"San?" He asked in confusion, double checking the caller ID.
"You best be almost ready to go," she said without preamble.
"Go where? Now? Can I wear my uniform?"
"Absofuckinglutely not. We're still 20 minutes away. Gives you plenty of time to get all hobbity."
"We? What are you even talking about?"
"20 minutes," she replied shortly, opting to ignore his questions. He heard an echoing shriek of what sounded like 'girls night!' before the line went dead.
"So that was Santana," he explained because Sebastian was looking at him in judging amusement. "Apparently I'm going out with her and… someone tonight." He still wasn't sure what was going on, but time was rapidly ticking away and if Santana said 20 minutes she really meant 15 and he really didn't want her bursting in on him naked… again.
"Fun." He made the word sound like anything but.
"We're probably just going to go to the movies, but you can come… if you want to?" Blaine offered. They had been planning on catching up on some tv shows and working on their personal statements that evening and he felt a little bad about the abrupt change in plan.
"Spend an entire night with Shaqueera and her public school posse? No thank you. I'd rather contract VD."
"Would it kill you to be nicer to people?" huffed Blaine.
"Probably," he quipped without a trace of remorse. "I'd prefer not to risk it, just in case." He sauntered over to his dresser and began rummaging through it, pulling up shirts and looking at them critically.
Blaine blinked in confusion. "Wait, are you coming with us?"
"I just said I wasn't." Sebastian selected the same blue and green stripped shirt he had worn when they first went out. "But the boys at Exile must be missing me. I haven't been in weeks."
"Exile?"
"Scandals isn't the only gay bar in all of Ohio, you know."
Blaine hadn't ever thought about it before. "But then why-"
"You have less than 10 minutes," Sebastian pointed out, interrupting him. "And Santana," he made an exaggerated point of using her real name, "doesn't strike me as the type of person who likes to be kept waiting."
As much as he hated to admit it, Sebastian was right. So he resolved to interrogate him on his clubbing habits later and practically sprinted back to Connors.
He had only just finished tying his bow tie and checking to make sure he had his wallet when he started to hear two sets of very feminine giggles floating up the hallway.
Technically they weren't allowed in the dorms at all. Actually, given the fact that it was evening study hours they shouldn't even be on campus. He was fortunate to be on a floor of all upperclassman, because it meant they all either went to the library between 7.30 and 9.30 or they could study with their doors closed.
Making sure to grab his jacket, he rushed out into the hallway, too concerned with making sure they stayed quiet to be excited to see them.
"Muffinpie!" Sugar exclaimed, disregarding his frantic hand motions.
In his panic, Blaine did the only thing he could think of and clapped his hand over her mouth, cutting off her piercing shrieks. "I thought you would wait for me outside," he hissed, releasing Sugar's mouth only to grab her and Santana's wrists and begin tugging them down the hall to the back staircase.
"Why all the mystery, Blainers?" Santana grinned, knowing how much he hated to be called that. "It's like you don't want all of your friends to know about us. I'm hurt."
"Shh!" He rushed them down the stairs and out the side door, sighing when they made it to the parking lot without raising any alarms. "Its study hall," he explained, casting an apologetic look at Sugar who still looked offended at her rough treatment. "And girls are never allowed in the dorms."
"Just shut up and tell us you're glad to see us," Santana commanded, pulling him into a hug. He stiffened at first, he wasn't sure that he and Santana had ever hugged before and the fact that it was her initiating it took him by surprise.
"I'm so glad to see you," he replied dutifully, tightening the embrace and laughing as he felt Sugar plaster herself to his back to join in. He started at the sound of the car door behind them opening up.
"No fair," Rachel whined. "I want a hug too."
Blaine froze. He hadn't known who to expect after he got off the phone with Santana, but Rachel was probably last on the list. He didn't even know if that she was back in Ohio. With a pang he wondered if that meant Kurt was too. He had assumed the would be coming back, Thanksgiving was next week and Mr. Schuester's wedding the following weekend. Not he would planned on going anymore.
"I, uh, decided to wait out here. I didn't want to cause too much of a fuss with all you Dalton boys by going inside," she said, but the hesitancy of her voice told him that, really, she wasn't sure that he wanted to see her.
Untangling himself from Sugar and Santana he gripped her in a fierce hug, even going so far as to pick her up and give her a bit of a twirl. Although his throat was suspiciously tight he laughed along with her and held her closer. Gently he set her down and took a step back, staring intently at the three girls.
He had been so, so sure that the end of his relationship with Kurt had also been the end of his friendship with them. The guilty but obstinate look in Rachel's eye told him that Kurt didn't know she was there and wouldn't be happy if he found out and Santana was wearing the same defiant bitch glare she had on when she stepped between him and Karofsky at the Night of Neglect, declaring that this was her choice and daring the world to do something about it. Sugar just looked cheerfully excited to be going along.
"So where are we going?" Blaine asked, sliding into the backseat, despite their protests that he should sit up front.
"Just thought we'd see what nightlife Columbus has to offer," Santana grinned.
As it turned out, Columbus didn't have that much to offer. At least not on a Thursday.
"This place sucks, compared to New York," Rachel declared as they stood huddled around a table near the back of an almost empty bar. The bartender hadn't even bothered to ID them, obviously just thrilled to have something to actually do that wasn't the newspaper crossword.
"I never thought I'd miss Louisville," admitted Santana. "And that's almost all shitastic house parties."
"This is so much fun!" Sugar yelled, throwing her hands up in the air and spinning in circles. Blaine wasn't sure if this was her first time at a bar, or if it was just her natural sense of obnoxious enthusiasm shinning through. But at least she was enjoying herself, unlike the rest of them.
"Anyone want to dance?" He asked half heartedly. Music was pumping through the speakers and he, Santana, and Sugar each had a couple of drinks in them already. Dancing was the next logical step in their evening. Rachel stopped tracing patterns in the condensation of her water glass long enough to shrug in indifference.
"I should probably stay here and guard the drinks," Santana said.
"Yeah, because that one drunkard in the corner might manage to pull his wasted ass all the way over to our table and spike our drinks," snipped Rachel, rolling her eyes and looking pointedly at Santana. Blaine had to admit that she had a point, he was the only other person there and it was extremely unlikely that he'd even be able to stand up, never mind make it all the way to their table without one of them noticing.
"Wohoo! Dancing!" Sugar cried and dragged Blaine off towards the dance floor. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Rachel and Santana arguing with each other. It ended when Santana stomped off in the opposite direction while Rachel made her way over to them, looking frustrated.
"Everything okay?" He shouted over the unreasonably loud music.
"Peachy," she smiled brightly, grabbing Blaine's hand and forcing him into a spin. The three of them danced together for another couple minutes before Santana returned, carrying a drink for herself and one for Blaine.
"They're doubles," she yelled, pushing the glass into his hands and taking an over cautious sip of hers. Blaine smiled gratefully and raised his glass to her. It was going to take a lot more than that to make the night enjoyable, but it was as good a place as any to start.
Several hours and a couple of beers later he was floating somewhere between the edges of buzzed and drunk. Sugar was flat out wasted and even Santana was wobbling on her alarming high heels, although she was insisting it was because her feet hurt, not because she was intoxicated.
"Time to head home, I think," Rachel announced, warily eyeing her drunken companions. She was especially concerned about Blaine. After nearly two weeks of consoling a depressed Kurt, she had expected Blaine to be in similar shape, although maybe with a little less crying. She hadn't anticipated the thinly veiled anger than kept breaking through throughout the night.
"And one last round of shots!" Sugar had just reappeared from the bar and handed all four of them shot glasses. "Yours is just water," she sniffed and tossed her hair over her shoulder, when Rachel opened her mouth to protest. "Geez. I'm not dumb."
They downed their last shots, not even grimacing at the taste anymore before unsteadily making their way to the door. Sugar was having difficulty getting her arms into her jacket and an exasperated Rachel had to help. Blaine made a mental note to remember to never let Rach by on DD duty ever again. Then he made a mental note to remember his mental note because he was drunk and would probably forget. By the time they made it to the car he had made a mental note to try and remember what the mental note he was supposed to be remembering was. And then he got confused forgot about it entirely.
"Sorry I'm not much fun," he apologized, flopping into the car. He had tried to have a good time, he really did. It wasn't his fault that everything in the world made him remember his dumb ex and how much he had loved him, and maybe still did, but he couldn't because Kurt was a dick of epic proportions and fuck, sometimes he really fucking hated him. A lot.
The girls all rushed to assure him that he hadn't been. That he'd been a perfect gentleman. The life and soul of the party. If that was true, they attended really shitty parties.
What he really needed was a distraction. Anything that would keep him from thinking about Kurt Hummel's stupid face and stupid voice and the even stupider tinkling of his laughter that Blaine used to love but now loathed, because it was laughing at him and not with him. Fucking anything that wasn't recalling coffee dates and movie nights and quiet kisses and wondering where everything went wrong and why the fuck he hadn't noticed.
"We'll have to do this again sometime," Santana sarcastically commented as Rachel put the car in park in front of the Dalton dorms. "It was a blast."
"You're just jealous you didn't have as much fun as Sugar." The three of them glanced over at the girl who was ungracefully sprawled across the front seat. They hadn't even pulled out of the parking lot before she had passed out in the front seat, having enthusiastically bellowed 'SHOTGUN' the moment the car had come into view.
Santana tugged his hand into her lap and looked unusually serious as she stared at him. "You take care of yourself, hobbit, you hear me? Lady lips is a fucktard for letting you go."
He smiled tightly, trying to be grateful for her support and receiving an extra squeeze for his efforts. "Maybe I'll see you when I'm home," he offered in reply, pulling his hand away and fumbling with the door.
"You want me to walk you up?" Rachel asked, sliding out of the car and grabbing his arm to steady him. He took a moment to adjust to the change in position and evaluate how intoxicated he actually was. Finally he shook his head and took a couple experimental steps in a mostly straight line.
Blaine had no plans to return to his room and Rachel would probably be less than pleased to walk him to Sebastian's. He wasn't sure whether the other boy was back from his own night out yet. He hoped he wasn't, because it was still pretty early and if he was back that meant his night hadn't gone any better than Blaine's. Also, if Sebastian was still gone Blaine could commandeer his bed. It was sinful how comfortable that thing was.
His back slammed into the car as Rachel suddenly launched herself at him. She rose up on tiptoes to press a kiss to his temple. Blaine always forgot how short she really was, there was just something about her presence that commanded attention and made her seem bigger somehow. "You'll always be my Tony," she whispered.
He didn't say anything because it felt an awful like she would never be his anything again.
Rachel pulled away and he wondered if she too felt the shift in their relationship. "Take care, Blaine Warbler" she said in a way that sounded an awhole lot like goodbye.
"You too, Rachel Barbra Berry. I can't wait to see your name in lights," he waved his hand in front on them, as if picturing it.
"Right next to yours," she recited. It had been something they joked about after West Side Story, rising to the top together. Taking Broadway by storm.
"Drive safe," he said, opening Rachel's door.
He hated Kurt for this too. For the ache that filled his chest as he watched them drive away and the fact that he was now Maria-less as well as boyfriendless. His fingers started to itch like they always did when he wanted nothing more than to punch something and he could feel the yell of frustration building in his throat, dying to be unleashed because of how un-fucking-fair everything was.
He balled his hands into fists three times, allowing his nails to dig into his palms and took a deep breath before stalking into Thomas, not even bothering to use the side door. Part of him hoped he would be caught and he was a little disappointed when he made it to the second floor without seeing anyone, his mind full of the stupidly childish image of him yelling at whoever tried to apprehend him. He never would, he knew, but if he couldn't actively let out his aggression he could at least fantasize about it.
Noting that strip of light shining from underneath Sebastian's door, Blaine twisted the knob and pushed the door open, fully ready to start up with a stream of profanities that expressed his exact feelings on life. But the words caught somewhere in his throat because Sebastian was bending over his desk with only a towel wrapped around his waist and water dripping down his back.
"How was the movie?" He asked, straightening up and turning around.
It wasn't that Blaine had never noticed that Sebastian was attractive, it was something he'd been aware of since the moment he first saw him, even if he tried to deny it on more than one occasion. So the hot twisting in his stomach wasn't really unexpected, he had felt it to a lesser extent every time he saw the other boy shirtless, but he hadn't expected the accompanying desire to lick the water droplets from his stomach.
He dragged his eyes down Sebastian's body. The towel stopped mid-calf (and how had he never noticed exactly how fantastic Sebastian's calves were?) and he could just barely see the tip of a scar peeking out from under it. It was from Sebastian's accident and he knew it twisted up; ending somewhere above where his running shorts came too. Blaine was struck by the sudden urge to see just how far up it went and to find out whether it ended in the back or front of his leg.
"You feeling okay, killer?" Sebastian was looking worriedly at his friend.
Blaine stalked forward, not really sure what he was doing but not wanting to stop either. Hadn't he just wanted something to take his mind off everything? If this wasn't a distraction then god knew what was. He watched as Sebastian's expression flickered from worried to confused when Blaine's hands made contact with his bare chest, pushing him forcefully towards the bed.
"What the hell?" Sebastian asked as he was forced down, head bouncing off the headboard with a dull thunk before being pinned down by Blaine straddling his waist.
"This doesn't mean anything," growled Blaine, biting his way down Sebastian's chest. "I am using you for sex," he clarified, ripping open the towel that had been tied around Sebastian's waist and beginning to suck a bruising kiss onto his hip, "because I want to forget."
"You were just dumped by the love of your life." Sebastian struggled to sit up and push the shorter boy away, trying to listen to the sober part of his brain saying this was probably a really bad idea.
"Doesn't bother me if it doesn't bother you," he retorted.
"Oh fuck, yes," Sebastian found himself agreeing because what else could he say when his rapidly hardening cock hit the back of Blaine's throat?
xxx
Hangovers were unpleasant and he was never drinking that much again, he decided upon waking up in the morning. There was a persistent throbbing in his head, exasperated by the rays of sunshine that he was pretty sure were literally trying to stab his eyeballs. Which was weird, because the sun didn't reach his side of the dorm until late in the morning and it felt early.
After a quick fumble (head still burrowed under the blankets) he located his phone and confirmed it was just after 7.
Too early.
Also not his phone. Sebastian's phone. Because he was in Sebastian's room. In his bed. Wearing nothing. Except a bowtie. He spared a minute to be thankful that he hadn't strangled himself in his sleep before moving on to the part where he freaked out a little.
"Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck. Fuck."
"Good morning to you too, killer."
Scrambling out from under the covers he looked around trying to locate his taunter. Sebastian was lounging on his window seat, book in hand and looking like he'd been up for hours.
"This seemed a respectable distance. I rarely find myself in quite this position, so forgive me if my protocol is rusty."
"Waking up with a drunken hook-up?"
"It's not an everyday occurrence, but it has happened. If I wasn't in a fit state to leave, for example." Immediately the part of Blaine's brain controlled by his dick began supplying images of what that would look like while the more rational part chanted 'he means he was too drunk to drive.' "But we almost always go to theirs. And I've never had a brought anyone back to my dorm room."
"Oh," was all he could think to say. Part of him felt oddly pleased at being the first. Most of him felt horrified that it had even happened.
"You said you were just going to the movies," Sebastian accused. "I didn't realize you were drunk at first. The kissing part came somewhat later."
"No, I know," Blaine rushed to assure because it sounded alarmingly like an apology, like Sebastian thought he had unwittingly taken advantage of Blaine when really it was the other way around. "I mean, I remember. I wasn't that drunk. I remember everything." He blushed. The tension left Sebastian's shoulders.
"Excellent," he declared before carefully marking his place, throwing his book aside, and striding across the room.
"Not sure that's the exact word I'd use to describe this." He curled up on himself as Sebastian perched at the end of the bed.
"It's exactly the word I'd use. You find yourself in a unique position, my troubled friend," he explained. "As you said last night, you just want to forget. The obvious solution is a rebound fuck. It could happen, once, twice, on rare occasions, or every half hour. But you're not me, you could never have casual anonymous sex. You need to know, if not trust, the other person. I am the perfect solution. You know me, like me, even. I am much more than willing," he smirked. "And not only do I not do relationships, I am also somewhat of an authority on being a rebound."
"You think this is going to be a reoccurring... occurrence?"
Sebastian shrugged. "I think it's going to be whatever you want it to be. Ball's in your court, killer. Now if you excuse me," he stood up, "I am going to go get breakfast. I will not be offended if you happen to be gone when I get back. I will be offended if you ignore me for the rest of the year. This," he indicated the bed and, by extensions, Blaine's naked form, "only happened if you wanted it to."
Semi-important Author's Note: Holy jesus wow this story has come so far. When I first conceived of it way back in May it was going to be a 5 or 6 chapter Klaine story and look at it now, over 10 chapters longer than I ever thought it would be and (finally) Seblainey.
Sync Your Heart is 100% my baby and I have every intention of seeing it all the way through. It's almost entirely planned out by now and just itching to be written.
I don't really want to say I'm putting this on hiatus, because that sounds serious and daunting. But at the end of the week I'm moving to a different continent and that is actually kind of a really effing big deal. I can't say when my next update will be, although I can't imagine I'll post anything for at least 2 weeks, and I can't tell you how frequently they'll come out after that. Once I've adjusted to my new life I hope to be able to re-establish a posting schedule, but I can guarantee it won't be anywhere near as frequent as it has been this summer.
Whether you've followed this story from the very beginning or you're relatively new I love all of you and your support thus far. The reviews I've received have been amazing and there's no way I would have gotten this much done without them.