A/N: After Kurt's Christmas party, Kurt finally sees what Elliott did to Sebastian, and he demands that Sebastian tell him the truth.

Warning for cigarette burns, sub drop, and a moment of Blaine unfriendliness.

Takes place after 'A Dalton Boy Given Fair Warning'

FYI - I've shuffled the chapters to put them in chronological order. If you go to Sebklaine and look me up under smellslikecraigslist, you'll see the order they were originally written in.

"Oh my God! Thank you so much for coming over on such short notice!" Sebastian hears Kurt gush to someone he's seeing to the front door. "It was so good to see you guys again!"

"And you, too," Sebastian hears the distinctly feminine voice of Marley saying farewell on behalf of her and her sub. "It's so nice to see you with a new little boy to play with after…well, after the unpleasantness."

"Thank you," Kurt says with a rare sincerity. Sebastian can tell by the way Kurt talks to Marley that he holds her in rather high regard as a dominant, showing her a sort of professional respect he doesn't bestow lightly, even to people that he treats as his close friends.

Marley and her sub Jake stayed the longest, along with the slaves, who played their roles as furniture up until the last guest left. Some of Kurt's guests had other holiday gatherings to get to, and a few new people dropped by. Kurt seemed to be one on a list of dominants throwing parties that night, and so his became a revolving door of dominants and their subs stopping by on their way to or from different soirees. Some brought food and alcohol from other parties dying down, so three hours in Kurt's house was packed, and the liquor started flowing.

Elliott was one of the first guests to leave, bowing out when the party got lively and people started occupying Kurt's time. Sebastian heard Kurt ask him about a dozen times if he really had to go, and listened to the oblique responses Elliott gave for leaving, including stopping by the club to make sure things were copacetic without either of its owners present. Kurt and Elliott had managers who handled things without them on occasion, but Kurt and Elliott were sticklers when it came to the running of their club.

That club was their baby. They didn't like to leave it playing too long on its own.

As far as Sebastian was concerned, Elliott didn't come to party. He came to make a point.

And he sure as hell made it.

No one else really bothered with Sebastian after Elliott stopped by and made his threat, too wrapped up in their own subs or catching up with friends to care about Kurt's new Christmas decoration much more than to offer the ubiquitous, "Hey, Kurt! Nice tree." Unique passed by and ran her hand down his chest, ruby red stiletto nails leaving only light marks since everyone knew better than to permanently mark-up Kurt's sub. Sebastian's strangest encounter of the evening came when some woman named Tina walked over to inspect him and licked his neck. Kurt barked out something about Sebastian not being a baby cupcake, he had no frosting to lick off, and that she should move along. She left Sebastian with a look that fell somewhere between offended and determined, and Sebastian was sure she would be back, but she left, taking one of the slaves with her before she ever got the chance.

Marley stopped by to make sure Sebastian wasn't cold. He couldn't answer when she asked, which she knew, and praised him for. It felt strange to receive praise from a dominant other than his own. He didn't think he would like it. But Marley was sweet, motherly in her concern, and it made Sebastian feel good to think that she genuinely cared. She left Sebastian to discuss her concerns with Kurt, who assured her that Sebastian was fine, and that he knew Sebastian was fine because if Sebastian wasn't, he would give Kurt a sign to let him know.

Sebastian never did.

But he wasn't fine.

By the time the last of the slaves leave, and Kurt locks his door and turns off his porch light, Sebastian doesn't think he can stay kneeling anymore. As it is, his shoulders had started to curve, the angel on his head in very real danger of tumbling to the carpet. He figures he'll be punished for that, and for the way his legs and arms won't stop shaking.

"Well, I think that was a huge success," Kurt says in a chipper voice. "Time to get you undecorated, preppy, although…it might be nice to keep you lit, and sleep underneath you." It's an idle remark; Kurt can see his sub is about to collapse. He starts with the clips on Sebastian's nipples, and the glass ornaments hanging from their metal hooks around his thighs. Sebastian's thighs quiver, and Kurt's head pops up, suddenly remembering something important. "Oops! Almost forgot…" He travels around to Sebastian's back and removes his plug, relieving the pressure of him staying tensed to keep it in. "Everyone made a point of mentioning how festive you look, preppy." Kurt rescues the angel off Sebastian's head, then unwraps the ribbons from his biceps. "I think even grumpy old Elliott had a good time. He might be warming up to you a little." Sebastian's eyelids flutter shut. God, Kurt sounds so pleased at that, the thought that Elliott might accept what Kurt's got going with Sebastian and just…be happy for him. Kurt comes around Sebastian's front and starts fiddling with the bell and the cock cage. "This has to be aching by now, huh, preppy?" Kurt chuckles, removing the cage with care since he can see Sebastian's swollen member filling it to the brink. He stops for a second and raises an eyebrow, the smile from his thought of Sebastian and Elliott finally getting along sinking down at the corners. "Is that…blood?" He removes the cage and glares at Sebastian's abused cock, covered in dark marks and indents, some of them black and blue, a few crusted in dried blood.

"Jesus Christ," Kurt says. It surprises Sebastian, watching Kurt through eyelids barely open, how wide Kurt's eyes become. "Who the fuck did this to you?"

Sebastian bites his tongue. He doesn't want to answer, but he doesn't have to.

"What did he say to you, preppy?" Kurt asks, seething with an anger that suffuses his calm. "I know he said something. Tell me what the fuck Elliott said to you!" Sebastian knows he's required to answer a direct question from his Dom, but how does he tell Kurt this? That his best friend threatened him? Tortured him? There's so much tension back and forth between Elliott and Sebastian, which always ends in Kurt telling Sebastian that he has to respect Elliott, even if he disagrees with him. Would Kurt even believe that Sebastian isn't putting a spin on it to make Elliott look bad?

Kurt doesn't wait any longer for a response. He grabs his ashtray from over by the couch, pulls out his pack of cigarettes and his BIC, and lights one up. From the corner of Sebastian's eye, he sees the clove glowing red while Kurt sucks on it. Kurt blows out a mouthful of smoke and extinguishes the cigarette on Sebastian's chest, on his left pec, right above his nipple. Sebastian flinches, his discipline slipping as exhaustion takes precedence.

"Your loyalty's to me, preppy," Kurt growls. "Not him. He did this to you. He doesn't give a shit about you. So, if you have something to tell me, you better fucking tell me now."

That comment and his command should be enough, more than the threat of cigarette burns, but somehow, it isn't. Sebastian knows Kurt will be pissed if he doesn't answer.

How pissed would he be, though, if he thought Sebastian was lying?

Kurt re-lights his cigarette, sucks in a breath, and crushes this one out above the first burn, the borders where the two burns overlap smarting to high heaven.

"I can do this about three times with each cigarette, and I've got a carton of these in my room, preppy," Kurt says, lighting the tip another time and putting it out on Sebastian's chest, creating a line of burns traveling up from his nipple. "I can do this all night. Plus, you've effectively lost your spot on my bed for the evening. You can sleep kneeling here on this fucking coffee table for all I care."

Sebastian's heart sinks to his stomach. He lost it – his spot on Kurt's bed. He fucking lost it because of Elliott. He lost something that most of Kurt's subs can't even earn. He lost it because he got caught between a rock and a hard place with no fucking way out. He lost it because he tried to do the right thing and failed.

He lost it because he's replaceable. If Kurt got rid of Sebastian today, there would be a line of subs circling the block ready to take his place, subs who actually understand what it means to be a submissive, subs who could do this better for Kurt, jump the second he snaps his fingers, without a thought except doing what they're told and making Kurt happy.

"He told me that he loves you, Master," Sebastian says in as emotionless a voice as possible.

Kurt nods, holding his cigarette threateningly over the flame of his lighter. "That's a start, but I knew that already," Kurt says, "and so did you. That's not all. What else?"

Sebastian locks his jaw, and Kurt lights his cigarette.

Sebastian sighs. He doesn't particularly care how many cigarettes Kurt puts out on his chest. It hurts less than admitting what Elliott said…and that Sebastian believes him.

"He told me that…" The whole conversation is right there on Sebastian's tongue. He'd thought over Elliott's words so many times while trying to slip away to his peaceful place that Sebastian could recite it word for word, but Elliott's snarky comments and threats all boiled down to one thing, the only thing that bothered Sebastian really, aside from the idea that when Sebastian leaves for New York, Elliott gets to put Kurt back together…if Kurt even misses Sebastian when he's gone. "He says that I'm…replaceable, Master."

Kurt flicks the flame off on his lighter and crushes the cigarette out in his ashtray.

"Fucking Elliott," Kurt says, shaking his head. Kurt's said it so many times that anyone who didn't know them might think that's actually Elliott's full name. "Don't listen to him, preppy," Kurt says softly. "Alright? I'm your Master. You listen to what I say, and only what I say, unless I tell you otherwise. You understand? Respond."

"I do, Master," Sebastian says.

"Good." Kurt starts unwinding the lights from Sebastian's torso, pulling the plug from the socket. Not until they're off does Sebastian see exactly how much heat those tiny lights put off. His body goes cold without them, but colder with this gap growing between him and Kurt.

"Are you, Master?" Sebastian asks when Kurt returns to untie the ropes. He's speaking without permission, but there's really nothing else he cares about that he's in danger of losing tonight. "Are you going to replace me?"

"Oh, preppy," Kurt says with a long sigh. "We…we live such disposable lives here…" Those first words sound like Kurt's about to blow smoke up Sebastian's ass, but he loops his arms around Sebastian's neck and kisses the top of his head. "When you leave, I honestly don't know what I'm going to do. I'll do my job. That's how I make money, but…I don't think I'd ever be able to replace you. To tell you the truth, I don't think I'd want to try."

Sebastian nods. He's sure that answer is meant to console him, but it makes him feel worse. He doesn't know why the tears start. So much drama, so much stress, so much strain, mentally and physically – he just gets so Goddamned sad all of a sudden. And they're not quiet tears, either, not ones he can hide. They come with heaving sobs that choke him, leave him struggling desperately for gasps of air. Inside his head, where his psyche lingers on the outskirts of that quiet, fuzzy place he'd been searching for all night, his entire universe starts to disintegrate.

"Okay, baby, you're dropping," Kurt says, working quickly to remove the ropes around Sebastian's thighs. "Don't you worry. This happens every once in a while. God, it must have been a long night for you, wasn't it? I'll have you out of this in a second, and then we'll get you in the shower. Okay? Does that sound nice? I bet it does. It'll be alright. You just go ahead and cry, baby. I'll take care of you. It'll be okay…I promise."

Kurt tosses the ropes to the ground, catching Sebastian when he falls forward.

"I gotcha," Kurt murmurs, pushing Sebastian upright again, supporting his weight. "Can you stand, baby? Can you move your legs and get on your feet?"

Sebastian doesn't answer. He can't. The sobs in his throat aren't ready to let him speak; Kurt seems to know that. He maneuvers Sebastian's legs one at a time out from under him, unbending them, rubbing them to get the blood flowing back. He places Sebastian's feet flat on the floor and helps him stand. Sebastian's legs knock together at the knees, and he continues to sob. He tries to stop crying, stop shaking. He tries, but he has no control. He can't make his legs do anything. He can't muffle his convulsive weeping, can't close his mouth and silence it. This full-body sadness has completely taken over. Sebastian doesn't like it, but there's nothing he can do about it.

"It's alright," Kurt says in a soothing voice. "It's going to be okay. Just take a step…good…take another step…excellent…we'll get you there, preppy. I'm not going to leave you alone."

Kurt's words find their way inside Sebastian's chest and wrap around his heart, but they also start to squeeze. That's what this is all about. Kurt's not going to leave Sebastian. Eventually, Sebastian will leave Kurt, and where that has always bothered Sebastian, he was able to ignore it. It seems to be more inevitable now, with the year coming to a close and the end of school flying at him fast. It's more than a blip on the horizon. It's a finish line in his sights, with the tape pulled tight, waiting for him to cross.

Kurt walks Sebastian through the house and into his bedroom.

"There we go, preppy," Kurt says in an upbeat voice. "You can make it. I know you can. We're almost at the finish."

That comment makes Sebastian snap. He wails, clutching on to Kurt as if his life depends on it.

"Oh, Sebastian," Kurt coos, pausing to let Sebastian hold him. "It's okay, baby. It really is okay." Sebastian crushes Kurt against him, engulfing him, holding him as if afraid Kurt would disappear the moment he left Sebastian's arms. "Let's get you in the shower, baby. Hmm? Okay? You'll feel a whole lot better after a nice hot shower. I promise."

Kurt starts to move, but Sebastian wraps him up tighter.

"No," Sebastian mumbles. "No…don't go…"

"Sebastian," Kurt says, stroking up and down his sub's arms. "Do you trust me?"

Sebastian's next breath in is a ragged sigh.

"Yes, Master," he mutters miserably.

"Good," Kurt says. "Then let's go. Just keep moving. If you stay in one place, you won't ever want to move again."

Sebastian nods. He knows that Kurt's right, about more than just this.

Kurt helps Sebastian into the shower of his master bathroom, and turns the water on hot.

"Now, you just wait here a second," Kurt says. "I'm going to get undressed…" which he does while he talks, tearing off his shirt and jeans, and stepping into the shower with Sebastian before he even finishes what he's saying.

Sebastian feels the small cuts and pinpricks on his body when the hot water hits his skin, but he doesn't hiss. To say that he doesn't have the energy to respond to the pain would be an understatement. It just doesn't matter. When Kurt lathers up a wash cloth, and the soap gets into the cuts, stinging more, Sebastian still doesn't respond. Kurt washes his hair, taking extra time to work the shampoo into Sebastian's scalp, then he rinses him, fingers carding through the strands until the water runs clean. Kurt massages Sebastian's back with an almond-smelling lotion that heats at Kurt's touch. Sebastian has never had this, someone take care of him this way – bathe his sadness away, pamper him when he's in pain with these types of touches.

He's ashamed to think that he might have believed Kurt wasn't capable of this, that it wasn't part of what their relationship is about. Just another thing about being a dominant and a submissive that Sebastian doesn't understand.

He wishes he had the wherewithal to enjoy it more, but it's something he'll never forget.

"There," Kurt says, when we he reaches Sebastian's ankle, loosening the tendons, and stands back up, "I think you're ready. Or do you want another few minutes?"

"No, Master," Sebastian says. "I really want to go to sleep, if you don't mind."

"I don't mind," Kurt says, turning off the water. "I think sleep is probably the best thing for you right now."

Yeah, Sebastian thinks, because sleeping on the cold, hard ground is going to be so refreshing. But like the other pain, he doesn't care. He just wants the sad to go away.

Kurt dries Sebastian off with his own huge, fluffy bath sheet. It's warm and soft, and like everything that has ever touched Kurt's skin, it smells like Kurt. He treats Sebastian's cigarette burns with aloe, and then covers the rest of his sub in his own coconut milk and vanilla body lotion, drying his cheeks with gentle pats from his towel so he can properly moisturize his face. Kurt stares into Sebastian's lowered gaze, hoping for a smile – that cocky smirk that Sebastian wears even when he shouldn't, the one that defies all of Kurt's rules.

But it's gone for now.

Kurt leads Sebastian to bed, pulling back the covers, and Sebastian stands with his head bowed, waiting for Kurt to tell him where he'll be sleeping. But Kurt climbs on the mattress and takes his hand, tugging it commandingly.

"You'll sleep here with me," Kurt says, watching Sebastian climb sheepishly under the covers. "You were a good boy telling me what I wanted to know. What Elliott did was…" Kurt stops with a groan. He's not going to do that. He's not going to badmouth Elliott. He might be angry now, but he'll regret it later if he does. He has to keep the balance of power, even if he wants more than anything to rip Elliott's dick off. "Well, you were a good boy. You get to keep your spot on the bed."

"Thank you, Master," Sebastian says, feeling that small gesture bring the tears back. He wants to hit himself over the head with a hammer, knock himself out and wake up in a week when, hopefully, his balls will have grown back.

Kurt pulls Sebastian toward him, patting a spot on his chest to rest his head against, and Sebastian does, glad to have this closeness with his Dom after hours of being a tree, of the two of them being apart, even if he is embarrassing the shit out of himself.

"What can I do for you, preppy?" Kurt asks, fingers undoing the knots in Sebastian's damp hair with every stroke, undoing the knots in his life with every breath. "Do you need something to eat? Something to drink? What do you want?"

Sebastian sniffles, disgusted with himself for soaking Kurt's skin in tears, feeling like a bitch for whimpering. He hates his voice right now, how he sounds like a stupid little kid, but he can't not answer Kurt. He can't.

"You," Sebastian replies. His lip trembles slightly, and he takes a sharp breath in through his nose to stop it. "I just…I just want you, Master. I want you, and I…I want to stop feeling like I'm not good enough..."

It stays open-ended because, in many ways, it doesn't have an ending. Sebastian means it about so many things. He has so many insecurities that he doesn't show, so many spots in his timeline that he's unsure of. But those other things, he considers them incidental since the only person who has to care about them is himself. They only concern him, so he makes it a point not to care about them too much. He tries to leave the past to the past and keep moving forward. No reason to linger on regrets and losses that he can't go back and fix.

But this thing he has with Kurt, that's different. Kurt is different. Sebastian needs Kurt to care about him, and about his problems.

He needs Kurt, period.

"What are you even talking about?" Kurt says with an incredulous laugh. "I mean, have you seen yourself lately? Taken a good hard look? And I'm not even talking about the fact that you're fuckin' gorgeous. Jesus Christ, preppy! When I was your age, I was such a…" His mouth halts around the word loser. A Lima Loser. Kurt promised himself a long time ago that he would never call himself that ever again. He can't break that promise now, or he'll lose his personal credibility, and everything else he says to Sebastian will mean nothing. "I was so far in the closet, you'd need a bloodhound, a flashlight, and a shovel to fucking find me. But you, you walk around like you own everything, and that's not the money talking. That's you. So, now, you gotta stop talkin' like that." Kurt holds his sub tighter when he feels a new wave of tears fall onto his chest. "Because you are good enough, baby. You are. At so many things. You're amazing. What's this shit about you not being good enough? Who…who the hell told you that?" Kurt finds himself getting angry, and not only on Sebastian's behalf. Angry because he realizes exactly who told Sebastian that, and it's Kurt's fault. Kurt was the one who let him in, let him walk on into his house and take his sub's sense of self away. "You just…you just stop with that, okay? Just…just stop…"

Kurt chokes up. He did this. He broke down this beautiful, headstrong boy, and now he needs to hold him together. He wishes he could come up with something better, something more eloquent and convincing to say, but he hasn't needed to comfort anyone in a while, and the last person he did…well, Blaine needed a lot of self-esteem boosting. When Kurt thinks of all those words wasted, words he can't think of using now to help Sebastian, he's almost tempted to call the fucker up so he can scream obscenities and then hang up on him.

It takes nearly an hour for Sebastian to quiet down in Kurt's arms. Kurt stays awake with him, shushing him, stroking his hair, thinking the night over while he waits for Sebastian to fall asleep. Eventually, the exhaustion of dropping overwhelms Sebastian, and when it does, he goes from shuddering sobs to out like a light in a blink. Kurt waits till he hears his sub snore softly against his chest, then he waits a moment longer. Carefully, he relocates Sebastian, laying his head down on a pillow and pulling his comforter up over his shoulders. Kurt slips out of bed and throws on some clothes – a pair of sleep pants draped over a chair and a long sleeve thermal Henley from Sebastian's bottom drawer - grabs his phone and his cloves, and walks out into the hall.

Sebastian starts to wake the second Kurt's out of bed, when his head hits the static, cool pillow.

He hears Kurt in the living room, putting on his boots and a coat (probably Sebastian's peacoat that Kurt seems to love, which Sebastian has considered leaving behind for him when he leaves for New York), and Sebastian knows that Kurt's stepping outside for a smoke. He doesn't want Kurt to leave him, even for a second. But he also feels like if he moves, tries to get out of bed, he'll cry again, and he can't do that either. Kurt said it was okay, he said that it happens, but to Sebastian, it's unsettling. Humiliating. Breaking down like that, crying his eyes out. Maybe for some people it's cathartic, but for him, it feels like weakness. Kurt always tells him that subs are strong, that he's strong. How can he be strong and feel so weak at the same time?

Sebastian hears Kurt walk outside and close the door behind him. He paces back and forth, the thick soles of his boots crunching the snow. Sebastian recognizes the sound of Kurt lighting his cigarette, taking a drag, and blowing smoke into the air. He knows that sound like he knows the timbre of his Dom's voice, so much a part of him and what he does every day. Sebastian hears Kurt unlock his phone screen, the musical tone so out of place with his other preprogrammed rings and alert tones, mostly hard rock and heavy metal, except for his dad's ring, which is some song by the Oak Ridge Boys.

In the quiet of the night, Sebastian clearly hears Lady Gaga's Marry the Night playing over Kurt's phone - Elliott's ringback song.

"Hey, Ells. We need to talk."

Sebastian hears this opening, and his heart starts to climb out of his chest.

"You need to lay off my sub, and I mean, like yesterday…No, he didn't tattle the minute you left. He wouldn't tell me. I had to fuckin' burn it out of him, but unlike some people, he told me in the end because he obeys me…Yeah…very funny. You listen to me, Elliott, and you listen to me really good. I love you. I do. I love you so fucking much, always have, always will, but Sebastian…he's a kid. A sweet kid. A good kid, and he's mine. You get me? Mine! And I…no, I…just…back the fuck off! …What do you have against me being happy, huh?...Well, he's gonna be gone in a couple of months, so you win, right? You get me all to yourself. That's all you care about, right? You, not me?...No, that's exactly what you meant…You don't have to like him, alright, but if you can't play nice, then don't play at all. You get me?"

Sebastian doesn't know if Elliott cuts off the call or if Kurt does, but Kurt stomps on the ground, cursing with every step. "Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! Fuck! Goddamned motherfucker!" Sebastian hears Kurt stomp his way towards the door, muttering underneath his breath, grumbling about time and happiness and something about beer. He quiets down after the door is locked behind him and he takes off his boots, heading back to the bedroom on bare feet. Kurt sheds his clothes by the side of the bed, and climbs underneath the covers, shivering with cold and adrenaline, searching out Sebastian's body for warmth. Sebastian obliges, creeping across the mattress and wrapping around Kurt's body.

"You should be asleep," Kurt scolds him gently, more upset by what Sebastian might have heard than the fact that he's still awake.

"You left me, Master," Sebastian says, hoping it sounds like a statement and not like a whine.

"I didn't go far," Kurt sighs into Sebastian's hair. "I just had to handle something."

They fall silent, but both men can hear the other thinking.

"You didn't have to do that, Master," Sebastian says. He was relieved that Kurt took him seriously, and that he would barrel into the fray - against his best friend in the world, no less - in Sebastian's defense. But Sebastian doesn't want to come between them, not really. As much as Sebastian doesn't like it, Kurt needs Elliott. Elliott's been around way longer than he has. He's stood by Kurt through some horrible shit. What Sebastian and Kurt has, for however long they have it, should not be the thing that jeopardizes that friendship. Sebastian – as Kurt's submissive or his lover - doesn't have the right.

Besides, Sebastian can't shake the feeling that he may have just made everything between him and Elliott one-hundred-and-ten percent worse.

"Well, whether I did or didn't it's done," Kurt says, conflicted. "So, get some sleep, baby. You need it." Kurt breathes out, his hand returning to Sebastian's hair, scratching lightly at his scalp. "You were a good boy tonight, preppy. My good boy. I'm very proud of you."

"Thank you, Master," Sebastian says, slipping off to sleep with Kurt's praise tolling in his ears, the words wiping away Elliott's remarks from earlier, making the slate clean between Dom and sub again.