Timeframe: season 4, set between"Make-Over" and "The Break-Up"
Chapter summary: Kurt meets up with a familiar face in New York
Rating: K+ for language

Bildungsromance - PART II

1.

Kurt looked down on his phone and tried to locate himself on the map. He had been living and working in New York for a while now, but the city was so big he had only scaled zero point something percent of it. Working for Isabelle Wright meant he occasionally had to go out and pick up things or meet people in areas he had never been before, and when he did, he was always reminded of his humble Lima, Ohio background. Thank god for GPS and Google maps. Today he had been on an errand picking up old copies of fashion magazines at a library archive down town. Isabelle wanted them to make sure they weren't accused of stealing ideas from last year's competitor's issues and the digital copies they had on file were incomplete. Before his job interview and his internship, he had re-read The Devil Wears Prada to prepare himself for vogue dot com. He had half-expected an employer like Miranda Priestly, making him work 14-hour shifts, calling him by the wrong name on purpose and making him run foolish errand picking up her personal dry-cleaning or walking her dogs. Isabelle was nothing like that. She was polite and professional and gave him a lot of room to develop himself and learn from her. She didn't seem to like navigating her way through New York much and always apologized profusely whenever she sent Kurt out, telling him to take a cab to make sure he got back alright, no matter the costs. Kurt usually didn't, because he liked the subway and being on foot in the bustle of the city, but it was nice of her to offer. Of course, that did mean he sometimes got a little lost.

He looked up from his phone and looked around in the street. A familiar green sign greeted him, and he decided he could hit two birds with one stone; at Starbucks, he could ask for the way and get him and Isabelle coffees and blueberry muffins. Starbucks joe might not be as good as the coffees from the Lima Bean, but their pastries were definitely superior.

Kurt texted his employer that he was on his way back and stepped inside. The line was long, and he used the time to study the map some more. When he was finally at the counter, he had already found his way again and would be ready to go as soon as he got his order. He might not be the best navigator in the world, but he wasn't hopeless either.

"Shoot."

"Kay, I'll have two tall non-fat soy frapuccinos and two blueberry muffins. Please." Kurt added the last on an afterthought, still scrolling through menus on his phone. The last time he had called his dad, he had been accused of adopting 'New Yorker manners', a subtle hint of Burt trying to tell him to stay polite. It was just that people were sparse in their communication here. Efficient, not necessarily rude. Still, Kurt had taken it to heart and tried to remember his manners.

"Seven twenty-five, and I'll need your name for the order," his cashier said without looking up, sounding bored.

Back in Lima, Kurt liked to pick fabulous names for his cup to amuse Blaine when they announced 'Mr Fantastic's latte' was ready, but today, with half of his mind still on the maps, he decided to stick to his regular one. "Kurt."

The boy at the counter started. "Kurt Hummel," he finished. Kurt blinked and looked up from his phone. He looked into a pair of green eyes he had definitely seen before.

It was so unexpected that for a moment, Kurt had a hard time finding a name to go with those eyes. This wasn't the right place, this was New York, in the middle of his new life, his new job. He didn't know anyone in New York expect Rachel and the people at work. "Sebastian?" he finally said, just as the line behind him started making their impatience clear. Sebastian shot him a cocky smile and snapped the name tag on his chest, making it bounce on his polo shirt.

"Employee of the month. Some day," he said drily. "It's still seven twenty-five though, no discounts for country hicks." He winked at Kurt.

"I'm not- Why... what are you doing here?" Kurt exclaimed, ignoring the people behind him. Maybe he had New York manners after all.

"Working. You?" Sebastian replied. Kurt fished change for the coffees about of his pocket and put in on the counter.

"Same. Uh, picking up stuff for work. You look..." he trailed off. He had been about to offer Sebastian the compliments you gave when you met old friends; only to realize Sebastian didn't look good at all, and they weren't friends.

"Thanks. You too, I guess. Look, your coffee will be ready soon and I don't really have time for catching up." Sebastian's previous smile had faded as soon as it had appeared.

"I'm sorry, it's just-" Now that Kurt was watching more closely, he could see Sebastian looked tired and haggard. "When do you get off?" He wasn't even sure why he asked; did they really have something to talk about? But the mystery of Sebastian's presence in New York, working at Starbucks, was too big to be ignored. He couldn't wait to tell Blaine.

"Whenever I can," Sebastian deadpanned, raising his eyebrow at Kurt with a familiar leer. Then, he dropped it like it was too much effort and shrugged. "At seven. But I have a night-job too, so... I can't really linger."

"Well, you have to eat," Kurt suggested, trying not to question his own motives for the moment- and to ignore Sebastian's dirty pun.

"I usually get to take the left-over bagels. Kurt, I'm not sure-"

"I'll be here at seven. If you run out of bagels today I'll buy you some fresh ones across the street."

"Two frappuccinos for Kurt!" one of Sebastian's colleagues announced from the other counter. Kurt looked at Sebastian, who nodded reluctantly. Kurt smiled. Somehow, seeing Sebastian here made him feel good. He already looked forward to talking to him. He hadn't seen him since that day in the Lima Bean where Sebastian had taken his side against Kitty, and since then, time and new experiences had done a lot to fade out resentment. Besides, Kurt had his life on track, a great intern-ship, fabulous new outfits, and him and Blaine were still going strong; for the first time since he met Sebastian, he didn't feel like he was inferior.

"Hot date?" Chase asked, smiling over at Kurt who had been checking out his hair with the front camera of his iphone. Kurt quickly lowered his phone and blushed.

"No, no, nothing like that. I just ran into someone I used to know from...school. I'm meeting up with him later, you know, to ask how he's been."

"You mean to tell him how well you've been and how handsome your co-workers are?" Chase said, waggling his eyebrows. "Reunions are always good for a little ego-stroke, if nothing else." He ran his fingers suggestively down the side of his leather folder.

"Um, I'm not going to be stroking anything," Kurt objected, "Thanks, Chase. Now I have to deal with that mental image."

Chase chuckled. "Have fun, Kurt."

Kurt sighed. "Thanks." If he was honest, he wasn't even sure if his colleague wasn't right. Was he really just meeting Sebastian to rub it in how well things were going for him? It's not like he wouldn't do the same, he thought vengefully, focusing on the Sebastian who had tried to chase Blaine all of last year and not the humbled boy who came to drink coffee and read at the Lima Bean after graduation. Most likely, Sebastian would explain the circles beneath his eyes with extravagant tales of sex, drugs and clubbing and would have Kurt feeling like a nobody again in no time.

At five past seven, Sebastian Smythe stepped out of the coffee shop and looked around. He didn't really expect Kurt to be there, but it was hard to miss his bright red chinos even from across the street. He nodded to show he had seen him and started crossing. He wasn't sure what to make of this meeting. He had known Kurt was in New York, of course- he hadn't talked to Blaine much lately but whenever he did, the other boy was always whining about how much he missed his boyfriend now that they were so far apart. But what were the odds of him actually showing up at Starbucks during his shift? He tightened his hold on his bag of stale bagels and prepared himself for the high-pitched version of 'having a long-distance relationship is so hard'.

"Kurt," he said in greeting as he joined him on the other side of the street.

"Sebastian. Wow, I really didn't expect to see you here in New York. How've you been?"

Sebastian shrugged and nodded at one of the benches. "Do you mind if I eat?" He went to sit down. "I only got two."

"No, not at all. Rachel will be cooking later, so I'm fine, go ahead," Kurt quickly offered, checking the bench for pigeon droppings before sitting down next to the ex-Warbler.

"Rachel, huh?" Sebastian asked, taking a bagel out of the bag and starting to pick the lettuce and tomatoes out from between the cream cheese. He balled the vegetables up in a napkin and threw them in the trash. "You two live together?" He watched Kurt nod. "Just you or the whole Brady Bunch?" He bit into his pastry. It was tough but at least he hadn't gotten stuck with the soy again.

Kurt smiled. "Just the two of us for now. Finn's joined the army and Blaine's still in school, which you know, of course. Rachel's attending NYADA and I'm waiting to re-apply in December."

"The army? Hmmmpf," Sebastian said around a mouthful of bagel. He chewed and swallowed. He remembered the large McKinley football player. He didn't seem like the type for the army, but then, he hardly knew the guy. He was certainly bulky enough. He looked at Kurt. The boy was radiant, looking very refined and sleek in his outfit and his matching bag, and it looked like he was practically hopping in his seat to talk more about himself. Sebastian decided to encourage him. The more Kurt talked, the more he could eat. "So," he started, turning the bagel in his hand, "you said you were working today? What do you do?" He quickly took another large bite. Kurt's smile grew just a little bigger as he got the chance to tell Sebastian about his job.

"I'm on an intern-ship with vogue dot com," he stated proudly. "I work with Isabelle Wright. She's this amazing designer and we hit it off really well. I'm something like her personal assistant now."

"Fetching her coffee," Sebastian said, his voice slightly muffled. Kurt wrinkled his nose in a way that made him look like a Disney forest animal. Which is not cute, Sebastian admonished himself.

"No, that was just...I was on my way from the archives and I thought I'd get a coffee myself. She brings me coffees all the time too. I'm not like- I have a lot of responsibilities," Kurt said quickly. "And you have cream cheese dripping on your jeans." His voice was a little sharp around the edges.

Sebastian shrugged. He was going to change clothes for his night job anyway. He also didn't really mean anything demeaning by his assumption that getting coffee was part of Kurt's job.

"I make coffee for people all day, Kurt, it's not like that's a bad thing."

"I know," Kurt said quickly. "I worked at the Lima Bean too, remember?" He paused. "So what about you? Why New York? Why Starbucks?"

Sebastian finished his first bagel and took out the second, picking at the garnish to stall for time. "I always dreamed of working in retail," he said sarcastically, "and what better place to do that than the one city famous for its bad service?" Kurt didn't say anything. Sebastian remembered their talk at the Lima Bean and his good resolutions to make up with Kurt and sighed. Honesty it was. "I was accepted to NYU," he started again.

"New York University? That's great!" Kurt said, a little too chipper. Sebastian nodded. "Yeah. Only it came with some strings attached." He bit down in his second bagel and smirked with distaste. Soy after all, disguising as chicken. He knew Kurt would need more explanation so he continued. "Last year, when I was looking around for colleges, my dad said he'd pay for my education if I promised him I'd change my life around."

Kurt nodded. "Well, you did, right? At Dalton. You got better grades and you graduated."

"He meant I should stop being gay."

"Oh."

Sebastian could see Kurt slump a little in his seat. He was probably destroying the other boy's faith in mankind. Well, not everyone could have congressman Hummel as their dad. He pushed on, wanting to story over with so he could hear Kurt's judgment and go home. "So, I figured, if I could just keep my clubbing to a minimum and didn't fuck anyone famous, I'd be okay. He wouldn't need to know."

"Sebastian." Kurt sounded reproachful. Judgment was clearly already starting. Sebastian shrugged again, causing sauce to join the cream cheese on his jeans.

"Obviously that didn't work out, and he revoked all funding. And since I had zero savings of my own, I had to apply for a deferral at NYU until I can get the money together."

"Can't you get a loan?" Kurt asked. Sebastian shook his head.

"Parents make too much money," he replied in between bites.

"But if they're not helping you..." Kurt started, and Sebastian cut him off. "Doesn't matter, Kurt. It's just paperwork. I tried but they were basically like, 'hey, sucks for you, not our problem'. Rules are rules."

"That's really tough," Kurt said quietly. "I'm sorry."

"S'okay," Sebastian brushed it off. "Between my jobs and saving money for food," he held up his bagel, "I'll be in by January. And it'll show my dad once and for all that I don't need him."

"So what's your other job?" Kurt asked, and Sebastian could hear he was deliberately trying to sound cheerful again. Sebastian finished his second bagel and wiped his hands on his jeans.

"I wait tables at InFlagrante," he said. "It's a gay bar down town."

"Aren't you too young for that?" Kurt asked, sounding like the Ohio boy he was.

"Has that ever stopped me from anything?" Sebastian replied. He crumpled the paper bag between his hands, balled it, and threw it in the trash. "If you still got your fake ID, you should come some time. It's a lot better than Scandals, trust me."

"Maybe," Kurt said non-commitally.

Sebastian smiled. "Don't worry about Blaine. I'll tell him I'll watch out for you. Keep the guys from flirting." He winked. With food in his stomach and the story over with, he started to feel a little of his usual confidence return. "He misses you a lot, you know. It's getting a little tiring to be honest. Every time I talk to him he's like, Kurt was the best thing in my life and now he's in New York and I only get to see him like, every second week-"

"We don't. You know. See each other that often," Kurt interrupted him. "But we Skype every night and I try to call him between periods at school...he's coming to visit soon."

"Great! We should hang out." Sebastian's enthusiasm was about as real as Kurt's responding smile. "You know, when you two are done...catching up, I mean," he added, just to see Kurt blush. "I should go. I have to change and try to catch an hour of sleep before work."

"Right. Sure." Kurt seemed to be hesitating. Sebastian had the sinking feeling in his stomach he was about to say something noble. "If there's anything I can do..." the boy started. Sebastian shook his head.

"I know, Gay solidarity and all that, right? It's okay, Kurt. Don't worry about me." Not giving Kurt the time to protest, he got up and started walking away before he was tempted to take Kurt up on his offer. He was the one supposed to make amends to Kurt, not the other way around. The boy was really too noble for his own good.

Kurt was still sitting on the bench across the street from Starbucks when Rachel called.

"Where are you, Kurt? I'm trying to make risotto and it won't stick and I'm completely helpless. Please. It's a nightmare. I need you."

Kurt sighed and got up. Rachel, dramatic as ever. "I'm coming home now. I'll be there in ten minutes."

On the way there, he thought about what Sebastian had told him. He also considered what the boy hadn't told him; if he was working at the bar with a false ID, the owners obviously didn't care too much about rules. He doubted that they kept to the maximum work-load for a second job...or if Sebastian had even told them it was his second job. From the way he looked, Kurt guessed he was putting in full-time, maybe even more. And if all he was eating were left-over bagels...

Kurt didn't like it. Sebastian's 'don't worry about it' sounded a lot like the long row of 'don't worry about it's' he used to give his dad about things people said to him in school, or 'accidents' that happened to his clothing. He had been tempted to push it, but it didn't look like Sebastian wanted to talk about it.

It's not my problem, he told himself firmly. And Sebastian clearly didn't want his help anyway. Suddenly, though, he wasn't sure if he wanted to tell Blaine about meeting him. He knew his dapper boyfriend would insist that he and Rachel take the guy in, feed him, and maybe even try to get him a job at vogue. And as much as Kurt loved Blaine, he was not doing him favours like that. Not for Sebastian Smythe.

Twenty minutes later, dinner was saved, and Kurt and Rachel were picnicking on the floor of their spartan apartment. Rachel was filling Kurt in on her day at NYADA and Kurt got so swept up in her stories that he almost forgot to connect Skype. He listened to Blaine with half an ear as Rachel showed him the choreography she had been working on in dance class. Between Rachel's NYADA stories, his own day at and Blaine's McKinley update, he didn't think about Sebastian any more the rest of the night.