Two Steps Beyond
Part 37
The next week flew by for all of them. During the week Brittany went to quite a few dance classes that Brody happened to be teaching. That happened to take up some of Jeff and Nick's time as well, since Jeff really didn't want her riding the subway alone yet. He couldn't get the thought out of his head of her calling him asking where she was. But by the end of the week she knew exactly where she was going and Jeff didn't feel the need to join her.
At the same time, Blaine and Hunter got acclimated to having each other as a sparring partner. It took a bit of time for both of them since Blaine was used to sparring with Dave who was closer to his height than Hunter was. While they sparred, Sebastian would work out with either Jeff or Nick, basically whoever wasn't with Brittany for the day. Plus they managed to get Jeff, Brittany, and Nick settled into their place since the contractors finished a bit earlier than planned.
On Sunday afternoon, after they all met for brunch they headed back to Blaine and Sebastian's. It was only going to be a few more days till the rest of their friends started to join them. While they were making sure they had everyone's flight information Hunter came walking back into the room after taking a call. "Are you guys still wondering what to do next weekend since a few of your friends aren't coming into town until Sunday evening?"
"We are." Blaine replied. "Why?"
"Well, Cass was talking to Lexi and heard about your little dilemma about not wanting to do any sightseeing without you all being here."
"And?" Sebastian said.
"She told me to ask you all if you would like to come out to our home in Southampton for the weekend."
"You guys have a place in Southampton?" Blaine asked.
"Our family does and our Mom said we're more than welcome to use it. That is if you wouldn't mind having me around."
"I can honestly tell you that you're one of the guys." Sebastian told him while the others agreed.
"Thank you. Also, Cass, Tasha, Lexi, and Cooper will probably be out there along with a few of their friends as well."
"That actually sounds great." Jeff chimed in. "What do you guys think?"
"I completely agree and it'll make other things we have in mind so much easier." Blaine said. "Let Cassie know we're definitely interested and thank her."
"I will."
"Also, know you're welcome to join us during all the craziness during the week." Blaine told him.
"I thought you guys are dubbing this the Warblers take New York."
"We are, but there are a few non-Warblers joining us, like Brody and Rachel. But we couldn't imagine doing it without them."
"Thank you Seb." Rachel told him.
"You're welcome. We're a rather accepting group, no matter what others might think of us." Sebastian said with a smile. "Since we now have plans we need to figure out how we're all going to get out there." He then excused himself to make a phone call.
"Who do you think he's calling Blaine?" Jeff asked.
"I'm betting Lexi since she and Cooper have two cars and they'll only be using one. Plus, Bas's car is at their house so I'm guessing you'll probably be driving it since Nick and I both have our cars here."
By the time Wednesday morning rolled around things were a bit hectic in Ohio. "Guys. Guys!" Thad called out since they were all gathered at Beat's house. "Do you all know where you are heading after you land?"
"Considering this is the third time you've asked us, I'm sure we do." Trent replied.
"I'm just making sure because we don't need Blaine, Seb, Nick, and Jeff trying to figure out where everyone is supposed to be."
"I thought we were all meeting at Blaine and Seb's." Logan said.
"We are, but I can't remember off the top of my head if I gave them the name of the hotel a bunch of you are staying at. They've got enough to worry about than making sure everyone gets to the right place."
"Where's Wes?" Dave asked.
"He and Hailey had an early flight." He then looked down at his watch. "And they should be landing in about thirty minutes. Come to think of it, a few of you should probably get going." After a few of the guys made their way out, Thad walked over to Santana who was sitting with Dave. "I don't know if you look more excited or relieved?"
"If you can figure it out, let me know." She replied with a smile. "I'm sure you're happy to get out of here." Santana said to Dave.
"I am, though I don't regret what I did. But if anyone else asks, I'm deeply remorseful."
"According to your Dad?" Beat asked.
"Exactly. He said if anything changes he'll let me know. Said if anything, he's happy I did it when I did and not when I get back."
"Why is that?" Santana asked.
"That would be because I'm technically an adult when I get back."
"Wait, your birthday is during the trip?"
"He turns eighteen on Saturday." Trent told her.
"Why didn't you tell me?" She said after slapping him playfully in the arm.
"I didn't think about it." After Dave answer he watched Santana walk away with her phone in hand. "Is she doing what I think she's doing?"
"Probably." Beat replied. "But she probably doesn't have to do much."
"Why?" Trent asked.
"You know Blaine and Jeff. I'm sure they have something up their sleeves."
It was around three in the afternoon and Blaine and Sebastian's apartment was starting to fill up. "Who else are we waiting on?" Sebastian asked.
"I think the only ones that haven't gotten into town yet are Jacob and Santana." Blaine replied.
"Santana's in town." Logan said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." Blaine and Sebastian then looked around the room and noticed someone else was missing.
"Jeff!" Blaine yelled out. Thankfully Jeff heard him over everyone and soon made his way over to the couch where a bunch of the guys were gathered. "Where's Nick?"
"He's picking up Santana from the airport."
"How come he's picking her up and the rest of us had to take taxis?" Trent asked.
"That's because a gentleman doesn't make a lady take a taxi from the airport if they're willing to pick her up." Sebastian replied. "Now Logan, what do you mean Santana's in town?"
"Her flight got in about forty five minutes before mine."
"I think Santana and Nick are having private time since they haven't seen each other for two weeks." Brittany said bring all attention to her.
"And just what is private time Britt?" Dave asked.
"It's what Santana and Nick call their alone time." Jeff, Blaine, Sebastian, Thad, and Beat all started laughing loudly. Nick and Santana were outed by Brittany who probably didn't realize everyone else didn't know.
"You guys knew?" Dave said.
"We found out when these two were home." Beat replied while pointing at Blaine and Sebastian. "But we were sworn to secrecy."
"No wonder he got so mad at Hudson. It also explains why he called me and thanked me rather vaguely." They were all still talking when Nick and Santana came walking into the living room.
"So, did we miss anything?" Nick said.
"I'm sure whatever you were doing was more enjoyable than what we were doing." Dave's words mixed with everyone else's expressions caused Nick and Santana to just look at each other, a faint blush coming to both of their faces.
"You really shouldn't have lost track of time." Sebastian said before wrapping an arm around Nick's shoulders. Nick then glanced down at his watch and laughed.
"How'd you figure it out?" Santana asked as they all walked towards the others.
"I asked B who we were missing and he replied that it was only you and Jacob." Sebastian told them.
"And then Logan informed us that your flight got in forty-five minutes before his." Dave said.
"Then Jeff told us you went to get her at the airport." Blaine added.
"How long have you been here Logan?" Nick asked, finally feeling the blush from his cheeks fading.
"Almost an hour and I spent a bit of time at the hotel getting situated."
"Now for the ultimate question, how long has this been going on?" Wes asked.
"Four months." Santana replied.
"Beat." Dave said.
"No one got the right date."
"What are they talking about?" Santana asked.
"You're going to hate us, but we sort of had a pool going on about whether or not the two of you hooked up." Thad told her.
"You did what?"
"We did, I'm sorry. But we all noticed little looks between you two. And then Logan saw the two of you kissing after Nationals which just fueled the fire." Beat then walked over to Nick and handed him an envelope.
"What's this?"
"We had all decided that if none of us had the correct guesses that we'd give you the money collected so that the two of you could have an extravagant date night on us." Santana looked at Nick as he counted the money.
"May I ask the two of you something?" Sebastian asked.
"Sure." Santana replied.
"Now that your little relationship has been brought to everyone's attention may we consider the two of you a couple?" Santana just looked at Nick after Sebastian spoke.
"We actually talked about this before coming over here." Nick told them. "And this is what we came up with no matter how unconventional it may seem. Yes, you guys can call us a couple, but we'd rather you not share this information with anyone else considering recent events."
"Do you think there will be a time where you will share it?" Blaine asked.
"We probably will, but not till everything with Dave is in the past." Santana replied.
"What will it be guys, will you do this for us?" Nick asked. He then looked around the room at all of their friends.
"We can do that, right guys." Thad said to which everyone responded yes.
"I should remind you though; Rachel is going to be around us so you might want to decide how the two of you want to handle her." Blaine told them which caused Santana to just rest her head on Nick's shoulder.
"Don't dwell on it Santana, she won't be around all the time since she is taking a few classes." Sebastian told her. "So if you two can manage to behave like you have been you'll be fine."
"But now that we all know, don't behave on our account." Thad said with a laugh. "We're used to PDA." He then looked at Jeff and Brittany as well as Blaine and Sebastian.
"He's got a point." Sebastian said before giving Blaine a kiss. "So if you get the urge to kiss each other, go for it. No more restraint is necessary."
By the time Jacob had arrived things had settled down quite a bit. "Just so you know, we ordered pizza since everyone just wants to hang here and chill tonight." Blaine told Jacob once he was inside.
"Sounds good to me. Did I miss anything?"
"More than you realize but I'm sure someone will explain everything to you." Blaine's words caught Jacob's attention, he was just about to ask another question when his eyes flew wide open. "That's one thing that you missed." Blaine said with a laugh after spotting Nick and Santana kissing on the couch.
"Who won?"
"No one." Beat replied. "So the money went to Nick and Santana. They're quite happy that our curiosity netted them so much."
On Thursday morning Blaine was surprised to hear the doorbell ringing so early. "Morning ladies." He replied upon seeing Brittany, Santana, and Hailey standing on the other side. "Come on in." After closing the door behind them he gave them fair warning that the rest of the guys were up but were walking around in whatever they wore to bed.
"You might want to let them know we're here then." Santana told him.
"The only one that would mind would be Trent and he's wearing sweats, so you're fine. So, what do we owe this pleasure this morning minus your other halves?" Blaine asked while they made their way to the kitchen. Once they were seated at the table they all looked around.
"Where's Dave?"
"He's in the shower." Beat said upon walking through the doorway. "Morning ladies." They all replied in kind while he got himself some juice.
"I don't think I've said this before, but damn you guys are a good looking group." Hailey said to which Brittany and Santana quickly agreed.
"Thank you. And I'll be sure to pass that along to Bas since he loves getting his ego stroked."
"Where is Sebby?"
"He's out running with Hunter. They're both trying to trim their time for once each of their seasons start."
"Who's Hunter?"
"He's a friend of ours whom I'm sure you'll meet soon enough. It's also his home we're going to this weekend."
"You'll like him Santana; he's a lot like you and Sebby." The look on Santana's face must've spoke volumes because Blaine just smiled.
"I'm pretty sure you'll like him. Now back to why you guys are here since it seemed like you didn't want to talk while Dave was around."
"Yes, we'd like to know what you boys have planned for his birthday."
"I should've known." Blaine then told them he'd be right back and walked out of the kitchen for a moment to find one of the other guys. When he returned the girls had all made themselves comfortable and gotten themselves cups of coffee. "Alright, we have some time to talk as the guys are going to keep him out of the kitchen."
"Now, what do you have planned?" Hailey asked.
"Jeff and I have this under control."
"It's not that we don't trust you, but we'd like to know exactly what you have in mind." Santana said. "Because given recent events it better be something special."
"Well, thanks to Hunter and Cassie's offer we're having a party for him on Saturday. Food, drinks, dessert. Everything is taken care of."
"Presents?" Brittany asked.
"Yes, all of us got him something."
"You're not giving us many details Blaine." Santana said after taking a sip of her coffee.
"That's because I'd like for some of it to be surprise. Now, with what I've shared is that good enough for you all?"
"What about music?" Hailey asked.
"It's covered, one of Cooper's friends that is going to be there is a DJ so we're all taken care of."
"If we're all going out there tomorrow how is all this stuff getting out there?" Santana asked.
"We placed the orders for everything out there so it's all nearby and Cooper offered to help us pick it up Saturday morning."
"You mentioned dessert, did you order a cake?"
"We did." They all turned to see Sebastian standing in the doorway. "Morning all!" He then gave Blaine a kiss before opening the fridge.
"You're sweaty Sebby."
"That I am Britt; I just came back from a five mile run with Hunter. Speaking of, he's already in the shower. I told him it was pointless for him to go home considering we're all going out."
"Works for me." Blaine replied. "Now, is there anything else you would like to know?"
"I think we're good for now." Santana told them. "Did the guys get a hold of you prior to our arrival?"
"They did. Given our conversation I'm assuming you ladies are going out to buy him birthday presents."
"We are." Brittany replied.
"Jeff recommended we all meet at the steps around noon, does that work for you three?"
"The steps?" Santana asked.
"I know what they're talking about." Hailey replied. "I think it does, if we're going to be late we'll call." She'd just finished speaking when they heard rather loud coughing coming from the living room.
"I have a feeling we finished up just soon enough." Blaine said as Dave walked into the kitchen.
"Morning!" They all replied while getting up from their seats.
"We'll see you boys around noon." Santana told them.
"See you then." Sebastian said while Dave spoke with Blaine.
By the time everyone had gotten showered and dressed the rest of the guys were just arriving. After a bit of brief conversation they decided to just do some light sight-seeing knowing they were going to be going at it full force on Monday once every was there. "Were you and the girls able to talk?" Nick asked when he was able to corner Blaine in the living room.
"We did, though they weren't happy with what I told them because I wouldn't give them in-depth details."
"You're in the same situation Jeff is and they honestly tried to get it out of him last night."
"Let me guess, they had Brittany distracting him while they talked to him."
"Basically, which I'm surprised he was able to resist. She was straddling his lap kissing his neck while Hailey and Santana asked questions."
"If he was able to make it through that he deserves serious props."
"Wes and I gave them to him. By the time Hailey and Santana gave up he wouldn't let Brittany off his lap though."
"I'm sure we all know why that was the case."
"That was it exactly; he actually carried her to their room because of it."
"And judging from your expression he took all means necessary to take care of said situation."
"He did. One time I'm thankful our rooms aren't next to each other."
"Then how do you know?"
"I heard them when I brought Wes an extra pillow."
"So Wes and Hailey could hear them?"
"They could, I told them to just turn the television on and leave it."
"Call it a hunch but I wouldn't be surprised if Wes came up with a better way to distract himself once you went to bed."
"Are you saying everyone in the apartment had sex last night?"
"No, but you just did."