When he got to Sebastian's house, Blaine rung the doorbell rapidly in a blind panic, panting against the wooden door frame.

No answer.

"Sebastian! SEBASTIAN!" He yelled, his voice hoarse.

Fuck it.

He threw the door open, not really caring about manners or whether Sebastian's parents would be home. If they had been, he was sure the door would have been answered.

Sebastian's house was huge. He hadn't really thought about it the last time he was there, as he was fighting the worst hangover of his life, but finding the taller boy proved to be difficult.

After searching through a few rooms - the sitting room, a dining room and what appeared to be a study, he froze as he entered the kitchen.

Sebastian lay face down on the cold black and white tiles, between the modern island counters and the fridge, his phone still in his hand. Blaine's heart began to race as he spotted blood smeared on the white tiles below Sebastian's face.

"Sebastian!" Blaine gasped in horror, rushing over to his side and turning the boy onto his back. "Seb, god, please wake up!" His voice broke a little as Blaine tried to fight the tears.

The boy was pale as snow, but the red and purple bruises that his face was covered in served as a stark contrast. In addition, Blaine noticed some more dried in blood from his nose and the boy's eye was swollen.

"God, Seb, what the hell happened?!" He sobbed, pulling Sebastian into his arms and cradling him. Once he had a good grip, he pulled his phone from his pocket and rapidly fired in numbers hoping he'd typed them in right with the tears blurring his vision.

"911, what's your emergency?"

As Blaine sat in the waiting room, he texted Sam back and forth, filling him in on what had happened, however deciding to leave out a few details - mainly the evidence that Sebastian had been beaten up pretty badly.

Blaine closed his eyes, trying to quell the rage and surge of protectiveness that he felt at the thought.


SAM: so what happened?!

BLAINE: I don't know! I got to his house and there was no answer, so I just ran in because I was panicking! It took me a while to find him - his house is HUGE, Sam. And then I found him lying on the kitchen tiles unconscious - he was so pale, and he stopped breathing for a minute, I was so fucking scared, I had to perform CPR until the ambulance got there and now I have no fucking clue what's happening. All i know is that they think he overdosed but they don't know on what, or why.

SAM: And uv been there for 3 hours? Urself?

BLAINE: Yes

SAM: go home, man. It's 3 in the morning. Arent u working tomorrow?

BLAINE: I can't. Not until I know he's ok

SAM: Ok. Let me know when u hear, but I need to go to bed, got class in the morning. Night, dude.

BLAINE: night

Blaine stared blankly at his phone, then scrolled through it until he found Candy Crush, resorting to the company of shitty Facebook games until he was called in.

He had a feeling he'd be in the waiting room for quite a while.


Blaine didn't hear anything until around 6.30am, when a short red-headed nurse walked in, glancing at the clipboard in her arms as she read out the name.

"Blaine? Blaine Anderson?"

He looked up from his phone and blinked, before pocketing it and approaching the nurse.

Blaine followed the woman through some tall heavy doors, and through the maze of pale cream tiled corridors.

Blaine felt a little queasy, and he wasn't sure whether to chalk it down to his nerves, or the smell of chemicals in the air.

Just as he was starting to wonder exactly how far away Sebastian was being kept, they stopped before a dimly lit corridor filled with identical glass doors, covered with curtains from the inside.

"He's in the second room to the right, sweetie. He's been a little out of it, but he's starting to gain his senses again" the nurse replied quietly, ushering him towards Sebastian's room.

As he reached for the door handle, though, the nurse spoke again.

"Take care of him, Mr Anderson. That boy needs someone to keep an eye on him."

Blaine's mouth open and shut a few times, but he struggled to come up with a reply, so the nurse just gave him a soft smile, a pat on the shoulder and then left him standing alone, gripping the handle.

He shut his eyes for a few seconds, took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly, before he moved the handle and the door clicked open.

The dim room was pretty bare - white-grey tiles everywhere, a few black plastic chairs and a bed draped in an ugly green bedsheets. On the table beside the bed sat a lamp, the only source of light in the room, and a small plastic cup with water that appeared to have been half-drank.

Gathering his courage, Blaine turned his attention to the boy in the bed, and felt his heart shatter into a million pieces. Never before had he seen Sebastian look so vulnerable. He was avoiding Blaine's gaze, staring intently at his hands, and his eyebrows were knitted together in a timid, pained expression, as though he expected Blaine to throw his right hook hard in his face any moment now.

His skin was still too pale, and the hospital gown's sleeves sat above his arms, letting him truly see the extent of the damage the boy had suffered. Ugly bruises the shades of browns and purples lined his arms. His face was still bruised and battered, and he swelling on his eye was beginning to form into a dark bruise.

Taking a seat on the bed next to Sebastian's legs, Blaine reached out to him automatically, running his thumb gently down Sebastian's face. The boy flinched a little at first, but then he leaned into the touch, closing his eyes with a soft sigh.

"What happened, Seb?" Blaine whispered softly, trying not to startle the other boy.

Sebastian shut his eyes, turning away from Blaine's piercing eyes. That was when Blaine saw it. A single tear slid down Sebastian's face as he replied, his voice hoarse and strained. "Please, can we not do this tonight, B?"

And what more could Blaine really do? Sebastian was staring intently at him now, his eyes pleading. And maybe it was this that made Blaine relent, deciding that the boy had been through enough for one night.

Instead, Blaine let his palm skim gently over the bruised and battered skin on Sebastian's arms, just light enough that it would not hurt him. It was enough, however, to send a surge of warmth through Blaine's chest, and a flush to his cheeks.

If Sebastian noticed, though, he said nothing. He did seem to relax a little at each gentle touch from Blaine, so without really giving it too much thought, he stroked his fingers softly back down his arm until he reached hand. Sebastian blinked as Blaine wrapped his hand around his own and laced their fingers together.

"You know, this is the second time we've been in bed together..." Sebastian leered suggestively, wagging his eyebrows.

Blaine snorted at Sebastian's blatantly obvious attempt to break the tension, throwing a gentle push to Sebastian's shoulder. "Baaaas!", he whined, shooting him a glare.

"What?! It's not my fault you insist on stealing my bed all the time!" the other boy replied, feigning wide-eyed innocence.

"Perv," Blaine chuckled, his eyes softening at the other boy.

He didn't want to push Sebastian into talking about anything he was uncomfortable with, but he couldn't help the concern that he felt for his friend. So instead, he just asked; "seriously though, how are you feeling?"

Avoiding his gaze, Sebastian stared hard at the ceiling as he answered, "I'm... okay?"

Blaine brought his hands to Sebastian's face, and Sebastian lowered his eyes to meet Blaine's automatically.

"Seriously, Bas. I'm worried about you. I... fuck, I care about you, okay? You're my... my friend. And friends don't let their friends suffer," he frowned, his eyebrows pinching together slightly, "and you don't need to tell me who did this to you," he ran his thumb over the darkness below Sebastian's eye lightly, but he didn't even flinch, his green eyes still fixed on Blaine's, "but just know I am here for you."

Sebastian sighed softly, breaking the eye contact again, his eyes shutting as the boy leaned back against the hard headboard of he hospital bed. He looked as Blaine felt - physically and emotionally drained.

Sensing that Sebastian had heard him out, but didn't really want to talk about it quite yet, Blaine stood from the bed, ignoring the pang he felt at the loss of warmth from the other boy's body heat.

"Get some sleep, Bas" Blaine whispered softly. Before he left, he leaned down next to Sebastian, adjusting his pillow and helping him lower his head comfortably.

Blaine kissed him gently on the cheek and Sebastian let out what sounded like a relieved sigh, before his breathing evened out into a deep slumber.

Blaine smiled softly at the sleeping ex-Warbler. There was almost a sort of innocence to him like this. He would never believe it had been the same boy that had put Blaine in the hospital a while back.

He decided he liked this Sebastian much better.


By the time Blaine had gotten home, it was daylight outside. He was supposed to be starting work in two hours time.

Blaine cringed, typing out a quick text to his boss telling him he would be in a few hours late that morning, and that he would explain when he saw him.

As expected, Tony had been really understanding about Blaine's lateness, once Blaine had explained that he had stayed at the hospital all night with his friend.

"It's not like we're ever over-run with customers," he had told Blaine. "Besides, you're only two hours late. But maybe you should go home and get some more sleep. You look like shit, kid."

"Gee, thanks!" Blaine snorted. "I'm fine, Tony. I just need to have some caffeine then I'll be able to push through it."

Tony nodded, patting Blaine's shoulder in empathy. "Have some coffee, then you can start your shift."

Blaine sipped his Mocha, silently thanking his lucky stars that he had such an understanding and laid back boss.

Tony was a short, stocky balding man, with features that reminded Blaine of his own grandfather when he was still alive. He seemed a little rough and tough on the outside, but through getting to know the man, Blaine knew that he really was just a big teddy bear deep down.


Since it was a slow day, Tony let Blaine off his shift a little earlier than usual.

For this reason, Blaine found himself back at the hospital at visiting hours, armed with a bag with some baked goods (a few scones, cakes and muffins) and a cup holder with two coffees - one for Blaine, and one for Sebastian.

"Thanks, Killer." Sebastian whispered hoarsely as Blaine handed his coffee to him.

"You're welcome, Bas." Blaine smiled fondly.

Sebastian nodded, patting the bed beside him so that Blaine would sit next to him.

He tried not to sigh loudly at the contact, but Sebastian leaned into his touch as he sat down. Their bodies pressed together, and Blaine wrapped his arms around the other boy comfortingly.

And amazingly, Sebastian let himself be held.

Both boys lay their quietly, until Blaine began to feel Sebastian shake in his arms.

"Bas... hey, hey... shh, it's ok, you're okay," Blaine soothed, running his free hand gently through Sebastian's hair.

"It's not," Sebastian breathed, shuddering. "I- Blaine, you don't need to do this."

Blaine raised an eyebrow, drawing back so he could look at Sebastian's face.

The other boy looked so fragile, as though he could shatter into a million pieces at any moment, and his expression was guarded. Blaine really yearned for the confident and cocky boy he'd known for the past two years.

"I told you last night, Bas. You're my friend and I'm here for you."

"I don't deserve you," Sebastian sighed, burying his face in Blaine's neck.

Blaine lost track of how long they had been... well, he had to face it - snuggling. But by the time they broke apart, their coffees were lukewarm. They drank them together anyway, and shared one of the muffins from the bag of baked goods in companionable silence.

As Blaine left the hospital that day, he found himself wondering about the events of the last couple of days. He had his... suspicions about what had happened, but he really needed to try to get Sebastian to open up to him.