Author's Note: First things first, I would like to apologize profusely for my absence and for taking so long in getting these chapters out. I got back home on the fourth, and I was lazy the rest of the time to keep writing. Second, thank you for all the lovely reviews! They're greatly appreciated, and just motivate me to continue this story. And lastly, I wrote the majority of this chapter as well as two and three in a car on my iPod. I spend a majority of my times trying to fix mistakes, so forgive me if there's some mistakes that I didn't catch. Also, the next two chapters after this one and this were originally supposed to be one long chapter, so forgive me if there are some weird transitions that I didn't bother fixing. Okay, I'm going to stop now. Happy Reading!

Disclaimer: As awesome as that would be, I don't own Glee or any of it's characters in any way shape or form. The only characters I own are any OCs.


Sebastian decided that the worst sound that he could ever hear, would be the sound of a child crying. It was even worse than the long, one-note beep he had heard only days before, signifying death and bringing sorrow.

The cries coming from Olivia were even more heartbreaking, especially when you looked at her little face. The sound coming from her signified sadness, and loss, and that was harder to deal with for him.

Her normally rosy cheeks were stained and raw from all of the tears she shed during her parent's funeral. To an extent, she understood what had happened to her parents.

She knew now that her mom wouldn't be able to sing her a song as she tucked her into bed, or that he dad would never be able to make her smiley face, blueberry pancakes every morning. But one thing she didn't know is that no matter how much she cried and screamed, they wouldn't be able to come back to her.

She would never see the joy on their faces when she accomplished something, or see them sigh whenever she smiled. That would never happen again. Now she would see another face get to do all of that, though she was still trying to process that fact in her young mind.

All she knew now is that the moment their caskets were buried into the ground, she would never ever get to see them again. And in that moment, she would cry like she's never cried before.

The last time she saw her parents were when they were laying in the hospital, almost lifeless. She refused to look them today. Sebastian remembered how the pair looked so peaceful as they lay in an eternal silence. He tried to overlook the multitude of scratches and bruises on their faces, and take what would be his last look at them.

His heart had ached in his chest when he looked upon their bodies once more only an hour ago. It all seemed so… official now. There was no sense of hope lingering in the air like there was in the hospital. There was nothing that anyone could do to fix it now. They were gone, and that was that.

He couldn't remember his sister looking so peaceful before than she did laying in her coffin. Not even in her sleep. That girl was always dreaming, always moving. She was a hell of a handful, and if Olivia was anything like her, - which she was, appearance wise anyway, with wild sandy colored curls, dazzling hazel eyes, tiny freckles speckled over her nose, and a big smile permanently taking residence on her round face - she would be too.

Sebastian remembered the times that he would have a nightmare, or be scared of the monsters that she claimed were under his bed, an he would join her in her bed. Or when she went through a nasty breakup, or a fight with a friend when she was a petty teenager in high school. He'd stay with her until she fell asleep, and vice versa.

What he'd do to have her back, rocking him back and forth in her arms, as she hummed various songs in his ear, that she didn't ever seem to recall the words to. He realized after she moved out, that he missed that. Especially now, when he was just expected to be the kind of guy to raise a kid on his own. Well, he wasn't, and everyone knew it.

They promised that they would always be there for each other, and Sebastian wasn't about to give up that promise even if she was dead. He may have wanted to, but he wasn't going to. Not now, when everyone was depending on him.

He whispered his goodbye to her body, and gave her a silent promise that he would take care of Olivia the best he could. It was the least he could do for her after all she had done for him. Besides, that little girl was her pride and joy. He knew she'd come back to haunt him in the afterlife if he did something bad to her.

Olivia squirmed in Sebastian's arms as she reached out towards where her parent's bodies were about to be buried. She wiggled her fingers out, which Sebastian recognized as her way of saying "gimme". And how much he wished he could give her her parent's back. Give her that normal, happy life back, so he could go on with his own.

"Momma! Daddy!" she screamed as the caskets that were holding their bodies had disappeared into the earth. Sebastian's large walls almost came down then, but he stopped himself as he averted his eyes when dirt was piled up onto the holes in the ground, burying the bodies and leaving them there to decompose and rot for eternity. He held Olivia tighter to his side as she buried her little face into his shoulder.

He glanced over at his own parents then, the corners of his lips turning down into a deep frown. His father held onto his mother tightly, resembling Sebastian in the way that he kept his lips in a fine line, attempting to not let his tears flow. He and his father were both the same in the way that they never liked to be the weak link. No one could see their weaknesses. But today gave him every right to break down, and yet, he held on to his own strength, that he could tell was hanging by a string at the moment.

His gaze met Sebastian's after a moment, and he gave him a tiny, watery smile. Sebastian couldn't remember ever seeing his father like this in his whole life. He had always been the fearless superhero in his life. Always being the big dog, and not letting anything crack him. But at this moment, he looked more vulnerable than ever.

It looked like this whole ordeal had added a few years to him, when he really looked at him. His hairline had started receding, and there had been patches of gray hair that Sebastian hadn't noticed until now. His eyes had begun to get droopy, and they lost all of the spark they once had.

His mother had looked the same, he noticed. Normally, she had stunning good looks. She could be on the cover of fashion magazines, and in the movies if she wanted to. Her features were so perfect, so sharp, but now they seemed withered around the edges.

She was getting even more wrinkles as they days wore on, despite the horrid smelling wrinkle cream she used religiously. She had strands of gray hair herself, which she denied whenever it was brought up, claiming it was simply the way the light in the room hit her hair. But he could tell that she knew that she was getting old. But she had to keep on to her beauty, as well as her strength and tact if she was going to hold on to her fashion empire.

Sebastian looked at them sadly as they held onto each other tightly. It must suck to know that your kid is pretty much going to become fertilizer, and to know that your one - and probably only - grandkid was being raised by your son, who has been everything but responsible in the past.

He snapped out of his thoughts and turned his attention back to Olivia. He stroked the toddler's hair as she sobbed, her wails being muffled by his shirt.

"It's okay, baby. It's going to be okay," he whispered into her ear, even though he wasn't quite sure if that was true or not.

Sebastian had been trying to convince himself that everything was going to be fine since the moment he signed those damn papers. He knew he'd eventually get over his sister's death - he had to; there wasn't a point to moping about it forever, especially when he couldn't do anything to make things go back to normal. He just had to suck it up like he always did. But if he'd ever be able to raise her kid, he wasn't sure. But he at least had to try.

He tried to swallow the lump forming in his throat as the sea of guests made their way towards the Smythe family. They were all dressed in their best attire, and Sebastian couldn't help but feel irritated by that. This was a funeral, after all. Not a fashion show.

The first to leave were friends and coworkers of the two, leaving with their simple condolences and promises of prayers being sent their way.

Sebastian wondered if people actually kept their promises after these things. He wondered if they just said that to make them happy. But really, there is a small extent to how happy you can feel during a funeral.

The next people to leave were distant relatives, which Sebastian didn't have any memory of. His parents claimed to know them all, and passed them off as second cousins or great aunts and uncles, but none of them rang a bell with him. He didn't have the energy, nor the patience to figure out who they were, and when they had seen them, anyway. He was using all of his energy in attempting not to break down in front of all of these people.

His mother assured him before the ceremony that it was okay to cry, and that no one would judge him, but he still didn't want to. Crying was a sign of weakness, and he wanted to be the strong one for once. Especially when everyone around him had cried at least once in the past hour or so.

If no one else was going to be strong, he sure as hell had to be the one that was.

The last people to leave were people he actually knew. Close friends of the family, and of Melissa since they were kids. There were also close family members in there too. Well, they were as close as family can be when they only see each other during holidays and special events like this one.

When everyone left and everything they had to do to gather everything up was done, Sebastian just wanted to go home. He hated the amount of people he had to pretend to be happy in front of, when in reality, he was the polar opposite of happy.

Olivia's cries eventually died down into small whimpers and sniffles. She wiped her eyes, and looked up at Sebastian with her big, hazel eyes.

"Sebby, I wanna go home,"

Sebastian sighed as a dull roar of thunder sounded in the distance, and a few grey clouds loomed threateningly over their heads. If there was one thing he hated most in the world, it was driving in the rain.

"We're going to my place," he told her. He still had a few boxes of his stuff over there to get moved into the new house. He wondered which home she was referring to. Would she ever be able to call the place that they lived in together, home?

Olivia nodded, her light curls bouncing a little as she did. She threw her arms around him, and buried her face into his neck. He adjusted his hold on her as he said a farewell to his parents, and headed towards his car.

Once he practically tore her from his side, Sebastian put her into her car seat. Never once did she look at him during the process. All of the other times she had to drive in his car to his house, she was as enthused as she could be for a four hour car ride.

Today she didn't smile up at him. She just looked down at her hands and frowned.

Sebastian's heart felt heavy as he leaned forward to gently kiss her forehead. He saw the tiniest of smiles pull at her lips as he did that, but it faded away as soon as it came. The young man sighed as he closed her door, and moved to get to the driver's side of the car.

He opened the door, and slid onto the cool leather of his seat, closing the door behind him. He buckled up, and put the key into the ignition, turning it smoothly and listening to the sound of the engine roaring to life. Silently, he pulled out of the cemetery parking lot, and onto the streets of Boston.

The trip back to New York City would be a long one, and he wondered if it would be a silent one. Usually, trips by himself down to Boston weren't too bad. He could listen to whatever he wanted to, and not be forced to talk to anyone. But now was different when he had Olivia sitting in the backseat, still wearing a sad look in her face, mourning the loss of her parents, even though she probably still wasn't sure what all had happened.

Today was the day to mourn a lot of things, he realized.

One, to mourn the death of his sister and brother in law.

Two, to officially mourn the loss of his freedom.

Three, to mourn his old ways. Today, all of that had gone out of the window. He vowed to himself that he had to give up his partying ways.

And the reason was sitting right behind him in the backseat of his car. That little girl seemed to be the reason behind a lot of things. But oddly, he didn't mind the change as much as he expected.

Sebastian spent the last few nights awake trying to sort out how his life was going to work with a kid, and the more he thought about it, the more accustomed he became to the whole idea.

It was last night, when he had trouble sleeping, he realized that Olivia was giving him a new beginning. For the longest time he thought his whole new beginning was getting out of Ohio.

No more Ohio, no more worries. No more Ohio, no more stupid things he had done in the past to come back to bite him in the ass.

But the little girl behind him was really giving him something. She was like a breath of fresh air sometimes. Everything was new, and he could just push away all the bad things in his life, and focus on her.

But if that was going to be as easy as he thought it would be, he didn't know. He was pretty much alone in this, anyhow.

"Sebby?" Olivia piped up from her spot in the backseat.

Sometimes he couldn't believe that he even let her call him that. He hated that nickname with a passion.

Pushing the thoughts aside, Sebastian hummed and glanced at her from his mirror. She bit her lip in concentration, trying to figure out what exactly to say.

"You're my daddy now, right?" Sebastian cocked an eyebrow at that, keeping his eyes on my road, being extremely careful. He didn't want what happened to his sister to happen to him.

He and his parents had explained the situation to her only the night before, so he should have known he was going to have to answer some questions.

"I am," he replied, wondering exactly what she was going to ask.

"Does tat mean I have a mommy? You're a daddy, and daddies haff mommies," she asked, cocking her head to the side. Sebastian sighed, and gripped the steering wheel tighter, trying to keep himself grounded.

"No, baby. You don't," he glanced back at her to see her expression. She didn't look necessarily sad at that new piece of information. She looked sort of… confused?

"Oh! Silly me," she giggled a bit. "Momma tol' me you like boys. Does that mean I have two daddies?" she asked, her eyes shining with hope. "Because tat's otay!" Sebastian smiled softly at that, loosening his grip on the steering wheel a bit.

Isn't it strange how a three year old is more mature about such a concept like that, than the majority of the world? He turned over the idea in his head, an amused smile tugging at his lips.

But his smile went away as soon as it came once he realized he had to answer 'no' to that question. He somehow wished he could give her that. Give her two people to depend on rather than one very undependable and irresponsible person like himself. She deserved that much.

"Nope. It's just me." he replied, shrugging. Her face fell just a bit, but she moved on to grab one of her coloring books that she had brought along with her for the trip.

He noticed her move on quickly and he let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding. He never thought he'd be so happy that kids had a small attention span before. "Is that okay?"

Olivia nodded, her curls bobbing up and down again. "Yeah. Guess you get to do the mommy 'n daddy jobs, ten." he chuckled. He was still amused about how she couldn't pronounce a few things correctly; especially her 'th' sounds.

"Oh? What do mommies and daddies usually do?" he asked, because honestly, he didn't know. He wanted to make sure everything was at least somewhat normal.

She then went on to explain everything that her mom and dad used to do. She thoroughly went through their daily routine; everything from waking up, to what she usually ate or did, to going to bed.

Sebastian wished he had a notebook or something to write all of this in. This was pure gold. He would probably have to make her tell him again. Maybe he could write a book.

"How to Raise Your Sister's Kid After She's Passed: A Guide by Sebastian Smythe; Gay, Single Dad of a Three Year Old Girl"

A little while after the explanation, the car was silent. Olivia went back to her coloring, and Sebastian tried to navigate through the clear roads before the rain came. But he also was trying to process everything. Raising a kid really was a two-person job. How did he ever think he could do all of that on his own?

"Livvie?" he said after a while, breaking the silence. Olivia looked up from where she was completely submerged into her coloring book. "Yes?"

"You have to promise me something," the little girl nodded quickly. "You have to promise that you'll help me out, okay? I can't do this by myself, so you need to be patient with me. I don't know how to do all of this dad stuff." Sebastian admitted, keeping his eyes on the road, glancing at her every so often in the rear view mirror.

"I promise," she said with an exaggerated nod, making her curls fly everywhere. "You be a great daddy!" she exclaimed, smiling for the first time all day.

Sebastian smiled softly, feeling his whole attitude about the whole thing shift with one simple reassurance.

"Thanks, Liv. I hope I can,"

The rest of the trip was pretty quiet, for the exception of the couple of times Olivia would sing to the top of her lungs along with the radio. Apparently she was quite the Katy Perry fan. Lucky him.

They made it back to his apartment in record time, and all before it started to rain. Well, actually, the clouds decided to pick the perfect time to spill onto them; right as they were getting out of their car in the parking lot. Just his fucking luck.

The rain didn't just start off as a light drizzle or sprinkle or anything. No, right then and there it started pouring. It looked like the sky was being torn open with a loud roar, which made the girl's eyes fill with fear as she yelped. Sebastian scooped Olivia into his arms, and covered her head with his jacket as he ran up to the apartment building, ignoring the rain dripping down his face. He could change into dry clothes once they got into the apartment.

He ran up to the stairs leading up to his apartment, when someone ran into him.

Sebastian let out an 'oomph' as Olivia grasped his shirt when they almost toppled over. "Hey!" he yelled at the stranger, "Watch where you're-" he cut himself off when he saw the face inside of the hood who had bumped into him.

His eyes widened at the sight of him, as his own green met the other's blue. His crystal eyes seemed almost like the only thing there as the rest of his face was covered with shadows. "Kurt? What are you-"

Kurt smiled sheepishly, holding up a grocery bag in one of his hands, cutting Sebastian off. "I brought you soup."


Additional Author's Notes: I don't want to be one of those desperate people asking for reviews, but hey, the little review box thing is down there, so you might as well leave me a little something and tell me how you liked the chapter!