The Only Exception (Lonely No More)

Chapter 9

Sebastian kept quiet as Blaine drove them back to Sebastian’s house after the movie marathon. Blaine seemed lost in his thoughts and Sebastian was almost afraid to ask what he and Kurt had talked about. He didn’t think they were back together since Kurt had not come back to the living room with Blaine, but they may have decided to try again after graduation which was only a few short weeks away. Sebastian had no idea how he fit into Blaine’s life now, something he wasn’t used to caring about. It was an unsettling feeling.

The car slowed and turned into the long winding driveway that led to the house much sooner than Sebastian wanted. He didn’t want Blaine to drive away without knowing where he stood, but he didn’t know how to ask without sounding needy and desperate, something he refused to admit to.

“Sebastian? Are you okay?” Blaine asked after putting the car into park and turning to face his passenger.

“I was wondering the same thing about you,” Sebastian said. “You’ve been rather quiet since we left the Hummel’s.”

Blaine laughed nervously. “Yeah, I guess I have. Just thinking I guess.”

“About Kurt?” Sebastian asked. It wasn’t an unreasonable question, even if it wasn’t what he really wanted to ask.

Blaine shrugged with a sigh. “Kind of, but not really.”

“That was clear,” Sebastian said with just a touch of sarcasm.

Blaine chuckled ruefully and looked down at his hands. “Haven’t quite made sense of it myself.” Blaine shook his head while running a hand through his hair. “I had all these plans for after graduation and now, I don’t really know what I’m going to do.”

“No New York?” Sebastian asked, almost holding his breath as he waited for the answer.

“Los Angeles, I guess,” Blaine replied. He didn’t sound too sure.

“Having second thoughts about living with your brother?” Sebastian asked. He was only slightly relieved. Blaine hadn’t exactly discounted New York yet.

“Always,” Blaine said with a chuckle. “Cooper is… an acquired taste.”

“You don’t have to live with your brother,” Sebastian said. “There are other options.”

“I guess,” Blaine said. He leaned his head back against the seat. “I just wish I knew... What if I get into NYADA, but not CalArts? I can’t really go to Los Angeles and mooch off of Cooper when I don’t have any real plans to go to school there.”

“You should hear something soon,” Sebastian replied. He wished he had a better answer, but he hadn’t heard from any of his colleges yet either. “You’ll know for sure about college before graduation, so try not to worry about it until you have all the facts.”

Blaine turned towards Sebastian with a smile. “I wish I had your confidence. Nothing ever seems to get to you.”

Nothing could be further from the truth, but Sebastian had spent his whole life hiding that from everyone. Bravado was second nature to him.

“I just choose not to concern myself with things I can’t do anything about,” Sebastian said. He put an arm over the back of the seat and let one of Blaine’s curls wind around his finger. “The things I can do something about, I go after until I get what I want.”

Blaine didn’t respond for a long moment, neither encouraging nor discouraging Sebastian. Sebastian wished he could tell what Blaine was thinking.

“Time is getting short,” Blaine finally said, a bit wistfully. “Graduation is only a few weeks away and then where will we be?”

Sebastian’s heart skipped a beat. “Where do you want us to be?” A part of him was afraid of the answer and a part of him wanted Blaine too much to care.

Blaine reached out and put his finger against Sebastian’s cheek, drawing a soft line towards his chin. “Even that first day, there was just something about you. No matter how many times I’ve walked away, I always seem to come back. Ever wonder why that is?”

“Maybe the same reason that I keep chasing you,” Sebastian said, letting just a little bit of honesty escape. He leaned in until their faces were only inches apart. “Stay with me tonight,” he whispered.

“I don’t want to be just another notch on your bedpost,” Blaine said. His breath puffed softly against Sebastian’s lips.

“You could never be that,” Sebastian said. Honesty seemed to have taken the steering wheel for the moment.

“Then what am I?” Blaine asked.

Sebastian swallowed hard. He knew what Blaine wanted, and he wished he could give it to him. He was honest enough with himself to know that he’d only manage to screw it up though. “Do we have to put labels on this?”

Blaine pulled back slightly as he thought that over for a few long moments. “A label, no. But I need to know that you’re not going to turn around and start chasing another guy as soon as the sheets are cold.”

Sebastian gave a surprised laugh at Blaine’s phrasing. “You want a promise of fidelity?” It was as much a statement as a question.

Blaine’s expression closed. “You don’t think I can do it.”

Which was the farthest thing from Sebastian’s mind. He tightened his hold on the back of Blaine’s neck. “Everyone makes mistakes. You need to stop beating yourself up over yours.”

Blaine blinked a couple of times and then smiled slightly. “And you need to stop worrying about the ones you haven’t even made yet.”

Sebastian chuckled ruefully this time. “We make quite a pair, don’t we?”

Blaine nodded with a slight laugh of his own. “We only have a few weeks until graduation. I won’t hold you to any promises after that. The long distance thing just doesn’t work.”

Sebastian realized that he might never get another chance to make Blaine his. Surely, even he could manage a few weeks without screwing things up. “A promise to be faithful as long as we’re living in the same city?”

Blaine nodded. “That’s all I’m asking for.”

“I’ll give it my best shot,” Sebastian said. His heart was pounding. He leaned in again, not quite touching Blaine's lips with his own. “Will you stay?”

The answer was a gentle brush of Blaine’s lips against his.

 

~ * ~
 

The sun was just starting to lighten the room when Blaine woke and stretched languidly under the warms covers. He smiled slightly when Sebastian tightened his hold, pulling Blaine back against his chest without really waking. Waking with a naked Sebastian wrapped around him was something that Blaine thought he could easily get used to. Kurt wasn’t the type to sleep without clothing, even after they’d made love, but Blaine rather enjoyed it.

As he lay there, somewhere between not-quite-awake and almost-asleep, Blaine’s phone began to play Kurt’s ringtone. He came completely awake with a start.

“Who would be calling at this ungodly hour?” Sebastian complained.

“It must be important,” Blaine said, slightly concerned. Kurt wasn’t exactly a morning person either.

Sebastian made a sound of exasperation as Blaine slid out of the bed to fish around in the pile of discarded clothes for his phone.

The phone went to voicemail before Blaine managed to extricate it. He double-checked, even though he knew it was Kurt that had called. He debated calling back, but before he could make up his mind, the incoming text indicator chimed.

‘Call, important.’ - Sam

“It’s Sam,” Blaine said, frowning slightly as worry began to settle in. “I need to call him. Something is going on.”

Sebastian nodded. “I’ll be in the bathroom,” he said and then disappeared into the adjoining room.

Sam answered on the second ring.

“Hey, it’s Blaine. What’s going on?”

“Blaine, thanks for calling back,” Sam said in a rush. “Kurt tried to call, but thought maybe you were ignoring his call, so he asked me to send a text.”

“Yeah, I didn’t get to the phone in time,” Blaine said. “Did something happen?”

“Uh, yeah, Burt wasn’t feeling so great this morning. Carol called 911 and we’re all on the way to the hospital now,” Sam said.

“How bad is it?” Blaine asked. Sebastian came back out and sat next to him. Blaine leaned back into him.

“Don’t really know yet. Burt was still awake when the ambulance came, saying he didn’t need to go the hospital, but Carol insisted,” Sam said. He sounded rather flustered. “Here, Kurt wants to talk to you.”

“Blaine? I know what we talked about last night, but I thought you’d want to know…” Kurt trailed off uncertainly.

“Of course, I want to know,” Blaine said. “Do you need anything? Do you want me to come to the hospital?”

“Would you?” Kurt asked, his voice sounded so young and vulnerable. “Finn and Sam are here, but, if it’s not too much trouble…?”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Blaine promised. He disconnected the call and took a deep breath to calm his own racing heart. It didn’t sound serious, but with all of Burt’s radiation, chemo and previous heart problems, there was really no telling.

“Someone hurt?” Sebastian asked.

“Burt’s sick. They’re taking him to the hospital.” Blaine began to pull his clothes off the floor, grimacing as he realized the state they were in. It would take time to go by his house to change first though.

“Why don’t you get a quick shower,” Sebastian suggested. “I’ll get your clothes sorted.”

Blaine realized Sebastian was right about needing a shower. He gave Sebastian a quick kiss and a small smile. “Thanks.”

It was probably the fastest shower Blaine had ever taken, just enough so that he didn’t smell like he’d spent the night having sex. Afterwards, he didn’t do anything more to his hair than towel drying. He’d probably look like Medusa, but that was the last thing on his mind at the moment.

“Can’t do anything about the pants, but here’s a clean shirt and a hoodie that should work,” Sebastian said. He’d pulled Blaine’s jeans and shoes out of the pile and laid them on the bed along with the clean clothes.

“I’m sorry about this,” Blaine said as he pulled the clothes on. “If I don’t go, I’ll just worry until someone calls.”

Sebastian shrugged. “You do what you have to do. Let me know when you find out something for sure.”

Blaine pulled on the t-shirt and then the hoodie, which was a little on the large size. As soon as he was dressed, he gave Sebastian another quick kiss and then rushed out to his car. He didn’t give a second thought about what he was doing, he just went.

 

~ * ~
 

Sebastian wasn’t used to being at loose ends. He tried to get some school work done, but thoughts of Blaine kept distracting him. Last night had been so much more than he had imagined. He was used to great sex, but with Blaine it was… there weren’t even words to describe it. It was actually a bit unsettling how much he wanted Blaine to come back so that they could pick up where they’d left off when they’d finally fallen into an exhausted sleep.

Waking up with a hot, naked man in his bed had been something else he hadn’t expected to enjoy so much. He had never spent the night with any of his conquests before; never been interested in it. Of course, Blaine had to be the exception.

The only bad point had been the call from Hummel this morning. Sebastian tried to understand - he really did - but having your lover leap out of your bed to help his ex was a little disconcerting. He had never liked being second best to Hummel and it didn’t seem like it was ever going to change.

It had been difficult enough for Sebastian to let his walls down enough to admit that Blaine meant so much to him, but this was making him second-guess his decision. Morning passed into afternoon without any word from Blaine. Sebastian’s doubts gnawed at him until he was convinced that Blaine and Kurt had made up and now Blaine was trying to come up with some way to break the news to him.

Afternoon faded into evening and Sebastian became angry with himself for ever letting a guy get to him this way. No man was worth this much uncertainty and self-doubt. This was why he didn’t do relationships to begin with.

When Blaine finally called, it was only to tell Sebastian that he was exhausted and was crashing at home. The hospital didn’t think that Burt was in any immediate danger, but his blood pressure was way too high so they were keeping him overnight. Blaine planned to go back to the hospital first thing in the morning, in case the family needed anything.

Sebastian made a few monosyllabic acknowledgements to Blaine’s explanation. He hadn’t really expected anything else. When Blaine disconnected the call, Sebastian stared at the phone for a few long moments, contemplating the situation he found himself in. He’d known it wouldn’t last, but this wasn’t the way he’d expected it to fall apart. He should never have let Blaine get to him this way. It just wasn’t worth the pain he felt at being abandoned.

Pushing his books away, Sebastian decided it was time to go out and find his own kind of fun.

 

~ * ~
 

Blaine wasn’t sure that his back would ever be the same after all the hours he’d spent sitting in the uncomfortable hospital chairs. He felt like he’d barely put his head on the pillow last night when his alarm had gone off, letting him know visiting hours would be starting soon. He managed to stumble through his shower, but didn’t feel much more awake afterwards. He dressed on autopilot, but toned down the hair product. A small smile crossed his lips as he thought of how much Sebastian had liked running his hands through Blaine’s wild curls. He hoped that they would send Burt home early so that he could see his new boyfriend (or whatever he wanted to call himself) and make up for yesterday.

Sam was sprawled in one of the waiting room chairs when Blaine walked in with two coffees.

“Is that for me?” Sam said hopefully, pushing himself upright.

“You did text and ask for one,” Blaine said with a small chuckle. “Is everyone else in the room?”

“Kurt’s in the room. Finn went by the shop to make sure everything is running okay so Burt won’t worry. Carol is talking to the doctor in his office,” Sam replied. “I thought I’d wait out here and give Kurt some time with his dad.”

“You’re a good friend,” Blaine said. “They say anything about Burt going home today?”

Sam shrugged. “I think that’s what Carol is talking to the doctor about. Burt wants Kurt to go back to New York so he doesn’t miss classes, but I don’t think he’ll leave as long as Burt’s in here.”

“That’s true,” Blaine said with a sigh. “Don’t know what I’d do if it were me.”

“Same thing, I expect,” Sam replied. He leaned back in the chair and sipped his coffee. “I sent a text out to the rest of the Glee club. Thought they’d want to know.”

“I expect you're right,” Blaine said. “Did Kurt go home last night?” Kurt and Carol had been having a rather heated debate on who was spending the night at the hospital when the nurse had insisted that the rest of them go home for the night. Blaine had left before there had been any resolution, though he’d put money on Carol getting her way.

Sam chuckled a bit. “Burt tried to make everyone go home, but Carol gave him this look that shut him right up. Kurt didn’t stand a chance.”

“Hope he got some sleep,” Blaine said. He looked Sam over. “How are you holding up?”

“Could use a good massage,” Sam said, shifting in his seat in an effort to find a more comfortable position. “I don’t think the hospital wants people hanging around. That’s why the chairs are so uncomfortable.”

“Sure seems that way,” Blaine replied. It was a bit warm in the room, so Blaine put his cup down and pulled off his hoodie; the same one that Sebastian had given him the day before. He found it comforting to have it with him.

“Wonder if Brit knows how to do a massage?” Sam mused.

“That cat of hers probably does,” Blaine said with a small smile.

“As long as he doesn’t use his claws,” Sam said. “Not exactly how I pictured spending my weekend. Just glad Brit is understanding.”

“Yeah, I hope Sebastian is,” Blaine said, more to himself than Sam, although Sam seemed to accept their relationship.

“You guys have plans?” Sam asked.

Blaine flushed slightly as he remembered where he’d been (and his state of undress) when he’d talked to Sam the previous morning. “Nothing definite. Just hanging out, I guess.”

Sam gave him a puzzled look for a long moment. “You know, that hoodie is a little big for you. And I didn’t know you ever played lacrosse.”

Blaine glanced down at the hoodie. It hadn’t really registered that it said more than ‘Dalton’. “Um, it’s Sebastian’s.”

Sam nodded, but his expression said he expected more information.

“I, uh, kind of spent the night after we left your house,” Blaine said. “He gave me some clean clothes so I didn’t have to waste time going home to change.”

“Spent the night as in sleeping over or sleeping together?” Sam asked.

Blaine didn’t keep things from Sam, but he was a little embarrassed after all the times he’d said that they were only friends. “Together-together.”

“So, you’re like boyfriends now?” Sam asked. He seemed happy for them.

“Sebastian doesn’t like labels, but he did promise we’d be exclusive,” Blaine replied. A small smile slipped onto his face as he thought about his, well, whatever Sebastian was.

Sam gave him a fist-bump and then glanced towards the waiting room door. “I take it that Kurt doesn’t know.”

Blaine sighed heavily. “This doesn’t seem like the right time to bring something like that up.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Sam agreed. “So, Sebastian okay with you being here? I mean, it’s kind of weird, what with Kurt being the ex and all.”

“He’s still my friend,” Blaine said, though he’d had that same thought a few times himself. “It’s not like we’re getting back together. He just needs his friends right now.”

“Sebastian know that’s all it is?” Sam asked.

Blaine started to say ‘of course’, but then remembered how quiet Sebastian had been the night before. Did he know that Blaine wanted him, not Kurt?

“I’m screwing this up already, aren’t I?” Blaine said. He wanted to beat his head against the wall.

“Send him a text,” Sam said in encouragement. “Throw in a few suggestive comments. He seems the type that would like that.”

Blaine had never actually sexted anyone. His and Kurt’s texts had never gotten above PG-13. “Maybe I should just call him later.”

“Um, phone sex, that could work,” Sam said.

Blaine wondered if Sam and Brittany were having problems; Sam seemed awfully focused on sex all of a sudden. He was spared from asking something that probably would have embarrassed them both by Carol’s reappearance.

“What are you boys doing out here?” Carol asked. She sounded even more tired than she looked.

“We were just giving Kurt a little time with his dad,” Sam said.

“Did the doctor say Burt could go home?” Blaine asked. He hoped nothing would keep Kurt from returning to school. NYADA classes weren’t exactly the type that you could make up online.

“Yes, thank goodness,” Carol said with a relieved sigh. “I’m not sure we could have kept him here another day anyway.” She gave them an encouraging smile. “Let’s go tell them the good news.”

Blaine was more than happy to stand and stretch before following Carol into the room. The dark circles under Kurt’s eyes indicated that he hadn’t slept well the night before either.

Burt was relieved to be going home. They had to wait for the nurse to come with final orders and a prescription for new blood pressure meds, but Burt was already dressed and waiting for her when she made her appearance.

“Maybe I should stay another day or so,” Kurt said as they walked out of the hospital with Burt fuming at having to ride in a wheelchair. “Just until we know how the new meds work.”

“You need to get back to school,” Burt said in a no-nonsense tone. “You’re not throwing away this opportunity to play nursemaid to an old man.”

“That’s my job,” Carol said affectionately.

“Finn and I will make sure he follows orders,” Sam promised.

Kurt waffled. “You’ll let me know how everything is going?” he asked Sam.

“I’ll send a report every day, if you want,” Sam promised.

“I’ll be fine,” Burt said in exasperation. “You need to get a move on if you’re going to catch that plane back to New York.”

Kurt looked at Blaine. “I could use a ride to the airport, since I seem to have worn out my welcome here.”

Blaine was on the verge of offering to take him when Sam jumped in. “I’ll give you a ride, Kurt.”

Kurt looked confused, but Blaine immediately realized that Sam was trying to keep him from making things worse with Sebastian. There wasn’t any reason that Kurt needed him for a ride if someone else could do it.

“Um, thanks, Sam,” Kurt said. He cast a questioning look at Blaine, but Blaine avoided his gaze. Now wasn’t the time to admit that he was with Sebastian.

“Well, since that’s all taken care of, let’s get this show on the road,” Burt said as Finn pulled up with their car.

Kurt made sure that his dad was situated in the passenger seat and then turned towards Blaine as the others found their places in the car. “It’s going to be crowded with all of us. Maybe you could give me a ride home?”

Sam gave Blaine a helpless shrug from behind Kurt’s back. There wasn’t any reason to turn down the request and it wasn’t really that far.

“Sure, my car is just over there,” Blaine said. Once everyone else was on their way, he guided Kurt to his car and opened the passenger side door for him. “You look tired. Do you think you’ll be able to sleep on the flight back?”

“I hope I can stay awake. I hate sleeping with all those strangers around,” Kurt replied.

Blaine went around the car and slid into the driver’s side.

“So, what’s the real reason that Sam offered to drive me to the airport?” Kurt asked. “I was hoping it would give us a chance to talk.”

Blaine put the car into drive, not really sure what they had left to talk about. “Was there something specific you wanted to talk about?”

Kurt frowned at him, just a touch suspiciously. “I know what you said the other night, but I thought maybe you felt differently now. I mean, you came to the hospital. Doesn’t that mean we’re at least friends?”

Blaine sighed. He was still trying to figure out why he’d gone to the hospital. It wasn’t like there hadn’t been other people for Kurt to lean on. He was just so used to it being him. “Just because we aren’t together doesn’t mean that I don’t care about you and your dad.”

“So, nothing has changed then,” Kurt said. He was staring out the side window, obviously getting upset.

“Kurt, what do you want from me?” Blaine asked. If he hadn’t been driving, he would have run a hand through his hair in frustration.

“I don’t want to lose you,” Kurt said. “But it sounds like I already have.”

“Kurt, we’ve been through this already,” Blaine said. He pulled into the Hummel’s driveway and put the car into park. “You were my first love and you’ll always have a special place in my heart, but you’ve moved on and I’m trying to do the same.”

Kurt turned so that they were facing each other. “Are you going to see Sebastian today? Is that why you don’t want to drive me to the airport?”

Blaine thought about lying, but knew it would come out eventually. “Yes, I just didn’t want to upset you by bringing it up after everything else you’ve been through this weekend.”

“You slept with him,” Kurt said. He held up a hand when Blaine’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “I know every item of clothing in your closet and a ‘Dalton Lacrosse’ hoodie in a size too large is not among them.”

Blaine’s mouth snapped shut. He should have known Kurt would notice. Before he could come up with a reason why he’d have borrowed the hoodie that didn’t involve him spending the night in Sebastian’s bed, Kurt continued.

“You were also wearing the same pants yesterday morning and hadn’t put any product in your hair. Judging by the way he couldn’t keep his hands out of your hair Friday night, I’m guessing he prefers it that way,” Kurt said. He didn’t seem angry, but his expression dared Blaine to contradict him.

“I didn’t lie to you about our relationship the other night,” Blaine said.

“But things have a way of changing,” Kurt said. “Friday night was the first time?”

Blaine nodded, not sure where this was going, but he hated lying.

“Do you love him?” Kurt asked.

“I don’t know,” Blaine said hesitantly. “I like him. I like being with him. Maybe.” He was a little gun shy about declaring love until he was sure. He wasn’t quite there yet.

Kurt gave him a challenging look. “I want you back,” he said. “I understand that our breakup was at least half my fault for not reassuring you that I wasn’t moving on without you and I promise to do better in the future if you’ll just give us another chance.”

Blaine was stunned. Kurt had never admitted to having any fault in their breakup before. “What about Adam?”

“I’ll break up with him when I get back to New York,” Kurt said.

“I might not get into NYADA,” Blaine said weakly. He wasn’t really sure what was happening and started grasping at excuses to postpone giving an answer.

Kurt’s gaze flitted away for a moment. “I have a friend who works part time in the admissions office. Your name is on the list of those accepted to NYADA. You should get your letter this week.”

“You don’t care that I slept with Sebastian?” Blaine asked, incredulously.

“Oh, I care,” Kurt said. “But we weren’t together, so technically, it wasn’t cheating.”

Blaine sat back, dumbfounded. It was too much information at once and he had no idea how to respond.

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