Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise
Warning: Rated M
Ryan logged onto his computer and started up Skype. It was quite late, but his sister had already texted him to see if he was available for a chat, so when he saw her contact listed as online he sent a request for a video chat.
"Hey little brother!" Came the usual greeting, making Ryan smile warmly. He really missed his sister sometimes.
"Hey Megan!" He replied happily. "How are you? Is college busy?"
Megan nodded. "Yeah, same as usual! I'm fine. I just wanted to talk to you about your 17th birthday..." She looked a little guilty.
"What's up sis? Why do you look worried?" He asked.
"Well, it's just that we usually go out for dinner as a family and I've just found out that my fashion show slot is on Saturday afternoon, so I'll be really busy on Friday, when I know Mum and Dad were planning to take you out. I just won't be able to make it!" She exclaimed.
"Hey, don't worry, it's not your fault. Maybe we can do something together another day? Maybe a shopping trip the next weekend?" Ryan offered.
"Thanks for understanding, Ryan. It really was last minute that I found out. I did have an idea though for when I can see you?"
Ryan was trying to read her expression which seemed like she was up to something.
"Yes?" Ryan waited.
"Well, I'll be busy with the show until early evening, but I thought that you and Nate could watch it and then we could all go out for dinner, with Austin too? Mum and Dad are coming to the show, but they have a party to go to that night, so they're leaving straight after it.
It's too far for you to drive back that night, so I'll book you into a hotel for the night as an extra birthday present."
The Skype video connection froze momentarily, meaning Ryan missed her meddling look. Ryan and I have talked a lot about their relationship. A night away in a really nice hotel is probably just what they need right about now!
"That sounds like a great idea! I can catch up with Mum and Dad on the Friday night and then see you and Austin on the Saturday." And I can spend all day Saturday with Nate, even better!
"Great! I'll book the hotel. Er...Ryan?"
"Yes?"
"Can I have Nate's number? You know, just in case I can't get hold of you any time, either at the show or when you're at school?" Keep it short! The longer you babble the more suspicious he'll get!
"Sure, I'll text you it. Sorry, I should have given you it before I guess. I'll send you Jeff and Kurt's contact details too, in case you ever need them."
"Okay, great. Well, I'd better go and get on with the prep for Saturday," she rolled her eyes, "..and I'll leave you to whatever you're doing. Studying?" She guessed. I want to know if Nate is with him right now or if he's alone.
"Yeah, I'm just finishing an essay for tomorrow, I'm trying to get ahead on my other homework too, so I can relax this weekend. Bye Megan!"
"See you after the show on Saturday."
"Yes, I can't wait to see your designs!" After a few more words, they ended the chat and Ryan quickly sent the contact details to his sister, before returning to his essay.
As soon as Megan received Nate's number, she saved it to her phone and dialled it straight away.
Nate was in his room finishing his Math homework. His phone was on silent but he felt his desk vibrate as his phone started dancing across the shiny surface. He frowned when he didn't recognise the number.
"Hello? " He answered.
"Hi! Nate, this is Megan, Ryan's sister." The voice on the other end explained. Nate sat up straighter in his chair, wondering what she could want.
"Hi Megan! It's nice to talk to you, but is something wrong with Ryan? I thought he was in his room studying?" Nate worried.
Megan laughed. "No, nothing's wrong. I just spoke to Ryan, he, uh, doesn't know I'm calling you."
Nate was intrigued. "Okay?" He waited for an explanation.
"Well, as you know it's his birthday on Saturday and we were all supposed to go out for dinner Friday. Long story short, I can't make that so I've invited you and Ryan to my show on Saturday, staying after."
Nate interrupted. "That's great! It will be nice to finally meet you properly. I still haven't had a chance to thank you for suggesting Dalton."
"You're more than welcome, especially with the effect you've had on my brother. He's back to himself now. Any way, we can talk more on Saturday, but I just wanted to catch you separately from Ryan to let you know about something. I am booking the hotel for you two on Saturday as my treat. Ryan probably thinks I'm booking you two rooms..."
Nate's eyes widened in anticipation.
"...but I'm not."
He gulped. "You're not?"
"No. I'm booking one of the luxury king size rooms as an extra birthday treat. I know from my chats with Ryan that you won't pressure him at all, but I know Austin and I would have appreciated some quality alone time at the point in our relationship that you two seem to be at. I just thought you should know the plans so you could be, uh, prepared."
Oh my god. She is an awesome older sister! Nate thought. "Thank you! No, I won't pressure him, ever. That's really nice of you, Megan. Thank you so much!"
"It's no problem. Once I know them I'll send you the reservation details."
The next morning, Nick put his breakfast tray down on the Warbler table, gingerly stepped over the bench and sat down carefully, wincing slightly, a move unfortunately not missed by Nate.
"Jeff, man, about time!" He held his hand up for a high five, declined by Jeff but accepted by a sniggering David.
Nick and Jeff both resembled tomatoes. Jeff sneaked his hand under the table to squeeze Nick's, who looked at him gratefully and leant in for a soft kiss.
David looked at the pair, before turning to Nate and Wes, loudly saying, "If that went down last night, then what bets do I have on Kurt and Blaine?"
The three boys dissolved into laughter, all watching the door for any sign of limping by either their star singer or head diva. Nick and Jeff were just glad the attention was off of them again.
A few minutes later, Blaine almost jogged to the table in a far too happy mood for a school day, Kurt walking more slowly behind him, but just as graceful as usual. Years of hiding bruises made it easy for him to appear okay.
What was unusual though was that Kurt was also smiling widely, even before his morning coffee fix. Wes groaned and handed a bill to a smug looking David.
Sebastian was at the edge of the group of boys and had come to the same conclusions that David had. He tried to hide his disappointment, taking his coffee to go instead, with one last lingering look at Blaine, up to now his main romantic target.
He left the cafeteria quietly, resigned to forget about his crush. I guess Kurt won. I'm not desperate, I won't beg. He can have him.
Kurt heard his phone ping with an incoming message. He saw it was from one of his newest contacts, David K.
Hey, Kurt! Are you free for coffee any time this week? D
Hi David! Sure, how about the Lima Bean at 4 tomorrow? Or here if you feel up to meeting some crazy Warblers? K
Dalton sounds good, it'd be nice to meet some accepting people my age. See you then, D
The next day Sebastian was looking for Kurt. Ever since he had heard about David Karofsky's suicide attempt he had felt sick. He had a deep rooted guilt that he carried around with him and he needed to resolve it, even if it meant talking to Kurt.
He walked up to Kurt's table in the library, not waiting for him to acknowledge his presence before he spoke. "Hey, Ladyface."
Kurt wrinkled his nose, haughtily replying as he looked up, "Sebastian. I thought I could detect the aroma of Craigslist."
"Touché. Look, I didn't come here to snark as usual. I admit defeat, you got Blaine, okay. You win." He held his hands up and sat down opposite Kurt.
Kurt looked impressed by his honesty for once. He set down his pen and gave Sebastian his full attention. "Okaaaay... So what did you come here for?" He was intrigued.
"I heard you're meeting Dave Karofsky here for coffee later. Jeff told me." Kurt nodded. "Well, I'd like to speak to him as well, if that's okay with you."
Kurt cocked his head to the side, puzzled. "Why do you want to talk to David? I didn't think you knew him other than by name."
Sebastian sighed. "I bumped into him at Scandals the weekend before...you know." Kurt nodded, listening intently because Sebastian looked uncharacteristically emotional.
"Well, let's just say I was my usual self that night." Kurt rolled his eyes. "I said some pretty mean things that I regret and I need to apologise."
The two usually warring boys locked eyes with unnerving understanding. After a few beats of silence Kurt nodded, saying. "Of course you can speak to him. He'll be here at 4 in the Warbler common room."
Just after his last lesson of the day, Ryan quickly packed up his things and headed for Nate's classroom to wait for him. As soon as the raven haired boy strode out of the class and saw his boyfriend his face lit up in a dazzling smile and he went straight up to Ryan to kiss him.
Ryan giggled once Nate put him down. "Hi to you too, Nate!"
"I didn't think I'd see you until dinner." Nate stated, wondering why Ryan was there.
"I know, it's just I spoke to Megan last night."
Nate listened as Ryan explained the changes to the plans that he already knew about. "That all sounds good to me!" He replied when the redhead had finished.
"Great, well the only other thing is that I might need to study more tonight so I don't have any homework for the weekend, unless I get given stuff to do on Friday, but that's never usually to hand in on Monday any way." He looked apologetically at Nate. They had planned to spend some time together that night.
Nate squeezed Ryan's hand, saying, "Hey, don't worry, I'll do the same I think. Then we'll have more time together at the weekend."
When Sebastian entered the common room at about five minutes past five, he found Thad and Trent sat cosily, holding hands and chatting on a double sofa. Across from them were Kurt and David.
Sebastian strode up to David, immediately offering his hand to him. David looked a little confused, but accepted it to shake, his eyes flickering between Kurt's and Sebastian's.
"Hi David!" Sebastian began. "It's good to see you. I mean that. I'm, uh, glad you're okay."
Dave nodded, still a bit wary of the slim brunet who had been so harsh to him last time he saw him. He winced at the memory of his cutting words.
"May I?" He gestured to a seat and both Kurt and David nodded, so he sat, cradling the coffee he had brought with him.
He looked at David as he said, "Look, David, I want to apologise for the things I said to you that night at Scandals. I was drunk and I was a complete dick. I'm sorry. I just do that sometimes, it's like my defence mechanism.
When I'm hurting I take it out on my friends and I was kinda upset about..." his eyes flickered to Kurt's, "...er, someone that night. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and caught my sarcasm."
Sebastian was surprised to find a little comfort in the understanding small nod from Kurt. He clearly knew he was talking about Blaine.
"Thank you, Sebastian." David answered simply, accepting his apology easily.
Seb smiled back, intensely relieved. "So, I'll leave you two to chat, but I was wondering if you wanted to go to Scandals with me sometime? Maybe this Friday if you're free?"
Kurt and David's eyes both whipped to his in shock, making Seb laugh. "Look, I can be a good guy sometimes! Get Kurt to give you my number and let me know if you want to come." He stood up, starting to walk away.
He was surprised to hear footsteps behind him and feel a hand on his arm seconds later. He turned to find a smiling David behind him. "Sebastian, wait! I'd love to come! Thank you. I'll ask Kurt to give you my number too."
Sebastian smiled and nodded. "Okay, I'll text you before Friday. See you, Dave. Oh, and call me Seb."
"Bye Seb."
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