Two Steps Beyond
Part 140
When Jeff woke up the next morning, he stretched before looking next to him where Brittany was still sound asleep. He was about to get up when she rolled over and curled up next to him. After a quick glance at the clock he realized they still had time so put his head back down on the pillow. He was just beginning to doze off again when his phone went off with a text. Reluctantly he reached over and grabbed his phone off his nightstand.
Meet me downstairs – Megan
With as peaceful as Brittany looked, Jeff carefully lifted her arm off of him and grabbed one of the pillows to place under it before getting out of bed. After putting on a pair of lounge pants and a t-shirt and quietly made his way out of his room, closing his door behind him. As he made his way down the stairs he was thankful for the smell of coffee coming from the kitchen. "Morning Jeff." Mr. Sterling said as he handed Jeff a coffee cup.
"Morning." Jeff replied sleepily.
"Sounds like you should still be in bed."
"I would've been if someone didn't text me." Jeff said as he looked out into the family room where Megan was sitting.
"Ah, don't worry. She has a good reason for waking you. Is Brittany still sleeping?"
"Yes so be quiet if you're going back upstairs."
"Will do." After preparing his coffee Jeff walked into the family room. Once he took a seat on the couch he looked across at his sister who was sitting on the floor.
"Sorry for waking you." Megan said as she noticed how tired he looked.
"You didn't necessarily wake me, I was awake but was falling back to sleep considering how early it is. And I know I'm going to be out late tonight. So, what's so important it couldn't wait till Britt and I came down?"
"I need another gift idea for her."
"I gave you ideas."
"I know, but Carly saw the list and used some of the ideas when she went shopping with Mom for gifts for you and Brittany instead of going off the list you gave Mom."
"Why didn't you just ask Mom for ideas?"
"She went overboard and bought everything on the list you gave her."
"You're kidding?"
"I'm not. Basically, Brittany's getting almost as many gifts as each of us are getting. Now you see my dilemma. I figured when we all went out today I could sneak off with Ally and pick it up or I'll just wait till you go to Brittany's and have Mom or Dad take me."
"You're going to have to give me some time to think because I thought between the list I gave Mom and the one I gave you I wouldn't have to think of anything else. Well, besides what I got her of course."
"I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry about. Worse comes to worse, I'll ask Santana if there is anything I might've missed." Megan soon joined him on the couch and gave him a hug.
"Thank you."
"It's not a big deal. One question though."
"What?"
"Do you know why Mom bought so much?"
"For starters, she adores Brittany. Secondly, she needed to balance out the gifts from her and Dad with the ones from Santa that you know she still puts under the tree. She had the ones from her and Dad bought first. It wasn't till she started wrapping the "Santa" gifts did she realize she didn't have any for Brittany. And instead of taking the tags off, she just bought more. And if it makes you feel any better, Mrs. Duval was just as bad. She bought everything on the list Nick gave her for Santana as well."
"They do realize we have to bring all this stuff home with us, right?"
"They do, but Mom already has boxes ready in case stuff needs to be shipped. Jeff."
"Yea."
"Do you mind if Ally and I stop by rehearsal on Thursday?"
"And what rehearsal do you speak of?" Jeff asked, cocking his eyebrow.
"Cute, but we know you guys are competing and are going to be practicing in the Dalton Theater."
"Who'd you hear it from?"
"We overheard Logan and Jacob talking about it during a break when we were rehearsing the group number."
"Do you know who is competing?"
"We're assuming your clique of friends, are we wrong?"
"No, but there is a bit more too it. And no, there isn't a problem if you guys want to come by. Just know you're going to have to get one of the parents to bring you. And you've got to realize we won't have time to talk. We plan on making the most of our time in the theater."
"Got it." Megan replied just as Brittany came walking into the room, wrapped up in one of Jeff's Dalton hoodies.
Shortly after they arrived at the mall, Jeff took Santana off to the side to try and get a few more ideas to give to Megan. Then with a brilliant idea from Santana, Jeff and Brittany took Ally to do some shopping for Nick and Santana, while Santana and Nick took Megan to shop for Jeff and Brittany. As they walked through the mall Jeff and Brittany were surprised when they saw the Andersons walking towards them with the stroller. "So Blaine and Seb do let others watch them." Jeff said with a laugh once they were all together.
"They are pretty protective over them, aren't they?" Mr. Anderson said as Brittany knelt down next to the stroller and introduced the twins to Ally. "So, what has you out and about today?"
"Probably the same as you, finishing our shopping. Where are Blaine and Seb?"
"They are at Dalton actually making sure everything is set for Thursday. And after they leave there, who knows." Mrs. Anderson then nudged her husband. "We know they'll be home for dinner."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?"
"Because you know them." Mrs. Anderson replied. "Is it safe to presume, that Nick and Santana are here as well?"
"They are." Ally replied. "They are shopping with Megan."
"Since we didn't see you afterwards last night, you did a wonderful job Ally." Mr. Anderson told her.
"Thank you. I was hoping I didn't let on how nervous I was."
"You didn't." Mrs. Anderson told her. "Well, we better get a move on while the kids are still in a good mood."
"They usual are." Brittany told her. "Lexi is always saying how lucky her and Cooper are having such happy kids."
"That's true from all the times we've been around them." Jeff told them. "The only time I've ever seen them the slightest bit crabby was when Jocelyn got upset at McKinley the other night."
"She did?" Mrs. Anderson asked.
"Yes, but Seb said it was just because she didn't like what she was listening to."
"Well, Seb and Blaine seem to know what makes them happy. That playlist calmed them pretty quickly and before long they were asleep. But as I mentioned, we should probably get going. Good luck with your shopping and if we don't see you, have a Merry Christmas."
"You too." Jeff replied as Brittany and Ally stood back up. "Merry Christmas!"
After getting the last of Ally's shopping done, they met back up with Nick, Santana, and Megan at the fountain in the middle of the mall. "Was it a success?" Nick asked.
"It was." Ally replied. "What about you Megan?"
"All done now. Thank you Nick and Santana."
"It was our pleasure." Santana replied. "So, what's next?"
"Lunch!" Megan and Ally replied.
"Guess we're going to lunch." Nick stated as he slid his arm around Santana's waist. "Where to?"
"Considering it's lunch time, let's just find the place with the shortest wait." Jeff replied. "Since there really isn't a bad restaurant here."
"Can we have pizza?" Megan asked.
"No!" All four of them replied in unison.
"Okay, forget I ever mentioned it."
"Sorry, we didn't mean to jump on you like that." Jeff told her. "But after living in New York, we're a bit particular about the pizza we eat now."
"Is anything else off the table?" Ally asked.
"No, that's the only thing we won't eat while we're here." Nick replied. "So, let's just do what Jeff said and find the restaurant with the shortest wait."
Blaine and Sebastian were just walking into the house when Sebastian's phone rang. "Shouldn't you be on the slopes?" Were the first words out of his mouth to which Blaine softly asked if it was Hunter on the phone and Sebastian nodded in response. "Oh, so you have to spend time with your siblings, no wonder you're calling." He said with a laugh. "What can I do for you?"
"I was wondering it Cooper's new movie is appropriate for my little sister."
"Awww, you care about what she sees, how sweet."
"Shut it Seb."
"Fine, you're obviously crabby so I won't tease you. Your timing really couldn't be better since B and I just came from it. It's really good and even though it has an R rating, I'd say you're fine. The rating is mainly for a bit of nudity and language. So, unless that offends her, you're good."
"Excellent. I was hoping to convince them all to go to a movie. And from what Cass had said about Cooper's new movie I really want to see it."
"How are you going to convince the sisters?"
"That's easy; they both think Cooper is hot. Hell, Liz was actually nice to me once she realized I knew him from the photo spread. Then she freaked when she found out I was friends with you and Blaine and that Blaine is Cooper's brother. After sharing this info with Cass we're both waiting to see how long it takes her to say she wants to visit us."
"I hope you're going to milk her wanting to meet Coop for all it's worth."
"Damn right I am. And while Bridget thinks Cooper is hot, she's rather partial to you and Blaine. Our Mom thinks it's because you're my age versus Coop being around Cass's age."
"Makes sense. How have the slopes been so far?"
"Incredible that is why I was hoping to work this bonding time to my favor. I'd much rather be skiing, but if I have to spend time with both of them, I'd prefer doing something I want."
"I thought you and Bridget get along."
"We do, it's more about spending time with Liz. Up until she saw the photos, she was being her usual bitchy self. She was trying to make the most of Cass not being here and trying to run things involving us and our cousins."
"When do Cass and Donovan arrive?"
"Tomorrow evening. Before I forget, Cass was wondering if you guys were able to help Santana pull off the surprise."
"We were, Nick was shocked when he saw her."
"Cool, I will let her know. And in case you guys were wondering, Cass said Santana handled herself really well and she wouldn't hesitate to bring her with again. Now, coming from Cass, that's a huge compliment. Interns usually irritate her because they do nothing but get in her way."
"That's very cool, I'll share that little bit of info with B. Crap, before I let you go is everything set for Thursday?"
"It is, my flight is all booked and Thad said he'd pick me up at the airport."
"Good, now, you're staying with him, correct?"
"That's correct. Well, you guys have fun and have Merry Christmas! And I will see you on Thursday for rehearsal."
"We will. And don't let your family drive you too crazy before Cassie and Donovan arrive. Merry Christmas to you too! See you Thursday. Bye." Once Sebastian slid his phone back into his pocket, he and Blaine walked towards the kitchen.
"How's Hunter?" Blaine asked.
"He's good, though he'd rather be on the slopes. But his Mom wants him to spend some time with his siblings."
"I take it they're going to see Coop's movie?"
"If Hunter has anything to say about it, yes. But he said it should be an easy sell since his sisters think Cooper is hot. Hopefully it works out as I think he'll enjoy it."
"Enjoy what?" Mrs. Anderson asked as they rounded the corner.
"Coop's new movie. Bas and I just saw it." Blaine said as he opened the cookie container on the counter. "It was really good! Santana was right; Coop can pull off serious which is shocking."
"Blaine."
"Come on Mom, Coop's a goof and you know it."
"I don't know if I'd use the word goof." Mrs. Anderson said with a smile. "Your brother is just….well, he's Cooper."
"Nice save." Sebastian said with a smile. "Did you and Mr. Anderson get the rest of your shopping done?"
"We did and then some."
"Speaking of Dad, where is he?" Blaine asked.
"He's taking a nap on the couch while Jocelyn and Braeden nap as well. You boys are going out tonight, correct?"
"We are. The Warbler party is tonight. Why?"
"Just checking. With you boys plans can change pretty quickly so I never know. And in case you decide to make some plans for tomorrow know Cooper and Lexi will be here in time for dinner."
"Is that your not so subtle way of letting us know to be home for dinner?" Blaine asked.
"No, but I thought you'd like to know. It's not like you never see the two of them. I just wanted to let you know when they'd be here."
When Thad opened his front door, he was happy to see Dave, Beat, and Trent. Since they were there, the only ones they were waiting on were David and the others. "Did Wes mention why we all had to meet now?" Trent asked as they headed for the family room.
"Only that he thought we better do this when we knew Blaine and Seb couldn't walk in mid-conversation. From what I could figure, he needs to get a few things off his chest. And from what Nick said to me the other night the same could goes for Jeff as well."
"Are Rachel and Brody joining us as well?" Dave asked as they all got settled.
"No because they have a previous engagement since they knew we'd all be at the party tonight. But Santana and Brittany said they'd be sure to fill her in." Thad said.
Within the next twenty minutes or so, everyone else arrived at Thad's house. Once everyone was situated, Thad closed the door and took a seat as well. "First, I just want to thank everyone for coming on such short notice." Wes said. "It's just, after biting my tongue last night I need to get this out of my system before I say something I probably shouldn't in front of Blaine and Seb, but mainly Blaine."
"Let us guess, you've had it with Kurt and his apologies." Thad said.
"That's putting it mildly. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that he wants to do it but his tactics are lacking."
"The problem comes from the fact that he simply doesn't get that they don't want to listen to anything he has to say." Jeff told them. "It was pretty clear Thursday night he was going to say what he wanted regardless of whether Blaine and Seb wanted to hear it. Heck, Blaine told him that wasn't the time. I mean seriously, who stops people with sleeping children."
"Not to stick up for him, but was it obvious Jocelyn and Braeden were sleeping?" Trent asked.
"It was." Jeff replied. "I mean, this shouldn't come to a shock to any of you but Seb didn't want to be there in the first place. The only reason he went was because it was important to Blaine. And after seeing the way everyone reacted to seeing Rachel, Britt, and Blaine it was good that they were there. But what happened was what Seb was afraid of happening."
"I need to ask this, how many of us were only polite to Kurt for Blaine's sake?" Nick asked. "And I'm not talking right off the bat, but after a bit? Once he showed started to show his true colors." When all the hands in the room went up, Nick looked at Santana. "Just like I thought."
"Wait, at one point you and Jeff thought Kurt was good for Blaine." David said.
"That was a lapse in judgment." Jeff said. "Though I hung onto the belief longer then Nick did. The only thing I wanted was for Blaine to be happy."
"We all did." Trent said. "That's why we supported him the way we did."
"Regardless of whether we thought Kurt was right for him." Thad said. "I just wish we all spoke up before Blaine decided to leave Dalton to give Kurt the senior year he wanted."
"That was just bullshit!" Beat said. "Blaine gave up so much to make that little twerp happy that he basically turned himself inside out doing so. Was anyone else thrilled when Blaine came back to give us those tickets to West Side Story and first saw Seb?"
"Yes!" Thad said. "Never during the time Blaine was with Kurt did he ever look at him the way he looked at Seb."
"That we know of." Dave said.
"Fine, but the fact that Blaine couldn't hide it says something. While Seb was definitely not someone I pictured with Blaine, because let's face it, he's cocky." Thad said. "But he really didn't become spiteful till Kurt truly pissed him off."
"And seeing the person Seb is with Blaine, we can all basically confirm our initial thoughts that Seb was lashing out." Beat said. "This might be wrong, but I loved watching Seb screw with Kurt."
"Is that because you were pissed at him but for a different reason?" Santana asked.
"It is. Blaine leaving Dalton for Kurt pissed me off, especially since Kurt constantly bitched about how bad things were there. And bullies could do whatever without facing consequences. Yet, he convinced Blaine that he needed him there to make his senior year special regardless as to what could happen to Blaine."
"Why didn't you guys try to stop him?" Hailey asked.
"We did what we could." Nick said.
"But Blaine's stubborn." Jeff added. "You should know that by now."
"The one thing we didn't expect was Kurt to start cutting us out of Blaine's life." Dave said. "He would make Blaine feel guilty if he ever wanted to go out with us without him. And since Blaine's the sweetheart that he is, he rarely agreed to see us without him until sometime second semester."
"Hearing all this now makes sense as to how you reacted." Hailey said and soon all eyes fell on Wes.
"What happened?" Trent asked.
"Wes basically lost it. Yelling and tossing things around his room after one of you called and told him Blaine left Dalton to be with Kurt at McKinley."
"That was me." Thad said. "How bad was it?" Wes looked at Hailey who mouthed sorry before kissing him on the cheek.
"I was furious considering what brought Blaine to Dalton in the first place. To know he was going back to that sort of situation after everything he'd been through seemed wrong. I mean, we all saw what he was like when he first got to Dalton. And once he became comfortable he was a completely different person. Honestly, I almost came home but who am I to object to something Blaine's parents supported."
"They supported it because they love him." Jeff said. "And they only wanted what would make Blaine happy. Little did they realize he'd end up losing himself in the process."
"While I wasn't always the most supportive of Blaine at first when he came to McKinley." Santana said. "I think most of it stemmed from my feelings towards Hummel but I regress. Even I saw how much he changed from when he first came to McKinley to the person he was at the end of the year. That sparkle was no longer in his eye."
"Nice to know we weren't the only ones to notice." Trent said. "And while Blaine was happy when he was allowed to spend time with all of us, the only time I ever saw that sparkle you talked about was when Seb was with us."
"Hence why we all knew there were feelings there." Dave said. "While Blaine tried to deny it, his eyes couldn't deny it. And you know Kurt saw it too which was why he wanted to keep Blaine as far away from Seb as possible."
"If you guys all didn't like Kurt, why didn't you tell Blaine?" Hailey asked.
"Because who are we to say who he should or shouldn't date." Thad said. "But once we saw things going downhill we should've spoken up. The thing was, with as much as we were getting pushed out of Blaine's life we were afraid of saying something that would cause him to turn his back on us."
"Thanks to Wes, we knew we needed to keep ties to him for when things blew up." Dave said.
"So you all put up with Kurt because you care for Blaine." Hailey asked.
"Basically." Beat said. "Like we said, we only wanted him to be happy."
"You should tell him. Blaine's in a good place with Seb, he'd be able to handle hearing what you all truly thought about Kurt."
"Hailey is right." Nick said. "Blaine deserves to know, but…I don't know how he'd react to knowing we were all basically putting up with Kurt for his sake."
"I do, he'll be upset." Jeff said. "He'll hate that we put up with someone we didn't like solely for his sake. Now, who in this room thought Kurt and Blaine were a bad match from the start?" Wes, David, and Beat all slowly raised their hands. "Really? While Beat, you don't surprised me you two do. Start talking." Wes and David looked at each other before David began to speak.
"Personally, I just didn't think they were a good fit for one another. Blaine was too outgoing to be dating such a downer. Wes?"
"Considering I knew more about Blaine then the rest of you, I didn't think Blaine needed to get saddled with all of Kurt's issues. I mean, Blaine's got a big heart, which is something we all know. And while I commend him for helping Kurt, I don't think they ever should've started to date. But as Thad said, who are we to tell someone who they should or shouldn't date. While Kurt was clearly into Blaine I don't think it was ever authentic as he made it seem. Blaine was everything Kurt every dreamt of in the perfect guy."
"What was the problem with that?" Brittany asked, slightly confused by what Wes said.
"The problem comes in that he was in love with the ideas and not actually Blaine. He was in love with what Blaine represented."
"Oh, sorry."
"No need to be sorry Britt. You and Santana weren't around when this was happening. So, the rest of us have a slightly different view of how things happened."
"Yet you all came to sing." Santana said.
"We did." David said. "But considering the situation, while Blaine was sad, the rest of us were feeling a bit a good riddance."
"Oh, I knew I liked you boys for more than just the snappy blazers. Always finding ways to work things to your favor."
"While I agree with Nick that Blaine should know, I have one request." Jeff said. "That we wait till after the holidays to tell him. Blaine deserves to enjoy himself."