Title: Ten Years
Rating: T currently, rating will increase
Pairing(s): Sebofsky
Warning(s): Mentions of suicide
Summary: When Sebastian offers friendship to Dave, he accepts it. Sebastian just didn't expect Dave to be so much more than an ex-closet case and for feelings to get in the way.
Word Count: 2234/?
Beta: None currently. Wouldn't mind one if anyone's willing to do the job!
A/N: This is a WIP and I'm not exactly sure how long it'll be. I just know it'll be multiple chapters. I'm sorry if any of it seems OOC, I'm still getting used to writing fanfiction, honestly. Any critiques or advice is definitely welcome.

Chapter 1. Unlikely

It had been weeks since he had last stepped foot in the bar, but the moment Dave walked in the door he felt like he was home. It might have been a sad place to have to call home, but he was glad to be back nonetheless. The bouncer at the door did a double take as Dave came up to him, a soft smile playing on his face. He nodded before Dave even reached into his pocket to show his fake I.D. Dave flashed him a smile and ducked his head as he walked into the building, shuffling his way up to the end of the bar.

He slid onto the bar stool and looked up for the bartender. The usual one, a man with a short beard and thick build (Dave thought his name might be George), came up to Dave.

"Haven't seen you 'round in a while, Cub." he said. "You want your normal?"

Dave nodded his head once and looked over his shoulder with a semi relieved huff. He knew there wasn't going to be much of a hassle over his disappearance here. He wouldn't have to deal with people who he barely knew bombarding him with questions and concerns. He wouldn't have to deal with looks of pity and misplaced regret.

Here he would be able to breathe. He'd have space and some time to himself for once. It had already taken a million pleas before his dad even let him out of the house for longer than an hour; the fact that he agreed to let him go out for a while as long as he sent a text once an hour was just one small mercy, as far as Dave was concerned.

The bartender slid a beer down his way and Dave accepted with a tip of his hat before picking up the bottle and bringing it to his lips. He was never really big on the whole partying and getting drunk thing, but drinking did help take the edge off some times when he was feeling nervous. It wasn't that he was so much nervous as much as he was exhausted. Life was going in a rush these days and he just wanted to feel a little relaxed for once.

He sat alone sipping at his drink for a while before suddenly feeling someone take the seat beside him.

"Cubby, surprised to see you here." said the someone. Dave's eyes widened slightly and he continued to stare off into his beer bottle, as if it could swallow him.

Sebastian Smythe was not sitting beside him.

There was no way in hell this was real life.

"Hey, don't panic. I'm not here to put you down." he said as he turned on his stool to look at Dave. "On the contrary, really. I wanted to.. apologize."

Sebastian said the word like it was poison on his tongue, but sounded sincere. Which was just as shocking as it sounded. Dave lifted his head and looked at Sebastian. The guy actually looked almost nervous. Dave guessed he wasn't used to being sincere or apologizing to people.

"Don't just leave me hanging, Cub. I'm not so sure I'll last with this nice shit. It's already making me feel ill." he said with a grimace. Dave smirked.

"So what exactly are you apologizing for, then?" Dave replied with a knowing look. It felt nice to have the upper hand with Sebastian for once. The younger boy was always so in control and manipulating, getting what he wanted with ease every time, that it was almost surreal to know he had a weakness.

And that it was something as simple as having to say he was sorry, well that made Dave feel even better.

"You're going to make me say it, aren't you?" Sebastian nearly winced at the thought. Dave just continued to smile and took another swig of his beer. Sebastian let out a long breath. "Fine. I'm sorry for all that I said to you when you asked me out."

Dave nearly choked on his drink.

"Excuse me?" he said in a strained voice. Sebastian looked surprised and furrowed his brow.

"I said I was sorry for the way I turned you dow-"

"Woah, woah. Hold up. You thought I was asking you out?" Dave bit back a laugh. He knew that would seem pretty rude, even considering who he was talking to. Sebastian's mouth fell open slightly and his brow remained lowered in confusion.

"You.. weren't?" he asked. Dave shook his head and raised his eyebrows. "Then what were you asking me?"

"I thought I said it pretty blatantly. I was asking how to get a guy to like me." Sebastian cocked his head to the side, as if the thought that someone not slyly asking him out was unheard of. "I knew you were the type of guy who got everything they wanted and figured you could give me some advice. I wasn't asking you out. You're not exactly my type."

Dave wouldn't admit it, but he only added the end on to annoy Sebastian. Saying Sebastian wasn't his type was a far stretch from the truth. While Sebastian was slightly taller than Dave and not as small as someone like Kurt, he was indeed Dave's type. If Dave had a type, that was.

Which he didn't. He just liked dudes. If they all happened to be twinks, well that was because there wasn't any other kind of young gay dudes in Ohio.

Sebastian r0lled his eyes and sniffed.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. You're not exactly mine either, so no loss there." he said. "Anyways, I'm still sorry for what I said. I was out of line for attacking you the way I did. I guess sometimes I forget how hard it can be to come out in a place like Lima."

Dave nodded.

"'S alright. Spilt milk and all that."

Sebastian's face fell some and he looked at the bar counter.

"No, no it's not just 'spilt milk'. I was an ass for calling you names when all you did was ask me something." Dave opened his mouth to interrupt but Sebastian held up a hand. "Even if I thought you were another sleaze trying to hit on me, you still didn't deserve that. No ones does, but especially when you had asked so nicely. I should have just said I wasn't into you and moved on."

Sebastian looked up at Dave with a look of actual guilt on his face.

"You.. you didn't try because of me right? Because that would be ridiculous even by TV soap standards."

Dave laughed dryly and shook his head.

"Nah, not just you. I'd be lying if I said you didn't have a part in it, but it's a fucking miniscule part compared to everything else that happened with me."

Sebastian stared at him, almost like he was waiting for Dave to go on.

"What?" he asked when Sebastian didn't let up on his gaze.

"I figured this was one of those poorly acted moments when the protagonist opens up to the unlikely ally and they bond or some equally pathetic shit." he said, a small grin turning up the corners of his mouth. Dave raised an eyebrow in question. "What? I can't help if my mind sometimes thinks in dramatics."

Dave shook his head and looked back to the counter, feeling himself smile as well.

"I don't know how much of a protagonist I am or an ally you are." he said. Sebastian tskked him and turned forward in his place.

"I don't know about the protagonist part either, but I do know I'm your unlikely ally, seeing as how our past encounters have gone and all."

Dave blinked.

"Is that your way of asking to be my friend, Smythe?"

Sebastian chuckled.

"Maybe, Karofsky. Though I don't really do friends. Acquaintances?" he asked. "Perhaps we can call each other allies or accomplices."

"You make it sound like we're going to rob a bank."

"You're much too masculine to pull off Bonnie, Cub."

"Who said you get to be Clyde?"

"Pretty sure that much is obvious. I do."

Dave rolled his eyes and shook his head again. It wasn't half as horrible as Dave thought it would be to attempt normal conversation with Sebastian. He thought for sure by now that he'd be running out the building, enraged and ready to kill someone for just looking at him weird. He never would have suspected he'd actually enjoy speaking to him.

Dave guessed there had been weirder occurrences in his life.

"So as accomplices, I believe we should arrange a date for us to 'hangout'." Sebastian said, even making quotation marks with his fingers when saying the last word. "If we're going to give this whole thing a shot, may as well go all the way, right?"

Dave shrugged.

"I don't really need a pity friend, Smythe." he said with a sigh. Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"I'm not doing this out of pity, Karofsky." he replied, his voice sounding agitated. "And if we're going to be friends, we really should get on a first name basis."

Dave wasn't sure if he believed Sebastian. What other reason would he have for wanting to be Dave's friend other than feeling guilty about his attempted suicide? It wasn't as if Dave was the most interesting person or even remotely the kind of person Sebastian would associate with. They belonged to two entirely different worlds. Aside from being gay, they didn't have much in common, Dave was sure.

Still, part of him really wanted to be friends with Sebastian. He didn't have many friends these days aside from Kurt and Santana, who both still looked remorseful and guilty every time he would spend time with them. He was beginning to become really annoyed by it because even if they could have helped, they had all the reasons in the world not to. He would never blame them for his own decisions, no matter how much guilt they felt over it. And having only people who looked afraid to say something every time they talked to him was not helping him put everything behind him. It only made him think about it more, and he didn't want to do that.

Adjusting to life as is was hard enough. Adjusting to having friends who cared and felt bad was even worse.

"You're right," he said, inhaling sharply. "I need more friends and you.. why exactly again are you doing this?"

Sebastian shrugged, leaned forward, and picked the label on Dave's beer bottle. Dave felt a little uncomfortable with the closeness of the whole position but didn't feel threatened so just continued to sit in place.

"I guess I just want someone in my life who I don't want to sleep with or blackmail. My fucking therapist suggested trying to befriend someone and actually attempt being a decent human being." Dave's eyes widened and he stared at Sebastian, who just chuckled and continued to stare at the label between his fingers. "I know right? It's like she doesn't even know me."

Dave let out the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding and licked his lips.

"You.. you have a therapist?" he asked quietly, ducking his head a little to look into Sebastian's eyes better. Sebastian stared back after a moment and nodded his head.

"Yeah, since I was twelve."

Dave felt like there was a lot about Sebastian that he didn't know. Maybe no one knew. It was kind of intriguing in a weird way. Dave decided that the idea of the two of them becoming friends may have not been as ridiculous as he initially thought.

Sebastian leaned back and got up off of his stool.

"Well, I just saw a nice piece of ass walking out on the dance floor." he said nonchalantly. "Can't let him out of my sights for too long if I plan on scoring. See you around, Dave."

He turned to leave and Dave reached over and grabbed his wrist before he could leave.

"Friends?"

Sebastian smiled and for once it wasn't the usual smirk but a genuine smile.

"Friends."

Dave smiled back and let go, watching for a while as Sebastian danced over to a short, blonde boy with a mischievous look in his bright blue eyes. The two quickly began to dance together and Dave drunk down the rest of his beer before heading out, leaving a five dollar bill on the counter.

He got home around one o'clock and found his father still awake on the living room couch.

"You, uh, have a good time out at the movies?" his dad asked as he walked past the entrance way.

Dave smiled and nodded his head.

"Yeah." he replied. He smiled a little wider and looked down at his feet as he kicked at the edge of the rug. "I actually made a new friend."

His dad's brow lifted some but he still smiled warmly.

"That's good. You should invite them over sometime."

Dave nodded in agreement and went upstairs to his room to get some sleep. He thought about how things went with Sebastian and felt himself almost hopeful that this friend thing between them worked out. It was nice to think he might actually be able to add to the list of people who cared about him someday.