Blaine Anderson's face had heartbroken written all over it when he walked into the Lima Bean one Thursday afternoon. His eyes looked bloodshot, as if he hadn't slept in a week. The gel in his hair was applied sloppily at best, with random curls all over his head. He wore no bowtie; he didn't feel up to it. Instead he wore jeans and a comfortable sweater. Fall in Lima was coming to an end and the air was starting to chill, so he wore a scarf around his neck.

Feeling so out of place in the coffee shop he used to frequent, the place Kurt used to work, Blaine transitioned to autopilot as he ordered himself a medium drip. Memories of Kurt's confession of his crush in this very line brought Blaine back to two years earlier where he stood pining over Jeremiah while Kurt was forced to listen. Blaine decided to stay out of sight, worried he might run into someone he knew if he sat toward the front of the café like he normally did. Instead, he took a seat in the back near the corner. He tried to take his focus off of Kurt by scrolling through Facebook on his phone, but that rarely worked anymore. He got out his laptop and decided to start working on a paper due at the end of the week, hoping to at least channel his pain in a productive manner.

20 minutes into his English paper, Blaine's thoughts were interrupted by a striking taller boy leaning over his table as he pulled out a chair. "Hey, Killer. Mind if I join you?" Sebastian asked the question after he had already sat down, so Blaine didn't see the point in trying to protest.

"I'm doing homework," Blaine explained, not really wanting to deny him a seat but feeling the need to make it known that he wasn't particularly interested in talking.

Sebastian looked a little taken aback at Blaine's tone. Blaine didn't even notice how harsh and uninviting he sounded. Of course, he didn't mean to hurt Sebastian's feelings, if he had any, but he just wasn't in the mood for Sebastian's obsessive flirting. "Did we not used to sit here and work on homework together all the time?"

Blaine's guilt at the thought consumed him. Over the summer, he barely spoke to Sebastian because he wanted to spend every moment enjoying his time with Kurt rather than making Kurt angry. No matter how many times Blaine denied having feelings for Sebastian, Kurt never believed him. Blaine finally produced a mumbled, "I'm sorry."

All of Sebastian's efforts focused on Blaine who still didn't look at him. Maybe he was just focused on whatever essay he was trying to write. Or maybe it was something else entirely. "Do you wanna talk about it?" Sebastian asked, hoping he could get something more out of Blaine.

"With you? No," Blaine said defensively, hoping Sebastian would drop it. He didn't mean for his tone to sound so cross, but he couldn't help it. Sebastian was the first person he'd spoken to other than Sam and Finn in two weeks.

Despite Blaine's efforts to close himself off from Sebastian's affections, the Warbler always liked a challenge. "Come on, we used to talk about basically everything. How about drinks on me tomorrow night?"

Blaine couldn't bring himself to throw another insult Sebastian's way. He tried his best to stop his frustration over Kurt from getting in the way of the other relationships in his life, but it was nearly impossible. Every time Blaine felt close to someone else, he felt guilty, as if he didn't deserve anyone at all because he would just hurt them, just like he hurt Kurt. "I don't know if I'm up for it, Sebastian."

The one thing Sebastian disliked more than Kurt was Blaine's rejection. Although Blaine never confirmed the breakup, Sebastian heard about it through rumors at Dalton and noticed Blaine's relationship status on Facebook switch to Single. He used to check every day, hopelessly wishing Baine would realize how Kurt treated him and that he could do better. Blaine unfriended Sebastian over the summer, so it made stalking him on social media a bit more difficult. He figured it was Kurt's doing, but didn't think now was the proper time to bring up something like that. "I think you need it. Once you're there with a couple beers in your system, you won't remember why you didn't want to come."

Blaine shook his head, wishing he could ignore the strong desire he had to take Sebastian's advice and drown his sorrows in alcohol. It always worked in the past, but he knew it wouldn't make his breakup with Kurt go away, which meant it was only a temporary fix to a very big problem. "Maybe I'll stop by," Blaine finally conceded. He knew he couldn't commit to anything because he rarely felt like doing anything anymore. Sam and Blaine got in the habit of having movie marathons every Friday night at the Hudson-Hummel house, but sometimes it stung for Blaine to be around Burt. Plus, Sam always felt bad for cancelling his plans with Brittany to hang out with Blaine, even though his friendship with Blaine would always come first.

"That's all I needed to hear," Sebastian smirked as he lifted his coffee to his lips. All he wanted was to bring up the Facebook relationship status, but he knew if there was any way to isolate Blaine in a time where he clearly needed a friend, that would be the way to do it. He decided the best thing he could do to maintain some semblance of a relationship with Blaine would be leaving him alone before he pushed it too far. "I hope to see you tomorrow." Sebastian winked at Blaine as he stood up and walked away. He always liked to maintain his power over Blaine and part of the strategy was leaving him wanting more.

After all, Blaine found Sebastian almost irresistible. His never-ending charm combined with that seductive smirk had Blaine staring after Sebastian as he walked away from the table, despite never actually making eye contact with him while they sat together. Now that he was single, Blaine knew he couldn't resist those eyes. But sleeping with Sebastian would drive Kurt away from him forever.

The next day passed by slowly. The New Directions spent half of their time preparing for sectionals and the other half rehearsing for the school musical. Finn decided on Grease and explicitly told Blaine that the part of Danny was his if he wanted it, but Blaine knew he couldn't accurately convey a teenager in love when he recently lost his own teenage dream. He settled on playing Teen Angel, hoping that at the very least he could be a crowd-pleasing scene stealer.

Blaine pushed the idea of meeting Sebastian at Scandals to the back of his mind, figuring Sebastian probably forgot he even invited him. He had plans with Sam to watch the first three Star Wars movies. Unfortunately, those plans started to change when Sam approached Blaine at the end of glee rehearsal. "Hey man, I'm really sorry but I can't do Star Wars tonight. Carole and Burt want to start doing those Friday night dinner things again with me and Finn."

As much as he tried not to show his disappointment, Blaine knew his best friend would see through his facade. "How about we do tomorrow instead?" He asked, hoping Sam didn't want to cancel all together.

"Yes, of course. Then we can watch the first six movies." Sam reached his hand up for a high-five and Blaine reciprocated, thrilled neither of them wanted to cancel. As soon as the high-five finished, Sam left the choir room with Finn, leaving Blaine to contemplate how he would spend his night.

When he had plans with Sam, Blaine didn't need to confront his feelings about meeting Sebastian. Now, he had to decide if he would go to Scandals and pretend to have a good time or go home and spend his night agonizing over Kurt some more. Either way, he'd be sad, but at least one of the options included alcohol which at the very least would make him feel less pain.

Blaine ultimately decided he would go home, change clothes, and see if he felt like spending a night drinking with Sebastian. Sure, the two of them drank together before. There was the time at Scandals with Kurt and then that night in Sebastian's dorm with the red wine before the Michael Jackson debacle. But he worried about what he might do now that he didn't have Kurt on his conscience.

Before he could think too hard about what might happen, Blaine was parking his car in the Scandals parking lot and trying to get the courage to walk inside. He stared at the doors and once again found himself in autopilot, standing inside the bar and staring at everyone on the dance floor. Nobody looked quite like his type, not that he cared.

Sebastian noticed Blaine almost immediately. He tried to play it cool, but he'd been watching the door all night hoping Blaine would show up. "Wow, I can't believe you really showed. I ordered you a drink." He slid a glass of something the bartender picked out Blaine's way. Blaine chose not to acknowledge Sebastian; he just picked up the drink and started chugging. "Easy, Killer. I don't want you to blackout before I get a dance," Sebastian joked.

Blaine rolled his eyes as he pulled the drink away from his lips. "Interesting. It seems like you would want that given it's the only chance you'll have of me sleeping with you."

He looked offended at the accusation. "I do not need guys to blackout to get them to sleep with me." Sebastian rolled his eyes as he took a sip of his own drink.

"Right," Blaine nodded as he flagged down the bartender for another drink.

"So are you gonna tell me what this is all about?" Sebastian asked, gesturing toward the empty drink sitting in front of Blaine.

Blaine tried to play dumb, hoping Sebastian would buy whatever excuse he could come up with. "Can't a guy just enjoy a night out every once in a while?"

Sebastian let out a laugh at the thought. "This clearly isn't just a night out. You look like you have some sort of vendetta. I've never seen you slam a drink that fast. Clearly something's bothering you."

As soon as the bartender slid another drink Blaine's way, he gave it the same treatment as he did the first one. "Alright, I'll play." He decided he'd go along with whatever plan Sebastian had for him. One drink in and he already felt the need to volunteer information he never would have mentioned before. "I'm single. I was a crappy boyfriend and now I'm single and Kurt won't even answer my texts. He blocked me on Facebook. We communicate through Finn now."

Sebastian was surprised at Blaine's willingness to talk about the breakup with him. After all, Sebastian spent the better half of a year trying to break them up and the other half pining after Blaine like a lost puppy, not that Blaine would ever know how Sebastian really felt. "Damn. What did you do?"

The bartender set a few shots in front of Blaine and Sebastian. "You look like you need these." He nodded toward Blaine. "On the house."

"The bartender is super into you," Sebastian joked, hoping it would make Blaine feel more comfortable sharing more information about Kurt.

Luckily, the shots did just that. Blaine took one and then turned to face Sebastian. "I cheated. And it feels awful."

Before that night, Sebastian had no idea what really went down between Kurt and Blaine. Knowing the truth changed everything. It meant his relationship with Kurt was breakable, that they weren't meant to be together after all. "Why'd you do it?" Sebastian asked, taking one of the shots for himself.

Blaine shrugged, staring at the wall. "I don't know. I was lonely, I guess."

Sebastian tried to read Blaine's blank expression, but he looked like he felt nothing at all, almost as if he was numb to the breakup. "Let's dance," Sebastian suggested, standing up and reaching for Blaine's hand. Blaine took Sebastian's hand and stood up but felt all of his blood rush to his head as he tried to regain balance. "Whoa, you okay?" Sebastian asked, pulling Blaine closer when he noticed him start to stumble.

Blaine didn't respond; he just pulled Sebastian toward the dance floor and started moving with the music. Sebastian loved this side of Blaine. Carefree, drunken dancing really did the curly-haired boy justice. His moves, while normally perfect, fell apart just the right amount when he had a few drinks in his system. He knew he shouldn't try anything with Blaine after that much alcohol, but damn he looked good.

They danced for a few hours, taking breaks to do shots in between. Sebastian didn't notice how out of it Blaine was until he saw him reciprocating the bartender's flirting. After he noticed that, he knew he needed to get Blaine home somehow, but he was a mess. Sebastian also had too much to drink, so he could barely hold Blaine up straight, much less drive. "Let's get you home," Sebastian suggested, almost carrying Blaine through the doors.

"I love it here," Blaine grinned, throwing his hands up in the air. "I feel so...so free."

Sebastian chuckled to himself, wondering if it was Scandals he was talking about or just being single. He hoped it was the latter, that Blaine finally realized how trapped Kurt made him feel. "It must be freeing to not have to report back to Kurt every little thing you do."

Blaine held onto Sebastian tight as they waited outside. Sebastian called an Uber so they could get home safely. "It really is. Did you know he made me unfriend you on Facebook?" Blaine's eyes stared up at Sebastian's. He always admired the way Sebastian looked at him, like Blaine could do no wrong.

"I'm glad you didn't decide to do that on your own. It definitely hurt a little bit," Sebastian admitted. He normally wouldn't be so honest, but the liquor was getting to him, and he knew Blaine wouldn't remember this in the morning.

Blaine held onto Sebastian's sleeve like a baby holds a bottle. "I'm so sorry."

"Hey, it's okay," Sebastian said. He loved all of the little things about Blaine. Every time he touched him it sent shivers down his spine. Right now, with Blaine's hand gripping Sebastian's sleeve and Sebastian's fingers running through Blaine's hair, he couldn't help but smile. "You're cute," Sebastian blurted out. He couldn't believe he said something so wholesome and honest, no sign of flirty banter, just a harmless compliment.

Blaine looked up at Sebastian and pulled himself up so that his lips were only a few inches from Sebastian's. He wanted to kiss him. In fact, he always wanted to kiss him. But Sebastian knew better than to let the guy he'd been in love with for years make out with him after that many drinks. He wouldn't remember it the next day and if he did, Blaine would regret it forever, ruining any chance of something happening for real between them. Luckily, Sebastian didn't need to figure out how to reject Blaine because the Uber arrived just in time.

Sebastian knew Blaine's parents would kill him if he came home this wasted, so he decided he would take Blaine back to Dalton with him. Blaine would probably be pissed at him in the morning, but he'd rather him be pissed for keeping him safe than for sending him on his own back to his house at 3 am.

When they finally reached Westerville, Sebastian helped Blaine up the stairs to Sebastian's dorm. He passed out in the Uber but woke up when the car parked to drop the two of them off at the dorms. "Where are we?" Blaine asked, his eyes still shut despite being slightly more awake.

"Don't worry about it," Sebastian responded as he helped Blaine into his room and locked the door behind them. He guided Blaine toward the bed and helped him take off his shoes.

Blaine finally opened his eyes and stared at Sebastian as he removed his shirt and changed into something more comfortable. He admired Sebastian's body, which was clearly well conditioned from all of that lacrosse practice. "You can sleep with me, you know," Blaine said, not understanding the implications of the statement.

"You could at least buy me dinner first," Sebastian said instinctively before sitting on the floor next to where Blaine laid on the bed.

Blaine shook his head. "No, I meant you can lie next to me and I won't be upset. But no funny business."

Sebastian contemplated the offer, wishing he drank enough to think that would be a good idea. He knew nothing would happen, but just the thought of brushing up against Blaine's body in the middle of the night made him smirk. "It's okay. I'll stay on the floor."

Blaine passed out right before Sebastian's eyes and Sebastian couldn't help but watch him as he slept. He looked so peaceful. This wasn't the first time Blaine fell asleep in Sebastian's dorm, but the last time they were in this situation, they both passed out on the floor. Part of him wanted to get up and hold Blaine in his arms, but it wasn't time for that yet. They were friends again, or at least Sebastian hoped they would be after their night together at Scandals, and friends was good enough for now.


When Blaine woke up, he had no idea where he was. It felt like an out of body experience. He looked around and noticed the room looked familiar. He knew exactly where he was when he discovered Sebastian playing on his phone on the floor next to the bed. "Oh god what happened?" Blaine asked, holding onto his head from the pain.

Sebastian looked up when he noticed Blaine talking. "Good, you're awake." He smiled and stood up to grab a glass of water for Blaine. He handed him the glass with a smirk. "You were pretty fucked up last night, Blaine Warbler."

Blaine continued looking around the room, trying to process what happened and how he ended up in Sebastian Smythe's bed. He barely remembered anything after his rant about Kurt and joining Sebastian on the dance floor. Knowing how flirty he became when drinking, Blaine started to worry that something must have happened. "What happened?"

"Dude, you really need to learn to hold your alcohol. This has gotta be the fifth time I've seen you that wasted," Sebastian shrugged. "Drink this."

Blaine stared at the glass of water and decided he wouldn't do anything until he figured out what happened. "You're not answering my questions."

"You know you're a lot nicer when you're drunk," Sebastian joked, nudging Blaine's arm. He hoped to get a reaction out of Blaine. After Sebastian spent his entire night taking care of him, the least Blaine could do was have a normal conversation. Blaine stared at Sebastian, clearly not in the mood to joke around. "You're no fun." He rolled his eyes, deciding to give up the act and tell Blaine the truth. "I wasn't about to bring you home wasted to your parents and we didn't leave until 3 am so I figured you could come back here and crash in my bed. If you're worried that we hooked up, you're safe. You did try to kiss me, though."

Blaine leaned back and stared at the ceiling. The room felt like it was spinning, and he couldn't seem to focus on staring at just one thing because it was moving too fast. Part of Blaine wanted to respond with some snarky comment; that's what Sebastian would do if the roles were reversed. But he knew what Sebastian did was nice and completely out of character, so he figured he owed him a thank you. "Thanks," Blaine mumbled, hoping Sebastian wouldn't read too much into it.

"You were kind of a mess last night. Do you wanna talk about it?" Sebastian asked as he stood up and sat next to Blaine on the bed.

Even though nothing happened, Blaine felt guilty about something. He felt as if he was cheating on somebody. But he wasn't; he and Kurt broke up and it seemed like there was no chance of them getting back together. In fact, the night at Scandals was the first time since the breakup that Blaine truly felt free rather than trapped. The feeling disappeared as soon as Blaine woke up and realized how mad Kurt would be if he heard about him spending the night in Sebastian's bed. "I probably shouldn't be here," Blaine said, starting to stand up. The second he lifted himself from the bed he collapsed back down. "Damn hangovers."

Sebastian stared at Blaine, genuinely worried about his well-being. He looked so free the night before, so much happier than the broken boy that sat in front of him now. "Blaine, what happened?"

"I'm the one that's supposed to be asking that. I thought you remembered everything from last night," Blaine turned to face Sebastian.

"Not last night, last summer. You and I used to be really close. We hung out all the time, we texted, messaged online. Then one day it just stopped. What happened?" Sebastian asked again, staring into Blaine's eyes for some form of validation.

Blaine knew if they were going to continue hanging out, this would happen eventually. He never explained himself when he cut Sebastian out of his life. It felt silly now, looking back at that spring day when Kurt told Blaine he needed to stop responding. They sat in silence for a few moments while Blaine tried to think of a way to justify it. He didn't think twice at the time. His whole life revolved around Kurt. He would've done anything to make Kurt happy. Thinking about that day put Blaine right back in Kurt's house.

"Is that Sebastian?" Kurt asked, staring at Blaine's phone as it kept lighting up.

Blaine turned his phone over so that neither of them could tell when it lit up with a new message. "We're just talking about nationals."

Kurt shook his head, staring at Blaine in disbelief. "Look, Blaine, I trust you, but I stopped talking to Chandler because it made you feel uncomfortable. This weird friendship you have with Sebastian makes me feel uncomfortable, so I don't understand why you still talk to him after all this time. I don't want to be the guy that makes you choose, but I think I have to be. If you want to avoid the big fight we're on the verge of, I think you should stop talking to him."

Blaine stared at Kurt in disbelief. Of course, he should've seen this coming. Kurt never liked Sebastian and he never approved of their friendship no matter how much Blaine insisted that Kurt could trust Blaine to never do anything with someone else. Still, he hoped he could keep his friend in his life without upsetting his boyfriend. He needed other people; he couldn't rely on Kurt for everything. Instead, Blaine refused to protest. "Okay," he agreed, picking up his phone.

"And I don't really want him seeing what we're up to, either. I'm not going to force you to do this, but I would really like it if you would unfriend him on Facebook. I don't like him commenting on all of your posts," Kurt complained, his eyes drifting away from Blaine as if he was embarrassed of his own request.

At first, Blaine hesitated, thinking he might be able to push back on the Facebook of it all. But then he realized that if he was going to cut Sebastian out like Kurt wanted, he would have to go all in. Otherwise, Sebastian could still contact him at any moment, and Blaine didn't want that temptation. He clicked "unfriend" on Sebastian's profile and that was the end of the discussion.

Looking back now, it seemed like he abandoned a pretty solid friendship for a guy who only wanted him until the big beautiful city came along. "Kurt asked me to stop talking to you."

"So you just stopped texting me back? You unfriended me on Facebook? Why didn't you just tell me?" Sebastian asked. His voice cracked at the last part. Blaine never saw so much raw emotion in Sebastian. He seemed genuinely hurt by Blaine's actions, which made Blaine feel even worse.

Blaine tried to think of the correct words to justify what he did, but the words didn't exist. There was no explaining it away. "I knew what you would say if I told you the truth. You'd ramble on about how I deserve better and you'd treat me right and Kurt shouldn't get to tell me what to do. But I didn't want to hear any of that. I was so in love with him."

"Blaine, he was suffocating you," Sebastian blurted out, anger in his voice. He didn't mean to get mad at Blaine, but he couldn't listen to him whine about Kurt anymore. Even Sebastian, who had never been in a relationship, could see that Kurt never treated Blaine the way he deserved to be treated.

Staring back at Sebastian, Blaine couldn't believe he snapped. Suffocating? Sure, maybe Kurt had a tendency to be a bit controlling. But suffocating? No, of course not. Kurt loved Blaine and he just wanted to support him. He wasn't trying to suffocate him. "I should go." Blaine said, standing up and straightening out his clothes.

Sebastian reached for Blaine's arm. "Wait," he said, so much longing present in his voice.

"No, you don't get to pretend that you know my relationship. You aren't him. You don't know what we had or what his reasoning was behind asking me to stay away from you," Blaine shook his head, trying his best to keep it together while he walked toward the door.

Sebastian frowned before standing up to follow Blaine. "You don't think I know that I'm not him? You don't think I think about that every time I see you and you're messed up because of something he did to you?" He seemed angry all of a sudden, upset that Blaine would attack him like this after how Kurt treated him. "Whatever, you're never gonna get it." He opened the door to his room. "I'll drive you home."

Blaine stared at Sebastian, confused by his confession. He honestly couldn't figure out what Sebastian meant by his questions. "Wait, what do you mean?"

"It's too late, Blaine," Sebastian shook his head and led Blaine downstairs so that he could drive him back to his car. He needed to spend the day alone. He never thought he'd be so honest around anyone, much less Blaine, who had effectively toyed with Sebastian's emotions for over a year.

They barely spoke a word to each other on the drive home. Blaine couldn't stop thinking he might have hurt Sebastian by yelling at him about Kurt. He knew he needed to get over it and stop treating people like this, but he couldn't help it. He felt so lost without Kurt. The night he spent at Scandals with Sebastian was the first time in almost a month that he felt like one day he might be okay.

Somehow, the excruciating hangover made Blaine's thoughts start to spiral. Despite the lingering headache, he couldn't stop thinking of Kurt. He felt guilty for spending the night with Sebastian, even if nothing happened. Part of him didn't want to accept that his relationship with Kurt had ended for real and hanging out with Sebastian again solidified the feeling that he would never have Kurt back again. Kurt asked him to stop talking to Sebastian, and the fact that he could talk with him again with no consequences meant that something severe had changed. And Blaine didn't like that at all.

As Blaine spent the next several minutes in his room thinking about all of the things he wished he could say to Kurt, he completely forgot about his movie plans with Sam. His phone started ringing at exactly noon. "Hey, Sam," Blaine answered, his voice sounding hoarse. He hoped Sam wouldn't notice.

"Dude get over here. We need to start the marathon now or we're never gonna get through it all in time," Sam insisted. Blaine had to admit that Sam had been the perfect friend ever since the breakup. Somehow, Sam managed to be there for Blaine without saying anything at all, and the thought of having Sam's support reassured Blaine that things might one day feel okay again.

Despite his secret desires to stay hibernated in his room all day nursing his hangover, Blaine knew he should spend the day with Sam. "I'll be there in a half hour; I need to take a shower." With that, Blaine hung up and prepared to drive to the Hudson-Hummel household for their movie marathon.

Driving to the house felt like second nature to Blaine. He couldn't help but picture himself driving to spend time with Kurt. It all felt too nostalgic, and the fact that nostalgic was the word that described it made Blaine even more upset. He wished this could just be another day with Kurt, not a sad day spent reliving memories from the past. It shouldn't be nostalgic. Kurt should be Blaine's present and his future. Sam greeted Blaine at the door and embraced him into a hug. "Dude, I'm so glad you're here. Carole and Burt are out, and Finn is working at the tire shop. I can't figure out how to work the oven."

Blaine gave Sam a playful eye roll. "You've lived here for a year."

"I don't cook. Plus, I swear the thing is out to get me." He led Blaine into the kitchen where Sam proceeded to stare at the oven, crossing his arms in anger. "All I want is pizza rolls."

For the first time that day, Blaine was glad he decided to spend the day with his friend. He appreciated Sam's cluelessness sometimes. He helped Sam figure out the oven and when the pizza rolls were done, they started up the first Star Wars movie.

Blaine thought he had gotten away with his wild night with Sebastian until Sam remembered something. "Oh yeah, I meant to ask you earlier, what was that voicemail you left me about last night?"

Crap. How did Blaine think it would be a good idea to call Sam while he was drinking? He had no memory of calling Sam or what he might have said. "What did I say?"

"I didn't understand half of what you said, but I know there was some stuff about a bartender? And you kept saying that you felt free and that dancing so close felt good, but you didn't say who you were dancing with or where you were or anything. Obviously, I figured you were drunk, but I couldn't catch the details," Sam explained, looking to Blaine for his side of the story.

Blaine tried to think of an excuse to cover up what really happened, but he knew it was no use. He had to be honest with Sam. After thinking about it for a while, he realized there were no negative consequences other than Sam's judgement to him knowing the truth, so he decided to offer the real explanation. "I went to Scandals with Sebastian last night. We ran into each other the other day at the Lima Bean and he invited me out, so I decided to stop by. I was pretty drunk, as I'm sure you heard, and I think I spent most of the night dancing with him."

Sam nodded along, making sure to listen to the entirety of Blaine's story. "So...you were talking about how you liked dancing with Sebastian?"

It felt scandalous to Blaine, but he figured there was no use spinning the story for his best friend. "Yeah."

Before Blaine could elaborate further, Sam asked a follow up question. "You sounded really happy, Blaine. Happier than I've seen you in a long time."

"Alcohol tends to do that to a person," Blaine shrugged, staring forward at the TV.

Sam shook his head. "No way, it wasn't just the alcohol. And I don't just mean since the breakup. You sounded so...I don't know, it's just like you said, you sounded free." Blaine thought about Sam's words, realizing how closely they paralleled the things Sebastian told him that morning.

"I honestly don't remember most of it." Blaine hoped it would be a sufficient answer to Sam's questioning. He didn't want to get into the whole Kurt controlling him thing. He still didn't believe it himself, so he didn't want more people influencing his feelings toward Kurt.

Sam listened to Blaine's thoughts before he continued. "So you're hanging out with Sebastian again?" Blaine simply nodded. "How do you feel about that?"

"We're just friends, Sam." For some reason, Blaine felt the need to clarify the terms of his relationship with Sebastian, even if Sam didn't explicitly ask. He wanted it to be clear that he wasn't ready to move on from Kurt, especially with someone like Sebastian who had a profound impact on trying to tear Kurt and Blaine apart. "Please don't say anything to Finn or Kurt. I don't want it getting blown out of proportion."

Sam agreed. "Of course. But I didn't ask if you liked him. Don't you think it's a little odd that you jumped so quickly to saying you're just friends?"

Sure, Blaine knew it was odd how his default response to any question related to Sebastian was "we're just friends", but he didn't know how to explain why to Sam. Maybe he just got so used to that excuse with Kurt that it became his natural reflex to justify his relationship with Sebastian. "I don't know."

"If you ever want to talk about it, I'm always around. I know most people hate him, so it's probably hard for you to tell people about it. But I'm never gonna get mad at you for telling me what's going on." Sam gave Blaine a comforting smile and that's all he needed to relax and keep enjoying the movie.

Part of Blaine expected to hear from Sebastian at some point that weekend, but he never received the text he hoped to see. His most recent texts with Sebastian were from May discussing the upcoming national championship the New Directions hoped to win. When he finally returned to his own house the next day, Blaine found himself rereading several conversations he shared with Sebastian and reflecting on their time as friends. He wondered if Sebastian valued their friendship even more than Blaine thought. Obviously, Blaine knew Sebastian wanted more from him, but he didn't know if Sebastian genuinely cared for him or not. It was starting to seem like he really hurt his former friend when he cut him out of his life.

Suddenly, Blaine found himself checking his phone every few minutes or so, secretly hoping Sebastian would reach out to him, if even just to ask about the hangover. Every time his phone vibrated with a new text, Blaine desperately wished it would be a text from either Sebastian or Kurt, some sort of message that would help him understand his own feelings.

He hated being this guy, the guy that anxiously waited by the phone. He remembered the days after he first met Sebastian, keeping his phone so close to him to avoid Kurt finding out the kinds of things Sebastian said to him. Every day they would exchange dozens of texts, telling stories from their days and engaging in harmless flirting. Blaine loved the attention, but he hated what it did to him. He hated being the nervous idiot who sat by the phone waiting for a text, and it always made him feel guilty that he felt that way about a guy who wasn't his boyfriend.

But it was all over now. Kurt was gone and Blaine cheated, so there was no harm in waiting by the phone for a text from Sebastian...right? He hoped the radio silence didn't mean he was still upset over Blaine cutting him out, but at the same time, he knew the only way he could know for sure was reaching out himself. He decided he would reach out at the end of the week to find out for sure.