Written for a self-set Kurt Hummel challenge to include 1 random dictionary word per day for 30 days. Dictionary word: ordeal.
Pairing: established Kurtbastian
Words: 1649
Genre: general / angst
Rating: PG
Summary: Kurt and Sebastian have a fight and Kurt contemplates the consequences.
Expectations II
The first few hours after their fight, Kurt wasn't really worried. One of them often left when things got too intense. Sebastian would go out and get drunk and spend the night at Jeff and Nick's bachelor pad; Kurt preferred the company of his old homegirls Rachel and Santana. (There was really nothing better than listening to the Latina spout abuse about his husband. She was always firmly on Kurt's side.) He was also far too angry to worry. Sebastian had been an ass all week and Kurt felt he had been in the right to demand him to snap out of it. All of it was work-related and Kurt was tired of being Sebastian's scapegoat for that. He could deal with giving relaxing massages (or blowjobs) to take Sebastian's mind off things, but he was not going to accept rudeness. It had started out small, like most of their fights did. A simple comment about take-out food that had then escalated into something Kurt was very allergic to- effeminate stereotyping. Yes, he liked cooking, and Sebastian hated it. But Kurt's interest in creating fabulous dinners or deserts was recreational only- something he liked doing when he had the time (like on weekends), wanted to do something special for his friends or celebrate an occasion – not something to go through on a daily basis when they had more than twenty fine take-out services and restaurants up the street. Especially not when he had been working all day too. This was something Sebastian liked to forget; Kurt's home-office days where he deliberately did not go into the Vogue office so he could concentrate better on his designs were not days he spent in bed watching tv. He got up early just as he did on office days, sat down in the little secluded space they had partitioned off from the living room so he wouldn't be distracted, and got a lot more work done than he would at the office with the phone constantly ringing and people dropping by. Of course he occasionally had time to throw in some laundry or get some other stuff around the house done, but that did not mean he was going to go out, buy groceries and cook a fancy dinner to have something waiting 'when his man came home'. The mere allusion to something like that made Kurt's hairs stand up. Even if, deep inside, he knew Sebastian did not expect him to do that and never tried to pressure him into any genderbendery roles (and generally knew when his 'girly' jokes were appropriate), Kurt couldn't help but suspect that every now and then, Sebastian subconsciously modelled himself after his dad- which left his mom's part for Kurt. It pissed him off. He had spent his entire high school career having to listen to crap like that, and as an adult, it was still far from over. Every time someone new met them at a party or formal occasion and found out they were a married couple, he could just tell they were secretly dying to ask who was the wife. Some even did. Most of them probably just assumed it was him by default. Of course he couldn't really blame Sebastian for what other people thought of him, but it meant he reacted extra prickly when he felt he was being treated like that in the safe space of his own home. So, the take-out had ended up in the trash and Sebastian had stormed out.
It wasn't until Kurt saw Jeff online on facebook later that night and IMed him to ask if Sebastian had calmed down already, that he got a little uneasy. Jeff said he hadn't seen Sebastian in weeks. Kurt tried Sebastian's cell phone. There was no answer. Kurt didn't leave a message (he was still pretty angry and didn't really know what to say) but did wonder where his husband could be. He had initially hoped to finish one of his designs that evening after dinner, but that was out of the window now. Kurt put on some show on tv, but his mind kept wandering to Sebastian. What was he doing? Where was he? Was he deliberately ignoring Kurt's call?
He called agaín. After a bit of hesitation, he also left a message, saying he wanted Sebastian to come home so they could talk about this like adults. Nothing happened. An hour passed. Kurt mentally went through a list of Sebastian's friends. He hoped he wasn't at Teddy's. That guy always had the worst sort of guests over and he prided himself on being a player. As soon as that thought came to him, Kurt paled. Suddenly, he was convinced Sebastian was at Teddy's. Where else would he be? And Teddy, that awful, creepy guy with his perfect abs and his big arms and his sexy friends – he'd be just what Sebastian needed after getting away from his stressful home life. Sebastian had never been good at resisting temptations. He was impulsive and sensation-driven. Usually, that was one of the things Kurt loved about him. It tore them out of their funks and stopped Kurt from getting too obsessive about the details of things. But what if this fight had been one too many, and it had driven Sebastian away and into the other man's arms? Sebastian's track record was against him- and Kurt had been cheated on before. He hadn't thought about Blaine in a long time, but he noticed the hurt was still there, like a scar that only smarted when you rubbed it. Kurt dialled Sebastian's number again and left another message. He promised him he was sorry and asked for the chance to apologise. Another half an hour passed without a word from Sebastian.
Kurt called Rachel from his work phone, wanting to keep the line on his private cell open. She tried to console him the best she could, but Kurt was so convinced by now that Sebastian was out there somewhere having sex with someone more attractive than him that it didn't do much good. He considered calling his dad, but even with the timezone difference, it was far too late. He looked around the room and sadly categorised things he'd choose when they divided up their stuff.
Suddenly, the door bell rang. Kurt hurried to the door and opened it. He wasn't sure how to react when he saw Sebastian standing there, looking pitiful and bloody. The left side of his face was a big bruise and he had a split lip. He had somehow lost his jacket, too.
"Cam I come in?" he asked, his voice a little rough. Kurt nodded wordlessly and stepped aside.
"What… what happened?" he croaked. "Are you okay?"
"Kurt, I'm so sorry," Sebastian started. "I didn't mean anything I said earlier. I had such a bad day and-"
"I'd say," Kurt cut him off, his eyes going over his husband's body to check for more injuries. "Who did this?" Suddenly he didn't need Sebastian's apology any more. He was far more worried about his face. Had he been bashed?
Sebastian shrugged. "I got mugged near Kitchen's Corner. I should have just let them take my stuff but I was pissed off and got into a fight." He smiled half-heartedly. "Obviously I lost. I spent the last two hours at the police station waiting for them to take the details down for insurance."
"Are you crazy? You could have been killed!" Kurt let out. "What were you doing at Kitchen's Corner, anyway?"
Sebastian looked down on his shoes and scuffed them over the floor. He mumbled something Kurt didn't understand.
"What?" Kurt demanded, starting to feel impatient. Did this have anything to do with Teddy? Was it their secret meeting place?
"Getting cheesecake," Sebastian repeated, louder this time, but still not looking up at Kurt.
Kurt was taken aback. "You… drove fortyfive minutes into the crappiest part of town to get cheesecake?" he asked sceptically.
Sebastian looked up. "Well, it's your favourite, isn't it? You said nothing beats Kitchen Corner's cheesecake." He looked down on his empty hands. "Only I couldn't get any since they took my wallet."
Kurt blinked, trying to figure out what Sebastian was trying to say. "So you weren't…at Teddy's?" he asked finally, feeling a little strange. Sebastian frowned.
"Why would I be at Teddy's? He doesn't even—" His face fell a little when he realised what Kurt was asking. "No. No, Kurt, I wasn't," he said firmly. "I was angry, yeah, but it was stupid, and I realised that when I found myself driving around and ending up at a place that reminded me of you and all I could think of was doing something, getting you something to make up for this whole ordeal. I know cheesecake doesn't make everything go away, but-"
"No, but - It usually does," Kurt admitted, relief showing on his face. "But I'm sorry too. I know you've been stressed and you didn't mean anything with what you said-"
"I really didn't," Sebastian confirmed. "And… there is nothing for me at Teddy's or anyone else's that I want, Kurt. I promise."
Kurt bit his lip. "I'm sorry you got hurt," he offered. "I hope they find those guys." He smiled a little. "But I'm kind of glad we don't have to decide who gets Arielle and who gets Flounder."
Sebastian frowned and glanced at their aquarium. "Arielle's mine, obviously," he replied, keeping his voice light. Kurt laughed and Sebastian already found that his face hurt less by seeing it. Their crisis was not avoided and he knew they'd need to talk about this at some point (Kurt's mind had skipped to divorce in a few hours? Really?) but for now, he really just wanted to get to the part where Kurt accepted his apology and they could have make-up sex.
