A/N: So guys. I don't think I can express how inspirational grantscockfarm is. (I mean, this is the second chapter in like a week after like, 17 years because she's being all coolio soooo) I should be doing some freaky solution booklet for my chemistry class but I am just so bad at prioritizing.

But I absolutely love all of my readers! You guys should hit me up on Tumblr (mr-no-bananas-or-cheesecake) and send me some messages so that I'll update faster :)

We get to see some other characters in this chapter too~!

WARNING: There is still some mentionings of Blaine/Nick, but I swear I won't give you anything too bad. Also! Introducing some Seblaine for a bit of a plot twist so please bear with me~

Disclaimer: If I owned Glee, Klaine, Sebastian, and Britanna would be the whole show.

When Nick connected himself to Jeff, he was surprised to find the blonde dressed up in the Dalton uniform and apron working in a very homey kitchen. Nick smiled wide. He looked so good in that Dalton blazer and the fact he still chose to wear it meant alot to him.

"You cook?" Nick said as his senses were attacked by a delicious aroma. Jeff looked up in surprise at Nick and beamed.

"Nick!" The blonde squealed, running over and squeezing the young scientist is a crushing hug. Nick giggled.

"Someone's excited."

Nick could feel the stress from the past few days melt away with the Sterling's touch. What with the UCE drama, the fact that he was still trying to work on completely trusting his friends, and Blaine staying at his house, he was a bit stressed out. It wasn't like Blaine was a hassle to deal with or that he didn't like him or anything. He just didn't 100% trust him and he actually proved quite helpful since he got that job at that music store down the street. It was just very risky for them to be living together, especially with their complicated relationship. Being friends with benefits was alot harder than it sounds. It was difficult and Blaine would always apologize profusely before going back to his own bed. Then there was the dread that someone would find out and they could lose their lives in an instant.

But here, with Jeff, it was okay.

"Can we go to Dalton today?" Jeff said excitedly, rocking back on his heels. Nick laughed and ruffled his hair.

"If you want to," Nick said, walking past Jeff and hopping up on the counters. Now that he was here, he inspected the kitchen. It was plain and simple, with wood cabinets above the creamy counters. The stove where Jeff was cooking was across from him. It was a gas stove, something Nick hadn't seen in a really long time.

Jeff returned to his cooking with a smile, humming "Uptown Girl" as he stirred a pot of what looked like soup.

"Hey, you remembered the song," Nick said happily. Jeff had a pretty nice voice too, from what he could hear.

"Yeah! I like music," Jeff added. "But..." he trailed off, furrowing his brow in confusion at the words he was trying to get across. Nick waited patiently for him to figure out how to say what he meant, because he couldn't tell. Yes, it was easy to understand and sense all of Jeff's feelings simply because he was sharing though processes with him, but that didn't help Jeff learn how to speak any faster.

"But...?" Nick repeated, encouraging Jeff to continue.

Jeff tapped his head. "No more songs."

Nick made an 'o' with his mouth. "So you don't know any more songs?" he asked, leaning back against one of the cabinets behind him.

"A little," Jeff said before turning off the stove.

"I don't understand, Jeff," Nick said truthfully, laughing a little.

"Jessica sings too!" the blonde chirped, turning to face Nick since he was now unoccupied. He walked over and gave the brunette another hug, standing in between his legs since Nick was still sitting on the counter and wrapping his arms around Nick's middle. Nick sighed and ran his fingers through Jeff's hair.

"So Jessica sings to you?" Nick repeated, making sure the information he was receiving was correct. Jeff nodded, nuzzling into Nick's neck. The brunette blushed at the close contact.

"Bulla lies."

Nick became extremely confused. He didn't know he Sterlings were really familiar with anyone outside of their head scientists. Just as he was about to open his mouth to ask who Bulla was, Jeff immediately shot up.

"Oops! I meant 'lullabies'," he corrected, covering his mouth as if he said something wrong. Nick stared at his for a moment before before bursting out into laughter.

"You corrected yourself that time! Way to go, Jeff!" Nick congratulated, ruffling his hair again. God, he couldn't stop touching his hair. Even though he knew it was only his brain imagining what it could possibly feel like, it was so soft and he couldn't get enough of it.

Jeff blushed and directed his gaze to the floor, smiling sheepishly at the compliment. Nick couldn't help but think he looked super cute.

Stop it, Nick.

That's right. He was here to help Jeff, not to get romantically interested. It was just so hard to resist his urges when he lived in this constant fear of dying alone.

"Yeah, everyone else was happy too," Jeff mumbled, tugging at the bottom of his Dalton blazer. Nick tilted his head to the side and Jeff took that as his cue to continue. "I saw Jessica, Jeremy, Jack, and Justin last night. We dinnered!" he said happily.

"'We had dinner'," Nick corrected, still smiling wide.

"We had dinner," Jeff repeated, like always.

"That's amazing, Jeff. Did you have fun?" Nick asked, courtesy and curiosity prompting the question.

"Yeah! Does Nick have family dinners when he goes home?"

Nick physically winced at the question. He didn't really know why it stung so bad. Nick was an only child growing up, and he hadn't seen his parents in a long time, choosing to completely sever ties with him when he refused to turn in his "gay friends", whom they luckily only knew by first name. He was never attached to them anyway. His mother took care of him, but his father didn't really seem like he wanted anything to do with him and he grew up shadowed by their expectations and in fear of their disappointment.

Maybe it was that Jeff seemed to be so young and he didn't want to expose him to the fact that life isn't always peachy for good people.

But then again, Jeff would probably know that more than anyone.

"No..." Nick breathed, obviously deflating. Jeff's smile fell when his did and he was looking very worried. "I haven't seen my family in years. They don't really approve of my decisions and way of living."

Jeff's frown was nearly comical and he looked like he was about to cry. Nick couldn't help but smile a little knowing that Jeff was feeling upset because he seemed upset.

"Niiickkyyy," he whined, hugging the older man again. Nick chuckled at the nickname and returned the hug.

"It's okay, Jeff. I was never close to them anyways," he cooed, trying to stop what he was sure was about to be a tear fest if he didn't try to calm Jeff down. He could already hear him sniffling.

"I'm sorry, Nick."

"For what?"

"That you can't see your family."

Nick could feel his emotions welling up inside of him and threatening to spill over in the forms of tears. Jeff may as well have been a stranger to him. He only knew his name and his presence, and nothing of his family, but here he was, apologizing for something he had absolutely nothing to deal with.

"It's okay," Nick stared, stopping when his voice cracked, "because you are my family now, and I have friends," he said, resting his head on Jeff's shoulder. "There's no need to apologize."

"But it sucks," Jeff whined. Where was he learning these new phrases from.

"Yes, it does, but it's okay because I've learned to get over it," Nick replied, rubbing soothing patterns on Jeff's back.

They stayed like that for a long time, still hugging even when Nick knew Jeff probably wasn't going to start crying.

"Why don't your parents accept you?"

Nick drew in a long breath before releasing it. "It's mainly because I had gay friends. They never knew that I was gay," he snorted. Jeff fell back on his memories about how homosexuality worked in this world and frowned.

"I don't understand why it's wrong," Jeff mumbled, leaning his head against Nick's shoulder too and picking at some loose thread on his shirt.

Usually the two never broached this topic. It was something that Nick felt would be too long to talk about, but not today. If Jeff was going to be expected to lead this country, then he needed to know.

"Well, for practically every organism to procreate, you need to have a male and a female."

"What does 'procreate' mean?" Jeff asked curiously. He was trying to follow the conversation using his context clues but alot of words hadn't been introduced to him yet.

Nick bit his bottom lip.

Was it appropriate for him to have the sex talk with Jeff? He was practically his father and was supposed to teach him everything he needed to know. Even though it wasn't completely on topic, for him to explain procreation, he'd have to explain that it was making babies and if Jeff didn't already know past that, then they'd have to get cracking on the birds and the bees.

"Do you know how two people make a baby?" Nick asked, looking at Jeff's face.

"What's a baby?"

Nick sighed.

This was going to be a long day.

"Why won't you just sign the contract?" a strained voice begged.

"Because there's no need for one if I'm not going to sing a song with you!" came the electronic voice, sharp and piercing as the bearer of the voice crossed her arms.

The other man ran a gloved hand through his brown locks and paced around, an action that the girl never thought she'd see happening in person.

"Just imagine all the publicity! RT and Tina! People would go crazy!"

Tina sighed, causing a low pitch to come from her throat.

"Artie, I don't think Mike would be okay with it," she said, nervously rubbing the back of her neck, a habit she'd picked up for whenever she was lying.

"Does he think I still have feelings for you? I thought I made it clear that I loved Brittany," he said solemnly.

Tina stared at her old friend. Alot had changed about him in the span of a few years. His face looked older and weathered than that of a man in his 20s and his pale eyes seemed lifeless. He had made it big as a white rapper after he graduated high school and everyone loved him. After gathering a large sum of money, he was able to gain back the use of his legs, making him a head taller than Tina. At first, it was perfect and everything was fine. He was living his dream! To make a successful career out of singing, rapping, and with the newly acquired use of his legs, dancing. But then the war sparked and everything changed. War and the music industry had jaded him; over the years, they tore him apart and changed him. His bright eyes never sparkled with the delight of music like they used to. He wasn't even very excited to see Tina after so long, or at least he didn't show it. Everything was business to him because with the loss of his glee club family, there was no need for the emotions and he hardened and locked them all away.

Truth was, she was terrified of her long-term friend. She didn't know how to treat him, and she was angry with the fact that she had lost another one of her friends to the same monsters that tore their group apart. She was lucky enough to keep Mike by her side, if only as a dancer in her group, but she hadn't caught wind of any of her New Direction friends since Brittany's funeral years ago, which she couldn't even attend because she was on tour.

"Why won't you just sign the damn contract?" Artie growled, clenching his teeth and glaring hard at the exotic girl with electric blue curls and red eyes.

Tina took a step back, surprised by the rage, but held her ground.

"I don't want to sign a contract with 'RT' to tell you the truth," she snapped back, placing the air quotes around "RT" to indicate his stage name. The brunette's stance lessened, as if he were thinking about stepping down.

He couldn't be mad at Tina, whether he had romantic feelings for her or not. They were alone in this world. It was Tina, Artie, and Mike and no one else. No simple high school days. Tina lifted her crimson eyes, which had been altered as part of the VOCALOID project along with her voice and hair. Artie could see that she was in pain, just like he was.

"I don't want to sign a contract with RT," she repeated, her voice softening, sounding more like a hushed lullaby of random notes. "I want to sign a contract with Artie Abrams. The one that I know."

Artie let his walls crumble. The walls that he had built up for so long that allowed him to act indifferent without feeling much remorse or regret from his actions. This was Tina. A friend he could depend on and he was treating her like another one of his colleagues. He could only imagine how hard it was for her, for Yamaha to rip away her true voice and replace it with automated machines to do the work for her. She would never be able to sing with her pure, natural tone ever again and it must have been difficult for her.

"Tina..."

The Asian's jade lips turned up into a small smile and she grabbed a pen and a slip of paper before scribbling something down.

"That's my personal number. You can call me when you think you're ready to do a song with me."

"Daaaaaddddyyy!"

Finn Hudson groaned as his daughter jumped on him. For a fleeting moment, he pondered where his wife was before realizing she had to work early at the theater, leaning him with Melody all day.

Melody had inherited the attention-needy personality from her mother and Finn didn't do too well with not spoiling her to death. He felt like he lived with sharks, both of his girls trying to one-up the other for his attention. They were both so vicious.

"Alright, alright," Finn groaned, rolling out of his bed.

"Mommy said you would take me to the park today," Melody said, trailing Finn as he entered the master bathroom. He smiled.

Of course Rachel already made plans for them. At first, it was a little irritating, but Rachel loved having the power, and that was less Finn had to worry about.

"Okay, baby. Should we invite Beth too? She likes the park."

Melody giggled and rolled her eyes, her laugh harmonious. "Daddy just wants to hang out with Uncle Pucky-Puck!"

The four of them, Rachel, Finn, Quinn, and Puck (after Quinn and Puck won custody over Beth) took everything and uprooted from Ohio to New Orleans. Everyone had gone their separate ways except for them, but when Kurt died in the HR, they decided it might be a good time to leave and go somewhere. There was nothing really there for them and they were all waiting for a reason to get out. New Orleans wasn't as eccentric as it used to be prior to the war, having been left for the government to "weed out the homos". However, it was still more open and exotic compared to other cities nowadays. Puck had continued with his pool cleaning business and with more people investing in heated pools that they could keep open year-round, business was booming and was very sufficient. He was allowed every other week with Beth and on those weeks, he seemed to rake in not only alot of dough, but alot of women too. Quinn had become an excellent real estate agent and was the best in town. She also usually played in many of Rachel's productions as some side work, mainly Glinda as Rachel led Wicked as Elpheba. Rachel had swooped in and saved the theater after all. It was turning to shambles after the war, but she worked her dedication and devotion on it and now it was one of the biggest tourist attractions. Finn continued working on automobiles, finding it his calling and only necessary after Burt had his second heart attack and passed away.

The store was still named after him.

Everything was fine as long as no one breached the sensitive topic of high school. There was a void there that was previously filled with their old companions and family and all the good times they all shared. If they had all just grown apart like people tended to do, it would have been easier to bear. Instead, they were ripped apart, the friendships and connections they had delicately woven were torn to shreds. The four of them had each other. They knew that Tina, Mike, and Artie were still alive and managing fairly well, but they were famous, plucked from the bunch and forced to never look back on their past lives. As for the others, they were either dead or couldn't be contacted.

They rarely sang.

Any songs that would bring up the memories of high school were practically forbidden, which meant pretty much all of them were forbidden since they covered every song in music history. Mainly Rachel.

Sometimes, late at night in the dusty hours, Rachel would stand solo on the theater stage and sing to the empty chairs, long after closing time. Her voice was a bit ragged, worn by age and scarce usage, but beautiful all the same. On days that she was late coming home and Finn would drive to the theater to make sure everything was okay, finding her performing. On those days, he would send Melody to Quinn's or Puck's and return to Rachel to recite some old Sectionals repertoire, or one of their numerous duets, dreaming they could return to a time filled with so much happiness.

"Hey, you're catching on to me," Finn laughed, ruffling his daughter's hair. She pouted before fixing her dark locks.

Things weren't great, but they were fighting, and they were fighting together.

"Dr. Hummel, why has this song been banned?" Jeremy asked, chewing the back of his pencil, a habit Elizabeth was trying to break him of seeing as pencils were not mainly electronic.

She rolled over in her chair to where he was sitting on the floor with his laptop and looked at the song he was researching. It was "Fuck You" by Lily Allen.

"Gay references. See?" she said, pointing to the lyrics on screen. Jeremy only looked more confused.

"I never understood why it's such a big deal. Y'know, all the problems with gays and stuff," the young Sterling muttered, flopping flat on the carpeted floor.

"Neither have I," Elizabeth said, cracking a bit of a smile as she scanned over the latest issue of Vogue on her Nook.

"I mean, Jessica and Santana love each other, and I'm pretty sure Jeff and Nick have a thing going on. I don't see what's wrong with that," he said, scrolling through some more music.

Elizabeth raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow. "You catch on quick, young grasshopper."

Jeremy was becoming quite perceptive and cunning. Granted, he'd always been genius since before Elizabeth started working with him. He had figured out what was going on with Jessica and Santana long before they knew themselves, and even though it was quite obvious that Nick loved Jeff and vice versa, they didn't quite know it themselves yet either. Elizabeth was betting with the whole Santana and Jessica ordeal though since Jessica did resemble Brittany a little.

"Do you like girls, Dr. Hummel?"

Elizabeth froze mid page turn.

"No. No, I don't," she answered, suppressing any emotions that would betray her. She worked really hard on hiding her true identity and past even when she was sharing consciousness with Jeremy, the smartest of all the Sterling children. She was Elizabeth Hummel and no matter how much she disliked it, that wouldn't change. She already had to worry about Santana slipping up and blabbing about her past. She specifically cut ties with everyone she knew from high school and the New Directions and ran away for protection and she didn't need figures from her past coming back to ruin everything.

No.

No matter how much other people tried to persuade her, Kurt Hummel no longer existed and may as well have never existed in the first place.

"Dammit..."

The biting chemicals in the air were nipping at his skin. He had forgotten what it was like to be outside.

He sighed.

"What did I do wrong?" Sebastian spat.

No one understood what it was like to be a Smythe. After leaving his job, he was practically disowned by his parents, who would never accept quitters. They didn't know why he had quit, but, as a Smythe, he was expected to never give up and to push on headstrong after everything. But it was fine, it wasn't like they were much of parents anyways. He was raised mainly by the maids, only seeing his mother and father when they held fancy dinners at their manor, and even then he was expected never to speak or even exist.

But it was fine, Sebastian was strong. He could deal with all the horror of this ugly world. Bad parents. All the mistreatment for people like him. The one night stands with men who would count their money and leave before the night was done. The terrible threats and the constant fear. He could bite the bullet and he could stand it, because he was a Smythe, and, as a Smythe, he would never give up and he would push on headstrong after almost everything. Even though he would go home alone to the small, empty apartment and wish and pray that something could change; that he would wake up and things would be better.

But it was fine, because Sebastian was strong.

Jeff, however, wasn't. He was frail and gentle and always needed light ushering. He was like a porcelain doll and would be so easily cracked if he were allowed in the real world. In Sebastian's 10 years of teaching him, he never met someone so pitiful. He pitied Jeff. Jeff, who thought that everything was sunshine and happiness and that if you loved, then the world would turn and spin on its axis.

It was all so fake and gay.

He had needed to be jaded. He needed to wake up and learn what the real life was like before he actually had to wake up and learn what the real life was like. If love and happiness could get him somewhere, then Sebastian would be baking cookies for all of New York with a smile on his face. Heck, he'd even do back flips off the Empire State if he thought it would change one thing. It wasn't all plush and sugar out in the real world and if it was Sebastian's job to teach him about the world, then teach he would.

But instead, he's chased out of his position on the threat of death.

He idly kicked a can down the sidewalk, making his way to the Leve-bus stop. Today's job hunt was just like all the rest, unsuccessful. It wasn't as if Sebastian didn't have any money, he was fine with money. However, his parents, upon hearing about his old job, took away the money they had been investing in him and all he had left was what he had earned from work. He wasn't very great at saving money either, spending it on lavish items, so now he only had a matter of time before he funds ran out. He turned and saw a little music store with CDs and iPods in the window. Those were things that had quickly become outdated as people just bought iMicros.

iMicros were an Apple product that replaced the iPods. It was a tiny chip that was installed into your ear that allowed people to listen to their iTunes music whenever they wanted since the machine ran off of the body's energy. No one even used CDs anymore.

He decided to walk into store and he pulled down his mask. He smiled slightly at the ding of the bell above the door before turning his face into the cocky facade he wore so well.

"Welcome to Spin Street," a voice called to him. Sebastian looked at the man who was addressing him from behind the counter.

He was cute; a nice smile and bright eyes. His curled, brown hair was held into place by hair gel and he was wearing the tackiest cardigan with the world's tackiest bowtie to match. It was adorable.

'He is so gay.'

Sebastian smirked. This guy seemed like an easy target.

"Hi, I was wondering what type of music you sold here," Sebastian said cooly, making his way over to the counter.

"Well," the other man started, "we sale lots of stuff. Anything in particular you were looking for?" he asked.

"I don't know. How about you surprise me," he replied, putting emphasis on the word "surprise".

Mr. Dreamy Eyes turned around and put a CD into a laptop which had cords bursting from it.

The guitar started off the song with a simple riff and Sebastian had to admit, it was good.

Say, wasn't that a funny day?

Gee, you had a funny way, a way about you

A kind of glow of something new...

It was remarkable. Sebastian was moved by the vocals even though the song just started.

"So, who is this? I like it," Sebastian said, leaning over the counter.

"Well, thank you. That is a CD I made a few years ago."

"Go figure," Sebastian said, running his tongue along the backside of his teeth. He didn't even have to act like he was interested with this one, he just was.

The other man beamed.

Don't you want the way I feel?

"'Don't you want the way I feel?'" he sang along, only making Sebastian's grin widen.

Don't you want the way I feel for you?

"Could I purchase a copy?" Sebastian asked. The other man nodded.

"I'll give it to you. Free of charge."

So he was charming and generous.

"Well thank you," the taller man said, "but you have to let me pay you back. Let's say. Dinner at Torricelli's?" he said carefully.

Torricelli's was an elegant restaurant, named after the man who discovered pressure. One of it's significant features is the floating furniture, held in balance by the meticulous attention to pressure exerted from different objects. Customers were able to set it however they wanted, and the food was notorious throughout New York as some of the finer Italian cuisine. It sucked to wait tables there though.

"Are you...flirting with me?" the man asked in a lower voice.

Red flags flew up in Sebastian's mind, but he knew how to play his cards. He was the master at keeping a poker face.

"Maybe. I could be asking for just a platonic outing," he said smoothly. The man checked to make sure there was no one else in the store before scribbling something on a piece of paper.

"My name's Blaine. Here's my number," he said, slipping him the little piece of green paper. Sebastian smiled.

"I'm Sebastian. I'll call you and I look forward to the date."

So how did you like it? Look at that Sebastian!

For those of you who were speculating about Elizabeth, did that clear up things or are you even more confused? Please R&R