A/N Thanks to all the favourites, follows and reviews.
I do not own Glee or the characters.
Chapter Seven
Trent had decided that he would start coming to glee rehearsals in his own clothes. Since the New Directions thrived on individuality he felt that it was only prudent to be the individual that he was. So that day he went back to his dorm room, after having asked for permission from Mr Shue and the principal of Dalton to wear his own attire for practice, and changed outfits. He felt very bold walking into glee practice in something other than his Dalton uniform. He had worn it so much the past four years that it had almost become a part of him. It didn't define who he was however. Trent had always been called the sassy one of the Warblers, and by God was he determined to show how sassy he really was. He wasn't quite as flamboyant a dresser as Kurt, or so tight fitting, but he did like to stand out when he could. Some people thought because of his dress sense that he was gay. He wasn't though, he just liked to be colourful when he dressed. It showed off his sunny personality.
He could see Sebastian roll his eyes upon entering the room in his own clothing. Obviously Sebastian did not like to dress in such bold colours and patterns. Trent had learnt not to care what others thought of his clothes. He just wore what he liked and be damned.
"What are you doing out of uniform Trent?" Thad asked, his voice getting a little higher in pitch.
"Mr Shue and the principal said it was fine for me to come as I am to glee rehearsal. I felt stupid wearing my Dalton uniform. After all in here we aren't Dalton pupils, we are all just individuals." Trent turned pointedly and sat down in front of the boy.
Thad looked at David who just shrugged back at him. Maybe all of us Dalton guys should dress in our own things from now on?
"Wait, we can do that?" Jeff's little sister Grace asked looking really excited about the idea of being allowed to wear her own fashion.
"We are totally coming in our own clothes tomorrow Grace." Becky replied, just as excited at the prospect of getting out of the prim and proper Crawford uniforms. White knee length socks were never a good look.
Blaine slowly entered the room looking tired and plopped himself down next to Trent.
"Hey, those trousers are really amazing Trent, where did you get them?" Blaine looked closer at the boys trousers as Trent beamed at the compliment.
"Ok guys, settle down everyone." Mr Shue projected to the crowd as he entered the room. "Since we now have our new team completed I have closed the auditions. So everyone that is new to the club, I give a warm welcome to the New Directions. Now, the New Directions have always worked best as a close knit team who understand each other and respect each other. Therefore this week I am going to have you get to know people you haven't been paired up with before and you are going to decide on a duet to perform with one another. Now the main point of this is so you can get to know each other better. I don't want to hear of any moaning about your partners or any swapping. Understood?"
The older members of New Directions moaned loudly at that announcement.
"But Blaine and I never get to do a duet Mr Shue!" Tina exclaimed angrily, Blaine turned and patted her hand in sympathy. He would rather have done a duet with her than with someone he didn't really know. That for him, he knew, meant one of the little Crawford girls since he knew all the Dalton boys.
"I'm sorry Tina but my decision is final." Mr Shue got his list out that he had decided on for the pairings. Normally he would have done this out of a hat but as some knew one another from before and in other contexts, he needed to do it himself.
"Ok, when I call your name out you can pair up and go somewhere else to choose your song selection. We will all gather back toward the end of the week to perform them." Mr Shue decided he would start with the people least likely to make a fuss. "Sam and Nick, I've put you together." The two boys high fived each other and walked amiably off to get a coffee. Blaine was glad Sam had gotten a good pairing. He and Nick would be a good combination.
"Next we have Marley and Trent." These two had seemed like a good pairing to Mr Shue. Trent was a happy sort of fellow from what Mr Shue could see and Marley was one of the nicest, kind hearted kids he had ever had the privilege of teaching. They both looked happy to be paired up together and walked of affably chatting away.
"Let's see..." He looked down the list to try and find the next few pairs that he thought would get along well. "Ryder and Richard. Artie and Grace, and Jake and Becky." All these couples thought that they had been paired with decent people and went along happily enough. Blaine, on the other hand, was frowning. Both the Crawford girls had already been picked and he knew all the others. He had performed with them. Who could Mr Shue possibly pair me up with? David? Maybe Thad? Blaine decided to keep quiet and just be thankful that he was going to end up with someone he already knew well.
Ok, now to the pairs that are going to be more annoyed with me. Hopefully Tina won't be too bad, but I know Blaine is definitely going to kick up a fuss. Mr Shue looked warily around the room at the rest of the kids left. Blaine didn't seem too upset at the moment so he had obviously not cottoned on to who he was going to be paired with. He decided he would get Tina's pairing over with next. She might grumble because she would rather be with a friend but he thought she wouldn't be too bad. "Tina and Jeff. You're next." Jeff looked happily towards Tina, who just mumbled about wanting to do a duet with her bestie, but conceded that Jeff was probably not that bad a choice and they left after Tina had given Blaine a hug and wished him luck on his partner.
"Right, next is Unique and Thad." Thad raised his right eyebrow at the director. He was definitely leaving the weirder pairings till last. He felt sorry for who Blaine and David might end up with. He hoped it would be that they ended up together but after seeing these pairings he realised that this director was incredibly sharp on the uptake about the personalities and possible friendships and rivalries within the group.
"Ready to go Thad." Unique looked down at him with bucket loads of attitude from her standing point in front of him. This is going to be interesting to say the least.
Mr Shue only had two pairings left and he knew that he needed to tell them their pairing even though he didn't want to. Come on Will, do it like you are ripping off a plaster. He took a deep breath in and prepared himself for the onslaught that was to come.
"Blaine and Sebastian. I've put you two together." He knew putting these two together would cause friction, never the less he needed them to get over that and learn to work together. Blaine stared daggers at Mr Shue and sat quietly not budging when Sebastian poked him.
"So I guess that leaves Nick Fury here and myself then." Kitty stood up and stalked to the door, turned and waited impatiently for David to catch up. David, a little shocked by what was happening in the room just now, and a little scared of the tiny cheerleader, followed her quickly out of the room throwing Blaine a look of pity.
"Mr Shue is this your idea of a joke because I don't think its funny." Blaine spat out once everyone else had left the room. His arms were folded defensively over his chest and his eyes had grown dark with rage. The boy had grown thinner in recent weeks and still had dark circles underneath his eyes. He was still wearing quite a few layers despite the weather having gotten warmer these past two weeks.
"Blaine I paired you together for a reason. You two need to sort things out and learn to understand each other. You're the captain of this team Blaine. You need to show the others that, even though we may be very different, we can all get along and work together as a tight knit group." Mr Shue calmly explained to the scowling teenager in front of him.
"I'm not sure that one week and a duet can patch things up between Sebastian and myself. He nearly blinded me in my right eye if you remember Mr Shue. With a rock salt slushie."
"You were the one who said that you would let him have a chance in this group. Show me you are committed to giving him that chance now Blaine." Blaine looked at him defeated. He was tired and Mr Shue could see it. The kid still wasn't completely over his illness, he probably could have done without any more dramas but Mr Shue was determined that they work everything out.
"Aww, come on handsome. Give it a go, like Mr Fantastic said. You never know, you might be surprised with what you learn."
"Fine, but don't even think about trying to get into my pants because its not going to work." Sebastian laughed at that. Why would he ever stop trying to do that? Blaine was gorgeous and he knew it and Sebastian loved the chase that Blaine was leading him on. It made it all the more exciting. Mr Shue exhaled the breath he had subconsciously been holding in. He hoped everything would be alright from now on.
Jeff and Tina had gone straight to the coffee shop after getting assigned their pairings as they knew most of the other couples they were close to would probably do the same. They passed Nick and Sam who were already there and well into a deep conversation. They decided to get a table to themselves so that they could get to know each other a little better first before joining the others. Jeff, being a gentleman, went to go and get their coffees as Tina found a table in the corner of the shop that looked quite cosy. Jeff plonked the cups down onto the table before scooting in his chair so he was closer to Tina. Jeff was normally quite shy upon first meetings of friends like this but since she was such a good friend of Blaine's he didn't really feel any nerves.
"So, I see that you and Blaine are really close friends now." Jeff inquired to the outspoken Asian girl.
"Yeah, he's great. He's such a lovely person. So kind and generous and always has time for you, even though he always seems to be busy." Jeff had noticed that all her quips and sarcasm had left and he felt that this was probably closer to the real Tina.
"I know. He was like that when he was at Dalton. He seems less innocent now though. I suppose he has been through a lot of stuff since he was here though."
"We all have. There was a school shooting not too long ago, and the tornado. Then there is the whole Kurt thing. That took a long time for him to get back to himself after that happened." Tina looked slightly angry at the mention of Kurt and Jeff decided he would probe a little further on that one to see what came up.
"What exactly happened with Kurt?"
"I'm not one hundred per cent sure. Blaine doesn't really talk about it much. He always states that it was his fault though."
"That they broke up?" Jeff pushed a little more.
"Yeah. I just hope he finds someone again. He totally deserves to be happy."
"What about that cute, blonde guy. Sam, isn't it?
"Ooh, did you know Blaine has the hugest crush on Sam?" Tina's eyes sparkled to life as she leaned forward to give Jeff the juicy gossip. Tina really loved to gossip.
"No, really! I mean I could see that there was something going on, but not that. So does Sam not like him back? I kinda got the feeling that he was straight."
"He is. He's just got out of a relationship with a girl that used to be on our team. Brittany. He thinks of he and Blaine as 'bros'."
"Hmm. I see. Tell me everything Tina." Jeff and Tina bent their heads close together as the gossip session continued on a more intense level.
The two sat gossiping over their drinks in the coffee shop for hours about Blaine and his relationships, till Nick came and told Jeff that they needed to get a wriggle on if they wanted to get dinner. The two boys asked Tina along too so that she could at least eat before making the trek back to Crawford and she decided to take them up on the offer.
"Boy do I have some juicy gossip for you." Jeff whispered into his boyfriends ear.
"So do I Jeffy kins, so do I." Nick murmured back as they made their way to the dining hall. Nick had found out a lot from Sam. He still felt as though it was only the tip of the iceberg that he had been told though. Nick could not wait until later, he and Jeff had some serious gossiping to do.
Unique and Thad were laughing their heads off. They had found out that they both had similar taste in music and so had picked a duet rather quickly after leaving the rehearsal room that day. Unique was singing the girls part, of course. Since they had finished up relatively early, Thad and Unique had taken to getting to know each other better through a game of twenty questions. Shockingly, what they found out was that they got on like a house on fire. Thad loved Unique. He thought she was a riot. She was such a diva and had a quick wit to her. Thad was thoroughly enjoying getting to know her.
"Ok mister, question fifteen. Have you ever kissed a boy?"
Thad laughed. He went to an all boys school. A lot of things happened at all boys schools. "Yes I have actually. It was a dare and I was a little drunk. That was pretty much all I remember about that night as well. I was told by David that I stripped naked and danced in the fountain out in the rose garden. Not sure whether that actually happened, but it isn't out of the realms of possibilities. When it comes to me and being drunk I pretty much lose all inhibitions, so..."
Unique giggled, she really liked Thad and he didn't seem uncomfortable around her at all.
"My turn. Has anyone ever mistaken you for a girlfriend of theirs?" Thad asked wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"Yes actually. Brittany called me Mercedes on a number of occasions. Although I'm not sure whether she did that deliberately or not..."
"That's hilarious. What, did she think you were a clone or the original come back?" Thad chuckled. He didn't think he'd laughed this much in a long time.
"Not sure on that one." Unique tapped her finger to her lips and then shrugged as if it didn't matter.
Their game continued on through dinner, neither realising how late it had actually gotten. Unique had felt she had made a new friend in Thad. One that was very understanding. He had never once made a big deal about the fact that Wade was transgender and preferred to be Unique. He had just accepted it and asked questions that hadn't made her feel at all uncomfortable, but sated his own curiosity. He had even asked if it was all right to ask her questions about that topic in case she felt uncomfortable about it. He was such a sweetheart. Unique went to bed that day feeling very content with life.
Jeff and Nick were sitting in Jeff's room that night talking about what they had spoken about respectively with their assigned duet partners. They were extremely interested in what each other had to say about one topic in particular. Blaine.
"Tina told me that Blaine has a crush on Sam but that Sam is straight and just come out of a relationship." Jeff announced, his eyes wide with excitement.
"Really? Wow, I knew there was something going on between those two. Poor Blainey, that must be hard. Especially with what I found out." Nick looked a little melancholy to Jeff. Whatever it was that he had found out was not happy news. He wasn't sure he wanted to know.
"What did you find out?" Jeff asked anyway, curiosity getting the better of him.
"Sam told me a little story about Blaine and Kurt. It was very interesting. Although, you might get upset by it sweetie."
"Why? What happened between them?" Jeff grabbed Nick's hand to hold. He didn't like sad stories, he always needed Nick to hold his hand through them.
"Well, according to Sam, it started at the end of the last year. Apparently Kurt was completely focused on going to this NYADA place and his audition that that was all he would talk about. How much he couldn't wait to get out of Ohio and go to a better place."
"Ouch, that must have really hurt Blaine."
"That's only the beginning, my love. Blaine was obviously hurt and he started pushing Kurt away instead of talking to him. So Kurt met this guy and they started sending sexual innuendos to each other via text. Apparently, according to Sam, there had been hundreds of texts between them in the space of a few days."
"Oh my god! Did Blaine break up with him then?" Nick shook his head, Jeff was getting a little sniffily already so he rubbed his free arm up and down his lovers back.
"No, he did argue with Kurt, but they got everything out into the open and made up. Kurt promised Blaine that he would never feel alone or some such."
"Wow. Blaine must have really been hurting though. How could Kurt do that?"
"Kurt didn't think he was doing anything wrong at all." Nick raised his eyebrows at Jeff. He had not been impressed with Kurt when he had heard that part of the story at all.
"What? But Kurt always seemed like such a sensitive guy." Jeff's brow furrowed in slight anger and confusion.
"I know right. I was shocked too."
"So what happened then?"
"Well Kurt didn't get into NYADA so he stayed in Lima. That is until Blaine told him that he was stuck in a rut, that he didn't belong in Lima any more and he needed to go and fulfil his dreams."
"Blaine really loved him didn't he. To let him go like that." Jeff sighed, he loved romance. He was such a sap.
"Yeah, probably too much. It's gets worse from here. Sam said the first couple of weeks that Kurt went away were fine, but then Kurt got a job as an intern at . At first it was just that Kurt was fully into his new job and so that was all he could talk about when they talked together, which Blaine understood. But then he started missing Skype calls they had arranged. He didn't pick up when Blaine called and even if he did pick up he was never interested in anything that Blaine was doing or listened to Blaine when Blaine needed his advice about stuff. He just fobbed him off. Blaine went in for class president, which he got and Kurt knew he was running and how important it was to Blaine, but he didn't even pick up the phone when Blaine called the evening of the election. He never replied back or sent any congratulatory message. He never even apologised for not calling back."
"What did Blaine do?" Jeff now looked shocked. Nick would never not listen to anything Jeff said to him. He always made it appear to Jeff that he was the most important person in the world and whatever he said was always crucial.
"Well he tried to explain how much he missed talking to Kurt and that he needed him, but Kurt kept fobbing him off for things that weren't even important, like office gossip."
"No way!"
Nick was on a roll and so carried on with the tale of woe that had been Blaine's life for the year. "So Blaine, heartbroken, went around to a guy he met on facebook's house and slept with him."
"Oh my God. Stop for a sec Nick. This is too much." Jeff was sobbing little tears as Nick, close to tears himself, rubbed soothing circles onto his boyfriends back to calm him down. Once calmed down a little Jeff spoke up again through his hiccups. "Why did he do it? No don't tell me, I already know the answer. Poor Blainey. I bet he felt like complete crap after, right?"
"Yeah he did. He told Sam that it was the biggest mistake he had ever made and as soon as he had done it he knew how stupid he had been. He still states now that everything that happened between them was his own fault."
"But Kurt..." Jeff began till Nick interrupted him.
"Yeah I know. Kurt broke his heart first." Nick had started to sound a little infuriated to Jeff. Nick had been close to Blaine when they had both gone to Dalton. He was very upset for his friend. Especially since he had transferred schools primarily for Kurt.
"Did Blaine go and tell Kurt then?"
"Yeah, he felt so guilty he went straight away and told Kurt. After that Kurt didn't talk to him for two months. Blaine tried everything he could to try and explain why he did it, but nothing. Until Thanksgiving. Then Kurt phoned Blaine and told him that he thought they needed to talk."
"Did they?"
"Blaine went to be with Kurt over Christmas because he had just got into NYADA and so he wanted to save for tuition and not come home. They decided they would still be friends, well Kurt mostly decided. Blaine wanted more, but he was going to take things slowly with Kurt and try to win him back."
"So they are friends again?" Jeff was getting more and more confused as the story went on. They were together, they weren't, they were. It was too much for his mind to handle in his already upset state.
"Not really. There's still more."
"Oh my god. It feels like my hearts going around and around like a yo-yo."
"How do you think Blaine feels then?" Nick asked bitterly. He had liked Kurt very much when he spent his time at Dalton, but his self-centeredness and lack of caring for Blaine's feelings had made Nick almost despise the boy.
"Awful I guess." Jeff responded quietly, looked down onto his lap, picking pieces of invisible lint off his trousers.
"You said it. After that it was awkward between the two, but they were at least talking. Then Mr Shue and Miss Pillsbury's first wedding attempt on Valentine's came up and Kurt flew home for it. They made out in Blaine's car, sang a duet and hooked up. Apparently Kurt told Blaine he was sort of seeing someone when they made out and after the reception they hooked up. Kurt didn't commit to Blaine at all when he told Kurt how much it had meant to him and that he thought that they were soul mates and that he wasn't going to stop trying to get them back together. Kurt didn't put him off though so Blaine thought that he had a real chance to get back with Kurt"
Tears were flowing down Jeff's face by this point. How could Kurt do this to Blaine? Blaine was such a nice person. Yes, Blaine had made a mistake, but he had known that and tried so hard to make amends. Didn't that mean anything to Kurt at all. "What happened next?" Jeff wasn't sure he wanted to know but he had heard this much already.
"Kurt went back to New York and Blaine stayed here, and, although Blaine claims they were only friends, he decided he wanted to propose to Kurt."
"Oh, no! He didn't reject Blaine did he?"
"No, Blaine didn't ask him in the end. He just asked him if he would think about them getting back together, but Kurt told him he needed time. Sam did say though that after the tornado happened Kurt didn't even come home for the memorial service they put on for Blaine and when they found Blaine all he did was text him saying he was 'glad' Blaine was alive then asked him advice on a song selection for his classes."
"What? What did Blaine say about all this?"
"Sam says that he's kept real quiet about it and he doesn't want to push Blaine into talking about it as it's a sensitive subject for Blaine." Jeff just nodded, he felt for Blaine. He didn't condone some of his actions, but he understood why he did them. Feeling alone and unloved by the one person you love the most must be the hardest thing in the world. Jeff didn't know if he could handle being apart from Nick. Nick was his lifeline. He felt that he and Nick really needed to rally around Blaine. He had been through so much this year. It was time for him to be happy and surrounded by loved ones.
Blaine had grumpily told Sebastian to meet up with him the next day after Mr Shue had told the glee club their assignment. He had been too tired to cope with Sebastian any further that day. The two boys were now sitting in one of the study rooms with music sheets strewn all around them trying to decide on their duet choice. Blaine was not happy. Why the hell did he have to be paired with Sebastian of all people? He really did not need this. His incessant flirting was driving him crazy. It had to stop.
"Seriously Sebastian, this flirting has to stop. I can't take it any more. I'm not some toy for you to play with whenever you feel like it. I'm a person with feelings and emotions. I don't like the things you say and the way you say them to me." Blaine snapped to the tall boy. Sebastian look up from his music shocked.
"I, I didn't realise. I'm sorry. I didn't know it offended you so much. I wont do it any more if you hate it that much."
"Thank you." Blaine politely replied then went back to looking for music. Sebastian thought that this would be the ideal time to try and get some information out of the petite boy.
"Can I ask you something?"
Blaine sighed and looked back up, glaring. "What?"
"Do you have feelings for Sam?"
Blaine's face said it all to Sebastian. He would be an awful poker player. "That is none of your business but no I don't have feelings for Sam for your information. He's just a friend. Besides he's straight anyway so its a moot point." You little liar Blaine Anderson. Sebastian smirked. He could plainly see on his face how much he cared for the blonde bombshell.
"Whether he's straight or not doesn't mean you can't like him in that way. It just means you don't stand as much of a chance with him wanting you back."
"Don't you mean no chance at all." Blaine pointedly replied placing his head on top of his curled up right fist.
"So you do like him then?" Sebastian teased the boy. He could see that Blaine hated being teased about sensitive subject areas and Sebastian was only human after all, he had to exploit Blaine's weakness somehow.
"I don't want to talk about this with you Sebastian." Blaine shut down, the walls building up around him as he spoke.
"Oh come on. I could help?" Sebastian really genuinely like the boy sitting opposite him, but he also loved playing games and getting those two together would be one hell of a matchmaking game.
"Help with what. There is nothing for you to help with. Sam is straight, he's one of the straightest people I have ever known. He's my friend. That's all. The end."
Sebastian chuckled to himself under his breath. Blaine was really oblivious when it came to other peoples feelings for him. "You do realise that no matter how straight a person is they are never one hundred per cent straight. Even the straightest person in the world has their one exception to the rule."
"Right, whatever. I'm not that ok?"
"How do you know?" Sebastian leaned his chin on his interlaced hands that were on front of him as he leaned his elbows on the table.
"Because he knows that I have a crush on him and he doesn't care. He hasn't shown me any indication that he feels that way back, alright. He's had plenty of opportunity to do so as well."
"How long ago did he find out? Was it pre or post tornado?"
"Why would that matter?" Blaine flung his hands in the air, a look of exasperation covering his face.
"Come on Blaine. You two were trapped under there in that little hole for days. You both almost died. He would be dead if it hadn't been for you. Stuff like that can change peoples perspectives on others. I think its changed Sam's perspective on you."
"How can you be sure, you didn't know what he was like before the tornado."
"True, but I see the way he looks at you, looks after you. He's very protective of you. I'm surprised he hasn't come in here to find out if I have hurt you in any way."
Blaine rolled his eyes. Sebastian was talking a load of rubbish. He didn't have a clue what he was talking about, and Blaine definitely did not want his help for anything.
Look, can we just get on with finding a song for this stupid assignment?"
"I don't think Mr Shue cares about the assignment Blaine. I think he wants us to talk things over and reach an understanding at least."
Blaine's shoulders sagged. "Fine, talk."
"What do you want to know?"
"What makes you, you, Sebastian?"
"That's pretty broad but I guess I'll try my best. Well my mother left me and my father when I was three years old. I don't even remember what she looks like. She just packed her bags one day and left me in an empty house for my father to find when he got back from work. Since he has such an important, time consuming job he felt he couldn't raise me on his own and hired a nanny. My first nanny was really lovely, but she died of cancer when I was ten. The second nanny molested me." Sebastian took a breath. He hated relating the painful past memories of his childhood. It was in the past and it should stay there as far as Sebastian was concerned.
"How long did this nanny do that for?" Blaine's voice was laced with concern, his face a mask of horror. Sometimes Sebastian thought that the boy was too nice for his own good.
"She did that for almost three years and my father didn't really care or was completely oblivious to it. It was my grandmother who found out. She was visiting for the week and she walked in on her touching me down there, if you know what I mean." Blaine nodded, looking a little sick.
"After that my father sent me to live in France for two years with an aunt. It was great and all but, well... I could tell she didn't really want me there. By that time I guess I just tried to find love in whatever place and however I could. I came out in France and she practically threw me out. I started spending nights away from her with random strangers just so I wouldn't have to face her. Thankfully my father decided to bring me back and here I am. I board here twenty four seven unless its the holidays."
"I'm so sorry Sebastian." Blaine was chewing hid bottom lip, which Sebastian noted he mostly did when he didn't really know what to say.
"You know, my friends call me Seb."
"Is that why I've only ever heard people call you Sebastian before?" Blaine jokingly answered, grinning.
Sebastian laughed. "Good one."
Sebastian looked at the frail looking boy he was sitting with. Whatever had happened this year to Blaine was really starting to take its toll on him. "Look I really do want to help you with Sam, honestly. I think he truly likes you as more than friends and I want to help."
"Why?"
"Because everybody deserves a chance at happiness." Sebastian told Blaine directly.
"So do you." Blaine interjected back.
"Yeah, well, accepting me into your second home will help with that. Honestly, I'm sick of being a loner. I just want a place to belong."
"Ok Seb. I'll try." Blaine had pronounced the name meaningfully to Sebastian so he knew that Blaine was willing to act as a friend to this boy. It was too tiring not to and Sebastian wasn't really that bad, just misunderstood by people who were ignorant of his background.
The two boys shook hands and turned to search for the perfect duet song choice from the piles in front of them.