Chapter Twelve

Banging crashes of a fist hitting a door echoed through the house, and even half asleep, Sebastian knew the cause. He cursed under his breath as he jumped out of bed and into his jeans quickly.

"S-Seb?" Blaine asked, his head lifting from the pillow as he watched the taller boy hastily buttoning and zipping his pants through bleary eyes. The knock sounded again and Blaine became more alert. He looked as though he was about to get up and investigate as well, but Sebastian reached out to push down on his shoulder.

"Stay here with Kurt, babe," he instructed, his voice almost pleading. Blaine eyed him hesitantly and Sebastian prompted further, "Blaine. Promise."

"O-Okay..." He wasn't happy, clearly, but he settled back down beside Kurt, still watching Sebastian speculatively.

"Keep Kurt here, too," Sebastian called over his shoulder on his way out the door.

It was dark in the hallway—predawn—and Sebastian quickly flicked on the light as he ran down the stairs and wrenched open the front door to reveal his father standing, red faced and furious on the stoop. "Do you want to wake the whole damned house?" Sebastian spat.

"You little shit! You break into my house-"

"I didn't break in. I used my key and then left it on the table," Sebastian argued, his voice loud but even.

"I should call the police! You're a goddamn thief!"

Sebastian stepped forward and squared his shoulders as he bit back, "I took what belonged to me. Everything I took, I either bought myself or mom left it to me. None of it belonged to you."

Unexpectedly, Kurt appeared at the foot of the stairs and insisted himself between Sebastian and his father as Blaine crowded in close to Kurt's side. It was wishful thinking that Blaine would have been able to keep Kurt upstairs and a far off pot shot to think that Blaine would stay upstairs by himself after Kurt came down.

"Hey!" Kurt called, pushing Sebastian further back.

Suddenly a hand darted out to grab Blaine's wrist, flipping it up to read the name etched on the skin. Sebastian growled and knocked his father's arm away. "Don't touch him." The command was no more than a growl.

Sebastian's father's confused expression quickly turned mocking as he pointed to Blaine. "You're Bill Anderson's youngest boy, aren't you?" He scoffed. "I should have known."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Blaine's hands were shaking, balled up into tight fists at his side.

"Whenever he comes to play cards down at the country club, all he does is rave about his boy—Cooper, I think his name is—big, successful actor. Bonded to a nice girl. They've got a baby on the way now, don't they?" The man asked, his tone condescending. "But he never seems to want to talk about you. Hell, I've been playing cards with the man for almost ten years, and I never even knew he had another kid until last year. Guess it makes sense now, though."

Sebastian's shoved his father hard enough to send him stumbling back, the man only barely saved from a punch to his mouth by Kurt restraining arms around Sebastian's waist, holding the shaking boy against his body and pulling him back. "Seb, calm down," Kurt breathed in his ear. "Come on, sweetheart. Calm down."

"Blaine. Come here," Sebastian gritted out toward where Blaine was standing frozen, still shaking and too close to the unwelcome visitor than Sebastian was comfortable with. "Kurt, let go. I'm done. Just let go."

Kurt unwound his arms and Sebastian rocked forward to pull Blaine into his body as Kurt spoke. "I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say that this charming man is your father..."

If it hadn't been for the visibly heartbroken expression on Blaine's face, Sebastian might have smirked at Kurt's wit. Instead, he just nodded and pulled Blaine closer, dropping a kiss to the top of his curls and murmuring softly, "Kurt and I love you, and we're proud of you. Don't give him the satisfaction of seeing his words hurt you, baby." Another kiss against Blaine's hair. "You're better than he is."

Anger flashed across the man's face at the display of affection. "This all comes from your mother! I told her not to coddle you like she did, but she always insisted, 'No, Richard...'" He adopted a thick, mocking French accent that made Sebastian's skin crawl. "'There is no such thing as too much love. He is just a little boy.'"

"Don't. You. Dare," Sebastian ground out, his voice low and furious, arms tensing around Blaine, but his father continued anyway.

"God knows what crap she filled your head with. She always loved that I couldn't understand a damn thing she said to you," he said with a derisive scoff. Sebastian used his hold on Blaine to ground himself as his anger threatened to boil over. If he moved even a fraction of an inch, he was going to snap.

"And where were you?" Sebastian bit out. "Huh? Where were you? You were never home! You were off fucking every bar maid in Columbus while my mother raised me all by herself at nineteen years old. You couldn't be bothered with a kid, because it interfered with your free time, so even when you were home, you didn't want anything to do with me while maman would read to me and teach me how to play catch, and I was so excited when I learned how to throw a football, so I came to show you and you told me not to bother you while you were watching the game. You didn't give a damn about me then, and the only reason you care now is because I have money that you don't have.

"So I don't want to hear a single word about how I took my shit out of my room and brought it here, because you wouldn't even recognize any of it, seeing as you've never once been in my bedroom," he spat out, before his voice turned bitter and mocking. "Well, not while I was there anyway. You sure as hell had no problem tearing the damn thing apart right after I left, did you?" Sebastian accused, crossing his arms and leveling a glare at the man.

"I have no idea what you're talking about-"

Sebastian laughed without humor. "Don't try that shit with me. I'm young, but I'm not stupid. I opened my nightstand and the necklace box was gone. I had it hidden in the back, but you tore the drawer apart until you found it, and I'm sure it's long gone by now."

The man was silent, his face still screwed up with anger, but clearly at a loss for words, so Sebastian continued.

"That's fine. That necklace meant a lot to me, and you knew that. You also knew how old it was and what it was worth, and I know that means more to you than the fact that the necklace was my mother's favorite and that she gave it to me to give to my daughter. I'm pissed that you sold it, but I don't need it to remember her.

"So, I hope that money makes you happy, because I feel sorry for you. And I am so glad that maman was the one who raised me, because she taught me that love means more than money, because without love you have nothing. Now I may be a lot of things, but at least I'm not a thief who puts money over his own family, because I could lose everything tomorrow-all my trust fund money, everything maman left me, and all the money mamie gives me-and I would still have Kurt and Blaine and the only family who has ever mattered."

Sebastian's voice turned cold. "If you lost your money, you would have nothing, because the only reason people put up with your shit is because you have money to help them get ahead, and don't think for a minute that any of them would stick around to help you out if you suddenly lost it all. So, keep the necklace, keep the money you took from my sock drawer, and whatever else I haven't realized you've taken yet, because you need it more than I do."

"You condescending little prick," Sebastian's father snapped, stepping forward. "I told her when she found out that she was pregnant that I wanted nothing to do with you, but somehow word got back to my parents that I knocked your mother up, and I had to stay with her. I never wanted you-"

"You think I don't know that?" Sebastian asked with a laugh. "You think that I harbor any delusions that one day you're going to realize that I'm the son you've wanted all along and we're going to start going to baseball games together? I know you're ashamed of me, and I couldn't possibly care less."

Blaine reached forward and wrapped his arms around Sebastian's waist as though he could protect him from the thought of being unwanted.

"You're damn right I'm ashamed of you! It's goddamn embarrassing to show my face around the country club and hear everyone laughing about my queer son, and now you've managed to make it worse, because it's going to get around that you're bonded to Bill Anderson's fruity kid-"

"Hey!" Kurt shouted, his hands shaking as he lifted a finger to point in the man's face. "You can't come in here and talk to them that way. You've said whatever it was you came to say, and now I want you the hell out of my house, and don't you dare come back!"

Sebastian's father laughed and took a step forward. "I don't think I'm too worried about you. You're just a whispy little fag, so why don't you step back-"

"What did you just call my son?" The loud and angry voice of Burt Hummel bellowed from the doorway. Burt approached quickly until he was toe to toe with Sebastian's father. Kurt took in a deep breath and the set of his shoulders relaxed, visibly calmed by his father's presence as Blaine pulled him into his arms.

Every bit of color drained from Sebastian's father's face as he took in the furious face and imposing stature of Burt Hummel.

"I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you don't come into someone's house at four in the damn morning and insult their family," Burt raged, backing the man toward the door.

"That's my father, Burt," Sebastian added, an air of smugness about his voice.

"Even better," Burt said, his voice low and menacing. "You three go upstairs."

Kurt tried to argue, but Burt cut him off, pointing toward the stairs, so Sebastian took his hand and towed him toward the bedroom, quietly calling, "You are getting nothing else from me", to his father as he took his soulmates upstairs and left his father to his fate.

—x—

Sebastian, try as he might, couldn't hide his nerves as Kurt pulled into a parking spot outside McKinley High School.

"How ya holdin' up, Seb?" Blaine asked, turning around to face the taller boy in the backseat.

"I'm not sure I can do this," Sebastian confessed. "Who the fuck would choose to go to public school?"

Kurt laughed and offered, "You did."

"Yeah, well, I heard about all the crap you guys have had to put up with here, and I don't want you doing it alone."

Blaine's face lit up and he leaned between the seats to kiss his soulmate on the lips. "I love you, Seb."

Sebastian groaned in response. "Let's just get this over with so we can go home."

"That's the spirit," Kurt said sarcastically with a laugh.

Blaine's phone rang just as he was about to get out of the car, and his eyes went wide as he read the caller ID. "It's my parents..." he said softly before hitting a button and answering. "H-Hello?"

A woman's voice came through the tinny speaker to echo through the confines of the car. "Blaine, sweetheart, where are you? You didn't come down for dinner last night. I came up this morning to check on you, but you must have already left for school."

It was easy to see the way Blaine's face fell and Sebastian was about to shout "He didn't come down for dinner because he hasn't been home for a fucking week!" but Blaine held up a hand to stop him.

"I'm sorry, mom. I was just tired last night. I'll-I'll be home after school," he said, his voice soft and sad. "But...um...there's something I need to tell you and dad, so do you think that I can bring a couple people over for dinner tonight?"

"Sure, sweetheart," his mother said, her voice almost too sweet. "Will your friend Kurt be joining us?"

Blaine squeezed his eyes shut and mouthed an apology toward Kurt. "Kurt is my boyfriend, mom. We've been together for almost a year..."

"Yes, well..." his mother replied.

"But yes, he will be. There's also someone else I'd like you to meet, and I was hoping I could bring him home for dinner as well." Blaine's voice was strained and his calm sounded forced.

"Of course, baby," his mother repeated. "Bring whoever you'd like."

"Thank you, mom. We'll be there at six, alright?"

"That will be fine, honey."

He hung up the phone and sighed deeply before saying, "I'm so sorry, but I can't leave without telling them."

Kurt leaned across the console of the car to pull Blaine into a hug. "It's fine, sweetheart. Seb and I understand. This is very important to you."

"I'm just hoping that maybe if they see that we're bound, they'll finally accept-"

"They won't, Blaine," Sebastian cut in, continuing when Blaine looked toward him. "Honey, people like that don't ever change. You could fuck Kurt on the dining room table, and they'd still deny that you're together until their dying day."

"But they're my parents, Seb," Blaine argued weakly.

"And you heard how your father talks about you-or more accurately, doesn't talk about you," Sebastian argued, leaning forward to rest his hand on Blaine's shoulder. "Blaine, you don't need to impress them. Your parents didn't even notice that you'd been gone for a week."

"I know," Blaine said, his voice low and dejected. "But still. I want to tell them. It's only right that I explain why I'm moving out."

"Blaine's right, Seb. This is something he needs to do for himself," Kurt added sagely.

Sebastian spun toward Kurt. "You're really going to let him go over there and get his heart broken like that?"

"Of course not," Kurt replied, shaking his head. "We're going with him. So that no matter what, Blaine knows that there are people at that dinner table who love him and accept him for who he is."

Blaine's face broke into an honest to god smile, and Sebastian couldn't bring himself to argue any further. He was just glad Blaine was smiling. Kurt was right anyway. He usually was.

"Now come on," Kurt instructed. "Little Sebby is going to be late for his first day of school."

Sebastian growled and climbed out of the car to the sound of Kurt and Blaine laughing.

—x—

Sebastian's last class of the day was Calculus, a class he shared with Blaine, and when the bell rang, he grabbed the smaller boy's hand and all but dragged him from the classroom.

As he shoved his books roughly in his locker Sebastian asked, "How can you stand this? The work here isn't even the least bit challenging and the teachers are simpletons. The French teacher, the fucking French teacher, had the balls to tell me that my accent was off." Sebastian slammed the locker door closed. "She doesn't know the first thing about speaking French. She literally fucked up everything she was teaching today. I don't know what language she's speaking, but it sure as hell isn't French-"

Sebastian broke off as Kurt came to stand beside him, taking Blaine's hand. "Hey, sweetheart," he greeted. "How was your first day?"

"Just magical," Sebastian muttered, shouldering his bag. "Can we get out of here, please?"

"Um, excuse me, Kurt and Blaine," the high voice of councilor Pillsbury came from behind them. "I'd like to speak to you in my office, please."

Blaine shook his head, obviously still bitter with the woman for the advice she'd given Kurt. "That's not necessary anymore, Miss Pillsbury. Everything worked itself out. Thank you."

"Actually, Miss Pillsbury," Kurt started, rifling through his bag to pull out a book. "I'd like you to have this. It's called, Structure and Nature of Soul Bonds. Believe me...it's just as interesting as it sounds." Kurt rolled his eyes. "But I did bookmark chapter fourteen for you."

The redhead looked up from the book in her hand. "Oh, so this must be..."

"Sebastian Smythe," Sebastian introduced, and he couldn't figure out why it looked like Kurt and Blaine were both smugly preening.

"Show Miss Pillsbury your wrist, Seb," Blaine instructed, taking the taller boy's hand and pushing up his sleeve to reveal Kurt's name on his skin. The woman's eyes flew open wide.

"That's not possible," she said breathlessly.

Kurt crossed his arms. "Yes, you keep saying that, but I hope that you'll read that book I gave you, so that the next time someone comes into your office with a real problem, your advice to them isn't just 'Let it go.'"

"What?" Sebastian asked, his voice curious and irritated.

"Miss Pillsbury told Kurt that he needed to just let me go, because I was bound to you-"

Sebastian turned toward Kurt. "Did you show her your wrist?" Kurt nodded, and Sebastian turned toward the woman. "So why did you tell them to let their relationship go, when it was clear that Kurt was bonded to Blaine?"

The councilor spluttered for a moment, but, ever impatient, Sebastian continued.

"I'd like you to know that I am very much bonded to both Kurt and Blaine, and likewise, they are both bound to me and each other. If you'd bothered to pick up a book, or perhaps listen to your students, then you would see that."

Sebastian took Kurt's hand and pulled him, Blaine dragging along behind Kurt, still clutching the pale boy's hand as they made for the car. As Sebastian climbed back into the car, he let out a deep breath in a gust when he realized that that wasn't even going to be the worst confrontation he was going to get in that day.

—x—

Sebastian was just about positive that there had literally never been a more awkward meeting in the history of the fucking world.

Kurt sat close to Blaine's side on the dusky pink floral print couch in the Andersons' living room as both of Blaine's parents stare at them in speculation. He hated the silence but the atmosphere was too charged for him to even think about speaking. He reminded himself that he was here for Blaine and forced himself to relax.

"M-Mom, Dad," Blaine began, squaring his shoulders and shifting to the edge of the couch cushion. "I know that I told you I had something you guys should know, and it would mean the world to me if you could just try and support me."

"Of course, sweetheart," Blaine's mother cooed. "Don't we always support you?"

Sebastian had to fight back a laugh, but Blaine continued anxiously. "Yes, I'm sorry. Of course you'll support me," he amended. "I just wanted you to know that I'm bonded."

"What?" Blaine's father choked out. He cast an icy gaze toward Kurt.

"Well, Sebastian's name is on my wrist, but I'm bonded to both Kurt and Sebastian."

Mr. Anderson stood up. "No. Blaine, you've always been out there, but there's no way that you're bound to two people-especially men. Blaine, it doesn't work like that."

"Actually, sir," Kurt started. Sebastian wanted to reach over and take his hand for being so brave, but he held back. "It does happen. It's not common by any means, but it does happen, and it did happen in our case. Blaine's name is on my wrist. My name is on Sebastian's wrist. And Sebastian's name is on Blaine's wrist."

The man completely ignored Kurt's words and focused on his son. "Now, Blaine, your mother and I have been more than lenient with your lifestyle choice, but this isn't right, son. Look at Cooper. He went through a phase in school just like you are, and now he's bonded to a beautiful girl, baby on the way, and he's build a damn good life for himself out there in California."

"I'm sorry, dad," Blaine mumbled toward the floor. "It's not a phase. I am bonded to Kurt and Seb." It was barely an argument. Blaine's voice was too sad to carry any real weight.

Sebastian was shaking with his anger, but he knew that he needed to chill out. He comforted himself with the knowledge that this was the last time any of the three of them would ever have to see the either of the adults again.

"Now," his father added, sitting back down, crossing his legs and looking the picture of ease. As though he hadn't just told his son that everything he feels and believes is unnatural and wrong. "Enough of this talk. I feel like we haven't really talked in a while."

"I've been at Kurt's since Saturday," Blaine said simply. "I've been gone for almost a week and you didn't even know I wasn't here."

Blaine's mother opened her mouth to speak, but before she got the chance, a woman came into the room and announced that dinner was ready.

Blaine kept his eyes cast to his plate as his parents talked amongst themselves, neither adult seeming to notice him much as he poked dejectedly at his food. The awkwardness of the earlier admission of Blaine being bound to Sebastian had worn off, but there was an unrelenting tension hanging over the table as Blaine's father continued to pepper the conversation with passive aggressive digs at Blaine that seemed to make the boy's shoulders slump a little further with each passing comment.

While Kurt was used to the toxic atmosphere of dinner at the Andersons' home and settled for silently soothing Blaine by holding his hand under the table, Sebastian's body was rigid as he listened to the subtly biting comments the adults were making about their son, the unflattering comparisons between Blaine and "their other son who had done something with his life", and the way every topic turned around to somehow belittle Blaine.

Growing up in an affluent family in Westerville, Sebastian knew how to keep his composure in a tense situation. He'd been raised in going to country clubs every weekend, and he knew first hand just how two-faced and pretentious that set could be, how much contempt and conniving agendas could be hidden behind a fake smile and a sweet tone. The same fake smiles and sweet tones the Andersons were using at the dinner table to hide the thinly veiled insults they were hurling at their son.

Yes, Sebastian knew how to keep his patience when he saw it happening to the pretentious assholes at the country club, but listening to the words being leveled at Blaine wasn't something Sebastian was prepared to stand for. He'd been taught never to make a scene, but he was losing his patience fast.

"So, Kurt," Mrs. Anderson started, a too-sweet smile on her face. "Blaine tells us you're going to major in fashion design. That's fantastic! You have such an eye for it."

Kurt smiled politely and took a sip of his water. "Thank you, Mrs. Anderson. I still have Broadway dreams, but I think I'd be better suited to work behind the scenes in costume design."

"And I bet you'll be able to find a job in that right away, won't you, Kurt?" Mr. Anderson piped in, flicking a glance toward Blaine who shifted a little in his chair. "There's theatres all over that city, so that's a good, practical choice. Maybe you can talk some sense into our Blaine," he added, laughing quietly.

Kurt squeezed Blaine's hand under the table. "Mr. Anderson, Blaine loves music, and he excels at it, so I don't see how pursuing a music degree isn't sensible. If it's something he loves then he should go for it. It's his dream."

"Yes, well...sometimes you just need to grow up and see that your dreams are just that. Dreams."

Blaine looked tired and on the verge of tears, but his father showed no signs of relenting.

"Son, you've always had quite an imagination, and your mother and I have always encouraged you to do what you love..." Blaine looked up toward his father's voice and for a moment looked as though he might burst out laughing. Blaine couldn't remember a single time his parents had ever encouraged him to do anything he wanted to do. "But, Blaine...you have to see where this is just stupid. That degree isn't going to be worth the paper it's printed on. Hell, what could you possibly do with a degree in dance?"

"Music, dad," Blaine corrected softly, his voice weak and sad. "I want to get a degree in music."

"Well, I guess that's a little less useless than a dance degree." He laughed, quiet and haughty.

Sebastian's eyes flashed and he gripped the edge of the table tightly. He spoke through gritted teeth, trying to force a smile but feeling it be mangled on his face. "Mr. Anderson, I don't think it's fair to tell Blaine that he can't pursue his dream just because you don't think it's profitable. Blaine knows what he's getting himself into. He's heard the stories of music majors playing their guitars on the street for rent money, so if he knows all that, then I think you should just let him choose his own path. And, sir, I disagree that a dance degree is as useless as you think it is. My mother was a classically trained dancer, and she did several shows in both Paris and New York. She even had her own studio in Columbus. She was pursuing a degree in dance when she got pregnant with me-"

"Yes, and where did that get her?" Blaine's father cut off smugly.

"Hit by a truck on her way home from a class," Sebastian said sharply, his eyes trained on the man's face. "Teaching dance may not have brought home a ton of money, but she loved what she did, and she was passionate about it. I see the same passion in Blaine's eyes, so I can tell you, sir, that his degree will never be useless as long as he loves what he does."

There were tears in Blaine and Kurt's eyes as they watched Sebastian defend Blaine, but the adults seemed unmoved by the words.

"I'm very sorry for your loss, but I know what's best for my son, and I refuse to let him waste his life pursuing some garbage degree and-"

"Enough!" Sebastian shouted, bringing his hand down hard enough to make the silverware rattle. "You can say whatever you want about Blaine not being a good enough son, or not being as talented and wonderful as his brother, because I know, and Kurt knows, and Blaine knows that you're wrong, and Blaine is used to that. He's used to you not being there to support him or be parents to him, as awful as it is, he's used to it. But I refuse to let you belittle his dreams, because those dreams were the only thing he had to keep him from going completely fucking crazy after being berated or just plain ignored by the two of you while you swooned over his brother."

Sebastian tossed his napkin across his plate and stood up, reaching to take Blaine's hand. "You say you know your son, but you clearly don't or else you'd recognize that there is no other career path he could possibly take. Your son was born with a gift that other people would kill for, and I won't let you make him second guess following his dream and having that gift nurtured, because he needs this. And he needs people who will let Blaine choose his own path in life, because ultimately, Blaine knows better than anyone what he needs, because he pretty much raised himself without much help from you, so you don't get to tell him what his dreams should be. He don't deserve an opinion."

He pulled a shocked Blaine to his feet and Kurt quickly stood, an icy stare trained on the adults who sat frozen at the table. "Come on, babe. Let's go get the rest of your things." Sebastian said plainly, towing Blaine behind him as the three of them left the dining room.

—x—

Burt had been beyond pissed when Blaine had walked in the door looking as though he'd been crying. Like Kurt, he'd seen one too many times the impact Blaine's parents had on his well-being.

"You're welcome here for as long as you want to stay, Blaine," Burt had enthused, clapping Blaine on the back. "You're family." A small smile touched Blaine's face and Sebastian kissed the top of his head before he looked up as Burt addressed him. "That goes for you, too, kid."

"Thank you, sir," Sebastian said, nodding and holding out a hand toward Burt. The man shook his hand and gave him a small nod.

"I think we're just going to go ahead and go to bed," Kurt said, his voice sounding sluggish and tired. "It's been a pretty bad day."

"Well, you kids get some sleep," Burt suggested, clapping each boy on the shoulder before bidding them goodnight and letting them pass toward the stairs.

Blaine fell face down on the bed. "You know, that actually went better than I expected it to," he mumbled into the comforter as Sebastian stripped him of his shoes, socks and pants. Blaine shed his shirts and climbed under the covers to wait for his boyfriends.

"They don't get to treat you like that," Sebastian stated, sliding in bed beside Blaine and kissing his temple. "You deserve so much better than that."

Kurt clicked off the light and joined the two under the blankets. "I agree. I'm sorry I didn't say something sooner," Kurt apologized.

"Don't apologize, baby," Blaine said with a yawn, cuddling into Sebastian's side as Kurt pressed in close behind the smaller boy's body. "I'm just glad it's over. I'm actually sort of relieved to be out from under my parents. You don't know how much pressure I had on me to try and live up to Cooper, and that's not who I am. I don't want to be Cooper. I want to be Blaine."

"We want you to be Blaine," Kurt said, pressing a kiss to the knob of Blaine's spine.

"Because we love Blaine," Sebastian added.

Blaine smiled widely and tightened his hold around Sebastian's middle. "I love you both so much."

"We love you, too," Blaine and Sebastian responded in tandem.

As they fell asleep, they knew that there would be more obstacles in their way, more people to tell them that they were wrong or mistaken, but wrapped in each others' arms, the rest of the world didn't matter. They had an unknown future stretching out in front of them to discover together, and they were excited by the challenge and the prospect of a life together, a life of falling asleep each night just like this, warm and content.