A/N: I don't own Glee, the characters Sebastian Smythe or Blaine Anderson. Please be gentle, this is my first fanfiction.

Sebastian Smythe studied the pale face sitting across from him in the Lima Bean. It was evident that anyone who knew the other figure that he wasn't in a very good place if the faint tear tracks, blood-shot, red rimmed eyes and large bruises under said eyes were any indication.

"Have you slept at all recently?" Sebastian asked critically, worry tinging his voice. The figure shrugged in response. Making a frustrated noise, Sebastian continued. "What do your McKinley friends say about it?"

Another non-response shrug. "Jesus Christ, Blaine. Do they even care?"

Blaine turned tired eyes to his friend, hands fidgeting with the full coffee cup. "They know," he whispered dully. "But I don't think they care." He winced at voicing his hurt out-loud. "They're focused on their own stuff, the musical, and winning Sectionals again." He sighed. "Besides, they were Kurt's friends first and are angry that I would cheat on him."

Sebastian frowned. "But Kurt cheated with that Chandler guy last year and they didn't care then." Blaine just shrugged helplessly in reply again.

Sighing, Sebastian leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his own rapidly cooling coffee. He considered whether to suggest his next thought or not to his best friend. He was worried about Blaine and it seemed the people who were supposedly his friends at that trash school couldn't be bothered to care. No one was looking out for the former Warbler and given Blaine's history (he knew all the sorrid details of the Sadie Hawkin's incident and the resulting outcome, something even Kurt hadn't fully known) he was worried that Blaine would spiral into a depression, which given Blaine's current state, Sebastian could see already happening if the lack of sleep and apparent weight loss were anything to go on. Blaine sighed again, drawing Sebastian out of his thoughts and back to their table in the Lima Bean.

Seeing Blaine's downtrodden expression, knowing their first classes of the day started in an hour, he blurted out his idea. "Come home, Blaine."

Blaine looked startled, his gaze meeting Sebastian's directly. He knew what Sebastian was asking, but he needed to think it through. They had rekindled their friendship after Dave's attempted suicide and Blaine could honestly say they were best friends now. After his debacle with Eli, it had been Sebastian who had picked him up at midnight as he cried hysterically into the phone. He had even managed to rectify his relationship with the other Warblers, spending most of the previous summer with them rather than the New Directions, much to Kurt's chargrin.

At the beginning of the year, he had toyed with the idea of returning to Dalton; his parents both very enthusiastic about the idea. Kurt had talked him out of it, saying that he belonged with the New Directions at McKinley and they had given him the opportunity to win a national trophy for show choir meaning he couldn't ditch them now. He had bit his lip at the time, not pointing out that in his freshman year, he had helped lead the Warblers to Nationals and they had won, not throwing the competition with a stupid kiss. Technically, this was his second national win.

Pulling himself from his thoughts, he studied Sebastian, not wanting the other boy to know that once again, he was considering rejoining his Dalton friends. "I'll think about it, Seb. I promise," he told the other boy as they rose from their seats to head in opposite directions. The Lima Bean was central to both schools, although a longer drive for Blaine now that he went to McKinley.

As he started the forty-five minute trek to school, Blaine couldn't help but think about how nice it would be to sleep in until a half-hour before classes like he used to do while boarding at Dalton and not having to eat alone or sleep in an empty house while his parents were away on business somewhere half-way around the world.

It would bring his mom peace-of-mind to know that he wasn't spending so much time alone. When the Chandler fiasco had occurred, they had established a strick check-in schedule that he was not allowed to deviate from. She continued to insist he follow it, even though he reassured her he was taking his anti-depressant meds regularly. But even he could tell that he was beginning to spiral, the only thing getting him out of bed in the mornings were his coffee dates at the Lima Bean with Sebastian. If those didn't exist, he would be blowing off school to spend all day in bed, dozing fitfully.

He thought of what would occur if he actually left McKinley. He knew Sam could take his place as class president, something he would have no problem with because he had only sought the position to impress Kurt. New Directions wouldn't really miss him, even if Artie had deemed him the "New Rachel". There was plenty of talent in the new bunch of students and with Finn now directing, his opportunities for solos were gone because even if Finn denied it, Blaine knew he still harbored a bit of hatred for him based on the jealousy he had previously admitted when Blaine had been the one to help them win Sectionals and the chaos that had resulted from his breakup with Kurt.

As he pulled into the parking lot at McKinley, he contemplated the brown stone, squat building. The academics at McKinley were a joke and Blaine found no challenge in the school work. Most of the curriculum he was studying as a Senior had already been covered in his Junior year at Dalton, and his Sophomore year classes. His father was not happy about the lack of challenge for Blaine, constantly complaining that Blaine's brain was rotting from lack of use. (There were even days when Blaine secretly agreed with him). Squaring his shoulders at having to face another day alone and forgotten, Blaine exited his car and headed to the school to start another torcherous day.

He wasn't sure if the combination of his day had led him to pick up the transfer paperwork from the office on his way home after Glee, but Blaine now sat at his desk, starring at the completed forms which would allow him to return to Dalton the following week.

He thought back to the day's events, trying to pinpoint the exact moment that had forced his hand. It could have been the locker shove from the freshman jock who hadn't realized who he was shoving until after Blaine had picked himself up off the floor, lost his temper and knocked the guy flat on his ass with a right hook. Because it had been provoked, Figgins had given him a warning about violence and how he was expected to be a role model to the other students. Blaine had worked hard to keep a straight face during the speech, disbelief and anger at the man's oblivious statements evident in Blaine's posture.

It could have been at lunch when some of Finn's football buddies, who had been Sophomores the previous year, had tormented him about being gay and his failed relationship with Kurt. Or it may have been the discussion Finn had demanded from him during his study hall, laying into him about the earlier punch, Kurt's disastrous visit for Grease and how he wasn't happy Blaine was hanging out with the Warblers, their competition at Sectionals. Needless to say, Blaine had spent the second half of study hall wailing on the punching bag in the gym.

During Glee, Finn had let it slip that he still hung out with the Warblers, making everyone demand he leave the room while they discussed set-lists because he could potentially leak it. He had starred at them in disbelief before angrily taking his bag and stomping out. The idiots didn't seem to realize that he would know the set list anyway because he had to learn the songs and choreography with the rest of them. It had been the last straw and he had marched to the office, asking Ms. Williams for the transfer paperwork which she had readily handed over.

He knew what had made him decide to fill it out though. It had been when he had exited the building and found the Warblers surrounding his car, waiting for him. Sebastian had caught his gaze and smirked. "Knew today was going to be tough, Killer," he stated, unfolding his crossed arms and standing straighter from leaning on Blaine's car. "Thought we'd take you out for dinner and a movie. Distract you a little from life."

Blaine had thrown himself at his best friend then, hugging the other boy tightly and breathed a quiet "thank you" into Sebastian's ear. He was grateful to his friends because they did manage to distract him from his awful day.

Now, sitting at home with the finished paperwork in front of him, he pulled out his phone to do his nightly check-in. As the phone rang, he smiled slightly to himself, feeling a sense of relief. If was like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and Blaine knew things were going to get better with time; the disparate feelings of depression he had been feeling, beginning to recede.

As the "hello" from his father echoed in his ear, Blaine said, "Hi, Dad, just my check-in, but I was wondering if…"

Fin