So many encouraging reviews last character! Thanks so much. I love hearing what people think is going to/should happen, it's so interesting and usually has never even occurred to me. This chapter is a bit rushed, but I hope you enjoy.

Kurt gets to the airport ten minutes after the arrival time of Blaine's flight. He's flustered as he dashes through the terminal, his mind a swirling mix of guilt for being late and desperation to see Blaine. If possible, the events of the night have increased Kurt's desire to see his boyfriend. He feels like he needs some support, someone to talk to. He needs to close his eyes and relax without worrying everything will fall apart in his absence.

He stops in front of the first screen he sees and Kurt sags when he reads that Blaine's flight has been delayed for twenty minutes. He's going to be on time. Kurt settles in an uncomfortable plastic chair – all too similar to the one at the hospital – and keeps his eyes on the gate. Blaine is one of the first ones off the plane. Their eyes meet instantly and Kurt moves over, wrapping Blaine in a tight hug. He presses his cheek into the rough wool of Blaine's jacket.

'Hey,' he says simply.

'Hi,' replies Blaine and he is worriedly running his eyes over Kurt's face and clothes. It's only under Blaine's scrutiny that Kurt realises he hasn't looked in a mirror since the night before. His hair is probably a mess, his clothes are certainly wrinkled from sleeping in them and Kurt guesses his face shows the strain of the previous evening. He self-consciously runs a hand through his hair, dropping his eyes to the ground. Blaine looks perfect in his smart coat, fitted jeans and green sweater.

'Are you okay?' asks Blaine, gently running a hand up Kurt's arm. 'You look, I mean, you look… tired.'

Kurt knows only Blaine's impeccable manners are keeping him from saying terrible, stressed, exhausted. Kurt smiles reassuringly and they walk towards the bag carousel. Something inside Kurt sags a little, just hearing Blaine's voice has taken the edge of his left-over anxiety. The hard weight of emotion in the pit of his stomach lightens.

'Yes. I had this completely terrible night, I'll tell you about it later.'

'Oh,' frowns Blaine, picking up his bag. Kurt guesses he's thinking that Kurt has never been the type to stay out all night and stumble to class the next morning. Kurt tries to distract him by pressing a gentle kiss to his lips.

'Welcome to New York. We're happy to have you.'

'Glad to be here. Where are we going first?'

'Well,' begins Kurt, a fresh spring in his step as they head out, 'I was thinking we could drop past my dorm and you can meet Andrew. Then we can head to hotel and settle in, then walk to lunch. I made us reservations at this amazing Malaysian place.'

Blaine's face lights up and, just for the next few minutes, Kurt forgets about Sebastian. They leave the airport and its lightly spitting rain, but he can see the sun breaking through the clouds. He embraces that he can tease Blaine and be silly easily. Kurt throws himself into it fully; they get in a cab and hold hands in the back seat. It's cheesy, but Kurt loves it. He saviours feeling eighteen and in love.

'You live here?' asks Blaine when they get out of the taxi. He is spinning around, eyes wide as he takes in all the tall buildings surrounding him. He almost runs into a family, eyes fixed up too high to see them coming. Kurt watches him with a softly amused smile. He was similarly awed when he first moved to New York. Kurt holds open the door for Blaine as they go inside. As they climb the stairs, Blaine starts to tell Kurt about his brother's fiancée. Cooper is a nice guy, but he has the worst taste in women of anyone Kurt has ever met. He picks the most awful, silly girls.

'She's so clingy, Kurt, it's incredibly awkward. He's only known her six months and she's all wrong for him. I don't know how to bring it up with him. I don't want to-'

Kurt pushes open the door, a sympathetic smile on his face, and then freezes at the sight of Sebastian kneeling on the floor with Andrew's cock in his mouth.

'Holy shit,' yelps Kurt, instinctively moving to try and stop Blaine following him inside. Andrew leaps back with a shout, trying to cover himself. Sebastian just turns his head, lewdly wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

'Hi Blaine,' he says hoarsely, but his eyes are locked with Kurt. 'Admiring my technique?'

For a fraction of a second Kurt just stands in complete shock, one hand still on the door handle, staring at Sebastian. Then the whole situation explodes around him; Andrew starts with a long list of frantic apologies, Blaine is trying to get his attention with a confused 'Kurt? What the hell?' and oddly, the only thought in Kurt's head is that it must have really hurt Sebastian, deep-throating Andrew like that, after having a tube pushed down his esophagus in the hospital barely ten hours ago.

'Shut-up Andrew,' says Kurt shortly and he breaks eye contact with Seb, turning to Blaine.

'Can I talk to them for a second? Please? Just give me a minute.'

Blaine's eyes are narrowed, he's staring at Kurt intently. Kurt feels a little spike of anxiety inside him, because Blaine has a temper. Not a violent one, but with the right provocation he can explode with a passion that matches the energy he puts into a performance. In fact, Kurt has long been of the opinion that Blaine's genial and composed manner is a conscious effort to control his over-zealous emotions. Now, though, Kurt can see he's not going to be able to get out of this situation without a confrontation. Blaine's jaw is clenched.

'Just one minute, Blaine, please?'

Blaine gives all three of them a once over with his eyes, and then steps back into the corridor. Kurt closes the door quickly, then rounds on Sebastian.

'What the hell is this?' he says, glaring as Seb finally pulls himself up, his lips still red and slick. 'Why would you do that?'

'Kurt, seriously, I'm so sorry, he just turned up and-'

'Shut up, Andrew!' Kurt repeats, eyes only for Sebastian. Sebastian – who had been looking pleased with himself – seems taken aback by Kurt's anger.

'I was bringing your jacket back, I thought it would be funny,' he says, sounding a little unsure. 'I thought you'd just… laugh.'

'Why the fuck would I laugh at that?' replies Kurt loudly, waving a hand and feeling like he wants to throw all the curses he usually disapproves of in Sebastian's face. 'Why would you do that to me? What am I meant to say to Blaine? Christ, after last night, you come here and just… blow my room-mate in front of my boyfriend? What the hell is wrong with you?'

And now Sebastian looks uncomfortable, dropping his eyes to the floor. Kurt has never yelled at him before, he's never dared, because he didn't want to scare Sebastian off. At this moment he couldn't care less.

'I don't know,' says Sebastian, looking much more like the drained boy Kurt left outside the hospital. His eyebrows are set in a heavy line, his shoulders hunched. He flicks his eyes over to Andrew, who is looking humiliated and confused. 'I guess… I didn't think. I don't know.'

Kurt feels the anger settle into hard disappointment. He can't stay angry at Seb. Not after he'd been begging Sebastian so fervently to wake up the night before, begging him not to die and leave Kurt like this… Kurt sighs and waits until Sebastian meets his eyes again.

'Please, Seb,' he says quietly. 'Don't do this. Don't be like this with Blaine.'

The stare at each other and Kurt knows Sebastian can see the desperation on his face. He is sure, despite the fact they've never said it, that Sebastian cares about him. He doesn't want to hurt Kurt.

'Sorry,' Seb croaks, shrugging a little. 'Do you want me to explain to Blaine?'

'No,' says Kurt tiredly, pulling a hand through his already dishevelled hair. 'Just go, I'll sort it out.'

Sebastian nods slightly and moves to leave, but Kurt grabs his wrist and leans up to whispers very quietly into Sebastian's ear. He hates to have to say this, fumbles the words a little, but he has to.

'You're clean, right? Safe, I mean… you weren't using a condom.'

Kurt half expects Sebastian to pull away from him, to be offended or angry at the question. Instead, he just whispers back in a weak voice.

'Yes, I'm clean.'

And then he walks out the door, barely glancing at Blaine before disappearing down the stairs. Kurt looks through the open door to where Blaine is pacing, then back at Andrew who looks like he is about to cry.

'Seriously, Andrew?' he says flatly. 'I mean, really, with Sebastian?'

Andrew looks incredibly guilty, arms crossed over his chest.

'I know. I'm sorry. But he came in and was just… he actually asked to… y'know, go down on me and I'm only human. You've seen him.'

He shrugs and Kurt just shakes his head. He does understand, teenage boys are never going to turn down a blow job. It's just the timing is so bad.

'It's okay. Just… It's fine.'

With that, Kurt leaves Andrew to clean himself up and moves out into the corridor, closing the door behind him. He braces himself, because clearly Blaine hasn't calmed down in the last five minutes. If anything, he's worked himself up more and he rounds on Kurt, eyes flashing.

'So, you just have coffee with the guy, right? Just coffee and talking?'

'We're friends, Blaine, I told you that.' Kurt tries to keep his tone reassuring, but firm. He hasn't done anything wrong and he just needs to get Blaine to calm down.

'Friends, right. And he comes round here a lot, does he? What about Andrew, is he Sebastian's friend too?'

'That's never happened before. He was just being… he was just trying to get some attention. You know what he's like.'

'No, but apparently you do,' replies Blaine hotly. 'How often down he come round here, Kurt? You have this easy, lonely guy in your room a lot? Does he stay over?'

Kurt should probably lie, but he doesn't want to get into the habit of doing that often.

'He has stayed over, but he sleeps on the floor. It's what friends do.'

'Why wouldn't you tell me about it? You made it sound like… sound like you barely saw him. Like you just see him occasionally. Can you see why I'm upset, Kurt? I don't know what to think.'

Nodding, Kurt steps forward, putting a hand on each of Blaine's shoulders. He stares into his boyfriend's face and tries to explain.

'I understand. But I didn't want you to get jealous. I didn't want you to worry. When I told you Sebastian was in a bad situation, I meant it. He's really… screwed up. I try and help him. But I need you to trust me here, that's all. He's my friend, Blaine.'

They look at each other and Blaine relaxes a little, reaching up to cover one of Kurt's hands with his own.

'Okay. I do trust you. It's just… when I saw that, God, it was like every nightmare I've had about you two. Him in your dorm, doing that… sorry. I do trust you.'

Kurt can't help but crack a smile, Blaine raises at eyebrow at him.

'Sorry,' smiles Kurt, shaking his head. 'Inappropriate, but… this is kinda of ironic, don't you think? You worried about me and Sebastian.'

Blaine smiles at that too, seeing the humour.

'Hilarious,' he says dryly.

They share one last smile, and even though things seem to be resolved, Kurt can still see something lingering in Blaine's eyes. He doesn't question it. He wants to get back to their perfect weekend, he doesn't want to spend more time fighting over Sebastian.

'Ready to meet Andrew with his pants on?' asks Kurt, squeezing Blaine's shoulder.

'Can't wait.'

They go back into the dorm room; Andrew has straightened out his bedding and is sitting awkwardly at the desk. Blaine makes a valiant attempt at acting like he didn't see his cock five minutes ago. They make some little small talk as Kurt goes to have a shower (to wash the tears off his skin, the sweat from panicking over Sebastian's cold fibgers, the feel of the hospital) and put on some clean clothes. When he's all set to go, Andrew and Blaine are talking music. Everything feels calmer again, almost as though the shower has washed away Sebastian's corrosive presence.

'Ready to go?' says Kurt, smiling. Blaine nods, the lines on his face now relaxed, the flush gone from his cheeks.

Walking down the stairs, Kurt sneaks a glance over at Blaine. He looks happy, a small smile playing around his mouth, but there is still a certain distracted look in his eyes. He's thinking hard about something. Kurt turns away and gets out his phone, opening the directions to get to the hotel.

Once they arrive, it's a little over whelming. While Kurt had seen the pictures online, they didn't quite capture the scale of the place. When a concierge instantly takes their bags, Kurt isn't sure how to react. He settles with smiling and letting himself be led to the reception desk. It's still nice that the attendant doesn't even blink about giving them the key for a double-room. Blaine waits behind him, a big grin on his face, almost bouncing on his toes as Kurt hands him the key.

'This place is so cool,' he says excitedly. 'Can't wait to test out the bed.'

Kurt gives Blaine's ass a subtle pat as they step into the elevator. It turns out the room is gorgeous. It doesn't have the best view – that's what you get for picking up the booking on a special – but it's large and everything is beautiful. The marble bathroom gleams under the bright lights and the bed is massive. Kurt pushes Blaine onto it as soon as they close the door, sliding on top of him to kiss him hard.

'This was a great idea,' he says between kisses. 'You can scream all you like.'

Grinning, Blaine rolls them over so he can sit on Kurt's thighs. Kurt looks up at him happily, taking in the stray curl that has broken free of gel.

'Damn, I hope that's a promise,' replies Blaine suggestively.

When they make it to lunch, nearly at hour later, the sun has come out and Blaine orders enough food for an entire family. He insists he wants to try a little bit of everything. Kurt humours him, trying out the strange food, but mostly enjoying watching Blaine's enthusiasm for the meal. He's trying to get the waiters attention for the bill when Blaine asks him a question.

'What do you think about asking Sebastian to walk around NYU with us tomorrow?'

Kurt is surprised, because he'd mentally given up on any sort of amiable meeting between the three of them. Blaine is watching his expression closely and Kurt thinks about it seriously for a few moments. Blaine is keen on attending NYU next year and they'd always been planning to check out the campus this weekend. As Kurt considers it, he realises it could work well, as walking around lacks the pressure of a sit down meal. If it doesn't work, they can just cut the visit short.

'Are you sure you want to hang out with him?' asks Kurt carefully.

'Yes. If he's your friend, I want to see him. And he was sort of my friend, too.'

'Okay. I'll text him.'

Kurt sends Seb a message and gets a quick reply, saying he'd like to see them. There is a very pathetic looking 'I promise I'll be good' attached to the end of the message. Kurt hopes it's sincere. He is tempted to respond with 'Please don't shoot up before you meet us', but then considers that if Sebastian is high he'll probably behave better.

Blaine and Kurt have an amazing night and Kurt is feeling relaxed and light when they reach Washington Square the next day. They only have to wait five minutes before Kurt spots Sebastian walking towards them. He is wearing a jacket and scarf that Kurt doesn't recognise, he's combed his hair over and if it wasn't for the almost faded bruises, he'd look normal – his normal, casually beautiful self. Seb gives them a little nod when he sees them, striding over.

'Hey,' he says, a very self-conscious smile on his face.

'Hi,' replies Kurt, almost amused watching Sebastian try and act normally. He feels like he's at the beginning of a performance and he isn't sure what character Seb is playing. The taller boy turns to Blaine.

'I made yesterday seriously awkward. Sorry. I hope you got to talk to Andrew, he's a cool guy.'

'Yeah, he seems fun,' replies Blaine, smiling pleasantly. 'New York has done wonders for your complexion, Sebastian.'

He's referring in the fact that the tan Sebastian had sported at the start of the year has given way to an obviously pale skin colour. Blaine's tone is teasing, but Kurt doesn't miss the sharp, calculating look in his eyes.

'All work and no play, I suppose,' replies Sebastian smoothly, glancing over at Kurt. 'Shall we get this tour started?'

As they walk, Blaine and Sebastian talk while Kurt stays mostly silent. Their banter is easy - it always has been, they seem to just click - and Kurt is happy to merely observe while they walk. Sebastian is asking questions about the Warblers, Blaine's classes and Ohio in general. Kurt is almost sure that Sebastian couldn't care less about most of these things, but Blaine seems engaged by the inquiries. Whenever Blaine asks a question back, Sebastian deflects it effortlessly with a joke or vague response. Now that he's looking for it, Kurt can see the slightly glazed look in Sebastian's eyes. Part of Kurt wishes he could go back to not noticing.

'How's Susana?' asks Blaine as they're queuing up for coffee. Kurt doesn't know who that is, but he waits for Sebastian to change the subject.

'Got a graduate job with an NGO, she's in Tanzania,' replies Sebastian, his voice a little tighter than before. Kurt raises his eyebrows at the admission.

'Who's Susana?' he asks, eyes flicking between Blaine and Seb.

'My older sister,' says Sebastian. Kurt doesn't comment further and lets the conversation continue, but he stares at Sebastian thoughtfully. Sometimes he forgets that despite how close he feels to Sebastian, he actually knows very little about the other boy. Apparently, he knows less than Blaine. Not for the first time, he wonders how much Blaine and Sebastian really talked before the slushie incident. Blaine takes his hand as they pick up their coffees.

'This is going to be so great next year,' grins Blaine. 'Us being in New York. The three of us can hang out together.'

Kurt and Sebastian share a look. They both know that this cheerful show they're putting on for Blaine is nothing more than a charade, there is no way they'll be having three-way coffee dates next year. In fact, Kurt is sure that this situation with Sebastian is going to end - one way or another - long before Blaine gets to New York. Seb is too unstable, in too deep to wait out another eight months. He suspects Sebastian knows this too.

'Yes,' replies Kurt after a beat. 'We're going to take the city by storm.'

After the walk about for an hour or so, Kurt declares he needs a break and they flop down on some grass. It's cold, but dry, and Kurt moves so that his head is resting on Blaine's stomach. Sebastian stretches out, crossing his long legs in front of him, a couple of feet away.

'This is a really nice campus,' he says casually. 'I'm sure you'll have fun here, Blaine.'

'Thanks,' replies Blaine, one hand resting on Kurt's arm. 'I can't wait.'

'It'll be good for Kurt to have you around. He misses you. He needs someone here to look out for him.' Kurt hears the unspoken part of that sentence: And I can't do that, all I do is hurt him and scare him. You need to be here to keep him away from me.

He turns his head sharply to stare at Sebastian, feeling a swell of distress inside him. Seb is staring at the grass, though, biting his lip. His good humour is fading, he's messed up his previously neat hair by running his hands through it. He can't meet Kurt's eyes.

'I should get going, I have some things to take care of.'

'Oh?' says Blaine, looking disappointed. Kurt can see the effort it takes for Sebastian to give Blaine one last, clear smile.

'Yeah, sorry. Really nice to see you again, though. Kurt, can I…' Sebastian tilts his head over to a tree, indicating he wants to talk to him alone. Kurt nods and squeezes Blaine's calf as he pulls himself up, following Sebastian far enough away so that Blaine can't overhear them.

'Are we cool about Friday night?' asks Sebastian bluntly, teeth still worrying his lip as he looks at Kurt.

'Not really?' replies Kurt quietly, because there is nothing 'cool' about what he went through that night. All the facts he has learnt but hasn't had time to process yet. Sebastian reaches down and wraps his fingers around Kurt's wrist – pushing up his jacket, thumb lightly stroking Kurt's pulse point.

'I'm really sorry, but you don't have to worry. I know it seems bad, but I have it under control. It's really not a big deal.'

Kurt stares at him incredulously, wondering if there is any way he can really believe that. Sebastian's earnest, still slightly glazed, eyes suggest he does.

'I think it is a big deal, Seb,' replies Kurt as calmly as he can.

'You worry too much,' teases Sebastian. 'You have a sexy man waiting for you on the grass over there, relax.'

And with that, he pulls Kurt into a tight hug. Kurt presses his nose to Sebastian's neck for a few moments until they pull away.

'I'll see you later.'

And then Sebastian walks away after offering Blaine a little wave. Kurt looks after him for a few seconds, perplexed, then goes back to sit with Blaine. He waits for his boyfriend to ask what Sebastian said, to comment on their afternoon together. He starts making a list of reasons why Sebastian is harmless in his head. When he looks at Blaine, however, the dark haired boy just gives him a thoughtful little smile. Kurt is convinced Blaine has an opinion about Sebastian, but they soon start talking about Ipad apps.