Dave tried to stop his hands from shaking as he began to knot the red and blue striped tie. A week ago, Sebastian had shown up at his house in uniform with a pile of brochures and had employed all the persuasive skills he'd learned from his father to convince Mr and Mrs Karofsky that Dalton was the best place for Dave to finish his senior year. When he mentioned that boarding was an option, Paul had taken his son aside and tried to be as delicate as possible in suggesting that being away from home, where his mother couldn't seem to go a week without finding some new camp or psychologist who promised to be able to 'cure' him, might be what Dave needed right now.

Dave was still fumbling with his tie when he was interrupted by the sound of a firm knock followed a moment later by the door of his dorm room creaking open.

"Don't tell me you've never learnt to tie a tie," was Sebastian's greeting.

"Of course I have, it's just… this is the first time I've worn one since…"

Sebastian's trademark smirk immediately melted into an expression of understanding and sympathy. "Can I…?" Sebastian tentatively reached out for the strip of fabric Dave was struggling with and Dave nodded his permission.

Sebastian deftly twisted the tie into a perfect half Windsor and Dave tried not to let himself get distracted by the brush of Sebastian's fingers through the thin fabric of his shirt. He forcefully reminded himself that they were friends. Friends who flirted quite a bit, but just friends nonetheless.

"That's about as loose as you'll be able to get away with, so can you handle that? Because I'm sure you could get a pass or something if you explained why–"

"–It's fine. Thanks."

Sebastian stepped back so he could get a proper look at Dave in his new uniform. "Nice," he commented approvingly. "Who would have thought a scruffy bear cub could clean up so well?"

Dave most certainly did not blush.

"You know where your classes are?" Sebastian asked, since Dave didn't seem likely to formulate a response anytime soon.

"Yes, you were a very effective tour guide."

"Good. And I've organised your Warblers audition for four pm."

"Excuse me?" Dave stared at Sebastian incredulously, trying to figure out if he was joking, but the other boy's face showed complete sincerity. There was also a considerable amount of self-satisfaction.

"If you didn't want to join, you shouldn't have participated in that Scandals karaoke night. There's no way I'm letting a voice like yours go to waste even if the competition season's over."

Dave had a vague memory of the night in question. He also seemed to remember Sebastian plying him with copious amounts of alcohol before shoving the microphone into his hand.

"I'm not going to get out of this, am I."

"Nope. Now hurry up, you don't want to be late on your first day."

Sebastian cautiously pushed the door open after his gentle knock had received no response. He'd been accosted in the hallway by Trent, Dave's roommate, who had told him that Dave had just gotten a phone call from his father that had clearly upset him but that he refused to talk about. Sebastian found Dave sitting on his bed staring dismally at the silent phone in his hand.

"Are you ok?" It seemed like a redundant question but he didn't know what else to say. Comforting friends wasn't exactly Sebastian's strong suit, mostly because, until Dave, he hadn't had friends; he'd had minions.

"They're getting divorced," Dave said softly, "and it's my fault."

Sebastian carefully sat down beside Dave, close enough that their shoulders were lightly touching. "Dave, they wouldn't have made a decision like that over one disagreement, even if it was a colossal one. There must have been other things wrong beforehand."

"I know things haven't been good between them for a while now, but that doesn't change the fact that it was me that pushed them over the edge."

Sebastian wasn't sure how to respond to that so he pulled Dave into a hug. He expected it to feel awkward but he found that Dave fit perfectly in his arms.

"I think it's safe to say x hates me because I definitely can't find it." Sebastian longed for the days when math had been solely about actual numbers with no cosines or f(x)'s or limits to confuse him.

"Let me see," Dave replied patiently. He was the only person aside from their math teacher who knew that there was one subject Sebastian wasn't getting straight A's in.

Dave leaned over Sebastian's shoulder to examine the equations scrawled in the other boy's notebook. Infuriatingly, it took him all of thirty seconds to point out exactly where Sebastian had gone wrong and fluidly work his way to the correct answer.

When Sebastian turned to grudgingly thank Dave, they both abruptly became aware of how close their faces were. Dave's eyes, seemingly of their own accord, flickered to Sebastian's lips. Neither of them was sure who initiated the kiss; they just knew they didn't want it to end. Dave was aware that this was something that should most definitely not be happening but he couldn't bring himself to pull away, because all the things that made it an exceptionally bad idea also meant that this would probably be his only chance to experience it. It was better than anything he'd ever allowed himself to imagine.

Eventually their need for oxygen forced them apart.

"Seb, I… I can't just have some one night stand with you and then go back to being friends in the morning."

"I know. That's not what I want." The words seemed to surprise Sebastian even as he spoke them. "Not with you."

"Oh… ok."

"Does that mean I can kiss you again?"

"God yes."