Part 7
In which the band is a PR disaster and Wes is getting tired of cleaning up their messes.
A/N: It's been a while - if you're still reading this, you are the greatest. I post more often on Ao3 so go follow me there, I'm Scarfy36 on there as well as on tumblr & twitter!
…He unplugged his guitar, lifted the strap over his head and placed it into the stand as he walked offstage.
When Sebastian left abruptly and without explanation, Blaine had no idea what to do. His hands kept playing as if on auto-pilot and he shared confused glances with Jeff and Thad as they negotiated through a series of shrugs and nods to keep playing a shorter version of their newest song. Blaine took over Sebastian's vocal parts until the song came to a rushed conclusion, when they thanked the audience as usual before rushing off to find their missing band mate.
He wasn't hard to find, sitting on the floor of the green room with his head between his legs. His phone was clutched in his hand with a vice-like grip.
"Sebastian?" Blaine knelt down next to him. "What happened?"
"And don't say nothing, because there's definitely something going on," Jeff added.
"Soulmate pain," Sebastian answered through gritted teeth. "His arm again, but it's fading now."
"You're sure that's all?" Thad asked.
"Guys, please just leave it," he pleaded. His phone buzzed and his face hardened as he read the screen. "Tell everyone I'm feeling sick, I need to go home."
His band mates stepped back instinctively as Sebastian stood up, leaning on the wall for support. "I'll see you at home, okay?"
"Okay," Blaine nodded. Sebastian exited out the back door and the three remaining band mates shared a helpless look.
OoO
"Mr Duval?" Nick was waiting at the side of the stage after the show when one of his students approached him.
"Marley? You're a Warbler fan?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm a huge fan," she answered with her usual smile. "I didn't know you were too."
"I've been a fan for a while, and my soulmate's the bass player." Nick felt an air of awkwardness whenever he told people who his soulmate was, and he wasn't sure why.
"Jeff Sterling is your soulmate?" her eyes went wide with pleasant surprise.
"Yeah," Nick nodded, pulling up his sleeve slightly to reveal the name on his skin.
"Well this day just got a whole lot more awesome," she grinned, then added. "I won a backstage pass."
"That's great," Nick nodded as David, the security, finally let them backstage after checking their passes.
"Guys, please try to behave in this meet and greet," Nick could hear Wes saying before his attention was diverted to the crowd of fans entering the room. Nick used the distraction to greet his boyfriend.
"Is Sebastian alright?" he asked, concerned.
"I'm not sure what's going on with him," Jeff said, frowning slightly. "We need to get through the rest of the night first though."
"You were fantastic tonight, by the way – as usual," Nick grinned, kissing the worry lines on his soulmate's forehead.
"Those jeans are fantastic, so is your ass, as usual," Jeff smirked, taking the bait of Nick's distraction. "Tomorrow's a Saturday, right?"
"It is, why?"
"Because I don't think you'll be getting much sleep tonight and I'm glad I won't have to feel guilty it's on a school night."
"Speaking of school," Nick laughed shakily, slightly distracted by what Jeff was talking about. "One of my students is in the meet and greet group over there." They both looked over to the group. "She's the brown-haired one staring at us."
"Shall we give her something to stare at?" Jeff pulled his soulmate closer and dipped him, kissing him heatedly and earning a wolf-whistle from Thad.
Nick blushed and whispered into the blonde boy's ear, "I'm getting you back for that tonight."
"I look forward to it," he grinned.
"Keep it in your pants you two," Wes scolded them. "Nick, stop distracting him." Nick opened his mouth to defend himself but Wes glared at him and he raised his hands in defeat.
"I'll go keep Kurt company, then," Nick rolled his eyes, walking over to where Kurt was sitting out of the way in the corner of the room.
"You've been shunned too?" Nick asked.
"I just wanted to stay out of the way," Kurt answered. "It's interesting to watch them being all professional like this."
OoO
"What the hell are you doing here?" Sebastian met his soulmate outside the stage door.
"I came to apologise again." The dull light from the streetlamp left Hunter's face in shadows but Sebastian could still see the anguished look on his face.
"You didn't get it all out this afternoon?"
"I'm sorry for what I said earlier, and what I said the other day," Hunter said, pleading. "Sebastian, please, you don't understand what it's doing to me knowing that you hate me."
"I don't understand? Don't even get me started, Hunter."
"Let it all out, Sebastian! Please just tell me what's going on with you."
"Fine!" Sebastian shouted. "Fine. I'm sick of you being so ashamed of me that you made your own housemate swear not to say a word about us. I'm sick of watching Blaine and Jeff be with their soulmates and wishing I could have something that feels even remotely like that. I'm sick of the constant secrecy and having to lie to my friends about where I am and who I'm with. 'What's going on with me' is that I think I'm really falling for you and I know we can't keep going like this if I have these feelings."
Sebastian was out of breath and Hunter looked like he'd just been slapped.
"Is that really what you think?" Hunter asked softly. Sebastian gave him a pointed look. "I'm not ashamed of you, Sebastian. I thought this was what you wanted."
"I did," Sebastian said. "I just… I can't help what I feel. And after seeing what's happened with Blaine and Jeff, I don't want to go through all of that publicity myself."
Hunter stepped forward and took his soulmate's hand in his own. "So we take baby steps. We talk about this, and decide what to do from there. Okay?"
"Okay," he nodded. He tugged on Hunter's good hand, bringing his soulmate closer as his other hand cupped his soulmate's cheek. They rested their foreheads together briefly before Sebastian pressed his lips to Hunter's in a soft kiss.
"So where do we go from here?" Sebastian asked after a moment.
"Where do you want to go?"
"Home."
OoO
The meet and greet seemed to drag on for Blaine as he worried about his band mate. Blaine usually loved meeting fans after each show, but it got increasingly difficult to smile and chat with them the more he thought about what was going on with Sebastian. He had been acting strangely for a few weeks, more irritable than usual and spending even less time at home.
When the last fans had their photos taken and autographs signed, there was no discussion of any post-show drinks or food like there often was. Instead, Blaine and Jeff were eager to head home and speak to Sebastian, with Thad insisting that he be kept updated.
Blaine knocked on Sebastian's door when he finally got home, and he could hear murmured voices through the wood.
"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," he heard an unfamiliar voice say. "You don't have to rush this, I'm going to be here whatever you choose."
"I know," Sebastian replied to the voice before calling, "just a minute!" to Blaine.
A moment later Sebastian's door opened and he stepped out, quickly shutting the door behind him. "Where's Jeff? I want to talk to you together."
"He's in the living room with Nick and Kurt," Blaine answered. Sebastian nodded and followed Blaine, sitting his band mates down on the couch as he paced in front of them.
"Is everything okay?" Jeff asked.
"Yes," Sebastian stopped his pacing, looking directly at his friends – and noticing that their respective soulmates were beside them. "I, um…" he took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. "I met my soulmate–"
"Wow!"
"–a few months ago."
"Oh."
"But we decided not to tell anyone up until now."
"Well," Jeff said. "You have to admit this explains a lot."
"Is he here?" Blaine asked.
"You heard him through the door before?" Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, he's in my room."
"There's no rush, but I'd like to meet him when you're ready."
"Maybe, uh," Sebastian ran a hand through his hair again. "Maybe not tonight, we're taking baby steps. But yeah, I'm excited for you to meet him – Hunter, his name's Hunter by the way. And we've only just decided to tell you so we're definitely not ready for anyone else to find out."
"We'll be careful," Jeff said, "no twitter and no photos."
"Wait a minute, you met him months ago?" Kurt asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "And you've been lying to everyone ever since?"
"I suppose you could put it that way," Sebastian replied uncomfortably.
"You've been keeping something as important as your soulmate a secret from everyone for months? I know I haven't known you that long but I thought you guys were like brothers. I thought you trusted each other."
"Kurt–" Blaine's eyebrows shot up in surprise at his soulmate.
"No, someone has to point out how messed up this is," Kurt defended himself.
"I'm telling you now, isn't that enough?" Sebastian snapped.
Kurt shook his head, standing up from the couch. "I should go, Blaine, I'm sorry."
"Wait, Kurt–"
"I'll talk to you tomorrow," Kurt's face softened as he waved farewell to Nick and Jeff before leaving.
"He was way out of line," Nick offered words of comfort to Sebastian.
"Whatever," he replied, storming off to his room.
OoO
Fans of popular band 'The Warblers' took to social media last night following guitarist Sebastian Smythe's dramatic exit from the stage during a concert in New York. Smythe was described by those present as looking unwell throughout the show before he left the stage abruptly during the band's final song.
The hashtag #WeLoveYouSebastian trended worldwide on twitter as fans showed their support for the guitarist's mystery ailment. No comment has been made by any of the members of the band or their management at the time of posting.
OoO
Wes was at the boys' apartment first thing the next morning, however Nick was the only one up and he was likely to be of little use to the manager.
"Morning," Nick said in greeting, looking up from the stack of papers he was grading.
"Is anyone else awake yet? I really need to talk to the boys about last night."
"Jeff's still asleep and I haven't seen Blaine or Sebastian yet, so I don't think they're up yet either," Nick answered.
"So Sebastian's here then?" At Nick's nod Wes sighed with relief. "Thank goodness. Last night was a PR disaster, and the image of the band isn't exactly in a great place to start with. If he had gotten into any more trouble I don't know what I'd do."
"Did you want some coffee while you wait? Or I can get Jeff up if you want?" Nick offered.
"Thanks, but if they're not up I can make better use of my time at the office." Wes paused, looking at the soulmate of one if his oldest friends. "Unless you know what happened last night? You're practically one of my boys at this rate anyway."
"I do know what happened," Nick began slowly. "But I don't know if it's my place to tell you."
"He's not dying is he? Terminally ill?"
"No, nothing like that. But it seemed really personal to Sebastian and I think he'd probably rather tell you himself."
"I get it," Wes nodded. "Thanks Nick. Tell the boys to call me when they're up."
"Sure," Nick promised. When the door closed behind Wes, Nick glanced back down at the pile of papers in front of him and decided that they could wait. He would make breakfast and then wake Jeff up, hopefully getting some time alone with his soulmate before their lives got in the way again.
OoO
Blaine woke to a dozen messages from Kurt and the scent of eggs and coffee coming from the kitchen. He glanced at the screen of his phone before deciding that his stomach could come before his relationship that morning.
After pulling on a pair of pants and an old hoodie, Blaine found Nick to be the culprit of the wonderful smell coming from the stovetop.
"They smell amazing, Nick," Blaine said, peering into the pan.
"Oh, hey, Blaine. I only made enough for two – sorry, I didn't know when you'd be up," Nick apologised, eyes wide and sincere. "I can get you coffee though?"
"Don't worry, you two enjoy your morning off," Blaine smiled, grabbing a mug from a cupboard and pouring coffee. "I need to talk to Kurt anyway."
"That reminds me – Wes was here earlier, he wanted you to call him when you were up. He called last night 'a PR disaster'." Nick's fingers made air quotation marks around Wes' words.
"I hadn't even thought about that," Blaine sighed, leaning against the countertop and running a hand through his hair. "I haven't checked twitter this morning but I can only imagine what's happening on there."
"One thing at a time: call Kurt, then Wes and then you can worry about the internet."
Blaine nodded, taking a sip from the mug in his hands. "Priorities."
"Priorities," Nick echoed.
"Thanks, Nick," Blaine said, walking back to his room.
When he sat back down on his bed he glanced at his phone again and finally read through all of the messages Kurt had sent his throughout the night – a series of apologies time stamped from 10 minutes after he'd left the night before, all the way through to the early hours of the morning.
Blaine's thumb hovered over the 'call' button but he knew it would be better to talk in person. He couldn't risk having Kurt and Sebastian in the same room, so he sent his soulmate a text offering to meet at a café halfway between their apartments. Hopefully the coffee and food would ease any tension between them.
He called Wes next, putting his phone on speaker as he got ready to meet Kurt.
"Blaine! Finally someone in this band is awake," Wes skipped the formal greetings.
"Sorry, it ended up being a late night after we got home."
"Are you going to tell me what happened? I'm struggling to imagine what was so huge that Sebastian had to run off the stage in the middle of a set and so top secret that Nick wouldn't tell me."
"I wish I could tell you Wes, but it really is something Sebastian needs to explain to you himself."
A sigh crackled through the line. "You've been no help at all, Blaine. Band meeting as soon as I hear back from Sebastian."
"Can it wait until this afternoon? I'm about to leave to see Kurt – him and Sebastian got into a fight last night and I need to see him."
"I did not need to hear that this morning, please tell me Jeff and Nick are still drama free. At least one person in that house needs to be happy."
"They're fine, Nick's making him breakfast," Blaine laughed.
"Good. I'll be around later, make sure you're all there, this is important."
"Got it, see you later, Wes," Blaine replied, checking himself over in the mirror and ending the call.
OoO
When Sebastian woke in his own bed with his soulmate pressed against his side, his immediate reaction was to panic. His instinct had been trained over the past few months, and now it was a strange feeling to know that he didn't have to be afraid of his housemates finding out his secret. His body relaxed and Sebastian sat up slowly, resting his back against the headboard. Hunter smiled sleepily up at him when he noticed that his soulmate was awake.
"Morning," he said, looking down at his soulmate. Hunter replied by pressing a kiss to Sebastian's stomach, which was the closest part of him he could reach.
Sebastian stroked one hand through Hunter's hair while he picked his phone up off the nightstand with the other.
"Shit," he mumbled, scrolling through his missed calls and texts.
"What is it?" Hunter asked.
"Wes – our manager – has been calling me, he's probably trying to deal with what happened onstage last night."
Hunter traced his fingers along Sebastian's stomach for a moment. "What are you going to tell him?" he asked, avoiding eye contact with his soulmate.
"I'm going to tell him about you – he's Wes, he'd find out anyway. But I don't know what to tell the media and the fans. I'm not ready for them to know the truth."
"It's completely up to you, babe," Hunter said. "Say it was food poisoning if that's what you have to do. As long as I get you like this," he placed another kiss to his soulmate's bare stomach, "then I don't care about all that other stuff."
They stayed in bed for a while longer, sharing lazy kisses until the sound of Hunter's stomach grumbling made them both laugh.
"Come on, I'll make you breakfast – or maybe it's lunch by now," Sebastian offered.
"But won't you're housemates be–"
"I think I want them to meet you," Sebastian said.
"Okay. I want to meet them too."
After pulling on some clothes, but purposefully leaving their cuffs off, the pair left Sebastian's room together for the first time. Sebastian's nerves were only betrayed by the death grip he had on Hunter's good hand. His soulmate squeezed back gently in support.
Jeff and Nick were sitting at the kitchen table when they entered the room.
"Jeff, Nick, this is Hunter, my soulmate" Sebastian said, noticing the way their eyes flicked to the name on his exposed wrist before looking to the man beside him. "Hunter, I'd like to introduce you to Jeff and his soulmate, Nick."
"It's nice to meet you," Nick greeted.
"It's nice to finally to put a name and a face to you," Jeff said. "I'm sorry for that time I sat on you, by the way."
"It's nice to meet you too," Hunter replied.
"Jeff, could you pour us some coffee?" Sebastian asked. "I need to call Wes."
"Sure," his band mate nodded. Sebastian gave Hunter's hand one last squeeze before disappearing into the office to make the call.
"Here you go," Jeff said, placing a mug down on the table and offering a seat to the man standing awkwardly in their kitchen.
"Thanks," Hunter said, taking the offered seat. His body was tense but he was trying his best to make a good impression on his soulmate's friends. "I know it must be weird for you, dealing with all of this."
"It's certainly not the most normal way to go about a soulmate relationship, but you make him happy and that's all we can ask for," Jeff said.
"So you don't care that we kept it from you for so long? I couldn't help overhearing last night."
"It's your relationship," Jeff replied. "It's not how I would have done it, but if it's what you wanted you just have to do what feels right."
"I totally get why you wanted to keep it from the press," Nick added. "I mean, being with Jeff is worth it, but having that many people watching our relationship is definitely intimidating."
Hunter took a sip from his mug, counting it as a victory that they seemed to be getting along. His body slowly relaxed and they sat in a comfortable silence until Sebastian returned a few moments later, taking the seat beside Hunter.
"Wes will be here in about an hour," he said. "I need to apologise to him – but mostly to you, Blaine and Thad – about last night."
"You didn't get around to telling us exactly what it was that made you run off stage," Jeff said.
Hunter's good hand was resting on the table, and Sebastian placed his own hand over it before speaking. "Hunter was at the concert last night," he began. "I saw him before we went onstage and then when we were playing the new song I–"
"–the crowd surged and someone got pushed into my arm," Hunter explained, squeezing his soulmate's hand comfortingly.
"I felt it through the connection, and I needed to be alone until it passed," Sebastian explained.
"That makes sense," Jeff nodded. "The others will understand too."
"I hope so," Sebastian said, looking at his soulmate, hopeful for the first time.
OoO
Warblerfamily: Omg you'll never guess who's sitting two tables down from me at this café! KHummel & BlaineWarbler and they look like they're on a date!
Warble_On_6: Warblerfamily you are so lucky omg are they holding hands? Are they kissing? I don't think I can handle this
Kaitlyn_Hummel: Warblerfamily What is Kurt wearing? He always tweets an ootd photo if he's going somewhere but he hasn't tweeted yet today
MrsASmythe: Warblerfamily im dying I cant even they are so cute together
MrsASmythe: Warblerfamily pls tweet a pic!
When Blaine arrived at the café, Kurt was already waiting for him. He was sat at a table near the back with two cups of coffee in front of him.
"You remembered my coffee order?" Blaine asked, his face automatically splitting into a smile at the sight of his soulmate.
"Of course I did," Kurt replied, leaning over to greet his boyfriend with a kiss. "I'm glad you messaged me, I really want to apologise for last night."
"It's okay–"
"It's not. I was insensitive towards Sebastian," Kurt said, cutting his soulmate off. "He's obviously struggling with his relationship with his soulmate and I should have kept my opinions to myself."
"It was a weird situation, no one really knew how to process it so no one blames you," Blaine reassured him. He placed his hand on the table, palm up so that the name on his wrist was visible. Kurt slid his own hand into his soulmate's and they sat in a comfortable silence while they drank their coffees.
Warblerfamily: Warble_On_6 they kissed when they first sat down but they've just been talking since then
Warblerfamily: Kaitlyn_Hummel I can't tell what Kurt's wearing from here, sorry! Maybe he'll tweet later?
Warblerfamily: MrsASmythe I don't want to invade their privacy so no photos sorry
Warblerfamily: they've both got coffees and they're just talking to each other
Warblerfamily: aww they're holding hands over the table now & I can see a soulmate mark!
As they chatted about Kurt's work and the latest embarrassing thing Rachel had done, Blaine noticed there was still tension in the way his soulmate was holding himself.
"You're not over this are you?" Blaine asked, sensing his soulmate's agitation. "I can tell you have more to say."
"I just think of meeting your soulmate as a big romantic thing, you know? And then you tell everyone you know and they can share in your happiness."
"Can you at least see where he's coming from?" Blaine asked, exasperated.
Warblerfamily: woah I think I should stop tweeting now this seems like a really personal conversation
MrsASmythe: Warblerfamily what? Don't stop there
"If I squint really hard, maybe," Kurt replied. "I'm sorry, Blaine, but I can't understand why he would keep it from you for so long. I understand not telling everyone at first, but that's months of deception. You boys are like brothers, and to me it looks like he betrayed that trust."
"It's a good thing he's not your friend then. He's been my friend for years and I can forgive him for keeping this secret until he was comfortable telling us. Surely you of all people should remember what that's like, Kurt." Blaine shook his head and left, leaving Kurt standing alone feeling like he'd just been slapped.
Warblerfamily: Blaine just stormed off and Kurt left like a minute after that
Kaitlyn_Hummel: Warblerfamily what? My poor boys I hope everything's okay
Warble_On_6: Warblerfamily could you hear what they were fighting about?
Blaines_girl: Warblerfamily I thought they were soulmates, they're not supposed to fight
MrsASmythe: Warblerfamily Blaines_girl maybe they're not soulmates after all. Could be the right name but the wrong person
Warblerfamily: sorry guys I really shouldn't have tweeted about this
Warblerfamily: I won't delete the tweets but im not going to say any more about what I saw, the boys will tell us what's going on when they're ready
BlaineWarbler: . Warblerfamily we're sorry you had to witness that, it was a small issue that got out of hand (cont.)
BlaineWarbler: (cont.) and we shouldn't have brought it into a public place. Kurt and I are still very much in love but even the best relationship (cont.)
BlaineWarbler: (cont.) will never be perfect, soulmates will disagree sometimes. It's perfectly normal and can make the relationship even stronger
BlaineWarbler: #WeLoveOurFans #Klaine4ever