Kurt spends the evening in his dorm debating the pros and cons to going to this party tonight.
Pro - Kurt loves parties.
Con - This party is far away and it's cold outside.
Pro - Hanging out with friends is always fun.
Con - Hanging out with Sebastian is not.
Pro - Alcohol.
Con - The morning after.
Then, when he's still struggling to come up with a decision, he uses the age old tactic of turning cons into pros.
Con - The party is far away and it's cold outside. Yeah. But he can always use Uber to get there and back, therefore eliminating both the cold and the distance.
Con - Hanging out with Sebastian is not fun. But Kurt doesn't really know this. Not really. He's never actually hung out with Sebastian, especially not since graduating high school. Kurt's changed since then, so it's possible that Sebastian has, too.
Con - The morning after. Since when has 'the morning after' ever stopped Kurt? Plus, if he really doesn't want a hangover, then he can always just not drink that much.
So it's settled. Kurt is going to his friend Kitty's party.
Kurt only met Kitty a few months ago in a Gen Ed class his first semester of sophomore year, but they immediately clicked. Her dry, sardonic, and often scathing humor felt daring, and her no nonsense personality attracted Kurt.
She's an engineering major of some kind-Kurt always forgets, science being so far outside of his scope of understanding-so they'll most likely never have another class together again, unless they line up a Gen Ed together. But they still manage to remain friends despite the fact that they don't share any classes, a major, or even any friends.
She lives way off campus, closer to University of Pittsburgh than to Carnegie Mellon. Kurt once asked her why that was, and she just shrugged and said that the walk really isn't that bad when the weather is nice and that she couldn't afford to keep living in the dorms. She said she likes the freedom of having an actual house to live in with a backyard and a kitchen and a living room, and Kurt envies her that. His father made it quite clear that he wasn't going to move off campus until he was a Junior at the earliest. Kurt's already been talking with some friends about maybe getting a place together for then.
Kitty lives in a house with all Pitt students. She found them on a Pittsburgh Student Housing Page on Facebook. As a result, the majority of the people at the parties she throws aren't from Kurt's college. This is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it means that he can meet new people, and if he gets shitfaced and makes a fool of himself, the chances of running into these people again are slim. The curse is that it means the first few minutes are awkward and he rarely knows anyone. The few people who are from his school are Kitty's engineering friends, of which he knows none. He's always been told that he can bring friends, and he does occasionally. But most of his friends would rather be at parties where they know people, so Kurt's often left going to Kitty's solo. But he likes her enough to do that frequently.
It's possible that this is why, on Saturday night when he goes to the party, that he ends up pretty quickly gravitating towards Sebastian.
"Decided to show up this time," Sebastian says.
He's wearing the same outfit as earlier that day, but this time his long sleeved flannel button up is cuffed and rolled up at the sleeves. Kurt hates flannel; it reminds him of his father. It's suited only for midwestern men working manual labor, or for bearded twenty-somethings living in Williamsburg.
"The show must always go on," Kurt replies. "Can't let the rancid aroma of your Hollister cologne keep me away from a good time."
Sebastian shakes his head and smirks, almost politely. "No, I've moved up the ladder now. No more Hollister. I'm now onto Abercrombie," he jokes. At least Kurt thinks he jokes. It's hard to tell with Sebastian.
"You've matured then," Kurt says, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms.
"You're drinkless. Where's your drink?" Sebastian asks.
"I finished my beer. Was on my way to get another one when I saw you fraternizing with tall, dark, and handsome over there," Kurt nods in the direction of the guy who Sebastian was talking to earlier, "and decided to pull you over."
"Elliott?" Sebastian asks, turning around and following Kurt's gaze. "Oh my god, I should have known. Totally your type. Wears more makeup than you ever did. Pretty sure he actually shits glitter, too."
"A man after my own heart," Kurt says. "He go to Pitt?"
"Yeah," Sebastian replies. "He actually lives here. We're friends. Wanna another beer? I'm empty." Sebastian lives his can of beer and shakes it, as if to represent that there's nothing left.
"Sure," Kurt nods, pushing himself off the wall and following Sebastian to the fridge. There's a booze table against the wall in the living room that Kurt's been getting alcohol from, but apparently Sebastian knows where the secret stash is, and is unafraid to use it.
Sebastian pulls out a Mike's Hard Lemonade and hands it to Kurt with a wicked grin, grabbing himself a Yuengling.
"I made sure to stock up on something fruity for you," Sebastian says, twisting off Kurt's cap for him.
"How very...kind of you," Kurt replies, taking a tentative sip and trying hard not to scowl.
Sebastian laughs, though not unkindly.
"Atta boy," he says. "Drink up, Princess!"
Kurt smiles sarcastically at him and takes a long pull of the sickly sweet lemonade. He kind of figures that this is a one off conversation and that Sebastian will walk away and join the crowd of people, but when Kurt brings the bottle back down Sebastian is still there.
"So I have to admit," Sebastian starts, leaning against the kitchen counter. Kurt can still hear the loud music and the incessant chatters of the people on the other side of the wall. "I was super surprised to see you in the 'Burgh."
Kurt shrugs. "So was I?" he up speaks.
"Not your first choice?" Sebastian guesses, taking a sip of his own beer.
"Not exactly. I got into my first choice, I just realized after researching that maybe my first choice shouldn't have been my first choice after all."
"What was your first choice?"
"NYU."
"And you're at CMU now, right?"
Kurt nods. "Yeah."
"You like it?"
"Love it," Kurt replies. "What about you?"
Sebastian shakes his head, rubbing his hand through his hair in what looks like a nervous gesture. "I think Pittsburgh is what I need. It's much more...contained than most cities. I feel grounded here."
Kurt nods hesitantly, biting his lip. He can't remember ever having a conversation with Sebastian that lasted this long, and he's not sure what to do next so he take another sip of his drink. A few seconds later Sebastian gestures out to the crowd, and the two of them make their way out.
Sebastian apparently knows quite a few people here, mostly everyone it seems. He introduces Kurt to Elliott, Kitty's roommate, and the three of them spend the rest of the night getting excessively drunker and discussing music, movies, and theater revivals. By the time the party winds down Kurt has exchanged numbers with not only Elliott, but Sebastian as well, before he grabs an Uber home.
He offers to split it with Sebastian, who still lives in the dorms on campus, but Sebastian kindly turns him down, explaining that he's going to spend the night.
The next morning Kurt wakes up with a slight hangover, though nothing bad enough to keep him in bed all day. He goes out to Pamela's, a famous breakfast diner down the street from him, with a bunch of friends, and when he gets home an hour and a half later he calls Blaine.
"Blaine," he says, "you have no idea who I hung out with last night."
"Sebastian," Blaine deadpans.
"How'd you know?!" Kurt asks, scandalized.
"It's like deja vu. We've had this conversation before, literally two weeks ago."
"Fine. You're right. But oh my god, Blaine, we actually got along."
"Apparently the key to your guys's friendship is the absence of me. Too bad I'm not able to witness this miracle."
Kurt rolls his eyes. "We're not friends. But he did introduce me to one of his friends, Elliott. Blaine, he's so cool. He wants to start a glam band named Pamela Lansbury and sing rock versions, and mixed up remakes, of showtunes, and 80s glam rock."
"Sounds fascinating. I want in on this," Blaine says with what sounds like little interest. "But do tell me, how does Sebastian fit into this Plan of yours? I thought you were avoiding assholes."
"Details," Kurt replies, shaking his hand even though Blaine can't see him. "The Plan includes making as many friends as possible. But anyway, I have more gossip."
"Do tell," Blaine says, his interest piquing.
"Sebastian wears flannel now."
"Ew!" Blaine gasps, suddenly interested in the topic at hand. "Are you serious?!"
Kurt nods. "I will describe the outfit and we can critique it together."
"Wait a second," Blaine says. "Let me make popcorn. We should Skype."
"Ungh. Yes. Such a good idea."
Kurt really does have some great friends.