’s any danger of that,” Blaine said with a wry smile. “But I guess I should get finished before the rush comes in and they need the table. I can only drink so many cups of coffee.”

Sebastian finished his coffee and stood to leave. “If you want to skip Prom, I’d understand.”

“You’re not getting out of our ‘date’ that easily,” Blaine replied with a genuine smile.

Sebastian nodded, relieved that Blaine wasn’t going to push for more than he was willing to give. He left Blaine to his schoolwork and headed home to do his own. He was in the middle of his English assignment when his phone indicated he had a text. Seeing that it was from Blaine, he opened the window to read.

‘The Glee guys are having a LOTR marathon this weekend, including The Hobbit. Want to come?’ - Blaine

‘I’m not sure that the Glee guys would want me around.’ – Sebastian

‘It’s at Sam’s. He says it’s fine. Besides, he says you’re singing with us for Prom. You should come.’ - Blaine

Sebastian wasn’t surprised that Evans hadn’t kept quiet about him singing at Prom although he did hope that Evans had at least kept the real reason to himself. Sebastian did not want to ruin Blaine’s prom by singing something that was the opposite of romantic when Blaine was expecting something entirely different.

‘Does this count as a date? I’m still thinking about that shower scene…’ – Sebastian

‘What if I promise not to use product for the marathon? ;-)’ - Blaine

‘Did you just wink at me? You cheeky devil!’ – Sebastian

‘Have you been watching Downton Abbey?’ - Blaine

‘I’ll plead the Fifth on that question.’ Sebastian grinned. He’d been a little worried that his friendship with Blaine might become awkward after their discussion at the coffee shop.

‘We spent the week in Glee telling each other our guiltiest secrets. You should try it, it’s freeing.’ - Blaine

‘So glad I didn’t switch schools.’ – Sebastian

‘Fine, be that way. I’ll get it out of you eventually.’ - Blaine

‘I’m sure you can get me to admit to any number of things, especially sporting nothing but a towel and damp skin from a shower...’ – Sebastian

‘No shower scene. How about the marathon?’ - Blaine

‘You’ve promised a product free evening. Looking forward to it.’ – Sebastian

‘If anyone runs away in horror, it’s all your fault.’ - Blaine

‘It usually is.’ They spent the next few minutes texting about logistics and if Sebastian should bring anything, before signing off and returning to their school work.

Sebastian hummed a little tune under his breath while grinning every time he thought about Blaine and their upcoming non-date. Even the fact that the rest of the New Directions guys would be there couldn’t dampen his spirits.
 

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