A/n so I start typing this up, and my iPod is on shuffle, and guess what comes on right away? Seb's version of "glad you came". :D that boy…
Also, sorry, I really meant to post this chapter sometime last weekend... but then I go reeeeeaaaaallly busy... and am still being really busy for the next few days... so I had to stay up late to post this. Sorry if there are any mistakes.
The next couple days passed in a blur of locker checks, exchanged insults, and lots of schoolwork. Things remained pretty much the same for Kurt….. except that Sebastian hadn't quit giving him intense stares since the day in glee club. Sure, he still insulted Kurt just the same, and kept his signature smirk on most of the time, but – sometimes he stared. At random moments in the day (walking in the halls, talking with friends, or just in class) Kurt would feel a prickly sensation on the back of his neck, and see Sebastian staring intently at him with a frown on his face, as if he was a puzzle that needed to be solved, which never failed to bring a flush to Kurt's face and a flutter to his tummy. He hated how the infuriating, mean, sexy Sebastian (shoot – Kurt meant stupid, not sexy) made him feel so weird – squirmy and uncomfortable. But he tried to put it to the back of his mind.
Kurt walked into history shaking off the feel of Sebastian's eyes. He had caught him staring again after a particularly hard locker slam (the jocks were good at pretending these were 'accidental bumps', so Kurt had stopped reporting these ages ago), but Sebastian's expression seemed a whole lot less quizzical than usual.
"Ugh, my hair looks terrible today" he heard Mercedes grumble as he took the seat next to her.
"Want me to do your hair?" Kurt offered, smiling "A French braid would look fabulous with your outfit today."
Kurt was almost glad that Mr. Howard was a terrible (and old) teacher. Not only was his droning hard to hear, but he also didn't seem to notice their activities in the back. Or really any of the students' activities…..
They spent the entire period chatting about boys, classes, and music, Kurt's hands constantly in motion. By the end of the class, Mercedes had a French braid, Santana sported a fish tail (he'd given her a million tiny braids halfway into class, but after snapping a quick picture and giggling, she'd made him undo it), and Kurt's heart felt a little lighter. Ever since he was younger and used to watch his mother "get pretty" in the mornings, beauty, especially fixing hair had been relaxing to him. Playing with her gorgeous auburn hair had been one of his favorite things in the world to do: it was soft, pretty, and made him feel as close to her as he could get. And it was not girly!
"Hey" said Santana as they filed out of the class, fiddling nervously with the end of her fish tail as they walked (though she spoke with confidence) "Hummel, can I ask you something?"
"Yeeeeeeees?" Kurt said tentatively, because Santana usually didn't ask things, she just did them.
"I know you hate Smythe, but would you mind terribly if…. I still went after him? I mean he's just so – hot. And I have a reputation to uphold, you know."
Kurt forced a smile and nodded "Sure. Go for it. Why should I stop you? Why should I care?"
Santana shot him a cocky grin and flounced off, probably to set her plan of attack into motion.
Over lunch, Kurt picked at his food. Santana had changed into a new outfit – a low-cut form-fitting camisole with a short pencil skirt, and had been 'laying the base' for two periods. 'Laying the base' seemed to consist of flirty glances and using any chance to touch him that she could find.
"He'll be putty in my hands by the end of the day" Santana crowed to their table.
"No way he'll last that long" Puck put in. "I give it 'till the end of lunch 'till he's inviting you off to some empty closet with you."
"Yeah, man" Finn said grinning "Santana's got – ow – RACHEL – what was that for?!"
Finn shut up under the intense glare from the girl who had kicked him, and the rest of the group continued the conversation.
"I don't know, man. I think he'll be able to hold out for one … maybe two more days." Artie argued.
"No way, I've seen Santana work, if she hasn't hooked him by the end of the day, then he's got a serious problem with his you-know-what." Quinn broke in.
"Why don't you put your money where your mouth is" Puck challenged, slamming down a 20 dollar bill on the table "He won't even last the hour."
Quinn's eyes sparked with interest, and she slammed her own 20 dollar bill on top of Puck's "He'll last longer than an hour, but she'll be going home with him tonight."
Artie broke their intense stare down with his own 20 dollar bill to the table "He'll last a day or two, but no more than that."
"One week" Sam's voice rang out over the rest of them "Or more." He added his own 20 to the pile.
"Dude, you've gotta be joking" Finn snorted.
"Yeah," Brittany said, twirling her hair with her finger "Santana's totally hot. I would get it on with her any day."
"I don't know," Sam shrugged. "He just didn't seem to be all into Santana the other day. He just seems more like a guy who sets his sights on someone and pursues them – he probably doesn't want to be pursued himself."
"Whatever" Puck shrugged "Your loss. Now go win me some money, baby!"
Santana winked at the group, and then sauntered over to the table where Sebastian was sitting with the soccer boys. She leaned her arms on the table and bent over to display her bountiful chest (nearly the entire table's eyes bugged out, and all attention was of course focused on her). After a minute, she began to trail her hand up and down Sebastian's arm, and purring softly to him.
"What do you think she's saying?" Tina asked curiously.
"Probably something naughty" Puck answered, grinning.
The whole table held their breath as Santana leaned forward slightly, brushing her cleavage against his arm, and whispered something in his ear. The atmosphere was completely broken wen Sebastian threw back his head in a laugh, said a few words to Santana, got up, and strode out of the cafeteria chuckling, leaving a stunned girl in his wake. Eventually Santana slunk back to their table and they crowded around her.
"What happened?"
"What did he say?"
"Why did he laugh?"
"Why didn't he take up the offer to tap that?!"
Santana glared "I don't know. He just laughed, said that if he was looking for a whore, he would go to a whore house, and told me to take my cheap inflatable boobs and leave!"
Brittany's voice broke the shocked silence that followed "But Ruby and Marshmallow weren't cheap! They were really expensive!"
In French class Kurt sat in the far back – the worst spot for his favorite class. It didn't even end up making a difference, because though people didn't mock him here, they didn't talk to him either. So when Sebastian Smythe entered, he was able to sit right next to Kurt, even though there were a million (okay, more like 10) empty seats at the front.
"So" Mme. Blanche began "We will be working on reviewing your grammar – especially that subjunctive tense – today…."
Sebastian turned to face Kurt, who was working on the summer French book reading questions, and grinned.
"Hey dollface, could you tell sandbags to lay off? She's been propositioning me every time she sees me, and I get the feeling that I'll get a whole collection of STDs if I so much as kiss her."
Kurt glared and spoke back fluently as well "Back off. Santana may be a bit….. promiscuous…. But there's no reason to be an abominable ass about everything!"
Sebastian grinned cheekily "Oh, but I thought your gay-face would like an ass like mine!"
Heat rushed to Kurt's cheeks, he was sick and tired of guys mocking him and accusing him of checking them out (hence why he never showered or changed with the other boys). "Douchebag!" he spat before turning back to his work.
"Oooooh" Sebastian crowed "Who taught the pristine princess all these naughty curse words? And here I was thinking you were an innocent baby girl."
Kurt ignored him as he cackled at himself, and eventually found something else to do (that did not include bothering a Kurt Hummel). Kurt didn't know why there people had to go out of their way to mock and bully him. Why couldn't they just ignore him or leave him alone?
At the end of the class, Mme. Blanche called the two up to her desk to tell them that the French books they would be reading were in, but that they would have to come by to pick them up after school. As soon as Kurt had smiled his thanks at Mme. And assured her that he would be there, he was off like a shot so that Sebastian couldn't follow him (one thing that bullying had taught him was that speed and quick thinking were his best defenses).
Kurt walked to Chem (with Mercedes and Mike) fairly quietly. The other two chattered while he offered halfhearted smiles and answers when they glanced over at him. In class they all separated our, Mike going over to sit at a lab bench with Jacob Ben Israel, Mercedes with the new kid, and Kurt with Azimio.
"Ok class!" Mr. Bennet announced "We'll be doing a very simple intro lab today involving boiling water. Grab a laptop, probe, safety goggles, beakers, Bunsen burners, solute, and the lab's procedure to get started. Don't ask me any questions because everything you guys should need to know is in that procedure. Work with your partner!"
Kurt sighed, but got up to get the supplies (Azimio surely wouldn't) and smiled at Mercedes as they both tried to get all their supplies in one trip. Kurt glanced over at Azimio, who was doing nothing, and decided that the best plan of action would be to ignore Azimio and just do the entire lab by himself. Which worked pretty well until he had just finished the lab, was cleaning up, and Azimio decided that he needed to pour the near boiling water directly onto Kurt. Kurt flinched back in surprised pain and gritted his teeth to keep a scream from slipping out. Tears formed behind his eyes, threatening to spill over.
"Aaaawwww, are you gonna cry, homo? It's just a little hot water, take it like a man!" Azimio said, his tone just low enough not to be overheard by anyone but the closest tables.
Rick 'The Stick' happened to be at said closest lab table, and had caught everything that happened. "Nice!" he exclaimed, exchanging a high five with Azimio. Kurt was glad that football players and their mortal enemies, hockey players, could bond over bullying him. It was just f***ing fantastic.
And of course then the teacher looked up. He frowned and asked "Adams, Nelson, are you two working?"
Azimio looked up innocently "Of course, Mr. Bennet! We …ummm…were just happy because I finished the lab." He said, waving Kurt's finished lab.
Mr. Bennet smiled "Keep up the good work boys! Hummel, next time help your partner, okay?"
Kurt could only nod, cursing the idiocy of bullies and teachers and Ohio in general. The final strike was the glare Sebastian sent in Kurt's direction, and when the bell rang, he gave a quick wave to a confused Mercedes and Mike, and then barely made it to the girl's bathroom before tears begun to flow down his face. After quite a few minutes, he began to calm down, and cleaned himself up, ran cold water over the patches of skin on his stomach and thighs that were red and irritated, and changed into a spare pair of t-shirts and jeans he had with him. After he was finished, Kurt sat on the ground – indifferent to the cleanliness of his jeans – and leaned his head back against the cool tile wall. He had found this small bathroom just off the glee hallway, and had quickly discovered that no one ever came here. When he was a freshman, he always smiled at the thought of it, and considered it his own Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, but by now he had learned that he was no Harry Potter. He couldn't fight his demons and triumph against them. In fact, Kurt was feeling rather fragile right now, and a lot like his nickname – porcelain. And if the bullying broke him now, he didn't think anything would be able to put him back together again.
He sat there as the school bell rang, and a wave of chatter filled the hallway, waiting until it got perfectly silent before sliding out of his bathroom. Kurt just wanted to get home now. Maybe read a book or sing a song to distract himself – Kurt groaned as he remembered that he needed to pick up the French book. French class seemed like it had happened years ago, but Kurt knew it had only been a few hours. He sighed and doubled back, trudging from the door back to French.
Kurt turned the corner and didn't even jump at the sight before him. He just slumped over, giving up. Azimio, Karofsky, and three other football goons stood around the lockers waiting for someone. A someone who was clearly Kurt, form the predatory light in their eyes as they stared at them, a slushie cup held tight in one of the goon's fist. Kurt couldn't even bring himself to feel sad or afraid or even angry anymore. He just felt numb. This seemed like the one final sign from the universe to just give up – that fighting was pointless – maybe he could be homeschooled?
"Well, well, lookie what we got here boys" Azimio smirked at him. "The little faggot finally decided to show up to his welcome party, huh guys!"
"Yeah" spat out one of the goons "We thought we hadn't given you a warm enough welcome back to school, and Z thought up this idea."
"Tell him Z!" another goon prodded.
"Well" Azimio chuckled darkly "I was watching this old TV show…. And I saw something we might like to try. Shoving you into this locker!"
He banged open the locker, and the rest of the boys let out a jeer.
"Ummm…." Karofsky let out, shifting his weight from one foot to the other "I don't know if he's going to fit, guys…"
Azimio stopped and turned to him "What, you going soft on us Karofsky? Had Lady Hummel turned you into a fairy, too?"
"NO!" Karofsky spat out "I just – it doesn't matter if he fits! We'll just shove him in anyway!"
Azimio shot him a toothy grin as he grabbed Kurt (who hung limp from his fingers, unresisting, but internally rolling his eyes at the absolute cliché of the entire situation) and proceeded to try to push him in, shoulder first.
"You're right" he grunted "he's too big – I don't know if he's going to fit."
"That's what she said" smirked a voice from behind them, and, as one, the group of footballers spun around to look at Sebastian, letting Kurt crumple to the ground bonelessly without Azimio's brutal grip to keep him up. "I generally avoid going for such mainstream sexual jokes, but I just couldn't resist…"
"Whattaya want, new kid" Azimio snarled.
Sebastian sighed "There are so many fun was I could answer that question that it pains me to say the least funny one. But why exactly are you all beating up Princess Hummel, here?"
"Why do you even care what we do to this homo?" Goon #1 questioned.
"Yeah – what are you – in love with fairy boy or something?" Goon #2 sneered, exchanging fist bumps for his comment.
Sebastian rolled his eyes in exasperation and said "Or something. Just please tell me that you're doing all this to Hummel because he – I don't know – stole one of your sister's sweaters or committed some horrible crime."
"Yeah" Azimio snorted "He committed the horrible crime of staring at our junk in the locker! In case you didn't notice, new kid, Hummel is a fag! No one wants something like him around!"
"God. I knew it." Sebastian mumbled, shaking his head "This is why I fucking hate close-minded, pathetic, moronic, underfunded public schools..."
"What did you say?!"
"I hope you realize" Sebastian announced in a louder voice "That since I got here I have heard at least three slurs come from your mouths and with the very clear assault that you have on your hands here, any half-decent lawyer would be able to sue you within an inch of your lives."
Azimio's eyes narrowed "Was that a threat, new kid? Better watch yourself, or people will start to thinking you're a fag like Lady Hummel over here."
Sebastian smirked "As it so happens, I am gay."
Kurt's head snapped around to stare at Sebastian in disbelief – it was impossible. Several of the footballers made a chocking sound, and Karofsky managed to stutter out a "What?!"
Sebastian rolled his eyes "I'm gay. A homosexual. I kiss other males. I like cock – well, I'm more of an ass man myself, but cock is always nice."
Kurt could feel a tingling replacing the numbness, and the color rising in his cheeks – and he wasn't the only one. Goon #3's face was completely purple as he shoved Sebastian up against the lockers and spat "Stay away from us, you freak."
Sebastian somehow stayed calm (Kurt was sure that he himself would have been freaking out if he was in Sebastian's position), laughed, and said "I would, but you seem to like pinning me to these lockers – are you sure you're not the gay one here?"
Goon #3 dropped him like a hot potato, and Sebastian brushed himself off and continued "But if you were talking about not hitting on you – don't worry. I have standards and you guys are nowhere near my type. Plus you probably all have small dicks and flabby asses."
"Just shut the fuck up, fairy!" Azimio shouted.
"Oh, and I forgot to mention, my father is a powerful states' attorney, so if any one of you" Sebastian pointed to each of the 3 goons, Azimio, and Karofsky (who had gone white as a sheet sometime during the confrontation and had moved to the very back of the group – almost hiding) "Uses slurs or physical violence again, you'll be out of school and into juvie faster than you can say 'fairy'."
"You don't scare us, butt-boy" Goon #1 snarled.
"Yeah" Azimio sneered "We rule this school and you're some nobody, preppy homo. And we'll make sure you learn how wrong you are."
He grabbed the slushie from Goon #2 and threw it into Sebastian's face like a frigid slap before leaving with one final jeer of "fags!". To Kurt, it looked a lot less like leaving and a lot more like running away.
"Shit!" the curse drew Kurt's attention back to Sebastian Smythe, rich, rude asshole, and, apparently, fellow gay. The boy was covered with cherry slushie and was vigorously rubbing his eyes (Kurt knew how much a slushie to the face stung), and almost unconsciously Kurt was on his feet and pulling a monogramed handkerchief from his pocket (it wasn't Kurt's fault that he liked nice things….).
"Hold still, keep your eyes closed, and stop rubbing them." Kurt commanded softly to Sebastian, who immediately stilled. Resting his hand on the boy's shoulder, Kurt reached up and gently wiped away the red dye from his eyes. The red dye stained the handkerchief like blood, and Kurt would have to throw it out after this, but he found himself unable to care. After he had cleared Sebastian's eyes of slushie, a hand reached up to cover his, drawing Kurt's to the side of his face, and Kurt was suddenly met with a pair of intense grass green eyes staring back into his own. A spark seemed to run through him and Kurt stepped back quickly, bringing his hand with him. Sebastian was left holding Kurt's handkerchief, which, after a second, he used to wipe the majority of slushie from his face.
When he turned to go, Kurt found his voice to call tremulously "Wait –are you seriously driving home like that?"
Sebastian turned around for a second, his gaze filled with a steely determination now "I have… business…. to attend to now. Don't forget to pick up your book from Mme. Blanche, Princess."
