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2
My Interest
–
The end of the night was nearly upon them, many had gone home already. Sebastian was just about to suggest the same to Santana after Blaine was safely out the door and out of Kurt's hair. He had finally learned the name of the male when Rachel cornered him once more. She went on and on about her roommate and her career and schooling and it was exhausting just being near her. Except he'd perked up when he heard her talk about someone other than directly connected with herself.
Well, sort of.
She still made it all about her but it was also about Kurt and it was worth it to finally put a name to the face, to the stories. When the topic, no matter how hard Sebastian clung to it or tried to force it to stay on Kurt, changed to another boring aspect of Rachel's life, he excused himself finally.
It had been true, all of these people here were Rachel sycophants. Apparently she won some competition against one of the former greats at her school. She 'out sang' them as it were. Sebastian had heard her sing before, he couldn't imagine her beating anyone in a competition except maybe in sheer volume. It didn't give him high hopes for the next round of Broadway alumni if she was any indicator.
Blaine roused the crowd to have her give them an encore and she did. Then she pulled Blaine up to the makeshift stage with her and the two of them belted out song after song. If Sebastian hadn't known better, he would have thought those two were in a relationship. Blaine had definitely thrown his hat in with Rachel and he would live or die by her success and curtails. He had latched onto the upperclassman that he thought would give him the best future.
"You know, you should have led with the fact that you were Santana's bestie and that you were the reinforcement that she promised me. It would have made the night so much better."
"Instead you avoided me at every turn." Sebastian was surprised by the boy appearing at his side like this after a night of avoiding him. His words were a good clue though on what changed things for him.
"Apologies, you came on strong and you threw yourself in with this sad lot." Kurt gave a small shoulder shrug. "It didn't set the appropriate tone."
"I did no such thing!" Sebastian dramatized. "Well, maybe I did the coming on strong bit. Sorry, you were just too hot standing there and I went for the old pick up lines." Having watched Kurt through the night turn down male after male, he realized he had to completely change tactics. He actually had to be real to get Kurt's attention in return. Well, he'd at least gotten the attention so far, now he needed to work on interest. He'd certainly gotten Sebastian's as the night went on and he saw more and more of this male that had been kept from him. Santana and Dani had never done him justice.
"You know, they never did tell me your name. You were to be kept from me at all costs. I wonder why Santana changed her mind now."
"She wanted to protect you from me." Sebastian gave freely, knowing by now that Kurt would just laugh it off. He did. "It's Sebastian."
"Let's start over, shall we, Sebastian? I'm Kurt."
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Sebastian took the proffered hand. "And now that we've been properly introduced to one another, let's not be strangers and prove them all wrong about us."
Kurt smiled broadly at the sentiments behind his words. "I would love to. We're totally capable of being friends."
It wasn't what Sebastian had in mind for the long run but he could work with that. "Friends." He agreed, shaking Kurt's hand once more.
Strangely enough though, that's exactly what they became. It wasn't quite a burden for Sebastian to maintain a friendship with a guy. In fact, it led the way to several male friendships both gay and straight and a few more female friendships, all through Kurt and a few on his own or through Santana. His interest didn't wane for Kurt, but had been put on the back burner to make way for something else, something a bit more precious to him, especially as time ticked on.
They got on marvelously, Kurt was something of an enigma and yet an open book at the same time. He was partly like Sebastian and Santana and frustratingly a bit like Rachel and Blaine and yet he had several qualities that were all his own. No matter the similarities to the others, he was entirely his own person, unique and individual.
He carried Sebastian's respect as he worked three jobs and went to school full time. He was the year ahead of Sebastian and much to Sebastian's annoyance he went to NYU. He'd been so close the entire time and it was maddening that they never met before. Sebastian and Santana attended college just down the street and their paths must have crossed hundreds of times before without him knowing it or always just missed each other. Now that they'd met properly, they ran into each other far more.
Sometimes they even planned it and got coffee and studied near each other. Sometimes they were alone and Sebastian itched to touch Kurt, see how he'd respond but fearing the loss of him for good. Other times, Santana or Rachel or Rachel and Brody or Rachel and Blaine joined them. The most maddening was when Adam, Kurt's boyfriend, tagged along.
The boy was hopelessly devoted to Kurt, it was too obvious. He catered to practically every whim and need Kurt might have had, even before he knew it for himself. It was sickening. Kurt thankfully didn't demand that kind of attention, though he was obviously flattered and maybe a bit embarrassed by it.
"Isn't he trying out for West End plays?" Sebastian asked at one of these rare times when no one else was with them, though Adam was due to join them shortly.
"He is, and on Broadway." Kurt gave a small shrug. "Nothing's really landed yet. He's had a few callbacks but nothing serious."
"Why aren't you trying out for the theater? You love it so."
"I do, but my first love is fashion and as cliché as that is, it's where I want to be. The band is slow going, we're missing a vocal and no one has really hit the mark yet. That's just something fun on the side if we get going. The same problem will probably face me there as it does on the stage- I'm just not a super loud singer, I don't have the power Rachel or Blaine have. Also my dancing is atrocious. I can do choreography fine but don't ask me to improvise or make it up for myself. I'm good at copying but not making it my own, at least on that kind of stage. I have a clear vision for what I want on the catwalk though and in magazines. I just need to get myself there." Kurt tapped his fingernail against the cup in front of him with a slight frown. "I'd love it if he landed something here though, he's insanely talented and it would help him keep his visa."
"Oh?" Sebastian was a ponce, he knew it, he did and he would willingly take Adam throwing that at him if he ever found out.
"Yes, his visa expires in May if he can't get someone to sponsor him. There's a bit of a leeway for when school ends but he'll be heading back to London in August if he can't." Kurt traced the rim of his cup distractedly, not seeing the gleam in Sebastian's eyes. "I don't know when or if he'll be back if that were to happen."
"That would be a shame. No other way for him to stay here then?"
"Well, he could always get married, but the courts barely acknowledge gay marriage now. They'd be throwing out any claims if he and I were to try it." Kurt breathed out heavily through his nose. "Not that I would say yes to a marriage proposal for that alone and I'm not ready to get married. I'm still in school and it's hard enough as it is without a spouse."
"Especially if he's not the right guy, it'll be hard to prove to the courts that the marriage is legitimate. No way you'd want to be stuck in that mess."
"I'm strangely old fashioned, to me marriage is forever. You make those vows, you never break them, especially in a gay marriage since there's no one pushing you to do it. It's entirely by choice and there's no excuse not to keep making that choice or committing to the vows. It's like going through surgery, it's permanent, even if you tried to reverse it, it would have lasting scars."
"Would you marry someone who'd been married before?" Sebastian let the angle go, he was more curious about things in general. He'd never really thought about any of this too hard.
"I don't see why not as long as he knows that marriage to me would be different than marriage to the former spouse."
"What if he was extremely abusive and you didn't know it until after you said your 'I do's?"
"Honestly, Sebastian, you could probably come up with a hundred different scenarios where I would have to eat my word or stance but if it's not one of the extremes, then I stand by it. I know you would never but I am a different person."
"I know that, Kurt. What you don't seem to get though from your judgy high horse is that if someone got me to tie the knot to the noose around my neck then I'm going to be with them until death do us part."
"Really?" Kurt looked at him skeptically and Sebastian hesitated, wondering if that really was something he could do. It was enough of a hesitation because Kurt sat back, looking vindicated if not a little pitying. "Yeah, maybe you wouldn't divorce him, but you'd be cheating on him or convince him that it was ok to have an open marriage, if you even saw him or lived with him."
Sebastian got angry and his words flew out of his mouth. "You're so high and mighty and think you know everything! You know so very little about me, Hummel. Don't judge what you have no understanding of!"
Kurt sat forward, on the defensive and starting to raise his volume too. "I can only make connections based on what I've seen thus far. What I've seen isn't someone who exactly strikes me as someone who would stay with one guy for the rest of his life!"
"That's only because the right guy isn't available!" Sebastian's chest was heaving and they were inches apart, both leaning over the table to get in the other's space. Sebastian's lip curled upward and he snarled as he pushed away. "Don't think you've got me pegged!" He grabbed up his gear and headed out.
Kurt hesitated for only a brief second, but fear that it would be just like Sebastian to never interact with Kurt again if he let him go now took over his own self-preservation and confusing anger. He would have liked to wallowed in it a bit and be the one to ignore Sebastian but he knew who would lose that game. "Wait! Sebastian-" He grabbed the sleeve of Sebastian's jacket at the elbow and Sebastian stopped but didn't turn toward Kurt. "I'm sorry. I attacked you when it's Adam that I'm upset about. It wasn't my place to judge what you do with your... romantic life or what makes you happiest. Someone will come along that will be perfect for you. I shouldn't have said anything, I shouldn't have judged. You're not me and I'm not making your decisions and I don't know everything that makes you tick inside. You have to do what's best for you."
Sebastian turned and Kurt was surprised to see tears glistening in Sebastian's eyes. "It's a very harsh way you view me, Kurt." Sebastian found speaking to be difficult. "I didn't realize your opinion of me was so low."
"It's not." Kurt vowed. "I am always very impressed by you on so many different levels. Sometimes I even envy you and wonder how you do it. From the outside things just look so different." Kurt swallowed. "I'm sorry I was so mean and rude- I still know so very little – about you, about the life you live."
"Should we change that then?" Sebastian didn't have any interest in showing Kurt how to sleep around. That was something that would never be Kurt and he didn't want him to be like that. Sebastian liked his purity despite being on boyfriend number 3.
Kurt smiled ruefully. "I'll never probably understand that lifestyle. I crave connection in the bedroom built on a solid foundation. I've been told to loosen up and the one time I forayed into that kind of behavior- well, it didn't end well." His smile wavered a little and Sebastian could see the shadows filter through his eyes but Kurt shook his head and smiled brighter, forcing the ghosts that darkened his thoughts away.
Sebastian reached out for Kurt, nothing within him could stop him from doing so, nor wanted him to avoid this contact. He grabbed Kurt's hand and pulled him into a tight hug. "One day you'll tell me about that." Sebastian said against the top of Kurt's head, his warm breath tousling the strands there. It was as Sebastian held Kurt that he realized that there was only a silk shirt beneath his fingers separating him from Kurt's skin. "What the hell Kurt? Why didn't you put your jacket on?" He dragged Kurt back into the coffee shop even before Kurt could answer. It was sitting on the back of Kurt's chair along with his scarf and their two cups of coffee.
"I didn't want to lose any time in catching you." Kurt answered but was grateful for the warm air and the press of the hot cup of coffee into his hands. Sebastian's embrace had been warm but the air out there too cold to even really appreciate it. "I didn't want to lose this."
Sebastian shook his head. "I would have been here like normal. You didn't have to risk life and limb."
"I didn't believe it at the time." Kurt muttered, cupping his hands around his mug. "I didn't want to risk it."
Sebastian nodded and nudged Kurt back to his seat. "I'm glad you chased after me. I might have hesitated in returning tomorrow had you not. I would have started to question whether or not you were in this friendship for real. I know you are, it's just so you but I would have wondered and worried if you'd be returning as well. Still, I wouldn't have gone far, would have waited for you to chase me down. You had time to put your jacket on."
"I'll remember that for next time." Kurt rolled his eyes and finally took a sip of his coffee. He missed the affectionate smile that flickered across Sebastian's face.
They bantered back and forth for another few minutes before settling into their homework assignments but Sebastian started opening up more and Kurt followed suit. They were there probably another 30 minutes before Adam came in with Rachel at his heels. He bent and kissed Kurt hello before snagging a chair and sitting down next to Kurt with an arm around the back of it, a familiar warmth and comfort.
Adam smiled at Sebastian who made sure his smile wasn't in any way tight in response, but warm and natural looking. Inside he seethed but knew that Adam's posture wasn't challenging or claiming at all, just that of a boyfriend.
"What are you working on Seb?" Adam looked genuinely interested and Sebastian paused before answering. He was doing all the work but nothing was really computing after their little blow up. Kurt for his part looked at absolute ease with the entire situation, as if nothing had changed.
"Following market trends and looking into what kicked them off and what ultimately was the tipping point to their end and ways to avoid those kinds of pitfalls in the future." Sebastian spun the book around. "Kurt might actually know more about this particular chapter than me."
Kurt glanced at it in curiosity and then brightened. "Oh yeah, this was all the rage in 1997 for like a season and then the brand kind of disappeared for a good decade before coming back with a vengeance in 2008 with an entirely new lineup. It seems to be here to stay for a good long while now."
"It's been a decade and a half since their re-branding." Sebastian agreed. "And their reemergence within the public's good-graces."
"For better or worse." Kurt concurred. "They've copied other successful brands in a lot of ways and have set the bar for others that have since copied them." Kurt tipped his head to the side. "The trouble was in the original release that they only played to a very specific niche market and didn't change fast enough. Now they're reaching out to a broader range of people and while it still seems niche in a lot of ways, it's a bigger market and pool than one would first suspect. Also they have diversified their product line so they're not just contingent on one item. They've tried to listen to the consumer as well."
Sebastian and Adam were both looking at Kurt with praise and admiration. Sebastian hadn't expected Kurt to be in the know so much about the background stuff, just to supply some of the foreground but he'd proven to know far more. Sebastian had always known Kurt to be smart, but hadn't realized just as how well-rounded that brain extended. From what he'd gathered, Adam just always thought that Kurt would know everything, that Kurt could do no wrong and even if he was wrong, it was ok. If he didn't know something, then it wasn't worth knowing or Adam found the opportunity where he could teach Kurt. He liked teaching Kurt, guiding him, helping him, praising him. He thought Kurt could so much more than he already was, what he'd set his sights onto.
Sebastian knew it was important to have someone praise and encourage. For Kurt it was no doubt kind of nice having that positive reinforcement to push him to achieve more. At times it was probably a little daunting too. For Sebastian, it was definitely a daunting idea of having to be bigger and better at Adam to make any kind of impact on Kurt without going over the top and scaring him off. Sebastian wanted to compete but Adam was so good for Kurt that he also didn't want to interfere. Kurt deserved someone so good in his corner.
Still, it didn't make things like Adam pressing a kiss to the shell of Kurt's ear and saying, "Amazing babe." any easier. He just wanted to be that for Kurt, wanted to be the one with Kurt doing those things. It was a foreign feeling at first that over time he'd settled into. Still, he felt he had to put on a facade that he hadn't changed so no one else would be the wiser. He didn't want to lose as much as he could get out of Kurt, even if that was just friendship. Being Kurt's friend was something very special.
Rachel finally had her interest piqued and she looked down at what they were talking about. She brightened. "I had a pair of these when I was growing up!"
"Yeah, a vintage pair that charged you twice what they originally cost and 3 years after the trend dissipated into thin air completely." Kurt rolled his eyes at his best friend's obvious natural fashion sense or lack of. How had they made it all those years with her completely butchering any decent assembly of her horrible clothing items? How he hadn't shredded any item she wore on a daily basis was beyond Sebastian. He'd only known about the actual horrors she wore when Santana had found pictures that one of the cheerleaders at the school posted. Santana had cackled at the outfits and Sebastian had laughed right along with her. He'd secretly been hoping to catch a baby-faced Kurt in the pictures but was surprisingly absent in the shots. He'd looked but he didn't find many pictures of them together on the internet at all.
He didn't have to rely just on intuition and logic to know that she'd thankfully allowed Kurt to lock all those up in Lima and pick out every clothing item she wore these days. She didn't always pair them correctly but with the timeless pieces he chose, she couldn't completely miss the mark. They would all go together well enough even if not done creatively or with a strong eye. Even if she was out of season, it didn't matter because they were timeless pieces and basics that should be in everyone's closets. Kurt had lamented about just that thing a few times when Rachel brought in her own pieces and he'd have to subtly shift them out of the apartment again.
"I still liked them." Rachel defended herself and they could all see that she was thinking about whether or not she still had them somewhere in her closet in Lima.
"Rachel no, you're not wearing them ever again. If you still have them, then they belong in the shredder."
"Ugh, fine." Rachel pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. "Did you see there is a new musical set to be released next week? It looks so good."
She and Adam had been talking about it for weeks. Kurt glanced at the musical theater majors with a bit of concern in his eyes that they'd derail this conversation and take it over with something they'd already exhausted until there was new information.
Adam thankfully didn't fall into the trap, he neatly side-stepped the topic but not far enough for Sebastian's liking. "There's a West End play due to start touring the US soon too. Eventually it'll end up on Broadway once it goes through it's circuit."
Sebastian made a face, they were still going to dive into the musical theater realm now. Sebastian like singing, and movies. He did not believe the two of them belonged together. He didn't even like movies about struggling singers. Either a song could tell it's story on it's own with help from the vocal backing or a movie could do it without the cheat of a song.
"Ooh, which one is it?" Rachel got excited and now totally into the topic. Sebastian saw that he'd lost Kurt too. The boy was a musical theater nut even if he didn't want to pursue it for himself. He'd gone to all of Rachel's performances since she started attending NYADA.
He was just about to get up and make his excuses, he had homework still to do and he didn't have the time or patience to waste it with this topic. He knew it was a topic that would be very prevalent in his future, but he would probably excuse himself from it often enough.
Except Blaine came whirling in. "Oh my god! I'm sorry I'm so late. I had a callback for my year's play and they kept me late." He pressed a kiss to Rachel's cheek and went in to press one to kiss Kurt's and Adam didn't rouse from his position to stop it. He did however move out of the way when Blaine went to kiss his cheek. Sebastian's eyes narrowed – that was a new development. He didn't like it at all. Blaine turned to him and hesitated a moment and Sebastian could see the decision made on the spot to ignore their history and pretend like everything was fine between them. He would treat Sebastian the same way he treated the others, so he could normalize his behavior with Kurt. Sebastian's icy glare when Blaine came in had him stopping and retreating back to his spot next to Rachel.
Adam subtly, so subtly that Sebastian hadn't even seen it at first, moved closer to Kurt and his hold on his boyfriend became a bit more possessive. So Adam had seen through Blaine as well. Sebastian nodded to himself, that was a wise man. Kurt barely acknowledged Blaine but hadn't pulled away from the dramatic greeting either. He was still discussing the latest play Adam had brought to his attention with Rachel.
"I think I should get tickets for Isabel for Christmas." Kurt said with excitement in his eyes.
"For Isabel? For me!" Rachel practically screeched. "You and I are totally going to that together."
"What about Brody?" Sebastian asked not even trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. He didn't understand what those two were doing. Brody was a bit shady even if he was a nice guy, he had some kind of side-hustle going on. Rachel seemed oblivious to those kinds of guys apparently.
"Brody can come with us, I guess." Rachel thought for a moment, lips twisted as she went deep in thought. "I guess we can do a group outing, with Kurt, Blaine, Brody and I."
"And Adam." Kurt added pointedly, eyes narrowed at his best friend for excluding his boyfriend and she definitely caught his dark look.
"And Adam." Rachel said moodily, not even bothering to hide her thoughts or feelings, dark look or not. Sebastian hated to admit that Rachel was doing exactly what Sebastian had just done with her. There shouldn't be any similarities between him and Rachel.
Adam cleared his throat. "If it's over the holiday season – well I unfortunately will be in England with my family and trying out at the West End." Kurt didn't look surprised. Why would he? Adam seemed to share everything with him. It made Sebastian so incredibly annoyed that Adam was such a perfect boyfriend.
"Oh?" Blaine didn't hide his curiosity at all as he tipped his head to the side. "Are you going with him, Kurt?"
"I've asked but he's got too much going on here at that time to come with." Adam made it clear to Blaine that he was working on introducing Kurt to his family and that it was serious. It had to be if they'd been together for a year already, right?
"I am going to try to come over for the last week of winter break." Kurt squeezed Adam around the waist and looked up at Adam with affection in his eyes. "I don't have enough savings yet to come over."
"I will pay for your ticket." Adam sounded just a bit exasperated even if there was warmth and amusement in his voice. It was clear they'd had this argument before.
"You're a struggling student yourself." Kurt shook his head. "I won't let you overextend yourself like that."
"I can afford it." Adam bent his head to press his forehead against Kurt's, moving the conversation away from their audience and Sebastian reluctantly looked away, giving them privacy. Kurt would never struggle to pay for anything he wanted if he dated Sebastian. If he ever got the chance, he would make sure of it.
It was Sebastian's cue to leave. He knew Kurt was in good hands with Adam. He wasn't oblivious to Blaine's intentions on his boyfriend. He would ensure that Blaine didn't get his way. Kurt would ensure it too, honestly. Those two were totally besotted with each other. Any hint or hope that they were on the rocks was just in Sebastian's head. They were solid. They would figure out the visa thing and the relationship would continue.
Sebastian sighed and made his excuses that weren't really excuses, he did have things he needed to get done even if he'd planned on being here for a couple of hours with Kurt.
–
Sebastian moaned as he arched into the mouth that was sucking on his nipple. He had no idea who this guy was but his mouth did what Sebastian needed it to.
–
Santana pressed a cup of coffee into his hand when he came out of his bedroom in the morning. She was wearing what she'd gone out in the night before. Either it was that early or she was making her way back from her own hook up. A 'walk of shame' never applied to her. She always made herself look like it was completely intentional. She even stopped for coffee in those clothes. He supposed tight jeans or leggings with a low cut top wasn't completely out of the norm for different times of the day. He was more impressed that she didn't get felt up on the subway or waiting on the street for a cab.
In fact, he said something to that effect this morning. She'd seen his latest out the door when the guy thought he could hang about and perhaps get a breakfast and another nookie out of Sebastian. She had no trouble telling them exactly what they could do with their thoughts. She wasn't above pretending to be Sebastian's girlfriend or wife or sister. She played with different situations, whatever spoke to her any particular moment.
"Darling, I don't take the subway and I don't wait for cabs on the street. You know better." She often borrowed his driver and car. She had her own, but she preferred putting him out if he needed them at the same time. He continued to let her do so even though it was his money and his driver. He preferred her to be safe if it came down to it.
"One of these days you're going to scare off someone I actually am serious about." Sebastian took a sip out of his cup and savored it. She had seriously the best timing.
"Yeah, sure." Santana laughed. "If that day comes, and it's not Kurt, he's not going to outrank me for car privileges."
Sebastian cursed that she knew him so well. Though she would never breath a word of it to Kurt or anyone else. She knew how to keep secrets and how to uncover them equally as well. Something told him that she'd been employing both recently. He could read her well too.
"You look especially pleased with yourself this morning." Sebastian took another sip of his coffee and she grinned nearly manically.
"Oh, I just spent the night with Brody." Her grin only widened. "Safe to say we won't be seeing much of him or Rachel Berry for awhile."
Sebastian groaned. "You slept with Brody?"
"Hell no, that boy has seen more ass than both of us combined."
Sebastian perched onto the arm of their couch, considering Santana for a moment. "You know we don't really have much of a platform to judge others from."
"As far as I know, neither of us have ever had sex with someone for money." Santana snapped, not used to feeling a little guilty for judging others. Usually Sebastian was right there with her. Kurt must have been rubbing off on both of them.
In the time that he'd known Kurt, he'd seen that Kurt judged everyone but only let others know his thoughts and feelings when they misbehaved first. Even then though, he somehow remained friends with them and took into account that while it wasn't right for him, he couldn't really judge or make someone feel bad for choices they made that were right for themselves. He even apologized for what he'd said to Sebastian and how it had made them both feel when he didn't have the full story. He didn't even need to know it for himself, just that Sebastian had viewed it as the right way for himself and that's all he needed to know.
If they didn't misbehave toward him or someone he cared about first, then you never heard his thoughts unless they were helpful critiques and he said them very nicely. Sebastian wanted to see what he was like with his family.
"Ugh, who turned you into such a softie?" Santana asked but neither felt the need for clarification, they both knew. He'd worked his magic on both of them and most of everyone he met, softening and blunting their edges.
Santana shrugged when no answer came forth and headed into her room to shower and change. The more Sebastian talked about Kurt, the greater the chance was that something would slip and someone he didn't want to hear would learn his secret.
Santana came out in a towel set and worked on starting breakfast for herself. Sebastian didn't even really take note of what she was wearing. He'd already gone for his own shower and was now back in the living room wearing only a pair of boxers and an under t-shirt. He'd finish getting dressed before he headed out. Before classes though, he was going to crush another couple of chapters and his second cup of coffee. It wasn't nearly as good, something about the shop's coffee was always going to be better than his fancy machine.
They'd decided to move in together since she was always in his dorm anyway. It had always been the plan to live together this year. It was a pretty central location so they wouldn't have to move any time soon even if they got jobs on different sides of the city.
Santana slammed the pan down onto the stove-top with far more force than ever necessary. "You need to give up on this silly fantasy! It's not healthy for you. They're not going to break up and you're not going to get the boy in the end." She spun toward Sebastian with fire in her eyes. "I love Kurt and I only want the best for him and for you and the two of you aren't going to happen. Adam is amazing at being the perfect boyfriend and he's so good for Kurt's confidence."
"What's with you today?" Sebastian snapped his book shut in annoyance.
"I'm delivering hard truths today, I guess." Santana was on a roll all right. "This isn't good for you either. You're closing yourself off from finding a guy who will make you happy, who will be right for you, a meaningful relationship because you're pining after a guy you'll never have. It's another barrier, another safety net and wall you're setting up to avoid letting your heart get hurt."
Sebastian locked eyes with his best friend. "I don't exactly see you rushing out to make a commitment to anyone."
"Yeah, but at least I date."
"You're a serial dater, one right after the other and most only lasting a month or so before it's cut, next." Sebastian fired back.
"At least I'm making the effort. They might not last long but at least it lasts a hell of a lot longer than your nighttime playthings. I have to tell you Sebastian, your pool is getting smaller and smaller with every guy I kick out of here. You're going to run out of options eventually."
"I try not to choose a local guy." Sebastian shrugged, most got a thrill and headed home with a story.
"That's your problem. You don't choose anyone you could have a relationship with even if you form a connection with them. They'll be gone soon."
Sebastian mulled over her words and then sat back, a smirk crossing his lips. "I'll seriously date someone that doesn't currently exist in my phone the second you get over your vendetta against Rachel."
Santana opened and closed her mouth several times. She was a fish taken rudely out of water and was not one of those that could survive on oxygen alone. Eventually she sighed heavily, resigned and Sebastian thought he'd won and this would be the end of this conversation. He could go back to 'secretly pining' for Kurt and be left alone. "Fine, I'll take that challenge. I will not do or say anything to or against Rachel if you actually seriously try to date someone."
"The second you do, I'll end it with the guy." Sebastian knew he should have just laughed her off but he never really backed away from challenges and she'd laid down a serious gauntlet. He wanted to see her lose. It would definitely be entertaining and he wanted front row tickets. Rachel was just too annoying, she'd lose in a day and he wouldn't have to lift a finger on his side of the wager. They didn't even need to bet anything, just the competition would be enough and bragging rights. "Your move first."
Santana's eyes flashed flames at him, not expecting him to take her up on it. He'd surprised her right back but they both should have known each other better than to expect anything else. "What did you have in mind?"
"Taking Rachel a box of chocolates and a gallon of ice cream to help her get over being dumped."
"Fine." Santana gritted out through her teeth.
"And you're going to stay and comfort her and also eat some of that with her." Sebastian was really getting into it now.
Flashes flickered through her eyes again. "Fine. Then I pick a guy for you to take out on a date. I pick the place and your clothes and I will cut all of your condoms if you think you're going to have sex with him on the first night."
Sebastian frowned, he should have known payback would be just as harsh as what he'd given out. "What are we supposed to do on this date then?"
"I'll make you up some note-cards to reference." Her tone was dry and her lips quirked up but Sebastian knew she was not joking. She'd probably slip them into his pocket 'just in case' when he wasn't looking. "You'll actually have to try with him."
Sebastian didn't even give the guy's feelings a single thought. He didn't think he would even have to go through with a first date, much less lead him on and break up with him when Santana did finally snap. He didn't think Santana would even make it through five minutes with Rachel on her own while the girl sobbed and blabbered and got snot onto Santana's designer clothes.
The only reason Sebastian knew Santana made it through that mess was because Kurt text Sebastian in complete shock when he got home and the two girls were eating junk food together and watching a sad sappy movie. He wanted to know what had happened to Santana and was sure Sebastian as her best friend would have the answer. Sebastian knew, he just couldn't tell Kurt the truth and any reference to Santana being a sadistic bitch would just lead to more questions.
Sebastian settled into resignation and text Kurt back. 'Maybe she's turning over a new leaf.' She was willing to put herself through such torture to see him out on a date. She was definitely serious about their terms. He even thought for a moment, maybe she'd weakened against Rachel and actually found a spot in her that cared for the bane of her existence. Were they actually on their way to becoming friends? Sebastian shuddered in horror at the idea.