Happy festive season! Whether you have finals or extra hours at work or you just have to do some kind of work or even if you're just sleeping a lot like me, I hope you're having a happy December.

I have pretty great plans (imo) for this story from here on out.

Thank you to everyone who gives this story a chance and, as always, I really hope you enjoy this. Criticisms and compliments are always welcome, it makes my day to hear from you. A very special thank you to my wonderful beta and darling friend for putting up with my endless concerns about this and for taking the time to read it even after I haven't written for weeks on end. Ily.

"Hey stranger." Sebastian approached the lunch line, pushing in-between two sophomores to stand next to Kurt, much to their dismay. Kurt looked up at the endearment, rolling his eyes when he saw Sebastian smirking back at him. He turned to face forward, pushing his tray harsher than necessary.

"Fuck off Sebastian." Kurt glanced back over his shoulder, forcing a smile.

"What's with the cold shoulder, babe?" He asked, nudging Kurt's arm lightly. Kurt stared back with a cold, confused expression; he broke the contact after a moment, turning back to the line without replying.

"Well someone got out of the wrong side of bed this morning." He said to Kurt's back, who turned to face him again.

"What are you doing, Sebastian?" Kurt asked with nothing but annoyance in the tone of his voice.

"What do you mean 'what am I doing'?" Sebastian mimicked his tone; Kurt rolled his eyes and moved down the line reaching for a small bowl of salad. "I'm getting my lunch." Sebastian shrugged, leaning over Kurt just a little too much to be invading his personal space to grab an apple, brushing his arm. Kurt stiffened slightly at the contact before tutting and moving along again.

"You're acting like we're friends or something. We're not friends, Sebastian. Last time I checked you constantly go out of your way every single day to wind me up." He sounded more exhausted than annoyed.

"And you do the same right back, darling." Sebastian smiled, the endearment flustering Kurt and feeling like a fond pinch of the cheeks. He reached with all his concentration for a probably undercooked plate of chicken. "That's what I call a beautiful friendship."

Kurt clenched his jaw, letting out a long breath. He was determined not to play the game, he just wanted to get some food, and go and sit with Blaine.

"Well you have a warped idea of what constitutes as friendship." He placed a slice of cheesecake onto his plate, muttering thanks to the lunch lady as he passed.

Sebastian grabbed the last plate of cheesecake, almost dropping it in the process and then ran after Kurt. "I prefer to think of it as non-traditional, less clichéd, twice as exhilarating. You know?"

"No, I don't know. See, this is why you don't have any friends." Kurt said, holding up a spoon and using it to gesture at Sebastian's form to emphasize his point.

"That's not true-"

"Those hook-ups you find in Scandals do not count." Kurt interjected, heading to the cafeteria.

"I was actually going to say I'm just extremely picky about the company I keep. And I've already told you, I don't need friends." He argued, picking up some cutlery and following Kurt.

"Everybody needs someone, Sebastian. Even those who don't deserve it."

"Well not me."

"That's probably a blessing actually. I couldn't list on one hand the amount of people that could tolerate you." Kurt spat back, not stopping his brisk pace.

"I know plenty of people who could. And do. You're boyfriend for one." Kurt stopped short just inside the room full of loud shouting teenagers, grinding his teeth. He knew he only brought up Blaine in an attempt to agitate him further. But pigs would fly before he gave Sebastian the reaction he wanted.

"Oh please, Blaine only talks to you because he pities you." He threw Sebastian an equally pitying look.

"That's not what he said in our texts." When in doubt, go offensive he thought.

"You do know I've read all those texts, right? He was nothing but polite, if he replied at all." Damn.

"Sounds like you're a wee bit controlling there."

"No. No, you know fuck all about our relationship." He breathed, stepping closer to Sebastian until he was barely two feet away.

"I know that you're an" exceptional, gorgeous man who I'm 99.8% sure is actually a fallen angel which would explain why you're so blinding to look at "uptight talentless princess who for some incomprehensible reason landed an adorably hot yet dumb sighted Warbler." He said, stepping into Kurt's personal space once more.

"None of that even makes sense." He didn't back away, instead leaning in closer, his eyes searching Sebastian's face.

"Just like your relationship." Sebastian kept his features serious, keeping the eye contact.

"You're so funny." He laughed, harsh and forced.

"I try." He took a step back, lowered his head as if to bow. The cheesecake slid off his tray, shattering on the floor. Kurt's laughter turned genuine, his eyes squeezed shut in amusement. Sebastian looked from the floor to Kurt, who had spotted Blaine and Rachel waving to him from the far corner of the room.

"Wait." He called after him.

"Seriously? Do you want something from me?" Kurt asked, his agitation returning fast. Sebastian grappled hard for something to say.

"I really don't understand you, Sebastian." Kurt went on when Sebastian just continued to stare. "You do nothing but make fun of me and try to steal my boyfriend and when you're not doing that, you wouldn't even give me the time of day. You've been here, what, a month almost?" He took two steps closer in lieu of raising his voice. "I'm pretty sure if we didn't sit next to each other in English, I'd never see you at all."

"What a world that would be."

"Exactly, I'm so glad you agree. Now please, I'd like to enjoy the rest of my lunch now by ignoring your existence if you don't mind." He said, attempting for what felt like the hundredth time to go and join his best friend and boyfriend before his chicken got off the plate and joined them first.

"See you in English, then." He shouted after him.

"Whatever." He called back, not listening.

The conversation was still weighing on Kurt half an hour later. It had been so disjointed and contradictory; he couldn't make heads or tails of it. He scanned the room for Sebastian, worrying his lip. He couldn't find him. Sebastian didn't really frequent the cafeteria to Kurt's knowledge, but then he'd never really looked for him. He's eyes flitted back to where he'd just been stood with him when he felt a tug on his hand. He shook the thoughts from his mind, smiling as Blaine squeezed his hand under the table, it wasn't worth thinking about.

Sebastian replayed the encounter over and over in his head as he sat on the edge of a bench in the courtyard, having discarded his lunch after Kurt was settled with Blaine and Berry. He felt like he still had a few witty insults to wind them up with, but then Blaine was looking at Kurt like he hung the moon and leaning into his shoulder and Sebastian just walked out as fast as he could. He dropped his head into his hands, cringing at every moment he recalled his response.

Truthfully, he'd spent the majority of the past weekend brainstorming ways to start a conversation with Kurt. And thinking about Kurt in general. And wondering if he'd felt the same spark in the auditorium on Friday as he had. And really really hoping that he had.

Everything was so confusing and frustrating and really damn annoying. Thinking about Kurt took up way too much of his day already and his presence wasn't even required. When Sebastian took Cas out for a walk on Saturday morning, he spent two hours sat under his tree, watching the bench where he'd seen Kurt a few weeks earlier. He'd brought his book and a toy for Cas, but he didn't even glance at them. He barely took his eyes off the bench for more than five seconds, like if he kept his attention there, maybe Kurt would magically appear and Cas could go bother him again and Sebastian would have to intervene and then "oh sorry, hey how's it going?" He reread the same paragraph in his book more than a dozen times over.

Kurt was so far under his skin and they'd barely even interacted for more than five minutes in the past month. He didn't understand then why he was so drawn to Kurt. He'd always been drawn to him since that very first day when he realised Kurt gave back as good as he got. It was so refreshing to have a challenge like that.

But this was so different. Something between them had changed. He didn't know exactly which point or why but he was sure it was 100% Kurt's fault. He hated Kurt and Kurt hated him and they exchanged hilariously intelligent and offensive insults whilst he wound him up further by mocking his voice, his face and by trying to get into his boyfriends pants and that's how this worked. Except it didn't, not anymore.

He wouldn't spot Blaine in a room full of people unless Kurt was stood by him. He wouldn't text Blaine inappropriate texts at three am anymore. He wouldn't hang around the Lima Bean in hopes of seeing his favourite Warbler to buy him coffee. Though the last one was more due to him not wanting to see all the other Warblers out of shame. The worst was that sometimes he even felt guilty for hours after worrying he'd gone one step too far (which happened way too frequently) during English.

Sebastian let out a noise of frustration, pressing his face further into his hands as if to physically force these thoughts away.

"Hey, are you okay Seb?" Sebastian's eyes shot up at the nickname, he didn't recognise the voice.

"What?" He used his hand to shield from the sun as he looked up at the figure.

"You look a little… green."

"I'm- I'm fine." He replied dismissively. The figure shifted his weight, moving out of the sun so that Sebastian could see his face clearly. It was the blonde boy who sat in front of him in history. The same blonde boy who he'd dropped just three days into his stay here after a clichéd but no less hot make out session in the bathroom during history class on the second day. And the same blonde boy whose name he couldn't remember. The boy moved to touch Sebastian's shoulder.

"Are you sure?" Sebastian didn't reply. After a lengthy silence the hot-blonde-guy continued. "We haven't spoken in a while. What's up with that? I thought we were starting to get on great."

Sebastian laughed a little uncomfortably, staring ahead. Blondie moved to sit by Sebastian on the bench, relaxing comfortably.

"Yeah I've been super busy, can't transfer mid-semester without having crazy amounts of work to catch up on." He lied. "It's pretty shit." That part was true.

"Oh. Of course." Sebastian glanced sideways at blonde guy, who had scrunched his face up in thought, it was kind of cute. "Do you need any help?" He seemed to hesitate.

"Thought you were 'really behind' yourself." He repeated to words back to him. He laughed to himself at being able to remember in detail the conversations they'd had but for the life of him could still not remember his name.

"Yeah I-" He started, sighing deeply when he couldn't figure out how to word his feelings.

"You?"

"Look. I'm just trying to be a friend. You seem like a really cool guy and I just notice that you spend a lot of time on your own." The boy rushed to finish. Sebastian felt the familiar pang of offensive, he bit his tongue.

"I don't need you to pity me." He said slowly.

"No, no, no. I just- I mean-" Sebastian loved it when he had this effect on people, he smirked to himself. "I just thought we could have had… something." Sebastian turned sharply to face him, blondie's cheeks were reddening just a touch. "As friends, as friends I mean." He raised his hands defensively, Sebastian laughed and the boy rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"Sure. Friends who make out in closets during class."

"We- no. That was-"

"Oh come on, nobody can resist this." He gestured to himself. The guy opened his mouth but closed it again just as quickly. He laughed awkwardly. "Do you want something?" He added, he guessed this must have been what Kurt felt like in the cafeteria. Kurt. He was overwhelmed by the need to be alone and he felt the metaphorical spikes growing on his exterior.

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to come and sit with us." He gestured across the courtyard to a large group of guys crowded around a bench, laughing. None of them looked over but Sebastian recognised a few other faces.

"I'll pass this time buddy." He shook his head, leaning to rest his head in his hands again. He didn't explain further and he didn't apologize. He waited for the blonde boy to leave, seriously though, what was his name? Sebastian's already agitated mood meant things that wouldn't usually bother him suddenly became ten times more frustrating.

"Oh." Was all he said. He moved to get up, Sebastian kept staring at the ground. At that moment, two pairs of feet passed by, one complemented with designer boots and the other missing socks. Sebastian didn't need to be a genius to know who it was, he curled his arms further around himself then pinched himself in the arm hard when he realised how pathetic he must look. His irritation grew.

"Robin!" The name was called from the group sat at the bench, beckoning him to return. Blonde boy raised his hand to acknowledge them.

Oh yeah. Sebastian thought. "See you around, Robin." He tried in an attempt to prompt blonde boy, Robin, to leave. He kept his voice monotonous and distant.

Robin got the hint because he stood then, waving to Sebastian as he jogged back to his friends. He looked off in the direction the feet had walked, stopping when he spotted KurtandBlaine leaning against a tree in the shade. They were clearly having another moment, that much was clear. He kind of wished they hadn't dropped Blaine's long lost tragically another sibling. Their hands were clasped tightly together and Blaine was leant on the crook of Kurt's shoulder, his eyes squinting as he laughed at something Kurt said. Sebastian rolled his eyes so far back into his head he was sure it did damage. So damn cute, he thought and then shivered with how bitter with jealously he felt.

Kurt untangled their hands to cup Blaine's face, lifting his head up to look adoringly into his eyes. Sebastian laughed at his own narration. Blaine pressed their noses together, snaking his arms around Kurt's waist. Sebastian felt like he was intruding on such a private moment. He was. But he couldn't look away. He wanted to storm over there and pull them apart.

They leaned further into the tree as if it could hide them from the world as Kurt's lips brushed Blaine's in the most chaste kiss he'd ever seen. They both seemed to surface back to reality then as they glanced quickly around the courtyard to make sure no one had seen and was running towards them shouting crude threats. Sebastian smiled sadly to himself. He wondered for just the smallest moment how it must feel to constantly have to restrain themselves when compared to other couples. Sebastian had never experienced that, but then he'd never been in a relationship.

The smurf and the hobbit smiled shyly at each other, Kurt's hand moving slowly down Blaine's arm until he linked their hands together again. He squeezed tightly, earning a kiss on the cheek from Blaine, this time with more confidence. They were muttering to each other but there was no way Sebastian could hear from this distance.

He didn't realise he had his own hands clasped tightly together, subconsciously rubbing his thumb over the back of his left hand as he watched Kurt rest his chin softly in Blaine's hair and watching Blaine repeat the same movement on Kurt's hand.

It was more of a challenge than Sebastian thought to make it through the next two hours without suffering a complete breakdown. Kurt was unusually silent, probably still pissed at him for talking to him outside of designated classroom hours.

Every time Kurt clicked his pen, switched page in his textbook, checked his watch, Sebastian would catch the movement from the corner of his eye and it would captivate his attention. He tried anything and everything to get his mind off it, but it just lead to thoughts of Kurt with Blaine. He tried harder, shutting off his senses and practicing piano arrangements in his head, doodling nonsense at the bottom of his page, actually reading the novel he'd been assigned – but nothing worked. Sebastian was convinced Kurt was winding him up on purpose, it wasn't a far stretch of the imagination and he probably, most definitely deserved it.

It took just twenty eight minutes before Sebastian cracked. He pushed back from his chair with a little too much force, startling Kurt and most students surrounding him.

"Can I go to the bathroom?"

The teacher, who's name he'd come to learn was Mrs Davison, flashed him an expression full of boredom and defeat, throwing him a restroom pass.

"You're an angel." He said as he hurried past.

Another twenty eight minutes, a slushied face and a change of clothes later, Sebastian returned to his seat in the English class. His mood completely deflated, at least his thoughts were off Kurt.

At least they were, until Kurt whispered "have an 'ice trip." Giggling to himself at the pun.

"What?"

"Judging by the change of shirt and the amount of time you were gone, you either spilled red wine on your blazer piping again or you just got slushied on your way back from the restroom. Now which one seems more likely?" He smiled.

"This is the same shirt." It was, the same design. Sebastian had been smart enough to invest in replacements ever since his very public slushie incident. It hadn't happened since though, as Sebastian worked his hardest to steer clear of the jocks, it was pure chance that they caught him today.

"It's the same design, yeah. But the stitch line is slightly different around the cuffs and the fabric on the collar is two shades darker than your other shirt." He shrugged.

Sebastian just gawked. He wasn't sure if he felt embarrassed that Kurt has noticed so easily, or freaked out that Kurt had noticed so easily. Kurt seemed to realise the creepy implications of his words because his smug smile dropped and he turned back to his desk.

"I have an outstanding eye for fashion, I'm not a stalker. I have a boyfriend." Kurt hissed before Sebastian could say anything.

"Whatever you say, Ms Priestly." Sebastian chuckled, raising his hands in defence.

Kurt glared at him sideways.

The distance between them in history helped to resettle Sebastian's mind. Robin kept passing scrunched up notes indiscreetly to Sebastian – which would have been cute if Sebastian was anyone other than the guy he was. Sebastian kept redirecting them to the girl on his left when Robin wasn't looking. She was happy to write back, so Sebastian became mediator and he found it hilarious.

Sebastian only chanced glancing at Kurt once during the whole hour. He was met by a curious stare from Rachel, which turned hurt when she caught his eye. He winked back.

Picking up his bag, he was struck by an idea; try out for Glee club. Nope. No way. Never. He argued with himself. But it's your only chance to get closer to Kurt. The voice argued. It's a stupid idea. And who says I want to get closer to Kurt. Who are you kidding? I know you better than you know yourself. I hate Kurt. Whatever. He left the classroom. I do. Okay. Good. There was no argument, he smiled to himself, he'd won this internal monologue battle.

He was just about to pass the choir room when the voice spoke up again. Do it. No. Okay, walk on straight past and out the door to your boring life then. You think joining Glee club will make my life less boring? Obviously, Kurt is there, dummy. This is stupid, who am I even arguing with? Me. Right. Oh look - Sebastian looked right and saw the Glee club taking their seats – they're going to start without you. That's because I'm not in the club. He sighed heavily and stormed past the door as if to prove a point to the voice inside his head. Okay. The voice said after a silent pause. Something about that 'okay' didn't sit right with Sebastian, and before he consciously knew what was happening he was already standing back at the choir room door.

"Okay, who's going to start us off this week?"

"I will." The voice came from just outside the choir room, where the door lay slightly ajar.

Sebastian sauntered into the room, his hand raised halfway in the air. An audible sigh came from a corner of the room. Kurt. Don't look at him. Don't do it. Rachel, sat to his left, wore an expression of apprehension and offense, whilst everybody else just looked confused. Mr Schuester didn't seem to recall who he was.

"Hi…" Mr Schue walked towards Sebastian with his hand outstretched.

"Sebastian." He replied smoothly, meeting his eyes with a deceptive smirk.

"Sebastian." Mr Schue echoed. "Are you here to try out?" He asked, with an air of pride and pleasant surprise.

"I am." He said, dropping his hand to shove them in his pockets. He almost looked nervous.

"Fantastic!" Schue exclaimed, clapping his hands together and gleaming at the rest of the group. Rachel and Kurt crossed their arms when he caught their eye. Mr Schue's brows knitted together. "Guys?"

"Mr Schue. We can't let this scheming, dishonest rodent into our sacred choir room." Rachel exclaimed, hand on her heart.

"After everything he's done to us you welcome him with open arms?" Blaine chipped in, pouting to the extreme.

"Guys!" Mr Schue exclaimed, looking slightly embarrassed. "What's gotten into you?" He said in a quieter tone. "I thought we were past this 'preserving the family' thing? You're being a little overdramatic."

Santana reached for Brittany's arm, gawking at him. One more comment and she would be out of that chair.

"Mr Schue, this is more about 'preserving the family's safety'." Rachel replied, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"What are you talking about?" Schue's brow furrowed.

"You really don't remember?" Kurt asked, raising one eyebrow in disbelief. Mr Schuester opened his mouth as if to reply, glancing towards Sebastian out of the corner of his eye.

"He almost blinded my boy Blaine not two months ago." Puck said, pointing aggressively at Sebastian and directing him a look that Sebastian was sure was probably meant to be threatening. Blaine waved his hand as if discomfited by the acknowledgement. Schue looked to Blaine, an apology forming on his face.

"This is the Warbler that caused us all that grief at Regionals?" Mr Schue asked.

"The very same." Kurt muttered, still not looking at Sebastian.

"I didn't realise." He said, looking guiltily in Sebastian's direction. He hadn't moved much for the entire exchange, he wasn't at all expecting a warm reception of open arms and smiles and "we've been waiting for you to come and audition, welcome to the family!"

"Were you even at Regionals? He sang lead." Santana exclaimed, exasperated.

A light bulb seemed to appear above Schue's head then, then mist had been cleared and he spun to face Sebastian, former Warbler. A second or two passed before Mr Schue's face broke into a smile.

"Your performance was incredible, you've got a great voice. I really loved the choreography." He confessed, all in one breath.

"Thanks? It was an inspired idea." He replied, gesturing towards Blaine and smiling at him bashfully. "Blaine is a hard act to follow, I was just trying my best."

"Of course, of course. Well you seemed to do a pretty great job of it." Schue beamed.

"Alright that's enough ass kissing I thinks. Please restrain yourself before I puke." Santana stood, approaching the pair. Mr Schue looked shocked to be addressed by a student in such a way; but Santana just waved him off rolling her eyes. "What are you doing in here Chuck E. Cheese?" She stopped six inches from his face and Sebastian took half a step backwards at the rapidness of it. Despite being much shorter, she was the more intimidating of the two.

"I want to audition for your little Glee club here." He answered innocently, batting his eyes at her for added effect.

"And why would you want to do that? You've paid us absolutely no attention for weeks. So why now?" She questioned, narrowing her eyes.

"Can't a guy as talented and charming as me try out for a show choir group without any underlying motives?" He challenged, keeping the innocent softness in her voice.

"No. Not you. We know you Smythe, you always want something and you're always plotting to get it." Santana poked her finger at him.

"I resent that." He protested, dropping his jaw and placing his hand over his chest as if deeply insulted.

"Oka Santana, let's everybody calm down." Mr Schuester interjected, putting his hand lightly on Santana's shoulder. She shrugged it off but returned to her seat by Brittany.

Sebastian took a breath and straightened his posture. "Look, quite frankly, I'm a better performer than all of you, and you need me if you want a chance in hell of winning Nationals this year."

By the time he'd finished speaking, even Schue looked offended.

"Excuse me?" Rachel raged.

"Wait – which one of us just won Regionals, crushing the other?" Kurt quipped, his tone dripping with 'fuck you'. Sebastian looked in Kurt's direction, it was the first time he'd directly addressed him since he walked in. Kurt responded by tilting his head to the left whilst smiling. Sebastian's brain halted and he couldn't think of a retort.

"Fluke." He finally said, knowing it was a pretty pathetic response. They knew it too. He readjusted his stance, shoving his hands even deeper in his pockets. "Okay. I just really-" miss performing, miss having friends, miss fitting in, "-wanted to see how you'd all react. Gotta say it was worth it." He winked at Santana. She scoffed.

"Okay. We've wasted enough precious time on this I think." Schue clapped his hands together again. Sebastian was expecting them to kick him out any moment. He'd never admit it out loud, but he actually did kind of like the idea of being in the New Directions. A very (very very) small part of him even admired them. The half dormant not-a-jerk part of him that seemed to surface occasionally had put two nights worth of thought into planning for this moment – song choice and all.

"Sebastian." He started, turning to face him yet again pulling him out of his thoughts. "Why don't you show us what you've got and then we'll make a group decision." He emphasized, addressing the rest of the room. "We really could use all the star power we can find if we want to get that first place trophy this year, guys."

No one in the room look at all thrilled by the idea, but they conceded defeat to Mr Schue as Santana relaxed further into her seat and Kurt leaned into Blaine.

"Whenever you're ready, Sebastian. I'm presuming you prepared something?"

Sebastian appeared stunned but nodded.

"Well, this is er- my go-to song I guess." He said, moving towards the microphone set up in the centre of the room. "Actually, hold on one moment." He added, dipping out of the room and returning with an acoustic guitar decorated sparsely in cursive black font. "I brought this along, is that okay?" He looked towards Schue, who looked pleasantly surprised and nodded.

He strummed a few notes, and cleared his throat. Was he nervous, again? Why did this keep happening? He took a breath and began strumming again. He thought he'd stick to the best, British rock bands.

"Her green plastic watering can

For her fake Chinese rubber plant

In the fake plastic earth"

His posture was rigid as he moved even closer to the microphone and his eyes slipped closed.

"That she bought from a rubber man

In a town full of rubber plans

To get rid of itself"

When he opened his eyes he was met with Kurt's gaze, slightly confused but also very intrigued. His eyes wandered the rest of the room.

"It wears her out, it wears her out

It wears her out, it wears her out"

As the pace picked up he leant back, offering Santana a smile and a wink.

"She lives with a broken man

A cracked polystyrene man

Who just crumbles and burns"

His confidence was spiralling now, the tension from his shoulders visibly draining as he moved more freely.

"He used to do surgery

For girls in the eighties

But gravity always wins

It wears him out, it wears him out"

He caught Kurt's eye again, his smile portraying just a hint of sadness. He didn't know if he was accidentally conveying some kind of message of meaning to Kurt. Right now he was just trying to remember the words. Kurt broke the contact quickly, gazing to Blaine, who squeezed his hand. Sebastian hadn't noticed they were even joined. He closed his eyes again, strumming a little harder.

"It wears him out, it wears..."

He wasn't sure if a band would join in now, he hadn't even thought to see if there was a band around. But sure enough, the drum beat kicked in and he had to smile at the beauty of the moment. He adored singing this song, but he'd never had anything but his own voice and his guitar to do it. Hearing the other elements combine to recreate this made him more emotional than he'd like to admit. He glanced towards wear the sound was coming from, seeing Finn on the drums, biting his lip and smiling, the man clearly had good taste. Sebastian's smile grew even more and he began rocking slightly from side to side in time with the beat.

"She looks like the real thing

She tastes like the real thing

My fake plastic love"

He lent back from the microphone again, crouching as he strummed the next notes and swinging the guitar.

"But I can't help the feeling

I could blow through the ceiling

If I just turn and run"

He sobered up, straightening his back and softening his voice. His gaze fixed on the back of the choir room.

"And It wears me out, it wears me out

It wears me out, it wears me out"

His eyes toured the room once more, trying not to rest in any particular place. Especially not in the corner KurtandBlaine were occupying.

"And If I could be who you wanted

If I could be who you wanted all the time"

As the song drew to a close, Sebastian just concentrated on the sounds of the instruments, his mind blank of everything but the music. He smiled privately to himself once more. He enjoyed that way too much and now he felt kind of exposed.

The silence that followed the performance felt heavy, it pulled Sebastian out of his trance. Mr Schue began clapping, whether out of politeness or genuine enthusiasm Sebastian couldn't tell. A few others joined in, a few stunted claps from Brittany were loud amongst them before Santana placed her hands on top of Brittany's to stop her.

"Thanks, Sebastian. Could you… step outside whilst we take a vote, please?" Schue grinned at him and gestured towards the door.

"Sure thing." Sebastian stepped back slowly from the microphone, grabbed his backpack, swinging it gracefully over one shoulder and walked out, saluting the room with a smile.

"No freaking way." Were the first words uttered to the room, from Puck.

"I'm with Puck on this one." Rachel agreed, caused Puck to smirk at her and Finn to glare at him.

"Man said it best." Mike said, moving to pat Blaine on the shoulder.

"I thought chipmunks could only sing in really really high pitch. I'm confused." Brittany added, twirling the fabric of her hat. Santana glanced at her, smiling fondly before leaning in to kiss her cheek.

"Okay… Guys he's extremely talented. We need him to boost our chances at Nationals, c'mon." Schue argued.

"Yeah, unfortunately that boy has talent, but it's a moral principle, Mr Schue, he hurt our family. Physically. With ice. Ice." Santana opposed, gesturing to Blaine who sank back further into his seat. "And need I not remind you of the countless harassments and act of terrorism-"

"Show choir terrorism." Rachel interjected.

"-Show choir terrorism that he committed because he knew he wasn't good enough to beat us. We really don't need him Mr Schue." Santana continued.

"And he tried to break up my boys. That just ain't right. In fact I'm pretty sure he's still trying to…" Puck trailed off, eyebrows deep in thought. Kurt and Blaine shared a look.

"Any positive comments? Finn? Sam?" Schue pleaded.

"It was kinda fun jammin' with him I'll admit. We've never really covered a song like that before." Finn said shyly, with his trademark half smile. He caught the look directed to him from Rachel and quickly schooled his features. "But uh- we can't let him in. He's not good for the team."

"Yeah. I mean this group is a lot of things and we've suffered through a lot of drama. But he doesn't belong here. He's a Warbler." Sam shrugged. "No offense, Blaine." He quickly corrected, shooting an apologetic expression Blaine's way.

"Artie, Mercedes?" He tried.

"He's got a voice and I know he can move but family comes first. It's a real shame. I thought after our epic performance of 'Black or White' we'd turned a corner." Artie replied. Mercedes nodded in agreement, as did Tina and Sugar.

"Blaine? Kurt?"

"I-" He began. "We agreed to be, you know, friends, when he said he'd changed. But he hasn't stuck to it and he's shunned all of my efforts to help him fit in since he transferred and honestly, I just don't think I'd feel comfortable with him in the group after everything." He finished, worried he'd overshared and subconsciously rubbing his eye.

Mr Schue nodded sadly. Kurt still had yet to add his two cents. There were hundreds of thoughts flying through his head at that moment. The song choice, the eye contact that could only be described as expressive and longing eye throughout, the fact that Sebastian can play guitar, where did that come from? Apparently though he must have nodded his agreement with the rest of the group, because then Schue nodded once more, muttered "alright" and moved to bring Sebastian back into the room.

"Well?" Sebastian asked timidly, Kurt thought he looked like he almost cared.

"I'm afraid it's a no from us." Santana smiled, taking great satisfaction in delivering the punch line. "A unanimous no."

"Oh." Sebastian responded, his eyes flitted to Kurt. His expression didn't change, he'd been expecting this. "Well, see you later." He added, waving and striding out of the room as if he'd come in to ask the time. He closed the door lightly behind him, he could hear Mr Schuester restart the lesson as chairs were shifted and they got up to rehearse.

Somewhere deep in him he felt disappointment and sadness coated with bitterness and embarrassment. He took no more than three steps before he leaned clumsily against the nearest set of lockers, his back pack clashing with the thin metal. He let out a long breath as notes from the piano started up inside the room just to his left. He closed his eyes as he sank to the floor and listened.

He wasn't sure how long he stayed there. Enough time for his ass to become numb and his back to start tingling from being pressed against a locker for so long. He was also pretty certain several songs had been performed by this point too judging by the ritual chair shifting followed by three minutes of instruments followed by applause was anything to go on. Perhaps he'd fallen asleep at some point.

He heard louder shuffling from inside the room. He checked his phone, shit, if he didn't leave soon he'd definitely hit traffic on the way home. Not wanting to seek out any further embarrassment today when it could be well avoided, Sebastian got unsteadily to his feet, dusted off his jeans and began walking out of school.

Santana was waiting for Sebastian in the parking lot the next morning. She spotted his car right away and was less than a cars length away as he opened his door. He'd taken the longest route he could find to school to avoid situations exactly like this. Apparent his luck had run out.

"I'll catch you up inside." Across the parking lot, Brittany signalled a thumbs up to Santana.

"Are you trying to mess with my family again, McCarthy? Because I swear I will go all Lima Heights on that infuriating half smirk you got going on." Her voice was much too loud for this time in the morning. He heard Santana trailing him and pretended he hadn't seen her, locking his car door.

"Hey, I'm talking to you." She quickened her pace, the sound of her heels clicking against the hard concrete of the pavement. "God you're such an ass." She said a little louder, Sebastian felt her grab his shoulder roughly pulling him to a halt.

"Easy tiger." He held his hands up as she pushed him roughly against a flagpost.

"What the fuck was that about yesterday?" She demanded, with no consideration to his personal space.

"What was what about?"

"You know what. Trying out for glee club. What are you trying to achieve?" She narrowed her eyes, searching his face for any clue.

"I told you all. I miss performing." He shrugged as much as he could under her grip.

"We all know there's no way in hell you'd join the New Directions unless there was something in it for you. Which there isn't. So why?" She repeated, pressing into his shoulders again.

"I have no ulterior motive this time. I just want to sing." For once, the words out of his mouth were true, mostly. Santana didn't agree.

"Were you trying to sabotage our chances at Nationals? Ruin our senior year? Break up our family?" She watched his face carefully after every accusation.

"No." His head fell back. "Will you let go of me now?" He knew he could easily push her off, he did lacrosse training three times a week back at Dalton, he just couldn't muster the energy today to do it himself. Santana seemed to pick up on his drained aura, her brows furrowed but she relaxed her grip and Sebastian's arm shot up to rub at his neck.

"What's with you squishy McToushe pants?" She asked, crossing her arms. He looked down but didn't reply. "Who are you and what have you done with Smythe?" She added, it almost sounded fond.

"It just upsets me how tragically awful you sounded in rehearsal." He deflected.

She rolled her eyes. "Did you stay the whole time?"

"Why do people keep asking me that?" He muttered to himself.

"What?"

"What?" He echoed.

"You do know you're acting really, really weird, don't you? Even for you. I don't get it."

"Me either." Okay he was making himself way to vulnerable. He hoped he would pull himself together before classes started otherwise he'd lose his mind before the end of the week.

Santana stared as he carried on conversing with himself silently. He noticed her look and shook himself out of it.

"See something you like?" He waggled his eyebrows. "It was only a matter of time, really. I understand."

"Seriously, what is with you?"

"Are you concerned for my health?" He brought his hand to his chest as if touched by the idea. "How sweet of you." He pouted.

"I'm just aware you crawled from a pit in hell even deeper than I did and I'm highly suspicious of your every scampering little move." Something in her sentence offended him enough for him to straighten up and drop his smirk.

"You really do not know me." He said, his tone becoming more serious as he took a step towards her.

"Thought you'd gone soft of me for a minute there. Now you're out of that, will you give me a fucking answer? I needs to know."

"I've answered your questions. And if I was plotting something, I still wouldn't tell you, I don't break easily. So get out of my face."

"You really are an ass."

"Among other things."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

She shifted her weight and refolded her arms.

He began to walk away.

"Do you make a habit of ignoring people?" She shouted after him. "You know that's really rude."

He smiled as he pushed the doors aside and walked into the overcrowded hallway.