Disclaimer: Glee belongs to Fox and 'Glad You Came' belongs to The Wanted and associates.
Thank you for the wonderful encouragement so far! This chapter took a bit of work, especially the end part (trust me, you'll know). I wanted to really bring out the chemistry that I was going for between Rachel and Sebastian so please let me know if I accomplished that goal or not. I constantly replayed Sebastian and the Warblers' cover of Glad You Came (sneak preview on YouTube) for the Regional's episode for inspiration ;)
And just to clarify, this 'game' that goes on this chapter is real. I didn't make it up or invent it; I know people (including myself) who have played it before.
The safe haven of Kurt and Blaine turned out to be a false sense of security. Kurt would not let her performance go and kept hounding her on how could you possibly do that? Blaine had at first looked similarly shocked but then started shooting her sympathetic looks after Kurt continued to rant. The most intolerable part of it, though, was Sebastian smirking away as his eyes pierced her.
She attempted to hide herself away from this unbearably awkward situation by absorbing herself in her drink.
"Kurt, let's go dance," Blaine said abruptly, taking Kurt's focus off of Rachel. "Would you guys mind watching the drinks?"
Rachel looked up in horror, but by then Kurt and Blaine had moved away out onto the dance floor – which left her alone with Sebastian Smythe. So fast she barely processed his movement, Sebastian had relocated into Kurt's seat next to her. He leaned over so he was once again in her personal space. She could feel his breath hitting her body and it was definitely not turning her on. Definitely not.
"Am I scaring you?" he whispered just loud enough for her to hear over the noise of the bar.
"You're annoying me," she spit back but couldn't turn her head to look at him. Not only would she have to meet his eyes, but it would put their faces way too close together for her comfort level.
"Is that what you're calling it? Because I'm fairly certain you were having some vivid fantasies about you, me, and the back of my car just then," he said in that same deep, delicious tone right in her ear.
No, she hadn't been. She'd been focused on trying not to think about him at all, actually. But now that he had spoken the words images couldn't help but flare into her mind and causing heat to spread all throughout her body.
"I told you, I have a boyfriend," she snapped, trying to get her thoughts in focus.
"That wasn't a denial. And I already told you – it doesn't matter to me," he replied.
"Is that what you say to Blaine when you hit on him?" She said, hoping to throw him off.
It didn't work as he only smirked at her. "Yes. But there's no need for you to feel jealous. You are much more intriguing than Blaine. I can guarantee you that he would never have had the balls to sing like that on stage – much less without his boyfriend." He slurred the word 'boyfriend' to make it almost an insult.
"I am a professional," she said haughtily. She didn't know how to handle this…him. Was that an insult to Blaine? To her?
"Oh, most definitely," he said but she couldn't tell whether that was sincere or if he was mocking her in some way.
"I need another drink," she said, hoping it didn't sound like she was running away from him. At least her bottle was empty.
"No, you don't," he said and caught her wrist before she could leave. "You had quite a bit before…and then after…our duet."
That caused her to finally look at him, confused. Their eyes met, and she forgot what she was doing as she sat back down.
"I have an idea," he said, that smirk back on his face and a look on his face that she wasn't sure she liked. "We should play a game."
"What kind of game?" she said cautiously. Maybe it would be a good thing if she didn't drink anymore alcohol around Sebastian. She might lose the ability to see what he was up to before it was too late.
"The type that whoever loses their nerve first loses the game. Up for it?"
This was exactly like the duet, she knew. He was challenging her, knowing she wouldn't be able to back down but then throwing in some twist to potentially embarrass her. Her rational sense of self was warring with her extremely competitive nature (which was also being fed by the alcohol still in her system). The competitive nature won.
"I'm not losing to some smirky preppy school boy," she said tauntingly. Her competitive nature was never really very nice.
"We'll see," he said with that same stupid smirk.
Rachel jumped when he put his hand on her knee.
"What are you doing?" she hissed at him, but couldn't summon the strength to push it away. His large, warm hand on her knee sent the most wonderful tingles throughout her leg.
"Playing the game," he said, his voice back to those deep hypnotizing tones. "My hand starts on your knee and travels up until one of us stops. The first one to pull away loses."
She stared at him. He still had that same smirk, those same startling green eyes. Her breath hitched as his hand inched just a little higher on her leg, seeing where this game was going. A game she didn't think she could beat him at but for some reason couldn't regret agreeing to play.
The heat of his hand sent waves of fire throughout her body as it continued its slow path up her leg. She couldn't look away from his green eyes, wondering what it was about this boy that caused her to abandon her rational mind.
As his hand reached her mid-thigh he turned his hand so that his fingers started tracing little circles on her inner thigh. Her breathing became unsteady but didn't back down or break eye contact.
A small part of her was wondering what was wrong with her, allowing herself to be felt up in public by someone who wasn't even her boyfriend, no less. The same thought continued to the conclusion that she would never allow Finn to do something like this even if he dared, but was quickly eclipsed by the thought of what if she was wearing that skirt from earlier? His hand, those circling fingers, would be on her bare skin instead of being felt through jeans. Conflicting parts of her were simultaneously cursing and worshipping Kurt for her change in clothing.
It was taking a lot of mental focus to not snap her legs together, halting the tortuous sensations his hand was causing and giving herself some sense of relief. Shouldn't she be stopping him right about now? Yet she couldn't – she didn't one to be the one to back down, the one to lose the nerve. She wanted to win this stupid battle of wills even though a part of her knew for certain that Sebastian was never going to be the one to stop them.
He cocked his eyebrow in an obvious taunt as his hand inched ever so slowly higher. He was really getting into dangerous territory and if Kurt or Blaine came back now she would never be able to offer any explanations. She refused to be the weak one in this, though, and merely glared back at him.
He wasn't going to stop, the thought hit her and his hand circled barely an inch away from her sex, and she finally realized exactly what that meant. He would be perfectly happy to touch her – probably challenging her to play this game for that specific purpose.
"Stop," she called out hastily, pushing his hand away right before it was about to go just a fraction higher.
He chuckled and she sulked for a minute. She had lost and she still hated it, even if it was nothing but a stupid game. A small part of her mind comprehended that Kurt and Blaine were singing a duet right now and she should be cheering them on instead of focusing on Sebastian.
"You still have a chance to tie," he taunted. "You're supposed to do the same to me now."
"No thanks," she said, flushing in embarrassment as she imagined what it would be like if she did reciprocate and this time neither of them stopped – for he certainly wouldn't. Images and sensations that she really shouldn't be feeling passed through her brain due to her imagination. "I concede. I'm sure you'd win anyway." She didn't mean it as a compliment.
"Oh, I would have," he said and somehow it seemed to have a deeper meaning. "So since the smirky, preppy school boy won," he said in obvious mockery of her earlier words, "I claim a dance as my prize."
"We never agreed on a prize," she argued. This time she could see that dancing with him would be very dangerous territory indeed.
"Winner's prerogative. Aren't you supposed to be distracting me from Blaine, anyway? Dancing with me would do that, I assure you."
She glared at him. "Kurt seems to have handled that perfectly fine. I don't see you anywhere near Blaine now."
"Let me just go find him, then," he said and got up from the chair. She rolled her eyes as she saw that he was, once again, smirking.
"We're supposed to be watching the drinks," she said, almost whining, but got up from the chair. It was clear he had won (this round) but her pride dictated she still put up a token protest.
"I'll buy us new ones," he said and led her onto the dance floor, clearly smug with the outcome.
"Do you ever stop smirking?" she said, thoroughly irritated, as they started moving to the tempo of the music.
He laughed –spiking her irritation even more – before he looked at her and smiled. It was a real, legitimate smile that lit up his entire face and made his already incredibly attractive self nearly irresistible, at least to her. His smile took her breath away completely and she had to put all her focus into not making a fool out of herself and standing star struck.
She could feel her face turn red and she looked away from him as she danced. She had to be completely honest with herself – Finn had never made her feel this way, ever. The looks and smiles that Sebastian was sending her way, though, caused emotions to arise in her that she didn't know how to deal with…and she didn't want to think about what that may mean.
The song changed as a very brave (or drunk) man started singing by himself. She didn't recognize the song, but Sebastian clearly did. He pulled her closer as they continued to move and she could hear him softly singing the words.
My universe will never be the same
I'm glad you came
His voice was melting her insides. The beat shifted and he turned her and pulled her closer, her back to his front. One of his hands was on her hip, keeping her close and she couldn't bring herself to care as he continued to sing softly into her ear.
You cast a spell on me, spell on me
You hit me like the sky fell on me, fell on me
I decided you look well on me, well on me
So let's go somewhere no one else can see you and me
There really was no other way to put it – Sebastian Smythe was seducing her (rather successfully). She pressed herself back against him and he felt deliciously warm and solid against her. His other arm came and wrapped around her, keeping her in place but in a loose enough hold that she could easily break.
Can you spend a little time
Time is slipping away
Away from us so stay
Stay with me I can make
Make you glad you came
All rational thoughts left her as she moved with Sebastian.
His hips with hers.
His arms encircling her.
His smell encasing her.
His voice in her ear.
The sun goes down
The stars come out
All that counts is here and now
She turned in his arms, still pressing against him. She looked up into his green eyes that she had been hypnotized by all evening. He smiled that irresistible smile and she couldn't stop herself from grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him down for a kiss.
My universe will never be the same
I'm glad you came
It was everything she had spent (a significantly large part of) the evening imagining it would be. The sensation of his lips against hers was magical, sending a desire for more throughout her entire being. She pressed herself closer to Sebastian and felt one of his hands pressed on her hip, keeping them locked together while his other ran through her hair. She felt like her body was overheating as his lips continued to expertly caress hers.
She pulled away from the kiss just a fraction, gasping for breath. Sebastian's breath washed over her face as he too took in air. She looked into his eyes again, noticing that they were dilated with arousal, before pulling him back for another fiery kiss. She lost her ability to focus on anything except for the feeling of his lips on hers, his hands on her hips, his chest pressed against hers. She could barely even appreciate the muscles she could feel through his shirt as she ran her hands down his back.
She didn't have the presence of mind to care as one of his hands traveled down over her butt, normally forbidden territory. His hand continued to her thigh, though, and jerked it up around his hip. She gasped as this aligned their hips in a new, incredibly pleasurable, way. She could feel his groan in his chest as she heard it out loud. His mouth came back to hers and her mind heartily cheered as he escalated the kiss by doing the most wonderful things with his tongue.
The feeling of something vibrating on her hip – in her pocket – caused her to come careening back to earth. She broke away from Sebastian, horrified. She grabbed her phone like it was a lifeline and saw she had just received a text from Kurt. She opened it - Where are you? We need to leave soon.
She looked back up at Sebastian, who was licking his lips. Then he was smiling that smile again and she whipped around so she couldn't look at him – because she knew that she could just as easily jump back into his arms again. Coming - she quickly texted Kurt back. When the text sent she checked the time; it was just past midnight. Kurt still had a curfew and needed to drop Blaine and her off at their respective houses.
As she made to leave, Sebastian grabbed her arm and she found herself encased in his arms again.
"I need to go," she said without any conviction but horrified that she secretly was reveling being held by him.
"Not without saying goodbye," he whispered in her ear and placed soft kisses along her jaw, clearly headed back for her lips.
Rachel took a half-second to melt at the sensation before she forcefully stepped away from him, breaking his hold on her.
"I-I can't," she said, looking at his chest so she didn't have to look into his eyes. "I have a boyfriend."
Rachel Berry then quickly turned and, admitted even to herself, she ran away. She ran away, leaving Sebastian Smythe and all the sensations and feelings he evoked in her on the dance floor. After all, she had a boyfriend.