A/N: Wow, I never expected to get reviews for this story-I mean, very few people would venture into this section. Anyway, thanks for your reviews! I live for them!
I still haven't made up my mind about how the story would go, so in this chapter we'd get to hear Sebastian's side of the story. I hope I did a good job writing him and he is not that out of character.
If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to leave a review. Again, you know I live for them.
On with the story!
Sebastian had never been a fan of many things and one of them happened to be his parents. To other people, he had the perfect life: good looks, anything he wanted and the best of all, freedom. His parents never paid much attention to him, as they were often busy calling their clients and socializing with other businessmen. He could particularly felt the jealousy and envy radiating from the people around him whenever he walked past and he would always smirk, and keep his head held high. But once he was sure that no one could see him, the smirk would fall from his face. Sure, he might be a teenager and he might want to be free, but that didn't mean he didn't care about his parents or want them to leave him alone. Sometimes he wished to have a nice, normal dinner with them, like every normal family did, but it was like wishing for rain in the fucking desert.
Well, there were times when his parents would want him-mainly for socializing events where everyone turned up with their kids and bragged about their achievements. Fucking bastards. Right now he was in one of these events and almost bored to tears. But this time was a bit different. Last week his parents met up with some old friends and they decided to go to a classical piano concert together, which was held tonight. Right now Sebastian was seated in some fancy concert hall, waiting for the heavy red curtains to be pulled aside. His parents and their friends were seated next to him, chatting about rather stuff like 'Do you still remember we…', 'How is it going?' and blah blah blah. He tugged at the collar of his white dress shirt, silently wishing that damn collar could be one or two inches wider as it was nearly choking him to death. Suddenly the lights went out and Sebastian could see the curtains being pulled aside. Finally. The show was starting.
The murmurs and whispers went out as the lights on the stage got turned on. There was a piano on the center of the stage. A man came out from the left side and walked over to the piano. He took a deep bow and everyone clapped politely. The man then pulled out the piano bench and sat down. He gingerly placed his hands on the keyboard, as if the keys would dissolve if he put too much pressure onto them. Then he began playing the piano. The notes were high yet they sounded soft instead of shirll to Sebastian ears. The pattern of the notes soon got more and more complicated and the rhythm also started gaining speed. This piece sounded familiar, but Sebastian couldn't quite place his finger on the name, and the composer of this piece. Damn, who wrote this?
"La Campenella by Liszt." As if hearing Sebastian's thoughts, one of his parents' friends spoke up. "One of my favorites. The pianist is doing a great job playing it. Very few people can play that well."
'A great job' was not enough to describe the pianist's skills and the piece. Sebastian seldom listened to classical pieces, unless someone decided to put on a classical CD at home or he had to attend the Music History class at school (though he often spent the time there texting his friends or daydreaming) Maybe his teacher had played it in class before, which explained why he had heard of it. Anyway, it was amazing, the way the pianist was playing the piece. The notes seemed to be dancing in the air and Sebastian could particularly see them hopping around. He could feel himself getting lost in the Land of Piano Notes.
Sadly, the song ended too quickly for Sebastian's liking. The audience clapped enthusiastically once the pianist was done playing the first song. But the lucky thing was, the pianist quickly began playing another song. Only this piece was not as lively as the first one, but it was steady and calm. This time the notes basically sounded the same-maybe the pianist just used the same arpeggios over and over again. Normally Sebastian would have fallen asleep as soon as the first bar was finished but this time he was fully awaked, straining his ears to listen to the piece. "Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp Minor by Beethoven, or better known as, the Moonlight Sonata." His parents' friend helpfully supplied this piece of information again. "Very peaceful. I always listen to it whenever I have trouble falling asleep."
Well, what a waste of such a brilliant piece then. Sebastian looked at the pianist again and for the lack of a better expression, he looked like he was having sex with the piano, and he was enjoying every second of it. The song soon ended and the pianist played other stuff. Sebastian was able to identify several pieces, like 'Traumerei' by Robert Schumann and 'Revolutionary Etude' by Chopin. Fuck, they all sounded better than the moans produced by the men who Sebastian had had sex with before. And that was definitely something. He was suddenly overcome by the desire to become the pianist on the stage, the one who was performing these brilliant songs.
The concert eventually ended. The pianist stood up and bowed again, and he also got a standing ovation from everyone in the concert hall. The lights came back on and everyone got up from their seats to head towards the exit. The air was filled with chatter and everyone seemed to be talking about how great the pianist had performed. And Sebastian definitely couldn't object this. The pianist – and the songs – had been fucking brilliant. And Sebastian seldom gave people such compliments.
He turned to his parents. "I want to take piano lessons."
His parents were indifferent. "Whatever."
On Saturday Sebastian found himself seated on the newly bought piano bench, and there was a newly bought grand piano in front of him. And an old lady was standing right next to him, speaking a thousand words per second. She was the new piano teacher that his parents had hired for him and if someone thought that Sebastian liked her, they had to be blind. Or deaf. Or both. "Now, you must sit up straight and keep your fingers relaxed. And don't forget to relax your elbows. And…" Oh shut up, you old bitch. Sebastian did nothing for the rest of the lesson but corrected his posture every now and then until it was time for that old hag to leave. Shortly after she was gone, Sebastian turned to Sophia, a maid in the house, and said, "Tell my parents to fire her once they get back. She is so goddamn annoying. And I want a new teacher."
On the following Saturday, Sebastian opened the door of the Music Room and found a twenty-something guy sitting on the piano bench. He had blonde hair and dark brown eyes and he was definitely one of the hottest men Sebastian had ever seen. All thoughts of learning how to play the piano soon left his mind as he made his way over to the super-sexy guy. Sebastian put on his trademark flirty smirk and particularly purred, "Let's focus on something else instead of playing the piano, shall we?"
The man looked flustered. "B-B-But," he stammered, "Someone may walk in on us. And…it is in-in-a-appropriate."
"Who gives a shit?" Sebastian grabbed the collar of the man's shirt and pressed his lips to his. Hard. The man immediately responded to him, throwing his arms around his waist to pull him closer.
The man's cheeks were tomato-red. He was still doing the buttons on his shirt when Sebastian handed him a white envelope. "Here's your pay." He said coolly, as if they just hadn't spent the whole 'lesson' screwing each others' brains out. "Take it, leave and don't ever come back. You have one minute to get the Hell out of here. Ready, set, go." The man did as he was told and he left, faster than a lightning bolt. Sebastian then walked out of the room, and beckoned to Sophia, who was standing at the end of the corridor, to come over. "Tell my parents to get me another teacher." He said in a bored tone, "That guy is really unprofessional." Sebastian then walked away, back to his room.
He didn't hear Sophia saying, "Of course, so 'unprofessional' that the buttons on his shirt weren't even done when he left." She smirked, and walked over to the dining room. It was time for dinner and she had to set up the table for the Smythes.
And so it went on. The third teacher Sebastian had was an old man and he didn't try to jump his bones-Sebastian only fucked hot men. And that old man was boring as Hell so Sebastian fired him. The next teacher his parents got him was even worse. That forty-something woman kept trying to flirt with him and make sex-eyes to him. Who the fucking Hell did she think she was? Mrs. Robinson? Needless to say, Sebastian didn't take her lessons anymore. Then came the fifth teacher. The sixth. The seventh. Until Sebastian lost count of how many teachers he'd had.
He made a decision one night. His parents were super-unreliable when it came to choosing tutors for him. Never mind, he'd do it himself. Bad tutors didn't quench his will to learn the piano. If he still couldn't find a good one, he'd buy piano books and self-study instead.
Sebastian started asking around. Some of his friends were good pianists, or they had friends who were. But the sad thing was that most of them had a lot to do during the summer and they just couldn't find the time to teach him. So far the search had been rather fruitless yet Sebastian still kept his hopes up as they promised to ask around for him.
In the end, he did get his reply. He was watching old movies on the TV (no offense to the actors and producers but the movies nowadays sucked) one day when Blaine called him. It was a normal thing for Blaine to call but today Sebastian felt a rush of excitement down his spine when he picked up his phone. Piano teacher! His mind sang. "Hello?"
"Seb?" Blaine's voice reached his ears. "Remember when you asked me to ask my friends to see if anyone was interested in teaching you how to play the piano?"
"Of course."
"Well, I did ask around, and my friend Hunter from New Directions agreed to take up the post. He'll come over on Saturday at the usual time. It that okay?"
Sebastian actually had to go to Lacrosse practice at Dalton on that day, but he might be able to convince the Coach to let him leave first. "It's alright."
"Good." Blaine paused, as if complementing what to say next. "And Seb?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't try to jump him, even if you want to. I'm not sure if Hunter would appreciate this and I know you very well."
Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Better than you know Kurt?" he decided to tease Blaine a little bit. He still remembered the days when Blaine and Kurt first got together, all Blaine talked about was Kurt. How amazing he was, what he liked, and other sappy romantic stuff. It was sweet at first but then it got past the line of irritation so the Warblers got Kurt to teach Blaine a lesson. They never knew what Kurt did, but Blaine did shut up about Kurt after that.
"Shut up." Blaine said playfully. "You know what I mean. I'm your friend after all. Anyway, I have to go now. Kurt is waiting for me outside."
Sebastian again rolled his eyes humorously. "Alright, enjoy your date and say hi to Kurt for me. Don't forget to get some tonight. Remember, I'll be super proud of you if you do!" Blaine laughed and the line went dead. Sebastian glanced at his phone and it read 19:30. Time for dinner.
He wondered what kind of teacher Blaine had got him. Blaine had mentioned Hunter several times before, but those stories were mostly related to the ND kids performing their solos and Hunter playing the piano for them. Since they were in New Direction together that meant Hunter was probably around Sebastian's age. Well, he was going to be the youngest teacher he'd ever had. He couldn't be that bad, especially when Blaine and the ND kids agreed he was a good guy.
He wondered how the lesson would go this Saturday.
Fuck Coach Ashleys. Sebastian fumed as he stormed down the staircase. Lacrosse practice started at two thirty and the coach made everyone practise for three hours non-stop. He totally ignored Sebastian's request to leave earlier to get ready for his piano lesson and just shouted at the members to work harder. Sebastian felt like his bones were breaking. Fuck. His parents were organizing another socializing event at his house at seven thirty and he just had no energy to go to that goddamn meeting. He should have called in sick this morning. Sebastian groaned as he rubbed his sore shoulders.
He reached the ground floor and he could hear the sounds of a piano. Had someone put on another CD today? No, it couldn't be a recording. The sounds were much clearer and louder. Someone was playing the piano in the Music Room. Oh, well. His teacher was probably inside. He strained his ears as he tried to recognize the song. Fur Elise by Beethoven. Now that was a song he knew. He opened the door quietly, not wanting to disturb the pianist, and felt his eyes widen at the sight in front of him.
A guy, probably around Sebastian's age, was playing the piano, his fingers working quickly on the keyboard. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be lost in the world of music, just like the pianist Sebastian saw in Concert several weeks ago. And fuck, he was hot. Sebastian could see the muscle of his arms underneath the fabric of his shirt and as that guy –Hunter-continued playing, Sebastian wondered what it felt like to be the one playing it. He felt like he was at the concert again.
The song ended, much to Sebastian's dismay. Like an awed bystander, he clapped. The pianist opened his eyes and released the pedal. His eyes then met Sebastian's and for a moment, Sebastian held his breath. Well, surprise, surprise. Not many people could do that to Sebastian Smythe. A heartbeat passed.
"That was amazing." Sebastian eventually said, his voice sounded a little forced. Another 'surprise'. "I got here several minutes ago but I wanted to hear you play, so I didn't come over to you." He could feel his bravado coming back up in full force and he smiled. He walked over to the pianist and held out his hand. "Sebastian Smythe."
"Hunter Clarington." His voice was smooth, just like the piece he was just playing and his grip was firm. Sebastian glanced at their linked hands and for a brief moment, he wondered what it would feel like to have those hands, those fingers touching his skin, just like he was a piano being played. Sebastian blinked, and the thought fluttered away. "So, Clarington." Hunter stood up form the bench and Sebastian moved to sit on it. "What are we going to do now? We've got half an hour left."
Hunter glanced at the clock and turned his face back to Sebastian. "How much do you know?"
"Only a little bit." Sebastian shook his head. "The last teacher I had spent an hour correcting my posture, saying that you have to sit up straight-" he sat up straighter. "Your forearms and upper arms should produce a right angle and you should play with your finger tips instead of the pads of your fingers."
"Correct." Hunter said. "What about the notes on the piano?"
"Middle C." Sebastian said, his thumb on the Middle C. "D, E, F, G, A, B, and C again." Each time he said a letter, he pressed down the corresponding key and he got all the notes right. "The black keys were flats and sharps, right?"
"Yes. What about reading sheet music?" Sebastian gave him a blank look. During Warblers practice they often discuss their song choices by singing or playing music videos. Sebastian had seen sheet music before, but he has never learnt how to read it. "Reading music that is." Hunter declared, taking out his old music notebook from his backpack.
Sebastian scoffed. He'd heard that reading sheet music was extremely boring and he was afraid that his eyes would be crossed if he spent too much time reading that. "Come on, it's boring! Besides I thought there were people who could play songs simply by listening to them and they didn't need sheet music."
"That's because they have absolute pitch, something that not everyone has." Sebastian made a mental note to look for the meaning of 'absolute pitch'. Hunter turned to the first page of the notebook and put it on the piano, right above the keyboard. "And believe me, it isn't as boring as it seems to be."
They started with the basic stuff, like the positions of the notes, the key, the sharp and the flats. The stuff was pretty easy and Sebastian took everything in like a sponge. Hope this would come in handy during Warblers practice. Hunter seemed to sense that Sebastian had potential, but he was still going on and on about the timing and other stuff that Sebastian already knew. Sebastian groaned at this. "Can't we go straight to playing actual songs?" he whined. "I already know all of this."
"You can never go far without understanding all the basic things." Hunter said firmly. "Besides, we still need to go over the scales and arpeggios, or not you won't even be able to identify the key of the song-let alone playing the piece!"
They continued studying the fundamentals of scales and timing for the rest of the evening, Sebastian also purposed playing modern songs instead of simply playing classical pieces. Hunter had no objection, but it was still the same-Sebastian had to learn all the keys and timing patterns first. Sebastian groaned inwardly at this.
Pretty soon it was six forty-five. Oh, shit, he had to get to the meeting! "I've got to go. My parents are holding a meeting at seven-thirty and they want to me come. I have to go get ready." Sebastian reached his hand into his trousers' pocket and pulled out a small envelope. "Here's your pay and Sophia there will show you the way out." Hunter looked up and glanced at the maid standing by the door. "I'm going now. See you next Tuesday." With that Sebastian got up and left the room. He quickly ran over to the staircase.
Shit, shit, shit. How was he supposed to get ready in just fifteen minutes? He still had to style his hair and pick out a suit. His parents would murder him if he turned up in his casual clothes. Fuck, he now sounded like Kurt. Sebastian cursed inwardly and ran a hand through his hair. Never mind, he'd do the best he could.
One hour later, Sebastian found himself seated at the dining table, with his parents and their friends at different sides of the table. He didn't pay much attention to what they were currently talking about, as he was busy thinking about the piano lesson. He didn't have much time to think about it an hour ago as he was busy getting himself ready. This was by far the best lesson he'd ever had and he actually learnt something from it, so that was saying something. And as for the teacher… Sebastian certainly had got his eye on him. Damn, he wouldn't be Sebastian Smythe if he let such a hot piece of meat out of his sight.
But he didn't even know whether he was straight or gay or something. Suddenly Blaine's 'warning' came to his mind. Make sure to ask Blaine about Hunter's sexuality. He silently told himself.
If Hunter was gay, then… Maybe he didn't like people who came on too strong, but so what? Sebastian could go slow, or quick. Whichever way his prey wanted.
Sebastian felt the corners of his mouth lifting up. This summer was going to be fun, maybe the best he'd ever had. He'd make sure that Hunter know this, too.
A/N: I'm not sure when I could update as exams are coming up and I have to study for them. Maybe in February or something. Anyway, thanks for reading and don't forget to review!
