Sebastian stared at himself in the mirror for almost the tenth time that morning. He smiled to check his teeth were clean, shifted his head from side to side to check his hair, straightened the collar of his polo shirt and even tested his breath against the palm of his hand. Usually he never paid this much attention to his appearance, but today was different. He was going to meet up with Blaine for coffee, and that just wasn't something that happened very often, or ever, for that matter.

He hadn't seen Blaine in almost 4 years since they graduated High School, and last week they had bumped into each other in the subway. It had been the most random thing to happen to Sebastian that week. He was having a terrible day, coming from school tired and on his way to his apartment, he almost fell into Blaine when some guy had pushed him to make his way through the crowd.

It was a really pleasant surprise to find Blaine again after all this time, and it was like all the awkwardness that had formerly existed between them just disappeared. Sebastian remembered the last few times he saw Blaine in high school were not particularly friendly. It wasn't that Blaine was ever blatantly dismissive of Sebastian, but the mere fact that he never reciprocated his feelings was enough for it to feel like it hurt just as much as if he had been. That small burn of rejection, added to the ridiculousness of the stupid faux rivalry between them for their show choir competitions was enough to estrange their barely existing friendship, and after they both graduated and went away for college, they'd never seen each other or even spoke again.

He'd given up on having any sort of relationship, or even friendship with Blaine, figuring it was for the best. But now somehow the thought of reconnecting with Blaine intrigued him. He used to have such a crush on Blaine it wasn't even funny, but now he was finally over it. So he was happy to have bumped into him, and was looking forward to giving a try at being just friends this time. He wasn't a pinning teenager anymore, he was a young adult, taking charge of his life. Sebastian was quite proud of how his life was turning up, and was looking forward to knowing what Blaine had been up to all these years. Sebastian smiled as he grabbed his jacket and headed towards the door.

He headed for the nearby Starbucks, where they agreed to meet. He was 5 minutes early, so he went inside and found a table for 2 where he could wait for Blaine. Sebastian was sure it was probably just his nerves, but every minute be waited for Blaine felt like an eternity. However, when 5 minutes became 10, and 10 became 20, he started to think maybe Blaine wasn't going to show up.

They had exchanged phone numbers, and Sebastian texted Blaine 15 minutes ago asking where he was, but Blaine had not texted him back. And so, feeling bitter and disappointed, Sebastian got up from the table and decided to order something before leaving. After all, he had been sitting there occupying a table for a little more than half an hour.

Once he got his coffee to go, he checked his phone one last time before heading for the door. As he pushed the door to leave, Blaine slammed into him, causing Sebastian to drop his paper cup and spilling the hot coffee on the floor and both their shoes.

"Fuck! I'm so sorry Sebastian... Shit." Blaine said as he picked up his bag from the ground and looked at the mess on Sebastian's shoes and the floor.

"It's fine, Blaine..."

"I'm such a fucking idiot sorry I-"

"Blaine I said its fine." Sebastian said again before Blaine could keep on babbling. Since when did Blaine curse so much anyway? This was a change from the ever so proper and dapper boy he remembered from high school.

Blaine's appearance had also changed. He was wearing pale blue jeans and a faded red tshirt underneath a brown cardigan. He had a bit of scruff growing on his jaw and his curls hung wildly over his forehead.

"You were leaving... I'm sorry. Do you have somewhere else to be?" Blaine asked awkwardly.

"No, I just thought you weren't coming." Sebastian said, frowning, "I texted you."

"You did?" Blaine asked, reaching for his pocket but finding nothing, "Ah, crap... I must have left my phone at home, sorry."

Sebastian just shrugged, but before he could say anything Blaine spoke again.

"Let me make it up to you. I now a place a couple of blocks away from here, I'll buy you a drink!"

Blaine's bright and hopeful smile was enough for Sebastian to forget about the awkwardness of the situation and he couldn't even be mad at Blaine for being late anymore.

"Okay, sounds good." He finally said as they both smiled and walked down the street to where Blaine suggested. It was a small, bohemian pub, nice enough for them to lay back and catch up.

Soon enough they started talking about everything and anything and they completely lost track of time. It was easier than it ever was back in high school, probably because there were no ulterior motives on Sebastian's side and no worries of a jealous boyfriend on Blaine's part.

Sebastian told Blaine about college, about how he was almost done with law school and had landed an internship in a prestigious law firm. He was able to move out from the school dorms and was renting an apartment nearby. He could have done it from the start, but his parents insisted he live on campus, probably worrying about Sebastian slacking or being irresponsible on his own.

Sebastian could have gone on forever, talking about his life, but he also wanted to know about Blaine, so every time he caught himself talking too much, Sebastian switched the conversation back to Blaine.

Blaine however, seemed more interested in hearing about Sebastian's life than about sharing his own, and it didn't take long for Sebastian to figure out that he was actually avoiding Sebastian's questions.

"So, Juilliard..." Sebastian tried again, "I'm glad you went for it, I remember you saying you would probably end up going into business school."

Blaine snorted "Yeah, but just because dad wanted me to. But I would have probably sucked at it anyway."

They both laughed.

"So how did you manage to convince him then?"

"I didn't." Blaine's smile turned into a tight line, "He um... he died." He said dryly.

Sebastian went rigid.

"Wow, Blaine I never knew, I'm sorry..."

"It's okay, only a few people heard about it."

Sebastian sat silently as Blaine told him about how his dad had suffered through a prostate cancer that was not diagnosed on time. About spending the last months of his senior year in trips to the hospital and the horrible and inevitable waiting for his dad to pass away.

With his father no longer around, Blaine decided to withdraw from business school and applied to Juilliard to study music instead. Once he finally turned 21 he was able to access his inheritance money and had moved out of campus.

Sebastian was speechless, "I can't believe no one told me..." He said, feeling completely baffled.

"We'll, I did kinda fall off the face of the earth." Blaine said, laughing like it was no big deal.

"So you don't talk to any of the guys from Dalton anymore?"

"No, not really." Blaine admitted, "Do you?"

"Yeah, well... I still talk to Trent and Jeff every now and then, they go to NYU you know?"

Blaine just shrugged.

Apparently, Blaine no longer spoke to anyone from back home anymore, aside of his family. Sebastian found that to be surprising, and even a little weird.

"So you don't talk to anyone anymore?"

"Nope..." Blaine said taking another sip of his beer. "People just drift apart after school, I guess."

"You're right about that..." Sebastian said, smiling tightly. "We all just go our separate ways."

He felt curious and wanted to ask him about Kurt, but decided against it. Figured they probably hadn't gotten back together after they broke up during Blaine's senior year. Maybe it was better to not talk about their love life this time. After all, they were just getting reacquainted and they'd have plenty of chances to talk about that later. Sebastian's "love life" was complicated enough at the moment anyways, and he'd rather not talk about it either.

Unfortunately for Sebastian, his phone started ringing right then, and it was Gareth.

Sebastian wasn't able to hide the discomfort from his face, and asked Blaine to give him a second to take the call.

"Hey G." Sebastian greeted, only half turning his body from where Blaine was seated in the stool next to him.

"Hey babe... Where are you?" Came the voice from the other line, and it was loud and cheery as ever. Sebastian wondered if Blaine would be able to hear him.

"I'm at Jake's... Um, it's a pub down the street from Starbucks, I'm here with a friend, remember?"

"Oh right..." There was a small, awkward pause, "Will you be home soon? I wanted to come over, hoping we could talk?"

Sebastian just bit his lip, uncertain of what to do. They'd gotten into pretty nasty fight 2 days ago, and things had been awkward between them ever since. They still hadn't talked, not in person. Such was his luck that Gareth decided he'd wanted to talk just now, when he was busy.

"I don't know G, I'm still gonna be here for a while. I'll call you when I get home."

"Oh... Okay." Said Gareth, obviously disappointed.

Once Sebastian hung up and looked at Blaine, the shorter man had a mischievous look on his face.

"Babe huh?" He asked teasingly.

"Shut up." Sebastian said, chuckling.

"You have a boyfriend?"

"Well..." Sebastian hesitated, "Let's just say it's complicated."

They both laughed at that, and Blaine didn't ask any more questions. But Sebastian decided to explain, even if just a bit.

"We've been kinda going out, for a while now. But we're not..."

"Exclusive?" Blaine asked.

"Official." Sebastian cleared up. "We're just taking it slow... I guess." He said laughing.

He really liked Gareth, they went to school together and had known each other for a couple of years now. They had become good friends and gotten along really well but ever since they started going out and sleeping together he'd gradually changed and become more needy, even clingy, and Sebastian just had a really hard time not snapping at him every single time.

The whole reason they'd gotten into a fight this time was because Sebastian didn't tell him about a private party he was invited to because of work. Gareth was upset because Sebastian decided to go alone and didn't take him with him. It wasn't that Sebastian didn't want him, but he figured if it was a work related thing he just rather keep his personal life out of it.

Sebastian just needed a bit of more time before taking that next step. Making things official, introducing each other as boyfriends, meeting family and all, it just was an intimidating thought.

So after another hour of talking to Blaine, they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways with the promise to keep in touch.

Sebastian went back home and eventually made up with Gareth, as he always did. It was a sort of rhythm they had slowly fallen into. They would be okay for some time, have fun, go out, have amazing sex, and then fight over the smallest and silliest things just to make up again later.

Blaine and Sebastian started making efforts to keep in touch, and build a friendship with a rhythm of their own. With their school and work schedules being so different, it wasn't easy to make time to meet up, but they were at least talking online almost every day, so that was something.

Whenever they could meet up, they'd talk for hours at a time. It was something Sebastian always looked forward to, and apparently so did Blaine. Sebastian couldn't help but wonder how come Blaine seemed so eager to reconnect with him when he'd pretty much pushed away all other friends he had from high school.

They slowly grew fond of one another, earning each other's trust as they talked about anything and everything. It was easy and comfortable and Sebastian wondered if this is what things could have been like if he'd acted differently back when they first met.

This time, it was Sebastian who was with someone, and Blaine the one who was single. Gareth seemed to get along with Blaine just fine, or at least he never said otherwise whenever Sebastian talked about him when they were alone. However, that didn't mean Sebastian was oblivious to the way Gareth rolled his eyes and silently huffed whenever he'd tell him he was going out with Blaine.

Sebastian assumed, or at least hoped that that had more to to with Gareth wanting to occupy more of Sebastian's time than it had to do with actual jealousy towards Blaine, he tried not to give Gareth reasons to distrust him. After all, Sebastian figured that perhaps part of why his friendship with Blaine was thriving so far was because he'd finally stopped trying to get into Blaine's pants and focused on being his friend instead.

It didn't mean that Sebastian didn't find Blaine attractive anymore, or that he didn't catch himself flirting with him sometimes before he could stop himself; it was just that he had a different mindset now. His first few years of college had been spent in a haze of parties and random hookups, where he couldn't have cared less if he got involved with two guys at the time, but that was no longer the case, it was no longer who he was.

Gareth and Blaine were total opposites, and so it was interesting for Sebastian to see how he clearly didn't have a "type" so to speak. Gareth had pale skin, blue eyes and blond hair he liked to keep trimmed short, he was built stronger and only half an inch shorter than Sebastian. He had a great sense of humor, liked the same sports as he did and was also great in bed, so Sebastian had no complaints in that respect.

Sebastian tried not to think about what it would be like to be with Blaine, especially when they started spending a lot of time together. Being Blaine's friend was nice and he didn't want to screw it up.

However, things weren't always easy. Blaine's mood seemed to fluctuate quite a bit. Sometimes Sebastian would suggest they meet up and he would make crappy excuses just to make himself unavailable. Other times, Blaine would completely disappear, not taking Sebastian's calls or responding to his texts or even getting online at all, only to reappear after a couple of weeks making apologies and asking to meet up with him again.

After a couple of times of Blaine repeating that pattern, Sebastian was getting tired of it. After much talking and convincing, and inspite of Blaine's reluctance, they agreed to meet up for lunch on Friday to a small Italian restaurant near Sebastian's workplace.

"Blaine, are you okay?" Sebastian asked cautiously as they waited for their meals.

"Yeah, I'm fine... Just fine." Blaine tried to bluff, smiling widely, but Sebastian knew something was off.

Blaine looked completely drained. He had dark circles under his eyes and looked even more disheveled than usual. By this point Sebastian was used to Blaine's new look, so to speak. He didn't seem to put much effort into gelling his hair and wearing neatly put together outfits with bow ties and slacks like he did so often in high school, and it was fine cause he did look good in a more relaxed and casual style, but right now it seemed like Blaine didn't even sleep at all the night before. His eyes were bloodshot and not even the thick-framed glasses he was wearing could hide them.

"You look like crap." Sebastian tried this time with blunt sincerity, hoping Blaine would at least have some kind of reaction.

Blaine snorted, "Geez, thanks Seb..."

"I'm just worried, it's all."

"We'll don't..." Blaine said, "I've just been really busy lately, with finals and stuff. It's just a lot of pressure. I'm fucking exhausted."

Sebastian just gave him a wary look, clearly unconvinced but not wanting to push the issue any further. He couldn't help but wonder how stressful could it possibly be -getting a music degree- but Blaine did mention a competition coming up, and that he had just recently started playing violin and cello.

"We'll, my birthday is coming up next week..." Sebastian said, changing the subject, "Will you be around or are you gonna disappear on me again?"

"Is it really? Do you have any plans?"

"Gareth wants to throw me a party, nothing big, just friends at his place... so you can't bail on me!"

"I won't..." Blaine laughed and lifted his right hand "I'll be there, promise."

Sebastian wished he could stop the warm feeling Blaine's little gesture and promise gave him. He didn't want to have feelings for Blaine other than friendship. So he just grinned and raised an eyebrow. "You better."

Just as promised, Blaine stayed in the radar for the next few days. Constantly texting Sebastian and even offering to help with the party arrangements, even though Sebastian kept telling him that it was fine, that it was just a small get together thing and that Gareth had everything under control.

However, just the day before Sebastian's birthday, he and Gareth got into an argument that had quickly escalated until they were both screaming at each other and Sebastian had gotten so frustrated to the point he'd finally snapped and told Gareth to "fuck off" which had resulted in the blond man yelling the same back at him and storming out of his apartment, slamming the door behind him.

Sebastian was so upset that he even felt physically sick after their fight, it was by far the worse one they'd ever had. There had been a point during their yelling that Sebastian was sure Gareth was going to either slap or punch him. It had really been awful. Sebastian regretted some of the things he said, but he didn't make any effort at calling or even texting Gareth that night. He figured that next morning with his head hopefully a little clearer, they could talk again and at least be able to coexist at the party.

Things didn't go the way he expected them to at all though, as the first thing Sebastian woke up to the next morning was 5 missed calls, which he could assume were to wish him a happy birthday, except they were all from the same person: Jenna, one of their classmates, and Gareth's best friend. She also texted him, asking if the party was really canceled and if everything was okay between them cause she tried calling Gareth but he wasn't picking up.

Sebastian groaned as he got out of bed, dreading the drama that he would most likely have do deal with on his birthday of all days. He tried calling Gareth twice but he wouldn't pick up. He checked his email and realized Gareth sent a message to all their invited friends -except Blaine- to inform them the party was cancelled and apologizing for the inconvenience in the most vague way possible.

Shit. This was really bad. Why did Gareth have to be such a pain in the ass?

He tried calling for the third time and it went straight to voicemail. Sebastian knew he needed to make some damage control as soon as possible, but he really didn't want to have to deal with this on his birthday. He was looking forward to a day of just hanging out and getting wasted, not drama and bickering and fighting.

His phone suddenly buzzed with a new text message, and once he read it Sebastian knew it was real this time.

From Gareth Wright:

Please stop calling. We're done Sebastian.

Happy birthday, I hope you're happy now.

Sebastian fell back onto the bed and cursed. Had he just been officially dumped? He didn't know whether to laugh or cry or both. And even if he didn't want to admit this, it hurt.

After a couple of hours of just laying in bed sulking and ignoring calls from friends, he decided he needed to turn off his phone, but not without texting Blaine first.

To Blaine Anderson:

Party is cancelled. Gareth and I broke up.

The response was instant.

From Blaine Anderson:

Shit. I'm on my way.

Half an hour later, Blaine was knocking on Sebastian's door, hands full with coffee and Sebastian's favorite cream cheese and raspberry jam bagels from the bakery down the street. Sebastian smiled fondly, and he had never been happier to see Blaine in his entire life.