The summer went slowly. Kurt was looking forward to his senior year and couldn't wait for the months to pass. Sebastian didn't mention the possible move again, so Kurt just assumed that he was wrong and that his dad didn't get a new job. In fact, Sebastian never really talked about himself. He'd listen to Kurt, make snarky comments, laugh about YouTube videos, and talk about music. He talked about his family, and what was going on with them, but never really what he was doing. It wasn't until the end of June that Sebastian finally hinted that things had changed.

Kurt had just come home from spending the day with Mercedes. They'd decided to spend a day shopping away her feelings from Sam leaving. Kurt couldn't do much to help her cope with the fact that Sam's dad got a new job, but at least he was there to tell her how fabulous she looked.

When Kurt sits down on the bed and boots up his laptop, he gets a call right away. Grabbing his headset off his nightstand, Kurt smiles, clicking the accept button.

"Finally! Where were you?! I need help. My sister has lost her fucking mind." Sebastian's hair is stick up in odd angles and he looks harassed. Kurt can't help but giggle.

"Aww! Sorry, Bas. I didn't know you couldn't handle a 14 year old girl. What did she do to you?"

"You're not funny! You think you are! But you're wrong. She has decided that since we are leaving, I have to take her shopping tomorrow. She said she had to buy enough clothes to last her all throughout high school, because and I quote 'Where am I going to find fashion like this in Ohio?'. Help me!"

Kurt is having trouble breathing. With a sense of truly amazing timing, Emilie buys him precious seconds to recover when she leans over her brother's shoulder to say, "Hi Eli! You have to tell him to take me shopping. Mom said I can't go alone and she's too busy packing the kitchen. She doesn't trust the movers to do it right. Since we all know Seb is too lazy to do his packing himself, he has nothing better to do! Make him take me."

Sebastian ignores that Kurt was the one being spoken to and cuts in, "No way! I'm not spending all day following you around and carrying your bags!"

By the time they switch to French and start screaming at each other, Kurt has pulled himself together and shoved the whole 'Ohio' thing in a box to be dealt with later.

Kurt makes a sharp whistling noise, stopping Sebastian mid-rant. He rubs his ear, turning to glare at the camera. "Dammit, babe! Was that really necessary?"

"Apparently. Give your sister the headset and go away. I've been wanting to talk to her about something anyway." When Sebastian goes to protest, Kurt says, "No. You asked for my help. Go away."

When Seb gets up and passes the headset to his sister, Kurt smiles. Kurt had actually had a few conversations with Sebastian's sister. She was going into the 8th grade this year, and had questions that she couldn't talk to her family about. Most of the really awkward girl things she got through with her mom, but some things you just can't ask parents. He waits on the stomping to fade away before speaking up.

"Hey, sweetie. How's it going?"

"Ugh! It's been a long summer. I don't think Alex and I are going to make it. He's almost completely shut me out now. I'm so glad I didn't go through with it. What an asshole."

Smiling again, Kurt says, "I couldn't agree more. Guys are such jerks."

Kurt and Emilie had gotten to know each other a little bit after she had come to Sebastian to ask him about 'boy trouble'. Sebastian had panicked and pushed her at the laptop, saying 'Here! You do the whole "feelings" thing. Talk to her.' and then running away. Her boyfriend had been pushing her to try sex for a few weeks before she'd finally broken and went to Seb for help. Kurt had been tempted to warn Sebastian about their conversation, but didn't know how he'd have taken the advice Kurt gave her. And honestly, she seemed like a smart girl.

He was glad to be proven right. Kurt had told her that if she didn't feel ready, not to do it. He'd also told her that if and when she was ready, she needed to be safe, and explained to her how important that part was. Inside he was horrified, she was only 14! But he hoped she would be mature enough to make the right choice.

Emilie pouted at Kurt, "Seriously though. You live in like, Kentucky right? Would you shop for clothes in Ohio?"

Kurt winces, eventually saying, "Actually, Ohio is probably better than Kentucky. I buy most of my clothes online, or make them myself. Anyway, you can't actually go buy five years worth of clothes, hun. They wouldn't fit on the airplane. Not to mention you'd be so out of fashion within two years. I do agree that you should go shopping again before you leave, but not turn it into quite that much of a binge."

Huffing, Emilie sat back, "I guess you're right. I can't know what will still be on trend by the time I get to high school."

At her gusty sigh, Kurt says, "How bout I talk Bas into taking you shopping for two hours, and then you guys can go out to a movie? He said something about going off to boarding school, if that's true, won't you guys be separated? Besides, if you show up looking too hot, you'll just find yourself in the same situation here. Take it slow, sweetie."

She nods, looking mildly cheered. "Yeah, that'd be nice. If you can get him to agree to it."

Kurt smiles, "That won't be hard at all. He likes you, you just have to promise to go easy on him with the girly stuff. That's what I do." Kurt laughs. Before he can think better of it, he asks her, "So, where in Ohio are you guys moving to? He hasn't said much about it." Anything. He hasn't said anything about it...

"Oh, um... Columbia?" Emilie looks unsure, her head tilting cutely.

"C-Columbus?" Kurt is trying to hold back a freak out. It's not working. Any second it's going to burst out like an exploding dam.

"That's it! Columbus. Apparently there's both a girl's and boy's private school nearby. So we'll be able to go home most weekends, but yeah, different schools." Oh my god. He's going to Dalton. He's going to freaking Dalton?!

Kurt really needs time to process, he tells Emilie, "Okay, hun! That's awesome! I'm sure you'll find great places to shop there. It's a big city. Um... I have to go for a bit, tell Bas that I'll be on later okay?"

"Sure! Thanks, Eli! Make sure you talk to Seb about tomorrow! See ya later!"

"Bye, sweetie!" Kurt hangs up the call and flops back on his bed.

Oh god. What do I do? He's coming here. Out of all the places everywhere?! Why didn't he tell me? I mean, he slipped Ohio in like it was no big deal, so it's not like he's trying to hide it... did he just not care enough to tell me? And now he's going to be here, within two hours of me. He's going to go to my old school! I bet he'd look amazing in a Dalton blazer.

Kurt gets up, starting to pace the room. Okay. He doesn't know I live here. He thinks I'm in Kentucky. He's never asked what part and I never said. He's never really asked for more information. After that first week, he never asked about my name or my location. He doesn't push for names when I talk about my friends... does he just not care? Maybe I really am just a voice on his computer to him? And it's not even my real voice!

Kurt decides that what he really needs is a distraction. Something to keep his mind occupied while he sorts through his freak out. He goes downstairs and starts making cookies. Damn my diet, I need chocolate and sugar.

Kurt's panic finally passes after about his fourth batch. He seals them up in tupperware and puts all but one in the refrigerator. He takes the last one to his room. As he sits on the bed, booting up his computer, Kurt makes a decision.

I won't freak out. I'll let him decide. If he asks more about where I live, I'll be vague. As much as I'd love to meet him... he wouldn't like me. Blaine chose to stay single and miserable rather than date me. The only person that's ever shown any interest in me is Puckerman, and that's just for a laugh. I can't handle meeting this boy just to have him be like all the other crushes that didn't feel that way about me.

When he signs on, Sebastian isn't on yet. Huffing, Kurt sits back against the headboard, trying to think of something to keep him busy.

He listens to sad, sappy songs and eats more cookies than he really should have. He's actually about to give up and go to bed when Sebastian finally signs back on. Kurt dives for the call button probably before it's even fully loaded on Seb's screen.

"Hey, babe. What's up? Em calmed down, what did you do?"

Kurt winces, he'd forgotten his promise. "Uh, actually, I promised her I'd get you to take her shopping tomorrow."

"What?! Judas! I can't believe you're on her side!" Sebastian yells.

Kurt giggles, "Calm down, Bas. I got her to agree to only two hours shopping and then hitting a movie. I figured she just wanted to spend time with you. And she's right, there's nothing anywhere around here for shopping. She should hit the stores one more time." Kurt bites his lip. He hadn't actually meant to bring up the concept of 'here'.

Sebastian just grunts, "Alright, fine. I can do that. Two hours isn't that bad." After a few seconds, Kurt can see Sebastian isn't really paying attention. He'd started doing something on the computer and stopped talking, like he'd forgotten Kurt was there.

Kurt leans back, chewing on his lip, wondering if he should ask about the move. Eventually he decides that if Sebastian wants to talk about it, he'll bring it up. Well, when he isn't ignoring Kurt completely. Glaring at his laptop, Kurt unplugs his headphones so he can hear Sebastian through the speakers. If he deigns to break his silence.

Kurt grabs his iPod again, putting his entire library on shuffle. He sits and sketches future outfit ideas while singing '4 Minutes'. Is it stupid that I kind of miss being a Cheerio? The attention was nice.

Between songs, Kurt glances up to see if Sebastian is even still sitting at his computer. He's surprised to see him blinking at his computer with his eyebrows raised almost to his hairline. What's up with that?

Taking out his ear bud, he'd only used one so he could hear if someone started talking, he puts his headset back on. It's not until he's going to plug it back in that he notices that the mic is still plugged in. Shit! I unplugged the headphones but not the mic?!

Realizing that Sebastian had heard him singing Kurt really wants to just die. Like... fall through the floor and just be done. Jesus. I was singing both parts like it was a freaking duet. Maybe he won't say anything?

As soon as the thought forms, Sebastian says, "What? You're done already?"

Kurt groans. "Dammit. I forgot to unplug the mic. What will it cost for you to just forget this happened?"

"Oh, no. You can't afford me. I'll not be forgetting anything. What the hell was that?" Sebastian is now grinning insanely. Kurt sighs,

"That was me singing like I was alone in my room, which I stupidly thought I was. Shit."

"That was all you? No help? What the fuck is your vocal range?"

Kurt isn't sure how to handle this. Most of the time he's so proud of his voice that it's painful to watch... but he doesn't want Sebastian to see that side of him. The guys at Dalton had never really appreciated him. Even New Directions tended to stick him in the back, or pair him with a girl, like that was the only way his voice was acceptable. He has to assume that most people can't really understand how awesome his voice is, and somehow he doubts Bas will be the first. Maybe he'll just shrug it off. He's never said anything about singing himself.

Shaking himself, he says, "I'm a countertenor. I can go from really high to really low." After a few seconds of silence, Kurt decides to lead with a distraction. "So, the good news is, your sister decided not to have sex."

"What?!"

Sorry, Emilie, but you did tell me I could tell him, and needs must.

The second half of summer seems to go even slower than the first half had. Kurt spends a lot of time with Blaine, either at Blaine's house or out shopping. He'd told Blaine about Bas, but hadn't really told him details or shown him a picture. Kurt was embarrassed by how much he liked him, he didn't really want to gush about him like an idiot.

Blaine wasn't stupid though. He could tell how much Kurt liked the guy so he didn't point out how often Kurt let a 'Oh, Bas said-' slip out. He knew more about Kurt's online not-a-boyfriend than he did about half the guys he went to school with.

Kurt was just glad to be able to hang out with Blaine without the awkwardness. Since he'd met Sebastian, his attraction to Blaine had all but disappeared. It was hard to find a hobbit eye-catching when he had an Adonis on his computer most nights. If he was a little too attached considering the boy knew no personal information about him, well, Kurt liked to ignore that fact. What could go wrong, right?

Kurt had been freaking out for weeks about how to convince Blaine to transfer to McKinley. If they were dating, the way all of his friends still insisted they were, he could just play the puppy eyes and make suggestive comments or something. But they're just friends... so he'd played the 'come take our solos!' and 'I need my best gay!'s. He didn't think it was working, and he expected a phone call any day to tell him that Blaine had seen a new kid hanging around Dalton.

Instead he'd been surprised by a Tom Jones singing, bow-tie wearing, no-sock owning Blaine Anderson setting fire to a piano in the courtyard.

That night, Kurt was actually excited to talk to Sebastian. Seb had started school late because they were still getting the house settled. It was Friday and he wanted to hear about Dalton, even though he had to pretend not to know where he was going. Kurt held his breath as he waited on the call to go through.

When he popped up, still wearing his Dalton blazer with a typical dorm in the background, Kurt almost squeals. Oh my god! It's true. No denying it now! He's here!

Kurt bursts out with, "Hey! Lookin' sharp! That the new uniform?"

Sebastian laughs, "Yeah. This is it. My first full day here. So far I'm liking it. It's weird to not be heading home, but I like the guys I've met so far."

Kurt is all but bouncing, "That's awesome, Bas! I'm sure you'll appreciate the privacy if nothing else."

Sebastian smiles, a little stiffly, and says, "Yeah! It's great. Now I won't have to hook up in bathrooms anymore."

Kurt bites his tongue, refusing to let loose on exactly how he feels about Sebastian's self-admitted manwhorish actions. "Oh. That's uh... not what I meant. I meant now you won't have your sister running into your room when we're talking... but yeah. Good for you."

Sebastian looks confused for a second before saying, "Wait-"

Kurt cuts him off. "I have to go for a bit... I'll be back on later tonight. I have homework."

"It's the first wee-"

Kurt hangs up before Sebastian can finish. He feels so stupid. He'd thought that Sebastian's flirting meant maybe he liked him, at least a little. Or at least enough to not to brag about his conquests to him. Even if Bas doesn't like him, he knows that Kurt is alone.

Kurt sighs and gets up, going downstairs to find something to do.

When Kurt comes down the stairs he sees Puck sitting on the couch, and can hear Finn in the kitchen stammering out apologies.

Kurt flings himself on down beside Puck asking, "So what did he do?"

Laughing, Puck says, "Not really sure, she wasn't making sounds I could understand. I think he implied he didn't want a matching animal sweater." Kurt nodded, not saying anything else. "Okay, what's up? You never miss a chance to bitch about her clothes."

Kurt shrugs, sinking down more into the couch and trying not to let Sebastian affect him. Puck starts flicking his ear lightly, trying to get him to stop pouting. It doesn't take long for Kurt to snap.

"God, Noah! Stop it! I'm fine."

"Yeah, I got that. Ya know, from the screaming." At Kurt's continued silence, Puck says, "So what did he do?"

"Who?"

"You know who. Your boyfriend."

Kurt tears up a little. Now was just not the time to have to make that argument. Quietly, Kurt mumbles, "He's not my boyfriend, Noah."

Puck huffs and scoots closer on the couch. Without waiting for Kurt to react, Puck tugs him closer and puts his arm around Kurt's shoulder. Kurt sits so still that he's almost not breathing for a few seconds. Eventually he cracks and leans his head down on Puck's shoulder. They both ignore that Puck's shoulder is wet when Kurt mumbles, 'thanks' and runs back upstairs a few minutes later.

When Kurt gets back upstairs, he stands quietly in the middle of the room, looking at his bed, the laptop still sitting on top. Glancing over at his closet, Kurt sighs. Not putting much thought into what the hell he's doing, Kurt digs through the only box left from his Dalton days. At the bottom, wrapped up in a tie, he finds his webcam.

Walking back to his bed, he plugs it in and sets it up, double and triple checking that Skype had been closed out. When he gets the program running, Kurt is horrified by how he looks. He should have known it would be bad. Noah Puckerman had hugged him. He had to look pathetic. After a few minutes spent smoothing his hair and attempting to clean up his face, Kurt gets disgusted and just turns it back off.

This would be a terrible idea on a good day, let alone today. Maybe one of these days, I'll try again. If he's not going to like me no matter what I do, what does it really matter if he sees my face?

Winding the cord back up, Kurt puts his webcam in his nightstand drawer and signs back on Skype. When he logs in, he sees that Sebastian is still on, but he doesn't get a pop up right away like usual. I guess I deserve that. This is all my fault anyway. It's not like he asked for this shit.

Kurt calls him and puts his headphones on, waiting to see if he'll accept. Just when he assumes he won't, Sebastian answers.

Before the picture is even loaded, Kurt says, "I'm sorry. I've had a very long day and I took it out on you. I'm better now."

Sebastian blinks for a second before saying, "Okay, so what happened?"

Deciding to deflect a bit, Kurt says, "A friend of mine sang Tom Jones and then set a piano on fire."

Kurt can tell that he wants to ask, but he doesn't, instead he just says, "Okaaay... I can see how that would be upsetting... the Tom Jones, at least. So you're all better now?"

Kurt laughs a little and says, "Yeah. Noah calmed me down. Anyway, so your first day was good? Shouldn't you be on your way home?"

"Today was great. I met some guys today I think will make good friends. And normally, I would. But I'm staying over the weekend so I can settle in and learn the school a bit. I just got here last night so..." Sebastian smiles, obviously just trying to forget about Kurt's fit earlier.

Kurt smiles back. Just friends. I can do this. Just friends.

Almost two more months pass. Kurt has to stop himself daily from blurting it all out. His name, his feelings, that he lives so close. Somehow he manages to keep it buried, but it's killing him. At this point he's ready to lay everything out and just see how Sebastian handles it. But he's painted himself into a lie soaked corner and he doesn't know what to do.

Even if, best case scenario, Bas can return my feelings, he'll never forgive me for lying to him about living so close. And honestly, I'm still unsold on the idea that he could feel the same way about me as I do about him.

Sebastian was still flirting with Kurt, but never going too far, and always backing up the more obvious attempts by 'just kidding!' type comments. Kurt had all but given up. He was getting more and more miserable every day and he didn't know how much longer he could do this. It was worse than Blaine. At least with Blaine, he had admitted how he felt and moved on, eventually. But he's not sure anything will make him move on from Sebastian. He just feels so much more this time.

The one upside to this mess was that him and Noah had become much closer. After the third time Kurt had walked downstairs to find him, and Noah had hugged him, they'd taken the time to sit down and talk. Noah was now the only person on the planet, besides Kurt, that knew the whole story. He thought Kurt was being stupid. He said he should just tell him, and if shit went downhill, they'd figure it out later.

Kurt thought that was very easy to say about someone else's problems.

Noah had started barging into Kurt's room, spouting 'Princess! I'm sad, make out with me!' type comments. Kurt was now having trouble convincing Sebastian that he and Noah weren't dating. It was a vicious cycle and Kurt just wanted off the Merry-Go-Round.

It was actually Halloween when the shit hit the fan. Finn had decided to have a party at their house, since Burt and Carole were going out of town. They had, of course, lied and said they were going to a party at Rachel's. Kurt had told everyone that walked in the door to stay out his room or suffer dire consequences. When everyone was there, Kurt had stuck around just long enough to make sure that no one would get out of hand, then had gone back upstairs.

He'd come back to Skype to see Sebastian online, which surprised him. A quick call later, Kurt said,

"Hey, Bas! Didn't think you'd be around today. No parties?"

Sebastian growled. "No. It's a Monday night, who, besides you apparently, has a party on a Monday?"

Kurt smiled, "Actually, it's not my party, I just live here. I'm not even drinking. Despite Noah's best efforts to see me drunk."

Sebastian looked mad, and Kurt couldn't really tell why. Before he got a chance to ask, his door opened. "Princess! You have to come drink with me. It's the only way to get you out of your pants. I might also need some paint thinner, because they're painted on." Laughing at his own joke, Puck collapsed on the bed next to Kurt.

Grunting, Kurt scooted farther away so Puck could sit comfortably. He could tell Puck wasn't actually drunk, he was probably just pretending for Sebastian's sake. Kurt rolled his eyes. "Noah, I told you, I'm not getting drunk and you're not getting in my pants. There's barely enough room for me."

Sebastian suddenly snapped at him, "Oh, why not, Eli? You said you were lonely, you have a hot guy hanging all over you, why not make the best of your situation?"

Kurt had sucked in a breath, and his eyes immediately watered. Puck saw this happen, and even though he hadn't heard what Seb has said, he saw the pissed off look on his face. Before he got a chance to say anything though, Kurt said, "Ya know what? Fuck it. That's a great idea, Sebby. I'm tired of this damn virginity. Might as well lose it sometime right? Might as well be Noah. He seems to be the only one that's interested."

Kurt closed out Skype and got up. After wiping his eyes, Kurt stomped downstairs, not even noticing that Puck was following him, wide eyed. Kurt went up to the table with the alcohol and grabbed the first bottle he saw. Puck tried to take it out of his hand but Kurt snarled at him. After he took a long drink, Kurt winced and looked down. It was E&J Brandy. Who the hell bought this? Whatever. I don't care.

The only thing Kurt remembered the next day was laying in bed drinking that bottle the rest of the night, his laptop mysteriously missing.

The next morning, when Kurt woke up, he had a pounding headache. He sat up, looking around to find his laptop on his nightstand with a note.

Friends don't let friends drink and Skype.

Drink the water, take the pills, go back to bed.

Puck

Kurt smiled before looking down to grab the bottle of water and the aspirin sitting on the table. Then he did exactly what the note said, he rolled back over, and went back to sleep.

By the next day, Kurt had almost stopped regretting his choices in life. He decided he would sign on Skype tonight and face whatever consequences came from pissing off Sebastian.

But when he signed on, Sebastian wasn't there. He didn't sign on all night.

Or the next night.

Or the next.

On November 5th, five days since he'd last talked to him, Sebastian finally signed on. Kurt had left his Skype on and his volume all the way up, and had gone to do homework, despite the fact that it was a Saturday. When he hears the call noise, Kurt almost thinks he's imagining it. He dives for the bed and is clicking the accept button before he even has his headset ready.

When he gets it on, he says, "Hey! I was worried you were too pissed to sign on again. I'm so sorry about Halloween!"

Sebastian looks no different, maybe a little subdued. "Nope, no problem. Everyone can have a bad night. It's my fault, I snapped at you first."

Kurt blinked, trying to remember what Sebastian had said. Before he could sort through that night, Sebastian says, "Actually, I'm on my way out, I just wanted to sign on and make sure you were okay. I haven't heard from ya in a few days."

"Oh! Yeah! I'm good, Noah-" Kurt is cut off by Sebastian turning around like he's looking at his door and saying,

"Sorry, man. I gotta go. They're waiting on me. We can talk tomorrow, right?"

"Sure-" Sebastian hangs up.

Kurt wraps his arms around his knees, putting his head down. What did I do?

Over the next couple days, Kurt and Sebastian talk every night, but it's not the same. Sebastian doesn't flirt anymore. And he usually has somewhere he has to be. He doesn't really talk to Kurt about anything, just smiles and nods. Kurt starts to feel like that creepy ex that won't leave him alone.

Monday night, Kurt goes to Blaine's house. As he's laying on Blaine's bed he asks him if he's boring. He can't figure out why things are so different with Sebastian. The only thing he can think of is that Sebastian is weirded out by the idea of sex with Kurt. It was only after he'd made the catty comment about how no one wanted him but Noah that Seb had started pulling away.

He and Blaine sit and talk about what they want in the future, and Blaine tells him that he is actually fine with staying a virgin until the right guy comes along. He's not bothered by going slow. Kurt on the other hand is kind of over the being lonely thing and would give anything to be with Sebastian. If only he wanted Kurt back.

It's not until Wednesday that Kurt gets his first surprise. Kurt walks up to Blaine's locker to talk about his ex-friend named Rachel. Blaine gives him a look that stops Kurt in his tracks. "What's wrong?"

Blaine steps closer to Kurt, lowering his voice. "Yesterday, I met a guy... and he's really hot. And I don't know what to do."

Kurt laughs, "Well, is he gay?" Blaine nods. "Well, go for it. He had to have hit on you, you're Blaine."

Laughing nervously, Blaine says, "Ooooh, that's not the problem. The problem is he's the kind of guy that only wants to fuck around. He's not looking for serious. He just wants to fuck me, then move on to the next one."

"Then tell him to take a hike, it's not rocket science, hun." Kurt cocks an eyebrow at him.

Blaine coughs and says, very quietly, "No. You're underestimating the amount of hotness I'm talking about. Like, it's a problem."

Kurt giggles, "Blaine Anderson, you slut. You're afraid you'll cave and sleep with this guy aren't you?" Wincing, Blaine just nods. Kurt giggles again. "Oh god. Okay, well... tell him you have a boyfriend. Hell, I'll even play the part, since everyone seems to think we're dating anyway. I'll pull out the bitchiness and put him in his place. Done by dinner."

Blaine smiles, "That's perfect! Thank you so much! I'm supposed to meet him for coffee, come after school?"

Kurt just bows slightly, "It would be my honor. Not like I have anything else going on."