A/N: Chapter warnings: Brief flashbacks to noncon, discussions of sexually transmitted diseases, continued manipulation and deceit. Please take all STD and medical information with a huge grain of salt. I did some minimal research, but do not vouch for the accuracy of any of this.
Forty-five minutes later, Kurt is still on the floor, back to the desk, rocking a bit and trying to block out the memories that have resurfaced after watching most of the video. He jolts hard and his heart leaps in his chest as the harsh strains of his ringtone burst into life. He scrambles to his feet and lunges for his bag, digging out the phone. In his desperation to just get the sound to stop, he stabs at the screen blindly. In that split second after mistakenly hitting the answer button, Kurt is seized with fear that the call – a number he doesn't recognize – is from one of the men in the video. He says nothing, and shakes the phone to light up the screen again so he can hit 'end'. Before Kurt can do this he hears a male voice with a heavy accent ask, "Mr. Hummel? Are you there? Your cab is ready."
"Wha—what?" Kurt stutters without comprehension.
"Is this Mr. Hummel?"
"Yes, this is Kurt Hummel. Who is this?"
"I am Jamal, your driver from the A-1 Cab Company. You need a ride to JFK Airport, right?"
Kurt blinks numbly into the empty room. He had forgotten that he needed to get to the airport tonight. He glances at the phone screen and sees that it is already after five o'clock.
"Hello? Mr. Hummel?"
"Yes, I'm here. You're downstairs right now?"
"My cab is in front of your building. 1450 Bushwick Avenue is your address, yes?"
"Yes, that's right. Um, can you wait ten or fifteen minutes? I'm not quite ready yet."
"No problem, mister. Just come down when you're ready."
Kurt ends the call, but his feet remain frozen to the floor for a few moments. The icy fear is back. He didn't remember ordering a cab to go to the airport. On his last trip he took the train, just as Rachel had done yesterday. Was this some sort of trick?
He rushes to the kitchen window, yanks it open and leans out so he can see the front of the building. There is indeed a yellow cab that with a sign that says "A-1 Cab Company" idling by the front door. Kurt feels unsettled, but ordering a cab seems the tamest of the offenses committed by his alter ego.
Kurt's eyes sweep back over the apartment, stopping for a moment on the couch, the rug, the video camera. He clutches at his stomach as he is hit with a sudden wave of nausea. Determined to get out of the apartment as quickly as possible, Kurt stops worrying about the cab and focuses on getting his belongings together.
When Kurt grabs his suitcase to start packing, he is startled that it already has some weight to it. He flips it on its side and opens it to see that he – or his alter – must have already started packing last night. He shuffles quickly through the clothes. It looks like all the basics are there. He also has quite a few clothes still at his father's house in Lima – including a suit appropriate for the wedding that wouldn't be wrinkled from the trip. Kurt is relieved. He really doesn't think he can focus on picking out clothing combinations right now. For the next ten minutes, Kurt flits through the apartment, grabbing his toiletries, phone charger, ipod, and a few books.
His hands reach for the laptop and he hesitates for a moment. He's not sure what to do with the DVD. He wants to destroy it or burn it, but he doesn't have time to make it disappear without a trace with the cab waiting outside and the plane scheduled to take off in a little over two hours. Also, part of him wonders if he should keep it as evidence or something. But he does know for sure that he doesn't want to risk leaving it in the apartment and having Rachel find it when she gets back. He slams the laptop closed, DVD still inside, and stashes it in his shoulder bag with the ipod and the books. He does a final sweep to check the oven is off, the windows are locked, and the heat is turned down. He knows there are many more items on the checklist Rachel painstakingly put together when they first moved in, but Kurt hurries out the door, leaving them undone. He knows this trip is going to be hard enough without missing his plane and being stuck in the airport for hours.
He is a bit worried about having enough cash to pay the cab fare, but it turns out that his alter ego was thoughtful enough to prepay the fare with a credit card. Kurt only needs cash for the tip.
Kurt is just on the edge of being late for the flight. This turns out to be a good thing for him because he can focus all of his energy on streamlining and speeding up the process of moving through the airport and worrying about making it to the gate on time as he waits in the security line. He also is enjoying how anonymous he is in the airport. He rushes up to the gate just as the attendant is announcing the final boarding call for Flight 2554 nonstop to Columbus.
The adrenaline carries him through until his luggage is stashed and he is in his seat. He has a few blissful moments where his mind is blank before it is flooded with quick cuts of images and sounds in a jumbled mix of the video and his own returning memory. Kurt fidgets in his seat and rubs his eyes, trying to distract himself. He figures he has at least twenty minutes before approved electronics are allowed, so he can't drown out his thoughts with music just yet. He glances at the other occupants of his row on the plane, thinking he can strike up a conversation, but the woman next to him is already asleep, head back and mouth hanging open. The man next to her is scowling as he furiously jots notes on what looks like memos or other office papers.
He closes his eyes. He can feel a warm cock shoving roughly into his mouth and he can hear the guffaws of the men as the paddle stings the flesh of his ass. Kurt opens his eyes wide and digs into his forearm with his nails, trying to focus on the pain. That works for a second, but he is soon plunged back into the memory of Sean's voice, "Hot damn, Kurt. I knew you were flexible, but I had no idea you could do that". He feels hands all over him, fingers inside him. He can feel a tingling of arousal, quickly followed by a wave of disgust that he could be turned on by what had happened. If his mind was going to betray him by reliving this, he is determined to focus on the parts that he finds less appealing, like the sting of the paddle or the ropes of cum drying on him, dripping out of him.
A wave of black terror hits him. He was so paralyzed by the shock and horror of finding out that he had staged an orgy in his own apartment that his mind had blocked out a very important detail. Condoms. He had sex with eleven men and at least half of them had penetrated him and cum inside him with no condoms. He even specifically told them not to use condoms. His skin starts to crawl and itch. Irrationally, he thinks he can feel deadly viruses clamoring in his blood.
Kurt is not sure how he makes it through the rest of the plane ride. He heads straight to the bathroom after leaving the plane, keeping his head down and not making eye contact with anyone. He peers into the bathroom mirror and grimaces at his red and watery eyes and deathly pale, sweaty complexion. He splashes water on his face and tries to school his face into a happy or even neutral expression. But cold water and good acting can't hide the angry crescent-shaped welts on his arms or his puffy skin under his eyes.
He sighs, and gives himself a moment to come up with a plausible cover story to explain his obvious distress. He is not exactly sure who is picking him up. If it's Finn, he can get away with something really simple. He might even buy it that they showed a sad movie on the plane. If Carole is picking him up he will need something a bit more elaborate. He runs through a few scenarios and settles on playing up his break up with Adam. With a final look in the mirror, Kurt squares his shoulders and steps out into the terminal.
Kurt is watching the luggage carousel when he hears a loud "Hey, kiddo!" behind him. He is both terrified and relieved that his father was able to leave work early enough to pick him up after all. He spins around and his smile is genuine. But when his father's joyful grin falls into a creased brow as he takes in Kurt's appearance, Kurt's lips tremble and he crushes his father into a hug to hide the his face until he can blink back the tears.
Burt grabs Kurt's shoulders and guides him back so he can look into Kurt's face again. "I know you missed me, but even you don't get this emotional over it. What's going on, kid?"
"I just had a lot of time on the plane to think and I spent it thinking about Adam. We broke up – and it was pretty bad. Especially since I'm still recovering from what happened with Blaine," Kurt tries. He is hoping that his father's squeamishness about talking with Kurt about boys will encourage him to leave it there. But he has no such luck.
"Kurt, what else is going on? I know there is something you're not telling me. You have the same look on your face as you did the day I asked you what that David Karofsky kid did to you. You're hiding something." Burt stares into Kurt's eyes intensely, as if reading Kurt's thoughts and feelings through his pupils.
Kurt stares back silently for a moment. He really does not want his father to know the extent of his possible mental health issues. He is taking care of it – getting help – and if there is something his father needs to know, Kurt will deal with it when he has more information. There is no reason to worry him needlessly. Also, there is no way he can ever let his father know about his promiscuous behavior. After all, Kurt's behavior as evidenced by the video has to be the absolute opposite of "don't throw yourself around."
Burt may be really good at reading Kurt's feelings in his face, but Kurt has perfected the art of lying – or at least lying by omission – to his father. The key to avoiding telling Burt the big truth he wants to hide is to tell him another truth – one that also is hard to reveal and might get him into trouble, but that isn't quite as bad as the thing he wants to hide. This has served Kurt quite well in the past – including when he told his father that Karofsky threatened to kill him. His father still doesn't know about the kiss and the sexual undertones to Karofsky's threats.
Kurt knows he needs a really big and uncomfortable truth to distract his father from ever finding out about the big orgy he hosted last night. So, he fills his lungs and breathes out, "I need to get tested."
Burt looks confused for a moment before realization dawns on his face. "You – you – you need to get tested. For AIDs?"
"For HIV, yes. And anything else I could have gotten from – you know – not using a…. not using protection," Kurt stammers, not meeting his father's eyes.
"So what? You're sleeping around now?" Burt asks incredulously.
Kurt gives his father a hurt look and insists, "No! Of course not. It was just one time, with Adam. Before we broke up. We got carried away and I didn't have anything on me. I know it was really stupid, but don't worry. I swear I will never do it again."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that," says Burt slowly. "But it only takes one time, right?" Tears begin to well in Burt's eyes. "I can't lose you, son."
Uh-oh, thinks Kurt. Maybe I picked something a bit too drastic to distract him.
"Oh, no. No, no, Dad. I really don't think I actually got anything from him. He says he's clean and I believe him. I just want to get tested to be one hundred percent sure. Please don't worry, okay?"
"I'm taking you to the clinic tomorrow," Burt says firmly.
"Okay," says Kurt, his voice small.
Burt pulls Kurt back into a hug. "Please don't tell Carole or Finn," Kurt pleads.
"Okay, kid. But we are going to be talking about this again."
"I know."
"I love you, Kurt."
"I love you too, Dad."
They cling to each other for so long that when they let go, they have to hunt for Kurt's suitcase among the heap of unclaimed bags.
{-}-{-}-{-}-{-}-{-}-{-}-{-}-{-}-{-}-{-}-
Sebastian arrives at Seikly Enterprises shortly before 9:00am on Friday. Sid greets him with a firm handshake and a big smile. "You will be happy to know that our technical issues are resolved."
"I should hope so," sneers Sebastian.
Sid's smile doesn't even waver as he smoothly continues. "We just need to run a few more tests and then you can get back to your host. Step on in to the preparation room."
Shirley straps Sebastian down on the table and begins setting up the IV drip, heart monitor, and other machines Sebastian can't identify. She drones a steady stream of instructions while she bustles about the room. Sebastian has heard most of them before – how to transition, how to take and cede control, and emergency procedures. Done with her ministrations, Shirley finally stands still and leans over Sebastian to make sure she has his attention.
"Now I know you're all excited to rush off for your week-long adventure in your host. But you are going to need to come back here at least once a day." Sebastian starts to protest, but Shirley continues to speak over him, drowning him out. "This is important, Sebastian. You need to come back here for brief periods to do physical therapy exercises so your muscles don't get too weak. Did you know that muscles start to atrophy after just 48 hours without use? You don't want to do that to your body, okay? Sound good?"
"I don't know, Shirley," says Sebastian hesitantly, lifting his head from the table to see her better. "I mean, of course I want my body to stay healthy. And I want to keep my muscles toned to look good. But, I don't want to miss out on anything because I have to keep coming back here."
Shirley smiles reassuringly and says, "I'm sure there will be downtimes when you won't be missing anything. You can always come when your host is asleep. We'll be here twenty-four seven monitoring you." Shirley thinks for a moment and then continues, "Plus, it will give you a chance to let us know if anything happens to indicate your host is suspicious. In many cases we can step in and assist with these matters, but only if we know what is going on from your perspective."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right," says Sebastian, settling back into the pillows.
Another technician enters the room and hands Shirley a clipboard. She studies it for a moment and returns it with a nod. She turns to Sebastian and says, "It looks like the scans are all done and you are cleared for your transition. Have a great time. One of us will see you here tomorrow for your physical therapy, if not before then." With that, she leaves the room. Sebastian breathes deeply and prepares himself to transition.
{-}-{-}-{-}-{-}-{-}-{-}-{-}-{-}-{-}-{-}-
"Has he transitioned?" Sid asks Shirley as she steps into the computer lab.
"He's doing it right now," she responds. "Seeing anything interesting on the scans?"
"No, they're all pretty standard. But it will be quite interesting to see if any of our theories about brain contouring from extended exposure pan out. That's why I wanted to delay the start of Mr. Smythe's adventure until our specialists could get here from Seattle. With their expertise, George and Janice will be able to pick up on any subtleties in the scans that we might have missed."
"Yes, Terrence is picking them up from the airport this morning. It's pretty exciting that Sebastian is adventurous enough to want to try a multi-day visit," Shirley says.
"Adventurous," chuckles Sid. "That's a nice way of putting it."
"Well, how would you put it?" asks Shirley.
"Mmmmm – stupid? Naïve? So focused on his drive to indulge in his depravity that he doesn't realize what he's gotten himself into?" Sid replies. "Did you tell him that we sent a driver to bring his host to the airport? We were getting concerned when we didn't see him leave the apartment. Who knows what he could have done after seeing that video."
Shirley shook her head. "No, now that you mention it, he didn't even ask."
"It figures," sighs Sid, staring at a graph on the computer screen. "That guy's as selfish as they come." He turns back to Shirley and asks, "Were you able to convince him to come back for check-ins with us?"
"Yes, I think so," says Shirley. "I appealed to his vanity as you suggested. I also mentioned we could help get him out of any scrapes he gets himself into with his host."
"Oh that's good," says Sid, genuinely impressed. "We'll have our guys out there keeping tabs on the host, of course. But it will really help if we can also get Sebastian's perspective on what is going on with him. Since we can't bring this Kurt in for scans or anything. At least not until he is under the care of our psychiatrist."
"There's some good news on that front – did Scott not tell you yet?" Shirley bounces on her feet, excited to have some information before it gets to Sid.
"Tell me," Sid replies.
"Kurt called Dr. Sauders this morning. He was desperate to start talking about what's happening to him."
"Shit. What did Saunders do?"
"He handled it well," says Shirley. "He said he couldn't do phone appointments, but he suggested that Kurt start keeping a diary about his experiences and his feelings and that they can go over whatever he feels comfortable sharing at the first appointment."
"That's good." Sid thinks for a moment, then continues. "When Sebastian comes back for his therapy, make sure he knows about it and keeps an eye out. He can give us a heads up about anything in there. Maybe we can even convince him to send us an advance copy."
"Will do," says Shirley.
"Sir?" asks a technician as he pops his head through the half open door.
"What is it?" asks Sid.
"We tapped into Mr. Smythe's email account as you requested and found a video that he sent to himself from Mr. Kurt Hummel's IP address using a private file sharing service." The technician paused, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.
"And did you watch it?" Sid prompts impatiently.
Blushing, the technician stammers, "Y-yes. I mean – not the whole thing. It was – Well, I saw enough to get the gist of it."
"And?"
"And there may be a problem…" he trails off, embarrassed.
"Oh for God's sake!" Sid gestures at the bank of computers. "Pull it up and I'll watch it myself."
Twenty minutes later, Sid looks around the room unseeing for a moment before his eyes focus on the technician again. Somewhere in the back of his brain, he registers that Shirley is gone. "So you see what I mean?" asks the technician.
"Damn it!" Sid yells. He stands up and kicks the wall. "That kid better not have gotten syphilis. Or God forbid, HIV." Sid tears across the lab, shoving over chairs with a loud clatter with every third word as he shouts, "We have an unprecedented opportunity to study a host and our fucking asshole client is going to get the kid killed before we can get our data."
The technician is frozen in the middle of the room, looking at Sid with wide eyes.
"Make sure everyone on staff knows to call me as soon as Sebastian transitions back – I don't care what time it is. And don't let him go back to his host until I talk with him," Sid orders before storming out of the room.
{-}-{-}-{-}-{-}-{-}-{-}-{-}-{-}-{-}-{-}-
Sebastian surfaces from the fog of the transition and for a moment thinks he must still be in Seikly's preparation room before he realizes that the white walls, exam table, and the counter with boxes of surgical gloves and a tray of gleaming silver implements belong to a doctor's office. Kurt is sitting in the chair next to the exam table and seems to be fully clothed. Sebastian is not sure if this is before or after an exam until there is a brisk knock and the door swings open to reveal a short, trim woman in blue scrubs and a white lab coat. She enters the room with her hand outstretched and as soon as Kurt reaches out his own hand, quickly grasps it and shakes it vigorously. "Mr. Hummel, I'm Dr. Owen."
"Nice to meet you," Kurt says quietly.
"You too. So, you're a student?"
"Yes. I go to school in New York. I'm home for spring break."
"And the nurse told me that you are here because you have some concerns that you might have contracted a sexually transmitted disease. How many partners have you had unprotected sex with since the last time you were tested?"
Kurt's eyes dart around the room for a moment. He looks at the doctor and leans forward, saying in almost a whisper, "My dad is in the waiting room. He can't hear us, can he?"
"No, Mr. Hummel. We're at the other end of the building. And anything we discuss is completely confidential. You are eighteen, aren't you?" she rustles the papers in her folder, searching for his birthdate.
"Yes, I'm eighteen. My dad is just concerned about me, so he brought me here today. He knows I want to get tested, but he doesn't know all the details."
"Well, our conversation would be confidential either way. But since you are eighteen, you really have nothing to worry about. Your father will only know what you choose to tell him."
"Oh good," Kurt breathes out, relieved. "I, um, think it was six. Or maybe seven. Partners. And I haven't ever been tested before." The doctor is about to speak, but Kurt rushes on. "I know I was clean before that. I only ever had protected sex before yesterday. Well except for that one time with Adam, but that was also just last week. Before that it was just with my boyfriend. Well, ex-boyfriend now. But we were exclusive and we were each other's firsts. And we always used protection anyway."
Wow, thinks Sebastian. Kurt is really rambling.
"I understand, Mr. Hummel," says the doctor kindly. "You said the unprotected sex was within the last week?"
"Yes, it was two nights ago. Except for Adam, that was the week before." Sebastian can feel Kurt's face heating up as he realizes that he just told the doctor that he had sex with an indeterminate, but large, number of guys in one night. A slight shadow passes over the doctor's face, but she does a good job keeping her expressions and her tone neutral after that.
"Were you taking drugs or drinking at the time?" she asks.
"No. No, I don't think so," Kurt murmurs. At the doctor's raised eyebrow he amends, "No, definitely not. Sorry, I'm just a bit nervous."
"I understand. I need to ask that question to assess your level of risk of exposure. We will go ahead and run a full STD panel for you, including the HIV test." She pauses, then says, "However, you should know that the HIV test measures the antibodies your immune system produces in response to HIV and often our bodies don't start to produce those antibodies in a large enough number to be picked up by the test within a few days or a week. So even if you test negative today, you also will want to get the HIV test again in three months and again in six months."
"Oh God," whispers Kurt, head in his hands.
The doctor places a comforting hand on Kurt's arm. "Mr. Hummel – Kurt – you are doing the right thing getting tested." Kurt looks up and meets her eyes. "And I know it is hard to wait so long to know for sure about HIV. And yes, your behavior was risky and you need to change that. But it is quite possible that you do not have HIV. And if you do, you can get treatment. HIV is not a death sentence. But it is important to be very careful now about sex. If you are infected, you could be passing the virus along to others and you don't want to do that."
"No, of course not," Kurt breathes.
"Would you like a referral for counseling? I understand this can be a stressful time."
"No, I already set up an appointment with someone for when I get back to New York. And I called and spoke with him this morning. That was helpful."
An uneasy feeling is bubbling up in Sebastian, and he tries to push it back down. He really wishes he wasn't here for this conversation. He even has a twinge of regret about telling those guys to not wear condoms. He doesn't particularly like Kurt, but he doesn't want him to get AIDs, either.
"I might need another kind of referral, though," Kurt continues.
"I might be able to help you with that. What is going on?" asks the doctor.
"This behavior – having unprotected sex, sleeping with more than one guy – it's not normal for me. That's why I had set up the appointment with a psychiatrist before I even thought I needed to get tested for STDs. I have these…episodes or something, where I can't always remember everything that happened right away. And then when I do remember, it turns out I did all kinds of things I would never do. I'm a little afraid I'm going crazy or have split personalities or something. Hence the appointment with a psychiatrist. But seeing my dad again reminded me of something else."
"What was that?" encourages the doctor.
"Cancer. My dad has prostate cancer. They caught it early and he's in treatment for it now. The doctors expect a full recovery. But isn't cancer hereditary? Couldn't brain cancer cause me to do things I wouldn't normally do and have a spotty memory?" Kurt asks, leaning toward the doctor.
Shit. His dad has cancer, thinks Sebastian. And not only do I have him worrying about AIDS, but he also thinks he's going to die of a brain tumor. He makes a mental note to bring all of this up with Sid and Shirley when he comes back to his body for the physical therapy. Perhaps they can help sort out some of this mess.
The doctor asks a few questions and jots some notes in the chart, but then explains that she is not a specialist in this area and agrees that Kurt should see an oncologist. When she asks about his insurance company so she can get him a referral within his plan, he balks.
"Oh, no. I would need to do this out of pocket. I'm on my dad's insurance and he would see that statement. And I really can't have him know about this yet. With his cancer, and his heart issues – it's just too much stress. And it's probably nothing. I don't want to worry him."
The doctor looks sympathetic, but says, "Kurt. You really need the support of your family right now. And a visit with an oncologist and all the tests they will need to run are going to add up. You're a student. Unless you have a trust fund or something, you're not going to be able to afford it."
"Oh," says Kurt, defeated. "I just thought that this is a clinic and maybe there are clinics or something for cancer. That I could pay on a sliding scale or something."
"I'll tell you what. I'll ask our administrative assistant to look into it and if we can find something like that in Ohio or in New York, we'll give you a call. But if you don't hear back from us next week, I strongly encourage you to share this with your father and use the insurance. What you describe could be caused by any number of things, but if it is cancer, early detection is critical." She pauses to scribble on the chart, then continues. "I'm going to send the nurse in, now. She will draw some blood so we can run our tests. And I'll be back in a few minutes. I'd like to go ahead and give you a full physical exam. That may give us some clues about what might be going on."
The doctor steps out and Sebastian takes over for a moment to check the time. He is supposed to be at Blaine's just after lunch to rehearse for the wedding performance. He is relieved to see that it's still only 10:30. He supposes he could take over and just get Kurt out of the doctor's office, but he does feel a bit guilty. After all, Kurt wouldn't even be at the clinic if it weren't for Sebastian. He knows Blaine is so besotted with Kurt that he could probably show up hours late and Blaine would just be grateful he came at all. So, he cedes control back to Kurt and loses himself in his own thoughts until Kurt the tests and exam are completed.
Sebastian stays dormant in Kurt, observing as he joins his father in the waiting room and tells him the good news – the tests are all negative – tempered by the sobering news that he's not yet in the clear on the HIV. Sebastian is a bit shocked when he sees Burt. He wants to laugh at the mismatched pair, but he remembers the guy has cancer and stops himself. He actually pays close attention to Kurt's interactions with Burt. He realizes he may not be able to avoid Kurt's father completely when he is in control of Kurt and he doesn't want it to be too obvious to Hummel senior that Kurt isn't himself.
They pull up in front of Kurt's house. Burt kills the engine, but doesn't open the door. He turns to Kurt and says, "I'm proud of you, kid. Not for doing what you did that made you need to go to the clinic, of course. That was stupid. But I know it's not easy to admit when you make a mistake and I know how scary it can be to wait for test results. But we're going to get through this together, okay?"
Kurt nods and sniffles. "Thank you, Dad," he says, voice breaking. "I'm so glad you were there with me. But, can we please not talk about this right now? I really do need the vacation – from everything."
"Sure, Kurt. It won't do any good to focus on it now anyway. You know what you need to do to stay safe and we'll just wait for those test results. But I'm here if you need to talk about it." Burt slaps Kurt's knee a few times, then leans back in his seat and unbuckles his seatbelt. With a hand on the door handle, he turns back and says, "I'm going to get my own car and then head over to the shop for a few hours. You should go out with your friends – get your mind off of this."
Kurt forces his lips into a small smile and says, "I'll see them all at the wedding tomorrow. And I'll make plans with friends for the rest of the week. But I really want to spend some time with you. And Carole and Finn, of course. I've missed you."
Sebastian really doesn't want to have to talk with Burt, especially in the middle of this conversation, which is equal parts awkward and moving. But as Burt squashes Kurt into a cramped hug and says, "I've missed you, too, kid," Sebastian realizes he can't avoid it any longer.
Now in control, Sebastian pulls back from the hug and says, "Oh, I almost forgot. I'm supposed to sing a song at the wedding – a duet – and I need to practice. With my duet partner."
Burt laughs and shakes his head. "That Schuester. Of course he would have you kids perform at his wedding. Think you can be home by six? You don't want to miss your first Friday night dinner in months, do you?"
Sebastian has no idea what that's supposed to mean, but figures it must be some Hummel family tradition – or inside joke. "I wouldn't miss it for the world," he says with a slight smile. Burt laughs and opens the car door, so Sebastian figures he played that right. Burt hands the keys to the Navigator over to Kurt and hops into a Chevy truck in the driveway. With a quick wave, Burt is gone. Sebastian heads toward the house. It doesn't seem like anyone is home and it is the perfect opportunity for him to figure out which key opens the front door and familiarize himself with the house so he won't raise suspicions with the family later. After a quick tour of all the rooms, he rummages through the kitchen, checking locations of plates, utensils, and glasses. He makes himself a sandwich for lunch, then heads back to Kurt's room to change. He wants to make sure Blaine is salivating with want by the time they finish their rehearsal.
A/N: So, lots of plot development in this chapter. Up next - the rehearsal and the wedding. And lots of smut with Blaine. Many thanks to Neomeris and I hate mosquitos for the plot suggestions. Let me know what you think - and feel free to send me any thoughts and ideas you have for the story. I really appreciate suggestions!