Nick asked Hunter, "Can you tell us how he got you to back off from us? From what I remember, you said that you had something on everybody, even Sebastian."

"By the tried and tested method of recording him when Sebastian confronted him. We know where he got the idea," Santana told them looking pleased.

"I tried to blackmail him back saying that I'll tell everybody how he was seeing Blaine behind everyone's back and a bunch of other stuff. Of course, he didn't care about anything that I said and he showed me the tape recording of my confession. After that I had to admit I was caught and did what he asked of me" Hunter said.

Trent asked, "If you knew about everything hunter then why didn't you confront us about how we were treating Sebastian? I get why Santana didn't but you didn't become friends with Sebastian until after you came back from rehab"

"When my parents made me go to rehab, I thought that Sebastian would take the reins back and everything would be back to how it was before I entered the scene but it didn't pan out how I imagined. By the time I came back, Sebastian had been reinstated as captain but he didn't spend much time with anyone. And then on top of it, he had just broken up with Blaine and stopped caring about everything altogether. I confronted him but he just brushed me off and asked to leave things alone. I was already in debt to him for saving my ass so I did what he asked and left him alone" he shrugged.

Thad implored, "You should've said something. Clearly, Sebastian's head wasn't in the right place at that time and you just went with it"

"You think I didn't try enough. If you remember correctly he was deep in his wallowing emo-phase and had absolutely no patience for anybody. He was having enough issues of his own with his father so I didn't want to rock the boat anymore. I did what I felt right and became his friend, well as much as he allowed."

"We need to discuss this with him, apologize and say thank you for everything. He's done a lot for us," David suggested.

When there was a unison response received, Hunter suggested, "Just an advice, if he says its fine, accept it and don't push it further. He doesn't like people seeing him anything other than what he wants everyone to perceive him as. So if he brushes things off which he probably would then don't take it the wrong way, okay?"

"We'll keep it in mind and we'll test out his mood before we open our dialogue when he comes back," Thad told him.

"That'll help too but I think things will be in your favor already since he always gets in good mood after spending time with his mom"

"Are they close?" Wes asked.

"Very," Santana said.

While the ex-warblers were having discussions about past Sebastian brought up that he wasn't pleased with what he heard earlier, "I heard how different you were with Blaine; you were a bit harsh with him Mom" Sebastian said while looking at his stepmother. They were sitting in the backseat of the car while Henry was driving them to the restaurant.

"So."

"Nothing, I'm sure somebody in that room must have noticed it too," Sebastian said looking out of the window now.

"Again so" Annalise replied nonchalantly again.

"You know you are infuriating when you do that," he said with annoyance coloring his tone.

"I learned from the best," she said coolly.

Sebastian said with an eyebrow arched, "I'm not sure whom you are pointing fingers at"

"A certain 20-something who needs to give me some explanation," Annalise said looking at Sebastian for the first time since they got in the car.

"What…? They are my high school friends who I met years later and we are rekindling our friendship" he shrugged.

"I think 'high school friends' is quite a loose term for people who you didn't keep any contact with for years after spending close quarters with them for almost 2 years. I didn't even hear any of their names from your mouth in the last half decade" she argued.

Sebastian said taking her hand in his making her looking at him, "come on mom, we were confused teenagers back then. I made some mistakes, they did too, and now everything is forgiven and forgotten so you should do that too"

"I can't do it so easily, I brought you back to states so that you could get over everything that happened in Paris. Make new friends here, someone of your age and become the happy child again that I left in London with your father but somehow Dalton made things worse so I'm sorry if I'm a bit wary of your 'newly re-kindled friendships'" Annalise told him explaining where her caution was coming from.

"I understand but can you please tone down the wariness a bit, I'll appreciate that a lot. I'm not a teenager anymore. And you didn't need to interrogate Blaine, we're just friends."

"I just wanted to know how he was doing" she shrugged casually while patting Zeus.

"Mom please, you're not fooling anybody. Whatever he did, I did worse. I injured him, tried to sabotage his relationship, and terrorized his friends so I don't think your anger with him is justified. Let go of what happened in past"

"Have you? Have you let go of the past?"

"Yes," Sebastian replied in a voice that left no room for discussion.

Annalise didn't want to ruin Sebastian's mood deliberately so she decided to follow his lead and said, "I understand your perspective, and I should appreciate how mature you have become. You don't give yourself enough credit. I just wish everybody could know the real you than the façade you put up for the world."

"You have to say that because you're my mother" Sebastian just rolled his eyes.

"No because it's the truth," she argued but then looked outside to realize that they were at their destination, "great, we're here. Let's do brunch and then I was thinking of maybe some shopping afterward. After that, if you want we can swing by to see how the arrangements for tonight's event are coming together. What do you think?"

"Lead the way."

It had been much too long since they had done something like this together. Annalise was happy to catch up with everything that Sebastian was doing on tour and while he was hesitant to talk about his new 'old' friends with her, she decided to let him take lead on that. Both of them wanted a peaceful day together so they shied away from the potential landmines that could ruin each other's mood but that didn't last for long.

"So, where's Father today?" Sebastian asked with enough fake causality in his voice as they were near to the rental home he was staying at.

Annalise replied after searching his face for a minute, "D.C. he's busy with some high profile cases"

"When isn't he busy? Doesn't he know that you're throwing an event together?" he said looking outside.

"I'm sorry Seb, I know how…"

"It's okay mom, it's nothing new and it should be him who needs to apologize to you." he brushed off.

Even though she didn't want to do it like this, Annalise decided to rip the Band-Aid off, "Sebastian, actually I've something to tell you."

"Sure"

"I'm resigning from Dalton and moving to New York" she dropped the bomb.

"That's some news but why?" Sebastian asked after processing the news for a minute.

"I've put enough years at Dalton and I don't find the same pleasure in it that I used to. You're in New York now and I want to come home too just like you did. Mom and dad are getting old and I want to be near them. It's become hard living alone when your father is away all the time," she told him.

Sebastian asked the one question that Annalise was dreading, "All those are good enough reasons but what about Father? What does he think about this decision, his job is here?"

"He's thinking of moving to bigger and better things in New York and this decision couldn't have come at a better time for him," she told him vaguely.

Once he saw that they pulled in the driveway, he asked Annalise once they got out, "Of course. Can you answer a question for me?" He asked even though he knew what his stepmother's answer would be, "Was this your decision or father's? Whose idea was it?"

"That's two question but I'll answer them. It was his idea but it was a mutual decision. Your father is thinking of trying his hand at politics and with both of our families' contacts in the city, we thought it was best to move to New York. Your father would appreciate your support as his son" Annalise told him knowing that this would set Sebastian off.

And the response was all she imagined, "No."

"Sebastian please," she said earnestly putting her arm on his shoulder as they stood looking at each other while Henry was taking out all the shopping bags.

"No, you already know I'm done with him. I won't be part of anything that he has planned, politics or otherwise" he told her brushing her arm off.

"Seb please, listen to me," she implored.

"No mom, you listen to me. You can go back to your husband and tell him that I had disowned him years ago. He hasn't been my father for years so I can't be his son now" Sebastian vehemently refused as he walked back inside the house.

Annalise shouted trying to stop him as she chased him, "You misunderstand him Seb."

"No, I understand him the best. I shouldn't have come here, I hate this place, and I hate him. He ruins everything. If your husband is the reason why you're moving back to New York, then don't. I don't want him in my city" Sebastian told her in a raised voice as he stopped at the last step of the grand staircase before running upstairs.

"Sebastian please, Seb…SEBASTIAN" was all Annalise could shout at his disappearing figure on the staircase.

"What happened Annalise? Why did he run away?" Natasha asked as everybody came out after hearing the commotion.

"I told him that his father and I are moving to New York and some other things about his father. He got upset and you know how his relationship with his father is," she told her quietly.

"Yeah but don't worry, I'm sure he'll calm down soon. Just give him time to process things and he'll be fine" Natasha told her while others tried to give the two space to talk since they didn't understand what was happening.

Annalise told Natasha as they walked inside the parlor, "You know his anger is justified and I can't fault him for it. I just wish his father understands how difficult he makes things for Sebastian with his actions. They both are so alike that I just can't…"

"It's okay Annalise, it'll get better someday" was all Natasha could say despite knowing about the majority of the situation.

"When Natasha? Since the day I've come in their lives, I've tried everything to make things work between them but it just doesn't happen. He was in such a good mood and I've ruined it."

"Why don't I make you some coffee while Sebastian is done with his temper tantrum. I see a lot of shopping bags, find something good?"

"You don't need to handle me Natasha but I'll humor you," Annalise said as they walked towards the kitchen. While upstairs Blaine and Hunter were trying to find headway with Sebastian across the locked door.

"What happened Sebastian? Why don't you unlock the door and we'll sort it out," Blaine said while knocking the door. Despite coercion, they didn't get any response apart from hearing glass being thrown at the wall.

"He's definitely angry if he's throwing things," Brittany said.

"I don't even understand what happened. One second they were hugging each other and next I heard him shout through the driveway. I don't think I've heard him shout at anybody before" Blaine said.

"I'm sure this is something related to his dad otherwise he's practically cool most of the times. Let him be, he'll be fine in a few minutes. I'm sure Zeus will handle him if things do go out of hand."

"Yeah. And if you hear now, everything is quiet. Let's go wait for him downstairs, he'll come soon," Santana said.

The four of them went downstairs to wait for Sebastian to come out while the others were patiently waiting to find out what happened but they didn't ask any questions when they saw that Sebastian hadn't returned with them.

While the girls were keeping Annalise company by asking questions about how their respective boyfriends' used to be in school, her mind was still on Sebastian's previous outburst. She said to Natasha while taking a sip from her coffee, "I shouldn't have sprung this upon him when he has performances today. I thought he'd be happy that I was moving near him but…"

"I'll let you talk and Sebastian, the band is back and resting at the hotel. We'll leave at 3 for the sound check" Natasha said when she saw Sebastian enter the kitchen and with that, they were left alone.

Sebastian just nodded at her in thanks and then addressed Annalise, "I'm sorry about my outburst mom, I shouldn't have behaved like that. But for what it's worth, I'm glad that you're moving to New York and I support your decision, let me know if you need some help. But if your husband thinks that I'll stand beside him in anything, then he's sorely mistaken. He hasn't been my father for years now so he shouldn't start acting like one just for the sake of it. Again I'm extremely sorry that I've put you in between us again but he started it and I'm ending it."

"It's okay and I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have sprung this on you so suddenly out of the blue. Actually, your reaction was more passive than I had expected. And rest assured, I think your father also knows that he's reaching an unattainable goal if he thinks that he could put a perfect front after his actions in the past," she told him.

He asked changing the subject, "Have you thought what are you going to do once you resign from Dalton? I don't think you're cut out to be a housewife or New York socialite"

"I was thinking of playing it by the ear, take it as it comes. By the way, have you made plans about what you are going to do once you are off tour?"

"I have some things lined up for at least a month or two but after that, who knows. We could wing it together if you'd like, maybe take a long vacation or go to your parents home in Hamptons" Sebastian suggested.

"I think your grandparents will like that and I'm all for spending time with you. This was the sole reason I wanted to move to New York, to be with my family" she replied with a smile.

"So are we okay?"

"Yes, we are. Now, are you going to be fine with being in the same city as your father?"

"I think New York's large enough for both of us that we don't cross each other's path anytime soon. It's not like he runs in the same circles as I do so chances are we'll be fine," he told her but then thought out loud, "Though the last time I said that for somebody, they literally came to my house almost an hour later."

"I won't say that I understood what you said there but, what about family gatherings? Are we thinking some kind of custody arrangement about that too?" she asked casually.

"I'm sure we'll work out something for them too. It's not like I'm short on family, I could always go to Paris or London" Sebastian shrugged.

"Is that your plan? To hide away?"

He smirked, "On the top of my head, it is. I'll come up with others when I give it more thought."

"Sebastian, I'm not joking, are you serious about not seeing your father at all?"

"Yes I am Mother, I haven't been serious about anything more that this in my whole life. I don't want to mar my last memory of him with an inevitable fight that will surely happen if we ever came face to face."

"Your words like such are making me question my decision now. Maybe distance is much better for the two of you," she said pensively.

"You made your decision after having the discussion with your husband. Now you know my opinion so now you can change your decision if you want, I'll support only you either way but it'll be great to have you closer" he told her.

"Yes it will and I'm still moving. We'll talk later in evening. But before that let's go out and apologize to everybody for creating a spectacle, it was completely rude of us" she suggested.

"I'm sure they loved you seeing anything other than their high school headmistress" Sebastian smirked.

"Not funny Seb. Remember, you were the one who wanted to keep us a secret, not me"

"Did you hear what you just said?" he couldn't help but chuckle.

She agreed, "Yes I did but the essence remains the same. I love you and it hurt me that you didn't let me have the opportunity to be your mother in front of your friends"

"I'm sorry"

"It's okay baby," Annalise said cupping his cheek lovingly.

"Now that's a bit too far," he replied indignantly.

She teased, "Aww Sebby."

"Really mom, you too. It's fine if Brittany does it, not you" was all he could say to deter her as they walked back to the living room.

"You're so easy to rile up sometimes"

"You two seem to be in a good mood now, everything sorted out?" Hunter asked taking the lead as everybody was waiting for them to come out.

"Yes it did Hunter but I should apologize to you all for the both of us for how we acted, it was quite rude of us," Annalise said addressing everyone while Sebastian just added, "Yeah sorry guys."

"It's fine Mrs. Smythe, it's not like you haven't handled our neurotic fights and less than stellar actions back in high school. After all that, you get a free pass for the next decade" Jeff told them smiling.

"Just a decade huh. Might I recall Mr. Sterling, your impromptu dance performances with less than appropriate clothing were a talk of staff room for quite a while during sophomore year; I had to watch surveillance footage for enough time to identify the perpetrator. That trauma I think gives me a free pass for the rest of my life" Annalise replied showing that she was partly responsible for Sebastian's devious nature making everyone laugh.

"Oh my god, I'm sitting on the goldmine" was all Sebastian could say after seeing each of the Dalton alumni's shocked faces.

"You're crafty Mrs. Smythe, you need to tell us all the embarrassing stories now," Sophia said looking excited to find all about her normally disciplined boyfriend.

"Sebastian, really. Do you want to open the can of worms since I have the most ammunition on you? These poor boys were angels in front of you," she said looking at him challengingly.

"I think I'll be waving the white flag for the rest of us" was all Sebastian could do, as he didn't want to know if his stepmother was joking or not.

"Good call, it's a sign of wisdom to know when to admit defeat. And on that note, I'll be taking your leave. It was nice catching up with everyone, you all have done well in your life and made your parents as well as Dalton proud. It's admirable to find out that you've not only achieved the best in your lives but you've also defended my trust on you. You all could've easily gone down the wrong path after I hid your mistakes from the concerned authorities but you didn't. You learned your lesson and became better individuals because of your mistakes and that's a sign of a solid personality which is what Dalton is all about"

"We can only thank you for saving futures from getting destroyed and Sebastian too. If you two hadn't done what you did for us, we would've never gone to the colleges of our choice and we're extremely grateful that we could make you proud of us" Thad said.

Wes told her, "And you've raised an admirable man headmistress Rhodes."

"Thank you Wes and you should start calling me Mrs. Smythe or even Annalise as I'm resigning Dalton soon to move to New York. It's not public knowledge as of yet but it will be soon. So I'm not Dalton's headmistress anymore" she told them.

"Even then you'll be always our headmistress Rhodes but we can all you Mrs. Smythe."

"And welcome to New York, we'll love to have you near as well," Trent said with a smile.

"Thank you, Jeff and Trent. All of you take care and drive back safely. Goodbye" she said and then turned to Sebastian, "come see me out." He said when he opened the door for her, "I know it was harder for you than it looked but thank you for that"

"There's nothing I wouldn't do for you, I hope you know that"

"I do and I'll see you in the evening," he smiled.

"I will and you take care of yourself. Now go and spend time with your friends, they'll leave soon, bye" she said and then drove away.

"So, sorry about the family drama. I know it was a bit too childish, even for me" Sebastian said when he walked back inside to see everyone waiting for him.

"It's fine Seb, at best we got to see headmistress Rhodes in a different avatar than what we remembered. She's much different as a mother than as a principal," Beat told him.

"I didn't ever imagine that she could be that fun," David said.

Sebastian told them, "That was nothing. She's actually very cool and fun"

"Uh… girls, why don't we go and get things packed since we all have to leave soon, huh?" Santana said seeing the looks being passed between Wes, Thad, and hunter.

"From the blatant clearing up of the room, I believe you guys have something to discuss" Sebastian observed.

Nick said, "Hunter and Santana told us about what you did for us. Sebastian we never knew about any of it and as I speak for everybody present here, we're sorry for doubting you and making you feel like an outsider even after you apologized. We all had taken part in the crime but only you did the penance while we kept on judging you."

"Yes Seb, I should've noticed how hard everyone was being on you and did something as your roommate and as your friend but I didn't. We can only thank you for everything that you did and apologize for our actions. I hope you can find in your heart to forgive us and give us another chance to prove ourselves and our friendship" Thad added.

"You're welcome and apology accepted. I didn't do anything for anybody, I did it for me" Sebastian replied in a fashion which Hunter already had tipped them off.

"Even then, we promise we won't make you regret giving us another chance," Jeff told him earnestly.

Sebastian just nodded and said, "Well if you excuse me now, I need to make an important call"

"Trent let him go. Remember what we talked about, give him space" Wes said stopping from Trent to follow Sebastian.

As he was sitting on the balcony and watching Zeus eat, Sebastian felt a shadow over him, "Something you wanna say, killer?"

"You're a good man," Blaine said sitting down in front of him.

"Thank you?" Sebastian replied with narrowed eyes.

"No I should thank you for what you did for our friends," Blaine said.

Sebastian shrugged, "Like I already said, it's fine. Let it go now."

"Did you have a good day with your mo.…stepmother?" Blaine asked catching the hint to change the subject.

Sebastian told him, "It's fine if you call her my mother, you won't disrespect my biological mother. And yes I had a great time with mom. We didn't spend a lot of time before my last show so it was cool that we could do it today, even the fans didn't disrupt us when they recognized me."

"That's good to hear. You know it's sort of surreal that you're headmistress Rhodes's stepson. When I joined Dalton, she was very sweet to me. I remember that she told me that she too had a son and he was gay. That he lived in Paris and she missed him a lot," Blaine told Sebastian.

Sebastian said looking at him, "I'm not sure why you two would talk about me?"

"When I joined Dalton after the incident at my old school, I was completely closed off and didn't talk to anyone. I used to spend my time alone and go through the motions without interacting with anybody, even the faculties, and the school counselor. So one day I was summoned to your mother's office and she sat me down and asked me what the problem was while I kept staring at my hands for more than an hour. She didn't loose her patience and kept asking how could she help, make her understand what was going on in my head and I snapped, way worse than you did earlier. I asked her how could she understand how difficult it was to be gay, how hard it was to see my parents suffer and what not."

"So she told you about me" he concluded.

"Yes. She told me that she had a gay son who was younger than me. She told me how he came out at the tender age of 12 and didn't let anybody tell him what to do even though everyone told him that it was 'just a phase'. She told me that she could understand what my parents were feeling as she herself worried every day that one day she'd get a call from the hospital to inform her that her son was beaten up or worse for being who he was. She even told me that she wished you toned down your silver tongue and let things go once in a while. I spent hours listening to your mother talk about you and your escapades and unconsciously, she got me talking about you and in extension me. I was mesmerized and even a little envious by how she described you and all I could think that what a lucky mother she was"

"She just likes to see the best in me," Sebastian told him smiling.

"Because that's the truth. Hearing how you unapologetic you were in your pursuits even at a young age made me want to better myself you know. Here I was feeling like I was the one who had done wrong, living my life in dark instead of being myself and yet you were taking everything by the horns and dealing with life as it came. It made me realize that I could either fall deeper into the abyss or work with the hand that life dealt me on my own terms. You were an inspiration to me without even knowing" Blaine told him.

"Blaine you're giving me too much credit. I wasn't bullied like you were; I wasn't a victim of a vicious hate crime. You had much greater odds to deal with," Sebastian countered.

"It may seem that way on paper but I can imagine how hard it must've been to make new friends with older children when you skip a grade and you did it twice. And I'm sure it had been harder to be an athlete because you were openly gay and used to sing and dance too."

Sebastian dismissed, "Everybody at school knew that if they crossed me, my family would wreak havoc on them so they didn't do anything to me and I had a bout of early puberty which did wonders for me."

"You have a reason for everything huh?" Blaine smiled.

"Yes I do but I get what you're trying to say. I'm happy I could help you in your tough time even though I didn't know that I did until now" Sebastian conceded.

Blaine told him, "Good and I told you about this because I always thought that you were a good person even after what happened with the new directions. You once asked me how I could forgive you for trying to ruin my relationship with Kurt and getting me injured, it was because I believed that you had a good heart."