Rachel swayed through the room with an angel in her arms. The music playing quietly through the speakers reminded her of easier times but brought tears less frequently these days. Caroline cooed happily in her Mother's arms as they danced through the living room and Sebastian smiled at the moment of joy. He pulled out his phone from his back pocket and snapped a few covert pictures of the candid moment between the strongest woman he'd ever known and the beautiful little gift they all cherished so much. Caroline had certainly lived up to her middle name. Though wide smiles had been few outside of her company, the little girl was always surrounded by joy.

Sebastian was startled out of his musings when the doorbell rang. Rachel glanced his way and gave him a small smile. "Could you get it, Seb?" She whispered. She glanced down at her daughter and Sebastian noticed that Caroline was now napping in Rachel's arms. He nodded with a smile and dropped a kiss to both of their foreheads, careful not to wake the sleeping enfant. He made his way to the door and opened it without checking the peephole.

"Hey, Seb." Blaine greeted him warmly with a smile after several moments of Sebastian staring at him. "Can I come in? It's raining out here."

Sebastian looked at him and realised that the man was in fact standing out in the rain and ushered him inside the house. He closed the door behind him and noticed that Rachel had made herself scarce at the arrival of his ex. Stop being paranoid, Smythe. She's probably putting the kid down.

He turned to face Blaine who was drying his hair with a towel he must have grabbed from the lower bathroom while Sebastian had been melting down. Damn it. Blaine shot him a knowing smile and draped the towel around his shoulders. His hair was starting to curl from the humidity and rain. He had always loved it when Blaine's hair curled.

"What are you doing here, Blaine?" Sebastian fought to keep accusation out of his tone, but it was a damn close thing.

Blaine smiled and Sebastian knew he'd been caught. Blaine knew him well. The only one who'd ever known him better was…

He sighed and gestured to the couch. The two of them sat down and Sebastian left plenty of space between them.

"How are you doing?" Blaine asked, trying to catch his eye.

Sebastian stared at the sock he was pulling threads out of. "I'm fine."

A warm hand entered his field of vision and covered his own. Blaine waited patiently until Sebastian had taken a few breaths and was looking him in the eye. "You aren't fine. And you don't have to tell me everything, or even anything, Sebastian. But please don't lie either. You are allowed to not be okay. Noah was your best friend."

He was angry and he was upset and he wanted to lash out. That right there was why he and Noah had gotten each other so completely. Instead he sat there for a few moments and let Blaine's warm hand heat him up from the outside in. It had been a long time since he had felt anything like it.

"I can't talk about it." He replied finally.

Blaine's thumb rubbed against his knuckles and Sebastian sighed at the contact. "Then don't."

They sat there in silence for several moments. But the guilt began to creep up. He pulled his hand away and he looked away from Blaine. "Why are you here, Blaine?"

Blaine didn't answer until he had Sebastian's full attention again. "I know that your heart broke when Noah died." Sebastian's mouth twisted but Blaine pushed on. "When things ended, I hurt you by going back to Kurt for a while but that's done. I'm done. It's you, Seb. Only you. I know that you aren't the same man that you were when he was alive. But I love you just the same. And I'm always going to."

Sebastian pulled as far away from Blaine as the couch would allow. "You don't know me anymore."

Blaine's eyes were calm and steady. "Then let me know you, Sebastian."

Sebastian jumped up from the couch and started pacing.

"I know that it feels like you died with him. And that it feels unfair for you to be happy when he lost his happily ever after with Rachel and Caroline." Blaine told him and it hit Sebastian square in the chest just how right he is.

"My place is here now, Blaine." Sebastian replied immediately.

Blaine slowly unfolded himself from the couch and moved to stand in his way. Sebastian stopped abruptly and Blaine's hands cupped his cheeks. "I know that. Rachel and Caroline are your family. But they're mine too, Seb. Not in the same way but maybe you can make space for me too. Because I love you and I always will." His thumbs caught the tears falling from Sebastian's eyes. "You aren't ready for that right now. But someday you will be. For right now will you just let me back in? I know you could use someone to talk to. For right now will you just let me be your friend?"

Sebastian stared at the sincerity in Blaine's eyes and nodded mutely. He allowed Blaine to fold him into his arms and cried into the smaller man's neck. For the first time in a long while he felt safe.

Rachel sat against the wall in the next room and smiled into her daughter's sweet-smelling hair. Tears dripped down her face as she listened to Blaine comfort and take care of her best friend.

She had known that calling Blaine and inviting him over was the right thing to do. It's what Noah would have done.

His name was Noah. He'd remembered that a few weeks back. He'd been dealing with a man about a boat ride to a military base and the man had asked for a name. The first name that had come to him had been Sebastian, which is the one he'd given the man. But a few moments after that he'd known without a doubt that his own name was Noah.

Bits and pieces of his memory had started flitting back as if parts of a dream. More frustratingly, he knew unimportant facts such as battle tactics and the capitals of every foreign country. Actually those had come in handy. It had become clear about two months into his 'travels' as he had taken to calling them, that he needed to be as incognito as possible. Not easy for a young, white American in Syria and Iran. His skillset had come in handy and he'd been able to keep a mostly low profile for the past month or so.

As for personal memories, he knew his name was Noah and that for some reason he'd been known as Puck for some time. Perhaps he'd played hockey, though that didn't feel like the case. Sebastian had to be the 'Bas he sometimes caught glimpses of in his memories.

He had a wife. The beautiful woman from the picture, the one who sang like an Angel. He called her Berry. They had history. A long history. They lived in a big city he thought, but sometimes he caught glimpses of small-town USA.

There were others, nameless people whose faces popped into his thoughts and dreams but only one of them had a name; Beth. His daughter he thought.

And Berry, there was a memory, perhaps the clearest one he had of her standing on the steps of a beautiful brownstone and him kissing her belly while he stood below her in uniform. So maybe he had more than one child.

He had to get home.