5YL Let the Encore Commence

Part 31

Although Sebastian hadn't been out of the room for long, by the time he returned, Blaine was pacing their living room with his phone to his ear. It only took him turning towards the front of the room for Sebastian to know something was wrong, as Blaine looked angry. Not knowing who he was talking to, Sebastian merely took a seat and waited for the call to end. He'd only been seated for a short while when he learnt who Blaine was speaking to, which was Jennifer. Upon hearing her name, and from what Wes had shared with him, he had a good presumption what their conversation was about.

By the time the call finally ended, Blaine threw his phone against their couch, and Sebastian half-expected it to be broken given the impact it made. "Now I know why Wes was so concerned about my Dad." Blaine stated while continuing to pace. "Guess my breakdown in court is now considered a fucking episode!" With each word that come out of his mouth, the volume rose and his tone became increasingly harsh.

"Bla…"

"Don't!" He practically shouted, much to Sebastian's surprise, yet he knew Blaine's anger wasn't directed at him. Instead, he slowly made his way out of the chair and approached his husband. "Don't try and calm me down Sebastian!" Blaine exclaimed while putting his hands up to keep him at arm's length.

"Wasn't going to." Sebastian calmly replied while slipping his hands into his pockets. "Only tried to say your name to get your attention, to find out what Hummel said." Almost instantly Blaine looked up at the ceiling in frustration which allowed Sebastian to come closer. "So."

"Basically, after my Dad told him to leave us alone, he made a sarcastic comment about my breakdown. In turn, my Dad yelled for them to get him away from him before, before…"

"He'd do something he'd regret." Sebastian to which Blaine confirmed. "Then what?"

"My Dad went after Burt who'd earlier told either my Dad or yours they were being too harsh with Kurt, and, essentially eluded to how emotionally scarred I was because of what Kurt did to me." The next thing Sebastian heard was a frustrated sigh. "Why can't he leave us alone!"

"I wish I had an answer for you, but I can't help feel something was left out." Sebastian replied as he came even closer to him, garnering a look from Blaine. "Just saying, something must've happened to push your Dad to that point as he's held it together for so long."

"That could be part of the problem, as he really hasn't been given an outlet to vent his frustrations directly at Kurt or Burt for that matter, we have." Blaine then closed the rest of the distance between them and wrapped his arms around Sebastian before resting his head on his chest, and then feeling Sebastian's arms wrap around him. "How am I supposed to deal with this?"

"Right now, you don't, you let Jennifer do her job, which she's extremely good at." Sebastian said, before pressing a kiss atop his head, hoping it would help him relax a bit. "Also, you're not calling your Dad till you calm down, as I'm sure he and my Dad are having one hell of a talk as they've undoubtedly been informed of what got out."

"Is it wrong that I want to hit something right now?"

"Not in the slightest. We'll get through this B, just like we've gotten through everything else."

"I know, but now, now it's not a contained matter." Blaine said as he looked up at him. "I should've known something was up considering the way Jeff, Santana, and Wes were looking at us. Why didn't they say anything?"

"They let Wes make the call, and since we seemed clueless, he didn't want to drop that type of information on us. Felt it was better coming from my Dad or yours." Sebastian told him. "I'm telling you now, I gave Wes the condensed version of what happened in court which Hummel referenced. He's worried about you."

"I'll talk to him later. Right now the only thing I want to do, is spend time with you, shut out everything that's going on out in the world."

"We can do that, you won't get any complaints from me." Sebastian then looked towards the table where each of their phones were going off. "How about I give my Dad a call, and you go upstairs and run us a bath?"

"Alright, but why are you calling your Dad?"

"To let him know we're aware of what got out, but also to let him know you need time to process it before we discuss it." After a subtle nod, Blaine moved up enough to give Sebastian a kiss before making his way upstairs, leaving his phone behind as he was not inclined to speak to anyone. It wasn't until he no longer heard footsteps going up the stairs, did Sebastian take a seat to make his call. Unsurprisingly, the phone only rang once before Xavier answered and his tone spoke volumes. "Before you say anything, we know reporters overheard what happened once we left the courtroom."

"How's Blaine handling everything?" Xavier asked as he looked across at Patrick who was nursing his glass of scotch.

"He's pissed."

"Did Jennifer get ahold of him?"

"That's how he found out." Sebastian replied. "Let me guess, she called you."

"She did."

Before he could say anything else, Patrick extended his hand and took the phone to speak with him. "Please tell Blaine I'm so sorry Sebastian, I…"

"Relax, B's not upset with you in the slightest." Sebastian told him. "The only reason he ignored your call, is he's not quite ready to talk with anyone, even you. Blame me if you need to, but I felt it best he calms down before getting more information."

"How can I blame the one person who puts my son's best interests ahead of everything else." Patrick replied. "Right now, him learning how things got to that point, isn't going to change anything regarding what's out there."

"That was my thought given what Wes showed me."

"I really am sorry Sebastian." He hurt in Patrick's voice more than audible.

"I know you are, as I know you'd never do anything to purposely hurt Blaine."

"You're right, I wouldn't. I, I don't know how you've kept it together all this time."

"It hasn't been easy, but I had the one thing you didn't in this moment."

"And that was?"

"Blaine beside me, it only takes looking at him for me to stop talking, otherwise I probably would've said much worse than you did." Sebastian assured him. "Don't beat yourself up over this, because as I already said, B doesn't blame you in the slightest. He knows what it's like to get pushed by Kurt's comments, as he knows just the right buttons to push to get a reaction."

"And I played right into it."

"From what I read, the only thing you did was defend your son, which is expected." Sebastian told him. "Right there, you proved every thought he had about your relationship with B, was wrong. He took a calculated risk, and ended up with a response he didn't expect." He then paused for a moment to attempt to remember what he'd read. "Uh, how did Carter react to all this?" Given how the conversation had gone up to this point, hearing Patrick chuckle, put a smile on his face. "Good to know, last thing I wanted was for Hunter to have another reason to be angry at him."

"Fear not, he put his client in his place. He was clearly not pleased in the slightest. He was having some choice words with Kurt as we left." Patrick told him. "By the way, next time you see Scott, tell him thank you as James presence helped ease our exit from the courthouse."

"Will do, and Blaine will be happy to hear it also. He was quite pleased to see Scott had called in reinforcements given the crowd outside. Speaking of, they weren't too hard on you as some of those reporters are a bit pushy?"

"Your Dad handled the matter, though they weren't pleased to not get a quote out of me." When Sebastian laughed, Patrick shook his head. "Let me guess, you were no better."

"Nope, as B's usual response leaving court is no comment as this is a private issue." Sebastian then cocked his head as he heard Blaine call down too him. "Not to be rude, but do you mind if I talk with my Dad as there's something I need to tell him before going to check on B."

"You're not being rude in the slightest." Patrick replied. "And Sebastian, take care of him."

"Always do." Shortly after he spoke, it didn't take long to get Xavier back on the line. "I know this might be difficult, but if possible could any talk of this wait till tomorrow, give B a full night to wrap his head around it."

"Of course. Fair warning though, keep in mind your Mom and Kate are in town, so there's only so much control we'll have of the situation."

"Fine, but legally?"

"I'll handle things on this end, and let Jennifer know Blaine needs at least a day to process the situation." Xavier replied. "Now go check on your husband."

"Don't have to tell me that twice. Thank you, Dad, I love you."

"Love you too, bye Sebastian." Once the call ended, Xavier set his phone on the table and looked at Patrick who didn't seem reassured by his talk with his son-in-law. "You do know Sebastian will take care of him."

"I do, and he clearly does a better job than me at the present given I got him in this situation." Patrick said before checking his phone which had gone off. "Per the alert, their flight is still scheduled to land on time."

"You're changing the subject." Xavier replied before looking over at James who was standing nearby, ensuring no one bothered them. "Problematic as your words may have been, you could've said a lot worse. Yet since Blaine's addressed he's dealt with issues stemming from his assault, and the abuse he's suffered, it's not as though you said anything people weren't aware of. From everything I've read, people assumed the abuse he suffered was at the hands of his ex, so it's not a giant revelation."

"Just a confirmation, something Blaine didn't want known. I didn't screw things up for him, I'm talking legally regarding his divorce, did I?"

"Not at all."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I heard what you said Patrick, none of it was defamation. You simply reminded Burt what his son had done to yours. I toed the line pretty closely today as well."

"Yet you managed to keep it together."

"Only because I've had more practice at it." When Patrick shook his head prior to taking another sip, Xavier smiled. "It's true, otherwise I'd end up being held in contempt which doesn't do my clients any good." Upon hearing Patrick laugh, Xavier tilted his head.

"Just picturing the look on Kurt's face, and Burt's when the bailiff escorted him out."

"Those were some priceless expressions, weren't they?" Patrick nodded. "If Carter didn't calm Burt down, I'm pretty sure he was heading down that road. I'm just sorry that my line of questioning caused the courtroom to be closed, which only made the reporters more inquisitive."

"It wasn't your questioning, it was his answers. He was trying to rationalize Kurt's behavior, blame Blaine, as well as Sebastian, you did what you needed to do, as did Judge Watkins. You did your job, this isn't your fault."

"Then listen to yourself, this isn't your fault either." Xavier said in response. "Truthfully, what I'm most curious about is what brought on Burt's change of heart as last time he was in court, he accepted Kurt had been at fault. While he was protective of his son, he still knew his behavior was wrong. The biggest issue, was he disliked it had gotten to this point, that we couldn't handle it without the courts."

"They tried, hell, Blaine hates that it got to this point." Patrick replied. "Yet even he and Sebastian are now fully aware, they couldn't have handled this on their own."

"I know, which I reminded him of, numerous times. Here's hoping the facility is able to figure out what makes him tick, and why he can't seem to leave our sons alone." Xavier said before raising his glass to Patrick, and the two toasted. "How are you going to tell Kate about this?"

"Carefully, very carefully." Patrick replied, knowing full and well she wouldn't take it well. Then on top of that, he'd be having to keep her from going to check on Blaine.

While the two of them continued to talk, awaiting the arrival of their wives, Hunter was outside the courthouse waiting on his cousin. By the time Carter finally made his way out, he was startled by the sound of his name being called considering most everyone was gone. "I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to come out." Hunter teased as Carter walked towards him. "You look fried."

"You don't know the half of it." Carter replied as the two continued to descend the steps, yet was soon correcting himself. "You probably do actually, given you're here. How big of a mess do I have to contend with?"

"Depends on perspective, but reporters heard Patrick and Xavier getting into it with the Hummels."

"Fuck!" Carter exclaimed, stopping in his tracks as he did so. "How bad?"

"Blaine's trending, and people are wondering about this "episode" he suffered, supposedly brought on by something his ex did." Hunter said in response before giving him a nudge to keep walking. "What don't I know?"

"You asking, means Blaine and Sebastian don't want you to know." Carter replied. "So, I'm not going to say anything regarding the matter."

"That bad?"

"Let's just say the courtroom went silent when it happened, albeit there weren't many people inside since it was closed, but if it wasn't for Sebastian being present, I don't know what would've happened."

"When did this happened?"

"Months ago, the last time they were in court." Almost instantly Hunter's expression changed. "That ring some bells?" Hunter nodded. "If you questioned if Sebastian's mood was warranted, it was. I don't think I could handle seeing the person I love like that."

"Your client is a real piece of work."

"I'm aware of that, yet it's my job to defend him to the best of my ability, but he makes it near impossible." Carter told him. "What brought you here?"

"Given what I read, I thought you could use someone to talk to, even if you can't discuss details." Hunter told him. "I know enough to understand how you're feeling. What kept you so long?"

"Needed to file a motion to throw out Judge Watkins ruling, as my client wants to appeal the decision."

"What are the chances it'll be heard?"

"Zilch, as the ruling was warranted based on everything which has occurred." Carter said in response. "Honestly, I was expecting it to be worse given his track record."

"Does that mean he got off lightly?" Hunter asked.

"Not at all, it just wasn't what I was expecting. Though according to my client, it was excessive."

"Of course, it was, as none of this is his fault." Hunter sarcastically replied. "I'm really sorry you've gotten stuck in the middle of this mess, especially since you're not getting paid nearly enough to deal with his crap." Carter couldn't help but laugh. "What is it?"

"Since this is part of my firm's pro bono load, which all first and second year associates are responsible for, I'm getting nothing from Kurt. Ever since he was fired from Vogue, he qualifies for free legal assist and the Public Defender's office wasn't qualified to handle a case of this nature."

"Given Blaine's notoriety." Hunter said to which Carter confirmed. "How does your firm feel about how long this has dragged on?"

"They hate it, but know it's not my fault as my superior has read a majority of the transcripts."

"Majority?" Hunter questioned as they continued to walk.

"Yes, as some of the information is…"

"Privileged, got it." Hunter said before he could finish. "Where is your client?"

It wasn't till he looked at his watch, did Carter answer. "He should be at LaGuardia, awaiting his flight home."

"Home?"

"Yes, as Judge Watkins is having him fulfill his sentence there given, never mind."

"This time I'll let it slide as the last thing I want to do is get you in trouble. When in doubt, I'll ask Sebastian."

"Speaking of, how does it feel being done?"

"It all feels a bit surreal, but I know I still have one more step to take."

"Don't fret about the bar yet, enjoy this moment. Please tell me you're getting away with that beautiful wife of yours."

"We are, after this next homestand is over, which works out well since it coincides with graduation." Hunter replied. "It's easier for her to get away when the team is on the road."

"Understandable, though you've got to know even if the team was on the road, she'd never miss your graduation. Hell, I'm sure she's had that day off in the book since you got the date." When Hunter laughed, Carter smiled. "See. I've missed this."

"So, have I, but this situation isn't our doing." Hunter told him. "For your sake, along with Sebastian and Blaine, I hope this all gets resolved in some way soon."

"Why do I feel you've said that before now?" Carter asked.

"Because I have." Hunter said to him. "I hate seeing people I care about having their lives turned upside-down because of one person's twisted perception of reality. Difficult as your job is, you should be able to focus on the baby who is one it's way. As for my friends, they shouldn't be having to deal with this, especially with everything I know. He treated Blaine like crap when they were married, he drove him away."

"I know, which is why Judge Watkins ruling was the right one."

"How so?"

"It might just be able to shine some light on this situation, once and for all."