Tobias peered out the window of his brother's car at the shops as they drove past. It's been two years, but Ohio is just the same as he remembered it. Lima is so much quieter and slower than Paris's hustle and bustle. Sebastian would disagree, but Tobias preferred Lima. Cities weren't really his thing. Of course it probably helped that he wasn't confined to a hospital anymore, making Ohio that much more appealing.
He was pulled from his thoughts as his brother touched his knee, and he smiled at the look of concern on Sebastian's face. "I'm just glad to be home," he replied to the unasked question. "We're almost there, right?"
Sebastian nodded, focusing on the road again. "Just around this next corner."
The Lima Bean wasn't nearly on the level of La Caféothèque, the one thing about Paris he actually missed, but it was leaps and bounds better than any of America's dozen or so coffee chains. A bit closer to an actual café by the look of it, he mused as they pulled into the parking lot. It was certainly popular. He could see that there was a line at the counter, and here and there he recognized the Dalton crest his brother wore so proudly.
Toby was excited. He's been home for a week now and this was the first time their mother let him even leave the house. He was dressed in layers to stave off the cold, and he'd double checked to make sure his phone was on at full battery in case anything happened, but he was definitely anxious to be out among people again.
They got out of the car and were heading up to the door when Sebastian stopped, a horrified look on his face. "Shit," he swore softly, then spun on his heel to march back over to the car, pulling futilely on the handle. "I locked the keys in the car."
Laughing, Toby moved to grip his shoulder. "You call to get it open, and I'll wait for you inside. Mocha with caramel, right?" Sebastian pouted at him as he pulled out his cell phone, and Toby entered the shop as his brother paced around the corner of the building for a little privacy.
His first impression had been correct; the place was a popular hotspot not only for Dalton, but what must have been the local high school. The line wasn't terrible, but he still had time to look around as he waited for his turn. He saw the Dalton boys again as they crowded around a table in the back, groups of kids scattered about the tables in the middle, a bored-looking man was typing peacefully on his laptop by the windows, and the soft waves of noise that always accompanied small crowds whispered through the room, occasionally broken only by the sound of one particularly loud woman with her friends in a corner booth.
A few minutes later Toby had his drinks. He'll admit that he flirted shamelessly with the barista, but she didn't seem uncomfortable with it and it felt nice to share a smile with someone new. He found a seat by the window where he could watch Sebastian pace in and out of view, and lost himself to the conversation flowing around him.
"Kurt, stop it. Eating those isn't going to help you, boo."
"Blaine's surgery was an hour ago, and no one has called me yet! What if something went wrong?"
"Don't think about it that way. Papa had to have his appendix removed a few years ago-"
"That's MY cookie Rachel!"
"-They had him in recovery for a while, but everything went just fine!"
Finn zoned out a little as his girlfriend nibbled delicately on the edge of a Cupid cookie. It wasn't that he didn't care about Blaine, of course he did, but he'd been trying to keep Kurt calm all day with minimal success until he finally called Rachel for help. Though coming to the Lima Bean probably wasn't the best solution. When they got here Kurt had ordered a dozen cookies with his coffee and resumed panicking about Blaine's surgery. Mercedes was trying to pry Kurt's fifth cookie from his fingers, so Finn took the opportunity to steal one for himself, looking around the shop as he avoided his brother's glare.
Kurt was busy working himself into a proper sulk when Finn spotted him. At first he couldn't believe that that guy would be here so soon after what happened to Blaine; he almost didn't recognize him out of the blazer, but his face was unmistakable. Swallowing a gasp, Finn glanced back at his friends. None of them seemed to have noticed Sebastian. If he had his way none of them ever would.
"Hey, I'm gonna go to the restroom…" He barely waited for acknowledgment before finishing his cookie and fleeing his seat. They weren't paying attention anyway. Kurt was staring at Rachel with a look that could curdle milk, and naturally she took that as a good sign to be even more reassuring.
Finn glanced back at them only once to make sure they were distracted and headed straight for the other table. He leaned over Sebastian, using his height to look more intimidating. "You've got a lot of nerve coming here today."
Startled eyes met his, and the other teen leaned away with an odd look on his face. "Excuse me?"
"If this is another of your little games to get at Kurt then I don't care what he says, I will stop you," he growled, though on second thought something was nagging at the back of his mind.
"You must have me mistaken for someone else."
"Don't play dumb with me, Sebastian."
"Seb?"
"What do you think you're doing, Treebeard?" Finn turned at the sound of the new voice and it was all of a sudden like he was seeing double.
Sebastian crushed down the flutter of panic in his chest as he hung up on his father and dashed for the door. Toby might have called him paranoid for checking up on him every few seconds, but he's glad he did as soon as he saw Kurt's gorilla of a brother looming over Toby inside the café. He hadn't known they were here, but he should have looked, should have made sure! The New Directions were pretending to be 'nice' by not blackmailing him, but he knew it was only a matter of time before one of them lashed out.
He would fall to his knees and beg before ever letting them taken out their revenge on Toby. Turning his fear into anger, he pushed open the café door and called out to the other teen sharply, drawing attention with as much condescension as Sebastian could muster. The oaf turned towards him, and he continued before Finn could reply. "Don't you think you should pick on someone your own size, or is that too much to ask of your insignificant intelligence?"
There was a certain joy in watching Finn's face crumple in confusion as he tried to work out what he was seeing. Sebastian'd seen it before on others who had no idea he had a brother, but this time would have been so much sweeter if it had been a completely different situation. Finn's eyes flicked down to his blazer, back to his face, and then back down at Toby, who had such a look of relief on his face that it made Sebastian's chest ache. Determined, he forced himself between Finn and the table to make him back up, reaching down to grab his coffee.
"But, wait…" Sebastian raised his eyebrow at the words, taking a drink.
"Don't try so hard, Kong, we wouldn't want your brain to explode," he sneered.
He felt Toby stand up behind him, and stepped forward to give him more room. "Bas, what are you doing? Stop it!"
"Not now, Toby. I can handle him."
"I don't want you to get into a fight." His brother grabbed his sleeve, as if he could see Sebastian shaking.
Finn finally came to his senses, moving back even further. He was still clearly upset, and every few seconds he would make a move to glance elsewhere, but stopping before he could complete the motion. "You have a brother…" Apparently biting wit didn't run in their family.
"I make a point of not sharing my personal life with people like you," Sebastian replied easily, warming his voice with a fake note of cheer. Curious, he leaned a little to look around Finn and almost swore at seeing who he came here with. As if fate itself was laughing at him, Kurt swiveled to look to see where his brother went, catching Sebastian's eyes almost immediately.
The temperature in the Lima Bean dropped ten degrees. He watched Kurt reach for the attention of the two girls with him, and Sebastian drew himself up to his full height. Which admittedly wasn't quite as…impressive as the Jolly Green Giant, but he made do with what he could at times like this. He had to look calm and in control, even if he felt like dragging his brother out to wait by the car.
"Bas? Who are these people?" he heard murmured as the trio approached. Finn was looking increasingly more uncomfortable. Interesting.
"I would ask you why you're here, Sebastian, but I believe we covered your lack of social life the last time we were here." Kurt's voice was ice, and grated painfully across Sebastian's nerves. He hated that voice.
"Funny, Kurt. It's good to know your sense of humor is as droll as ever." Sebastian tossed back.
"At least it isn't as damaging as yours!" The small, loud one. What was her name? Sebastian grit his teeth, pure force of will the only thing keeping his smirk frozen in place. A small voice in the back of his mind shouted that it had never been his intention to hurt anyone, least of all Blaine, but it was far too late for that. "He could be blind because of you-"
"Rachel!" Finn snapped, stepping in front of her. "That's enough!" There was an awkward moment where the girl processed what she said, and she turned to Kurt, her hand flying up to her mouth. Kurt's lips were pressed together in a thin line, and suddenly he seemed on the verge of losing it. Sebastian felt sick to his stomach at having the consequences of his actions thrown in his face again, but he kept it together in front of Santana, and he certainly wasn't going to falter here. He watched, warily, as Finn muttered something to the other three, and the girls both looked at him and then Tobias, in turn, bunching in closer to have a quick conference. Kurt, on the other hand, was pulling out his phone.
Sebastian took the time to turn to his own brother, hoping he's okay. Toby was watching him with a look that said clearly: We're talking about this later.
Tobias didn't know what to think about the newcomers. The tall guy had scared him at first, but his expression had been such a conflicting mess of guilt and worry that Toby was more confused. The other guy, however, clearly hated Sebastian, and his face was terrifying. What could his brother have done to piss someone off that badly? He was a bit rough sometimes, sure, but he was a good guy.
'He could be blind because of you-!' Tobias honestly couldn't hear what anybody said after the girl shouted. Instead he opted for staring at Sebastian, silently denying the accusation.
His brother looked back at him, something odd in his eyes. In response Toby frowned just a little. It was clear they were going to have to talk. Apparently he had a lot to catch up on in Sebastian's life.
"Finn," Kurt interrupted, completely ignoring them as he held out his cell phone. "Blaine."
Before Toby even knew what was going on, the girls were pushing Kurt through the door, and after a moment of hesitation where Finn looked back at him, the other teen followed them through. Sebastian watched them leave through the window, and then turned around. "Are you okay? He didn't touch you, did he?"
"Bas…"
"If he put even a single finger on you, I'm going to break it-"
"Bastian!" His brother's face closed off and he turned away, toying with the lid of his coffee. "What happened? What are they talking about?"
"It's nothing, Toby. They're just overreacting."
"They said he could go blind, that's not nothing!" Sebastian sat down, cradling his coffee between his hands. He was fighting to keep his expression straight and after a moment Tobias sighed and sat across from him. This wasn't what he expected out of today, but he wasn't going to complain now. He wanted to know everything he missed in his brother's life. "Let's start from the beginning. Who were they?"
Sebastian met his gaze and his lips quirked at the corner. "Just some kids from a rival show choir."
"And why do you hate them? I know you're competitive, but confrontations in a coffee shop? That's a little ridiculous."
An awkward silence stretched between them until he finally found the words to continue. "There's this guy…"
Not including the ten minutes it took to get their keys when the car guy arrived, it took over an hour to get the full truth out of Sebastian. They were already halfway home before he finally admitted to the slushie, staring resolutely at the road as if he couldn't bear to look at Toby. Maybe he was afraid of getting popped in the nose anyway.
Not that Tobias hadn't considered doing it. He joked that his brother could be stupid, but this… They drove the remaining miles in silence, without even the sound of the radio between them.
As they pulled into their neighborhood, Toby reached for Bas's hand, gripping it tightly, smiling as his was gripped back. Stupid as he was, he loved his brother. He was just never going to allow him out to play alone ever again.
Thanks for reading~ There is more already written, I just need to get it back from my beta before I can post it so it won't be up tomorrow, but hopefully within the next week. Feedback would be wonderful, and have a great day guys!