Sebastian walked out toward the parking lot with Kurt and his family. They were all smiling and in very high spirits. Their optimism was contagious and Sebastian found himself smiling widely until they reached the parking lot, because that's when Kurt turned to him and asked the inevitable question.

"Oh… Sebastian, where's your mom? Or… Who did you come with?"

Sebastian was caught off guard by Kurt's question, even though he already knew he would eventually have to justify his presence at the hospital somehow.

"Um… She's not here. I came by myself actually."

Kurt seemed thrown off by Sebastian's statement.

"You came to the hospital all alone? Why?"

"Well, I just had to get some routine blood tests done… Nothing big." Sebastian lied, hoping he didn't sound as nervous as he was feeling at the moment. "But I didn't come alone, Marcus drove me. He is waiting for me in the car. "

"Who is Marcus?"

"Uh… He's our, uh... driver." Sebastian shrugged, smiling but feeling a little embarrassed about the admission. Somehow the fact that his mom didn't let him take the car by himself was a little bit humiliating to him.

Kurt however, seemed more puzzled by the fact that Sebastian was alone at the hospital to pay attention to the Sebastian-needs-a-driver part.

Sebastian was sure Kurt was about to say something but luckily Burt stepped in before he could.

"You are coming with us Sebastian, right? I'm still not sure where we're going, but I am hungry and want to treat myself to something delicious! So, what do you say?"

"I actually know a place you're gonna love… and it's not far from here at all." Sebastian said, happy to change the subject and get going.

…

Sebastian wasn't sure what had been worse: having Kurt watch as he had to call his mom to tell her he wasn't going back home with Marcus (he hoped his mother's happy squeals hadn't been loud enough for Kurt to hear) or having to ride in the backseat of the Hummels' car with Kurt's step mother.

Sure, Carole seemed nice enough. But she kept giving Sebastian this looks that seemed like a mixture of curiosity and fondness, and every time Sebastian caught her staring she would just give him this small smile that made him oddly self-conscious.

Kurt was driving and his dad was looking at the GPS as it displayed the route to the restaurant Sebastian had suggested. Sebastian had spent so much time in Cleveland these past few months that he and his parents had often gone on several quests to find decent restaurants that they could actually enjoy. Sebastian only hoped the Hummels would like it too.

Before long, they arrived at the restaurant and were getting ready to order when Sebastian took off his hoodie. He was casually looking at the menu when he heard Carole gasp out loud from across the table.

"Oh my god honey, what happened to your arm?"

Sebastian frowned; not knowing what Carole was talking about until he glanced at his left arm and saw a big bruise starting to form. Sebastian hadn't even noticed it, otherwise he would have just kept his sweater on.

"Oh it's nothing… I just bruise really easily." Sebastian shrugged, smiling widely like it was no big deal even though he could feel his face burning up with embarrassment. Carole seemed really worried, Burt was frowning and Sebastian didn't want to draw their attention like that.

"I swear I get these all the time, but they go away in a couple of days. Don't worry." Sebastian said nonchalantly as he pulled his right forearm up so they could see where he had a smaller bruise that was almost completely faded." See this one? It's from a few days ago, and it's almost gone. I don't even remember how I got it."

Sebastian's answer seemed to appease Carole a little, and Burt just nodded before going back to reading the menu, but when Sebastian turned to his side he realized Kurt looked like he'd just run over a cat with his car or something.

"What?" Sebastian asked. But Kurt just pressed his lips and smiled nervously before drinking from his glass of water.

The table was awkwardly silent for a few moments before the waiter came to take their food orders. Soon enough, the conversation was flowing again but Sebastian could tell that something was bothering Kurt, and it was getting on his nerves.

"Kurt, can you come with me for a second? There's something I want to show you." Sebastian said, getting up from the table and then turning to address Burt and Carole. "If you excuse us for a moment, we'll be right back."

Kurt seemed a bit surprised but excused himself and followed Sebastian as he walked to the back of the restaurant.

They walked to the back porch and out to the restaurant's garden, where the owners had a lot of crops they planted organized neatly. The place wasn't called "Splendid's Organic Deli" for nothing. Most of the ingredients on their menu came right from their back yard.

"This is amazing." Kurt said, smiling as they walked across it.

Behind the garden there was a big clearing, where the owners had set up a small seating area for adults with wooden benches, tables with umbrellas and a playground with swings, slides, and a trampoline. On the other side of it, there was a barn house and a fenced area where they kept horses and ponies. The whole scenery was very beautiful and relaxing, with trees and lots of different kinds of colorful flowers all around. Sebastian really enjoyed coming out there every time he came this restaurant with his parents.

Kurt seemed entranced by the place and was smiling as they sat down in one of the benches. But his smile faded away when they sat down. Soon enough they both found themselves being awkwardly silent again.

"Kurt, what's wrong? You look like your cat died or something." Sebastian asked, and Kurt laughed nervously.

"I don't have a cat, silly."

"Well, your dog then."

"I don't have a dog either." Kurt said, and Sebastian laughed as he rolled his eyes and looked away towards the place where the ponies were.

"That bruise on your arm," Kurt said, calling Sebastian's attention back to him. "It was my fault, wasn't it? I did it."

Sebastian frowned, "What are you talking about? You didn't-"

"Yes, I did!" Kurt exclaimed. "I hit you with my folder, Sebastian. I hit you really hard, and I shouldn't have."

Sebastian was flabbergasted. He wanted to tell Kurt that he was crazy, that there was no way in hell that that was the reason his arm was turning ugly shades of red and purple, but the truth was that with how easily he bruised because of the cancer, Kurt was probably right.

"I was frustrated and angry and I took it out on you… but I never meant to hurt you." Kurt said in a small voice, and Sebastian just rolled his eyes, shaking his head. Sebastian hated feeling like he was so frail and weak, but he knew it wasn't Kurt's fault that he was sick and could bruise easily.

"I'm sorry, Sebastian."

"Well… you should be." Sebastian snarked, "Now my arm is probably gonna fall off, you know?"

Kurt turned to look at him, confused.

"Yeah, that's what this bruises do, Kurt! It will spread to my whole arm and then it will just fall off!" Sebastian cried in mock horror before bursting into hysterical giggles.

"Don't say that!" Kurt laughed, rolling his eyes.

"Why not? It's the truth!" Sebastian teased, "I'll be an amputee because of you, Kurt Hummel! Oh my god!"

"Shut up!" Kurt pulled Sebastian's beanie over his eyes and smacked him playfully in the head.

"Oh my god!" Sebastian yelled, grabbing his head. "Now my head? You hit me in the head! Now I'm gonna bleed my brain out of my ears!"

When Sebastian pulled his beanie back up, he saw Kurt was smiling and that made him feel better. He had more than enough with his parents and sister constantly worrying about him, he didn't want Kurt to be the same way.

Sebastian stood up from the bench and walked over to the trampoline, taking off his shoes before getting on it.

"What are you doing?" Kurt asked incredulously as Sebastian started jumping up and down.

"What does it look like?" Sebastian replied, earning another eye roll from Kurt.

Sebastian loved to jump on that trampoline, it was big enough to fit a couple of adults, even though it was most likely put there for children. Sebastian was so busy jumping up and down that he didn't realize Kurt had joined him until he felt him bump into him from behind. When Sebastian turned around, Kurt pulled his beanie down again, blocking his eyes.

Sebastian gasped indignantly before retaliating, by taking it off and pulling it over Kurt's head, completely ruining his perfectly coiffed hair. The sight of Kurt's annoyed face combined with how funny he looked with the beanie over his head was too much for Sebastian, who almost fell off the trampoline from laughing so hard.

Kurt took the beanie off and tried to chase Sebastian to put it in his head again, but it proved to be an impossible task, as Sebastian kept dodging him and jumping around. They jumped and goofed around for a couple of minutes, but soon enough Sebastian started to feel a little lightheaded and knew he had to stop.

Sebastian didn't want to admit to it though, so he just let Kurt finally get him, offering little resistance as Kurt pulled the beanie over his head, dragging it down and over his eyes and nose. Sebastian let himself fall on his back and laid there, staring at the sky as he caught his breath.

"I won." Kurt said breathlessly as he dropped down and laid beside him.

"Mhhmm." Sebastian hummed sarcastically.

Everything around them was quiet as Sebastian and Kurt just laid there, looking up at the clouds and catching their breath. A few birds could be heard, singing in the nearby trees, but all Sebastian could hear was the sound of Kurt's breath. There were barely any clouds in the sky, just a few small ones right in the middle of the bright blue expanse.

"It's beautiful..." Kurt whispered.

"Yeah... It is." Sebastian admitted. "I could just stay here and stare at the sky all day."

Kurt said nothing, but from the corner of his eye, Sebastian could see how Kurt had turned to his side and was now staring at him. Sebastian felt something warm and unfamiliar spread in his chest but instead of dwelling in it, he decided to call Kurt's attention back to the sky.

"That cloud looks like a hat."

"A hat? It looks more like a turtle to me." Kurt said.

"You know... My sister Cath and I like to do this thing where we just stare at the ceiling and see if we can make up shapes in the clouds. Sometimes we get up on the roof of our house and just stare at the sky for hours."

"Really?" Kurt smiled.

"Yeah, it's even better at night time." Sebastian admitted, "You probably think it's silly but.. I don't know. There's something incredibly soothing about it. Whenever I need to take a break from school or anything, I just climb to the roof of my house and stare at the sky... It helps take my mind off things."

Kurt hummed in agreement and they just stayed there for a little, staring at the sky in companionable silence.

A couple of moments later, when Sebastian turned to his side he realized Kurt was looking at him again. This was the closest they had ever been to each other physically, and Sebastian realized he had never noticed how many different colors were in Kurt's eyes. He'd always seen them only as light blue, but laying there so close to him, he could make up green, gray and golden in them as well.

The second Sebastian realized he was staring he just turned away from Kurt's gaze and looked at the sky instead. The day was bright and just a little bit chilly, but Sebastian realized his senses were on edge for completely different reasons. When Sebastian felt Kurt's fingers grazing against his skin he almost jumped off the trampoline.

"S-sorry…" Sebastian apologized, realizing how stupid he must have looked suddenly bolting away from Kurt like a lunatic. "I uh… thought it was a bug… or something."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Kurt looked puzzled at Sebastian's reaction, but amused at the same time. He sat up and crossed his legs, facing Sebastian who was now sitting up as well.

"Does it hurt?" Kurt asked, barely touching the skin of Sebastian's arm. This time, Sebastian stood still, following the movement of Kurt's hand as he slightly traced his fingers over the bruise that was starting to form before pulling his hand back.

"No."

Kurt looked up at him and squinted his eyes.

"It doesn't hurt." Sebastian insisted, "Unless I poke it or something… it's fine, Kurt. Really."

Kurt just nodded. His eyes were still fixed on Sebastian's arm, but he didn't look guilty or worried anymore. He just looked like there was something on his mind.

"So what's your plan now?" Sebastian asked, shaking Kurt out of his thoughts.

"Plan? What do you mean?"

"Yeah, now that your dad is done with his treatment. Are you going back to New York?"

"Oh…" Kurt seemed thrown off by Sebastian's question. "I'm not leaving… Not yet. I mean, the doctor gave us great news but my dad still has to get some tests done in a month to see if he will need to get the surgery or not. I can't leave until he is completely in the clear. I won't leave."

Sebastian just nodded understandingly.

"I have until the fall semester to start classes anyway," Kurt continued, smiling now. "So… I'm going to be here for a little longer. You won't get rid of me."

Sebastian shook his head, smiling.

"How about you? What have you been up to? What are your plans?"

"Well... My plans for the near future include tons of homework, and chemo."

Kurt pressed his lips into a tight smile.

"I bet you have a lot of catching up to do with school." Kurt said. "But that's good, right?"

"Yeah, it is. I'm not really looking forward to it, but I'm glad I get the chance to do it. You know?"

"What are your plans for college?" Kurt asked and Sebastian sighed, looking at the sky again.

"I don't know really know about college." Sebastian confessed. "I applied to Columbia as my main option but also to NYU and Cornell. I guess I have good chances of getting in, but that won't matter much if I'm still sick by the time the semester starts."

Kurt nodded, but before he could say anything else, they heard Burt calling up their names from the door of the restaurant.

"Hey guys! What are you doing out here? The food is served!"

...

Sebastian didn't miss the teasing smile on Carole's face when they returned to the table, or the small mischievous glances she kept throwing Kurt's way throughout the entire meal, but he decided to just smile and try his best to not think too much of them. Going out and talking a little seemed to had eased Kurt's guilt and he was back to his normal self. The conversation was nice and the food tasted great. They stayed for almost two hours in the restaurant, going back out to the garden after they finished eating and just admiring the beauty of the place.

The restaurant was built like a really a big wooden cabin, and it had a very homey-feeling to it. It was cozy and a lot of the decor was hand-crafted and old, but very well preserved at the same time. Carole loved it and kept taking pictures of everything with her phone.

Sebastian offered to take a picture of her and Burt, which Carole was excited to get. However, Sebastian's kind gesture backfired on him when Carole insisted he and Kurt posed for a picture together. The only thing that eased Sebastian's nerves a bit was that Kurt seemed just as flustered as he did by Carole's insistence about them getting closer to each other for the picture.

All in all, it was a really fun day. Things worked better than Sebastian could have ever imagined, and he was happy.

On the ride back home, Sebastian tried really hard to stay awake, but the day had taken its toll on him and he fell asleep really fast. When Sebastian opened his eyes he realized they were already parked in front of Kurt's house.

"Oh god, I fell asleep.. I'm so sorry." Sebastian quickly said, apologizing as he rubbed his eyes. He always felt really groggy when he slept and he felt embarrassed to have fallen asleep in front of Kurt's family. A quick once over helped Sebastian set his mind at ease to the fact that he hadn't drooled all over himself. He only hoped he hadn't snored or talked in his sleep.

"It's okay sweetie, it was a long ride... I dozed off for a while too!" Carole said with an affectionate smile.

"Don't even worry about it." Burt said from outside the window. "Kurt will drive you home now."

"Oh that's not necessary, I can just call and have Marcus come pick me up. Really." Sebastian insisted, not wanting to put Kurt through the hassle of driving him all the way to Westerville when he'd already drove so much.

"Are you sure?" Kurt asked incredulously, "What if he is busy or can't come?"

"I'll call him right now." Sebastian said, turning around to dial the number.

As it turns out, Marcus was available to go pick Sebastian up from Kurt's house, but he still had to wait for him to drive all the way there. The truth was, Sebastian didn't really mind Kurt driving him home, the thing that he was actually trying to avoid was falling asleep in front of him again. Sebastian was sure the minute he got back in the car he was going to pass out. He was trying his hardest to stay awake, but as they sat down in the living room, watching TV, Sebastian was finding it harder and harder to keep his eyes open.

Kurt couldn't help but stare at Sebastian from the couch where he was sitting. Sebastian was holding his head up with one hand as he pretended to pay attention to whatever game his dad had on the TV. Kurt was reading Vogue, but wasn't really paying attention either. He was more interested in looking at Sebastian and thinking about the whole scene in his head.

Who would have thought that Sebastian Smythe of all people would be hanging out at his house on a Friday afternoon? The scene was so surreal and uncanny that Kurt couldn't help but smile. Being at his house, doing nothing but watching TV with his dad was the kind of thing only Kurt's close friends ever did, and yet there was Sebastian, sitting down beside his father and watching TV after having lunch together.

When Marcus finally called Sebastian on the phone to let him know he was parked outside, Kurt felt a little sad to see him leave. Not that he would ever admit to it out loud, but still.

Later that night, Kurt received a phone call from a very excited Vivienne Smythe, who was more than thrilled and relieved to see her son had finally made amends with Kurt. Kurt had to admit Sebastian's mom was one of the warmest and loveliest women he'd ever met. Talking to her never felt like an obligation or a formality, and Kurt could see how much she cared for her son and consequently, for his friendship with Kurt as well.

"How's your father dear? Sebastian told me the doctor gave him good news. I can only imagine how relieved you must all feel!" She said.

"Yes, we all are very happy about how he's doing." Kurt admitted, smiling. "He's doing great and is eager to get back to work."

"I'm so glad to hear that Kurt."

"Thanks Mrs. Smythe. How about you? How have you been? And how is Sebastian going with his treatment?" Kurt asked, a bit wary of touching the subject but not being able to help his curiosity. After all, he'd spent a few weeks away from Sebastian, and he hadn't been doing very well at that time. Sebastian seemed to be doing just fine earlier, but Kurt was still curious.

"Oh… He's doing well, all things considered." Mrs. Smythe said, and Kurt could feel the reservation in her voice. "Bastian will have a very busy week coming up. He has a lot of school work to catch up on, and he is getting his next round of chemo on Wednesday."

"Oh I see… Will you be going with him? Cause he told me how busy you were today, and that you weren't able to go with him for his blood tests." Kurt couldn't help but ask. He couldn't imagine Mrs. Smythe sending Sebastian alone to the hospital again, especially if he was getting chemo, but he wanted to make sure.

On the other end of the line, Kurt could hear Mrs. Smythe making a strange noise that sounded like repressed laughter. Or maybe she had been offended by Kurt's question?

"I mean… Because now that my dad is done with his treatment I could go with him if you're busy. I wouldn't mind… It's a long drive and I'm already used to it, I could go… if you want." Kurt added nervously, worried about having offended Mrs. Smythe.

"Thank you, Kurt." Judging by the tone of her voice, Mrs. Smythe hadn't been offended by Kurt's comments. "I don't have any appointments scheduled for Wednesday morning, but if something comes up I'll take you up on your offer."

"Of course."

"I'll tell Sebastian too. I'm sure he'd appreciate your company very much. You're such good friends."

Kurt felt his face heat up and was glad that Mrs. Smythe couldn't see him. He wondered what Sebastian would think of Kurt offering to take him to the hospital. Maybe he'd be annoyed, or maybe not. Either way Kurt couldn't help but feel flustered at the idea of Mrs. Smythe telling Sebastian about this.

It was done though, Kurt couldn't take his words back. He would have to just wait and see if come Wednesday he would be going to the hospital with Sebastian or not.

AN: Hi guys, I'm back. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I am so sorry for the lack of updates lately, but real life has been kicking my butt. The restaurant Kurt and Sebastian went to is based on an actual place I love. So if you want to see what it looks like in real life, I posted some pictures and you can see them on my tumblr: totoropirate :)