Welcome to my newest story, which is AU. A few things first that I want to address before we get further into the story. Sebastian Smythe and Blaine Anderson are straight in this story, as it is easier for me to write them that way, as I am use to watching Grant and Darren playing straight characters. Clint might come off a little OOC, but my reasoning behind that is, after high school we all grow up therefor he has stopped being the jerk he was back then to being what I have created for him within this story.

And if you know me then you know that I like having Clint and Rachel siblings as we never got to see Clint's home life. It's a twist that I like adding to my stories.

Lastly, if any of you that read this one, happen to follow Comin' Home, do know that I haven't given up on the story and I am working on getting the next few chapters out for you all to read, it's just not coming along as fast as I would like for it to.

Disclaimer: I own Onyx, who can't be used without my permission. The rest belongs to Glee and it's rightful parties, which I am using for a bit of fun. I mean no disrespect or harm whatsoever. The title for this one comes from the song 'Gold Forever' by The Wanted.

Enjoy!


He easily slipped onto a bar stool ordering a beer. Half a smile filled his lips when the bartender placed his glass before him. Closing his eyes, a hand going down his face, his spare hand wrapping around the bottle, the coolness of the beer seeping into the warmth of his palm. He wanted to forget today, act like it never happened. Shitty days were rare for him. It's been years since the last one. But today his shitty day took the grand prize for the shittiest day of his life.

"You might need something stronger than a beer," the small feminine voice to his right said.

"What do you know anyway?" He snarled at her. Glancing at her from the corner of his eye. He nearly choked on his mouthful of beer to see her wearing a deep purple, curves hugging dress. The front cut down to show off just enough of her cleavage. Her dark locks piled into a classy looking bun. "Over dressed for this little run down bar," he commented.

"Can't a girl like nice?" She quipped out; eyebrow raised.

He hummed, turning back to his beer, having enough conversation with the beautiful stranger. Even in his inner turmoil he could see that she was far more than pretty, sexy didn't even cover what she is. Beautiful was the perfect word to use while describing her.

"Little miss Onyx Sage," Sam beamed. "Wasn't expecting you tonight," he commented, looking behind her, a frown on his face.

"Coming here wasn't my first option, Sammy. Is my brother in?" She questioned, already moving toward the back of the bar. Her brother would make her feel a bit better.

"Why ask if you know the answer?" He questioned with a laugh. "I will advise you that he is in a meeting with Blaine."

"What did Blaine do now?" She laughed, pausing to talk to Sam.

"Wouldn't know," Sam shrugged. "They haven't told me yet."

"Poor Sammy being left in the dark," she teased, her face turning serious. "Do me a favor Sam," she started. She wasn't asking him to do this for her, more like demanding him to, knowing he wouldn't deny her of this, wanting to look out for her. Sam nodded waiting to hear what this favor would entail. "If Hunter shows, can you tell him I'm not here?"

"What did he do?" Sam asked, a growl escaping his throat. He had a little sister, loved her dearly, and Onyx, she was another sister to him; he grew to love his best friend's little sister in that way. He would have her back like he would always have his sister's back.

"No showed our one-year anniversary, caught him face deep in some bimbo," she shrugged, voice void of emotion.

"Shit," Clint coughed. And here he thought he was having a bad day. At least, his girl dumped his sorry ass before hooking up with her supposedly best friend.

"Shit is right," Onyx stated, eyes flicking from the stranger to Sam. "Can you do that for me Sammy?" A pleading look in her blue eyes.

"That and more," he growled out.

"Don't waste too much energy on him, he isn't worth it," she said, moving to walk to her brother's office, nearly running into Blaine. "Sorry," she muttered, flashing him a smile. "What did you do?" She asked teasingly.

"Me?" He laughed. "What about you? I thought your brother said you had an important date tonight," he said.

"I did and Sam will tell you what I told him," she said, moving past him to her brother's office, shutting the door behind her.

"What did he do?" Jeff sighed, leaning back in his chair. She smiled softly sitting in the only other chair in the office. She told her brother everything. Never kept a secret from him. Found that she couldn't do that. She trusted Jeff more than she trusted her parents.

"I do love how you jump straight to the problem at hand and not beat around the bush," she said with a heavy sigh at the end.

"You've been talking about tonight for the past month. There is no way you would be here instead of with Hunter. Now spill, Onyx," he demanded in his protective brother voice.

"I know he's your friend and junk, but I don't want to see or hear his voice for a while," she told him, chewing her lip. He looked at her waiting for the rest of the story. He wasn't left waiting long. "Did you know that he was having an affair?"

"You can't be serious?" He yelled. "If I knew that shit I would've told you," he roughly told her. "I don't ever want to see you in pain, Onyx, never. If I knew about his side project, I would have told you, after punching him," he said, moving his chair around his desk to sit by her. "He won't be mentioned ever again. How'd you find out anyway? Did he break it off with you to be with her?" That didn't sound right with him, not after spending the last week listening to Hunter complaining about finding the right gift to give for their one-year anniversary.

"After an hour of waiting on him, when they gave our reservation to another couple, I went looking for him. When I found him, it wasn't a very pretty sight. No one wants to see their significant other with their face in a place it shouldn't be in another woman," she told him, her head falling to his shoulder. "I loved him, and here I thought he was the great love of my life. I am swearing guys off, Jeffy," she said.

"Just like that you are going to go back to dating woman?" He questioned. "That didn't work out last time either, if I recall. You can love whomever you wish; I don't care because I will love you regardless, but don't close yourself off to guys because what Hunter did to you. He may no longer be the greatest love of your life, but there could be another guy out there that is, or a woman. Don't close yourself off."

"Your are the best, Jeffy," she smiled, hugging him. He knew how to cheer her up, knew what to say to defuse any situation she happened to stumble upon. He looked out for her, and she truly wouldn't know what to do without him in her life. She didn't care to find out either. "Now I'm going to get hammered on you," she stated, getting up.

"One of these days I will collect," he joked, following her out. She shrugged laughing. "Sam, Onyx will have her usual," Jeff said, walking behind the counter.

"Keep 'em coming," she shouted over the music that grew louder. She took her seat next to the dude she talked to upon entering the bar. His dark hair cropped short. His appearance looking as she felt, miserable. "What's your story?" She questioned, taking the vodka mix from Sam.

"Do you make conversation with everyone you meet in a bar?" He questioned, an amused look in his blue eyes. "Or am I the lucky one?"

"I wouldn't so much say you're the lucky one," she told him, sipping on her drink. "More so the fact you look like the person that needs a distraction from your day. That is something I know all about after my day," she told him, catching her brother and friends talking in hushed whispers, looking her way. She sighed shaking her head. The worst part of coming to your brother's bar, the gossip he would be doing with his friends. She was just lucky that it happened to be Nick's night off.

"Uh yeah, couldn't help but hear about that," he said sheepishly. She shrugged, playing with the straw in her drink. It wasn't like she could say anything, it was the truth, and she didn't want to think about it any longer; it happened and now she wanted to move on. And seeing pity in a stranger's eyes no matter how pretty they happened to be was something she didn't want to see.

"Onyx is the name, though you know that. Since you know my name what's yours?" She questioned, bringing her glass to her mouth to sip from the straw.

"Clint," he said. "And my day has been horrible but not quite as bad yours," he tacked on, tipping his beer bottle up finishing it off in one smooth drink.

"Obviously, you know how my day went, want to share in the self-pity?" She questioned, her focus on her half-full drink.

"Not really," he told her. "Though it would only be fair," he sighed, playing with his empty beer bottle.

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's cool," she quickly told him. Pushing him to talk about his day, wasn't something she liked to do, unless she personally knew the person, because she knew the right buttons to push. The last thing she would want to do is talk about the worst part of her day with a stranger.

"Misery loves company," he joked. She gave him a sad smile. "My ex broke up with me not even a month ago, and today I received a save the date card for their wedding. And it's not even the fact she's happy, or that she's getting married to a woman, it's more the fact that it hasn't been a month," he spit out.

"Ouch," she winced. She didn't know anyone that could move that quickly. "Isn't it a bit fast to be getting married?" She questioned, finishing off her drink, signaling to Sam for more.

"I thought so," he shrugged. "But they have known each other their whole lives. Through play dates and all," he said.

"That does make a bit more sense," she said, giving Blaine a smile when he appeared with new drinks for them.

"Want me to beat Hunter up for you? I wouldn't think he could ever do that to you. Thought his douche days ended in high school," he commented.

"Nah, it's fine. Thanks for the offer though," she smiled at him. "Jeff, my brother went to school with Blaine, and Hunter, my freshly minted ex and Nick, but he isn't working tonight. I went to a different school as they were at an all boys' private school," she told him, seeing just a hint of confusion rolling off of him.

"Ah," he replied, sipping on his new beer, growing quiet once more.

"Other than the save the date card, is there more to your tale?" She questioned, swirling her straw around the glass.

"My parents are getting divorced. With no kids in the house, they couldn't make their marriage work. They tried for the longest time; I think they finally gave up accepting defeat," he sighed. It wasn't easy to watch your parents struggle.

"My parents divorced when I was 3, Jeff was 6," she told him. "Jeff went and lived with our dad, and I went and lived with my mom. They both found other people. Our dad is happily married and our mom, she is in a happy relationship; they're not married, but she makes my mom happy. I think the hardest part for me growing up is that I didn't have Jeff there to play with every day. Every two weeks we spent it at the same house, two and half months during the summer we spent together. It just wasn't the same," she rambled on, taking a long drink of her beverage.

"Having a sibling constantly around isn't as fun as one would think. My older sister drove me nuts, though she is my best friend," he chuckled. "Much like I suspect Jeff is to you," he commented.

"He is," she smiled, feeling happy for the first time that night since finding out her boyfriend had a piece on the side.

"Typical behavior Onyx." Anger consumed her face, turning to the voice that scoffed next to her.

"What do you want Hunter?" She questioned. "Bree not good enough for you?" She spat at him.

"Real classy," he dryly laughed. "Little miss perfect isn't so perfect. Look at you Onyx, picking up a stranger at your brother's bar. That's real classy of you," he quipped out.

"Hard to pick up an old friend," Clint cut in. "I moved back to town, thought I would catch up with some old friends," he tacked on a snarl escaping.

"Like I believe that story. She didn't even go to school here, heck none of us did. She went to school in Ohio, at Carmel," he sneered. "Nice cover up, Onyx."

"Carmel is in Akron, Ohio," he said, having gone there himself, making the drive from Lima, Ohio. "I spent a year here after high school before heading to Philly for college," he stated, covering up the surprise at knowing that the once stranger went to the same high school as him. "Kill or be killed," he smirked.

"FYI Hunter, I don't need a cover to talk to friends or any strangers in this bar. You get no say about my life. Now leave," she snipped at him.

"Not going to happen, Onyx. They are my friends after all," he smirked.

She got up from her stool. "Suit yourself, just know they want to pummel you for hurting little me, so enjoy," she winked, turning to Clint. "Want to get out of here, and we can discuss the high points of high school?" She asked.

"He will get bored with you like I did," he laughed.

Not even thinking about her actions, she picked her glass up, tossing the remaining liquid inside it in his face, a pleased smirk on her face. "You are nothing but a low-life prick," she said between clenched teeth. "Ready?" She asked turning to look at Clint a sweet smile on her face.

"Absolutely," he chuckled, holding his arm out for her. She laughed, slipping her arm through his.

"Call me when you get home," Jeff yelled at her. She waved her free hand not even turning to look at him. "What the hell dude? How could you be so stupid? Why?" She heard Jeff asking Hunter as the door shut behind them.

"Did you really go to Carmel?" She questioned on the short walk to her apartment.

"I did," he laughed. "Look in your yearbook. You have one don't you?" He asked her. She nodded her head.

"I left after my Sophomore year."

"Might be why I don't remember seeing you in the halls," he said. "Were you a part of Vocal Adrenaline?"

"I was. I loved show choir. That means that I faced you in competitions," she giggled. "I became a part of New Directions," she told him.

"Then I apologize for my actions. I was a grade A jerk back then," he said shaking his head. "I have learned the errors of my ways."

"Good to know," she smiled, digging her keys from her clutch. "This is me," she told him, walking up the front steps to the apartment building.

He followed her silently to the elevators, waiting only a few seconds for the doors to open. He stood in a corner, watching her hit the button for the 4th floor.

"You're in luck my roommate is out for the night," she told him, turning left down a hall. "He'd ask you more questions than my brother."

"You live with a guy?" He asked, stopping behind her at apartment 424. He didn't see anything wrong with that, positive plenty of the opposite sex roomed together.

"Yep," she smiled. "He's my best friend, which is weird in sorts as he didn't get along with Jeff or Blaine growing up. But we clicked from the start. Met him when I was 14. He went to school with my brother. Hey you should know the school. Dalton," she rattled off, holding the door open for him.

"The Warblers?" He questioned with a laugh.

"That would be them," she smiled. "Make yourself at home. Beer is in the fridge. I'm going to change into something else and grab my yearbooks," she informed him, walking down the one short hall that held both bedrooms and the bathroom.

The second her door shut she slipped from the dress, tossing it over the back of her vanity chair. Grabbing yoga pants and a hoodie that belonged to Sebastian Smythe, her best friend and roomie. She pulled her hair from the updo, running her fingers through her locks, walking barefoot back to the main part of the apartment, stopping at the halfway closet, pulling one of many boxes from the shelf.

He seriously lost count of how many times he has choked on his beer. Seeing her dressed for a lazy night, for comfort rather than a night in, he didn't think she had looked better than she did in that moment.

"Need a hand?" He asked, from his spot on the couch.

"I've got it," she told him, walking to the living room with two yearbooks. "Be prepared, I will make fun of your picture," she smirked, plopping down next to him.

"That is fair, since I plan on doing the same," he laughed.

They started with the first page laughing at the faces they knew so long ago, saying what each person happened to be doing if they knew. Shared any gossip they had. She laughed coming across his picture on the first page.

"Your hair is the same," she smiled. She found it hard to pick fun of him when he made his school picture look like a model shot. "I still don't remember seeing you. I don't even remember being on VA with you that year," she told him, wracking her brain to remember him.

"That year I was a shy little thing," he shrugged. He didn't remember her either, though he had yet to see her picture to know what she truly looked like that year.

She nodded and went back to laughing at the other pictures. A slow progress to go from the B's to the S's. She spotted her picture right away knowing he would laugh at her picture. Why she let her friends talk her into wearing her hair in a side pony and a headband. Her friends wanting to do a 90's retro style. From the corner of her eye, she could see the moment he saw her picture. Laughter colored his face.

"Shame I didn't know you back then. You looked to be all sorts of fun," he smirked. "Living in the 90's that is," he laughed. She smacked his arm.

"Shut up. Friends talked me into it," she mumbled, flipping the page.

"You made it work," he winked, stopping her page turning, when they came across the pages filled with various pictures of VA. "One would think that we knew each other," he pointed out. They were standing on opposite sides of the group picture. "We never worked together though, I would clearly remember that."

"I guess we stuck to our own friends," she shrugged. "It's shame though. I would have liked to know you back then," she said, closing the yearbook and getting the second one out. "I spent a total of 3 months in VA before busting my leg in three places."

"What happened?" He remembered something about someone getting kicked off VA because they couldn't keep up. That is how the show choir went.

"Motorcycle accident," she shrugged. "Remember Jesse St. James?"

"The dude is a legend," he laughed. "You didn't have some sort of twisted love story going on with him did you?" He questioned through his laughter.

"Yuck no," she laughed. "He was a mentor to me that year, until I met Cooper and turned my attention to acting. But Blaine's brother is a nut job, and acting didn't work out either," she laughed, stopping at his picture for Sophomore year. "Personally, I like the bald look," she smirked.

"Most everyone does," he laughed. "Haven't felt like shaving my hair off though," he commented, running a hand through his hair.

"To each their own," she commented, going back to the pictures before her. Laughing at some of the more ridiculous ones. Again, she groaned seeing her picture.

"Blonde huh?" He asked.

"I wanted to have blonde hair like my brother," she lamely explained. "No one believed that we were related because he has blonde hair, and I have dark-brown hair. I take after our mom, and he has our dad's hair. I wanted to be rebellious."

"You can pull the blonde look off. Though I like your dark locks better," he smirked, twirling some around his finger.

"Sweetie, Jeff told me what happened," Seb said walking into the place, breaking up the moment he didn't know was happening on the living room couch. "Brought the ice cream, let me change, and we can watch your movie," he called moving to the kitchen not even looking to the living room.

"That won't be necessary," she called out. Sebastian spun around ready to fire question after question at her.

"Oh," he squeaked out. "I'll be in my room if you need me," he gestured to his room. "Don't do anything rash," he warned, walking to his room.

"Sorry about him," she smiled awkwardly.

"It's fine. I should get going," he said standing up. "It was nice to meet you under the circumstances," he said, walking to the door.

"It really was," she smiled. "Can I see your phone?" She questioned. He dug the device out of his pocket, handing it over, watching her carefully. With her number safely saved in his contact list, she handed it back. "Don't be a stranger," she told him.

He smiled, slipping from the apartment. She locked the door behind him, cleaning up his empty beer bottle and putting the yearbooks back where they went. While she was turning the lights off her phone came to life with a text message. Never.

She smiled, walking down the hall slipping into Seb's room instead of her room. He moved over in his bed letting her climb in next to her. She cuddled into his side. Most people thought more was going on between the friends than they let on, but that was never the case. Neither one saw the other as more than a friend. Like a sibling's love for each other.

"How was your date?" She questioned. "I do hope it was better than mine."

"And that little gathering in the living room wasn't part of it?" He laughed, pulling her closer.

"We went to the same school for two years," she responded. She felt clueless for not even knowing a fellow classmate. For not knowing everyone she used to be on a team with. It wasn't like she tried to blend in back in high school. She loved sticking out, loved having all the attention on her. "But he wasn't," she said shaking her head. He was a nice perk, a distraction from the nightmare her love life turned into. "I should be with Hunter, but he ruined that," she sighed, closing her eyes.

"He ruined the best thing to enter his life," he whispered, his chin resting on top of her head. "My date was good. Granted it was only the second date. Even so, I really like her." If she had her eyes open she was 99 percent sure he had a blush covering his cheeks.

"I'm happy for you. When do I get to meet her?" She questioned. "Does she know about me?" She hated how his girlfriend's in the past judged him for having her as a roommate. How they couldn't trust him while living with her. Gave him an ultimatum, one where he picked her over them every time. He told her that if they couldn't accept his friendship with her; he couldn't accept being with them. He would never choose someone who couldn't accept how close he is to her. It eased the guilt she felt for driving a potential love interest away, but never got rid of the guilt she felt for doing so.

"She does. I didn't want to fall too deep and her leave because she couldn't deal that I had a best friend and a roommate who is a woman. It doesn't bother her," he responded.

"Good, you deserve to be happy, Sebby," she smiled. Maybe this once he could find his happily ever after, his new beginning, his soul mate.

"So do you, sweetie," he whispered, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head.

"And I will have it one day," she responded with a yawn. "I know sleep," she said rolling her eyes, getting a laugh from the man her head rested upon.