Tracy could not stop talking about movie night all week. It was only a few days after Christmas and still, she'd suddenly become the most impatient child on the planet. The day of the movie night/date night/dreaded night of overthinking was the same day Blaine planned to bring Tracy to meet Rachel for lunch. They did this often, mostly because Kurt insisted it was good for Tracy to have a strong woman in her life, but also because he always wanted to guarantee Tracy would feel comfortable whenever Kurt and Blaine decided she was old enough for the whole "here's how you were born" conversation. There was also the fact that Blaine and Tracy both genuinely liked Rachel, but Blaine was sure he wouldn't have tried so hard to make this happen regularly if it weren't for all of the other things.
They met at a sandwich shop in midtown known for its accessible kid's menu. It was one of Tracy's favorites, and it happened to be close to the theatre where Rachel performed every night, so they ended up meeting there more often than not.
The conversation began the same as always, Rachel telling stories of the show from the night before, Tracy asking all kinds of questions about Elphaba as if she didn't already know the answers, and Blaine smiling along and trying to follow the minds of these two girls who seemingly spoke 800 words per minute.
But then came the fateful question.
"Do you have plans for New Year's, Blaine?"
Tracy was busy digging into her mac and cheese, so she wasn't even phased by the question. But Blaine? Yeah, he'd completely forgotten New Year's was a day adults usually spent celebrating with champagne and parties and kisses. He hadn't even spent it that way the last few years of his marriage to Kurt. He'd thought about trying to find a show to see with Tracy but getting anywhere on New Year's Eve in New York was hell and Tracy couldn't stay up past nine most nights, much less midnight. He'd pretty much accepted his night would be a boring night in, like most nights, watching the New Year's Eve special alone on his couch and fiddling with song lyrics. And yes, he was aware of how lame that sounded, which is why he wasn't eager to volunteer that information to Rachel.
"Not really," he said instead. It wasn't like Rachel was a raging partier or anything, but he still felt some kind of pressure to sound cool, especially since he knew no matter what she was doing, it would be better than sitting on a couch alone with no one to kiss at midnight. "What about you?"
"Funny you should ask," Rachel started, her lips tilting into a smile. "Jesse and I are performing at a small party with a mostly Broadway crowd that night, then hosting the after party at our townhouse. You should stop by."
Blaine almost laughed. Almost. "I wish, but I'll have Tracy. It doesn't really seem like a good scene for a six-year-old."
"I thought Kurt was taking her for the weekend?" Rachel asked. And that actually did make Blaine laugh.
"Sure, in theory it's his weekend. But he just had her last weekend, and he never takes her that close together," Blaine explained. Weird, because Rachel should've known all of this by now.
"But…" She started, clearly hesitant and worried about starting conflict. "I just spoke to him on the phone this morning. He said he has big plans for the new year. Is this really the first you're hearing of this?"
Again, funny that this surprised her. "Yeah, I had no idea. I guess I'll call him later to figure it out." Because yes, the Thursday two days before New Year's Eve was the best time to find out that Kurt had plans for the weekend involving their daughter. Brilliant.
"Speaking of that, what are these big plans you're so excited about tonight, Trace?" Rachel asked, turning her attention to the little girl frantically coloring on her kid's menu.
Tracy's attention shot up immediately at the mention of movie night. "We're having movie night! My best friend Adrienne and her uncle are coming over tonight! We're gonna watch a movie and make popcorn and eat candy and play Wicked again and stay up really late and…"
"Whoa, sounds like you have it all planned out," Rachel joked. Her laugh was brief and hidden among suspicion, but it was there. Tracy went back to coloring almost immediately, already bored of whatever Rachel would say next. "But what's this about an uncle? Is this a play date for you, too, Blaine?"
A familiar heat rose in Blaine's cheeks, one that he now associated with any mention of Sebastian. Rachel definitely wasn't the most observant person on the planet, so he knew it had to be obvious if even she started to pick up on it. "Well, it's kind of a funny story…" Blaine said, hesitating at first before he gave up and launched into the entire story about how he realized Sebastian was Adrienne's uncle, and how they spent Christmas together and now this had turned into a regular occurrence, and he didn't know what it meant but it made him feel some type of way. Luckily, Tracy had slipped away to the bathroom for a few minutes so Blaine could let his word vomit out.
"Wow, that's a lot," Rachel admitted. A bold concession coming from her. "I mean…I think I'm happy for you. But be careful, Blaine. You know how he can be."
"He's different now, Rachel. He's so good with the girls, and he's been so sweet to me ever since we reunited. He didn't even say 'I told you so' when I told him about the divorce."
Rachel remained hesitant, but her frown eventually turned to a reluctant smile as she processed Blaine's persistence. "I support you, you know. If this is what you want, then I say go for it."
"Really?"
"Hey, who am I to judge? I also wound up with an ex-show choir rival that was kind of a jerk to me and my friends in high school. Jesse cracked an egg on my head; Sebastian threw a slushie at you. It was over 10 years ago. While I do suggest you remain skeptical, I understand the appeal. And if you think he's changed, then why not give it a chance?" All of this was refreshing to hear from Rachel of all people, who had historically been the biggest proponent of Kurt and Blaine's relationship. But over the years, she'd become accustomed to the idea that they were never getting back together. While it was still a sore subject sometimes, it was starting to seem like she was okay with it.
"Thanks," Blaine said. And he really meant it.
He would've said more, but Tracy returned from the bathroom and resumed her aggressive coloring. Blaine didn't feel like having a conversation about his love life in front of his kindergartener, so he just continued eating his sandwich and joking around with Rachel about theatre gossip and "the good old days" at McKinley and NYADA.
With a newfound sense of excitement, Blaine and Tracy returned to Blaine's apartment with a grocery bag full of snacks. Tracy was filled with adrenaline, even if she did miss her nap that day, and Blaine had a permanent smile on his lips that grew larger at each image of the night to come.
If the knock on the door wasn't enough to send shivers through Blaine's entire body, then seeing Sebastian standing on the other side of the door in a loose pair of jeans and a sweater right next to Adrienne was. He looked perfect, somehow finding the perfect balance of cozy and cute, and Blaine was in way over his head this time. It was nice to remember how it felt to want someone like this, but it was a very unpleasant feeling when two kindergarteners were sitting right there.
The girls positioned themselves on one side of the couch, sharing a large tie blanket Tracy made in school, while Sebastian made himself comfortable on the other side of the couch, a decent amount of space left between him and the girls. Blaine made two bowls of popcorn, one for the girls to share and one for him to share with Sebastian. Sure, it had crossed his mind once or twice that he should just make a bowl for everyone, but then the idea of his fingers brushing against Sebastian's as they both reached for popcorn at the same time crossed his mind, and he'd immediately put the extra bowls back in the cupboard.
Blaine took the spot between the girls and Sebastian, the bowl of popcorn resting between him and the guy that had sent his mind spiraling in just a few days. He pulled a blanket over his lap and tried not to lose his mind when Sebastian reached for part of the blanket as well.
The movie started, and sure enough, it only took a few minutes before Blaine's hand was cautiously bumping into Sebastian's in the popcorn bowl. And yeah, a few of those times were on purpose. He couldn't help it. Any physical touch between them was electrifying. He also couldn't remember purposely moving his body closer to Sebastian's, but by halfway through the movie, their legs were pressed against each other and even though the bowl of popcorn was empty, the backs of their hands sat permanently rested together.
It was a good movie, as was to be expected from a Pixar film, and somehow neither Adrienne nor Tracy was tired after sitting still with the movie for almost two hours. They also, by some miracle, didn't seem bothered by the newfound closeness of Blaine and Sebastian. Instead, they both started jumping up and down and tugging on their respective guardian's sleeves insisting that tonight was the perfect night for their first sleepover.
"Daddy, please! It's already so late, and Adrienne doesn't want to go all the way back home!"
"Yeah, and we don't have school tomorrow!"
"And we won't get to see each other this weekend because I have to go with Dad for New Year's."
"Pleeeeaaaaaassssseee!"
And maybe Blaine had some ulterior motives, or maybe he was just sympathetic to Adrienne not wanting to make the journey halfway across Manhattan, but he glanced at Sebastian with an eyebrow raised and just received a shrug in response.
So, Blaine helped set up a spare sleeping bag on the floor of Tracy's bedroom, and he left Tracy's iPad and a few children's books on her bed in case they had trouble falling asleep, knowing they would crash any second, and he returned to the couch to find Sebastian in the exact same spot as he'd left him.
"I never thought my niece would get to have a sleepover with an Anderson before me, but I guess that shows what I know," Sebastian said when he noticed Blaine return to the living room. Blaine tried to roll his eyes, but he just blushed. "Is it okay if I stay for a little while? Adrienne sometimes has trouble sleeping in new places. I want to make sure she's really okay with this before I leave."
"Of course," Blaine agreed. If he thought too much about it, he knew there was a chance Sebastian was lying just so he could stay later, have some alone time with Blaine, but if he was, Blaine wasn't upset about it. This felt good in a way nothing had since…well, he couldn't exactly figure that part out.
Sebastian started flipping through channels after that until he noticed Blaine still awkwardly standing in the doorway and he patted the spot next to him on the couch. Blaine didn't hesitate to take the spot, quickly falling back into the same position he'd been in before the end of the movie. Only this time, it didn't take too long for Blaine to push himself closer. He wasn't sure who made the first move, but somehow, they were playing with each other's hands, Sebastian's fingers drawing lines up and down the back of Blaine's hand while Blaine's pinky made its way around Sebastian's palm, memorizing every individual groove. It made Blaine's entire body tingle, the feeling of their hands intertwined like this, not quite locked but toying with each other in a way that couldn't be described as anything other than perfect.
After that, it became easy to lean into each other. Blaine couldn't focus on whatever Sebastian put on the TV. Instead, his mind was on their bare feet slowly moving to wrap around each other, and their legs trying to test if it was possible for them to be closer. At one point, Blaine felt himself turning ever so slightly, the image of his lips pressed against Sebastian's pushed to the forefront of his mind. But he chickened out and rested his head on Sebastian's shoulder instead. It was the safer option, and maybe even the better option if he wanted to avoid moving too quickly, and Sebastian didn't seem to mind. His head fell on top of Blaine's a moment later, and soon their eyes started to close. It wasn't on purpose or even really surprising, just perfect for the moment. It was easy, and at that point in his life, easy was exactly what Blaine needed.
When Blaine woke up, his head was still resting peacefully on Sebastian's shoulder. The TV was playing some old sitcom he remembered watching with his brother as a kid. He reached for the remote to turn it off but quickly realized it was awkwardly wedged beneath one of Sebastian's legs. It forced him to actually acknowledge the situation for a second, how he'd accidentally slept beside Sebastian all night right there on this uncomfortable couch, half sitting up and almost holding hands. He smiled because he couldn't remember the last time he'd woken up with butterflies in his stomach, and he definitely never thought those butterflies would be because his daughter insisted on having a sleepover with her new friend.
It was sort of funny to him. Tracy was always a happy kid until the divorce. Something changed in her, and it felt like she was becoming less and less of herself every day. She'd told everyone how upset she was when Kurt cancelled their plans, how she didn't like seeing her dad bail on her over and over again. And now, here Blaine was, watching Tracy play with Adrienne every day like she was the happiest kid on the planet, and it reminded him of how Sebastian used to do the same thing for him back in high school. He'd be in a funk, upset about some dumb fight with Kurt or Finn in glee club, and he'd meet Sebastian for coffee, and it would all be okay for a while. He'd be happy and carefree and finally out of his own head. It felt good to be reminded of those times.
Now, watching Sebastian sleep on his couch, the ghost of Blaine's body still beside him, he felt that way all over again. He could let loose because there was someone right there that actually wanted to catch him.
Blaine's phone was on the coffee table in the middle of the room. He never plugged it in because he never planned on falling asleep, so it was close to dead. But not dead enough for Blaine to miss the unread text in his notifications from none other than his ex-husband informing him he'd be around to pick Tracy up at 4 for their weekend plans.
And suddenly all of those butterflies, that rush of happy feelings he'd felt after waking up, were gone. Kurt had the uncanny ability to alter Blaine's entire mood with a single text. And not in a good way.
He stepped out of the apartment into the hallway and pressed "call", already sick of hearing Kurt's voice before the call even connected. It wasn't like he couldn't recognize that there was a point when he loved this person. The problem was that things had gotten so bad at the end of their relationship that he could barely remember why he ever loved Kurt in the first place. Sure, he'd always be his first love, and they'd always have Tracy, but it was almost like he'd replaced every positive memory with Kurt with a memory of them fighting.
"Hello?"
"You seriously gave me an eight-hour notice that you're taking her for the entire weekend? Kurt, we need to communicate about this sort of thing. What if I had plans with her this weekend?"
Kurt's voice sounded tired, like this was the last thing he wanted to be doing at 8 a.m. on a Friday morning, which, to be fair, was pretty much how Blaine felt, too. But it was a principle thing, which is exactly what he said when Kurt asked if Blaine actually did have plans with Tracy that weekend.
They went back and forth for a while until things got a little too aggressive, and Blaine needed to take a breath. "Yes, I understand that it was always supposed to be your weekend. But when have you actually taken her for one of your weekends in the past few months? Last weekend was supposed to be my weekend, but I let you take her because you never spend time with her anymore."
"Here we go again; I'm the bad parent, I never spend time with her, you're raising her yourself, the whole pity card. Nice."
"Don't give me that. She's the one that cares. I'd love to be with Tracy all the time, but that's not really how divorce works," Blaine argued, his voice noticeably raising octaves with each word. It was rare that he even spoke to Kurt anymore, much less over the phone like this. "It's fine, whatever. You can take her. But I'd appreciate more notice next time so that I can make plans for my holiday weekend."
"Fine."
Blaine could've sworn he heard a guy's voice in the background of the call after that, but it could've just been the TV. That was until Kurt pulled the phone away for a moment and said something about calling dibs on the shower.
"What exactly are your plans this weekend?" Blaine asked then. Maybe he was a little curious, but more than anything, he wanted to protect Tracy. She was only six, after all. It's not like she could understand dating and divorce and moving on and all of that. Seeing Kurt with someone else would probably be confusing for her.
He realized he should probably make Sebastian leave before the girls woke up.
"That's not really your business."
"Kurt. She's my daughter, too. It is my business."
Kurt sighed on the other end of the call, and the hidden voice in the background said something else that Blaine couldn't quite make out. "Adam has family upstate. There's a big fireworks display."
"Who the hell is Adam?" He didn't mean for it to sound so angry. In fact, he didn't really care who Adam was to Kurt beyond the Tracy of it all, but maybe he was a little bit upset. Kurt was moving on before him. Of course. And he was introducing someone to Tracy? They never had that conversation. How could he go behind Blaine's back like that?
Another sigh through the phone, and Blaine could picture Kurt rolling his eyes. "I've been seeing him for a while, Blaine. Like I said, it's none of your business. We've been divorced for a long time now. It's really not cool of you to be jealous."
"I'm not jealous," Blaine said, upset all over again. "Is that seriously what you think this is about?"
"I really don't have time for this," Kurt replied. To be honest, Blaine was surprised neither of them had hung up already.
As much as Blaine wanted to fight, to insist that Tracy wasn't ready to see one of her dads moving on with someone else, he knew it wouldn't make a difference. It was technically Kurt's weekend, and if Tracy was uncomfortable, she would have to say so herself. He needed to let go.
"Fine."
The call disconnected, and Blaine wanted to punch something, but he took a few deep breaths instead. It was a miracle that he wasn't used to this by now; Kurt fought with him on everything. But he still hated it. He knew the fighting was bad for Tracy. They needed to come from a place of compromise, show Tracy that they loved her more than they hated each other. Despite everything, he still hoped they'd get there someday.
After catching his breath and calming himself down, Blaine opened the apartment door to find Sebastian wide awake and standing in the kitchen staring at an open cupboard.
"Are you aware that you have zero percent of the ingredients necessary to make literally any breakfast?" Sebastian asked, rummaging through two more cupboards that probably should've been filled with cooking and baking ingredients but instead were overflowing with the remains of Tracy's Halloween candy stash. "I mean who doesn't even have a single egg? Or flour? And come on, this has clearly only ever been used for coffee." He held up a small jar of sugar and shook it to show Blaine it was almost empty.
"I don't cook," Blaine said with a shrug.
"This is ridiculous," Sebastian argued, crossing his arms as he shut the cupboard with the empty sugar container. He walked across the room to grab his keys and jacket that still sat next to the door. "I'll be back in 20 minutes."
Before Blaine could ask where he was going, Sebastian disappeared behind the apartment door.
While he was gone, Blaine took the opportunity to change clothes and fix his hair. He was a complete mess from falling asleep on the couch, and he barely recognized himself in the mirror when he saw the mess he'd turned into overnight. He needed a bit of gel fast. Oh, and he definitely needed to brush his teeth. He cringed at the thought of Sebastian smelling his morning breath.
Like he'd promised, Sebastian returned 20 minutes later with a paper bag from the grocery store down the block. In it was a carton of eggs, a bag of flour, a package of strawberries and a jar of Nutella.
"This was the best I could do on short notice," Sebastian said as he searched the kitchen for a mixing bowl. Blaine rolled his eyes and grabbed a bowl and a frying pan he could use.
It only took Sebastian a few minutes to get acclimated to the kitchen, quickly realizing where Blaine kept the whisks and spatulas and every size pan he could imagine. He spent an indeterminate amount of time asking why Blaine had all of the correct cooking supplies if he didn't cook and had none of the proper ingredients, which meant Blaine had to explain that Carole Hudson bought most of it for him as a post-divorce gift. Yes, it was just as awful as it sounds.
"Basically, what I'm hearing is that you need to get out more," Sebastian said while he poured a bit of the batter he'd mixed onto the frying pan. "Which, ironically, is the exact same advice I gave you in high school."
"If I remember correctly, you used the phrase 'live a little,'" Blaine corrected. He took a seat at the breakfast bar, finally giving up on any hope of helping Sebastian in the kitchen.
"Yep, still applies."
Blaine wanted to roll his eyes, but Sebastian was probably right. He had a tendency to know what Blaine needed before Blaine knew it himself. The last time he tried to "live a little" was when he and Sam booked a last-minute trip to L.A. to visit Mercedes and Mike and they ended up not even being in town. It was a disaster, but they still had a blast. The memory brought a smile to his lips, and he couldn't help but admit that Sebastian had the right idea. Still, with Tracy and Kurt and everything going on, could letting loose like that again really be a good idea?
"Look, Blaine, all I'm saying is you need to remember what it's like to feel young. I overheard your conversation with Kurt; Tracy will be gone this weekend for the first time in god knows how long. My sister gets back in town this afternoon, so we're both kid free," Sebastian explained, his eyes locking with Blaine every time he looked away from the frying pan. "We'll go out tomorrow night, have some drinks, whatever you want as long as it's not sitting at home watching Pixar movies with your kid."
"Hey, Pixar movies are made so that adults can enjoy them, too."
Sebastian made a point of looking over at Blaine just so that he could roll his eyes. "The point is that you're only 28. You spent all of high school and college in a toxic on-again-off-again relationship and every time it was off-again, you moped around like your life was over instead of enjoying being single. I don't think you've ever spent a weekend going crazy just because you could, which is how you're supposed to spend your twenties. And that's the stuff I'm good at."
The corner of Blaine's mouth tilted up, and something inside of him fluttered at the idea of spending New Year's Eve out with Sebastian. He couldn't remember the last time he'd gone to a bar with any purpose other than playing wingman for Sam or Tina or celebrating some new show with Jesse and Rachel. And, okay, maybe his mind was clouded by images of Sebastian drinking and dancing and getting up close to him like they'd been on the couch the night before, but the idea was too appealing to say no to.
"Hold on, are you trying to seduce me?" Blaine asked, a playful hint of flirtation in his voice that he didn't remember wanting to be there.
"Always," Sebastian replied with a wink. He took a spatula to what looked like a crepe forming at the bottom of the pan and added the thin pancake to a large plate full of several others. "But hey, if that's not what you want, I'll play wingman all night. There are tons of sad lonely gays in New York City on New Year's Eve looking for somebody to kiss. Honestly, I'd do anything to get you laid by someone other than Kurt, even if that person isn't me."
"What does 'get laid' mean?" The voice of a young girl interrupted from the corner of the kitchen. It was Adrienne, with Tracy trailing a few feet behind her, and Blaine wanted to curl up in a ball and hide for the rest of the day.
Luckily, like always, Sebastian had a genius solution. "It just means getting sleep. I was just saying Tracy's dad needs to take a nap since he didn't sleep well last night. But it's something only old people say."
"Ew," Tracy said, and Adrienne was quick to repeat her.
Blaine exchanged a secret smile with Sebastian as he placed the plate of crepes on the table in front of Tracy and Adrienne. "Bon appétit," Sebastian added in a flawless French accent. He set the package of strawberries and Nutella next to the plate and watched as the girls started eating with huge grins.
For a moment, Blaine considered that it might be nice to do this every weekend.