Author: Fly To Neverland

Title: Scotch and Tree Houses

Summary: Through a strange mistake, Sebastian Smythe finds himself in a different dimension, where the only people that he knows hate him. When he's taken in by his actor, he starts questioning what he feels.

Rating: M

Pairings: Grant/Sebastian. Mentioned Brittana and CrissColfer

Warnings: Sexual content, language, slightly out of chronological order, based on a roleplay.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Glee, it's cast or it's characters. I'm just a pawn here.


Numb. He was just numb. Nothing felt right in the world, now that he was alone.

Sure, Grant wasn't the only one in the apartment. The cat was napping quietly at the other end of the couch. The fish was swimming around in his tank in the other room. But Grant had never felt quite so alone before. Over a year, and they didn't even get a chance to say goodbye.

All he could do was stare at the wall blankly, feeling completely empty.


It started in June.

Brittany Pierce was having a graduation party at her house for her closest friends in Glee Club. Little did they know that it was a pretense. She was getting them there to show off her new time machine. She's spent all year working on it, and now it was done.

The Glee Clubbers humored her, honestly believing that Brittany Pierce, the girl who hadn't attended a single class all of Senior year, hadn't built a time machine that actually worked. She set the date for 1994, wanting her friends to see her when she was a baby.

Being the good friends that they were, they counted down from ten, just to humor her. All of them had intentions of making let down faces when they stayed exactly where they were after the blonde hit her big, green button.

In the last ten seconds of the countdown, Sebastian Smythe passed by to break up with the boyfriend of the week who happened to live down the street from the Pierce family. What was his name? Brent? Brendan? Brandon? It was something like that. But, honestly, Sebastian didn't care. The boy was about as stale as old bread and gave terrible blow jobs, so Sebastian was definitely not going to stick around.

Sebastian just happened to be right by Brittany's fence, on the other side of the shrubbery where his rivals stood, as the New Directions called out "One!" and the green button was pressed.

The next thing he knows, he's seeing a flash of light and he's not on Allen Court anymore. In fact, he realized almost instantly that he's not where he thought he was at all.

Hearing a chorus of "What the fuck just happened?" Sebastian turned to find the New Directions huddled together a few feet away from him. He can feel his eyebrows furrow and his green hues widen.

"Twink!" he heard Santana cry. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Sebastian rolled his eyes, but made no attempt to move any closer to them. The other members of her Glee Club noticed he was there. "Good question, Inflata-Tits," he sneered back. "I think the better question is, where the fuck are we, because we're obviously not in Lima anymore."

"We're in the past!" Brittany chimed excitedly. Though, Sebastian could tell that what she'd just said isn't exactly true, as he could see a Hybrid car on the road through the gate across from them.

"Whatever," Sebastian said. "Take me back. I've got someplace to be."

Brittany just nodded excitedly, then turned to where her time machine had just been. Brittany's smile quickly faded when she realized that the time machine didn't come with them.

"I can't," she said, turning back to Sebastian slowly.

Sebastian sighed, his fingers flying up to the bridge of his nose, trying to pinch his frustration with the bimbo away. "Fuck me," he breathed out.


Grant was finishing up his packing when he got a phone call from the one and only Naya Rivera. He was headed up to Canada the next morning to film A Mother's Nightmare. He'd be there for a month, then come home. He tossed his folded shirt in his bag, then reached for his phone.

"Hey, Nay," he said easily. He wasn't expecting her to call, especially at 9 at night. "What's up?" He couldn't possibly imagine a reason for her to call, but what she said was very much the last thing he would have expected.

"We have a problem," she said. "You need to get to Paramount. Now."

Grant hesitated. He'd never heard this tone in Naya's voice before. "I'll be there in ten," he said. He hung up his phone, tossed a few more things in his bag, then ran out the door.

A little less than ten minutes later, he arrived at Paramount Studios, hitting the right passcode for the large gate to open up. He parked in the lot, then set off to find Naya.

After searching for a few moments, he saw Naya and Heather huddled together near a trailer, their fingers interlocked and their foreheads pressed together. It wasn't exactly something Grant expected, considering Heather was dating Taylor, and Naya was dating Matt. But, nonetheless, he walked over to them. "Nay," he said. "What's the problem?"

Naya's head snapped up, and she gave him a scrutinizing look that Grant had only seen on her face when she was working. After a moment, she shook her head. "Naya's in there," she said, releasing one of Heather's hands and pointing to the trailer. Grant noticed it was marked "Lopez, Pierce, Fabray".

One of Grant's eyebrows raised, wondering briefly if Naya had lost her mind, before slowly sighing and shaking his head. "Okay," he said. He opened the trailer door and stepped inside.

Chris and Darren sat on the couch, with Dianna sitting on the arm rest. At the makeup vanity sat Naya, and suddenly Grant was confused. "What the hell is going on?" Grant asked, looking back outside through the window to the other Naya.

"I told you," she said. "We've got problem."


Grant sat in the trailer that he usually shared with Riker, Curt and Dominic. Across from him, playing with his phone, sat Sebastian. It was like some weird reflection. Grant sat there, his striped shirt and salmon shorts gracing his body and his glasses perched on his nose, his counterpart across from him was wearing a polo shirt and a pair of jeans. They were identical, but completely different.

"So, you play me," Sebastian finally said, putting his phone in his pocket. He finally had decided to give Grant all his attention so that they could work out a plan.

"Yeah," Grant said. "So you're my character."

Sebastian rolled his eyes and leaned back in the makeup chair. "Obviously," he drawled out.

Grant just couldn't stop staring. Grant was a believer in the zombie apocalypse. He was sure there were aliens out there. Hell, he even believed that there was a ghost in his apartment. But he could see Sebastian sitting across from him; he could hear the young man's breathing; and yet, he couldn't actually believe that this was real. Grant could have reached out and touched Sebastian, actually felt his warm skin beneath the clothes that seemed to fit him perfectly, but he couldn't believe this was actually happening.

After a few more moments, Sebastian spoke again. "I suppose you actors figured out what you're going to do with us?" he said. "You gonna off us? Lock us in your basements?"

It was Grant's turn to roll his eyes. "From what I know," Grant started. "Puck, Santana and Brittany will stay with Naya, Santana's actor. Blaine and Kurt with Chris, Kurt's actor. And everyone else will stay with their actors."

Sebastian flashed a smile at Grant, and Grant wondered if he ever looked that handsome when he smiled. "So, I'm staying with you?" Sebastian asked, smoothly.

Grant nodded. "Yes," he said. "We're going to Canada tomorrow morning."

That wiped Sebastian's smile right off his face.


Naya had gotten Ryan to pull a few strings and got a private plane for Grant and Sebastian. Of course, Ryan had no idea about Sebastian being on the plane, but that was the point. No one was supposed to know that the Characters had been transported inter-dimensionally.

Sebastian had been embarrassingly affectionate on the plane ride. Grant was trying to give the angle of twin brothers, but Sebastian had a very different agenda. The entire time, Sebastian would give Grant too-friendly hugs, or direct some not-so innocent flirting towards his mirror image.

But, the two hour flight was bearable, and Grant found himself getting along with Sebastian. He wondered how everyone else was faring with their doubles. By the time they landed, Grant was able to crack a joke at Sebastian's expense without the teenager getting too terribly offended.

Honestly, after this short amount of time, Grant was able to look past the fact that the two of them were identical, and he was able to just see a guy. Grant could see a guy who was confident and quick-witted and not afraid of his opinions. He'd always liked those traits in a person, but he never really saw his character with those traits.


Grant had been attracted to men before. In fact, Grant had always classified himself as pansexual, finding that he could fall in love with a person for what they were, and not what they looked like. He didn't care about race or gender or anything like that. He cared about people.

And Grant had been with guys before. He'd been with a few guys in his twenty-two years.

But he'd never wanted to be with a guy so much before.

Grant and Sebastian had been in Canada for a week now, and things had never gone so smoothly between two people.

Their first night in the hotel room, they fell asleep in different beds. But, by the time Grant had woken up in the middle of the night for the bathroom, Sebastian was cuddled in beside him, an arm slung across Grant's abdomen and soft snores coming from his body. Grant had never been quite so careful to not wake anyone up before.

When he got back, though, he couldn't help but go back to the position they'd been in before he'd left. He carefully lifted Sebastian's arm and slid in beneath it. Once Grant was settled back in, Sebastian shifted, rolling more on top of Grant. The older man couldn't help but feel his heart thud in his chest at how intimate the unconscious gesture was. Grant wrapped a secure arm around Sebastian, holding him in place against his chest.

So, yeah, Grant liked Sebastian. But there wasn't much he could do about it.


All narcissism aside, Sebastian definitely thought Grant was one of the most handsome men he'd ever laid eyes on. Yes, they looked the same for the most part. But the differences between them were exactly what Sebastian needed to believe that Grant was the most attractive man he'd ever met.

The glasses fit Grant's face in a way that Sebastian never would have thought of. His unique style was something that Sebastian had always wanted to try, but never really had the guts to. The tattoos that graced Grant's body worked perfectly for him in a sentimental way that Sebastian didn't quite understand.

But this was the first time that Sebastian found himself attracted to a personality. Grant was so nice. The smile that constantly graced his face was there for a reason; he was just so happy all the time. And his enthusiasm was so infectious. He was so warm and welcoming. He wouldn't put up with Sebastian's crap. He was everything in a person that Sebastian had ever wanted.

So, yeah. Sebastian liked Grant. But he was pretty sure Grant was straight, and he didn't want to risk the easy friendship between them.


Sebastian couldn't wrap his head around the idea that his only time on television was about a total of a half an hour spaced out between four episodes.

When he'd found out he was on a television show, he'd assumed that he was a bigger part of it, especially in the way that he'd been approached when he'd gone out a few times.

So, when he looked up his name, and saw only four episodes, he was pretty let down.

Being tired of watching Sebastian drown his sorrows in scotch, Grant decided to help him out a little. He pulled up an email from the week after On My Way aired. It read:

Dear Mr. Gustin.

Hi. My name is Andrew. I'm seventeen years old, and I'm teased every single day by kids at my school because of my sexuality. Even the other gay kids tease me because I'm a little different. There are some days where I feel like killing myself because of what happens to me, because it's starting to be more than teasing. It's starting to get physical. I'm starting to have to hide bruises from my parents.

I was going to do it. I was seriously considering killing myself. Until I saw this past week's episode of Glee. Knowing that even your television bully felt horrible about what happened really made me stop and think. While I'm tired of being terrorized every day, I know that I can be strong and power through.

In a way, you saved my life. Thank you.


Grant got back to the hotel room, tossing his keys and wallet on the table. "Hey," he said to his counterpart, who was lounging on the bed no one had been using. Sebastian looked from the TV to Grant, a smile spreading on his face.

"Hey. How was your day?" He asked, exchanging the pleasantries they did every day.

"Alright," he said. "Hung out by the cove at lunch. Filmed a few scenes." He shrugged a little, then moved over to lay down beside Sebastian. "How was your day?"

Sebastian shrugged, matching Grant's, before turning back to the television. "Same old, same old," he said. But, he quickly changed his answer. "I started texting Chris today."

Grant's eyebrows shot up as he stared at the television, too. "Really?" he asked. He could feel that pang of jealousy in his chest, but hoped it didn't show on his face.

"Yeah," Sebastian said. "Turns out, your cast likes me a lot more than the rest of us fictionals do." Of course, Grant knew that. None of the characters had totally forgiven Sebastian for the rock salt slushee, or the Karofsky thing. However, Grant's castmates found Sebastian to be incredibly charming. "But Chris is pretty cool. A lot better than his Lady Balls of a counterpart. We're making plans for when I get back to LA."

Grant made a noncommittal noise, not really wanting to think about even the idea of loosing Sebastian to someone else. The chance of Chris actually being interested in Sebastian was probably slim, considering the other twenty-two year old has pretty much been head-over-heels for Darren for the past six months, but still.

"What?" Sebastian asked, catching on to the sudden disinterest in Sebastian's life.

"Nothing," Grant said, softly. "Drop it."

Sebastian hesitated. "No," he said, matching Grant's tone. "What's wrong?"

Grant chewed on the inside of his lip, unable to come up with a good excuse as to why he wouldn't be okay with Chris and Sebastian making plans. After a few moments of racking his brain, Grant decided on ignoring the question. He stared blankly at the television, refusing to make eye contact with Sebastian.

"Grant," Sebastian said, his voice picking up a little. He leaned a little closer to his actor and stared at him until Grant finally returned his gaze. Grant's heart thudded away in his chest, and he'd never quite been able to hear it so clearly before. Sebastian searched through the eyes that matched his own for a few moments, figuring out the feelings that Grant had been hiding away. Sebastian reached up and cupped Grant's cheek, his fingers ruffling through Grant's hair.

Neither knew who initiated the kiss, but from the way that they were clutching for each other, trying to remove all the tension and space between them, it was obvious that neither of them wanted to stop.


Grant wasn't meaning to withhold sex from Sebastian, he really wasn't. But most of his days started early, were very long, and ended late. But after a week of them 'officially' being together, Sebastian had a horrible case of blue balls and no way of getting rid of it.

But, seeing the reactions that he could get from Sebastian from just a little teasing was enough to know exactly how much power he had over his boyfriend.

Light touches going a little further south were enough to emit a groan from Sebastian. A mysterious look and a shrug was enough to make Sebastian want to suffocate himself so that he didn't have to deal with the pain. A slightly dirty text message was enough to make Sebastian want to cry.

And Grant was having too much fun.


It was around one in the afternoon when Sebastian got the 'ping' on his phone, letting him know he had a text message.

From Grant:
"I was at the store getting lunch today. Guess what they had?"

From Sebastian:
"Maple Syrup?"

From Grant:
"Olive juice."

From Sebastian:
"Thanks for the update?"

While this confused the hell out of Sebastian, Grant smiled in his seat a little in his trailer. He was afraid to tell Sebastian the truth, but this was close enough. Besides, he knew that Sebastian was smart enough to get there himself.

It wasn't until a few hours later, just before Grant got back, that Sebastian understood the text message. As soon as Grant walked through the door, and his wallet and keys were on the table, he was attacked in the best way possible: getting kisses pressed to every inch of his face.


Their first night in Los Angeles together was their first time together.

It was heated and needy, but slow and meaningful all at the same time. Sebastian's perfect strokes hit Grant in all the right spots every single time. Every movement was powerful enough to say that they didn't regret anything, but soft enough to show that they really cared about each other. Grant couldn't think about anything but the man inside of him. The only feeling he had was the euphoria each time Sebastian's cock rammed back into him, fucking him down into his familiar mattress.

Honestly, it was the best sex that either of them had ever had.

Sebastian's sex had never had any emotion behind it before. Sex was just a game in Sebastian's mind; something he could have done in his sleep, given the chance. But having someone he loved beneath him staring up at him with eyes that shone with adoration, made Sebastian wonder why he didn't consider monogamy before.

Grant, on the other hand, had always wanted it like this. He'd always rushed into sex, and messed everything up before he could get to something like this. Knowing that Sebastian loved him was enough to add that feeling of bliss.

In the end, even with all the frustration and teasing, Sebastian was glad they waited. If it had been anyone else, they would have been kicked to the curb for making him wait three weeks. But this afterglow of happiness that surrounded the two was perfect. He'd never expected to actually enjoy having a guy wrap his arms around him as they drifted off to sleep together. He kind of liked this relationship thing.


When Grant walked through the door, he saw Sebastian immediately. He was curled up on the couch, watching a television program with the volume on low, a glass of scotch in his hand. "Hi," Grant greeted, unsure if they were still in their argument.

"How was Kevin?" Sebastian sneered, not turning his eyes away from the television set.

Grant rolled his eyes. "You've got to be fucking kidding, right?" Grant sighed. He rubbed the bone between his eyebrows with the heel of his palm, trying to rub away the frustration. "How many times do I have to tell you that Kevin is just a friend? My best friend."

Sebastian's nose wrinkled at the idea of Kevin even being involved, taking a sip of his drink. "He's got it bad for you," he said, finally looking up at Grant. "And that's not acceptable."

Grant shook his head, tired of this battle that had been raging ever since Sebastian met Kevin. "Sebastian," he said, trying to calm himself down so that he didn't blow up in his face. "If that were even true, he wouldn't really get a second glance."

"Really?" Sebastian said, indignantly. He folded his arms over his chest.

"Yes, really," Grant responded in the same tone. "Because I've got this obnoxious asshole who takes up my brain all day, and it's gotten to the point where I don't want to leave because I'd miss him too much." He sighed. "I've got this possessive little shit who won't let me see my friends because he's afraid they won't see that I'm very much the marked tree in this relationship."

Sebastian stayed quiet for a moment, knowing it was true. It was wrong for him to not want Grant to see Kevin. Whether or not Kevin liked Grant was irrelevant. Grant was with Sebastian. Grant loved Sebastian. At the end of the day, Grant would come home to Sebastian.

Sebastian's expression softened as he accepted the fact that he was being unreasonable. He put his glass down on the coffee table, then looked back up at Grant. "C'mere," he said, softly. And, suddenly, Grant wasn't mad anymore, either. Grant crawled over the couch and into Sebastian's arms. Sebastian pressed a kiss to behind Grant's ear. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I just don't want to lose you."

Grant smiled a little. "You're not going to."


"So, I told Tyler about us," Grant said, sitting down beside Sebastian.

Sebastian's head snapped up and he stared at Grant for a long moment. "And?" he asked.

This had been a really big deal for them, as Grant didn't know how to go about telling his family he was dating his character on Glee. It had been hard on Grant, because he was so close to his family, but he wasn't sure what to do. And Sebastian was supportive of that, thank God.

"He said he's happy I'm happy," Grant said with a smile.

Sebastian grinned and rolled a little closer to Grant. "Well, that's the best news I've heard all day," he said. Grant grinned back, pressing a kiss to Sebastian's lips. And it really was.


Gracie sent Grant a text message, asking for a picture of this mysterious boyfriend she'd heard about from Tyler. Grant rolled his eyes before realizing that Gracie didn't know that Sebastian was Sebastian Smythe. After a long few moments of him staring at the request, Grant lifted his phone and snapped a picture of Sebastian, who was sitting across the room reading a book.

From Gracie:
"Very Funny. I'm serious, Grant."

Of course, that prompted Grant to stand up and move closer to Sebastian. He leaned his head into Sebastian's, smiling wryly and snapping a picture to send to Gracie. All the while, Sebastian didn't even look up.

It took nearly twenty minutes for Gracie to respond.

From Gracie:
"Holy shit, you're dating yourself."

Grant sighed, and quickly typed back.

From Grant:
"Don't tell Mom and Dad yet, okay?"

From Gracie:
"I wouldn't dare."


When Grant brought Sebastian to Norfolk for Christmas, Tom and Tina welcomed Sebastian into their home with open arms.

Tyler shook Sebastian's hand with a smile and a silent promise that he'd remove that arm if he hurt Grant.

Gracie seemed to adore Sebastian from the moment he walked in, liking everything about him, from the way he carried himself, to the subtle looks he'd subtly throw to her brother, though she did find it strange that her brother was dating someone her age.

And Parker? Well, Parker was just excited to see two of Grant.

Somehow, even though Grant wasn't wearing his glasses, and Sebastian had borrowed one of Grant's sweaters, they could all tell the difference between Sebastian and Grant. Maybe it was because of the slight teasing Grant, Gracie and Tyler were giving each other. Maybe it was the way that Sebastian didn't know how to sit properly on the couch beside Grant without making anyone else uncomfortable.

But, after a little while, Sebastian was able to ease into his surroundings and really get to know the Gustin family. He was able to appreciate how close they were as a family, and could enjoy it, since he never had it himself. He could even enjoy the baby pictures that Tina and Gracie had so enthusiastically brought out.

Grant and Sebastian didn't look alike as kids. That was strange to discover.

But, all the same, it was one of the best Christmases that either Grant or Sebastian had ever had.


"Would you be opposed to living in a tree house?" Grant asked one day, conversationally.

Sebastian paused for a moment, then shrugged. "Nope," he said.

Grant smiled, then returned to what he was doing.

And that's how things went for them.


It had been eight months since the doubles found themselves at Paramount Studios. Eight months, and Brittany had been working on the time machine. But after eight months, no one really wanted to admit that they didn't want the doubles going back out loud, because it was selfish of them to keep them in this dimension.

But, eight months, and the world was starting to get confused as to why there were pictures of Lea Michele in two places at once.

So, Chris, Darren, Naya, Heather and Grant made a YouTube video featuring their doubles. It wasn't anything special. It was just an honest explanation with some proof behind it.

Grant and Sebastian didn't say anything about their relationship. They weren't physical in the video. Hell, they didn't even stand next to each other in it. But, somehow, the world knew.

Grantbastian is real.

It was trending on twitter that night.


It was the dead of night, and Brittany was so close to finishing the new machine. It had been a little more than a year since the first time machine sent them there, and it was nearly impossible to finish the second one. But, she'd gotten just the right part from Naya's new alarm clock.

It was done. It was three in the morning, and everything was dark and silent, and the time machine was magnificent in her eyes. It was perfect. It was exactly the way the first one had been.

There was no harm in testing it to see if it worked, right?

Brittany whispered a little countdown to herself before hitting the shiny, new green button. There was a flash of light, and she was back in her yard. Her parents got a new car, and her brother had a new bike tossed in the yard. Puck was on the other side of the yard, sound asleep, and Santana was about ten feet away waking up.

"What the hell?" Santana asked in a groggy voice.

Brittany just smiled. "We're home!" she said, her quiet voice unable to contain her enthusiasm.


Grant Gustin woke up to find the sheets beside him cold. His fingers curled into the bedding and it felt like no one had been there in hours.

He swung his legs over the bed, fearfully pacing around his house, looking for any trace of where Sebastian had gone. Twenty minutes passed, and there was nothing. Absolutely no trace that Sebastian had been gone.

Grant's worst fear had come true: the time machine worked.


Sebastian Smythe woke up in someone's backyard just before the sun came up. He was in the same flannel pajama bottoms that he'd been sleeping in for months, his phone sitting in his pocket, like it always was. The confusion wore off immediately as he was able to piece together what happened. This wasn't Los Angeles, and Grant was nowhere to be found. He got up quickly, before the people in the house woke up, and went out to the street.

He wasn't far from his parent's home. He was counting on them not being home, like they usually weren't. It was a brisk, twenty-minute walk from where he'd landed to his home.

No. This wasn't his home, though. Not anymore. It was familiar, and it felt like it could have been home. But there was something missing. Someone missing.

His heart ached at the fact that there was a number in his phone that he couldn't text anymore. His eyes stung with tears because there was one person in the world who could make him feel better, but he wasn't part of this world.

Sebastian didn't see a point anymore.

So, he curled up into his bed, which obviously hadn't been used in over a year, and fell back asleep. For the first time in over a year, there wasn't someone beside him. That in itself made Sebastian's heart break at the unreal reality of the situation.


The other double's families had missed them terribly. Sebastian talked to Santana and Blaine and Kurt about their tearful reunions with their families. They talked about how their families didn't care about how extravagant their stories were, only that their children, their precious children, were home.

Sebastian didn't have that. The wait staff that worked in his house were certainly shocked to see Sebastian, but they didn't really care. He even called his parents, who were away in Argentina on business, to see what they thought.

They hardly noticed he was gone, they were away so much.

He felt like the only person who cared was Grant.

The name brought a dull ache to his heart.

Sebastian sat on his couch, staring blankly at the wall, feeling completely empty.

In another dimension, Grant was doing the exact same thing.


A month later, Brittany had her old New Directions friends, the ones that were at the first party, and Sebastian over. Everyone was so glad to be home, with the exception of the Warbler, but they all had this dull ache in their chest, missing the friends they'd made back in the other dimension.

Sebastian sat on the couch. It had only been a month, but that month had been excruciating. He was glad to have his friends, though, to help him along the way. He took a few sips of the scotch in his glass, staring blankly at the wall. He hoped that, maybe, if he tried hard enough, he'd wake up and be back in Grant's arms.

But it didn't work. It never worked.

Brittany came over to Sebastian and sat down beside him. He flashed her a half smile, and she reciprocated with a sadder one. "I don't like seeing you like this," she said to him, very honestly.

"I don't like feeling like this," he said, his honesty matching hers.

"Come here," she said. She stood back up and held her hand out to him. He took it, trusting the blonde completely, and she dragged him through the house out to the back yard.

Right there, in the grass, was the first time machine. "My parents put it in the basement after we left," she said. "It still works."

It took a moment, but the words dawned on him. It still works. "What?" He asked, just making sure.

Brittany just smiled her same smile at him. "You should end up where we started," she told him. "Paramount." She let go of his hand and took a few steps back. "You're far enough away that we won't come with you. But, now it's like a door. We can go back and forth."

Sebastian dragged his eyes away from her contraption and looked at her. He took lengthy steps towards her and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you," he whispered to her. She hugged him back, then pulled away, pushing him towards the machine before going back to her party.

With a quiet countdown and a flash of light, he was gone.


Grant got home and tossed his wallet and keys on the table by the door, just like he did every day. He kicked off his shoes, exhausted from a long day of work, and emotionally crippled from being the person he missed the most all day. That was the worst part about it. He couldn't try to move on, because Sebastian followed him everywhere.

This month had been the worst.

He heard someone in his kitchen, but didn't think much of it. Grant slowly made his way over, expecting to see Tyler over for a surprise visit, or Heather raiding his fridge again.

"Jesus," he heard a familiar voice say through the walls of the kitchen. "I'm gone for a little while and he's already out of scotch." Grant stopped dead in his tracks for a moment before nearly sprinting into his kitchen.

And there he stood, Sebastian Smythe in all his glory, looking happy and haggard and positively perfect. "Bas," Grant breathed out. At the sound of his nickname, Sebastian's head snapped, and he smiled at the sight of Grant. Sebastian put his empty scotch glass on the counter, just before he found himself in Grant's arms in a tight embrace.

He didn't care about the scotch, or the lack thereof. All he could focus on was the familiar heartbeat beside his own. All he could think of was how much he missed the feeling of being in Grant's arms. All he could do was let the tears that he'd been holding back for a month fall.

"I missed you," Grant whispered in his ear. "Don't leave me again." Grant could feel the hole in his chest starting to refill as he clung to Sebastian.

Sebastian smiled, letting his fingers tangle into Grant's hair. "I don't intend to," he said. His voice was broken with his tears, but he'd honestly never felt happier in his life. The truth of Sebastian's life was that he was happy if he was with Grant. Ideally, they'd be together with some scotch in a tree house, but being held in Grant's arms, in the tiny kitchen at the center of the apartment was close enough.