"Seb! Seb!"

A fist pounded the door, making the wood tremble. Sebastian paid it no heed.

"Pornhub has a pause button, you know!" his brother shouted from behind the door, and rapped the wood again.

Sebastian did not reply. His interest in partaking in life had been muted, and he lay, shell-shocked, on the bed of his hotel room, face down, trying not to breathe. It was like the sound of the detonation played in his head like a loop, following Kurt's words like a punctuation mark. A full stop. We can never see each other again. BOOM. It was the full stop on their relationship, and now that Kurt was actually gone, it felt like it was the full stop on Sebastian's life.

This was not what Kurt had wanted him to do- he left him with the sole purpose of giving him a chance at life- but it was a gift Sebastian had not asked for and did not want. What was the return policy on a life?

"Okay, ready or not, I'm coming in!" his brother announced, and pulled open the door. He took in the sight.

"Mon Dieu, you're not even dressed yet," he cursed, crossing the room with large strides.

He walks like dad, Sebastian thought vaguely, not moving from his position on the bed. He held his breath.

"Come on, get up and dress properly, you know how mom gets when we're late."

Sebastian breathed in, feeling the air fill his aching lungs. He mumbled a few words into the duvet, a muffled jumble of 'leave me alone' and 'fuck off, Marcus' .

Marcus sighed. "Are we have a melodramatic moment? Did your favourite tv show get cancelled or what?"

Instead of replying, Sebastian just slowly lifted one hand and gave him the finger.

"Okay, that's it," Marcus decided, and walked up to the closet, pulling out a suit and throwing it onto the bed next to Sebastian. "You have one more chance to dress yourself before I will. Don't think I won't- I was changing your diapers when I was seven."

The threat didn't mean anything to Sebastian, but he knew Marcus was good for it, and there was no getting around it. When his family had a meeting, presence was mandatory. He thought about Kurt and Burt, and how simple it was with their family. It was just them. No protocols, no hotel suites, no suits (actually, Kurt did wear suits now and then, but by choice).

Then again, maybe their life had not been so simple after all, if they had to give it up.

The loop in his head played again, and Sebastian realised he couldn't fight it any longer. He had to go on with his life, because Kurt wanted him to. If he was to never see him again, he had to treat it like his dying wish. He breathed in again, more purposefully this time, and pushed himself off the bed.

Marcus looked up and was about to say something when he took in Sebastian's face and the words stuck in his throat. His expression changed; suddenly, he was less like his dad and heir to the family business, and more like the brother who had helped Sebastian with his homework and came to his tapdancing recitals when their parents couldn't make it.

"What's going on, Seb?" he asked carefully. "What happened? Did someone hurt you?"

A glimmer of his dad and the business shone in his eyes at the last question, and Sebastian knew he'd only have to mention a name and there'd be consequences. But he had no names, so he just shook his head and pulled off his shirt. He was aware of his brother's eyes on his body, checking for bruises, scrapes, cuts. Fingerprints. He knew there were none. The shards of the explosion were embedded within him, invisible and searing.

All dressed, they made their way down to the conference room in silence. Other members of their family filtered in, aunts, uncles, cousins, most of whom Sebastian only saw at these mandatory meetings. As the younger son, he had no obligation to interact with them outside of them. Thankfully, only his body was required to be in the seat, and as the meeting started, Sebastian resumed playing the end of his life on loop.

"...which brings us to the last point on the agenda. The Andersons."

A collective groan went through the room.

"New information has come through earlier tonight that the Andersons' presumedly deceased daughter Elizabeth had been, in fact, alive all this time, and was living under a changed identity up until Friday, when her cover was blown following a phone call from her son. It was the first official contact they had had in fifteen years, and their last. She was killed by a car detonation."

Sebastian's ears pricked up. Changed identities? Friday? Before he could fully connect the dots, someone else did it for him.

"She was Senator Hummel's wife, wasn't she?"

Sebastian's stomach dropped. Kurt's mother...had been alive all this time?

"Fifteen years is a good run, I can't believe her family would jeopardise that. Surely they must have known they were still under surveillance. The Andersons never let go, ever!"

"Why?" Sebastian croaked.

"Seb?" Marcus asked next to him. Sebastian never volunteered to speak at their meetings, ever.

"Why was she killed?" Sebastian asked.

The Smythes went silent. His mother gave him a calculated stare, but his father smiled, almost tenderly, as if Sebastian's unexpected contribution did him proud.

"In 1992 , Elizabeth Anderson volunteered as a witness in a large drug trafficking case against her own family and, knowing the likelihood of retributions, was taken into a witness protection program. Under her new name, she met and married Burt Hummel and they had a son. She was made in 2001 and - as we now know - hired a company to fake her death. Probably Honeybadger Schuester. They say she's the best for Ohio."

Sebastian's father paused.

"Must have been one hell of an important phone call," one of Sebastian's uncles remarked casually.

Sebastian thought he was going to be sick. Suddenly he suspected what could have triggered the call.

They had gotten engaged on Thursday. Kurt, knowing his mother was still alive, must have called to tell her.

"Seb? Sebastian, what is the matter with you?" his mother asked sharply. "Have you been drinking again? Marcus!" Her piercing eyes moved to her eldest son, as if the state Sebastian was in was somehow his fault. Marcus shrugged helplessly.

Sebastian closed his eyes and spoke, his voice almost inaudible.

"Kurt Hummel was my fiancé."

The silence held for a moment as the air was sucked out of the room into people's lungs to all speak at once.

"Fiancé? Is he gay?"

"Did he know of the mother's identity?"

"Are the Hummels-"

His mother's voice silenced them all. "You got engaged to a grandchild of the Andersons without our permission?"

Sebastian looked back at her.

"No. I got engaged to Kurt Hummel, graduate of Ohio's McKinley high school and NYADA senior, son of Burt Hummel, former car mechanic and US senator." He swallowed. "I knew nothing about his mother. Kurt had told me she was dead. All I know is…"

He gasped for breath. All eyes were on him. Marcus put a hand on his arm, squeezing it softly.

"...he is gone, and I will never see him again."

His father was the first to recover.

"Sebastian," he started. "I'm extremely sorry for your loss. I regret that you didn't feel you could trust to tell us. If we had known, we might have been able to prevent his death-"

"He is not dead!" Sebastian shouted, his voice breaking. "He's gone. Relocated. A new name, a new life - without me. He didn't tell me anything, he didn't let me come with him. He. Just. Left!"

Murmurs started up around them, but Sebastian didn't care. He only heard fragments. Explosion. News. Identities. Schuester. He vaguely noticed Marcus standing up.

"Father, I formally request to take this on personally," he said in a firm, clear voice. His father nodded for him to continue.

"I have been grooming my connections for a long time. The way in with the Andersons is through their weakest link: Blaine. I believe now is the time to pull the strings and clean them out."

"Why would we do that?" his mother asked. "The Smythe family hold no personal grudges towards the Andersons. While the situation is most unfortunate, we cannot risk going to war-"

Marcus glanced at Sebastian, then met his mother's eye. "No offence, mother, but shit got personal the moment Sebastian put a ring on it."

"I agree, Samantha," his father added. "Or are you saying love is not worth going to war for?"

They exchanged looks. Samantha Smythe's eyes softened. Finally, she nodded. Her husband took over.

"Pull whatever strings you need, Marcus. It's about time the Andersons got their dues."

Marcus nodded.

Mr Smythe senior looked Sebastian in the eyes. "We will find him, Sebastian," he promised.

"Coffee?" Burt offered carefully.

Kurt shook his head. They had just disembarked at Southampton, waiting for a cab to take them to their first temporary stay. It had taken the ship over two weeks, taking an elaborate cruise as a part of their cover. Kurt had kept to his cabin, and Burt had obliged him, spreading the word on board that his son was ill and having food delivered to their room.

Without even trying, Kurt had been true to the part, as he stayed in bed, occasionally sleeping, but mostly just staring at the ceiling. He hadn't gotten dressed until they neared the coast. Now he stood next to Burt, pale and tired, holding a new passport that said his name was 'Thomas', selfishly wishing Sebastian was there with him to teasingly call him 'Tommy' and make fun at his new haircut and the awful picture on his pass. He ached for Sebastian's infuriating laugh.

"Cab's here, Tom," his dad said solemnly, and Kurt nodded. He got in, buckled up, and went back to his thoughts as his dad struck up a conversation with the cab driver about driving on the left.

"We'll take our cases down ourselves, thanks," Burt told the cabby as he stopped at the end of the driveway. He paid the man and heaved their small packs from the trunk. For added realism, most of their possessions had remained in the house.

Kurt glanced around. It was a quiet neighbourhood of matching houses, neatly kept lawns, and modest cars. He couldn't care less.

He watched the cab pull away, feeling like it was taking the very last shreds of his soul with him.

"Thomas?" his father's voice said, a little unsteadily. "Tom- Kurt!"

Kurt's real name- which they had vowed not to use anymore unless in dire emergencies- pulled Kurt from his thoughts and he looked at his dad. Burt nodded towards the house.

There, on the hood of a rental car, sat Sebastian.

Kurt felt like the breath he took was the first one filling his lungs since that night, and he ran towards him. I can't keep him, his mind provided, he is in danger here. But he couldn't help it, he was pulled towards him like a magnet.

"Bas! Oh god, Bas," he let out, and then Sebastian's arms were around him, hugging him tightly. Before he knew it, Kurt was crying, sobbing softly into Sebastian's shoulder.

"It wasn't your fault," Sebastian whispered into his ear. Kurt shook his head, not feeling he deserved the absolution. Not yet. Then he realised something.

He pulled away a little to look at Sebastian.

"How did you find out? How did you find us? What are you doing here?"

Sebastian offered him a small smile. "I'm here to take you home."

Kurt swallowed. "I can't," he whispered, "they will-"

"The Andersons are in jail, Kurt," Sebastian said. "Every single one responsible for your mom's death, and everyone involved in their dirty business. They found a new witness for the case."

Behind them, Burt pulled out his phone and a sheet of paper, starting to type out a number.

"I don't understand," Kurt said. "How did you-"

"My family isn't actually in real estate," Sebastian admitted. "They are pretty damn shady, if I'm honest, but as far as I know, do not rely on bombs to resolve their business conflicts." He paused. "I understand if you want no part of that," he added softly. "I just wanted you to know that if you wanted, you could go back to being Kurt ."

Kurt swallowed. He didn't care what the Smythes' did for a living- they had just saved his life.

"Only on one condition," he said. "Can I also go back to being 'the man you were going to marry?'"

Sebastian let out something that was a mix between a sob and a laugh, and reached into his pocket. He took out the ring and held it out to Kurt.

"You can be the man I am going to marry," he said.