In Our Nature

Chapter 1

Here he was once again.

Dalton Academy.

The big, elegant luxury building that was one time his refuge from the real world was now right in front of him, making a bunch of mixed emotions shake deep inside his chest. He thought he wouldn't need to return, at least not in the short term, and not for a reason so vain like this.

"Come on, Kurt. The Warblers practice should have already begun." Rachel said, passing hastily by his side, a bewildered Blaine being dragged by his right arm.

He couldn't keep his frown to decompose further. This was not something he wanted to be doing; back to this place, with Blaine, or 'with Blaine' in quotation marks, as it more than three weeks had passed by since they were physically unable to talk to each other. Anyway, it wasn't like they were here by themselves, of course there were five other people so they could politely ignore the other at all times, even so, he couldn't help the atmosphere to brought memories of his days in Dalton; looks, laughter, flirting in the middle of the hallways, the first kiss that he ever shared with anyone. Well, someone besides Britanny.

A hand on his shoulder distracted him from the strange memory of lipstick all over his face and neck. Mercedes smiled sweetly at him and Kurt suspected he had left too much of his emotions to show on his face.

"You alright, boo?"

Kurt nodded without much thought.

"Yeah, just you know, nostalgia"

She gave him a small pained smile. "You know Blaine is really sorry, don't you? He just won't stop looking at you with those big puppy eyes whenever you're near him"

"He didn't seem so sorry when he sang that song about expanding his horizons" Kurt felt the need to point out as he and Mercedes began walking towards the building. He already could see Mercedes searching for something nice to tell him but he stopped her before anything could get out of his mouth. "It's okay, I'm much better now. But I can't help Dalton to removes many things." He admitted.

He shouldn't even have agreed to let himself be dragged into this. Rachel's version of 'evaluating the competition' wasn't much better than espionage, but it had meant a source of distraction rather than an evening at home alone, with his father in Washington for the weekend, Carol and Finn busy with their own things and his girl friends entertained with their boyfriends there was not much to do at home beside his homework. So it had seemed like the logical choice. He just didn't know Blaine would come too.

It was enough to have to always see him in Glee Club, he didn't need more guilty looks sent to his way to remind him how sad he must be.

It had been five weeks, plenty for him to accept the facts. The news was old story and even Santana seemed have forgotten about it by now and Rachel -thank God- had ceased insisting on serenading Blaine so they could get back together.

They were all almost normal again, even Mercedes didn't speak much with him on the subject, which he was grateful for. She must have seen something different in his face this time if she had dared to broach the subject.

"Fine. I didn't mean to make you feel bad." Mercedes said, looking away as they approached the building, but Kurt could see in her expression that she, like everyone else, thought it had spent enough time to overcome it.

"You didn't," He lied. She had in fact made him feel worse, but that would be rude to say.

What could he do? He was not like most guys in Glee, he couldn't mourn all his misery in a week and a couple of songs and return to normal the next.

He wished he could be like that, but he wasn't. So what? It hadn't been even a month, it wasn't as if a whole year had passed. He was working on it, and didn't like being judged by anyone, not even by Mercedes.

Rachel's voice raised above his thoughts. She and Blaine stood a few feet away from the main door now, Blaine looking mostly restless while Rachel was adamant in what ought to be a strong pose and seeking to project leadership, Kurt supposed.

"Alright guys, this is what we're going to do."Rachel yelled. Kurt fought the urge to roll his eyes. He hated that absurd habit she had to treat them all as subordinates to make it clear that she was in charge. "Blaine and I will guide you. He's good friends with the Warblers and knows how they think so he'll know how to deal with them in a way we will not raise suspicions, and well, I'm the lead singer, so it's obvious that I should be the leader. "

There was a group sigh and four pairs of eyes rolling. Rachel did not even bother in looking offended.

"Whatever" Santana snorted, passing her and walking in front of the rest of them with Quinn at her heels.

Rachel opened her mouth, her face contorted in a huff, but only lasted a second before she tried to compose her face into a cool expression. "Oh-I, yeah go ahead, if you want."

"Rachel" was Blaine who spoke this time, his voice low and insecure but high enough so that he could listen from five feet away. "Umm, no offense but I don't feel right doing this to my friends." He said. Rachel stared at him intently, her eyes becoming smaller at Blaine.

"You aren't thinking of betraying us, are you Blaine Warbler?"

"What? No!" Blaine exclaimed, suddenly nervous about all the attention he was now receiving. "No, of course not," he added at the insistent gaze of the dom.

Kurt buried his head between his shoulders. Now that KurtandBlaine had stopped being a thing everyone was kind of tense about whether Blaine would go back with the Warblers now that he had nothing holding him in New Directions, and in Rachel's biggest concerns was that no one found out what they planned for the competition, the same way it happened with Vocal Adrenaline in their Sophmore year. Not that they had some real plan yet, noteworthy.

"Are you sure Blaine? Because I need to know where your loyalty is, if with them or with us." She hissed. Kurt saw out of the corner of his eye Finn frowning just behind them.

Rachel was using her dom voice to get information from Blaine and Kurt knew exactly how it should be affecting him.

That's not your problem. It's not your fight. Not anymore.

"No- I, okay. Let's- Let's do it" Blaine stuttered a little and Kurt clenched his jaw, but remained silent. He honestly couldn't care less what the Warblers were doing for sectionals and, in his opinion, instead of worrying about any of that they ought to pay more attention to their own sectionals, it was not like they have much time left, but if Rachel was paranoid and was so worried about losing Blaine's talent she still shouldn't take advantage that way of the vulnerability of a sub. It was just ... wrong, in so many ways.

Rachel looked more than ready to start a discussion when Santana's voice came from the building's door. "Hey losers! You have to hear this."

Kurt, just like everyone, turned his attention fully to Santana, though he vaguely could hear a slight sigh of relief coming from Blaine's direction. Good thing that hadn't gone further, he didn't want to deal with his stupid hormones telling him it was his job to defend Blaine. It wasn't.

Rachel hurried to get where Santana was waiting, Blaine being rudely dragged behind her by his arm again. As Kurt, along with Mercedes and Finn approached the same place, they could hear the faint echo of a few voices carry a tune.

There was no one around in the hallways, Kurt assumed that there wouldn't be. At this time of the day most of the students were already on their own, away to have fun somewhere or just getting some sleep in their bedrooms, and the few people who were around was, as in the case of the Warblers, at some club or team or something like that.

They followed the echo of voices directly to the Warblers rehearsal room. Now that the sound was clearer he could hear perfectly the treble and bass that gave life to the song being integrated as one. Kurt had to admit that had improved a lot since it was something that had caused them some trouble during his time with the Warblers. Maybe Rachel was right to be worried after all.

Blaine mumbled something, taking a few hesitant steps forward but stopping occasionally.

Santana, on the other hand, didn't wait for anyone before entering alone into the room. He could see Rachel making funny faces and pouting and muttering nonsense while reached the door, four curious eyes peering through the doorway before following Santana's example, in a much more aware of themselves way.

The scene was the same that Kurt remembered from his days at Dalton, although it was also completely different. Boys in uniform dancing in synch around the room, singing and smiling when they saw them walking through the door. Though Kurt found it odd to not see Blaine as the center of all the choreography. Instead there was Thad, Nick and another boy that Kurt had never seen before. A new addition, apparently.

The boy was tall, probably about three or four inches taller than Kurt, he had brown hair slicked back but unlike most guys in Dalton he didn't seem to use so much product to comb it. His body was slim and the few moles spread out across his face, and down his neck contrasted his clear skin. It wasn't necessary to say that he was really good-looking, though what really caught Kurt's attention the most about him was the arrogant look that framed his emerald green eyes as he looked towards them and begun to sing, moving perfectly in time to match the rest.

Santana, Rachel and the rest of New Direction exchanged worried glances.

Okay so, the new guy could sing. Like, really sing. His voice was low and melodic and reached the right notes just at the right time. And he knew how good he was. It was not easy to miss from his defiant gaze and supercilious smile.

Santana made his best attempt to match the smile, as haughty as the boy himself, and he could see several Warblers cheer up at the exchange of glances. But well, they've always loved to show off.

Finally, when the song ended, after two full minutes of exchanging defiant glances, they all were surprised when the vast majority of the Warblers jumped on Blaine for a hug.

Kurt felt the sudden need to step back. Among the lots of smiles and eager gestures guilt began to flood his head. After all it was because of him that Blaine wasn't with the Warblers any longer, he had asked him to leave them so he'd come with him to McKinley. And now they didn't even talked to each other anymore. It was obvious, at least in his eyes, that Blaine missed his old school just as much as they missed him and Kurt couldn't believe that at some point he had been so selfish to ask Blaine to leave his friends so he could be with his. Of course it had always been his decision, he would never have forced him to leave Dalton, but still. Right now, all he wanted was to go home and watch some TV trash.

"Kurt, hey how are you, bro?" Kurt was taken off guard by Jeff who approached him and wrapped him in a careless hug. Kurt smiled at the sub uncertainty of what to say and beginning to formulate a response when Trent launched to give him a stronger but shorter hug.

"Kurt! Is good to see you, I kinda thought that we would never see you again." He smiled and Jeff agreed with a nod.

"It's just ... I almost haven't had time" he lied. He was a bit shocked actually. When he was in Dalton he didn't associate with many people besides Blaine, of course he had a cordial relationship with all the Warblers and Jeff and Trent were the closest he'd been to build a relationship of friendship, but he felt like he never had really fit, he hadn't expected anyone to feel his absence, on the contrary, he thought they'd be resented for taking Blaine away.

Apparently it was not the case.

The murmur was interrupted by the new member -and so lead singer by what he could see- of the Warblers. He stood in front of the bustle, smugly looking upon them as if they were worse than the plague.

"So, I guess you came to evaluate the competency," He said, an eyebrow lifted in questioning and a sly smile never leaving his lips. Kurt saw several members of the Warblers roll their eyes. "I hope we haven't disappointed you."

"A little bit, yeah" Santana said quickly, but the other guy just smiled wider.

"Well I am too Lupita Gomez. If this is going to be our opponents it's kind of sad to think in how easy it's gonna be to win That trophy." Santana almost lost in Lupita Gomez but Rachel grabbed her forearm and stopped her to pounce on the boy. Who, by the way, was staring shamelessly at Blaine up and down like he was a piece of meat. Oh god, no. It made something move inside of Kurt, something that was definitely not nice, but he immediately controlled it. He could not lose the limited control he had left.

"Sebastian, you don't have to be rude" Nick scolded him but the boy -Sebastian- barely recognized him. "Can you behave, at least once?" The boy sneered, and Nick turned his attention back to them. "New Directions, this is our new lead singer, Sebastian Smythe."

Finn moved forward and raised his hand in a friendly greeting but instead Sebastian just raised an eyebrow petulant, leaving Finn with his hand hanging in the air until Rachel forced his arm down.

"He may seem a little ... bitter, but he's only like that 98% of the time"

Jeff chuckled. "Nick, honey, you're not helping," Nick shrugged his shoulders.

Meanwhile Sebastian was too busy looking at them as if they were some kind of waste. As if they didn't even worth him to spend his time talking to them. Kurt could not stand doms like that, stupid full of themselves believing they are better than others just because they think they deserve everything for being born in a golden cradle and have never had to fight for anything in his life because everything had always been close at hand.

"Anyway, you just have to ignore everything that comes out of his mouth and you can even get to like him" there were some hidden giggles around the room. Sebastian put a cold face and pretended to not hear a thing. Nick gave him a couple of nudges on the shoulder. "Just joking, Seb."

"Boys" Thad jumped impatiently "If you want we can give you a tour, you know to prove that we have nothing against you. Nobody will say the Warblers are bad hosts."

Mercedes was about politely declining but Rachel spoke first. "Sure, we'd love to."

"Excellent."

Kurt was not so sure that was a good idea. Nick, Jeff, Trent, they were all so ... nice. And of course they wouldn't be suspicious of his dear friend Blaine who was visiting them for the first time since he left. All that Rachel was looking for was the weak point of Dalton, these guys could be too kind, he knew it very well, they wouldn't think twice to give all the answers the girl asked, and not that Kurt didn't like winning as much as her, in fact his NYADA application depended on this competition, but he couldn't stand the idea of cheating, let alone the Warblers, although he had never felt completely comfortable with them, they had always tried to make him feel at home.

"I don't think it's a good idea," the boy Smythe expressed his thought, a little rougher than he would have done himself, however. You could tell a mile away that the new lead singer of the choir was anything but naive, Kurt could not blame him, besides, he was right.

"You don't have to believe anything, Sebastian. You can stay here if you want." Nick said condescendingly.

Sebastian frowned. Actually, it made Kurt sort of amused that rough attitude of the boy. The Warblers should know him well despite not having much time in the group, they treated him the same way that New Directions treated Rachel most of the time.

But truth be told Kurt did not want to spend the next hour wandering the halls of Dalton and remembering 'Oh that was where I first saw him' 'There he kissed me for the first time' No, he wasn't ready for that. Besides, he didn't want to witness how Rachel embarrassed herself by asking questions out of place, nor wanted to see the confidence in her good intentions.

Thad, Nick and Jeff began to guide New Directions outside the choir room, talking about the history of the Warblers, in which year had begun, how many regional and national tournaments had won, how many views had reached in Youtube with her performance in 2007 and many things that Kurt knew they might regret later. He made a sign to Mercedes that he'd wait for them out before they finished leaving the room. She sent him a smile and a thumbs-up and when they turned to go to the classrooms hallways Kurt changed his way to the parking lot.

And while he was resting against the cement wall of the back of Dalton Kurt suddenly remembered the thing he missed the most about going in here.

And it was the beautiful car models that every student had.

Ridiculously expensive, especially if you considered that they were just students; Porches, Aston Martin, there was even a Lamborghini parked a few cars away from Kurt. He could only imagine his father's expression if he could see all that sophistication in engines.

He was so distracted by the image in his head that almost didn't notice when someone bumped into the same wall. Oh, and that that someone was not less than Sebastian Smythe.

He remained strangely standing about ten feet away, looking a little uneasy, breathing restlessly again and again as if he had been running for a long time, but Kurt knew it couldn't be, it hadn't passed thirty minutes since he had seen him perfectly calm in the choir room. Maybe he was just...anxious, he thought when he saw the boy take a lighter and a box of cigarettes of his pants and awkwardly taking one and putting it between his lips. Kurt stared as the new Warbler struggled to light the cigarette, his hands shaking slightly. Then he took a long inhalation of nicotine and sighed heavily, holding it in for a few seconds and then expelling the smoke through his mouth.

Kurt had always hated the smell of cigarette. Horrible, penetrating odor of burned cardboard. But for some reason he didn't feel the need to leave. He knew it was rude; to keep staring like this, but there was something that kept him looking. Besides Sebastian didn't seem to even notice his presence, he clearly preferred to ignore him. There was something else in that awful smell though, something his brain was trying to place and couldn't get himself to find what was it.

Sebastian's anxiety wasn't going anywhere, despite he had almost finished with half a cigarette. So it might be another cause that wasn't simply the need to tobacco. He didn't seem like an addict either. Kurt wondered what could bring someone with such an arrogant attitude to this trembling guy with an indifferent expression on his face. He argues about whether he should ... but the guy really looks bad, and he can't just ignore him.

Kurt hesitantly approaches to where Sebastian continues smoking, the smell getting stronger with every step but he ignores it. And just like before, Sebastian doesn't seem to notice his presence at all.

"I didn't know smoking was allowed in Dalton," he said, in a way that made it clear that he wasn't really judging, and granting him a friendly look. The boy turned his head toward him, giving him a brief glance before returning his attention to the cigarette between his fingers. "I'm Kurt" He tried again, not getting any response this time. "You're Sebastian, right?"

"What do you want McKinley loser?" The other man spitted, his voice was husky and rough, very different from the way it sounded when he was singing. Kurt did not let himself be insulted by the comment, he have had much worse, and no matter how antipathetic this guy seemed to be, something was urging him to help him.

"Are you okay? You look kinda ..."

"I'm perfect, now go away." Sebastian interrupted, still not looking at him.

Kurt's determination decreased a bit and he was almost about to really go when he saw Sebastian's hands as he took another drag of the cigarette. "You're trembling"

Sebastian looked at his hands out of the corner of his eyes, then finally met his eyes."That's not your fucking problem." He said. His eyes were a cold, angry, spiteful green. "So, why don't you keep your damn lesbian face, go back with your little friends and leave me the fuck alone?"

Well, now that was a worst insult.

Nevertheless he still didn't feel the instant hatred he felt for each McKinley athlete who called him similar names. He cared enough to still be here, and he didn't understand why. Maybe because this guy seemed to be having a real crisis right now.

It didn't seem very good idea to leave him alone.

"Didn't you heard me? Go away!" Sebastian said again, standing more firmly on his feet and clenching his jaw, glaring at him, "Why are you still here?!"

Kurt frowned, "I'm not a sub, you can not give me orders."

"You aren't ... oh that's the last straw!" Sebastian's voice sounded coated with bitterness as he dropped the cigarette between his fingers and pulled out the box to take another.

"Why do you say that?" he asked. It wouldn't be the first time a dom felt insulted that someone like him was a dom as well, but if so he wanted to hear it firsthand.

Sebastian lit his second cigarette (At least it was the second to what Kurt knew) and shook his head as he inhaled, a mocking smile making its way into his features. "Forget it. Just leave me alone, would you?"

Kurt hesitated, he still was not so sure. "At least let me take you to the infirmary" offered.

"I-Don't-Need-You" Sebastian remarked every word. His head hit the hard wall as he leaned back on the surface, closing his eyes and inhaling the cigarette even deeper. He looked tired and though Kurt knew it was negligent of him he turned around, face wrinkled into space.

"Fine" He said, before slowly walking away.