On a visit to New York City, Kurt and Sebastian drop by Vogue to see how the fashion world is getting along with Kurt Hummel's presence five days a week. But while they're there, they run into a situation that brings up painful memories from Kurt's past, as well as Sebastian's role in them.
Notes:
If this one-shot makes you feel some sort of way, be sure to read the notes at the end.
"Woo-wee! Swanky!" Sebastian strolls a circuit around Kurt's office, giving the place a once over from the carpeted floors to the higher-than-normal ceiling, which, along with the pale white walls, keeps the room bright with the help of sunlight alone - no overhead lighting required during the day. An abundance of natural light is probably necessary for looking at photographs of beautiful people dressed in stylish but revealing clothing, Sebastian thinks. Why did he ever make fun of Kurt's obsession with fashion for so long? Compared to what Sebastian stares at all day, Kurt obviously ended up with the better career. He trails his fingertips over the slick surface of Kurt's desk. The second he touches it, it goes dark and a menu pops up. Sebastian's eyes go wide. "A touch screen? This … this desk has a built in touch screen?"
"A-ha. It replaces my laptop. It handles everything from page layouts …" Kurt demonstrates, selecting a tab that brings up a slideshow of what Sebastian assumes to be next month's magazine, each section highlighted and available for editing "… to the blinds on the windows." Kurt taps another tab and the blinds lower. When they reach the sill, Kurt clicks the tab and they lift again.
Sebastian whistles through his teeth. "Isabelle gave you an office? This office? Even though you only come here, like, once a month?"
"Yes, sir." Kurt watches his husband continue his investigation, preening at his praise. It's not often Kurt has something that makes Sebastian this jealous. Kurt plans on enjoying every minute of it.
"Wow. I worked at my father's office for years and all he ever gave me was a blotter and a pen set. Vogue must have a bigger hard-on for you than I do."
"Nah. Vogue is like the Hilton. They have a bunch of empty offices like this one sitting around empty, waiting for people to fill them. They just gave me one of the leftovers."
Sebastian, staring out Kurt's window at his phenomenal view, throws an astonished look over his shoulder. "Really?"
Kurt laughs. "No, not really! Sebastian! This is a corner office! They don't hand out corner offices to just anyone! They love me here!"
"Mr. Hummel?" A soft knock follows. "Mr. Hummel, I have those back issues you requested."
"Great! Thank you, Celia!" Kurt hurries over to the door to collect an armful of vintage magazines from the young blonde woman standing there. "I've been trying to order these from every library on the east coast with no luck," he says, sifting through the pile. "Most of these haven't been uploaded to the Internet yet. I should have known Vogue would have them. We've got a huge vault full of clothes. Why not magazines, too?"
"What do you need these for?" Sebastian asks, taking half the leaning pile of periodicals from his husband's arms.
"My new line. I want to encompass one iconic look from every major shift in couture fashion. I'm calling it The Legacy Boutique."
"That sounds like a lot of work," Sebastian comments, his impressed tone clouded by the distraction of Celia lingering in the doorway, aiming inscrutable looks at the two of them that Kurt doesn't seem to notice. As a gay man in fashion, Kurt is probably used to people gawking at him. Sebastian has been gawked at tons of times, too, but it's not something he's ever gotten used to.
"It will be." Kurt puts his portion of the magazines on his desk, the screen shuffling to keep the information displayed out from underneath. Sebastian can't help but shake his head at Kurt's high tech desk, as well as the other bells and whistles his office has. It seems excessive, but Kurt deserves it. Sebastian is glad someone else in the world appreciates his husband as much as he does. "I want to have some sketches done by the end of the month."
"Kurt! Sebastian! I was hoping I would catch the two of you while you were here!" Isabelle moves Celia gently aside and sweeps in, rushing forward with open arms. "It's not often I get the honor of having both of you in my neck of the woods!"
"You didn't think we'd come to New York without stopping by, did you?" Kurt asks, giving his boss a hug. "Besides, I wanted to see how you're all getting along without me."
"Abysmally." Isabelle kisses Kurt on both cheeks, then Sebastian. "It's so much more fun when you're here. Remember what I said, if you ever want to move your family to the city, even part time, we'd love to have you. Five of the best elementary schools in New York are within walking distance of our building."
"A bus ride and a walk," Kurt points out.
"True. But you can use the company car. It'll be at your disposal 24/7."
"I promise we'll think about it," Sebastian intervenes, giving Kurt an out since he knows how much it breaks his heart to say no to Isabelle. "If nothing else, I promise we'll visit more."
"And you'll bring Thomas with you next time, right?" She glares sternly at Sebastian, leaving Kurt to wonder when exactly he got edged out of this conversation.
"Of course," Kurt adds, in case Isabelle honestly forgot he was there.
She pulls them in for another hug. "That's all I ask. Ooo, except, it's not. Kurt, I was hoping you'd sit in on this morning's meeting. I want to show you off."
"Sure! I'd love to! Oh …" Kurt turns to his husband, sheepish for having jumped the gun so quickly. They did have plans after all, which consisted of lunch (mostly naked) back at their penthouse before they had to swing by Ohio and pick up Thomas from a visit with his dad "… are you going to be alright for a couple of minutes by yourself?"
Celia walks up to Sebastian, ready to take his arm. "You don't have to be alone. I'll gladly give you a tour if you'd like."
"Nah, I've been," Sebastian says, side-stepping her before she can reach him. "Besides, I'm good to hang here … enjoy the view … rifle through the desk drawers looking for loose change."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Isabelle pecks one last kiss on Sebastian's cheek. "I'll return him to you soon!"
"Yes, thank you." Kurt wraps his arms around Sebastian's waist and steals a kiss from him as well, this one on the lips, before he's whisked out of the room by Isabelle and her non-stop chatter.
"You two lovebirds will have the entire afternoon for that when you get back to your place! It's time to talk about this new line you've got planned!"
Sebastian listens as Isabelle drags Kurt down the hall, leaving him alone in Kurt's office with Celia, standing not too far from Kurt's desk, staring at Sebastian as if waiting for him to strike up a conversation. Internally, Sebastian sighs. This wasn't what he signed on for when Kurt suggested they drop by Vogue. He was hoping for a little office nookie, though he was pretty certain he wasn't going to get any. He doesn't mind visiting Isabelle and listening to her talk on and on about fashion, even if he doesn't know a bralette from a tank top. He doesn't mind hanging out in Kurt's office while Kurt sits in on a meeting that will most likely run two-and-a-half hours before he remembers he has somewhere else he needs to be.
What he doesn't like is being left alone with someone he doesn't know, having to make small-talk he doesn't have the impetus to make. But eventually her staring gets to him. He has to say something either way before he starts maniacally screeching just to break the tension.
"Can you play Galaga on this thing?" he asks, acting as enthralled by Kurt's fancy new desktop as he can. "Does it get cable?"
"I'm not sure," Celia answers in a much smoother voice than she'd used around her boss … or his husband.
The question Why don't you run along and find out? jumps to mind, but Sebastian doesn't want it getting back to Kurt that he was rude to the woman who essentially fulfills the role of gofer every time he's in town. He takes a deep breath and decides to play nice, find a way to ask her to leave that won't have Kurt giving him the silent treatment all the way to Ohio.
Not with the afternoon they have planned.
"Celia … you're Isabelle's intern right? Filling Kurt's shoes from, like, over a decade ago?"
"That's right," she says, but offers nothing more.
Sebastian side-eyes her as he walks from bookcase to bookcase, examining with a smile the photos and trinkets Kurt chose to leave here – a brief history of their life together in snapshots and tchotchkes. He glances her way, but she hasn't moved, watching him like a hawk with an unsettling grin on her face.
"I'm not actually going to steal anything," he says, hoping she'll get the hint and vamoose. "You don't have to stick around and guard the place."
She saunters in his direction. "I'm not. But, for the moment, I don't have much to do."
"Must be nice" - Sebastian switches gears, walking in the opposite direction - "working at a prestigious place like Vogue and being paid to do nothing. How do I apply for a job like that? I mean, my husband makes bank. I don't know a thing about fashion, but I think I could match a shirt to some pants for the amount of money he makes. Plus, we could share this office. It's big enough for the two of us … our son and his dog …"
"I've seen your picture around Kurt's office," she says, overlooking Sebastian's repeated references to his family. "You're a very handsome man."
"I know."
"How did he get so lucky?" She runs her fingertips along the edge of Kurt's desk, which pisses Sebastian off. Sebastian may joke about Kurt only being around once a month or so, but Kurt has been with Vogue for years. He worked hard for his office and that super cool desk. She has no right touching it without his express permission. "I've seen pictures of his ex, too. What's his name? Blaine?"
"Yup." He tries not to sound affected. He suspects that's what she wants. "That's his name."
"Three sexy men from Ohio." She chuckles. "What's in the water out there?"
"Mostly fish pee, I think."
"If I knew all the hunks lived there, I definitely would have gone to high school in the states, not spent my formative years in Italy."
"Well, the hunks in question happen to be gay," he stresses, making his way towards the door, "so you didn't really miss anything."
"Oh, I don't know. I heard Blaine was questioning …"
"I guess so," Sebastian replies. When in the hell did Blaine become such a hot topic of conversation at fucking Vogue? The gossip train may run rampant, but Kurt and Blaine are ancient history. "But I think he sorted that out pretty quick from what I hear."
"And how about you?"
"How about me what?" Sebastian snaps, everything from his stomach to his neck getting hot.
"Were you ever questioning?"
Celia asking that makes his skin crawl. It's not just personal, it's rude as hell! But that's something he's come to expect the few times he's visited Vogue. Filters don't seem to be required to get hired.
"No, not that I can recall. And what the fuck would it matter if I was!? I'm definitely not now!"
"Come on … not even a little?" She closes the distance between them faster than he'd expected and he trips backward. "How do you know you don't like something until you try it?"
"Does this ever work for you?" Sebastian asks, realizing Celia doesn't seem interested in responding to something as petty as logic.
"I would say around 50-50. Come on. I could open a whole new world for you."
Her answer, and the smug expression that accompanies it, enrages Sebastian.
"What the heck's wrong with you, lady!?"
Women like her who try to 'convert' gay men should be forced onto some sort of registry, along with men who think that lesbians just need to be fucked by the 'right guy'. Who else has she been pursuing at Vogue? The amount of young people around that office is staggering – interns, models, assistants. Whom here has she pressured into an encounter they may not have wanted?
"Not only am I gay, I'm married and gay! With a kid! That should be a huge red flag that I'm not going to be into you! Do you do this to Kurt when he comes to the city without me!?"
"Nah," she says, nonplussed by the anger in Sebastian's voice. "He's hot and all, but he's not exactly my type."
"Not your type?" he repeats in disbelief because who in the hell could be in the same room with his husband and not want to tear his clothes off? Then Sebastian remembers – him once upon a time. Sebastian remembers being that asshole, flirting with Blaine and insulting Kurt, how much he pushed, how hard he pressured. He always secretly thought Blaine was into the attention because, even though he had a boyfriend that he claimed to love more than anything, he never outright told Sebastian to stop.
Kurt, however, never had a problem saying no. When they transitioned from enemies to friends and Sebastian came on to him, Kurt made himself known loud and clear.
Did Blaine not want to tell Sebastian to get lost? Or did he not know how?
Is this how he felt?
Even though Sebastian and Blaine came to an understanding long ago (Sebastian's underlying guilt eradicated in part by Blaine's cheating on Kurt), Sebastian thinks it may be time for him and Blaine to have a heart to heart.
If Blaine wants it … or needs it. Sebastian has never asked him.
But he'll extend the offer because this sucks, and Sebastian wants it to end.
He'll make sure to hate himself properly for his past sins the second he makes sure he's not going to lose his husband.
"I don't think that's it." Celia bites her lower lip in an attempt to look coy. "I think I am turning you on. Look at you. You're blushing."
"I'm frustrated!" Sebastian growls. "There's a huge difference!"
"Not much of a difference," she says with an infuriating shrug. "I'll take it." She loops her arms around Sebastian's neck and he cracks.
"I won't!" Sebastian tries to channel a bit of that bastard he was in high school – the same boy who flirted with Blaine while he cut Kurt down behind Blaine's back. But Sebastian is having a hard time doing that because, regardless of the fact that he's managed to keep his quick wit and his sarcastic sense of humor, he's not that boy any more. He's a grown man with a husband and a son. He's spent a lot of time and money overcoming his demons. He doesn't need to summon them back to fend off this woman. Besides, he doesn't want to have to cut her down to get her to back off.
He wants her to leave him alone because he said no.
Sebastian comes up with a course of action that, though it lacks any of the finesse he had as a stuck up rich kid with his dad's reputation in his back pocket, it'll be twice as effective. He knows he could leave, but why should he? This is his husband's office. He has every right to be there, probably more right than Celia does. He sticks his head out the door and yells: "Kurt! Kurt! Help me, Kurt!"
"Sebastian?" he hears Kurt's confused voice call from an open doorway down the hall.
Celia's face goes white, her arms dropping from around Sebastian's neck as if they were filled with lead. "Wha-what are you doing!?"
"I'm telling on you!" Sebastian refuses to look at her, refuses to acknowledge her existence any more than he has to. "Kurt! Celia's trying to kiss me and she won't take no for an answer!"
"What are you? Twelve?" Celia snaps, backing away so quickly she nearly breaks a heel.
"No! I'm in love with my husband! I put a helluva lot of work into getting him to love me back, and I'll be damned if some overambitious, overreaching intern is going to screw that all up for me!"
Kurt races out into the hallway with Isabelle close on his heels, running back to his office as if Sebastian had yelled 'Fire!' Sebastian waits at the door for them to arrive while Celia stumbles into a corner, her back against the wall on the opposite side of the room, red splotches painting her pale cheeks. Kurt enters his office, but Sebastian stays put, determined not to occupy the same space as Celia if he can help it.
"What's going on in here?"
"Kurt," Sebastian starts, but before he can finish, Celia pipes up.
"I was just trying to be friendly, Mr. Hummel," she says, her voice trembling. "We were having a conversation … about you … and he accused me of making a pass at him."
"Did he?" Kurt asks, his response so dry that Sebastian, who has known Kurt since high school, has no clue what he's thinking.
"Y-yes." Celia clears her throat. "Yes. I'm sorry if I came across any other way. I really am. That wasn't my intention."
Kurt looks at Sebastian, then at Isabelle, her arms crossed, her face blank, but working things through behind her eyes. Then, as infuriatingly as Celia had, Kurt shrugs. "This is actually a simple situation to rectify," he says, walking over to his desk and selecting a tab on the screen. "There are security cameras set up in all of the offices."
"What?" Celia and Sebastian say together.
Sebastian sounds relieved.
Celia sounds terrified.
"Absolutely." Isabelle unwinds her arms and joins Kurt at his desk, selecting the program he's looking for when his hands begin to shake. "There used to be a fair amount of intellectual property theft going on here, especially by interns." Isabelle shoots Celia a look. "It's outlined in the contract you signed when you started working here. It states quite clearly that you would be monitored in every space except the bathrooms and the dressing rooms."
"Uh … you know … you know what?" Celia says, prying herself from the wall. "You don't … you don't need to look at that. I'll admit, I may have acted inappropriately …"
Her own voice coming out of a speaker on the wall stops her as the four stare at the screen, varied expressions from fear to anger on their faces.
"Were you ever questioning?"
"No, not that I can recall. And what the fuck would it matter if I was? I'm definitely not now!"
"Come on … not even a little? How do you know you don't like something until you try it?"
"Does this ever work for you?"
"I would say around 50-50. Come on. I could open a whole new world for you."
Kurt puts the playback on pause when he gets to the point where Celia loop her arms around his husband's neck - his shoulders, his back, his entire body rigid as steel. Sebastian wants to touch him, but for the moment, he's paralyzed. He can't imagine what's going on in Kurt's head, what kind of flashbacks he's experiencing.
Is Sebastian in them? And what part does he play?
Isabelle looks at the man beside her, his hands clenched into fists on the desktop, and runs a hand up and down his spine. "It's ok, Kurt," she whispers. "It's going to be ok."
Kurt nods but he doesn't speak. The silence growing in the office seems to wait for him to say something, but he doesn't.
He can't.
"I … I can explain …" Celia says.
"No, don't explain," Isabelle says. "Get your things and go."
Celia's jaw drops so far, Sebastian swears he hears it smack the floor. "What!? Why!?"
"Because aside from perpetrating sexual harassment," Isabelle says in a voice Sebastian has never heard her use before, "you disrespected one of my most valuable employees, and two of my best friends. I can't stand for that. I won't stand for that. Kurt Hummel and his family are worth way more to me than you. Now leave. And expect a call from legal."
"I … I …" When Celia can't think up a response, she storms out, having the nerve to go in a huff regardless of being caught red-handed. Isabelle watches Celia leave, waiting until she's out of earshot.
"I need to stop by security, make sure someone escorts her out. But I'll be back … okay?"
"Okay," Kurt whispers, leaning in for the kiss he knows she has for him. She squeezes his shoulder, then reluctantly leaves him. On the way out the door, she gives Sebastian a sympathetic smile and a pat on the arm. The silence builds again without Isabelle there, wrapping around them like a heavy blanket, turning that large, bright room into a dark, tiny cell.
"Kurt." Sebastian takes a step towards his husband, bent over the image displayed on his desk of Celia with her arms around Sebastian's neck. Sebastian didn't notice how close she had gotten to him. Had he not pulled away, she might have kissed him. "I'm sorry, Kurt. I am so sorry." Those words echo in his ears with the memory of the dozens of times he's said them before.
"Why are you apologizing?" Kurt sniffles. "You didn't do anything."
Sebastian nods even though Kurt can't see him. He wants to tell him that he's sorry that he has no safe spaces. Every time Kurt finds somewhere he can call a haven, something steps in and swipes a smidgen of his security.
But Sebastian can't do that without dredging up a painful part of their history.
He takes a step closer. "Are we … are we going to be okay?"
Kurt breathes in, shoulders shuddering, and for a second, Sebastian thinks he may have started crying. But he hasn't. He's not going to let the Celias of the world – or the Blaines or the Sebastians - bring him to tears. Not again. He taps the touchscreen, and the image of Sebastian and Celia dissolves into blackness.
"Yeah." Kurt turns away from his desk and slides into his husband's arms, sinking into the warmth of his touch. Because the past is the past, and this is the present. In the present, Sebastian is a good man, an excellent father, and the closest thing to a soul mate Kurt has ever had. "We're fine."
Notes:
So, believe it or not, this one-shot took me a long time to upload. When I started writing this, it was just supposed to be light and humorous. So many people have asked me to write a one-shot where Kurt gets jealous of Sebastian because some secretary or something is flirting with him, specifically a female secretary who would have no chance with Sebastian because he's gay. I started writing this one, wrapped mostly around the "I'm telling on you!" comment. But it began to evolve into Sebastian reflecting on his own past actions, which we touch on but don't really address in this series. After a while, it stopped being amusing anymore, especially when coupled with actual current events. I didn't want to blow this subject off. I didn't want it to be light-hearted. I wanted it to be real, with a fall out beyond 'Kurt gets mad at the evil woman that tried to take his husband away'. Also, Celia wasn't written to villainize women. She's not really a gender. She's a person. She represents, like Sebastian said, every woman who has ever tried to convert a gay man, or every man who has ever tried to force themselves on a lesbian to 'change her mind'. She's the embodiment of the man who cornered me as a teenager and wouldn't let me leave till I kissed him, and the anger I feel that, even though he was fired for that, so many of the comments made to me by the security officers who took down my statement are still said to women and men today who report sexual assault. I could go on, but the tl:dr is that I wanted you all to know that I don't condone sexual assault by anyone. It shouldn't be made light of, because it's not a laughing matter. And even though I write Sebastian and Blaine as good guys, I think there are things on both sides that both men need to atone for.