Sebastian was accustomed to hearing a buzz of chatter and laughter as he approached the Warblers' practice room. The total silence he encountered instead was unexpected and unnerving. The sense that something was very wrong increased when he warily opened the door and saw that everyone was sitting mutely wearing sombre expressions.

"What's going on? You all look as if somebody died."

Apparently that was the worst thing he could have possibly said because a collective wince spread through the room.

"What is it?"

Thad took a deep breath and began to explain. "There was this guy at McKinley. He used to bully Kurt, but he got better. Then he transferred to another school at the start of this year. And… well it turns out he was gay, and some people and his school found out and…" Thad struggled to get the words out. "And yesterday he killed himself."

Sebastian sank down onto one of the couches beside Trent, who looked to be on the verge of tears. He belatedly remembered that Trent was a former student of McKinley and had probably known the guy.

Wait. Closeted, knew Kurt… No. No, it probably wasn't him. It couldn't be.

"What… what was his name?"

"Dave Karofsky."

"Just… stay in the closet, buddy."

Dave lying lifeless on the floor, his eyes empty and cold, the belt still wrapped around his neck…

Sebastian gasped awake, reflexively reaching out to reassure himself that Dave was safely in bed beside him.

Dave grumbled unintelligibly as the movement woke him up. "Seb? You ok?"

Sebastian launched himself into Dave's arms, burying his face in his boyfriend's neck.

"M'fine. Just a stupid nightmare." His attempts to brush off the concern were belied by the fact that he was still clinging to Dave like a lifeline.

Dave sighed and wrapped his arms securely around his boyfriend. "I'm guessing it has something to do with today's date?"

"It doesn't matter," Sebastian tried to deflect. "You have more reason to be upset by today than I do."

"I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about."

"Dave, you tried to kill yourself a year ago today. No one expects you to be ok with that."

"But I am ok. The way I see it, a year ago I made a really stupid decision, and every day since then I've come to realise more and more what an idiot I was. I would have missed out on so much. Finding you, graduating, getting out of Lima; all the things that have made me happier than I've ever been before. If this anniversary means anything to me, it's a reminder of how far I've come in the last year, and why I'll never let myself get back to that dark place again." Dave could feel Sebastian's tears falling onto his skin. "Hey, it's ok."

"I could have lost you before I even found you, that is not ok."

"But you didn't lose me. I'm right here. And I can't even imagine wanting to be anywhere else. As ashamed as I am of things I've done in the past, I can't bring myself to completely regret them anymore. Because everything that happened, good and bad, brought me here."

"I know I'm overreacting, it's just… Before I met you, I was cruel and self-centred and completely closed off from everyone. But then you made me a better person. It scares me to think of what I might have become without you. And then there's the fact that I'm completely and utterly in love with you and I can't stand to even consider the possibility of a world without you."

"I love you too. That's why I'll never let anything take me away from you."

Sebastian pulled Dave into a desperate, passionate kiss. He brought a hand to rest on Dave's chest, feeling the familiar, steady heartbeat, the reliable rise and fall of his breathing. Outside their room, he could hear the sounds of the other occupants of their shared house waking up. The clink of breakfast plates, Santana arguing in rapid Spanish, presumably on the phone to her mother, Brittany humming absentmindedly. But in here there was nothing but the two of them, safe, happy, together. The rest of the world could wait.