"But dad, this is outrageous! I'm being framed," Sebastian protests as soon as the Dalton committee retreats to decide on his fate, leaving him and his father in the Dean's office.

"Are you?" Mr Smythe sr replies, giving his son a calculating look.

Sebastian rolls his eyes and throws up his hands. "Yes! Look, Clarington used me. He set me up. He knew everyone was gonna point their fingers at me-"

"And why do you think that is, Sebastian?" his father asks. "Let's see, shall we?"

Sebastian frowns and works his jaw, not commenting. He knows that when his father goes all court-style rhetoric on him, it's best not to interrupt.

"You stay out past Dalton's boarding curfew despite several warnings. You get caught spiking your coffee with liquor at the school cafeteria. A random locker search-"

"There was no way that was random!" Sebastian interjects, but his father continues without taking note of him, ticking the points against him off on his fingers.

"…came up with not one but three false IDs among your possessions, and you were seriously implicated in the incident with that Anderson kid. Those are reason enough to suspect you, Sebastian." His father gives him a look of well-trained courtroom disdain before making his final point. "And they don't even know of your expulsion from the Louis Le Grand."

Sebastian turns away, glaring angrily out of the window. He doesn't want to cry, not in front of his dad. All of that stuff is actually true (though 2 of the IDs were for other students and he is pretty sure they fingered him for the 'random' search to get out of trouble) but it's all in the past. Ever since that thing with David and the McKinley kids, he has behaved himself and followed all of the rules of Dalton and general conduct, which basically means he's had the most boring 6 months of his life. He was hoping someonemight have noticed. But just as Blaine automatically suspected he had taken the Nationals trophy, the Dalton Board is ready to lap up Clarington's story about the steroids. Army boys can't do wrong; blame it all on the boy on probation. It's so unfair he could scream, if a little voice inside of him wasn't whispering it's your own fault even louder. Apparently, behaving himself and dedicating their Nationals performance to David didn't score him enough karma points, and his past is now hitting him in the face like a boomerang.

"I didn't do it," he says despite everything.

"You might as well have," Mr Smythe sr says harshly. "There's literally no one in this school who will vouch for you, and with your word against Mr Clarington's, it makes a case I wouldn't accept."

Sebastian turns back to face his dad. "So what are you saying?" he asks, for the first time starting to feel like there may be more than house arrest at stake here. Until now he assumed his dad had come to get him out of this.

His father shrugs. "We'll settle. Accept your expulsion in return for them not taking it to juvenile court."

"But…it's my senior year," Sebastian stammers. "I have to graduate! I was already set back a year after Paris!"

His father gives him a hard look as he breathes out slowly through his nose, and Sebastian bites his tongue. He doesn't want his dad to launch into yet another list of his misconduct. Mr Smythe sr shakes his head as if he can't believe he's doing this. "There's a special program for students who need a fast track to graduation after long absences or home-schooling. It's in New York. Your mother has agreed to move there with you to make you eligible."

"New York?" Sebastian repeats, blinking. He was expecting something a lot worse. That actually sounds better than grovelling to the Board to stay at Dalton in Ohio.

"You can wipe that smile off your face, Sebastian. You'll be grounded until you graduate, and I have already found you a tutor for French and Maths. It's not going to be some sort of extended holiday."

Sebastian nods quickly. Living with his mom, grounded, tutor, got it. Whatever. He is sure his mother will let the line slack after a few weeks and then it's Big Apple party time. Maybe he should send Hunter a thank-you card.

The door opens and Sebastian's father gives him a last warning look. Sebastian quickly schools his face into a demure expression and folds his arms behind his back. Time to watch his dad do his attorney magic.

** **
A/N: Three guesses who they found in NY to help Bas with his French ;)