A/N: Prompt 'a single Kurt gets an unexpected Valentine invitation'. Dalton AU.
A throng of overexcited, hormonal teenaged boys walk past Kurt's open door, laughing and joking and talking animatedly. Kurt drops his shoulders and groans. He gets up from his desk chair and shuts the door, nodding and smiling halfheartedly at the few boys who see him and give him a, "What's up, Hummel?"
Nothing's up. Not for Kurt, at least.
It's Valentine's Day.
Kurt hates Valentine's Day.
It's just an excuse to sell cards and candy on a holiday. Still, it sucks to be the only one without a date. Wes has plans with his girlfriend Cynthia from Crawford Country Day, Dalton's sister school. David, Trent, and Thad all got fake i.d.'s and are planning on hitting up a night club in Columbus. Nick and Jeff left right after classes let out for the day and probably wouldn't be sneaking back till well after curfew. Westerville High School is having a Sweethearts and Stags dance, and it seems half the Dalton student body managed to get invites.
Kurt doesn't really care too much about high school dances, though.
What really stings is that he was stood up by Blaine – the only boy he wanted to be with tonight.
Stood up in essence since they really didn't have a date, per se. Kurt was kind of Blaine's consolation prize. Blaine had actually asked out another guy earlier in the day; Jeremiah - a junior manager at the Gap. After a big, and frankly inappropriate song and dance number at his work Jeremiah got fired and afterwards told Blaine point blank that he had no chance. So, Blaine turned to Kurt with a self-depreciating half-smile and said, "Well, I guess you're stuck with me tonight."
Not that Kurt had minded. Being stuck with Blaine sounded like the perfect way to spend the evening.
But apparently shit rolls downhill. Jeremiah's on-again, off-again boy(ish)friend broke up with him, and Jeremiah called Blaine last minute looking for a sympathetic shoulder to cry on. Which is why Blaine, dressed impeccably in red skinny jeans, a short-sleeved button down black Brooks Brothers shirt, and a red bowtie is on his way to watch an Indie double-feature with an ex-junior manager from the Gap, and Kurt is getting a head start on a Hemingway essay that isn't due for another month.
The boys of Dalton leave the dorms en masse, and in no time at all the halls are empty and quiet again. Kurt glances at his copy of For Whom the Bell Tolls, cover adornedwith a black and white photo of the ruggedly handsome author in his early years.
"I guess it's just you and me tonight, Ernie," Kurt says, picking up the book and flipping to where he had stuck his bookmark in the spine.
After an hour Kurt has only succeeded in reading the same paragraph three times, distracted over and over by images of Blaine running his fingers through Jeremiah's enviable head of honey-colored hair, their hands brushing together as they reach for the popcorn at the exact same time, or quite possibly even making out in the back row of the theater.
Kurt sighs heavily, leaning back in his chair and staring up unblinkingly at the ceiling, forcing himself to concentrate on anything else than the thought of Blaine and Jeremiah sharing shy kisses between sips of soda, their arms wrapped around each other, ignoring the world in the middle of a crowded room...
Kurt hears a slight scratching, unmistakable but faint, and he jumps almost completely out of his seat.
"Great," Kurt thinks, getting up from his chair slowly and scanning the floor of his room, mildly disgusted. "I got stood up and now I have rats."
Kurt walks to his bed, bracing himself to pull it away from the wall and encounter some twitchy little vermin huddled in the corner when he hears the scratching again, louder this time, but not coming from his bed.
It's coming from his door.
Kurt's eyes widen as he looks at it, amazed that anyone would be left in the dorms beside him. He was sure everyone had gone.
He hears the scratching once more, but this time accompanied by a, "Geez, Hummel. Would you open the fucking door?"
That voice.
It can't be.
Kurt walks to his door and opens it a crack.
It is.
Sebastian Smythe is standing at his door, surprisingly debonair in head to toe Burberry, wearing gray slacks and a green shirt that compliments his eyes, making them look even a shade darker than their usual smoldering emerald…not that Kurt has ever noticed. He's carrying a bouquet of white roses with blush tips – Kurt's favorites, incidentally, but how Sebastian knew or where he got them from, Kurt can't even venture to guess.
"Sebastian?" Kurt asks, too dumbfounded to sound annoyed. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Could you let me in, Hummel?" Sebastian starts in a rush, leaning in toward the door in an attempt to get Kurt to open it wider, "I waited until everyone was gone because I didn't want anyone seeing me at your door carrying flowers."
"Nice," Kurt says, but he doesn't open the door any further, "but that doesn't explain why you're here."
Sebastian sighs, looking left and right, seeming worried that someone might spring down the hallway any minute and catch him.
"I knew you didn't have a date tonight," Sebastian says, his face tight and strained as if he is suddenly in a great amount of physical pain, "and I wanted to know…"
Sebastian sweeps his eyes around the empty hallway one more time before he looks at Kurt.
"Willyouhavedinnerwithmetonight?"
The words tumble from Sebastian's mouth so quickly that Kurt barely understands them. He stares at Sebastian for a second, trying to make sense of them, and when he does his face falls. He doesn't need this; doesn't need the criminal chipmunk at his door making fun of him.
"Not tonight, Sebastian," Kurt grumbles, closing his door in Sebastian's face, "I'm not in the mood."
Sebastian stops the door with his foot wedged in the remaining open space. Kurt looks at the toe of the black Oxford lodged in the doorway and opens it again.
"Look…" Sebastian takes a deep breath, fixing Kurt with as sincere a stare as he can muster under the circumstances, "I heard about Blaine's last minute rendezvous with that guy from WalMart…"
"The Gap," Kurt corrects him.
"Like I care," Sebastian continues on unfazed. "Even if you are Captain Super Gay and I pretty much want to shove a sock in your mouth every time I hear you speak…that wasn't cool…what Blaine did."
Kurt narrows his eyes at the cynical man with his foot stuck in his door.
"You're serious, aren't you?" Kurt raises a skeptical eyebrow as he waits for Sebastian's answers.
"Yup." Sebastian's smug smile returns with a vengeance. "I'm serious."
Kurt opens the door wider and Sebastian pulls his foot back, giving it a little shake to revive the circulation. Kurt crosses his arms over his chest and takes in the full picture of Sebastian, his stylish outfit, and those beautiful roses. Kurt's definitely flattered by the sentiment, but he still finds it difficult to believe that Sebastian came up with this all by himself...at least not without a gun to his temple.
"Who put you up to this?" he asks, not completely convinced. "Did Blaine ask you to do this because he felt guilty? Did the Warblers pay you…"
Sebastian rolls his eyes through Kurt's accusations.
"I wouldn't do shit for Blaine, and the Warblers couldn't afford me, princess," Sebastian snarks, starting to sound irritated. "Look, I made reservations so are you coming or not? Because believe it or not I can get a last minute date on Valentine's Day."
Kurt can definitely believe that, but as he looks into Sebastian's anxious face he can't help the feeling that he might actually be hurt if Kurt turned him down.
"I'll get my coat," Kurt says, turning back to his room and heading for his closet.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sebastian says, stepping inside the doorway to Kurt's room, "aren't you going to change?"
Kurt looks down at his own ensemble - vintage grey jacquard Vivienne Westwood trousers and a plum cashmere sweater with a mock scarf.
"No. Why?"
"Well…" Sebastian places the roses down gently on Kurt's desk, giving Kurt a sidelong glance, "I'd prefer it if you wore something from the men's department."
Kurt puts his hands on his hips and scoffs.
"I'm not getting changed," he says darkly.
Sebastian looks him over one more time, his smirk transforming slowly into a hungry grin.
"You know, Hummel," he says, walking up to Kurt while his eyes shamelessly devour every inch of Kurt's body, "you're right. Now that I look at it, there's something about this outfit…" Sebastian steps in close to Kurt, invading his personal space, standing so close Kurt can feel the heat radiate off Sebastian's skin. "We don't have to go out," Sebastian whispers, face moving in slowly, lips hovering an inch from Kurt's mouth. "We can just stay here…"
Kurt looks into Sebastian's playful green eyes, unwavering, completely unmoved.
"Give me a minute," Kurt says finally, "and I'll go change."