Two Steps Beyond
Part 148
Once the day began to wind down Lexi and Sebastian could breathe easier. The past two days with their parents had gone off without a hitch. In all honesty, the time spent with them was enjoyable. While standing off to the side as everyone talked they were startled slightly when Mrs. Anderson came up behind them. "Are the two of you more relaxed now?"
"We are." Lexi replied. "This is what that last time together should've been like."
"True, but if anything good came out of that, it was this." Mrs. Anderson told them. "With as tense as things were something drastic needed to happen to wake everyone up. Thankfully, it put the right people in the direction that needed to be taken."
"It was still risky getting us all together." Sebastian said.
"It was Seb, but do you really think if we hadn't seen changes over the past few months this would've happened."
"Good point."
"Is there a reason the three of you are here in the corner?" Sebastian turned at the sound of Blaine's voice and slid his arm around his waist.
"Just taking a moment." Sebastian replied. "These past few days have been a bit surreal. Strange when normalcy feels weird."
"That's because this isn't your usual normal with them." As the two boys spoke, Lexi and Mrs. Anderson quietly stepped away as to not disturb them. While they spoke, they paid attention to everything that was going on around them. "Are you ready to go say good-bye?" Blaine asked as he looked up at Sebastian who seemed to be in a bit of a daze. "Bas?"
"Yea, sorry." Once they walked towards everyone else, it wasn't long till the good-byes began. While speaking with his parents Sebastian agreed that he and Blaine would come by and visit at least once before they headed back to New York. That little bit of confirmation brought a smile to Blaine's face since for once, Sebastian didn't seem hesitant about accepting the invitation. If the last couple of days proved anything, there was a reason to have hope.
After the Smythes left, Cooper wrapped his arms around Blaine and Sebastian's shoulders. "I'd say that was a success, how about you guys?"
"Christmas miracle is more like it." Sebastian replied with a laugh. "But after yesterday, I was able to enjoy today as there was less trepidation."
"Yet there was still some."
"Of course, that's not going to vanish anytime soon. As my Dad told me, I need to take it at face value and enjoy it."
"Good advice." Blaine said. "And I can't believe I'm saying this, but we should probably head up to bed Bas. We've got an early and long day ahead of us tomorrow."
"That's true, so we will bid you all adieu." Sebastian said as he took ahold of Blaine's hand. After saying goodnight to everyone they headed upstairs. "Isn't it a little early B?" Sebastian asked as they reached the top of the stairs.
"A little, but we've yet to exchange gifts. So I thought we could end our night on a quiet note. And since they all know we're rehearsing tomorrow it wasn't a far stretch."
"You won't get any complaints from me. That was the most family time I've had in ages." Sebastian said as Blaine closed the door behind them. "So, what now?"
"Gift exchange?" Sebastian nodded and they walked towards the tree Mrs. Anderson had set up in the room since that's where they set their gifts. "You go first."
"No, let's do this together." Blaine nodded and they both began to unwrap their gifts. Once Sebastian had tossed the paper aside he flipped the large frame over. "I love it B, thank you!"
"You don't think it's silly."
"Not at all. Who knew my name could be spelt with so many cool pieces of architecture. Any thoughts on where to hang it?"
"I was thinking either the living room or the office."
"Guess we'll just have to see which place it looks better, but I think it'll fit the office décor better. Now finish unwrapping yours." Blaine nodded and soon the rest of his paper joined Sebastian's on the floor.
"How?" Blaine asked with a huge smile. "Over the years the guys recorded you quite a bit. And since you've recently developed a love of vinyl, I thought it only appropriate to put the best of Blaine Anderson on vinyl. Though if you look, I did include a couple of our duets plus the song you wrote me for our anniversary."
"This is incredible Bas; I love it, thank you! Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas to you too B!" After setting both of their gifts aside they wrapped their arms around each other. "I'd say this day was perfect, what about you?"
"I'd say that's very appropriate."
The next morning when they both made their way downstairs they were surprised by how quiet the house was. It wasn't till they walked into the kitchen did they know anyone else was up. "Morning."
"Morning Dad!" Blaine said as Sebastian rinsed out their travel mugs. "Enjoying some quiet this morning?"
"That I am. Seeing you boys up so early proves you didn't just sneak away last night."
"No, we actually headed up to get some sleep." Sebastian said. "It's going to be a long day and Britt's a slave driver."
"So you've both told me. Do you know how long you'll be?"
"Not sure, why?" Blaine asked as Sebastian handed him his mug.
"So I can let your Mom know whether to expect you boys back for dinner. Though, with you all getting together anything is possible."
"Once we know the plan we will let you know. When is everyone leaving?"
"Tomorrow why?"
"Just asking."
"If that's your way of asking if everyone can come over here after rehearsal, they can. Your Mom and I already discussed it. But you two should probably get going because if your still here when the Grandparents awake you'll never get out of the house."
"We can take the car, right Dad?"
"Yes, my keys are on the counter. Good luck today boys!"
"Thanks!"
After tossing their bags into the backseat they were on their way. "Did you happen to check to see if Hunter's flight was still on time?" Sebastian asked as Blaine backed out of the garage.
"I did, he and Thad should be on their way to Dalton as we speak." Sebastian smiled and found them something to listen to for the drive. Considering it was the day after Christmas it was still relatively quiet out on the roads so the drive to Dalton seemed to go by quicker than usual. Once they were through the gates, it wasn't long till they spotted quite a few cars already in the parking lot. "And here I thought we were going to be early."
"Who knew that short conversation with your Dad would set us back?" Sebastian replied with a laugh as Blaine pulled into a parking spot. "For all we know, they didn't get here much before us. Wasn't there a car just ahead of us?"
"There was." Blaine said as they got out of the car. "Did Logan mention if it was just him and Jacob stopping by to you?"
"Nope, all he said is that they told the guys we were rehearsing and they were more than welcome to stop by sometime during the next two days." They were barely a few steps into the theater when Brittany came running up to them and gave them each a hug. "Did you have a good Christmas Britt?" Sebastian asked after she hugged them both.
"I had a great Christmas! What about you guys?"
"We had a great Christmas as well." Blaine responded as they continued towards the stage. "Hey guys!" Blaine said as he and Sebastian set their bags down. There on the stage stretching were Jeff, Dave, Flint, and Trent. "Didn't expect to see you guys here before us?"
"We didn't expect there to be no traffic to get here." Trent replied. "So, how was your holiday?"
"Amazing." Sebastian replied. "How about you guys?" As they all answered Blaine and Sebastian changed their shoes. They were just getting up on the stage when Wes, Hailey, and James came walking in. Once the girls spotted each other, it was pretty clear the staggered arrivals were going to be for the best as everyone had quite a bit to catch up on. Within the next twenty minutes almost everyone was there. "Guess we're just waiting on Harwood and Clarington."
"Look again!" Hunter said as he walked down the aisle.
"Hunter!" Brittany said enthusiastically. It was clear from her reaction that after all the practicing they'd done they'd gotten pretty close.
"Hey Britt!" He said as he tossed his bag on a seat before getting on the stage. Once he was up he was enveloped in one of Brittany's signature hugs. "How was everyone's holiday?"
"General consensus, we all had great ones, you?" Blaine asked as Hunter began to stretch.
"It was good, got in a lot of time on the slopes. By the way, Cooper's movie was great!"
"Can't argue that point." Sebastian said. "How about the siblings?"
"We didn't kill each other and as I told Thad, his brother is awesome. Liz coped a bit of an attitude and he put her in her place in such a gracious way it was priceless. He fit in well."
"Did your Dad grill him as you'd expected?"
"Completely! Though, you figured he liked him considering he grilled him over drinks. Did you survive family time?"
"I did." Sebastian replied. "As I told B, it was a little surreal."
"It was." Blaine chimed in with. "They got along for two days straight which is a clear record because last time they barely made it a couple of hours. Now, we'll all have time to catch up later, are we ready to get to work?"
"Soon." Brittany replied.
"Why soon?"
"Mike's not here yet."
"Why is Mike coming?"
"When we were all at Santana's, Mike, Brittany, and I were talking and Britt and I asked him if he'd come and be an extra set of eyes for us." Brody said. "Since he's a dancer he'll be able to notice those little nuances. That's not a problem, is it?"
"Not at all. Well, then, let's get our vocal warm-up out of the way then."
It was pretty clear they all did quite a bit of warming up on their drives over because they all seemed in rather good voice shortly into warm-ups. They were just finishing up their warm-ups when Mike came walking into the theater. "Sorry I'm late."
"It's okay." Nick said. "Vocal warm-ups don't need to be watched."
"Very true. So, what's the plan?"
"We'd like to run through it at least once before we ask for your critique." Brody told him. "That way we can shake off the dust."
"Sounds good to me. I'll just take a seat and you guys can let me know." Once Mike took a seat, Thad headed over to the side of the stage to start their backing track since they felt it was best to do the run through sans vocals. Considering it had been about two weeks since their last rehearsal, they were more on then any of them expected to be. By the time they finished Mike was no longer sitting down in his chair, but up on the back.
"What did you think?" Brittany asked once they finished.
"That was honestly incredible!"
"You think so?" Blaine asked as he walked towards the front of the stage.
"I do. And while you guys were amazing last year, having the girls gives you guys a little added something."
"I think the term you're looking for is sex appeal." Santana replied. "If you think that was hot, you should see our costumes. They up the ante."
"I'll have to take your word on it. Since when can you guys tumble?"
"We can do backflips." Jeff said. "Hunter can tumble. That's not even scratching the surface of what he's capable of."
"Well then, Hunter, wow! As for the rest of you, I had no idea you had moves like that. Now, what do you want me to do?"
"We need you to watch our timing on the unison moves since we don't have mirrors." Brody said. "But if you have other things to do, we understand."
"No, I can definitely do that. Sure beats having to help out at McKinley were most of the glee club has two left feet."
"Well then, how about we add vocals now?" Sebastian said
"Sounds good." Wes replied and the others agreed.
They were about an hour into full rehearsal mode when others started to show. With the lighting the way it was, the guys were oblivious to the fact that they even had an audience. It wasn't till they finished a run through and they heard screaming did they all take a good look into the theater. "So nice of you to come." Nick said to Ally and Megan as Santana tossed him a water bottle.
"It was well worth it." Ally replied. "Who knew you could move like that?" Sebastian went to speak but Blaine quickly nudged him causing Santana to laugh. "In all seriousness, the Warblers could learn a thing or two from you guys."
"Hey, we learned plenty." Jacob said as he and Logan headed towards the girls. "Remember, they have bonafide dancers in their mist."
"Still, you need to see what they are doing." Megan told them. "Are you guys going to run through it again?"
"This is only the start of rehearsal." Jeff replied. "Ready to give it another go?"
"Can you wait a couple of minutes, a bunch of the guys are on their way in." Logan said.
"I guess we can." Beat replied. "And who are we waiting on exactly?"
"The rest of the Warblers." Jacob replied. "We highly recommended they show up."
"Did you make the proclamation at the council table?" Dave asked.
"We did." Logan replied.
"Please tell us the meeting ended with a slam of the gavel?" Hailey asked causing Wes to shake his head.
"It did." Brandon said as he joined the other. "It would've made you proud big brother."
"Can we just get back to rehearsal?" Wes said as the others all laughed. Once they all got back to work they didn't pay much attention to those coming into the theater since they were caught up in what they were doing. It wasn't till they decided to take an actual break did they realize there were so many people in the theater.
"When the hell did all these people get here?" Rachel asked.
"Who knows?" Nick replied. "Safe to say we've got a full audience of Warblers and Junior Warblers."
"Don't forget your sisters." Beat said.
"Who the hell is that talking to Ally?"
"That's Tyler." Thad said.
"Who the fuck is Tyler?"
"He's a lacrosse player." Sebastian replied. "But from what I'm seeing, you might want to talk to Ally."
"Why?"
"Because she, Megan, Mitch, and Tyler all look pretty chummy." Thad replied with a smirk. "Hey Jeff, come here. Looks like you got the better end of the deal." Upon hearing that Jeff and Brittany walked over to where the others were standing.
"What's going on?"
"Look into the audience and tell us what you see." Sebastian said as he put his arm around Blaine's shoulders. "See anything interesting?"
"Well, Megan is talking with Mitch and who the hell is that with Ally?"
"That's what I want to fucking know."
"Relax Nicky." Santana said as she placed a hand on his back. "Boys are going to talk to her. He's kinda cute, isn't he ladies?" The girls all nodded.
"I don't need to hear that." Jeff and the other guys couldn't help but laugh which garnered the attention of those in the audience. From the looks those on stage were giving the crowd, Logan and Jacob made their way onto the stage.
"Everything okay guys?" Logan asked.
"It is unless you're Duval." Sebastian said. "He's currently in a state of shock."
"That's not funny Seb."
"But it's true." Thad replied.
"You're both just fucking comedians today, aren't you?"
"No, but we can be if you like?" Sebastian told him as Blaine looked up at him and just laughed.
"You do realize you're only antagonizing them, right Nick?" Blaine told him. "Instead of freaking out either ask Thad and Seb what they know about him OR you can ask Ally what's going on."
"Ah, you guys must be talking about Tyler." Jacob said.
"And if we are?" Beat asked.
"He's a pretty cool guy."
"Jacob is right, he is." Thad said. "He was probably one of the only freshmen last year Seb and I didn't get annoyed with."
"That's because the kid actually has some skills." Sebastian said. "They others only got in our way with their attempts at playing lacrosse."
"Guys, excuse us for a minute. Nicky and I need to have a little talk." As she spoke, Santana took Nick's hand in hers before leading him towards the wing.
"In happier news, what do you guys think?" Blaine asked.
"Your moves are sick." Logan told them. "I mean that in the best way possible." They all nodded. "Plus you sound amazing."
"Thank you." Thad replied.
"Now, are all the guys former Warblers?" Jacob asked.
"All but two." Sebastian replied. "Hunter and Brody."
"Which one is which?"
"Hunter is our tumbler extraordinaire. And Brody is, Santana's main dance partner also known as Rachel's boyfriend. He along with Britt are responsible for our choreography."
While every else talked and relaxed on stage, Santana sat Nick down on a stool out of view from everyone else. "Care to tell me what's going on?" She asked as she stood in front of him.
"You saw what I saw right?"
"If you mean that he was flirting with her, then yes. If it was something else you're going to have to tell me."
"No, you got it right. Hell, he was making it blatant enough."
"Nicky, relax. Guys are going to flirt with Ally, she's cute. Personally, I find the whole situation cute."
"You find this cute?"
"I do because the coincidence is rather funny."
"Please, enlighten me." Nick said as he reached out to pull her close.
"Mitch asked Jeff if he could ask Megan out." Nick nodded. "Well, isn't rather funny thinking her best friend, Ally, being flirted with by his best friend."
"That's not funny."
"It is and you know it. Honestly, you have nothing to worry about. Ally's got a good head on her shoulders. And did you listen to Thad and Seb?"
"I did."
"Then you know he's a good guy because if he was an ass they'd tell you. Heck, I'm sure they'd be more than willing to scare him away for you but not before screwing with his head in the process."
"This is so payback for what I did to Jeff."
"It's not payback, though you know Jeff isn't going to let you forget how you reacted anytime soon."
"He's got all right to after how I reacted to Mitch asking him about Megan. And it's not like I expected guys to ask me before dating her it's just…I don't want her dating an ass."
"Trust me, she won't."
"How can you be so sure?"
"She's too much like you."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"You read people well Nicky. You knew I wasn't the cold-hearted bitch I portray myself as."
"You're anything but cold-hearted, you were just afraid of being hurt."
"Put your faith in her; just know she's probably going to get her heart broken along the way."
"I know. Think she'd get pissed if we mess with him?"
"I think she'd be surprised if you didn't. I mean, it must be something that he came here to see her knowing you were going to be here. So what do you say Duval, we go and have some fun?"
"I think I could go for that, but one thing first." He said with a smile Santana knew all too well.
"You're incorrigible."
"Would you have me any other way?"
"No." She replied before wrapping her arms around his neck and allowing him to bring her onto his lap before kissing her. Once it broke any of the irritation he might've been feeling early seemed to disappear. "We better go before they come looking for us." Nick nodded and they soon headed back towards the stage.
"Well, clothes aren't messed up so you obviously didn't have too much fun." Sebastian said with a smile. "But seriously, obviously Santana said something that made sense to you."
"She did, now, are you guys game to have some fun?"
"Depends on the type?" Blaine asked.
"Finding out just what's going on over there." Smirks quickly crept to Sebastian and Thad's faces. "That's the reaction I was hoping for. Since you both know him, why don't you take the lead."
"Our pleasure." Sebastian replied before giving Blaine a kiss on the cheek. "Hey, Tyler, what in pray-tell are you, doing here?" He called out as he and Thad walked to the edge of the stage. Mitch looked at his friend before looking onto the stage.
"I don't think you blended in." Mitch said.
"Do they have some sort of non-Warbler radar?" Tyler asked as he looked up onto the stage.
"No, they have my brother." Ally replied.
"We're waiting." Thad said as he and Sebastian looked out into the audience. "And you know that's not something either of us like to do. So be a good little boy and come say hello to your former captains." Those on stage couldn't help but try and stifle their laughter at what was going on. Slowly they all watched as Tyler walked towards the stage. Once there he looked up at Sebastian and Thad. "So, what are you doing here?"
"I came with Mitch. He said it should be something special to see and then we're going out, why?" Tyler looked closer at them and noticed both of their t-shirts. "You're both playing lacrosse in college?"
"We are." Sebastian replied. "Though I faired a bit better then Thaddeus here."
"That's because my team couldn't get out of their own way, but enough about us. Why are you really here?"
"I told you."
"So it has nothing to do with the two cute girls in the audience?" Thad said.
"Well…Mitch…"
"Yes, we know. Young Mitch is interested in dating Megan." Sebastian said. "That still doesn't explain your presence unless you're striving to be more like your former captains."
"How so?"
"That you're thinking of honing your vocal skills."
"I've heard him sing, that's not something you want to hear." Mitch chimed in with.
"Thank you for the heads up." Thad replied. "Now, are you going to tell us or should we voice our opinions to the crowd?" With those words Sebastian and Thad both squatted so they were able to look him in the eye.
"It would be wise to make your intentions clear if they are what we think they are." Sebastian said. "Because Santana can only keep Nick calm for so long."
"That is if your man enough to do it like Mitch did." Thad added.
"But…"
"Nicholas, someone wants to talk to you." Sebastian said with a smile.
"God, this is embarrassing." Ally said before resting her head on Megan's shoulder. "Why are they doing this?"
"Because they love to mess with people." Megan replied. "And honestly, it could be worse."
"Megan is right; Tyler knew there was a chance of this happening when he agreed to come today. The only thing he might've forgotten was that Sebastian and Thad were going to be here. He thought he'd only have to deal with Nick and Jeff."
"That's cute, and while Nick and Jeff are the closest, they're all brothers." Ally said. "And they've always got the others backs."