Timeframe: Set after Bildungsromance
Chapter summary: New Year's Eve with Kurt, Sebastian, Marc & Rachel.
Rating: T for language and sexual suggestions
14.
"Kurt, can I talk to you for a second?" Rachel whispered urgently, pulling at her friend's sleeve. It was about an hour before midnight and they were sitting at a bar not far from Times' Square. Marc and Sebastian had just gone to get them a new round of drinks. Kurt nodded.
"You know I have two gay dads and they sometimes have friends over, so I have been exposed to more age- and gender inappropriate jokes than most of my female peers," she started, and Kurt shrugged uncomfortably, not sure where this was heading. "But I have to tell you, Marc really takes the cake. If I have to listen to one more of his raunchy stories or watch him 'grade' every guy who walks by here, I'm going to scream!"
Kurt sighed. "I know. Me too." Rachel was right. Marc had been very generous with the details about his sex life- And Rachel only understood half of it. The worst of his remarks were in French, mumbled into Sebastian's ear but always loud enough for Kurt to hear too. The worst thing was: he wasn't the only one acting that way. Sebastian was behaving very strangely too. It was like watching a whole different person. He drank more, was louder than usual, and seemed to have a whole different laugh that he reserved for Marc alone. It made Kurt uneasy. It wasn't a new side of Sebastian he was seeing- it was an old side. He knew he was seeing Sebastian like he had been in Paris...and he didn't like it. Kurt looked over at the bar and saw the guys coming back with their drinks. As they came close enough to be heard, he sighed. They were still playing their 'who would you rather fuck?' question game. Didn't that ever get old?
"Come on, answer me! Justin Bieber or Bruno Mars," Sebastian demanded, already laughing.
Marc scoffed. "Easy. I don't fuck girls. Bruno Mars," he replied in his thick French accent, and they both laughed and clinked their glasses together. Marc's eye fell on Kurt. "'ere's one for you, Kurt. Sebastian ass or my-"
"Excuse me, I need to use the men's room," Kurt cut him off, and rose from his seat. He was sick of Marc's innuendos. He knew it was unfair to leave Rachel alone with them but he really needed a break. Unfortunately, he wasn't about to get one. As he went down the stairs to the bathrooms, he heard someone behind him. He turned and saw it was Marc. He sighed and was about to turn his back on him when the other boy spoke up.
"Kurt, don't be angry," he said, coming down the stairs until he was on the same landing as Kurt. "Did I offend you? You seem so...ah...what is the word... 'ostile? Is it because of Sebastien?"
Kurt rolled his eyes. If the guy didn't even know what he was doing wrong, how was he going to explain it to him? "Forget it, Marc," he said dismissively. "I know you two are old friends and if this is your idea of having fun, go ahead. I just wish you'd leave me and Rachel out of it."
"Are you and the girl, ah- you know?" Marc made an obscene gesture with his fingers. Kurt wrinkled his nose.
"No! I'm gay and I'm with Sebastian," Kurt protested. "Something you'd do well to remember..."
"Oh, I see," Marc mumbled in French. "You are jealous...you think Sebastien and I are- " he made the gesture again.
"I do not," Kurt bit back, not bothering to speak French with him. "Sebastian wouldn't do that."
"Oh. Oh, I see. You have tamed him, yes?"
Kurt blinked, unsure he had understood Marc properly. His French vocabulary wasn't that limited but wasn't that verb reserved for animals? "He's not the same guy now as he was in Paris with you," Kurt explained, just to make that quite clear.
"Isn't he? Such a pity..." Marc replied, smiling at Kurt in a way that made him very uncomfortable. "We could have had so much fun together..."
He pressed on, taking a step closer to Kurt. Kurt instinctively took a step back and felt his elbows hit the wall behind him. Marc was the same height as he was, but about twice his shoulder span. He was close now- too close, and Kurt could feel old fear take hold of him like a old wound reopening. He felt trapped against the lockers again, or pinned in the backseat. Sebastian's friend leaned in close to whisper in Kurt's ear. "Back in Paris, we used to share pretty boys like you. Did he tell you that? Ah, you would have liked it, maybe. I could see it now, your beautiful lips wrapped around Sebastien's cock while I fuck into you..."
Kurt felt memories mingle with new terror and a familiar sensation shot down his spine, laming his legs. He's going to beat me up now, he thought, his breathing becoming shallow. Or worse.
But as he braced himself for the punch, he realized something was different. He was different. He was no longer sixteen years old, and he didn't need to take this crap from anyone. He was an adult now; he no longer needed to rely on teachers for help- Vogue dot com had offered him a job, NYADA had offered him a place in their school, and he was worth more than this. He would not allow this jerk to treat him like this, and more over, he would not allow him to take Sebastian and turn him back into the guy he was before they met. He raised his eyes and looked at Marc.
"Get the fuck away from me," he said, glaring at him. "And stay away from Sebastian too."
"Or what?" Marc asked, but the look in Kurt's eyes made him take a step back anyway.
"Or you'll find out what happens when you mess with a Hummel," Kurt said, raising his chin. He stepped away from the wall and turned his back on Marc, closing his eyes briefly before starting back up the stairs. If he showed any fear now, his threat would be void, so he made himself take the next step, and the next, until he was back at the bar. Marc didn't come after him.
"We're leaving," Kurt announced as he came back to their table. He grabbed his jacket from the chair back.
"What? Why?" Sebastian asked, frowning. He looked into the direction of the stairs.
"Without Marc," Kurt added. "Come on, Rachel."
Rachel looked just as confused as Kurt but got up anyway. "Are you okay?" she whispered, her eyes flying over him to check for injuries.
"I'm fine," he said, and inside he knew that he was. He had finally done what he hadn't been able to do all those years, and it felt good. "Bas, let's go."
Sebastian frowned. "We haven't finished our wine," he protested. "And what about Marc? I thought we were having fun here..."
Kurt looked at him. "Maybe you two were. But I will not sit here and watch you drown yourself in nostalgia, listening to your stories about all the guys you had. If that's the life you long back for, go ahead. But do it without me."
"Kurt, what...where is this coming from? I thought we were doing okay." Confusion was clear on Sebastian's face.
"We were. And then Marc shows up and suddenly you're that guy again, Bastian. You're loud and rude and you are completely oblivious to how uncomfortable you're making me and Rachel. And the worst part is, I don't know if it's really you, or if you're just playing a part for Marc." He paused to breathe and gathered himself, subconsciously reaching to his hair to correct the bangs he no longer wore combed over his forehead.
"What do you want from me, Kurt?" Sebastian asked, feeling like Kurt had slapped him in the face. Kurt was right; he was oblivious. He hadn't noticed anything like this coming.
"I want you to tell Marc to pack his things and take a hike. I don't want him around you. Or around me." Finally, Kurt's voice, that had been controlled until now, was beginning to break.
"Kurt, what happened?" Sebastian asked, realizing something was really wrong and it wasn't just their jokes. Kurt was trembling.
"Your friend propositioned me in the bathroom," he said, trying to keep his voice level. "He pushed me against the wall and suggested you two could share me the way you used to in Paris. Though I'm not sure he wasn't planning to just start without you."
"What?!" Sebastian said, and his eyes went to the stairs again, where Marc was coming up. "What the hell were you thinking?" he yelled at his friend, getting up so quickly his chair fell backward. People were starting to look over at them. Marc looked at the three of them and quickly seemed to gather what was going on. He walked over with his hands up, offering Sebastian his palms in a sign of surrender.
"Nothing, it was just a joke. Kurt and I were having a little fun."
"It doesn't look like Kurt found it very funny," Sebastian countered. Marc shrugged.
"International misunderstanding. I made him a compliment. Perhaps my French confused him..."
"There was nothing confusing about your offer to sandwich me between you two like old times," Kurt cut in. Rachel gasped and took hold of his arm, preparing to pull him away from the two boys.
Sebastian stared at Marc. "That's my boyfriend you were talking to," he said angrily. "I told you how I feel about him. I don't do that stuff anymore."
Marc shook his head. "Come on, Sebastien. He's flavor of the month, we both know that. Sure, he's sweet, but what do they say? Ah... variety of spice?" He shrugged again. "Sebastien, you and I, we go way back. I know you. I know you will get bored soon and you'll come back to France, yes? Don't be angry now. Let's drink and be happy." He reached out to pat Sebastian on the shoulder. The other boy shrugged him off angrily.
"Fuck you. This is where I draw the line." Sebastian's voice was dangerously level. "You can come and pick your stuff up tomorrow. After that, I never want to see you again."
"Sebastien, be reasonable," Marc pleaded, switching to his native language, "It's the middle of the night, I have nowhere to go..."
"This is me being reasonable," Sebastian replied icily. "Because my instinct is telling me to castrate you."
"Ha! Pitiful. Fine. Throw our friendship away for a boy then. Go have your bourgeois American dream. But don't bother coming back when you need a break from playing house."
"What are they saying?" Rachel whispered, having trouble with the French. Kurt just shook his head. He couldn't be distracted with translating now, not when they might start a fight. But his fears were unfounded. Marc was already grabbing his coat, and downed his glass of wine in one go before heading to the door. As he passed Kurt and Rachel, he looked Kurt in the eyes and for a moment Kurt braced himself for another insult, but Marc simply shook his head in disbelief and left. It seemed like everyone in the bar breathed out with relief. Kurt swallowed and looked at Sebastian, who was standing by himself in the middle of the room.
Sebastian looked back at him. He was still reeling with adrenaline. He wanted to do something to make all of it right again, but what? Now that Marc had left, there was no object for his anger anymore except himself. How could he have been so stupid? Of course Kurt wasn't amused by all of those stories! If he had any brain at all, he would have tried to pretend that time never existed rather than brag about it...
Sebastian was so busy scolding himself that he didn't notice Kurt had walked up to him until he was right in front of him.
"Kurt, I'm sorry," he blurted out. "I'm an idiot." He looked his boyfriend up and down as if to make sure he was still in one piece. "Are you okay?"
Kurt nodded. "I told him to get away from me and he did." He smiled shyly. "That felt kind of good, actually."
Sebastian smiled back. "You have no idea how intimidating you can be, babe."
Kurt grinned. "Well, good." He kissed Sebastian's cheek. "I'm sorry you had to send him away. I guess that wasn't easy."
Sebastian shrugged. "He made it very easy the moment he tried to mess with you."
Kurt took a deep breath and let it out, allowing Sebastian's words to sink into his soul like a balm over the many scratches he had gathered there over the years.
"You guys, I hate to spoil the moment, but we need to get to Times' Square before they drop the ball," Rachel said from behind them, pushing herself between them and looping her arms into theirs. "Brody is meeting us there. Come on." She dragged the two of them out of the bar. Sebastian gave Kurt an amused look over her head. Kurt grinned back. Clearly Rachel was now firmly on Team Sebastian.