Two Steps Beyond
Part 81
When Sebastian woke up on Tuesday morning he was surprised to find Blaine already up and moving. "What are you doing up already? Get that ass of yours back in bed. I planned on taking advantage of not having practice this morning.
"And here I thought you'd want to go for a run."
"You're serious, aren't you?" Sebastian said as he sat up in bed.
"I am. You've corrupted me. I've gotten used to running in the morning and now with classes the only way it'll happen is if I do it early." Blaine said as he sat down next to Sebastian. "I've got an idea."
"I'm listening."
"We only go about two miles and then I'm all yours to do with as you like."
"How about we skip the run and you let me do that anyway?" Sebastian said as he pulled Blaine down on top of him. "I'm sure we can burn as many calories, probably more."
"Bas."
"Come on B. You can't tell me it's something you don't want after my Dad killed the mood yesterday."
"That was embarrassing. Did you see the way he was looking at us?"
"I did, but I wasn't kidding when I told him all we were doing was kissing."
"No, you weren't. He truly looked embarrassed for interrupting."
"That's because he was. So what do you say killer?"
"What the hell!"
By the time they got out of the shower they just had enough time to get dressed and get out the door. "We need to set an alarm next time B."
"No kidding, but I'm not complaining." Blaine said as he grabbed his bag. "So, I'll see you at the party?"
"Absolutely. Have a great day B."
"You too Bas." Blaine then gave Sebastian one last kiss before heading out the door to go meet Jeff. Once Blaine was gone Sebastian put the last of his things in his bag. He'd just closed the door to their apartment when his phone rang.
"Greetings, didn't expect to hear from you this morning. What's up?"
"I needed to hear a sane voice after practice." Hunter told him. "It was crazy this morning. I'm pretty sure a few of my crewmates forgot classes start today."
"That must've made for a fun day out on the water."
"I wish."
"You are in a bad mood; considering you didn't pick up on the sarcasm that was dripping from that statement. By the way, I'm getting on the subway now, so if the call drops I didn't hang up."
"Got it. What class do you have first?"
"European History."
"In the morning?"
"Yea, not the best time for it. You?"
"World Literature."
"I don't know which of us has the bigger snoozer. Do you have another class right afterwards?"
"No, I've got about an hour break. You?"
"I've got about an hour between classes too, what if we meet up for coffee."
"Everything alright Seb?"
"Yea, we just need to talk about a few things and you can finish venting."
"Got it, see you then."
Meanwhile heading the opposite way, Blaine waited for Jeff on the platform. "I was beginning to think I needed to call you."
"Sorry." Jeff said. "I was halfway here before I realized I forgot something and Nick and Britt were already gone so I had to go back myself."
"No big deal. We've got plenty of time." Blaine said to him. "How's Nick?"
"He's good. He spent about an hour chatting with Santana last night after she got to school. Shit, here." Jeff said while handing Blaine his keys. "I was going to bring them up to you but by the time I parked Nick was already out front waiting for Britt and I."
"No problem. I've got another set if I needed them. And it's not like we weren't going to be seeing each today."
"That's how I saw it too. Are you still able to meet for lunch?"
"I am."
Their first day of classes seemed to fly by for all of them, except for Nick whose schedule was drawn out way too much for his liking. When Blaine walked back into their apartment to change for the show that evening he was surprised to see Sebastian sitting on the couch. "Talk about a pleasant sight."
"Hey!" Sebastian said as he glanced up from the text book in front of him. "How was your first day of classes?"
"Not too bad. Nice to see I'm not the only one with work to do already." Blaine said as he sat down next to him on the couch. "I figured you'd be at practice."
"Already had it." Blaine glanced at the clock after Sebastian spoke. "Wow, it's later than I thought."
"That's alright. We've got about an hour till the car will be here so I recommend changing before you start studying."
"Good idea." Blaine replied as he glanced over at Sebastian who had already done what he'd recommended. So after giving Sebastian a kiss, Blaine went to go change as well. Since they'd already had their wardrobe set for the week it wasn't long till Blaine rejoined Sebastian in the living room.
"So, any of your professors' idiots?"
"Judging from the tone of that statement I'd say one of yours is?"
"Without a doubt. He reminds me of the econ teacher from Ferris Bueller. I even recorded part of his lecture and sent it to Nick for a laugh." Sebastian then dug his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Blaine. "You need to watch it and then I'll tell you what Nick had to say."
"You totally nailed the description." Blaine told him as he handed his phone back to him prior to getting out his text book. "What did Nick say?"
"He quoted the scene and said if anything else entertaining happens I must record it. Do you have much to do tonight?"
"Not really since I got quite a bit done between classes, you?"
"Same, but I'm almost done."
The next hour flew by as soon the phone rang to inform them that their ride was waiting. So, they marked where they were in their books and headed on their way. Their ride to the show dragged considering they were heading crosstown during rush-hour. By the time they finally arrived it was already crazy out front of the building. Once the door was opened, they were greeted by the last person they wanted to see.
"Evening Kurt." Blaine said once he and Sebastian were out of the car.
"Evening Blaine. Sebastian. You're supposed to come with me. Ms. Saunders is waiting for you inside." As they followed Kurt up the stairs, Blaine and Sebastian spoke the entire time. Both were a bit taken by all the commotion going on around them. Quite a few times they had to stop and get their pictures taken. Each time they needed to stop, they could see Kurt trying not to roll his eyes. Once they were inside Kurt just looked at the two of them. "Did you really have to stop all those times?"
"Yes, otherwise we would've been seen as rude." Sebastian said.
"Pity they don't know the real you."
"Enough Kurt, where is Tasha?" Blaine said as he put his hands in his pockets.
"Follow me." As they climbed the stairs Blaine and Sebastian couldn't help but notice all of the celebrities inside. After they reached the second floor it wasn't hard to find Tasha as from their point of view she was holding court. "Wait right here and I'll tell her you're here." Once Kurt walked away Sebastian leaned in closer to Blaine.
"It's killing him to be in this situation." Blaine looked up at him and noticed the smirk on Sebastian's face.
"Serves him right. He made this situation awkward; we tried to make things work."
"You're not planning on budging anytime soon in regards to him, are you?"
"Not one bit." Blaine had just answered when Kurt came walking back over and motioned for them to follow him. The closer they got, they could see a smile creep to Tasha's face.
"Thank you Kurt." She said before basically waving him off. "Don't the two of you look handsome?"
"Thank you." They replied, before Tasha began making introductions. Neither might be completely into the fashion world, but all the people she was introducing them to were people they'd both heard of. It wasn't long till Tasha was heading off towards another group of people with the boys in tow.
"You guys wouldn't believe how many people have been asking me about you."
"Probably not." Blaine replied with a smile. "Who are we going to see now?"
"The boss." Blaine and Sebastian stopped and looked at each other.
"You're kidding, right Tasha?" Sebastian asked since he and Blaine knew who she was referring to with those simple words.
"Nope, she wants to meet you both. She wants to meet the boys who have garnered so much attention." Tasha smiled as she watched them both smooth out their clothes and stand a bit taller. "Relax guys; she's rather easy going when it doesn't come to work, though it's rare. And even though tonight is work, it's still about having a bit fun. But you should know, you wouldn't be getting near her if she didn't want to meet you."
"This might sound weird, but has Kurt met her yet?" Blaine asked as they started to walk again.
"No, he hasn't and I don't think he will anytime soon unless she comes down to my office. I can count on one hand the number of times that has occurred since getting this position. And there are still available fingers to count on."
"Has Cooper met her?" Sebastian asked.
"She has and she thinks he's charming."
The three of them stood off to the side while she finished up a conversation with one of the designers. Tasha knew she didn't need to say anything as she knew they'd been seen after seeing a slight nod. Once the designer walked away, they walked closer. "I was wondering when you were going to appear Natasha."
"I happened to be speaking with a group when Blaine and Sebastian arrived so I needed to make proper introductions."
"I figured as much." She said as she stepped closer. Tasha was about to make introductions when she was stopped by the slightest hand gesture. "Am I correct to presume you're Blaine and you are Sebastian?" They both nodded. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you both."
"The pleasure is all ours." Sebastian said as she shook each of their hands.
"Bas is right, the pleasure is ours."
"Ah, you're both as charming as Cooper. Was I told correctly Blaine that Cooper is married to Sebastian's sister?"
"You were. They recently celebrated their first anniversary."
"I'll have to be sure to congratulate Cooper the next time I see him."
"He'll be at the show tomorrow." Tasha said. "And unless anything changes he's bringing Lexi with him."
"Wonderful. I must say, after seeing you Sebastian I have a feeling good looks must run in the family."
"Thank you ma'am. Personally, I think my sister is beautiful."
"Do you agree with Sebastian's assessment of his sister Blaine?"
"I do. And not only is she beautiful, she's incredibly smart."
"Looks and intelligence, that's a rare combination. Would you boys care to join me?" Blaine and Sebastian looked over at Tasha who smiled and nodded slightly.
"We'd love to, right Bas?" Blaine replied.
"Absolutely." The two of them then each offered their arms which she happily took. Once the three of them headed off Tasha turned when she heard an exasperated sigh.
"You promised to behave Kurt."
"I am behaving."
"That exasperated sigh wasn't appropriate and you know it."
"I'm sorry. It's just…"
"Kurt, I know you don't like this, but Blaine and Sebastian's recent editorial is more popular than their first. And this week, there are tons of people that want to meet them. Considering who they just walked off with you should realize it and accept it. You know no one gets close to her unless she allows it." The look Tasha gave Kurt made him realize she was starting to lose her patience when it came to how he felt about Blaine and Sebastian. "Kurt, I need you to go and find Miss Clarington for me. She sent me a text that she was here while I was making introductions."
"Yes Ms. Saunders." When Kurt finally found Cassie he took a deep breathe when he saw Hunter was with her. "Excuse me Miss Clarington, but Ms. Saunders asked me to come and find you."
"Well, you found me. Lead the way. Hunter, remember what we talked about."
"I remember, you have nothing to worry about." After they headed off Hunter started to make his way through the crowd. Even though Cassie had explained to him numerous times why she'd brought him he still didn't quite understand it. That was until he looked across the room and spotted Blaine and Sebastian. "Now being a second set of eyes she can trust makes sense." He thought to himself.
Once Cassie spotted Tasha, she told Kurt she was fine and he could go back to whatever Tasha had him doing. Kurt looked at her and nodded before heading off. In his mind the only thing worse that evening would be having to deal with Cooper and Lexi as well. "You look lovely this evening." Cassie told Tasha after they hugged.
"Thank you, as do you. And so you know, security has been upped this evening as it has for all the events Blaine and Sebastian will be attending. I also saw to it that the Senator's wife won't be at the big show tomorrow evening."
"Do I even want to know how you arranged that?" Cassie asked.
"One of the other designers is hosting their show at the same time and I happen to know the Senator's wife is a huge fan of his work. So, he made sure to send her a personalized invitation as a favor to me. And he let me know she was more than happy to attend at his request. I owe him."
"If you need anything, let me know. And that's a relief because I don't know what either Lexi or Cooper would do if they saw her. I'm pretty sure they know everything humanly possibly about that family at this point. Did I tell you my Mom flew into town this morning to meet with Mr. Smythe?"
"No, you didn't. I'm assuming it's time for your Mom to start using all those political connections she has."
"It is and she's more than happy to do it. From what I briefly told her over the phone she's livid. She would've been upset about this on a given day, but since it's happening to Lexi's brother and it could affect Cooper's, it's taken her anger to a whole other level."
"That's basically my Dad's take on things as well. He's trying to figure out how something like that was kept quiet because you know if it made it into the media that deal never would have happened."
"Exactly, and I know how difficult it is to keep things out of the media. Some high up palms were greased to keep this quiet. So if the lid blows off of this, the Senator isn't the only one that's going to be hearing about it."
"Good, because whoever is responsible for letting that go unpunished should be held responsible. I always knew our parents weren't people to be messed with, but this could get ugly."
"This is one time ugly needs to happen."
Blaine and Sebastian started to make their way through the room once Ms. Wintour was called away. "That was surreal B." Sebastian said as they each got something to drink.
"Tell me about it. She's not quite the ice-queen she's portrayed as."
"Well, if it isn't Smythe and Anderson." They both turned at the sound of Hunter's voice.
"Clarington. And just what are you doing here?" Sebastian asked.
"I'm the dutiful escort of my sister even though she's working." Hunter replied. "It's part of our agreement after what happened at the gala."
"We should've known." Blaine said. "How was your first day of classes?"
"Slightly more exciting than Seb's, but not by much. Yours?"
"I'm pretty certain my sociology professor would rather be elsewhere."
"Isn't that a class you share with Jeff?" Sebastian asked.
"It is, and he agrees with that consensus. We'd rather Mr. Sumner from Dalton be teaching it."
"That's saying a lot B."
"I know so that should tell you just how bad it was."
"Oh, before I forget to ask we have our first day of racing on Saturday." Hunter told them. "It's an invitational."
"Are you asking if we'd like to attend?" Sebastian asked.
"I am since I remember you both asking about it." Blaine and Sebastian looked at each other.
"Where is it?" Blaine asked.
"We're the host school."
"When is your game Bas?"
"I have one tomorrow then another on Friday. Thankfully tomorrow's game has an early start time."
"We'll be there." Blaine replied. "Will I be seeing you tomorrow or Friday?"
"You will be." Hunter said. "Tomorrow since it's his first and Friday since he's playing Fordham."
"Wait, you're playing Thad on Friday?" Sebastian nodded. "Tomorrow we're home while Friday we play at their place."
"When we get home remind me to send that bit of information to Jeff and Nick."
"Will do, but I'm sure they know about it. I thought I heard Nick say he put both of our schedules in his phone."
"Still."
"Now that we have that taken care of, you both will be happy to know I think you both almost caused Hummel to have a coronary." Hunter told them.
"How so?" Sebastian asked.
"I'm pretty sure if he was under one of the smoke detectors when the two of you walked off with the grand dame it would've gone off." Blaine and Sebastian both started to laugh and it wasn't an innocent laugh from either of them. "I knew you'd both enjoy that bit of information."
"You are correct." Blaine said. "The only thing better would've been seeing it with our own eyes." The next thing the two of them saw was Hunter taking his phone out of his pocket. "You didn't?"
"I did since I knew you'd both enjoy seeing what he looked like." After Sebastian took the phone from Blaine he looked at Hunter. "Yes?"
"You need to forward that to the guys as well as the girls."
"Do you have all of their numbers?" Blaine asked.
"Any number I didn't have prior to this weekend, I now have."
"Quick question?" Sebastian said as he looked at Hunter who nodded. "How did things go with your sister this weekend?"
"Are you asking whether your sister approves?"
"I am."
"Supposedly the six of them, plus the kids spent most of the weekend together. So, I'd say it's safe to say Lexi approves. I just wish that I knew why he looks so familiar to me and after this weekend even moreso."