Moving Beyond
Part 37
"And they kept their word." Dave said aloud as Blaine and Sebastian walked into the Warblers common room.
"I told you we would be back early." Sebastian said with a smile before sitting down on one of the big leather couches. "So, who are we still waiting on as I can see more than a couple are still missing?"
"That would be Trent, Nick and Jeff."
"What a surprise. Am I right to presume the latter two are together?"
"Yes. They're actually on their way back from Lima so they should be here soon. As for Trent, his flight was delayed so we might have to start without him." While they talked Sebastian couldn't help but glance over at Blaine who was sitting at the piano with Thad going through some new arrangements.
"Sorry we're late, traffic sucked." Nick said as he and Jeff walked into the room.
"Are you sure Jeff didn't just have problems saying goodbye?"
"No, I didn't have problems say goodbye Seb." Jeff said with a smile before sitting down next to him. "Traffic really was bad. You should've heard Nick the whole way back; he was cursing up a storm."
"I had every right to. I think every person in front of us forgot how to use their accelerator or their signals. I honestly thought we were going to die when that last truck cut us off."
"Really, and I thought you screaming "we're gonna die!" was a metaphor for something else entirely." Sebastian and Dave both busted out laughing as Jeff reenacted Nick's reaction.
"Very funny. Ha ha ha." Nick them looked over at Thad and Blaine over at the piano. "Do you guys mind helping me out here?"
"Why, sounds like you're doing fine?" Blaine said with a smirk.
"What happened to kind and understanding Blaine?"
"He's still here, I just find this humorous as Jeff does quite the impression of you."
They were all just sitting down when Trent came walking in. "I'm so sorry I'm late guys."
"Not your fault man." Beat told him as he took a seat.
"Now that we're all here, time to get started." Thad said as Dave closed the doors. With sectionals only two weeks away the guys all decided that all of their free time would be designated for practice whether it be as a whole group or smaller ones. "Does anyone have a preference as to what we wear?"
"I was thinking we should wear our blazers." Blaine said. "Then we can switch things up at regionals. Don't want to give all our little changes away at once."
"What does everyone think of Blaine's recommendation?"
"Works for me." Nick said to which Jeff and Sebastian quickly agreed. Once they agreed everyone else did as well.
"Okay, blazers it is. So everyone please make sure one of your blazers remains clean for sectionals then. Any other questions or comments guys? If not, meeting is adjourned." The guys always laughed that even when meetings ended more often than not most of the guys hung out for quite a while.
"How was everyone's break?" Sebastian asked as just a general question.
"Obviously not as fun as a bunch of yours." Jacob said. "Sure wish I could've gone to New York."
"Well, those of us that were thought it would be fun if we all went sometime this summer." Dave told them. "That also includes graduates in case any of you wondered."
"Figured as much since Wes was with you all." Trent mentioned. "Looked like you guys had a ton of fun."
"We did." Blaine replied. "The time went by way too quick."
"I'm sure there will be a ton more pics going up as we were constantly taking them. But with as busy as we were only some went up." Thad said.
"No doubt Wes will get most of them up now that he's back at school." Nick added. "He was a photo snapping machine."
While they were talking, Sebastian looked over at Blaine who couldn't seem to stop yawning. "Looks like someone is tired."
"I think that's an understatement. I'm exhausted. So, I'm going to head back to our room. I'll see you guys in the morning." Blaine then gave Sebastian a kiss before heading for the dorms.
"Is he alright?" Nick asked.
"Yea. We just didn't get a lot of sleep last night." The looks from the guys spoke volumes. "It wasn't like that guys. We stayed up way too late and got up super early to spend time with Lexi and Cooper." From the look on his face, none of the guys doubted Sebastian's explanation. "Now if you don't mind, I think I'm going to go to bed too. Waking up for classes tomorrow is going to come way sooner than I'd like." As he was walking out a bunch of the guys realized Sebastian was right, no one wanted to have to hear their alarms in the morning.
When he finally walked into their room Sebastian couldn't help smile as Blaine had the Christmas lights they'd hung on and was lying in bed. "I was hoping you were going to come back soon." Blaine told him as he rolled onto his back so he could look at him. "I hope you don't mind the lights, but I wanted something a bit more subtle."
"Not at all. Personally I was thinking we should leave them up." Sebastian told him as he started to change. "I'm surprised you're not already asleep."
"I haven't been in here that long. Plus it's going to take a while to get comfortable."
"Ah, the joyous Dalton beds. Definitely not as comfortable as the ones at Coop and Lexi's."
"Nor as big." Blaine said as he watched Sebastian sit down on his bed."
"Gives a whole new meaning to looking forward to the weekend, huh?"
"Are you saying you're going to miss sleeping with me?"
"Didn't know I needed too."
"You don't." Blaine said before another yawn escaped his lips.
"You should probably try and get some sleep B. You can be pretty crabby in the morning without your beauty rest."
"Aren't you just the sweet talker?"
"I know, but it's true. How about I make you a deal? You try and get some sleep and I'll get up early tomorrow and bring you coffee." Sebastian watched as Blaine pondered his offer. But it wasn't long till he agreed. So Sebastian then turned on his side and watched till Blaine's eyes fluttered shut and his breathing slowed. Watching Blaine sleep had become a habit for Sebastian as it put him at ease and would soon fall asleep himself.
The first week back was definitely a hectic one for all of them as it took a couple days to get back into the swing of things. But soon everyone was back in their old habits, which with the extra rehearsals proved to be crazy. When Sebastian came back to the room after an afternoon run with Thad he was surprised to find a bunch of the guys in their room. "Care to tell me what you're all doing here?"
"Taking a well-deserved break." Blaine said as he walked out of the bathroom. "But now that you're back we can get back to work."
"Can I at least take a shower first?" He asked as he tossed his shirt in the basket.
"Please do." Nick replied from the floor.
"Just for that I should skip it. But I won't do that to B. Now if you don't mind, get out so I can shower."
"Why do we have to leave so you can shower?" Jeff asked.
"Do you really want to ask that?" Sebastian asked as he stepped behind Blaine and wrapped his arms around him. Blaine just looked back at him and smiled.
"As tempting as that sounds, we need to get back to work now that you and Thad are back. So, go take your shower and we'll be waiting for you in the theatre."
"I recommend cold water Seb." Nick remarked after Blaine basically shut Sebastian down. Sebastian just flipped him off before stripping off the rest of his clothes and walking into the bathroom. "Someone is back to his old charming self." Nick said to Blaine.
"Lay off him guys, we've all been short with each other this week. Think, we're just doing this while he and Thad are getting ready for spring lacrosse."
"Shit, that's right. Now wonder they've both been crabbier than usual." Jeff replied. "Their days must be starting way too early."
"Put it this way. The only time Bas basically sees daylight is when we have afternoon rehearsal in the common room. He's up before the sun and goes to bed long after it sets."
"That's a rough way to come back." Dave said. "Remind me to apologize to Thad as I snapped at him yesterday for basically being a bastard. And since tomorrow is Friday, I say we cancel late rehearsal and just go out and blow off some steam."
"That works. Are we still going to rehearse on Saturday?" Blaine asked as they gathered up their stuff to head to the theatre.
"Of course. But since it'll be Saturday we won't have to be in uniform so it'll be a bit more relaxed." As they walked out of the room Blaine noticed Jeff had a rather blank look on his face.
"Let me guess, you and Britt have plans for Saturday." He nodded. "We won't be long, as long as we don't goof off too much. And I'm sure the other guys wouldn't mind if she was here, right guys?" Blaine looked at Nick and Dave who agreed. "See, no worries. And I dare someone to tell Thad our honorary Warbler isn't welcome."
"Speaking of Britt how is she?" Dave asked. "I haven't seen you on the phone much this week."
"That's because we've rarely talked during the day. We've only been able to catch up at night because she's been super busy. Seems McKinley is practicing like we are for sectionals plus she still has cheer practice."
"Hopefully she's not as crabby as Seb and Thad." Dave told him.
"No, she's just been quiet. She hasn't even complained about Lord Tubbington. Do any of you want to come with me to McKinley tomorrow afternoon?"
"What, Nick's not going?" Blaine asked.
"No, I'm not going this time after my last drive back from Lima."
"Got it." Blaine said as they walked into the theatre and spotted a few of the other guys. "Let me ask Bas if he wants to once he gets here. Maybe seeing her would cheer him up a bit."
Everyone was on stage by the time Sebastian and Thad came walking in. "Going for casual guys?" Jacob said not realizing why the guys were dressed out of uniform.
"Fuck off!" The guys all just looked at Blaine as Sebastian was definitely in a bad mood. "I dare you to get your ass up before five to fucking run four miles every morning in this cold." Thad just looked at Sebastian in agreement. The more the guys watched they realized both of them were in bad moods which meant this was going to be one long assed rehearsal.
They'd barely started the first number when Thad snapped about how flat the harmonies were. "Guys do you really expect Blaine and Sebastian to sound good when we sound like shit! They could be perfect but it would be wrong because we're off. Now get your heads out of your asses!" After having both Thad and Sebastian snap, the rest of the guys got real serious as they didn't want to spend their evening getting yelled at.
Once things got going there was less snapping except for when one of the freshmen trip and ended up knocking Jeff over who in turn knocked over Blaine. "Could you please try and be careful!" Sebastian said as he helped Blaine up while Dave helped up Jeff. The fact that Sebastian didn't curse Blaine took it as a positive no matter how small it might've been. After managing to get through their set list a few times Dave decided it was time to take a short break. As the theatre emptied out Blaine sat down on the stage next to Sebastian.
"Are you okay Bas?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Just tired, that's all. I didn't sleep much last night."
"Why?" Blaine asked as he started to rub his back.
"I was working on that damn history paper."
"You were working on that when I went to bed."
"I know. And I was at it till well after one."
"That means you barely got three hours of sleep Bas."
"Tell me about it. But at least now it's finished and I don't have to worry about it anymore. So, tonight after practice I'm just going back to the room and crashing."
"I'm glad that's all it is. You've got the guys on edge." Sebastian glanced over at him. "Okay, you and Thad both have them on edge. But I should've known something was going on when you basically told the guys to get out so we could have sex in the shower. You're bold, but not that bold when it comes to our sex life around the guys."
"As awesome as that sounded when I mentioned it, I doubt I would've had enough energy to enjoy it."
"You seem to be doing okay right now."
"That's because my third or fourth wind kicked in sometime when I told Jacob to fuck off."
"Well, if you still have that energy we could always…" Blaine's words were cut off as Sebastian kissed him.
"God, that's tempting but I really just need to sleep B."
"You're definitely tired if you're turning down sex." Blaine feigned hurt but knew just how tired Sebastian really was.
"I'm either tired or sick. But if I was sick, I'd probably be trying to convince you to be my naughty nurse."
"That could definitely be arranged." When Sebastian turned to look at him Blaine had what Sebastian now described as his naughty but nice smile. If anyone ever knew what truly went through Blaine's head they'd be shocked. No one would expect Blaine Anderson to have such a naughty side. As everyone came walking in Sebastian couldn't help laugh as Jacob made a point to get back on the stage as far away as possible from him.
"Jacob!" He turned when he heard Sebastian call his name.
"What?" His voice wavered slightly as he wasn't quite sure what the upper-classman had to say.
"I'm sorry for being such an ass earlier. It wasn't you, it's just….it's been a long fucking week and I can't wait for it to be over."
"Okay. And I'm sorry for saying anything. Dave told me on break all the other stuff you and Thad are doing in. I had no right to say anything even if I was joking." Blaine looked up at Sebastian and smiled as the old Sebastian never would've done what he just did. Once everyone was back on stage and set they decided to run through their set three more times and if everything went smoothly, they were done, otherwise they'd keep going.
Unfortunately practice ran longer than any of them wanted but after three successful sets in a row they were done for the day. "Now remember guys, take it easy tomorrow but we're back at it on Saturday." Dave told them all before they dispersed. "Blaine, can I talk to you for a sec?" Blaine looked at Sebastian who just smiled and gave him a kiss before heading back to their room. "Is Seb going to be okay?"
"Yea. He basically got no sleep last night because of a stupid last minute history paper that Mr. Holden decided they all needed to do."
"Okay, I just wanted to make sure that's all it was as he's overly crabby."
"Trust me, I know. But it's not much worse than Thad's been."
"True. I guess I'm just noticing it more as it's so different than he'd been."
"What, you don't want the angry, snarky, ass to return?"
"Not particularly. There's definitely a time and place for it and I love that he still can be like that when necessary but as an everyday thing, no."
"Can't say I blame you and I'm pretty sure he'd agree. He likes not being angry all the time anymore. And part of the snarkiness was because he wanted to lash out at others as he was unhappy."
"Well, we know he's not unhappy anymore. When you two first got together, I wasn't quite sure it was going to last. But seeing you two now, I can't believe I ever thought it as you two really are good for each other."
"Thank you. Yea, crazy how things work out but now I couldn't imagine things being any way but how they are."
"You should probably get going though, because when he left he looked to be in a bit of a daze. Hopefully he made it back to the room and you're not picking him up in the hall on the way."
"You're right. I'll see you tomorrow man."
When Blaine walked back into their room he couldn't help smile as Sebastian was passed out cold on Blaine's bed. He knew it did take long for him to fall asleep as Sebastian still had his shoes on as his feet were hanging off the edge of the bed.
So after getting changed himself, Blaine took Sebastian's shoes off and brought his feet up on the bed. Even though he knew he could've easily gone and slept in Sebastian's bed, Blaine slid in behind him and pulled the blankets up over them. As he wrapped his arm around his waist, Sebastian stirred a little. "Just sleep Bas." Blaine then leaned up enough to kiss his cheek before laying his head back down on the pillow. With as crazy as this first week back was, they both needed a good night's sleep and Blaine knew they both slept best when cuddled together.