Chapter 2

When Blaine told him he was going to send Sebastian his number, since they had to sort some logistic stuff out for the following day, Kurt prepared himself for the worst: assolish comments, general rudeness and a few insults too – maybe some offensive remarks regarding his taste, his voice or his appearance; basically Sebastian Smythe's usual repertoire.

But when he texted him later that night, to Kurt's utter shock, the conversation went incredibly well. And for well, Kurt meant in a surprisingly and worryingly civilized way.

And so damn formal.

In Sebastian's messages there was no trace of sarcasm, not even the slightest hint of their old resentment.

You would think that Kurt felt reassured by that unexpected apathy from Sebastian's part, but that actually made him even more nervous. He was okay with dealing with rudeness and sarcasm and hatred, but with this Sebastian – so quiet and tamed and different from the person Kurt knew in high school? Kurt didn't know how to act with this new him. And more importantly he didn't know how to deal with himself, he didn't know if he could interact just as formally, if he could control himself and not let his sorrow and his bitterness out on him.

And that sucked. It really, really sucked.

.

Six in the fucking morning. That's the time they decided he had to be at Hummel's. That meant waking up at four to be there on time. That was mental, really. Yes, he wasn't the biggest sleeper and he woke up embarrassingly early on his own, but that didn't mean he liked it or that he liked to leave the bed before the dawn. In fact, he may have suffered from insomnia, but he still enjoyed the comfortableness and the warmth of his mattress. Being out and about at four A.M was depressing and kind of annoying. If we had been alone, he would have left Westerville at least two hours later, but no: he had to pick up the twink and then actually head to their destination. And god, at these early hours it was freezing outside. When he went to the garage earlier, his car was a bloody fridge: he was pretty sure that if he'd licked the window his tongue would have stuck glued to it, like in those stupid cartoons his little brother loved so much.

Speaking of his little brother, he hoped Hummel wouldn't be a prick in front of him. And he also hoped he wouldn't wake him up with that screeching voice of his: Benjamin was sleeping so peacefully and unperturbed in his safety seat, which was a relief, really. The little guy hadn't slept at all that night, not when he was so excited to go on a trip with his big brother and spend some time with Blainey too.

Sebastian sighed, looking at the tiny boy in the backseat through the rear-view mirror. He didn't know how to feel about him being there with him. In a way, Jay's presence reassured him; he wasn't alone in this dreading epopee to help Kurt Hummel and save everyone's ass. But he was also worried, because - well, he wasn't the easiest person when he was with others, especially with Hummel, who, for some unknown reason, was able to extort the worst out of him. Sebastian didn't want his favorite five-year-old to know this side of him. Jay looked up to him and he didn't want to lose that privilege.

And if it did happen, he would hate Kurt Hummel. And her mother's boss too, because it was her that sent her on that stupid last minute emergency trip out of state. Sometimes Sebastian wished she wasn't so good at her job.

He sighed again, slowing down his speed as his car passed by Lima's incoming sign. The moment of truth was getting closer and closer, as he surpassed every traffic light and every crossroad. Soon his GPS told him he was arrived: he pulled over in front of a modest, but definitely comfy detached house. And there, seated on the steps before the door, looking just as sinful and gorgeous as he remembered from high school, there was Kurt Hummel: a perfect – and kind of sleepy – angel of death. His death.

He got up. Sebastian could not help himself but look at him. He hadn't seen him for years and damn, if time hadn't been good to him. Sebastian wondered if it had tamed that attitude of his too.

Ignoring the strange – but not so unfamiliar – tingling feeling in his stomach, Sebastian got out as Kurt slowly walked up to him.

"Hummel." He greeted, trying to be as formal as he could – just like he did with his texts.

"Smythe." He replied, as reserved and studiedly calm as he was. They didn't make any eye contact, though they were standing at less than thirty centimeters from one another. Sebastian eyed Kurt's suitcase and his bag and his brow automatically went up: he was bringing a lot of things for such a brief period of time. Yes, they would stay at Blaine's grandparents for a few days, but it wasn't like Blaine didn't have a washing machine. Sebastian had packed one simple bag for both him and Benjamin, while Hummel – well, he kinda went overboard. As usual.

He didn't open his mouth to comment on that though because, again, he didn't want Jay to see him being his awful self. And he was still sleeping, too and he didn't want Hummel's screeching voice to wake him up.

He opted for opening the truck of his vintage Audi; from the corner of his eyes, he couldn't help but notice how Kurt eyed his car in awe. He wasn't the type to brag about his money or the things he owned, but it made him secretly gloat when people appreciated his baby.

But that brief moment of satisfaction quickly burned, because as he was lifting his enormous suitcase to put it inside the car, Kurt stumbled in another one of his bag. Sebastian felt his heart stop for the longest, most terrifying second of his short life – the same time Hummel needed to regain control of his limbs and avoid crashing the bloody thing he was holding against his Audi.

Hummel really needed to thank someone up there that clearly loved him a lot. If he'd even so scratched the varnish of his car, he wouldn't have survived that day. Sebastian wouldn't either, but he would have made sure to have the time to kill Hummel before dying himself.

Kurt looked incredibly calm for someone that nearly saw his own death. Unluckily for him, Sebastian wasn't. To be completely honest, his heart had just started beating again and he was pretty sure he was looking livid.

"Watch out, Hummel! You nearly ruined my baby with your stupid suitcase full of unnecessary girly clothes" he snarled, regardless of his previous plans of being civil. Dammit, he couldn't help it. They weren't even in the car yet and Hummel was already making him lose his head.

Kurt went rigid. He carefully put the suitcase inside the truck, now even more so, then slowly straightened up. "I won't tell you how fashion has no gender, nor will I inform you on the fact that I'm not wearing feminine clothes nor that that suitcase is full of Blaine's presents, but I will tell you this" Kurt suddenly turned to face him, his eyes as cold as steel. "Even if I was wearing girly clothes or taking them with me, as you assumed, I could always take them off, buy and put on some masculine ones. But you? Unfortunately, you can't change that shitface of yours. Think about this."

Sebastian was left speechless. Years had passed but Kurt Hummel's tongue was as blazing as always. That stung a little.

"You nearly ruined my car!" he angrily said, always keeping his voice low.

"I didn't!" Kurt snapped, his voice going deep in a way Sebastian didn't expect but definitely too loud for his taste.

"Don't scream, Jesus, my brother is sleeping!"

Kurt's expression went from pissed off to confused. "Brother?"

.

Brother? Kurt hadn't been informed of the presence of another Smythe boy. He wasn't exactly sure that he wanted to get on the damn car, now less than ever.

Sebastian sighed and nodded towards the car and Kurt sneaked a peek through the window of the backseats. There, sleeping angelically, there was the miniature version of Sebastian Smythe. They had the same color of hair, same color of the skin, possibly even the same eye color – he would discover that when he woke up. The only difference from his sibling was his harmlessness. But then again, who didn't look harmless when sleeping? He wished the little guy wasn't anything like Sebastianr.

Kurt turned to face him; he looked quite reluctant and unsure as he had never seen him before. "The name's Benjamin." He muttered, "But we call him Jay. And if you're wondering, no, it wasn't planned and yes, Blaine knows about this. So if you have a problem with him being with us, feel free to give me Blaine's presents and look for someone else to drive you there."

"I – no, I don't have any problem" Kurt stuttered, kind of offended for Sebastian's defensive attitude. Kurt wasn't the one to attack, he would never be the one to do that, and it disturbed that Sebastian suddenly felt the right to act like this, when he was usually the one to offend and aggress. And it kind of pissed him off the fact that Sebastian pictured him like someone who would argue the presence of a little kid – him being Sebastian's brother or not.

"Good. Jump on the car." Sebastian only said, closing the door of the truck. Kurt nodded to himself, then he got on the car. Once he was seated and secured, Sebastian started the engine and Kurt realized it was the first time they were so close to one another in such a small place, with no one in between them.

They started driving. They got out of Lima, then took the direction that lead to the highway. All of this in the most sacred silence. Kurt had to admit that Sebastian didn't drive so badly – at least not as fast as he'd thought. But maybe he was this careful because of his little brother in the backseat. Anyway, regardless of the stormy beginning, this departure was less terrible than how he feared, so far. That was probably due to the fact that neither of them could bitch about anything, as they kept doing what they were doing with their mouths shut – Sebastian was super focused on the road, dark and endless and clear, while Kurt distractedly looked out of the window and enjoyed the quietness that surrounded them.

Sebastian broke the silence after nearly half an hour into the trip, just as the sun started to peak through the horizon. "Listen, Hummel." He started, his voice hesitant and low as not to wake Benjamin up. "It probably will surprise you, but my brother is the sweetest and most honest little kid you'll ever meet, and I'm not saying this just because he is my brother. He's growing to be such a good person and he.. looks up to me. Let's just say, I don't want him to discover how much of a jerk I can be. And you know what it does to me when I'm with you."

Sebastian shot him a cautious look, just a brief glance to understand what was going through Kurt's head from his expression. Kurt wasn't sure of what Sebastian could see, since he himself didn't know what to think – not about all the "I don't want to look like a complete asshole in front of my baby brother" thing, obviously, that he could understand. He just..had a hard time associating the Sebastian he knew with the image of a caring person. Or decent, really. The only thing he was sure of was that all of these changes of character from Sebastian's part were making his head hurt like a bitch.

"Now you can say something, you know."

"What should I say?" Kurt asked, defensive himself too. Kurt had been afraid Sebastian would push his limits, but not in this way. He kept forcing new information on him and Kurt honestly didn't know what to make out of it. Especially when those new thoughts destroyed any pre-concepts he had.

"I don't know, something!"

"Well, excuse me if I don't know what to think when suddenly you ask me to make you look like a decent human being!" he answered gritting his teeth.

"I didn't ask you to make me look like one, just – just – argh! I just asked you not to do exactly this! But I guess it was just wishful thinking, wasn't it?" Sebastian spat, his voice cutting even though he was trying not to be loud.

"It's not my fault if you snaps at any given chance, Sebastian. Nor if I don't give you the answers you expect me to give you." Sebastian opened his mouth to speak out, but Kurt interrupted him before he could even start. "But I won't do anything to piss you off on purpose, if that's what you're scared off. I intend to make it out alive and mentally sane from this trip." He concluded, turning to look at Sebastian. He didn't turn, but he nodded briefly.

"Okay" he simply replied, and with that silence was restored.

.

They were two hours into the trip and decided to stop for awhile at a gas station, just to stretch a little, order a quick coffee, use the bathroom and then switch the role.

In actual fact, it was Kurt to insist they stopped and exchange tasks. Sebastian didn't have any problem with driving for awhile more, but he didn't want to argue with Hummel when he told him he didn't want to die because he let him drive while he was too tired to see straight. Sebastian conceded himself a lame joke about seeing gay, then tiredly agreed and pulled over at the first gas station. After all, he'd been driving for nearly four hours and he was exhausted. No matter how jealous he was of his car, he needed to rest and pass the wheel.

"I'm just gonna go to the toilet and then grab a coffee. What do you want?" he asked, unfastening his belt. Kurt shrugged. "Coffee and some chips, maybe?"

Sebastian looked funnily at him. He always pictured Hummel as the salad type, super strict and obsessed with being healthy and all. He really didn't expect this.

Kurt looked back at him with an arched brow. "What? I'm on vacation, I'll just work out when I get back in New York, okay? Just go buy my fat food and don't judge me." He mumbled, crossing his arms against his chest.

Sebastian just lifted his hands in surrender, "Yes, sir" he joked. Kurt sent him his old death glare and Sebastian just smirked, quickly getting off the car and heading to the shop.

Kurt watched him go, still glaring intently like his eyes could actually set him on fire. It was just when Sebastian disappeared through the door of the shop that Kurt stopped. Finally "alone", he decided to check the phone. The inbox alert told him he had sixteen unread texts. Kurt's brow went up as he opened them.

The first one was from Blaine.

Everything ok? Are you on the way? Love you xx

Kurt quickly replied that everything was going fine so far and that they were taking a quick break, then he scrolled through the other texts he received. Most of them were from Rachel, while other two were from Santana. Kurt frowned. He opened the ones from Santana first. In the first one, she told him to have nice trip. The second one said just: don't mind Berry lol

Kurt quickly read Rachel's ones too. Hers were just a series of texts in capslock that literally screamed at him not to do anything she wouldn't do and reminded him that he hated ( you hate him, Kurt!) Sebastian Smythe, but she especially pointed out that Santana was delusional. Delusional for what, Kurt wasn't aware, but that kind of reassured him. Santana's texts were out of the ordinary, since she rarely bothered to send him messages unless it was important; but she was probably bored out of her mind there at Blaine's grandparents without someone (him) to talk shit with, so she was probably making Rachel go crazy just for fun. She loved bullshitting her, though Kurt thought it was the weakest modus operandi to make someone fall for them. Which was always better than convincing the person you love to cheat on their boyfriend, but still.

He texted Rachel back, telling her he didn't receive any messages from Santana just to calm her down, then he put away his phone.

"Who are you?"

Kurt nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard someone speaking in his ear. Logically he should have guessed it was Sebastian's brother, but his heart wasn't cooperating, since it was trying to escape from his chest. "Oh my god. You nearly killed me" he breathed, turning to look at the little kid hugging his headrest.

Two stunning green eyes were curiously looking at him. He must be a very brave little guy, since he wasn't perturbed the least by the presence of a stranger in his brother's car. Unless he was used to see Sebastian's one night stands leaving the house, but Kurt refused to believe that, because it would have been too disgusting, even for Sebastian Smythe.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to scare you." The little kid said, open and honest and completely at ease. Kurt couldn't do anything but notice how scarily similar Benjamin was to his older brother. He was like Sebastian's miniature: they had the same hair color, the same deep, soul catching green eyes and the same freckles sprinkled on their faces. But at the same time they were incredibly different – like they had to be, being different people, obviously. Benjamin had the purity that characterizes all the children, though he seemed pretty smart for his age; he was more open, and curious and less reluctant than his brother, who on the other end was sarcastic and bitter and just acted like he didn't care.

"Are you friends with Sebby?" the kid asked, interrupting his brief reverie. Kurt composed himself and played distractedly with the watch on his wrist. Friends, he said? They weren't, but he really couldn't tell a little kid that his brother hated him and that the feeling was reciprocated. He settled for a: "We're..acquaintances."

"What does it mean?" the little kid asked, more curious than anything. Kurt felt like an idiot. He was talking with probably a five year old boy, for God's sake. He needed to lower his register a little bit.

"It means we've known each other for awhile, but we're not exactly close."

"Acquaintances." The kid repeated slowly, like he wanted to try the taste of the word on his tongue. "My mum says Sebby is difficult to be friends with. He thinks I don't know it, but I do. She says that Blainey is a saint."

"Do you know Blaine?" Kurt asked, surprised. Sebastian told him Blaine knew about Benjamin's presence, but he didn't expect them to know each other in person. But if he thought about it, it made sense. It was like expecting that Blaine and Finn never met. It was impossible.

Benjamin's eyes lit up. "Yes! He's my brother's best friend, but he's my friend too!"

Kurt smiled. "Blaine's my best friend too, you know. He was my boyfriend once."

"You're Kurt!" Benjamin suddenly exclaimed, slapping his hands on his mouth to cover his smile. "Blainey told me about you! But he told me not to tell Sebby he did! So please don't tell him!"

Kurt laughed. This kid was too precious to exist. Kurt was warming up to him pretty quickly and that didn't happen so often with little kids. "I won't tell him, I promise. We can pinky promise if you want."

Benjamin nodded. They linked their pinkies and shake them, then smiled to one another. "So, your brother told me your name is Benjamin."

"Yes, but friends call me Jay. So you call me Jay, because I like you." The kid said, with a confident nod and a smile.

Kurt's smile grow even bigger. "It's nice to know you, Jay. And I like you too."

Who would ever have thought that he would like a Smythe?