Two Steps Beyond
Part 32
The next morning when Blaine and Sebastian came down the stairs carrying the last of their bags Mrs. Anderson was waiting for them. "Promise to call me when you two arrive."
"You know we will Mom." Blaine told her. "We told you so over breakfast this morning."
"I know."
"If it makes you feel better Cooper said he'd come looking for us if he doesn't hear from us either. He said he knows how long the drive should take and he'll give us leeway for traffic, but if we're passed what he thinks is acceptable he's going to start flooding our phones if we don't call him first."
"Blaine's right. He made us promise to call him once we're pulling out of the driveway so he can start clock watching."
"And you'll make sure you don't get separated from Nick, Jeff, and Brittany, correct?"
"Yes Mom. We've all promised to keep the other in our sights at all times."
"Hun, please leave the boys alone. We went over all of this at breakfast." Mr. Anderson said as he walked in and picked up their bags. "Anything else guys?"
"Nope, that's it." Blaine replied. "And you put my guitars in the backseat, right?"
"Yes Blaine. And so you know everyone else is here now so you guys should probably come out as well." Once Mr. Anderson walked back out the door Blaine wrapped his arms around his Mom and gave her a big hug.
"You know you can come and visit whenever you want."
"I know. I'm just going to miss you so much." As she spoke she brought her hand up to her eyes and wiped away the tears that were already falling.
"I'm going to miss you too."
"We should probably get going. Don't want to keep everyone waiting."
"Mom."
"Blaine the longer we stay here the harder it's going to be for me." She then tightened her hold on him before giving him a kiss. She then looked at Sebastian. "Get your butt over here too." Blaine just smiled at her as she loosened her hold on him just enough to bring Sebastian into their hug. "I'm going to miss you too." Mr. Anderson had just walked back inside and was about to say something but kept quiet when he saw the scene in front of him. It wasn't till Blaine glanced at the doorway did he clear his throat. "We're coming dear." After letting the boys go, the four of them headed outside.
What they saw before them was pretty similar to what had been going on inside as Brittany, Jeff, and Nick's parents were all hugging them. "You two better take good care of them while they're with you." Santana said once they walked up to Blaine's car.
"And if we don't?" Sebastian asked.
"I'll have to whip your ass when I get there."
"Kinky." Sebastian comment brought a smile to Santana's face. "You know we will." He then pulled her into a hug. "Now, it's up to you to keep our boys out of trouble once we leave."
"Are you sure they're not going to be the ones keeping me out of trouble?"
"Semantics." Sebastian said before giving her a kiss and releasing his hold on her. While Blaine gave her a hug and a kiss goodbye, Sebastian looked over at Thad and the guys and received a reassuring nod.
"We better hear from you after you guys arrive Blaine."
"You will Santana, right after I let my Mom know we arrived."
"That I can accept." Once they said their goodbyes, Thad walked up and took Santana's hand. "Is it safe to assume the rest of you guys aren't going to be leaving my side once they're gone?"
"Yes, you're stuck with us." Thad replied, to which Santana just leaned her head on his shoulder. There was something reassuring about knowing that she wouldn't be alone these next couple of weeks.
"We should get going guys!" Sebastian called out after he and Blaine finished saying goodbye to the guys. Since they were trying to time their arrival into the city the best they could. With that said they all headed for their cars, while their parents and friends stepped to the side of the driveway. "They're not making this easy, are they?" Sebastian said once he settled into the passenger's seat.
"Tell me about it. I really don't envy my Dad right now."
"Hell, I don't envy any of the Dad's right now."
"Bas."
"Yes?"
"Did you talk to your parents?"
"I did that this morning while you were saying your second goodbye to your Mom. They didn't come because my Dad knew I didn't need that stress today. But like your Mom he wants us to call after we arrive which I promised to do. And he said don't be surprised if we see him in the next month or so." Shortly after Sebastian finished speaking his phone beeped with a text from Jeff saying they were ready to go. "Let's get this show on the road killer."
Slowly Blaine backed down the driveway and gave a final wave to everyone. "Santana's holding it together better than I thought she would be."
"That's because she cried for what seemed like forever last night."
"How do you know that?"
"Nick told me this morning when we talked. He said it was quite the sight last night since both Jeff's family and Brittany's parents stayed at his place."
"Where did they all sleep?" Sebastian started to laugh at Blaine's question. "What?"
"Nick, Santana, Jeff, and Brittany all slept in Nick's room last night, in his bed. As for the others, who knows?"
"They didn't, did they?" There was a quizzical look on Blaine's face.
"No, nothing like that, it just happened since they all went up there for some quiet after the Moms lost it. But he thinks it was exactly what Brittany and Santana needed."
They were about three hours into their drive when Sebastian received a text from Jeff asking if they could get off at the next rest stop. "B, they are requesting that we get off at the next rest stop."
"That works for me. I'm a bit hungry plus it'll allow us to switch since you said you wanted to drive a little while ago." Shortly after they parked the cars they laughed as Brittany went running inside. "Now I know why we needed to stop." Blaine said with a laugh as the rest of them followed her inside.
"Yes, but it was a good time to stop. I needed to stretch my legs." Jeff replied. "Anyone else want coffee?" When they all nodded, Jeff just looked at them. "I am not ordering five coffees, so you'll need to come with me."
"How about I go with you while Nick and Blaine get food for us?" Sebastian asked. After glancing over at Blaine and Nick who just nodded that it was fine with them he asked what Blaine wanted. "Your usual B?"
"Actually, I'd like an iced coffee." The three of them just looked at him. "What, I do change my order once in a while. You know that better than anyone Bas."
"I know, it still catches me off-guard once in a while."
"Just know my morning coffee never changes and we'll be good. Though I'd be happy with whatever you get me." Once they went their separate ways Nick looked at Blaine. "What?"
"I never thought I'd use this word to describe you two, but you're cute together."
"The same could be said for you and a certain someone."
"Don't get ahead of yourself there Blaine."
"I'm not, but I can tell you like her."
"Of course I like her, she's my friend."
"Duval."
"Anderson. Okay, maybe I do, but not in the way you like Seb or Jeff likes Britt. Since well, you guys are all in love with each other."
"Fair enough, but it's more than her just being your friend."
"Can we not do this here, please."
"Fine but admit it."
"Alright, I admit it." Nick's voice was much softer than it had been. "I care about Santana more than just a friend. Happy?"
"Yes and so are you judging from the smile on your face."
By the time they met back up with Jeff and Sebastian, Brittany was with them as well. "Do you think you two bought enough?" Sebastian asked seeing the two rather big bags they had.
"I wasn't nearly as bad as Blaine. I was buying for three people after all. And I think Blaine bought out their inventory of Red Vines."
"Sweet!" Sebastian replied.
"You too?" Nick asked.
"Yes, me too. And don't give me that. I see a few packages of them in your bag too." Sebastian then handed Blaine his coffee. "You didn't specify passed iced coffee so I just got you something I thought you'd like."
"Thank you. So, what do you all say let's get this show back on the road." Once they headed back outside, it was clear Blaine and Sebastian weren't the only one's changing who was driving. "I think we should probably top off, what do you think?"
"I was thinking the same thing." Jeff replied.
The rest of the drive to New York was relatively quiet though quite a few texts were exchanged between the two cars. They ended up stopping just outside of New York to fill up the cars one last time so they didn't have to bother once they arrived. Nick and Sebastian went inside for one last coffee run while Blaine called Cooper to tell him exactly where they were. By the time the guys returned Sebastian looked at Blaine. "Do you want to drive or do you want me to finish the drive?"
"You can since you have more experience driving in city than I do."
"That's what Jeff told Nick as well; otherwise he was just going to finish up. Before I forget, you did give them the parking pass, right?"
"I just gave it to Jeff so they're all good to get into the garage. And, I spoke with Cooper who informed me that Lexi bought some groceries for us so we'll have something to eat."
"She sent me a text saying the same thing. Said she probably wouldn't have done it, but since we're going to have company she thought it best we had food on hand. But I know my sister and she would've done it regardless." Thankfully they timed their arrival pretty well and missed the bulk of the evening rush. "What's so funny B?" Sebastian asked after hearing Blaine laugh.
"Jeff just sent a text saying how giddy Brittany is and then sent a picture. She truly is adorable."
"Agreed. Once they pulled into the garage they both smiled when they realized Walter had assigned them the visitors' parking space just opposite from where they park. "That man is truly an asset." Sebastian said before Blaine went to get the cart to load all their stuff on. "Make sure you leave that pass on the dash guys."
"Got it Seb." Nick replied while getting the rest of the things out from the inside of the car while Jeff unloaded the trunk.
When they reached the apartment, Sebastian was thankful they had double doors because the thought of unloading the cart to get everything inside wasn't appealing. After getting everything into the living room Nick offered to take the cart back down to the garage. "While Nick's gone, I'll show you guys to your room." Blaine said while grabbing one of their bags. Once Jeff and Brittany followed Blaine, Sebastian headed for the kitchen to get them all something to drink.
Upon reaching the doorway, he just shook his head as it was clear Lexi had done more than just a little shopping. And that was proven once Sebastian opened the refrigerator. "B, we don't have to go to the store anytime soon!" Sebastian called out before grabbing some sodas off the shelf.
"And why is…" Blaine words were cut off when he walked into the kitchen. "This is more than a little Bas."
"I know, but I'm thankful she did it. Why don't you grab the drinks, while I grab this plate full of brownies. And don't forget to call your Mom."
"Already done. Plus you'll be proud; I sent a tweet out so all the guys know we've arrived safe and sound as well."
"Impressive." By the time they returned to the living room, Jeff and Brittany were comfortable on the couch while Nick was standing over by the piano on his phone. "Now, have you both been good little children and called your parents?" Sebastian asked while he and Blaine set everything on the table.
"We did." Jeff replied. "And I'm sure I'm going to say this a hundred times more, but thanks again for letting us stay here."
"Our pleasure." Blaine replied before sitting down. "Who's Nick talking to?"
"Do you really need to ask?" Jeff replied while Sebastian sat down next to Blaine. "She made him promise to call once we arrived."
"She told me the same thing. Now I know why my call went to voicemail." Blaine said with a smile. "Is your room okay?"
"It's more than okay."
"Sorry about that guys." Nick said as he walked up to them.
"No need to apologize to us." Sebastian told him.
"How is she?"
"Fine. But I was told we all need to go to YouTube."
"Did she say why?" Blaine asked. They didn't get an answer from Nick so Sebastian turned on the television.
"Time to see how well the internet on this baby works." Once Nick was seated Sebastian looked over at him. "What am I supposed to search?"
"Warblers school Hudson."
"You're kidding, right?" Blaine asked, before grabbing a brownie for himself.
"Afraid not, it seems the guys took Santana to grab a change of clothes after we left because they were going to the waterpark and they stopped at the Lima Bean before heading on their way."
"Is there anything else we need to know before starting?" Sebastian asked Nick once he had the video ready to go. "Who the hell is JBI?"
"He's McKinley's gossip columnist." Brittany replied. "He seems to find out the dirt on everyone. There is even a clip of you Sebby going off on Jake after you guys sang to me. There is also one of you guys singing too." The rest of the guys just looked at Brittany.
"Why didn't you tell me about that?" Jeff asked.
"I didn't think you guys would be interested in it." The guys all just shrugged their shoulders and decided they'd watch those clips after this newest one.
They ended up watching the video multiple times since they were all laughing too hard to catch all the little aspects of it. "I can't believe Beat had him pinned up against the wall while Dave and Thad laid a verbal smack down on him."
"I can considering the snide comment Finn supposedly made to Santana upon seeing her sitting on Beat's lap." Sebastian replied before hitting play again because he couldn't get enough of Santana throwing her coffee as well as Thad's at Finn. "Someone needs to invent slo-mo for YouTube videos."
"Nick, do you know what he said to her?" Blaine asked which soon brought all the attention in the room to him.
"I do and he's lucking we're here."
"Nick, you can't just say that and nothing more." Sebastian told him.
"He made a snide comment about her moving onto the next available Warblers now that we were gone."
"I don't buy that for one minute." Jeff said as calmly as he could. "It would take a lot more than that for Beat to do what he did. The man might be bigger than the rest of us, but I've never known him to do anything like this. And he didn't just have him pinned to the wall; he threw him against it before pinning him to it."
"It seems Hudson brings out the worst in all of us. Could we please watch the cute clip of Jeff singing to Britt please?" It was pretty clear to all of them that whatever happened was not something he wanted to talk about. But they hoped that in a couple days they would be able to get him to tell them the truth before they started searching out other sources.
After watching videos for quite a while the rest of them helped Nick bring his things to his room before calling it a night. When Blaine came out of the bathroom after brushing his teeth he saw Sebastian propped up in bed with his laptop. "Do I even want to know what you're looking at because you don't look happy?" Blaine asked before crawling into bed.
"Dave punched Finn after the video panned away from them. That's what all the commotion was while that JBI guy was doing his commentary."
"He did what?"
"You heard me B, Dave punched him."
"Bas, what really happened?"
"From what I was able to find out, seems this guy has a blog as well." Blaine just nodded remembering that from his time at McKinley. "From what someone at a table over relayed to him, Finn walked up to Santana and asked what she was doing there with the guys. And in true Santana fashion she stated the obvious with a bit of attitude considering we just left and I'm sure she was still pissed at him." Sebastian then slipped his arm around Blaine. "Guess he didn't like her sarcasm and was a bit of an ass."
"How much so?"
"What Nick said was pretty correct; he just left out quite a bit and accused her of using all of us. He said her relationship with Brittany must've just been a thing, because she looked like she was ready to jump on the next available guy now that her new best friend Nick was gone."
"He didn't?"
"He did according to the bystander. You have to remember this is all hearsay though, we won't know the truth till we hear it from either Santana or the guys."
"Do we know why she was sitting on Beat's lap and not in a chair?"
"Supposedly the Lima Bean was really busy and chairs were limited. They found a table with three chairs and got comfortable. It's not like Thad or Dave were going to sit on Beat's lap."
"Not sober they wouldn't." Blaine said trying to make light of the situation. "Now I understand what Rachel said when she said that they all thought Carole dropped him on his head as a baby. Have you been able to reach any of the guys?"
"I left messages for all three of them. I figured with as hesitant as Nick was this isn't something Santana wants to talk about."
"That was a good idea. Did I tell you he admitted he cares about her?"
"You did not. And when did this happen?"
"At the first rest stop."
"You got him talking about his feelings at a rest stop."
"I know, not the best place but I was curious." While Blaine was talking Sebastian's phone went off.
"It's Beat." Sebastian told him before answering. "Hey man, thanks for getting back to me. Do you mean if I put you on speaker, Blaine's here?"
"Not at all, go right ahead. Hey Blaine! I take it from your message you saw the video."
"We did and we'd like to know more about it."
"Let's just say be glad you're not here."
"You're about as descriptive as Nick was and that's not saying much."
"Speaking of Nick, let him know he can reach Santana at my place if she doesn't answer her cell."
"What is she doing at your house?"
"She couldn't bear to stay in Lima especially since her parents are on vacation. And since my place is so big we all felt it was the best option. She's staying in the guest room across the hall from me so Nick doesn't have to worry." There was a slight laugh from Beat when he spoke.
"What else happened man?"
"Oh, do you want to hear how Thad and I had to bail Dave out of jail?
"You had to do what?"
"You heard me. The cops showed up and instead of being a man about it, Finn pressed charges."
"How badly did Dave punch him?"
"Like Blaine did to Josh."
"Ouch. Is Dave okay?"
"Yea, his Dad is positive he can get the charges dropped since Dave was provoked. Surprisingly he wasn't mad at all since he was standing up for a young lady."
"You need to promise to keep us informed man."
"We will. And just so you know, this won't affect Dave coming out. And as much as I'd like to tell you more I can't because it's now an on-going case according to Dave's Dad."
"Alright we understand, we'll talk to you later man. And Beat; give Santana a hug from us."
"Will do. Later guys."