Dalton and Reconnecting

The end of May and the beginning of June marked a busy period for the majority of the partners. As the business continued to go from strength to strength, new ideas were tried out under the experienced eyes of Michelle, and investment was made in new equipment. An ice cream maker appeared in the kitchen of the diner as Michelle was under the opinion that they could cut costs and win sales, if rather than purchasing ice cream from a wholesaler, they made their own product on the premises. It allowed them to increase the range of flavours available, and also to experiment with new ones that they created of their own. Some of them had been doubtful about the idea at first, but once the first scoops had been sold and the word about how good it was spread, they quickly saw that demand could exceed supply if they were not careful. They soon discovered that whilst the more standard flavours sold well, a daily experimental flavour could also succeed. They had the most success with a Green Tea flavour, suggested by Tina; an Apple and Cinnamon, suggested by Artie, and Cookie Sensation, created by Nick. The latter did not come without a crisis - when Jeff saw Nick taking an entire batch of his favourite peanut butter, choc chip and ginger cookies and bash them into smithereens to add to the mix, his wails had been heard half way down the block. It took Nick several hours to even get Jeff to speak to him. In the end, it was when he tried the resulting ice cream - and realised that it was even better than the cookies, that the two resumed normal relations.

It was also the start of the holiday season, but no-one was venturing far that year. Mike and Tina did head off for a fortnight staying with Mercedes in L.A. and during their time in the city, they got to see a lot of the places that they had dreamed about on the West Coast. As for the Warblers, they were all home birds that year. They had all left the city though en masse - Santana referred to it as a migration - on the last Thursday of the month, heading back to Ohio, to see the eldest members of the current group graduate, as was the tradition. They were joined on the journey by François. His original reason for coming to the States was over, but he was in no hurry to return home. He had an open ended ticket, and Sebastian was happy to let him stay, so when Trent and Rory asked him to stay until their wedding, he agreed. They had all agreed that he should come with them to Dalton, mainly as they did not want him to be left alone for the two nights they were due to be away; Dave was coming, and with Mike in L.A., and Jeff absent too, Santana, Brittany and Sam would be busy at the diner.

It turned out to be an interesting trip for him. He was fascinated by the whole set up of the school, and when he was introduced to Principal Lefevre, the two bonded quickly. It turned out that his maternal grandmother was a Lefevre, and after a lot of chat, they discovered that both of them had links to one small town in the Loire Valley, which was also the long time home of the Girard family. Sebastian could only shake his head as he pondered once again just how small the world seemed to be. Nick and Jeff spent a lot of time with Dylan, Jeff's cousin, who was now a very popular member of the teaching staff. He had also become a firm favourite of the Carmichael's, for reasons that he did not know - not that he was objecting.

On graduation day itself, Thad had to face up to something that he had known would be coming, but had dreaded. As Head Warbler, he would have to stand up on the podium and make a speech, just as Wes had done the year before. He had initially sought out his help, but aside from a few tips on overcoming his nerves about public speaking, Wes had declined to have an input, telling Thad merely that he had confidence in his abilities to deliver. When he had taken to the lectern, all of his former classmates had crossed their fingers for him, and hoped for the best. In the end, the speech he gave was strong, clear and inspiring, and when he finished, he received a round of applause that made him blush. It then fell to him to hand out both that year's Klaine Medal, and a new prize, the Montgomery Cup to the recipients.

After the main graduation ceremony, the former Warblers had made their way to join the current group in the senior commons to congratulate the new graduates, and then they had made their way together to the foot of the main stair, where it had been decided to place the official memorial to Wes. There had been much discussion about what form it should take, but in the end, it had been decided that a stone carving of a group of birds, flocking around one in the centre, summed up the man perfectly. The fact that the one in the centre resembled a blackbird was no coincidence. Tears were shed as it was officially dedicated, and not just among the gathered boys - an angel might have been standing on the landing above them, his white wings drooping, as he cried…

Afterwards, Thad had headed out from the school and the festivities alone to lay a bunch of roses at the spot where they had buried the urn of ashes the year before. It was now marked by a cairn of stones, and next to it, the small rose bush that he and David had planted the year before was thriving. As he sat there and took in the spectacular view, he felt a draught, and Wes joined him. They sat there in silence for almost an hour, the younger man leaning on the angel's shoulder. Then Wes told Thad he had to go, and that he had best return to the school anyway. They parted, and as he walked back to Dalton, Thad was passed by Nick, Jeff and Sebastian on their way up with flowers too. Indeed by the end of the day, all of his former boys had made their way to the spot, alone or in small groups, to leave a tribute. They all knew that Wes was not there, but they had to adhere to convention and pretend that he was; Trent more than anyone else as he guided Mitch up there for the first time.

On the day after graduation, as everyone else headed for home, Sebastian instead made his way back to a place that he had left behind eighteen months before, and vowed never to return to. It was not home to him anymore; had ceased to be long ago. It was now merely the house his father had grudgingly allowed him to come back to from Dalton. On the day that he had left to head to New York, and take his chances in the big city living with Niff, he had given the front door key back to his father when he demanded it, and then lectured him about how ungrateful he was. What the older man did not know was that his son had a copy of the back door key, and he had retained it for just such a moment as this. The house when he arrived was just as he had hoped it would be - deserted. There was no sign of his father or his young wife, no doubt at the country club as always. Sebastian had never had much time for his 'stepmother' and the feeling had been mutual; after all, she was only a few years older than him.

He was glad they were absent, just as long as the hunch that he had paid off. It had. He could see at once that the lock on the front door had been replaced, his father no doubt fearing that he had made a copy of the key he had given back with a smirk. The lock on the back door was exactly the same though, and the key worked first time. Sebastian was also sure that thinking that his son would not be able to enter via the front door, his father would not have done anything to change the code for the burglar alarm. It turned out that he could read his father like a book.

He wandered through the house, noticing that it had been totally redecorated in a style which he could best sum up as garish and vulgar, obviously the work of his stepmother. His father's study, however, was totally unchanged, and as a result, the target of his visit still resided in the same drawer that it always had done. Sebastian found the number he needed, and saved it into his phone. He could have left after that, but he could not resist taking a quick look upstairs at his old room. It turned out to be a waste of time, as on opening the door, he found that it had been converted into a yoga and exercise room. That did anger him - he had not liked living here, but he had not expected to find all trace of his existence erased; he had hoped to find he still had a room here if he needed it, a small sign that his father might actually care… In a brief moment of anger, he returned to the kitchen, then came back up. He used a knife to make a tiny slit in the oversize exercise ball, giving it a slow puncture. And ok, he might have taken some prawns from the freezer, and hidden them underneath the carpet. After all, sometimes we all needed to get a little bit of revenge on the people that had helped to make your life hell…

Having left the house without leaving any evidence that he had actually been there, and having been seen by no witnesses, Sebastian headed to the airport. He had been tempted to leave a note, but had decided that he might need to visit again one day, and if he announced his presence, his father would take measures to prevent him getting back in. As it was, the hole in the exercise ball would be attributed to wear and tear, and by the time that anyone identified where the smell of rotting fish was coming from, the prawns would have decomposed into nothing. On his arrival at the airport, he discovered to his joy that his flight was running an hour late. He sent a quick message off to Dave, who would by now be back in New York, and let him know that he would be held up, and then settled down to wait for his flight. He momentarily regretted his decision to pay a visit to his father's house, as he thought of how the majority of the others would be either home or well on their way there, and he was stuck in an almost deserted airport.

He decided to make use of his time, and to use the phone number he had obtained now. That way he would have the excuse of his flight being called to hang up if he felt the need to. He hoped that he wouldn't, but it didn't hurt to have that option. He pulled the number up, took a deep breath, and then hit call. The call connected, and began to ring at the other end; it did so for so long that Sebastian was just about to hang up, when it was answered with a breathless "Hey" at the other end. There it was. A voice that he had not heard for more than five years…

"Hey Jules, it's Sebastian…"

There was silence at the other end for a moment, and his heart fell, waiting for the call to be ended. But then, the voice, now less breathless, and quiet, spoke again. "My God! Hey Seb. It has been a long time. Far too long little bro."

"Yeah, it has. I lost my phone somewhere en route to Paris, and with it all my numbers. Then when I didn't hear anything from you…"

"And I thought that you had cut me off. I kept calling, and all of my calls just went to voicemail; and you never called back…"

"I couldn't… Then things got rough; I was miserable, and I really thought…"

"…that I had rejected you, just like dad? I thought that you had decided to reject me. We are so alike. I guess that is what comes from being related to an idiot like dad, huh?" Sebastian laughed, and couldn't help but smile as he heard his brother doing exactly the same. "So, how have you been, Seb? I heard about the whole Dalton debacle from father dearest, but that wasn't until last year, after the trial was over. He told me that he didn't think that I needed to know about the disgrace you had brought on the family until then. I wanted to call you there and then, but he told me he didn't have a number for you, or an address…"

"That's true. He never wanted me back living with him, and after one last argument I decided that enough was enough, and cut him out of my life. He only has eyes for her anyway…"

"The bimbo? Yeah, I noticed last time I saw him. He hardly calls me anymore, and to be honest, I don't really care. He was never going to win any awards for father of the year."

The two brothers carried on their conversation for the remainder of the time that Sebastian was waiting for his flight. Sebastian made a full and frank confession to his brother of all of his antics at Dalton, leaving nothing out. In return, Julian told him how he had recently returned to the States, having spent the last few years in Sydney. The fact that his brother had been in Australia for all of that time was news to Sebastian, and he cursed his father for not having the decency to tell him what his older brother had been doing. After that, he told his brother all about how he was now a reformed character; that he was now a one man guy, settled, happy and engaged in New York.

"Well, I wish that I could say the same. I came back to the States for my new job, and it is great. I still haven't met the right person. I mean, I have seen a lot of women, and let's just say that I might have played for your team a couple of times…"

"Ok, Jules, a little too much information! But wow, and I can't say I have ever been remotely tempted to join yours…"

"That I can well believe. I always knew that you were gay, little bro. I am so pleased to hear that you've found the one; me, I will carry on looking for Miss Right. So, you are based in NYC? Well, we couldn't live further apart if we tried. I am in the west, but not quite the coast - I live in a little place called Paradise, Nevada - just outside of Las Vegas."

"Oh, my God! My brother is living in Vegas! That settles it, I am so going to have to come and pay you a visit!"

"Anytime, little bro. Just make sure and bring that fiancé of yours so I can give him the full speech about not hurting my little brother."

At that moment, the tannoy announced that Sebastian's flight was now boarding, and with great reluctance, Sebastian realised that he would have to end the call. He was happy to hear the same disappointment in his brother's voice when he told him that he would have to go. "Ok, Seb. I'm going to call you again soon - in fact, let's say tomorrow evening. I take it that you will have Skype?"

"Yeah, I do. I will text you my Skype ID and then we can talk on there rather than on the phone. It will give me a chance to see how much older you look."

"Hmm, I guess that you will see that I am now all wrinkled and ancient - I am only ten years older than you don't forget. Right, I will let you go and get on your flight. I am so glad that you called - though you never did tell me how you managed to get my number?"

"I was in Ohio for a Dalton thing, and I took my chance. I stole it from dad's organiser when I let myself into the house with a back door key that he doesn't know that I have…."

"Naughty! I'm glad to see that despite being all grown up relationship wise, you are not entirely changed from the little rascal I knew."

"Ok, Jules, I really do have to go. We will speak tomorrow. Love you, big bro!"

"Right back at you!"

Sebastian ended the call, and hurried over to join the back of the line at the gate. He felt a warm glow in his chest. He had reconnected with the one member of his family that he actually cared about, the only one that had ever really cared for him. He thought he had lost them, but maybe now… He would have to remember and thank Grace for putting the idea into his head. At least now, when the time came for him to marry Dave, he would have one close relative at the wedding to share his happy day.