On the day in question – the fateful day when it all began, which seemed innocuously like any other day as these things tend to do – Kurt Hummel was late for Glee Club. He'd left his locker in plenty of time but then had to take not one but two detours through half-empty corridors to avoid gaggles of jocks thirsting for blood (at least that's how they always looked to him). So when he arrived at the choir room the door was already closed.
He could see through the little glass panel that class hadn't started yet. Mr. Schuester was nowhere in sight and everyone was huddled in one of two groups; the first watching something on the computer in Sugar's lap and the second squinting at the tiny screen of Rachel's phone. Everyone seemed to be talking at once, and when he pulled the door open his ears confirmed what his eyes had seen.
"She wouldn't . . ."
"Hot boys . . ."
"More money than God . . ."
"I couldn't live with myself . . ."
"KURT!" Rachel's shrill cry broke through the cacophony and she threw herself at Kurt, pulling him into the room and peering out the door behind him. "Is Mercedes with you?"
"No, I haven't seen . . ." Kurt began to reply before he was promptly cut off again by Rachel, who seemed to feel that there were more important things at hand than letting him finish.
"Good!" She pulled the door shut again and dragged him by the arm to where the others were starting to quiet down. "You have to see this. We are in serious crisis."
"Please!" Sugar drawled in her self-important way. "We're about to be in-laws with a school full of rich, gorgeous boys. That's the opposite of a crisis. It's in the dictionary."
"Why do you care?" Sam said. "Aren't you already rich?"
Santana gave a sharp snort. "There's 'my-dad-owns-a-string-of-piano-stores' rich and then there's 'my-dad-owns-a-string-of-small-islands' rich. Those boys are definitely in the island group."
At this everyone started talking again, most of them yammering about the relative degrees of wealth and Rachel sounding indignant while Finn attempted to soothe her.
"Would somebody tell me what's going on?!" One advantage of Kurt's high-pitched voice was that being louder than everyone else was simply a matter of breath control. The whole room quieted immediately and everyone looked at Rachel, who held out her phone to him.
"Look," was all she said.
Kurt was a little surprised to see that her browser was open to Jacob Ben Israel's blog, which they all usually avoided like the plague. Aside from the header, the whole screen was filled with a picture of someone's profile, someone African American, wearing a navy blue blazer with red piping on the lapels. The boy was holding hands with someone who was mostly out of frame - the picture had obviously been rushed and taken just as the couple headed out the door. The girl was just the back of a head and an arm. Her most distinguishing feature was really her shirtsleeve.
"What is this?"
"Scroll down," Finn said.
The caption for the entry screamed out at him in all capitals. "IS MCKINLEY'S CHOCOLATE SONGBIRD WARBLING HER WAY IN A NEW DIRECTION?"
Below, the text was short and to the point. "Mercedes Jones and a certain private school doo-wopper: Romeo and Juliet romance or partners in Glee Club betrayal? Is this forbidden love, or just a darker shade of St. Berry?"
He tried scrolling down further, but that was all there was. He handed the phone back to Rachel with raised eyebrows.
"Don't you get it? Mercedes is dating one of those boys from the Warblers."
"This one," Sugar added, turning the laptop around to show a screen frozen on a video of the Dalton boys performing. She pointed at one of the small figures on the screen. "He's the only one who matches the picture."
"Okay, this is crazy," Kurt said. "That could be anybody. It's hair and an arm."
"Right," Santana spit out. "Like you didn't recognize that sleeve. I even recognized it and I try to never look at Mercedes' clothes. They make my eyes bleed almost as much as yours do."
She was right, of course. Kurt had recognized the baby-blue shirt the minute he saw it. They had bought it together only a couple of weeks ago.
"So Mercedes is fraternizing with the enemy," Artie said. "And we're screwed. The Warblers are going to know all our secrets now. Jacob's right, it's Jesse all over again."
Rachel colored at that, and Finn patted her arm gently. "Look guys," he said, "we don't know that it's anything more than two people dating. Maybe they just really like each other. It doesn't mean she's going to tell him our secrets."
Puck snorted. "Keep telling yourself that, bro. I know what chicks are like when they're desperate for some male attention. They will do or sayanything. Artie's right. We're screwed. The Warblers are gonna kill us at Regionals."
From the back of the room Rory's hand shot up.
"You don't have to raise your hand, Rory. It's just us." Quinn said, smiling at the exchange student.
"So, what's a Warbler? And why shouldn't Mercedes date one if she wants?"
Santana reached over to scoop the computer off of Sugar's lap. "This is a Warbler." She held it up so Rory could see, and pressed a key.
A voice Kurt hadn't heard before filled the room, rising over the chorus of background singers harmonizing their way through Billy Joel's "The Longest Time." It was higher pitched than last year's lead singer and Kurt climbed the steps to push in between Tina and Mike and look over Santana's shoulder at the screen.
And there they were, step-touching their hearts out just as they had when New Directions had beaten them at Sectionals the previous year. They all looked as good in those blazers as Kurt remembered, but he really only had eyes for the new lead singer. He was tall, that much was obvious, long legs and a long body that seemed made to wear the Dalton uniform. And he clearly thought well of himself. He owned the center spotlight, looking as if he had no concern at all that he would command everyone's attention for as long as he required it. He certainly knew how to take the stage, Kurt admitted to himself.
"'The Longest Time'? That's what they sang?" Rachel pushed in next to Kurt and squinted at the screen. "Could they be any more a capella cliché? And what happened to the Asian guy who used to sing lead?"
Santana shrugged. "Graduated, probably. What does it matter? One pretty boy or another – we'll still beat the pants off them."
"Sebastian Smythe," Brittany piped up. Everyone turned to look at her. "It's in the comments. 'Holy Fuck! What happened to nerdy little Sebastian Smythe?' That's what the comment says. I don't swear. Not since Lord Tubbington washed my mouth out with soap that one time."
"Let me see that," Sugar commanded, pushing Brittany's fingers away from the touch pad and turning the computer more in her own direction. "There's more! 'It must have been Paris. It finally turned our little Sebastian into a man. Looks like the Warblers need to send a thank-you letter to Sar . . . Sar . . ."
"Sarkozy," Santana said, pulling the laptop back around to face herself. Everyone stared at her then, frank astonishment on their faces. Even Kurt pulled away from the video long enough to show his surprise. "What? I can't know things?"
"When I die I want to be buried in a Sarkozy," Britt said. "That sounds really nice."
Kurt's attention was already back on the screen. With those long legs and arms Sebastian Smythe should have been gangling and awkward, all elbows and knees like Finn, but instead he moved so gracefully that it made Kurt's head spin just a little.
"Oh my God! I just got the best idea!" Sugar jumped in her seat and clapped her hands. "We need a spy! Someone to work her feminine wiles on one of those gorgeous boys . . . that one," she poked at Sebastian's body on the screen, "and figure out why their friend is going after Mercedes. And I totally volunteer." She preened a little, running her fingers through her hair. "Five minutes in a closet with me and he'd tell me whatever I wanted to know."
"A closet is right," Santana said, "but five minutes with you would be completely pointless." She waited for everyone to get her joke, but aside from Kurt everyone looked bewildered. "He's on Hummel's team," she finished, as if it should be completely obvious.
"Oh my God!" Kurt huffed incredulously. "You can't tell that he's gay just by looking at him in a video."
"Uh, yes, I can, and don't tell me you weren't thinking it too. Or at least hoping." Kurt blushed a bit and Tina reached over to squeeze his arm gently. "Don't confuse me with your gaydar-less hag. There are four gay boys on that stage," Santana continued, "and tall, dark and arrogant is definitely one of them."
"Who are the others?" Sugar asked. Santana's fingernail hit the screen three times, pointing out a tall blonde, a shorter brunette, and the baby-faced boy bouncing next to the lead. While they watched, the Warblers finished their Billy Joel song and launched into a new number.
"They did The Cave?" Mike said, peering around to get a better look. "I love that song!"
"My grandpa lived in a cave," Brittany told him somberly. "He was a grizzly bear."
"Back to my plan, please," Sugar said. "I'll just pick someone else. That one. He's cute too." She pointed out a tall black guy.
"That's the one Mercedes is dating, Einstein," Santana said scathingly.
"Well if the lead guy is gay, we should take advantage of that, I think," Rachel said. "We should send Kurt. They'd never see it coming. They'd totally buy it. He could go after Sebastian and make him give up all his secrets!"
"I think you're confusing Hummel with James Bond," Santana said. "And besides, Smythe is totally out of his league. If it's going to be Hummel he should go after the cherub. That guy looks like he could use some bitch in his life. A couple of gropes and he'd definitely spill."
Kurt sat in the chair next to Santana. "This is insane. No one's going to spy on or . . . grope anyone," he said.
The others continued talking over him.
"Who would ever believe Kurt would try to seduce that chubby guy instead of Sebastian? He's French!" Sugar leaned in close again and tried to take the laptop from Santana, but she held onto it, giving the other girl a sharp glare.
"Not with a name like Smythe, he isn't," Tina contributed from the back.
"Says the Asian chick who's last name is Cohen," Puck said with a grin.
Kurt was still attempting to understand how he'd managed to end up in a conversation where his friends were discussing the relative merits of guys he should or should not play teenaged Mata Hari with. "Excuse me!" he tried again. "There will be no spying, or seducing, or any contact at all with Warblers, French, cherubic, or otherwise. We're going to be mature about this and just ask Mercedes what's going on."
"Cohen-Chang, thank you very much. And that was totally adoptionist."
"Mercedes isn't going to tell us anything," Rachel hissed at Kurt under the general din that was starting to pick up again. "And even if she did, what if she's as clueless as I was about Jesse?"
The door opened at that moment. Everyone stopped speaking and the sound of Sebastian's tenor cut off abruptly.
Mercedes only got two steps into the room before she registered the mood. She stopped and looked from face to face, clearly completely bewildered. "Okay, why is everyone looking at me?" she finally asked. "Shouldn't Berry be in the middle of some kind of ridiculously complicated warm-up with Kurt trying to show her up and everyone else acting like they're not impressed?"
"Why were you late for practice?" Artie demanded.
"I was on the phone. And Mr. Schue isn't even here yet. Seriously, what's going on?"
"Nothing," Sugar said in a voice that was as far from nonchalant as it was possible to be. "We were just checking out our competition, you know, those rich boys from that private school? The ones who are so cute? And rich? And cute?"
Kurt got up, swiped Rachel's phone from her hand as he passed, woke it up and handed it over to Mercedes. She glanced at it and her lips pressed into a thin line before she looked back up at the roomful of eyes staring at her. "Okay. So now you all know." She pushed past Kurt and dropped the phone in Rachel's lap on her way to sit in the empty chair next to Rory, all the way in the back of the room. Every head turned to follow her.
"What are you doing, woman?" Artie asked. "The last thing this club needs is a repeat of Jesse St. James."
"What are you talking about?" she shot back at him. "He's a nice guy I met at church. He'd never throw eggs at me and neither would any of his friends."
"Which is exactly what I thought about Jesse," said Rachel. "I'm not trying to be mean, Mercedes, but how would you even know if he was actually working you for information?"
"And, seriously," Sugar added, smiling her best little sweet smile, "you really believe that it's a coincidence that some hot, rich guy who just happens to be our competition is suddenly interested in you?"
"What exactly are you implying?" Mercedes' voice raised to a pitch that Kurt had learned from long experience it was best to avoid.
"That there's no way someone like that would date someone like you," Sugar said in a tone of utmost helpfulness. "He's totally using you to spy on us."
Mercedes pushed herself up out of her chair and Kurt flinched reflexively, knowing what must be coming, but at that moment the door opened again and Mr. Schue bustled in, apologizing for being late as he settled his things on top of the piano.
"Look," Mercedes said to no one in particular, obviously trying to keep her emotions in check, "I like David and he likes me. He's not a spy. He's not Jesse. He's just a nice guy. And if he asks me out again I'm going. That's all there is to it." And with that she turned her attention to Mr. Schue with laser intensity.
In front of him, Kurt heard Rachel whisper to Finn, "We are so screwed."
It was Sugar who responded, leaning forward to murmur, "No we're not. I just got the best idea!"
"David you sneaky son-of-a..." Unexpected voices drew Sebastian's attention and he threw a casual glance over his shoulder from where he was seated at his desk just in time to see Nick and Jeff tumble unceremoniously through the open doorway into his dorm room; a flailing mass of legs and elbows that really could only be associated with the infamous couple.
The two of them powered into the middle of the room, only sort of collecting themselves as they bounced excitedly. It was so incredibly reminiscent of Sebastian's fifteen-year-old sister at her most hyperactive that Sebastian couldn't help grinning as he turned his attention back to the calculus homework in front of him. It wasn't at all uncommon for the two boys to come bounding in unannounced and literally make themselves at home in Sebastian's shared dorm room, so he didn't really feel any obligation to entertain the duo. Plus, it sounded like they weren't looking for him anyway.
Nick's head whipped around as he surveyed the small room. "David?" he asked questioningly, as if he half expected Sebastian's roommate to be hiding underneath the bed, and at any moment to leap out shouting "Surprise!"
"Not here," Sebastian mumbled, absentmindedly chewing the end of his pen as he tried to work out why the book said the answer to 8(d) was 3x+4 when clearly the answer was 5x-2.
"Oh," Nick replied with a slight pout to his voice, sounding for all the world as if David not being around was a personal affront. "Why not?"
Sebastian sighed, still not looking up from his paper. "Fuck if I know, I'm not his mother am I?" He wondered if they would get bored and go away if he ignored them for long enough. He liked Nick and Jeff, really he did, but they had a tendency to be so damn hyper all the time, and he needed to get this done before Monday or Mr. Beckwith would have his head on a shiny silver platter.
Unfortunately it seemed like luck was not with him today as a second later he heard the tell-tale screech of springs that meant the two boys had made themselves comfortable on David's bed on the other side of the room; obviously they were intending to wait this one out. Swiveling around on his desk chair he eyed the two with obvious disapproval. "I think he said he was going into town, something about running errands. What's it to you anyway?"
Jeff crowed happily, clapping his hands together with obvious excitement. "Oh so that's what the kids are calling it nowadays, 'running errands.'"
"Watch it sophomore," Sebastian chided gently. He and David got along well with Jeff and Nick because of their participation in the school's glee club, but he knew more than one senior at Dalton who still held the belief that underclassmen should show automatic deference to upperclassmen - such was the way of a private boys' boarding school - and Sebastian felt he had a moral obligation to remind the younger boy of this fact before he got into trouble with one of his less lenient peers.
Nevertheless, Jeff's statement was enough to finally pique this particular senior's interest, and he raised an eyebrow at Nick curiously. "What is he talking about?"
Nick's face split into a broad grin, and he leaned forward conspiratorially as he began talking. "So Jeff and I were over in Lima earlier, watching the new Jason Statham film at their poor excuse for a multiplex, the movie was total crap by the way -"
"Lies! It was incredible!" Jeff interrupted with an offended gasp. Nick snorted and twisted so that he could shoot an appropriately disdainful glare at the boy sitting next to him.
"Shut it Sterling, it was the worst film I've seen in years."
"Just because your idea of a good movie is The Notebook -"
"Hey! That's a classic!"
"So, you were in town…" Sebastian prompted before the two of them could get sidetracked too badly. "I'm still struggling to see where this is going."
Nick paused for a second to stick his tongue out at Jeff – and there was Sebastian's sister again - before turning his attention back to Sebastian, frowning slightly as he tried to remember what he had been saying. "Right, well we were on our way back to the car, and we walked past Swinkies, you know that new place on West High Street? It sells the most incredible carrot cake, that place, I swear it literally melts in your mouth-"
"Nick..." Sebastian warned as the other boy started to veer dangerously off-topic again. Nick shook himself out of his carrot-cake-induced reverie with a small self-deprecating smile.
"Sorry, sorry, so we were walking past Swinkies, and through the window we see David..." Nick paused in a clear attempt to create suspense, before grinning maniacally and practically whooping "…with a girl!"
Sebastian groaned. After all that build up, talk about a letdown. "So?" he questioned dismissively. "I know Dalton can be one hell of a bubble at times but girls do actually exist you know."
Nick scowled at Sebastian's lack of enthusiasm for his obviously juicy gossip, but it was Jeff who jumped in to defend their bounty. "No like a girlgirl, they were holding hands and everything!"
Sebastian threw his hands up to frame his face in mock horror. "Not holding hands?! Well that changes everything - call the authorities! I mean, holding hands is only one deviant thought away from fornication in public, sweet Jesus think of the children!" Sebastian dropped the mocking facade and directed a level gaze at the boys on the other side of the room as he took on a more somber tone. "Seriously guys, grow up. What you saw means nothing; she could be a friend. She could be family. Hell, she could be a family friend for all we know! He's not on a date. I would know; he would have told me."
Nick shook his head adamantly "No it was definitely a date, look we took a picture." Digging in his pocket he brandished his iPhone victoriously for Sebastian to inspect. Sebastian leaned forward to peer at a blurry picture, which looked like it had been taken from behind a large bush (and Sebastian couldn't help snorting at the mental image he was suddenly provided with of Nick and Jeff hiding behind a shrubbery, cackling as they spied on their friend from across the road). Sebastian had to admit that the evidence seemed to be against him; David did look to be very – intimate - with the girl, whoever she was, but still...
"Doesn't prove anything," he growled, shoving the phone back towards Nick, who was wearing an expression that suggested he knew he was well on the way to winning this round. "Look, I'm telling you that if David was on a date I would know, so just drop it okay?"
Nick opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by a sandy-haired figure popping into view around the still partially open door.
"Heyyy Seb," Matthew drawled as he sauntered into the room, casually brushing a lock of hair that had fallen into his slate-grey eyes out of the way as he threw an obviously flirtatious grin in Sebastian's direction. Matthew was one of Sebastian's teammates from lacrosse, and it was safe to say he definitely had the body of an athlete; all lean lines and toned abs, and a particularly nice ass if Sebastian was being scrupulously honest. In fact, the only reason Sebastian hadn't already tapped said ass was because Matthew made very little secret of the fact that he was completely infatuated with Sebastian, and Sebastian had a sneaking suspicion that Matthew would be seriously against the 'fuck-and-dash' Sebastian usually employed with his hook-ups. Sebastian shuddered internally at the concept; nothing was more of a boner-killer than feelings. Well, that and the fact that interacting with Matthew was about as dull as watching paint dry.
Matthew obviously hadn't quite grasped Sebastian's very firm stance on their status as 'just friends' - or if he had noticed he chose to ignore it - because he never wasted an opportunity to be around the other boy. "I was just thinking that there's just about enough time before dinner to get in some practice for next week's... Oh hey Niff," he trailed off disdainfully when he noticed the other boys in the room, who were both eyeing Matthew with thinly veiled calculation.
Sebastian tried in vain to hide the scowl that flitted across his face. Pretty much everyone who knew the pair nicknamed them Niff affectionately - it was so rare to find one without the other after all - but somehow Matthew managed to make the word seem like an insult; condescending and derogatory and dismissive all at the same time. Sebastian briefly considered saying something - 'Niff' were his friends after all - but Nick had already sprung off the bed, looking far more excited than offended. "Hey Matty, your cousin goes to that public school over in Lima, right? Do you recognize this girl at all?" Nick shoved the incriminating photo into Matthew's face before the boy had a chance to say anything in response.
Matthew frowned at the interruption but peered obediently at the photo. "Hmmm. Actually, she sort of looks like one of the girls from that awful glee club she's in, whatever it's called. Mother dragged me along to one of their performances last year to keep Aunt Sophia company, it was completely traumatizing." Matthew paused just long enough to give a put-upon sigh before continuing, "Mother keeps suggesting that she send the children to Crawford, she even offered to help cover their tuition, but Uncle is so pig-headed about not accepting help from the family. It's just so sad to think about what those poor girls are going through at that delinquent school."
"Uh huh, uh huh," Nick muttered vaguely as he turned back towards Jeff with a pointed head nod and eyebrow wiggle. To Sebastian it pretty much just looked like Nick was having trouble digesting his lunch, but clearly Jeff was more attuned to Nick's non-verbal communication skills as his face split into a broad grin and he leapt up eagerly to grab Sebastian's MacBook off the bedside table (Sebastian's indignant cry firmly ignored, as usual). Settling down on the bed he peered intently at the screen and started to mash the keys furiously, muttering "New Directions, New Directions, of course," under his breath as Sebastian turned to look questioningly at Nick.
"We competed against their glee club last year at Sectionals," Nick explained with a small shrug, his eyes not quite meeting Sebastian's as he talked. "They were… well they were alright I guess."
Sebastian frowned at Nick's words, not quite understanding why Nick looked so awkward, before something David had told him a while back shoved it's way to the front of his brain. "They beat you!" he exclaimed with a small laugh, clapping his hands together and smirking at Nick who was now scowling at the floor. "They're the public school kids who beat you last year aren't they? Oh that's got to be embarrassing."
"They didn't beat us." Nick muttered sullenly as Sebastian cackled. "We were having a bad day, that's all."
"Well don't you worry your pretty little head, Duval. The one and only Sebastian Smythe is here to make sure the Warblers don't have 'a bad day' again this year." Sebastian spoke seriously, patting Nick on the head as the corners of his mouth twitched upwards, easily betraying how funny he was finding this whole scenario.
Nick growled and swatted Sebastian's hand away, turning back to Jeff and pointedly ignoring Sebastian who was now swiveling around on his chair with his arms crossed lightly in front of him. They were still completely wrong about David, obviously, but it was hard to deny that this little escapade had suddenly gotten a lot more interesting. "Come on Jeff, how long does it take to find one measly show choir on YouTube?" Nick asked impatiently.
"Almost there," Jeff muttered distractedly, his fingers flying across the surface of the keyboard as he drew his lower lip through his teeth as he concentrated. The three other boys waited with bated breath – Sebastian's calculus homework long forgotten - and after a couple more minutes of quick-fire googling Jeff grinned and flipped the laptop around so that the other boys in the room could see what he had found.
"Gentlemen, I present to you the McKinley High New Directions!" he said with unconcealed excitement as the four boys crowded around the laptop to watch the YouTube clip that had started to play. The first strains of Journey's "Any Way You Want It" blared out from the tinny laptop speakers, and for a while all four boys were silent as they watched the group perform. Sebastian frowned slightly – even the poor sound quality couldn't detract from the fact that the group were actually really quite good, and suddenly he was feeling a lot less confident about his brash statement to Nick earlier. Not that he would ever admit that to the others of course, and not that it would matter in the long run anyway. As club captain there wasn't a chance in hell of some tiny public school choir beating his Warblers. Not this year.
"There she is!" Nick exclaimed excitedly, jabbing at the screen with his forefinger. "Second row, third from the left." Four heads craned even closer to the small screen, tilting unanimously as they tracked the tiny pixelated character's movements across the stage. If Sebastian hadn't been focusing so hard on the action he probably would have thought to tell Matthew in no uncertain terms exactly where to shove it when his hand just happened to fall into Sebastian's lap, dangerously close to his crotch, but as it was he simply frowned and straightened back up, lifting up Matthews hand and returning it to his own lap wordlessly.
"Well she's got some pipes on her, I'll give her that much," Sebastian acknowledged begrudgingly as the music started to segue into the familiar introduction to "Don't Stop Believin'". "But even so, this still doesn't prove anything."
"Oh shush, Smythe. Just admit that you lost for once." Nick laughed as he cranked up the volume and started to sidestep-shimmy-clap along with the beat to raucous applause from Matthew and Jeff.
Sebastian glared at the younger boy and opened his mouth to well and truly put him back in his place. "I don't recall losing anything, you scrawny-" but then Jeff gave a low whistle and skipped back a couple of seconds in the video, distracting Sebastian just enough to let himself be interrupted.
"Hey some of these New Direction boys are pretty easy on the eyes; take a look at this one next to our mystery girl here."
Sebastian's curiosity got the better of him and he abandoned his verbal assault on Nick and redirected his focus back to the laptop, where a slender boy with meticulously styled brown hair was in central camera shot for all of five seconds.
It was a brief image, but Sebastian would have been able to tell in half the time that the boy was pretty much a walking wet dream. He seemed to pull focus despite the fact that a completely separate pair were currently singing lead - a great hulking beast of a guy and a much shorter girl who, while clearly talented, kind of looked like she'd make you want to gnaw your own arm off if you ever got into a conversation with her – and Sebastian could freely admit to himself (but never ever to anybody else) that the boy was utterly captivating as he bounded around the screen with eyes that sparkled with the sheer joy of performing.
"Oooh, does our Sebby have a bit of a crush?" Jeff teased with a playful elbow nudge. "Maybe since you've gone through pretty much every available guy here at Dalton, David's new chick can help you find one of these nice New Direction boys to settle down with for once".
Nick gave a small laugh as he joined in with the ribbing, "Good shout Jeffster, maybe they can actually make an honest man out of our friendly neighborhood floozy here."
It was gentle enough teasing for all intents and purposes, but it didn't stop the chill that ran down Sebastian's spine at the innocently spoken words. He stiffened; eyes flicking between the three boys who thankfully still had their full attention focused on the laptop in front of them. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, for once in his life completely at a loss for any sort of witty comeback that was his usual armor in these circumstances. He licked his lips – how had his mouth suddenly gotten so dry? – and gave a small cough as he tried to remember how to be the sarcastic bastard people usually encountered when interacting with Sebastian Smythe.
Thankfully he was saved from actually having to give a response because at that exact moment the door creaked open, and the crux of their heated conversation sauntered casually into the room. David gave an easy smile and brief wave in their general direction as he loosened his tie and flung his jacket across the back of his desk chair. "Hey guys, how's it…" he started to say before trailing off, a small frown flickering across his face as he took in the awkward expressions and shifty eyes that were currently focusing on anything in the room except for him. Jeff slammed the lid of the laptop shut and desperately tried to hide it behind his back as the Journey medley continued to play on loop, and Sebastian couldn't help but snicker at how disastrous they all were at the whole acting subtle thing; his brief moment of panic shoved roughly to the back of his mind.
"Did I miss something?" David asked, confusion now clearly etched across his features. Sebastian saw his chance to straighten out this mess, and took the opportunity without thinking.
"David, tell these idiots that you weren't out on some sort of "secret date" this afternoon; they've gone bat-shit crazy with nothing else to entertain them apparently." Sebastian drawled, using his fingers to draw air-quotes around the words "secret date", before turning to raise an eyebrow at the other boys in a clear "I told you so." He and David had been friends for years, there was no way David would have kept something this important from him, not after everything that had happened in the past.
But instead of the laughed denials he had been anticipating, David's face broke into a broad, slightly self-conscious grin. "Actually," he said with a small shrug, "her name's Mercedes, and she's incredible."