A/N: I am completely in love with this story and I have so many ideas and emotional roller coasters to bring you guys on. This chapter came out of left field completely! I had no idea that I was gonna write any of this until suddenly it was happening and it came together well. A big, big thank you to Alexsian for being my wonderful beta! ily xoxo

Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Sweeping It Under the Rug

Chapter Two

It's a few minutes that feel like hours before Kurt can even gather himself enough to stop crying, much less do anything substantial like leave. Where should he even go? The question plagues him and keeps him firmly rooted to the bed where he collapsed after Sebastian left.

After they got dressed- after a night of sex- after a night of Kurt cheating-

(fuck)

He digs the bottom of his palms into his eye sockets and he wishes they didn't come away so wet with fresh tears. He wasn't sobbing anymore, his body completely drained of the energy to even breathe properly.

In the end, it's a short and round cleaning lady that forces Kurt to his feet.

He's not sure how long they had the room - or who even checked them in - and by the look of shock on her face, he is supposed to be long gone by now. She pushes the cleaning cart out of the way of the open door and steps more fully into the room. He flinches away from her, irritably wipes at his eyes, and stands. Guess it's time to go.

"Are you alright, sir?" the lady asks, wiping her hands on the front of her stained apron. She had a bit of an accent but Kurt wasn't too focused on it because his hands were shaking and he felt woozy and he really just wanted to sit down anywhere but here. He didn't want to be here anymore.

It takes Kurt a second to clear his throat enough to answer her, and even then it comes out messily, "uh- yeah, yeah. I'm f-fine."

"Hmm," she nods and swings her long black hair over one shoulder to bend down and start searching through the cleaning supplies within the cart.

Kurt thought that would be the end of the conversation - already filing her question away as a sort of reaction to walking in on a man who had obviously been crying hard - and turned to gather his phone and wallet while resolutely not looking into the garbage can again.

"No consent or cheating?"

Kurt stops abruptly and looks over at the older lady now pulling out some disinfectant spray and a worn rag. The abruptness of her question forces his eyebrows to his hairline and his fingers squeeze around the objects in them. "Excuse me?" he asks distrustfully.

She still doesn't look at him and Kurt doesn't think that she's going to answer him, but before he can even think that maybe she hadn't been talking to him, she lifts a shoulder in a shrug before saying, "Boy, I have been working in this industry for probably longer than you've been alive-" she turns and away from the coffee table she'd been cleaning and Kurt didn't think she was that old. "-and I know people only cry after sex if it's either nonconsensual or they cheated on someone. So, which is it?"

"I…" Kurt huffs, standing there awkwardly in the middle of the room and just staring incredulously at this cleaning lady. He hadn't expected… this. He was hoping to just slip out of the hotel, catch a cab, and drive around a couple of blocks of New York City before going back to Blaine and their homey little apartment which he doesn't deserve anymore. But instead, he's being interrogated by this random cleaning lady for- what? For gossip? For her own entertainment?

Kurt had just decided that it was his best option to just sneak past her when she stepped away from the small lounge area in the corner of the room with a couple of chairs and the coffee table that she'd been wiping down and stood directly in front of him. She is greatly shorter than he is but somehow Kurt knows that she could take him down if she so chose to.

Honestly, he's kind of terrified of her and the way she's looking at him isn't changing that.

After another breath she raises her eyebrows and Kurt blurts out an answer, "I cheated."

She hums thoughtfully and walks around Kurt to get to the side of the bed that he'd been sitting at, she began to wipe down the bedside table that his phone and wallet had previously been resting on.

"That's it?" Kurt asks, whipping around to stare at her.

"I don't judge. You cheated and now you carry on with your day. That's life." She seemed to barely be interested in the conversation but her thick accent made it a little difficult for Kurt to read too much into it. At least she wasn't cursing at him in her native tongue; he would definitely flee if she started.

"I.." he is speechless again, which is saying something about how off-kilter he is that he doesn't seem to have access to his usual quick wit.

"Why even ask then?" he asks honestly, voice softening around the edges. He meant to stab it at her so that maybe she could be the one shocked instead of it being himself - which is merely his misplaced anger and he knows it - but his curiosity and exhaustion got to him first.

"I woulda taken my break and you to the hospital if you need, I've done it before, you know," she grabbed the bag from the wastebasket and pull it - and the used condom inside - and waddled back to the cart she brought in with her and deposited it in the garbage bag attached to it like it was nothing.

To her it is nothing, he tried to rationally think, but he was too busy obsessing over the weight behind that filthy piece of latex. And then a thought occurs to him while he watches the bag settle after the force of the additional items made it flutter: why hadn't he woken up with his own cum dried somewhere?

His head is still pounding and his backside still sore enough to seriously confirm which positions the two of them took last night, but why wasn't he messier than he woke up as? He glances over to the bed and doesn't think he felt anything in the sheets when he had been lying there. And the condom is clear that at least Sebastian came last night.

He thinks back on it and can't really remember much - unaware that he'd actually been drinking that much to get blacked out drunk - and he can't really remember much about after they'd made it back here other than the vagueness of their sexual acts. And even then, that could be today's evidence creating fake memories for him.

"Is there something else?" the lady asks after Kurt has stood dumbfoundedly staring at the bed for too long.

"No, no," he finally moves into action and slips his phone and wallet into his pants pockets, and nods to her before slipping out of the room. He was kind of pleased at her caring for him though, it's weird to meet nice New York strangers like that.

He rides the elevator down and walks through the lobby without seeing anyone he knows and he breathes a sigh of relief when he makes it out of the building. He walks down the street in the general direction of the section of the city he lives in but he knows that he'll need to get a cab eventually.

The first floor was the casino-club combo that Sam, Finn, Elliot, and Santana had taken him to the night before for his last-minute bachelor's party. They and Cooper - who was in town and staying with him and Blaine for the wedding - had been completely baffled when they told them that neither of them were having bachelor's parties because they were a stupid thing that hetero couples do and they were both happy not being single thank you very much.

Then the next day Santana announced that she, her girlfriend Dani, and the other three boys would be taking Kurt to Golden Memories, the club-casino-hotel combo, on the East side of this section of the city and Cooper, Rachel, Tina, Mike, and Artie would all be having their own party and drinks at their apartment. When the boys had asked why they couldn't just combine parties because they were all friends anyway, Santana had snapped and said she wasn't going to spend the night bored in the "same place we always ever hang out, and I want to be able to show my girlfriend a good time."

So Kurt had grudgingly agreed to go out for the night and he did have a good time. He had a really good time and he does remember a lot of the actual partying-with-his-friends part, it's just the having-filthy-cheating-sex-with-his-high-school-nemesis part that he can't remember quite as clearly.

It's a little chilly outside and so he buries his hands in his pockets and keeps walking. He has no idea what time it is - but he does know that it's still relatively early based on the position of the sun that is still close to the Eastern horizon - and he doesn't know when everyone went home last night or where anyone thinks he's at right now. A more logical part of his brain thinks that maybe he should get his phone out and call someone- anyone, but when he thinks about the one person that he knows he needs to call and his heart leaps into his throat because how- how can he face Blaine now?

You're going to have to face him today anyway, the stupid-logical part of his brain reminds him. You have a rehearsal dinner to go to tonight. For your wedding.

(fuck)

He shoves his hands farther into his pockets and just keeps walking, the rhythmic pounding of his feet on the pavement has timed itself with the equal pounding at his temples.

Turns out his headache wasn't as much about being hungover as it was his caffeine addiction. After walking to a quaint little coffee shop three blocks down from the hotel, he parked himself at a table next to a big glass window overlooking a crowded New York street and ordered himself the largest cup they offer.

Halfway through his second one his headache has all but disappeared, but the nausea is still very much present and maybe he should order a little bagel or donut or something to go with his coffee. He doesn't feel hungry, but that could definitely be the hangover talking.

He's out of his chair and walking towards the counter for the third time after the next swallow of now slightly-hotter-than-lukewarm coffee curdles unpleasantly in his stomach. The bell on the front door chimes and out of his peripheral he sees two people walk in, Kurt pays neither of them any mind because it's a public area and he's just standing there to get something more solid in his stomach before he yacks all over the place.

"Next," the tired-looking barista calls out after the cute elderly pair in front of Kurt moves to the side.

Kurt steps up and squints at the menu a little bit. He thought his headache had almost evaporated completely but staring at the bright screens of their menu that is on display makes him want to visibly flinch. So he goes another route, "I'm looking for something small and light to finish the rest of my coffee with-" he holds up the coffee in his hand on reflex, "-before I head out, any recommendations?"

The barista takes a breath like Kurt is making their job so much more difficult, the bags under their eyes is the only reason Kurt excuses the impoliteness.

Luckily a voice behind him saves the day. "It depends on what you're looking for, if you want something to be substantial enough as a meal, they make a mean bacon, egg, and cheese calzone, or if you're looking for more of a pastry-type, might I suggest the hazelnut cream sandwich cookie."

When Kurt turns around halfway through the guy's speech, he's a little mesmerized by his handsome features (noticing other attractive people isn't cheating, but that is a sensitive topic for Kurt at the moment) - thin, manicured eyebrows; wide-set, bright blue eyes, impressively swept up hair, and a well-tailored suit. Either he's rich or gay, Kurt immediately decides.

"Oh, thank you," Kurt's smile is friendly as he answers. "Those do sound good so perhaps I'll just get both," he shrugs and turns back to the counter, raising his eyebrows to the barista who is looking even more bored. The amiability of this stranger - the second nicest New Yorker he's met today, he thinks - has greatly improved his mood and so he isn't too rough on the worker; he's sure that the person's job sucks.

"One bacon-egg-cheese-calzone and hazelnut-cream-cookie?" they say in a quick way that only someone who says things like 'bacon, egg, and cheese calzone' all day can say. "Anything else?"

"No, I think that's it for me," Kurt says.

"Okay, that will be $14.65."

Kurt's breath hisses sharply through his teeth at the amount because- holy crap it's only two items jesus- but he tries not to let it show too much because Kurt doesn't want the guy who suggested the items to feel bad. However, Kurt isn't really rolling in the extra cash because of all of the wedding expenses that he and Blaine have been dealing out lately.

"Actually," Kurt blinks a little awkwardly and shuffles on his feet. He's as embarrassed as anyone is when they have to put something back because they can't afford it, but Kurt knows that this is an unnecessary purchase and he knows that if he wants to take a cab back to his apartment, then he's going to have to settle on one or the other.

"No, no," the same stranger from before speaks up, raising a hand into Kurt's field of vision. Then he steps up to the counter to stand closer to Kurt. He flashes a blindingly white smile and Kurt can't help but reciprocate, suddenly conscious of what he must actually look like right now. "You can add it to our order and I'll cover it. I was the one who offered up the options, after all."

Kurt's mouth is suddenly dry and the wink that is thrown his way doesn't help that at all. Kurt really wishes that he didn't feel like he was back in high school with how suddenly self-conscious he is. So Kurt, to not let any time pass awkwardly by, asked the first thing that comes to mind, "'our'?"

Kurt chides himself mentally because that's really not any of his business and yet he still asked. Then he remembers that this man did walk in with a partner and Kurt looks around at the otherwise empty lobby save for himself, this stranger, and the elderly couple who had just received their order and was heading towards the door. There was one other person, a young girl, who was on her computer in one of the booth seats but she's been here longer than Kurt has.

"Oh yeah, I'm here with my boyfriend-" So he is gay, Kurt thinks. "-and whenever we're in town, we always get coffee and food from here, it's his favorite actually."

Kurt can't help but smile at the enamored look on this person's face while he talks about his partner - it makes Kurt think of the way Blaine and he look at each other, but due to his recent dilemma, he doesn't dwell long on those thoughts. "That's adorable," he settles on responding with.

"Kurt?" he now hears a familiar voice behind him, one recognizes way faster than his sleep-muddled brain had earlier this morning.

(My day could literally not get any fucking worse, could it?)

"Sebastian," Kurt awkwardly puts extra emphasis on the name as he turns and sees the man in question walking towards them from what Kurt assumes are the restrooms. He must have snuck off there before Kurt really paid any mind to the shop's other occupants.

"Oh, you two know each other?" the stranger- Sebastian's boyfriend asks while Sebastian himself steps up to them. The shorter man reflexively wraps an arm around the now-graduated Dalton student's waist and Kurt is surprised to see such an immediate and intimate gesture accepted so naturally from Sebastian.

"Yeah," Sebastian nods.

Kurt is still a little shocked into silence as he watches Sebastian reach up to rub at the back of his neck nervously. He's in different clothes and his hair is styled and not bed-

(sex-)

-mused anymore; meaning he's been gone long enough to shower. Kurt sucks in air and just keeps staring dumbly at Sebastian.

"Wait," Sebastian's boyfriend says, completely oblivious to the awkward tensity between Kurt and his partner - either oblivious or choosing to stay ignorant. "You're not Kurt Hummel, are you?"

His eyebrows shoot up at the recognition of his full name and the boyfriend grins proudly back and forth between Kurt and Sebastian.

"No way," he says before Kurt can even wonder how often his name has come up - and in what context - in conversation with Sebastian. "We're here for your wedding, actually. I'm Alex."

Kurt nods and schools his features into an appropriately proud grin at the mention of his marriage like he's supposed to. When Alex sticks his hand out in yet another friendly gesture, Kurt only hesitates for a second before clasping it tightly and then quickly letting it go after an easy amount of time. He does look at Sebastian and does find glee that the usually-cocky and suave boy that Kurt knew in high school is the one shuffling on his feet and meeting Kurt's eyes wildly.

"I wasn't aware that you guys had been invited, actually," Kurt says conversationally. "But Blaine pretty much handled all of the invitations, thankfully, so he must have snuck one to you." He knows that he's mostly saying it to Sebastian and being a little rude to Alex but there are so many thoughts swirling in his head.

Why the hell had Sebastian not told him that he was here for Kurt and Blaine's fucking wedding this morning? And more importantly, why the fuck had he slept with Kurt last night if the bastard knew I was getting married?

"Yeah," he coughs awkwardly into his fist and brings the same hand back up to his neck, scratching at the hair there. "Yeah, must have been Blaine…"

"Well-" Kurt starts but is interrupted by the clearing of a throat.

All three of them turn towards the barista behind the register and they coarsely look down at the register as if to ask if they were going to finish their interaction with him. Kurt's anger at Sebastian - which he knows he is kind of filing the villain card underneath the guy inappropriately, but hating Sebastian is easy and familiar - morphs into irritation at this rude barista.

"Oh yeah," Alex mutters and steps forward, dropping his arm from Sebastian.

"You don't have to cover my food-" Kurt doesn't miss the raised eyebrow from the tallest of the three of them, "-I can pay for myself."

"Nonsense, Kurt!" he says cheerily, "consider it a wedding gift." The light, titling laughter in his voice tells Kurt that he was just joking, but then he clarifies with, "just kidding, of course. But I do want to pay now that I know that you're probably drowning in wedding expenses- I mean, my sister just got married last fall, and man, they are definitely not cheap."

"Hun," Sebastian grins and steps up behind Alex, side-eyeing Kurt guardedly. "You're rambling," he finishes.

To say Kurt is shocked to see a fond look on Sebastian Smythe's face when Alex looks back and grins at him is an understatement. If his morning hadn't started the way that it did, this would have been the most surprising thing of his day and it wasn't even noon yet.

"My bad," Alex mumbles and blushes at Kurt. "I ramble quite a lot according to Sebby."

Kurt nods and teasingly raises his eyebrows and widens his eyes at Sebastian. Sebby? he mouths.

Sebastian just glares and rolls his eyes, mouth twitch for a second before he turns it downward in a frown.

It's weird, honestly, to have existed two times today around his old high school nemesis and not be flooded with the irritating and immature hatred that he once had for this man. They were children then, he supposes. Maybe the water is clearer now that they've both grown up; perhaps that's why Blaine thought it wasn't a big deal that he invited him without telling Kurt.

Alex completes their order - Kurt thinks it's cute that Sebastian has found someone who remembers his coffee order - and then the three of them shuffle to the side to wait for it to be complete.

Nobody says anything for a second, so Kurt clears his throat and asks, "so, how long have you two been together?"

Alex grins, "almost two years!"

Kurt makes a politely shocked noise and glances back and forth between the two of them, sipping at his now almost-cold coffee. He might get another one on the way out or just curve off the morning's supply at two cups.

"Just say it, Kurt," Sebastian huffs.

Oh, there's some familiarity in the glare that gets shot at Kurt. He can't help the laugh that bubbles up from his chest and explodes out of his mouth. "I'm sorry," he waves his free hand and looks back and forth between the two of them - Sebastian's arm goes back to lying across Alex's shoulders and they look comfortable around each other. "It's just weird to see you-" he nods up to the tallest of the three of them, "-Mr. '20 minute relationships in a bar bathroom-' I mean-"

He cuts himself off and slaps his hand over his mouth a tad more forceful than he meant to. He looks wildly from Sebastian and Alex as they both chuckle-

"Don't worry, Kurt. I know how big of a whore my boyfriend was."

That has Kurt lowering his hand and grinning authentically. He still watches the two of them with a little disbelief because woah Sebastian is like completely settled down and mature and so very different from the boy that he was in high school.

(except that he was perfectly okay with cheating on Alex with you last night)

The thought churns his stomach and stabs through his chest mercilessly. His heart is writhing in pain but he must do a good job at covering it up on the outside because nobody asks if he is okay or not. What a fucking mess he's made.

Thankfully, it's not long after that that their coffees and food are done. Alex grabs the tray of food and Sebastian their coffees and they lead the way to a table over by the windows. Kurt doesn't say anything but Alex has his food and so he is assuming that he wants Kurt's company still?

When Kurt rounds the corner and sees where he chose, the only table with three chairs in that section, his question is answered. Kurt's not sure how he feels about sitting and dining with them too.

It goes well, though. They joke back and forth, Kurt and Sebastian talking a little bit about their past history - thankfully Blaine doesn't come up much in conversation because Kurt's not really sure how well his outward facade is - and Kurt does start to feel better after he eats his two items (which, okay, they are really delicious actually) and drinks the rest of his cold coffee.

Then Alex excuses himself away to use the bathroom and then it's just Kurt and Sebastian sitting there alone - and damn isn't that familiar as all hell? Especially the way Kurt watches Sebastian's face go from a fond smile as he watches Alex walk away to a hate-filled glare when he turns to Kurt.

"I swear, if you say anything to anyone-" he starts.

"What?" Kurt asks, honestly baffled. "You think I'm just dying to tell people what happened? I get fucking married tomorrow, Sebastian," he sneers the guy's name like it's a curse word.

"Well, I wouldn't know how much you value that," Sebastian squints. His mouth twists into a disgusted frown as he looks Kurt up and down exaggeratedly slow, "based on how you're parading around like a hooker coming back from his walk of shame."

Kurt refuses to feel self-conscious, even if he looks questionable at best. Perhaps he should have made himself look more presentable before leaving the hotel room, but that damn cleaning lady… Regardless, he refuses to give Sebastian the power to tear him down. He was right earlier, they're not in high school anymore and his petty insults don't work anymore.

"You know what- honestly, fuck you."

"Please, we did that, remember? That's why everything is so screwed up now."

Kurt stops in shock at how flippantly Sebastian can just talk about it like it's no big deal. Screw what he thought earlier about Sebastian being a changed man and screw what he'd said earlier in the hotel room - he didn't give two shits about his relationship to Alex and this made it perfectly clear.

Still, he pauses for a second to get a clearer read on the guy sitting across from him and all of his hard edges. He's not sure, but he thinks that he suspected a tone of desperation in Sebastian's voice.

He's confused even more now, so he asks, "Do you even care about him?"

"Yeah, you could say that…" he says without hesitation.

And that's when Kurt figures out that Sebastian didn't maliciously sleep with him last night; that it was a drunken mistake for the both of them and that they are both thoroughly fucked.

"Give me your phone," Kurt says, holding his hand out.

"What? Why?"

"Because," Kurt grits out through clenched teeth. He's done with this conversation but it's important that it happens and because they need to have a conversation about what happened so that they're on the same page. He says all of this out loud and then tacks on at the end, "and because this isn't a conversation we can have before he gets back."

Sebastian sighs reluctantly and hands over his unlocked phone. Kurt puts his number in his contacts list and makes the ex-Warbler promise that he will call Kurt later that night after the rehearsal dinner that Kurt will be going to tonight.

(fuck the dinner with the wedding party tonight-)

Kurt clamps down on his panic and promises that as soon as he is away from Sebastian he can freak out about his plans for this evening.

Sebastian agrees and Kurt gathers his small pile of garbage and stands up. "Tell Alex that I enjoyed meeting him, but I've gotta get back, and…" he lowers his voice for the rest, "do damage control."

Sebastian doesn't look at Kurt while he nods and then Kurt turns away and leaves the small little coffee shop. And if he lets out a breath that borders on a sob the moment he's out of the door then it's no one's business but his own.

A/N: As always, if you liked this or have any criticisms, leave a review! I do have a question for you, though: How invested in Alex and Sebastian's relationship are you? Would you like to find out more about their love story? Do you want me to go more in-depth with his character? Please, let me know!

Thanks for reading! xoxo