Held

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Summary: Meeting the guy was hard enough, and the path to happily ever after? Forget it, it never did run smooth.

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11/13/2022

AN: I know, I know, believe me when I say I know that I have stories unfinished. I don't like it either. This one couldn't wait though. Things are drastically different in this story's set up. Also goes between Sebastian's close 3rd person POV and Kurt's... well, you'll see. This is going to play almost like a greatest hits for awhile, that is on purpose.

AN2: I did finally upload the final chapter of Next Ten Minutes! Also, you probably missed it because now you have to go into settings and reenroll into email updates every six months... :,(

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1

My Attention

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"Ugh... you'd never believe the girl Gunter hired!" Sebastian was greeted by at 4 in the morning as Santana shoved a hot coffee into his hand and he took a long comforting swig out of it. He savored the first taste and warmth before turning his attention onto to his best friend's tirade. He sometimes needed it for these really early morning rants. He had all the energy in the world for her otherwise. She was spectacular at knowing just what he needed when he needed it though.

"What's wrong with her?" Sebastian almost asked 'other than being a girl?' but held his tongue. Santana wasn't exactly a morning person either and she would be more than happy to point out all of his short-comings while cursing everyone he'd ever met. She had it worse, she had to work a double shift the day before and had gotten very little sleep, if any, before she had to be up and heading to class with him.

"She's screechy, self-centered, totally egotistic and thinks she's some kind of gift to everyone." Santana criticized and Sebastian lifted a brow, how was that any different than either of them short of the screechiness. The two of them had fabulous vocals. "I only took the job at the diner because I didn't know what I wanted to do and it seemed like a chance to get paid to experiment with things." Santana gave a huff and when Sebastian didn't come straight to her aid with a plethora of empty agreements she turned her head and gave him the best thousand dagger stare. Sebastian just looked lost in response and she opened her mouth, closed it then smirked. "She's like the female version of Blaine."

Sebastian gagged. "Oh god. I haven't heard that name in a year or longer. Maybe you should think about finding a different job elsewhere."

"Oh, I would, but Dani's working there and this girl has one small thing going for her... she brought with her the cutest guy!"

Sebastian scowled. "How many times have I told you to forget about setting me up? I don't do badly for myself."

"Hookups are not doing well for yourself." Santana rolled her eyes. "I leave you alone and you come back with the likes of Hunter and Blaine. But no.. this one isn't for you. I wouldn't do that to him." Santana scowled at Sebastian. "This is someone I'm going to keep from your pawing."

"I thought you swore off guys. Dani's not interested in experimenting now, is she?" Sebastian's brow lifted as he watched Santana's face as they walked.

"No." Santana smirked. "There's never going to be any confusion between the two of us. He 100% bats for a different team than mine. We're not even looking at the same game at this point."

"Then you should introduce me." Sebastian linked his arm with Santana's. "You promised you'd always be good to your bestie."

"And I will, except this is not one pie I'm going to let you devour and leave sitting demolished." Santana shook her head. "I like him too much for that."

"I really want to meet him now. You should introduce me." Sebastian wheedled, more to bother Santana than to actually meet the guy. However, if Santana was holding out, it was for one of two reasons, either she really did like the guy and wanted to protect him – which made Sebastian even more curious; or it was because she knew she could bait Sebastian this way.

"No." She shook her head firmly then changed the topic. "Oh my god, you should see this girl. She's got man hands and a hairy chin and she takes over every request, even when it specifically asks for someone else."

Sebastian's curiosity was truly peeked. So he planned on dropping in on Santana while she was at work one of these days to see if he could catch a glimpse of this boy she was strangely protecting. Santana usually couldn't give two flying figs about anyone. Sebastian had always been one of the rarest of rare exceptions and vice versa. They'd been too similar from day one not to have hit it off. It could have easily gone the other way but fates aligned and they became the hottest best friends ever with absolutely no 'will they, won't they'.

Other than Sebastian it was Dani and Santana's family that she cared about and that was about the extent of her list. She didn't usually hate with this much passionate fire either. Some indifference, some snark, but nothing as heated. This girl must have really stepped on Santana's toes to get her this worked up.

Sebastian listened carefully and attentively but thought Santana had to be misconstruing the entire situation and blowing it out of proportion. Except then he had the unfortunate opportunity to meet the girl in question himself. She basically draped herself over him and flirting far too hard and too obviously. He kept asking about Santana and her whereabouts and if he could be put in her section. The girl either didn't hear him or ignored him or if she acknowledged what he said it was to dismiss it and bring his attention back to her. He was easily the most attractive guy in the building.

That was unfortunate. Santana hadn't said anything about the guy in question being hot, just that he was cute and she was basically taking him under her wing. Sebastian supposed he could just be completely a babe in the woods when it came to the gay community and didn't piss Santana off, so her mama-instincts came out. Santana thought him too shallow to like a guy if he wasn't hot.

There was only one guy working and he was twenty years older than Sebastian and didn't seem all that likeable at all. He was definitely not who Santana had been talking about. He did spot Dani however and flagged her down. He asked about her section and purposefully sat in it to talk with her about the missing male server.

She flashed him a mischievous grin. "Sorry, no can do, on strict orders not to tell you anything about him. Honestly though, I wouldn't probably tell you anything anyway. I really like him too. And no, don't say what is on that lecherous mind of yours. It's not like that. Which is precisely why we won't tell you anything."

Sebastian's lips turned down, suddenly no longer interested in the guy who had turned both these girls' heads in a way that was unlike them. "Oh, I see now. He's a prude." Sebastian shook his head. "Keep him then. It's no longer an intriguing mystery I have to solve. I don't need to see him at all. I'm good now." He tossed some money onto the table, way more than enough to cover his meal and he got up.

Dani scowled right back at him. "Don't be like that. You haven't even met him and you're already disparaging him. He's not like that either. He's just... sweet."

"And I'm not." Sebastian got it, he didn't need her spelling it out for him.

"You are a good person underneath that gruff exterior, someone we would go to hell and back for and know that you would too." Dani grabbed at his wrist. "We care about both of you and don't want to have to take sides in the future when it doesn't work out." Dani bit her lip. "Not that it's a possibility right now anyway."

"Oh?" Sebastian's brow rose. "Why's that?"

"He's dating someone."

"And?" Sebastian asked dryly. When had that ever mattered to a majority of the population?

"And he's not the type to cheat." Dani crossed her arms over her chest and stared him down.

"Without good reason, I suspect." Sebastian huffed. "Fine, keep your little boy a secret. I'm done being curious." And he was, this was turning into far more work than it would be worth. No one was ever worth this much effort. No one that was except for Santana.

Dani... well, she talked a good game but he doubted she'd wade into the fire for anyone if things didn't work out between her and Santana. He would wait to do anything major for her until he saw where her loyalties truly lied. He couldn't help but be a little jaded, a little cautious. He would play nice while things were good and once things were over, would see where they all truly landed. He figured it would be him and Santana together as always and Dani forgetting all about them.

Already, despite her words, he could tell she would be more loyal to this mystery boy than him.

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Santana never brought the guy up again. She raged about Rachel and her tendencies. Sometimes she looked like she was about to say something more but then would catch herself and smile a bit mischievously at him and go back to the brunette she hated. Honestly, Sebastian disliked her on principle, on Santana's behalf and also for her poor behavior the once he'd interacted with her.

Then Santana and Dani broke up and Santana quit the diner. She had enough.

That was the last he'd heard about Dani and he never heard from her either. Rachel somehow still managed to intertwine herself into Santana's life. He didn't know why their paths still crossed. It wasn't like either of them were in each other's classes or shared another job together.

For what Sebastian thought was too long, it was constantly Rachel this and Rachel that. Even the coffees in the morning weren't enough to keep him awake enough to at least offer sympathetic murmurs. He could barely trudge his feet one step in front of another. This was absolutely killer and he didn't know how the upperclassmen did it with even more rigorous classes and anyone who worked while attending class was nuts!

He made the mistake of saying it out loud to Santana.

She was irate already and his words didn't help. "I worked and went to school!"

Sebastian was also tired and a bit annoyed to have what brain cells were working so early in the morning be bombarded with talk of the brunette neither liked. "Yeah but it wasn't exactly a challenging class load and I have it on good authority you weren't the best as a waitress either!"

They sniped at each other and to anyone listening would have thought this small thing would have been the end of a long friendship. Then there was a particularly good dig from each and they just laughed. They complimented each other on their wit and quickness and they were back in a good place. That's how they operated. They didn't always take swipes at each other but they could give as good as they got and it let off any steam that had been building.

It was kind of like how some boys needed to get down and dirty in a fight to become good again. That was their version of it.

Santana linked her arm with Sebastian's. "Honestly, I have no idea how anyone does both and succeeds in each either. I feel like one would suffer for the other or they both would. I have a friend who has three jobs and a boyfriend and tough classes and mountains of stressful homework that exhaust mentally and physically and yet.. still has time for me and others, is doing incredibly well in all aspects." Santana shook her head. "It's just amazing to me."

"Yeah, it is." Sebastian agreed. "The jobs can't all be full time."

"No, the schooling is but I would say each job is at least 20 hours a week and one is unpaid. They're not exactly easy jobs either. There's talk of a band starting too."

"Dedicated and talented." Sebastian nodded. "I like this for you."

Santana glanced at him a bit startled for a moment before she offered him a soft smile. She compounded her tender actions by wrapped her arms around one of his and resting her head on his shoulder. "I do too." It had been weeks since her breakup with Dani. Sebastian thought this girl would be somewhat different than the types Santana dated before. He was definitely for it. Someone who would keep Santana on track and less prone to flights of fancy. It might mean less time with him, but he liked the idea of Santana having a stable loving force in her life. Dani had been great, but she was by no means stable or ambitious or driven.

Sebastian while he was a lot like Santana was different too. He had a path he was traveling down with a clear goal in the end and he would ensure he would reach it. He had plans and goals for beyond that one too. If he were ever to date for real, it would have to be a person with just as much of a clear goal in life and motivation to reach it. He appeared flighty to many, especially in the relationship realm, but he knew what he wanted and had yet to find it. In the meantime, he didn't mind playing the field.

"What's with the cheeky grin?" Sebastian asked when Santana just kept looking at him with sparkles in her eyes.

"Oh... nothing... just rethinking something I find I might have been wrong about."

"What, you wrong? Never!" Sebastian teased and Santana gave a shrug.

"Perhaps in this I was too hasty to judge. Maybe you've grown up a bit..." She tilted her head. "Maybe I'll have to keep watching to see how far it'll go."

"What are you going on about?" Sebastian was a bit exasperated now by her coyness.

"Nothing. Nothing. Let's go to a pub tonight!" She bounced in her seat. "Let's get shit-faced and throw up everywhere!"

"Seriously?" Sebastian shook his head. "A pub? Nah. We'll go to that new club that's opening. Everyone who is anyone will be there."

"And anyone who is no one too. It'll draw in all the rift-raft." Santana pouted. "Anyone of true taste will be elsewhere."

"Or dragged to the club by others." Sebastian slid his hand around her elbow. "Oh come on. You know you want to go and if we see anyone you dislike, we'll leave."

"Oh fine." Santana said on a puff of air.

The club was already full of people and the line was deep when they showed up. They bypassed the waiting crowd and walked straight up to a side door. Santana in her tight short red dress and massive heels would have let her in anyway. Sebastian at her side was a guaranteed in. Neither one of them needed the other to get passed velvet ropes but together it wasn't even a question.

Once inside they moved together toward the bar and were given a bottle of vodka without even asking for it. It was top shelf and a nod was given in the direction of the private area with even more velvet ropes. "Maybe later." Sebastian told the man who gave another small nod and went back to filling orders for the other guests. They sometimes partook in the secluded area but most nights they wanted to mingle with the plebs and that would keep them from doing so freely.

Sebastian always played the thin line between rich boy and regular joe perfectly. When he wanted something simple and wanted it instantly, it was a snap of his fingers and he got it. However, he had no qualms with blending in, and earning what he really wanted, usually it was respect from peers.

An average person wouldn't know who he was or his family background but a place like this and the people running it would definitely have his face memorized.

They were having fun, boys flocked to them and Santana played the game of flirt and easy going. Girls batted their eyelashes shyly and hoped Sebastian would come to them. A few girls were more bold and came up and flirted hard. Sebastian nudged them toward Santana if he felt they were ok with trying the field and Santana sent boys his way too.

Sebastian was bored though with the prospects in front of him. He tired of those experimenting, who didn't know who they were or what they wanted. Sometimes it was fun to initiate them into the world of male sex but usually it just felt pointless. Sebastian wanted someone who wasn't afraid to be out and for the world to know it too. He scanned the crowd and there were a few candidates who'd match his qualifications but either he'd already been with them or they didn't quite strike his fancy for the night.

Then he spotted it, the best ass he'd ever seen in his entire existence. It was natural, there was no way any workout in the gym would be achieved. The ass was attached to a great pair of legs and a shapely back. Sebastian was definitely a backside man, especially since that was usually what he had to look at the most. The head of hair was well coiffed and Sebastian felt himself becoming curious in every way. He begged for the guy to turn, to give him a look at his face. Once he knew the face, he'd know exactly who'd he'd be tracking down for at least one night of exquisite pleasure.

No, he'd have to plan for it to be from Friday night to Sunday morning. He had class during the week and homework. The boy would have to leave if he had any hope of getting it done. Still they could dedicate at least 24 hours to each other's bodies.

"Oh shit." Santana looked in the same direction as Sebastian but she had an entirely different reaction. "We have to go before she spots us."

"What? No-" Sebastian would go over and pull the male around to face him if he had to. The man's face was vitally important for him to see.

"It's Rachel, you know what she's like. There will be no end and we'll lose our hearing because not even the club music will be able to drown her out. Come on, let's go, you promised." Santana grabbed his forearm within her fingers and he always forgot just how strong she was. She started pulling him from his spot but he careened his neck to try and keep the boy in sight. He was just about to turn when another guy stepped up behind him, wrapping an arm around his waist and blocking Sebastian from seeing his face.

Sebastian swore and Santana snorted. "Blaine's here too. Come on, let's go before he spots us."

"I feel badly for whoever is in his sights tonight." Sebastian agreed, the threat of Blaine and Rachel was enough to get him to move but he would never forget that ass or that backside. He wondered if he'd ever see it again.

"Not us, that's all I need to know." Santana was pushing through the door and Sebastian was right behind her. He looked over again, hoping for one last look- but they were too far away.

–

"What the hell are we doing here?" It was a nondescript building in an unfortunate neighborhood far away from anything fun or entertaining. It seemed more like a warehouse district than anything else.

"Believe me when I tell you this is the last place I'd like to be and even less pleased about bringing you here." Santana said moodily. "After a year of keeping you two apart, I've now had to break the promise to myself. At least I can be reassured it was because he requested it though."

"What are you talking about?" Sebastian burrowed into his jacket some more. "I wish you'd warned me where we were going, I'd have brought bodyguards."

Santana snorted. "You've been to worse places flashing your wealth around no problem. You'll be fine here too." She sighed and pulled back her shoulders. "My friend, the one I wouldn't introduce you to- well he's begged me to not leave him alone for a night with the jackals. I had no choice but to bring you, hoping you'd keep me from murder."

"If he dislikes them so much, why'd come himself?" Sebastian followed her in and was relieved to find the building actually had some heat. Or at the very least it protected them from the wind. "Well he lives here with one of them. His boyfriend is overseas auditioning for a role at West End and so he's reached out to the only other sane person he knows- me. Since we had agreed to spend the day together, I decided to drag you along."

"Why not reach out to someone else?" Sebastian muttered as he followed her up the stairs. She'd obviously been here before.

"He had but there was no hope for anyone to save him except for me. He called Dani first but she's on holiday with her family." Santana shrugged at the mention of her ex, she was cool with it, it seemed. It was less ok by Sebastian.

"He's friends with your ex?"

"They also worked together." Santana rolled her eyes. "In case you've forgotten that. They were friends first. In fact, there's talk of a band starting."

"So I've gathered." Sebastian had heard that somewhere, hadn't he? It just didn't totally connect yet where he'd heard that before.

Santana whirled on him, taking no heed of the fact that they were both on the steps. "Best behavior with him, please."

"What do you think I'm going to do?" Sebastian rolled his eyes at her antics. "Ravish him on first meeting?"

"Just... please? I like being friends with him."

"Oh all right, fine. Best behavior, I'll treat him like one of dad's colleagues if it'll make you happy."

"It will, thank you." Santana said pointedly and Sebastian sighed, truly giving in now.

He had no idea what to expect with this boy that Santana had found herself enamored by. At first Sebastian thought he'd be a lot like himself, but then with Santana and Dani's warnings he figured he'd be a little chickadee that needed coddling. Yet, he couldn't see Santana and Dani being all that concerned with someone like that, it would be too cloying for them.

Sebastian about walked right back out though when he spotted Blaine sitting on the arm of a couch, leaning into someone else's space, obviously excited about some prospect or another. The someone else though caught his attention and held it when he leaned back and away from Blaine with a polite but frosty smile that Blaine obviously misread as encouragement.

Perfectly styled hair, high cheekbones, full lips, ski-sloped nose, defined jawline all mixed in with fair, fair skin and a scattering of barely noticeable freckles. Sebastian stopped dead in the doorway as he took in the face, unable to see much else. He was the most beautiful male he'd ever laid eyes on. Those eyes too- they were arresting and multifaceted. If Sebastian were a religious man, he could see where someone could liken him to a romanticized angel, a rare male angel.

"And you're totally going to break your promise." Santana groaned, catching sight of Sebastian's face and the direction his eyes were riveted in. Sebastian barely heard her but they both knew she was right.

Sebastian was no angel, and he was now bound and determined to see what someone that gorgeous looked like in the throes of passion. He wanted to make him naughty, he wanted to make him a fallen angel. First though, he had to rescue him from Blaine.

Still, in the time it took him to decide on all that and move away from the door, the male had already saved himself from Blaine, detaching himself from the conversation and walking away. Away from Sebastian too, who now got to see that perfect backside once again after months of searching. The two were connected and Sebastian was even more bound and determined than ever to make his mark on this male.

Rachel cut him off. "Sebastian!" She tossed her arms around him, nearly strangling him in her cobra-like grip. Somehow she had convinced herself that they were even remotely synonymous to friends. It was a look from the boy of Sebastian's attention that had him untangling himself quickly, if not for his own sanity. The boy hadn't looked pleased that there was another sycophant in the wings for one Rachel Berry, best friend status be damned.

It was that look of disdain that had Sebastian striding toward him, ignoring all the others in the room. Rachel huffed and said something in his wake but he had no idea what it was. He was transfixed and could see nor hear anything else.

"You should count yourself lucky." Sebastian said, coming to stand beside the boy who was now fixing himself a drink, facing away from him, uninterested in anyone who was that close with Rachel.

"Why's that?" His voice was musical and clawed at Sebastian's stomach, begging to hear more.

"Because you've captured my attention." Sebastian said silkily.

He was met by disinterested and nearly bored eyes that looked over his face and then skirted over the rest of him. It nearly undid him to be dismissed so readily by someone he fancied so much. Perhaps it had been brought on by all the talk the girls had done and the mystery of him. More than that, it was also his looks and his aloofness that would have drawn Sebastian's gaze no matter what.

"I'm sure that line works on all the other guys and girls but sadly it has no effect on me. In fact, there is one here that might swoon at the very notion of you looking his way. What's more, it would do me the great favor of getting his attention off of me as well."

Sebastian already knew who he was going to point out. "I am not in need of a substitute. I have found the real jewel amongst the fakes. I have no need to look upon anything else."

He actually made a face in return to Sebastian's words, a very disgusted face as if he might gag. "I have no idea where Rachel dug you up but tell her I am not going to fall for it. She will have to find a different way to break me and Adam up." He walked away without a further word.

Perhaps Sebastian may have turned his attention onto another at another time. However, this male had captured it long before he saw him the first time, compounded it with a long look at his back side and to be greeted a repeat when least expected and Sebastian grinned as he now had a quarry in his sights. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with it though once he captured it.