Chapter 10

Blaine kept his distance from his parents that night. Rather than sit at the table, he took a plate of food to his room and packed a bag for the sleepover the following night. He almost packed a few extra articles of clothing, the offer Rachel had made playing on his mind, but he couldn't envisage running away because of the one time Todd Anderson had lost his temper. He knew everything would quieten and settle and his parents would return to treating him with disinterest. Using Rachel's house as a refuge would raise eyebrows in the community. It would make people start whispering about him and those whispers could gain volume until someone was screaming with an Officer to let go after a Report had been made. He couldn't bear the thought that leaving his home could put him or the man who was meant to be his father in danger. He knew there was limited tolerance for violence in their society and that punishment was swift and permanent. It rattled him awake every Wednesday morning, after all.

On Friday, his cheek was just as bruised as the previous morning. Rachel swept him into an empty girl's bathroom to add some makeup magic to his face again. Sebastian kept him close at break times, shielding him from wayward stares and the pressure to engage with Rachel and Nick's conversations. He found himself wondering, with his head resting on Sebastian's shoulder while Rachel retold some story from her Literature class at lunch, whether he'd been slapped for refusing to work at the music store or because he'd challenged Todd with the knowledge that he had a relationship with Sebastian.

It had always seemed a foregone conclusion that he would follow Todd's footsteps but if he were being honest with himself, he'd never been certain that was what he'd wanted. He knew that working at the music store hadn't been his birthright – it had been Cooper's. After Cooper had struck out on his own, the responsibility had fallen to him. He wasn't the first choice. He never had been.

As he mulled over the possibilities, he thought that the slap might have been a result of Todd's disappointment and anger and disgust. Either way, it had turned him into a monster Blaine no longer recognised.

His musings haunted him through his last classes and on his walk to Rachel's house, trailing behind her and Nick as he studied the cracks in the pavement. Sebastian had promised to meet them a little later, claiming he had a few chores for his mother to complete before he was free. Blaine knew Sebastian would already have completed any chores for Adriana but he granted Sebastian the space to do whatever it was he needed because when Sebastian returned, he would bring his bike and that meant a faster return to the Smythe house once the party at Rachel's ended.

LeRoy and Hiram Berry appeared to be at work when the trio arrived at Rachel's house. She led them into the kitchen for cookies from a jar that weren't nearly as delicious as Adriana's before they ventured into the basement. Streamers adorned the ceiling in festive blooms, looping along the cornice of the walls in an array of colours. He vaguely wondered if his friends could name all of them.

"Happy birthday!" Rachel squealed, as if his birthday hadn't been two days ago and she'd hugged him then. Her arms flung around his shoulders, squeezing tight, before dragging him towards a collection of three medium-sized boxes on the coffee table in front of a sagging maroon couch.

He felt embarrassed at the gifts and scuffed his foot across the floor. "Rach…"

"Shush," she said, folding her arms over her chest and jutting out her bottom lip and daring him to disagree further.

He smiled fondly as he took a seat on the couch, reaching for the first box she nudged towards him. Nick folded himself into the armchair, a curious look on his face while Blaine unpicked the tape from the pink wrapping paper. He noted that this rectangular box was flatter than the other two and not very heavy. It had a solid cover though and, with a crow of success, he tossed the paper aside to reveal an album emblazoned with gold star stickers that spelled out 'BLAINE'.

When he opened it, his breath caught in his throat and his eyes snapped to hers.

"My dads managed to conceal a camera through the Purge," she said as if it was no big deal that Blaine held an album filled with photos across the years of their friendship.

The photos of him were obviously taken when he wasn't paying attention, catching his profile or a laugh at a distance. Interspersed were photos of Rachel – aware of a camera from her wide smile – or Nick, Jesse and Cooper who didn't appear to know their images had been captured on an illegal device. Dotting each page were stickers and ribbons, small scrolls of text featuring song lyrics or music staves from songs studied in Music.

Towards the end of the album were a couple of photos of him and Sebastian. It was clear they'd had no idea there was a camera taking secretive shots of them. The way he sat in Sebastian's lap and the happiness in his face betrayed how candid they were around each other.

He wiped at his cheeks, forgetting that one was bruised when a sharp stab of pain made him flinch. He looked at Rachel, her chin raised in defiance but her eyes displaying her pride. What she'd done, what her parents had done, was incredibly dangerous and incredibly rewarding. There was little he could say to express his gratitude.

"Thank you," he whispered, his voice hoarse with how choked up he felt.

She flashed him a grin and hopped over the coffee table, sinking into the couch beside him. "You're not meant to cry," she scolded.

"You're not meant to give me emotional gifts," he growled, tickling her for a moment and trying to avoid her flailing arms before she picked up the album and replaced it with a second box in his lap.

The second gift turned out to be some small, old robots that he could add to the collection in his room while the final box was an assortment of decorative bow ties of various colours and patterns. He had no idea when he would get an opportunity to wear them but he was awed by her gifts and the revelation that she knew the things he liked far more than he'd given her credit. He kissed the top of her head when she wrapped her arms around his waist and cuddled into his side, her legs tucking beneath her.

"My turn!" Nick said, reaching for his bag and withdrawing a rectangular object wrapped in matte black paper. There was an unsettling feeling in Blaine's chest, a sort of embarrassment that his friends had been so generous and gotten him so many presents.

As soon as hands clasped Nick's gift, he frowned. He recognised the weight and the dimensions of the shape in his hands.

"Nick?"

"Open it," Nick said with a small jerk of his head, his cheeks unmistakably red as Blaine began to undo the paper.

He wasn't surprised when he found a sketchbook beneath the paper but he was stunned as he opened the pages to find sketches of himself captured over the course of…years. There were singular sketches of his eyes and his mouth, the slope of his nose or the curve of his hands. Some sketches were his whole face while others were just a profile. Some sketches stared straight back at him while others looked into the distance, a pensive expression captured by Nick's talent with a pencil. Much like Rachel's album, later sketches included aspects of Sebastian – twined hands where one was dotted with freckles, the smaller curve of his body surrounded by the safety of another, the two of them standing and departing with branches interlocking above them. It was… He hated to say it upstaged Rachel's album but it was breathtaking.

"You're amazing," he said, wriggling free of Rachel so he could embrace Nick. Rachel stole the sketchbook to look at while Blaine wrapped his arms around Nick's shoulders, gripping his friend. Awe and disbelief flowed through him, overwhelmed by the beautiful images. "You need to find something to do with this talent of yours," he hushed against Nick's ear.

"Shut up," Nick muttered into his shoulder, patting his back before crushing himself into the arm chair again with a tinted face and eyes that wouldn't meet Blaine's gaze. Blaine wished Nick wasn't so modest and saw the incredible depth to his artistic abilities.

They talked for a while, about vague plans for after school and how scary it was to be approaching the end of their academic lives. Rachel seemed poised to take up a dancing job at her old studio while Nick was looking into working at a childcare centre. Blaine admitted he didn't know what he was going to do after refusing to work with his father. Rachel's fingers left a comforting trail down his forearm as he explained there was nothing his parents could say which would convince him to work at the music shop.

When they ran out of easy topics and strayed into territory ill-befitting an eighteenth birthday celebration, Rachel moved towards the CD player and put on music almost as old as them. Blaine wasn't sure how long it would take for Sebastian to get there when he eyed the drinks Rachel passed around. The label made it clear it was alcohol mixed with juice, probably not enough to get him truly drunk but…he wasn't used to drinking without Sebastian nearby.

His first mouthful was sweet, almost sickly with the excessive amount of sugar, and Blaine knew Nick caught his scrunched nose as he swallowed the liquid. When Rachel asked him how good it was, her body spinning in a circle on the dancefloor, he pasted on a smile and assured her it was great.

He shot Nick a glare when the other boy snorted.

By the time Sebastian showed up, Blaine had finished his first bottle and started his second. His cheeks were warm and his fingertips were tingly and he felt lighter, like a bubble that could float away in the breeze. The mouthfuls of whatever Sebastian had mixed at the parties weren't enough to prepare him for entire bottles containing so much sweetness he could barely taste the alcohol. His limited tolerance was obvious as soon as he got to unsteady feet and stumbled towards Sebastian's outstretched arms.

"I think I need to stop you," Sebastian mused with a wry grin, stealing the bottle from his grasp and taking a sip. He wrinkled his nose and stuck out his tongue after swallowing the mouthful, gagging like a cat with a fur ball. "God, that stuff is ghastly."

Blaine giggled and clung to Sebastian when he was turned him in a slow circle across the room. Everything spun in his head, a dizzying array of colour and light. "I think it numbs your tastebuds after the third swallow. I can't even taste it anymore."

"You don't want to either," Sebastian said, abandoning the bottle on the coffee table and tugging Blaine into his lap on the couch. "I've had some bad stuff before but that's the worst."

Blaine rolled his eyes and looked towards Rachel throwing her head around and jumping to music that wasn't intense enough to warrant that level of carefree gyrating. Nick seemed to be amused from his spot on the arm chair, a sketchbook against his thighs and pencil between his fingers.

"How many has she had?" Blaine asked Nick, who shrugged and took a sip from his own bottle. The other boy looked more capable of handling his alcohol and Blaine thought he might have been the faintest bit jealous.

"I think she has a lower tolerance than you. I didn't even know that was possible."

Blaine scowled, poking Sebastian's stomach when the boy reached out to bump fists with his friend. He knew Rachel would crash at some point, becoming a tangle of limbs on the floor that would be embarrassing to explain to her fathers when it wasn't even six. He didn't want the party to end too early and then he had to wait hours for an appropriate time to leave for Sebastian's house so they could sleep.

Searching for something to do, he pulled Nick's sketchbook and Rachel's album into his lap from the coffee table to show Sebastian. Nick was pink as Sebastian complimented him on his drawing skills although Blaine wasn't sure whether was the effects of the alcohol. The photo album proved more interesting to Sebastian, his eyes wide as he marvelled at the fact there were so many photos across such a span of time when photos had been banned for decades. Blaine tried to recall whatever stories he could to explain the images of him throughout the years. There were times he almost asked if Sebastian had a photo album or portrait sketches which charted his childhood but then Sebastian would point to another photo, ask another question, and he'd miss the opportunity.

LeRoy and Hiram arrived home around seven with pizza and Rachel was barely through her first slice when she fell asleep on the floor. Nick rolled his eyes and propped a pillow beneath her head, skimming his fingers through her hair with a level of tenderness that made Blaine wonder if there'd been more between them than he knew. He knew Nick had felt something years ago but…maybe Blaine hadn't been aware of the depth of those feelings. Maybe it had been more serious when they were fourteen than he thought.

When Nick caved and took the last slice of pizza, Blaine excused himself to take the empty box and plates upstairs. Years of clearing the table in his home had instilled the urge to tidy up and despite Sebastian's protests that it was his birthday and someone else's responsibility, he was more stubborn and won.

He carried the box and plates into the kitchen, dropping the box by the pile of recycling and lowering the plates to the sink with only a mild clatter. It felt good, normal, to clear up but he still jumped when he turned and found LeRoy and Hiram crowded into the doorway of the kitchen.

"Rachel told us about what happened," LeRoy said, glancing at Hiram before stepping forward.

"If something is going on, you know you can stay here," Hiram added, his words an echo of Rachel's as Blaine noticed the hand he pressed low on LeRoy's back.

"You shouldn't feel unsafe or pressured into doing anything you don't want to do either," LeRoy continued and Blaine could feel an impending headache. As much as they meant well, his head was filled with enough conflicting thoughts. With the addition of alcohol, he felt incapable of processing anything.

"I appreciate the offer," he said, belatedly realised he'd interrupted Hiram telling a story about something he hadn't heard the beginning of at all. "I'm okay though. It won't happen again."

Neither father looked convinced but Blaine used their indecision about what to say next to his advantage, making his escape downstairs and cuddling into Sebastian's lap again.

When Rachel didn't show any signs of stirring, the three of them decided to part ways a little before nine. Nick and Sebastian managed to shield Blaine from LeRoy and Hiram's probing questions and encouraging words to stay with them and it was Nick who successfully redirected their attention to the state of their daughter – passed out on the floor and drooling on one of the cushions. Blaine barely restrained himself from high-fiving Nick as they left the house.

It took a little longer to separate Nick and Sebastian when his friend noticed the motorbike, admiring parts of the vehicle which Blaine had never heard of before. There'd been a time Todd had tried to get Blaine to rebuild a car but it had been a catastrophic failure at improving their father-son relationship. In contrast, Nick was well-versed in mechanics and Blaine wasn't sure where he'd picked up the knowledge. He refrained from asking, secretly glad when his friend said farewell and he and Sebastian could leave.

His bruised cheek rubbed painfully against the helmet, so much so that he almost considered asking Sebastian if he could avoid wearing it. He doubted he'd be successful but it made the journey to Sebastian's house uncomfortable until he was able to peel the helmet from his head.

After unlocking the door, Sebastian held a finger to his lips and tilted his head to one side. Blaine frowned and Sebastian gestured towards the corridor on the right where the doors had been closed the previous visit. He watched Sebastian lay a flat hand against his cheek and shut his eyes and guessed Adriana must be already asleep. He became more conscious of lightening his feet on the stairs, following Sebastian into his room.

"She knows I'm staying over, right?" Blaine asked, his voice hushed as Sebastian eased the door shut with the faintest click.

"Yeah, she knows," Sebastian said as he approached his bedside table and flicked on the light. It cast a warm glow around the space and Blaine began to unbutton his blazer to get more comfortable. "She has lots of trouble sleeping so I don't like waking her."

Blaine empathised with the difficulty sleeping and wondered what haunted Adriana's thoughts. Faint traces of a smile drifted across his face at Sebastian's consideration towards keeping quiet for his mom, lowering his overnight bag to the floor and dropping his blazer on top. Sebastian's arms reached for him and he folded into the embrace, his cheek throbbing dully because the buzz of the alcohol had faded.

"I have a gift for you," Sebastian said, his lips pressing to Blaine's forehead while his fingers tiptoed along Blaine's spine through his shirt, "but I don't know whether to give it to your now or later."

Blaine's automatic reaction was to bite his lip with uncertainty and fought it down. The split was still painful to touch. Sinking his teeth into the flesh would be agonising. "You didn't have to get me anything."

"Of course I did," Sebastian said with a dramatic roll of his eyes and a tone that suggested Blaine had just said the dumbest thing ever. "Although I didn't exactly 'get' it."

His curiosity was piqued by the vague words. Blaine stared expectantly at Sebastian until the other boy turned to hide his pinked cheeks, sliding free of Blaine's grasp to move to his desk. His nails tapped at the wood as he opened the top drawer, his hand concealing the object he withdrew. Blaine frowned as Sebastian approached him, nerves etched into his face and his eyes reflecting a myriad of emotions Blaine couldn't capture fast enough to name.

Sebastian hesitated for a moment before he extended his hand and opened his fingers to reveal the small square wrapped in sky-blue tissue paper. Blaine glanced between it and Sebastian, his heartbeat skipping several beats in its pounding rhythm against his ribcage.

Sebastian's eyes avoided Blaine's as he took the square and removed the paper. Beneath at least three layers was a velvet-wrapped box. Was he still breathing? He knew these sorts of boxes. He knew-

"Go on," Sebastian huffed with impatience and Blaine he cracked the lid, any oxygen he still had within his lungs escaping as he took in the simple silver ring nestled among a satin bed. "It's not what you think."

Sebastian's defensive words made his eyebrows rise. He looked from the ring to Sebastian. "Isn't it?"

Sebastian smiled but it was tinged with sadness. "No." He erased the distance between them and plucked the ring from the box. Hidden beneath the fabric inlay was a silver chain fastened around the ring. "It…was my father's," Sebastian explained, looping the chain around a couple of his fingers which made the ring sway like a hypnotist's pendulum. "When my parents were too young to get officially engaged, they bought themselves rings. Promise rings, I guess. Rings which demonstrated they were committed to each other and when they had the opportunity, they would get engaged."

It was the first time Blaine could recall Sebastian talking about his father. His attention sharpened in the hopes he could commit every detail of the mention to memory, if only because he might never hear about Sebastian's father again.

"I'm not asking you to marry me, Blaine," Sebastian said, his voice calm and his gaze steady. The fluttering in Blaine's heart cooled a fraction with the words and he knew he was getting confused by the implications of the ring. "I… I want you to have something, something of mine, something of my father's, which you can keep with you all the time. You can wear it beneath your clothes and feel it against your chest to remind you that I… I really care about you and I'm not going to betray you or your trust. You can wear it and remind yourself that even on the darkest of nights, I'll be there for you the next day. I want you to wear it and know that I… I truly want this, I want us, and I… So I'm not asking you to marry me but this is a…a sign that I'm prepared to wait until we're able to get engaged, that I'm committed to you and that there are plenty of people outside of your own family who love you. By wearing this, it's a…a reminder that I still have those feelings even if I can't be with you at that moment."

Sebastian's words were said in such a rush that Blaine thought he might have missed some of them. The speech had obviously been prepared and meant to bring him to tears because by the time Sebastian was done, he had slick cheeks and a sniffling nose. He didn't know what to say, overwhelmed again by the generosity and kindness of the gift and the ferocity in Sebastian's words that wrapped around him like a warm blanket.

He tipped his head towards Sebastian and tilted his neck, allowing the other boy to unclip the clasp and drape the chain around his neck. The metal was cool on his skin and the weight of the ring settled halfway between the hollow of his throat and his sternum. It was an unfamiliar presence but there were dozens of butterflies in his stomach and an aching love in his heart. Sebastian grasped his right cheek to raise his head, raise his gaze, to meet hopeful green.

"I love you," Sebastian whispered, his thumb smoothing along Blaine's cheekbone, and Blaine could do little more than giggle breathlessly and press his lips to Sebastian's. He hissed in pain at his split lip, trying to find a different way to kiss that didn't hurt so much while Sebastian pulled his shirt from the hem of his pants. His feet tracked backwards until the back of his knees found the edge of the mattress, climbing onto the bed while Sebastian pulled away for a brief moment to flick the light on the wall and reduce the glare of the light overhead significantly.

In a heartbeat, the length of Sebastian's body was back and stretching over Blaine's, his arms bracketed by Blaine's head as they gazed into each other's eyes for long moments. Sebastian's eyes radiated love, the slight quirk to his lips reflecting how happy he was, and Blaine felt powerless to his feelings for the other boy that were as undeniable as spring following winter. The first hints of insecurity brushed the surface, reminding him that he was inexperienced, but Sebastian had such a look of…of devotion that Blaine also felt empowered.

"I love you too," Blaine murmured but he could tell from Sebastian's expression that he hadn't needed to – it had been written all over his face.

Blaine's hands curled around Sebastian's arms when the other boy's fingers began to pick at the buttons to his shirt, exposing inches of his chest to determined hands. He trembled beneath the fingers circling his nipple and tickling down his stomach, Sebastian shifting to kiss and suck his neck for an age while his hands pawed at Blaine's chest. Then Sebastian moved onto his collarbone, then his teeth grazed a nipple, then his tongue dipped into Blaine's bellybutton. Heat flooded his system when Sebastian's hand cupped his groin and the moan he'd released was cut short by Sebastian's mouth returning to his and then renewed when fingers massaged his erection through layers of clothes. It didn't take long for him to be a panting, writhing mess beneath the other boy, all insecurities and uncertainties forgotten as lust, desire, need coursed through him in devastating waves.

Without speaking, they shifted up the bed and Blaine shed his shirt. He watched Sebastian shrug his shirt over his head, revealing his pale chest with constellations of freckles splattered across the skin. Blaine longed to lick and touch them all, to map and record them with reverence and wonder, except he would have to wait because Sebastian's thumb had flicked open the button on Blaine's pants and his fingers were lowering the zipper. Blaine wanted to watch Sebastian's every move but his limbs felt like jelly, barely supporting him, and his head flopped to the nearest pillow behind him. His hips arched at Sebastian's hand grazing his length with only the cotton of his briefs in the way, a low groan building in his chest that was swept away by Sebastian's tongue pushing into his mouth with talent and precision.

"Seb," he gasped between kisses, his right leg instinctively hooking around the taller male's when Sebastian removed his hand and slotted their hips together. His eyes rolled in his head at the slow grind of their bodies together, his breath shuddering out of him despite the triple-time tattoo of his heart hammering fresh grooves to his ribcage.

"So good," Sebastian agreed against his neck, his back slippery with a thin sheen of sweat already when Blaine clutched at the body above him in search of something solid to hang onto. "You want this?"

Blaine nodded, lost in the urge for more as he forgot why he'd ever been embarrassed in the first place. One of his hands moved to grasp Sebastian's ass and press their bodies tighter together, pleased by the whine Sebastian made against his collarbone. This was unchartered territory for Blaine, and it was new to do this together, because usually when they found themselves in Sebastian's bed all they'd done was kiss and briefly grope at patches of skin. Sebastian had always been very respectful of Blaine's inexperience and hesitation, drawing away before they got too far with a gentle kiss that made it clear it was okay to stop and wait and cool down.

But this time… This time, Blaine didn't want to stop. He was eighteen, legally an adult now, and craving Sebastian's body against his in a way he hadn't before.

"I want you," he assured, hissing when Sebastian's groin thrust into his own, the drag of fabric against sensitive skin starting to turn painful.

Maybe it was that reaction, or his determination to go further, that made Sebastian take pity on him. He watched the taller male unbutton and unzip his own pants, kicking them free to leave himself in only a pair of black boxer-briefs that left little to Blaine's vivid imagination. His nose crinkled at the betraying flood of heat to his cheeks, the stabs of shyness and nerves almost painful against his flushed skin.

He watched Sebastian trace his fingertips along the dips and curves of Blaine's belly, an appreciative smile on his face that soothed the burst of embarrassment when Sebastian peeled the pants from Blaine's legs and tossed them to the side of the bed. He was almost entirely exposed and his instinctive reaction was to fold his legs together and tuck a pillow against his body. As much as he was receptive to every touch, he still felt the impact of his approaching first time creeping up on him.

Sebastian was watching him, probably aware of the internal battle raging inside his head and his heart and his stomach, and Blaine was going to make some snippy comment except Sebastian's hand cupped him through his underwear. The unexpected touch made his thoughts sizzle into dust and he whimpered, hips twitching when Sebastian's thumb circled the head of his cock.

"Can I taste you?" Sebastian said and Blaine's heart stuttered before restarting again. He nodded, relaxing as much as he could while Sebastian kissed random spots on his torso and peeled the elastic from his waist. He felt the cotton drag down his thighs followed by Sebastian's tongue and was shivering at the cool air that tickled his skin when Sebastian surged forward, his lips closing around the head and his tongue flicking against the tip. It was beyond anything he could have imagined and his moan was loud, too loud, as Sebastian's arm pressed across his stomach and his other hand spread Blaine's legs to make it more comfortable to settle between them.

A high-pitched whine that was embarrassing, unbidden, and uncontrollable burst from his lips when Sebastian bobbed his head the first time. The more kisses he'd exchanged with Sebastian, the more he'd allowed himself to fantasise about this sort of moment. The hand he'd pretended had been Sebastian's while his other had gripped the tiled wall of the shower or the sheets of his bed hadn't been anywhere close to as good as this. This was…intoxicating, enough to make his lungs contract around each breath and his heart expand in his chest like a balloon. His stomach and the muscles of his shoulders grew taut with tension.

He bucked against Sebastian's arm, seeking more, and felt a pang of disappointment when Sebastian pulled away. There was a grin as wide as a Cheshire Cat's smile when he scraped his teeth along the inside of Blaine's trembling thighs before crawling up Blaine's body to kiss the tip of his nose.

"You are so fucking hot," Sebastian said, the husk in his voice and the filth of the curse making Blaine want to cover his face again. Sebastian snorted at whatever his expression had turned into and kissed his forehead. "I'm going to remove my underwear, okay?"

"Okay," Blaine breathed, his eyes falling towards Sebastian propping himself up and watching the pale fingers hooking into the dark fabric to pull them down. His fingers quivered at the exposure of Sebastian's length, long and hard, jutting confidently forward as the underwear was kicked away and they were both finally, finally, bare.

It was Sebastian's turn to groan as their bodies pressed together, grinding in a slow rhythm that had shivers creeping down Blaine's spine. He held Sebastian against him, operating via instinct as to where his hands should go or how tightly he should wrap his legs around Sebastian's waist. Occasionally Sebastian reached for an ankle to adjust him or grabbed at his hand to squeeze their fingers together. Once, Blaine shyly wriggled his fingers between their bodies to stroke at the firm flesh of Sebastian's cock and, though he knew it was impossible to do anything unpleasant, he wanted to make Sebastian enjoy it as much as he was.

Sebastian gradually stilled, his lack of movement making Blaine squirm and try to twitch his hips upwards.

"You're still sure?" Sebastian said and Blaine simply leaned up to kiss him, as hard and desperate as his cock felt between his legs. His lip protested the action but it was worth it for the amused twinkle in Sebastian's eyes after the kiss. Blaine hoped it was because he'd demonstrated how much he was sure, how much he wanted it.

Sebastian rubbed a hand against Blaine's waist to encourage him into rolling over and he released an excited breath as he flopped onto his stomach. He knew this part, had gleaned enough knowledge over the years, to know he needed to raise his hips. The scratch of the blanket was too uncomfortable to lie against anyway.

Sebastian reached past him, the slide of his skin against Blaine's body making him shudder with want. He listened to the slide of the wooden drawer, the crinkle of foil and plastic being removed before the drawer was shut and a kiss was left on the knob of Blaine's spine.

"I need you to tell me if it hurts or you're uncomfortable or change your mind, alright?" Sebastian murmured into his ear and Blaine nodded, doubtful he was going to change his mind and forcing his hips a little higher in anticipation. He grinned to himself when he heard Sebastian snort.

He heard the click of the cap on the tube, the faint squelch of liquid pouring out, and tried to prepare himself mentally for what he was doing. Unexpected tension invaded his body and he could feel unpleasant chills spreading from his gut when a finger rubbed against the cleft of his ass.

"Take a deep breath and release it slowly for me," Sebastian said and Blaine complied, some of the anxiety to fading from his limbs. Sebastian told him to do it again, and again, and by the fifth deep exhale the anxiety in his stomach had faded into something manageable. That was when Sebastian pressed the first finger in, Blaine's eyebrows twitching at the sensation which was odd but not painful. He felt himself leaning into it as Sebastian began moving his finger, alternating the pace and depth until Blaine was comfortable with another pushing in.

He winced at the brief flash of pain, knowing his muscles cramped for a second or four, until Sebastian kissed his shoulder and reminded him to breathe again. He quickly grew to like the fingers twisting into him, pushing back and releasing soft mewls of pleasure when Sebastian repeatedly touched something particularly good.

With time and patience Sebastian stretched him until he was ready, barely more than a quivering and panting mess of lube and sweat and precome. His fingers were clenched so tight into the pillow beneath his head Blaine wasn't sure he'd ever be able to loosen them again. His cock was half-hard between his legs but he still ached for Sebastian, to feel their bodies fitting together so intimately, and raised his hips higher when he heard the rustle of foil behind him.

"Still sure?" Sebastian asked and he threw a dark glare over his shoulder, earning him a chuckle as Sebastian applied the condom and pinched the tip. "Just remember to keep breathing."

It was easier said than done when he felt the bed dip as Sebastian moved into position. He wasn't sure he'd breathed in several minutes as he listened to Sebastian squirt more lube and a hand pressed into his hip to hold him steady. His breathing was slow but harsh in the silence of the room, every muscle poised in anticipation.

He could feel Sebastian teasing the blunt head against his hole and his shoulders lowered and his ass rose higher, desperation flooding him. He just wanted-

"Fuck," he hissed when he felt Sebastian finally push in, his hole stretching around the swell as his muscles trembles all over as Sebastian. Sebastian was patient, inching slowly forward, until Blaine could feel the jut of hipbones against the curve of his ass. There was a moment of awkwardness when Sebastian laid his chest to Blaine's back, his hands – sticky with lube – covering Blaine's own but God he felt incredible. His whole body thrummed with the connection, with the exhilaration of an intimacy he'd never shared with another. Pleasure and need and happiness and desire made his eyes burn and he wriggled his hips when Sebastian had been still too long and he needed movement.

The slow, back and forward thrusts lasted for long minutes, allowing him more than enough time to adjust to the unfamiliar sensations. Each push of Sebastian tended to make the tip of his cock dig into the fabric of the blanket and the mattress and it was just enough stimulation to be increasing the blood flow heading south again, making him ache as well as feel dizzy with lust.

Sebastian offered no pace, no rush to orgasm, with this position, keeping him on the edge of demanding more without actually tipping him beyond it. When his shoulders rolled with the need for more travelling through him, Sebastian withdrew and rolled him over, raising his knees and sinking inside again without hesitating. A moan got stuck in his throat as he stared at Sebastian's, at the pinched look of concentration in his dark green eyes and the parting of his ruby-coloured lips when his breath stuttered past them.

"You are… You leave me speechless," Sebastian said, pressing a messy kiss to Blaine's lips as he rocked his hips with shallow movements.

The scent of sex was heavy in the air, spurring his arousal a notch higher. Blaine surrendered the power to give and take pleasure to Sebastian's experience because there was nothing that didn't feel amazing right now. He let Sebastian twist his body into shapes he didn't know he was flexible enough to make and eventually his legs were spread wide, one calf hooked over Sebastian's shoulder, as the taller boy started pounding into him. Both of them were barely capable of drawing in any satisfactory breaths but it didn't matter as Blaine gripped the back of Sebastian's neck and an arm for support. The bed squeaked as the thrusts increased in strength and speed and though Blaine didn't know what Sebastian looked like when he came, he had a feeling the boy had to be getting close from the way his breathing was shortening and his eyes were clenched shut.

An unexpected hand gripped his cock, jerking him off to the same rhythm as Sebastian's hips. Sebastian's awareness of his own needs and the grip of his hand made Blaine moan, maybe too loud in the silence of the room, maybe low enough not to be heard by Adriana downstairs. He wasn't able to concentrate on the look of Sebastian anymore, arching tighter into Sebastian's body as he came undone. There was a cry of Sebastian's names stitched to his lips which announced his orgasm, streaks of white splattering across his chest. Every muscle tingled but he didn't get enough of a chance to notice because Sebastian was grunting, pushing harder, faster, his eyes squeezed shut.

When a shudder rippled down Sebastian's spine, his breath hitching in suspended silence for several seconds as he surged forward and fell still, Blaine knew from the subsequent trembling limbs that the other boy had just come.

And Blaine was spellbound.

His delight, his happiness, his warmth, his satisfaction was overwhelming. He noticed everything, from the way Sebastian's harsh, skipped breathing slowed against the sweat of his neck to the twitch of his cock when Sebastian slid free. Blaine's thighs quivered beyond his control as Sebastian lowered them to the mattress and a pleased smile played on Sebastian's lips, his eyes clear and adoring as he surveyed Blaine's wrecked state.

"You alright?" Sebastian asked while peeling off the condom, reaching for a handful of tissues from the bedside table to clean himself and then Blaine's stomach. He felt dazed as Sebastian's hand dragged along his skin.

"How is it possible to feel as light as clouds but as heavy as lead?" Blaine said and Sebastian laughed, discarding the soiled tissues to the bedside table and flopping onto the mattress to his left.

"C'mere," Sebastian murmured, sliding an arm beneath Blaine's back and hauling him closer, until his uninjured cheek was against a collarbone dotted with freckles and his hand was settled on the slow rise and fall of Sebastian's belly. Sebastian's head tilted towards him, his breath tickling across Blaine's skin, and he smiled when there was a kiss pressed to his forehead. Fingertips skimmed along his spine, another hand curving around the back of his neck to hold him close. Blaine didn't like using clichés but…it was perfect.

He became aware of Sebastian's fingers tangling around the curls at the nape of his neck and into the chain and adjusted his head so he could look up and see the other boy. Stray strands of hair flopped into his eyes which suggested he felt as calm and content as Blaine. Blaine had never realised just how tense or concerned Sebastian's face was until it had been undone by an orgasm.

"Will your mother…freak out that I have your dad's ring?" he said, his tongue darting out to lick his lower lip instead of biting it and inflicting pain to himself. It already had a dull ache from the kisses he'd shared with Sebastian.

Sebastian looked at him, some of the brightness in his eyes dimming a fraction. If Blaine hadn't noticed the post-orgasmic haze before the slight change, he wouldn't have noticed.

"He gave it to me," Sebastian explained, his fingers freeing the ring from where it had been trapped between Blaine's chest and Sebastian's side, his thumb smoothing around the surface. "It was my gift to give. I didn't need her permission."

Blaine nodded, pressing a kiss to Sebastian's hand and running his index finger through the grooves of his abdomen. He hadn't meant to make Sebastian sad so h tried to inject some humour into the conversation. "I just didn't want her seeing it and thinking I'd raided her jewellery box or something."

A smile flitted across Sebastian's lips but it was small and sad, shades of old demons flickering in his eyes which made Blaine want to rewind the past two minutes and return to the Sebastian who was at ease. "I don't have many of his things," Sebastian said, his words slow, his volume hushed, as he examined the ring. "He always used to say I'd find someone one day that made me realise it was possible to commit to them, that I'd meet someone and everything would just…make sense. He said there were some people you'd go to any length to protect and ensure they were happy, that you'd want them to be the first thing you saw in the morning and the last thing you saw at night. It was just…all this romantic crap that made me roll my eyes a lot when he told me."

Blaine couldn't remember a time he'd heard Sebastian talk about his father – even in vague, whimsical terms. He wondered what was different. He wondered what had changed. He stayed silent, afraid that making any noise would bring Sebastian to an awareness of what he was saying and he'd shut down this part of him again.

"And then I… We transferred and it was so isolating and terrifying and I was starting at a new school on a Wednesday and…and then there was this boy who approached me and wanted to talk and walk me to class and…" Sebastian shrugged, his expression shifting towards an amused smile. "I guess I knew that anyone who was willing to put his middle finger up at the unspoken social structures was someone I wanted to keep around and get to know."

He realised how wary and insecure Sebastian must have been in the corridor outside Math all those months ago. Somehow that knowledge made him increasingly aware of his nudity, of his naked body pressed into Sebastian's naked body. He knew he was blushing and at the same time there was a pit of excitement in his stomach for more already.

"Anyway, I…" Sebastian shook his head and pressed a kiss to Blaine's hair. "I know we're only young and it could be reckless and too early but I- Everything just makes sense when I'm with you and I don't want to lose that and then I saw your bruised face yesterday and I was so… I was so scared you'd shatter into pieces thinking you didn't matter or no one would want you." Sebastian's finger stroked beneath his chin, raising his head until their eyes met. Sebastian's honesty shined in his eyes. His heart and soul were truly bared for the first time in their relationship. "You need to know I'm not giving you the ring because of whatever happened on Wednesday night. I'd decided I wanted to give it to you a while ago but…it just encouraged me to do it a bit earlier so you knew when you left here, I still wanted to be with you and…and you can trust me to keep that promise and to keep you safe."

Blaine wanted to reply but the amount of words Sebastian had spoken was rather overwhelming and making it difficult to process a response. He tried to find a place to start, to express his gratitude and his shock at Sebastian's generosity. He even got his mouth to open a few times, his tongue wrapping around words that his brain hadn't articulated into a sentence yet. The last thing he wanted to do was say something stupid or inadequate.

So instead of stumbling his way through a speech that wouldn't be nearly as beautiful as Sebastian's, he leaned towards Sebastian and kissed him soundly, using his tongue to coax a response from the other boy. Hands which weren't his own pressed into his waist, encouraging him on top of the freckled body, and feverish desire quickly unravelled within his bloodstream again. He was grateful at least one of them had some experience in what they were doing because he found it far too easy to get lost in his search for pleasure.

There were numerous aches in his muscles the next morning when he awoke as the little spoon, the curve of Sebastian's erection nestled against his ass. He tried to stretch whatever limb he could without waking the other boy, his heart fluttering every time Sebastian's cock jostled against his skin and reminded him of what they'd done last night. He didn't know what time they'd fallen asleep nor could he recall why they'd failed to put on any clothes but there was an unexpected appeal in waking naked beside someone whose body was interested.

It was barely five minutes later when Sebastian's breathing shifted and a quiet grunt ruffled Blaine's curls, his hips slotting closer to Blaine's back. It didn't seem to matter how tired he was or how sore his muscles were because Sebastian's lips brushing against his neck and the circling press of his erection was sending Blaine's blood southward. His heart had already started doing that flutter-thump thing like the night before when Sebastian's hands had dug into his skin.

"You make me wanna…"

Sebastian's voice was muffled against his skin, his arm shifting against his waist until his hand curled around where Blaine was half-hard. As his thumb rubbed the tip, Blaine's hips rocked into the motion which also gave more friction against Sebastian. He raised his left leg and draped it over Sebastian's behind him, spreading his ass wider, guiding their bodies closer. The urgency in their rutting shifted when Sebastian emitted a low growl against his neck that made his stomach quiver.

"Don't move," Sebastian said, his voice husky with sleep and arousal as his torso pulled away and Blaine heard fingers against the bedside table behind him. He tried to keep still but his body was urging him into action, small twitches of his hips that he could hear were having an impact on Sebastian's breathing.

The fullness of Sebastian's body returned against him. Fingers slipped between the crack of his ass and without much warning, two fingers pressed inside him. His spine arched, a moan coating his tongue as he rocked against the digits. Gone was the anxiety he'd felt at the start of last night, the fear that his inexperience would be a turn-off or he'd fumble his way through sex and screw everything up. With Sebastian guiding him, he knew he just had to follow the signs his body gave him and do what felt right.

"I'm going to need so many cold showers now that I know what you sound like, what you feel like," Sebastian mumbled into his hair, squeezing in a third finger as Blaine parted his legs to encourage greater depth. He had a feeling he'd never be able to get a good night of sleep again because he'd be too busy dreaming about this, about waking to an erection against him that would leave him waking with an erection that would only fade after he'd jerked himself off.

He heard the crinkle of the foil wrapped being torn open and Sebastian folded Blaine's leg over his own, the head of his cock sliding into Blaine with less resistance than the night before after their multiple rounds. He sank into the embrace of Sebastian's arms securing around him, gasps of pleasure and the faint squeak of the bed filling the silence as their bodies rocked together. It was easier for Sebastian to touch him like this although harder to get a good pace or powerful thrusts that made him whine, but he stayed where he was, allowing Sebastian's fist to work him towards his orgasm.

By the time he was coming undone, shattering apart against Sebastian's body, he was covered in sweat and grossly overheated even though Sebastian had tossed the blanket and sheet from their skin. Every part of his body tingled with pleasure, every nerve sensitive to each sweep of Sebastian's hand or press of his lips to a spot on Blaine's skin. He basked in the feelings as Sebastian thrust as fast and hard as he could, his breathing short puffs of air against Blaine's slick skin until, with one last press forward and a tighter grasp at Blaine's body, he came. His body shook against Blaine's, his teeth digging almost painfully into Blaine's shoulder around the moan he didn't release as loudly as Blaine tended to do.

He was reluctant to break apart even though he felt like his skin was on fire and from how long Sebastian stayed still, clinging to Blaine like a lifeline, he had a feeling the other boy felt the same. He twisted his fingers into the gaps of Sebastian's and held on, their fused bodies uncomfortable but not unbearable.

With butterfly kisses to his neck, Sebastian eventually pulled away and Blaine rolled over to admire the stretch of muscle beneath Sebastian's skin and the line of hickeys that curved along his freckled collarbone. The marks had been left somewhere between round two and three and Blaine felt a burst of pride at how pretty they looked. The embarrassment he'd felt at their nudity last night had worn off as well, replaced by a desire to be naked and in bed with Sebastian all the time. It didn't matter that his muscles protested the idea of sex because he found it difficult to keep his hands to himself and his mouth from meeting Sebastian's over and over and over again.

It was Sebastian's gurgling stomach that broke the mood, even though they were both half-hard and rutting against each other again. It seemed like he wasn't the only one who had an insatiable need to stay close and together because Sebastian pushed him onto his back, hands pinning his wrists above his head as he sucked a mark over Blaine's heart. His tongue swirled over a nipple before he moved lower, capturing Blaine's erection between his lips and digging his tongue between the slit. Blaine was incapable of coherency for the long minutes that Sebastian bobbed his head until he pulled away and sat against Blaine's thighs.

"Dick says sex, stomach says food," Sebastian complained with a mild pout, his thumb pressing into the jut of Blaine's hipbone. "Stomach is winning."

Blaine laughed and raised himself as best as he could, catching Sebastian's lips in a brief kiss. "Food, then."

Sebastian failed to look convinced or appeased but he relented after another kiss to Blaine's mouth, clambering off and approaching his chest of drawers for some clothes. "Wanna shower together?"

Blaine didn't need any time at all to agree to that idea. He still had an erection to take care of.

The embarrassment he hadn't felt while naked with Sebastian returned full-force after they'd showered – for a very long time because it was even harder to keep his hands off a wet, slippery Sebastian than a sweaty one – and dressed and he realised he would have to face Adriana. Somehow he'd been so distracted by how much he wanted Sebastian that he'd forgotten the mother that had slept downstairs. He liked to think he knew Adriana well but she wasn't stupid enough to not know what could occur when two teenage boys were locked together in a bedroom for twelve hours.

She was also where Sebastian got his teasing nature from.

Oh God. What had he done?

Sebastian's hand brushed against his ass as they descended the stairs. He nearly tripped twice and glared when Sebastian snickered behind him, rushing into the kitchen just to escape the wandering fingers. Adriana sat at the kitchen table with one of the thickest books Blaine had ever seen held between her hands.

"Morning, mom," Sebastian greeted, kissing the top of his mother's hair before pushing Blaine in the direction of the fridge. Blaine was grateful for the cold air that rushed over his face if only to lessen some of the heat in his cheeks.

"Morning boys," Adriana said and when Blaine chanced a peek at her, the look on her face betrayed she knew exactly what they'd been doing and why they were so ravenous. Blaine's face grew so warm he considered sticking it in the freezer. "Happy birthday for Wednesday, Blaine."

"Thank you," he whispered, using Sebastian as a shield so that his red face didn't have to be seen by Adriana and teased to the point of erupting into flames.

"Have you eaten?" Sebastian asked his mother.

Adriana waved a hand towards her empty coffee cup. "I figured I'd wait for you two to come up for air," she said with a grin and Blaine was pretty sure he was going to choke on something. How was it possible that his father slapped him for his sexuality while Adriana accepted it so easily that she was comfortable making sexually-charged jokes?

Sebastian's hand settled against the small of his back, warm and comforting and familiar. He leaned into it out of habit.

"You might have been waiting all day," Sebastian teased and Blaine was so outraged that he shoved Sebastian away from him. Adriana's tinkling laughter filled the kitchen as Sebastian looped an arm around his waist and dipped him into a kiss.

It was hard not to kiss back, his fingers winding into Sebastian's shirt to hold onto him. He felt so welcomed and accepted in this house. He just thought it would take a while longer to get used to the jokes the mother and son could exchange, like Adriana mentioning to Sebastian he would need to strip his bedding which resulted in Blaine dropping the spatula with a resounding clang.

~TBC~