Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sebastian leaned against the wall and watched all of his friends celebrating Nick and Jeff's engagement with a twisted bitter feeling wrapping around his chest.

He was more than happy for the two of them, they were two of his closest friends! But that didn't stop him from thinking 'when will it be my turn?' as he watched them kiss to a room full of applause and cheers.

"You are doing it again."

Sebastian sighed and turned to face Blaine, happily accepting the beer he was offered.

"I'm a terrible friend, I know," Sebastian sighed and took a big swig of his drink.

"That's not what I was going to say," Blaine said and knocked his shoulder into Sebastian.

"It's normal to be upset and it's alright to miss your ex."

"Maybe for you, you dated Kurt for years and you almost got married at one point. I dated Hunter for six months in my senior year before he moved away." Sebastian took another swig of beer and looked away from Blaine.

"You loved him, the amount of time you had together doesn't erase that," Blaine frowned, he wished there was something he could do to help Sebastian move on but nothing over the last almost seven years had worked.

Sebastian shrugged. "I wish I could erase it, that would make my life a lot easier."

"You don't mean that."

"What would you know? This is the longest conversation we've had all month because you've been following Sam around like a lost puppy. Clearly I'm not the only one stuck in Senior year." Sebastian pushed off from the wall and headed to the balcony, in desperate need of some fresh air.

Sebastian hated feeling like this like a single tap in the wrong direction would shatter him into a thousand little pieces.

Blaine hesitated at the door and wrung his hands together before joining Sebastian at the railing.

"I'm sorry that I haven't been around much this month. I've been overwhelmed with so many different emotions and I've been pushing everything down and pretending it's all okay, even though it's far from that and it wasn't fair of me to neglect our friendship."

Sebastian placed his drink down and wrapped an arm around Blaine.

"I thought your twenties were meant to be the best time of your life?" Sebastian joked.

"I'd like a redo." Blaine laughed and leant into Sebastian.

"It would be so much easier if we just liked each other," Blaine mused after a few minutes.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow at Blaine. "Would it? Given both of our track records, our relationship would be a disaster and I'd rather not lose my best friend."

"Never thought I'd see the day where Sebastian Smythe would choose friendship with me over dating me." Blaine teased.

"Maybe we could find something in between," Sebastian smirked, knowing it would fluster Blaine.

"We are not having pity sex Sebastian."

Sebastian rolled his eyes and pinched Blaine's side.

"You are no fun."

"Did you want to go back to the apartment? I could pick us up some sushi from the place you like and we can watch Emily in Paris. I'll even pretend to believe you when you say that you hate it," Blaine suggested.

"It's a terrible show and it's not accurate to living in Paris at all."

"Was that a no?" Blaine asked with a knowing grin.

"I hate you."

"Love you too Bas."

----

Sebastian looked around the hallway in confusion, he didn't recall seeing any notices about a new neighbour in the weekly newsletter.

"Wow, you're so tall."

Sebastian turned around and saw a young girl, around the age of four or five if he had to guess.

"It's not safe to talk to strangers."

The young girl looked up at him with wide eyes.

"But we're not strangers Mister! My Daddy and I live here now, we're going to be neighbours!" She said excitedly, bouncing on the spot.

That solved the mystery then.

"We are, that's very true but it's also very important that you don't speak to anyone you've not met before, even if it's near your home," Sebastian said softly, crouching down to the young girl's level.

"Okay Mister, I promise! My name is Evelyn!" Evelyn asked, holding out her little hand like her Daddy had taught her.

"That's a beautiful name, I'm Sebastian." Sebastian smiled and shook her hand.

"I know silly! My Daddy has a photo of you and lots of other people in matching clothes on the bookshelf!"

Sebastian froze and tried to work out if any of the Warblers had a niece he could've forgotten about.

"Evelyn Parker-Clarington, what did I tell you about wandering off?"

No.

This wasn't happening.

He'd tripped and hit his head at the party, he'd be waking up any minute now.

"But I saw your friend!" Evelyn pouted and pointed at Sebastian excitedly.

"Sebastian..." Hunter said, staring at him with an expression he was sure was mirrored on his own face.

"Hunter. Long time no see." Sebastian said, standing up straight and clearing his throat.

"Daddy, can Seb join us for dinner? Mommy always makes too much food so he can help us eat it!" Evelyn pleaded, puppy dog eyes in full effect.

Sebastian needed to get out of this hallway.

Was the air getting thinner or was it just him?

"I'm sure Sebastian has plans of his own sweetheart," Hunter said, stroking Evelyn's hair as she huffed.

"But I want him to have dinner with us!"

"Please Seb, I promise it'll be a nice dinner!" Evelyn said, turning the puppy dog eyes on him.

Disappoint a sweet five-year-old or spend the most awkward evening of his life with the love of his life and his wife?

Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"That's a very nice request Evelyn but-" Sebastian started, interrupted by the dinging of the elevator.

It was almost comical watching the range of emotions flash across Blaine's face as he took in the scene.

"But I can't join you for dinner because my boyfriend has already bought us some!" Sebastian blurted out, looking at Blaine pleadingly.

"Y-yes, I got our usual sushi order and I stopped off on the way back and picked us up some ice cream for dessert," Blaine stuttered, still staring at Hunter in disbelief.

"You're dating Blaine?" Hunter asked, clearly hurt by the revelation.

"My Daddy doesn't like you," Evelyn said, remembering Blaine's name from the stories her Daddy told her about the photos.

Sebastian laughed at the bluntness and fumbled his keys out of his pocket.

"This has definitely been an interesting turn of events but we need to get inside before the ice cream melts."

"Daddy, can we have ice cream?" Evelyn asked Hunter, Sebastian taking the distraction as the opportunity to unlock his door and rush inside, pulling Blaine with him.

"What the hell was that Sebastian?! Why did you tell Hunter we're dating?"

Chapter Text

Sebastian peeked his head out of his bedroom door, he didn't want to bump into Blaine before he had his morning coffee.

Sebastian wasn't even sure he'd slept more than two hours across the night from all of the tossing and turning he'd done. Hunter was back and not only did he have a five-year-old, they were apparently a perfect family.

Sebastian groaned when he entered the kitchen, Blaine was leaning against the counter with a coffee cradled in his hands.

"Why aren't you at work?" Sebastian asked as he poured a coffee.

"Teacher training day, it's on the calendar."

"I'm not in the mood to talk about it yet B," Sebastian said truthfully.

"Sucks to be you then because we're talking about this. Just yesterday you were saying that we hadn't spoken enough recently." Blaine reminded.

"That was before my ex-boyfriend appeared with his adorable daughter."

Blaine sighed, placed his coffee down behind him and walked towards the doorway.

"Either we talk about this now or I walk across the hallway and tell Hunter that you were lying yesterday and that you and I aren't a couple and never have been."

"What was I meant to do Blaine? Tell him how the few relationships I've allowed myself to have since Senior year have all failed because they weren't him? That it's been seven years and even though he clearly moved on within a year and I haven't and I'm nowhere near moving on?" Sebastian exclaimed.

His first boyfriend after Hunter had claimed that it felt like there was an invisible third person with them at all times and broke up with him two months into their relationship.

His second boyfriend made it six months before saying that he didn't think Sebastian had gotten over his ex.

His third boyfriend had lasted over a year and Sebastian had thought that he'd finally broke free from the memory of Hunter. They broke up two weeks later.

"I don't know Bas but telling him that you are dating the guy he disliked the most during your relationship is not the move I would've chosen!" Blaine ran his hand over his face and looked at Sebastian.

"I know it must've been rough seeing Hunter like that, especially after our talk at the party but you've dug yourself into a hole that you won't be able to get out of without hurting yourself or Hunter."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow, leaning back against the counter. "How would you know? Your only ex is Kurt and you are still friends! You have no idea what it felt like seeing Hunter with his daughter."

"I don't know what you want me to say here Sebastian but I'm not arguing with you about this. You live opposite Hunter which means you are going to be seeing each other a lot more than I'm sure you'd like but that's just the hand you've been dealt."

"You don't have to do anything, Blaine. It's not like I'm about to invite us on double dates with him and his wife." Sebastian rolled his eyes.

Blaine looked at Sebastian blankly, life was never that simple.

"What if I want to date someone?"

"Blaine, you and Kurt broke up over a year ago and you've been on one date during that time. Who is this mystery person that you are planning to go on a date with?" Sebastian asked.

"I don't know but that's not the point!"

"I promise you that if you suddenly find yourself a boyfriend then I will make sure Hunter knows that you and I broke up," Sebastian assured, not that this would happen, Blaine was too busy spiralling about his crush on Sam reappearing to worry about dating anyone.

"He's going to hate me even more now, I hope you know that," Blaine grumbled, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Why do you care? You never liked him either!" Sebastian laughed, feeling the tiniest bit of pressure fall from his shoulders.

"Only because he disliked me first!"

----

"You can stop laughing at any point."

"I'm sorry but you have to see the funny side of this. Not only is Hunter back in your life but he lives opposite you and thinks you are dating Blaine because you panicked and didn't want to look like a pining loser," Thad said, trying and failing to stop his laughter.

"I'm still not seeing the funny side, Thaddeus." Sebastian glared, shoving a pizza slice into his mouth.

"What's his daughter like? I can't imagine Hunter as a Dad," Thad said, reaching for another pizza slice.

"Adorable, quick-witted, very polite."

"Although she did tell Blaine that Hunter didn't like him," Sebastian laughed.

"Definitely Hunter's daughter," Thad laughed.

Sebastian felt a vice grip around his body when the door knocked and he looked at Thad for help.

"Nope, I'm not answering the door. You have to talk to him eventually Bastian, be an adult about this."

Sebastian groaned and threw a cushion at Thad before walking over to the door and taking a deep breath in and out before opening the door.

"Hunter, hi, I wasn't expecting you." Sebastian greeted politely, hoping his acting classes would get him through this.

"Sebastian, hi! I wasn't sure if you'd answer, you rushed off so quickly yesterday," Hunter said, looking relieved.

"Evelyn made cookies with her Mom after lunch today and I promised her that I'd bring you over a plate."

Sebastian felt his heart melt slightly at that, Evelyn truly did seem like a sweet kid.

"That was kind of you both, thank you. Blaine always has a snack at three am so these will go down a treat."

Hunter's expression twitched for a split second before the bright smile was back in place.

"So, Blaine. I guess you finally got the guy then, following him around for years finally paid off."

Sebastian wanted to shout that he didn't get the guy because the guy was in front of him with a plate of cookies that his perfect family made after their perfect lunch but Blaine was right. He was going to see Hunter almost daily so he had to stay civil and not dig himself even further into a hole.

"It's a fairly new development, it wasn't planned but here we are."

"That's great, I'm happy for you Sebastian."

Sebastian nodded awkwardly and looked at the plate again.

"I should let you get back to Evelyn and her Mom, thank you again for the cookies."

"Oh, yeah, of course. Bye Sebastian, enjoy." Hunter said, pushing the plate into Sebastian's hands and walking across the hall to his apartment, waving quickly before closing his door.

Sebastian watched the closed door for a moment, wishing the awkwardness wasn't there between them and closed his door and went back into Thad.

"Not a single word or you aren't getting a cookie."

"That was painful to listen to, truly pitiful," Thad shook his head and reached for a cookie.

"Hunter clearly wanted to talk more, maybe even be invited in and eat some of the cookies with you."

"If he wanted to come in then he could've asked but he didn't. He's got his own family now Thad, just leave it alone." Sebastian said, holding the plate away from Thad.

"The Warblers were his family first," Thad said with a shrug.

"Well, we're not his family now Thad."

No matter how much he wanted them to be.

Chapter Text

Sebastian had a routine.

He hated any form of change to his usual routine that he didn't already know about and planned around in advance.

But for the last two weeks, he'd be leaving his apartment at sporadic times depending on if he deemed the hallway safe or not to enter.

"Bas, this is getting old. You can't avoid talking to them forever and one of these days you will be late for work and then you'll be in a mood all day because you hate being late and I'll have to deal with that when you get home." Blaine sighed, watching Sebastian from the couch, a bowl of cereal in his hands.

"What if Sam appeared with a wife and kid that wanted to talk with you every time she saw you."

Blaine rolled his eyes, he couldn't say anything to Sebastian lately without it being turned back around on him.

"For starters, I've seen Sam have many partners over the time I've known him. Secondly, I'm not in love with Sam and I've seen him in the last seven years so these two hypotheticals do not match at all."

"Fine, okay, I'm leaving!" Sebastian sighed and picked up his keys from the counter.

"Finally, I can get some quiet in here," Blaine teased as Sebastian headed out the door.

"You love me and you'd miss me if I was gone," Sebastian teased back, lingering in the doorway.

"I love you more than anything," Blaine deadpanned, rolling his eyes fondly.

"Of course you do, what's not to love?" Sebastian winked.

"Shut up and go to work," Blaine laughed, shaking his head as Sebastian closed the door.

"Sebastian!" Evelyn cheered, running over and hugging his legs.

His karma from high school was truly coming in recently.

Sebastian stumbled slightly and looked across the hall at Hunter who was standing at the elevator, a stony look on his face.

"Hi Princess, how are you?" Sebastian asked, offering Hunter a small smile.

"I'm good! Daddy is taking me to see the fishes at their house!" Evelyn said excitedly.

"We're going to an Aquarium," Hunter explained, amused by his daughter's description.

"Did you want to see the fishes with us??" Evelyn asked hopefully, eyes wide.

"I'm sorry Princess but I have to go to work."

Sebastian felt a pang of hurt in his chest as Evelyn's face dropped and he looked to Hunter for help as they got into the elevator.

"Remember what Mommy said this morning?" Hunter said, crouching down to Evelyn's height.

"I remember," Evelyn said and let out a sigh bigger than any five-year-old ever should.

"What's your job, Seb? Is it something fun? My Daddy has a boring job."

Sebastian laughed and walked out of the elevator.

"I'm a choreographer for Broadway shows."

Sebastian smiled proudly, it had taken a few years and many terribly paid jobs to get to where he was but he finally had his dream job.

Hunter smiled at the revelation, happy for Sebastian that he managed to escape his Father's plans for him to become a lawyer.

"What does that mean?" Evelyn asked.

"It means that I get to teach lots of very talented people dance routines for big shows," Sebastian explained.

"That's so cool! I love dancing!" Evelyn gushed.

"Did you know that your Daddy is a great dancer?" Sebastian asked, smirking at Hunter.

Evelyn nodded quickly, bouncing on the spot.

"Daddy can do a flip in the air!"

Sebastian laughed and nodded, thinking back to their Whistle performance.

"He can! It's very impressive," Sebastian smiled, looking at Hunter again.

"Alas, my backflipping days might be over. I'm getting old now," Hunter joked, smiling at Sebastian.

"Silly Daddy, you aren't old! Grandpa is old!"

Sebastian bit his lip as he looked at his watch before looking back at Hunter, he really had to get going for work before he was late but he didn't want to disappoint Evelyn again.

"Are you ready to go and see the fishes, Evie?" Hunter asked, noticing Sebastian's predicament.

"I'll get Daddy to take lots of photos for you Seb!" Evelyn promised, hugging Sebastian's legs once again.

"Thank you, Evelyn, that's very kind of you," Sebastian hummed, finally breaking eye contact with Hunter.

"Have a nice day Hunt, -er," Sebastian said, stumbling over the nickname that slipped out.

"You too Sebastian," Hunter said softly, watching the dancer rush out of the building.

----

Sebastian watched the ensemble restart the opening dance number for act two with a smile, rehearsals were going perfectly today.

"Wow, you could get lost watching them," Marley said, walking up behind Sebastian.

Sebastian smiled and opened his arms for her, hugging her tightly.

"That's the aim, getting pulled in straight away and being lost in the world created by the show for two hours."

Marley smiled and leant up on her tiptoes for the hug, she'd missed Sebastian whilst she was in Ohio visiting family.

"Do you think everything will be ready for opening night? Only three more weeks to go."

"I'm feeling more optimistic each day. The ensemble is moving as a solid unit and not a group of individuals which was an initial worry I had," Sebastian admitted.

"Did I forget about some plans we made?" Sebastian asked, curious about Marley's appearance.

"Nope, you're all good. A little birdie told me about something very interesting and I want to know why I wasn't told instantly."

Sebastian sighed and motioned for Marley to follow after him, heading towards his dressing room. His co-worker could take over the dance rehearsals for now.

"I don't want to go over it all again in detail but yes Hunter is back and he's living opposite me with his Daughter and perfect wife."

Sebastian sat down on the couch and held a cushion to his chest.

"And yes, it's as terrible as it sounds."

Marley frowned and pulled out a large Hershey's bar, it had been a tradition since they'd become friends to share a bar whenever one or both of them were upset.

Sebastian laughed quietly at the chocolate and broke a piece off happily.

"I'm sorry that he's living opposite you. I know him reappearing in your life in any capacity would've been a shock but having him so close but even further away now sounds like hell." Marley said, sitting next to Sebastian and breaking off a piece of chocolate for herself.

"I wish I could avoid him at all times but he has the sweetest daughter in existence and ignoring her would be my worst crime yet so I have to stay and torture myself with what-ifs and dreams of a future that I'll never have."

"I can't believe Hunter has a daughter, I wonder how that happened." Marley mused, popping another piece of chocolate in her mouth.

"Well when a man and a woman-" Sebastian started, laughing loudly when Marley hit him with a cushion.

"Shut up, you know what I meant," Marley laughed.

"No idea but no matter what some people still think about me, I'm not going to even think about breaking a family apart just because I can't move on from High School."

Maybe this could be a good thing, exposure therapy existed for a reason right?

"Hey, maybe your fake relationship with Blaine will turn into a real one!" Marley suggested brightly.

"Little Rose you have been watching too many rom-coms with Jake. B and I will be staying friends because I no longer have feelings for him and he's falling for Sam all over again."

Marley deflated and took Sebastian's cushion so that she could hold it herself.

"I'll find you a new boyfriend then, it can't be that hard right? What is your type though because Blaine and Hunter are completely different. Am I meant to be limiting this search to previous show choir captains only?"

Sebastian laughed and shook his head, happy to have Marley back.

"What about Jesse St James? He was a show choir captain." Marley suggested, going through a list in her head.

"Last I heard he was still with Rachel Berry and possibly married? I have no idea, I tend to tune out whenever Blaine starts talking about certain McKinley members."

"I don't need a new boyfriend, Marley," Sebastian added.

"Too late, I've already formed a list of traits you'd like in a boyfriend. Give me a few days and I'll be back with your first candidate."

"How am I meant to explain these dates if Hunter finds out? He thinks I'm in a committed relationship with Blaine," Sebastian said, desperate to get out of this.

"Thad and I will work that out, don't worry your pretty little head about a thing Seb."

Chapter Text

"I just don't understand what the appeal of eating glue is. I have to stop at least one kid each week from trying it." Blaine laughed, holding open the door for him and Sebastian.

Sebastian winked and walked through the door, holding out his arm for Blaine to link back with.

"Kids do weird things for no reason all the time B. It's best not to overthink it."

"Yeah I guess," Blaine hummed.

"So, I know what Hunter's boring job is."

Sebastian gave Blaine a confused look and looked over at the counter where Hunter was serving a customer.

"I haven't seen him for years and now he's everywhere."

"We can go somewhere else?" Blaine suggested, hugging Sebastian's arm between his for comfort.

"I told Marley I'd stop avoiding Hunter, I need to be an adult about this," Sebastian said determinedly.

Blaine laughed and shook his head when Sebastian raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm sorry! It's just that we're pretending to date because you panicked talking to Hunter."

"I'm breaking up with you." Sebastian deadpanned and let go of Blaine's arm as he walked off.

Blaine laughed again and followed after Sebastian, and relinked their arms.

"Excuse me, I am the best boyfriend you could ask for."

Sebastian grinned and looked at the menu again, happy that he had Blaine with him for this.

"Do you know what you want?" Blaine asked, looking at the display of pastries.

"Coffee with a shot of Courvoisier and some unsweetened whipped cream on top, as alwa..." Sebastian said, trailing off towards the end as Hunter placed that exact drink in front of him.

"You remembered." Sebastian smiled, giving Hunter a look more fond than was probably appropriate with his supposed boyfriend standing next to him.

"I wouldn't be able to forget even if I tried, you used to drink coffee by the gallon," Hunter joked, mirroring his fond look.

Blaine looked between them and held back the urge to roll his eyes, waited a few more seconds and cleared his throat when it was clear that they'd both forgotten he was there.

"I'll have a flat white and whichever your most popular pastry is please," Blaine said, snapping both of them out of their trance.

"We have a new blueberry pastry that has been quite popular today but if you don't like blueberry then I'd recommend the caramel slice," Hunter said, pushing his glasses up and looking anywhere that wasn't Sebastian.

"I'll try the blueberry one, thanks Hunter," Blaine smiled and let go of Sebastian once the pastry was placed in front of him.

"I'm going to get us a table," Blaine added, picking up the small plate and walking off, biting back a laugh at Sebastian's betrayed expression.

"That'll be $9.60,"

"Invited me out for coffee and then left me with the bill," Sebastian grumbled and handed Hunter a $20 bill.

"That's always the way, Katy has mastered the art of suggesting something to do and then dodging the bill," Hunter laughed and handed Sebastian his change.

"A classic partner move," Sebastian said, keeping his expression neutral and placed his change into the tip jar to Hunter's protest.

"Say hi to Evelyn for me," Sebastian said, picked the two coffees up and headed to the window seat Blaine had occupied.

"He mentioned his wife the second you left," Sebastian pouted, breaking off a part of Blaine's pastry.

Blaine winced and placed his hand over Sebastian's.

"I'm sorry Seb."

"So it's true then? You two are dating now?"

Oh no.

How did this keep happening?!

Blaine was going to hate him after this.

"Sam! Where did you appear from?!" Blaine asked, pulling his hand away from Sebastian instantly.

"I was on a run and I saw the two of you through the window. I was going to tell you a funny story about how Jake thought the two of you were dating but apparently, the joke is on me because he was right!"

Blaine faltered, he wanted desperately to correct Sam and tell him that he wasn't dating Sebastian but he couldn't betray Sebastian like that, not with Hunter standing a few feet away at the counter.

"I'm sorry you had to find out from Jake, I was going to tell you about it myself during our game night tomorrow." Blaine sighed.

"How long have you been dating?" Sam asked, looking hurt.

"A few months, we wanted to keep it secret at first," Sebastian said, his resolve almost breaking at the guilt in Blaine's eyes.

"A few months?! I thought that-" Sam sighed and shook his head.

"I'm happy for you both," Sam said quietly and headed out of the cafe.

"Blaine..." Sebastian frowned and moved seats so that he was sitting next to Blaine now, wrapping his arms around his best friend.

"I haven't seen him that hurt in years and it's worse knowing that I'm the reason," Blaine said, forcing himself to stay composed, he refused to cry in a coffee shop.

"I'm so sorry B, I should never have put you in this position. I can run after Sam right now and tell him everything if you want," Sebastian said quietly, kissing his curls.

Blaine shook his head and gripped Sebastian.

"I don't want to mess up anything between you and Hunter, you are finally getting comfortable talking to each other again."

"How about we finish our coffees and then go home? You can put on one of your dorky superhero DVDs and I won't point out a single plot hole." Sebastian suggested.

Blaine looked up, a small smile on his face.

"Although if you try and say that the main character in that new show looks like me one more time-" Sebastian joked.

"He does look like you!" Blaine laughed.

"Hey guys, sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to bring this over," Hunter said, placing a small plate with a caramel slice down.

"That's really sweet of you, thank you Hunter," Blaine smiled, maybe this time the two of them could be friends.

"I'm sorry if you telling me about your relationship somehow caused all of this."

Sebastian shook his head and smiled softly at Hunter.

"I can assure you that none of this is your fault, its all on me."

Hunter smiled, relieved that he wasn't still ruining Sebastian's life seven years later.

"I've got to get back behind the counter but maybe we could hang out some time?"

Sebastian wanted to jump with joy but also crumple into a ball and cry at the question. He'd love nothing more than to be close with Hunter again but he wasn't sure if he could handle it.

"We'd love that Hunter, thank you again for the cake." Blaine smiled and squeezed Sebastian's arm as Hunter walked off.

"Now I'm the one comforting you." Blaine laughed, Sebastian letting his head fall onto Blaine's shoulder.

"I hate everything." Sebastian groaned.

Chapter Text

Sebastian looked up from his laptop with a frown, he wasn't expecting any guests, especially not at six am.

Sebastian got up quickly when the knocking started again, not wanting to wake Blaine up on his day off and opened the door, feeling even more confused when he saw Hunter holding a sleeping Evelyn.

"Is everything alright?"

"I know I don't have any right to ask this because we're barely even friends again but would you be able to look after Evelyn for a few hours? Work needs emergency cover and I can't turn down any shifts because I have an art show happening in just over a month and Katy can't look after Evie because she's got the flu and I haven't been here long enough to hire a babysitter yet and-" Hunter rushed out apologetically, only stopping when Sebastian placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Breathe Hunt, it's okay. I'm more than happy to look after Evelyn, you can place her down on the couch." Sebastian smiled, stepping out of the way so that Hunter could enter.

"Thank you so much, I really appreciate it," Hunter said, carefully placing Evelyn on the couch and wrapping her blanket back around her.

"I should be back by two, is that alright? If not then I can try and sort something out!"

"Hunter, breathe," Sebastian repeated, not wanting him to work himself into a panic attack.

"I don't have work today and I was planning on staying in already, now I'll just have better entertainment than Blaine for it," Sebastian joked.

"She should sleep for at least another two hours and then when she wakes up she'll want pancakes, I can leave my key for you if you need the ingredients?" Hunter offered.

"Any allergies?" Sebastian checked, pushing his glasses up.

"No allergies but she despises blueberries."

Sebastian nodded and followed Hunter to the door.

"I'll text you an update every hour," Sebastian assured.

"Thank you Seb, I really appreciate it," Hunter smiled and looked back at Evelyn once more before leaving.

----

"Seb, could I please have another pancake?" Evelyn asked with puppy dog eyes, holding her plate up.

Sebastian tried his best to stand his ground, Evelyn had already had three pancakes but puppy dog eyes always got to him.

"One more! And if your Dad asks, I didn't give you four pancakes," Sebastian said, placing a pancake on her plate.

"Yay! Thank you, Seb!" Evelyn cheered.

"Evelyn? Is everything alright?" Blaine asked, rubbing his eyes as he headed for the coffee.

"Hi Blaine!" Evelyn said through a mouthful of pancakes.

"Hunter had to go to work so I said that I'd look after Evelyn for the day," Sebastian shrugged and offered Blaine the plate with pancakes on.

"We're going to build a castle!" Evelyn grinned, swinging her legs on the chair.

Blaine stared at Sebastian for a few seconds and tried to work out how he had jumped from barely being able to acknowledge him to babysitting his kid in the three days since the coffee shop.

"A castle?! I love castles! What are we going to use?" Blaine asked, using his teacher voice.

Sebastian smiled gratefully at Blaine and handed him the syrup as they listened to Evelyn explain all of the best ways to build a castle.

----

"Duck your head as we go through this doorway princess!" Sebastian said, crouching slightly himself as they walked into the coffee shop.

"Daddy!" Evelyn cheered, accidentally kicking Sebastian in excitement.

"Hi, sweet pea! I didn't think I'd be seeing you until later," Hunter smiled and walked round the counter so he could join them.

"Sebby took us to the park! And we got matching glitter tattoos!" Evelyn said, holding onto Sebastian's head as she spoke.

Sebastian nodded and showed Hunter the sparkly pink and purple unicorn tattoo on his arm.

"Wow, it sounds like you are having a great day!" Hunter gushed, biting his lip so he didn't laugh at Sebastian being kicked by Evelyn again.

"The best day ever!!" Evelyn nodded.

"We just wanted to stop by and see if you wanted to come over for dinner tonight? I can cook us some bbq ribs?" Sebastian offered with a hopeful smile.

"I'd love that, I can bring some wine?"

"Perfect, enjoy the rest of your shift," Sebastian replied.

"Bye Daddy!" Evelyn said, waving enthusiastically again.

"Bye princess and bye Evie," Hunter smirked, waving at them as they left.

"Daddy called you princess," Evelyn giggled.

Sebastian laughed and smiled fondly to himself, maybe he could do this whole being friends with Hunter thing.

"Can we build another castle when we're back at yours Uncle Seb?"

Uncle Seb , it was the closest thing he'd get to being family so he'd take it, even if it felt like a tiny repeated pinprick stab to his heart.

"Of course we can! How about we build two castles??"

----

"So let me get this straight, you agree to look after his daughter you'd only met a handful of times normally for brief conversations and then you cook pancakes for her when you've never once made pancakes for me! Then you build castles with all of our cushions and blankets, go to the park, get a glitter tattoo, build more castles and then spend the few hours since Evelyn has been gone to make dinner for Hunter?" Blaine asked, watching Sebastian plate up dinner for four people.

"Not to mention the separate dinner you made for Evelyn because you can't give ribs to a five-year-old."

Sebastian looked up and gave Blaine a blank look before looking back down at the food.

"You are making it seem like a lot more than it was, it was a fun day and ribs are easy to make!"

"Sebastian, you've been in this kitchen for two hours!"

"...What's that in the oven?" Blaine asked, peering around Sebastian.

"Apple pie?!"

Sebastian avoided looking at Blaine and grabbed three wine glasses from the cabinet.

"Who doesn't like apple pie?"

"This is going to end terribly," Blaine sighed.

----

"More pie?" Sebastian offered, placing his now empty bowl on the table and leaning back on the couch.

"I would happily eat a second bowl but I should probably limit myself," Hunter laughed, placing his bowl next to Sebastian's and mirroring Sebastian's position.

"I'll give you some to take home, no one has to know if you have a midnight snack." Sebastian winked, picking up his wine glass.

"I might just take you up on that Smythe," Hunter grinned.

"Evie had a great day, she wouldn't stop talking about you the whole time she was home. She's going to be asking you to make those castles every week."

Sebastian laughed softly and looked at the opposite couch with a sleeping Evelyn on it.

"Sounds like fun to me, she's a great kid."

"She's the best I really lucked out," Hunter said gratefully, finishing off the rest of his wine.

"Want a top-up?" Sebastian asked, reaching across Hunter for the bottle.

Hunter shook his head and placed a hand on Sebastian's chest to stop him.

"I don't want wine," Hunter whispered.

"Hunter..." Sebastian trailed off, stuck between not wanting to break the moment and giving in to it.

"I've really missed you," Hunter hummed, cupping the back of his head and pulling him in for a kiss.

Chapter Text

Sebastian gasped into the kiss and pulled Hunter closer, feeling like he could suddenly breathe again after being stuck underwater.

Hunter pushed Sebastian back and broke away from the kiss to start kissing down his neck.

"Hunter..." Sebastian hummed, letting his head fall to the side.

Sebastian bit his lip to keep quiet and looked around the room for a distraction until his eyes fell on Evelyn asleep.

"No, Hunter, stop," Sebastian gasped, pushing Hunter off him.

"What's wrong? Did I do something?" Hunter asked, looking panicked at Sebastian.

"Did you do something? What's wrong?!" Sebastian exclaimed in a whispered shout, not wanting to wake up Evelyn.

"Your daughter is right there! And contrary to popular belief, I am not a cheater."

"I'm sorry! You were just so close and all of these old feelings have been appearing recently and I gave into them," Hunter explained, reaching across to comfort Sebastian.

Sebastian shook his head and stepped back from Hunter's touch. He couldn't trust himself not to give in and kiss him again.

He couldn't do that to Evelyn.

"Push those feelings back down because this is not happening."

"Sebastian please, just give me a chance to explain myself," Hunter pleaded. He didn't want to lose his friendship when he had only just gotten it back.

"I need you to leave, please," Sebastian asked quietly and headed towards Blaine's room, crawling straight onto his bed once inside.

"Bas? What happened?" Blaine asked, placing his book down straight away and running his fingers through Sebastian's hair in a comforting manner.

"I'm so stupid," Sebastian groaned into Blaine's chest.

"I'm going to need some context, please darling," Blaine said softly, concerned for his friend.

"Hunter kissed me."

"Oh," Blaine said, hand pausing in Sebastian's hair briefly.

"He was just overwhelmed seeing me again and I guess I just lulled him into a safe sense of security by looking after Evelyn today and then making him dinner. The wine probably didn't help," Sebastian explained, clutching Blaine's shirt with one hand.

"Emotions were high and as you said, wine was involved so I'm sure this will blow over in no time," Blaine reassured, even though he wasn't quite sure he believed it himself.

"I would've slept with him," Sebastian said after a few minutes of silence.

"If Evelyn wasn't there, I wouldn't have stopped and I would've slept with a married man."

Blaine frowned and hugged Sebastian closer.

"Whilst that is not something you should aspire to do, Hunter is the one in the wrong here. He's the one actually in a relationship and he kissed you first."

"I should've listened to you when you said this night was going to end terribly," Sebastian sighed and wiped at his eyes.

"Can I sleep in here tonight?"

"Yeah, of course, Bas," Blaine nodded and let go of Sebastian briefly so he could lie down.

"Want to be the little spoon?" Blaine asked, holding out his arms and smiling when Sebastian cuddled into them instantly.

"Sleep well, Bastian."

----

"Blaine, have you seen Sebastian? He's not in his-" Thad trailed off as he took in the scene before him.

"Hey Marley, I found Sebastian!"

"You found him?" Marley called back, sounding confused.

"Oh."

Blaine groaned and ran a hand over his face whilst Sebastian grabbed a pillow and placed it over his head.

"If I said, this isn't what it looks like, would you believe me?" Blaine asked.

"Probably not, this is very damning," Marley said, looking amused.

"You are cuddling in bed and Seb's bed hasn't been slept in which means you have been cuddling since last night," Thad said.

"And in every rom-com ever, the fake relationship always leads to a real one," Marley hummed.

"Sebastian had a rough night and he wanted to talk about something with me. He didn't want to be alone afterwards and I was more than happy to provide comfort because he's my best friend," Blaine explained, trying to sound as vague as possible.

"There must be something going around because we just saw Hunter in the hallway and he looked like he hadn't slept at all but I guess that's what happens when you have a kid," Thad said.

Blaine shook his head quickly, wanting to move the topic on.

Marley looked at Sebastian who was getting more hidden by the second and pulled Thad towards the door.

"We'll get started on breakfast!" Marley said and started reprimanding Thad the second the door was shut.

"They mean well," Blaine said, pulling the pillow from Sebastian.

"Do they have to mean well when I'm trying to wallow in pity?" Sebastian grumbled.

"At least your best friend is still talking to you."

"Sam still ignoring your texts?" Sebastian asked, it was yet another thing for him to feel guilty about.

"I just need to give him time and then he'll hear me out," Blaine said, mainly to himself.

"He will, I'm sure of it. Nothing can get between Blam for too long," Sebastian said, kissing Blaine's nose before hopping out of bed.

"Let's go see if the sunshine duo have burnt down our kitchen or not."

----

Sebastian looked at Blaine for help, Marley had been showing him 'eligible' guys for him to date for almost two hours now. Every guy had a PowerPoint slide about themselves.

Blaine laughed quietly to himself and winked at Sebastian as carried on to his bedroom with his orange juice.

"Traitor," Sebastian mumbled.

"What do you think about Shawn? Pretty good right?" Marley asked, finishing the PowerPoint.

"If he's so good then why was he at the end of the PowerPoint?" Sebastian drawled.

"Someone had to be at the end," Marley shrugged.

"Did you like any of them?"

Sebastian sighed and looked at the screen again.

"I guess that Alex guy didn't seem so bad," Sebastian shrugged.

"The tall, blonde guy with muscles? Oh, I'm sure he was your favourite," Thad snarked from the other couch.

"Shut up Thaddeus, that's literally your type too," Sebastian retorted.

Thad pouted and crossed his arms, not having a good enough response for that.

"Will you actually go on a date with Alex if I set it up?" Marley asked.

"I don't know, maybe. Not right now though, I'm not in the mood to pretend to care about a date,"

"Are you going to tell us why? Your Snapchat yesterday looked like a great time, you made pancakes, built castles, got a bright print tattoo and the apple pie looked so good!" Thad gushed.

Sebastian groaned and hugged a pillow to his chest.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Marley said, hugging Sebastian from the side.

Sebastian looked up when the door knocked and shook his head.

"I'm not answering that."

Thad sighed and got up when the knocking carried on and opened the door slightly, not wanting whoever was at the door to be able to see in properly.

"Thad? Is Sebastian home?" Hunter asked hopefully.

Thad tightened his grip on the door and shook his head.

"Sebastian? No, I don't think I've seen him."

Hunter raised an eyebrow and tried to look around Thad.

"Why are you in his apartment if he's not there?" Hunter asked.

"Oh, uh, good question. I'm here to water his plants whilst he's at work." Thad nodded.

"Sebastian doesn't have work today, he mentioned that last night," Hunter said, raising an eyebrow.

"Did I say work? I meant to say that he's out skiing with Blaine."

Thad internally cringed at the bad lie and could hear Marley groan from here.

"Right, okay. Could you tell him that I wanted to talk?" Hunter asked.

"I can try when he's back but he currently is not available to talk."

Hunter looked at Thad, back in Senior Year he could've easily intimidated him into opening the door but apparently Thad had gained more of a backbone since then.

"Could you at least give him this? Evelyn drew this for him at breakfast." Hunter said, offering the drawing to Thad.

"Yeah, of course. Bye, Hunter." Thad let out a deep breath once the door was shut and went back to the front room.

"That was pitiful, we need to work on your lying," Sebastian said, holding his hand out for the drawing.

"Aww, that's cute. Evelyn made you a Prince," Marley smiled.

The drawing was him as a Prince and Evelyn as a Princess standing at the top of a castle with what looked like a unicorn eating grass at the bottom.

"I'm a terrible person," Sebastian groaned, placing the drawing on the table.

"Not according to Evelyn, she thinks you are a Prince."

"Evelyn doesn't know that I kissed her Dad," Sebastian revealed.

"You what?!" Thad shouted.

"Sebastian, honey, why?" Marley sighed, looking disappointed.

"In my defence, Hunter kissed me. I just didn't break the kiss straight away but I did eventually!" Sebastian defended himself.

"Well, at least you came to your senses," Marley said, going back to hugging Sebastian.

"Only because I saw Evelyn on the other couch sleeping. I refuse to be the person that tears her family apart, she deserves better than that."

"Maybe you should carry on avoiding Hunter for a bit, let things simmer down and then try again with just being friends," Thad suggested.

"And stop being so hard on yourself about it all," Marley added.

Sebastian sighed and nodded.

"Show me the Alex slide again."

three days later

"Emily no, he's already disappointed you before, why go back to him?" Sebastian groaned as the episode ended.

"I'm talking out loud to myself about a TV show..."

Sebastian poured himself another glass of wine and reached for the remote to play the next episode when the door knocked.

"Can a guy not watch Netflix in peace around here?" Sebastian grumbled as he walked to the door.

"...Hunter, hi. I'm not really in the headspace to talk right now, could you come back another time?" Sebastian asked, leaning against the door.

"Blaine is cheating on you," Hunter blurted out.

Chapter Text

"That's not what I was expecting you to say," Sebastian said and stood aside so Hunter could come into the apartment.

"It's not what I was expecting to see," Hunter sighed and walked inside.

"What exactly did you see?" Sebastian asked, heading into the kitchen to grab a second wine glass.

"Sam and Blaine were just leaving the comic shop opposite the coffee shop around lunch and they spoke for a few minutes before hugging and when they pulled back, Sam leaned down to kiss Blaine," Hunter said, accepting the wine glass as Sebastian filled both of theirs up.

"I can't believe he didn't tell me!" Sebastian exclaimed, taking a large swig of wine.

"I'm sorry Seb, I wish I didn't have to tell you about this."

Oh yeah, he was meant to be dating Blaine. He should be upset about Blaine 'cheating' on him and not Blaine withholding Blam information all day.

"But I know how guilty you felt about our kiss and how much you like Blaine so I didn't want him to keep leading you on," Hunter said, raising an eyebrow at Sebastian finishing off his wine.

"It's a shock, I never saw this coming," Sebastian said, holding a hand to his heart.

Too dramatic? Is there a thing such as being too dramatic for a theatre kid?

"Not to bring up the past as I know I wouldn't want anyone to judge me on mine but didn't Blaine cheat on his boyfriend in Senior Year?" Hunter asked carefully.

Sebastian winced, this really wasn't reflecting well on Blaine. He'd have to bake him a cake or something to make up for the bad reputation he was going to have with Hunter once again.

"He did but that was a mistake, he's grown since then," Sebastian defended.

"Seb, I know you've wanted to be with Blaine since you met him and that you haven't been dating that long but I saw them kiss with my own two eyes,"

"That's great Hunter but I'm very busy right now with my wine and my inaccurate Netflix show so if you could please leave," Sebastian said, gesturing to the door.

"Is that Emily in Paris?" Hunter asked with a teasing grin.

"No making fun of me, it's entertaining! And have you seen Alfie??"

Hunter laughed and took a sip of wine.

"Wait, how did you know what show this was? She's not even on screen right now," Sebastian said, turning back to Hunter with a smirk.

"...Katy watches it?" Hunter tried.

"Nuh uh, you wouldn't recognise this if it was just a background show for you," Sebastian teased and flopped down on the couch.

"Want to join me?"

Hunter hesitated for a moment, thinking back to what happened last time they were drinking wine on the couch and shrugged, what could it hurt?

"So you're team Alfie?" Hunter asked, sitting next to Sebastian.

"Well of course, he hasn't let her down once, he's the clear choice!"

----

"Bas I'm home! Have you had dinner yet? I might order a pizza," Blaine called out, dropping his keys on the counter.

"Blaine! You're home!" Sebastian giggled, almost hitting Hunter as he swung his arms out, not that Hunter seemed to mind as he giggled along with him.

"Are you drunk?" Blaine asked amusedly, taking in the two empty bottles on the table.

"Just a little," Sebastian said, struggling to do the gesture with his hand.

"I'm glad you've both had fun," Blaine laughed and headed to the kitchen to pour two glasses of water.

"Did you say Pizza? I want pizza," Sebastian shouted through to Blaine.

"I'll order us some pizza, would you like some Hunter?" Blaine asked, handing them both a glass.

"You are so caring, isn't he so caring Hunt?" Sebastian gushed, almost downing the water in one go.

"Is he?" Hunter grumbled, taking a sip of water.

Blaine raised an eyebrow at the comment, he thought they'd moved past their previous animosity.

"I've got to make some lesson plans so I'll be in my room but I'll be out to get the pizza when it's here," Blaine hummed and stroked Sebastian's hair from his face.

"Thank you B," Sebastian smiled, leaning into the touch.

"You are going to hate yourself in the morning," Blaine laughed and kissed Sebastian's forehead before leaving the room.

"Aren't you going to ask him about Sam?" Hunter asked, having some more of his water.

"That's a tomorrow problem. We should watch more tv! I was watching Arrow the other day with B and I swear they had your doppelganger in it, it was so weird!"

the next day

Sebastian groaned and pulled the covers over his head, everything was too bright.

"Morning Sunshine, how's the head?" Blaine asked, biting back a laugh.

"I hate you," Sebastian groaned.

"Why am I on the couch?"

"You refused to go to bed, you said the couch was magical," Blaine laughed and pulled the covers down so he could hand Sebastian a glass of water and some aspirin.

"You could've dragged me there," Sebastian grumbled and took the water and aspirin gratefully.

"Have you ever met drunk you?" Blaine asked with a raised eyebrow.

"So, do you want to tell me how you went from ignoring Hunter to drunk watching Netflix with him?"

Sebastian looked at Blaine with a smirk, suddenly remembering what Hunter had told him.

"Are you sure you haven't got something to tell me first?"

"We're talking about you right now Bas."

"Hunter came round to tell me that my darling boyfriend was cheating on me with his best friend. Can you believe my shock at hearing this?" Sebastian asked, looking way too amused about the situation.

Blaine groaned and threw a cushion at Sebastian.

"How did he even find out? It was just one kiss!"

"Darling, the light of my life, you quite literally kissed outside of Hunter's workplace," Sebastian laughed.

"Oh, that would do it," Blaine faltered.

"I guess that explains why Hunter kept making snide remarks to me all night."

"I can't believe you didn't tell me about it straight away! I'm meant to be your best friend," Sebastian said, sitting up on the couch.

"That's Sam," Blaine teased.

"Kiss all of your best friends do you?" Sebastian asked.

"Bas, we've also kissed before, multiple times," Blaine reminded, it was in Senior year in the gap somewhere between Hunter leaving and before Blaine got back together with Kurt and was never mentioned again.

"And you quite literally dated your best friend Hunter."

"Shut up, don't use logic against me," Sebastian pouted.

"What are you going to tell Hunter? Do we need to stage a fake breakup?" Blaine asked.

"Definitely not, then I'll have to pretend to be upset and he'll try and comfort me and it'll be awkward," Sebastian shook his head, regretting it instantly as the room started spinning.

"I'll just tell him that it was a spur-of-the-moment kiss and that I won't hold it against you. How can I when I cheated on you too by kissing him?"

Blaine laughed and stood up.

"We're truly making a great impression on him with our relationship."

"Would you like some breakfast?"

Sebastian blanched and pulled the covers back up.

"Don't even think about food near me,"

Blaine rolled his eyes fondly and headed into the kitchen to make himself breakfast.

To Sebastian: is your head as bad as mine is?

To Hunter: i've been told my head is great ;)

To Sebastian: i walked into that one

To Sebastian: thank you for the drinks and fun night, it's been forever since i got to let loose

To Hunter: would you like to come to the opening of the production i'm choreographing? it opens soon and all staff were given five tickets, i've got two left if you and evelyn want them?

To Sebastian: i'd love that and evie will too, she hasn't stopped talking about you since you met

Sebastian smiled to himself and placed his phone on his chest, it might not be how he wished it was but his life was pretty great right now.

Chapter Text

"Are you nervous?" Marley asked, fixing Sebastian's tie for him.

"A little but it's not me that will be on stage so I'm mostly excited," Sebastian hummed.

"I'm so proud of you," Marley smiled.

"You say that every time little Rose," Sebastian laughed and linked arms with her as they headed for their seats.

"And I mean it each time Seb, being the main choreographer on a Broadway show is a big deal!"

"The one time you have the right to brag, you go all modest on us," Blaine rolled his eyes.

"I just can't win with you three," Sebastian said as they sat down, Thad and Marley on one side of him and Blaine on the other.

"I can already see you with your Tony award in hand," Thad grinned.

"You haven't even seen the full choreography yet!"

"You should've gotten one two years ago for that show, I haven't forgotten the injustice," Thad grumbled.

Sebastian rolled his eyes fondly and visibly lit up as Hunter and Evelyn came into sight.

"Be more obvious Seb, I don't think the back row can see your smile," Blaine teased, letting out a small yelp when Sebastian pinched his side.

"Seb I got you flowers!" Evelyn said excitedly, bouncing on the spot, Marley and Thad cooing behind him.

"Oh wow, they are so beautiful! Thank you, Evelyn," Sebastian smiled, holding the flowers close and smelling them.

"Evie picked them out herself at the florist's," Hunter smiled.

"Daddy, can I sit by Uncle Seb?" Evelyn pleaded, tugging on his suit jacket.

"Blaine is sitting there sweetie, we'll be one seat over," Hunter said, he didn't want to sit next to Blaine but he wasn't going to cause a scene on Sebastian's big night.

"It's alright, I'll swap with you. I'm sure Bas would rather sit next to you," Blaine joked, kissing Sebastian's cheek before swapping over with Hunter.

"One hundred percent, who wouldn't want to sit next to this princess?" Sebastian asked, high-fiving Evelyn who was sitting on Hunter's lap.

"Well isn't this cosy?" Quinn asked, taking her seat next to Blaine with a smirk.

"Quinn?! I didn't know you were in the city already!" Sebastian said, resisting the urge to get up from his seat and hug her.

"You didn't think I'd miss opening night did you?" Quinn asked, hugging Blaine's arm between hers.

"You gave me your last two tickets but Evelyn didn't need one as this show falls on a kids go free night," Hunter explained, nodding politely at Quinn in greeting.

"Hunter dropped the ticket off a few days ago but you were at work. I phoned Quinn straight away and said she could sit up front with us and she gave her ticket to Sam," Blaine added, Hunter rolling his eyes at the mention of Sam.

"Don't think I didn't see that cheek kiss, we will be have words later boys," Quinn said, pointing between Blaine and Sebastian.

"Thad, Marley, it's great to see you both again. Congratulations on not killing Seb yet," Quinn winked.

"I need new friends," Sebastian grumbled with a pout.

----

Sebastian rolled his eyes and poured the three of them more wine as Quinn laughed.

"So let me see if I have this right. Hunter, his wife and their daughter moved in directly opposite the two of you and our darling Sebastian here gay panicked over seeing his ex he's still embarrassingly in love with and said that the two of you are dating?" Quinn started, laughing again.

"The two of you are terrible at being a pretend couple though and you've kissed Hunter and you've kissed Sam," Quinn said, pointing at Sebastian and then Blaine.

"It's not funny," Sebastian pouted, leaning back on the couch.

"Oh honey, it's hilarious," Quinn replied.

"Hunter hates me even more now than he did in High School!" Blaine exclaimed, hitting Sebastian with his cushion.

"Watch the wine! I'm not paying to remove any stains," Sebastian warned, pulling the cushion out of Blaine's hands.

"What did you tell Sam? It must be awkward that you can't date because you have to fake date your emotional situationship from High School because he hasn't moved past his less than a year relationship he had seven years ago,"

"I take it back, I'm not happy you are here for a visit," Sebastian huffed.

"At first Sam didn't know this was fake and he ignored me but when I finally got a chance to talk with him, he understood the situation," Blaine explained.

"A little too well," Sebastian joked.

"In his defence, he didn't realise Hunter worked in that Coffee shop and I wasn't exactly thinking about Hunter at that moment,"

"Who needs TV when I can rely on my boys to entertain me?" Quinn teased, raising her glass in the air.

"At least we have relationship drama to be involved with," Sebastian teased, sticking his tongue out at Quinn.

"At least my future partner won't be married," Quinn shot back.

"Oh how I've missed this," Blaine laughed, sitting back and watching the duo as they went back and forth.

"Have you met Hunter's wife?" Quinn asked.

"Briefly, a few times. She's very sweet and hasn't done anything to wrong me but I don't particularly want to make friends with the Woman living my life," Sebastian said, placing his empty wine glass down.

"Evelyn seems to adore you, you gained Uncle status in just under a month," Quinn hummed.

"She latched onto Bas instantly," Blaine smiled.

"Hunter had told her stories about the Warblers and has a few photos in an album so in her eyes, she already knew me," Sebastian explained.

"That's for the best, it would be awkward if she didn't get on with her future stepdad," Quinn said, a calculating smirk on her face.

"Quinn, what are you planning?" Blaine asked, slightly concerned.

"I'm not breaking up a family Fabray," Sebastian shook his head.

"Don't you worry about me boys, I have a feeling it'll all work out in our favour."

Chapter Text

"Sebastian, hey!"

You are a nice person, she is a nice person Sebastian repeated to himself like a mantra as he approached the couple.

"Hey Katy, looking as beautiful as ever."

"Such a charmer," Katy giggled.

"Are you still coming to the Art show opening tonight?" Hunter asked hopefully.

"Yeah, of course! I wouldn't miss it for anything Hunt, all of the Warblers are coming," Sebastian smiled, he was excited to see what Hunter had been working on.

"Hunt is so excited to see everyone, he hasn't stopped talking about it," Katy said.

"I haven't seen most of the boys since I left Ohio, I'm a little nervous," Hunter admitted.

"They are going to love it, darling," Katy gushed, hugging Hunter close.

"Hey guys, how-" Blaine asked, trailing off as Sebastian suddenly kissed him.

"Why did you kiss me?!" Blaine whispered, poking Sebastian in the chest.

"I don't know! I panicked," Sebastian whispered back and held his hand as he turned back around.

"I'm sure you two have lots to do before tonight, we'll leave you to it," Sebastian smiled falsely and all but pushed Blaine into the apartment before they could reply.

"A little warning next time would be nice," Blaine grumbled.

"What did you want me to say? I wouldn't have to warn you if we were dating just like they think we are!"

"Why did you have to kiss me anyway?!" Blaine asked.

"I wanted to get out of the conversation!"

"You are explaining this one to Sam," Blaine grumbled.

"It's not like you are dating yet anyway," Sebastian pointed out, avoiding the cushion Blaine threw his way.

----

"Do I need to go over the rules again before we go inside?" Sebastian asked the group of Warblers.

"Three times is enough," Trent rolled his eyes.

"Trent be nice, he's nervous," David said, giving Sebastian a reassuring smile.

"Doesn't mean he has to tell us to not insult any of Hunter's artwork three times, we wouldn't do that anyway,"

"We're all excited to see Hunter, don't worry," Jeff assured.

"And remember, Blaine and Seb are dating if anyone asks," Thad said with a small laugh.

"Life is never boring with Seb around," Nick said, patting Sebastian on the shoulder before pushing the doors open.

"Hey guys, welcome to my show!" Hunter said, clearly nervous.

"Hunter!" The Warblers cheered, all crowding around him to give him a group hug.

"Daddy has a photo with all of you on the shelf," Evelyn giggled, hugging Sebastian's leg.

"Aww Hunter, we missed you too," Jeff cooed.

"Lies and slander, I didn't miss any of you," Hunter huffed, straightening out his outfit when the group hug ended.

"Apart from me," Sebastian winked.

"Nope, definitely not you," Hunter winked back.

"Do you see what I have to deal with?" Blaine whispered to Nick.

"You are stronger than me," Nick joked.

"Do we need to view your art in a specific order?" Jon asked.

"Not particularly, feel free to roam around and explore at your own pace. It's a mixture of photography dating back to Dalton and some paintings I've made since,"

"Some paintings, stop being so modest!" Thad said as Jon pulled him away.

"Thank you for the invite, it's nice to finally meet you," Wes smiled, nodding at Hunter.

"You too, the Warblers spoke very highly of you back in Senior Year," Hunter said and glanced at Sebastian.

"I'll let you show Sebastian around," Wes said with a knowing smirk and patted his shoulder as he walked to where David and Trent were.

"Of course, you need a tour guide,"

"Who better than to get secret insider information from than the artist himself?" Sebastian smirked and followed after Hunter.

"I'm not sure what secret insider information you are after but the theme of the event is family and love," Hunter said and stopped in front of the first section.

"Wow, these are beautiful Hunt," Sebastian praised, taking in the photos in front of him.

"You really captured the essence of Dalton,"

"I know I was only there for a fraction of time compared to the rest of you but it was home to me," Hunter smiled fondly.

"It wasn't the same after you left," Sebastian said quietly, almost like he didn't want to let the thought out.

Hunter smiled and looked like he was going to say something but pulled back when Jeff and Nick stopped by the section.

Great timing guys Sebastian sighed.

"These are actually from my final college project," Hunter said once they'd reached the next section.

Sebastian stared at the paintings in awe, he knew that Hunter had some photos and artwork of The Warblers in the exhibit but he didn't think he would feature as a solo painting himself.

"You painted me?" Sebastian asked, smiling wider the more he studied the painting.

"I hope you don't mind, I know we weren't talking anymore at this point but the final project was about painting important milestones in our life and you were pretty damn important to me back then," Hunter said, getting quieter towards the end.

"Damn you Hunter, I can't cry in front of all of the Warblers, they'll say I've gone soft," Sebastian laughed, blinking away some tears.

Hunter laughed, visibly relaxing at Sebastian's reaction.

"Want to move on to the next section?" Hunter suggested after a few moments, holding out his hand for Sebastian.

Sebastian looked away from the paintings after another few moments and nodded, taking Hunter's hand with a smile.

Sorry Katy

----

"And here we have the most important section of all!" Hunter grinned, letting go of Sebastian's hand to crouch down next to Evelyn.

"Daddy let me put some drawings up too!" Evelyn said excitedly.

"I'll let Evie explain them all to you, would you like a drink?" Hunter offered, glancing up at Sebastian.

"A drink would be great, thanks Hunt," Sebastian smiled and watched him go.

"You stare at Daddy a lot," Evelyn giggled.

Sebastian blushed and quickly looked away from where Hunter had walked off to and took in the drawings Evelyn had made instead.

"This one is you and Blaine with me! We're in a castle because we always build castles when you look after me!" Evelyn grinned, practically bouncing on the spot.

"I love it sweet pea, you really captured Blaine's height," Sebastian joked, Blaine being almost the same height as Evelyn in the drawing.

"Princess, who's this?" Sebastian asked, crouching down to Evelyn's height so she could explain her painting to him.

"That's me, Mommy, Daddy and Daniel!" Evelyn said excitedly, swaying in her dress.

"Who's Daniel?" Sebastian asked, trying to think back on previous conversations.

"Mommy's boyfriend! He's the bestest step dad ever!"

Chapter Text

two months ago

"Daddy can we pleeeease have ice cream, I promise I'll eat all of my dinner!" Evelyn pleaded as she followed her Dad inside.

Hunter looked across the hall at the now-closed door to Sebastian's apartment and shook his head. He needed to focus.

"Daddyyyyy."

"Sorry sweet pea. Of course, you can have some ice cream. Daniel is in the kitchen, could you ask him to give you a bowl?" Hunter asked, giving Evelyn what he hoped was a normal smile.

"Thank you Daddy !" Evelyn cheered and hugged him quickly before running into the kitchen.

Hunter walked into the bedroom and flopped onto the bed, ignoring Katy's noise of protest.

"Any particular reason why you are creasing your clothes right now?" Katy asked, raising an eyebrow at her best friend.

"Sebastian Smythe," Hunter said, voice muffled by the clothes.

"Hunt, I've told you multiple times before that you should take down the warblers photos from the shelf if you are going to have a crisis whenever you stare at it for more than a second," Katy sighed.

Hunter groaned and turned around on the bed, creasing the clothes even more to Katy's annoyance, Mr Puss hopped onto the bed from his cat bed in the corner and laid directly on Hunter's chest.

"Evelyn wandered out into the hall when I was giving Dan the last box for the kitchen. When I went to bring her back in, she said it was alright because she saw my friend." Hunter said, stroking Mr Puss.

Katy paused her folding and sat down on the bed next to Hunter.

"Are you telling me that out of the whole city, you somehow managed to move in opposite the one who got away?"

"You definitely aren't going to move on now," Katy sighed.

"Thank you for your helpful input, Katy, I don't know what I would ever do without you," Hunter deadpanned.

"Shouldn't you be happy that you live opposite him? Maybe he's just as pathetic as you are and hasn't moved on either, even though it's been seven years since you briefly dated back in High School,"

"When did you get so mean?" Hunter huffed, throwing a shirt at Katy.

"When you made me stay up until five am to help you finish packing because you procrastinated too much," Katy answered, throwing the shirt back at him.

"But really, what aren't you telling me? You get to see Sebastian again and I'm sure The Warblers will be nearby because you all sounded weirdly co-dependent in all of your stories."

"One Warbler definitely stayed nearby," Hunter grumbled.

"Sebastian is dating Blaine."

Katy winced and shuffled across the bed and wrapped her arms around Hunter, this was the worst possible outcome to the reunion.

"Are you sure? Maybe they just live together as friends," Katy suggested.

"Sebastian used the word boyfriend and Blaine didn't deny it," Hunter said and rested his head on Katy's shoulder.

"Before you spiral and question everything from your relationship which I know you will. This doesn't mean that Sebastian liked Blaine back when the two of you were dating, I've seen the photos and he adored you."

"Yeah, maybe. But the truth of the matter is that he stayed in contact with Blaine this whole time and he didn't bother to try and find me at any point," Hunter frowned, maybe it was finally time to force himself to move on.

"I see how it is, you have me unpack the whole kitchen by myself so you can slack off in here," Daniel joked, leaning against the doorway.

"Sebastian lives across the hallway with his boyfriend Blaine," Katy explained, stroking Hunter's hair.

"Final college art project Sebastian? Bowtie hobbit Blaine?" Daniel asked, pushing off the doorway and lying on Hunter's other side.

"Is it too soon to move again?" Hunter asked after a few minutes of pitying silence.

the next day

"Daddy please don't forget to give Sebastian the cookies! I decorated them all special with the food glitter!" Evelyn said, pointing to the cooling rack on the counter as Daniel was tying her shoelaces.

"I promise Evie, once they've cooled down I'll put them on a plate and take them to Sebastian," Hunter said, forcing a smile onto his face.

"Are you sure you don't want to come to the cinema?" Katy asked, she could tell that Hunter still wasn't over the events of yesterday.

"I'm fine Katy, I can be an adult about this," Hunter assured.

Katy raised an eyebrow at him, she'd believe that when she saw it.

"I'll bring you back some popcorn for you to eat whilst you mope in front of the TV," Katy said and kissed his cheek before leaving with Daniel and Evie.

He could be mature about this.

Hunter took a deep breath in and knocked on the door, praying with everything in him that Blaine wasn't going to be the one to answer.

"Hunter, hi, I wasn't expecting you." Sebastian smiled.

"Sebastian, hi! I wasn't sure if you'd answer, you rushed off so quickly yesterday," Hunter said, glad it wasn't Blaine who answered.

"Evelyn made cookies with her Mom after lunch today and I promised her that I'd bring you over a plate." Hunter smiled, not sure if he should be happy or not that Evelyn instantly attached herself to Sebastian after one brief meeting.

"That was kind of you both, thank you. Blaine always has a snack at three am so these will go down a treat."

Hunter felt his eye twitch for a split second before he forced a bright smile back into place.

"So, Blaine. I guess you finally got the guy then, following him around for years finally paid off." Hunter said, hoping he didn't sound as bitter as he felt.

"It's a fairly new development, it wasn't planned but here we are."

"That's great, I'm happy for you Sebastian." Hunter lied, gripping the plate tightly.

"I should let you get back to Evelyn and her Mom, thank you again for the cookies."

"Oh, yeah, of course. Bye Sebastian, enjoy." Hunter said, pushing the plate into Sebastian's hands and walking across the hall to his apartment, waving quickly before closing his door.

"Stupid," Hunter groaned, laying his head against the door.

"I was joking about the moping in front of the tv ," Katy said as she let herself into the apartment, Mr Puss running over to her and circling her legs.

"I have plenty of reasons to be moping right now, let me be," Hunter said, turning the volume up on the movie.

"Where's our daughter? Did you leave her at the cinema?"

"She conned Dan into taking her to the park," Katy laughed.

"Did something go wrong with the cookie delivery? Let me guess, they are married with three kids," Katy joked, taking the remote from Hunter and pausing the movie.

"Do the warblers count?" Hunter joked, taking the popcorn from Katy.

"I gave him the cookies and his first thought was how Blaine would enjoy them as his middle-of-the-night snack."

"I hate to say it Hunt but I think you are just going to have to suck this one up and pretend to be happy for them. Your options right now are to carry on pouting and watching bad rom-coms and lose Sebastian all over again or pretend to be happy and get your best friend back," Katy said, taking a handful of popcorn.

"Not that you have much choice, our daughter has clearly inherited the 'obsessed with Sebastian Smythe' gene from you."

two weeks later

"Daddy, will the Nemo fish be there?" Evelyn asked, holding his hand as they walked to the elevator.

"They should be, are they your new favourites?" Hunter asked.

"Yes! They are so cute Daddy," Evelyn gushed.

Hunter smiled and looked up as he heard Sebastian's door open, his expression slipping as he heard Sebastian and Blaine expressing their love for each other.

"Sebastian!" Evelyn cheered, running over and hugging his legs.

Hunter closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, he didn't want Evelyn to sense any negativity from him.

"We're going to an Aquarium," Hunter explained, catching the tail end of Evelyn's sentence.

"Did you want to see the fishes with us??" Evelyn asked Sebastian with the trademarked Parker family puppy dog eyes.

"I'm sorry Princess but I have to go to work," Sebastian said, looking at him for help.

"Remember what Mommy said this morning?" Hunter said, crouching down for Evelyn.

"I remember," Evelyn said with a sigh, her phone call with Katy this morning almost ended in tears after Katy had to explain that Daniel had work and couldn't go to the aquarium.

"What's your job, Seb? Is it something fun? My Daddy has a boring job."

Being a barista wasn't that boring.

"I'm a choreographer for Broadway shows."

Hunter smiled his first real smile at Sebastian, happy that he hadn't fallen into the trap of becoming a lawyer to please his Dad.

"What does that mean?" Evelyn asked.

"It means that I get to teach lots of very talented people dance routines for big shows," Sebastian explained.

"That's so cool! I love dancing!" Evelyn gushed.

"Did you know that your Daddy is a great dancer?" Sebastian asked, smirking at Hunter who resisted the urge to stick his tongue at him, almost reverting to his Dalton self.

Evelyn nodded quickly, bouncing on the spot.

"Daddy can do a flip in the air!"

"He can! It's very impressive," Sebastian smiled, looking at Hunter again.

"Alas, my backflipping days might be over. I'm getting old now," Hunter joked, smiling at Sebastian.

"Silly Daddy, you aren't old! Grandpa is old!"

"Are you ready to go and see the fishes, Evie?" Hunter asked, noticing that Sebastian needed to go.

"I'll get Daddy to take lots of photos for you Seb!" Evelyn promised, hugging Sebastian's legs once again.

"Thank you, Evelyn, that's very kind of you," Sebastian hummed, breaking eye contact with Hunter.

"Have a nice day Hunt, -er," Sebastian said, stumbling over the nickname that slipped out.

"You too Sebastian," Hunter said softly, watching Sebastian rushing away.

"You keep looking at Sebastian funny, is he not your friend anymore Daddy?" Evelyn asked, holding Hunter's hand as they started walking towards the aquarium.

Hunter laughed and shook his head, that definitely wasn't the reason for the staring.

"I'm just glad to have him back in my life sweet pea, I missed him."

a few days later

Surely by now all of his karma from High School should've happened?

It was bad enough that he had to see Blaine all over Sebastian when he was at home, he didn't need to see it at his workplace too.

Hunter gritted his teeth as he heard Blaine laugh and joke about being the best boyfriend Sebastian could have and quickly finished off the drink he was making.

"You remembered," Sebastian said with a soft smile.

Hunter tried his best not to smile smugly and focused fully on Sebastian, maintaining eye contact for longer than was probably appropriate.

"I'll have a flat white and whichever your most popular pastry is please," Blaine said, reminding Hunter of his existence once again.

"We have a new blueberry pastry that has been quite popular today but if you don't like blueberry then I'd recommend the caramel slice," Hunter said, pushing his glasses up, maybe he shouldn't be so obvious with his staring at Sebastian with Blaine standing right there.

"I'll try the blueberry one, thanks Hunter," Blaine smiled and let go of Sebastian once the pastry was placed in front of him.

"I'm going to get us a table," Blaine added, picking up the small plate and walking off.

"That'll be $9.60," Hunter said.

"Invited me out for coffee and then left me with the bill," Sebastian said as he paid.

"That's always the way, Katy has mastered the art of suggesting something to do and then dodging the bill," Hunter laughed and handed Sebastian his change.

"A classic partner move," Sebastian said, reminding Hunter once again that Sebastian was in a happy relationship and he was stuck in Senior Year still.

another few days later

Hunter looked at his phone again and sighed when he saw that it had only been six minutes since the last time he'd checked.

He had all of the faith in the world that Sebastian was making sure Evelyn had a great day but that didn't help the guilt that he felt about having to leave her somewhere new before she'd even had a chance to wake up.

But Katy was down with the flu at her apartment with Daniel looking after her and that was as far as his support system went, regarding people he trusted with Evelyn.

Hunter looked up when the door opened and smiled brightly as he saw Sebastian with Evelyn on his shoulders, he could forgive the lack of a text update this hour if it meant he got an in-person update.

"Daddy!" Evelyn cheered.

Hunter tried his best not to laugh when she accidentally kicked Sebastian.

"Hi, sweet pea! I didn't think I'd be seeing you until later," Hunter smiled and walked round the counter so he could join them.

"Sebby took us to the park! And we got matching glitter tattoos!" Evelyn said, holding onto Sebastian's head as she spoke.

Hunter raised an eyebrow at the sparkly pink and purple unicorn tattoo on Sebastian's arm and felt a fond warmth around his heart at how close Evelyn and Sebastian were getting.

"Wow, it sounds like you are having a great day!" Hunter gushed.

"The best day ever!!" Evelyn nodded.

"We just wanted to stop by and see if you wanted to come over for dinner tonight? I can cook us some bbq ribs?" Sebastian asked.

"I'd love that, I can bring some wine?" Hunter offered, he could be mature and pretend to get on with Blaine for the evening.

"Perfect, enjoy the rest of your shift."

"Bye Daddy!"

"Bye princess and bye Evie," Hunter smirked, waving at them as they left, if only he could have this permanently.

Hunter placed his bowl next to Sebastian's and leaned back on the couch with a content sigh, once again imagining what it would be like if he was the one dating Sebastian.

"I'll give you some to take home, no one has to know if you have a midnight snack." Sebastian winked.

"I might just take you up on that Smythe," Hunter grinned, having some of his wine.

"Evie had a great day, she wouldn't stop talking about you the whole time she was home. She's going to be asking you to make those castles every week."

"Sounds like fun to me, she's a great kid."

"She's the best I really lucked out," Hunter said gratefully, finishing off the rest of his wine and placing it on the table.

Maybe multiple glasses of wine weren't the best idea but it was too late to go back now.

"Want a top-up?" Sebastian asked, reaching across Hunter for the bottle.

Hunter shook his head and placed a hand on Sebastian's chest to stop him.

What if he could remind Sebastian of how good it was between them?

Sebastian always said that it was Hunter he loved and not Blaine, what better time to get him to prove it than right now?

"I don't want wine," Hunter whispered.

"Hunter..."

"I've really missed you," Hunter cupped the back of Sebastian's head and pulled him in for a kiss, damn the consequences.

Hunter pushed Sebastian back and broke the kiss to start moving down his neck, starting to suck a hickey like they were back in senior year.

"No, Hunter, stop," Sebastian gasped, pushing Hunter off him.

"What's wrong? Did I do something?" Hunter asked, standing up and looking panicked at Sebastian.

"Did you do something? What's wrong?!" Sebastian exclaimed in a whispered shout.

"Your daughter is right there! And contrary to popular belief, I am not a cheater."

Well, his plan worked for all of thirty seconds.

"I'm sorry! You were just so close and all of these old feelings have been appearing recently and I gave into them," Hunter explained, reaching across to comfort Sebastian, hating that he was the reason why Sebastian was hurting.

"Push those feelings back down because this is not happening."

"Sebastian please, just give me a chance to explain myself," Hunter pleaded.

He didn't want to lose his friendship when he had only just gotten it back, he wouldn't be able to handle living opposite if they became total strangers.

"I need you to leave, please," Sebastian asked quietly.

Hunter watched Sebastian go into Blaine's room and felt like a puppet with its strings cut.

the next day

"Why are you throwing a pity party?" Katy asked, pulling the blanket from over Hunter.

"Go away, I don't want to talk."

Katy sighed and got into the bed next to him, careful to not disturb Mr Puss and wrapped her arms around him.

"I've given you half an hour to yourself whilst Evie told us all about the magical day she had yesterday so now you are going to tell me what went wrong and why you hid yourself in here the second Dan and I arrived."

Hunter sighed and turned around so that he was facing Katy.

"I did something stupid."

"That doesn't surprise me, you seem to lose control when Sebastian is nearby," Katy hummed.

"Seb asked me if I wanted to stay for some more wine once Blaine had gone into his room and Evie was asleep so obviously I said yes," Hunter started.

"Then I'm not sure what happened, I guess I just gave into the voice in my head and I kissed him."

"Hunter, sweetie, no."

Katy sighed and held Hunter closer, this explained the empty wine bottle in the recycling.

"I'm guessing he rejected you?"

"That probably would've been better," Hunter admitted.

"He kissed me back briefly but then something snapped him out of it and he pushed me away and said he wasn't a cheater."

"You really do get yourself into some situations don't you?" Katy hummed.

"That's how we met so at least I've stayed consistent," Hunter joked.

"At least you can't get Sebastian pregnant after a drunken night I guess," Katy laughed.

Hunter laughed and shook his head amusedly at the imagery the thought procured.

"Give him a few days to move on from it and then apologise for being a drunken idiot and hopefully you can move on from there," Katy suggested.

"What if he doesn't want to take me back as a friend?" Hunter asked quietly.

"Then you have to wait a little longer. You living here out of all of the apartments in the city is proof that the two of you can't be apart for too long," Katy assured and kissed his forehead.

"Now get up and make some pancakes, I'm hungry."

Hunter rolled his eyes and picked up Mr Puss so he could get out of bed.

"I'm the hungover one here, shouldn't you be taking care of me?" Hunter asked.

"Nope, not my fault you are an idiot," Katy smirked.

Hunter hesitated outside Sebastian's front door, Katy said to wait a few days but he didn't have the patience for that.

Hunter knocked on the door and waited for an answer, knocking again when no one appeared.

"Thad? Is Sebastian home?" Hunter asked hopefully, trying not to look too disappointed that he answered.

"Sebastian? No, I don't think I've seen him."

Hunter raised an eyebrow and tried to look around Thad, it wasn't hard, Thad was only 5'8 after all.

"Why are you in his apartment if he's not there?" Hunter asked.

"Oh, uh, good question. I'm here to water his plants whilst he's at work." Thad nodded.

"Sebastian doesn't have work today, he mentioned that last night," Hunter said, raising an eyebrow, clearly Thad's lying hadn't improved since Dalton.

"Did I say work? I meant to say that he's out skiing with Blaine."

"Right, okay. Could you tell him that I wanted to talk?" Hunter asked.

"I can try when he's back but he currently is not available to talk."

Hunter looked at Thad and sighed, he wasn't getting anywhere with this and Thad was extremely loyal when it came to Sebastian, if he didn't want him to get past then he had no chance.

"Could you at least give him this? Evelyn drew this for him at breakfast." Hunter said, offering the drawing to Thad.

"Yeah, of course. Bye, Hunter."

Hunter hesitated at the door for an extra few seconds, just in case Sebastian changed his mind before turning around and heading back into his apartment.

"Stop judging me, I know you miss him too," Hunter sighed, stroking Mr Puss who was on the counter waiting for him.

three days later

Hunter knocked on Katy's door urgently and rushed inside straight away.

"Woah, Hunt, everything alright dude?" Daniel asked.

"Is Katy here?"

"She's at a karaoke night with some friends from work," Daniel said.

Hunter paced back and forth for a few minutes and looked up at Daniel who looked a lot more concerned now.

"I saw Blaine kissing his friend Sam outside of my work today."

"Ahh, I see where the pacing comes into play," Daniel said and sat down on the couch.

"Are you going to tell Sebastian?"

Hunter sighed and shrugged, he'd been fighting with that thought since lunch.

"I don't want to be the one that ruins the relationship he's waited so long for."

"So you'd rather he stayed in the relationship not knowing that Blaine isn't fully invested?" Daniel asked.

Hunter threw his hands up and groaned.

"I don't know! What if he doesn't believe me? We haven't spoken since the other night when I kissed him, what if he thinks I'm just trying to split them up?"

"You just need to think to yourself, is the risk worth it?" Daniel asked. Katy would be giving better advice right now, maybe he should read more of her magazines for times like this.

"What if they stay together because Sebastian calls it even after our kiss? I don't know what's worse, me being the reason they break up or me being the reason they stay together."

Hunter loved wine.

Wine was so nice

 "Do you have more wine?" Hunter asked, looking dejectedly at the two empty bottles on the table.

"I'm not sure, I should check the magical wine cupboard, there is always wine in there even though I never buy any," Sebastian giggled.

"Bas I'm home! Have you had dinner yet? I might order a pizza," Blaine called out.

Hunter groaned, the homewrecker was back from his homewrecking.

"Blaine! You're home!" Sebastian giggled and almost hit Hunter as he swung his arms out, making him giggle.

"Are you drunk?" Blaine asked amusedly.

"Just a little," Sebastian said, struggling to do the gesture with his hand.

Hunter reached across and tried to help Sebastian make the gesture unsuccessfully.

"I'm glad you've both had fun," Blaine laughed.

"Did you say Pizza? I want pizza," Sebastian shouted through to Blaine, making Hunter shush him.

"I'll order us some pizza, would you like some Hunter?" Blaine asked, handing them both a glass.

"You are so caring, isn't he so caring Hunt?" Sebastian gushed.

"Is he?" Hunter grumbled, taking a sip of water from the betrayer.

"I've got to make some lesson plans so I'll be in my room but I'll be out to get the pizza when it's here," Blaine hummed and stroked Sebastian's hair from his face.

"Thank you B," Sebastian smiled, leaning into the touch.

"You are going to hate yourself in the morning," Blaine laughed and kissed Sebastian's forehead before leaving the room.

Hunter glared at Blaine as he spoke to Sebastian, there wasn't a hint of remorse on his face. Hunter would never do that to Sebastian.

"Aren't you going to ask him about Sam?" Hunter asked, having some more of his water.

"That's a tomorrow problem. We should watch more TV! I was watching Arrow the other day with B and I swear they had your doppelgänger in it, it was so weird!"

"It's so weird that our doppelgängers keep turning up in superhero shows, do you think any of the other Warblers will appear?" Hunter asked, thoughts of Blaine already gone from his mind.

and one final few days later

"And remember, do not kiss Sebastian," Katy joked, straightening Hunter's tie.

"Ha, you are so funny," Hunter deadpanned, rolling his eyes at his best friend.

"Isn't she just?" Daniel praised, kissing Katy's cheek as he passed.

"I still can't believe you made up because of Emily in Paris," Katy laughed, stepping back to admire Hunter's outfit in full.

"And you said nothing good would come from me watching 'a pointless Netflix show.'"

Hunter smirked and picked up the bouquet from the counter.

"Ugh shut up, it's not my fault you found someone with equally bad tastes," Katy rolled her eyes.

"Daddy I'm all ready!" Evelyn giggled, rushing into the room.

"Wow sweet pea, you look beautiful!" Hunter praised, Katy and Daniel, echoing his thoughts as Evelyn twirled around.

"Can we go now? I want to see Uncle Seb and the fun dancing!!" Evelyn said, bouncing on the spot.

"Uncle Seb?" Katy mouthed to Daniel, that damn Clarington gene to be obsessed with Sebastian was taking over.

"Of course, Evie, say goodbye to Mommy and Daniel first though."

"Bye Mommy, bye Daddy Daniel!" Evelyn said, hugging them both tightly.

Evelyn already had two Dad's, did she really need a third? Hunter thought as he left the apartment with Evelyn.

Present day

Hunter squeezed his hands together as they reached the next section, he was the most nervous about this one.

"These are actually from my final college project," Hunter said, looking at Sebastian for his reaction, letting out a relieved breath when Sebastian had a positive reaction to the painting.

"You painted me?" Sebastian asked, smile growing wider by the second.

"I hope you don't mind, I know we weren't talking anymore at this point but the final project was about painting important milestones in our life and you were pretty damn important to me back then," Hunter said, getting quieter towards the end.

He could've painted Evelyn as she was a brand new milestone in his life but everyone there knew about her.

It felt more personal to paint what was hidden away in his heart than what was on full display every day.

"Damn you Hunter, I can't cry in front of all of the Warblers, they'll say I've gone soft," Sebastian laughed, blinking away some tears.

Hunter laughed and fully relaxed, relieved that he hadn't made it awkward.

"Want to move on to the next section?" Hunter suggested after a few moments, holding out his hand for Sebastian, what's one more risk?

Sebastian looked away from the paintings after another few moments and nodded, taking Hunter's hand with a smile.

Sorry not sorry Blaine

"Two beers please," Hunter asked, leaning against the bar.

"What are you up to?"

Hunter turned around with a raised eyebrow and looked the blonde up and down.

"Quinn?" Hunter asked, confused about what she was doing here, they weren't particularly close even after the show recently.

"I'll ask again, what are you up to?" Quinn asked, resting her hands on either side of the counter, blocking Hunter in.

"I'm not sure what you mean? I'm just here to showcase my art from over the years," Hunter said slowly, looking around for someone to pull him away from the conversation.

"You are messing around with Sebastian's feelings and I don't appreciate it."

"Sebastian and I are fine, you can put the nails away," Hunter said, even more confused now.

"You are walking around hand in hand knowing that you can't date currently and showing him photos and paintings you have of him from years ago. I don't know what goes on in your little brain but that is messing around with his feelings,"

"I'm not the one stopping us from dating so I don't see how this is my problem?" Hunter asked.

"I feel sorry for your wife, does she know that she means that little to you that not only will you cheat on her physically but also emotionally without a care in the world?" Quinn asked, sparing a glance at Katy across the room.

"My wife? I'm not married, you've gotten your wires crossed somewhere," Hunter said, trying to think back on what he'd said to Quinn the last time they spoke.

"What? No, you are married to Katy and you've got a daughter together," Quinn said, shaking her head at Hunter.

"Yes, we have a daughter together but that was from a drunken hookup in college. Katy and I haven't ever been in a relationship let alone married, I'm pretty sure I'd remember that."

"And her boyfriend Daniel would definitely have something to say about it."

Quinn eased back and placed her head in her hand, why was communication so hard for men?

"Idiots, you are both idiots."

"Did Sebastian think Katy and I were married?" Hunter asked slowly.

"Quinn, whatever you are about to say, don't do it," Thad said, rushing up to the duo.

"Can someone please tell me what is going on?" Hunter asked, looking between them.

"Sebastian panicked when he saw you again and he thought you were married with a kid, to make himself look slightly less pathetic when he was still mooning over you after years apart, he said that he was dating Blaine. Which he isn't and hasn't ever done," Quinn smirked, taking a small curtsy in front of them.

Hunter stared at Quinn blankly whilst he tried to process everything. Sebastian had been single this whole time?

"I'll leave the next move up to you, pick wisely," Quinn winked and walked off to join Sam and Blaine.

Chapter Text

Sebastian stared at the photo and back at Evelyn as he tried to process the information that Hunter and Katy weren't dating .

"Uncle Seb, are you okay? You're making a weird face," Evelyn giggled.

"I'm alright Princess, I just need to go and talk to your Daddy about something," Sebastian smiled and waved Blaine over to stay with Evelyn.

"Is everything alright? You look spooked," Blaine said, placing a hand on Sebastian's arm.

"I'm good, can you look after Evelyn for a few minutes?"

"Yeah, of course, take all the time you need Bas," Blaine said softly, watching Sebastian walk away.

"You aren't married to Katy?!"

"You aren't dating Blaine?!"

Sebastian laughed, of course, they found out simultaneously, this whole situation felt like a terrible rom-com.

"Katy and I have never dated-" Hunter started.

"Shut up and kiss me," Sebastian said, pulling Hunter in for a kiss just shy of family-friendly.

"We've got a lot to catch up on apparently," Hunter laughed, pressing, one, two, three, quick kisses to Sebastian's lips.

"Daddy you kissed Uncle Seb!" Evelyn giggled, an apologetic Blaine stood behind her.

"Maybe we should stop saying Uncle Seb now, that'll look weird to outsiders," Katy joked, walking up with Daniel.

"Daddy Seb!" Evelyn cheered.

"We've been dating for a whole two minutes and I've already been upgraded to Step Dad Seb," Sebastian said smugly, high-fiving Evelyn.

"Dating? I don't recall you asking to date," Hunter joked, fighting back a smile at Evelyn and Sebastian's antics.

"Why am I the one asking you? I asked you at Dalton!" Sebastian protested.

"Because you are the one who pretended to have a boyfriend for two months!"

"He's got you there Seb," Thad hummed.

"Any particular reason why you are all gathering around us?" Sebastian asked, holding onto Hunter's hand.

"We've been waiting seven years for this, why would we stay away?" Nick asked, a mischievous smile on his face.

"I had to pretend to be your boyfriend for two months, I'm not missing a moment of this payoff," Blaine grinned.

"Oh really, not one moment?" Sebastian smirked teasingly.

"No flirting with your fake ex-boyfriend," Hunter rolled his eyes, pinching Sebastian's side.

"Why have I not heard a single 'Thank you Quinn' yet?" Quinn asked with a raised eyebrow.

Sebastian laughed and held out his arms for Quinn, kissing her head as they hugged.

"Thank you, Q, I appreciate you greatly."

"We can all catch up later, everyone go back to appreciating the amazing show Hunter has made," Sebastian said, going back to Hunter's side as everyone left them.

"I can't believe you thought I put on a show with photos I'd taken when we were dating and with a painting I made of you when we'd broken up with my wife viewing it all," Hunter teased as he pulled Sebastian to the bar for a much-needed drink.

"In my defence, you didn't say at any point that you weren't dating Katy!"

"I also didn't say at any point that I was!" Hunter said, handing Sebastian a champagne flute.

"I'm not even wearing a wedding ring, Seb."

Sebastian frowned and grabbed Hunter's hand, holding it up to his face.

"How did we all miss that?!" Sebastian groaned.

"I have no idea how you haven't bumped into Daniel before, he's always round the apartment with Katy."

"Maybe I saw him at some point and didn't question it because I assumed he was your friend," Sebastian shrugged and downed the champagne.

"I felt so guilty about wanting to sleep with a married man!"

Hunter laughed and pulled Sebastian close, kissing his forehead.

"I should probably apologise to Blaine, and Sam," Hunter hummed, glancing over at the duo who were holding hands as Evelyn followed them around.

"You were trying to be a good friend to me and they understand that, don't worry," Sebastian reassured, wrapping an arm around Hunter's waist.

"I had a whole crisis about whether or not I should tell you. I didn't want to look like a jealous ex even though that's definitely what I was," Hunter laughed, tilting Sebastian's head up with two fingers under his chin.

"No need to be jealous anymore and no longer my ex," Sebastian grinned, leaning in for another kiss.

"Want to find Thad and force him to tell us what bets the guys had on us?" Hunter asked.

Bets were inevitable within The Warblers even this many years on.

"Just like old times," Sebastian laughed and held Hunter's hand as they swerved through their friends to get to Thad.

"Thaddeus Clarington-Smythe, just the guy we were looking for," Sebastian smirked, standing in front of his best friend.

"I'm no longer a child of divorce?" Thad joked, he hadn't been referred to as the Huntbastian child since the 'divorce' also known as Hunter moving out of Ohio.

"Family is all back together and you have a sister now," Hunter joked.

"You have nothing from Seb, he just pined the whole time," Thad teased, knocking his shoulder into Sebastian as the taller made a noise of protest.

"I didn't pine the whole time, I had boyfriends," Sebastian huffed.

"Didn't they all break up with you because they could tell you still loved your ex?" Thad asked, signature Sebastian smirk in place.

"I'm putting you up for adoption," Sebastian deadpanned.

"And you, stop laughing or you won't get any sex tonight," Sebastian said, pointing at Hunter.

"Ugh, do I have to be here for this bit?" Thad asked with a shudder.

"Sorry Thad, we had a few questions to ask you," Hunter said.

"Oh no, I recognise that look. Where's Jon?!" Thad asked, looking around the room for support.

"We just want to know how many bets are currently going on," Sebastian asked, placing a hand on Thad's shoulder.

"Wes said we aren't allowed to tell anyone outside of the people who have placed a bet," Thad said and placed a hand over his mouth.

"So Wes is the one in charge of the bets?"

Thad sighed and shook his head.

"It's still Jon that is running the bets, Wes is just the one in charge of making sure it doesn't get out of hand."

"How could it possibly get out of hand? Surely it's as simple as betting yes or no to us getting back together?" Hunter asked.

"The amount of people getting involved and also the amount that was being bet, Wes had to put a cap on it after Santana placed $300 on yes."

"I have many questions but let's start with, how did Santana even know there was a bet going on?" Sebastian asked, shaking his head with a small laugh.

"Wes posted about it on his close friends story and Santana saw it and phoned Blaine."

"I can't believe he took us off his close friends so he could conspire about us," Sebastian murmured.

"So, how many of you losers lost money?" Hunter asked, kissing Sebastian's head.

"I think three? But no one from our main group I believe."

"Huh, that's actually kind of sweet that you all had faith in us getting back together," Sebastian smiled, looking at Hunter.

"Even if you did all think I was happily married with a kid," Hunter deadpanned.

"Shh, don't ruin it," Sebastian laughed, leaning in for a kiss.

"And I've been forgotten about," Thad rolled his eyes and walked off in the direction of the others, just like old times.

Chapter Text

"I really don't think this is a good idea Marley . Let's give them a few more hours to y'know, catch up."

Marley laughed and squeezed Thad's arm as they left the elevator with Blaine.

"It's three pm, they've had plenty of time to catch up and we're bringing food and coffee!"

"And it would be nice to be able to access my apartment at some point of the day," Blaine drawled with a small eyeroll, unlocking the front door.

"I see they didn't waste any time," Marley joked, looking at the trail of clothes.

"It's too quiet," Thad said, following behind the duo.

"Ugh Sebastian, we eat in here!" Blaine groaned, making the couple jump apart.

"I told you!" Thad exclaimed.

"We were just kissing, completely innocent!" Sebastian defended, holding his hands up.

"I saw where your hand was going!"

"Seb, you have a flour handprint on your ass," Marley said, giggling with a smug-looking Hunter.

"We were making pancakes!" Sebastian explained, pointing to the half-mixed bowl on the counter.

"We didn't get very far, my fault," Hunter smirked, joining Thad at the counter.

"Did you bring us food?"

"You get food if we get answers," Marley grinned, pulling Sebastian to a chair.

"What could you want answers about? We realised there was a lot of miscommunication and then we kissed and got back together, the end."

"It clearly wasn't the end," Thad snarked, laying out the food.

"No sassing your Dad," Hunter joked, reaching for the coffee cup labelled Hunter .

"Well, I didn't think you'd want those specific details Thaddeus," Sebastian snarked back, accepting his coffee from Marley with a smile.

"I really don't, senior year and the two of you forgetting how locks worked was enough."

"What happens next though? Surely there are a few things you need to discuss?" Blaine asked, bringing over a pile of plates.

"Are you going to move in together? You do live across from each other after all and I doubt you'll be spending your nights apart." Marley asked.

Sebastian shared a look with Hunter and shrugged, what were they going to do?

"We haven't gotten to that part yet, we've not even been back together for a full day," Hunter said, placing a reassuring hand on Sebastian's leg.

"You dated for almost a year in the past and Evelyn is already calling you Daddy Seb so it's not like you aren't already deeper into a relationship than people in a brand new one would be," Thad pointed out.

"That doesn't necessarily mean that we're going to jump ahead in our relationship. Neither of us want to mess up this second chance so for now we're just going to take it one step at a time." Sebastian said there was no way in hell he was going to let Hunter go again.

"You aren't allowed to move out just yet, I'm not paying both halves of the rent," Blaine joked, trying to lighten the mood again.

"Wouldn't Sam move in if Seb moved out?" Marley teased.

"You didn't stay here last night, did you finally get to live out your school fantasies?" Sebastian teased, laughing when Blaine instantly blushed.

"I hate all of you." Blaine groaned, placing his head on the counter.

" Bas are you going to leave or are you going to carry on staring at the door? It's been two minutes now," Blaine called out from the sofa.

"Be nice to him B, he's going to have to talk about feelings when he's over there and that's almost like torture for him," Sam teased, placing a bowl of popcorn on Blaine's lap and joining him on the sofa.

"Ha, very funny," Sebastian deadpanned and opened the door.

"Try your best not to have sex on the sofa," Sebastian winked and quickly left before Blaine could throw something at him.

Sebastian took a deep breath, crossed the hall, and let himself into Hunter's apartment with the spare key he was given.

"Hey Hunt," Sebastian smiled, slipping his shoes off.

"You are about to be attacked, good luck," Hunter quipped, Mr Puss coming out of the bedroom meowing loudly.

"Mr Puss! Hey little guy, I missed you too!" Sebastian laughed, crouching down as the cat jumped up at him.

"I've never heard him meow this much in a row, clearly he has a lot to catch you up on," Hunter laughed, smiling fondly at the reunion.

"I always said that I was his favourite," Sebastian teased, picking Mr Puss up and following Hunter to the sofa.

"One day we'll have a child that has me as their favourite Dad," Hunter joked.

"One day back together and you are already planning our future children," Sebastian grinned and leaned across to kiss Hunter.

"Don't act like you haven't been thinking about being a family with me and Evelyn the past few weeks," Hunter hummed, kissing Sebastian again.

"You've got me there."

Sebastian looked down at Mr Puss as he stroked him for a few minutes before looking back up at Hunter, time for the thoughts and feelings talk.

"Why did you cut me off completely when you left Ohio? You clearly weren't over me judging by the paintings you made during College, so why the clean-cut?"

Hunter paused at the abrupt question and quickly downed the glass of wine he was holding.

"I don't want to get into an argument already but Seb, I'm not the one who cut off all connection." Hunter frowned and refilled his wine glass.

"What? You changed your number, deleted all socials and didn't tell me your new address," Sebastian said, trying to keep his tone calm so he didn't spook Mr Puss.

"My parents made me get a new number because they wanted a clean cut from Dalton, they also forced me to deactivate my socials and I did leave you a forwarding address, along with my new number."

"No, you didn't! If you left me those things then I would've been speaking to you every day, even if we weren't a couple, you were still meant to be my best friend Hunter!"

"You didn't get the letter I left you?" Hunter asked slowly, placing his wine down.

"I didn't receive anything, I didn't even get a proper goodbye," Sebastian said, thinking back to the last few days Hunter was in Ohio.

"I managed to sneak away from my parents briefly the day before we left. I knocked on the door but nobody was home so I posted the letter through the letterbox, it was two pages long and included everything I felt about you and the new number and email I had." Hunter said, he drove himself insane checking his emails every hour those first few weeks.

"Hunter, I didn't receive a letter. I would never cut you off like that, or at all," Sebastian said, reaching across for Hunter's hand.

"My Dad must've gotten to it before I got home. He hated me having a boyfriend, he said I was embarrassing the family name and with the steroids scandal he must've snapped fully."

As if Sebastian needed another reason to despise his Dad.

"Our Parent's suck," Hunter said blankly after a few moments, trying to register all of the new information.

Sebastian laughed and ran his hands across his face, years of missing each other all because of their Parents.

"And I thought our two-month-long miscommunication was bad," Sebastian joked.

"Hopefully that's the last miscommunication, I'm not sure if I can handle a third," Hunter said, wrapping his arms around Sebastian, bringing him closer.

"Whilst I don't agree with my Dad and if I didn't already hate him then I definitely would now, if we stayed together then you wouldn't have Evelyn and I probably wouldn't be as close to Blaine as I am," Sebastian said, resting his head on Hunter's shoulder.

"I couldn't imagine a life without Evelyn," Hunter hummed, his daughter was his life.

"I think it is time to stop focusing on the past and what ifs and focus on the present and our future together."

Sebastian smiled and leaned up for a kiss, this was a future he could get used to.

Eight months later

"What's got you so deep in thought?" Hunter asked, wrapping his arms around Sebastian from behind and resting his chin on his shoulder.

Sebastian relaxed back into the embrace and smiled.

"Just thinking about how far we've all come since Dalton, we're standing at Nick and Jeff's Wedding reception and Blaine is dancing with Sam and I'm here with you and Evelyn."

Hunter smiled and kissed Sebastian's cheek, he couldn't believe this was his life sometimes either.

"It's all working out for us," Hunter hummed.

"Daddy, can we dance?" Evelyn asked, joining the two of them.

"Of course darling," Hunter smiled and let go of Sebastian reluctantly.

"Not you Daddy, I meant Daddy Seb!"

"Not one word," Hunter warned, pointing at Sebastian who was laughing to himself.

"I'd love a dance Princess!" Sebastian smiled and high-fived Evelyn.

"Betrayed by my own flesh and blood," Hunter joked fondly as they walked off.

"Daddy Seb, did you get the surprise yet?" Evelyn asked, giggling as Sebastian twirled her.

"I did and your Mommy is keeping it safe and away from curious eyes," Sebastian smiled widely, Katy truly was an amazing friend to have.

"I'm so excited!! When are you going to ask Daddy?"

"In two weeks, do you think you can keep it a secret until then?"

"I can, I promise to the moon and back!" Evelyn nodded enthusiastically.

He just needed Hunter to say yes.