A/N: IT'S SHORT I'M SORRY. Relationship developments here if you squint though, and more Sebastian POV, which I think I just might find easier to write… I will go back to Kurt though; I need an element of mystery for what's coming up with Sebastian later. This one's late because of Kurtbastian week basically, which I ended up getting more involved in that I thought. Don't judge me; oneshots are like crack to me.
EDIT: Thanks for pointing out the mistake guys, completely missed that one! It's been edited, clearly I need to stop writing at stupid o'clock in the morning before my brain starts working properly...
By the time Thursday rolled around Sebastian was sure he'd rather stab himself in his own eye than set foot on the football field. The game had never been his thing; when it came to sports he drew the line just after lacrosse, and there were far too many angry looking kids on the team for his liking. When he eventually spotted Kurt, basically a dot on a bench from how high Sebastian was in the stand, his heart sank as he realized how tiny his friend was. His face appeared to betray this, as a perky ginger woman next to him bounced up and down and attempted to speak to him over the din of the crowd.
'Some people are saying they might win this time!' Her voice was full of hope, something that the faces around them lacked, and as Sebastian watched she waved brightly at a curly haired man standing near the front of the stands. He returned the wave with a confused expression and Sebastian fought the urge to roll his eyes at the loud sigh that escaped the woman next to him.
Kurt was frantically waving at someone in the stands when Sebastian next looked for him; presumably his Dad, who had apparently closed his business up early purely so that he'd get to the game in plenty of time. Glancing around the stands, Sebastian tried to pinpoint who was waving back, hoping for a glimpse of Kurt's father. Was it that tall businessman smiling slightly on to the field? The older man in the woeful knitted sweater near the front? There was a baseball cap bobbing around just in front of Sebastian, and he heard an 'excuse me' in a deep voice as he lifted his satchel off the floor, making room for the man to pass while staring at the small group of football players in red meters below him. Kurt had noticed him now, and cocked his head to the side, a wide smile taking over his face. When Sebastian returned it he felt slightly less worried; Kurt seemed okay, and most of the meaner looking players were already jogging into position. He settled back to enjoy the game, figuring that it might not be so bad if Kurt couldn't play; at least he wouldn't have to watch him get crushed by one of the heavier players of the opposing team.
He was wrong; it was bad.
Not, however, for the reason he expected, but instead because of the accidental friend he seemed to have made. The overly cheerful woman next to him had been so enthusiastic about the game he was pretty sure she had almost deafened him with her last yell, and at one point she had taken tiny pieces of apple out of her bag and inspected them for several minutes before popping them into her mouth and sanitizing her hands. She was the strangest woman that Sebastian had ever come across, and that was saying something by the state of some of the female members of Vocal Adrenaline. Not to mention the fact that she had kept a running commentary of the game so far under her breath, slowly driving Sebastian mad as she muttered about plays she didn't understand and the several kinds of bleach that would have to be used on the jerseys of some players after the game. He ended up gritting his teeth so loudly he could have sworn he heard the clacking in his brain, and she eventually wrung her hands together quickly and darted away to the curly haired man from before when the game paused for a second, giving him a moment of peace.
The peace didn't last long.
If anyone were to ask Sebastian, years later, what the most absurd moment of his entire life was, he is sure that this would top the list. A dancing football team is one thing; dancing to 'Single Ladies' is another thing entirely. He was frozen in shock for the first couple of seconds, before it gave in to hilarity, his laughter mixing with others' as he watched the dance. As a tactic, it worked; the other team looked as if they weren't sure what to think, and if Sebastian was totally honest, he didn't know either. It was only when he caught the smirk on Kurt's face, hardly noticeable from the angle Sebastian was sitting, that he realized that this was definitely his friend's influence; only he could have come up with something this bizarre. He shook his head and clapped his hands, the game restarting as he wordlessly saluted Kurt from the stands.
The returning smile was brilliant.
After the game, and a kick that Sebastian could barely believe, Kurt comes up to him, still grinning and having managed to escape his Dad's hug for a couple of minutes. When he speaks he is breathless, giddy from his victory.
'You came! I sort of thought you might not- a ton of people turned up early and-'
'And miss all of this? Definitely not.' Kurt grinned wider, his hands clenching and unclenching as he bounced on the spot, excitement building behind his eyes as he looked around him.
'Did you see my kick? I can't believe we won!' Sebastian nods and returns his smile, looking around the crowds too as Kurt babbles on about nervousness and the rest of the team. Everyone from McKinley is smiling, happy, and Sebastian now knows why Kurt is so elated. For the first time he is the center of attention in a good way; drawing focus because of something he is good at, that the rest of the school finds acceptable, anyway. He knew he should be annoyed that Kurt had to team up with his bullies in a way to earn some kind of acceptance in his own school, but a little part of him wanted to enjoy Kurt's happiness for the meantime, bask in the idea that things might truly be looking up for him. He gave Kurt a hug and watched him walk back to his Dad (who, surprisingly wasn't any of the men Sebastian had considered but rather the man in the baseball cap that he had seen for a second earlier), turning to wave back at Sebastian once before he left.
Sebastian strolled towards his car once he had left the field, crossing the parking lot with hordes of other people as they raced to get home from the game and celebrate, in some cases. Cars were lighting up as families climbed in, and children, presumably the younger brothers and sisters of the players, were already silently falling asleep on the shoulders of their parents. When he swung himself into the drivers' seat of his car he instantly reached for the radio and allowed the slow tune to soothe him before he started off. His worrying had been for nothing. Kurt was fine, the game had been fine, and even if it hadn't been, Kurt's Dad looked like the type who could protect his son. Sebastian still had worries of course, for the next day at school and the day after that and so on, but it was nice to let himself believe that things would be easier for Kurt from now on. If the football team here was anything like the team at Carmel, then he should rise in popularity, at least enough to stop the near constant slushies and dumpster tosses. Still, that depended on Kurt staying on the team, and from what Sebastian could tell, he wasn't particularly fond of the idea. He hummed to the radio as he drove, allowing the melody to calm him further and fighting a yawn.
He pulled into his drive just as the second song ended, this one slightly more upbeat but still slow, and cut the engine, rubbing the heels of his hands into his eyes to battle his exhaustion. He had been up for an obscenely long time the night before, stressing over his essay and eating a bar of chocolate the size of his head. The game this night had run late enough that he was feeling the effects of his tiredness, and he stumbled up the stairs to his room the second he got into the house. His parents weren't in; they had decided upon a last minute trip to Bali two days before, and the house felt cold and empty. Still, his room felt as comfortable as ever, and he allowed himself to flop on to the bed, still in his jeans, sweater and coat, his scarf tossed carelessly over the back of a wooden rocking-chair resting in the corner of the room. He falls asleep almost instantly, his shoes dangling slightly over the end of the bed.
xxx
When he woke up it was still dark, moonlight trickling through his curtains and across the wood floor. It couldn't have been more than about two in the morning, and he ran a hand across his face, wondering what had woken him up. He toed off his shoes fully, hearing the clunk as they fell to the ground, and reached blindly for his phone, intending to check the time. The screen lit up in a second, and he squinted up at it, noticing that he had several new texts. He screwed his eyes up and yawned, still half asleep and trying to fight the headache that looking at the display of his phone had brought on, and opened the first message, nearly dropping his phone on his face as he did so.
00:16am
I told my Dad.
It was just one line, black text against blinding white, but it was enough to make Sebastian's throat clench and his eyes to wake up fully. He held his breath and moved on to the next text, dreading what Kurt would say. The messages had been sent an hour earlier; if he drove now would Kurt still be there for him to pick up? Would he be asleep if he called him? The next message, however, was enough for Sebastian to relax into his pillows.
00.17am
He was weirdly okay with it; I don't know what I was so worried about in the first place.
That, Sebastian could deal with.
00:28am
Are you asleep?
00:47am
I'm going to take that as a yes.
00:54am
Sorry if I woke you up.
01:07am
But I didn't, because then you'd reply..
01:12am
Goodnight, Sebastian.
Sebastian smiled sleepily up at his phone, drifting back off as he loosened his tie, still too tired to get up and change.
'Goodnight Kurt.'
When he woke up the next morning it took a minute for Sebastian to figure out what was going on. His shirt was taut, tangled up somehow as he had moved in the night, and his tie had swiveled around until it was bunched under his head, twisting his neck at an odd angle. It was at least daylight now, and his phone was beeping loudly from underneath him, buzzing against his back where he must have rolled on to it in the night. The alarm was blaring, having jolted him out of sleep, and words were flashing across the screen.
GET UP YOU HAVE AN APPOINTMENT AT 8
Shit.
xxx
Kurt drove slowly along the roads towards the Lima Bean, cautious with his car after his Dad had decided to give it back as a test run. As long as none of his friends decided on a personal vendetta against his car, he would be okay, but he was still nervous about scratching it. When he eventually pulled into a space and pushed open the door of the coffee shop, inhaling the rich smell and smiling a little, he didn't notice Sebastian at first. He noticed a leather satchel resting against a table-leg, however, and the collar of a blue blazer peeking from underneath a gray coat. Sebastian had his head pillowed on his arms, a book resting, spine bent, on the table in front of him. Smile fading, Kurt wandered over carefully, pulling on the strap of his bag and wondering if his friend was asleep.
'Sebastian?' A grunt answered him, muffled by the boy's arms. 'Are you okay?'
There was a pause, in which Sebastian's arms tightened and he lifted his head, mouth twisted and eyes miserable.
'No.'
'What's up?' Kurt dropped his bag on to the floor and pulled out the chair opposite Sebastian, settling into it and running his eyes over the other boy, curious about what was the matter. Sebastian put on his best "pouting teenager" expression and crossed his arms across his chest, mumbling out an intelligible answer.
'I'm sorry?'
'Orthodontist.' And now the twist of his mouth made sense.
'What did they do?'
'Tightened them.' Sebastian pressed his hand against his mouth, leaning heavily on the table and attempting to brush it off as a casual movement. His eyes closed for a second and then opened, watching Kurt and waiting for him to say something.
'Does it hurt?' The answering nod was short, not wanting to dislodge his hand. Kurt offered a sympathetic smile and stood to walk to the counter, leaving Sebastian to delve in his bag for painkillers. As he waited for the barista to prepare the drinks, he noticed a tall muscular boy stride up to the table Sebastian was sitting at and say hello. Eyes narrowing, Kurt watched the teen smile widely at Sebastian and speak too quietly for anyone else to hear, all blond hair and tanned skin stretching over Sebastian's seated form. As Kurt watched, he leaned in close to Sebastian and spoke lowly, the words too quiet to make out. Sebastian looked unsure, eyes darting around but never quite resting anywhere, before smiling tightly and nodding. At this the other boy seemed satisfied and made to leave the shop just as two coffees were handed to Kurt, long gone by the time he sat down.
'Who was that?' Sebastian seemed lost, staring after the boy who had left, and Kurt ignored the stab of jealousy he felt. Snapping back to reality, Sebastian spoke quickly and quietly, trying to open his mouth as little as possible.
'Richard, a boy from Carmel. He's in Vocal Adrenaline- he's sort of- in charge.'
'He seems nice.'
'Mm.' Sebastian seemed dazed again, barely paying attention as Kurt set the paper cup in front of him. Looking down, Kurt quickly thought of a topic; anything to get Sebastian's mind off of surfer dude and on to him. It was selfish, and petty; he knew that, but the last thing he wanted was to watch his friend go after someone else. He had been intending to talk to Sebastian about his talk with his Dad the night before, but judging from his faraway expression it wasn't the best idea.
'So… did you enjoy the game? I swear I saw you next to Miss Pillsbury, you poor thing-' He babbled on, Sebastian chuckling and nodding when required as he recapped the game and sipped his coffee and pushed surfer dude to the back of his mind, forgetting about him for the moment.
If only Sebastian could.
