Two Steps Beyond
Part 40
Lexi and Blaine had just finished up inside when his phone went off with a message from Sebastian stating that Logan said they were just about ten minutes out. After getting Lexi's reassurance she'd give the inside one last look over, Blaine headed out to be with the rest of the guys. "It looks amazing out here."
"Thank you." Cooper replied.
"I know you had help, but thank you."
"You don't think we overdid it on the pier, do you?" Sebastian asked while sliding an arm around Blaine's shoulders.
"Not at all, but there is definitely no denying we're having a party."
"You can say that again, quite a few people stopped by while we were decorating." Beat told him. "So, are we waiting up here or down by the pier?"
"I think we should wait up here because he's going to be shocked when they dock." Nick said.
"But I'd like to see his reaction." Jeff said.
"Don't worry, the girls promised to record it." Wes told them.
Knowing they were almost there, Cooper had Cameron kick the party into gear. While the guys were all waiting for the boat to appear, Cassie walked over to them and handed them a set of binoculars. "I thought you guys might need them. She then pointed in the direction from which they'd be arriving.
"Safe to say Dave just spotted the decorations." Trent said after handing off the binoculars. "He was pointing and turned to the girls." While he spoke, Sebastian took a look for himself and could see just what Trent was talking about.
"Question, is Dave the last one of the "seniors" to turn eighteen?" Sebastian asked.
"I think he is, the rest of us are legal adults."
"Lord help us all." They all turned to see Tasha standing behind them. "You boys did well."
"Thank you." Blaine replied just as Hunter turned to dock. The guys couldn't help but laugh as Dave was escorted up the pier and to the house with Brittany and Hailey on either arm. "Judging from that smile he had a good time."
"He did, wait till you see the pictures the guys took." Sebastian told him.
After everyone wished Dave a happy birthday again, the party got into full gear. "Have you seen Santana?" Nick asked Logan and Blaine.
"She is down near the pool still talking with Hunter." Logan replied, before heading off to get something to drink.
"I'm sure it's nothing." Blaine replied.
"Of course it is." They both then looked down towards the pool and saw what looked to be a pretty private conversation considering they were both looking around to make sure no one was approaching.
"What do you think they're talking about?"
"Judging from the look on her face, she's up to something."
"You do realize, any other guy would be nervous right now."
"I know, but I'm not."
"I know you're not, I was just stating a fact because Hunter is good-looking."
"He is, but when it comes to Santana I'm her only exception."
"Are you now? If I didn't know better I'd think you were hanging around Bas too much because you sound rather cocky Mr. Duval."
"You mean that same cockiness that you're so attracted to on Seb, Mr. Anderson?"
"Good point." They were just finishing up their conversation when Hunter and Santana came racing up the stairs with smiles on their faces. "Nice job at keep Dave occupied."
"Glad you made good use of your time." Hunter replied before Nick and Santana headed off to get something to eat. "How long were you guys watching the two of us talking?"
"Long enough, did Santana notice?"
"No, I had the better angle."
"Looks like the two of you didn't want to be interrupted."
"Not as much interrupted, we didn't want certain individuals to hear our conversation. She was asking me for a favor."
"That's impressive, because Santana doesn't do that much unless she trusts you."
"Then I count myself as lucky, though not as lucky as Nick and Jeff. You never told me Brittany and Santana dated."
"I'll fill you in on that later, now it's time to enjoy ourselves."
"And here I thought you were going to ask what Santana asked of me."
"That's between you and her."
"Much appreciated, but just know you'll find out soon enough." Hunter then winked at Blaine before heading off.
"What was that about?" Sebastian asked as he came up behind Blaine.
"Santana is up to something and asked Hunter for help."
"So I heard."
"From who?"
"Brittany. She said Santana was asking Hunter to help them out with something they have in mind for when we all do karaoke next."
"You got more details than I did. Is there any particular reason why they asked Hunter for help and not any of us?"
"Has something to do with something he did on the boat. Santana thought he'd be perfect for what they have in mind."
"Who are they?"
"The girls."
"Knowing that look on Santana's face all too well, the guys are in for a treat."
"I was thinking the same thing while the rest of the guys are going to be wishing they were their boyfriends."
Being in Southampton definitely had its benefits, besides the beautiful views. This was one of the first parties the guys had had in a while that they weren't afraid of unwanted guests appearing. At one point a bunch of the guys were just looking over at Dave who was basically being doted on by the girls. "Is it wrong to wish it was my birthday?" Logan asked.
"Not at all." Jeff replied. "Though I have a feeling they're going a bit overboard after the way Dave defended Santana's honor. But if you'll all excuse me, I'm going to go and steal my girlfriend away for a bit." While Jeff made his way down to the pool he could hear the comments coming from his friends.
"Compared to last summer, I'd say this is a success so far." Thad said.
"I don't know, last summer was pretty special." Sebastian said as he and Blaine walked up to the railing.
"Okay for you two, yes though it wasn't till the end when you two got together. Plus you Seb spent your summer in New York while the rest of us spent most of our in Ohio."
"Regardless of which was better, let's just be happy we're all together this year and that next school year we won't be too far from each other." Blaine said.
"Leave it to you to be logical."
"One of us has to be." Sebastian replied. "Now, we're going to take Jeff's lead and head down to the pool, you guys coming?" To which they all nodded and headed towards the pool.
Once the sun started to set, things started to quiet down a bit, but they surely didn't calm down any. One of the main differences was now most of them were dancing versus swimming. "Is there a girl Dave hasn't danced with yet?" Beat asked to no one in particular.
"I don't think so considering even my wife danced with him." The guys all turned to see Cooper taking a sip out of his beer. "What?"
"I'm just surprised you allowed it." Blaine said.
"You know my wife well enough, would you tell her no?"
"Very true, plus it's not like dirty dancing was taking place." Thad said.
"That's because he knows Cooper would kill him." Jeff said.
"Like you weren't keeping your eyes on him when he was dancing with Brittany?"
"Oh, I was. Not going to deny that. But he kept his hands in appropriate places."
"Do the rest of us get to know what you and Wes were working on?" Blaine asked.
"You'll see soon. Cassie is just making sure everything is set up since we need to do this inside."
"You guys made a montage for him, didn't you?" Thad asked.
"We did, and I need you all to promise to protect Wes and I."
"What did the two of you do?" Sebastian asked.
"Let's just say the pictures aren't all from his Warbler years, his parents sent a few at Wes's insistence."
"This is going to be good." Nick replied just before Cassie came walking out to tell them everything was ready to go when they were.
Once everyone got settled inside the house, Jeff and Brittany as well as Wes and Hailey situated themselves on the couches furthest away from Dave who was flanked by Thad and Beat. "They are truly making it too obvious." Sebastian whispered into Blaine's ear after they got situated on the floor. Knowing this was probably something Dave wasn't going to want others seeing, Cooper, Lexi, and the rest of their friends headed outside.
"Are we ready to begin?" Hunter asked with remote in hand.
"Are you ready birthday boy?" Rachel asked.
"Let's do this." Dave replied.
Within the first couple of minutes Dave was eyeing daggers at both Wes and Jeff for including so many baby pictures, but was stopped from coming off the couch by Thad and Beat. But once the pictures moved into his childhood his anxiety lessened and he started to enjoy himself. And once the Dalton years started the comments started flying since it wasn't just pictures but there was plenty of video as well. Not to say they weren't beforehand, but it had mainly been the girls commenting about how cute he was.
"! Love you both!" Sebastian exclaimed when he heard the opening bars of Bob Seger's Old Time Rock n' Roll before the image of Dave sliding across the floor began. Dave tried to bury his head behind Beat, but he and Thad held him up and made him watch. For those that weren't there that night, got to witness Dave doing his best Tom Cruise impersonation, with the only change being that Dave still had his Dalton tie hanging loosely around his neck and instead of briefs he was dancing in boxers.
"Please tell me you guys can make copies of this?" Santana asked prior to asking Hunter to replay that bit of video.
"I'll never look at those couches the same." Sebastian said with a laugh.
"Says he who had a full on makeout session with Blaine on one of them." Dave said.
"Not denying that, but we were fully clothed. And do I even want to ask how you know that entire dance?"
"Blame Nick and his obsession with eighties movies."
By the time the video ended Dave had a huge smile on his face and thanked Jeff and Wes, even though he still wanted to kill them for the use of so many baby pictures. "Does anyone know of something we might've forgotten today?" Blaine asked.
"You guys haven't brought out Dave's birthday cake yet." Brittany said with a smile.
"I think the lady is right B. So why don't the rest of you head outside while we get it?" After everyone was outside Sebastian went with Blaine to the garage where they were storing the cake. "I think today can be considered a success, what do you think be?"
"Agreed, Dave is definitely happy. And I think we surprised him by just how over-the-top we went."
"You might've gone overboard, but it was the right decision."
With as late as the party ran the night before, it wasn't surprising that they were slow to get up in the morning. Jeff and Brittany had just walked out onto the deck when Sebastian waved them over. "Um, not that I'm nosy, but by chance do you know if Nick and Santana are up yet?"
"They're up, but I have a feeling you might not see them for a while, though it's not for the reason that's probably come to your mind. What's going on with Dave?"
"He's talking with his Dad." Blaine replied. "From what we caught before he walked away there has been a change."
"Not the best call to get the day after your birthday." Jeff replied. "I really can't believe Finn was such a punk."
"Things might not be what you think." Jeff looked over his shoulder and saw Rachel and Brody standing behind them.
"And just what do you know?" Jeff asked.
"Let's just say I made a phone call yesterday." Rachel replied.
"And he didn't hang up on you?" Blaine asked.
"It's hard to hang up on me when Puck, Sam, and Mike are all there."
"Why did you do it?" Sebastian asked.
"Because Finn was wrong on so many levels, and Dave doesn't deserve to be the brunt of his frustrations. Finn is jealous of the fact that all of you, as well as Brittany and Santana are getting out of Ohio."
"He had the same opportunities." Jeff said.
"I know, and I reminded him of that. It's not all of your faults that he's stuck. It really stung the fact that Brittany was leaving. He couldn't believe that her parents were honestly letting her go."
"They let me go because they trust Jeff to look out for me. Plus they knew Blaine and Sebby as well as Nick were going to be there."
"I know. I told him he needed to drop the pettiness and just move on. And that he knows in all honesty, he deserved having coffee thrown at him. The guys verbally go off on him. And if he had refrained from making one last comment I doubt Dave would've punched him, but he truly deserved it."
"Do you think he listened?" Blaine asked.
"I think so, but then I took a page out of Seb and Santana's playbook."
"And just what page was that?" Sebastian asked.
"I told him that if he didn't drop the charges against Dave I'd let his Mom know just what prompted the whole situation. I highly doubt he let her know just what he said to Santana to insight everything."
"I must say, I'm very proud of you Rachel." Sebastian told her.
"Thank you. So hopefully right now Dave's Dad is giving him a belated birthday present."
"Jeff, what's going on with Nick and Santana?" Blaine asked.
"They were curled up in bed and she had her phone out in front of them when I poked my head in to see if they were coming out."
"Wonderful."
"Rachel?" Blaine said.
"Alright, maybe I expressed the importance of him apologizing to Santana for everything. The same to you Britt and Jeff"
"So this is what you were doing last night?" Brody asked with a rather proud look on his face. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want to tell anyone till I knew it worked, hell even now I don't know for sure but considering the smile on Dave's face I'd say it did." Any doubts Rachel might've been having were soon put to the wayside when Dave high-fived Thad, Beat, and the rest of the guys on his way towards them.
"Judging from your mood, that was good news." Sebastian said.
"You could say that, all charges have been dropped."
"I think you need to thank Rachel." Blaine said, bringing Dave's eyes to her.
"What did you do?" Dave asked.
"I made a phone call yesterday and basically told Finn to stop being an idiot."
"I don't know how I'm ever going to thank you." Dave said before pulling her into a hug.
"You don't need to, honestly. It was the right thing to do, Finn was wrong and he knows it. Basically the only reason he pressed charges is because he was embarrassed that you knocked him on his ass at the Lima Bean in front of a bunch of people that he knows."
"Regardless, I thank you so much." Dave then looked at Brody. "Do you mind if I give her a kiss?"
"Go right ahead as along as she doesn't mind."
"Kiss away." Rachel said with a smile before Dave leaned down to kiss her. "I'm really so happy for you now."
"Thanks, I didn't realize how worried I was until this huge sense of relief washed over me."
It was almost an hour later when Nick and Santana came walking outside. By that time, everyone was down by the pool relaxing. "They live!" Sebastian called out from his spot in the middle of the pool.
"Cute Seb." Nick said before they sat down on one of the chaises. "I'm pretty sure you knew we were since Jeff saw us already this morning."
"True, but one never knows what could've happened during that time. We were almost going to send Cooper looking for you."
"Why Cooper and not Cassie or Hunter considering it's their home?"
"That's because Cooper would be least offended by anything he might see."
"Seb, nothing would've bothered Cass or I." Hunter told him.
"Good to know for future instances. So, are you going to share what took you so long to get out here or do we need to let our imaginations fly?"
"If you let your imagination fly, I doubt Nick and I would even be out here." Santana replied before taking her cover-up off. "And if you didn't realize Hunter, we're a pretty open group."
"I've noticed."
"We were actually on the phone. That reminds me, where's Rachel?"
"She should be back soon; she had gone up to their room to get something. I'm surprised you didn't see her on your way out." Blaine said. "But since you're looking for her, it's safe to presume you were talking to he who must not be named."
"Yes, and he royally kissed my ass in apologizing for his awful behavior."
"Was the apology acceptable Nick?" Jeff asked.
"It was actually. Much better than that one he tried to pass off at the party. He even apologized for questioning her relationships with all of us."
"And Nick here refrained from questioning his intelligence when he asked what I saw in all of you."
"Stimulating conversation, right guys?"
"With the rest of us, yes. You're a whole other story Duval." Beat replied.
"What can I say; I'm a class of my own." That comment was greeted by a kiss on the cheek from Santana.
"Judging from your demeanor someone must've called you." Rachel said to Santana.
"You are correct, thank you." Santana said before giving Rachel a hug.
"Like I told Dave, no thanks are necessary. He really knew that how he acted was wrong; he was just too stubborn to admit it."
"Do I want to know how you did it?"
"She threatened to tell Carole." Blaine said.
"That is something I would've done. Who knew you had it in you."
"I needed to make sure he knew I wasn't kidding around. The last thing he wanted was for his Mom to know what he said. Plus, seeing you happy I didn't want anything he could say to wreck it. Personally I'm impressed you didn't go after him after he insinuated that Nick wasn't really a friend to you."
"That's because Nick here got offended first so I had to do damage control. Otherwise our cover would've been blown."
"Before I forget and I should've said it earlier, but Britt, Jeff, expect phone calls as well."
"He doesn't have my number." Jeff replied.
"He's going to call Britt and apologize to both of you as well."
"Why do I have a feeling you're not the only one that got on him for what he did." Blaine said.
"That's because your instinct is correct, most of the guys from the New Directions did as well. They thought what he did was wrong as well. Sam told him he got what he deserved and the others all agreed."