Warnings for this chapter: Underage drinking and sexual situations (dubcon)

I also just want to leave a reminder that this story followed canon only up to Michael.

Sebastian stood in the gate of Dalton and silently watched Trent exit the parking lot and drive away, a tight feeling in his chest mixed with something else he couldn't quite put a name on, but he sure knew some of it was guilt, and some of it was contempt.

He got into the car and laid on the backseat with his legs up. His knee still hurt from where it had slammed against the stall door when it bounced back from how he'd kicked it. He lashed out once he was sure the noise would be out of Trent's earshot. He was so angry because he had a game on Thursday, so he just hoped his knee wouldn't be hurt enough to be a problem. He felt like an idiot.

He knew he was making things more difficult than they needed to be. But he couldn't help but being defensive and on edge when he saw Trent come out of the bathroom stall. He was sure he must have heard his conversation with Brian. He hoped the making out and light groping they had going on didn't register with Trent, but he couldn't be sure.

He had agreed to go out with Brian tonight, and he wasn't really looking forward to it, but now his mood was totally ruined.

Brian was an old friend, they had hooked up a few times, but nothing more. One time Sebastian had been stupid enough to spend the night at his place and after that he had wanted more but Sebastian wasn't one to get involved. Luckily he'd been okay with it, because otherwise getting him to help the Warblers with some choreography would have been out of the question.

Sebastian was glad to have him around to cut through some of the tension of being back. He'd probably only have him around for a couple of days and then let him go though, especially if he expected Sebastian to "make it up to him" everyday. That was just not gonna happen; he knew Brian was a greedy bastard when it came to sex.

He had already asked Sebastian out a few times before this but he had refused, making up random excuses he knew weren't even believable, but that never seemed to dissuade him. This time he actually owed him though, so they were going out for drinks, probably to scandals since he knew eventually they'd end up hooking up. Normally he wouldn't really mind the random sex, but today for some reason he was dreading it. He wished he could just get out of the situation somehow, he felt a little sick just thinking about it. But his parents left this morning for New York and so he was home alone and frankly had no other excuse to get out.

Once he got home he dropped down on his bed and fell asleep, not even bothering to change out of his uniform, wishing he could just disappear.

The drive home helped Trent calm down, and he quickly realized his tears came more from anger than heartbreak this time. He was just so disappointed in Sebastian; he couldn't believe the way he was behaving. He knew the real Sebastian was still somewhere in there, and he couldn't comprehend how it was so easy for him to just forget about their friendship and put these big walls up making it impossible to get through to him. He was at least a little glad he had managed to keep it together when they argued in the restroom; he just hoped Sebastian didn't notice he was crying when he was getting into his car in the parking lot.

Tomorrow was Wednesday and that meant they had biology together just like on Fridays. This time it was probably going to be even more stressful and he wondered for a moment if he could just purposely be late so he could skip first period. He couldn't avoid Sebastian forever but, if he was going to be an asshole to him from now on, then he had no clue about what to do.

He would just have to wait until tomorrow and see, so he decided he would try to keep his mind busy with homework and cake and the positive things he could still find in his life in spite of the heartache that came with losing Sebastian's friendship.

And so he did.

By the time he went to bed, he realized he had managed to have a good time. He was done with his obligations from school and had spent time with his family and some neighborhood friends that came by to wish him a happy birthday. It had been a pleasant day even after all that had happened at school.

Meanwhile, Sebastian was sitting in the bar, downing his 4th beer and feeling pretty lightheaded. Brian was pulling on his arm to go back to the dance floor but all he could think about was how he needed another beer. For anyone watching them, the scene must have been completely pathetic. As hard as he tried, Sebastian couldn't even pretend to be interested in Brian tonight. He had pulled it off before they got there when he was sober, but now that he was drunk, he found himself caring less and less. Brian didn't seem to mind though, as he kept pulling Sebastian from the bar every time he escaped from the dance floor just so he could go back to rubbing his body against him. It was hilarious actually, but Sebastian was more interested in drinking his beer than paying attention to him.

Sebastian was not really a happy-drunk, but with each beer he found himself just more amused with everyone around him. He didn't know why he frequented Scandals that much; all the people who went there were mostly just sad and pathetic losers.

For a while Brian disappeared and so he made his way to where the old jukebox was. He wanted something to keep him distracted because he knew soon he would have him pulling on his arm again and he was just exhausted with the whole situation. He was randomly pushing on the buttons when he heard someone coming up to him from the back.

"So, how do you get a guy to like you?"

He turned around and sure enough, it was Bear Cub, whatever his name is. And he did not need this shit right now.

There were a lot of things Sebastian didn't understand about himself. One of those things was how insulting people in the most demeaning ways came so easy to him. Just a few lines and he could see the poor guy's spirit crumble before him. It was probably his fault for approaching him in the first place. They had spoken a few times before, never anything memorable, but he should have known by now that Sebastian really wasn't the friendly type. Unless of course he wanted to hook up, in which case he would be the one approaching him.

Clueless idiot.

Before the guy could even pull himself together enough to respond, Brian was back and pulling on Sebastian's arm again, only this time it wasn't for the dance floor.

The rest of the night passed in a blur. In the midst of his drunken haze, he could remember being pressed against the wall while Brian kissed him sloppily and made himself busy undoing his pants. He recalled smacking Brian in the head and yelling at him for not locking the door when some other guy entered the bathroom and caught them in the middle of a blowjob, but he couldn't make himself care enough to stop. Instead he let Brian pull him into one of the stalls and finish what they started.

Hours later, he dropped down on his bed not even sure how he got there, feeling dizzy and absolutely sick. His eyes felt heavy and his mind was foggy. He couldn't remember how many beers he had, and then there were the tequila shots Brian insisted on having. He must have gotten a little too many of them because when he tried to reach down to remove his shoes he felt his head spin and he barely made it to the toilet before he was puking his guts out.

The next morning he woke up with a splitting headache and feeling sore, really sore. That gave him a pretty good idea of what happened the night before even if he couldn't quite remember it clearly.

He completely ignored his alarm and dozed off again, not waking up until Helena, the maid, had knocked on his door to check on him, as Greg was ready to take him to school and she was worried he hadn't come out of his room since the previous afternoon.

One glance to his nightstand clock confirmed he was late to school. It was already 7:15 and there was no way he would make it on time. Since he was already on notice he knew the school would immediately notify his parents if he didn't show up to class, so staying home was not an option. He managed to get up and stumble his way to the shower. The only thing he had for breakfast before leaving was a couple of aspirin.

Dalton Academy's policy was that students who arrived late had to stay for 1 hour in detention before being allowed inside, this was so they wouldn't interrupt in the middle of class. So after checking into the main office he went and sat down in one of the benches with 3 other guys who had also been late.

As soon as the bell rang he knew time was up and he could go to class. He lingered for a while, breathing deeply to gather some strength before getting up. He stood up and winced, wishing he could just go back home and straight to bed, he was not even sure what class he had today, or what day of the week it was for that matter. He found out soon enough as he watched Mr. Sandberg walk up to him, pointing his finger at him and godhe just didn't want to talk to the man today.

"You weren't in class today Sebastian. What happened?"

"Uh... Yeah I didn't make it to school before the bell rang. Got detention... Sorry about that." he said, feigning embarrassment hoping that would dissuade the teacher from giving him a lecture.

"Oh! I see. But anyway... Trent already talked to me about your situation..." Mr. Sandberg started, probably supposing Sebastian knew what he was talking about.

"...And there's really no issue with me as long as you guys can find someone who wants to trade partners before your next assignment is due."

Sebastian just narrowed his eyes while the words sunk in, and then nodded awkwardly, not sure if he was supposed to say something or not.

"So just make sure you figure it out ok? Let me know by Friday. And get going, or you're going to be late for your next class!" Mr. Sandberg said as he turned around and walked away.

Huh.That was unexpected, though he really should have seen it coming. After all, he had been acting like an asshole to Trent these past few days, so it made sense he wouldn't want to be his lab partner anymore.

He pulled himself out of his thoughts and started quickly walking down the hallway to his next class. Just before getting inside he caught sight of Nick, resting his side on the doorframe of one of the classrooms across the hall. He was laughing intensely and holding a hand to his stomach. Right in front of him, half inside the classroom was Trent, cheeks flushed and holding a hand over his mouth in an attempt to hold his own laughter. He wondered what were they talking about that could possibly be so funny, but quickly entered his class before they could catch him staring.

Still, as he sat down and pulled his notebook out of his bag, he couldn't help the unpleasant feeling growing inside of him.

He knew it was stupid, and he knew he shouldn't care, but that didn't make him feel any better.

Things would not go back to the way they were before, and it was Trent's fault, he reminded himself. He was the one who started this; he was the one to blame. But then why was Sebastian the one who was left aside, feeling miserable?

You need to get your shit together.He reprimanded himself as he felt the faint threat of his headache trying to return.

He just hoped he didn't look as bad as he was feeling. After all, the show must go on.

Rehearsal that day was pretty much the same as the day before. With Brian practically taking over the dance routine and the rest of the guys pretty much trying to keep up and learn the steps and moves.

Through all rehearsal, Trent did his very best to avoid eye contact with Sebastian. He figured it was the safest choice. He would still have to look at him at times throughout the dance routine though, and that is when he noticed something was off about him.

First, he looked exhausted, had dark circles under his eyes and also, there were times when he moved kind of funny, almost like he was in pain.

Trent figured it could be because he was hung-over, but that still wouldn't explain the uneasiness of his movements. Sebastian was used to physical activity; he was a jock. Even if he was out dancing all night, he shouldn't be sore. It was very weird, but he tried not to think much into it. He was supposed to be ignoring Sebastian, not trying to figure him out.

He didn't know if it was his nerves or the fact that he was purposely trying not to look at him, but he was pretty sure he could feel Sebastian staring at him from time to time. It irked him to a point but he tried his best not to let it bother him too much.

The rest of the guys seemed to be trying their best to be at ease with Sebastian again. They were all very excited about the numbers they were practicing and their hopes were high for a Regionals win. Granted, Sebastian had both solos but they weren't complaining. After spending the last hour rehearsing the back up vocals with Sebastian's lead, they all started saying their goodbyes and leaving.

The next day went similarly, with Trent doing his best not to look at Sebastian during class and avoiding him as much as possible throughout Warbler rehearsal.

Even after everything, Trent could notice something different about him. Any other time, Sebastian really enjoyed himself while he was singing and dancing, but lately it was like the whole thing was just a chore.

Trent could see Sebastian was doing his best to not let it show, but he seemed like we would rather be anywhere else but right there. His smiles were forced, his moves were overdone, and he wasn't sure if anyone else had noticed it as well, but Sebastian wasn't really his usual self.

He tried to push those thoughts away and found it became easier as time passed. So when Friday came he wasn't as nervous about talking to Sebastian as he had been the previous times; which was a good thing, since he had to tell him about finding another lab partner.

He sat in class and waited for Sebastian to get there. He was hoping he could talk to him before class started, but as it turns out, Sebastian entered the classroom just behind Mr. Sandberg, so he figured he would try to talk to him once class was over.

Surprisingly enough, Sebastian appeared very nonchalant throughout the whole time they were in class. They took their turns with the microscope, took notes, and neither of them made any real attempt at conversation. Trent was cautious and Sebastian just appeared to be bored, really.

Once the bell rang Sebastian started gathering his things and getting up from his seat and Trent decided it was now or never.

"Sebastian, I need to talk to you about-"

"What?" Sebastian cut him off dryly. "About how you want to get another lab partner?" Sebastian snapped, giving Trent a serious look.

"You knew…" Trent said tentatively, surprised with Sebastian's reaction.

"Look, I don't care." Sebastian said exasperatedly, rolling his eyes and turning his back to Trent, heading for the exit.

"But it's your idea, so you figure it out. Let me know if you find anyone willing to get you off my back."

And just like that, he was out. Leaving Trent in the class with his mouth half open and an unpleasant feeling all around him. This time though, Trent was actually more shocked than offended. He just huffed and took his things outside the class. Get him off his back? It was actually the other way around.

Trent was hoping Sebastian would have an idea for who would be willing to trade partners with them, because he'd tried his luck with a few guys and there weren't any takers.

He figured some of them were intimidated by Sebastian, and others just didn't like him. Trent couldn't blame them, not really.

Maybe he was going to deal with being stuck with Sebastian as a lab partner for the rest of the year. He was not looking forward to that at all.

If they couldn't find anyone to trade with, they would just have to deal with it. Trent knew he wouldn't really be able to keep the strong facade for so long, and he only hoped Sebastian wouldn't either. But quite frankly, Sebastian was unpredictable, so he guessed he would have to take it one day at the time.

Since it was Friday it meant they didn't usually have warbler practice, but everyone still showed up to the choir room just in case. Sebastian was nowhere to be found though, and so after lingering for a while just talking to each other about the dance routine and trivial stuff like their plans for the weekend, everyone started leaving.

Strangely enough, just as Trent was walking through the parking lot, he spotted Brian resting against what he assumed must have been his car, talking on the phone.

He appeared to be arguing, and Trent really didn't mean to pry, so he quickly walked away and towards his car. As he drove away, he wondered if the person Brian was arguing on the phone with was Sebastian.

Trent was glad to have the week finally be over. Once he got home he was greeted with the smell of freshly baked cookies and decided to join his mother and sister for an evening of movies and comfort food. His dad was away on business and so it was only the 3 of them. It was nice and quiet and exactly what he needed.

It was almost midnight when Trent went back up to his room, ready for bed. His mom and sister had gone to sleep about san hour before him, feeling too tired and sleepy to finish the last movie of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

He was comfortably dressed in sweats and he could have gone to bed wearing them, but decided he was going to change into his pajamas. Once he opened his closet to look for them, he remembered he had left his cellphone in his Dalton uniform.

He spotted the Blazer in the rack and retrieved his phone from the pocket. Once he unlocked the screen what he saw froze him on the spot:

(3) Missed Calls from: Sebastian Smythe

This was weird. One call could be an accident. An unlocked keypad inside a pocket could do that. But 3 calls had to be deliberate. He wondered why would Sebastian possibly be calling him? They hadn't spoken to each other in days, and whenever they had, things had been pretty ugly.

Suddenly Trent found himself feeling nervous, pondering whether he should call him back, text him, or just wait to see if he called again. What if he wanted to yell at him or something?

No more than 5 minutes into that internal discussion with himself he was startled with a new text message notification:

(1) New Message from: Sebastian Smythe

Trent quickly opened the text but things only got even more weird once he read what it said:

(23:07) From Sebastian Smythe:
Do yu think ima bad person?

What kind of question was that? Was Sebastian playing some kind of game here?

Trent just stared at his phone for a while, feeling puzzled. That message just didn't sound like something Sebastian would normally say. He was too proud for that, and besides, it was poorly written, and that wasn't like Sebastian either.

A few minutes later, another text came in.

(23:09) From Sebastian Smythe:
you hate me

What was he supposed to say to that? "No Sebastian, I don't hate you. You're not a bad person, you're just a jerk most of the time"?

Suddenly he was glad he wasn't around to pick up the phone when Sebastian called, or he probably would have been faced with this question without the benefit of having time to think about a proper reply.

(23:11) From Sebastian Smythe:
its ok. I hate myself too

Now something was definitely wrong here, and Trent knew Sebastian must be either drunk, or having a crisis, or maybe both.

So he quickly dialed his number and waited anxiously, one time, two times, three times, and every one of his calls went to voicemail.

Why wasn't he answering his phone? He was starting to get really worried now.

(23:20) To Sebastian Smythe:
Are you ok?

After a few minutes with no response, he tried calling again. No answer.

(23:22) To Sebastian Smythe:
Sebastian you are freaking me out.

He sat in the corner of his bed. Staring at his phone, willing it to ring. But nothing happened. He decided he should probably calm down and wait until morning. Maybe Sebastian was drunk texting him, would forget about the whole thing in the morning, and Trent would look like a fool for even worrying about it.

Right when he was getting into bed, his phone rang again. It was Sebastian.

"H-hello?"

"…."

There was no response from the other line, just background static, but not from cars or anything loud, just silence and faint breaths over the speaker.

"Sebastian… Sebastian are you there?"

"Unnnfortunately for the world, I am." he finally heard Sebastian say with a defeated sigh.

Why was he speaking like this? It was very weird and unsettling, but as much as he asked he wasn't getting any answers from him, all he got was drunken mumblings.

"Where are you?" Trent asked anxiously for the fifth time.

Suddenly he heard Sebastian mutter something intelligible followed by the sound of glass shattering in the floor.

"Sebastian, tell me where you are! You are freaking me out." He demanded. But Sebastian only laughed and kept stuttering nonsense. "No one cares Trent, no one cares, not even I."

"You're not in your house are you?"

"Nope… nope…"

"Please tell me you're not wandering outside some bar…"

"No… I. I wentz for a walk."

"A walk where?"

"Y'know T… maybe if I walk far enough I will get lost… Lost for good!"

Trent was pacing around his room, his car keys in hand and wondering if he should go out and looking for Sebastian; but where to? He wouldn't tell him where he was and he was obviously intoxicated.

"I'm just gonna sit here… sit here and sleep." He heard Sebastian say, voice suddenly weak and quiet.

"No, Sebastian you can't just sleep in some shady corner somewhere... please tell me where you are." He pleaded.

"No." He said before hanging up, and right before he did Trent heard it… it was the sound of the railroad.

The sound made him jump and right then he knew he had to go looking for Sebastian, he just hoped he was where he thought he was.

Author's Note: I am excited to announce I now have a Beta! Yay! I am super grateful to Mandy (epiphanywords) for helping me out because she is amazing!

Thank you so much for reading. Hope you are excited as I am for what's going to happen next.