Two Steps Beyond
Part 167
The week went by way quicker than any of them could've possibly imagined. Jeff was stretched out on the couch on Saturday evening reading a book when Nick came walking through the door. "And the merry traveler has returned. You look like you had fun."
"I did! You totally should've come with us!" Nick said as he set his bags down. "How was your week?" He asked as he made his way to the couch.
"It was nice. Britt and I made the most of it. We did some things we'd yet to do in the city, but besides that we took it easy for the obvious reasons."
"How's the show going?"
"Really well. I actually went to see it again when your parents were in town along with the Andersons. The girl playing Amber actually got better which made the show more enjoyable. So, whatever the director and producer said to her must've gotten through to her. And your parents as well as Blaine's loved the show."
"I'm sure they'll tell me all about it when I call them tomorrow. Now, do you know if Santana is on her way back?"
"Why would I know?"
"Please don't do this, I'm tired and I forgot to charge my phone before leaving."
"Alright, since you look so pitiful, I will tell you. She should be home soon. But be forewarned, she's tired."
"That's fine. I just wanted to know because I missed her."
"She missed you too according to Britt. And so you know, everyone will be back in town tonight."
"Does that mean what I think it means?"
"If you think it means we're good for brunch tomorrow, then yes. Blaine sent a message out midday. His only request was that everybody bring something since he and Seb are getting in late and are only grabbing the basics from the store."
"We can do that. Did he say anything else?"
"Just that he and Seb were having a wonderful time. But considering the fun they had in the Caymans last time, it's not really a surprise. They really needed that time away. And while I know they would've loved to join the rest of you, they needed this time alone together."
"That I do know, as do the others, which is why we didn't push the issue. Can you believe this school year is almost over?"
"Not really. It went by way quicker than I ever thought it would. And the transition was as easy as Wes described. The only thing was making sure we weren't running late because if any of us missed our trains, we were screwed."
"Basically. Have you heard about your internship yet?"
"Yes. I start the first week of June. So the girls won't be the only ones working this summer."
"You can add, Dave and Thad to that list as well as Beat. They all have internships lined up as well. And last we all got together, didn't Seb and Hunter mention one as well. "
"You know, you're right. Technically, everyone except for you and Blaine will be working this summer. But you guys will be working in your own right since you'll be going to school."
The guys were still talking when Brittany came walking through the doors. She briefly acknowledged them both before heading straight to the bathroom to take a shower. "She looks exhausted."
"Dual shows on a Saturday are still something she's getting used too. Think about it, she was exhausted last Saturday as well. So if you don't mind, I'm going to go and check on her so she doesn't fall in the shower."
"Are you sure that's all you're going to do?" Nick replied with a smirk.
"Yes. As we more than enjoyed ourselves since we had the place to ourselves."
"I so didn't need to hear that." Jeff started to laugh and headed towards the bathroom. Nick proceeded to throw a pillow at him and it grazed Jeff just as Santana walked into the apartment.
"Nice to see things haven't change." She said as she set her bag down. "You're a sight for sore eyes."
"The feeling is mutual." Nick replied as he got up and walked towards her. Before any other words were exchanged, they wrapped their arms around each other and kissed. It wasn't till Nick's hands slid down to grab ahold of her ass did the kiss break. "Everything okay?" Nick asked, slightly surprised she broke the kiss.
"Much better now. I really missed you."
"I missed you too. What do you say we sneak away and get reacquainted?" Nick said with anything but an innocent look on his face.
"What about Britt and Jeff?"
"They are currently in the shower. Britt only got home a little while ago and looked exhausted. So he's in there with her right now making sure nothing happens."
"Right, like that's all that's happening knowing them."
"According to him, that's all that's happening. He's just in there to make sure she doesn't fall. He also made a point to tell me they made the most of having the apartment to themselves."
"That little bastard, who knew he had it in him?" Santana replied with a giggle. "Saying something like that knowing we'd gone without. Guess we have to make up for lost time." Santana then cocked her eyebrow at him and that's all Nick needed to continue what he'd previously been doing. The next thing Santana felt were his hands lifting her up and she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist. "Ready to get started Nicky?"
"Absolutely!"
When Blaine woke the next morning, he was pleased that Sebastian was still in bed next to him. Slowly his eyes came into focus, but for a bit the only thing he truly saw was Sebastian's tanned chest in front of him. Except for when they'd gone diving, their trip to the grocery store, and a couple trips to the beach, they'd achieved their goal from the previous trip. In doing so, they had very little laundry to do before they came home. As Blaine began to stir, Sebastian tightened his hold around him. "Where do you think you're going?" Sebastian mumbled, it was clear he was just waking.
"I was going to go to the bathroom, unless you have an objection."
"The only objection would be if you weren't planning on coming back to bed."
"I was going to make coffee, then come back."
"Okay, that's allowed." Sebastian replied, his voice clearer as he was clearly waking up. "How much time do we have?"
"A couple hours still. Now let me go." Blaine then gave him a quick kiss on his cheek before getting out of bed. Once Blaine left, Sebastian sat up slightly and grabbed one of the pillows neither had touched and placed it behind him. Considering they'd kept their word to each other and remained unplugged throughout the trip, Sebastian turned on the television to see if they'd missed anything major. But since no one had texted them that they'd missed anything he was pretty certain things were quiet while they were gone.
When Blaine returned to the room, Sebastian pulled back the covers so that Blaine could get back in. "May I just say, I love seeing you with no tan lines." Sebastian said as he took his cup of coffee from Blaine.
"The feeling is mutual. Anything interesting going on?"
"Nope. So going unplugged didn't hurt us." Sebastian said before leaning over to kiss the top of Blaine's head.
"Good, but we knew if anything did happen Lexi and Coop as well as our parents knew how to reach us. It felt good."
"Agreed. It allowed us to truly enjoy ourselves."
"That we did. I feel rejuvenated."
"Me too killer. It made coming home a little easier. But I do miss one thing?"
"The sound of the ocean."
"How'd you guess?"
"I miss it too. What do you say; once we finish our coffee we take a nice long shower before everyone shows up?"
"Sounds good, as I'm sure it's going to be a long day. We've all got a lot to catch each other up on."
Time clearly got away from them as Blaine and Sebastian were just walking out of their bedroom when the doorbell rang. Sebastian glanced at the clock and started to laugh, since his hair as well as Blaine's was still wet. "I'll get the door while you make another pot of coffee." Blaine nodded and stretched to give Sebastian a kiss on the cheek before they went their separate ways. As he headed to the door, Sebastian wondered who it would be since it often varied who arrived first. Upon opening the door he saw Dave and Beat. "Guess you two didn't go home last night?"
"Nope, it was too late. We crashed at Thad's." Beat said as they walked in. "Speaking of, he'll be here soon."
"How was your trip?" Dave asked.
"It was great, yours?"
"It was great as well." Beat replied. "You'll be happy to know, none of us got arrested."
"That's good to know. I'm sure Dave's Dad was thrilled."
"That's very true. Where's Blaine?" Dave asked.
"He's making coffee, so feel free to head to the kitchen if you want."
"We're not early, are we?" Dave said as he looked at Sebastian.
"Why do you ask?"
"Your hair is still wet Seb?"
"Nope, I can safely tell you we were in the living room when you arrived. Now if you don't mind, I need to go get that." Sebastian said upon hearing the bell once more. As he turned on his heels, Blaine came walking into the living room and the guys quickly exchanged greetings.
"Looks like you guys spent as much time outside as we did." Blaine said as they all went to sit down.
"We did." Dave replied. "And surprisingly none of us got burnt, though we had a close call on the first day."
"Who would that have been?"
"Thad actually. He fell asleep out by the pool and if Trent didn't go looking for him it could've gotten ugly. His lack of sleep before arriving caught up to him."
"And why was he suffering from a lack of sleep?"
"That would've been because I spent all night Saturday with Gretchen after her show." Thad replied as he walked into the living room along with Trent, Hunter, and Sebastian.
"I see." Blaine replied. "So, are we only waiting on the Four Musketeers and Rachel and Brody?"
"Just the Four Musketeers." Sebastian replied. "Brody just sent a text saying Rachel is exhausted so they will catch up with us later."
"That's a good idea; she's not the most pleasant person when she doesn't get enough sleep." Blaine said as he leaned against Sebastian. "So Hunter, how was the diving in Belize?"
"Incredible. How was the diving in the Caymans?"
"The same. Sebastian replied. "We got to hit places we didn't hit last time but wanted too."
"By the way, include us next time a dive trip is planned." Thad told them.
"We will." Hunter replied. "I happened to talk to them about it after Donovan told me you dove as well as others. It probably won't be till just before school starts again. Make one last trip before heading back."
"That sounds like an excellent idea." Dave said. "Now do we know if they're going to show?"
"I know Jeff and Brittany will be." Blaine replied. "As for Nick and Santana, I don't know. Nick didn't respond to the text."
"That would be because he forgot to charge his phone." Trent told them. "He was bitching about it the whole way home. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if it's only Jeff and Britt."
"Why is that?"
"That would be because the time difference between Nick and Santana started to get on their nerves." Beat told them. "It made it difficult to catch up with each other."
"So if they don't show we shouldn't be offended." Hunter said.
"Pretty much." Thad said. "While they love us all, they love each other more." It was as though it was on cue as the doorbell rang. "Should we take odds if we're being joined by a party of two or of four?"
"I'll be the crazy one and go with four." Sebastian replied before getting up to get the door. Once he left the rest of the guys began to talk and the decision was pretty split as to whether or not all of them were there or not. It soon became clear by the volume of the voices coming down the hall that all of them had come. "I told Jeff that he and Britt are going to look funny surrounded by all of us."
"Why is that?" Trent said.
"That's because we've all got tans." Sebastian replied as they walked around to sit down. "They look a little pale."
"He's got a point." Beat replied. "Did you guys miss us?"
"We did." Brittany replied as she started to give them all hugs. "Jeff and I found lots of cool things to do in the city while you were gone."
"You'll have to tell us all about it." Thad told her. "Nick, Santana, glad you decided to join us."
"Why wouldn't we?" Nick asked.
"Because we knew what a grouch you were near the end of the trip. So we wouldn't have been surprised if you and Santana made up for your time apart."
"I'd love to deny your thoughts, but you're right." Nick said before kissing Santana on the cheek. "The end of the trip was a little rough. But everything is all good now."
"We can tell, you're a grinning fool." Beat told him and soon Santana turned into Nick and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Did I embarrass you?"
"No, it would take more than that Beat, you know that." Santana told him. The conversation continued as they waited to eat as none of them were hungry. It was about an hour later when Sebastian excused himself from the group to take a phone call. "Everything okay Blaine?"
"Yea, he's smiling. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Nate since the guys began workouts a month ago. Bas said that they were going to check in with each other today to see if practicing tomorrow was a possibility. Otherwise they were just going to get back to work Tuesday."
"Another way they surpass us." Thad said as he rested his head on the back of the couch. "Our practice schedule is totally erratic. I wouldn't be surprised if I don't hear anything until Tuesday or Wednesday."
"Sounds like you need new Captains." Sebastian said as he rejoined the group. "And B was correct in who it was. It sounds like everyone is home, so we're going to get back at it tomorrow."
"That is something all of us have talked about. None of us that are going to be around next year want a repeat of the dysfunction from this year. It was honestly a joke the way things were handled."
By the time they'd all started eating everyone was pretty anxious to start looking at all the pictures the others had taken. "Now please tell me there are some embarrassing photos to be seen." Jeff said as they all brought their plates into the living room.
"I think it's safe to say, there are more than a few of those in the pictures we took." Trent said.
"Good. Nice to know you all stayed true to form."
"Blaine, Sebby, are you guys going to share your pictures too?"
"Yes, we're going to share some of our picture too." Blaine replied.
"Is there a reason you're only sharing some of your pictures?" Dave asked as he cocked his eyebrow towards them.
"We figured we'd keep all the non-family friendly pictures to ourselves." Sebastian replied which earned him an elbow in the ribs from Blaine. "Geez B, did you not get enough sleep. I was just kidding."
"Yet his reaction lets us know those sort of pictures were taken though." Beat said with a laugh, causing Blaine to blush. Sebastian's comment could've easily gone unnoticed had he not reacted the way he did.
"Better pray someone doesn't hack you." Santana told them. "You are sort of celebrities now."
"That's why we took said pictures on our actual camera and not on our phones. And when they get uploaded, they won't stay on the computer."
"Bas."
"Sorry B." Sebastian then leaned over and gave Blaine a kiss on the cheek.
"Relax Blaine; we got a shot of Beat's bare ass." Thad told him. "Not on purpose, but we did."
"If I recall there is one of yours as well." Beat said as he looked directly at Thad.
"What the hell happened down there Nicky?"
"One night we had a little too much to drink and some crazy things happened." Nick replied and soon Santana crossed her arms in front of her. "Nothing like that." He then turned to kiss her on the cheek.
"As surprising as it may be, we all behaved in that regard." Dave told her. "Before we get into that crazy stuff, does anyone know if Wes, James, and Flint made it home?"
"They did." Blaine replied. "The six of them had a blast and will fill us all in next time they come to town. Now back to the embarrassing stories." He said as he leaned back against Sebastian.
"Why don't we just show you as some of the stuff is too hard to explain?" Thad said and the others agreed. It didn't take long for Sebastian to explain to Thad how to hook up the laptop to the television since he was too comfortable to move. One it was done though, it didn't take long for laughter to begin filling the room. It was pretty clear the whole group of them were taking random shots every chance they got.
"What are Nick and Beat doing there?" Brittany asked as one of the pictures had Beat pinning Nick against the balcony.
"Nick wanted that room." Trent replied. "And Beat didn't want to give it up."
"What was the difference?" Sebastian asked.
"It while most of the rooms over looked the ocean, that one had the balcony." Thad replied. "It also had the lone bed without a footboard."
"See, so it only made sense that it was mine." Beat replied.
"It had nothing to do with the bed, he wanted the fucking balcony." Nick replied. "We all did. He practically ran the rest of us over once we got into the house."
"Sounds like someone did his research." Blaine replied.
"I did. And on the plane down we all decided it was first come, first serve on the rooms." Beat replied. "Not my fault Nick wasn't happy."
"Do you know he threated to hang me from the balcony?" Nick said.
"That was only after you threated to throw my suitcase in the pool."
"Nicky?"
"Fine, but ask the rest of the guys, it was worth it. They just weren't willing to go toe to toe with Beat over the room."
"Do you really blame them; he's bigger than the rest of you?" Hunter said.
"Hunter's got a point. That was kind of crazy." Jeff told him. I'm sure the other rooms had great views too."
"If you saw the view and balcony, you would've done the same thing." Nick replied. "Especially the way he mowed the rest of us over to get upstairs. You would've been right on his tail."
"Just proves that next time we rent a house on the water we get one that has multiple rooms with balcony views." Trent said. "Aren't you all glad you missed out on that sort of crazy?"
"It might've been fun to watch." Sebastian replied. "And since mine and B's room had a balcony, I can understand it. There is something special about sleeping with the doors open and then going out on the balcony first thing in the morning. It's serene, tranquil."
"Who are you and what have you done with Sebastian?" Thad asked.
"Very funny. But it's true. Each morning I was out on our balcony."
"He's telling the truth." Blaine told them. "More often than not, we'd get up and watch the sunrise, then go back to bed."
"Isn't that a little backwards?" Brittany asked.
"Sometimes, yes." Sebastian told her. "But some morning's one can't help but wanting to crawl back in bed, especially when you have a quiet day ahead of you."
"Guess that means you didn't have any early morning dives." Hunter said.
"We had a couple and on those days we'd just come back and relax out by the pool the rest of the day."
"So you two really did just bum around." Santana said.
"We did. And if we get around to our pictures you'll see just that unless they are dive pictures. Speaking of relaxing, did you get to relax any?"
"Remember to tell the truth as Hunter would probably know if you did or not." Dave said with a laugh.
"Yes, I got to relax a little. Three of the days we didn't have to be anywhere till later in the day so Cassie told me I was free to do what I wanted."
"What did you do?" Trent asked.
"I went to the beach. By the way Hunter, did you know your sister surfs?"
"I do. She's pretty darn good if I remember correctly."
"She is. I was shocked when she told me."
"Not surprising considering how tiny she is. She learned how to surf from one of our Uncles."
"Do you surf?" Beat asked.
"I can, but I'm nowhere as good as Cass."
"Did you take any pictures?" Thad asked as he looked at Santana.
"I did, I also took some video. I figured she'd want to see it and I thought Donovan might as well."
"I'm sure he'd love to see it. Do you have any of it with you?"
"I do, Nicky asked me to bring all the pictures I took as well."
"Sounds like we've got a full day everyone so get comfortable." Sebastian said as they all smiled and got back to the pictures.