Two Steps Beyond
Part 96
For some reason, neither Blaine nor Sebastian was surprised when their friends showed up earlier than usual on Sunday morning. By the time they all sat down for brunch all eyes fell to Blaine and Sebastian. "So, are you guys going to fill us in or do we need to start asking questions?" Thad asked.
"I'll tell you what happened and then you guys can ask questions." Blaine replied while glancing over at Jeff and Hunter. Throughout brunch, Blaine told everyone what happened along with a little help from Jeff. After he finished the girls were all in shock while they knew most of what happened while the guys all actually looked angry.
"I've got a question." Brody said. "What happened to Trevor?"
"From what we know." Blaine said while looking over at Sebastian for a moment. "He was arrested, but released on bail. I'm still waiting to hear back as to what's going to happen."
"I can tell you what should happen." Santana chimed in and from the tone of her voice they all had a good idea of what she was thinking.
"Are you going to have to go to court Blaine?" Rachel asked.
"It's too soon to tell. But I have a feeling I'm going to have to considering everything that's happened. I don't think the DA's office is going to be willing to play ball with his lawyers this time around."
"They shouldn't have the first time!" Nick said. "He should've been locked up after the first time and then none of this would've happened. In certain situations plea deals should even be an option."
"True." Hunter said. "But what happened the first time around wasn't a plea, it was politically motivated. The DA didn't want to screw with a senator."
"That sure backfired on his ass." Sebastian said with a laugh. "Because from what I can see, he's not going to be DA much longer."
"Just like the senator probably won't be a senator much longer either." Rachel added.
"Now, considering what happened before, are you guys going to be getting visitors?" Jeff asked.
"No, they are staying in Ohio." Blaine replied. "They're trusting Lexi and Cooper to keep an eye on things. Plus, they were just here."
"They've told us, that they won't come out again unless we ask them too." Sebastian added.
After the weekend flew by, they were soon back to their usual grind on Monday. With Sebastian having a game on Tuesday, Blaine and Jeff decided to just hang around campus that day instead of running home in-between. They were working in the courtyard once again when they were approached. Both of their eyes flew open considering the situation. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you guys. Especially after what happened last week I should've made my presence known."
"Dylan, right?" Blaine asked as he looked up from his book.
"Yes."
"What can we do for you?"
"I had a question to ask."
"Well, you know we're not going to sing, right?" Jeff said to which he nodded. "Then, what is it?"
"Well, a couple of the guys are in your music lab and can't stop talking about you two." Blaine and Jeff looked at each other and smiled. "They said you've come up with some really cool arrangements and performances already."
"That's nice of them." Blaine said. "So?"
"After hearing that, we did a bit a research and found out that the two of you were a huge part of the Warblers winning Nationals."
"How so?" Jeff asked.
"Jeff, you created most of the choreography while you Blaine, did the arranging."
"Well, I did the arranging with the help of…"
"Sebastian. Sorry, it was in the papers you filed at nationals. You guys signed all your arrangements."
"Alright, so what do you want from us?" Jeff asked.
"I was curious if you guys would stop by rehearsals and just tell us what you think."
"When is rehearsal?"
"In a half hour. We'd love any input you could give us. And since some of the guys are in your lab, you know you won't be missing it."
"Give us some time to talk about it, okay." Blaine said as he looked at Jeff before looking back at Dylan.
"Fair enough." Dylan then handed a piece of paper to Jeff who was sitting closest to him. "That's where you can find us. Hopefully we'll see you." Once Dylan walked away, they both closed their books.
"What do you think?" Jeff asked.
"It might be worth stopping by. If anything it could reaffirm our decision not to sing."
"I was thinking the same thing. And it's not like practice is long since we're going to make lab."
"Very true. So, why don't we go grab a bite to eat and then head over? Plus, it'll give me time to check the score."
"You should've gone to the game."
"I would've if I could've guaranteed making back in time. But Bas said he understood and didn't want me stressing over making it back in time."
"Speaking of, I'm going to need your help next Friday if it's possible."
"What for?"
"Setting up my surprise for Britt."
"I can do that, but why do you need help?"
"Thank you. I need help because by the time we get out of class on Fridays and the time she gets home from work won't be enough time."
"Alright, but you know you could also always call Lexi and ask her to keep Britt around a bit longer. Lexi's a total romantic so she'd be all for helping."
"I'll keep that in mind."
When they walked into the rehearsal room prior them beginning they could tell Dylan was happy to see them by the smile on his face. "I was really hoping you guys would come. Let me introduce you to the guys." As the introductions went on, Blaine and Jeff saw the guys from their lab which put them a bit more at ease since they'd gotten to know them during class.
"Now, what do you want from us?" Blaine asked as he and Jeff set their bags down.
"Any honest critique would be appreciated since we only got up and running again a couple of years ago after being dormant."
"Alright, do you happen to have a copy of the music you'll be singing?" Dylan nodded and handed copies to both Blaine and Jeff. Once they were seated Blaine and Jeff looked at each other, cocking their eyebrows slightly towards the other. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
"If that this is the most basic arrangement you've ever seen, then yes. Logan and Jacob pulled off something more difficult for their first go around."
"I was thinking the exact same thing. I'm just hoping whoever arranged it, isn't in our lab."
Once they ran through the number Blaine and Jeff looked at each other again before turning their attention back to the guys. "So, what do you guys think?" Dylan asked.
"It was good." Blaine said knowing good was the only way to describe it. "But, it was lacking."
"And while we get it's practice, it was lacking any bit of enthusiasm. It was as though you were just going through the motions. All in all, it was flat."
"What would you guys recommend then?" Bryan asked who happened to be in their lab.
"Do you mind if I use your piano?" Blaine asked to which they shook their head. So he and Jeff walked over to it. While Sebastian was the person Blaine work with the most on arranging music Jeff was rather good at it as well. The year Blaine was at McKinley, Jeff and Nick helped Sebastian with most of the arranging.
"Do you guys ever use a lead soloist?" Jeff asked.
"Once in a while, why?"
"Just asking." Soon Blaine and Jeff were making marks all over the arrangement they had. Dylan walked a bit closer and looked over their shoulders.
"How are you doing this so quickly?"
"Blaine's got a knack for doing this. Last year for Valentine's Day he and Sebastian whipped together an arrangement in a couple of hours for me to serenade my girlfriend with. And you've given us a starting point to work with."
"But that was for you." Bryan said.
"Actually, it was for the Warblers as a whole, Jeff sang lead. We all went with to serenade her." Blaine told him while giving the arrangement a once over before handing it to Dylan. "Try that." All of the guys surrounded Dylan and were shocked at what they were looking at. Dylan then excused himself to go make copies so they could give it a try.
"So, is there a reason you guys aren't singing this year?"
"We wanted to get adjusted to college before doing anything else." Jeff replied. While that was mainly true, the guys really just didn't want to sing without their friends. But they weren't going to tell anyone else that.
"You guys ready to give this new arrangement a try?" Dylan said as he walked in and began handing it out. The guys all agreed and were soon getting to work on their parts. As they were going over them, Blaine's phone rang so he excused himself and walked away from everyone else.
"Hey sexy!"
"Hey killer, how's it going?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Do tell."
"Not till you tell me how your game went."
"Usual results and once again I was brilliant if I don't say so myself."
"For starters' congratulations. And you'd never be arrogant without cause now?"
"Ask Nate, I was brilliant today. Must've been from how well I was taken care of this weekend."
"Oh really."
"Yes, and since you don't mess with what's going well, we'll have to do our best to replicate what we did."
"Is that a fact?"
"It is." Blaine swore he could hear Sebastian smirking on the other end of the phone. He had no doubt that if they were having this conversation face to face they'd be close to devouring the other. "So, we can talk more about how brilliant I am when you get home. Now, what are you doing?"
"Jeff and I are at glee club practice."
"Excuse me?"
"We're not singing, don't worry."
"That wouldn't worry me. Whatever makes you happy B. So, if you're not singing, what are you guys doing there?"
"Dylan, the guy we met at orientation came and found us when we were studying. He asked if we'd be willing to come by and give our opinion."
"And?"
"Let's just say, Jeff and I are not going to be singing."
"That bad."
"Not bad, but not good either. So, Jeff and I tweaked the arrangement they did and they're getting ready to give it a go."
"That was sweet of you B."
"What can I say, sometimes I can't say no. Even though in this case, they didn't asked for anything beyond our opinion, we offered our help."
"I meant that in the best way possible B. I love how you're always willing to help. Hopefully they realize how lucky they are to have a talent like you helping."
"Well, only time will tell. Now, are you going straight home?"
"I need to swing by and talk to Hunter, but beyond that, yes. Are you going to be home around your usual time?"
"Yes, why?"
"Thought we could have a late dinner, I'll cook."
"Well, who am I to say no to that. I'll call you before leaving school."
"Sounds good, love you."
"Love you too. Bye." After Sebastian said goodbye, Blaine walked back over to the others who were surrounding the piano.
"How's Seb?" Jeff asked the closer he got. He could tell it had been Sebastian he'd been talking to judging from the smile on his face.
"Good, they won as usual. And according to him he was his usual brilliant self."
"Seb, self-promoting, never."
"I said the same thing. He then said I could call Nate and ask him myself. Judging from that comment, he had one heck of a game."
"By chance is Seb, Sebastian?" Dylan asked.
"Yes, he is." Blaine replied. "He's my boyfriend."
"That is too much talent for one couple."
"What do you mean?" One of the guys asked.
"Do you remember when we watched that recording from Nationals?" They all nodded. "Well, obviously, Blaine here sang Queen while it was Sebastian who did the Stones."
"Dylan's right, that's a lot of talent." Bryan said remembering the performance all too well. "Blaine, by chance would you be willing to play for us as our usual piano player isn't here?" Blaine glanced up at Jeff who was containing his laughter.
"I don't see why not."
While Blaine and Jeff had only planned on stopping by, they ended up staying for the entire rehearsal. Somehow during that hour they both heard vast improvement. It wasn't so much that the guys weren't talented; they had no clue how to arrange music for what they were doing. After a bit of discussion, Blaine and Jeff had agreed to come by rehearsals on Tuesdays prior to their music lab. The glee club had been hoping for more, but Blaine told them their schedules were a rather heavy. But they'd come by if they had time.
"You guys were a big help today." Bryan told them as they walked to their lab.
"Glad you thought so." Blaine replied.
"Don't sell yourself short Blaine. If it wasn't for what you guys did, we'd still be in our rut."
"You guys really aren't that bad, but had any of you done something like that before?" Jeff asked.
"Most of us were in our glee clubs in high school but they were all co-ed with full band back-up."
"That explains a lot." Blaine said.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Bryan asked, slightly offended.
"Sorry, I didn't mean it that way. It's just, I know how different it is as my Junior year I wasn't at Dalton and I was a part of what you're describing and I can't imagine those guys doing what the Warblers did."
"Let me add one detail, Blaine was part of the New Directions, the previous National Champs." Jeff told Bryan with quite the smile on his face.
"You're kidding?"
"He's not." Blaine replied, blushing slight while glancing over at Jeff. "That is why I understand. Trying to do, acapella isn't easy so I applaud you guys for trying. Jeff and I were blessed to be surrounded by such talent."
"How often do you guys practice?" Jeff asked.
"Usually two or three times a week." Blaine and Jeff tried their hardest not to react at Bryan's words. "What?"
"The Warblers practiced daily for a couple hours each time." Blaine said.
"And practices got longer once we began adding choreography." Jeff added.
"But, what you guys said and what Dylan's told us all of you guys were quite the students."
"We were. We all balanced our schedules accordingly."
"Blaine's right. It's not like singing was the only thing some of the guys did. We had quite a few athletes in the Warblers. Plus, those of us that didn't do athletics mentored our beginning group."
"Makes sense that you guys won Nationals. By chance, would you guys be willing to help me learn how to arrange the way you guys do?" Blaine and Jeff looked at each other before nodding. The three of them had just sat down when they saw a shadow on the table in front of them. They all looked up and there stood Chandler.
"What now?" Jeff asked.
"I…I wanted to see if Blaine was alright. I heard about what happened last week."
"I'm fine." Blaine replied. "Thank you for asking."
"You're welcome. I'm glad to hear it, honestly. And, I took your advice, both of yours actually."
"And?" Jeff said as he pulled out his laptop.
"We've decided to only be friends. I told him I refused to keep coming in second to someone that doesn't even want him around."
"Ouch!" Bryan said.
"Trust me, if you knew the guy you wouldn't be saying that." Blaine looked at Jeff after he spoke. It seemed everything that had happened caused Jeff to remove any filter he had when it came to Kurt.
"How'd he take it?" Blaine asked.
"As well as could be expected. While I would love things to work out, I don't see it happening. Though, he's made a bit of progress again."
"It was a good time to end it."
"I agree, but why do you think so?"
"Because he's going to have to deal with Bas and I this weekend."
"Don't forget Hunter is going to be with you." Jeff added, knowing Kurt couldn't stand Hunter either.
"You are correct Jeff."
"That would explain why he's a bit cranky and why he's saying his weekend will be miserable."
"His weekend will only be miserable if he acts like an idiot." Blaine said. "Bas tries to be nice, but Kurt doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut. And he's not much better with Hunter who has absolutely no reason to be nice."
"What about you?" Chandler asked. "How do you treat him?"
"I try to be nice, but I won't put up with his petty bullshit. And considering when we see him, we're working it's not something we should have to put up with."
"I actually told him the same thing after his dealings with you guys during Fashion Week. I think that's the reason I snapped at you the last time I saw you. That's not really my nature. But he wouldn't stop going on about how rude you both were."
"It's alright; Kurt seems to be able to push the sanest of person's buttons.
"That's very true. Well, I better go take my seat. I just wanted to check on you."
"Thanks." Once Blaine answered Chandler walked away and Jeff looked at Blaine. "What?"
"That was weird."
"Maybe, but it was nice of him. And you'd be a bit on edge too if you had to deal with Kurt."
"Remember, we all had to deal with your mood swings because of him."
"I won't deny that."
By the time Blaine got home that night he was starving since he and Jeff didn't stop after lab like usual for dinner since Sebastian was cooking. The aroma if whatever Sebastian was cooking had filled the apartment and made Blaine's stomach rumble. So after setting his bag down he headed for the kitchen. Upon walking in he saw Sebastian standing at the stove. Blaine looked around and saw the table was set as he walked closer. "Hey." Blaine said softly as he wrapped his arms around Sebastian from behind. "It smells amazing."
"Thanks, I hope you're hungry."
"I'm starving."
"Good." Sebastian then turned enough so he could give Blaine a kiss. "Now, you need to let me go so I can plate our dishes." Blaine did as Sebastian asked and went to the refrigerator to get them both something to drink.
"We eat way better than college students should." Blaine said as Sebastian set their plates on the table.
"It's one of the advantages of both of us being able to cook. Bon appetite!" After a few bites Sebastian looked over at Blaine who'd yet to speak. "Is it alright?" Blaine looked at him as he was still chewing. But once he swallowed he took a drink before speaking.
"It tastes as good as it smells."
"Good." Throughout the rest of dinner, Blaine filled Sebastian in on the rest of his day. Mainly everything he couldn't talk about over the phone. "Personally, I think they're going to try and convince you and Jeff to change your minds."
"I know. Jeff and I discussed that on the ride home. While we're both willing to help, neither of us have that desire to sing with them."
"Well, they'd be instantly better with both of you."
"I appreciate that Bas. But any involvement I have will strictly be on the arranging side of things."
"Alright, but if you change your mind you know I'll be there front row to watch." While Blaine began to cleanup, much to Sebastian's chagrin, he wasn't going to fight Blaine about it. He understood Blaine's desire to cleanup since Sebastian cooked. "Now, did Chandler say anything else to you?"
"Not really besides what I told you. I think this weekend is going to be interesting though. He's clearly not looking forward to it."
"That's on him B. If he's fretting over it so much he needs to tell Tasha. I'm sure by this point she'd tell him he didn't need to be there than deal with is bullshit."
"True. But I have a feeling he's going to try and prove himself after pissing her off during Fashion Week."
"Before I forget, is it okay with you if Hunter crashes here Friday night?"
"Of course, but why?"
"Hunter's a bit nervous about this weekend. He's worried about screwing up. The last thing he wants is to disappoint Tasha."
"Can't say I blame him, we felt the same way."
"That's what I told him. Then it came to me that if he hung-out with us the night before he'd be a bit more relaxed since we've got an early start Saturday. And we can all just ride over together."
"Makes sense to me. Why don't you give him a call while I finish up and I'll meet you in the living room?"
"That works. Do you have a lot of homework tonight?"
"Just a bit of reading since I got the rest done between classes. You?"
"Like you, just a bit of reading. Don't keep me waiting long."
"I won't."