For Dolly, especially since she finished her homework on time. You rock!

For Nemo. I miss you.

Thank you if you reviewed, or commented, or left kudos, or sent me feedback in some other way. I really appreciate it!

Thank you to gleedimples on Tumblr for betaing. You are a wonderful person :) Any and all remaining mistakes are my fault.


Part 09: Damage Control

Anita, a small woman with glossy hair and narrow dark eyes, wasted no time in dragging Sebastian out of Marina's room and into an empty office to talk to him. Sebastian would have protested, but the shock had not yet worn off, and he found himself seated on an uncomfortable office chair before he realized there was something to fight over.

Anita settled into the chair beside him. "We'll start with the obvious," she said. "I'm very sorry about your sister, Seb."

His eyes started to water again, and Sebastian hastily scrubbed the tears away. "Thanks," he rasped out.

"I spoke with the doctors before I came in. She's got a good chance, kid. Don't give up on her."

"Alright."

"But there're some other things we have to go over."

Sebastian squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, and then leaned back in his chair. "I accidentally outed Devon," he said woodenly, staring up at the ceiling.

Anita reached out for his hand, but Sebastian flinched away from her.

"He's not mad at you," Anita said, dropping her hand back in her lap. "He understands."

"You know this how?" Sebastian asked, bitter and angry at himself.

Anita rolled her eyes. "Because he was the one who called about your sister, and it came up. Did you really think Devon would hold this against you? At a time like this?"

"He left-"

"Riley and his team are doing damage control. We had a phone meeting while I was on my way. Devon should be talking to some friends he doesn't want to find out from the news right now, then he had a strategy meeting with Riley, Jed, and Caroline, and then he's coming straight back here." Anita kicked lightly at his shoe. "Truthfully, Riley's pretty happy about this. He's spent the last few years waiting for the bomb to drop. I think he has multiple plans and backup plans for when Devon finally came out to the public as a private school boy."

Sebastian conceded the point. "What am I going to do?"

Anita shrugged, and swept her hair behind her shoulders. "Hopefully, not much. This is actually good for us, timing wise. Attention is going to be on Devon, not your sister. We're mostly going to be playing defense."

Sebastian was not very good at playing defense. He did not like the idea of using Devon's problems to cover his own. He looked at Anita, unimpressed. She grinned, obviously aware and just as obviously dismissive of his thoughts, and pulled out her tablet.

"Just try and keep your mouth shut around cameras and recorders." Anita did something to her tablet, and then said, "I'll get a bodyguard here, to keep any crowds off you as you travel between home and the hospital. I'm recommending you go to your parents' tonight, but you can go back to Dalton if you'd like. Just be aware, there will be a lot of curious eyes on you and Devon."

Sebastian did not like the idea of staying in Columbus, but he liked going all the way outside the city to Dalton even less. "My parents' is fine," he acquiesced.

"Good. Now, how do you want to handle to social media?"

Sebastian asked, "Options?"

"Debbie and her team can send out a couple tweets, update your Facebook, supporting Devon when he makes his announcement about his identity." Anita showed him her tablet, where an email from his publicist already had a plan mocked up with tweets and a funny gif of Superman and Clark Kent. He scrolled down to see that Debbie mentioned coordinating with Devon's team on timing. "You also have the option of letting people know about your sister-"

"No," Sebastian said, handing back the tablet. "I'm not putting Marina out there. I'm not- It's off the table."

Anita gave him a shrewd look. "Alright," she said mildly, and looked back at the screen. "Do you want to handle to response to Devon, or do you want Debbie to craft something?"

He should do it himself, he knew that. People knew he was close to Devon, and a generic or crafted response would send up red flags. Still, Sebastian was barely capable of having this discussion, and he knew it. Also, his iPad was in his dorm room, and-

"I don't have my phone," Sebastian thought out loud.

Anita paused, and looked up from her tablet. "What?"

"I left it at school. In the choir room, I think."

"Sebastian!" For the first time that evening, Anita sounded upset.

Sebastian shrugged. "I dropped it," he explained.

"You - of course you did. Alright, let's add finding your phone and praying that no one managed to get into your contacts or messages or change your Twitter password to the list."

It took another two hours for Anita to go over everything on her tablet with him, from canceling a weekend gig to getting him a new phone. When she left him go, she left him with a card with her hotel address and room number on it.

"A couple bodyguards should be here within the hour," she told him. "One will be in charge of getting you in and out of the hospital if there's press. The other is to make sure no one disturbs your sister." She packed her tablet back in her shoulder back, and stretched before standing. "Alright. You can go back to your family. Call me if you need me, okay?" She reached out to grip Sebastian's forearm, and this time he let her. She squeezed his arm once, and swept out of the room as suddenly as she had arrived.

Sebastian slid the card into his pocked, and put his head in his hands. Alone, his thoughts threatened to drown him. Marina was deathly sick. Devon was no longer safe and anonymous. He suddenly felt cold.

A warm hand landed on the back of his neck, and he jerked upright to see Devon, his eyes bruised and red from weeping, reaching for him.

"Hello," Devon said. His voice was scratchy and thick.

Sebastian stared, and then stood. He wanted to fall into Devon's arms, wrap himself tight in Devon's warmth and hope everything was a bad dream, and he would wake up any moment. He wanted to hold Devon close until Devon's tears faded and the grief was replaced by joy and familiar arms around each other.

"Devon," Sebastian said.

Devon frowned, and brushed his fingers against the tear tracks on Sebastian's cheeks. "She's going to be fine, Bas."

Sebastian's eyes started to burn again, and he bit his tongue to keep from crying. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm so sorry. De- Blaine, I swear I never meant it."

The initial bewilderment turned quickly to understanding, lighting Devon's eyes and turning them molten gold. Devon said, "Come here." Sebastian allowed Devon to maneuver them together, until they were pressed chest to chest and wrapped tight around each other. "I forgive you. I know you. I know you didn't mean it."

For the second time that day, Sebastian broke in the other boy's arms, and Devon put him back together, one gentle touch at a time.

After Sebastian's sobs quieted and most of the swelling on his eyes had gone down, they headed back to Marina's room. There were two guards outside the room, Walter and Toma, both tall men in plain dark clothing that nodded respectfully to Sebastian and Devon.

"Anita Summers hired us, Sir," said Walter. "I'll stay until four with the young lady. My relief will take over for the morning. Toma will be with the two of you." It was not the first time Anita had hired him a bodyguard, and Sebastian did his best to pretend neither man was there. The two were good enough that it was an easy illusion.

Sheila and his father were both in Marina's room, Sheila seated on the bed, and Gilbert on the chair. Devon stopped just inside the door and leaned against the wall. Sebastian continued further in, and, with a lack of other options and the stress of the day beginning to catch up with him, sat at the end of the bed.

Sheila smiled wanly at him. "Her fever's stopped climbing," she said quietly. "The doctor came by, and said every hour ups her chances."

Sebastian nodded. "Did they give her odds, or anything?"

Sheila said, "Doctor Cartwright said he thinks she'll make it, if she stays through the night."

Sebastian looked at his watch. It was almost ten, hours after the original call. He was prepared to settle in for the long wait, when his father spoke for the first time.

"It's getting late, Sheila. Why don't you go home for the night and get some sleep? I'll stay with Marina tonight."

"No," said Sheila emphatically. "I'm not leaving her. You heard them. I can't - I'm not-"

"You've been here all day, Sheila. Just go home and get some sleep."

"Because obviously her desire to stay with her terminally ill daughter is crazy." Both adults turned to look at Sebastian, and he realized he had spoken aloud. Well, he might as well go for broke. "This isn't some kind of game. The doctors say she might not m-make it through the night. You'd have to call fucking security to get me out of here. Why the fuck would your wife be any different?"

His father looked thunderous and horrible. "You think you can walk back into our lives and tell me how to talk to my wife, you pretentious little-"

"Gilbert!" Sheila said. She had stood up, and reached for Sebastian's father.

"I'm not the one who-"

"Stop it! Both of you!" Sheila demanded. "My daughter is dying and you want to fight? If that's what you want to do, then both of you get out of here!"

"If the lot of you can't calm down, I'm going to have all of you removed."

Sebastian turned to see the night nurse, her eyes blazing with anger, standing in the doorway.

"This is a critical care ward. I can't endanger all my patients because you're all stressed and tired. Parents can spend the night. Everyone else has to go," the nurse continued.

"But-" Sebastian protested.

"I've already had calm one toddler down because of you. You two, leave. Mr. and Mrs. Smythe, this is your only warning."

Sebastian stared, open mouthed, while the nurse glared from the doorway and waited for him and Devon to leave. Vibrating with anger, he grabbed his coat and scarf and stalked out. Devon followed quietly after. Walter took one look at their faces and gestured Toma to follow, while he spoke a few words with the nurse and remained by the door. Devon never left Sebastian's side, and Sebastian was unspeakably grateful for his presence. They walked together out of the hospital, where a handful of photographers must have been waiting for hours to snap photos. They tossed questions at the two boys -

"Devon! Devon, how do you feel now that everyone knows your birth name? Why did you keep it a secret for so long?"

"Sebastian, is there any truth to the rumor that the reason you've been at the hospital is because you have syphilis?"

- but Toma hustled them past and into a waiting car, not giving them a chance to answer, even if they had wanted to.

The driver took a winding route to Sebastian's father's estate. Sebastian glared angrily at the privacy screen for the first twenty minutes, until the quiet drained enough of his anger for Sebastian to realize that Devon was not acting normal.

They were both seated upright. Devon was buckled into his seat, and staring mindlessly out the window. He still held Sebastian's hand, but there was no reassuring pressure. Devon did not slump down on Sebastian's shoulder. He was quiet and still. Aside from the comforting Sebastian earlier, Devon had said nothing. It was rare to see Devon as anything less than poised and graceful. He always had a kind word to say, and he was capable of navigating difficult social situations with ease. Sebastian would have expected Devon to step in and diffuse the argument before he and his father started screaming. He thought of the tear stains, and the desperate way Devon had clutched at him when they had spoken alone in the hospital. His stomach tightened uneasily.

"Anita said you met with your agent and manager," Sebastian prodded, looking over at Devon.

The other boy continued to look out the window at the black night. "Yes," he said. "I've got some late night shows coming up. A statement will go out tomorrow."

One of Devon's more annoying tendencies was to fall into himself when upset, hide his feelings, and lick his wounds in private. Normally, Sebastian would have been all for someone not spewing their angst and drama all over his life. Devon was always another story.

"Come on, Killer," Sebastian said. "I know the difference between your business face and your 'someone broke my heart' face. Tell me who it is. I'll hold them down and you can tap dance on their skull."

There was not even a flinch.

"Dev-" Sebastian started.

"It's over," Devon said, still avoiding Sebastian's gaze. "I told Kurt everything. He told me he never wants to see me again."

Sebastian stared at him. "What?" he asked stupidly.

Devon finally turned to him. Fresh tears streaked his face. "I told him, 'I don't know how to say this. I've wanted to tell you for a long time, but I could never find the right words. I'm Devon.' I took off my glasses. He said nothing and I thought, I don't know what I thought. I asked him if we were okay. He asked me if I had enjoyed humiliating him, if the last year had been a game, if I thought this was funny. I said 'No.' I said, 'Of course not.' I told him I loved him. He told me I had no idea how to love someone, that if I thought this was love, I was just as damaged and monstrous as - he told me-"

Sebastian, who had been listening to the mounting flow of words in shocked horror, unbuckled and flung himself into Devon's lap.

"I'm sorry," Devon whispered. "You have more than enough to worry about. You don't need this."

"I always worry about you. Killer." He twisted until he was beside Devon instead of crushing him, pressing their sides together and wrapping one arm around the smaller boy. "It's okay. I want to know. He's an idiot. There is nothing wrong with you."

Devon collapsed against him, sobbing into his neck until they finally arrived at the estate. Sebastian was forced to untangle himself from Devon and open the gate. Once they were driving down the drive again, Sebastian curled around Devon and rocked back and forth. He carried Devon up the front walk and into the house, and said soothing words that did nothing to calm the other boy down. They curled up together on one of the guest room beds. Eventually, Devon cried himself to sleep in Sebastian's arms. Sebastian, torn between his guilt and his fear, did not sleep at all.


End Part 09

Uploaded 11/20/2013

Next Week: The morning after.

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