9. [3 days later]
Sebastian sighed heavily and gave Kurt a martyred look. "Okay, once more, but I'm telling you, it's not going to work. I just- we've done it so many times, my head just doesn't want to do it any more. I sing this fucking song in my sleep and it's still not enough." He let himself fall down on Kurt's couch dramatically.
Kurt rubbed his eyes. It was already quite late, and he had switched his diner schedule to the early morning hell shifts to make time for practise. And after Sebastian left, he still had a trip to the laundromat waiting for him. With Rachel and Blaine always getting the solos and singing them from the top of their heads without bothering to check what the other singers or dancers were doing, Kurt had forgotten how much work it was to actually prepare for a competition.
Though Sebastian had taken longer to get used to the song, he wasn't the only one who had trouble focusing. They could harmonise perfectly, they hit the right keys- but there was always at least one slip-up, one of them stealing lines from the other, their voices suddenly synchronising where they ought to be crossing. It had long since passed the point of serious effort and it was wearing them both down.
"Get up," Kurt told Sebastian irritatedly. "You can't sing like that."
"Yes, I ca-haaan!" Sebastian replied in a sing-song voice, and didn't move from the couch.
Kurt let out a long breath, slowly counting to ten. "Fine." He put the music on.
"Are you going to Scarborough Fair
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme..."
As the music faded out, Kurt opened his eyes and saw Sebastian sitting up on the couch, looking equally bewildered as he felt. "We did it," Kurt said.
They had sung through the song without pause or doubling back, and everything had just fit.
Slowly Sebastian began to grin. "Yeah, we did." He got up and laughed. "We totally nailed it!"
"I know!" Kurt exclaimed happily, hopping up and down on the balls of his feet a little.
Suddenly, a new song started to play on Kurt's phone. It was Teenage Dream, and the volume was a lot louder than the recording they had been using to practise.
"Ugh, let me just-" Kurt started. That was the last song he wanted to hear right now.
"It's okay, I can-" Sebastian said at the same time, and the both of them reached for Kurt's phone- and bumped their heads into each other over the coffee table.
"Ow," Kurt said, and started to pull back, when he felt Sebastian's hand on his shoulder and saw him moving closer. Moving like in a dream, he quietly raised his hand to touch Kurt's cheekbone, and he leaned in to place a kiss on his lips almost reverently.
"No," Kurt breathed, pulling away at the last moment. He was tired of being kissed without his permission, just because the other person had an epiphany, became overwhelmed, or wanted to shut him up. He straightened back up with his phone in hand, and switched off the song.
Sebastian was looking at him as if trying to judge his mood.
"Do you want to try again? The song, I mean. Find out if it was a lucky strike or if we actually got it?" Kurt offered, cutting off whatever Sebastian was about to say before he could even start.
Sebastian let out a short breath and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, let's do that."
