Summary: Blaine is finally beginning to feel at home in his own skin. Sebastian on the other hand…

Warning (?): Blaine may come off to some as behaving out of character. He has had moments of being a bad ass but this is the beginning of him embracing it.

Notes: Song lyrics were changed to fit the storyline but it will be acknowledged.

It is Spring Fling Weekend with the theme of cleaning out your WIPs. This is my WIP (that will never end) but I'm busy tomorrow so here you go. The next chapter will post Sunday.

When Sebastian left only the five of them remained in the Anderson's vast living area. Blaine and Kurt were standing 10 feet apart, neither taking focus from the other, almost as if they were playing a game of chicken. Finn and Rachel chose to take a seat on a sofa not too far from Kurt. Brody didn't know what the hell he was supposed to do besides what Sebastian had asked of him and prevent Blaine from doing something stupid like hitting Kurt. In the end, he decided to stand off to Blaine's right. The way Blaine was flexing his hand, it was easy to tell that would be the where any lead off punch would come from.

In spite of the palpable tension in the room, Kurt was convinced this was the moment he had been waiting for. He had gone into the week with the plan to become friends with Blaine again, after all they had been best friends before they were boyfriends, but he couldn't do it. He loved Blaine. He always had. He always will. It was time to make him see that they belonged together.

"Blaine…"

"What do you want, Kurt?"

There was only one answer to the question. Kurt took a deep breath and laid his heart on the line. "I want you back, Blaine. I'm still in love with you. I am so sorry I forgot that for a while but I know if you just gave me…gave us a chance we could be happy again."

Rachel stood speechless as Finn and Brody prepared to jump into action but Kurt's response seemed to calm Blaine down. Although, sometimes calm wasn't a good thing and this was definitely one of those times. Blaine might not have been able to use his hands, but his mind was clear and Wolverine could trash talk better than anyone.

"Bullshit." Ok, so that wasn't his best response but it got the point across.

"No, you don't get it." Kurt took a step closer but chose not to take a second, at least not yet. "I understand what went wrong and I know we can fix it. We can still have the life we dreamed of…go to NYADA together, become big Broadway stars, then someday retire in Provincetown and buy a lighthouse to start an artists' colony."

"Seriously, Blaine?" Brody knew he should stay quiet but he didn't understand why Kurt said what he did. "Your dream was always Julliard. It's all you and your Aunt Cory would talk about and you promised her you would follow that dream. What the fuck is this dickhead talking about?"

"Shut up, Weston! You don't know him!"

And with that, Finn and Rachel silently agreed it was the time to get involved. Finn moved Kurt back while Rachel tried to talk him down. "Kurt, Brody does know Blaine. That's what the entire meeting we had with everyone was about."

"How can you take his side after what he did to you?"

"That's right, what Brody did to me. That has nothing to do with you just like he doesn't have anything to do with what's going on between you and Blaine. Right, Brody?"

"Well…Don't give me that look, Blaine. He's the one that figured out I was Eli."

"What!?" It was pretty clear Finn and Rachel hadn't put that together.

"Surprise!"

Blaine ignored the new bombshell that had dropped in. It was irrelevant and he was determined to stay on point. "It doesn't matter. Rachel's right, this is between me and Kurt." Brody held up his hands and stepped away, so Blaine turned back to his ex. "I don't care what you think our problem was or how you think we can fix it, even if I wasn't with Sebastian there wouldn't be a chance in hell I would ever get back with you."

"Why not?" It seemed like a simple (and asinine) question but to Kurt it was a lifeline. Once Blaine answered he would have somewhere to start from. At least that's what he believed.

He was wrong.

"You can come in now!" Blaine called out, confusing the others.

Sam walked in carrying a laptop. "Damn Dude, you couldn't go 5 minutes? I barely had time to find it."

"He thinks he's figured out our problems and doesn't understand why I won't give him a chance."

"Seriously?" Sam handed the laptop to Blaine then walked over to stand next to Brody. "So, what did I miss?"

Brody had liked Sam from the beginning and not just when he stood up for him in front of all of Blaine's friends. "Uh, Kurt wants Blaine back. Says he still loves him."

"Sounds familiar" Sam gave him a playful shove answering the unasked question of whether or not he knew about the letter Tommy sent Blaine. But today was about Kurt. "Let me guess…NYADA, Broadway, lighthouse."

"Yeah, but that doesn't sound like the Blaine I knew."

"It's not. It's Kurt's version of Blaine but Blaine will admit he didn't try to correct it." Sam watched as Blaine sat down the laptop and pulled out his phone to check a text. "See that evil grin?"

"Yeah"

"You're about to meet the real Blaine Anderson."

"Is this that Wolverine Sebastian told me about? I promised I wouldn't let Blaine punch Kurt and hurt his hands."

"He won't. What's about to go down will hurt much more than that."

While Sam and Brody were waiting on Blaine, the others in the room huddled together. "What is Sam doing here?" Kurt hissed to both Finn and Rachel.

"I don't know anything more than you do" Rachel told him, trying not to show how troubled she was by Blaine's attitude. "Do you know anything Finn?"

Finn didn't and it bothered him. Not for Kurt, but for his own sake. Cooper had hired him but Cam was technically his boss…who could literally kill a guy with his bare hands…and Brody was Cam's brother…and Finn had beat the crap out of Brody…and now Blaine was all buddy-buddy with Brody. But why did Blaine tell him how to throw a punch if he knew he was going to punch Brody?

Yeah, Finn had his own problems.

He had also stopped paying attention, otherwise he might have been able to prevent Kurt from speaking up. "Blaine, we were having a conversation before for some you called Sam in here. Can't we send everyone out and you and I talk alone? Please."

A chime rang out which appeared to be some sort of signal for Sam. When he left, Blaine didn't say a word but picked the laptop back up and handed it to Kurt. "You delusional son-of-a-bitch. Did you honestly think I wouldn't have someone monitoring social media?"

Rachel and Finn crowded into Kurt to see what Blaine was talking about. They knew from Kurt's expression it had to be bad.

It was worse than they imagined.

The Front Cut: NYADA's True Gossip Blog We don't have to stab you in the back. We'll say it to your face
(12:45AM) nyadaguest: Sebastian may be the boyfriend for now BUT was seen holding hands with NYADA's Adam Crawford. Maybe that's what Blaine wanted to talk to Kurt about when they went off for their private talk. Sebastian does have a reputation back in Ohio for being a slut.

Blaine took the computer from Kurt and handed it to Brody so he would know what they were talking about. "Before you start your denial process it took Ralphie about 10 minutes to backtrack the guest address to you, Kurt. You see, for some reason I doubted this was you. Not that I doubted you might pull some petty shit-fit because that was a given. What I couldn't get my head around was that you were stupid enough to post it on the sight we were monitoring due to Hunter's post."

Kurt was ready to defend himself but one look at Blaine and knew it was a bad idea. Blaine actually appreciated that so he was able to move on to the other two. It was possible he was even angrier at them. He started with Finn. "You had one fucking job…keep him from doing this shit. How did he even have access? I know Santana didn't give people their phones until this morning."

"He had his tablet" Finn mumbled. He knew he had fucked up. Blaine was right, his job was to prevent Kurt from doing something like this while everyone was in New York. There was no way Cooper and Cam were going to let him transfer. He had screwed up his chance to be with Rachel again. No, Kurt had screwed up his chance to be with Rachel again. "I'm sorry, Blaine."

"Don't, ok. I'm just frustrated with myself for beginning to believe you weren't the asshole I always thought you were."

"Blaine…" the until-then silent Rachel cut in, but he was ready for her too.

"Rachel, I know all about your role in this mess. I…"

"Hello, Golden Boy."

Blaine didn't turn around to greet the arrivals because watching Kurt's face was much more fun "Hello, Hunter. Did you have a nice flight?"

"Yeah, your daddy has a pretty sweet plane. Hello, Kurt. Long time, no see."

Kurt was frozen and Blaine knew it wasn't because of Hunter. "Consequences, Kurt. I promised you that if you caused any drama there would be consequences."

"Don't do this Blaine. This isn't you."

"No, Kurt. This is who I really am." Of course, Blaine couldn't let that pass. "Everybody has a dark side and I have learned to love mine."

For the first time in 2 years, Blaine didn't care what happened to Kurt. Even these last few months he had watched things carefully fearing his ex might go off on one of his tangents. He didn't care anymore. The only thing Kurt had on him was Fight Club but all evidence it existed had been destroyed. He was finally free.

He turned away from Kurt to see his dad and Cooper exchanging hugs with Brody while Ralphie was showing Sebastian's dad the data he collected. His Uncle Robert was with Hunter and then there was Sam who was standing next to Burt Hummel. Blaine felt a pang of guilt for setting everything in motion after Ralphie showed him the post. However, this was probably kinder to Burt than if he let former state's attorney Xavier Smythe handle it.

To say Sebastian's dad was pissed didn't begin scratch the surface.

Robert looked at his watch and stepped forward "Blaine, we'll take it from here. You need to go."

"Thanks Uncle Rob." Ignoring the huff he heard behind him, Blaine went to talk to Burt first. "I'm not sorry for what I did but I'm sad that you're caught in the middle."

"You didn't do this, son. Kurt did it to himself. It's not like he wasn't warned."

"Doesn't make me feel any better. Come on, Sam."

Sam almost volunteered to stay to support Burt, but decided it was a bad idea. That and there was something else going on with Blaine. "Are you going to tell me what the hell you're doing?"

"Don't worry. I should be back before midnight."

"That's not an answer. What's so important that you're flying back to Lima with Sugar and my family?"

Blaine's evil grin came back as he sent a text and moments later Sam's phone pinged. To his surprise it wasn't from Blaine but it did answer his question.

From Brittany: Hey Bitches! Tune in at 4PM Lima time for a special edition of Fondue for Two with a super-secret guest dolphin!

Eight hours later, Sebastian fell face first onto his bed. The day had been an emotional rollercoaster but at least he was on his bed and not on the train to Boston.

God, he loved Trent.

Despite all that had happened, Sebastian still planned on going to Harvard with Trent so he wouldn't back out of telling Nari he had feelings for her. What he hadn't planned on was a text with a picture of his best friend, the girl he had been in love with for years and the caption I manned up. Stay with Blaine.

A call to Thad informed him that the guys had been at Wes and David's talking about how scary Rosa was when Jeff asked why Sebastian was going to Harvard with them. Evidently Trent stood, took a deep breath and blurted out the master plan not realizing Nari was standing behind him. She promptly asked him what took him so fucking long to say something. Thad said that it was pretty awesome to watch but then had to listen to Sebastian bitch that no one bothered to film it.

Thad also told Sebastian that something was off with Wes. David said he would try to get it out of him but Thad was pretty sure this was a Blaine problem.

Blaine. Shit! He had missed Fondue for Two when his dad insisted they go to dinner so they could have the 3,438th conversation of What's going to be your major, son? followed by the inevitable soliloquy on what a good lawyer he would be. Yes, Sebastian knew he would be a good lawyer but he wasn't drawn to it like he felt he should be. He wanted to have the same passion for his career choice as Blaine had for music. The problem was he didn't have a clue of what that passion could be. Wasn't that what college was supposed to be for in the first place? Finding your passion and then learning how to turn that into a career?

Or did he need college? Watching Santana boss people around at Vogue had been pretty funny. They were scared shitless of her and she was only an intern. She didn't go to college, well she did for about a minute but that didn't count. And what about Nichole? She dropped out of Harvard and she was a Kennedy so that took some pretty big cojones. Could he say that about a girl? Anyway, he should schedule a lunch with her before he went back to Dalton. That is if her parents didn't kill her when they came to town tomorrow to talk about the dropping out thing.

Maybe he could be the model for Sierra's new Teen Dior line. The photographer doing the test shots thought he was a professional and not the brother of the designer/Head of Baby Dior. No, his mom would probably throw a fit. She's having enough panic attacks thinking Julien was going to see this spread and break parole to come find him. Like his murder bio dad would be reading Teen Vogue. Even on the off chance that happened, Puck sent him a daily picture of the asshole proving he was still in Paris. Of course, he hadn't told anyone (even Blaine) he asked Puck to do that.

Maybe he should pursue his secret talent of tap dancing. Hey, it's a thing. Mike's plan was to go to school for dance but take pre-med classes as well. Why couldn't he do something like that? Oh yeah, he didn't know what the other classes would be. Although, he could definitely rule out pre-med.

Or he could become a professional lacrosse player. His Dalton coach had made arrangements for him to work out with the team at Columbia while he was in New York. He didn't think he'd have the time but when Boston fell through he texted Columbia's coach and got an open invitation along with their practice schedule. Maybe that was part of his problem. He was out of playing shape and he knew it. So, no to professional lacrosse player but yes to working out at Columbia.

It was amazing how that one simple decision made him feel better about things. So, did a shower.

There was a ridiculously comfortable chair in his room. He grabbed his laptop and settled in. Even though he had missed the live telecast he knew Brittany posted all live episodes of Fondue for Two to her website once they aired. After the introduction Sebastian couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud as the screen shot proved that Blaine was loved by all that knew him…even the mysterious Lord Tubbington, who was sitting on Blaine's lap and purring as he was scratched behind the ears.

The first 15 minutes of the interview involved topics like why disco didn't suck, cheetahs being the fastest land animals and a person's right to wear hair gel. Sebastian couldn't believe how fascinating he found the conversations. He would have to ask Blaine about the topics later because it was obvious they weren't chosen at random.

At the 16 minute mark they got down to business.

So, Blaine Warbler, you have news you wanted to share with my viewers.

I do. I have launched my own YouTube Channel called Blaine Anderson and Friends. I'm very excited about it.

Is this because all those videos of you and sometimes your friends keep showing up online?

In a way. A family friend described it best when she said I've become like Where's Waldo and anytime someone finds me performing they want to put it online. Since people seem to like these videos I thought I'd put some videos together and raise money for charity.

So, any money you raise is for charity?

Yes. I recently had a friend who had some legal problems but he got them solved quickly because his family has money. He called it the best justice money could buy.

So, you want to buy justice?

No, but we want to help students, especially LGTB students, having bullying problem obtain council so they are aware of their rights. Unfortunately, this is a country where the threat of legal action is a great motivator to get things done that should be happening in the first place. We know this won't make a huge amount of money but it was something my friends and I could do now. So, I want to say thank you to our wonderful sponsors and I know it can be a pain, but if viewers could take the time to click on the ads, that would be great.

I know my viewers will because they are awesome!

Yes, they are. That's why I wanted to tell people about my channel on Fondue for Two. Oh wait, there was another reason. Care to tell your many fans what's going on?

(Brittany bouncing up and down in her chair) Yes! Fondue for Two is moving to the Blaine Anderson and Friends channel!

Actually, it's on there right now. Brit will still be doing interviews but will also host live performances. Speaking of live performances, if Lord Tubbington will kindly give me my lap back, I can't think of a better way to kick off the new Fondue for Two than with you and me singing a song together. (Lord Tubbington moves but only because Blaine asked nicely). Oh, what's this behind my chair? It's my acoustic guitar. Imagine that.

I told Lord Tubbington to put it there.

I'll have to thank him for that. So, Brit, are you still sure about the song I suggested?

Yes, if we can change the words like you said.

I'm sure that'll be ok. If Tom Higgenson is watching, you wrote an amazing song. And if I find out you actually did see this…well, there will be fanboy flailing involved.

(Blaine) Hey there Santana, what's it like in New York City?
I'm a thousand miles away but girl, tonight you look so pretty, yes you do
Times Square can't shine as bright as you, I swear it's true

(Brittany) Hey there Santana, don't you worry about the distance
I'm right there if you get lonely, give this song another listen
Close your eyes, listen to my voice, it's my disguise, I'm by your side

(Both) Ohh, it's what you do to me, ohh, it's what you do to me
Ohh, it's what you do to me, ohh, it's what you do to me
What you do to me

After the song finished and good byes were said, Sebastian closed his laptop. He knew Blaine had been bothered about how quickly (and quietly) the case of his attack had been settled once the district attorney's office found out exactly who (and how rich) those involved were. But to do something like this? And the fact that Brittany was now involved after Blaine heard what Kurt said to Santana…that wasn't a coincidence.

While he was immensely proud of his boyfriend, the news only intensified the negative feelings Sebastian was having about himself. He knew he should talk to someone about them, and he liked the therapist he went to back in Ohio but he was Sebastian Fucking Smythe. Things had never been this unclear to him.

He decided to go see if Izzy was awake since she always made him happy but when he made it to the living area someone else was there. She was probably the last person he wanted to talk to.

"Rachel, go home."

She couldn't believe how much it hurt that he called her Rachel and not Ray. "Bastian…"

"My name is Sebastian and I told you to leave."

"No. I'm not leaving until you talk to me."

He was so not in the mood for this. "What's there to talk about? You played me. I walked right into your trap to help old Gayface get Blaine back."

"It wasn't like that and I didn't play you. I told you why I came to see you that day at your house."

Sebastian thought back, trying to remember exactly what Rachel had said to him. "You said you told Hummel about Blaine's depression."

"I also said I was jealous of Blaine and had an Alpha Gay moment. That I did what I did because I was lonely and wanted my two best friends back. I told you how much I regretted it. That I needed you to yell at me."

"But you didn't tell me how you used the clout you got from winning the Winter Showcase to push through Hummel's video and get him a spot in the Dirty Dozen auditions. He didn't even perform the fucking song until after the deadline. You're the entire reason he was here in the first place. And then there's Adam."

"What about Adam?"

"Hummel wasn't close enough to me to see Adam squeeze my hand, but you were. How else would he know that happened? You can't deny it, Rachel. He put it on that blog and then told all of NYADA that I'm a slut!"

"I called Adam before Santana took our phones and yelled at him for doing that. I know you thought it was harmless but he admitted to really liking you. Kurt must have overheard me even though he denied it. By the way, I kicked him out."

"Why? He's your best friend."

That's when Rachel lost it. "No, he's not! You are! Yes, I wanted to help Kurt get Blaine back. Should I have told you my role in getting Kurt the audition? Absolutely, but I was afraid of exactly this. That I would lose you." The tears began to fall but they weren't working on him as they had done before. "You, Sebastian Smythe, were the first person EVER that wanted to be my friend and didn't ask for anything but my friendship in return. Everyone else I have called a friend has come from the New Directions. Well, there was Blaine but that started with Kurt. Oh, and Brody but now I'm pretty sure that had something to do with Blaine, at least in the beginning."

She was right about that one but it wasn't his story to tell. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure there's a story there. You didn't deserve that."

"No, I didn't but he and I are going to dinner tomorrow night to talk about what happened."

Ok, that was surprising. "Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously. It's pretty damn clear that he is important to Blaine and vice-versa. If he's going to be a part of Blaine's life here in New York then he and I will have to work through our issues."

Ok, that was more surprising. "Seriously? Why?"

"Because you are my best friend and I would do anything for you including working things out with Brody so it's not awkward when he's around Blaine and I'm around you. You do know that Blaine is hopelessly in love with you, right?"

"I know." Sebastian stopped himself from walking over to where Rachel had been standing the entire time. She looked so sad that he was tempted to break down and give her a hug but he wasn't ready for that. He might never be ready for that. "I have a question. How did you know I was here? I'm supposed to be in Boston with Trent right now."

"I had Mercedes call Sam to get help getting Kurt and Finn out. He brought practically everyone from the meeting and someone said something about your watch dog Daniel not having to go which meant you didn't go. I took a chance that you'd be home. I've been here a while but Rosa wanted to have words with me first."

Oh, he was pretty sure Rosa had some words for her. "You kicked Finn out. That must have been rough."

"I kicked Kurt out. I told Finn that it was for the best if he went as well. Did you know Cooper fired him?"

"No, but I'm not surprised. He was given a chance to prove himself and he fucked it up."

"I know." Rachel wiped her cheeks and then looked to Sebastian for some sign of forgiveness. There wasn't one. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you everything sooner."

"You didn't tell me everything, Blaine and Santana did." And then without pause "Goodbye, Rachel."

"Goodbye, Sebastian."

Notes:

In the previous chapter Kurt made a comment hinting that he knew Brody was Eli but it was overshadowed by Sam's speech and Blaine's flashback.

If the line about the lighthouse and the artist's colony sounds familiar, it is paraphrased from Episode 4x05 The Role You Were Born to Play.

If you haven't seen it there's a (spoof) video about the cat that played Lord Tubbington and how all the Gleeks hated/were afraid of him except Darren. There is only about 8 seconds of Darren but it's worth it to hear Chord say "Darren just likes pussy (subtle pause for comic effect) cats."

Hey there Delilah: Higgenson, Tom 2006

In Chapter 53, Kurt call Santana out for being a hypocrite saying she was ignoring Brittany in the same way he way ignored Blaine when he got to New York.

In Chapter 34, Blaine calls the settlement of his attack The best justice money could buy

Both Hunter's appearance and the YouTube channel will get further explanations.

As always, thank you for reading.