Too much, too close. Blaine felt his entire body go hot as he carefully extracted himself from Sebastian's arms. They had fallen asleep separately, after their little round of kissing, but Blaine had rolled closer and Sebastian had looped his arms around him. Blaine knew he was a cuddler. Awake or asleep, Blaine moved towards the nearest warmth. What did surprise Blaine was the fact that Sebastian seemed to be okay with it in his sleep, holding Blaine closer.

Blaine was just thankful that he could get out of bed without waking Sebastian, needing a few minutes to himself. He washed his face, changed into his swim trunks and a shirt for the day, and headed upstairs for some coffee. He wasn't the first one up by far and he joined Tyler on the couch, forcing himself to act casual.

If this was real, Blaine wouldn't even have blinked an eye over the previous day. While Blaine wasn't the type for public displays, not after his experiences at his first high school, there were certain times and places where he enjoyed it. Pressed close to a boy he trusted on a beach in California seemed to be the type of place that he was okay with it. That was, Sebastian would be somebody that Blaine trusted if they were actually dating.

As it was, Blaine was doing a good job of pretending. Blaine could call it method acting and he knew his brother would be proud of him.

"You should put on sunscreen today. You're already looking pink," Tyler said in an amused tone, looking away from his phone. He had a red drink in his hand that looked like a Bloody Mary and Blaine was again entertained by how much the other boy reminded him of Sebastian.

Blaine winced at his words, though, nodding his head. He'd felt the sensitivity in his skin, distracted from his sunscreen yesterday by touching Sebastian. "I know. I told Sebastian yesterday that I was pretty sure I was going to end up sunburned by the end of the week."

Tyler nodded, answering a text message even as he responded to Blaine. "We probably all are. By the end of vacation, we all end up crying over how red we are."

Blaine laughed quietly, honestly able to picture it. "Except Sebastian. I've never known him to actually burn."

"Just wait until the end of vacation," Tyler said with that Smythe smirk that Blaine was going to start calling it in his head. There was something to be said considering every single one of them had that smile.

Blaine nodded, falling silent for a few moments as he sipped his coffee and kept looking over at Tyler. After a moment, Blaine scooted a little closer to Tyler on the couch, lowering his voice. "Are you texting your girlfriend?" he asked, making sure that nobody else could hear him.

For a second, Tyler tensed, obviously hesitant about the words before he nodded shortly. He didn't seem to be annoyed by the questioning so Blaine didn't feel too unsure about it. "Yeah. Seeing how well you two are getting along, I just feel bad for not inviting her. I miss her," Tyler said with a crooked smile and a faux-careless shrug of his shoulders.

"You couldn't guarantee that it would be okay. For all you knew, Sebastian was lying about having a boyfriend," Blaine said, knowing that the words were more accurate than he cared to share. Not that Sebastian had lied about his "boyfriend" but Sebastian hadn't really considered Sean that way.

Tyler shrugged again, looking over at where Cori and Amy were making cinnamon rolls in the kitchen. Blaine watched them, able to recognize that Amy didn't exactly love her sister-in-law's company but she was being polite. "I suppose. Still. I guess next year when he says he's bringing you, I'll be sure to bring her along. Although… I don't want to hide her for that long. I just worry that she's going to think that I agree with any of my mother's dumbass opinions."

"There's no way she thinks you agree with your mother," Blaine said quietly. Tyler looked over at him, their heads close and Blaine smiled at him. "You talk bad about your mother's opinions every second you can and besides, if you treat Haley right then she'll see you don't agree."

"She's certainly smart enough to know," Tyler responded, an immediate defense of his girlfriend that made Blaine's smile widen. Then Tyler huffed out a breath, shaking his head. "Never mind. I am glad that Sebastian brought you. You get along well with us and Sebastian needs somebody like you."

A flush slid up Blaine's cheeks and he bit his lip hard to keep from saying something stupid. Letting out a breath, Blaine tightened his hold on his mug. "I'm glad I came too."

Tyler smiled a little bit warmer this time, leaning in again so he could talk quieter. "Besides, I thought that Sebastian was going to want to go out and hook up with tourists and I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to tell him I didn't want to without telling him the truth."

Blaine flinched a little bit as he thought about Sebastian doing that in the past because he knew that it wasn't actually Blaine that was keeping him from doing it. Sebastian had confirmed that yesterday on the beach.

Noticing the look on Blaine's face, Tyler frowned. "Sorry," he said, looking down at his phone and typing another text message response. Blaine shrugged but Tyler continued. "No, really. I'm sure you know about Sebastian's past but I don't need to bring it up. I'm sure he wouldn't now."

Except that Blaine knew Sebastian wouldn't let a silly thing like a non-serious relationship stop him from hooking up with other people. That thought made something hurt in his stomach and it was that gentle reminder that this was nothing serious, it was nothing at all. Blaine looked down for a few moments before shrugging, deciding he could be a little honest while still playing his role.

"I just worry," he said quietly, slowly. He knew that Tyler would just think he was being the insecure boyfriend. "Sometimes I feel like I like him more than he likes me."

Not sometimes actually but always. Blaine knew he couldn't admit to that.

Tyler looked over at him, responding one more time to his girlfriend and then setting his phone down on his lap. "I guess I can see him not being good at verbalizing his feelings. But even if you two have been together only a few weeks, Sebastian's never really been serious with a guy before. To ask you out, to be his boyfriend, Sebastian has to consider you somebody important. He'll hook up with about anybody, as long as they know it won't get serious because he avoids those hook-ups like the plague, but he won't get serious with anybody."

For a moment, Blaine wanted to talk to Tyler about the deceit. They were still sitting close so they could talk quietly and Tyler was a nice guy. But he knew he couldn't. Tyler was Sebastian's cousin, his best friend. Blaine couldn't admit it but he wouldn't mind talking to somebody, anybody, about his feelings.

"I just get unsure about my place sometimes," Blaine said finally with a shrug, looking down at his mostly-empty cup of coffee in his hands, thumb running along the handle. "I like him a lot, I guess."

"That's not a bad thing. I see how he looks at you. I've never seen him like this before with anybody. That has to mean something," Tyler said in a comforting tone. Blaine knew that Tyler was just trying to make him feel better so he disregarded the words. Besides, Sebastian was a good actor. That was all.

Still, Blaine didn't want to make this into a big deal. He nodded his head, clearing his throat. "Thanks. I know what me and Sebastian have, honestly." He just wished that it was more. But he had to keep this in mind. That Sebastian wanted a hook-up and Blaine wanted love. He wanted a relationship, somebody sweet to him, somebody who was going to be there for him.

If Blaine wanted that with Sebastian, especially after the previous day, he wasn't going to say that out loud. He didn't need that embarrassment.

Tyler opened his mouth to respond but he was interrupted as Sebastian came towards them, hair tousled, mug in his hand and his cheeks pink from… sleep? Blaine wasn't quite sure.

"Good morning," Sebastian said, taking a drink of his coffee and raising his eyebrows at Blaine and Tyler. Blaine couldn't help the way he was looking up at him. He could pretend that Sebastian might want him but… he knew better. He was close enough to Sebastian to know the truth. Sebastian had every plan on getting married and having kids. He talked about those things but it was in the far future, after he'd had plenty of time to have fun in the present.

Blaine wanted that but sooner. He would have his fun with Sebastian now and then when they got home, Blaine was going to focus more on finding somebody that he wanted to date. Somebody not like his ex but would treat him right. Somebody that Blaine could see a future with. Feeling resolved, Blaine smiled up at Sebastian. No use dwelling. Negativity wasn't who Blaine was anyway.

"Good morning," Blaine responded easily, looking over as Tyler stood up, brows furrowed a little bit.

"Morning. I'm going to get some more coffee and take a shower. After yesterday, I just want a lazy beach day," Tyler said, standing up and unlocking his phone again to obviously text his girlfriend.

Sebastian took the seat that Tyler had just left, looking over at Blaine with an expression that Blaine couldn't identify. "Do you want to go out for lunch? Nobody's going to be doing much today. I'm sure you can use a break too."

Blaine shrugged his shoulders, tilting his head to the side. "Sure, if you want. I don't mind if you want to stay and hang out with your family."

"We still have plenty of days left," Sebastian responded, whatever emotion that Blaine hadn't recognized fading from his features as he took a drink of his coffee. "Let's go out and have lunch and then we can come back and get drunk on the beach. And make out a lot more. Since we've agreed it's vacation."

Blaine rolled his eyes but couldn't help the way that he smiled. He couldn't help but agree that making out on the beach had been nice. It was likely because of Sebastian's experience but he was a good kisser, just as he'd said. "We'll see. I don't really want to cause problems with your aunt."

Shrugging his shoulders, Sebastian downed the rest of his coffee and stood up. "Hopefully she decides to do something else today and we won't have to deal with her. I'm going to shower. You can join me if you want."

"Oh my god, shut up and go shower," Blaine said with a laugh. He couldn't help the faint blush on his cheeks when Sebastian smirked, winked, and turned to walk away.


Blaine walked next to Sebastian into the small breakfast place. After they'd both showered and gotten ready, it was already after noon and the place was packed. They put their name on the wait, sitting together in comfortable silence. The Warblers group chat was active with members on vacation and touring colleges so the two were able to keep up with that.

Nobody from the Warblers knew they were on vacation together. After all, it wasn't real.

When they were called, they sat down and ordered their drinks and glanced through the menu.

"It is nice to get away from the craziness," Blaine admitted, looking up at Sebastian over the menu.

Sebastian shrugged although he had a little smile on his face. "I figured. I know they can be a lot. They're great, of course, but… well, especially if you're not used to them. Besides, my mom reminded me that I didn't need to spend all the time with them. She thought I might want to take you out."

Blaine felt a blush tinge his cheeks as he realized part of why they were out was because Sebastian's mother had thought Sebastian would want to take him out on a date. Not quite, he knew. Although, Blaine couldn't be too discouraged. It wasn't like the two didn't spend most of their time together anyway.

"That's silly. Even if this was real, I wouldn't mind you spending time with your family. We spend time together almost every day. You don't get to be around them. I can tell you miss them… especially your siblings," Blaine said, voice gentle because he knew how Sebastian got when he was called out on having feelings.

Indeed, Sebastian wrinkled his nose, although he didn't try to argue. He waited long enough that the waitress came around to get their order before they went back to their conversation. "I do," he finally said and it was so obvious how much he meant it. "My mom was purposefully being embarrassing but she's not wrong. I am really close to both of them, Belle a little bit more since we're closer in age but Ben too. Belle and Ben are both… sweet. They bake cookies with our mom and hang out with them for movie nights. I don't understand them a lot of the time but I love them."

The last three words were said almost silently and Blaine smiled softly at him. Honestly, it was easy for anybody to see that he cared but it was nice for Sebastian to admit it. "They are really sweet. I'm really glad to be here and get to know your family. They're not what I expected."

"Yeah, I can imagine that," Sebastian said with a quiet laugh, taking a drink of his coffee to maybe give himself a minute to think. "They like you, at least. But I expected that. I'm really glad you're here too, Blaine. If I haven't said that enough. You get along well with them and we have fun together. I can't imagine doing this with anybody else."

"Except Sean," Blaine joked.

Sebastian shook his head and shrugged, looking closely at Blaine as he spoke. "No, it's different. I mean, don't get me wrong. Sean and I would've had fun but not like I enjoy myself with you. We're not friends. Which is why I was so surprised that he thought we were dating. We never really did anything outside of sex. We never even went out on a date. I suppose some people just can't help falling in love with me," he said although the last sentence didn't sound as much like a joke as Sebastian obviously meant it to be.

Blaine lowered his eyes, having not expected that. He knew that what Sebastian and Sean had primarily was sex but he assumed they spent at least a little bit of time together. It wasn't lost on him that he and Sebastian spent a lot more time together than he and Sean apparently had. "I'm glad I'm here too," Blaine said after a moment, nodding his head.

Just a few more days and then this was over and they'd go back to being friends. Blaine couldn't be upset over that. He loved being friends with Sebastian. And that's what he kept reminding himself.

"Maybe I'll just have to keep you. My family likes you enough and then they'll never harass me about dating again," Sebastian teased flirtatiously, the look on his face making butterflies erupt in Blaine's stomach.

Blaine shook his head, trying hard to keep a serious look on his face as he flirted back. "You'll have to upgrade from lunch to dinner, I think."

"Hey, come on. I bought you ice cream. And kissed you until you were dazed," Sebastian responded easily, leaning back in his chair as he picked up his mug of coffee again.

"You think so highly of yourself, don't you? Maybe I'm just that good of an actor."

Sebastian laughed, reaching out to take Blaine's hand. It surprised Blaine and honestly, seemed to surprise Sebastian too judging by the look on his face. Having already reached out, Sebastian didn't pull away. "I know you're an amazing actor. But I also felt you melting against me. I could feel exactly how I affected you."

Fortunately, Blaine was saved from answering by the waitress dropping their food off. He wouldn't have been able to deny it anyway. Just like it was obvious that Sebastian cared so much for his siblings, it was obvious that Blaine had given in completely to the make out on the beach the previous night.

They fell into a companionable silence as they ate, Sebastian willing to let the conversation drop. Blaine was thankful for that, not wanting to admit just how much that he wanted Sebastian. Instead, they talked casually, about the beach, about Sebastian's cousins, about the brunch they were having. The café was nice and the food was good.

Blaine was comfortable, more comfortable than he might've ever been. Sebastian was his best friend and Blaine looked down at his plate, chewing on his toast and trying not to think too hard.

"Do you want to head to the pier on our way back? I know we didn't get to spend a lot of time doing things we wanted to do," Sebastian said which wasn't necessarily a lie. In between lunch, the candy shop, and souvenirs for everyone, they'd been alone only for a few minutes.

Blaine nodded, picking up his coffee and trying not to let his heart jump. "I have to get souvenirs for my parents anyway. I didn't find anything I liked last time."

"Awesome," Sebastian responded, giving Blaine a little grin before turning back to his burger.


It had felt natural to take each other's hands once they'd stepped out of the cab to walk towards the pier. It was just as busy the previous day, crowds of tourists enjoying the hot June air. Sebastian and Blaine talked quietly about nothing in particular as they made their way through the crowds.

Once they reached the arcade, Blaine stopped, a smile on his face. "So, we both know you're competitive…"

"Are you challenging me to an arcade duel?" Sebastian asked, sounding amused as he squeezed Blaine's hand, turning with the other boy.

Blaine's smile took on a more mischievous gleam, not bothering to answer. Instead, he just headed into the arcade, looking around. It was packed with kids and teenagers and the two moved through the games. Sebastian stopped them at skee-ball, winning four of the five games they played side by side, and then Blaine stopped them at air hockey, beating Sebastian two games in a row before Sebastian tapped out.

It was fun, it was freeing, it was friendly, of course but also… every time they weren't playing, they were holding hands, standing close in the crowd. They teased each other about the games they played and about their losses and then their wins.

Blaine was better at pinball and Sebastian was better at Pac-Man which had Blaine teasing him in overtime. Just when they were starting to run out of games to play, Sebastian's eyes landed on Dance, Dance Revolution and Blaine could see the look on his face.

"Oh, you're on," Blaine said with a laugh, grabbing Sebastian's hand and dragging him over to the game. Sebastian didn't put up any sort of fight, laughing as they both got situated on the platform.

"I'll give you an advantage. You can pick the first song," Sebastian told him, looking completely relaxed as he looked over at Blaine.

Even though this was the type of thing they'd have done when they were friends, for some reason, it felt different. What was it? The soft look in Sebastian's eyes? The way his eyes crinkled at the corner as he smiled with every ounce of his self-confidence? No. It was the way that Sebastian was being himself, without silly innuendos. Sebastian was still looking at him with pure want but there was something else.

There was something that looked special in Sebastian's eyes and there was no reason for him to be acting right now.

When the music started, Blaine focused on the game. They were both dancers, had gone to Nationals with the Warblers and gotten within the top 5. They were good, both of them, and they were competitive. It was within two songs that they'd accumulated a few people watching them and they were both laughing within four songs, moving frantically as Sebastian pushed them to harder and harder songs.

"Just give it up, Anderson. You know you can never win," Sebastian teased him although Blaine couldn't even take a second to look at him.

Blaine was already panting, moving as quickly as he could and wishing he'd brought a water. He was certainly going to need it when they were done. Another two songs that Sebastian was getting progressively better at and Blaine was not, had Blaine tapping out, stepping off and bending at the waist to breathe a little better.

"Okay! I give, I give. You win. But you bet, Sebastian Smythe, that if this was a singing game, I'd have won," Blaine said, although he knew that the effect of his words were somewhat hindered by how hard that Blaine was breathing.

Sebastian's cheeks were pink and he was breathing just a little bit easier than Blaine, laughing quietly. "Keep telling yourself that, Anderson. It's the lacrosse. Better lung capacity. It's a gift," Sebastian said, wiggling his eyebrows in a way that had Blaine laughing instead of blushing.

Moving closer to Sebastian, giving another person room to step onto the machine and test their skill, Blaine shoved his shoulder, shaking his head. "You're incorrigible."

"Yeah, I am," Sebastian responded easily, reaching down to grab Blaine's hand, tangling their fingers. This, however, did have Blaine blushing and he swallowed hard. Sebastian just smirked, tugging Blaine a little bit closer with his hold on him.

Nobody paid them much mind, too busy running around and playing their games. Blaine held his breath, unsure what Sebastian was going to do, but he should've guessed. Sebastian stepped forward, using his free hand to cup Blaine's cheek. It was easy, natural, and Blaine surged up to meet him in the middle, kissing him back with a smile on his lips.

The kiss was sloppy because of it, their kiss somewhat crooked, and Blaine was pushed from behind by an enthusiastic child running towards his favorite game. But Blaine was still smiling when he pulled away, looking up at Sebastian before giving him another quick kiss.

It didn't matter that it wasn't real. It was just for vacation.

"I really can't get enough of kissing you. Have I mentioned that?" Sebastian mumbled, groaning as he was now elbowed in the back by somebody running behind him. Sebastian rolled his eyes, squeezing Blaine's hand and tugging him along. "Come on. If one more child runs into me, I'm going to lose my mind."

Blaine squeezed his hand gently, unable to help the amused smile as they moved towards the door and back out to the pier. After buying a water and downing it, Blaine pulled Sebastian into a souvenir shop. The taller boy was uninterested in most of it considering everybody he might want to get souvenirs for was already there.

Although Blaine loved his parents, he wasn't necessarily close to them. He boarded at Dalton and most weekends, he had plenty to do at the school so didn't bother going home. His parents traveled a lot for business and while they loved him as well, they were all different. Neither parent truly accepted his sexuality and Blaine had a mask that he used whenever he was with them.

"I feel like everything here is so tourist-y," Blaine murmured, mostly to himself since Sebastian was looking at shot glasses behind him.

Sebastian still glanced over at the words, though, shrugging his shoulders. "Probably because everything here is tourist-y. Is your mom a coffee drinker? Get her a mug."

Blaine looked over, seeing that Sebastian was holding up a mug that had a whale on it and said 'Life's a beach.' Sebastian was smirking and Blaine laughed, shaking his head and grabbing the mug to put back on the shelf. "Not that one. She doesn't drink coffee but she drinks tea. And wine. I could get my dad a shot glass and my mom a wine glass."

"Sounds like my kind of parents," Sebastian teased, picking up a shot glass that simply had the name of the beach they were on and a few starfish around it. "How about this one? They have a matching wine glass."

Blaine reluctantly took the glass, running his thumb over the printing on it. It felt generic but then, he wasn't sure what else he could get for his parents. He wanted to get them something but… there was nothing personalized. And Blaine adored his parents and he wouldn't change them for anything but something silly like 'World's Best Mother' or 'Father' being printed on something felt even weirder than getting them glasses.

After a moment of Blaine just staring at the glass, Sebastian moved forward, a noticeable shift in him. "You know, you don't need to bring them back some stupid tourist thing."

"I know," Blaine murmured, sighing as he picked up the wine glass and taking them towards the register. "I'll get these, I suppose."

Sebastian looked at him for a moment, obviously making sure that he was okay, before he nodded, taking Blaine's hand and waiting for him to pay.

They got themselves another coffee from one of the stalls, iced because they were both sweating already, and walked down towards where Belle had insisted they kiss the previous day. Blaine still had a hard time believing that it had only been a day that he and Sebastian had been doing the kissing thing. It felt like it was nothing new, like they'd been doing this all along.

Sebastian stopped by a stall selling little trinkets and Blaine headed towards the railing. He leaned against it, staring out at the water and breathing in the salty air. After their games and souvenir shopping, he was about ready to head back to the beach house, but at the same time, it was nice to be here with Sebastian like this. Besides the new hand holding and kissing, this was something they could've done at home.

How many weekends had they gone out with their friends? To coffee or to the store or the mall or wherever they wanted to go? Even their antics in the arcade was something they might normally do at home.

Turning back, ready to ask Sebastian how long he was going to be, Blaine was surprised when Sebastian was standing in front of him. He was holding a keychain, a little shark with a white bowtie and a toothy grin on its face.

Blaine blinked and then broke out into his own grin. "What in the…?"

"Got you a tacky souvenir from your California trip. Since I could tell you weren't going to get one for yourself," Sebastian said, shaking the keychain a little bit so Blaine would reach out and take it.

A shake of his head as Blaine wrapped his hand around the keychain, holding onto it and then reaching out with his other hand for Sebastian's. "Thanks. You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to give you something other than a hickey to remember California," Sebastian said nonchalantly as they made their way towards the beginning of the pier to head back.

Blaine frowned a little, putting the keychain into his pocket so he wouldn't lose it. "You haven't left a hickey on me."

It was only when Sebastian turned to him, smirking deviously, that Blaine realized he'd walked right into this. "Yet," Sebastian murmured, squeezing Blaine's hand.

Blaine rolled his eyes but he couldn't deny the thrill that shot through him as they walked close together.


After a nice dinner outside on the deck, Blaine sat in between Sebastian and Tyler, listening to everybody debate on the movie they were going to watch. Personally, Blaine thought that trying to get 14 people to agree on a movie they wanted to watch was a little silly but they were insisting. And he supposed that the three of them on this couch, at least, weren't giving any input, neither were a few others.

They would figure it out, Blaine was sure. For now, he was resting his head on Sebastian's shoulder, face and shoulders hot, closing his eyes and listening to Tyler and Sebastian both texting on either side of him. He knew that Sebastian was keeping up with his lacrosse friends and he had a feeling that Tyler was texting his girlfriend but he didn't particularly care about either.

Blaine had a feeling he was going to sleep for a week when he got home.

"If you're tired, we don't need to stay up," Sebastian murmured at his side, one of his arms thrown casually over Blaine's shoulders. "I'd be more than happy to take you to bed… I owe you a souvenir."

Blaine laughed, smacking Sebastian's chest without even opening his eyes. "Hush. Your family is going to hear you."

"They don't know what I'm talking about and even if they did, they wouldn't be surprised that I want to get my gorgeous boyfriend in bed."

Blaine just closed his eyes tighter, shaking his head and deciding not to give Sebastian any more attention for his behavior. Sebastian just smirked, squeezing Blaine a little bit with his hold and then turned back to his phone. It took at least another 15 minutes before the first Harry Potter movie was finally decided on and Blaine made himself a little more comfortable.

He liked the Harry Potter movies, a lot, he just was exhausted. At his other side, Tyler had perked up a little bit and Blaine glanced over.

"Ah, Harry Potter. Forgive me for a moment, but the movies are good but the books are much better," Tyler said when he noticed Blaine's gaze.

"Solidly agree," Blaine responded easily because the other boy wasn't wrong. Reluctantly, he sat up a little, turning to face Tyler a bit better. Sebastian looked over when Blaine sat up, pulling his arm from Blaine's shoulder and Blaine resisted the urge to grab Sebastian's arm to return it. "Have you read all the books?"

Tyler looked over at him, an amused expression on his face. "Of course. Have you? What's your favorite?"

Blaine actually felt a little bit more awake as he chatted with Tyler about Harry Potter, agreeing on their favorite book but having a quiet, playful debate about their favorite movie. At his side, Sebastian continued his texting, tensing enough that Blaine sat up straight, relaxing against the back of the couch instead. Their conversation only lasted halfway through the movie, though, and then Blaine was laying his head against Sebastian's shoulder again.

At the end of the movie, he was only vaguely aware as Sebastian gently woke him up, walking with him down to the bedroom. Blaine barely had the energy to change into sweatpants before falling into the bed, not even bothering to grab a shirt. It wasn't as if he wasn't spending plenty of time with Sebastian shirtless on the beach. He hadn't slept well the past few nights so even though he was uncomfortable, he was asleep again as soon as his head hit the pillow.


The next morning, Blaine woke up rested but he cringed when he felt Sebastian's arm thrown across his back. He wiggled a little, still half asleep to get away from him, and made a noise of pain when Sebastian subconsciously tightened his hold in his sleep.

"What?" Sebastian asked, blinking his eyes rapidly as he looked over at Blaine. Then he nodded, pressing his lips together to keep from smiling. "You were right. You're sunburned."

Blaine groaned, sitting up carefully and moving his head so that he could look at his shoulder and "Ow," Blaine muttered. He was bright red and he cringed as he realized the heat he'd been feeling the previous night had been a sunburn and nothing to do with Sebastian.

"And here I thought the bowtie-d whale and a hickey were what you were going to remember this trip by," Sebastian teased, reaching out to push an unruly curl off Blaine's forehead. It struck Blaine how gentle that Sebastian was, obviously not wanting to hurt him with his sunburn.

Wrinkling his nose, Blaine moved back, grabbing his shirt and wincing at the idea of putting it on.

Sebastian laughed, getting out of bed and stretching. "Stay here. I'll get some Aloe for you. I'm sure somebody brought some. Like I said, somebody always ends up sunburned."

"And it had to be me," Blaine said, flopping back on the bed and then regretting it immediately. Sebastian pressed his lips together to keep from laughing, pulling his own shirt on before heading towards the stairs without a word.

Content with the idea of putting some of the cooling gel on his skin, Blaine laid back, grabbing his phone instead. His brother had texted him, telling Blaine that he was at an audition and couldn't wait to see Blaine the next day.

Blaine liked to believe that his brother meant well but he couldn't help panicking a little at the idea of seeing him. He loved his brother and they'd had good times but Cooper had always been his biggest critic. Their mother had always told Blaine that it was just constructive criticism, that Cooper meant well, that he was just trying to help Blaine, and Blaine believed that sometimes. But sometimes he felt like his brother was just being an asshole.

"Each family brought a bottle of Aloe vera so we have plenty," Sebastian said with a laugh, the bottle of gel under his arm and a mug of coffee in each hand.

"Ooh, and coffee? What a good boyfriend you are," Blaine teased, turning to Sebastian and forcing a calm expression on his face.

Sebastian didn't respond, just smirked as he handed over the mug and sat down on the bed next to him, putting his own coffee aside. Blaine held out his hand for the Aloe but Sebastian just shook his head, flicking the cap off. "You can barely even see your sunburn. I got it."

Blaine breathed in deeply, his heart suddenly starting to pound as he realized exactly what Sebastian was saying. He thought that this was a bad idea but… he knew that Sebastian was right. And he did want the Aloe on his skin. Maybe if he'd just let Sebastian put the sunscreen on him the other day, he wouldn't be in this predicament. "Okay," Blaine whispered, adjusting so that he was sitting on the bed with his feet on the floor.

Sebastian moved behind him, his touch soft as he pressed the gel onto his shoulders and then carefully across his back. Blaine hissed out, the gel cold compared to his hot skin, but it was a nice relief.

He had a feeling the sunburn was the worst on his shoulders and face, as was normal, so he wasn't surprised when Sebastian focused on his shoulders. He was, however, surprised when he felt Sebastian use his hold on Blaine to lean in, pressing his lips to the side of Blaine's neck.

"That's not helping my sunburn," Blaine choked out, biting the inside of his lip and tilting his head to the side, unable to help himself.

"You're not sunburned right here," Sebastian teased back, pressing another quick kiss before pulling back to get more Aloe on his hands. Within seconds, he was kissing Blaine's neck again, sliding his hands down Blaine's back. "Don't worry. I have no desire to lick Aloe off even your skin."

Blaine couldn't help his laugh that turned into a whimper when he felt Sebastian's teeth scrape across his skin. "Sebastian…"

"I told you that I owe you a souvenir," Sebastian murmured and Blaine knew that he should pull away as Sebastian pressed sucking kisses down his skin.

He was letting his mind go crazy with different emotions and he was also giving Sebastian mixed messages. While Blaine had insisted on never being anything but platonic with Sebastian, needing more than a friends with benefits type situation, he was giving in now.

Blaine could justify it as acting and not real but there was nobody but them there now. Vacation was a dumb excuse but Blaine was determined to keep using it. At least, for now, for today. Tomorrow, he told himself. Tomorrow, maybe, he'd pull away faster. Or the next day.

Sebastian's lips curved against his skin as he felt Blaine relax against him and he was respectful, not moving his hands below Blaine's waist but taking advantage of the opportunity. Blaine could only close his eyes, getting swept up in the feeling of Sebastian's hands and lips on him.


They'd spent the entire day acting like it's only natural to be close. Every time they were walking, they were holding hands. When they sat, it was close enough that they could feel the heat from each other. They didn't do much. They were all aware that vacation was more than halfway through, wanting to make the most of their last few days.

They played some board games with Sebastian's siblings and cousins and then made their way to splash in the ocean and lay in the sand. Sebastian made sure that there was an umbrella over them and Blaine refused to take off his shirt, ignoring Sebastian's teasing comments about hiding the hickey on him. It was useless anyway. The small bruise was up on his neck, easily on display.

Blaine knew he shouldn't like that thought so much.

The lazy day was just what they needed and Blaine dozed on the sand in between playing in the water with the others and kissing Sebastian until they were both breathless. No matter if it wasn't real, it was easy to pretend.

Every time Sebastian pressed his lips to Blaine, his lips, his neck, his jaw, Blaine told himself that it was okay. Vacation was almost over. He had time to enjoy this. Blaine was capable of enjoying casual making out.

(He wasn't. He knew that he wasn't. But he pretended anyway because he loved kissing Sebastian.)

That night, they went out to dinner with Sebastian's family. They were all there and Blaine couldn't help feeling overwhelmed. He was used to being around large groups with the Warblers. They went out together all the time but this was different. Being with family, even if it wasn't his own, felt different.

Sebastian had an arm draped loosely over the back of Blaine's chair as he spoke to his brother and sister on his other side. They weren't discussing anything important, the dinner conversation was just as lazy as their day had been, but Blaine wasn't going to interrupt. He knew that with vacation coming soon to an end that Sebastian would want to be spending plenty of time with his siblings.

At Blaine's other side, Tyler seemed just as lazy as Blaine felt. Tyler and Sebastian had a few drinks on the beach earlier and neither had particularly wanted to come out. Both had been convinced by their parents and Blaine was still amused by Sebastian's bout of pouting he'd done.

"I can't believe vacation's almost over," Tyler said with a sigh, propping his head up, elbow on the table as he ignored his mother's glare.

They were mostly done anyway, just finishing desserts while the adults finished wine. If he was honest, Blaine would really like to get back to the beach house so he could get into something more comfortable, but he wasn't going to say anything. It felt nice enough to be sitting here with them anyway.

"Me either. It's been nice, though. Not having everything scheduled down to the minute. I'd love to take more vacations like this," Blaine said, yawning and leaning a little further back in his chair, feeling as Sebastian's arm moved from the back of the chair firmly onto his shoulders.

Tyler nodded, looking over at him. "You should. I'm sure you have an open invite now. We've been talking about doing the same thing for winter holidays, rent a cabin somewhere that we can ski and snowboard."

Realizing his mistake immediately, Blaine balked, trying to figure out what he was going to say. At his side, Sebastian tensed just the tiniest amount, only enough that Blaine could feel because he was sitting so close to him. Blaine let out a breath, nodding his head finally. What was one more lie? "That sounds like fun. We'll see. My family sometimes spends winter holidays together," Blaine said which was certainly a lie. His mother and father didn't like the winter holidays, hated the cold, and tended to go on vacation away from it.

While Blaine was always invited, he preferred to relax and spend time in the cold weather. He'd always loved sipping hot cocoa while snow fell around him.

"Well, if you can, then. It'd be fun. With the whole family," Tyler said, something in his tone that had Blaine nodding. Sebastian looked over at the two of them but Blaine was looking at Tyler, biting the inside of his cheek. He could see what was possibly uncertainty in Tyler's eyes before it cleared and Blaine hoped that Tyler would be confident enough to bring his girlfriend around to meet his family.

Blaine knew that he wouldn't be here to meet her, wouldn't be vacationing with them again. It was okay to tease about Sebastian bringing him along on further vacations but he knew that it couldn't work. His heart and willpower could only take so much before Blaine knew that he would break.

(Stop, he kept telling himself. There was nothing else there. Sebastian didn't want more. He never had. Blaine knew that.)

"Sure. I love your family. You're all a lot of fun and very welcoming," Blaine said politely, even as he wasn't quite as comfortable as he'd been before. There were butterflies in his stomach as he thought about going back to normal. Would Sebastian think their making out would continue when they got home? He had to know that this was just a consequence of being on vacation and this lie. Sebastian was the one who had said that it was just vacation fun originally.

"Don't overly flatter us. Some of us have a big enough ego as it is," Tyler joked pointedly in Sebastian's direction, laughing as Sebastian flipped him off behind Blaine's back.

From across the table, Cori scowled and Josh laughed.

"Okay kids," Josh said, setting down his empty glass of wine and shaking his head at them. "Settle down. We've gone this long without a big blow-out fight. Let's try to continue."

Blaine turned to rest his cheek more heavily against Sebastian's shoulder, closing his eyes and letting out a breath. Sebastian began seemingly subconsciously running his fingers up and down Blaine's arm and Blaine tried to calm himself down.

This was fine. It was all going to be fine.

(It wasn't. He knew that. But that was a problem for another time.)