Chapter 3: (Step)Brother Knows Best

SEBASTIAN

Since moving with his father to Lima, Sebastian had never invited any of his friends from Dalton Academy over.

Initially, it had been that way because he and Artie had chosen to keep their home life a secret from their respective friend groups. Sebastian knew that his Lima zip code would raise eyebrows, but the framed pictures of Artie and his siblings on the walls of the house would certainly evoke questions. Plus, being around the parents– who didn't know about the secrecy agreement between Seb and Artie and would probably ruin everything– was just too risky. Having his friends over was just out of the question.

But even after that plan had gone up in flames three months ago, Sebastian had still never made an effort to be a host. Sebastian wasn't embarrassed about his step-siblings, but he still didn't really know how his pretentious private school friends would feel about the whole arrangement, especially with Artie being a member of the New Directions.

It only took until day seven of his summer vacation, however, for Sebastian to cave and invite them over to swim.

With Griffin and Ella in Akron visiting their dad for the weekend, and Artie committed to Quinn's graduation party that morning and some sort of New Directions get-together (Sebastian hadn't been fully listening when Artie had described to him what his day's plans were) in the afternoon, Sebastian figured he was on his own, as he had been for most of the week.

Enter Jeff, Nick, and Trent.

They'd come over around noon, and Nancy had excitedly re-introduced herself and provided them with an array of snacks and sodas to enjoy as they spent the peak hours soaking up the UV rays on the patio. By late afternoon, though, some clouds were beginning to roll in, and Sebastian guessed that they didn't have much longer before the sun would slip behind the trees.

"Do you boys have any plans for the summer, now that The Academy has released us from its grasp for two-and-a-half months?" Trent wanted to know as he sat on the edge of the pool with his legs dangling in the water.

"My family is heading to our place in Hilton Head for the summer," Nick answered. "We're leaving Monday morning and coming back the day before Warbler Camp."

"Oh, shit, no way," Sebastian said, sitting up when this got his attention. "So this is, like, the last we'll see of you then." Nick nodded from where he was floating on a raft.

Warbler Camp was a three-day pre-season boot camp where they began arranging and practicing some of the songs they were planning to perform that year. They learned choreography, had mandatory team workouts (to build up their stamina, of course), and trained the junior members– the freshmen and sophomores– in the leadership skills they would one day need if they planned on being Head Warbler someday.

Sebastian then turned his attention to their blonde friend, who had busied himself by diving to the bottom of the deep end of the pool to fetch some pool toys. "What about you, Sterling?"

Jeff popped his head out of the water when he heard his name and pushed the goggles he was wearing up onto his forehead.

"Ugh, my dad is making me spend the summer teaching golf lessons at the country club we belong to," the blonde guy rolled his eyes. "It's so lame. But I guess it pays well. How about you?"

Sebastian shrugged. He hadn't really thought that far ahead yet. He was just enjoying being planless for the time being, though he was sure that even the idea of sitting out by the pool would get old pretty quickly.

"We'll see," was his answer. "I'll probably go play some holes at our club at some point, whenever my dad's around and can fit it into his schedule. My step-brother Griffin said he wanted to get into golfing this summer, too. Other than that… I dunno. Probably whatever Artie's doing."

"You and Artie seem pretty close now," Nick observed, to which Sebastian could only shrug again.

"It kind of tends to work out that way when you live together," Sebastian reminded his friends, to whom the concept of siblings was apparently foreign. "But, yeah, I guess after all of the rivalry stuff died down, it was easier to move on. He's okay."

Truthfully, Sebastian thought higher of Artie than that he was just 'okay', but nobody else had to know that. His friends had already accused him of going soft when he'd first started hanging out with Artie more and more after their parent-mandated sibling bonding weekend a few months back. Artie– well, really, the New Directions as a whole– had been their rivals for the beginning part of last year. Sebastian had earned himself quite the reputation after building his whole persona around leading the charge against the other team. He knew it would come as a shock to his friends from school if they really knew how much he enjoyed having Artie around.

"Speak of the devil," Sebastian remarked once he noticed Artie opening the gate to the backyard pool area.

"Uh, hey guys, good to see you all," Artie awkwardly greeted the three poolside Warblers as they waved back at him.

Sebastian bit back a laugh at the way that Artie was not-so-discreetly averting his eyes from the neon-colored, tiny swimsuits the boys were wearing.

"Coming to swim?" Sebastian asked hopefully, even though he already knew the answer.

Artie didn't even hesitate before shaking his head. Sebastian knew that Artie was a private guy and kind of selective of who got to see him in the pool, so he wasn't surprised. He also knew that Artie wasn't as comfortable around the Dalton guys as Seb had become around the McKinley kids. Artie was constantly hosting little get-togethers with them at the house, causing Sebastian to grow used to their company.

"That jacket's super ugly, by the way," Sebastian commented, sitting up and using a hand that was holding a Sprite can to gesture to Artie's horse-covered jacket that he was wearing before taking a sip.

"Thanks, I'll wear it more often then," Artie replied without missing a beat, coming to stop his chair right beside the outdoor chaise lounge Sebastian had claimed.

"How'd that thing go? And Quinn's party?" Sebastian asked, resting his elbow on the armrest of Artie's chair when the other guy came close enough.

"The party was good. It was pretty small except for, like, her family and stuff. We hung out there for a bit. People kept assuming we're dating," Artie explained, punctuating his statement with an eye roll.

"Well, that's what'll happen when you're all cuddled up to one another," Sebastian teased, much to Artie's chagrin. "You don't always have to be holding onto her, you know. She's not going to float away."

"Screw you," Artie replied, but Sebastian could see the smirk he was hiding. "You see? This is why I'm always hesitant to tell you stuff. You end up annoying the crap out of me before I can even finish what I'm trying to say."

"Alright, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. What about the other thing?"

Artie sighed.

"It was kind of sad," he admitted. "Of all of the relationships that came out of Glee Club, we all thought Finn and Rachel would be the ones to go the distance. They were even engaged. And while I didn't think it was the smartest idea for them to get engaged so young, it didn't mean I wasn't rooting for them. I mean, if they're broken up, then what hope is there for the rest of us?"

"You mean for you and Quinn."

"Yeah, I guess I do."

The three Warblers– who had been silent while Artie was talking, but not being discreet about their eavesdropping either– were fully invested now, leaning forward on the side of the pool to hear all of the New Directions drama.

"The whole Finchel ordeal got me thinking about what the two of us are really doing, you know? So, I told her that when I was driving her home, and then I asked her out on a real date. So we can, I don't know, see if there is even a universe where she and I could work as… as a couple."

"And what'd she say?" Sebastian wanted to know, on the edge of his seat now.

"She said yes," Artie grinned. "We're gonna hang out on Monday. I think I might make some lunch to bring or something, and we can have a picnic."

"Man, Artie, yes! That's awesome!" Sebastian exclaimed, holding up his hand for Artie to high-five. "Now, promise me, you'll let me pick out your clothes."

Artie stared blankly back at him before blinking a few times and looking down at the outfit he had on.

"Trust me, dude. It's a miracle she agreed to be seen with you in that. You got lucky. It's not gonna happen twice. Please, let me help."

Artie narrowed his eyes in Sebastian's direction, only for Sebastian to just shrug.

"Fine. Handle it on your own. Good luck to you," Sebastian told him, replacing his sunglasses and laying back on the lounge. "But can you move? You're blocking my sun."

"Fine," Artie huffed, pivoting his chair and preparing to head toward the sliding glass door that would bring him into the kitchen. "You can help. But I get the final say."

"Deal," Sebastian quickly accepted before Artie could change his mind, sticking his hand out for Artie to shake.

Just as expected, Sebastian's plan worked. He saw Jeff, Nick, and Trent exchange a surprised glance as he smiled smugly to himself before settling back onto the chair, determined to catch the last few rays of light.

…

Jeff, Nick, and Trent left shortly after the sun went down, and Sebastian– a little pink from sun exposure and in a pleasantly chipper mood– was on his way through the kitchen, heading upstairs to shower off a day's worth of sunblock and pool water. He had stopped at the refrigerator to fetch himself another soda when he heard what sounded like Artie arguing with someone down the hall.

Of course, this grabbed his attention. He was nothing if not nosy, and even though he was only wearing his swim trunks with his damp towel around his neck, Sebastian let his curiosity get the best of him. Abandoning his original plan of getting in the shower right away, Sebastian pivoted and followed the sound of Artie's voice. His bedroom door was slightly ajar, so Sebastian pushed it the rest of the way open, sauntering in and coming to a stop when he found Artie with his back to him, holding his phone up to his ear.

"I know, I know, okay?" Artie huffed, exasperated with whoever was on the other end of the line. "Something just… came up."

Sebastian waited quietly, not knowing if Artie felt his presence, and not wanting to startle him if he didn't.

"I'll call the front desk later and talk to Trinity. I'll schedule another appointment for later in the week." Pause. "Yes, I promise, okay?" Another pause. "Bye."

"What was that about?" Sebastian wanted to know once Artie had ended the call.

Apparently, Artie hadn't realized he was no longer alone, because he just about jumped out of his chair upon hearing Sebastian's voice.

"Shit, dude, sorry. Didn't mean to scare you," Sebastian apologized as Artie turned around to face him after tossing his cell phone onto his bed. "I was just going up to shower and heard you going at it with someone. What gives?"

Artie rolled his eyes. "My physical therapist. I called him to cancel an appointment I have for Monday, and he proceeded to give me a lecture that I didn't ask for."

Sebastian wasn't sure what he'd been expecting Artie to say, but that wasn't it.

"You talk to your physical therapist like that?" Sebastian asked him, eyebrows raised. For as long as he'd known Artie, he'd hardly known the other guy to get snippy with anyone except for him. Artie was as even-tempered as they come– Sebastian was surprised to find that he even had it in him to get angry like that at somebody else who wasn't family. "By how grouchy you were, I expected you to be talking to, like, Griffin or someone."

"Kyle is like having another older brother," Artie explained. "He's, like, thirty-five, and he's the only physical therapist I've had, ever since I was a little kid. He knows me better than most people, which is great, except when he acts like it's going to, like, make that much of a difference if I miss one PT session. I called to cancel my appointment for Monday– on account of me and Quinn's…" His voice trailed off, and it seemed like he was hesitant to even go ahead and call it what it was– a date. "I'm not picking her up until the afternoon, and my appointment is in the morning, but I don't want to be too tired to enjoy it, you know? So I called to cancel– which should be an easy thing to do!– and he gave me a hard time."

"So, are you going to call and schedule another one?"

"Later," Artie replied with an eye roll that clearly said that that was the last thing he wanted to do right then.

For the most part, Sebastian was pretty good at going through life without paying much attention to what was going on around him. However, he could recall times that he'd overheard Nancy nagging Artie about calling the insurance company, or once or twice that they'd had to pause whatever video game they were playing so that Artie could call a pharmacy or a doctor's office. Sebastian had always known Artie to be much more responsible than other guys their age, but even still, he was pretty impressed by the way Artie independently handled all of that. After all, Sebastian's own father still schedules all of his dentist appointments.

It was then that Sebastian looked around the room and realized that it appeared he'd walked in on Artie having a bit of a meltdown. His closet door was open, and all of his clothes– which were usually meticulously organized– were now strewn about his bedroom, as if a tornado had torn through the space.

"What the hell happened in here?"

"I'm… trying to find something to wear for Monday."

Sebastian sighed, surveying the damage that his distressed step-brother had already done. It was just a picnic, after all, which by all accounts, should be an informal enough experience, but in typical Artie fashion, he was anxious anyway.

"You said you're planning a picnic, right?" Sebastian asked him, to which Artie nodded. "Okay, so that's pretty casual. And it's summer now. So, maybe…"

Sebastian glanced around at the articles of Artie's clothes that were lying in piles on his floor and bed, before picking some up and attempting to piece a potential outfit together.

He'd always had notes on Artie's… unique… sense of personal style, he just didn't often get the chance to have free reign over his wardrobe like this. In the spring, they'd gone shopping ahead of their family vacation to Aruba and Artie had trusted Sebastian with the task of picking him out some slightly more age-appropriate clothes to enhance his style. Sebastian had selected some tighter-fitting pants, casual v-neck t-shirts, and even a few pairs of khaki shorts (which had resulted in some protests from Artie initially, but he'd been convinced to purchase them anyway).

Sebastian found a pair of those shorts on the floor by the foot of Artie's bed and selected a plain white button-up shirt– the only one that was still hanging in Artie's closet– and he set them out on the bed.

Finding a pair of fingerless gloves to complete the outfit was the next task. Anything but the yellow ones. They seemed to be kind of a security blanket for Artie… albeit, possibly the grimiest, ugliest, most eye-catching security blanket of all time. Part of Sebastian wanted to throw them out or burn them, but that seemed unnecessarily cruel, even for him. So, maybe he'd just hide them for a bit as part of his way of sprucing up Artie's wardrobe and hope his step-brother doesn't notice.

Getting him to ditch the gloves altogether was out of the question, Seb knew that much. Artie's gloves, however ugly, served a purpose (one aside from totally ruining any outfit he put on, that is), which was to protect the palms of his hands from getting gnarly blisters from all of the wheeling around he did. At the very least, Sebastian felt that it was his brotherly duty to look out for Artie and steer him in the right direction, and choosing a pair of gloves that didn't clash with everything he wore would be a good place to start. He recalled that they'd purchased a pair of black ones on their trip to the mall a few months back.

"Black gloves?" was all Sebastian had to ask for Artie to pivot and head over to his desk, pulling open one of the drawers underneath it to retrieve the accessories. Artie tossed them over, and Sebastian effortlessly caught them and set them down on the bed next to the rest of the clothes he'd curated.

Sebastian stood back and admired his work. Personally, he liked this outfit. It still felt like something Artie would wear, but it had a more polished, age-appropriate vibe to it that made the look perfect for a date. Sebastian was prepared to give himself a pat on the back.

"What do you think?" Sebastian turned to Artie for his opinion. "Maybe with some loafers or something? Or mules? I have some Gucci ones that you can borrow. They might be a bit big on you, but that shouldn't really matter anyway, right?"

Normally, Sebastian probably wouldn't have offered to let another guy borrow his overly expensive shoes, but at least he wouldn't have to worry about Artie scuffing them or sweating in them or anything…

"You don't think that's too much?" Artie asked, raising an eyebrow. "With the loafers?"

Sebastian shrugged before returning to the closet to grab a pair of black Vans from the shoe rack and set them on the floor beside the bed. "Forget the Gucci, then. What about now?"

"It's fine, I just… don't want her to think I'm, like, trying to be someone I'm not," was Artie's response, which elicited an eye roll from Sebastian. "Do you think she'll think I'm trying too hard to impress her?"

"Well, are you?"

"Maybe? I don't know!"

"So… you're overthinking her overthinking you?" Sebastian cocked his head to the side.

"Yes?"

"Okay, dude, you need to chill out," Sebastian told him, having had enough of Artie's agonizing. The time had come for Sebastian to dish out a heaping of his brutal honesty. His brother was going to make himself sick with all the worrying if he didn't quit it. "It's only a first date! With a girl that you've known for years! You need to relax. You're gonna work yourself into a mess for no reason."

"I'm just… really nervous," Artie admitted, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as his gaze was still fixed on the clothes laid out on his bed, avoiding Sebastian's eyes. "I don't want this to mess things up between me and her. Quinn means a lot to me. Which, if I'm being honest, is kind of the reason why I'd never considered her to ever be more than just a friend until now."

He sighed, and Sebastian remained quiet. He knew that Artie had always had a soft spot where Quinn was concerned, but he had never really known what kind of history they had between them. His interest was piqued.

"We've known each other for a while," Artie said. "Since way before Glee Club was ever a thing. Not many people know that. I guess we just don't go around advertising it. She's been through a lot. More than you or most people realize. I just can't let my friendship with Quinn be another relationship that I manage to screw up."

Sebastian had heard enough. He cleared himself off a spot on Artie's bed, pushing aside the clothes he'd set out and to took a seat, despite the fact that he was still in his swimsuit. It was hard for him to see Artie– who rarely ever opened up to anyone like this– in this position. When he had originally sought Quinn out to be Artie's date for the wedding, Sebastian didn't know how much she meant to him. Seeing his step-brother so anxious in front of him now, Sebastian couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible.

"Artie, look at me, okay? It won't be. You won't screw this up. You're the most intentional guy I know. And any girl who's worth your time will be able to see that."

Seb had never really been the guy to give pep talks– especially ones about girls (yuck!)– so he wasn't quite sure what he was doing. Artie's clenched muscles appeared to visibly relax as Sebastian spoke, however, so even though Seb didn't really know what he was doing, his words seemed to be having the intended effect.

"Quinn's going to Yale, right? She's a smart girl. And if she knows you the same way you know her, she'll love what you have planned. I promise. So don't make yourself sick over this. Just try to enjoy it all, okay?"

Artie finally tore his gaze away from where his hands were clasped in his lap and brought himself to meet Sebastian's eyes. Behind the frames of his glasses, his eyes were watery, and his lips were pursed to the side, but he managed to nod anyway.

"Okay."