A/N: No special warnings for this chapter. Thanks for reading :)
I don't own Glee or United States of Tara
Surprisingly, Kurt took the limited information that Nick gave him about his and Jeff's meeting with Sebastian fairly well. Maybe it was because he trusted the two of them to know what was best, but Nick knew that it was mostly due to Kurt's exhaustion. After a semi-restful weekend at home, Kurt hadn't had the best couple of days back on campus.
Jeff had been surprised by Blaine's reaction as well. Or rather, his lack of reaction. Jeff had never seen his friend act so apathetic about anything. He just lied there on his bed, throwing a Nerf football toward the ceiling over and over as Jeff spoke.
He must of said some pretty awful things to Kurt to make Conrad react that way," Jeff finally said, hoping to elicit some sort of response from Blaine other than the boredom he seemed to be projecting. When Blaine didn't respond, Jeff walked over and snatched the football midair.
"What the hell is wrong you, dude?" Jeff snapped. "Are you even listening to what I'm saying?"
"Of course I'm listening," Blaine said, sitting up and throwing his legs over the side of the bed. "But what do you want me to do about it? Kurt is acting like I don't even exist. What's the point of getting all upset about it if he's just going to treat me like an annoying fly buzzing around his head?"
"You're being childish," Jeff scolded, although he couldn't help but admit to himself that Blaine had a point.
"I don't think I am, Jeff," Blaine responded, standing up from his bed and grabbing his keys and wallet. "I think I'm giving Kurt exactly what he wants."
"Oh yeah?" Jeff called out to him as he walked out of the room. "And what's that?"
Blaine turned around and paused for a moment, looking at the floor in front of him.
"Space," he answered simply as he walked down the hall toward the stairwell.
It was Monday night and Burt Hummel was having a hard time sleeping. He was worried about Kurt, even though he'd called him that evening just as they'd discussed.
His son had been through so much over the last few years. It just didn't seem fair that things seemed to be taking a downturn out of the blue after all the hard work Kurt had done over the past year.
Burt poured himself a cup of coffee, despite knowing that it would do absolutely nothing to help his insomnia and walked into the living room to turn on the television. He didn't sit down, because he knew himself well enough to know he wouldn't be getting back up if he did. He'd be sucked into the world of late-night infomercials and the daylight would begin creeping in on him by the time he realized he didn't get any sleep.
The television came on and the sounds of the local news flooded the room. Wincing, he jammed the volume button down until it was just loud enough to hear. Burt watched as the anchorwoman was replaced with a reporter standing in front of a large, empty field. It must have been a repeat broadcast since the shot was taken during the day.
"Officials are still baffled by the disappearance of three year old Mikey Rawlings a little over two weeks ago from his grandmother's front yard. Search parties have turned up nothing and K-9 units from across the county have yet to pick up a trail."
Burt took a sip of his coffee as various shots of police cars with flashing lights and people walking arm-in-arm through wooded areas flashed across the scene. As the report continued to talk in the background, a picture of a little boy came on the screen.
"Viewers are urged once again to contact the Westerville Police Department if they have any clues about the disappearance of Mikey Rawlings. Any and all leads are being handled with the utmost—"
"Burt! Are you alright?"
Burt nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of Carole's concerned voice as she approached him from behind.
"Yeah, fine, I just couldn't sleep," he mumbled as he reached for the power button on the television remote. His eyes were still glued to the image of the boy on the screen.
"What happened?" Carole asked. "I heard a crash."
It was then that Burt realized his coffee cup was no longer in his grip and his socks were growing wet. He looked down and saw his shattered mug on the hardwood floor around him.
"Sorry, I must have…" Burt trailed off. Must have what? Maybe he was more tired than he thought.
"It's okay, sweetie," Carole filled in. "I'll clean it up. Why don't you go try to get some sleep?"
"Yeah," Burt said distantly. "Thanks, honey."
After stripping off his coffee-soaked socks, he made his way slowly up the stairs. Something about the missing boy didn't sit well with Burt. Of course it doesn't sit well, Burt thought to himself. After everything he learned about his son's past last year, it only made sense that he would react negatively to a story like Mikey's. Still, Burt found it even more difficult to fall asleep that night than he thought he would have, had he not turned on the evening news.
Kurt had a hard time concentrating in class the next day. It was technically his first day back in class since the fallout of last week's discovery of Daniel's relationship with Sebastian and the first time he was willingly going back to face the not-so-quiet judgment of his classmates. On top of that, it was Tuesday, which meant Warbler practice and seeing Sebastian again, if Sebastian even decided to show up. Kurt wasn't so sure he wanted to attend himself.
It had been odd not talking to Blaine since the day before when he, Kurt, Jeff and Nick were all gathered trying to come up with a game plan to handle the Conrad situation. Kurt couldn't help but feel a bit guilty at the relief he felt when he realized Blaine hadn't tried to contact him at all that night or in the morning. He was just dealing with too much to have to worry about where he stood with Blaine.
Kurt knew that Blaine would forgive him in a heartbeat for what happened with Sebastian. In fact, Kurt was pretty sure Blaine forgave him the moment he found out what had happened. The problem was, Kurt didn't forgive himself, and accepting Blaine's unconditional love, support and forgiveness didn't seem right to him. In some twisted way, Kurt wanted to be punished whether Blaine was willing to play along or not. Unfortunately, Kurt couldn't see that the one that he was punishing the most with his behavior was Blaine himself.
Nonetheless, Blaine offered nothing more than a small, tight smile in each of their two shared classes and at lunch time, he said a few seats down at the Warbler table, sandwiched between Nick and Joshua. Kurt watched him as he ate, and smiled when Blaine tossed his head back, laughing at some joke Joshua whispered to him. He was glad to see Blaine happy despite what was going on with him, even if it hurt him a little knowing that he couldn't share in whatever was giving Blaine joy in that moment.
Warbler practice was tense to say the least. Sebastian was there, though he didn't take up residence in his usual spot on the couch with Kurt. Instead, he lurked behind the group, near the back wall, offering nothing but a raised hand during the voting session. No one seemed to pay him or Kurt any special mind, which gave Kurt hope that the whole thing had blown over already. Blaine sat next to Kurt in his usual spot, but it almost felt like it was out of obligation to Kurt. Kurt felt the slightest twinge of uneasiness starting to grow in his belly as the practice was dismissed and Blaine didn't wait for Kurt to gather his belongings before leaving on his own. By the time Kurt was ready to go, he and Nick were the only ones left in the room.
"How did it go today?" Nick asked as cheerfully as he could muster. Kurt could see in his eyes that he was prepared for the worst possible answer.
"Not bad, actually," Kurt answered lightly and it was the truth. Aside from the weirdness with Blaine, the day couldn't have gone better. "Am I crazy to think that everyone has just forgotten about the whole thing?"
"No, it's not crazy," Nick said thoughtfully. "Maybe people haven't forgotten, but you know how high school is. I'm sure everyone's just moved on to the next piece of hot gossip."
Kurt grin matched Nick's as they slowly made their way out of the room. Kurt was about to open his mouth to ask Nick a question about their shared Chemistry class when he spotted Sebastian leaning up against the wall at the end of the hall with his arms crossed, staring at Kurt.
Kurt and Nick stopped in their tracks. The way Sebastian was staring at Kurt was predatory, almost scaring Kurt enough to want to go back into the room and barricade himself inside. Just as Kurt was going to suggest that he and Nick do just that, Sebastian kicked himself off the wall and sauntered out the door, his eyes trained on Kurt the entire time until he was walking in the opposite direction.
"What was that about?" Kurt muttered, his voice shaking almost as much as his hands. Now that Sebastian was out of sight, he could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins and a thin layer of sweat gathering on his forehead. He wasn't sure why, but something about the way Sebastian stared him down scared him and he had no idea what to make of it.
"No clue," Nick said quietly, affirming Kurt's confusion over the whole situation and wishing he hadn't quietly told Jeff to go with Blaine when he saw him leaving the practice room a few minutes earlier. "Maybe we should wait here for a few minutes to make sure he clears out."
"Good idea," Kurt nodded, stepping back into the room. He hated feeling trapped like this, but Nick was right. Whatever was up with Sebastian, he wasn't quite sure a run in with him would be the best way to find out.
Sebastian had no idea why he felt compelled to wait for Kurt to leave the choir room, but as soon as he laid eyes on the boy as he walked out with Nick, he was glad he did.
He hated to admit it, but Sebastian missed Daniel. He missed the way Daniel took charge when they were together, the look in his eyes right before he took Sebastian in his mouth, and the way it felt to have Daniel inside of him.
Unfortunately, Daniel wasn't real. But Kurt was, and the minute Sebastian saw him outside of the choir room, he knew he wouldn't rest until he had another taste of him. Whether it was Daniel or Kurt was irrelevant. Sebastian just knew he needed him one more time.
