This chapter is Blaine's point of view, and the shortest chapter so far. Most of the chapters from this point forward are under 3,000 words long as the fic picks up the pace a bit. (Chapter 11, however, is over 4,000 words long, like a couple of the earlier chapters were.)

Enjoy!

Chapter 8: "Fancy seeing you here."

"Oh my gosh! You're really going to turn it into a musical? That's amazing," Blaine said excitedly as he stared into his laptop's screen.

"Yeah," Kurt replied with a grin. They were, of course, discussing the play he'd written with the gay ace lead character. "I'm so glad Professor Wong told me I should expand it into three separate acts. He was completely right."

Blaine wished he'd taken the opportunity to meet the man while he was still in New York. He'd only been at NYADA for one semester, so he'd never gotten the chance to take one of his classes, but that didn't mean Blaine couldn't have stopped by during his office hours anyway. From what Kurt had told him, Wong was charismatic and intelligent and everything one could dream of getting in a professor. Blaine hoped his pre-med path would lead him to someone similarly inspiring who he too could learn an amazing amount from.

"And now," Kurt continued, "I've decided to take the initiative and see if I can turn it into something with dance numbers and costumes and all of the things that make musicals the best."

"You could have a singing character spell out A-S-E-X-U-A-L-I-T-Y, and it wouldn't seem too corny!" Nothing was too corny for a musical. By the format's very nature, they often were silly, on-the-nose, and over-the-top.

"I know," Kurt agreed. "Repeating lyrics will be perfect for getting across the confusing aspects of the orientation – which is kind of necessary, since many audience members will be learning about for the first time. They'll get a chance to hear everything more than once and maybe it'll be easier for them to then understand Zack's character. In play form, it was never quite conducive to educating. Plus, did I mention the-"

"-costumes? Yeah, you did." Blaine beamed back at his boyfriend. "Do you think you might get a say in their designs?"

"Well, I hope I haven't been working for a year-and-a-half at Vogue for nothing."

Blaine was so happy Kurt was going to get a chance to put all of his loves into one project – his newfound passion for writing, his amazing eye for fashion, and his love of stage performances.

"So what about you? Are you worried about the first day at your new college tomorrow?" Kurt asked.

Blaine felt a familiar rush of anxiety at the reminder, but it was quickly overpowered by a more positive feeling. "No, I'm pretty optimistic that this transfer is going to prove to be the best decision for me," he answered.

"Good," Kurt said back.

Suddenly, Blaine changed the subject. "You're sure it's okay if I have sex with a girl?"

Kurt scowled. "Yeah," he said slowly. "I meant it when I agreed to make our relationship an open one."

"I know, but…" Blaine was pretty sure Kurt knew what the elephant in the virtual 'room' was.

"Yes," Kurt supplied in response to the unasked question. "I am also okay with you being bisexual, and how that does mean you might sometimes be interested in girls as well as guys. As long as you use condoms, regardless of gender, and as long as you tell me about it afterwards, we'll be cool. I promise."

Blaine smiled, grateful for that, but still just the tiniest bit worried Kurt would feel differently if it ever did happen.

"Well, I did… go to a bar last night," he explained.

"Let me guess." Kurt's tone was still understanding, not at all upset. "It wasn't Scandals, was it?"

"I'm not even in Lima right now!" Blaine said with a chuckle. "You know I'm all the way in Columbus. But you're right, it wasn't a gay bar."

"And did you buy drinks for any girls?"

"Just one." Blaine watched carefully for Kurt's reaction.

"Oh," he said, seeming genuinely fine with it. "Well, thanks for telling me."

"Nothing happened," he said. "She turned me down."

Kurt didn't smile, like Blaine had half-expected him too. Kurt didn't seem relieved. Instead, he expressed a look of disappointment. "I'm sorry. She'd have to be nuts to turn down a night with you."

Blaine grinned. "Thanks." Maybe this polyamory thing would work out, after all.

"Oh, I have something to tell you too," Kurt said quickly, realizing the call seemed to be coming to a close.

"Sure. What?"

"Well, now that I've tweaked my play a lot and established just how much of a man Zack is," he explained, "I've been thinking about how Zack… isn't me."

"Well of course he isn't, honey," Blaine said, not sure where Kurt was going with this. "He's just a character. You only put aspects of yourself into him."

"Yeah, but…" Kurt seemed to be struggling to gather his thoughts. "I have been questioning my own gender identity lately," he finally revealed.

"Really?" Blaine asked incredulously, hoping he wasn't hurting Kurt's feelings by being surprised. Blaine was supposed to know Kurt better than anyone, and he was just shocked Kurt hadn't talked about this sooner. "I thought you always hated when your dad implied that-" he faltered in the place where he had been tempted to mention Finn's name. "That another person was 'more of a man' than you."

"Well yeah," Kurt said defensively. "It was a reminder of all I was supposed to be, but wasn't. It meant I wasn't who my dad had hoped I would be, and…" he lowered his tone. "And I was failing in my role as his son."

"Kurt," Blaine said sadly, hating that he'd reminded Kurt of any of those feelings. "Your dad never actually felt that way; you know that now."

"I do," Kurt said louder, now with conviction. "But what I also finally know is that he was right to think I wasn't a man, exactly. Even if I'm definitely not a woman, either."

Blaine was relieved to hear that. He had been worried, for a moment, that this was going to be an 'I'm transgender, and actually am a woman' conversation, one-hundred percent out of the blue. Kurt had never before even hinted as relating to that experience, and it wouldn't have made any sense to Blaine to find out that Kurt was a trans woman. He listened intently, waiting for his boyfriend to continue.

"I think I'm… agender. I still am only attracted toward… masculine people, like you," he said with a flirty chuckle. "And I'm biologically male, so it's probably easier to still call myself a guy, and just homoromantic, rather than try to say I'm 'androromantic' or anything like that. But maybe I'm an… agender, or genderfluid guy?" He asked it like it was a question.

Blaine knew enough to not answer.

"Thanks for telling me you've been thinking about all this," he replied softly, full of compassion and love. Blaine didn't know much about people who identified as not having a gender – or as fluctuating between multiple genders – but now that it was so personal to Kurt, like when it had been important for Blaine to learn more about asexuality, Blaine felt he needed to research gender stuff too. It would be more than worth it, because it would be for Kurt's benefit.

"I love you," Kurt told him with a smile.

"I love you, too," Blaine said as his goodbye, and then they ended the call.

Blaine was in his car driving toward the Cincinnati Art Museum, hoping he'd beat his grandparents there. He'd planned ahead and knew the trip should take under two hours from his new dorm, at least according to the traffic app on his phone. This was his first weekend at his new school and he would've loved the chance to try to make friends with people his own age. He'd been invited to hang out this Saturday morning with a couple of friendly people he'd met on his floor! But his grandparents were in town this weekend so he had to try to accommodate them. They only had two grandkids, and Cooper wasn't really the best company. Blaine, on the other hand, knew how to please the elderly. Art Museums every once in a while wouldn't hurt him. In fact, he actually found them kind of enjoyable. Blaine expected to meet up with his father's parents in the parking lot, and then spend a few uneventful hours perusing the exhibits, admiring particular pieces, and making small talk.

What he did not expect was to run into someone he'd met back in Lima years earlier. Blaine had been on the second floor, admiring the European Art with his grandparents, when he'd been the first of their little group to turn the corner. Suddenly, Blaine was face-to-face with Sebastian Smythe, of all people.

"Wow," Sebastian commented casually. Even when he was surprised he couldn't allow it to show. "Fancy seeing you here." He raised his eyebrows as he eyed Blaine up and down, taking in either his body or his outfit – Blaine couldn't be sure which.

"Hi," Blaine replied before Sebastian had quite finished. "I'm just visiting with my grandparents. They're in from out of town."

"Do you still live in Ohio? I was under the impression that you'd followed a bunch of McKinley kids to The Capital of the World," Sebastian said, seemingly unimpressed with the idea of New York, but Blaine couldn't help but latch onto the idea that Sebastian had paid attention to gossip about where he'd ended up.

"I did," Blaine confirmed. "I transferred to Ohio State for the new semester, though. Decided the Academy of the Dramatic Arts wasn't my scene after all."

"Oh?" Sebastian seemed generally interested to learn this information. "I decided to move here to Cincinnati for school, personally. My sister lives here and she just had a kid. The father's not in the picture, so I help out when I can, you know."

Blaine was impressed to find out that Sebastian had this side to him. "Niece or nephew?" he asked, unable to contain his curiosity. He really did love kids.

"Niece. Her name's Matilda."

Blaine refrained from bringing up the obvious thing that name brought to mind.

Sebastian seemed to notice and shot him an I-know-what-you're-thinking expression with some more eyebrow movement before also shooting an appreciative smile for the lack of comment.

"So anyway yeah, I'm at the college attached to this museum actually, so they make us come here every week for our homework, pretty much."

"Cool," Blaine replied. "Did you graduate high school early?" He had no idea Sebastian, who he'd thought had been a whole year younger than him, was smart enough to start college the same year as Blaine.

"Just a semester early," Sebastian explained. "I took a couple summer classes last year when Linda – that's my sister – got pregnant. Babies out of wedlock are a big 'no-no' in my family. We both knew she'd be kicked out as soon as she started showing. She's only a couple years older than me and well, I knew she'd need my help as soon as possible."

"I can't even imagine," Blaine replied. He wasn't sure what else to say, so he changed the subject. "What's your major? The college here is purely an art school, right?"

"Yeah, it's a branch off of the University of Cincinnati. I'm a Museum Studies undergraduate doing a simple Art History major. It almost guarantees me a job at this museum once I get out, and it's actually pretty fascinating to learn about all of the dicks and psychos whose art fills these walls."

Blaine glanced around nervously at the word 'dicks', worried children might be within earshot. He didn't see any, but instead did see his grandparents admiring the Contemporary Art in this room now. He hadn't even noticed when they'd walked by.

"Oh, I really should get back to them," Blaine said apologetically, gesturing toward the elderly couple.

"I get it. I do have a class assignment to complete myself," Sebastian said. "But you never got my phone number two years ago," he added. "Give me your phone. I'll program myself in."

Blaine found his forwardness oddly… attractive – and refreshing.

"Kurt and I are still together," he informed him as he handed over his mobile device, "but we're… trying out an open relationship now." It was the first opportunity Blaine had ever had to voice those words.

Sebastian took the phone and then shot Blaine a mischievous smile, before proceeding to press through to the 'contacts' section. "I'm glad you've seen the light. Monogamy was never how I rolled."

Blaine waited for Sebastian to add in his contact info, already not seeming to care that they lived over an hour away from each other. Maybe they could meet up halfway in a motel somewhere? There was something ridiculously hot about the idea of that kind of a tryst – especially with Sebastian Smythe. The guy was gorgeous. And he had so much experience; he was probably beyond talented as a lover. He tried to blink away all thoughts of sex. His grandparents were standing mere feet away!

Sebastian handed the phone back with a wink. "I'll be awaiting your call," he said knowingly, with one last onceover of Blaine's body.

Blaine bit his lip, and then watched Sebastian leave the room. He may – or may not – have been staring at his ass.

Once Sebastian was out of sight, Blaine hastily caught up with his grandparents, grateful for their patience. He wondered, in a fleeting moment of panic, if Kurt would be okay with him doing this with Sebastian. Kurt probably hadn't been expecting Blaine to hook up with anyone Kurt already knew. But Blaine then attempted to push the thought away for the time being. He needed to focus. Grandparents, Blaine. Your grandparents are right here.

It didn't work. Blaine didn't really notice another piece of art the entire day. All he saw were fantasies in his head of what he might potentially get to do with Sebastian.