i'm so so so Sorry For The Long Time, Enjoy;)

Chapter 17 :

"Sebastian, what are you doing?"

"Laying my head down in your lap. What does it look like, genius?"

Kurt sighs and sets aside his sketchpad and pencil in favor of threading his fingers through Sebastian's hair. He leans back against the tree they're sitting in front of and brushes a stray leaf off his knee. "I was drawing," he says with a disapproving frown even though his voice has no accusation in it.

Sebastian knows he doesn't mind the distraction one bit no matter how much he might pretend to. This is, after all, supposed to be a date even if both of them have work weighing down on them. They deserve a break.

"Yeah, well now you're not." he says with a grin.

Kurt gives in to a soft smile, his hand moving down to cradle Sebastian's face, stroking lightly along his jaw. "Hello, neglected boyfriend of mine."

"One of these days, you are going to stop making me want to barf at your cheesy rom-com dialog."

Kurt scowls but doesn't pull his hand away from Sebastian's face. His eyes take on a more playful glint though, the kind he gets when he's rising to a challenge. "Barf, huh?" he says, his thumb tracing around Sebastian's mouth before pressing against the pout of his lower lip. "Does this make you want to barf?" he presses down harder with his thumb until Sebastian's mouth falls open just enough for Kurt to bend down and slip his tongue into it, bypassing the soft peck that usually precedes this kind of kiss.

Sebastian moans low in his throat and reaches up to cup the back of Kurt's head, kissing him back hungrily. He's thankful that the massiveness of the tree provides them some level of privacy – not that he'd care if people saw, but he knows Kurt is more comfortable this way. It certainly shows in the way he isn't afraid to deepen the kiss, licking along the roof of Sebastian's mouth and stroking their tongues together in a perfect rhythm.

"I'm still waiting for an answer," he says when he pulls away and straightens up. His cheeks are flushed and his eyes are darker than before but his smile is still light and happy.

"What?" Sebastian says, his voice coming out dazed.

"Do I still make you want to barf?"

"Ugh, stop saying that," Sebastian says, his face scrunching up as he drags Kurt down for another kiss.

Kurt smiles against his lip, placing a chaste kiss to his top lip. "I'll take that as a no."

They walked around Central Park, Kurt filling the silence between them with stories about his first time in New York; how he and Rachel had snuck out of their hotel room to go have breakfast at Tiffany's during their Nationals trip, how Santana had lost her shit after they hadn't placed – all stuff Sebastian knew already but he didn't tell Kurt that. He liked the way Kurt was looser around him now, how he laughed when Sebastian made a joke and how he wasn't hesitant to ask questions about them and their life.

Sebastian lost track of the conversation when they passed by a tree he was intimately familiar with.

Kurt frowned when he saw Sebastian was no longer paying attention. "Something wrong?" he asked.

"Fun fact number two -"

"Are you going to keep doing that?" Kurt cut in. "Because it's kind of irritating."

Sebastian ignored him. "That tree back there? One of our favorite places to hang out."

Kurt looked over his shoulder at the tree they'd passed. "Any particular reason?" he asked.

"If you sit on the other side of it, you can't really be seen by passer by's. The view is beautiful too, privacy is just an added bonus." Sebastian said. "Also - this is the place you first took my hand on our date."

That was a downright lie. Sebastian didn't even remember how they had ended up holding hands, just that he had found their fingers interlaced without knowing who had made the first move. It had felt easy, natural, right. He glanced down at where Kurt's hand was peeking out from the sleeve of his jacket and decided to take a chance. Kurt inhaled a little sharply when he felt Sebastian's fingers curl around his before Sebastian slotted their palms together.

"You know, you were the first person to ever hold my hand who I didn't laugh at and push away." Sebastian said, nodding at the skeptical look on Kurt's face. "Seriously. It was always too much of a romantic gesture for me to feel comfortable with. Especially on first dates."

"And what, I was different?"

"You've always been different."

Kurt looked down at their joint hands and ran his thumb over the back of Sebastian's knuckles once, as if searching for something in the touch. Whatever it was, he didn't find it because the next second he was pulling his hand free, his face expressionless.

Sebastian felt as if someone had stabbed him in the heart.

"I'm sorry," Kurt said, not looking at Sebastian. "It's just that this is still new for me and – kind of weird."

"No, it's okay. I know. I'm sorry too." Sebastian said, shoving his hand into his jacket pocket instead of letting it hang lamely at his side. "Do you want to see Roasters?"

Kurt frowned, "Roasters?"

"The coffee shop where we met?" Sebastian prompted. "I told you about it this morning."

Recognition dawned on Kurt's face and he nodded, smiling. "Coffee sounds awesome."

Tracy, the cute barista who always seemed to be at the shop no matter what time they went, smiled when she saw the two of them walk in. "Boys," she said with a wide grin. "I haven't seen you around here in ages."

"Hey, babe." Sebastian said, returning her grin. "Been busy." He ordered them both mochas, shaking his head when Kurt tried to make his a non fat. "Don't," he said. "Trust me on this. Besides, after a week of being comatose, you can splurge on the calories."

Kurt rolled his eyes and shoved him lightly with his elbow but agreed. Sebastian even got them a huge slice of cheesecake for good measure even though Kurt pointed out that they had to go to dinner with Burt afterwards.

The table in the corner which Kurt had dubbed their table years ago, was free and Sebastian nodded Kurt over to it, grinning when Kurt looked around the place appreciatively.

"It's nice," he commented.

"I know."

"I can see why I came here."

They drank their coffees in relative silence for a moment, Kurt speaking up once to say that it was some of the best coffee he'd ever had. Sebastian raised an eyebrow and smirked as if to say, told you so. Kurt's face suddenly changed then, a crease forming between his brows and he looked around the cafe twice, sweeping over the tiny space with his eyes as if looking for someone, something.

"Everything okay?" Sebastian asked.

Kurt blinked, looking as if he'd just been woken up from a dream. "Yeah. Um. I just had this weird sort of -" he shook his head. "I don't know. Felt like de ja vu."

Sebastian leaned forward in his seat, his heart beating faster. "You remembered something?" he asked with barely contained excitement. His mind started racing at the possibilities. Had Kurt had a flashback to the two of them sitting with their legs pressed together under the table while Sebastian read through a case study and Kurt sketched out designs he had in mind? Did he remember the days they had sat here in the late afternoons planning their wedding, jotting down ideas and fighting over details that wouldn't matter when the day of the ceremony actually arrived?

"Kurt?" Sebastian prompted, reaching out to lay a hand over Kurt's. He didn't pull away, Sebastian wasn't even sure he'd noticed. Please, please remember me.

"It feels like there's so much to remember about this place," Kurt said quietly. "And I'm trying but -" he looked at Sebastian and shook his head. "Nothing."

Sebastian felt his heart sink for the second time that night but he forced a smile. "Like I said, no pressure." Searching for a distraction, he pushed his plate of half eaten cheesecake to Kurt. "Sure you don't want to try some?" Sebastian asked.

To his surprise, Kurt reached for the fork Sebastian had been using and cut a small piece. Sebastian watched him take the bite, watched the adorable way he chewed and swallowed his food and felt the disappointment from seconds ago fade away at the smile that spread across Kurt's face.

It didn't matter if Kurt didn't remember the countless days and nights they'd spent here. What mattered was that he was here, sitting across from Sebastian and that he hadn't pulled his hand free from where it was lying beneath Sebastian's palm on the table.

"This is some pretty good cheesecake," he said.

Sebastian smiled. "You love cheesecake," he said for no reason in particular. "You've always loved cheesecake."

Kurt looked at him with a funny expression as he took another bite. "Um, okay?"

"I tried to bake one for you. Didn't go so well."

"What happened?" Kurt asked, taking another bite.

"Everything went wrong."

"You can't bake?"

"I can." Sebastian said defensively. "I was just nervous."

"Why?"

Sebastian looked into Kurt's eyes for a second, feeling his heart clench at the memory. "It was the night I proposed to you." Kurt stopped chewing and just stared at Sebastian. "I wanted to cook the whole meal myself," Sebastian continued. "It was supposed to be this huge three course romantic dinner, but like I said - I was nervous and kept messing things up." Kurt looked torn between discomfort and laughter. Sebastian drew his hand away from Kurt's and shook his head. "Anyway. That's a story for another time."

They finished their coffees and Kurt called Burt from Sebastian's phone to ask where he wanted to meet up. They decided on a hole in the wall Italian place not far from their apartment but they still had half an hour before they were due there so when they stepped out onto the pavement, Sebastian turned to Kurt and asked, "You still up for one last stop? It's just a ten minute walk from here to your first apartment in the city. You can say no if you're tired. We'll grab a cab straight to the restaurant but I figured you might want to check it out."

"I do," Kurt said, sounding genuinely excited.

Sebastian smiled, "Alright then."

They started walking in the opposite direction from they'd come. Sebastian was about to tell Kurt about the two roommates he'd had at that time when they came to a crossing where the pavement became uneven and he said, "Ah, watch out. "

Somewhere in the distance, a driver dropped scalding hot coffee over his knee and his elbow came down on the car horn followed by the screech of tires as he hit the brake in a furious attempt to dodge a cab.

Glass shattered. A woman screamed.

Next to Sebastian Kurt ducked just like he had when he'd had attempted to throw the slushie in his face years ago. Difference was, there was no Blaine to jump in front to save him from the impact this time.

See You Soon;)

-SabrinaJ