Chapter 18: Father Figure

GRIFFIN

After both Artie and Sebastian had made their respective dramatic exits, Ella and Griffin sat in the living room in silence for a few minutes, knowing full well that they'd have to split up and go talk some sense into each of the boys separately. Griffin was the first to stand up.

"Can you handle Art if I go upstairs?" He asked her.

She hesitated and he saw a look of uncertainty pass over her face briefly before she nodded. Griffin hoped she'd agree, for this was part of his grand plan to push Artie and Ella to sort their shit out. He knew they'd come to an understanding eventually, they just needed a nudge in the right direction. And with all of the Artie and Seb drama going down, Griff figured that the sooner Ella and Artie moved past it all, the better.

He nodded back at her and set off up the stairs and knocked on Sebastian's door.

"Seb, it's Griff," Griffin said, opening the door and poking his head in when he didn't get a response.

The first thing he saw when he entered was a framed photograph on the floor, having fallen off of the wall. Griffin stooped down to pick it up, turning it over in his hands to find that it was a photo of Sebastian and his mother. It looked to have been taken just after a piano concert, as a little version of Sebastian was dressed up nicely holding a book of sheet music, while his mother stood behind him with her hands on his shoulders, glancing lovingly down at her son. Griffin hung the photo back on the wall before coming fully into the other guy's bedroom.

Sebastian was sprawled out on his unmade bed, his arms crossed over his chest as he glared up at the ceiling. Griffin took a seat at his desk chair.

"I just, uh, wanted to come in here and talk to you. To see if you're good," Griffin broke the ice after a few minutes of sitting in silence, figuring that Sebastian wasn't going to be the first to speak. "It got pretty heated down there, and I wanted to check on you."

Sebastian didn't reply. He didn't even glance in Griffin's direction. Griffin watched him, though, and he could see the way that his lips were quivering as he pursed them together and that his eyes were getting teary.

"Artie's a pretty confident guy," Griffin said, filling the silence with his voice. If Sebastian wasn't going to talk, then he'd have to be okay with listening. "He's comfortable in his own skin. But he's not perfect. Far from it, actually. He has his insecurities, just like any teenager. For one, he tends to get kind of uncomfortable when his disability is the subject of conversation, which is probably why he lashed out at you like that."

Griffin paused then to let Sebastian get a word in, but he was still silent. He did stir in his bed, though, rolling over onto his side and facing the wall so that his back was to Griffin.

"I really listened to what you said last night, you know," Griffin continued. "About what it was like for you in those early days right after you moved in. I know that I wasn't around for much of it, but I'm sorry it's been hard for you. I can't imagine what it was like, to be thrown into a new family and have to learn their dynamics. I'm sure it took you a while to even feel comfortable in your own home. And I'm sorry, man, that must have sucked."

What he said must have struck a chord with Sebastian because he looked over his shoulder, making eye contact with Griffin for the first time since he'd come upstairs.

"I've been thinking about those days for a while actually," Griffin shared, taking advantage of Sebastian's attention. "I've been kind of trying to figure out why Artie reacted the way he did to you and your dad moving in and becoming family. He's always been a pretty laidback guy, and while I know the Glee Club drama means a lot to you nerds for some reason, I think it's deeper than that. I actually had this conversation with my dad a few months back…"

Columbus, Ohio

November 2011

In the year and a half that he'd been away at college, Griffin had never felt as out of the loop as he felt right now.

He was still reeling from the shock of Artie's Skype call from last night where he learned that their mother had gotten engaged to one of her co-workers, whom she'd been dating for quite some time now. Griffin had never met this Harrison Smythe before, but he'd heard an awful lot about him and knew that his mom was crazy about him, so he supposed he should be happy for her. Even Artie seemed somewhat excited about the arrangement, and Griffin knew that it would take a special kind of guy to earn Artie's blessing.

"Harrison says he's even got a son my age," Artie had shared. "Apparently he plays lacrosse for Dalton. I wonder if Blaine knows him…" Artie paused pensively for a moment before continuing. "We're going to dinner with the two of them tomorrow night so that El and I can meet him. I'm going to talk to Kurt and Finn tomorrow about what it was like for them when they became step-brothers."

By the way Artie was talking a mile a minute, Griffin could tell that he wasn't quite as upset about their mom remarrying as he might have expected him to be. Though, Artie had never met a stranger, so Griff chalked it all up to his brother being excited to meet their soon-to-be sibling who was his same age.

All day Griffin had tried his best to push all of the thoughts regarding his mother's surprise engagement aside, but they consumed him. Ever since he'd gone off to college, he couldn't help but feel a little left out of all of the important family moments. That's what was currently distracting him from studying for his upcoming organic chemistry exam, which was why he was relieved when his laptop lit up with another incoming Skype call from Artie.

"Hey," Griffin answered as he closed his textbook and picked up his laptop, carrying it over to his bed and settling back onto the pillows. "What's up? How'd the thing go? What's the kid like?"

"It was awful," Artie was quick to say, his outlook on their new blended family doing a complete one-eighty since the last time they'd spoken just twenty-four hours earlier. "He's awful. I pretended that nothing was wrong the whole time we were at dinner, but I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this up. I don't think I can do this, Griff."

"Whoa, whoa, what do you mean? You only just met him, right? How do you know that he's awful?"

"He's on The Warblers," Artie said, exasperated, as if Griffin was supposed to know what the hell a warbler was. When Griffin raised an eyebrow and shook his head, Artie rolled his eyes. "Our Glee Club rivals?"

"Oh, come on, you're gonna hate the guy because he's in a different Glee Club than you? That's kind of forcing it, don't you think?"

"You don't know him, Griff!" Artie insisted. "Sebastian has been a nightmare all season. He's cocky and just plain rude. I think The Warblers are mad that Blaine transferred to McKinley this year, and they're out to destroy us. And as the captain of the team, he's made our lives as New Directions a living hell, and now he's going to be the same way at home, I just know it!"

Griffin listened intently to what Artie had to say, even though he thought his brother was being a tad dramatic.

"Well, who knows? Maybe he's different outside of a competitive setting," Griffin suggested, to which Artie just shook his head. "Just hear me out, Art. Maybe he's not who you think he is. We've all got things we hide, right?"

Artie raised an eyebrow and frowned at his older brother through the laptop screen. Griffin held up his hands in surrender, giving in and shrugging.

"Or maybe he's exactly who you think he is. A cocky, rude homewrecker."

Regardless of his brother's preliminary opinion of the boy who he'd only just met, Griffin intended to go into this new sibling relationship with an open mind. He wasn't ready to hate this Sebastian kid just yet because of some dumb Glee Club drama that he wasn't involved in. However, Artie had always been a pretty impeccable judge of character, so Griffin planned on keeping Artie's words in the back of his mind.

"I'm mostly worried about what my friends will say when they find out," Artie confessed. "I don't want them to think that I'm a traitor. What if they think I'm teaming up with him and giving him insider information? Or worse– what if he snoops around the house and finds out our setlist, then The Warblers steal it?! That's happened before, you know!"

Of course Griffin knew that had happened because he remembered how crushed Artie had been. The performance of 'Proud Mary' done in wheelchairs that the New Directions had planned on performing at their first Sectionals had meant a lot to Artie, even if his brother had kind of resented their teacher's idea to have everyone else in the club spend the week in chairs (the whole ordeal had just made Artie feel more self-conscious… and sparked worries that his friends had begun to pity his life even more than he already feared they did).

"I don't know, Artie. I know this is kind of a tough situation, but you're just going to have to figure it out. Maybe ask Tina what she thinks–"

"Are you insane?! I can't tell Tina! She'll blow this way out of proportion, and she can't keep a secret! The whole team would find out!"

"Okay, so ask somebody else. Sam, or someone, I don't know. But I think you need to tell somebody. I think you'll go crazy if you have to keep all of this inside," Griffin told him. "But, Artie, you know that you won't be able to keep this a secret forever, right?"

"Sebastian doesn't want anybody to find out either," Artie said, disregarding Griffin's concerns. "I just need to come up with a plan to ensure that this stays under wraps. But Mom and Harrison can't know that Sebastian and I hate each other either. Promise me that you won't say anything."

"I think your friends might be more upset if they find out on their own later on and realize that you were keeping it from them…"

"Then I'll deal with that issue when it arises."

Artie's innate stubbornness was enough to give Griffin a headache.

Griffin's cell phone buzzed just then with a text from their dad.

"Hey Art, Dad's here. He was in Columbus today talking to some prospects. He's taking me out to dinner tonight. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

Artie sighed. "Okay. I'll call you tomorrow. Love you. Tell Dad I say hi."

…

Even though he had seen his father just the Thursday before– Thanksgiving and the anniversary of the car accident had fallen on the same day, and Art always made good on his promise to spend every holiday in Lima with his kids– Griffin was still elated to spend some time with him one-on-one. The restaurant his father had chosen– a sports bar called Front Row that was decked out with Ohio State memorabilia– was a welcomed change from the dining hall food that Griffin was used to. Art and Griff both ordered buffalo wings and Art, being the cool, lax dad that he is, didn't even bat an eye when Griffin pulled out his fake ID and ordered himself a Bud Light just like his father.

"Let me see that thing," Art laughed once the bartender was out of earshot, and Griffin blushed as he pulled the card out of his wallet and handed it to his dad. The guy in the picture hardly looked like him, and it said he was twenty-four, but it did the trick. "Don't let your mother see that. You'll be grounded until you're actually twenty-four."

"Speaking of Mom…" Griffin began, taking a sip of his drink to buy himself time to gather his thoughts. He wasn't sure if his father had heard the news or not yet, and Griffin had a feeling he might be the one breaking it to him right now. "She's engaged."

"Really?" Art asked after almost choking on the sip of beer he'd also just taken.

"Yeah. Harrison. He proposed last night, I guess," Griffin shrugged.

Art was quiet for a moment, and Griffin could tell that the news had taken him by surprise. Griffin had his suspicions over the years that the divorce hadn't been his father's idea, and he kind of thought that maybe his father still loved his mother. After all, he'd never remarried– or even dated– anyone else, meanwhile his mother had moved on long ago. Art had always been a good sport about it all, though, and Griffin was grateful that his parents still had a pretty close relationship. But, still, Griffin wondered if this news was going to bother his father, knowing that Nancy had an exciting romance with her new beau, meanwhile he'd return home tonight to an empty house.

"That's good. I'm happy for her. I'll have to call her on my drive back to Akron and give her my congrats," Art said when he finally spoke up. "What's he like?"

"I haven't met him," Griffin confessed. "So I'm not quite sure. Artie says he's nice. Very formal, I guess. And… wealthy."

"How's Artie taking it?" Art wondered. Griffin knew that he was asking because of Artie's long history of sensitivity whenever the divorce was brought up. But only Griffin knew that his brother was far more concerned about their new step-brother than he was about his mother remarrying.

"Better than I expected," Griffin replied, truthfully. "He seems to like Harrison a lot. But I guess he's got a son Artie's age who goes to Dalton Academy. An athlete who's a member of their rival Glee Club or something. From what he's told me, the guy's a douchebag, but I haven't actually met him yet."

"Sounds like me and Charlie," Art commented, effectively reminding Griffin that his father had his own step-brother. Griffin often forgot that fact, as his father and his Uncle Charlie had been the best of friends for as long as Griffin had been alive. They were so close that Griffin needed to be reminded that they weren't related by blood, but he knew it hadn't always been that way. "He's a year older than me and we were kids when our parents got married. He used to tease the crap out of me. He got all of the other neighborhood boys in on it too. I was miserable. But we grew out of it. Things will work themselves out, they always do."

Griffin nodded, knowing that his father was probably right. That still didn't do much to ease the worries that had been lingering on his mind since Artie's Skype call earlier. As he continued to eat his buffalo wings, he tried to think of a way to bring up his newfound concerns.

"Artie called me earlier, before you picked me up. They went to Breadstix with Harrison and his son Sebastian tonight, and he was all worked up. And after we hung up, he, uh, texted me some pictures from Sebastian's Instagram account."

Griffin pulled his phone out and opened the text thread between himself and Artie, allowing his father to scroll through the images. The photos featured action shots of Sebastian on the lacrosse field, shirtless mirror selfies, pictures of the other guy surfing on some tropical beach, and group shots with his pretentious-looking friends in their school uniforms.

"I just… I know that he compares himself… physically… to other guys his age," Griffin continued as Art scrolled through the pictures, analyzing each shot that Artie had felt compelled enough to screenshot and text to his brother. "Especially the other guys in Glee Club. I think I had to hear about Mike Chang's abs for, like, an entire year after Tina and Artie broke up."

Griffin stopped short of revealing the story of how distraught Artie had been when he came to Griffin after losing his virginity to a girl who had a reputation for sleeping with close to every guy in the school.

"You're worried that he's going to start comparing himself to this kid and get upset," Art finished, reading Griffin's mind.

Griffin sighed and gave a small nod.

"From what little I know about Sebastian, I'm just worried that Artie might feel… insecure? Threatened? I don't know. I don't want Artie to think he's going to be, like, replaced by this other guy his same age who is– let's face it– a lot 'cooler' than he is."

It was Art's turn to nod then, as he handed Griffin back his phone.

"I hear you. I get what you're saying. But Artie's Artie. He may not be everyone's idea of 'cool' but he's his own person. And he's a lot better off than you're giving him credit for," Art said honestly as he took a swig of his beer. "You don't have to be so worried about him all the time. He's good. Let him and Sebastian figure their issues out on their own. One day, they'll look back on these days and laugh. It may take some time, but let your brother handle it. He's capable."

Art could be wise when he wanted to be, and it was evident from where Artie had inherited his ability to give good advice. Patience had never been Griffin's strong suit, but he'd have to get over that for Artie's sake. As hard as it was for Griffin to hear, he knew his father was right.

He would have to take a step back and let Artie fight his own battles.

"All of that to say… Artie was right earlier, with what he said about me and Ella– well, me especially– being a bit overprotective of him. I've been trying to be better about that. This therapist I saw as a kid after Artie's accident told me that my incessant worrying about Artie doesn't help him or myself. That's been in the back of my mind ever since, but you know what they say. Old habits die hard."

Griffin shrugged.

"He's hard on himself. He's got the worst poker face. Everything he's feeling is displayed right there on his face, even if he doesn't realize it, and I could see it that day when you and your dad moved in. We were carrying in the heavy furniture and Artie was on box duty, and I saw it. The expression that showed that he felt exactly like I worried he might."

By now, Sebastian had rolled back over and was facing Griffin. He was chewing on his bottom lip, all six-foot-two of him curled up in the fetal position like a child. Griffin wasn't used to seeing the other guy so vulnerable and unguarded.

"I kind of want to bring it up to him at some point, you know?" Griffin confessed. "Tell him that there will always– always– be plenty of room for him in this family. It makes me sick to my stomach, thinking he may feel like there isn't."

Sebastian swallowed hard and Griffin saw the look of guilt wash over his face.

"Artie will tell you that he isn't fragile, that he doesn't need to be coddled. And that's true. I've tried to listen to my dad's advice and stay out of yours and Artie's shit and let you two morons handle it yourselves, but I don't think I can do that anymore. I think downstairs earlier he was… embarrassed. His body works differently from ours, and with that comes a lot of stares and unwanted attention for him. He works harder than we realize in order to prevent all of us from seeing him struggle. From what I gather, I think that he was upset that you saw him in that moment of weakness, and he didn't properly convey that."

Sebastian sat up then, swinging his legs over the side of his twin bed and bracing himself with his arms on both sides. He couldn't bring his eyes to meet Griffin's, and instead, his gaze was fixed on his feet.

"I didn't mean… I didn't mean to upset him. I-I don't know what I was thinking, bringing that up. I should have let it go. Fuck. Things had been going so well this weekend too. Then, of course, I had to go and screw it all up."

Sebastian leaned over to rest his elbows on his knees and covered his face with his hands. Griffin could see how genuinely remorseful Sebastian was for what he'd said and how he'd made Artie feel. It was obvious that it hadn't been his intention to make Artie self-conscious, he just didn't think through the potential ramifications of revisiting that particular moment of the weekend before he opened his mouth.

"Okay, here's what's up: while I don't think you were entirely justified in embarrassing him like that– even if it wasn't purposeful!" Griffin clarified when Sebastian looked up and opened his mouth to cut him off. "I do think that he was a little harsh on you as well. You're about to be our brother too, and he needs to be more understanding. You guys need to work this out. I'm gonna go try to talk some sense into him."

Sebastian nodded his agreement, and Griffin stood up from the desk chair he had been sitting in and clapped the other guy on the shoulder.

As he headed back downstairs, Griffin couldn't help but think about how at one point– based on stories he'd heard from Artie– he'd been unsure if Sebastian was even capable of empathy. But here Seb was, proving just how wrong that assumption had been. Griffin could almost see a light at the end of the tunnel.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

If you recall, Griffin does go on to have that conversation he mentions wanting to have with Artie, way back in Chapter 17 of "Sibling Rivalry" when they were on the beach during their vacation. I also borrowed some dialogue from Chapter 4 of "Sibling Rivalry" for the beginning of this flashback. Three cheers for continuity!