A/N: Welcome to the next chapter! Shameless self-promotion time: A good friend of mine as well as myself are a part of a podcast called "Food For Nerds." We're available on a variety of platforms including Spotify, Google, and Apple Podcasts. If you're interested in fandom culture please check it out! Our first episode is up and I'd love to see some of you guys make your way over there! Our second episode is going to be about Fanfiction as well, which I think a lot of you would enjoy, especially since as an author I bring a different perspective than my co-host. Anyway, on with the chapter!

Song: Stay With Me: Sam Smith

Lyrics: "I don't want you to leave will you hold my hand?"

Summary: We all assume that Sebastian was a new face, someone that neither Kurt or Blaine knew. But, what if that wasn't quite true? Blaine's visit to Dalton in season 3 goes a little bit differently when Sebastian is a face from the past. I know this idea has been done by several other authors before, so this isn't a completely original idea.

Rating: T: Mentions of violence and homophobia.

A dull heat settled in Blaine's stomach as he watched his old friends perform. The song was wonderful, he was happy to see Nick finally get a lead spot, he smiled through the song, and he even joined in at one point. But, through the whole thing, he felt uneasiness creeping up into him. The new singer, the one all the boy crowded around and everyone was interested in introducing him to was far too familiar. The piercing green eyes had easily identified him during the performance and Blaine could see in the middle of the song the way his face changed for a moment before refocusing on the task at hand. He just hoped he could slip out unnoticed or surrounded by enough Warblers that the taller boy would simply let him disappear back from where he came. He had no such luck.

"B?" Green eyes met hazel as Blaine spun around to respond to a nickname he hadn't heard in years. It was too painful. "I didn't think I'd see you here. They uh, they said you—you left."

"What do you want, Sebastian?" He hadn't meant it to sound so sharp, but his world felt like it was collapsing in on him. He couldn't be there, not now, not with Sebastian standing in front of him.

"How are you?"

"Stop." Blaine held his hands up. "I'm not interested in whatever you want."

"I just wanted to know you were okay. When I got out of the hospital—"

"I don't care."

Sebastian's' face fell. "I thought you'd at least want to know I was alive." He took a breath. "I wanted to know that you were alive, that you were okay. You weren't the only one that was hurt ya know."

"I know, Seb, I know." Blaine felt himself deflating the more words they spoke. The stone face demeanor he had started the conversation with started to slip. "I knew you were okay, I sat at the hospital with you every day. I had my parents check once I transferred. I just—I couldn't—I couldn't be there."

"But you let me go back and stay in that hell hole of a school by myself? After what happened, you just disappeared..."

"I had to." Blaine looked at the floor, trying to break the trance of Sebastian's eyes starring into him. "You weren't awake, Seb. You passed out almost instantly. I as awake the entire time. I felt every kick, every punch, every lick of the lighter against my skin—"

"I'm so so sorry, B."

"I'm not done." Blaine knew that this was his only chance to talk to his ex-friend about what happened at the Sadie Hawkins dance that night. He had gone through it all with a therapist but if Sebastian was there standing in front of him, he had to say it. He needed to. "I was awake the entire time, holding you, trying to get you to stay alive. I was there when the teacher found us and you stopped breathing. You went through it, Sebastian, but you weren't really there. You didn't feel everything, you didn't have to hold your best friend while the life faded out of their eyes… you weren't there for me."

"It's not like it was my fault!" The taller boy all but yelled down the Dalton hallway, causing a few of the other boys to turn around and stare. Blaine rolled his eyes at Sebastian's hot temper and dragged him into an empty classroom down the hall from them. He looked around the darkened room and sighed. "Some things never change," he muttered to himself, Sebastian smirked.

"No. No it doesn't." He took a step closer to Blaine, reaching to intertwine their finger. The ex-warbler recoiled, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"I know that you—you couldn't really… I know you weren't' able to help what happened. I spent a lot of time blaming you though. I was a mess for months, I had nightmares, I lost an entire year of school. I should be a senior this year, but here I am, still a junior." He took a deep breath, taking a step away from Sebastian to maintain his composure. The other boy was too close for comfort, far too close. He hadn't realized until that moment how reminiscent of their time at Westerville High them standing in an empty classroom was. "When my parents told me they had figured out how to make it so you wouldn't lose any time as long as you stayed, I wanted to hate you. But—I just—I-."

"You couldn't?"

"No, I couldn't."

The two lapsed into silence, Blaine trying his hardest to avoid eye contact, Sebastian slowly encroaching into his personal space. "You always did let love cloud your judgment."

"I' a hopeless romantic, so what?"

Sebastian took one final step closer, placing his hands on the shorter boy's face. "It's not a bad thing, B. I'm just so glad I found you again." Then he closed the gap between them, letting his lips gently slot against Blaine's, drinking in the feeling he'd been missing for the last few years, letting his soul reconnect with the first boy he'd ever truly loved.

Blaine caught off guard by the sudden advance, let himself melt into it for a moment, his mind giving into his memories and letting himself sink back to 9th grade. Suddenly, he wasn't himself anymore; he was a small 9th grader, shy and unsure, basking in the glow of his first… everything. He was the first to pull back, placing his hands on Sebastian's chest and pushing him away deliberately. "I can't."

"Why not?" The hurt in Sebastian's voice was evident.

Blaine sighed and looked upwards. "Seb, I have a boyfriend. I know that isn't' what you wanted to hear and you want o just fall back into what we were. But, I can't do that. I really really really love him and it's real honest to goodness love. I finally found someone who just… he just matches me. I can't imagine my life without him, he's perfect for me. We're too different, Seb. You need to let go."

Sebastian sighed and ran a hand through his hair, trying to not let his eyes show his feelings of hurt and betrayal. "Come on. Let's go get coffee. I'm gonna need you to give me some advice about dealing with the Warblers Plus, I'd really like to be your friend again..."

"Okay…" Blaine smiled. "I'd really like that too."

A/N: I feel like I left that pretty open ended in general because it felt right to do. Who knows, maybe I'll find some other songs and continue this in some other one-shots! Again, shameless self-promotion: follow me on insta at: foodfornerdspodcast and listen to the first episode wherever you consume podcasts including Spotify, Google, & Apple Podcasts. We're powered by Anchor, so you can find us virtually wherever you can find other Anchor podcasts. Next week's episode is on Fanficiton!