Kurt followed Rachel, Santana, Blaine, and Artie out the door of the Lima Bean and got into his Navigator. He pretended to look through his CDs to change what he was listening to before pulling out of the parking lot. But once he saw that the others were gone, he left his bag behind, slipped his phone and wallet into his inner coat pocket, got out, and went back inside.
Sebastian had chosen to a table close to the back where it was quieter. He was working on some kind of homework that seemed to involve math problems. Kurt observed him for a few minutes before approaching him. He was very focused and methodical. He hadn't taken a drink since Kurt came in, so Kurt figured his cup was empty. He had no idea how Sebastian took his coffee, but he hoped that since Sebastian was there so frequently the barista would know.
He got in line and moved slowly towards the counter. When he finally got to the front, the young woman behind the counter greeted him and asked what he wanted. He ordered his regular drink in its decaffeinated incarnation, a ginger molasses cookie, and a chocolate chip cookie before he got up the nerve to attempt to order a drink for Sebastian. Lucky for him, the barista did remember. He moved to the side and waited for his order. Once he had it, he carried the tray over to Sebastian's table.
"May I join you?"
Sebastian looked up. He had been so caught up in his work that he hadn't noticed Kurt come back in. "Yeah, sure. Whatever." He picked up the notebook and closed his Economics book and stacked them together making more room for the tray.
"The barista helped me out with your coffee order. Hopefully, she has a good memory." He put Sebastian's cup in front of him and put his own in front of the chair facing Sebastian. "I got two cookies. You can choose." He put both plates between the cups of coffee. He put the napkins on the table and the tray in the empty chair. He put his coat over the back of his chair and sat down.
Sebastian took a sip of the coffee. "I'll thank her for her attention to detail."
Kurt couldn't tell whether he was being serious or sarcastic.
Sebastian pulled the chocolate chip cookie closer. He broke off a piece and ate it. He looked Kurt up and down and raised an eyebrow. "Why are you here?"
"A question I'm not sure I have a great answer to just yet."
"Alright. Fair enough. Thanks for the coffee and the cookie."
"You're welcome." Kurt pulled the ginger molasses cookie closer and broke a piece off and put it in his mouth. "These are really good. Feel free to try it if you've never had one. They get just the right combination of a little bit crispy on the outside and perfectly chewy on the inside."
Sebastian reached across and broke off a small piece and tasted it. "I actually have never ordered any of the cookies. I usually manage to scrounge up enough for large coffee, so I can secure a quiet place to study for a few hours without being asked to leave."
Kurt narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brow, wondering what on earth Sebastian meant, but he minded his own business and didn't pry. He had a more pressing issue to get to eventually, after he ascertained enough information to try to devise a plan. "If I ask you a few questions, will you be honest with me?"
"Yeah, sure. I guess. And for what's it worth, I haven't lied to you before, well other than the stupid 'meeting the love of my life on the dance floor at Scandals' statement. That was a joke that fell flat, obviously. What do you want to know?"
"Well, I guess first off, why are you in Lima so often?"
"My father had my grandma put in a home here while I was in Paris. It's cheaper to keep her here than in Columbus. I come to visit with her, but she only stays awake for about an hour at a time. I visit her twice before I go back to Westerville. Alzheimer's hit hard and fast. I'd say, on average, she recognizes me once a week., And once in a while, she thinks I'm my father, which sort of sucks because she thinks he cares enough to visit her when he doesn't. Sometimes, I hang around Lima after my second visit and go to Scandals to blow off some steam. I tell the school that I'm spending the night at my grandma's and no one's ever bothered to call my father and check. If I can't crash at Blaine's, I just pull into the nursing home lot and sleep in my car. No one ever seems to notice."
"I'm glad you get to spend time with her."
"Yeah, me too." Sebastian gave Kurt a once-over, seemingly to asses whether to continue.
Kurt at least looked genuinely interested, so he continued.
"She raised me for a long time – until last summer."
"Is that when you went to Paris?"
He nodded as he chewed. He took a sip of coffee. "Yeah, she went for a year when she was in college. She wanted me to have the same opportunity and paid for me to go on a study abroad program. I loved it. She's paying for me to go to Dalton. She set aside money when her memory first started giving her trouble my freshman year. I had gone to a private day school in Columbus before I went to Paris. I might go to Spain over the summer for another study abroad program since I can't stay at Dalton over the summer."
"That would be really interesting. I've never been anywhere."
"Did you think of what you wanted to ask me?"
"I'm honestly just wondering why you hate me so much."
"Not to sound six or something, but you're the one who started it. I hadn't seen you since the opening night of West Side Story when I walked up and sat down with the two of you here that week before your Sectionals. Blaine got up to get more coffee and you lobbed a grenade at me, telling me how much you didn't like me and how unattractive I am. You declared war."
Kurt thought back. Sebastian had a point. Kurt hated him on principal. Sebastian was attractive and wanted Blaine. He was a threat to extinguish. "You're right."
Sebastian's expression showed his surprise at Kurt's admission. "I just hit back with equal intensity, aiming to inflict the most damage with the least effort. I attacked your clothes and your looks, plus I acted like I wanted Blaine."
"Acted?"
"As in behaved in a way to make you believe something. I would think someone wanting to go into performing would understand the word 'acted'."
Kurt rolled his eyes. "Stop being an ass. I'm extending you an olive branch. You were just spouting effeminophobic and racist comments not more than 15 minutes ago. The fact that I am speaking to you should show that I'm trying to resolve our issues."
"You're right. I was wrong to insult Santana's family members because of their racial background. I'll apologize the next time I see her. You bring the insults on yourself by the way you dress."
Kurt ignored Sebastian's dig at his clothes. "Why did you say that Blaine was too good for me?"
"Honestly, I didn't know much about you, but what I knew said that you were blue collar. Blaine's family is old money. Even if his family were the 'embrace the gay' type, which they don't seem to be, but even if they were, neither of them would be okay with Blaine staying with someone blue collar as a spouse. Old money is about keeping the money consolidated within the group. That's why so many guys at Dalton have basically glorified arranged marriages. They're free to choose from a select group of girls, but not outside that group. But since Blaine is gay and his father isn't supportive of that 'lifestyle choice', Blaine probably feels like the old money rules don't apply to him. But from everything I've seen, he keeps your existence a secret from his family. Have you ever even met his family?"
"No. As you just mentioned, he says they're not supportive."
"And the second half of my answer as for why I said that is because I knew it would hurt. You came at me. Maybe you'd like to explain that to me. We met here. I asked the two of you to go to Scandals with me. We went. You talked to the bear cub at the bar like you knew him. And you eventually came out and dance for a while before hauling Blaine out an hour later. When I asked around, I was told that you like sweet non-alcoholic drinks and that you love cherries. One of the Warblers said that he had seen you sit and eat like a half of a jar of those things at a Warblers party. But when I gave you the drink, it made you mad. I didn't understand, but I just moved on."
"I thought you were quite blatantly pointing out my complete lack of experience in all things worldly. It felt like the gay version of 'Sandra Dee'."
Sebastian laughed. "That would have been perfect, but no, I hadn't actually concocted a plan that detailed, but it would have been a completely hysterical version of humiliating you silently. You think about musicals too much." He was still laughing. He started humming "Sandra Dee".
"I'm glad you find it amusing," his voice took on a sardonic tone, thinking back to how Sebastian's challenge led him to choose a course of action he hadn't yet been ready to take. He put a stop to that train of thought and refocused. Sebastian had been in contact with Blaine enough that he had felt comfortable calling him about a wine stain. He wondered just how that had happened. "Did you and Blaine go out without me?"
Sebastian paused, clearly not knowing exactly how to answer the question. "I'm not sure what you're getting at. He went to Scandals with me a few times between our Sectionals and winter break. We went several times over winter break and we've been a few times since then. I'm confused though. Why are you asking me? Just to see if I'll give you the same information he did?"
"I'm asking because I had no knowledge of the two of you going out until you just said so. Actually, until a little while ago, I had no idea that he had been in contact with you at all, outside running into you here and at our Sectionals."
"Oh. He said that since your family lives close by and your dad's well known that people would recognize you, so you didn't want to go anymore and potentially cause problems for your dad. My father lives on the east side of Columbus, which is nearly two hours from here, plus he doesn't have a high profile job like your dad."
"Earlier, you called him your dad and acted like you were close. Now, you keep calling him your 'father' and you don't seem to spend any time with him."
"How very Sherlock-ian of you. My father requires that I refer to him as 'Father', but that sounds pretty stupid in a regular conversation, so I call him my dad sometimes. As for our closeness, I think 1980's East-West tension levels are a pretty accurate description. He's a conservative Republican politician and lawyer. He is opposed to legalizing gay marriage, gay adoption, and gay civil rights of any sort. He does not acknowledge my 'deviance' and has no intention of maintaining any contact with me past my high school graduation. He requires me to appear at political events with him, with my allowance on the line for not behaving appropriately at the event. Of course, no allowance means no money for gas, so I play nice."
"You just said you were done with playing nice as the leader of the Warblers."
"I did. I want to win. I have little else to do. If we lose at Regionals, we'll meet and learn a song for graduation, and that's pretty much it. I guess I'll still have lacrosse, but that's more for a physical outlet. Anyway, I just want to win and I don't think we can do that if you guys do MJ again for Regionals."
"Did you really change your set list?"
"What do you think?"
"I think you're just trying to psych us into changing ours. It takes too long to arrange 8-part a cappella music to switch it up so close to Regionals. We did that last year and we lost."
Sebastian looked impressed with Kurt's deductive skills, but he didn't acknowledge whether or not he was right.
Kurt's mind flashed back to Sebastian and Blaine spending so much time together. "Have you been sexting with him?"
Sebastian sat upright like he'd been lightly electrocuted. "No. I'll let you look through my phone if you want. I've never deleted any of the messages since I have no reason to hide them. I don't have a boyfriend." He reached for his bag to get his phone.
Kurt shook his head. "That's okay."
"You can look. I really don't care. There was definitely no sexting going on, but there was innuendo, a little flirting. To be honest, I figured he would break up with you over winter break and come back to Dalton. He complains a lot when we text and talk. This morning he was excited and he spilled your set list."
Kurt refrained himself from picking up Sebastian's phone because he didn't want to be that kind of boyfriend, but he also didn't know if he even wanted to be Blaine's boyfriend at that very moment. He moved his hands off the table to keep his desire to grab the phone under control. "Yeah," he finally responded. He wasn't ready to talk about that yet and changed the subject. "You've not mentioned your mom."
"I don't know who she is. There are Safe Havens like fire stations, hospitals, and other places where someone can take a newborn if they can't care for the baby. My mother went to the hospital to have me, signed away her parental rights, refused to have her name put on the birth certificate, and listed my father's name. My grandma told me that social services took over my guardianship in the hospital for a couple of days for observation until the paternity test came back at which point I was released into my father's custody. He couldn't risk his political career and put me in foster care or up for adoption, but he didn't want to raise me. My grandma moved in as my nanny. He told people that he and his wife at the time had adopted me. She stayed around for a year before they got a divorce. My grandma was completely forthcoming once I was old enough to ask about why I didn't have a mother. His ex-wife signed some kind of non-disclosure form and got a hefty settlement due to my existence proving that he'd committed adultery."
"Wow, that's… intense. My mom died when I was eight."
"That's sad."
"It is. I miss her." Kurt paused to steer the conversation in a different direction again. Sebastian's words about him lobbing a grenade at him had settled in, and he realized he needed to address his own behavior. "Before we go any further, I want to apologize. It was uncalled for when I started the insults that day. There were things you don't know that affected my behavior. I won't get into what they were, but I am sorry."
Sebastian acknowledged his apology with a nod.
"Why Blaine? Why did you keep going out with him?"
"Honestly? He was willing. I thought I might get some good intel on how to beat the New Directions at Regionals, and I actually don't socialize with the Warblers. It undermines my leadership. I don't have access to any money. When I was gone, my father managed to get power of attorney over my grandma, and other than my educational funds, he managed to gain control of all of my grandma's money. He sold her property off that she had been renting out until I was old enough to give it to me. So, other than the $200 a month that he gives me for an allowance, I don't have any money. I know it sounds like a lot, but you've done the drive from here to Westerville. I come two times a week. Usually on Tuesdays and Fridays so I can crash overnight somewhere and see her again on Saturdays without the added gas."
"Yeah, gas isn't cheap. At two trips a week, that leaves you just enough for two cups of coffee. No money left for alcohol." He took the last bite of his cookie and wiped his hands.
"You probably weren't paying attention to the fact that I was drinking ice water. I used my coffee money for the week to buy your drinks that night."
Kurt took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You threatened that you'd have Blaine by the end of the year. Is that still your goal?"
"Nah, no thanks. Fielding 20-30 texts a week and going out and dancing a few times a month is plenty of time seeing him. He needs too much attention. If there comes a time when I'm looking, it will be for someone who doesn't have a perpetual need to entertain or be entertained. Other than the dancing to blow off steam, I'm a pretty quiet guy. I don't think Blaine would enjoy my idea of a nice night in."
Kurt chuckled. "He is fond of being in the lime light."
"You don't seem all that upset about him lying to you by omission."
"Oh, I'm furious, but that's a separate issue, one that you can't help me solve."
Sebastian tipped his head just a bit in curiosity.
"I was hoping to get to know you a little better to figure out how to de-escalate the situation between the New Directions and the Warblers."
"De-escalate?"
"Blaine will be New Directions' traitor du jour at our next rehearsal. Puck will want his head on a platter. He's never trusted Blaine. I'm sure he will hear 'Once a Warbler, always a Warbler' shot at him like one of those snakes that can spit their venom at their prey."
Sebastian chuckled.
"Artie will be pissed. He really wanted to do MJ for Regionals because he would be assured a lead since he's, by far, our best rapper and spoken word performer. Santana will be in ultra-bitch mode thinking that you dug up dirt on her relatives."
'I didn't. I was just being a jackass."
"That won't matter while she's plotting the most painful revenge she can come up with that can't be traced back to her. You seriously have no idea what you did. She is McKinley's HBIC. I'd like to make sure that whatever happens in our rehearsal tomorrow that you don't take anyone's bait to meet us and have a sing-off over who gets to do MJ for Regionals." He paused for a few seconds considering options. "We could even attempt a conciliatory sharing of MJ where we each do one of his songs. But I'm guaranteeing that nothing good will come out of us meeting up and acting like two gangs fighting it out."
"You're right. I would have come and brought a slushie just for you, but now that we've talked, I've changed my mind about you."
"How did you hear about the slushies?" Kurt ignored the last part of his statement.
"Oh, when I asked Blaine how to get the wine out my blazer, he mentioned how glad he was that the jocks at McKinley had stopped throwing slushies at people to humiliate them for being in the New Directions."
"I see." He moved back to the other statement Sebastian had made. "What made you change your mind about me?"
"You're not like I thought you were. You dress above your social standing. You were cold and aloof the day we met. You lobbed insults at me the next time we ran into each other here. And Blaine complains about how long it takes you to get ready – a bunch of beauty products and how you go to the girls' sleepover when the guys get together instead of going with him. How you won't watch sports with him and the guys. I just had a lot of misconceptions."
"My first impression of you was when I heard you say, 'If it doesn't bother you, it doesn't bother me.' I overheard you trying to get Blaine to cheat on me with you the day we met."
Sebastian huffed and tried not to laugh. "Oh, God, that really was a terrible line. I just wanted to see what kind of guy he was. I knew he had transferred to McKinley to be with you. I just didn't let on that I knew. Does he not know Jeff at all? I mean seriously, right after the Warblers found out that Blaine wasn't coming back last fall. He was regaling me with the romantic fairy tale-esque story of Klaine And even if no one had told me, I saw the recordings from Sectionals and Regionals last year, so I knew you were his boyfriend, yet he seemed to be flirting with me both at Dalton and when we were here the day you ran into us." He paused for a minute, the cog-turning in his mind evident on his face. "Wait. When I take into consideration that you already thought I was trying to take him from you, I can see your perspective more. That makes everything make so much more sense now. You heard me say that. Now, I get it." He took a deep breath and sighed heavily. He fiddled with his empty cup for a bit. "If it's any consolation, getting information out of him wasn't nearly as rewarding as I thought it would be. Spy movies hype this kind of thing up way too much."
Kurt laughed. "How about we start over?" Kurt suggested. "Truce?"
"Truce."
"If you ever need a place to stay overnight, call me. Don't sleep in your car anymore. We have a family room downstairs with a pull-out couch that you're welcome to any time." He picked up the phone he had steadfastly been avoiding touching. He put in his contact information and laid it back down. "I put my number in, along with my address." He grabbed their trash and piled it on the tray. "I figure you're leaving soon."
"I am."
"Even if it's me who calls to arrange a sing off, just blow the whole idea off. We'll deal with Blaine."
"Got it. I'm glad you came back in and talked to me."
"Yeah, me too. I have to go or I'm going to be late to the shop." Kurt stood up and slipped his coat back on before picking the tray up.
"Late to do what?"
"I'm pretty sure that rebuilding a transmission is on my to-do list for today."
Sebastian's eyes glazed over momentarily before he pulled his thoughts back together. "Do you do oil changes?"
"I do. Is your car in need of one?"
"It is."
Kurt pulled his wallet out and took out a card for Hummel Tires and Lube. He handed it to Sebastian. "Now you know where to find me." He walked away and tossed the trash in the bin and put the tray on the shelf.
Sebastian was still chuckling when Kurt looked back to wave as he left.