Two Steps Beyond

Part 50

By the time Cooper was done telling the story with a slight assist from Lexi, Blaine and Sebastian just looked at them. "So, what do you think of our little love affair?" Cooper asked as the plates from their appetizers were being cleared.

"I'm honestly shocked." Blaine replied. "Who knew you had it in you. Have you shared this story with Mom and Dad?"

"Yes, they've heard it. Mom was pretty impressed. She honestly thought I didn't have a romantic bone in my body. Even Dad was impressed that I proposed at the very same beach."

"That's seriously impressive. Like Mom and Dad I didn't know you had it in you. Now I'm curious, how long was it till Cassie came to the city?" Blaine asked.

"A couple of months later. After her handling of said actress her bosses basically offered her the world and she asked if she could transfer to the New York office. If you can't tell from talking to her, she's a New Yorker through and through."

"I noticed that, but Hunter doesn't have the accent." Sebastian said.

"That's because by the time Hunter was born they'd moved out of the city but she came back as much as possible. And when the opportunity arose to go to school out here she jumped all over it."

"Got it."

"Hey Lexi."

"Yes Blaine."

"Which book were you working on when you met Coop?" Lexi had to honestly stop to think and when she couldn't come up with it off the top of her head she pulled her phone out which shocked Sebastian.

"What happened to no phones at dinner?" Lexi just looked at him while Blaine and Cooper tried not to laugh, because Sebastian called her out on one of her biggest pet-peeves. Once she had the answer she told Blaine and put her phone away.

"And why did you want to know?"

"I'm curious to see if any bit of your love story made it into the book." Blaine replied. "Since you said he was basically on your mind constantly."

"I'm pretty sure it didn't, but feel free to let me know. Cassie and Tasha read that one pretty closely for that exact reason."

When the evening finally came to a close, Lexi couldn't wipe the smile off of her face. She truly had the best birthday she could remember and having dinner with those she loved was the perfect ending. After Blaine and Sebastian each gave her another hug and kiss and wished her happy birthday once more they just looked at Lexi and Cooper. "I just want to thank you both for joining us tonight."

"It was our pleasure." Sebastian told her. "And we're thrilled that you love your gifts."

"How could I not. A beautiful new scarf and a new pendant, doesn't get much better."

"Yes it does, Cooper's gift." Sebastian replied.

"No, they're all perfect because they came from all of you. So, what are you going to be doing now that everyone is gone?"

"Bas starts lacrosse tomorrow." Blaine replied.

"Ah, and what are you going to do while he's a practice?"

"I've got something planned." Blaine said with a smile that caught Sebastian's attention.

"What do you have planned B?"

"You'll find out soon enough." He replied with a smirk.

"Sounds like you're not going to find out Bas." Cooper said. "Blaine's pretty good at keeping quiet when he wants too. And if he wants to, it's always worth it."

"Thank you Coop."

"Anytime little brother. Now, we're going to get going. But like Lexi said, thank you so much for joining us tonight. We need to do this more often now that you guys are out here."

"Agreed." Cooper then gave them each a hug before they all headed outside to catch cabs back home.

Once Blaine and Sebastian got back home, they both just collapsed on the couch. "Did you have fun tonight B?"

"I did, you?"

"Same, though you had me worried for a while."

"Sorry about that."

"It's okay." Sebastian said while wrapping his arm around Blaine and bringing him against him. "You even freaked Cooper out."

"I know. I didn't mean too. It's just; I took what he said the wrong way."

"You do know how much you mean to him, right?"

"I do, which makes me feel worse honestly." While Blaine answered Sebastian loosened his tie and undid the top few buttons on his shirt. "I know it hurt him what I said, you could see it on his face. How could I honestly think he didn't want us around?"

"That's because a lot of old insecurities recently reared their head."

"I just wish they'd go away. The worst part is Cooper personally had nothing to do with it."

"You know he doesn't just see you as his brother anymore, right?"

"I know." There was something off about Blaine's voice when he answered that Sebastian took his other hand and turned Blaine's face towards him a bit.

"B, you're not only his brother, you're one of his best friends. Think about it, Jay knew Coop was going to marry Lexi. I think it's safe to say he's one of Cooper's best friends. Yet, instead of asking someone who'd been around since the moment he and Lexi met he asked you to be his best man on the most important day for them. He wanted you, his brother and friend, standing next to him. If I remember correctly he said he couldn't imagine anyone else standing next to him."

"Way to not make me feel worse Bas." Blaine said with a slight huff, to which Sebastian wrapped his arms around Blaine and pulled him onto his lap.

"I didn't say it to make you feel worse B. I said it to remind you how things are now. You and Cooper aren't in the same place you were when those feelings were dominating your thoughts. Cooper wants you around him because he likes spending time with you."

"I know that Bas, I like spending time with him too." Blaine sighed before continuing. "And before I forget, he asked us to do him a favor while you were dancing with Lexi."

"And what would that be?"

"That we stop in and check on her once he has to leave for the promotional tour."

"She's not going?"

"No, she's mid book and they don't want to be dragging Braeden and Jocelyn all over."

"Alright, we can do that. Now it makes sense why he wanted to have time today with her."

"Exactly, which is another reason why I feel bad for doubting him. I honestly felt like he only had us there out of obligation when he had said he wanted to spend the day with her."

"We both need to remember, that their life is going to be a whirlwind for the next few weeks. And try not to read too much into things." Blaine smiled at Sebastian who brushed one of his curls off of his face. "What?"

"You really are seeing this whole situation clearly."

"That's because I don't have the baggage attached, just like you see parts of my life so clearly." Sebastian then placed a soft kiss on his lips. "What do you say we take this to the bedroom?"

"And just what do you have in mind once we're in there?"

"I'm pretty sure you know considering we now have our place to ourselves and can be as loud and adventurous as we want."

"That sounds like an excellent idea."

When Blaine rolled over the next morning, his eyes slowly opened to see the bed was empty. He opened his eyes a bit more, his gaze going towards the bathroom when he remembered Sebastian was at lacrosse practice. A soft sigh escaped his lips as he sat up in bed. Even though they'd had sex while the guys had been visiting, it had been pretty tame which they more than made up for the night before. After pulling on a pair of boxers he slowly made his way to the kitchen for some coffee. With each step, a memory of the night before flashed in his mind, a smile creeping to his face. If he was this sore, he could only wonder how Sebastian felt. And knew it was going to be a long morning of practice for him.

After grabbing a cup out of the cabinet he noticed a piece of paper next to the coffee maker. Upon picking it up he sighed softly.

B,

Leaving you this morning absolutely sucks. I wanted nothing more than to wake you up and pick up where we left off last night. But you looked so peaceful sleeping, your curls going every which way that I just couldn't disturb you. So know that while I'm at practice, I'm going to be thinking about you and that fabulous ass of yours every opportunity I get.

Love,
Your Bas

PS: If it makes you feel better, I can barely walk this morning after what you did to me. Practice is going to be interesting.

Once he poured himself a cup of coffee, he headed for their bedroom to take a shower knowing he had to get started on his project for Sebastian for their anniversary. After his shower, Blaine got dressed then made their bed before heading for the living room, more specifically, the piano. Shortly after he got situated with his sheet music and his computer, Blaine sent a short text to Nick and Jeff letting them know to just come right in whenever they arrived. The last thing he wanted was to be in the middle of something and have to stop to answer the door.

With the lyrics he'd been writing for weeks open on his computer, it was time to start putting music to them. As he toyed around on the piano, he still couldn't believe he'd managed to write a song without Sebastian finding out. It truly was remarkable what one could accomplish in little moments scattered throughout a day. Or those moments when Sebastian would fall asleep on his lap after a long morning out and about.

Blaine was so engrossed in what he was working on that he didn't even hear his friends arrive an hour or so later. It wasn't till he stopped playing for a moment that Jeff spoke up. "That sounds great, what is it?" Blaine looked up from the piano and saw Jeff, Nick, and Santana standing just on the other side of the piano.

"You're going to think it's silly."

"I doubt that, so tell us." Nick told him.

"Alright, I wrote a song for Bas for our anniversary." He then looked around. "Where's Britt?"

"She's at dance class but should be here soon. And no, it's not silly. It's actually pretty sweet and fits the two of you well." Jeff replied. "Care to use us as a test audience?"

"Afraid not, the first person to hear the finished product after me will be Bas. But once he hears it, I'll let you guys hear it if you still want."

"Of course we're going to want to hear it." Santana told him. "And how did I not know you write music?"

"That's because it's a little secret Blaine doesn't share with many people." Nick told her.

"If it's a secret, how do you know?"

"That's because he and Jeff caught me writing in the common room on more than one occasion." Blaine told her while gathering the sheet music he had on the piano.

"Don't stop on our account." Jeff told him.

"I'm not, Bas will be back soon and I really don't want him to get any more curious than he already is about what I'm doing while he's at practice. Now Nick, how did your Mom react to your little bit of news?"

"She was ecstatic." Nick told him. "And asked me what took me so damn long."

"And what did you tell her?"

"That Santana and I had to figure it out first."

"Did you share the news with anyone Santana?" Blaine asked after sliding the music into a folder.

"I told my parents, who are probably as happy as Nick's. My Mom told me all she wants is for me to be happy and it doesn't matter whether that's with a boy or a girl." As Santana spoke they made their way over to the couches while Blaine hid the folder.

"B, remind me that we shouldn't use the cuffs when I have prac…" Sebastian stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing that Blaine wasn't alone, his face turning bright red after seeing the looks on Jeff, Nick, and Santana's faces. "I'm going to go lock myself in our bedroom for a bit….ugh." Before Sebastian could say anything else, Blaine walked up to him and wrapped his arms around him.

"You're not going anywhere. Come, sit." Blaine told him before giving him a kiss. Once they were settled on the couch, Sebastian just looked at their friends.

"So you two use handcuffs, wanky." Santana said from her spot against Nick on the couch.

"We knew you two experimented, but who knew you were that kinky." Nick said with a wink.

"Don't you have anything to add Jeff?" Sebastian asked as he relaxed against Blaine who was holding him close. After glancing back at Blaine, Sebastian was surprised by how comfortable Blaine seemed regarding the conversation they were having, which helped him relax even more.

"Did you two have fun?" Jeff asked.

"We did." Blaine replied, as a mischievous smile crept to his face. "Lots of it."

"Now Seb, how'd you convince our sweet, innocent Blaine to try handcuffs?" Santana asked.

"He bought them." Sebastian replied. "They were one of my Valentine's Day gifts." Santana's eyes grew wide as did Nick and Jeff's since they thought the same as Santana, that the cuffs were Sebastian's idea.

"Why Blaine Anderson, you kinky devil, I'm impressed."

"Thank you Santana. Now, how long till Britt gets…" Blaine's words were cut off by the doorbell.

"I'll get it." Jeff said since the others were so comfortable. While Jeff went to get the door, Blaine placed a kiss on top of Sebastian's head.

"How was the first practice?"

"Good, our coach isn't as much of a slave driver as the one at Dalton which is surprising though it's still early. And he told me he likes what he sees from me so far. Also seems Nate told him quite a bit about me, he was anxious to meet me."

"Sounds like you had a good day. It's going to take a while to get used to waking up to an empty bed."

"It sucked leaving this morning."

"Understandable. By the way, thanks for the note."

"You're welcome."

"Hi Blaine! Hi Sebby!" Brittany said once she and Jeff entered the living room.

"Hey Britt, how was class?" Sebastian asked.

"Good. I'm learning a lot."

"That's good. Brody told us you're really good." Blaine told her.

"He did?"

"Yes, he did." Sebastian replied, bringing an even bigger smile to Brittany's face. "So, we ready to do this?"

"We are." Nick replied as Sebastian managed to grab his laptop off the coffee table without moving much. With a little help from Blaine he got it opened up and quickly uploaded the picture and captioned it New York Love. Once he tagged everyone in the photo all of their phones went off.

"Let the fun begin!" Now that the photo was uploaded Sebastian set his laptop on the floor and pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Any bets who will be the first to comment?"

"I'd guess Thad or Dave." Nick said, which Jeff agreed with.

"And you're wrong." Blaine said with a smile. "The honor goes to Wes and his, great pic and perfect caption. Miss you guys already!" Blaine had barely finished reading Wes's comment when lots of others started to appear.

"Got to give you Warblers credit, everyone is keeping their comments vague." Santana said.

"I think the guys are afraid of your wrath." Jeff said with a smile. "Like Seb, we like this version of you. No one will be stupid enough to say anything until you two do."

"Okay, now that we have numerous comments for the photo, who would like to venture a guess on the first McKinley comment? Or the first one questioning Nick and Santana?" Sebastian asked.

"First McKinley one will probably be either Artie or Tina." Santana replied. "While the first questioning one, will probably be Tina as well."

"It's Sam." Brittany replied. "He said nice pic, hope you're having fun."

"You had to know Sam wouldn't notice Santana on Nick's lap with their arms wrapped around each other." Blaine said. "I like Sam and all, but he's not the most observant."

"I still think it was excellent thinking putting the picture on Blaine's page so everyone would see it." Santana said.

"Awww, Rachel thinks we all look cute." Nick said after she finished. "And that we need another one with her and Brody in it."

"The girl has got a point." Sebastian said. "One of the eight of us would be nice."

"Told you, Tina! Santana exclaimed. "Looking rather comfy on Nick's lap Santana, something going on?"

"And Beat's got your back, where else was she supposed to sit, it's a loveseat holding six people." Jeff read with a laugh.

"I can see that Beat, but they look pretty close regardless." Blaine read once Tina responded.

"Should we put them out of their misery?" Nick asked.

"Not yet, I have a feeling someone is going to freak out over the picture and then we share our news." Santana said before leaning back to kiss Nick.

"Got to love that you're waiting to share it till someone freaks." Sebastian told her.

"Share the love guys, you've got your first major notice and it's not who you'd expect." Blaine said. "It's Mercedes. She said, "Uh uh; I know that look Lopez, you're totally with Nick, aren't you?" Or, do you want a Kurt-esque freak-out?"

"No, that'll come when we share the love." Santana replied. "So shall we Duval?" Nick just smiled and they both made that quick little change that they knew was going to be instantly noticed. The Warblers started filling Nick and Santana's pages with lots of love and support while they all waited for what they knew was going to come.

"Noah really is eloquent." Sebastian said. "His response to your announcement, "What the Fuck Lopez?"

"Only Puck." Santana replied, before tossing her phone aside. "It feels nice not having to hide anymore."

"I know exactly how you feel." Nick said.

"Wow, Rachel really got through to Finn. He just apologized to both of you." Jeff said. "Now I know why you were both so pissed, I'm so sorry."

Once their phones quieted down they all just sat back. Blaine flipped on the television and they tried to find something to watch. The idea of just lounging around all day was pretty appealing to all of them considering all the running around they'd been doing. They all must've dozed off at some point because they all got startled when the doorbell rang and Sebastian somehow ended up on the floor. After looking at everyone, Sebastian got himself up off the floor to get the door while everyone else was still waking up. When he opened the door he was surprised to see Tasha standing there. "I'm so sorry Seb, were you sleeping?"

"Yea, but that's okay. Come on in." He said while stepping aside. "So, what brings you by?" Tasha then handed Sebastian an envelope. "Here's the new issue. Is Blaine here?"

"You know you could've messengered it over like last time, right? And yes, Blaine's in the living room with everyone else."

"I'm sorry, you guys have company." Tasha said as they reached the ended of the hall.

"It's okay Tasha." Blaine said. "What do we owe this visit?"

"She personally delivered the new issue." Sebastian said after asking Tasha to take a seat. "But B's right, what brings you by?"

"If you want, we can go make ourselves scarce?" Jeff said.

"No, it's nothing like that. I just needed to get out of the office for a little bit and thought I'd bring these by. If I do say so, these are even better than the first ones." Tasha then looked over to the other couch where Nick and Santana were seated. "And I should've known you were all together."

"Why do I have a feeling that someone freaked out earlier today?" Sebastian asked.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Seb."

"Right. So you just decided to get out of the office and come here when you could've easily gone to bother Lexi."

"Let me put it this way, if you guys wanted ultimate shock value, you succeeded." Tasha words caused most of them to grab their phones, curious as to what they missed while they all slept.