CHAPTER 16: Video
Summary: Blaine and Sebastian watch Kurt's video with Bella, hoping to prevent it from becoming a distraction on her birthday weekend. If only that wasn't their only hiccup.
Change of canon: I switched the timeline of episodes 4x17 & 4x18, Guilty Pleasures and Shooting Star. It might be confusing at first since one character remembers the old timeline.
Warning: My choice of inappropriate song for Kurt's video was chosen well in advance.
Implied threat of violence
Author's Note: Picks up following Blaine, Sebastian & Bella watching Kurt's Birthday Video for Bella. There's going to be a small time jump soon.
Blaine turned off the video and rejoined the two loves of his life (still weird to say…the Sebastian part, not Bella). Once he did, the two adults waited for Bella to take the lead starting the conversation. Her new Child Phycologist recommended this because anything they might say could influence her reactions/questions.
**Sebastian would like the record to show, HE didn't AGREE with the psychologist. HE agreed to "I don't care what Kurt says or does to piss you off, you will not say a fucking word or our next 10…5 sleepovers will be nothing but actual sleep."
But he did agree with Blaine "honoring their daughter's feelings" and refer to Gayface as Not-Papa. HE suggested calling the idiot "Fucking-Asshole" but was overruled.
What seemed like an eternity later, Bella finally asked "Why does Not-Papa not want me to has cake? I loves cake."
Huh?
Blaine expected her first question to be Uncle Finn had a daughter?
However, between the giant Battlestar cake planned for her Star Wars party and their song about wishes on her cake, the birthday girl had developed quite the obsession for the baked good. He could see how her 3 year-old brain misinterpreted the lyrics of his ex's inexcusable song choice.
"Not that kind of dessert, Sweetie. When Not-Papa sings I'll stand by you…Take me into your darkest hour…And I'll never desert you, it means he will always be there for you, even if times are bad, like now when you're mad at him. He'll never leave you…"
"Again?" Sebastian instantly panicked. Five was a lot of sleep-overs and they had just gotten to the fun stuff.
Too late now, so he wasn't going to hold back. "He'll never leave Monkey, or you? He left the two of you alone with an unknown virus attacking the entire fucking world! And don't think I missed Gayfa (shit!)…Not-Papa kept referring to the three of you as a family. We are…"
Before Blaine could jump in, Bella put her hand on Sebastian's and gave him a sweet (but ultimately heartbreaking smile) "It ok, Ash. Not-Papa no mean it. He lying. He no say sorry…oof! Ash, too tight! No breathe!"
Bella's pleas were further muffled as Sebastian pulled her closer into his chest. He wanted her to feel all his love and how hewould NEVER desert her. But Blaine remained eerily calm. There was another issue he wanted to try to address before everything deteriorated altogether. "Bella, is this the reason you keep saying Not-Papa is a liar, besides him going to New York and not staying here in Ohio with us?"
Sebastian let her go and she turned to see her pictures in the Vogue Magazine Isabelle sent. "He said it be fun" she grumbled, as the three of them flipped through the pages. "It not fun."
"Why didn't you tell me about this?"
Without saying a word, Bella picked up Dalton and went to her room. Blaine started to go after her, but Sebastian wouldn't let him pass "What the hell, Bas?!"
"Let me handle this." Sebastian pulled back the shoulders on the sweatshirt Blaine was wearing and smiled. "Trust me?"
Blaine was swayed by Sebastian's expression of sheer confidence mixed with total uncertainty. The look of a first-time father. "Without question"
They found Bella lying on her toddler bed with Dalton, hugging her Flash stuffy. Blaine sat on the floor beside the bed while Sebastian went to the rocking chair the Hendersons lent them. "Hey Monkey, you remember the first night you and your Daddy moved in? When you wanted to stay out and play on the swing/fort but your Daddy got cold?"
Blaine let out a groan, but Bella did crack a smile. She loved it when Sebastian teased her Daddy about this.
"So I, out of the kindness of my heart, went and got him one of MY sweatshirts because he hadn't unpacked any yet?"
"He wear it now" Bella pointed out. "He wear it all the times and he has his owns now."
"That's right" Sebastian stated smugly, earning him both a stuck-out tongue and strategically hidden middle finger from Blaine. "Do you know what the sweatshirt says?"
Bella sat up while shooting him her grown another head look "I little, Ash. I no read."
Sebastian walked over to Blaine, prompting him to stand. "Had to ask. You are the most brilliant kid in the universe. It says Stanford. It's where I went to college and you will too someday."
"Say what?" Blaine obviously didn't agree. "She's totally going to Julliard."
"We'll discuss it later" Sebastian answered, all the while pointing out the STANFORD across Blaine's chest. "When I was at Stanford, I took a lot of classes on something called contracts. Contracts are a lot like promises but written down. One thing that's the same about contracts and promises, if one person doesn't keep their word, the other person doesn't have to either."
How had I not thought of this? Blaine began silently berating himself. Everything was so clear now. Kurt always mocked their pinky-promises and then he used one when it was to his advantage.
Son-of-a-BITCH!
But he needed confirmation. "Did Not-Papa make you pinky-promise not to tell me about taking pictures with Miss Isabelle?"
Bella nodded, the tears she'd been holding back beginning to fall. "I sorry, Daddy" she apologized in the smallest voice imaginable.
Good thing Kurt wasn't there because for the first time in his life Blaine seriously considered murder and he knew Sebastian wasn't much better. Although in a month he would have all that money…STOP IT!
Blaine squashed his plot for revenge, picked Bella up and handed her to Sebastian. "You have nothing to be sorry for, My Love. You (kiss away tears, cheek 1) are (kiss away tears, cheek 2) perfect." Then he placed his hands on her cheeks, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "I promise I'm not mad. Well, I'm not mad at you."
"You mad at Not-Papa."
"Beyond mad."
"You mad at Tay-Tay too cuz she sing in v'deo?"
Damn! The question caused him to step back and scramble for what to say next. He thought he had been able to hide his feelings concerning her Godmother. "Yes. Yes, I am but you don't have to worry about that or anything else except having the bestest birthday ever."
It took a minute until…"Ok, and we don't has to sing Tay-Tay the birthday song. I kinda mad too. But don't be mad at Auntie Britt and Rosie. They no sing. Rosie juss wanna say Hi."
Bella was right. Brittany hadn't sung. She just mouthed Hi or Miss You as she waved Rosie's arm or helped her blow kisses while the sound of the others singing played in the background.
The thought of Brittany hurting him like that was worse than what he felt when seeing Tina. He had to remind himself she didn't know anything. He had purposely kept her in the dark this entire time.
This was the final straw. He needed to tell her everything, which meant also telling Santana. That wasn't going to go well. He should tell her first, do it over the phone when he checked-in with her about what she had found out as his New Directions spy.
No, this had to be in person. It sounded like he was going to make a side trip to Boston when he went to NYC to sign the papers for his Trust. And if Sebastian went with him, maybe they could see Wes. If he was going to be apologizing for past decisions, he might as well start on the Warblers. Although in a perfect world he'd like to begin with Jeff and Thad. He just needed to find Thad.
Alive
**Please let him be alive. Sebastian couldn't handle it if not, especially if Thad really was the third passenger in the accident.
Blaine shook himself out of his thoughts to once again focus on Bella. "I didn't notice. Thank you, My Love. Maybe when we're singing your birthday song for family, we can Zoom Auntie Britt and Auntie Tana too and sing it to Rosie."
Bella smiled at his suggestion. "She got big and her hair got lots of curls like mines! But it color like Auntie Britt and mine like yours."
"Nobody's hair has curls like yours" Sebastian countered, fluffing her wild locks. "So, are we officially done with this shi…video? Maybe we can go play on the swings 'til bedtime? And maybe I can finally hear this mystery birthday song? I'll have to go get a sweatshirt…no wait, I have one right here."
"Blaine!"
That was odd. Why would John Henderson come see them? And why would he be calling out for Blaine, not Sebastian? "In here!"
Dalton's groundskeeper came to the doorway unable to disguise his expression something was definitely wrong. "Molly said your phone was off because you were dealing something your ex…"
Blaine interrupted him and asked "What happened?"
John stepped away from the door, causing both Blaine and Sebastian to let out audible gasps. Bella let out a gasp as well but hers was more a squeal of joy. She wiggled herself free of Sebastian's arms and ran to the man who joined them.
"Sammy!"
3 Hours Later
Blaine closed his eyes after he put down his tablet. It was just for a minute he told himself. He didn't want to sleep, he was just needed to decompress from his Zoom with Rachel.
He told her not to watch the fucking video!
Not to mention the calls he made prior to his verbal marathon with his daughter's birth mother and ex's former (at least that's what she said after that video) best friend.
The one to Mr. Barnes to straighten out Sam's problems went fine. An emergency medical transfer was granted and an OB would be there in the morning to check on Marley. But the second call…well, it was a toss up whether Sebastian or Sam and Marley would kill him first.
The problem with not falling asleep was he was already on his bed. He told Rachel they were staying on a farm with Dave's best man's family to explain the goats in the first video.
It wasn't technically a lie. Sebastian did consider the Hendersons and Martins to be like family.
Anyway, because of this, he and Bella always Zoomed Rachel from the farm. In cases of unexpected Face Times, they went to Blaine's bedroom. He told her the bedroom had been remodeled to a more modern style and she bought the explanation. It was a pain in the ass but better than telling her the truth. However, since Kurt now knew…
Unfortunately, unlike most people, overthinking didn't keep Blaine awake
He walked down the hallway, immediately noticing the difference. This was Old Dalton. The grey and white cardigan he was wearing pinpointed the date…November 8, 2011…the day he met Sebastian. But something was off. Why didn't he hear Uptown Girl?
When he entered the Warblers Commons, Sebastian wasn't there. None of the Warblers were.
"I've been waiting for you Blaine Warbler"
16 year-old Brittany, dressed in her Cheerios uniform, greeted him. Blaine looked down and noticed his clothing had changed. He was wearing his Cheerios uniform as well.
"Brittany, what are you doing here?"
"Thad asked me to tell you something. He can't talk to you right now. That's why he needed me."
WTF! "Thad?" How the hell did she know Thad?
"You can't hear him because your heart is closed. You must open it and fast. He says only you will understand."
"Brittany, I've got talk to Thad. Do you know where he is?"
"He won't talk to you until you open your heart"
He loved her, he really did, but sometimes figuring out what Brittany was trying to say was like putting together a 5000 piece puzzle with 10 key pieces missing. "You know me. I cry at Hallmark Christmas movies and homeless puppy commercials. How can you say my heart is closed?"
"I didn't. Thad did. Do you want to know what he told me to tell you?"
What choice did he have? "Please"
"Well, it's not really a what but a when. And…"
"Brittany (deep breath), what did Thad say?"
"April 11, 2013"
April 11, 2013
"Blainey-Days!"
"Tay-Tay!"
The two friends ran across the football field toward each other, dodging reunions and the menagerie of press that seemed to assemble whenever the words School Shooting hit the airwaves. Once Blaine had her in his arms, Tina broke down. It was the first time anything had felt normal in 2 hours. "Sh…sh, we're all ok. Where were you?"
"I was in the office turning in the receipts for our Regionals' dresses material when all hell broke loose. We were one of the first rooms the police evacuated and they sent us here to wait. I've been looking for you guys in every group they brought out."
"They never got to us until they called the All Clear. Let's go find the rest of Glee Club. I know Sam has been worried about you."
Before he could move, through the chaos Blaine saw familiar blue jackets. But it wasn't THE Warblers, it was two Warblers…Thad and Sebastian, and Sebastian looked like hell.
Blaine felt Tina leave his arms for Sam's, but they weren't empty for very long. "Sebby doesn't look good" Brittany murmured into his ear so not to be heard by their friends standing next to them "And neither does Thad. Are you going to go say something?"
"What can I say? Sebastian, I've never told you this, but I am hopelessly and completely in love with you. I always have been but realized it much too late. That I'm tired of pretending I'm heartbroken over Kurt and only want to be with you. Britt, you know I can't do that."
"Blaine…"
His rant wasn't finished. "Sebastian doesn't know how much I love him, yet he came here because he gives a damn about me unlike the person I've been begging to take me back, even though I want to be with Sebastian."
"Blaine…"
"Less than an hour ago you were standing on a toilet, praying the person who entered the restroom didn't have a gun. I know you care for Sam but tell me you weren't thinking of Santana."
She couldn't so she asked the question she always asked when Blaine brought up Sebastian. "Can you hear Sebby's new song?"
"No, an old one…Against All Odds by Phil Collins."
Before he realized what was happening, both Blaine and Brittany were engulfed in the same pair of strong arms. "I swear you kids are going to give you another heart attack!"
"Sorry Burt."
"Well, don't do it again!" He let them go to answer his phone. "Lucky for me, I've got the two of you together. There's some people in a loft in NYC who need to hear your voices."
Thankfully, Santana demanded to speak to Brittany first. Blaine had decided Brittany was right and he should go find Sebastian. He didn't care is Kurt "needed to hear his voice".
But it was too late. Thad was leading Sebastian away
I wish I could just make you turn around
Turn around and see me cry
There's so much I need to say to you
So many reasons why
You're the only one who really knew me at all
He'd ignored the constant buzzing of his phone, but something made Blaine check his latest text. It was Uptown Girl, an alert believed to be deleted a long time ago.
From Sebastian: 😟 (worried face)
Take a good look at me now
'Cause I'll still be standing here
And you comin' back to me is against all odds
It's the chance I've got to take
"Blaine"
Back to reality and the phone now pressed to his ear. "Hello, Kurt."
"Blaine, B…Killer, I'm back."
Blaine shot up to see Sebastian sitting next to him on the bed. "Oh, thank god" he let out before embracing the man he loved, holding on tightly to make sure he was real.
"Hey, it's ok" Sebastian cooed as he gently stroked Blaine's back. "Bad dream? Do you need Dalton, the takes away bad dreams kitten."
"No" Blaine chuckled "I wouldn't dare separate the dynamic duo. And the dream wasn't bad, just weird. What time is it?"
"Not bad, just weird. What time is it?"
"A little after midnight."
"Midnight!" Blaine pulled back and grabbed his phone to verify what he had been told. "Shit! I meant to get to the farmhouse…"
"Don't freak-out. Once you texted to say Rachel Zoomed in and she watched Hummel's video, we all knew the chances of you making it were slim to none. What was important was you made the calls to keep everyone out of the Bitch Dictator's holding center for people who break lockdown. Can you imagine Nana in one of those places since she helped?"
"I was more worried about Jay. He was the one who brought Sam, Marley and Miss Rose to the farm."
Jay was the son of Jackson and Mary's oldest son. He and his parents had a fallout (none of his business), but he was still close to everyone on this end of the farm. When the Henderson's began growing Sebastian's "medicine", Jay took over the business portion of the company they had to establish to get a license. And since he oversaw transferring product to the pharmacies, he had a "Essential" pass.
Nana told him to go get everyone after Sam called in a panic when he couldn't get ahold of Blaine.
At the mention of Jay Sebastian took Blaine's hands in his and dropped his head. "Um, B, um, there's something I have to tell you about Jay."
"That he's getting his assigned week off and has been quarenting so he could spend it at the farm. I knew that. Mary's making him a costume for Bella's party. And that's probably why Nana had no qualms with sending him to pregnant Marley. It's bad enough her blood pressure got so high she passed out."
"It didn't help she heard Sam screaming at his mother about this whole having a baby out of wedlock bullshit. But B, about Jay. I, um, well, when I first came back to Ohio, you know for my job, I, um went to a bar…"
"Scandals?"
"Hell no! Scandals would always be you, even though Seb16 thru 18 tried hard to erase your memory."
So, Scandals was their special place? Or maybe he wasn't thinking clearly after his dream. "Bas, what is it?
"I met Jay and we, well we…we became fuck buddies. We stopped when we realized I was working with his family…why are you laughing?"
Blaine wasn't merely laughing. He was flat-out belly laughing. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" he said once he caught his breath. "When Jay found out you were rebuilding Dalton, he didn't say anything about knowing people, or at least a person who went there?"
"Yeah, but he shrugged it off and dropped the subject. Why?"
"I'll answer your question with another question. Do you know what Jay is short for?"
"Jerry"
"No, Jerry-miah."
"Jeremiah? Why does that…Holy Shit! Jay is the Gap Attack guy? When were you going to tell me?"
"Hopefully never."
"How do you know even know for sure? You haven't met him because he always picks up the pot so fucking early in the morning."
"I've known since the second I saw Jimmy. You and Grant may be doppelgangers, but Jimmy is my Jeremiah's younger clone, especially the hair. And I wanted to talk to Jay before saying anything because the last time I saw him it didn't end well. But I have a question. You had no problem remembering your so-called fuck buddy yet you couldn't remember K, the supposed love of your life?"
"First, memory loss from a severe concussion. And second, how was I supposed to know K was for Killer? All I could remember about you was being angry with…"
"Hating, Bas. The word you used was hating."
Sebastian shook his head. "No, I know now I didn't hate you. I was masking the pain of the fact you weren't with me. Monkey too, even though I didn't know she existed at the time."
Shit! Bella! She went to the farm with Sebastian, Sam and John to see Marley. Actually, when she heard Marley had passed out, she marched to her room, threw all her stuffies into the hallway along with her Supergirl blankie and pajamas, got Dalton's carrier and her whistle.
Then she announced she made Sebastian better when he went to sleep for 2 days and she was going to do the same thing for Marley. This meant she also needed (demanded) Blaine's laptop.
Sam told his goddaughter Marley was already awake but had to stay in bed until the doctor said it was ok. Bella replied she didn't care if the doctor was Uncle Doctor Paul, she had to see for herself.
With that attitude, Blaine could have sworn his daughter was turning 13 and not 3. He was in sooooo much trouble.
"Where's Bella?"
"She and Dalton are asleep in her bed. Molly gave her a bath and put her in her pajamas. Monkey probably would have stayed with Marley and Sam but you promised her chocolate chip-banana pancakes in the morning."
"I feel awful we had to switch her Princess Party from tomorrow, or I guess today, to Saturday. But with Sam, Marley and Miss Rose needing to settle in, not to mention the delivery of Sam's birthday present from Bella arriving this evening…"
"B, Monkey's fine with it. You said you'd take her to the Music Center in the morning to record her birthday song. And after lunch, John, Roger, Sam and I are taking her and all the other kids to the windmill to catch the frogs that decided to move into the water feature. Everyone's being kicked out, except Marley, Miss Rose and you of course."
"Of course. I'll never be able to outdo this Star Wars party."
"Authentic Star War costumes, the biggest birthday cake I've ever seen and at least $100,000 worth of gifts for the guests? Yeah, I don't think you will either."
"Technically, at least $40,000 of the clothing was a gift from Dior since Bella is now the face of Baby Dior. Although, I'll probably have pay it back when I break her contract because Kurt didn't have the legal right to sign her to one. Good thing by the time all this gets settled I'll have my inheritance."
Something he said caused Sebastian to have an epiphany. "B, you said you only had $10,000 in your bank account. That you spent the $50 million and satisfied Stanley's sadistic clauses for the full inheritance. How the hell did you pay for this party?"
"I didn't. Well, not most of it. Kurt did."
Huh?
"How? I mean…how?"
"When I left Evan Hansen because I had to deal with the paternity mess and then learn everything I could about the inheritance, the Trust decided to give me a monthly living allowance that didn't count toward the money I received from Stanley. The last 2 months I've still been receiving it but haven't had the same expenditures since I'm not living in NYC. No housing or transportation costs." Blaine smiled a smile so big Sebastian thought his face would break. "No spending money or wardrobe allowance for Kurt."
Sebastian's smile grew to match Blaine's. "He didn't get any money the last 2 months? I'm surprised he didn't bitch about that when he tried to weasel his way back in when he Zoom-bombed you."
"He was trying to be nice, remember? Then he slipped and mentioned trying to send you to military school and everything went to hell from there."
"But you two were still together in May, at least for a couple of days."
"He pulled his I'm going back to NYC stunt on the 2nd. The money went into his account on the 5th of the month on an automatic transfer from mine. I was able to stop it in time. And while I could continue, it's now 1AM, we have a busy day and you need to go take your steam so you can walk in the morning."
"Already done. Had one of Nana's magical brownies too."
Sebastian went to his side of the bed as Blaine got under the covers and turned off the lights. He was almost back to sleep when Sebastian asked "Want to tell me about your dream?"
No, but it sounded like he had to. He definitely didn't want to mention Thad and the second part of the dream was irrelevant because Sabastian wasn't there that day and Against All Odds was Sam's song.
"I was at Old Dalton on the day I met you…"
"November 8, 2011."
Blaine's smile was back even though Sebastian couldn't see it. Anniversaries were never important to Kurt. "Yes, November 8, 2011"
"Were you wearing the grey striped cardigan with the tight pants that showed off your ass so perfectly?"
"Do you want me to tell you about the dream or do you want to discuss my ass?"
"I always want to discuss your ass, Killer." Sebastian felt a slap on his chest. "My apologies, please continue."
"Yes, I was wearing the cardigan and pants but when I got to the Warblers Commons you weren't there. None of the Warblers were…Brittany was. 16 year-old Brittany in her Cheerios uniform and I was suddenly in mine as well. She said somebody told her to tell me something. It was a date…April 11, 2013."
"The day of the shooting? That doesn't make sense."
What didn't make sense was Sebastian knowing the date of the shooting. "You know the date of the shooting?"
"Uh, yeah, I kind of went a little crazy when I heard. Thad drove me to Lima so I didn't do anything stupid. I saw you with your friends and Hummel's dad out on the football field."
WTF? "Why didn't you come talk to me?"
"Did I mention Hummel's dad? Seriously B, I saw you were ok. It was what I needed. I did send you a text despite knowing you had most likely deleted my number. After you talked to Wes that night, he let us know everything. That was good enough."
Take a look at me now
What…the…FUCK?
The Next Morning
Bella woke up in her bed but couldn't remember how she got there. Last thing she remembered was watching Beauty and the Beast in Marley and Sammy's bed. She was so happy they were at the farm and could come to her birthday parties. Best present EVER…unless the wishes from her cake come true.
OH, that's right. It wasn't for reals cake but Daddy promised nana-chocy chip pancakes for breakfast. Ash must has bringed her back when she was sleeping so she can eat them.
After going to her Bella-sized potty and wiping both her and Dalton's hands, she went to go find Daddy to tell him Marley felt gooder with Nana.
He wasn't in bed but Ash was there. He must have sleeped-over with Daddy because his 'partment is full of presents for her party. He was still sleeping so she didn't say good morning.
She tried the kitchen next but Daddy wasn't there. He wasn't in the living room either but his phone was and it was playing Don't You Want Me. That was Daddy and Auntie Rachel's song. She wasn't allowed to play with Daddy's phone but sometimes he let her press the button when it was Auntie Rachel.
"Hi, Auntie Rachel!"
"Hi, Sweetie. I really want to talk to you but can I talk to your Daddy first?"
"Daddy no here. Ash is, but he sleeping in Daddy's bed. You want to talk to him? I wake him up."
Auntie Rachel's face got really funny after she said that.
"Ash is asleep in your Daddy's bed. I thought Ash was your friend."
"He Daddy friend too. He and Daddy has lots of sleepovers. I show you." She took the phone and ran to Daddy's bedroom. "Ash wake up!"
"Ummm, morning Monkey" Sebastian groaned as he stretched awake.
"Auntie Rachel want to talk."
"Monkey, I know you want me to meet your Aunt Rachel but…"
When he rolled over to face Bella (shirtless and with bed hair), he was greeted by a smirking Rachel Berry staring back at him.
"Good morning, Ash. It's so nice to finally meet you…again."
NOTES:
I'll Stand By You (Glee Cast Version): Hynde, Chrissie; Kelly, Thomas; Steinberg, William 1994/2013
Against All Odds: Collins, Phillip 1984
In Chapter 9, Choices, Blaine tells Sebastian he believes in things like Soul Mates and Alternate Universes. Now that Sebastian is all in, Blaine will be the one having difficulty believing. It's tied to his belief Thad was the third passenger in Sebastian's accident.
I'm aware there are a lot of loose ends here but I didn't want to cram too much in this chapter after being gone so long.