Once Sebastian saw that everybody was busy watching the movie they chose to watch that evening, he let his mind free to roam. And his mind automatically went to Blaine, how different he looked. He looked beautiful in those dark jeans and navy button down shirt with his curls set free yet styled enough. When he had walked inside towards him, Sebastian remembered the first time they met.

But so much had changed since then yet Blaine still made him feel differently just like he did back then. He couldn't keep his cocky demeanor around him this time like he did then and he could only imagine what Blaine must be thinking about him. He would be laughing about his reaction surely. Because that's what Sebastian had become, a joke. He could just hope that Blaine won't dig into his feelings now and then try to do something about them that Sebastian couldn't control.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Kurt was having dinner with some of his friends before going to enjoy the weekend with them. He had spent the whole day around his studio apartment doing nothing in particular.

Kurt still felt like Blaine had been too harsh with him when he made the same mistake, which Blaine made in the past. He didn't want to but Kurt was sure that Blaine was doing the same thing to him. Moreover, in Kurt's mind, he thought he had forgiven Blaine for cheating in the past so he should've got the same allowance. He still hoped that they could at least rekindle their friendship if not anything else but Blaine didn't even want to see him anymore. Once Blaine left him, he understood how important Blaine was to him and how he must've felt when Kurt broke up with him back in high school.

He had faith that once Blaine calmed down and felt like Kurt had after their various breaks, he'd come back to him. But for that Kurt had to keep himself in Blaine's life as much as he could without making Blaine angry with him more than he already was. After all, Blaine just needed time to forgive Kurt for his mistake and sooner than later he'd take Kurt back, after all, that's what their relationship was all about.

"So, who has plans for going out of the city for the summer? I'm so bummed that mine fell at the last minute," Mark asked everyone sitting at the table.

"I'm actually going to Hampton next weekend with my girlfriend to her summer home" Peter replied.

Then everyone chimed in about their plans and got comments from the rest.

"Kurt, what about you? Are you going to do something this summer?" one of Kurt's friend asked once he saw that Kurt was yet to answer.

"I'm going to be in the city for sure so I'll be taking whatever the city has to offer. My boss is working a lot of summer shoots so I'll be busy with that" Kurt replied.

"Me too, my boss is right now is trying to get in contact with Sebastian Smythe to do an editorial on his home" Elias chimed in who worked for Architectural Digest at Conde Nast.

"What?" Kurt exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah, he just moved to the city and according to the news, apparently his home is the stuff of dreams in New York City. My boss is in talks with his people to let us do a feature on it for the next month issue. She wants it to be on our cover" Elias elaborated.

"He's in the city?" Kurt said a moment later not believing.

"Didn't you know Kurt? He was on Ellen. Looked great and his performance was exceptional" Peter told him.

"I need to go home, I just remembered something," Kurt said getting up not able to listen anymore. He just had to get home and find everything on his own.

"Why Kurt? You were just fine..." "No. I think I didn't lock something so bye. See you all later."

With that Kurt just left some bills on the table for his share and left the restaurant without looking back to his friends. He was shocked by the news he just heard.

The last thing he expected to hear when he came out for dinner was to hear the Meerkat was in his city. Till last year Kurt was so sure that Blaine was having an affair with the Meerkat but after receiving the letter from him, he knew that they had truly not kept in touch. But he was sure that the bastard was one of the biggest reasons his marriage failed and Blaine wasn't taking him back. Now he knew that Blaine had just left him to be with the snake and it had slithered his way to his city.

But what he didn't know was that Kurt wasn't going to let him take what was his so easily. If Blaine wasn't his, he sure was hell wasn't going to be that bastard's. He still suspected that the Meerkat had gotten his dirty hands on Blaine back in high school though Blaine never confirmed his suspicion even once whenever they fought. But Kurt knew from the letter from the Meerkat that he loved his Blaine and Blaine didn't know about it. He still didn't know that he inspired Meerkat's overrated and overhyped album and Kurt had to keep it that way.

But for now, Kurt had to go back to his place and search the Internet about the Meerkat and know if Blaine and Meerkat had met already or not. Maybe he needed to pay his ex-husband a visit soon or get Rachel to find out the truth from him. She still tried to be friends with both Kurt and Blaine while Santana and Brittany had cut ties with him long before Blaine left him.

Kurt knew that Santana never liked him but he wasn't sure what was Santana and Meerkat's connection that she always defended him one way or another. Last he knew that the criminal chipmunk had thrown a slushy at her too but she'd play devil's advocate whenever he bad mouthed the evil Warbler. Even Brittany joined the bandwagon with her wife and defended the bastard and praised him whenever he came on the air.

Kurt still couldn't believe that people actually liked Meerkat's whining about not getting Blaine but only if they knew about his true colors. So many times he wanted to contact one of his journalist friends and tell them about everything that the Meerkat did in high school but he didn't want to give him the satisfaction that he got to him. Kurt prided himself on showing the criminal chipmunk that he didn't affect him and he wasn't going to give him that pleasure now but he'd surely keep the information for use if needed later as something to hold over him if a time like that came.

He had been overjoyed when he came to know that the Meerkat had left the country and didn't keep contact with anyone. Blaine and Warblers had gone hysterical trying to find him and talk to him after Blaine's graduation but Kurt had double reasons to be over the moon. Finally, he was engaged to love of his life and the only thorn in his love life had removed himself.

He still didn't get Meerkat's appeal, sure he was good looking in a totally stereotypical way and he even had everything going for him but what did everyone see in him Kurt couldn't understand. His repelling attitude and even worse whoring behavior were enough for Kurt to know that he

was a lost cause. People like him didn't deserve anything good after being so bad in life.

Once Kurt reached his apartment, he changed into his pajamas and got his laptop out. He started searching for Ellen show videos and then read various celebrity websites. Apparently, Meerkat had really moved to New York and got a place in Tribeca, surely bought by his rich daddy and he was back in big apple after his appearances in LA. But he was going to Australia on Tuesday and had no scheduled appearances till then. Kurt was sure that Blaine hadn't got in touch with the Meerkat and since he had summer internship so he won't be doing so in the week too. Maybe before Blaine could reach the chipmunk, he'd be on his way to Australia. Kurt could only hope and pray for that but he knew he had to do some fact finding on his own and make sure that his ex-husband doesn't cross paths with the Meerkat.

Kurt had been able to keep them separate for so long so he wasn't going to let Blaine fall in Meerkat's arms now. He didn't deserve Blaine and he wasn't going to be his.

The next day Sebastian woke up late again and spent all day lazing around the apartment. He spent the whole day with Lily and his pets while helping Lily for the party in the evening. It was Dave's birthday party and he had asked them to do it at his place since Dave didn't want any fuss especially for him. And Sebastian's presence would create an additional issue in the public with constant interruptions from fans and media that he didn't want to handle this week.

Sebastian helped Lily bake and decorate a cake and then helped her prepare a variety of dishes for the evening. He had missed Dave, Santana, Britt, and Andrew when he was in England for college and the trips to meet every year didn't cut it enough. After college, he started traveling and then suddenly, he was thrust into the music industry and it became difficult to keep in touch regularly with everyone once he became super busy all the time. His friends, fortunately, took everything in stride and were there for him in all their capacity even from across the world while he was touring but now he was near them and wanted to give them in return.

When evening rolled down, he went to his room and got dressed according to the occasion. He even put a bow tie on Zeus and Halo for the party. He had gotten Dave and Andrew tickets for a vacation as a gift and keys to family home there for their stay. They could use a break from the city after the stressful jobs that they did. Dave had become sports agent like he had always aspired to be and he had some great clients while Andrew was an investment banker at the Wall Street. He was fortunate to see them meet for the first time and it was a case of love at first sight. But Andrew didn't approach Dave when he saw Sebastian with Dave. He had thought that they were together but Seb had seen Dave getting interested in the guy so he played the role of Dave's wingman and basically pimped out Dave to Andrew.

He was happy for them but he was especially glad for Dave, as Dave had come so far since high school. He had won over his fears and was living and loving his life with the man he loved and Sebastian was happy that he had been able to help Dave achieve it.

Once everybody arrived, they brought out the cake and then had dinner. Dave had gotten gifts from everybody and it had been a great night filled with laughter and happiness.

Sebastian knew that Santana and Brittany had met Blaine earlier in the day but he didn't bring it up that night. Brittany had told him that she'd meet him tomorrow to talk about everything that happened with Blaine so he decided to not talk about it again that night. It would be wasting his time and energy thinking about something he didn't know so he just went to sleep once he went to bed.

But on the other side of the city, Blaine's mind was in overdrive from thinking about his meeting with Santana and Brittany earlier in the day. He thought back about it as he lay in his bed.

Blaine saw Santana and Brittany enter inside from the large window booth he was sitting in at the back of the patisserie. They went to the counter to place their order and had some stuff packed to go. They paid for their order and walked over to where he was sitting.

"Hi, Blaine" Brittany greeted Blaine. "Hi Britt, Hi Santana" Blaine replied to which Santana just gave a brief nod. "I just want to apologize for yesterday. I never thought that would happen..." Blaine said.

"That's right you don't think Hobbit when it comes to Seb...you just assume that whatever you do in regard to him, everything will be all right. Because god forbid, you might just hurt him with your assumptions" Santana said cutting him in between.

"I never wanted to hurt him," he told them earnestly.

"Well, you didn't hurt him yesterday but you didn't earn you any brownie points either" Santana informed him.

"And Blaine, just because you didn't hurt him yesterday doesn't mean that he was never hurt by your actions," Brittany said to make him see their point.

"I..."

"Oh great, what do you think he is? He is not a robot. He is just a human made of flesh and bones. He breathes, loves, cares, gets angry, cries when he is hurting and can break into pieces just like you and me. He was devastated after he saw you getting back together with Lady Hummel in Lima Bean after spending the night with him and I will never forget that because people like him don't show emotions on anybody" Santana told him before Blaine could say anything. "So whatever your assumptions are, just throw them out of the window. He is not the same person he was back then and we both care about him like family so I will definitely go all Lima Heights on your ass if you're going to cause issues for my boy in any way" she threatened him.

"Santana, I just want to talk to him once. He never came around after my proposal to Kurt and just left all of a sudden. I thought he was going to Columbia but then came to know he was going to Oxford. It just feels that there was always something left incomplete between us. Maybe if we get some closure then..." he said trying to make them understand his motivation behind his actions.

"You do know that he doesn't have any obligation to you, don't you?" Santana asked. "Yes."

"Then you should also know that he isn't your toy to play with; this isn't high school and he doesn't want anything from you. You lost him years ago and he's moved on so whatever closure you feel like he owes you, you've to forget about it"

"Okay, I understand what you're trying to say," Blaine said a moment later getting what Santana was trying to convey but he couldn't help himself and ask, "but can you tell me something?"

Santana just nodded so he asked, "His album... who is it about?"

"I thought you knew, he told me that he sent a letter to let you know with one of the first copies of his album," she told him.

"Uhh... I never got any letter from him since I last saw him but I always thought that it was for Dillion," he said after a moment or two later absorbing the information given to him.

"It wasn't for him because the whole album is basically asking the man he loves to love him back and that can't be him because he has been dead for years now. But of all the things, that is what you're worried about, hmm? Either you are exceptionally self-absorbed or just plain ignorant" she said sarcastically.

"I never understood the extent of his feelings for me" Blaine sighed after a while. "Then you're both self-absorbed and ignorant" Santana commented.

"I never thought he felt for me like that. I mean with all his innuendos and trying to get in my pants, I always thought I was just like everybody else, just another..."

"If you were a just another notch on his bedpost, then he wouldn't have followed you everywhere the whole time before Valentine's the way that could even put a lovesick puppy to shame even after getting into your pants. I mean even I could see that what he felt for you wasn't just friendship or attraction. Why do you think Gayface felt so threatened by him all the time...even after marriage? Did you even felt something towards Sebastian apart from attraction or lust?" she said interrupting him.

"Uh..."

"Of course, you don't have an answer. I really don't know what did he see in you at that time. I mean you must either be a real stud in bed to hook Sebastian so hard or you must be playing some great game because I can't understand the relationship you two had even now. When you get the memo, do forward it to me. Some great psychologist you'll become when you can't even sort out your own life" Santana said acidly. Blaine just kept looking down at his coffee.

"I guess I have a lot of work to do to sort out the mess that my life has become. But you have to know Santana that I really liked Sebastian and I thought it was totally casual on both sides. I mean the way he used to come on to me when we first met, giving me attention, it made me feel great, and then when all hell broke loose after my cheating, he never once judged me. I felt if it doesn't matter to him then it doesn't matter to me. It was never my intention to hurt anyone...least of all Seb who was there for me when I felt alone and was battling my own demons. I think the 17-year- old me was so wrapped up in trying to be a better boyfriend and to right his wrongs that he became ignorant of everything and everyone apart from that. He couldn't see that the relationship that he was trying to save was already on a downward spiral and he was just not ready to leave the comfort of being in that relationship because otherwise, he would be all alone in the world with nobody to fall back on. And in that he could not comprehend that there was already someone there waiting for him to just let it go...oh god what have I done? Fuck" Blaine said trying to make sense of it all and held his head down.

"Well, you can make all the sense you want in your time but we are here to tell you that he has closed that chapter of his life. He is finally at a place in his life where he has found a balance, a semblance of peace and he doesn't want to open that Pandora box again anytime soon. He is very busy and has a lot of stuff going on in his life so leave him alone."

"I know Santana that he is very busy. Every day I open the news and across entertainment section is news about his records and new dates getting added to his ongoing tour. I am happy for him from the bottom of my heart and very proud of his achievements. Nobody would have ever thought he'd be the one to become an international sensation that he has become. He was always set on becoming a lawyer. But I wouldn't have guessed him to go to Oxford in my wildest dreams..."

"He was going to go to Columbia here in New York but changed his plans last minute to go to Oxford to be near his grandparents and his parents had also studied there" Brittany chimed in after

sitting so quiet for so long that Blaine actually forgot about her presence.

"And he could never decide what he wanted to do after high school even though he was set for college."

"Yet another thing that I never knew about Bas..."

"Oh no no...do not go on calling him Bas because he goes on a rampage if somebody calls him that."

"But I always called him Bas..."

"Of course you did...another piece of the puzzle that he is," Santana said thinking to which Blaine hung his head down on understanding the levity of the situation.

"You know Santana for the last half year I've been working on to get closure with my divorce and other stuff in my life. I found the answers that I was searching and made my peace with it. There is no 'what if' left in my mind regarding the 'Kurt' part of my life. My New Year resolution for this year was to get a relationship detox and be my own person and to some extent, I am succeeding in it. But please tell me this Santana that how will I make peace with the 'Sebastian' part of my life for however the small duration it was there when even I don't know everything about it. There is so much left unsaid between us. Maybe once I have processed everything that I have come to know, I could talk to him one last time to get closure for both of our sakes."

"Listen to me Hobbit, anything that you want to say can be said via me and if I find that you went near him without his invitation...I swear to god I will make your life hell. He doesn't want to talk to you right now and I completely support this decision because nothing good will come out of it. If and when he decides that he is ready to talk to you, I will let you know. The stunt you did yesterday was something I wasn't expecting to happen so soon after him moving to NYC and count your lucky stars that his bodyguards weren't there because they wouldn't have cared before calling the police for trespassing or even attempt to break and enter. His bodyguards can put even Sebastian and me to shame when it comes to hostility and rudeness towards strangers and they genuinely care for Sebastian. So for your own sake don't wake the sleeping dragon when you are not ready to play with fire because even if Sebastian has grown up but he can still be an asshole when he is put into a corner. Just because he wasn't at his best for you yesterday because you surprised him doesn't mean he has turned into a softy that'll let you walk over him" Santana said with finality leaving nothing for the discussion.

He said after a while addressing to both of them and giving the envelope, "Okay. I will respect Sebastian's choice and if and when we meet, it'll be on his terms. I don't want to inconvenience him anymore by trying to seek him out. Can you give this envelope to him them? It just has all the information on how to reach me all the time."

"Good and we'll pass this on to him," Santana said taking the envelope.

"Umm...can I ask you a question in regard to Sebastian and I don't need an elaborate answer to it? Just a yes or no will suffice or even if you don't want to tell me just say that," Blaine told her.

"Shoot."

"Sebastian's dog is a special dog isn't he, I mean he's not just a pet like the kitten," Blaine said in a questioning tone as that was something he was still thinking about since yesterday.

"That wasn't a question, Anderson," Santana said with a hint of sarcasm. "Please just answer the question, Santana" Blaine said getting a bit exasperated.

"Even though it is none of your goddamn business but yes. Maybe there is something that Ivy League education that you have been working on for last few years is worth of. Now put it to good use and don't behave like an idiot that your ex-husband has become, that is all I have to say."

"Thanks for answering. And I will do my best to do just that."

"You do that cause it's time for us to leave now. There is a birthday party we need to attend today and we haven't even bought a gift so till we meet again...bye" Santana said getting up and collecting her bag.

"Blaine, we really love Sebastian like family and where we are right now in our lives, it wouldn't have been possible if he wasn't present for us whenever we needed him without fail. He is a good man who doesn't wear his heart on the sleeve like you and I do. So please don't hurt him in any way, intentional or otherwise. And just keep on trying to do whatever it takes to make things right and give it time, everything will fall into place when the universe is ready for it" Brittany said in her sagely manner getting up.

"That is some good advice, Brittany. I never knew you all have become so close especially David after the whole 'slushy-gate' and his attempt."

"Another thing you were ignorant of Anderson," Santana said getting her last word. Brittany came over near Blaine, gave him a hug, and whispered her bye. Then both of them turned around and walked out of the patisserie after taking their to-go container of treats that they had ordered earlier before.

Blaine lay there thinking about all the things that he had learned over the course of this weekend. It was like his delicately created reality imploded in the face and he was left alone to pick up the pieces. Times like this is when he had to fight his issues with being alone and working through stuff without backtracking to the person he was a year before.

Even though the girls didn't outright talk about Sebastian's feelings for him but he wasn't that dumb to not read in between the lines. Though Santana didn't say specifically whom the album was about but there was no doubt in Blaine's mind that it was about him. He wasn't sure how he should feel about that now even if it wasn't confirmed by anyone.

Never in his wildest dreams did he ever fathom Sebastian felt that deeply for him. Surely he knew that Sebastian liked him, that he was attracted to him. Hell, he will admit that he knew about his crush on him but never that Sebastian's feelings were so strong for him that he loved him. Blaine had always felt a dangerous attraction towards Sebastian and being with him made him feel so free. Being with Sebastian was fun, exhilarating, adventurous, and downright terrifying because he never thought that Sebastian could give him the security that he always craved from a relationship. Whatever he felt for Sebastian was always kept under a tight lid with a lock and key and he never tried to explore that and now he was regretting that big time. If only he had let go of the dying relationship and given Sebastian a real chance then his life would have been completely different from what it is right now.

Some psychologist he was going to be when he already had his own laundry list of issues and mess of a life to deal with. The only thing that was perfectly going in his life was his education that would be completed soon if everything went smoothly on track.

He decided to take Brittany's advice to heart and contact Riley so sort everything out alone because everything was all in the past and Sebastian has clearly moved on, as should he. He had a lot of stuff now to talk about as the Pandora's box had been already opened that day when he first told her about Sebastian.

But whatever he may have felt or still feels about Sebastian despite both of them being single at present, it would never work out because of the past history involved which still remains unresolved and Sebastian had already moved on.