Author's note: Ending is slightly rushed because I spent all day on this, and just so many distractions. I don't even know. But here you go! I hope it's okay.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Ever since Blaine and Kurt's less than graceful break-up, he had somehow found himself a friend in one Sebastian Smythe. Okay, if anyone were to ask him, he would never admit to it. More like a verbal sparring partner to anyone who didn't know the meanings beneath the insults. In his own little world, he was happy to finally have someone who could keep up with him. Around Blaine, he always had to be careful to not let his inner bitch and diva out, too afraid of scaring him off. So he covered himself up, piled certain quirks of himself underneath a layer of perfect boyfriend.
But whenever Sebastian decided to grace them with his appearance, which frequented a lot right before the break-up, he could let himself go. There was no fear of pushing him away, scaring him off, because he pushed right back. Met him with the same level of wit and more to keep Kurt on his toes, craving for more.
More than often, the taller boy pretty much stalked Blaine and him at the Lima Bean, Kurt slowly began to unravel and dig through the many layers that kept his true self hidden. In the end, that may have been the reason for their break-up. Whether Blaine couldn't handle him once the perfect boyfriend facade was washed away or for other reasons all together, he couldn't find himself that devastated over their parting ways. He was heartbroken, that's for sure, because Blaine had been the constant in his life, the first boy to love him in the way he craved for such a long time. And he had loved him too, his first love he'd never forget, but having to bury parts of him deep inside himself, at the end of the day it wasn't worth it. He just couldn't imagine himself having to hide it forever. Blaine had loved him, but Blaine had loved him too carefully, as if he was carefully blown glass and could shatter at any moment.
Could he blame himself for wanting something a little more exciting? A messy kind of love with fights, heartache, passion, and fire. With Blaine, everything had been so easy, when all Kurt ached for was something more. Much later he would realize that no, he couldn't blame himself, because even though his time with Blaine was something he'd always cherish, this was something he would need for himself. To be able to handle the rest of his life, to be able to live happily with no regrets, and nothing holding him back.
Ultimately, when it all came down to it, Sebastian helped him realize the things that were right in front of him, helped him grow up and to finally fight for what he wanted. In the long run, he should have known his life was going to take a spiraling turn, throwing everything he knew out the window and straight into something he would spend the rest of his life loving and fighting for.
— — — —
In all of the time Kurt had made, almost daily, appearances at the Lima Bean, he'd never seen it this empty. The usually bustling coffee shop had maybe one other patron in addition to himself, causing his eyebrows to draw together in quiet speculation. With no line at the counter, Kurt advanced and placed his regular order, heading over the queue to wait for his coffee. Once obtained, he made his way through the shop, passing by Blaine and his usual spot without batting an eye, choosing to settle down in the back corner by a window.
Though it was summer, the need for coffee was still a constant. Kurt wouldn't let something as trivial as everything that had happened in this coffee shop to deter him from getting his usual caffeine fix in his favorite place. Usually he wouldn't go out alone, opting to ask Sebastian to come along or Mercedes for some shopping. Today though, was his day to catch up on reading and just have time for himself.
Doesn't look like I'll have a problem with people interrupting, Kurt thought to himself, his lips tilting up in a half-hearted smile. It still bothered him that the coffee shop seemed eerily deserted.
It wasn't until he was deeply engrossed in the novel he was reading that another cup was placed by his own, chair sliding out and becoming occupied by none other than Sebastian Smythe. He raised one eyebrow up at the taller boy, a silent questioning.
"What, you surely can't be tired of me already Hummel? No text or call to grab coffee, yet here you sit," Sebastian's lower lip jutted out in a mock pout, "I'm hurt."
"Oh so we're back to a last name basis, Smythe?" Kurt retorted, resting his book back onto the table and sighing, "I came here to get away from everyone so I could catch up on reading. Though obviously now I know I won't get anything done with you here."
"Then why don't you and I go somewhere a little more private and—"
"Knock it off, Seb," Kurt cut him off, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips, "I've heard it all before."
The taller boy just pouted playfully, picking up his coffee and taking a quick sip.
"You're no fun, Kurtsie," he began, smirking when Kurt shot him a glare at his choice of nickname, "You can make it up to me by coming to Scandals with me tonight, though."
Kurt deadpanned, raising both eyebrows up at Sebastian, before shaking his head and letting out a short laugh.
"Yeah right, Smythe. I know how you are when you're drunk. Also, I'm not going to just stand around waiting for you while you go off to find another conquest."
"It was worth a shot. Hang out with me until then, at least? I'll even treat you to dinner."
Kurt left him hanging there for a moment, pointedly picking up his book and getting back into it for a moment. His eyes kept drifting over the top of it to take a curious glance at Sebastian. Leaving the invitation in the air like this, he knew soon enough the other boy would be impatient, but that was his favorite part. Teasing Sebastian never got old.
From the look on the former Warbler's face, he was attempting to pretend Kurt's lack of response didn't effect him. But after the months they'd spent together, just hanging out, doing homework, and getting coffee, Kurt could honestly say he knew Sebastian better than he'd ever imagined. Which, when he got up to get a refill, he didn't even have to ask the other whether he wanted a refill or not, or what his order was. He just knew.
Setting the coffee in front of both of them, he regained his seat with his elbows propped on the table, chin against his palms. For awhile he just stared out the window, a few more customers coming here and there, though the coffee shop still lacking in it's usual hustle and bustle. It wasn't long before his eyes made their way back to Sebastian, who finally busied himself with his laptop he'd brought along with him. Kurt studied him for a few moments, bringing his cup to his lips and taking a few quick sips, then returning back to his novel. The movement distracted his companion for a moment, eyes lifting curiously to him, but he gave one last teasing smile before dipping his nose back into his book.
Sebastian seemed to resign into their comfortable silence, his graze dropping back to his laptop and furious typing began once again. They sat there for awhile, sipping their coffee until it was either empty or cold, before Kurt finally decided to put his friend out of his misery. Packing up his things, he placed them into his messenger bag, slinging it over his shoulder and throwing Sebastian a look that said are you coming or not?
The taller of the two sighed, pushing his laptop closed and sliding it into his bag. Kurt watched with mild interest, attempting to hide his smug smile behind one of his hands as he moved to leave the coffee shop with Sebastian in tow.
"Breadsticks?" Kurt asked, calling over his shoulder accompanied by a quick glance.
"Is there any other place to go for mediocre Italian food?" Sebastian quipped, breaking even with Kurt's pace, "My car or yours?"
"Yours. You can just drop me off here before you head off to Scandals so I can collect mine."
They reached Sebastian's car, a red Mustang that Kurt had firstly been jealous of, but now the appeal had worn down since been introduced. Sebastian surprised him by getting the door for him, but it was short lived when he spotted that trademark smirk on his face. Plus the remark that came next, though Kurt knew it was only out of teasing fondness.
"Ladies first."
— — — —
Dinner had gone relatively uneventful. They ate, typical over dinner banter occurred, before no time Sebastian was dropping him off at his Navigator. A typical night of hanging out.
Kurt extracted himself from the passenger seat, closing the door though leaning back in to give Sebastian a quick concerned look.
"Be careful, alright? If there's any trouble, just don't hesitate to call," he finally managed, turning his lips up into a timid smile.
"Always am and will do," Sebastian said with a wink, before taking off after Kurt had stepped away from the door and gave a short wave.
He made his way home without delay, unlocking and entering the house he knew would be empty tonight. Finn, off at either Puck or Mike's house for video games and whatever else those guys did, while Burt and Carole were off on business. It was nothing new, and he enjoyed the house when he had it to himself. It meant no one was there to tell him to turn his music down, or to catch him doing anything relatively embarrassing.
The night dragged on unnoteworthy, movies, a shower, and his regular skincare regimen. A typical uneventful night at the Hudmel household, Kurt thought to himself boredly, maybe I should have gone to Scandals. He shook the thought from his head, shedding his clothes and crawling into bed.
Much later he was awoken by the sound of his phone buzzing, signaling he'd gotten a text. He attempted to rub the sleep from his eyes, immediately squinting at the clock to see what time it was. 1:36 AM the clock beamed at him, causing a groan to escape his mouth. Picking up his phone, he rubbed a hand over his face, wondering who on earth would be texting him at a time like this.
From Sebastian: i thnk im n truble.
From the way he wasn't even able to type out a grammatically correct sentence was the first thing that tipped Kurt off to the fact that Sebastian was definitely drunk. Though what trouble could he have gotten into at Scandals? Quickly, he thumbed over the call button and waited impatiently for him to pick up.
"H-hello? Kurt?" a slurred voice rung out through the phone.
"Yeah Seb, it's me. What happened? What trouble are you in?" He tried to keep the worry down to a minimal, but anything was possible if Sebastian was this drunk. Who knew what kind of things he could into down at that club.
"Oh Kurt," Sebastian almost cried into the other end with relief, "I'm s-so happy it's you. I need you to come get me, p-please."
"I will Bas," Kurt replied, switching to his more affectionate and preferred nickname, hoping to calm the other boy down, "I just need to know what's happening. What trouble are you in?"
"Just too drunk, Kurt, too drunk," he slurred on the other end, "No way home, knew you'd be there for me, like all the other times Kurt. Oh Kurt…"
With a sign, Kurt threw the covers back and made his way to his dresser, pulling out appropriate clothes and hurrying to put them on. All while still on the phone with a very drunk Sebastian, who almost seemed to be having some emotional crisis.
"Don't worry Bas, I'm coming to get you. I'll be there as soon as I can," he reassured, picking his keys up from the table and heading out the door, "Just stay put and don't talk to anyone else. You're too drunk."
"Stay on the phone with me, Kurtsie? Please?"
Taken aback slightly, Kurt let a small smile ease onto his lips as he reached his Navigator and got in.
"Sure thing, Bas."
— — — —
Fake ID ready in hand, Kurt made his way into the club without much hassle. Having hung up with Sebastian on his way in, he quickly did a sweep of the place. Surely, there he was, looking very timid and very drunk standing right by the exit to the bathrooms where he said he would be. Shimmying his way through the crowd while holding back many thoughts of repulsion toward the patrons of the club, he finally made it to Sebastian.
"Bas, let's get you out of here," he said calmly, linking one of his arms around the taller's waist, pulling him out and through the crowd of dancing bodies.
"Kurtsie, I'm so glad you came," Sebastian slurred, throwing one of his arms around Kurt's shoulders and pulling him closer.
Kurt tugged him through the exit of the club and out into the cooled summer night. Sebastian's lips kept moving against his hairline and at first, he couldn't figure out what he was saying. All of his words were slurring together, muffled by the side of Kurt's head. He stopped for a moment, pulling Sebastian away from him with a look of speculation.
"What are you muttering about, Bas?" Kurt finally asked, peering up at the taller boy.
"'M not muttering, Kurtsie," he replied, sounding a little more sober than a few moments ago, "'Mm singing to you."
A short laugh came from Kurt before he pulled Sebastian back in and lead him toward his car. The idea of being serenaded by a drunk Sebastian was just too much to think about right now, especially when he continued to do so right into his hair, though this time he could actually make out the lyrics somewhat.
"The sun goes down, the stars come out," Sebastian sung against him, a lazy smile plastered on his face, "And all that counts, is here and now…"
Kurt blushed at the song choice, shaking his head a bit as they reached his car. Pulling the passenger door open, he pushed Sebastian up and in, helping him buckle the seatbelt and closing the door for him. Moving around the vehicle, he got into the driver's seat, all while Sebastian kept singing that song, eyes always trained on him.
"My universe will never be the same," he sung softer, eyes glazed, "I'm glad you came."
Even more flustered than before by all of the attention he suddenly was attracting from Sebastian, he turned his head and started the car. It was hard, trying not to think any deeper into the lyrics other than it was just Sebastian singing drunkenly, but he couldn't help it. It was just a little be romantic, though he would have preferred his companion to be sober. Either way though, it was sweet all together.
"My house or yours?" Kurt finally asked, his attention drifting over to his friend, who had gone awfully quiet since they got on the road.
"Yours, Kurtsie. I don't wanna go home yet," he slurred with a pout, attention coming back to Kurt.
"Alright. You're just lucky that no one else is home, or else I'd be getting in huge trouble for this. Next time, bring a designated driver, Bas."
"Tried to. He didn't wanna go," Sebastian pouted again, resting his head on his seat, turned to look at Kurt, "'M glad you came to get me though."
Kurt just shook his head with a smile, turning his attention back to the road. The ex-Warbler went back to humming the same song he'd been singing to Kurt, causing his lips to turn up into an ever bigger smile.
"Stay with me I can make you, make you glad you came."
— — — —
It wasn't until that morning that Kurt realized something about the past few months he'd spent with Sebastian Smythe. More than once he'd been the boy's designated driver, having no urge to drink after the dreaded accident with Ms. Pillsbury shoes sophomore year. More than once he had to pick up Sebastian in the middle of the night because he was too drunk to go home, gone without a designated driver, gone home without picking anyone up.
Now that Kurt thought about it, Sebastian hadn't had any of his so called "conquests" since they'd started to hang out more. He knew he teased him relentlessly about it, but he honestly couldn't figure out the last time it had happened.
Last night was something all in its own as well. Sebastian had never clung so hard to him, had never asked for him to stay on the phone when coming to pick him up, and definitely never sounded so relieved and full of emotion when Kurt answered the phone. He could blame it on the alcohol, but every time he'd picked up Sebastian, he was more times than none, drunk. Certainly though, which stuck out most in his mind, he'd never sang to him. It was just so un-Sebastian like.
Sitting up, he ran a hand through his bedhead, chancing a glance at the sleeping boy next to him. Only, to his surprise, said boy was staring right up at him with the most beautiful green sleep-filled eyes ever.
"Sebastian!" he squealed, almost flying out of the bed, "I did not expect to see you just staring at me when I woke up."
"Calm down, Kurt," Sebastian groaned, his eyes closing and both of his hands coming up to cup his face, "I've got a massive hangover and your shrill screaming is not helping it at all."
Kurt fumed for a second, before his features softened and he moved to his bathroom. Filling up a disposable cup with water and grabbing two asprin, he presented them as a peace offering to the hungover teen in his bed. Sebastian moved his hands away from his face to give Kurt a small smile and took the offerings.
"Thanks," he finally managed, after taking a long drink and both of the asprin, "Also thank you for coming to pick me up. Though, if you'd just agreed to come with me in the first place, my car wouldn't still be there."
Trademark smirk in place, Kurt knew he was only teasing, but he decided to punch him on the shoulder playfully because he could. The light mood turned slightly awkward as Kurt moved away, staring down at his feet for a second, rubbing his arm nervously.
"I kind of wanted to talk about last night, actually," Kurt managed to get out, looking up through his lashes sheepishly at Sebastian, "Some things happened and I just wanted to know why."
"Oh god, I didn't do anything to you, did I?" Sebastian said seriously, eyebrows knitting together.
Kurt shook his head, kicking the carpet beneath his feet as a distraction.
"Okay, if it wasn't you, then did I do something embarrassing at Scandals and can never show my face there again?"
He laughed, some of the nerves shaking out of his body. Still, he was nervous about this. How did you just ask about something like this? And what if it had all just been Sebastian acting drunk? Maybe the song meant nothing, maybe him singing it meant nothing, and maybe the way they had curled up into each other last night meant nothing.
Before he could even stop himself, he finally realized what his body and mind were obviously telling him. He wanted it all to mean something, meaning he didn't just like Sebastian as a friend. It meant that he thought of his friend, his snarky, smug, quick witted friend, in a romantic way. When he'd finally caught up with all the signals, it all finally made sense.
He, Kurt Hummel, may or may not have become infatuated with his once worst enemy.
Shakily, he sat down on the bed next to Sebastian and kept his eyes trained on the ground beneath him. Now that he'd come to the realization, did he really want to continue this conversation any longer? What if Sebastian didn't feel the same way? Last night could have been a fluke. Obviously, because Sebastian had so many other people he could have. Many of the people he hooked up with were so much more attractive than himself. He could have anyone, so why would he even think twice about someone like him?
"Kurt?"
Sebastian's voice and a gentle touch on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts, his eyes immediately searching for the other boys.
"Kurt, are you okay? You look like you're about to puke, or cry, or both," Sebastian said, face contorted in worry, "Is what I did really that bad?"
Swiftly, Kurt shook his head to say no, his heart beating erratically in his chest. "No Bas, no. You didn't do anything wrong last night, just… Some confusing stuff."
"Kurt, it's early in the morning and I'm hungover, please elaborate?" he pleaded with a timid smile.
"It's just that…" Kurt trailed off, shaking his head and pushing his face into his hands before finishing quickly, "You just kinda sang me this song last night when I came to pick you up, and I was thinking that maybe it meant something more. Because it sure seemed like it. You paid me more attention and then when we got back here, you were still singing it to me and we fell asleep together, tangled up and all that. And we never do that, Bas. I'm not saying I didn't like it or anything, but I just don't know how you feel about all of it."
Sebastian sat there in silence for a few moments, causing all of Kurt's nerves to go into overdrive. Of course that was too much. He had made it all up in his head, just like he'd done so many times before. There's no way he could ever feel the same way back. Sebastian Smythe did not do relationships, end of story. Kurt had never known him to be in any, only his casual hook ups, etc.
His mindless ramblings in his head came to an abrupt stop when a pair of soft lips collided with his own, causing him to gasp out into them. Sebastian took notice and slid his tongue along Kurt's bottom lip, eliciting a pleased sound from someplace deep in Kurt's chest. The kiss didn't last very long, not chaste, but clearly nothing too heavy. When he pulled away, Kurt's eyes were closed, breaths coming in little pants.
"I could see all of your thoughts play over your face, Kurt," Sebastian finally said, his lips tilted up in a smirk, "All you need to know about how I feel about everything is this. I meant everything I said last night. I may not do relationships, but with you I'm willing to try. I've never really known how to get to that stage with you, since you've seen all of my attempts at getting with randoms. But that's not you, Kurt, it's not. You actually mean something."
There was a pause, where Sebastian softly grabbed his chin and made him look up into his eyes. Kurt stared for what felt like forever, until the other boy finally began speaking again.
"I want to do this, Kurt. And I want to give it everything I have. These last few months have been the best, even if it was just us as friends. I want to go to New York with you and make it work there. Lucky that we both got into colleges there, right?"
He flashed him his trademark smirk, but Kurt could see through it, down to the genuine meaning. Here was Sebastian Smythe, the boy who didn't give a damn what people thought of him, the boy who didn't do love, or relationships, telling him he wanted to make it work. With him.
Before he knew it, Kurt's arms were wrapped around Sebastian's neck, pulling him in close. He breathed in his smell, memorized the feel of his body against his, and let out a slow shuddering breath.
"Just know it's going to be rocky. We'll argue all the time, we'll get at each others throats, on each others nerves, and we'll have to fight to keep this. But I know we can," Sebastian murmured against his ear.
"I know," Kurt whispered, pulling the no closer to him, "I know. I wouldn't want it any other way."
"My universe will never be the same," Sebastian sang, Kurt joining in with a laugh, "I'm glad you came."