Chapter 2 - The Beginning of the End
A/N: Kurtbastian will happen, do not fear! This chapter, and probably the next few are about Kurt healing. I feel that he needs that before I throw him into the ring with Sebastian. There will be some Seb in these chapters though, but minimal interaction. Expect a lot of Mercedes and Rachel in (at least) the next chapter or two. I think Mercedes will play a large part in this story though.
Also, as I'm writing more of this, I'm noticing that Sebastian is pretty OOC, and I don't know why... he's softer.. it's explained why in a few more chapters. Anyway, here it is, chapter two:
Kurt is people watching when he hears the Lima Bean door open, he tears his eyes away from a middle aged woman who is dressed like she's fifteen. Who even does that? When Kurt looks towards the door he sees none other than Sebastian Freakin' Smythe, dressing in jean cut-off shorts and a black and white striped tee shirt. The brunette stares as Sebastian literally drags himself toward the counter, head down, feet dragging. Kurt has never seen this boy look anything other than composed and oozing confidence. The drastic difference between the way Sebastian usually looks and the way that he is carrying himself today screams "something's wrong!", if the blonde was anyone else Kurt might have cared. Instead, he went back to watching the woman eating her biscotti.
When Sebastian walks between Kurt and the woman, distracting him, Kurt's eyes follow the taller boy as he walks to a table on the opposite side of the café. Sebastian sits down with a sigh and sips his coffee. Kurt watches the boy for a moment, wondering how he's managed to go unnoticed thus far, usually Sebastian has Kurt-radar and is on him in a second making snarky comments. Kurt sips his own coffee and looks around the café; the woman has left. Kurt looks at the clock, 3:46. Kurt finishes his coffee and gets up, steeling himself for the walk past Sebastian's table, but not able to stand sitting there another moment with the boy across the room.
Kurt walks quickly past Sebastian's table, watching him out of the corner of his eye as he does so. Sebastian sees him and startles, trying quickly to pull himself together. Kurt keeps walking, never looking back; he just wants to be out of here and safe at home in his room. As Kurt pushes the front door open and walks out into the blinding sun, he wonders if Sebastian knows about him and Blaine. After Regionals Sebastian and Blaine had begun texting, although Kurt made sure that he was always in the know about what was going on. It's not that he didn't trust Blaine, he just didn't trust Sebastian. It would make sense that Sebastian would know about the break up if he and Blaine were still talking. Kurt swallowed the bile rising in his throat at the thought of BlaineandSebastian and climbed into his car.
As he drives away, he looks through his rear-view mirror and sees Sebastian standing out front of the café, looking after Kurt's Navigator. Creepy meerkat. As Kurt pulls out onto the highway his phone buzzes. He grabs it from the passenger seat and checks the text quickly, expecting it to be from Blaine again.
From Mercedes (3:54)
Retail therapy?
From Kurt (3:55)
Sounds wonderful. Meet me at the mall in 15?
Kurt texts back while he sits at a red light. He feels that maybe spending some time out of the house (or away from the Lima Bean) might be a good idea, even if he doesn't talk about the breakup.
From Mercedes (3:55)
Beautiful. (:
Kurt pulls a U-turn and heads back to the other end of town towards the mall. When he reaches the parking lot and pulls into a spot he calls home. Finn picks up on the second ring.
"Yeah?"
"Charming. I'm going shopping with Mercedes, tell my dad and Carole that I'll be home by seven."
"Okay...It's good that you're finally talking to someone, dude." Finn says earnestly.
"Just tell our parents that I'll be home later. Bye, Finn." And Kurt hangs up. He can't handle the sympathy card from anyone, much less Finn.
He sits in his car for a moment, pulling himself together. He hasn't really let himself think about Blaine and the breakup, once he starts he knows the tears will fall again, and he can't handle that right now either. Kurt steps out of his car and walks towards the mall. Halfway through the parking lot he is assaulted by two pairs of arms.
"Kurt!" Oh god, he can not deal with Rachel today.
"I'm sorry, she called me as I was leaving and insisted that she come too." Mercedes moves around to look Kurt in the eye, grimacing and mouthing "sorry." behind Rachel's head.
Kurt fakes a smile, "That's fine; we can buy Rach a new outfit to replace the bag that she's wearing now." He winks at Rachel as he says this.
"Hey now, it's not that bad." Rachel protests.
Kurt and Mercedes hum in response, eyes dancing, before turning to finish their trek across the parking lot.
That day Kurt laughs for the first time in nine days, and enjoys every minute of his time with the girls (even if Rachel complains and talks about herself and Finn). Kurt buys two new outfits, Mercedes and Kurt force Rachel to buy a new dress after they have deemed is acceptable, and Mercedes buys a shirt that reads "2 Diva 4 U". Only when they sit down in the food court, smoothies in hand, does Kurt become reserved.
"You know you can talk to us, Boo. We love you and are here to help." Mercedes touches his arm lightly.
Kurt looks at the two girls sitting across from him and smiles slightly; he loves them. He looks away as tears begin pooling in his eyes. "Can we go?" He asks quietly, the tears falling slowly now.
"Of course." Rachel takes his hand and leads him out of the food court, Mercedes trailing behind carrying Kurt's bags. As they walk through the hall Kurt swears that he sees Sebastian still decked out in the striped shirt, but when he turns he doesn't see the boy anywhere.
When they reach Kurt's Navigator he opens the door and sits in the driver's seat, feet hanging out the side of the car. He cries silently as Rachel holds him close and Mercedes takes one of his hands, stroking soothingly. When he begins to calm, tears slowing, he pulls away from Rachel, sending both girls a watery smile.
"Thank you. I-I don't want to talk about it all yet, I don't think I can, but I appreciate that you guys are willing to put up with my sulking. And when I feel ready I'll talk to you about it."
"Awe, Kurt, anything you need." Mercedes pulls him into a hug. She kisses him lightly on the cheek as she pulls away. "Girls night soon though."
"Of course." He says wiping his eyes.
"You'll be alright?" Rachel asks quietly.
"Yeah, it's only a few minutes to get home." Kurt responds, even though he knows that's not what she means. Truth is, he doesn't know if he'll be okay. Now that he's thinking about it, the breakup seems like the end of the world, Kurt doesn't know how he's managed to survive the past nine days without breaking down.
Kurt tucks his feet into his Navigator and closes the door. He roles his window down and starts his car.
"Thank you, I needed this." He says honestly.
The girls smile and wave as he pulls away. He feels better now that he's let himself feel, but he knows that it will be some time before he'll feel healed; if ever. But for now he's heading home, where he can work out his feelings in the safety of his room.
