Sebastian Smythe strode into Spago, annoyed. It had been a busy day and he didn't want to be at this dinner. He stepped up to the hostess stand. "Hello, Brandy. Are they here?" The hostess pointed out Blaine Anderson, sitting alone across the room, buttering some bread. Sebastian let out a frustrated sigh Great.
Sebastian rarely saw Blaine Anderson these days, by choice. He'd lost more and more respect for him over the 30 years he'd known him, starting of course with the Warbler-deserter's dumbass decision to choose Kurt Hummel over Sebastian Fucking Smythe. It was just as well, because Blaine only went downhill from there: from not cheating with Sebastian to getting engaged at 18 to deciding to get married in the span of a day while hijacking Santana's wedding in the process. When they were about 25 and an Instagram had reminded Sebastian of the lustworthiness of Blaine's ass, he thought about reconnecting with him. He and Jesse had an open marriage, after all. He hesitated, though, since Kurt had recently divorced Blaine and Sebastian did not at all relish the idea of Blaine crying in his mouth (or anywhere else) during sex. After a year he considered Blaine's ass again, thinking surely Blaine would be over the Klaine of it all at that point. But before he got around to calling, Jesse told him that Blaine had slid to the absolute bottom of the cesspool. He had betrayed the Brotherhood and married a girl. And not just any girl, Rachel Freaking Berry. As if choosing a vagina (ugh) wasn't bad enough, Blaine had picked the most annoying vagina of them all.
Sebastian came up to the table looking bored. "Hey Blaine," he said with a Mona Lisa Smile. But then he noticed Blaine's long lashes and stopped to study him for a moment. Blaine still looked good, he had to give him credit for that. Even after having two kids and staying home with them, Blaine hadn't let himself go. "Looking good, Killer."
"You, too!" Blaine replied, with an admiring look that was good for Sebastian's ego. "You look well. That's a gorgeous suit."
Sebastian gestured for Blaine to stand up and hug him, which allowed Sebastian to give him an "accidental brush" as they parted. He suspected that copping a feel of "that ass" (as he and Jesse had always referred to it) would be the highlight of the evening.
They sat down, Blaine a little confused. Did Sebastian just feel him up? It had happened so fast.
"So, Jesse and Rachel aren't here yet?" Sebastian asked absently, already bored again and inspecting the room.
"Oh, boy, nothing gets by you," Blaine teased.
Sebastian handed the bread basket to a passing waiter that had arrived to get a drink order from him. "We won't be needing this anymore," he said, checking out the young man's ass.
Blaine tried again to engage him, with another charming smile. "But what do you use to soak up sauce with?"
"I don't eat sauce, not since my winter two stopped coming off as easily when I hit 35 or so." He lifted his chin at the waiter - he was going to need a scotch, fast, if Blaine was going to be so blindingly chipper all night. "Macallan Flask, neat. Thanks."
Blaine's sweet banter couldn't be stopped. "You do know that scotch is made from barley, so if you're worried about carbs..."
Sebastian gave him bored smirk. "Alcohol has its own rules."
Blaine wanted to roll his eyes. Sebastian Smythe was still "out there." But he and Jesse were major investors in Rachel's production company, so Blaine needed to be grateful - or at least cordial. After an awkward beat, Blaine drummed his fingers on the table and spoke up politely to fill the silence. "So...what do you think is so important that we had to have dinner tonight?"
Sebastian was still scanning the room. He replied distractedly, "They're probably just excited about some new project for her." Jesse's devotion to Rachel's career was impressive. As her manager he had taken her from Fanny Brice to Maria in West Side Story to Velma Kelly to Elphaba to Miss Hannigan in Annie, with TV and movie roles to match. Sure, she was a major talent, but what most people didn't know is that having the right management can make or break you.
Blaine nodded, sounding a bit wistful. "I was guessing the same thing."
Hearing his tone of voice, Sebastian looked back at Blaine. He studied him again for a moment. "You could have had her career, you know," he said in a matter of fact way.
Blaine felt caught in his gaze, and was relieved Sebastian started surveying the room again. Blaine's mouth dropped open a little. Was Sebastian right? If he hadn't fallen apart after Kurt divorced him, if he hadn't stepped back from his career once Michael and Alex were born...would his career be as stratospheric as Rachel's? He never stopped to think about it, because he didn't at all regret his move to be a stay-at-home-dad, but still...was Sebastian right? It was kind of irritating that Sebastian said anything about it, actually.
Sebastian seemed to feel Blaine's silence. He shrugged, "You might have gone even farther."
Then Sebastian spotted his husband and Rachel approaching the table. Jesse leaned down to kiss him. "Hello..."
"Hey..." Sebastian greeted him, his face neutral. He kissed him swiftly and held his arm tightly to command quietly in his ear. "No appetizers, no dessert,"Blaine smiled brightly at Rachel, standing up halfway to hug her. "Hi, sweetheart."
Jesse came around the table to kiss Blaine on the cheek. "How are you, love?"
Sebastian looked up coolly to greet the woman who was always the most annoyingly arrogant person in the room. "Hello, Rachel."
Rachel leaned down for air kisses from the man who was always the most annoyingly arrogant person in the room. "Hello, Sebastian."
Forty-five minutes later, Sebastian was three scotches in. He never lost control when he drank this much, but he was looser, and it made everything a little smoother. That helped with the weird vibe at the table tonight.
Rachel was at the bottom of her glass of wine and trying to take meditative breaths. She spoke up, fluttering in a way Blaine hadn't seen since they had filmed the McKinley Public Access Christmas Special his junior year. "These mussels are delicious. And the crab...so fresh," she said, too brightly. "And they give you three sauces! Look at this oyster! Oh my god do you think they sang to these oysters?"
She trilled out a Disney verse that made Sebastian want to stab his eardrum with his shrimp fork:
The time has come, my little friends
To talk of other things
Of shoes and ships and sealing wax
Cabbages and kings
And why the sea is boiling hot
And whether pigs have wings, ha ha
Callo-Callay
Come, run away
With cabbages and kings!
Blaine giggled, "How much wine have you had, honey? We've only had this seafood platter 700 times..."
Jesse was trying to stay calm. He said seriously, "Rachel's a little anxious tonight."
Blaine looked concerned. "Something happen at work?"
Jesse stiffened a little. "Actually, we do want to talk to you two about something. Right, Rachel?"
Rachel swallowed thickly. "Okay. Well, yes..." She cleared her throat. "Well, as you know, some would say we are officially in middle age now, if we live until we're 90..."
Sebastian looked at her with derision. "Speak for yourself," he said, arching a finely groomed brow.
She ignored him, and tittered nervously. "And we're getting better with age. Middle age, you know...if we live to 90. This can be a very exciting chapter we're about to open. In the book of life. It feels alive with possibility. And change. And Blaine himself says, 'Change is always good. Especially when starting this new chapter of our lives, a midlife chapter, if we live to 90...'"
Sebastian grumbled. "We're gonna turn 90 pretty soon if you don't get to the point."
Jesse took a deep breath. "You know what, I'll just do it."
Rachel's eyes grew wide. "No..."
Jesse nodded, and looked around the table with determination. "It's OK."
Rachel protested quietly, "Jesse..."
Jesse held up a hand at her from across the table. "Please, Rachel." He looked at Sebastian and Blaine. "What Rachel is trying to say is, I'm leaving you." He looked at Sebastian squarely, but he couldn't keep the eye contact for more than a moment. He turned to Blaine. "And she's leaving you."
Rachel chirped weirdly. "For this next chapter of our lives."
Sebastian's eyes were narrowed. "You're leaving me?" his tone sounded strangled, like it couldn't come out of his throat.
Jesse looked a little afraid, but he spoke bravely. "Yes."
Sebastian crossed his arms. "Divorce, really drama queen? If you want more sex or you don't want me to sleep around as much just tell me, no need to get your Jamie Dornans in a twist."
Jesse ran his fingers through his hair like Danny Zuko. "No, it's not what you think. It's not you. It's me. I'm in love."
Sebastian's eyes narrowed more and he craned his neck forward. "What now?"
Jesse looked across the table at Rachel. "It's Rachel. I'm in love with Rachel. Rachel and I are in love. I guess I never completely stopped loving her."
Blaine looked at Jesse in disbelief. "My Rachel?"
Sebastian was muttering in disbelief. "But no one leaves a Smythe…"
Rachel nodded at Blaine, looking empathetic."Your Rachel."
Sebastian stopped to shake his head and say skeptically, "You mean you're straight again? And THIS is who you're straight with?"
Jesse looked back at him soberly, his blue eyes steady. "You know I'm bisexual. This is who I'm in love with."
Those eyes really took him by surprise. He knew what Jesse looked like when he was serious. Sebastian stared back at him and groaned as it all started to sink in. "Jesus Christ."
Blaine's eyes were like a hurt puppy, a hurt puppy that was looking at a woman with two heads. "No, this makes no sense. You work together, he's your manager, you're not lovers. You're friends." Rachel shook her head ever so slightly and he felt tears behind his eyes. "How long has this been going on?"
Rachel looked over at Jesse for support. "Well, it's been…" she looked back at Blaine. "I don't know, exactly."
Jesse spoke up, not able to let Rachel flounder more. "Ten years."
Sebastian stared. "Fucking A…" he breathed.
Blaine shook his head, his tearful eyes glistening as it all began to sink in. "Ten...how could you...you don't think there was a better time to tell us this? Like, say, any time over the past decade?"
Sebastian looked like he was going to throw up.
Rachel's brown eyes were wide with sympathy. "I'm so sorry. I kept hoping you would shrug off your whole bisexuality mantle and leave me for men, you know you've always been more gay then most men we know."
Blaine looked at her with disbelief. "You were waiting for ME to leave you first?"
Sebastian interrupted, "Why are you telling us now? Why not live off my money for longer?"
Rachel said simply, "We want to get married."
Blaine's eyes widened and Sebastian snapped, "Married?! What the actual fuck?!"
Jesse drew his lips into a straight line and looked at Sebastian compassionately.
Realization was dawning in Sebastian's green eyes. "Oh, damn. This is why you wanted to meet us here. You didn't want me to make a scene, did you? You thought this place would protect you. You fucking coward…. You chicken shit..." He stood up slowly, looking menacing. After glowering at his husband for a moment his first thought was that he should just do what any self respecting man in this situation would do. Maintain his dignity and walk away.
But then he decided that what any self respecting man in this situation would actually do was beat the shit out of Jesse St. ASSHOLE. He flipped the table, glassware and expensive china hurtling towards Jesse in a violent clatter as Blaine and Rachel yelped. Sebastian lurched around the table, hauled Jesse up by the shirt.
"Oh my god!" Rachel shrieked as the commotion caused waiters and fellow customers to rush over and help.
It took four men to finally get Sebastian off of his husband, but Blaine wasn't one of them. He stood with his hands on his hips, staring at Jesse and Sebastian pulling apart. "I can't believe this is happening," he said, his eyes narrowing, his lips slightly parted.
Rachel said supportively, "Breathe. Breathe. Yoga breaths, baby…" She reached over to put her hand on his heart.
Blaine jerked to look at her, his hazel eyes stormy as he pushed her away. "Get your hands off of me."
Sebastian strode through his front door with his head held high. The entire drive home had felt like he was in a fog. But he kept breathing, because this wasn't the first time he'd been fucked over by someone. He just never thought it would be Jesse.
They'd been drawn together by their similarities, a similar sense of humor and driving ambition. But Jesse had made him laugh enough to merit keeping him around. Plus he was a really hot lay. Jesse had also been tender when Sebastian had gone through challenges like his grandmother's death and becoming partner at the firm. Jesse had laid out the advantages of an open marriage and had convinced him to become a parent, singing "Dear Theodosia" with charm and bringing over Santana's babies in a completely unjust maneuver.
When Sebastian had the biggest bottle of scotch from his study in hand and began to climb the stairs, he heard the front door open behind him. It was his husband, looking like a complete fucking stranger. "Seb…" Jesse hesitated, not able to find the words.
Sebastian gave him a shrewd backwards look. Of course. Jesse was eloquent in every setting, except when it came to talking to Sebastian about anything uncomfortable. He strode up the stairs without a backwards glance.'
Blaine was at his dresser, taking his watch off and emptying his pockets of his keys, handkerchief and phone.
"I'm sorry," Rachel said uncomfortably, pacing behind him. "I didn't know how to handle it. I justified it to myself by convincing myself that you should be with a man, anyway. And for a long time, I didn't know if I could trust Jesse with my heart. I didn't know how to tell you."
Blaine replied grimly and he slapped his phone down on the tray, "Well, good job, picking the worst way imaginable. In public? In front of Sebastian Smythe, even?""
Rachel said plaintively, "Some things there's no good way to do. How do I tell the man I've loved for 20 years that I can't be with him, if I want to be happy?
Blaine snapped his head up to look at her in the mirror, his eyes dark. "You don't. You stay miserable, because you made a vow to ride it out, for better or for worse."
"But...we're a special case..."
Blaine winced, raising a hand to stop her, wincing. "You probably should sleep in the den."
Sebastian was hesitating, looking at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. The man looking back at him was drop dead gorgeous. He looked like someone who had everything. Sebastian looked down and picked up the Hermès moisturizer. He slowly opened the jar, skimmed some out with his long fingers, and slapped it on. He was looking in the mirror but he wasn't seeing anything. He rubbed more cream in, not bothering to pat it in on the delicate areas around his eyes. Then he stepped back as he formulated revenge. He dug his eye cream, tinted lip balm, skin serum, foundation, and brow pencil out of the drawer. He was going to go out to a club for the first time in awhile.
There was a knock at the door and he shoved the cosmetics into the drawer, grabbing his toothbrush.
Jesse came in and Sebastian reached for the toothpaste, squeezing out a small amount on his brush.
Jesse's blue eyes were tentative, and appraising. "Sebastian? Can I talk to you for a second, please?"
Sebastian replied coldly, putting the toothbrush down to give Jesse an icy stare in the mirror. "I don't know. NOT talking is more your forte."
Jesse hung his head, and spoke earnestly. "Well, I'm talking now, and I'm sorry. I just never thought you'd be this upset."
Sebastian's eyes narrowed at him. "What did you think I'd be?"
Jesse shrugged. "I honestly thought you'd be relieved," he said, shaking his head. "I'm sorry I was so far off."
Sebastian leaned forward on the sink, looking annoyed. "Relieved? Really? Relief, is what you're feeling, jackass." His next words came out in a rush before he could stop them. "I'm feeling like the last 20 years have been a fraud."
Jesse spoke sardonically as he came farther into the cavernous master bath. "Now, come on. Only the last 10 years were a fraud."
Sebastian glared at him darkly in the mirror. He picked up his hairbrush as if it were a dagger, his grip tight.
Jesse raised both hands in the air. "Too soon for a joke, got it. Was just trying to break the..."
Sebastian interrupted him. "Uh-uh. NO. You don't get to do that," he said viciously, shaking the hairbrush. His voice broke a little and he hated that it did. "You don't get to pretend that this is nothing."
Jesse nodded and said calmly, "No, you're right. It's not nothing. And I should have told you a long time ago. I just didn't think it would end in anything with Rachel. For a long time I thought she and I would just sleep together they way you and I have always slept with other people. She didn't trust me for a long, long time. And she wouldn't leave Blaine." His eyes were earnest as he stepped closer. "But let's be honest. Were you ever really happy with me?"
Sebastian was violently styling his hair, but Jesse's question stopped him. He glanced to the side - evaluating, trying to frame an answer to the question. He finally answered quietly, "I was happy enough. So we didn't have the romance of the century, but I thought we were...fine. We adopted kids together, for god's sake. We took family vacations. Our sex was hot enough. I thought that this was life."
"And I realized there was more," Jesse said faintly.
Sebastian grunted, opening the drawer and staring at his moisturizer again. He muttered, "It would have been easier if you'd gotten some disease in a club backroom and died."
Jesse took that one in the gut, but he looked only slightly hurt and he didn't say anything. The door shut behind him.
Blaine came into the den, looking tired and defeated. He looked at Rachel in her pink heart-dotted flannel pajamas on the sofabed. "I can't remember the last time I've slept without you. I know I've done it but I.. I can't remember."
Rachel's brown eyes were full of compassion. "Come here," she said, moving to make room for him. Blaine came over without a word and laid down next to her, curled up. After a long pause she spoke up. "I hate that I hurt you. I really do love you." She spooned him and put her chin on his shoulder. "I know you love me, too, that's what makes this so hard."
Blaine replied faintly, "I've always loved you for your honesty. But you lied to me for ten years. Ironic, isn't it?"
When she heard the footfalls of Alexander and Michael, her 7th grade sons, Rachel tensed, leaping up from the breakfast nook. She trilled, "Hello, boys!"
At the tone of her voice, Mikey's normally calm face turned cautious. "Good Morning..." he said carefully as he came into the kitchen.
Rachel tried to calm her voice. "We need to talk."
Alex looked worried. "Oh, God. Is this another intervention? It's been like...three months since I got a detention, I swear. I stayed after school for a little while last week, but that was to clean my locker."
Rachel shook her head, saying gently, "This is not an intervention."
Blaine came across the room with a tray of food, looking austere. "But you may want to have your guidance counselor on speed dial, 'cause this is not good news."
Alex and Mikey looked worried. Their father barely ever looked like that. "Why does your hair have so much gel in it?" Alex asked, to start.
Jesse came in and found Sebastian still in bed, his head under the covers, only a tuft of chestnut hair peeking out from under the Roberto Cavalli duvet. Jesse sighed. "I'm going to go to work early instead of having breakfast with the girls."
"No," was the muffled reply. "They'll know something's up. They'll know...but I'm not ready to talk to them yet about this. So you have to stay, and we have to pretend to be normal."
Jesse looked patient. "Are you sure?"
Sebastian growled. "Yes. Try to be gay for one more meal."
Mikey's eyes stared at his mother from across the table. "You're leaving dad?"
Alex held his juice glass a little too tightly, looking befuddled. "Uncle Jesse's straight? I mean, he's always been really competitive and he built Kara and Alice that treehouse...but, but I, well, I never thought that…"
Rachel said crisply, "He's bisexual. He thought he was gay, but it turns out he's a little bisexual. For me."
Mikey couldn't stop staring at his mother. "You're Uncle Jesse's Only Exception? I always thought you were his hag. Really? You and Uncle Jesse?"
Alex shook his head before guzzling his juice down. "I don't see it…" After a moment more though, his eyes began to widen. "Oh, God, now I see it. Mom, I can't stop seeing it!"
"Bisexual sex is not shameful," Rachel said decidedly.
Mikey took a deep breath and patted his brother. "Imagining your mom having sex with anyone is shameful, we just learned about all this a couple months ago in school, I'm not ready to think about it in real life." He looked perplexed. "Why don't we have a therapist here? There was one here when Sondheim died."
"I liked her," Alex said, looking at his brother. "I remember she said, "All dogs go to heaven." He looked sentimental. "Aw, Sondheim was the best. Not every poodle can pull off a Warbler blazer..."
Blaine reached over and patted his arm, "Hold on," he said sourly. "There's more." He gave Rachel a stern look. "Tell them."
Rachel looked hesitant, and her voice was a little too high pitched. "Haven't we had enough news for one day?"
Blaine blurted out bitterly, "They're getting married," he said, looking petty. "'Cause they have been together for 10 years and they think it is time. Which works out great, because I've always dreamed that I would spend the rest of my life… alone." He leaned over to pick up a pastry in each hand, shoving them in his mouth.
Sebastian and Jesse sat stiffly, side by side, at the formal dining table, not looking at each other. They sat expectantly as they heard the sound of the girls pounding downstairs and tried to smile.
Their daughters weren't fully in the room when Kara said sharply, "What the hell?"
Jesse smiled brightly. "Are you riding your bikes to school today?"
Alice yelped, "Dad, you're straight?!"
"He's bi," Sebastian clarified, looking up at the girls, eyes narrowed. "How did you…"
Kara raised her eyebrows at him. "Mikey called. When were you planning on telling us?"
Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Whenever you weren't going to react like that."
Kara ignored him looking between her fathers. "Is someone gonna start explaining what's going on?"
Sebastian said dryly, "Ask your punk-ass father."
Alice's eyes were big and troubled as she looked at Jesse. "Dad?"
Jesse looked at a loss, looking at Sebastian for a second for help and got none. His husband just looked smug. Jesse spluttered, "Well, girls, it, um, it, uh...it kind of is what it is."
"Great talk, Dad," Kara said sarcastically.
Jesse gestured at the chairs. "Sit down…"
Alice couldn't, but she started to peel a tangerine.
Kara leaned in to argue emphatically. "I mean, if I found out you were going to going to jail, I would've said 'sure.' But this? How are you not gay anymore? You've always said it's not a choice."
Jesse sighed buttered his toast vociferously while he tried to explain. "It's not, but we're not always aware of where we are on the spectrum. It can be confusing...and there wasn't as much awareness about bisexuality when I came out in college...so thought I fit in one mold…"
Alice grimaced. "Oh, my God. What am I say to all my friends?"
Kara muttered, "Why are you even thinking about those nerds...'"
Jesse and Sebastian glared at her. "Kara..."
Kara's eyes widened. "How am I in trouble right now?"
Jesse looked contrite. "Look, I'm sorry you had to find out this way and I know it's a shock, but, honestly, it was killing me."
Sebastian watched the tableau unfold in front of him and found his eyes growing wet. He looked down stonily and Alice notices. She hurried over and sat next to him. "Oh, Dad," she said, "You didn't even shave." She was hugging him from the side, kissing the top of his head. He let her, for a second. Then he pushed her away. "It's okay, Princess. I'm not falling apart," he said roughly, with only the slightest waver in his voice. "This is not worth falling apart over."
Alice said reassuringly, "No, it's OK, Papa. It's actually a fall apart kind of a thing."
Kara was surveying the table. She spoke up gently but firmly, pulling Jesse to this feet. "Daddy, we'll come talk to you in a little bit. OK? Please go."
Jesse looked a little hurt, but he complied.
Alice was hugging Sebastian again and his tears were back, though he was very stiff - it was all so fucking humiliating. "Papa, we're gonna get you through this, OK? We're gonna find you people to talk to. People who understand exactly what you're going through."Kara asked skeptically, "There's a group for husbands of husbands who've levelled down from gay to bi in their 40s?"
Sebastian let out a sigh, gently pushing Alice away again, but she kept her arm around him. "Papa, we'll go to Palm Springs for the weekend. We'll...we could play tennis and bring our lacrosse gear and find some soccer goals, and we'll go to the movies and…"
Sebastian spoke woodenly. "No. We don't need to plan. I just need coffee."
Alice looked upset. "Ok, but then what? Papa, what can we do for you?" She started hugging him again.
Sebastian shook his head, feeling like his nerves were deadened. "Nothing, nothing. Seriously, absolutely nothing. Not a single thing."
Kara's pretty mouth was set in a straight line. "How about a Valium?"
"Yes," Sebastian said without hesitation. "Two."
Mikey stopped Alex from pouring yet another glass of juice. "If anyone can deal with this, Dad, it is you. You're always talking about a door closing, or a window closing or opening...or something. The point is, you would say…"
"Courage," Alex finished for him.
Blaine's eyes grew tearful.
Mikey, sang, "I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter...Dancing through the fire..."
Blaine waved for him to stop. "Oh, that's just Katy Perry. She can sing that because she still looks like that."
Alex chimed in, "But you do look like that! I mean, in a guy way. All the girls at my school think you're 'the cutest.'"
Blaine took a moment to be grateful that his boys weren't talking about MILFs and DILFs yet.
Mikey looked at his brother thoughtfully, then turned back to Blaine. "Dad, I know this seems bad, but it will get better. You always say, 'it gets better,' and it really does." His glance landed on his brother. "Like, think about it, Alex, three months ago, his life was a total mess! But if he hadn't hit rock bottom…
Rachel looked at him keenly. "Where did you even learn that term?"
Mike shrugged and went on. "If he hadn't hit rock bottom after he got expelled for taking the bumper off of the principal's car..."
Alex nodded soberly. "I was as low as you could get. But look at me now!"
Mikey said optimistically, "Yes, look at him!"
Blaine looked Alex blankly. "He's on academic probation."
Alex said sweetly, "But I'm OK. Because of you."
Rachel listened glumly.
Blaine stood up, trying to take big breaths and failing. "I've got to get out of here."
Alex looked after him. "Holy crap."
Mikey breathed, "God, look his bowtie is crooked."
Sebastian was in the open front door of his house, a bottle of scotch tucked under one arm as he signed his electronic signature.
The round-faced delivery man smiled as he took his device back. "Thank you so very much. And you have yourself a great day now."
Sebastian gave him a fixed stare. "fuck you."
The delivery man looked shocked. "Wow."
Sebastian shut the door in his face. He opened the box, then brought a wooden chair with a screen printed seat into Jesse's study. He looked at his husband with condescension. "Your Scarlett Johansson chair arrived."
Jesse looked surprised as he stood up, chuckling. "Wow. They said it was going to take six weeks. It took two days. When does that happen?"
Sebastian gave him a dirty look.
Jesse looked uneasy. "It's just Scarlett Johansson is someone Rachel said she might…" He stopped himself. "It's a joke. Between me and Rachel. A private joke."
Sebastian arched a brow at him. "If you make another joke i'll slice off your lips. Slice em clean off." He dumped the chair near the door and opened the bottle of scotch, drinking straight from it as he started to walk around the room. He stopped at the bookcase, picking up a ragged copy of a Cole Porter biography. He skimmed the back cover, where a review and excerpts stated:...the psychological roots of Porter's love songs [for] love he could have but not forever.
"The only thing I really want to do is climb to the top of the bell tower and announce to the piazza that I'm desperately in love," [Porter] wrote to the dancer Boris Kochno, in 1925. "I love you so much that I think only of you—I see only you and I dream only of the moment when we'll be reunited." "Porter had needs he could not satisfy with Linda, not only sexual needs but social ones as well," William McBrien writes of Porter's mature years. "He could not, for instance, discuss the beauty of young males. Nor could he lament to her about living without an intimate companion—a man with whom he might have shared a home."
Sebastian asked Jesse without acrimony, "How many times have you read this?
Jesse bit his lip. "10, 15 times."
Sebastian swallowed, and took a steadying breath. "I'm outta here."
Jesse said lovingly, "Why don't I go?"
Sebastian shook his head and headed toward the door. "No. I've never really liked this house. I'm gonna go to the beach. Or Paris."
"But the kids…"
"Fine. The beach." He turned to go, then at the door he turned back to look at Jesse. "Wait. When people ask me why we got that house with Rachel and Blaine, I tell them what you told me: that it was just an investment to help out Blaine, to give him a decorating project when the kids finished preschool. Rachel discovered it and they couldn't afford in their own, so you wanted to help them Blaine out, plus it was once in a lifetime opportunity to get something oceanfront." He paused, watching Jesse look at the floor. "That's not why, is it?"
Jesse looked guilty.
"Yeah." Sebastian impulsively scooped up the new chair as he headed out the door. "You don't get private jokes. Santana is gonna get this - but until then, if anybody is gonna sit on Scarlett Johansson's face, it's gonna be me. I will fucking smother her."
Blaine entered a liquor store, throwing the door open so loudly that the young clerk looked up and grew wide-eyed. Blaine took up a grocery basket and started dumping Hostess baked goods into it. The clerk watched with trepidation. Blaine moved to the freezer and stood in front of it for a time, until a fellow customer came up to him.
"Excuse me..." the woman said, reaching in front of him to open the freezer door.
Blaine let her, then reached in after her for a Newman's Own Pizza. "Joanne Woodward would never have done it to Paul Newman. Even if Jesse serenaded her with that power-ballad voice of his."
The woman looked at him with a suspicious expression, grabbed her ice cream and left.
"Rude," Blaine said dolefully.
Sebastian was at Whole Foods, in the liquor section. And because god was cruel, he heard an all-too-familiar voice. "Oh! Oh my god! Sebastian!"
Sebastian started to move away but he was blocked in by three other customers in the aisle. He flinched as Trent Nixon came up to him. Trent came in town for work regularly from New York, and of course he was in town today, of all days, and here, of all heres.
"Hello there, you!"
Sebastian looked like a deer in the proverbial headlights. "Hey. Gotta run." He pushed past Trent, his long legs accelerating.
Trent was dumbfounded. "Sebastian!"
Blaine put his basket of Pringles, Ruffles, Oreos, and Famous Amos on the counter in front of the cashier. He ordered firmly, "Give me one of those tequila bottles." The young clerk looked at him questioningly. "The big one. Give me a big one."
The clerk looked at him with trepidation, but complied.
"That's fine," Blaine said grumpily. Then he leaned toward the clerk. "Listen, sir. What brand would you smoke if your wife cheated on you?"
The clerk was deadpan and let an awkward pause pass. "Newports."
Blaine clarified darkly, "For the last 10 years."
"Luckies."
Thirty minutes later, Blaine was recovering from a coughing fit in the backyard of the beach house. He stubbed the cigarette on his plate of cupcakes and poured the tequila onto the bowl of ice cream in front of him, shuddering after a spoonful.
When he went to put the ice cream away, he noticed a brown paper bag in the door of the freezer marked "Serenity Tea." After he had made it, he brought it into the living room, where he opened the leather journal next to him and began to write.
I bought this journal to document this summer. Rachel and I were going to go to China to see the Beijing Opera and the biggest Buddhist temple in the world I was going to find insight and inner peace for the next chapter of my life, now that my boys don't need me as much. I was going to find inspiration for performing and maybe even writing music, for tranquility for the new challenge of juggling the demands of working parent life. I'm so grateful to Sam for introducing me to yoga, it has kept me sane over the years. The temple in China has a two-day silent retreat of meditation and breathwork. You cleanse with only tea leaf rice wraps, tamari seaweed, and ginseng acai ginkoba tea cleanse.
Not speaking encourages acknowledgment of thoughts before letting them go, an opportunity for mindfulness of body, mind, spirit. Yoga at the retreat opens you up to this experience.
Now I will have to take my boys alone, and even before China I need my meditation and yoga practice more than ever to help me find my way. And tea, too. I found some!
He pushed back from the kitchen island to get a mug, pouring tea into it. He took a sip and yelped, shuddered. "Ugh!" He picked up his phone and opened his reminders app.
To-Do:
Sebastian walked in to find Blaine laying on the floor in a twisted position, folded in half over a large bolster pillow, taking noisy Darth Vader-like inhales and chanting exhales."Hhhooghh… Ohhhmmmm….Hhhooghhhh...Ohhhmmmm….Hhhooghhhh...Ohhhmmmm…."
Sebastian came in with his arms crossed, looking irritated: "What are you doing here?" he called from across the foyer and living room to where Blaine was at the open glass doors.
Blaine sat up and grumbled a little drunkenly, "You mean in my house?"
Sebastian arched an eyebrow at him. "This is my house, too. And you don't want to hang around me, not when I'm like this. You need to get out. I'm pretty sure even Berry will tell you the same. When Jesse told me we were going in on this place together, I told him we could not be here at the same time with you."
Blaine grew defensive. "Oh, really? Because I had Rachel actually write that into the contract."
Sebastian's eyes narrowed at him in disbelief. "No, you didn't."
Blaine glanced to one side, annoyed. "No, I didn't. But you were being a jerk. So I was being one back. I can be a jerk, too."
Sebastian rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, "Sure, Teenage Dream." He grew impatient. "I'll give you 500 bucks to leave. Go check into a hotel or something."
Blaine crossed his arms defiantly. "No."
"Come on, leave me alone, go talk about your feelings with one of your fifty thousand Facebook friends," Sebastian spat out in frustration. "You'll be fine. I need the space."
Blaine scowled and bit back. "You have no idea if I'll be fine. I lost my best friend. You don't even like Jesse."
Sebastian drew himself still straighter, his large green eyes growing a little glassy. "Huh, turns out you can be a jerk." He added fiercely but not without a tiny waver in his voice, "You don't know us, so you can shut the fuck up."
Blaine stared at him - he'd never seen Sebastian sounding like that. He looked contrite. "I'm sorry. That was wrong of me."
Sebastian arched an eyebrow. "Yes, it was. Now for the love of god, just go."
Blaine looked torn, but after a moment he spoke up with strength that Sebastian had to admit (to himself) that he admired. The hazel eyes looked determined. "You know what?" Blaine put his canvas shoes on. "I AM gonna go."
Sebastian looked relieved, though he was off put at the sight of cloth shoes.
"I will be back tomorrow," Blaine narrated, walking by Sebastian to get his jacket off the hook by the door. "Hopefully by then, I will have found some equanimity and I'll like you better."
Sebastian needed a drink.
Blaine saw his expression and chided, "Yoga and meditation can heal anything, Sebastian. Bless Sam for introducing yoga to me. Yoga taught me about meditation. I'm gonna go. But I will be back tomorrow. There's ice cream in the fridge."
Sebastian decided to take what he could get. He walked over to the bar. When he turned around, Blaine was gone.
Jesse was at a restaurant when his phone rang. He took a deep breath when he saw who it was. "Hello."
"Hello," Sebastian said wryly, between steady drinks of scotch. "So I get to the beach and who do I find wheezing and stretching his way to Ultimate Yoga Noise Pollution?"
Jesse wrinkled his nose. "I'm guessing Blaine."
Rachel appeared behind Jesse, coming around him to place a sandwich platter in front of him. "They didn't have turkey," she said.
Sebastian asked, "What was that?" After a brief moment he concluded caustically, "That was Berry."
Jesse stood up from the table, shaking his head. "No, no. I'm having a bite in a noisy place. So, what's up, Sebastian?"
Sebastian put his glass down. "I'm going to have this house, Jesse. You are going to talk to Secondhand Streisand and get me the other half. You owe me this. Consider it your apology gift to me. You know, the gift that says, "I've been bonking annoying vagina like a traitor for 10 years." He picked up a potato chip out of the bowl next time. "By the way, your vagina's husband's infested this place with carbs! I thought the one upside to this whole mess was that I'd never have to spend another moment of my life with Blaine Freaking Anderson. Which is another reason why you are going to get me this house."
"Husband?" Jesse asked.
Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Gay Husband - duh, obviously the reason why Rachel is marrying you is because she couldn't get Blaine to get it up. I've been telling people for years that it was all a sham - it happened so fast after Pig Faced Gay Face divorced him. Keep up, Pet."
"She really loved him, Sebastian." Jesse said quietly. " Loves him," he corrected himself, glancing to one side with a little unease.
"Whatever. I want him out of here TODAY. You are gonna tell Gidget the Midget this house is mine, because that's what I'm telling him when he gets back from whatever zen bullshit he is up to right now. Call me when it's done, Jesse."
Jesse knew from years of command-and-control conversations that Sebastian had hung up. He looked resigned as he put his phone in his pocket. He came back to the table and looked expectantly at Rachel, who was eating her salad. "You really don't need to feel so guilty," he said as he sat down.
Rachel looked up, a little dismayed that she had been read so easily. "Of course I'm feeling extremely guilty. I devastated someone I love very much." She leaned toward Jesse, her dark hair making a shiny curtain. "And you know what makes it even worse?"
"What?"
"I'm so happy." she said, looking a bit confused.
Jesse chuckled.
"Don't you feel even a little guilty?" she sighed.
"No," Jesse said simply.
"It must be my Judaism."
"I'm done feeling guilty for who I am," Jesse said, taking her hand across the table and pulling her in for a sweet kiss. "It's not a sin to love a woman!"
"Who says that?" Rachel said, furrowing her brow.
"The gay table at Ariana Grande's wedding."
Rachel stuck out her lip sympathetically and Jesse kissed her again.
At sunset Blaine was on the beach, tumbling down from a downward dog position. "Ooof!" he crashed down on a blanket in front of a fire, next to the partially empty box of wine and more junk food from the liquor store. He stood up unsteadily, bending backwards ill-advisedly until he fell again, but this time with a yelp of pain. "Oh! Ah! Oh, no!"
Sebastian was curled up in a fetal position on the sofa, a half empty bottle of scotch next to him on the coffee table. His phone rang and he ignored it. Blaine called again, 4 times. Sebastian finally reluctantly answered. "What."
Blaine's voice was slurred. "Don't hang up!"
Another groan. "What do you want?"
"My Skeglaggin"
"That's not a word."
"Ugh, why can't I talk?"
Sebastian rolled his eyes and spoke, own voice heavy with alcohol. "My guess is wine coolers or some other girly drink."
"I need my Sexglakkin. Damns it! Ske-flax-in. My back pills!" He sighed and babble desperately, "I messed up my back when Kurt was divorcing me and it comes back sometimes when I'm stressed. I can't move."
Sebastian groaned, then slowly stood up. "Where is it?" he asked grouchily.
"In the living room in the basket with my extra mats and blocks." Blaine groaned. "Ugh, I shouldn't have done that backbend so fast. Or so drunk."
Sebastian shook his head as he padded over to the basket. "Totally not worth it if you're not doing it for sex."
Blaine grunted. "Ugh, hurry!"
Sebastian pocketed the pill bottle. "OK, where are you, you idiot?"
Blaine slurred, "I'm trying to remember. I've had a lot of wine and I've been here a longggg time. I think the desert. But there's water here."
Sebastian scowled. "You mean the beach?"
Blaine's eyes widened. "Am I? I love the beach!"
Sebastian's arms were crossed as he approached the fire. "You have to sell me the beach house. You could just live here ," he said dryly, tossing the drugs at him.
Blaine looked up gratefully but somberly. "Thank you, I'm sorry that you came all the way out here, but I just remembered I can't take them because I've been drinking. So I just did some yoga breathwork and drank some of the tequila, and that helped my back more. Except that I feel very wavy."
Sebastian looked down at him. "Well if you're not gonna take them…" He held the pill bottle up in the moonlight to look at the label. "What are they?"
"Muscle relaxers," Blaine said, smiling beatifically.
"That might do the trick." Sebastian uncrossed his arms and sat down next to him. He grabbed Blaine's plastic bottle out of his hand, drank it down with some of the pills and shuddered violently. "Ugh! Hell, what is that, is it juice from a rotten asscheek?"
"It's wine. It came in the nice box and it was so reasonably priced..."
Blaine was staring into the night, and it was clear the alcohol was wearing off.
Sebastian looked around him and let out a gigantic sigh of frustration. "I'm sitting on a beach next to a basket of twinkies after drinking white trash wine. New low. I just finished a $400 bottle of scotch, and you managed to ruin it."
"You're welcome," Blaine replied distractedly.
Sebastian threw an arm over his eyes and laid back on the sand, his long legs splayed out randomly. "Fuckkkkkkkkk! What the hell, this is not what was supposed to happen!"
Blaine was now sitting up in a cross-legged yoga posture, his hands in prayer position. He said seriously, "Just let it all out."
Sebastian sat bolt upright. "This is why I hate being around you, you and your touchy feely bullshit, 'Everybody should follow their heart' crap and 'everybody will be just fine!' Well, everybody's NOT fine!"
Blaine said gravely, "It's your journey."
"Oh, shut up. Shut the fuck up. And you wonder why Rachel left you…"
Blaine's eyebrows raised and his hands dropped to his lap. He didn't raise his voice exactly, but his tone had some heat to it. "Oh, now you're going to blame me? Why don't you take responsibility for your own life?"
Sebastian's voice grew angrier. "I'm NOT responsible for this." He looked out at the moonlit ocean. "I did everything right. I was with him for over 20 years, I was never even going to EVER do that! But I did it because of him. I even fucking adopted children with him! I didn't know if I even wanted kids! But I did it because of him! I changed their disgusting diapers! I let him send his goddamned Christmas card photos, I didn't kiss other guys on the mouth! I played by all the rules! All while he's breaking them! There is no way he hasn't kissed her! HER! This is such bullshit!"
Blaine was looking pained but kept his reactions silent. He put his hands back in prayer position. "That's actually good, Sebastian. Acknowledge your anger and then let them go. Don't dwell in them, feel them in your whole body, then you'll be able to let them go."
Sebastian turned fiercely back to him. "Why aren't you angry?!"
"Because that's not me. That's you."
"She ruined your life! Humiliated you!"
"That's not why she did it, it's just the way she is. She probably took a long time to trust Jesse."
"She lied about everything!"
"She didn't know how to handle it."
"She abandoned you while your kids are still in school. Your kids are going to have to live in two different houses. You know you're going to end up doing EVERYTHING for the kids, right? Aren't you even angry about that?"
Blaine looked stirred up. "No."
Sebastian was truly baffled. "Why not?"
Blaine paused for a long moment. Then he finally quietly let out a forlorn, shaking sob, his posture finally bowing. "Because I'm heartbroken. " Tears were streaming down his face.
Sebastian stared at him, looking uncomfortable. His chest tightened at the sight of Blaine's sorrowful face, shiny tears dropping off of the long lashes. Jesse was the one who normally dealt with people crying. He looked around a little wildly, perking up at the sight of the bottle of tequila. He reached for it and opened it, shoved it in Blaine's hand.
Blaine was sniffing and sitting more upright again as Sebastian saying determinedly, "Don't dwell, you just said that. We're not going to let tonight turn into a bawling session." The tears were still flowing so he groped for more to say. "We're Dalton Boys, remember? We don't take shit laying down."
Blaine quieted, sipping the tequila, tears still dripping down his cheeks.
Sebastian was digging into his back pocket. "Here, this should help you more than booze can," he said, reaching over to the fire for a light.
Blaine watched him, wiping his eyes. "Cigarettes?"
"Better."
A half hour later, Blaine bouncing on his toes and sashaying around the fire, babbling happily as took drags on his joint. High!Blaine was way less annoying than regular Blaine, or maybe High!Sebastian was just more tolerant. Blaine just looked so funny. He looked so different then his bow-tied, slicked-down, buttoned up self. His careful coif was windblown, his shirtsleeves and jeans were rolled up.
"If my brother could see me now! You never met my brother!" Blaine crowed. "You weren't at my wedding, right? Either of my weddings? My brother always told me that my body was a temple but I think there's something like a cleansing smoke and this must be it because I feel so free you know?" He paused and stared at Sebastian for a moment. "I don't think you're as high as I am."
"I think it hits you faster 'cause you're smaller than me." Sebastian's smile was wider than Blaine had ever seen it. "And I have some tolerance, I take a hit before I workout a couple times a week." He took another drag.
Blaine furrowed his brow at him.
Sebastian's answer tumbled out of him as he put his joint aside and did a slow backbend to the sand. "Reduces cortisol, improves sleep...means I work out harder...get more muscle, lose more weight" Sebastian nodded at him with a simple smile on his face before he crashed down on the sand.
"THAT'S GENIUS!" Blaine said with wonderment, his hazel eyes wide as he tried unsuccessfully to do a backbend like Sebastian had, "I've gotta remember to try that!" he guffawed as he hit the ground.
Sebastian chuckled too heartily as he groped to take long hits. "One, you don't need to lose weight, especially in your ass; and two, MJ screws with your short term memory." His tongue clicked repeatedly as he stared up at the stars. "You probably won't remember anything about this stupid night...this stupid, stupid night, the night that we both got dumped. The two of US...who woulda thought?" He took another drag." You were somethin,' once, Blaine Anderson, you were the star of the Warblers, a legend waiting to happen! I AM still somethin'! Dumped. FOR VAGINA! Ain't that some shit!" He started laughing again and it morphed into that delighted Blaine immediately. Sebastian gestured for him to take lead, and he sang all the back-up acapella he could manage with the shit-eating grin that was spread all over his face, his hips swinging as he danced too, his hair as spiked as Blaine's was spiraling:
[Sebastian] Doo doo
[Blaine] Hey
[Sebastian] Do doo doo
[Blaine] Oh no no
[Sebastian] Do doo doo
[Blaine] I see you driving 'round town
With the girl I love and I'm like,
Forget you!
[Sebastian] Oo, oo, ooo
[Blaine] I guess the change in my pocket
Wasn't enough I'm like,
Forget you!
And forget her too!
Said, if I was straighter, I'd still be with ya
Ha, now ain't that some shit?
[Sebastian] Ain't that some shit?
[Blaine] And although there's pain in my chest
I still wish you the best with a
Forget you!
[Sebastian] Oo, oo, ooo
[Blaine] Yeah I'm sorry, I can't always you a Starry,
But that don't mean I can't help you there.
I guess he's an Xbox and I'm more Atari,
But the way you play your game ain't fair.
I pity the fool that falls in love with you
[Sebastian] Oh shit she's a gold digger
[Blaine] Just thought you should know nigga)
Ooooooh
I've got some news for you
Yeah go run and tell your little boyfriend
I see you driving 'round town
With the girl I love and I'm like,
Forget you!
[Sebastian] Oo, oo, ooo
[Blaine] I guess the change in my pocket
Wasn't enough I'm like,
Forget you!
And forget her too!
Said, if I was straighter , I'd still be with ya
Ha, now ain't that some shit?
[Sebastian] Ain't that some shit?)
[Blaine] And although there's pain in my chest
I still wish you the best with a
Forget you!
They didn't know how late it had gotten or how many songs they had sung, or how many joints they'd smoked, but eventually they collapsed, laughing, on opposite sides of the fire. Sebastian was floating away on happy thoughts, the stars swirling above him, when he heard a "ding." He looked over and saw Blaine lying on his stomach, propped up on his elbows, turning up the volume of a on his phone. "It's time to come alive, Sebastian…" he said in a eerie tone.
[Ding]
Sebastian started to chuckle low and sexy. Blaine was rising, raising up like a beautiful phoenix. This was why Sebastian had fixated so hard on Blaine when they had first met in high school. Blaine was so freaking pretty.
[Ding]
He looked majestic…. "You're like...a dragon, Blaine Warbler..." he said, loving his MJ buzz.
[Ding]
Blaine nodded his head, grinning like an idiot and slowly standing as if in a trance, his voice cutting through the night in a dramatic alto:
[Ding]
[Blaine] You stumble through your days
Got your head hung low
[Ding]
Your sky's a shade of grey
Like a zombie [Ding] in a maze
You're asleep inside
Ding
But you can shake away
'Cause you're just a dead man walking
Sebastian began to snap his fingers, and they circled the fire, staring across it at each other again, grinning with their doped up smiles.
Thinking that's your only option
But you can flip the switch and brighten up your darkest day
Sun is up and the color's blinding
Take the world and redefine it
Leave behind your narrow mind
You'll never be the same
Sebastian came around and took Blaine by the waist and drew him into a tango.
Come alive, come alive
Go and ride your light
Let it burn so bright
Reaching up
To the sky
And it's open wide
You're electrified
And you're more than you could ever be
'Cause you're dreaming with your eyes wide open
And you know you can't go back again
To the world that you were living in
'Cause you're dreaming with your eyes wide open
So, come alive!
The fled the fire and ran down the beach, singing and dancing like wild men.
When the world becomes a fantasy
I see it in your eyes
You believe that lie
That you need to hide your face
Afraid to step outside
So you lock the door
But don't you stay that way
[Sebastian] No more living in those shadows
You and me we know how that goes
[Blaine] 'Cause once you see it, oh you'll never, never be the same
[Both] We'll be the light that's shining
Bottle up and keep on trying
You can prove there's more to you
[Blaine] You cannot be afraid
[Both] Come alive, come alive
Go and ride your light
Let it burn so bright
Reaching up
To the sky
And it's open wide
You're electrified
When the world becomes a fantasy
And you're more than you could ever be
'Cause you're dreaming with your eyes wide open
And we know we can't be go back again
To the world that we were living in
'Cause we're dreaming with our eyes wide open
So, come alive!
Come one!
Come all!
Come in!
Come on!
[Sebastian] To anyone who's bursting with a dream
Come one!
Come all!
You hear
The call
[Blaine] To anyone who's searching for a way to break free
Break free!
Break free!
When the world becomes a fantasy
And you're more than you could ever be
'Cause you're dreaming with your eyes wide open
And we know we can't be go back again
To the world that we were living in
'Cause we're dreaming with our eyes wide open
(Hey!)
The next morning they were still on the beach, Sebastian was lying face down, one cheek on his hand, making grunting noises at the rustling at the sound of the birds and ocean waking them.
Blaine glanced over at him and then out in the distance. "See those two birds?"
"Can't really see anything right now." Sebastian said, squinting and hauling himself up to sit next to Blaine.
Blaine pointed. "Over there. They look like they really love each other, don't they?"
Sebastian shook his head, shaking sand off of himself. "You're reading into it. Do birds mate for life?"
Blaine said bitterly, "No one does. Whichever one of you is the gentleman bird don't trust her! She'll break you in two and leave you crumbled in the dirt! Save yourself! Fly away! Fly away!"
Sebastian nodded. "They can't say you didn't warn 'em, killer."
Blaine took a deep breath and said thoughtfully, "I think I am a little angry."
Sebastian looked a little relieved. "You are?"
Blaine nodded. "Yeah, at myself. I mean, there were times...and I just thought….. I guess I should've known something wasn't…. But I couldn't. I ignored it."
Sebastian spoke up quietly. "I walked into Jesse's study yesterday, and looked at him in there, really looked at him, for the first time in I don't know how many years." His voice grew more tragic than Blaine had ever heard it. "It was right there, in front of my face the whole time. Where was I? I missed it." He laid back down on his back looked down at him and took his hand. "Let's go back."
"Nope. Horizontal is good."
"You can do it." Blaine said, pulling at him. "We'll get pastries.""Fine."
Sebastian groaned and they stumbled their way back to the beach house, leaving the tequila, the box of wine, and the twinkies for the birds.
"Wow, I must have half the beach in my shoes."
"If you ever wore socks, it wouldn't be so bad."
An hour later, they brought mugs of tea and coffee out and brought chairs to the large glass accordion doors to overlook the water. They were both a bit morose-looking again.
Blaine reached over to get his mug and realized that it had a picture of Rachel on it. It had been sent to her by a fan. He stood up and went over to a drawer, came back with a Sharpie marker, and drew a mustache on his wife's face.
He and Sebastian laughed together.
"Are we still high?"
"Probably not. But maybe still drunk." Sebastian smirked. "Do you think if I pee on Scarlett Johansson it would make us feel better?" They laughed harder.
There was a long pause until their expressions settled into unease.
"Now what?"