Two Steps Beyond
Part 80
By the time the foursome returned from playing tennis there were quite a few more people at the house. As they made their way outside they looked around at all the additional people. "These are Hunter's crewmates." Sebastian said with a smile as he wrapped his arm around Wes's shoulders. "Think of the Warblers, but crazier."
"Crazier?" Rachel asked.
"Yes, by a lot."
"Where are the rest of the girls?" Hailey asked.
"Poolside taking in the diving competition. If you hurry you'll make it down before round two starts." Rachel and Hailey looked at each other before giving their boyfriends a kiss and heading down the stairs to the pool.
"How was tennis?" Sebastian asked as they all started to head down to the pool as well.
"Interesting." Wes said with a laugh.
"That must be because of Rachel."
"How'd you guess?" Brody asked.
"Blaine said athletically speaking she doesn't have much coordination."
"You could say that again, but she tries." Wes said. "Though, I'm pretty sure Brody's going to have one heck of a bruise on his shin by later today."
"Do I even want to ask?"
"She got a little over zealous." Brody replied just as they reached the row of chaise loungers that were all filled.
"Have they started back up yet?" Sebastian asked as he sat back down next to Blaine.
"No, but they're about too."
"Should I ask what started all this?" Wes asked.
"Thad did a twisting flip into the pool." Blaine replied. "Then from there they all started to try and top each other. So the rest of us that aren't taking part decided to be judges." Wes and Brody noticed they all had white boards in their hands.
"Where did you get all of those?"
"Cass had them in her office." Hunter replied as he got out of the pool. "Are you guys going to join in?"
"Who's all taking part?" Brody asked.
"Most of the guys except for Blaine, Seb, and Jeff."
"And why aren't you guys taking part?" Wes asked.
"Once you see the rest of them, you'll know why." Blaine replied.
"That explains why Jeff is sitting with Brittany and Santana."
"It's also a space issue." As Blaine answered Quinn came back down to join them on the lounger. "So, either find yourself a place to sit or show us what you can do."
The next part of the day was spent with everyone just enjoying themselves and basically seeing just how crazy they all were. Sebastian, Blaine, and Hunter were all relieved at how well everyone was getting along with each other. The last thing they wanted was for a serious clash in personalities. Once some of the girls went to play badminton, Blaine looked over at Jeff and motioned for him to come closer so they could talk.
"Yes."
"Are you going to tell us what you did this morning or not?"
"And what are you implying Blaine?" Jeff asked.
"We know you and Britt were woken up sooner than you would've liked by some extracurricular activities." Sebastian said.
"I'd ask how, but I'm sure Britt didn't mean to tell you why we were woken up."
"She didn't. Hunter and I put the pieces together from things she said. And it didn't help that when Nick finally came downstairs the smile he had on his face confirmed everything."
"Well, if you heard them, you'd know why he was smiling."
"So, did you confront him?" Blaine asked.
"I did, but after the fact. I was tempted to bust in on them but considering they've only got a couple more days I decided against it."
"That was sweet of you."
"Yes, but I also live with him so to say I might've done the same thing to him on more than one occasion is possible."
"But you're room is on the other side." Sebastian said.
"Like you two, do you really think it only happens in the bedroom."
"Why do I have the feeling you two have caught each other on more than one occasion."
"Because you're brilliant Blaine."
"He is, isn't he?" Sebastian said before leaning over to give Blaine a kiss on the cheek. "Which reminds me, we're going to put up Nick and Santana the weekend of yours and Brittany's anniversary."
"Are you serious?"
"Of course we are. It's the least we can do. And if you need us to do anything else, just ask."
"I appreciate that. And so you guys know, they can get a bit loud."
"We'll put them on the other side of the apartment." Blaine told him. "That way we don't have to hear them and they don't have to hear us."
By the time Monday morning rolled around most of Hunter's crewmates had headed back to the city. While the others were busy helping Hunter get the house cleaned up and they convinced Nick and Santana to enjoy what was left of their morning. "They don't look as miserable as I expect they would." Thad said as he helped Blaine fold towels.
"That's because she'll be in the city quite a bit this week. And from what she told me, she's going to be in town two to three days a week."
"Is she going to be spending the weekends with him?"
"She is."
"Good. As strange as it seemed at first, it seems completely normal seeing them together like this now."
"Agreed. How are things going with you?"
"They're going well. Obviously they're nowhere as serious as the rest of you, but things are good. And with lacrosse, I don't need to be trying to balance things with a serious relationship. How are you and Seb going to handle things?"
"Surprisingly, it won't be too bad. I've got a few late classes so they'll be going on while he's at practice. Most of our nights are going to be spent studying so it'll be a lot like Dalton, besides seeing each other during the day."
"That must be a relief for both of you."
"It is. There is only one thing about my schedule he isn't thrilled with."
"What's that?"
"My Tuesday night class."
"Night class?"
"Yea, but it's not too late. All it means is Tuesday's we won't see much of each other, but it'll make our Wednesday date night's more enjoyable."
"Sounds like you two have things under control."
"I think we do. We were both pretty relieved when we compared schedules."
"Are you going to be seeing Jeff a lot?"
"Quite a bit actually. One of the classes we have together is actually the night class. Our three schedules mesh better than Nick's does with any of ours. His is crazy."
"I saw that. He's hoping it's better next semester."
"For his sake I hope so. At least he'll have quite a bit of time to get things done at school. He's got large gaps in his schedule, but not enough to go home and relax in-between."
"And what are the two of you talking about?" Sebastian asked as he wrapped his arms around Blaine from behind.
"Class schedules and how frakked up Nick's is." Blaine replied.
"That's a good way to describe Nick's. At least it'll help him keep his mind off of Santana. And remember man, Sunday brunch is still a go."
"That I won't forget. I have a feeling we're all going to need our weekly get-togethers more than we realize." Thad said. "Now, am I the only one that's going to find it odd the first time we have to play against each other?"
"No." Sebastian replied. "It's going to be weird, not only for us, but everyone else as well. They don't know who to root for."
"Blaine, I'll save you the hassle, I won't be offend if you don't cheer for me."
"How gracious of you Thad."
"What can I say? You did know Wes, Trent, Dave, and Beat plan on coming to see us play when we're at their schools."
"That I do know." Sebastian replied. "How are you getting back to the city since you rode out here with Beat?"
"We're riding back with Nick so he doesn't have to make the drive alone. Hunter offered to drive us as well."
"That works well then, B and I were curious."
"I appreciate the concern."
Once the house was cleaned up and everything was put away they all got ready to leave. After they all said their goodbyes, they stood by their cars as they waited for Brittany and Nick to say their goodbyes to Santana. "Good thing they're going to be close." Quinn said to Dave and Thad.
"Tell us about it."
While Nick helped Santana into Beat's car, Jeff got Brittany settled as well. "That's going to be a long ride home for all of them." Blaine said quietly to Sebastian who nodded in agreement.
After they were all on the road their heads cleared a bit. "Ready for everything tomorrow B?"
"As ready as I can be. I can't believe everything we have to juggle this first week."
"Me either, but we'll manage. Plus it helps that Tasha said school comes first so if we can't make something she'll understand as long as we call her."
"That is a relief. There are only two things we absolutely can't miss out on. Are we dropping your car off tonight or tomorrow?"
"Tonight so we don't have to mess with it this week. We have too much going on."
When they finally arrived home after dropping the car off, Sebastian took their bags to their room while Blaine got comfortable on the couch. Upon seeing Sebastian walk back into the room Blaine sat up enough so that he could sit down. "Anything interesting?" Sebastian asked once he noticed Blaine going through the mail.
"Not…here." Blaine then handed an envelope to Sebastian. "You okay?" Blaine asked as he noticed Sebastian's expression change.
"We'll find out soon enough." He replied as he opened the letter. Even though he had more mail to go through, Blaine couldn't take his eyes off of Sebastian as he read. "They busted his ass."
"Are you serious?"
"Yep. According to Will they were following a lead when on one of Jean's more illicit activities when they caught him with a fourteen year old kid."
"Does he say what they caught him doing?"
"Not exactly, but knowing Jean, I've got a good idea and you don't want to know." Sebastian laughed softly when he saw Blaine cringe. "Exactly my thought as well B."
"I can't believe Will got him, and it's all thanks to you Bas."
"You're giving me way too much credit B."
"You gave them information they didn't have which panned out. So now, no more boys are going to get caught up in his web. I know he had to be pretty smooth."
"Why is that?"
"Because he managed to snag you." Blaine said as he sat up. "Did Will say anything else?" As he continued to speak Blaine moved onto Sebastian's lap.
"Not really, but he'll keep me informed." Sebastian glanced up at Blaine who was now unbuttoning his shirt. "And what are you doing?"
"What does it look like?"
"I know what it looks like, I want to know why?"
"I think we should celebrate, plus we behaved for the most part all weekend."
"I think the others more than made up for it."
"I think so too." By this point Blaine had Sebastian's shirt completely undone and was running his hands over his chest. "You actually got quite a bit of sun this weekend."
"So did you." Sebastian said as he pulled Blaine's shirt out of his pants. Once he'd done that Blaine raised his arms so Sebastian could pull it off. "We lucked out with the weather."
"That we did." Blaine said as he leaned in close and started to kiss Sebastian's neck. As Sebastian pulled him a bit closer a soft sigh escaped both of their lips. Just as Sebastian pulled Blaine back so he could kiss him the doorbell rang. They looked at each other for a moment as if they were both trying to decide whether to ignore it or not. Blaine then sighed rather loudly before placing a kiss on Sebastian's lips before getting off of his lap.
"You're kidding me, right B?"
"Better now than if it happened a few minutes later." He replied before grabbing his shirt from the floor. "Hopefully whoever it is doesn't want to stay long." Sebastian mumbled as he got up off the couch and began rebuttoning his shirt. He'd only gotten a couple of them done before he ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. At that moment the only thing he wanted to do is take Blaine into their bedroom and get lost in each other for the rest of the night. After looking through the peephole he sighed once again.
"Hey Dad." He said upon opening the door. All it took was one look at Sebastian for Mr. Smythe to know he interrupted something.
"Hey. I guess I should've called."
"You probably should've." Sebastian said as he closed the door behind him. "What can I or we do for you?"
"I was hoping we could talk, but…hi Blaine."
"Mr. Smythe." Blaine could feel the blush forming in his cheeks once he spotted Sebastian with his Dad. "How was your weekend?"
"Productive, yours?"
"It was really good. Um, I'm going to go unpack while you two talk."
"You don't have to go Blaine, you should probably stay. That way Seb doesn't have to repeat what I'm going to tell him." Blaine nodded and sat back down.
"Can I get you anything to drink Dad?"
"I'm good, but thank you for asking." Mr. Smythe replied as he took a seat opposite from where Blaine was sitting. "And before I say anything else, I'm sorry for not calling before coming over."
"It's alright Dad." Sebastian said as he sat down next to Blaine. "So, what do you want to talk to us about that you couldn't talk to us when we dropped the car off?"
"I didn't talk to you at your sister's because this whole situation pisses her off every time we talk about it. And Cooper isn't much better. To say they're disgusted by what's going on is an understatement."
"Okay, so talk."
Once Mr. Smythe began, Blaine and Sebastian had flashes back to their conversation with Wes after Sebastian blurted out what was going on. Wes reminded them that people with money and power can make things happen. And from what the two boys were hearing, Mr. Smythe wasn't playing games. If anything, Sebastian was seeing where a part of his personality came from, it was his Dad. It seemed since the boys left Mr. Smythe was getting in touch with everyone he knew that had any sort of political pull.
Some of the people he'd spoken with were people with serious connections and pull within not only the city but outside it as well. It was pretty clear that those with old money had more connections than people might realize. And considering how long the Smythe family had been in Manhattan, their reach was far and wide. In the few days Mr. Smythe had been in town he'd found out more information than either of the boys could believe. He'd found out exactly who was involved in seeing that Trevor Jackson wasn't punished for the crime he'd blatantly committed.
"Mr. Smythe, I thought those files were sealed." Blaine said, slightly shocked by what he was hearing.
"Most of them were, but quite a bit of what happened is public record. And those responsible for seeing that those records didn't see the light of day didn't do their job very well. From what I've been told, everyone involved with the case was shocked by the outcome."
"Then how come there wasn't any outrage?" Sebastian asked.
"There was, but Senator Jackson did everything he could to keep things quiet. The one thing he didn't expect was for Michael's family to refuse a payoff. He honestly thought he could make it so his son didn't have to pay at all for what he did."
"Everything you're telling us goes against what his platform is." Blaine said.
"I know that, and trust me when I tell you I'm going to see to it this gets out. And considering things I've been told, it needs to. This whole situation is personal to me on more than one level." Mr. Smythe looked at Blaine and Sebastian. "I don't want to see anything like this ever happen to either of you." No sooner did the words leave Mr. Smythe's mouth, did Sebastian tighten his hold on Blaine. This didn't go unnoticed by Mr. Smythe. "Blaine, are you alright?" Sebastian looked over Blaine's shoulder and they just looked at each other for a moment.
"B."
"Go ahead." Sebastian took a deep breath before speaking.
"It's too late for that Dad. Blaine had the crap beat out of him all because he went to a dance with another boy and ended up in the hospital for a couple months like Michael."
Upon hearing the words, Mr. Smythe took a closer look at the young man in his son's arms. "Blaine, I'm so sorry. I…I didn't know."
"Not many people do, though the list is slowly growing."
"Did whoever did that to you get punished?" Blaine and Sebastian both shook their heads. "Do you mind if I ask why?"
"My memory for that moment doesn't exist. So it was impossible for me to id them. And there were no witnesses so whoever did it got off scot-free." Blaine and Sebastian sat back and just watched as Mr. Smythe seemed to process this new bit of information.
"Now I know why the thought of something happening bothers Cooper so much. Does Lexi know?" Blaine nodded. "The picture suddenly got crystal clear."
"Dad, as happy as I am that you're finding out all this information, what are you going to do with it?"
"For starters, I now have more leverage to make sure Columbia ups their security. And since you and your Coach both went to security after he showed up I have proof that he showed up on campus, a place he was forbidden from going."
"If it's going to take more than our words saying he was there, Hunter was with me at orientation when he showed up and saw and heard everything."
"Lexi mentioned that and said she'd call Cassie to find out a good time for me to speak with Hunter."
"You should probably know we told the guys what's going on. Also, Wes knows way more than any of us so you might want to talk to him. He told us quite a bit of information." Blaine told Mr. Smythe. "I'm positive he'd be willing to talk to you."
"Where is he going to school?"
"Harvard. I can give you his number if you like."
"I'd appreciate that, but do me a favor and let him know to expect a call from me."
"Will do."
The rest of their conversation with Mr. Smythe, seemed to fly by. Neither Blaine nor Sebastian could believe a couple of hours had passed by the time he was preparing to leave. "I hope I haven't ruined your night."
"We're fine Dad. Honestly, we were just kissing when you showed up." The look Mr. Smythe gave them caused them both to laugh. "We're done talking about this Dad."
"I wasn't going to say anything else. Now, have a good night guys and good luck tomorrow."
"Thank you Mr. Smythe."