A week later Sebastian and Blaine were sitting dejectedly in their bathrobes at the beach house's round dining table. Blaine's phone rang over and over, making Sebastian scowl at the photo of Rachel's smiling face that showed on the screen.

Blaine hit "ignore," and glanced over at Sebastian with a sigh. "It's hard to breathe, isn't it?"

Sebastian didn't look at him, just continued to stare straight ahead, posture slumped. He said woodenly, "Maybe I'll shave."

"Why?"

Sebastian shrugged, his face blank. "It's something to do."

Blaine lay his head down on the table and he looked like a basset hound puppy. "I don't feel like a person."

"Maybe I'll go back to bed." Sebastian looked over at the staircase, looking a little like an oversized puppy now, too.

Blaine's voice was half muffled by the hand his face was resting on. "I wish I could go back to bed. All I can do is slink under this table. Or maybe I can crawl in a hole. Maybe some tourist kids have dug a hole to play in out on the beach. I'd like to crawl into one of those for about a month."

Sebastian wasn't listening. He muttered to himself, " I don't know what to do..."

Blaine's voice was still muffled, but it had a calm tone that soothed Sebastian's humiliation a little: "Breathe."

Sebastian took in a deep breath.

Jesse let out a deep breath. He looked up from his bed to the ceiling with tired relief. "This is the first time in 10 years I feel like I could breathe."

Rachel kicked off her shoes and snuggled up next to him, saying with happy disbelief, "I can't believe I can climb out on the roof and shout out, "I am in love with Jesse St. James and he loves me, too! I wasn't just an experiment in high school, he's bisexual! He really is!"

Jesse wrinkled his brow as he gave her an amused little smile. "No climbing on the roof, it would end up on YouTube so fast. Then Sebastian would come murder us even faster."

Rachel laughed, then looked a little worried.

...

Blaine had managed to get dressed into cropped, slim cut khakis and a soft, fitted polo shirt. He had moved into the converted study, where his yoga mat, lavender candles and Bose sound system created his meditation/flow environment. Laying on his back, he scrolled through ITunes to find his "Let It Out" playlist. He ignored his phone when it started to ring again, not wanting to lose his place.

Sebastian had indeed shaved and showered, gotten dressed in a Burberry henley shirt and chinos, and was laying on the couch with one long arm thrown over his eyes. "She's gonna keep calling."

"I'm gonna keep not answering," Blaine said with a haughty expression. "It's not as satisfying as hanging up on her would be, but I want to save that for when she calls the landline, so I can bang the phone and hurt her cute little ears." He began to sing dramatically, still flat on his back from the yoga mat. "My HEAD, is saying, FOOL FORGET HER... my heart is saying. DON'T LET GOOOOO…."

"Really, you're recycling your break-up songs?" Sebastian rubbed his temples and walked upstairs to change clothes again - just have something else to do.

When he came back down he found Blaine on the patio, standing on the teak dining table, making really dramatic faces as he sang:

"Oh, take a look at me NOW,

Well, there's just an EMPTY space

And you coming BACK to me

is against the odds and that's what I've got to face!"

Sebastian knocked his head against a wall.

The doorbell rang and the phone rang. Sebastian's brow furrowed. "What the hell? No. Don't answer it."

Blaine picked up the landline phone. "Who is it?"

Sebastian ordered in an urgent whisper, "Whoever it is, don't let them in."

Tina said over the phone, "It's us, honey. Me and Sam."

Sam could be heard, a little muffled. "Tina is the one who decided to drop in without warning you. She made me come."

Blaine broke into a wan smile.

Tina continued with kindness, "We're here just to give you a hug and make sure you're okay."

Sebastian waved his hands like a police officer stopping traffic. "Not okay! Not okay!.

Blaine's hand still covered his heart with in a grateful gesture as he said into the phone, "Can you hold on a second? I'll be right with you." He turned to Sebastian with irritation. "What is your problem?!"

"What are they doing here?"

"They dropped by to see me!"

Sebastian's was baffled and annoyed. "Who drops by? You call. You make a plan. You set it up weeks in advance and then you cancel three times. Shouldn't they leave you alone and give you some space out of respect for our situation? How do they not see that that's what we need right now?"

Blaine looked at Sebastian with some exasperation. "That's not what we need right now! What we need right now is friends." He pressed a button on the phone to buzz the automated gate open.

He looked up for a response but Sebastian was gone. Blaine shook his head and headed for the door.

Sebastian was in the closet calling Alice.

Alice picked up the phone while carrying a wet towel to a little girl. "Hey, Papa. How are you?" she asked distractedly.

Sebastian's brow furrowed. "Oh, I don't know, but…"

Alice called out, "Madison! No! Don't don't touch that. The box clearly states ages six and over. Sorry, I'm babysitting, remember? Go ahead, Papa. Sorry."

Sebastian shook his head and sighed. "You have GOT to help me get this curly haired singing-yoga-hobbit out of here. There are PEOPLE in my house. They're here to see Blaine...His friends thought it was okay to just DROP BY! And not even like, Warbler friends, public school ones! The one with the lips and Rachel's agent, the huffy Asian one." He peeked out of the closet and tiptoed out and across a walkway.

Alice looked surprised. "Wait, Uncle Blaine is still there? How are you guys..."

Sebastian nodded violently. "I know, right?!"

Sam opened the front door and poked his head inside. "Blaine!"

Tina called from behind Sam. "Blainey-days?"

Blaine approached them, teary eyed, his voice solemn. "I appreciate you coming, guys."

Sam's nose wrinkled. "Oh man, you look like crap."

Tina swatted at Sam. She wanted to contradict him but when she looked at Blaine she just couldn't. "Ugh, you do zlook terrible, honey. Yikes."

Blaine said tiredly, stumbling over his words, "Thank you for coming...I...It's just, I feel…It's hard."

Tina nodded supportively, "Yes."

Blaine sighed and mumbled on, "And everybody tries to...But it doesn't work. Because there...It's...I know that...but...and it's so...and…" He finally finished lamely, "I'm so tired."

Tina said compassionately, "Well, you just lean on us today."

Sam put his arms around Blaine and pulled him close. "Yes, like I leaned on you when Tina broke up my relationship with Jillian."

Tina shook her head, "Well, I'm pretty sure she stole the silverware out of my house."

Sam patted Blaine's head, which was leaning on his chest. "She did not. Well if she did, it wasn't actual silver. Just that shiny stuff from like, Crate and Barrel." He looked at Blaine keenly. "Now, do you want to vent, you want to sing, you want to make puppets, or do you wanna get revenge? Maybe we can make new Nightbird and Chameleon suits. Or broga. Broga?!"

Blaine wasn't paying attention. He looked faraway before he turned to them slowly. "Who told you I was here?"

"Rachel told us," Tina replied.

"She's just worried about you," Sam said earnestly.

Blaine looked jaded. "Such a humanitarian. I can't wait to see her in her next fake charitable thing. Maybe she'll revive "Broadway Bitches" for her own purposes again."

Sebastian was pacing in the kitchen. "I've got to get him out of here."

Alice hugged the 2 year old in her lap. "Well, maybe he just needs a little nudge."

"That's what Kara said."

"Kara actually talked to you about this? No way."

Sebastian shrugged. "Texted. And I don't even think it was meant for me. It started with "'Sup, bee-yotch?' I wrote back, 'Wrong bee-yotch."

Alice chuckled. "Ha! Good one, Papa. Wait, did you punish her? Please tell me you remembered to punish her, because it's only fair..."

"Yes, yes…"

Blaine's voice could be heard down the hallway. "Sebastian?"

Sebastian looked panicked. "Crap. They're coming. I gotta go hide. Bye." He ducked behind the kitchen island.

Blaine called as he, Tina, and Sam walked in, "Sebastian! Come say hello."

"We can see you," Sam said with amusement, on his tiptoes to see over and around the island.

Sebastian opened the cabinet on the island and bumped his head as he stood up with a pot. "Hey," he said, attempting cool.

"He can't cook," Blaine said, shaking his head. "But he needs friends."

Tina said with a polite smile, "Hi, Sebastian. Sam and I want to take you guys to lunch."

Sebastian shook his head and said evenly, "Oh, no, thanks."

Sam's smile was friendly. "You have to eat."

"No." Sebastian was deadpan.

Blaine's mouth twisted to one side in puzzlement. "It's true, actually, he doesn't really eat. It's a mystery."

Tina was persistent. "Come on, go with us - I can help you. Have you gotten a lawyer yet? Because I know every divorce lawyer in the state."

Sam added, "'Cause she's used most of them."

Tina was scrolling through her contacts on her phone at the nearby restaurant. "Nope." She scrolled more and stopped. "Uh-uh." She scrolled further. "Oh, here's the one for you: Victoria Bates-Ainsworth."

Sebastian looked past Tina out at the blue skies. His voice was shrewd as he turned to look at the table. "Sounds English. Jesse's always been afraid of English women. His mother is English. Bates-Ainsworth..."

"Aaand now I'm picturing Norman Bates' mom," Sam said with a shudder.

"Not far from it." Sebastian replied sourly.

Tina smiled and gestured emphatically. "Well, that's good, because Victoria is THE best. She will have Jesse's lawyer crying in the parking lot in his car."

Sebastian nodded. "Then let's call her first, then." He paused when the waiter moved to clear his martini. He batted the young man's hand away and sucked down the rest of the large glass, handing over his black card as he did.

Tina and Sam objected. "No, no, no, we're supposed to be taking you."

"It's on us."

Sebastian shook his head and waved the waiter away, black card pressed firmly in his palm. "Please. You have no money," he said, looking at Sam. "And Jesse hasn't robbed me blind with alimony yet."

They sat in a fairly comfortable silence for a few moments before Blaine spoke up. "You work with Jesse. Did you guys know he wasn't gay?"

Tina replied unequivocally, "No."

Sebastian studied her, wondering if she was lying. He wondered if everyone knew. Everyone but him.

Tina took Blaine's hand from across the table. "I was shocked. I swear." She looked over to try to reassure Sebastian, but he avoided her eyes.

Blaine looked to Sam, who shrugged and said, "After all these years with you and Tina, I think everyone is gay."

Tina said sincerely, "Nobody knew about them. We all thought you and Rachel were the perfect couple."

Blaine winced at the word "perfect," and the sound of his phone ringing again agitated him more. "Stop calling!" he muttered.

The waiter returned. "Sir. Your credit card was declined."

Sebastian looked at him like he'd grown three heads. "What are you talking about? Do you even know who I am?"

Tina gently put her hand on Sebastian's, her brown eyes suddenly knowing. "It's…" she paused and let go of his in the face of Sebastian's irritated expression.

Irritation gave way to disbelief, and Sebastian stared across the the room and out the window. "Oh, damn...that bastard." He turned to Blaine. "Try yours," he commanded.

Blaine was confused. "What?"

️️

Tina gave Sam a knowing look, but Sam looked as confused as Blaine.

Sebastian took the bill from the waiter and opened it in front of Blaine. "Here. Give him your credit card."

"But our friends are taking us to lunch…let them do it, they want to..."

Sebastian stuck his hand inside of the front of Blaine's blazer.

Blaine yelped, "Sebastian!

"Hey," Sebastian said to the waiter, pulling out a credit card from Blaine's wallet and handing it over with the bill. "You certainly didn't let your pecs go," he said absently to Blaine.

Blaine crossed his arms over his chest and gave Sebastian a baffled look. "What is wrong with you, why can't you let Tina and Sam pay?"

Sebastian looked at Tina with a knowing glance and then gave Blaine a shrewd look. "Jesse cut off my credit card. He's paid our bills from the start, the control freak didn't trust my bookkeeper." He took a long drink from his martini, his face still half in the glass as his long arm grabbed a passing waiter. "I'm switching to your most expensive scotch. Keep it coming," he ordered.

Blaine looked at him with confusion. "Why would he cut off...?"

Tina patted Blaine's forearm. "That way you can't make a big purchase until the assets are split up. Like a... 'screw-you-Lexus.'"

Sebastian took a deep breath, looking disgusted. "Or a fuck-you lunch, apparently," he said, rolling his eyes.

Sam's eyes were wide and indignant. "Dude, seriously? I can't believe Jesse would do that to him, that sucks!"

Blaine shook his head. "Rachel wouldn't do that to me."

"I shouldn't have done that to him." Rachel gripped her phone tightly as she started to pace Jesse's office. I never should have let you convince me to do this."

"Rachel, we didn't do anything wrong. We just did what our lawyer told us to do. She said everyone does it, especially with parties like Blaine who have a history… And you saw how angry Sebastian was, when he's emotional he can really do damage, believe me, I know!"

"We aren't "everyone." I should have warned him." She was quiet for a moment. "We talk about everything. That's how we do things…" Her brow furrowed. "Did things." She winced as she corrected herself again, "Do things."

Jesse shrugged. "You tried calling him. How can he expect you to tell him something if he won't answer your calls? That's not fair."

Rachel put her face in her hands. "I feel terrible."

Jesse stood up and put his arm around her. "So which is better - terrible with me, or terrible without?"

Rachel looked at him with a bittersweet expression. "Terrible with."

Jesse kissed the top of her had. "Then trust me."

The waiter had just returned to the table "Uh, this one isn't good either."

Blaine shook his head with disbelief. "That little..."

"Bitch. You can say it," Sam said, still looking perturbed. "That little bitch…"

"Which one?" Sebastian said darkly.

Tina gave her card to the now uncomfortable looking waiter. "Here, take my card. Thank you very much." She turned back to Blaine and Sebastian. "So, Jesse and Rachel are moving fast. Are they living together yet?"

Blaine shook his head, "No. Rachel's very old-fashioned."

Sebastian arched an eyebrow. "Santana said she popped her Berrycherry at 17 with Hudson, hmm, that's very old-fashioned."

Blaine gave him a chiding look. "I really don't think YOU can judge, when did you tell me you lost your virginity?"

"I'm not judging her! I'm just saying you can't call her old fashioned."

Tina gave them both pointed looks. "Hey Warblers, focus. You need to get in your homes. Take possession. That way, they cannot kick you out if you're in there."

Sebastian shook his head, glancing at Tina. "I don't want my home. It was always more his than mine, he decorated the hell out of it. Our guest bath has an Amazing Technicolor shower curtain. I'll go to the beach house, that was always more me." He grimaced at his continued train of thought. "He used to go to the girls' Disney Princess bedroom tent to relax. Seriously, can any of you blame me for thinking he was super, fucking, duper gay?!"

Blaine was putting his credit card back in his wallet, still looking a bit stunned. "I love my house. Our boys have been there since they were babies. Everything good that ever happened to me happened in that house."

Sebastian looked suddenly optimistic. "You should go there." He turned to Tina. "Right, Tina?

"Yes," Tina nodded.

Sebastian continued with conviction. "You should go live there. Tina says! And she's been divorced 8 times."

"Three." Tina corrected him.

Sebastian reached over and squeezed Blaine's arm. "Go take your house. Yes. Come on, go get it!"

Blaine nodded, with growing engagement. "Yes!"

"Right now! Come on!" Sebastian dragged Blaine to his feet.

"I haven't finished my pasta!"

"Carbs are never the answer, Killer."

...

Jesse rented his office from Santana, who owned a suite of offices where she worked as a music producer. In the shared conference room, she looked at Rachel and Jesse with disbelief. "You cut off their credit cards?!"

Rachel looked ashamed. "I know. We're terrible. He's going to see it as a hostile act."

Santana rolled her eyes. "That's because it IS a hostile act."

Jesse looked uncertain. "Maybe him not calling you back is a hostile act. Or worse, a tactic. To keep you from moving forward with the divorce."

Rachel said stoutly, "He's not that devious."

Santana, tapped her long fingernails on the table. "No, but right about now, he's gonna be pretty pissed."

Jesse said reasonably, "Santana, the only reason we did this is because Blaine has a history of impulsive spending."

Santana gave him a warning look. "Don't you talk crap about him. I'm not taking sides."

Jesse raised his hands in the air in innocence. "It's not a judgment. Some people are just... emotional purchasers."

Rachel was looking away to remember, "I guess so...but nothing big..."

Jesse's eyebrows lifted. "When Alex was suspended he bought a ten thousand dollar baby grand piano. And when Mikey went to sleepaway camp for the first time, what was it he got?"

"Depressed. And a tuba." Rachel answered glumly.

Jesse said sensibly, "We just don't want any of that." He turned to Rachel and patted her hand. "As soon as you're able to get in touch with him you'll feel better."

Rachel's phone rang. "Hello?" her voice was quiet and tentative.

"HOW COULD YOU, RACHEL?!" Blaine's voice was loud and choked, and growing more and more indignant. "I'm going to my house. Did you hear that? MY house. And you know what else? I'm going to throw your clothes out on the driveway like Angela Bassett in Waiting to Exhale."

"No, he's not!" Tina called over the phone. "And he's definitely not setting them on fire like in that movie!" She hissed at Blaine, "Do not give her lawyer any ammunition!"

Blaine pouted. "Fine. But at least I'm going to…" he slammed his phone down on the table a few times.

Rachel jerked the phone away from her ear at the noise. "Blaine?" she shouted into the phone

"I'M HANGING UP ON YOU!"

...

Sebastian headed out of the restaurant before the others, stepping to one side to call Alice.

"Hi Papa, are you almost here? Kara said they are actually already done so we can get her anytime."

Sebastian was so laser focused that he didn't hear her at all. "Princess, I need you to do me a favor. Go to the house and bring some of my clothes and things over to Blaine's. ASAP."

Alice looked puzzled as she paused from her science notebook. "You know I can't drive yet, right? I'm still 12."

"Call Paolo."

"Your driver? You always said we couldn't call him." Alice stopped her scrolling on her laptop through the class website. "Wait. You're moving into Uncle Blaine's?"

Sebastian shook his head with disgust. "No, of course not. I'm settling Blaine into his house and then I'm going back to the beach. Alone. Finally. With my stuff. My stuff, that you are gonna move from Paolo's car, to my car. I'm just calling ahead to save time."

Alice bit her lip. "Uh...okay. Now?"

"Yes, now." Sebastian was emphatic.

Alice's eyes widened and she shut the laptop. "Okay. No problem. So we'll just skip fencing today, then. I am totally there for you, Papa." She guzzled from a large Starbucks cup, "Yep...and I am just going to call Jack, and see if Uncle Jeff can pick up Money from the groomers. And... I'll call Mark and tell them we won't be at fencing today. And...I will do my homework in the car. Uh-huh, okay. Go ahead, Papa, give me your list."

"My briefcase, Some clothes - make sure to bring at least...4 suits and dress shirts, and comfortable jeans and running clothes. And my toiletry bag from the left drawer in my bathroom - it's already packed, I always keep it ready to go. And ties. And my glasses, my robe. And my electric toothbrush. And my iPads and Airpods and...cuff links. And my Stanford lacrosse hoodie."

Alice had opened her laptop up and was typing furiously. "Ok, alright, got it, lacrosse hoodie, got it."

"Don't forget socks, underwear, the Alexander Hamilton biography from the study, my slippers. And, your Dad's head on a platter."

"I love you, Papa."

"Thanks, Princess."

Sebastian saw Tina, Sam and Blaine come out of the restaurant. Sam waved at him and Sebastian stage whispered, "bye," and waved a hand at them. "Appreciate the help," he said seriously to Tina.

Tina waved back and then she and Sam hugged Blaine, a tight group hug.

"I love you guys. Bye. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"You can do this, Blaine."

Sebastian was wrapping up with Alice. "That's it for now. Thanks again, Princess. Ok, see you there."

He handed his car keys to Blaine. "5 drinks in."

Blaine sighed. "If carbs are never the answer, neither is scotch, Sebastian."

...

Alice was heading to Jesse's study, having not had luck finding the Alexander Hamilton biography in Sebastian's.

Kara's voice came in loudly over Alice's Airpods. "I just don't get it. Why does he only call you? He never ever calls me if he needs something."

"You didn't even stop to really talk to him at all this week."

"Texting is the same. And I even used the beating heart emojis!"

"Texting is not the same. Do you really not see a connection as to why he might not reach out to you?"

"Ish," Kara sulked.

Alice, now looking around Jesse's desk for the book, stopped still. "Ugh."

"What?" Kara asked.

Alice lifted a delicate name engraved gold chain in the air. "It's a 'Rachel' necklace. Just lying on his desk. I guess they don't have to hide anything anymore."

Kara was silent, for once.

Alex answered his phone as he walked across the city parks and recreation department parking lot. "Hey,"

Mikey tried to sound casual. "Hey, man, how's it going?"

Alex shrugged, "Well, I spent the whole time getting balls hit at me every time Mr. Higgins' back was turned."

"So...it's nice they feel comfortable teasing you." He took a deep breath. "Listen, Auntie Snix warned me that Dad is really upset with Mom about some divorce stuff, and he's not even talking to her. So naturally, she's going over there to try to talk to him."

Alex didn't look too bothered. "Well, Mom's really good at that stuff. She'll be able to calm him down."

"Jesse's going too."

Alex's eyebrows shot up. "Well, that's gonna be an Infinity War situation."

"Yep, half of them are gonna die," Mike replied.

Alex bit his lip. "Dad's gonna end up buying a whole marching band."

Mikey shook his head. "Nope. He can't. They cut off his credit cards."

Alex grimaced. "Oh man. How do you even know that?"

"Auntie Snix told me - she is so inappropriate. Look, um, we promised that we would be there for him. And I can't leave choir practice. So I need you to go."

Alex looked surprised. "Really?"

"Yes." Mikey hoped he wouldn't regret this.

Alex drew himself straighter. "Okay. Yeah. Yeah, I can do that. Let me just take a look at the bus map."

Mikey shook his head. "That is going to take forever. I'll send an Uber over."

Jesse and Rachel stood at Rachel and Blaine's house front door. Rachel rang the doorbell.

Jesse looked a bit agitated. "Why don't you just go in?"

Rachel squirmed. "I don't want him to feel like I'm barging in."

Jesse contended, "This is your house. You still live here."

Blaine looked through the glass panes on either side of the red door. He opened the door a crack, looking past Rachel to make brief eye contact and give the smallest polite smile to Jesse. "Sebastian, Jesse's here!" he called over his shoulder, pointedly ignoring Rachel.

Rachel held her hands in prayer position, saying beseechingly, "Blaine, Blaine...you have to…"

Blaine closed the door in her face.

Rachel shouted through the glass. "I'm sorry. I should never have let this happen before talking to you."

Blaine opened the door a crack to say icily. "I'm confused. Are we talking about the affair or the credit cards?"

Rachel gave him a guilty, injured look.

Blaine said in a cooly casual voice, "Oh, by the way. You got a box from Zappos. I ran over it."

Rachel swallowed. "I saw," she said, wrinkling her nose at the cardboard and faux fur roadkill on the driveway.

Sebastian appeared. He looked coldly at them, but he pulled the door open to let them in. Blaine immediately made a beeline for the formal living room, and Rachel followed him.

Jesse stood awkwardly behind a dining room chair. "Hello, Sebastian."

Sebastian grunted a little, shoving his hands in his pockets. "What are you doing here?" he asked, unemotionally.

"I just came with Rachel."

"Yeah. I put that together, Skidmark." Sebastian paced the room for a moment, then looked up to trap Jesse in his piercing green gaze. "Thanks for the heads up on the black card."

Jesse looked contrite. "I'm sorry. But you know how this works. Remember Trent's divorce?"

And with that, Sebastian lost his cool. "You are apologizing and comparing me to TRENT, all in one breath? It's like you want me to beat the living crap outta you, without witnesses in aprons this time." He pulled himself together again, combing a hand through his hair. "If you want war, I can call Victoria Bates-Ainsworth right now."

Jesse's wrinkled his nose. "Tina's Victoria Bates-Ainsworth? Sam said she punched a service dog in the face once."

Sebastian raised his eyebrows. "That sounds about right. Hell, I could probably represent myself in this, I know enough about it from my dad's divorces. So yeah, we can beat each other up, if you want. We can make this really painful. Is that what you want?"

Jesse said quietly, "You know I don't want that."

Sebastian crossed his arms, willing his voice not to shake. "Well, what do you want? Because this isn't you negotiating a contract with some studio or producers who want to screw you over. This time, the person on the other side of the table is ME, the person you called your husband for twenty years. The father of your baby girls. I'm the one on the other side of the table. So how do you want to handle this?"

Jesse looked unsure. "I don't know."

...

In the living room, Rachel was trying to explain. "I was trying to call you to talk you through the process." She sat down next to Blaine, who was looking at a magazine, his head turned away from her. "Will you look at me, please?"

Blaine said disdainfully, "Excuse me, I'm reading."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "You're not reading…" She reached around him to look at the cover of the magazine. "You're not reading Women's Health."

Blaine replied scornfully, "I have surprises too, Rachel. You're not the only one with a secret life."

Rachel's eyes narrowed at him. "You're secretly a woman?"

Blaine threw the magazine down. "What I hate is that barely a week after you've wrecked my life, you've already moved on to the legal and to lawyers and stopping credit cards."

Rachel threw her hands in the air. "As soon as I serve you and you respond, you start getting temporary spousal support. And that's really good. It's always better than the regular support, everyone says!"

Blaine came back at her, arms crossed. "So you're gonna screw me over in the regular support?"

Rachel gestured wildly. "No! I want YOU to screw ME over! Have your lawyer rake me over the coals and light my hair on fire!" She paused. "Wait, don't do that. But you can light my extensions on fire."

Blaine threw a pillow at her.

Outside the house Kara and Alice are getting out of the Town Car with Sebastian's things.

Alice struggled with the bags. "He is not gonna be happy that we put his stuff in trash bags."

Kara leaned against the car, looking sardonic. "I'll text him a beautiful apology."

Alice opened Sebastian's car and dumped the last of the trashbags in it. "Thank you for helping," she said flatly to her sister.

"You're welcome!"

Alice was striding up the stairs from the driveway to the house.

Kara followed her. "Can you slow down for two seconds and wait for your big sister? By the way, I'm not going in there when we -"

Alice looked over her shoulder to glare at her sister. "Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"We're checking on Papa. He'll like that you're here."

A Lyft pulled up the driveway and Alex got out of the car.

Alice looked down the stairs at him in horror. "Oh, Jesus. Alex's not grounded anymore?"

Kara huffed out a chuckle. "How much enforcement of that do you think is happening right now?"

Alice looked disturbed. "So he's allowed to just walk the streets?"

Kara's eyes widened . "Oh, you haven't seen him since he went all 'Say Anything' on our front lawn, huh? Oh, this is gonna be good." She waved at their friend. "Alex! Hey!"

Alex came up wearing his sweet smile. "Hi, Kara. Good to see you!"

Kara hugged him. "Good to see you, too!"

Alex looked from one of the girls to the other. "So what exactly is going on in there?"

Kara shrugged. "I don't know, but Alice is super happy to see you." She pivoted away and stepped toward the Town Car, but Alice stopped her and made her stay.

Alex said tentatively, "Hi, Alice."

Alice shook her head. "No."

"We can't talk?"

"No."

Alex sighed. "Okay. I'm gonna go in there."

Kara called after him. "No! Why would you do that?"

"Because they cut off our dads' credit cards."

Alice stepped toward him in shock. "They cut off their credit car-" She stopped herself. "I'm not talking to you." She turned to her sister. "They cut off our dads credit cards!"

Alex was a little annoyed. "Come on, Alice!"

Alice was firm. "No!"

Alex was sincere. "I am so sorry. I was so stupid. I should not have done it. But I-"

Alice looked at him with disbelief. "Seriously? You're really gonna do this right now? You're really gonna make this about you when this is the first time that the four of them have been together since… since... you know…"

"Bisex...aggedon?" Alex offered.

Kara giggled. "Bi-maggedon!"

"That's better," Alex laughed.

A voice interrupted them. "Hey, guys." Mikey was walking up to them, his electric bike parked on the driveway.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Hey."

Mikey spoke slowly. "How's it going? Good to see you. So why aren't you in there?"

Alex asked, irritated, "What are you doing here? You told me to take care of this."

Mike tried to placate him. "We finished early. I mean...I'm just, you know I'm back-up."

"You're full of crap. You didn't trust me."

"Well, you are standing out here. Which is not what I asked you to do."

Alex spun on his heel. "Fine. I'm going inside."

Kara jumped in front of him. "No! No! Why would you do that? Why? It's so fun outside! No adults! No one asked us to go in there."

Mikey sighed. "Technically, I did ask him."

Alice looked at her sister. "Do you really think we should stay out here? Or you just don't want to deal with this right now?"

Kara shrugged. "Two things can be true."

An SUV pulled up, with Warbler Alumni Jeff Sterling at the wheel, and his son Jack in the front seat.

Alice squinted at them from across the driveway. "What is he doing here?" She headed down to the SUV.

Kara looked excited, clapping her hands a little as she looked at Alex. "Boyfriend Jack is here!"

….

Back in the front sitting room Sebastian was wagging a long finger at Jesse, saying firmly and directly, "Here's what we're going to do. You're going to give me the beach house. You're going to take our house. The kids are going to switch between houses. I'm not going to yell, I'm not going to threaten, you're not going to cut anything off, and every time I fly off the handle and rant and rave the way you know I do, you're not going to use my words against me in a court of law, especially about custody, SO HELP YOU GOD. And every time you think about doing something because Trent did it in his divorce, you are going to remember that you lied to me, played me for a fool, lied to our children, and made me think I could trust someone enough to make fucking marriage vows in front of all of our family and friends.

Jesse's expression was soft and emotional. He said with remorse, "God, I'm an asshole."

Sebastian crossed his arms. "Is that a yes?"

Jesse nodded. "Yes. I want you to have the beach house. And I'll do everything I can to make that happen, and I'll take our house." He stopped to reflect, "Although, when you think about the resale value…"

Sebastian arched his eyebrow at him.

Jesse hung his head again. "Asshole. Got it".

...

Alice looked in the car at her dog, Money. "Hey Bubba-pooch, she said, reaching in the window to pet him in the back seat. Hi Uncle Jeff." She came around to the passenger side to make a confused face at Jack. "What are you doing here?"

Jack gave her a slightly vacant look. "You wanted me to pick up Money from the groomers…" His blue eyes dawned with comprehension. "And you wanted me to take him to your house, not here. Right, that was implied. I'm an idiot. All right. We'll go home."

Alex had come up, calling over Alice's shoulder. "Hey, Jack. I'm really sorry for what I did that night."

Jack wouldn't look at Alex. He gripped his father's arm. "Let's go. NOW."

"I was so hopped up on caffeine and sugar, I didn't know what I was doing!"

The SUV drove away.

Kara came up to them. "Okay, anybody up for a Coke? Other than the guy who can't have caffeine."

Alice sighed. "I am. Yes."

Mikey nodded. "Me, too." He wavered for a moment. "Oh, you mean now? I just, really, I really should stay and talk to dad."

Alex pulled his brother's arm. "No, let me. Please.
You asked me to take care of Dad, let me take care of Dad."

Mikey paused, then gripped his brother's hand and pulled him into a quick hug. "Ok, go get him."

...

Rachel leaned toward Blaine on the living room sofa. "I messed up in a lot of ways. But we're trying to do this right."

Blaine sniffed, "I get great comfort hearing that about you and your new fiancé."

Rachel looked distressed. "I know. I know how it sounds. But Jesse and I spent hours discussing how to do this in the fairest possible way."

Blaine looked dour. He asked coolly, "When?"

Rachel was confused. "When what?"

"When were you and Jesse discussing this? Was it last week or the week before?"

"I don't know," Rachel began nervously twisting her hair.

Blaine's tone was acerbic. "Were you talking about it last Saturday when you and I were sitting in THIS room?" He strained to make his tone light. "You know, about going to the farmer's market, maybe catching a movie?" He finished harshly, "Was that when you and Jesse were deciding to cut off my credit card?"

Rachel was flustered. "No! I didn't even want to cut off the card!"

"But you did," Blaine said with contempt.

"Because Jesse was worried about your spending," Rachel said, wringing her hands.

Blaine stood up and said severely, "Get out of my house. I don't want to look at you. Go live with Jesse."

"Ok," Rachel whispered, standing up. "I'll get my stuff."

"Don't bother, I am burning it, after all."

Rachel ignored this, her mind racing now. "We weren't really ready to move in…"

Blaine said acidly, "Oh, boo-hoo. Sleep in your makeup trailer, for all I care."

Jesse came in the room. "Let's go, Rachel," he said softly.

Rachel looked at the back of Blaine, and her eyes tearful, her hands wrapping around herself as she rocked back and forth a little.

Jesse whispered again, "We should leave." Rachel came toward him. "Don't be mad at her, Blaine. It's my fault. I'm an asshole."

Blaine let out a dark chuckle and nodded.

Sebastian had been eavesdropping, but had had enough, so he went into the kitchen, where he found Alex rummaging in the tea cupboard. "Your dad stood up for himself with your mom. And he's gonna get this house," he remarked offhandedly to the boy.

Alex nodded, "He's a strong man. I heard that he was so strong in high school that everyone thought he was a junior or a senior when he was only a sophomore."

Sebastian replied, "I didn't move back to Westerville until our junior year, so all I know is that he was so flustered by how hot I was that he thought was a freshman when I was a junior."

Alex laughed, "I heard you were day drinking even back then."

Sebastian was putting away some fruit. "Just a shot in my coffee, kiddo. I had just moved from Paris where wine is like water and middle school boys watch themselves around grownups."

Alex gulped and nodded, and they continued to manage their groceries in silence.

Sebastian came into the living room where Blaine was sitting on the floor looking at a photobook, with framed family photos set up like toy soldiers facing him on the coffee table. Sebastian wouldn't stop to focus on the tableau. He looked down at the top of Blaine's curly head to say, "You're all set. There's enough food in there for an army. I threw some pot in the freezer for you, too. So, I'll get out of your way."

He had almost backed out of the room when Blaine looked up at him with a tearstained face and red eyes. His voice was choked with a sob. "Was any of it real?"

Sebastian looked torn. He strode into the room and stood over Blaine. "You're going to make new memories, Killer," he said, bending down to flip the frames downward. "New and better memories. And I'll buy you new picture frames. Tiffany ones, Baccarat, whatever you want." He wouldn't look at Blaine too hard, though. He stood up straight again, discomfort stiffening his handsome features. "Okay, so I'm going to get going. We'll talk soon." He walked quickly out of the room.

But not without hesitating in the kitchen.

Back in the kitchen of the beach house, Sebastian poured his scotch, wanting to feel numb again. He looked out the window, taking solace at least in the fact that he was back at this beach house. It was always therapeutic to be there, with the sound of the ocean, the wide open views of blue skies and distant mountains. It was as peaceful as he was going to get these days, he reflected as he walked out to the deck to see if he could find a game to watch on the outdoor TV.

He found Blaine with an ironing board set up in front of the televsion ironing a bowtie - in fact there was a small basket of bowties next to him.

The sound of yelling from an episode of The Gilmore Girls was blaring out over the background noise of the waves crashing.

JACKSON: Nice! Sookie, look at this place!

SOOKIE: I think it looks nice.

JACKSON: Nice. . .nice? This is nice. . .this is nice? [points to a life-sized stuffed grizzly bear]

SOOKIE: Well, it's masculine!

JACKSON: No, it's terrifying! I swear I'm gonna come out in the middle of the night for a drink of water, turn around, hit the floor and play dead!

Sebastian looked repulsed but he asked, "Are you okay?"

Blaine said gratefully, "Yes, thank you, I will be. I just am doing what I always do when I'm blue." He began to make vocal warm-up lip-buzz noises that could only be compared to the sound of a whale honking.

In the television show a barbershop chorus began to sing. Blaine took a deep inhale before beginning to sing along with all his heart:

Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer

Those days of soda and pretzels and beer

Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer

Dust off the sun and moon and sing a song of cheer!

Sebastian turned away without a word, grumbling as he climbed the stairs, "I hate my life."